Dormant: A Past Left Sleeping [Sci fi, plot driven, post apoc]

Started by Sabby, December 27, 2009, 06:30:34 AM

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Sabby

Humanity's reliance on fossil fuels drove the world to the brink of World War 3. Energy was running out. It was that simple. In the time between 2010 and 2030, the world searched tirelessly for an alternative. At last, a better option was discovered.

The Chinese had called it Chi, literature called it the Soul. It was the breath of a world that lay wounded, sick from abuse. This energy permeated everything, flowing like water in an ocean. It was dubbed E-Ther.

All energy had its price, and would diminish with use, making it finite. E-Ther, however, was different. For every part of it that was borrowed, equal amounts were returned to nature, pure and still useable. If harnessed right, it was quite literally infinite.

Battery technology rushed to meet this development, containers created to draw upon E-Ther and store it safely. Machinery was designed to take advantage of these cells. The human race progressed far in a very short time. With E-Ther replacing conventional power sources in the decades to come, modern society no longer harmed the ecosystem, but became a literal part of its energy flow.

Technology advanced faster then man could cope with, and so they created the Sages. Organic super computers tasked with handling the immense and constant flow of data, they were given a small portion of self awareness, enough emotion to keep the minds they were fashioned from functional.

Somewhere along the line, something went wrong. Whatever had caused humanity's re-descent into war was lost to the fires of apocolypse. E-Ther powered super weapons scorched much of the planets surface, wiping out the majority of civilization. No one knows what became of The Sages. Some believe they were shamed by their creators call to arms, and shut themselves down, leaving the world to fall apart without them to hold it up.

Despite the destruction, E-Ther powered WMD's had a curious effect in the long run. Effected areas had quite random energy flows, resulting in unpredictable growth patterns. While some wastelands remain as untoilable as ever, forests and wildlife arise, twisted by accelerated growth, only to shrink and suffer, sometimes dying, and sometimes resurging. Earth had become quite a schitzophrenic world.

What was left of the humans technology lay quiet. With no Sages to awaken them, the Old World would no longer serve man. With advanced weaponry, vehicles and computers all around them, humans rebuilt from simple scrap, struggling to survive, their legacy left to the dust.

Somewhere in the early days of the New Earth Calender, the last remnants of Pre-War government attempted to recreate the Sages. With a functioning Sage, they could reclaim control over Old World technology. However, they did not have the resources that the original Sage creators had, so the Sage II project used live human subjects.

Many died from the experiments, and when they rebeled, the weakened government lost. These subjects fled into the world of New Earth, and the last of the Old World government fell apart. Sage II was a failure, and it seemed that the E-Ther batteries would never reawaken.

By 475, N.E.C., New Earth had found its footing. Cities were rebuilt, law reastablished, trade routes connected, and technology flourished once again. Extensive reverse engineering of Old World tech, both before, and after the discovery of E-Ther, had lead to developements in countless areas. Using the waste left in the Earth by EWMD's (occuring in many forms, gases, crystals, ore, sludge) they could power their new technology. While it paled in comparison to Old World tech, inferior in every possible way to E-Ther Battery's and their machinery, it still worked. Once again, the world came to rely on the fruits of the Earth, twisted and deformed as they were.

By 512, N.E.C., The Devine Flame appeared. A militaristic Church, they claimed they had developed a way to reclaim control of Old World technology. With highly advanced Pre-War weaponry, they took control of several large settlements in what was once America. Stories of unstoppable harbingers, weilding the powers of the Old World, spread quickly, and people flocked to this new religion. The Devine Flame spread quickly, and its chantry promised a return to the old ways.

This was all an illusion, however. The few skirmishes they had in the beginning had been extremely difficult to plan. While they could use Old World tech, it was ineffecient and hard to maintain. While they kept up the fantasy that they wielded it with ease, really it was equivelent of powering a cell phone with 12 foot tall generator.

The lies held up, and the Devine Flame took all it reached into its deceptive embrace, all the while searching for a way to better harness the Old World tech. Right under their noses, the answer would arise.

The escapee's from Sage II had spread their seed. While the alterations to their minds, bodies and E-Ther flow were forced and unnatural, with each successive generation, the changes would set in, growing and adapting naturally. What the Sage II Project couldn't achieve in a short time was unfolding at a slow, but steady pace. In the 500 years between Sage II and the Devine Flame, the process took hold, and real Sages were born.

