I'm precipitously close to quitting. We've had no post from several people, one of them (you) being a major power.
I don't want to just halfheartedly contribute another post or two to prolong the death of an RP that nobody posts in; it sucks to say, but unless the pace picks up again I think I'm done. If it does pick back up then I'll stay true to the commitment that I made to this RP when I first joined.
sounds like a deal to me. The only time I would need your help if the game does pick up. But yeah, no idea if it'd happen. I mean just because I post it doesn't mean the game will be alive like it was. On a different note i absolutely hate restarts. They are almost pointless. M suggestion is even if we quit we should keep this for a later date. I mean most of our players are still there just occupied with other things. Once their list clears up perhaps so does the life to this RP. That being said I won't give up now and I keep my word so expect my post tomorrow or the day after. This time I do intend to keep it.
It's funny you should mention long-lost precursors, actually. One of the four systems controlled by the saurian client state was going to have significant though mostly technologically devoid archaeological findings in the same style as older findings on the capital death world, raising forced evolution theories and all. Sort of hard to get natural radioactive heavy worlders otherwise. Might it be the very same ones between the Sarmakth and the Claw, maybe? Considering their completely inverted views on humanity- the Sarmakth despise them, while the Claw are fascinated by their peculiar hidden vitality, have copied the Arcturan court model and melded human ideas of valor through service above the call of duty and their own martial ideas to create a cult of suicidal heroism- it'd make for an interesting foundation for confrontation and dialogue. Further, as one of the Captain's brainchildren, the Claw have a two man vertically-stretched disc or spinning top type hexapod walker as a trench cleaning vehicle, which they might have themselves made as a rationalized derivation of the Precursor tripod in the same fashion as the Martian reproduction.
Martian Tripods are made out of both ideological and practical reasons. The basic idea is to have a giant version of their "god" or at least their legendary precursors while the tripod-like movement was also simpler to accomplish than the way the Sarmaktsh travel while it's still familiar enough for the pilots to control well. It goes without saying that the Sarmakth never invented wheel and they refuse use such thing for propulsion or even as mechanical aid (ie: cogwheels).
And yeah, a potential clash between the two could be fun.
@Willy VerebI don't see much problem with it. It's been a while, it's fair to say that human records of them, if they even had any, were lost over time. Or the damage to Mars caused a great loss of most traces of them. It's easy to explain why information is lacking, and even your NS says the non-Martians don't even have much left from them despite being directly descended from them. If someone wants to use it then it's fine, but if not then they're easily forgotten.
Thank you! The Precursor Legend is kind of the equivalent of religion for the Sarmakth. They have some findings and old obscure recordings made shortly after the great war which devastated Mars but there's no hard proof on anything. The idea their forced evolution is to adapt to their environment could be also a sham (who the hell thinks floating brains are the most survivable?) or perhaps the Sarmakth are wrong and they are just yet another creations of the Precursors. Anything is possible. For the record most of their propaganda and feeling of superiority uses the basis that they are the direct evolution of Precursors and all life belongs to them by proxy. If this theory is invalidated that could make quite a schizm between the Sarmakth.
@ZadubadabuMade another batch of edits. Would you really mind my idea with the Precursors? At worst this could be a myth or that they are truly exterminated without barely a trace. I don't mind that. Or have Precursor artifacts and such for occasional plot devices or a loot which many factions would wish to get. Also just because they are the Precursors by Martian lore it doesn't mean we can't have other ancient races, neither it makes them the mightiest. So hopefully there's nothing bad with them while potentially I give people another plot element to use.
Only do that if Cyclone, Midhar and the rest of the major players don't return. In my case I had a good idea in mind but I lacked time qnd attention to complete it. I also lost my post twice without a backup. If we're still in for this I can write that post by the weekend.
Only do that if the other big players like Cyclone and others don't plan to return. For example I am up for writing something IC by the weekend. I have a good idea but lackeed time and attention for quite a while.
@ZadubadabuI posted my NS but it's seriously WIP for now. I'll be editing it soon and making it shine. Until then enjoy my description on the not-Martians.
