Hey guys! So me and Matt were talking this afternoon, and we came up with an idea for an interim project that we thought to write while Mike works on the boards. We plan to do it here on Moogle Club.
It’s going to take place on a holdover from Ancient Kupopolis (circa 1996): Avalon, the first offworld colony settled by Carrion ages ago. Avalon was a mysteriously Earth-like world had a number of small settlements created on it; the technology level is lower here, as people settled around 24-25 WR. Since then, it’s become something of a myth and legend, as the Carrionese Space Force eventually became outshadowed and then largely destroyed by Knossos’s scheming in the New Wraith incident. Avalon itself has been obscured by mists and gas clouds in the Carrion system.
It has a lot of potential, as different parts of the Web settled there, with small settlemenets. We would pick up in 52 WR, when a SAGA ship that sided with Celiose in the Grand Army Civil War is shot down by White Cell forces. It crashes down on Avalon, near a settlement we’re focusing on; we have people from the modern Web mixing with the descendants of these original settlers.
And, it so happens, White Cell sends some people to Avalon to follow them, throwing them into conflict with the settlers and GA survivors, as all parties must contend with Avalon’s great secret – one as ancient as the Web itself…
It’ll be a smaller scale thing, focused on one world, that we’ll write over the next few months; it gets us writing, with new characters and a new world. It can come into play in Kupopolis as a whole after we get that going. Let us know if you have questions! We figure that our shipwrecked Grand Army personnel – and whoever else was aboard the SAGA cruiser Reinhardt– arrive at the town of Grand Casar, a long-established settlement that almost forgot the Web exists.
A SAGA Aquitane class battleship, the Reinhardt is one of the largest Grand Army capital ships aside from the Executor. The Aquitanes are usually placed in charge of large fleet groups and task forces. Most of these large ships were snatched up by General Velasco when he betrayed the Web and threw in his lot with White Cell, but Reinhardt’s captain, a moogle named Kuorum, remained loyal to Celiose and the Grand Army, and for a time the Reinhardt’s battle group was able to maintain a solid hold on most of Carrionspace.
However, eventually, the White Cell fleet was able to pour more resources into securing the Carrion Dimension, and little by little Reinhardt’s fleet was chipped away. In the last skirmish Reinhardt participated in, the entire fleet was wiped out, and Reinhardt, crippled, had to flee or be destroyed.
In its hurried escape, the ship came across an uncharted nebula near the edge of the system (diametrically opposite the travel strand, on the far side of the 9th orbital). Kuorum’s plan was to enter the nebula and even the playing field: Reinhardt’s systems were damaged, navigation crippled and sensors near blinded, but within the swirl of dust, gas and ice crystals, they would be on equal footing with their pursuers.
Unfortunately, what they did not know was that the nebula was hiding a forgotten secret: the world of Avalon. Blinded, the Reinhardt didn’t see the planet until it was too late, and by that time the ship’s damaged engines couldn’t muster the strength to pull out of the world’s gravitational pull. The only hope for the Reinhardt and all aboard was to attempt an emergency landing.
Touching down was rougher than expected; many injured, some dead (including Captain Kuorum). The ship itself damaged to the point that it would be unrealistic to expect that she’d fly again.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Characters from the Reinhardt
While the people living on Avalon are from the Great War era of Kupopolis, the crew of the Reinhardt have been a part of the Web of Worlds’ storylines that have unfolded in the time since. This is the vehicle by which we introduce characters from the modern Web into this place that the Web of Worlds forgot: they can be from any world or corner of the story we currently have as of the GA Civil War.
Who are these people? GA soldiers? Refugees taken aboard by the Reinhardt in its fight against White Cell?.. White Cell infiltrators? It’s up to you to decide who you’re bringing aboard the Reinhardt to take part in Kupopolis: Avalon.
Grand Casar was built by the founders of the first settlements on Avalon, and as the Avalon settlements grew it came to be the de facto (and later official) capital of the colony. Grand Casar is a modest city (evidencing, at best, Great War era levels of technology), sprawling on its edges and leading up to a proper walled castle at its center. Walking across a stone-and-metal bridge into the heart of the castle city, you’re flanked on either side by grand statues of the main backers of the settlement effort: King Alexnader Sylinas of Hyrule, King Cyan Garamonde of Doma, King Phiott Whitehammer of the Underground Kingdom, King Margayya Lasala of Pandora, King Kaiten Menhir of Winlan and King Crimson Menhir of the Kingdom of Carrion.