They were living batteries, conduits in which E-Ther could pass through, awakening all tech around them in time. Buildings that remained sealed since the war would open for them, computers would stir at their touch, vehicles that had never shifted in living memory would hum to life, robots would come to their mental call, and even a simple Pre-War pistol in their hands would be a force very little could contend with. E-Ther traveling through their bodies would provide an unlimited charge for weaponry, and energy based attacks could do very little harm against their bodies.

The Church of the Devine Flame called them Demons, while those brace enough to whisper it called them Angels. Eventually, the name Reclaimer was taken by the neutral. A fitting name... the ruins that covered New Earth awoke as if it slept all this time simply waiting for these Reclaimers, who came from all walks of life, all hunted by the Followers of the Devine Flame.

What will you be? Will you side with the Church, hunting your own kind to further E-Ther development? Will you hide in the overgrown forests that have enveloped New Yorks ruins, communing with the evolved wild life? Will you roam carelessly in an Old World vehicle, with nothing for company but a mind linked war robot loping along side like some metallic kanine companion? Or will you hide in the open, too confused and afraid of the Flame?

Haibane

Hi Sabby

Usually I avoid these games like the plague but this premise is so well written I'm able to get my head around it and it appeals. I'm not sure that you might have bitten off more than you can chew here with so many factions. Perhaps you could have the players all as one faction and you GM the world they are facing and its challenges?

I'll PM you with a character idea I have.

Chelemar

Oh me, me pick me.  As donkey so eloquently put on Shriek.

I will PM you with character.

Chele

Sabby

Grouping the characters would be a good idea, but having that work may need some discussion... Reclaimers are special cases, so having them packed together would make the story easier, but be strange to justify, and could end up as everyone trying to out do each other.

Perhaps none of them are aware of their abilities? Well, some would be, but lets say not all (or any) have much conscious use of it yet... Maybe a Flame-Turned Reclaimer has got these poor youngen's together and was transporting them, and they somehow escape?

Chelemar

what if, instead of everyone having the ability to do all of the reclaiming... each one can do certain things?

I sent you a character profile explaining a bit of what I mean.

So, say if you have some who can reclaim arms armaments, others who can reclaim vehicles, still others who can electricity, others who can reclaim water, ruined soil, animals that have been turned, medicine..  etc..

This way they would band together more for safety and to build themselves a better society and grow their own world to beat the Devine Flame.


Sabby

While running the risk of 'X-Menning' it, thats not a bad idea :) the landscape has been screwed up by E-Ther WMD's, so would make sense a Reclaimer could shape effected natural elements... all Old World tech has sentience in one form or another, gained from their interactions with the Sage's, and while not all of them can 'talk' in the literal sense, they have a conscious, calculating mind, and even personality traits (either by design, or from misuse and degrading code, like an A.I. going senile)

So, asuming some types of tech would 'think' differently, it would definitely work out :) maybe not as restrictive as you suggested, just adds strengths, weaknesses and restrictions.

Crovonovin

Posting to claim my interest in this!  The mention of a "robotic companion" has peaked my interest, so if specialties are chosen I believe mine will be centered specifically around synthetic organisms.

Sabby

A war hound, like a recon droid made more like a cheetah, would be fairly powerful in the junkier areas, and even stand its own in the more civilized settlements that have their E-Ther waste power up and running. This is just an example, though. It was one of the first ideas that came to me. Some sleek, white droid like a metal panther, reacting to its awakener like a loyal dog. The mental link would lend the Reclaimers own personal traits, stimulating its mind to a more animal like state, and giving them unconscious contact.

And these things are fast o.o they can keep up with most vehicles on foot. They ARE recon... they need to be like cheetahs on stimulants.

Of course, just an example :) you could try other options. None of it is the clunky Fallout style, all Old World tech is sleek and effecient. As long as you keep your droid like something from the Geth in Mass Effect, no reason why it can't work ^^

Thinking of having The Devine Flame call the Souless...

Wolfy

*jumps up and down* Oh Sabby, Sabby, Can I join in too?!

...This reminds me a bit of Stephen King's Dark Tower Series, btw. o3o

Sabby

Quote from: Wolfy on December 27, 2009, 09:27:20 PM
*jumps up and down* Oh Sabby, Sabby, Can I join in too?!