Faction Name: Yel'krusu t'Sar'Makth (literally means "Star Empire of the Great Race") Faction Type: INVADERS Faction Leader: S'cum Ish-veh N'ssan (title: Sur'sim're t'Abru-ma AKA Grand Supreme Overlord) Territory: Tsokal'yel t'Sar'Vafer (Great Beginning, their new home system), few star systems at the outer edges of the Arcturus Empire Planet(s)/Holdings: 4 star systems
FACTION OVERVIEW Sarmakth are a race of alien invaders approaching from the barely charted outer rim of the galaxy. While they hate humans with passion they are not above using them for their devices or lording over them as their slavemasters. With the sudden collapse of the Arcturus Empire the Sarmakth plans to use the divide and conquer strategy to dominate humanity one by one using less obvious means. As such the Sarmakth are mysterious manipulators who prefer to use humans to fight at the forefront, only showing up when it's absolutely necessary.
Sarmakth are large roughly cephaloid creatures with their main body comparable to a grown bear in size. They have a pair of huge eyes and large beaks which are surrounded by numerous tentacles. The evolution and deliberate gene alterations of the Sarmakth focused on intellect which means roughly 90% of their body mass are brain matter with all other functions being reduced considerably. Their tentacles are too weak to raise their bodies under Earth-like gravity. Instead their overgrown brain developed psychic powers as well as they utilize anti-gravity devices to move around. Sarmakth have only a simple digestive system which can only deal with liquids and specially processed food. Some of their tentacles act as suckers to leech blood from living beings for sustenance, a horrible sight which made the British folk describe them as vampires. Most tentacles are thicker and used to either support the body or work as versatile manipulators to operate complex mechanisms with ease. Sarmakth are asexual creatures with no male/female dimorphism who reproduce through periodically laying down "flesh buds" of their young which they feed constantly until those eventually grow to sufficient size. Worths noting that when they refer to themselves in male pronouns to outsiders. Sarmakth have no vocal language aside from making various basic noises to express emotions. They communicate exclusively through telepathy. In case they require to talk with someone they rely on human slaves who are explicitly wired to understand their telepathic waves and speak in their stead. Sarmakth in general have a superiority complex and view all other races as inferior if not just consider them as soulless animals to use. Due to their history they especially hate humans and call them as Pekh'makth which literally translates as "the race of shit".
FACTION HISTORY Shockingly enough the humans and Sharmakth share a long history. Sentient life evolved in the exotic biosphere of Mars long before humanity made its first steps on Earth. Martian life was harsh and filled with challenges yet roughly a billion year ago it birthed the first sentient life who could be the predecessors of Sarmakth. Records and findings on these prehistoric creatures are scarce and conflicting even to the Sarmakth. Based on analysis of the remains they looked like large medusid beings walking on three tentacle legs. They are referred as the Vesh'makth AKA the Precursors. The details on their history is unclear but apparently their technology easily eclipsed even the Sarmakth. It's believed that their efforts and experiences helped accelerate the formation of life on Earth and likely numerous other planets through the galaxy. Vesh'makth appeared to be a peaceful society but they assuredly had their fair share of clashes and wars with the last of them almost managed to exterminate their race while drastically altering the environment of Mars. The survivors required drastic measures and proceeded to rebuild their civilization while using various genetic alterations until they became the Sarmakth. Through their efforts they took control of the planet and lived in thousands of years of peace and prosperity. Unfortunately their lifestyle was taxing on the planet and by 1800AD it became certain that their planet will die within a few hundred years. To avert their demise the Martians were looking elsewhere, eventually deciding on the invasion of Earth. Living in millennia of prosperity did have an averse effect on their technology and they basically had to reinvent military and spacefaring methods in a rush of 50 years. 1898, after through recon of the planet for decades the Martians invaded Earth, particularly England which was the center of the great British Empire at the time. Their attack was swift and merciless but lacked in numbers and finesse. Their mighty tripods modeled after the Precursors marched on relatively unhampered. Though their operation was rushed and crude they were at the brink of forcing the British Empire to its knees when something unexpected happened. Through their genetic engineering Martians no longer feared diseases and enjoyed a life without illness for tens of thousands of years. But while immune to Martian diseases and superior to even the mightiest empire on Earth the invasion forces fell prey to the planet's smallest lifeforms. Diseases which Terrestrial creatures long adapted against struck the Martians hard, decimating their numbers rapidly. The invasion was called off and the Sarmakth fled in a great haste, the rest of them dying on route back home. The Martians were flabbergasted on the news and began a long research to discover the truth and find a way around this invisible threat.
