• Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: New universe?

How about using the name "Arachnae" ?

Consuming such huge amounts of  energy, they'd drain the 'jump fields' of ships, solar radiation, radio - almost all Electromagnetic energy to maintain their metabolism. Their ships have "energy absorbers" - though we can't use that term because it's in SFB - which abosrb the energy (or perhaps just some portion) of any energy-based weapon fired at them. Perhaps we can add that energy to their attack somehow...

They use captured/conquered victims to infiltrate potential enemies, using their advanced communications technology to garner information without the victim's knowledge. The equipment 'installed' in the victim isn't undetectable, but it's transmission medium IS...

The Dukes of the (March?) don't need to be encouraged by infiltration, their own greed would force them to move once they'd detected an opening.

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

I like the name arachnae.  smile 

I would call it "energy stealers" and I agree with your description.

About the Dukes of the Marshes (as in bog, fen, mere, morass, muskeg, quag, quagmire, sough, swamp, moor, flush, marish) my idea is that millenia ago they make a coup against the Empire. Instead of kiling them all, the Emperor exiled them into a terrible part of the galaxy. The Marshes. They strived and after some time they become again a full part of the Empire. Some o them are loyal, some of them want a payback. A millenar payback.  :evil:

So, this way, after the Starmada Universe, we can make an RPG with a Dutchess heroine from the Marshes.  big_smile

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

My vision of the Arachnae.

Eight legged. Check.
Energy stealer barbs. Check.
Energy like colouring. Check.
Psychic antennae. Check.
Mean demeanor. Check.

What do you think?

[attachment=0]Arachne.jpg[/attachment]

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: New universe?

Blackronin wrote:

I like the name arachnae.  smile

Glad to hear you like the term Arachnae. I guess we'll have to wait for Dan to endorse it or nix it.


Blackronin wrote:

I would call it "energy stealers" and I agree with your description.

About the Dukes of the Marshes (as in bog, fen, mere, morass, muskeg, quag, quagmire, sough, swamp, moor, flush, marish) my idea is that millenia ago they make a coup against the Empire. Instead of kiling them all, the Emperor exiled them into a terrible part of the galaxy. The Marshes. They strived and after some time they become again a full part of the Empire. Some o them are loyal, some of them want a payback. A millenar payback.  :evil:

So, this way, after the Starmada Universe, we can make an RPG with a Dutchess heroine from the Marshes.  big_smile


These ought to explain why I/we use the term 'march' instead of marsh...

http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/March+(frontier)

The idea is that you send 'promising young men' to the Marches in order for them to prove they are able and loyal by their efforts to expand the empire. Rome did something similiar. In our case, they want the power without all the work - or perhaps they have worked pretty hard and don't feel they've been properly rewarded.

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: New universe?

Blackronin wrote:

My vision of the Arachnae.

Eight legged. Check.
Energy stealer barbs. Check.
Energy like colouring. Check.
Psychic antennae. Check.
Mean demeanor. Check.

What do you think?

Not a bad sketch - I'd have more "Alien" eyes, though.

Throw in 'Tholian Webs' and 'Andromedan Energy Absorbers' and we're close to what I was thinking.
smile

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

thedugan wrote:

The idea is that you send 'promising young men' to the Marches in order for them to prove they are able and loyal by their efforts to expand the empire. Rome did something similiar. In our case, they want the power without all the work - or perhaps they have worked pretty hard and don't feel they've been properly rewarded.

Got it. Really interesting how the same thing in two different countries may be so dissimilar. Marches in Portuguese is "Marcas", the prestigious lands given to the lords that the king trusted most. Marshes is "pantanais", places with rich soil, but terrible deseases like malaria and other fevers where the criminals and political outcasts were sent to settle new colonies or lands. Hence my confusion.

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: New universe?

May occasionally be confusing, but it adds to the richness of the discussion - and hopefully, to the richness of the thing we are trying to create.

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

thedugan wrote:

I guess we'll have to wait for Dan to endorse it or nix it.

I have some more ideas, but I'll wait to see what Dan thinks and meanwhile I'll get back to "Las Estellas de Fierro!"

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: New universe?

Also gives others time to read and contribute.

I think Dan's a bit busy with something right now.

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

So?

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: New universe?

Think of this as the "opening crawl" to a Star Wars movie...

The Blight has passed, and the long, slow road to recovery begins.

The Emperor has been in exile for a dozen years and more; although weakened, his Golden Legions remain formidable.

They are needed, for Magistrate Fuzen Jao has returned. Thought to have perished in one of the last great battles of the Invasion, Jao revealed himself less than a year ago, shaking the galaxy to its core. Remembered as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in a valiant last stand against the Aracine hordes, the Magistrate's return was welcomed by few.