...This reminds me a bit of Stephen King's Dark Tower Series, btw. o3o

Was that the one with the girl getting stalked by a Lamp Monster? (10 points to whoever got that xD)

Got an idea for a character? :) I realize I'm kind of all over the place with this, but I'm trying not to be scathing when an idea doesn't fit the mechanics in my head ^^

So far, Haibane and Chelemer have sent me ideas, and both are great :) if they could come in and share, that'd help.

Wolfy

yes it would, because I'm still unclear on exactly what uses this tech can have..and how portable it is and such..and..other things. o-o

Sabby

In response to Wolfy's PM (in regards to 'lazur eyes')

I shied away from all that on purpose. Instead of using psuedo science to justify powers, I just gave them the keys to dormant tech... so, all they can do is 'talk' talk to the tech. thats it.

However, if you WANTED lazers, or fire... look around dude. The world is littered in relics from a society a thousand times more advanced then it is now... theres shittons of things you could use. Assisted movement devices to give you heightened reflexes and speed, a pistol with a thunderous and unending stream of gunfire, shielding devices, melee weapons that feel weightless in your hands and cleave metal without issue...

The setting purposefully detaches itself from powers. Its just about a huge, powerful world left dormant, and you've got the fiery brand to wake it up.

Chelemar

Here is a character presented to Sabby for the game. 



My name is Bobbin Altgood.  I am a member of the Silvanians and belong to the Eserncost, or rather my parents were and did.  I, am a member of nothing and belong to no one.  You see, when I was born and my father saw the birthmark upon my chest and that my eyes were so, well, as you can see different with their hues of blue and green trying to out do each other for the same space in one orb, well he knew that I would be verbot--an outcast child.

Killing a dog and burying it in my stead, Father bundled mother and fled with us to the edge of the unclaimable lands.  It was there that my unique abilities were found out.  Mother had stuck to the Silvanian way of giving me the tribal tattoos and in that way made my colors blue for the water and green for the earth.  As water I touched became pure and dead ground I nurtured became fertile again.  It was in this way and a few others that the energies grew within me. 

Father, frightened that I would be exploited, or worse captured and killed as a heretic, moved us often, but still, someone found us out and Mother and Father were killed protecting me as I was pushed to my safety off of what seemed to be an endless cliff down a thunderous waterfall. 

Every since, I have been searching for others like me.  I have been close before.  I can feel their energies reaching out to mine at times.  But, what if they are like the ones who found me in the past?  Will they be friends to find comfort with or will they be bent on setting another fire, this one I can't escape?

So, keeping always in disguise and traveling only at night, I wander with my companion, an owl named Macoo... hoping someday I will find another like me.  Are you out there?

Haibane

Sorry everyone, I've decided this game is not for me. I was curious about what looked like a good social premise with post-apoc struggles by ordinary people but if it is all about superpowers and hard sci-fi I'm no longer interested.

Sabby

Quote from: Haibane on December 28, 2009, 05:47:41 AM
Sorry everyone, I've decided this game is not for me. I was curious about what looked like a good social premise with post-apoc struggles by ordinary people but if it is all about superpowers and hard sci-fi I'm no longer interested.

NUUUU! Theres no superypowers! D=

Insight

Hey everyone! I'd love to be a part of this. Is there any way I could be a reclaimer with Chelemar? I think I have a good idea for a personality.
"I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am"

My Desires: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=159468.0

On and Off Thread

Wolfy

So..What do I need to do to come up with a character, Sabby? Give you name, age, appearence, weapon, etc?

Hunter

Okay, I'll bite.  I'm interested enough to see where this is going.

Sabby

Okay, I've thought long and hard on this... I'm still very excited for the game, but I considered dropping it for a bit. It's a lil too ambitious, and I don't have much hopes for it... but then again, I have a very hard time taking command of these things, so they kind of fall apart.

I hate to sound strict, but if this things guna work, I need to be a bit firmer.

So... to begin with, Chelly, I like your concept, but something about it doesn't exactly work. I can't really pick it out, but I think its best you rework the character to function like the rest of the Reclaimers, and use Old World tech. Theres nothing wrong with it, but its confusing when set out next to the already established lore. I know I originally stated that Druid-ish characters were allowed, and I know you worked hard on it, but in hind sight, I didn't spend enough time on them...

So, if you're okay with it, would you mind trying a different character? :)

Secondly, I'll need a show of hands. Keeping this thing to 3 players, 4 only if I'm absolutely convinced...

Thirdly, characters. PM and/or post what you have so far and we'll discuss them, balance them out and polish them all off ^^

Fourthly, we'll need to come up with a start that we're all happy with and will lead to further travel and the characters coming together.