In the 30 years since the first landing, most connections to the Web have disappeared from Avalon, and the turmoil in Carrion has caused this place to be almost forgotten by the outside in turn. The settlements expanded, and while the mix of races and nationalities kept some vestiges of their native cultures over the years, the people ultimately grew to forget their home nations and regard only Avalon as their own country.
Survival here hasn’t always been easy: the native flora and fauna proved initially challenging, and diseases found easy prey among the settlers (without the aid of the medical technologies being developed in the outside Web), but absent those bumps in the road, life on Avalon has been idyllic and peaceful, with none of the wars of the Web encroaching to disrupt the harmonious existence these people have found.
Of course, that was all set to change one fateful day… when the flaming hulk of a GA battleship fell from the sky, landing in a terrible shower of scorched earth and burning trees mere miles from the outskirts of Grand Casar…
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Characters from Grand Casar
The characters here (from both Grand Casar, and from elsewhere on Avalon) are of two sorts: the original inhabitants (who settled the planet during the mid 20s WR) or their children (who have had three decades to grow without knowing the constant wars of the outside Web). They come from all of the places we knew back then: Crystal, Dragon, Esper, Light, Mana, Carrion, Kuvalla and Foo. They might know something of the history of the Web before they came here, but then again they might not (since it has never had the opportunity to affect them as a result of their isolation).
How do these people react to the survivors of the crash? Curiosity? Fear? Hostility? Do they trust the newcomers? What’s more: do they have any reason to side with the Grand Army loyalists once the White Cell ships start landing in the wake of the Reinhardt’s crash?
ETA: I can also unlock that post if you’d like to comment specifically there, that is A-OK with me. I didn’t want to overwhelm on commentable things but.
The nice ability of this forum software is that we can them subforums however we’d like. So if you guys want to make like a logo or a title or want any little blurbs of text for this project, let me know can set that up for ya.
The way the story would work is as follows: we’d open a new forum on moogle.club. Each new location would be a new message-thread within the forum.
Thus far, we know of two location threads that we’d start with:
-Grand Casar (the main city of the Avalon settlers)
-Wreck of the Reinhardt (the crashed GA ship; home of the crash survivors)
The geography of Avalon isn’t pre-determined; we know only that Avalon has an Earth-like climate, and there are probably temperate forests and grasslands in the general vicinity of Grand Casar. But are there mountains? Specific forests? Other nearby settlements? Maybe a coastline with a fishing village, or a mountain town with access to a mine?
The story’s flow will very much follow the whim of the people who participate, so post any ideas here!
My idea, still in rough form, is to look at the one Malakim pilot who didn’t side with Hannibal and accompanied the SAGA ships. Her Sera-T is intact, but she’s hoofing it most of the time because a Seraphim would be a hell of a thing to use against an unsuspecting world without as much technology. She’s about 40 years old and has a kid.
And then a second generation colonist, born on Avalon, who finds her when she lands. I’m still working him out. He’s probably younger, with parents from elsewhere in the Web. Adventures will happen.
Hey guys, so I’m trying to go back and review the white cell, stuff and I’m a little lost, I may have glosses over a certain detail in the last 600 posts we generated. The Malakim, I think it was said that they splintered leading up to the SAGA/SRAN fight. Was it some went with SAGA while some went to join SRAN forces, or did they generally just disband?
I’m kinda trying to develop what I want to do with my one Malakim character Gallus. I have an idea of what I’d like to do with him but I want to make sure it fits with the direction things are going.
Also, at the point where the participation fizzled, I was thinking that by then Seraphim R’s would become more common for Malakim pilots. (I had to go back and read what the differences where–the R models were the sleeker, sexier semi-invincible plastic robots that had some sort of anti-grav railgun-esque engines that let them fly into space. The Model-T where the originals that were repurposed workhorse semi-invincible plastic space robots with customizable parts for construction and defense.)
Oh! I figure the Malakim split; a whole lot went with Hannibal since he’s a charismatic leader and whatnot, but I figure at least one – maybe more – split off to go with the Grand Army proper rather than White Cell.
And that makes sense, that they would use Sera-R’s instead of Sera-T’s. Sleeker, built for war, et cetera.
What I have so far is a young man (16-25, still deciding on age) from Grand Casar, who has a chance encounter with some dangerous wildlife that he survives. However, after a wound festers, he begins to develop strange symptoms, and questions just what exactly is happening to him.
[quote=“michael”]Hey guys, so I’m trying to go back and review the white cell, stuff and I’m a little lost, I may have glosses over a certain detail in the last 600 posts we generated. The Malakim, I think it was said that they splintered leading up to the SAGA/SRAN fight. Was it some went with SAGA while some went to join SRAN forces, or did they generally just disband?
