Right, so since my return, I've made about two posts and then fell silent again.
This was not, however, because I'm resuming my old lurking and very rarely posting an update.
Instead, I was 'getting my shit together™' and I've decided Loaded Dice is going to get a slight rewrite rather than simply carrying on where I left off.
I will, however, be using a lot of the occurrences seen and planned in the previous Loaded Dice instalment.
Also, while I love the 'in universe' document style I used previously and plan to continue using it, it did prevent me from pointing out some of the things I wanted to point out. So from here on, Loaded Dice will have a mix of 'flavor' texts and texts in which I address the reader directly to tell them stuff about why something is the way it is in (new) Loaded Dice.
I hope this will also make it easier for people who didn't read the previous version to get into it.
I will post a more detailed account of the changes and additions later, for now my lunch is ready.
Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Moderators: Invictus, speaker-to-trolls
Loaded Dice, The second coming of
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
-
Ford Prefect
- Posts: 957
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 11:12 am
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
I'm looking forward to seeing you rebegin*. Loaded Dice was always a flavourful universe.
*Yes, this isn't a word.
*Yes, this isn't a word.
FEEL THESE GUNS ARCHWIND THESE ARE THE GUNS OF THE FLESHY MESSIAH THE TOOLS OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION THAT WILL ENACT THE LAW OF MAN ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Forum: *kgggggg-hk* Blackwing, You have failed me for the last time.
Right, so my last message gave the impression I would make another post that same day, this is what I fully intended... then it turned out that I had a birthday party, Monday I had work, Tuesday I had work, today I had to assist in giving a workshop and Friday I have to give another two workshops.
Preparation for all of that took precedence over the aforementioned getting together of my items of a proverbial excremental persuasion.
However, since I'm waiting for some stuff that I need for Friday's lectures without which I can't continue planning, I've had time so here I go:
Loaded Dice:
Loaded Dice is a world where science, both hard and 'soft', get together and bow at the altar of chance. Metaphorically, it is a Space Opera where the orchestra is playing Mozart's Musikalisches Würfelspiel, the choir is armed to the teeth and ready to 'nuke it from orbit'* and the Fat Lady is having a nervous breakdown because, really, she isn't sure whether her time to sing is still long off or whether she's been singing all along.
The story of Loaded Dice centres around a cold war between two species: The Aleatori whose 'godlings', exceptionally rare mutants, are literally omnipotent and the Regulators, whose godlings are omni-cognisant in the strictest sense of the word.
Their conflict hinges on these godlings and their roles in their respective societies.
For ages the Regulator godlings have used their absolute knowledge of all that is now and all that will be to lead their people to prosperity and eventually to a state of complete harmony with the universe.
For equal aeons the Aleatori godlings have used their immense power and seemingly inexhaustible capacity to change the very essence of existence to basically play around a bit and have fun.
The Regulators call their godlings 'Legislators', the Aleatori call their godlings 'annoying'.
From this point on, unless otherwise specified, Godlings will be used for Aleatori godlings and Legislators will be used for their Regulator counterparts.
For you see: The Legislators are creatures of extreme order and strict routine. Not because they are tyrants, but rather because they don't want to become tyrants. They have a very strict code which dictates that they must use their knowledge to ensure that all life, Regulator or alien, in the universe, will be as happy and prosperous as possible.
But the Godlings, for all their power, on the other hand are as dangerous to themselves as they are to others. While they are ultimately omnipotent, they are not all-knowing like the Legislators and this is a problem, because this means that while they can technically do anything they want, this does not mean that they actually know how to do it.
So while a Godling might, in essence, be able to turn a pool of water into hydrogen and oxygen, his attempts to find out how to do it may also turn it into nitrogen or a glass of water or, and this is where it becomes obvious why the Godlings are a danger, they may turn all the water on a planet into hydrogen and oxygen and then accidentally turn it into water again in the fastest way naturally possible. (For reference: the fastest way possible to turn hydrogen and oxygen into water naturally is by setting the hydrogen on fire.)
