New addition to TALOS!

You guys might get a good kick out of it this time!

Ancient Pantheons: Real Origins
The different mythologies of Earth describe and ascribe a wide range of attributes and qualities to the things they call gods. Proposition: Each pantheon is a entirely different kettle of fish to the other.

Greek
The Primordial Entities were abstract concepts born from the share unconscious of humanity that gained sapience. They spawned entities from themselves and these entities spawned entities, each generation becoming progressively less of a primordial force of nature and more human. They never quite shook off the characteristics of being the literal representation of something.

Norse
Terrestrial creatures of flesh and blood. Very mighty, very long lived but more super-human in nature than something otherwordly and divine. There may even be an explanation to their origin more grounded in science than magic, but that's up for debate. Cosmic rays might have been involved. They did dick off to their own pocket dimension some time ago.

Egyptians
Aliens.
Definitely aliens.
Calling it now, they were aliens.

Since pharoahs were considered to be gods in human form, where would that fit in with the idea of Egyptian-pantheon-as-aliens?

There are a lot of possible explanations. Shapeshifters, human/alien hybrids, First Prime, off the top of my head.

Well, comparatively all cultures had different ideas of what a deity is. For example, Greek gods were very like mortals, while Japanese ones are more like spirits. I'm all in favor of the Kitchen Sink approach; all Myths are true, except those that contradict modern science so, no creation myth of the World or Man is true.

This brings about a point re: religion. As a Humanist, I'm not opposed to using figures from currently-existing religions. However, I do not want to offend anyone. So if we, as a group, vote for it, I might limit things to dead religions only

Would Aztec Mythology be Eldritch Abominations?

edited 21st Feb '17 7:09:43 PM by emilyorthoclase

With whatever kind of exception Quetzalcoatl was.

Well in the RIFTS settings, they are! Kinda. To be specific, in RIFTS South America in under the control of vampires, who in turn were created by an Abomination.

Mesoamerican deities were unique in that blood sacrifices were believed necessary to literally sustain the stars. Not so much an evil act as a necessary one. Except of course that doesn't apply here, so either the gods were evil or (better yet) we skip the whole heart-ripping deal. Except maybe in a few cases. Certainly, Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcan was an exception in any case.

Well, if we go the Lovecraftian route, then it's not that they're evil, they just have a vastly different system of morality from that of humans.

The Uxthon Federation

The echtels, the people of the planet Uxthon, or Uxthonians, known to a select few humans as the prudens opifex or "prudent fabricators", represent a post-FTL Stage 2 civilization. This means that, for the most part, the entire species is still united under a single government and culture. They are the survivors of a terrible war they wrought upon themselves that nearly ended in their extinction. Instead, it ended in peace and unity, allowing them to turn to the stars.

The entire species are a species of Mr. Mad's, meaning they have displayed two distinct traits that nonetheless appear to be one. They can instinctually engineer machinery and the like, fabricating "gadgets" that work fine on their own. They refer to this as "natural science". Also, they can create thing that should not work but are allowed to by subtle or unsubtle tweaks to natural laws, fabricating fantastic "devices" with dubious reliability. They refer to this as "dark science".

A large portion of their culture is dedicated to the supression of this later ability. Everything an echtel makes is carefully tested, dismanted and rebuilt until as much device has been removed and only a "gadget" remains. This has made the progress of their technology erratic, advancing leaps and bounds in some fields and screeching to a halt in others for unpredictable periods of time.

If they so pleased to, they could fill in the gaps their intuition had yet to fill with "dark science", doing with the unreal what the real cannot yet. They don't, for it was the reckless use of "dark science" during the last great war that they blame for the near extinction of their species. It's this ingrained historical fear that had lead them to the suppression of their abilities.

Instead, they seek to use their abilities and technology wisely, not only for their betterment but for the betterment of the galaxy at large. They have a purpose in this galaxy, a place that must be carefully, nurtured until it blooms into a wonderful fruit bearing flower. Cautiously nurtured, lest their people be remembered as a blight upon the galaxy. They are all of one mind about this.

All of them.

No dissenters.

No'sirree.

Edit: Oh, uh, shoot, I just realized I forgot to describe their physiology. So, okay, they're like these fuzzy humanoid bears with thick shaggy coats that range between black and brown and the rare albino white. Add in quite a few cybernetic as just common among them.

edited 22nd Feb '17 6:18:00 PM by God_of_Awesome

So are they like a hive mind?