Finally, there will be an OOC thread, and I want it to be used. Communication is what will hold this thing together. This story will go from place to place, with encounters and NPC's that will need your discussion on in order to work. Have a suggestion for current events or where to go next, or think something recent needs to be touched up? I wanna hear it. I would rather be pestered and have everything running smooth and the players enjoying it then watching it stagnate.

Okay, lets do this :)

Chelemar

*shoots lazer darts from my eyes*  :o

Oh I guess I dont mind.   ::)    ;) But, I won't be around much today,  have family and company for dinner  ;D  so I am not going to get the character in today and have work tomorrow, >:( so maybe not until Sunday. :-[

Chele :-*


Crovonovin


Crovonovin

Name: Klaus Moresce
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Status: Reclaimer
Personality:

Klaus has been all too happy to receive the title of Demon from the paranoid and power-hungry members of the Devine Flame.  He could even be said to exult in it, using it as the perfect excuse to indulge in morally unsound activities and keep others at bay with fear tactics.  As far as Klaus is concerned, living up to the smear campaign and propaganda surrounded the Reclaimers grants him an instantaneous reputation where ever he goes, allowing him access to seedier places that would remain outside his reach if he were to play as the White Knight.  The activities of other people and their organizations means exceedingly little to him.  In his eyes a King or an Arch Deacon is of no more inherent worth than a pauper or a dog.  He believes that it is his own personal perception that allows others to wield power of him; so long as he treats everyone like filth, they will remain feeble and unable to bring lasting harm. 

His nature is, in essence, the epitome of selfishness.  He takes what he needs to survive and then some without regard for whether he is taking from the rich or the poor.  Manners and morality, he says, went out the window many years ago.  Klaus abhors civilization, preferring the outskirts of society.  At the same time, he steers well away from the areas of the world that have flourished under the same strange powers that granted him his abilities.  That sort of nature is an abomination to him, and something to remain wary of at all times.  The wasteland is his home, gray and barren as it may be.

Current Affairs:

Klaus is currently moving a bit more spontaneously than usual, after the very public "execution" of several Crusaders of the Devine Flame.  Though most would believe him to be fleeing the inevitable wrath of the Devines, Klaus prefers to call it "keeping a tactical distance". 

Companion:

Klaus' saving grace, the one thing that allows him to maintain his arrogance and self-important attitude in an unforgiving world, is the strange guardian that protects him from harm.  Nicknamed Abaddon, this creature seems more a demonic manifestation than a true machine.  Though apparently worn from years of disuse or punishment it seems to function perfectly, and possesses a frightening amount of physical strength.  Whatever material it is made out of seems undefinable, and may very well be one of the rare unique relics from the Old Age.  It pulsates with a grim and unnatural crimson light, an eternal heartbeat that seems to still the air and provoke fear or rage in others.  Its left arm houses a massive railgun whose ammunition seems strangely limitless, while its right arm is both a manipulator and a Tesla Coil.

The fact that Klaus regularly speaks with it suggests that it may have some sort of artificial intelligence, but Abaddon never seems to actually make a sound.  It may be that their connection is the only thing that allows the cretinous machine to communicate at all, or that Klaus is lonelier than he puts on and talks with it from a lack of any other faithful companions.

Haibane

My original character was a Reclaimer but suddenly everyone wants to play them so I could abandon completely that character and just play as someone who is really completely ineffectual and ordinary and so reverse the whole concept. Please let me know, Sabby sweetie, if that might be a useful character.

I still think this game would work best if there was just one character Reclaimer, or preferably none.

Sabby

Quote from: Haibane on January 01, 2010, 01:22:07 PM
My original character was a Reclaimer but suddenly everyone wants to play them so I could abandon completely that character and just play as someone who is really completely ineffectual and ordinary and so reverse the whole concept. Please let me know, Sabby sweetie, if that might be a useful character.

I still think this game would work best if there was just one character Reclaimer, or preferably none.

Well, I do need to narrow this down to three players... which is hard for me, since everyone seems so hyped for it v.v two Reclaimers and a normal human would work well, but I really liked your Reclaimer idea.


Sabby

Okay, I am still getting PM's with characters that have 'powers' I must stress this again... no powers! Mentally, and physically, your characters are no different to any other human. Please take this into consideration when building your character. Once all of them are in, I'm guna have to narrow it down to the 3 or 4 character party.