From his secret headquarters, Jao's cybroid armies have gone forth to wreak havoc upon the worlds of the Thirteen Provinces. In the name of the Emperor, the Magistrate claims to seek a return to peace and unity -- yet his forces spread like a cancer across civilized space.

Although the cybroid menace does not discriminate, the free peoples of the Successor Parliament have endured more than their share of attacks, losing system after system to Jao's advance. Despite the valiant efforts of the Parliamentary Guard, the future looks bleak. Parliament has called for more Vassal Brigades, but many states have gone back on their obligations, citing a need to protect their own borders.

However, there is a glimmer of hope: Fuzen Jao's most trusted general, Oka Tandaro, is sympathetic to the Parliamentary cause. At great personal risk, she has provided the location of Jao's base of operations -- and more importantly, the route by which it may be approached without detection.

Even now, a hastily-assembled force is on its way to lay siege to the icy wastes of Meknos Prime, hoping to capture the Magistrate and force him to the negotiating table before his forces can be recalled from campaigns throughout the galaxy...

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2009-07-05
  • Posts: 11

Re: New universe?

Interesting start.

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

A few questions, Dan:

The Aaracne were defeated?

The Cybroids already existed before the fall or are they a surprise to everybody?

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: New universe?

"Augh! My cybroids are killing me, where's that creme at?"

115 Reply by jygro

  • Registered: 2005-03-29
  • Posts: 330

Re: New universe?

Interesting little tagline.  I like it.

-B

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

thedugan wrote:

"Augh! My cybroids are killing me, where's that creme at?"

Cybrionts?
Cytroops?
Metal Skins?
Immortals?
2nd-Bodies?

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: New universe?

Blackronin wrote:

The Aaracne were defeated?

The invasion was stopped -- whether they were fully defeated... ?

The Cybroids already existed before the fall or are they a surprise to everybody?

They are a surprise.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

cricket wrote:
Blackronin wrote:

The Aaracne were defeated?

The invasion was stopped -- whether they were fully defeated... ?

The Cybroids already existed before the fall or are they a surprise to everybody?

They are a surprise.

Why not stalled? That would give us a chance for space battles against the Aaracne and limited alliances between the other opponents.

And if the cybroids are a surprise, where did they come from? Are they a new technology? Or an ancient newly discovered one? Or a gift from someone with second intentions (this is very much SW - republic era)?

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: New universe?

Blackronin wrote:

Why not stalled? That would give us a chance for space battles against the Aaracne and limited alliances between the other opponents.

That works for me ... frankly, I'd like to keep the details undefined for now, and just move forward as if the Aracine are still a threat, "occupying" many parts of the Thirteen Provinces, but the invasion itself has stalled, or been halted by a major battle (think Charles Martel and the Battle of Tours).

FWIW, I really liked the original Star Wars, where there was clearly a rich background (Clone Wars, Old Republic, ancient Jedi Knights) that influenced what was going on in the "present" but the details were pretty sketchy -- I'd like that kind of feel for this.

And if the cybroids are a surprise, where did they come from? Are they a new technology? Or an ancient newly discovered one? Or a gift from someone with second intentions (this is very much SW - republic era)?

That's a good question, and one that Parliament would love to ask Magistrate Jao if and when they get hold of him... wink

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 193

Re: New universe?

I don't mind working more in this universe, if you can give me some solid ground to start with. Directions.

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: New universe?

Blackronin wrote:

I don't mind working more in this universe, if you can give me some solid ground to start with. Directions.

Well, that's sort of the point -- I don't WANT to give directions; you tell me what the above makes you think, and we'll take it from there.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: New universe?

Makes me think "Star Wars meets Warhammer 40K" - with no magic.

big_smile

  • Registered: 2022-11-16
  • Posts: 516

Re: New universe?

thedugan wrote:

Makes me think "Star Wars meets Warhammer 40K" - with no magic.
big_smile

In a galaxy far, far away, there were...
Skullz.
Lots and lots o' skullz.
An' orks.
Wif teef.
Big teef.
wink

  • Registered: 2022-11-15
  • Posts: 1,424

Re: New universe?

underling wrote:
thedugan wrote:

Makes me think "Star Wars meets Warhammer 40K" - with no magic.
big_smile

In a galaxy far, far away, there were...
Skullz.
Lots and lots o' skullz.
An' orks.
Wif teef.
Big teef.
wink

(shift from graphic of an Ork to a Human....)
Where the mettle of a man is measured in the width of his padded shoulders,
and the caliber of his firearm...

(shift to the graphic of an Elf)
A galaxy ablaze with Chaos, where the familiar gives way to insanity,
where civliization crumbles under the assault of those that seek not peace or stability,
but seek dominance over the souls of all...

  • Registered: 2005-03-28
  • Posts: 480

Re: New universe?

Immortals instead of cybroids. Has a nice Persian feel to it, doncha think?