If they get accepted, I think Emp might get a new motivation... :V

We will learn about the dissenters shortly.

As for Emp and her species, if the Uxthonians thought they were going to have to deal with them then it's in their capacity to take measures.

Although, the the enlightenment inspired Uxthonians might aim for a solution that's beneficial to them.

So I now got a old Warbot in here.

Who wishes to be the reason why he got out?

Where exactly was he being held?

US Army warehouse in Easton.

Hmm... I'm considering having Emp be responsible; she'd likely be interested in all the tech they keep there, after all. Plus, it'd be amusing to see her attempt to 'steal' him backfire on her. Probably by means of a metal boot to the face.

Incidentally, RICK reminds me of Prototype JACK◊ from the Tekken games, which I appreciate, even if it was unintentional.

edited 22nd Feb '17 4:51:05 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

The Invasion

Earth

A pre-FTL planet still within Stage I Disunity. It is considered valuable for its high volume of metabeings, high sapient population density and largely untapped background mystical radiation. Anyone who would seek to exploit one or more of these resources would be hard pressed to find a more prime target than this planet. As such, Earth was placed under the protection of the Galactic Commune. A security grid was placed just within the very edge of where the sun's gravity field severely reduced almost all forms of FTL. With a small fleet versed in delaying tactics stationed nearby, it was thought that there would sufficient time to respond to any invading force.

The Macrame Junta

A militant culture splintered from a psychic species that long ago achieved Stage 3 Disunifcation. The Macramians were a proud warrior race, unafraid to sacrifice a few of the spare bodies of their individual hive minds for the good of the state. They were one of those people who had a rather serious line of thinking that they were the destined rulers of the galaxy.

They had fallen on hard times, their influence upon the galactic stage was shrinking and their ability to support themselves was waning. In the midst of this unrest, a figure arose promising to return her people to glory. She rallied enough support and was able to ascend to the position of Supreme Commander. She made to do precisely as she had promised, with all the aggression and fervor that had won her the position in the first place.

She led the Junta from one disaster to another. She made war where even the militant minded Macramians would have sought peace. She brokered deals with powers that her people would have rather seen exterminated. The core of supporters remained strong, but her popularity waned around the edges and her dissenters began to gather momentum.

In desperation, she declared her plan to campaign against a thought-to-be-untouchable planet. The Junta would be able to exploit the meta-genetic potential of the natives, splice it into the Macramians and turn them into a species of super-beings that would ascend to their rightful place atop the galaxy. All of this would be done with the help of some choice allies. Some rather controversial allies.

The Void Consortium

There was a innately magical species from an age ago that never managed to unite their people before they took off for the stars. Slipping between the cracks of competing nations and cultures were the dregs, the scums and rejects; pirates, terrorists, murders and the fanatics of dark powers. Somehow they found solace in one another and didn't immediately implode into infighting. Over strange generations, they synthesized into their own culture, a roving band of exactly whom they descended from and practitioners of the foulest arts their species had ever concieved.

This was quite the unusual collection of the very worst a single species had ever had to offer and their continue pressence was a blight upon the reputation of the rest of their species. With the aid of the Galactic Commune, the splintered species assembled an international task force, The Sufficient Trust. Over centuries, The Trust evolved into its own entity, existing apart from the nations of its species and dedicated to the cause of wiping the Consortium from existence.

The Void Consortium stylized themselves as businessmen but business had not been doing so good lately. The knoose of the Sufficient Trust drew tighter every cycle and the flow of blood sacrifices grew dry. Though they could still slingshot their way around through the Setting of the Shadow and hide in pocket dimensions made from darkness, they increasingly found that was all they had.

They were contacted by the Supreme Commander of the Macrame Junta with a business opportunity. In exchange for the Consortium's aid, the Junta would secure an entire planet's worth of sapient lives as fodder for their blood soaked alters. The only reservation they had was that the meta-enhanced specimens be left to them and their other partner. The Consortium, desperate, agreed.

The Cult Of Najox

A secret society of echtels that believed the Uxthonian way of life was stiffling to the true potential of their species. They followed the supposed teachings of the disgraced and deceased Grand Meritor Najox The Plutocrat. They were adepts of the dark sciences, freely experimenting with engines of unreality fueled by their imaginations alone. The strongest of them ruled the rest with their indomitable inventions.