Now, I came up with a story to start everything off, and I would like your input on it :)

Haibane, I mainly came up with it so no one would have to play a normal human. If your set on being the normal Non-Reclaimer, thats fine ^^ but if you want yourn shield character, I hope this beginning will help you :)

All the characters suffer enigmatic dreams, where a sad looking woman of faint gold light approaches them, reaches out for help, and then shatters at their touch. In the dark, figures surround them, and a cloaked shadow blocks their path, closing in. Golden light chases the shadows off, and sitting there is a golden wolf, that beckons you to follow, then you wake up.

The last few months, this dream has plagued you, and very strange things have been happening. Incidents have occured that has systematically herded you from your home and directed you along a path. The transport in the city may have failed, causing you to take a path you normally wouldn't, or other curious events, all headed by a small appearance of a golden wolf.

Following this wolf, all three or four of you will come together... you'll be attacked by a very powerful adversary, and then saved by the mysterious force that has brought you together.

No, I will not share what this force is ^^ its identity and motives will be revealed as the story goes. I think you'll all like what I have planned, anyway :) if you have opinions or questions or suggestions or anything in regards to this, please post or PM.

Sabby

Chelly, the Druid-ish faction is getting a rewrite. I'll be adding an NPC to honor your first character ^^

Chelemar

hmm. Haibain since you were here first, and Sab, since you like Haibain's reclaimer, I will leave it to you.

I am just as happy reading the story.  :D


Sabby

I actually plan to run a version of this specifically for Haibane, as I like her take on it :) but its up to her what she wants to do ^^

Okay, Wolfy has all but finalized his character... he has a fairly sophisticated melee weapon with echos of someone elses sub conscious stuck in it. I love the droid guy, and I can see him tolerating the others out of mutual interest for his own safety. So, Hunter, Brad and Chelly, if you could get some character concepts to me? I can take one of you, two at the most. If your not up to that, your quite welcome to join the second game, as a Non-Reclaimer character :)

...Non-Recliamers can have tech as well :P just not the Grade A stuff. Theres plenty of creative leg room for Haibane's alternate game.

Haibane

No worries Chelemar sweetie, you guys go ahead and play this version. Sabby will in the future run a second game so I understand and I hope to join that one.

Insight

Think it's already sent.

You sent me a PM at almost the same time I sent you my character. Check again, it should be there. Thanks!
"I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am"

My Desires: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=159468.0

On and Off Thread

Sabby

BradTen, aside from the guy being conductive (even if it is only during his night terrors) you've manage to nail the 'average' Reclaimer. Lose the electrical stuff, and he's perfect. I see him being a jack of all trades, right? Doesn't have the best control, but can grasp pretty much anything?

Insight

That's about the word, yes. What I meant by the electricity was, that's what was in his dreams, not that it was like, shooting out of his fingers. :-p But yeah, that's pretty much what I had in mind. I think it'll be cool!
"I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am"

My Desires: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=159468.0

On and Off Thread

Chelemar


Hunter

If you find yourself in need of another person, let me know.   Otherwise, I'll wait until next game like Haibane.

Muninn

I am late (busybusy) but I am also curious about the second game you were considering for the back burner. It's about time I got my feet wet (or at least my imagination...). 

Sabby

Game 1. Shelly, Brad, Shehong, and Wolfy

Game 2. Haibane. Need 2 or three people to fill the rest of that. I see Hunter and Munny interested ^^

Will start up the threads for Game 1.

Muninn

I might be able to get my lady to join us if I can catch her interest with it. 

Also - I won't be able to get anything serious done until my current guests leave (in about a week) if that is all right. :)

Sabby


Sabby

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=57064.0

Randals Couch is only one of the ways you could be heading to Copper Town ^^ Maybe one Reclaimer is on the bus, and another has his own ride? I'm pretty sure Klaus is relying on his robot for transport. I just thought I'd set a scene for reference ^^

So get started! OOC thread is there if you need help, and I'm always here to clear something up :)

Kizurin

If the Second Game has a place.. I am interested! I am! *waves her hand*
My switches ON and OFF
When Kizurin is away...

I am rooting for you Vekseid, stay healthy.

The human species is made up of seven billion subspecies each consisting of one specimen. 
~Robert Brault

Sabby

Okay, Game 1 is under way, and I see a lot of interest for Game 2 ^^ everyone who still wishes to play the three supporting Non-Reclaimers, post or PM

Goss

You already know I'm interested but I'll post anyway.  :P