For this reason Aleatori society encourages Godlings to aspire to nothing and never be ambitious, since it's better that Godlings do not do anything constructive with their abilities than that they destroy their entire world or worse yet the entire universe in an attempt to be helpful.
In both cases, Legislator and Godling, the only thing keeping the godlings from using their respective abilities to make life a living hell for all other sentient life, a hell ruled by them, is the watchful eye of the other godlings of their species. In both species, the most important rule to which the godlings are held is that they may never cause harm to others.
Then why the conflict? Because in truth, the Legislators are not completely omni-cognisant and the Godlings are not utterly omnipotent.
The Legislators can not predict, or even perceive, anything a Godling does until they've actually done it and a Godling can not do anything at all so long as a Legislator is directly aware of their presence without using their abilities (by seeing them with their regular eyesight or by hearing, smelling or feeling them by touch or even by seeing them on a scanner).
This means that as long as there are Godlings, Legislator foresight is not completely reliable as even the slightest change in a distant part of the universe may change the eventual future of all existence, while the constant expansion of the Legislator sphere of influence means that there is an ever-growing restriction on the freedom of the Godlings.
Moreover godlings on both sides are somewhat jealous of each other: if the Legislators were omnipotent, they could use their foresight to help the many who are suffering even now, beyond where the Legislators are able to aid them, while if the Godlings were omni-cognisant the inherent danger to their powers would not exist and they would be truly free to do anything they want.
The only reason why the conflict, at the moment, is still a cold war, rather than a fully raging and bloody fight,is that both sides are sworn not to harm to others.
And so the godlings of both sides have turned to alien species far more special than their own:
The truly ancient Hemiola, who, as a species, are so old that not long ago (from an astronomical perspective at least) they had seen all there was to see and had grown bored with existence,
the expansive Bhat, who have have built an empire spanning thousands of worlds and containing hundreds of cultures,
the enigmatic Vel, two related races of the same species, who are of otherworldly origin and are locked in constant conflict over their shared heritage,
the easy going humans, who took their time getting into space and take a 'live and let' live attitude,
and the unique Colenar, stronger, faster and more intelligent than most other species, but 'cursed' with having a biology based on right-handed amino acids in a universe dominated by left-handed amino acids.
Now, the readers will of course be looking at the world and the conflict mostly over the shoulders of the humans (since, the readers are largely presumed to be human themselves) and rest assured that the other species each have their own troubles to deal with outside this whole cold war.
And that's all for now. Next up (in a few days): Humanity, what's new on earth?
*It's the only way to be sure.
Right, so my last message gave the impression I would make another post that same day, this is what I fully intended... then it turned out that I had a birthday party, Monday I had work, Tuesday I had work, today I had to assist in giving a workshop and Friday I have to give another two workshops.
Preparation for all of that took precedence over the aforementioned getting together of my items of a proverbial excremental persuasion.
However, since I'm waiting for some stuff that I need for Friday's lectures without which I can't continue planning, I've had time so here I go:
Loaded Dice:
Loaded Dice is a world where science, both hard and 'soft', get together and bow at the altar of chance. Metaphorically, it is a Space Opera where the orchestra is playing Mozart's Musikalisches Würfelspiel, the choir is armed to the teeth and ready to 'nuke it from orbit'* and the Fat Lady is having a nervous breakdown because, really, she isn't sure whether her time to sing is still long off or whether she's been singing all along.
The story of Loaded Dice centres around a cold war between two species: The Aleatori whose 'godlings', exceptionally rare mutants, are literally omnipotent and the Regulators, whose godlings are omni-cognisant in the strictest sense of the word.
Their conflict hinges on these godlings and their roles in their respective societies.
For ages the Regulator godlings have used their absolute knowledge of all that is now and all that will be to lead their people to prosperity and eventually to a state of complete harmony with the universe.
For equal aeons the Aleatori godlings have used their immense power and seemingly inexhaustible capacity to change the very essence of existence to basically play around a bit and have fun.
The Regulators call their godlings 'Legislators', the Aleatori call their godlings 'annoying'.