It became their goal to garner sufficient power and backing so that they might overthrow the Federation that fearfully crippled their people and lead them towards a glorious, unfettered future. Failing that, they'd settle for just being allowed to emerge from the shadows and establish themselves as an independent sovereign nation, beginning the echtels' shift in Stage III Disunification.

The Macrame Junta's Supreme Commander promissed them this backing. In exchange, the Cult would collaborate with the Junta and the Consortium build their back door to Earth around the Commune's protection, supply the Junta with specialized weaponry during the invasion and afterwards collaborate with the Junta in adding the meta-genetic power of Earth's supers to the Macramians. It was this first and third task that especially interested the Cult, presenting them with an opportunity of reckless experimentation. Along with the promise of backing their future power grab, the Cult of Najox was drawn into the strange alliance.

The Invasion

By combining the Consortium's knowledge of dimensional jumping, the Junta's psychic mastery and the Cult's unreal technology, the world seeker engine was built. It would allow them to key in on the concentrated presence of sapient minds upon a densely populated planet and use those very minds as an anchor. Through this method, they could ignore the normal FTL disruptions caused by the gravity of a nearby star and portal directly onto the planet. The size of the portals limited the Junta to just ground troops, but it was decided that that would be enough.

The beginning stages of the invasion were performed undercover, via espionage. During that short period of time, TALOS fought a secret war they did not fully know the scope of. The Mystics Department was baffled by completely knew kinds of sorcery, the guys up in Technology couldn't make heads or tails of machinery that didn't seem to need to make sense and the people from Psi found themselves hampered by ancient minds.

What one must understand is the Junta, especially it's leader at the time, were not really oriented for this kind of warfare. They acknowledged its necessity, but they were a proud warrior race, bred for the battlefield. Their allies were a secret cult of shady mad scientists and dark wizard space pirates, and they councilled for the cloak-and-dagger approach to be stretched on as long as possible.

The Junta rightly feared that dancing around like this risked the plot becoming uncovered and the element of surprise being lost. Besides, the primary goal, silencing the agents of the Commune, had been succesful. To an extent, they were right, as TALOS was beginning to put the piece together and had been on the edge of blowing the lid off the whole thing. However, the Consortium and Cult's councilled patience may have been able to overcome that, but the Supreme Commander declared an end to this phase of the war and ordered the beginning of the invasion proper.

The Cult Of Najox withheld the direct support of their personel from this stage of the war, but their strange machines made an appearance, often operated by a soldier of the Junta. The Macrame Junta operated as a proper military, portalling in on military and government targets for swift decapitating strikes. They through their bodies fearlessly into the fray, for each hive mind knew it had others to spare.

As for non-combatants, some of the Junta gunned down civillians as readily as enemy forces while others followed protocol and treated captured civillians and surrendering combatants with a modicum of decency. Largely, this reflected on how closely the unit in question were in line with the politics of the current Supreme Commander.

The Void Consortium, however, targetted civilian populations. They were pirates and raiders, and all the interested them was the taking of slaves and the terrorizing of the innocent. Here, they cut loose and finally were able to revel in the slaughter. Here, some Junta units finally got a good look and whom they had allied themselves with and could take no more of it. Sparse pockets of combat erupted between allies, holes in the offensive the defenders easily took advantage of.

TALOS had figured out the means by which the invaders were appearing on Earth and how to hijack these portals to take the fight to them. Mostly rallying around these points of "friendly fire", TALOS agents were able to recruit a number of crack commandos and mercenaries willing to fight for IOU's under the circumstance, heroes, anti-heroes and even villains willing to put their lives on the line for the greater good.

In the ensuing chaos, many different battles were fought, sacrifices were made. The Hunter sacrificed his free will to the Monster and tore nine kinds of Hell through the invaders. The bearer of the red crystal before the Red Child, an unknown up until that point, revealed himself and just as quickly disappeared again, dragging chunks of the invading forces with him into a paradox with his strange mastery over time. Dragoknight was convinced to relinquish his policy against killing and demonstrated the full wrath of the Conqueror. And seriously, where are all these robots coming from?