Martians conducted through analysis on their deceased but their search for the invisible killer was in vain. Intend to solve this mystery the Martians began to send expeditions to Earth, the source of the so-called UFO sightings. After countless trial and error they eventually understood the threat and immunized their entire species to the disease. Meanwhile humanity was developing steadily and in secret they formed plans to overcome the Martian threat. Late 21st century, the Second Martian War broke out. The Sarmakth were more advanced but their dying planed and thinned out numbers put them at a disadvantage. To maximize their industry the Martians turned the core of their planet into a nuclear reactor. While it gave them the so-desired upper hand it eventually turned out to be their undoing. The reactor built up a growing instability which eventually went out of control. Estimates said the runaway chain-reaction will reach critical stage within a month. The Sarmakth hastily built a large ship equipped with their experimental stardrive and escaped the planet just in time. Their only solace was the fact that the explosion of their homeworld will spread debris to Earth and raze the surface. Carrying thousands of Sarmakth in stasis their ship traversed hyperspace, intending to reach a planet with ideal conditions found at the edge of the Horsehead Nebula. Unfortunately in their rush the computer made an error and dropped them off at a lifeless star system near the edge of the galaxy. though times awaited the sarmakth in the following decades until they found a way to a neighboring star system with habitable land which they renamed Sar'Vafer (Great Beginning). What they didn't know that their hated nemesis the humans were far from extinct. Quite the opposite as over the thousands of years they grew up to be a galaxy-spanning empire. After a hundred years of effort the Sarmakth restored their civilization to their former glory and even beyond. With their refined stardrive the armakth began exploring the galaxy in honest. That was the time they became aware of the Arcturus Empire lead by none other but the hated Pekh'makth. To say this revelation frustrated the Sarmakth and caused quite an uproar would be a grave understatement. Jealous and frustrated, they decided to take back what's rightfully theirs and become the crown jewel of the universe once again. Yet determination alone could not overcome such massive odds and the Sarmakth began their centuries long plotting in secret. Now, with the sudden collapse of the Arcturus Empire many of their kin believes it's time to act.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS The Sarmakth despise humans more than anything. Yet the majority of the galaxy is dominated by these Pekh'makth everywhere. Thus their immediate aims are to enslave humanity by playing them against each other. They secretly infiltrated and enslaved a slight portion of the Empire and they intend to use the chaos to accelerate the process and retake their place on the pinnacle of creation. While their operations are still secretive the Sarmakth determined it's time to also take a more direct approach.
[detailed faction relations will be posted up as they occur during the RP]
TECHNOLOGY Sarmakth technology is unique and at times radically different from what could be found within the Arcturus Empire. Their massive intellect grants them a better understanding of science than any human. Yet missing out millenia of progress they initially had plenty of areas to catch up on. Overall while Sarmakth technology is more advanced and sophisticated it only gives them a slight edge over the Empire which uses simpler yet often just as effective measures. For example Sarmakth relies on walkers moving on flexible tentacle-like legs which requires advanced computers to properly operate while humans merely use wheels and tracked mechanisms to achieve similar road performance. In general Sarmakth only has two kinds of propulsion, gravity and walkers. Their civilians usually equip grav gliders which lift their bodies and save them from physical exertion while their heavier ground machines use a walking mechanism moving on multiple legs.
- Yel'yeturek (Stardrive): Also dubbed as hyperdrive (kwhul'mishu, lit: "hyper engine") it's a device which opens a rift between normal and hyperspace (kwhulret) in order to allow faster-than-light travel. Hyperspace and slipspace has numerous similarities and they slightly interact. The main difference is that while slipspace is a void the hyperspace is filled with exotic matter and energy which obeys to a different laws of physics. Hyperspace has various "bands" each allowing different speeds. Lower bands require much less energy but they don't provide much speed. The Martians used this to escape their planets. Higher bands offer better speeds but at a much larger initial cost. Stardrives are potentially better than Slipspace drives used by the Empire but breaking into higher bands of hyperspace also consumes considerably more energy (at the extreme ends even draining the ship's systems for hours).
- Weinol: The basis of most if not all Sarmakth construction. It's a versatile family of carbon allotropes akin to fullerenes and carbon-nanotubes. It's generally light yet strong matrial which depending on its grid structure can have various other properties. It isn't an exaggeration to say that over 90% of everything made by Sarmakth is a type of Weinol.