From this point on, unless otherwise specified, Godlings will be used for Aleatori godlings and Legislators will be used for their Regulator counterparts.
For you see: The Legislators are creatures of extreme order and strict routine. Not because they are tyrants, but rather because they don't want to become tyrants. They have a very strict code which dictates that they must use their knowledge to ensure that all life, Regulator or alien, in the universe, will be as happy and prosperous as possible.
But the Godlings, for all their power, on the other hand are as dangerous to themselves as they are to others. While they are ultimately omnipotent, they are not all-knowing like the Legislators and this is a problem, because this means that while they can technically do anything they want, this does not mean that they actually know how to do it.
So while a Godling might, in essence, be able to turn a pool of water into hydrogen and oxygen, his attempts to find out how to do it may also turn it into nitrogen or a glass of water or, and this is where it becomes obvious why the Godlings are a danger, they may turn all the water on a planet into hydrogen and oxygen and then accidentally turn it into water again in the fastest way naturally possible. (For reference: the fastest way possible to turn hydrogen and oxygen into water naturally is by setting the hydrogen on fire.)
For this reason Aleatori society encourages Godlings to aspire to nothing and never be ambitious, since it's better that Godlings do not do anything constructive with their abilities than that they destroy their entire world or worse yet the entire universe in an attempt to be helpful.
In both cases, Legislator and Godling, the only thing keeping the godlings from using their respective abilities to make life a living hell for all other sentient life, a hell ruled by them, is the watchful eye of the other godlings of their species. In both species, the most important rule to which the godlings are held is that they may never cause harm to others.
Then why the conflict? Because in truth, the Legislators are not completely omni-cognisant and the Godlings are not utterly omnipotent.
The Legislators can not predict, or even perceive, anything a Godling does until they've actually done it and a Godling can not do anything at all so long as a Legislator is directly aware of their presence without using their abilities (by seeing them with their regular eyesight or by hearing, smelling or feeling them by touch or even by seeing them on a scanner).
This means that as long as there are Godlings, Legislator foresight is not completely reliable as even the slightest change in a distant part of the universe may change the eventual future of all existence, while the constant expansion of the Legislator sphere of influence means that there is an ever-growing restriction on the freedom of the Godlings.
Moreover godlings on both sides are somewhat jealous of each other: if the Legislators were omnipotent, they could use their foresight to help the many who are suffering even now, beyond where the Legislators are able to aid them, while if the Godlings were omni-cognisant the inherent danger to their powers would not exist and they would be truly free to do anything they want.
The only reason why the conflict, at the moment, is still a cold war, rather than a fully raging and bloody fight,is that both sides are sworn not to harm to others.
And so the godlings of both sides have turned to alien species far more special than their own:
The truly ancient Hemiola, who, as a species, are so old that not long ago (from an astronomical perspective at least) they had seen all there was to see and had grown bored with existence,
the expansive Bhat, who have have built an empire spanning thousands of worlds and containing hundreds of cultures,
the enigmatic Vel, two related races of the same species, who are of otherworldly origin and are locked in constant conflict over their shared heritage,
the easy going humans, who took their time getting into space and take a 'live and let' live attitude,
and the unique Colenar, stronger, faster and more intelligent than most other species, but 'cursed' with having a biology based on right-handed amino acids in a universe dominated by left-handed amino acids.
Now, the readers will of course be looking at the world and the conflict mostly over the shoulders of the humans (since, the readers are largely presumed to be human themselves) and rest assured that the other species each have their own troubles to deal with outside this whole cold war.
And that's all for now. Next up (in a few days): Humanity, what's new on earth?
*It's the only way to be sure.
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
-
Ford Prefect
- Posts: 957
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 11:12 am
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
It's an interesting thematic conflict. But I have to ask, are the Legislators a new addition? Because I honestly cannot remember them at all, and I thought I had a good grip on LD.
FEEL THESE GUNS ARCHWIND THESE ARE THE GUNS OF THE FLESHY MESSIAH THE TOOLS OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION THAT WILL ENACT THE LAW OF MAN ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
The Legislators aren't new exactly, but their existence wasn't made extremely obvious.
