Westworlds

[Siege]

And then the prophet spake ‘frack this, for I bloody well won’t leave well enough alone’. And lo, he did some writing up of Westworlds, and there was much rejoicing.

Well, that’s what I hope anyway. Some of the older folks may remember this ‘verse, some of the newer people might not have a clue. It’s an oldie though, and probably the universe dearest to my heart (yes, moreso than Old Familiars, though it’s a narrow victory).

The basic concept? Well, that can be summed up in three worlds: “cowboys in space”. There’s more to it, but I’ll let the rest of the thread speak for that. This’ll for the time being be treated as a notepad where I’ll hash out the concept. Westworlds has always existed in an odd kind of flux, with technologies and concepts coming and going, but if I’m to restart this ‘verse I’d like to first get some of the basics right. So, uh, saddle up, and ride on out.

Westworlds

Technology
“In the year of '39 assembled here the Volunteers
In the days when lands were few
Here the ship sailed out into the blue and sunny morn
The sweetest sight ever seen.”
- Traditional, regarding the Settlement*

Right, so everyone is probably familiar with the Wild West: single-action revolvers, breech-loading rifles, steam trains and horse-drawn carriages. For most of the frontier worlds, those are still pretty much the definition of ‘state of the art’.

But that’s not the end-all of technology in the Union. Starships exist and are somewhat commonplace at least in some places (and they look suspiciously like paddlewheel steamboats), the Cavalry makes use of levitating tanks, Vickers-style machine guns and atomic rail artillery, but men on horseback are still the main way to get to faraway places.

In the bustling cities of the core, industrialists have constructed steam-driven machine intellects with brains composed of punch-cards, zeppelins, difference engines, crude oil-spurting robots and other mechanical marvels. Franklin Cylinders produce essentially unlimited amounts of energy. Truly gifted weapons smiths can graft gun-hands and other mechanical limbs. All this is high-maintenance technology however, and so is infrequently seen outside of the more developed regions of the Union.

To sum it up: the tech base is rather eclectic.

Culture
“Well he put six strings on a maple stave
Stuck it on a slab o’ ash
Had the soul of a loser stuck in the pit
Sent it out to Johnny Cash.”
- Traditional, regarding the origin-myth of the guitar**

Alright, so the basics of Westworlds is basically an interplanetary Wild West, and its culture reflects that. Expect lots of saloons, gunfights in the streets, riding-on-out and guitarplay, particularly out on the frontier worlds. At the same time though the cities of the Core are more akin to 1910’s Chicago, the Cajun Moons are dominated by vodun and bluegrass, and traces of Indian (in this universe derived through ‘indy’ from the word ‘independent’) culture permeate the frontier.

Also, instead of a single continent being explored, the Union is exploring entire worlds. Which means that there’s going to be lots of emptiness. Some planets may not have more than a few cities on them, and those might very well be thousands of miles apart. The culture reflects this.

There’s a bunch of religions out on the frontier: voodoo and the Faith are the largest ones, but there’s a variety of (very valid) beliefs in spirits, gods and odd phenomena out there that meshes only to some extent with those religions. The religions of Westworlds get some things right, but they also get a lot of things wrong, which I feel is an important distinction with many ‘fantasy’ religions out there (which typically seem to be frighteningly correct in all their aspects, or utterly wrong, with preciously little in-between).

Westworlds is also rife with superstition, which isn’t all that strange, considering these are people who might find themselves on worlds completely devoid of other human life. After some time in an environment like that you’re bound to go a bit bonkers. Besides, there is a plethora of odd phenomena out there, so many of those superstitions are actually not superstitions at all (then again, just as many of them are). Again with the ambiguity!

Government & War
“Well, I feel like snapping,
My pistol in your face.
I'm gonna let the graveyard,
Be your resting place.”
- Traditional***

The human worlds are unified in what’s called the Union, which is ruled by a loose federal government lead by the First Senator. The Union has three main institutes: the Senate, which is the legislature of the Union; the Cavalry, which is its military; and the Ministry, essentially a group of frontiers preachermen with a bag of kick-ass tricks and a devotion to the will of the Maker.

In the not too distant past the Union fought a big war with some nasty aliens, which ended in the extermination of the aliens, much to the Senate’s dismay, at the hands of the leader of the Cavalry, Marshal Rikers Ulysses Washington. Since then, the Senate and the Cavalry have been in what’s essentially a Mexican stand-off: Washington thinks the Senate is a bunch of limp-wristed do-nothings, and the Senate things Washington is dangerously close to open mutiny. Relations are, therefore, sour.