- Kwhul'tviyan (Hypercore): Reactor which gathers power from hyperspace. They are compact and efficient as well as generally safe to use which makes them widespread within the Sarmakth community.
- Kwhul'wun: A term used to describe Sarmakth direct firing weapons which use either matter or radiation originating from hyperspace to project it at the enemy. The mechanism is often compared to opening a dam which is the boundary between normalspace and hyperspace and then let it flow straight at the enemy. There are many kinds of Kwhul'wun ranging from rayguns to hypermetric accelerators. Kwhul'thor is an explosive which uses uncontrolled hyperspace mechanisms with destructive results.
- Kwhul'danaan: The standard form of shielding used by the Sarmakth. They trap energy and matter originating from hyperspace within a bounded field which flows at superluminal velocities. While the formation of the shield requires a hefty amount of startup their advantage is that unless they are knocked down from incoming weapons fire these can be maintained indefinitely.
MILITARY The Sarmakth military is unique like the rest of their race. For starters they don't know the concept of infantry and their smallest military unit are their fighting machines. They generally use tripods and other walker machines in combat while in space they use flying saucers or ships shaped akin to a medusa with large hemispherical body and countless tentacles. Overall their fighting force has the strange sense of being "alive" even though they use mere machines.
[unit profiles may come later]
NOTABLE CHARACTERS
Sur'sim're t'Abru-ma (Great Supreme Overlord) of the Sarmakth Dominion since their new beginning. He's a ruthless but calculating person who'd rather conquer the galaxy over the time than waste Sarmakth lives. Unfortunately the collapse of the Arcturus Empire also strengthened the position of the radicals who promote outright military invasion and a swift sweeping crusade over the humans. Being over 900 years old (not counting the cyrogenic stasis) S'cum is one of the few Sarmakth in power who saw both wars against Humanity and how they failed. As such he's intent for his race to not commit the same mistake again.
40k/Dune/Star Wars, mind. That leaves room for light space magic/pyskers, as well as for proper artificial planetoid-scale megaprojects, although those'd be either yet to have been made or been put out of commission. I would not put it past War of the Worlds Martians to try and replace the planet's dead, mined-out core and make some kind of crudely unsubtle fusion reactor, a contained artificial star, to power an entire mechanized undercontinent beneath the planet's crust. Like a tiny Dyson sphere. I would also not put it past them to fuck it up and, instead of producing a stable fusion reaction they could harvest more energy from than they needed to spend to contain it, cause the entire planet to go up like Alderaan by making a pure fusion weapon the size of a tiny moon, causing immense damage to Earth. That'd leave the Martians with only any exterior population to work with on the other dead rocks and the asteroid belt, though, so one would have to work out how they'd have garnered enough numbers after waking up or while still in-transit stasis to pose a credible threat. Automated cloning, maybe, tubescum kids that never knew home. What do you think, Willy? Any of this spitballing sound like it's on the mark?
Time. Martians traveled thousands of years and reached a yet uncharted territory. They began rebuilding their civilization and even expanding it further than they ever could. Then they eventually spotted the Empire and how grand it had become in comparison which gave the leader of the time a good dose of sodium. So they watched and spread their net to know more about their fattened up enemy. And then they noticed the collapse and knew it was time to strike. Martians don't have the numbers to overwhelm the entire Empire but they plan to abuse its divided state and gradually take control of them. Through the course of the RP they'll create entire puppet governments with them secretly in control.
EDIT: As for mechanism, they rather went for the fission and via a controlled chain reaction they made an improvised molten salt reactor out of the core. Thing is that while the reaction was under control the stabilit of the core itself was not. This eventually led to a growing margin of error, destabilization of the planet and then runaway chain reaction converting the rest of the core into nuclear fuel which would reach critical levels within a month. The Martians fled and left behind an accidental nuclar bomb with the size of a moon which detonated soon. The Martians thought this would also destroy human civilizations but they warded off most of the danger by an experimental shield they were working on for a while. That's my idea.
Okay maybe the martians aren't a good idea. They sound really cartoony which is totally out of place in a RP where everything's supposed to more 40K or Dune in terms of style. That other space RP where I had a species of telekinetic balls would've been more fitting for them if it wasn't for Aaron being all philosophical.
Yeah, as if 40k is in any way a serious or grounded setting. Not to mention what I said about Martians turning the planet's core into a reactor is far less BS than many of the technologies pesent in 40k. Yeah, I'd fit in just fine.
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