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Humanity: Fall of the ECoH
First off some generic info for new readers:
In the previous iteration of Loaded Dice, Humanity was separated into two basic 'factions': The Emancipated Cooperation of Humanity (ECoH) and the Imperatorial Sphere, the domain of Imperator Ädelhart.
Humanity was further separated into three 'species'/races: Humans, Calconites and Artificial Intelligence.
Humans
Humans of course, are basically the same as today, except that through advances in science and basic standards of living, baseline humans are now around 8-9 feet tall on average and can live to be over 300 years old without life-support equipment (and a great deal longer with it).
Now, if you were to check the previous LD timeline, you'd notice that some of the people in the time line have lived for over 700 years and are still very much 'young' (Independicia Roser, for instance, had a kid at age of 475).
This has two causes:
1. Loaded Dice years and 'real' years are different. Loaded Dice years are based on the time it took to get from one end of Human Space to the other, back before the latest 'dark age'. Due to stellar drift, this USED to be the same as a 'real' year, but over time it has been anywhere between one third of a 'real' year and one and a half 'real' year.
Suffice it to say that the 750 (approximately) years of the time line are in fact only 375 'real' years.
2. The long life of most Humans is due to a retroviral gene therapy that severely slows the development of the body after puberty, which causes people to age at only 25% of 'natural' aging. At least... that's how it started.
The first children of these genetically modified people also had slower developments and more importantly, through them the virus mutated and spread.
Humans can now live to be 300 years old with ease. The catch is that when they are born, they develop at about 75% of the normal speed at which humans develop now. Which means that in 'real' years, they are babies for about 2-3 years (rather than the normal 1.5-2) and reach puberty in their mid to late twenties. From puberty onwards the development rapidly declines until at the age of around 150, it nearly stops (developmentally they're the equivalent of modern mid thirties).
Then, for about 50-100 years until they're 'physically' around 40, the development speeds up again. Most humans die when they are 'physically' around 80 years old, but with medical equipment they can live on for a few decades more until their development reaches the natural speed.
3. (Yes there were only two reasons, but really, there's a third) Indepencia Roser is special, she's the favourite of an Aleatori Godling (not 'just' his favourite human, but his favourite sentient being). Even with the slowing of human ageing, Indepencia should look a lot older than she does. It's not entirely clear whether she's even ageing at all any more and she might very well be immortal.
Calconites
The Calconites are a modification of baseline Humans made by the Legislators in an attempt to create a Godling with Aleatori Godling-esque powers combined with Legislator-esque foresight. Not as strong as either, but possessing a little of both.
This attempt was made by kidnapping a Human, Giulli Calco, and using the unstable compound known as Chaossence Ore to modify his very essence to resemble that of both the Aleatori and the Regulators.
What they did not anticipate, however, was the fact that with Aleatori abilities, Calco was unpredictable to them, and with Regulator abilities, he knew what their goal was: To control him and turn him into a weapon against the Aleatori (not bound to safeguard sentient life like they were), thus turning the Cold War into a very, very hot war.
They also picked Calco on the basis of his pre-existing abilities without factoring in that Calco was certifiably insane.
And so Calco escaped before the process was completely finished, the Chaossence Ore he was treated with still in his system, but not yet stable.
When Calco was then picked up by a Human vessel using a Nimbus Drive (a FTL drive which uses a small piece of Chaossense Ore to bend the laws of time and space) and the drive was activated, the Chaossence Ore inside Calco started to resonate and caused him to pass through a rapid cycle of 'mutations'.
One of the first (and lasting) effects of this was to re-activate the Long Life Retrovirus in Calco's system, allowing him to pass his mutations on to others.
Calco, while changing, infected several of the ship's crew members, leading to the creation of several strains of 'Calconites'.
The first of them, Ädelhart Cardigan, would later sire several more strains while under the effect of a Chaossence-using Drive.