Somewhere in the world, there is the young elementary school boy who would become Amethyst. Elsewhere, the beautiful young boy who would transform into the Mongrel. The girl who had yet to manifest the powers that would mark her as Victus. They watched the television with rapt attention as the news babbled on about unknown parties attacking military bases and government seats. Some attention is being paid to a sudden surge in just the past hour alone of things stalking the shadows, rapidly disappearing civilians or messily butchering them, leaving police and heroes tied up trying to track them down. It's speculated that the two are related, especially when the unknown parties are spotted breaking from their initial attack and begin battling all manners of horrors that are suddenly revealed to be slithering through the cities.

The Void Consortium, feeling the heat as not a few super, military and even civvy forces begin to rally back at them with some success, prove unable to stomach protracted conflict. Crying foul at the rogue units of the Macrame Junta that turned against them, the Consortium withdraws its forces in the haphazard manner of their kind. Most of them, anyway. They also get set to backstabbing the Junta right back, pilfering some world seeking engines for themselves and capturing Junta citizens.

The Supreme Commander leads each front of the conflict personally, each of her bodies present to issue commands from her hive mind. One body is killed by a Consortium assasin, with an arcane poison that begins infecting the thoughts of her whole self. After that, the other fronts collapse one-by-one and in none of them to the defenders of Earth manage to take her prisoner, nor do they allow her to escape. The final fight takes places upon the Junta's fleet, parked just outside the boundaries of Earth's solar system, as close as possible before they portal in. Earth's counteroffensive involves a rampaging monstrosity empowered by the ur-rampaging monstrosity from before the dawn of time, so you know you're pretty fucked then.

Earth's defenders then fought the Junta upon their turf and the Macramians pushed that advantage to the hilt. These human boarders were repelled from most of the ships, including the flag ship. However, unfortunately, very sad, the Supreme Commander's final body was slain during the battle. Mysteriously, she died on the bridge, which no boarder had managed to get to, with a burning hole in the back of her head.

Terribly wounded, crippled in some cases, and bereft of their allies, the Junta mounted an organized retreat. This retreat ended up smacking face first into a Star Corps fleet. It seemed TALOS had been able to smuggle at least one Commune agent to safety and at least one counteroffensive boarding had been a front to access the Junta's communication arrays and send a distress signal.

Aftermath

In all, the Invasion took place in under a week. The whole was a chaotic mess, for both sides really. For Earth, a mess of conflicting reports drowned each other out. Aliens was one of the bigger theories, especially with the joint TALOS-governments investigation afterwards looking a lot like a cover-up to some, lots of bodies and wreckage being taken away to god-knows-where. Of those who participated in the counter-offensive, many didn't know precisely who it was they fought, so quick and an anarchic had been the melees. A lot of them said "Aliens" though. Other conflicting accounts muddied the issue however.

So, did Earth get invaded by aliens? Maybe, probably, most definitely but possibly not. It was definitely some organized force that struck all around the world simultaneous, with bizarre technology and abilities, and a dubious claim of humanity at best. Mutants? I bet it was those dirty metahumans, finally rising up and trying to overthrow humanity once and for all.

The new Supreme Commander took a stance of conciliation, and surrendered her people and government fully to the judgement of the Commune. Under heavy censure, occupation and dismantling, they endure a shame and supression that will last them for several of their very long generations. The Void Consortium disappeared into the shadows once more. However, so heavy a tip of their hands gave the Sufficient Trust some very good leads that tightens the knoose around them ever more. The Cult Of Najox escaped mostly intact, losing only a little bit of their secrecy as knowledge the Junta revealed pointed in their direction but they covered their track well-enough.

Both the Cult and the Consortium managed to leave agent on Earth. The Cult has little interest in conquering the planet, but are highly interested in continuing the experiments set upon them by the Junta. They wish to see if the metagenetic potential of the native populace might be harvested for personal use. The Consortium doesn't precisely want to rule the planet, but they see the meaty center of an oyster they just learned how to slip past the shell of. Plans haven't been ironed out yet, between a second global invasion or periodic undercover raids or what, but the agents of the Consortium wait patiently, plotting and planting the seeds for whatever scheme.

Both parties are capable of waiting patiently, playing this game of cloak and dagger for a long time.