There’s also friction between the Senate and some of the Union’s member worlds, particularly the Cajun Moons, which feel they aren’t getting much back for their tribute, and just might be better off independent. Conflicts ensue.

Then there’s a bunch of other aliens, typically called Sheen or Sha-heen, from the Cajun Les Chiens or dogs – raiding bands of humanoid coyotes who are a major pain in the ass for the Union and the main external threat. Their tech is generally better, but they’re disorganized and generally behave in what humans feel is a highly erratic fashion.

I’ve a few other ideas, but for now I’ll leave it at this. Updates are to follow.


* Actually ‘39’, by Queen
** Actually based on ‘Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods’, by Bill Kirchen
*** Actually ‘Pistol Slapper Blues’, by Rory Gallagher

[NoXion]

I like it as an introduction. Short and sweet. And of course it sounds very interesting.

What's the homeworld of the Union? Is it Earth?

[Booted Vulture]

Two words only to say:

HELL. YEAH.

[Siege]

I like it as an introduction. Short and sweet. And of course it sounds very interesting.

What's the homeworld of the Union? Is it Earth?

Nope. It's a world called Jefferson. I excised 'earth' from it sometime during a rehash way back when, because the word is just loaded with cultural meaning. Sticking the 'point of origin' on another world gives me vastly more creative freedom (or at least that's how I experience it).

Oh, and I see I forgot to mention a pretty critical thing here: it's possible to walk from one world to another, in certain places. There are mystical places, usually located in spots like deep deserts, remote forests or high up on mountain tops, where several spots located on several worlds dozens of light years apart* just kind of 'blend together', making it possible for the seasoned spirit-walker to cross from planet to planet without the use of a ship. It's not without its dangers of course, but hell - walking beats the hell out of spending months confined aboard a paddleboat on a perilous journey among the stars, right?

* Not that the Union knows what light years are. The concept that light even has a speed just hasn't surfaced yet.

[Mobius 1]

Much rejoicing indeed.

[speaker-to-trolls]

Oh, and I see I forgot to mention a pretty critical thing here: it's possible to walk from one world to another, in certain places. There are mystical places, usually located in spots like deep deserts, remote forests or high up on mountain tops, where several spots located on several worlds dozens of light years apart* just kind of 'blend together', making it possible for the seasoned spirit-walker to cross from planet to planet without the use of a ship. It's not without its dangers of course, but hell - walking beats the hell out of spending months confined aboard a paddleboat on a perilous journey among the stars, right?

Yeah, in theory it's better, if you are able to do this without being snapped up by some interdimensional shoggothoid monstrosity or wandering off aimlessly, forever lost in the desert between worlds or the desert between space and that which is not space, or whatever happens to the inexperienced spirit walker.

I will rejoice at this news, I always thought Westworlds was a nice concept, what I thought was cool in particular was the way that the Union is not based on Earth, or in other words, there's no real justification for there being cowboys and injuns in space. There are cowboys, there are indians, there are spaceships shaped like paddlesteamers, they are in space, that is the end of it. It's pure fantasy without any excuses.

Having said that, though, I have to ask: Why make a zeppelin when you have anti gravity?

[NoXion]

Having said that, though, I have to ask: Why make a zeppelin when you have anti gravity?

I'm surprised that you ask that. Surely zeppelins are their own justification?

[Invictus]

With Westworlds' uneven technological base, I imagine simple zeppelins would be the cheaper and safer optionin a lot of cases.

[Ford Prefect]

Levitors were interesting because they worked by pushing against the spirit world, and they were pretty high technology, as I recall.

And as an aside this is totally kicking news.

[Magister Militum]

IT LIVES!!!! It's nice to see that you decided on bringing Westworlds back in all its glory. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this little gem.

[Shroom Man 777]

There is only one appropriate expression for this:


YEEEEEEHAW!!!!


And using anti-grav is bad for zeppelins. Levitators work by pushing against the spirit world, and sometimes the spirit world pushes back.

Do you want to see something like a Stephen King novelization of The Hindenburg?

[Heretic]

I think I remember this sexy beast when I was diving into the archives back at OZ. I would love to see a revival of this.