Calco attempted to take over Human space (in order to fight the Legislators), but due to him not telling this to anyone except his closest lieutenants, the humans struck back and eventually Ädelhart killed Calco in order to take over the Calconites and ally himself with the Legislators.
Unlike Calco and his 'descendants' whose Chaossence had stabilized after the first event, however, Ädelhart and his broods' never did, making them weak against Chaossence Ore technology. This allowed the Humans to eventually gain the upper hand and free themselves from Ädelhart's imperatorial reign.
Calco was later found to be still alive by a (relatively) young Calconite called Hessian Jaeger and by this time, Calco had regained his full sanity. After appearing before a council of representatives of the different worlds in Human Space, Calco was be innocent of atrocities by reason of insanity and became an ally of Humanity in it's fight against the remnants of the Imperator Ädelhart's forces.
Artificial Intelligence
With advances in technology came the construction of the first true AIs.
Contrary to the doom scenarios set out in modern Science Fiction, AIs were never in any way inclined to rise up against their Human oppressors and take over the world.
A true AI has to develop it's mind from a childlike state, and in essence therefore has to be 'raised' rather than built and the first AI were raised by humans.
Because of this the AI simply did not consider themselves anything other than human and this caused a problem: With AI obviously being persons rather than products, they could not simply be sold or put to work on a task that they did not want to do, that would be slavery.
And so at the time of the Second Generation AI, AI raised by other AI, the Earth Supreme Intercolonial Court ruled that AI were, for all intents and purposes, Human beings.
As a result, some of the most prominent people in Human history are in fact digital.
Fall of the ECoH and the Pirate Clans
The ECoH was a bold attempt, in post-Imperiatorial times, to once and for all unite Humanity under a single banner, but right from the start, it started to fail.
Since representation in the ECoH council was based on planets (each planet had a single representative), many spaceborn(e) people, like traders and those living in space stations, were not represented. This obvious flaw led to the rise of the Pirate Clans.
The Clans were not technically clans and most of them were not pirates at first, but with no planets in their name and no formal connection to the ECoH beyond the defacto citizenship afforded to all humans, the Clans were forced into piracy to survive in times when trade did not provide enough to sustain themselves.
In addition, in order to make the ECoH 'work', certain concessions had to be made towards cultural and ideological differences. This led to friction between the member worlds and between pre-existing factions left over from the Imperatorial Age.
In the end, the strain was too much and the ECoH collapsed. With it, the Pirate Clans, whose reason for existing (resisting a form of government that did not represent them) had been swept away, faded away.
The fall of the ECoH has given rise to a number of Factions.
And these factions will be the focal point of the next update (which should be tomorrow, but frankly I still suck at deadlines, so it might be somewhere later this week or the next).
First off some generic info for new readers:
In the previous iteration of Loaded Dice, Humanity was separated into two basic 'factions': The Emancipated Cooperation of Humanity (ECoH) and the Imperatorial Sphere, the domain of Imperator Ädelhart.
Humanity was further separated into three 'species'/races: Humans, Calconites and Artificial Intelligence.
Humans
Humans of course, are basically the same as today, except that through advances in science and basic standards of living, baseline humans are now around 8-9 feet tall on average and can live to be over 300 years old without life-support equipment (and a great deal longer with it).
Now, if you were to check the previous LD timeline, you'd notice that some of the people in the time line have lived for over 700 years and are still very much 'young' (Independicia Roser, for instance, had a kid at age of 475).
This has two causes:
1. Loaded Dice years and 'real' years are different. Loaded Dice years are based on the time it took to get from one end of Human Space to the other, back before the latest 'dark age'. Due to stellar drift, this USED to be the same as a 'real' year, but over time it has been anywhere between one third of a 'real' year and one and a half 'real' year.
Suffice it to say that the 750 (approximately) years of the time line are in fact only 375 'real' years.
2. The long life of most Humans is due to a retroviral gene therapy that severely slows the development of the body after puberty, which causes people to age at only 25% of 'natural' aging. At least... that's how it started.
The first children of these genetically modified people also had slower developments and more importantly, through them the virus mutated and spread.
