The Paradox Protocol
Time is broken — and someone broke it on purpose
Premise
Meridian Colony was established twenty years ago on a terraformed world at the edge of settled space. Six months ago, the anomalies started — small at first, then catastrophic. A building in the capital aged to ruins overnight. A dead scientist walked into her own funeral. An entire district experienced last Tuesday three times. The Meridian Colonial Authority insists it's 'environmental phenomena.' They're lying. The party arrives as independent investigators hired by a whistleblower who went silent.
The World
Meridian, a lush colony world with sweeping grasslands, bioluminescent forests, and a single major city — New Meridian. The colony is prosperous and modern, but cracks are showing: temporal distortion zones shimmer like heat haze, clocks run backward in certain buildings, and the indigenous flora seems to exist in multiple time states simultaneously.
Starting Location
New Meridian Spaceport
The colony's main transit hub. Gleaming and modern, but the arrival board flickers between today's date and dates from months ago. A clock above the customs desk runs backward. The customs officer stamps your papers twice and doesn't seem to notice.
4 characters to meet · 3 factions to discover · 3 plot hooks to uncover