Glories of Infinity

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Czernobog
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Glories of Infinity

Post by Czernobog »

Glories of Infinity

It is the Year of Our Lord 1928...but the history is not our own. It has been 30 years since the War of the Worlds – a mere ten since the bloody end of the Great War, which was fought amidst the planets of the Solar System – in Venus’ jungles, on the green hills of Earth, on the hell that is Mercury, on the silver surface of the moon, and on the rocky deserts of Mars. Now, the fragile peace remains unbroken, but whether it shall remain so, cannot be discerned. Now, begin the journey of a lifetime...

The Solar System


The Solar System is a big place. From the Empire of Russia-in-exile to the savage Throgs of the Martian wastelands, one can see its magnificent beauty everywhere you look. The big players in the Solar System are:

The United States of America
, a vast power relatively undamaged by the Great War and the War of the Worlds, and was also one of the key players in the Counterattack, having several large colonies and a space elevator known colloquially as ‘the Ladder to Heaven’.

The British Empire
, not yet undimmed or fallen, yet has paid a great price to win the War of the Worlds and the Great War. At Mars, you can see the Pyramid of Heroes – every name on it the name of a British soldier who died in either the War of the Worlds or the Counterattack of 1905.

The German Empire, possessing a great military to police its colonies, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial, and a sizeable starfleet, reigns over several large colonies and has a major starstation floating high in orbit over its African territories.

The Soviet Union
, existing mainly on Earth but with approximately a few dozen Lunar and Martian colonies, a new power dedicated to spreading Communism to the masses outside Earth.

And last but not least, the Empire of Russia-in-exile, possessing no territory on Terran soil, but with a large base of colonies and starships, military or otherwise, from the old Empire of Russia. It dreams of retaking back the land stolen from it by the Bolsheviks – but with a young and inexperienced ruler, can it even survive?

There are other space-faring powers, of course, but these are the Great Powers that decide the course of the future.

Alien Races


There are many species outside Earth, some hostile, some friendly. This lists and briefly summarises them.

The Octopoids are the species that attacked Earth during the War of the Worlds, and were driven off Mars by the Counterattack. Octopoid in shape (hence the name), with metallic tripods and spider-machines as their primary weapons of war, they proved vulnerable to Earthly diseases and were forced to flee to whatever far reaches they came from during the Counterattack.

The Crimson Lords
or High Martians, dwell in ancient, dying cities of rust-red rock, built on the high mountains of Mars. They sometimes use Throgs as slaves, and conflicts between them and humans constantly threaten to escalate into all-out war. They are thought to be the original inhabitants of Mars, as their oldest histories tell of a time before the Octopoids or the Throgs.

The Mercurians dwell on the volcanic hell that is Mercury, and as a consequence are massive beings of looming black rock, with channels of molten lava running through their body and incredible strength. The oldest Mercurians are the size of hills – such creatures can only be fought against by artillery, yet another factor that makes Mercury incredibly hazardous to colonise.

The Throgs
are a proud race who dwell in nomadic warrior bands, and rebelled en masse against the Octopoids during the Counterattack. They have tales that they were once a grander civilisation, but whatever cities they built have long been buried under Mars’ blue seas and red sands.

The Venusians
are a mostly tribal species, with a religion that believes that they are one with nature. They dwell in Venus’s great and mostly unexplored jungles, fighting with each other and with the steadily-enroaching humans.

The Planets

Note: I’m not trying to be scientifically accurate here.

The planets currently known about and colonised by Man are listed and briefly summarised below:

Mercury is the spitting image of Hell. Volcanic dust blocks out the sun, while rivers and waterfalls of magma flow from great volcanoes into lakes and seas of molten rock. Not many colonies have been built on Mercury, as a result of both its distance from Earth and its hazardous atmosphere and surface, even its wildlife being primarily silicate.

Venus is a planet covered in jungle and water, humid and hot. It contains valuable metals, most notably Azurite, which repels gravity, and Herculeum which is used as armour on large vehicles and structures. As a result of this, corporations and governments on Venus are attempting to mine more, which puts them at odds with the natives.

The Moon
is home to many human colonies, mostly as a stopping point on the way to Mars or Venus. It is a barren silver desert, bereft of oxygen and life, and is thus not seen as immediately useful for the Great Powers.

Mars was once home to the Octopoids before they were driven back, and is still home to the Throgs and High Martians. Its red deserts cover many sites of ancient provenance, yet its valuable metals, such as Avernium and Martian Iron, are far more valuable to the many colonists that live on its surface.

Technology


Technology has changed the lives of most on earth – from the weapons of war that are heat-rays and lightning-throwers, to the Etherdrives used by spacecraft and the transcontinental jet-aircraft that are used by the rich and important to travel across the globe of Earth. Indeed, technology is very important to the Great Powers, at it allows them to further cement their hold on the Solar System. The War of the Worlds demonstrated that those with superior technology have a nigh-insurmountable advantage over those with lesser technologies, and thus the Great Powers are busy developing new and more deadly technologies every day.
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years.
You have little of account to show for your efforts.
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things.

And we shall do so again.
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speaker-to-trolls
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Re: Glories of Infinity

Post by speaker-to-trolls »

What happened to The Drums of War? that one was generating a lot of interest and seemed to be developing very well.

As for this one the Empire of Russia in Exile is interesting but otherwise everything else is a bit too vague and generic: Ancient crumbling Martian civilisation, primitive tribal Venusians, multiplanetary early 20th century imperialism extended out into the inner solar system. It's weird that these things seem generic, but if you read a lot of these kinds of ideas then they are.

I'd suggest that if you want to continue with this one instead of Drums of War you just take the 'what happens after the War of the Worlds?' idea and run with it. Just try to work out how the early 20th century would develope after the empires of the world have suffered an attack from alien invaders and now have some Martian technology to try to get to grips with. Maybe instead of spaceships they need to use gigantic cannon to fire space capsules between worlds. Maybe the empires of Earth use crude approximations of Martian walkers instead of tanks (not because they're actually better, but because the Martians used them, so they must be better!). And then on top of that add some other peoples of the solar system like sub Martian humanoids and Venusians and what have you.
"Little monuments may be completed by their first architects, but great ones; true ones leave their copestones to posterity. God keep me from completing anything."
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