I’m kinda trying to develop what I want to do with my one Malakim character Gallus. I have an idea of what I’d like to do with him but I want to make sure it fits with the direction things are going.
Also, at the point where the participation fizzled, I was thinking that by then Seraphim R’s would become more common for Malakim pilots. (I had to go back and read what the differences where–the R models were the sleeker, sexier semi-invincible plastic robots that had some sort of anti-grav railgun-esque engines that let them fly into space. The Model-T where the originals that were repurposed workhorse semi-invincible plastic space robots with customizable parts for construction and defense.)[/quote]
It’s not SAGA/SRAN… most of SAGA joins White Cell, while some of them get shot down to provide fodder for mini-IS sidestories. About half of SRAN up and leaves to go to the extra-Web colony everyone forgot about, while the rest go rejoin the Esper Union. The Battle of Dragonspace is a BIG battle, comprising pretty much everyone with any spaceships vs. White Cell. … Kind of like the end of Independence Day. (and I now hate myself for making that analogy…)
So I’m thinking – and I’d like to hear from others – that I’ll try to set-up forums tonight or tomorrow for this, if people would like. I’m thinking of doing sub-forums as location threads for it, since that would probably be the best way to approach it? I’m open to other ideas.
I also wanted a quick poll of who’s interested, who’s not, and the like. Make sure a mini-IS will get people! Also, given the ease with which these mini-ISes can be made, I am absolutely okay with doing Avalon and the Battle of Dragonspace at once, and would be happy to get both set-up.
[quote=“Tex”]So I’m thinking – and I’d like to hear from others – that I’ll try to set-up forums tonight or tomorrow for this, if people would like. I’m thinking of doing sub-forums as location threads for it, since that would probably be the best way to approach it? I’m open to other ideas.
I also wanted a quick poll of who’s interested, who’s not, and the like. Make sure a mini-IS will get people! Also, given the ease with which these mini-ISes can be made, I am absolutely okay with doing Avalon and the Battle of Dragonspace at once, and would be happy to get both set-up.
And/or cry to Mike for assistance.[/quote]
I know that I’ve been in the “just do it!” camp of late, but how about we hold the launch date until Friday/Saturday-ish? It feels more appropriate to wait for a weekend to launch, but in deference to people who may be just as busy on the weekends, Friday seems an apt compromise? But, that said, I’m all for doing this thing.
Also, let’s focus on just one mini-IS at a time – recall that as we were coming back to moogle.club and talking about Kupopolis, many people mentioned that there was too much to pay attention to all at once on the Proper boards toward the end. Better to ease in and adjust than go 110% full-bore with two brand-spanking new side stories.
Three rough character sketches for the Avalon project:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Doctor Kesar Paine - The engineering chief of the Reinhardt, Paine is one of the few command officers who survived the crash. Paine is not a soldier; he is a physicist from Guardia who received a special commission back when SAGA was first launched (as scientists who knew how to maintain SAGA’s ships were needed in order to run the fleet). Paine takes a very real interest in getting to know the Avalonians and, as a scientist, has taken the view that learning about Avalon’s history, ecology and archaeology should be a priority for the Reinhardt survivors.
Oberleutnant Arn Kestrich - Arn is a one-eyed Forest Clanner and the security chief of the Reinhardt. A grizzled veteran Grenadier, awarded the Golden Sun for heroism under fire during the Hivan War, transferring to shipboard security in SAGA was his idea of retirement. He is less interested in diplomacy and scholarship than Dr. Paine: having re-established contact with the Avalonian settlers, Arn believes the crash survivors should be taking command and fortifying the settlement. While it’s unclear whether Avalon falls under the GA Charter, given the parent nations of the colonists haven’t heard from them for a generation, Arn is choosing to err on the side of inclusivity and assume that the SAGA officers are entitled to make themselves at home in anticipation of the arrival of White Cell on this newly rediscovered world.
Private Valentina Velasco - The daughter of General Velasco, Valentina is a recent graduate of SAGA academy and one of the Reinhardt’s helmsmen. In the rush to launch their initiative to secure the Web, Velasco attempted to have his daughter assigned to a White Cell friendly ship, but she was stationed aboard the Reinhardt instead. Valentina knows nothing of her father’s plans, only that her ship has come under fire and was forced to make an emergency landing on an uncharted planet in Carrionspace. Many among the crew look to Valentina as a leader because of her famous father, but just as many also regard her with suspicion, as a potential traitor, because of her father’s affiliation with White Cell.