"Stealing of US Military Property. Force is authorized!" *KICK!*

"OWWWWW OW OW OW OW! NOT NICE! NOT NICE!" :V

Incidentally, I was just rifling through my many NPC concepts, and I had a thought; you know the Gods of the modern age? Do they only have one avatar each, or can they have several?

GOA: Once again, you prove your ability to produce excellent world-building material. And for the record guys, it was I who asked him to expand upon The Invasion- I felt this was an event too important to the setting. Feel free to have your characters connected to it if you want to.

And sure, have RICK and EMP interact, it sounds fun!

As for the Gods of the Modern Age, you would have to ask the concept's creator but I believe it's just one? Though maybe its just one at a time.

edited 22nd Feb '17 6:09:29 PM by Sijo

Oh! Although I originally envisioned them having one Avatar each, I see no reason they couldn't have several. In fact, it's probably more likely that they would have several, seeing as Avatars are their only real means of interacting with the material plane, indirect though it may be.

Although having multiple Avatars for the same god would result in the Avatars themselves being less powerful.

edited 22nd Feb '17 6:25:08 PM by PossiblyQuiteInsane

Well then Stalkeyes. Start it up! Start up stealing RICK!

Suggestion: Emp finds the hidden army warehouse while fleeing from the train robbery.

Gotcha!

Makes sense to me. I may have to cycle the idea around a bit more.

edited 22nd Feb '17 6:31:22 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

Developmental Stages Of Space Faring Races

I keep mentioning this a lot with an alien race, that they are Stage I, II or III type species. Well, now I'm going to clarify what in the hell I mean by that.

If you can't tell, inspiration is taken from Stellaris, a game I've never played but watched a lot.

Disunity: Stage I

This is normally considered the pre-FTL stage as the common wisdom of the galaxy is that it takes the back of an entire species to break that final barrier between the stars. If you can't tell, Earth and humanity are considered to still be within this stage.

The species from whom the Void Consortium descend are one of the unusual cases of a race that never moved past this stage. The FTL spell was discovered by just one of their cultures, but was so "loud" that everyone on the planet heard it. Next thing you know, everyone's packing their component pouched and tomes of eldritch lore, jumping into their spelljammers to go for the stars.

The fact that the Void Consortium formed from this is considered an argument in favor of, say, never allowing a species to development FTL without getting their shit together first. The other dozen handful of space-faring species that never made it past this stage would disagree.

Unification/Unity: Stage II

This one here has a number of different origin stories, but here are three of the most common.

The Ulthonax Federation were united by enlightenment ideals of peace and brotherhood. The fact that they are survivors of a pointless war that nearly drove their species to extinction is an oft-heard story, but not everyone needs to go through that. Sometimes it's a charismatic semi-messianic individual who preaches for love and actually succeeds.

The Macrame Junta will tell you that their species was once united when one nation/culture successfully mounted a war of world conquest and crushed every other contender beneath their heel. This story isn't at all unusual, but in this case is clearly being filtered and distorted by the Macramians' military culture.

If the singular nation/culture that had managed to craft the FTL spell had also managed to keep it quiet, the Void Consortium might never have formed. In that case, that single species could have used the sheer economic power that this would have granted them in the long-run and dominate the rest of the world. Essentially, the rest of the species would have been dragged in their wake.

Disunification: Stage III

Space. Is. BIG. Once you go out there, it becomes impossible to restrain a species to one culture or government for an indefinite amount of time. Dissidents are free to pack their shit and dick of into literally any direction to start their own nation with blackjack and hookers. Eventually, some of them will not just forget about the nation and the blackjack and actually succeed.

This was the case of Applique Empire that had originally united its people by means of conquest. It had withered away into a vestigial state, bled dry by the growing rogue state of the Intarsia Republic. The death knell to this Empire was when a second break away state, disgusted by the growing indolence and complacency of the Appliquey people, went off to form the Macrame Junta. They vowed to do as the Applique had once tried and reunite their people, nay, the whole galaxy under the rule of arms.

The Ulthonax Federation is already beginning to feel the touch of this stage. The oppressive attributes of their cultures are partly responsible for the formation of the rogue and radical dissidents of the Cult Of Najox. The Cult itself has no desire to bring about this stage, and in fact want to bring their people together again under their ideas. However, the galaxy has heard this same tired story before, and have a pretty good idea about how it will end.