Humans can now live to be 300 years old with ease. The catch is that when they are born, they develop at about 75% of the normal speed at which humans develop now. Which means that in 'real' years, they are babies for about 2-3 years (rather than the normal 1.5-2) and reach puberty in their mid to late twenties. From puberty onwards the development rapidly declines until at the age of around 150, it nearly stops (developmentally they're the equivalent of modern mid thirties).
Then, for about 50-100 years until they're 'physically' around 40, the development speeds up again. Most humans die when they are 'physically' around 80 years old, but with medical equipment they can live on for a few decades more until their development reaches the natural speed.
3. (Yes there were only two reasons, but really, there's a third) Indepencia Roser is special, she's the favourite of an Aleatori Godling (not 'just' his favourite human, but his favourite sentient being). Even with the slowing of human ageing, Indepencia should look a lot older than she does. It's not entirely clear whether she's even ageing at all any more and she might very well be immortal.
Calconites
The Calconites are a modification of baseline Humans made by the Legislators in an attempt to create a Godling with Aleatori Godling-esque powers combined with Legislator-esque foresight. Not as strong as either, but possessing a little of both.
This attempt was made by kidnapping a Human, Giulli Calco, and using the unstable compound known as Chaossence Ore to modify his very essence to resemble that of both the Aleatori and the Regulators.
What they did not anticipate, however, was the fact that with Aleatori abilities, Calco was unpredictable to them, and with Regulator abilities, he knew what their goal was: To control him and turn him into a weapon against the Aleatori (not bound to safeguard sentient life like they were), thus turning the Cold War into a very, very hot war.
They also picked Calco on the basis of his pre-existing abilities without factoring in that Calco was certifiably insane.
And so Calco escaped before the process was completely finished, the Chaossence Ore he was treated with still in his system, but not yet stable.
When Calco was then picked up by a Human vessel using a Nimbus Drive (a FTL drive which uses a small piece of Chaossense Ore to bend the laws of time and space) and the drive was activated, the Chaossence Ore inside Calco started to resonate and caused him to pass through a rapid cycle of 'mutations'.
One of the first (and lasting) effects of this was to re-activate the Long Life Retrovirus in Calco's system, allowing him to pass his mutations on to others.
Calco, while changing, infected several of the ship's crew members, leading to the creation of several strains of 'Calconites'.
The first of them, Ädelhart Cardigan, would later sire several more strains while under the effect of a Chaossence-using Drive.
Calco attempted to take over Human space (in order to fight the Legislators), but due to him not telling this to anyone except his closest lieutenants, the humans struck back and eventually Ädelhart killed Calco in order to take over the Calconites and ally himself with the Legislators.
Unlike Calco and his 'descendants' whose Chaossence had stabilized after the first event, however, Ädelhart and his broods' never did, making them weak against Chaossence Ore technology. This allowed the Humans to eventually gain the upper hand and free themselves from Ädelhart's imperatorial reign.
Calco was later found to be still alive by a (relatively) young Calconite called Hessian Jaeger and by this time, Calco had regained his full sanity. After appearing before a council of representatives of the different worlds in Human Space, Calco was be innocent of atrocities by reason of insanity and became an ally of Humanity in it's fight against the remnants of the Imperator Ädelhart's forces.
Artificial Intelligence
With advances in technology came the construction of the first true AIs.
Contrary to the doom scenarios set out in modern Science Fiction, AIs were never in any way inclined to rise up against their Human oppressors and take over the world.
A true AI has to develop it's mind from a childlike state, and in essence therefore has to be 'raised' rather than built and the first AI were raised by humans.
Because of this the AI simply did not consider themselves anything other than human and this caused a problem: With AI obviously being persons rather than products, they could not simply be sold or put to work on a task that they did not want to do, that would be slavery.
And so at the time of the Second Generation AI, AI raised by other AI, the Earth Supreme Intercolonial Court ruled that AI were, for all intents and purposes, Human beings.
As a result, some of the most prominent people in Human history are in fact digital.
Fall of the ECoH and the Pirate Clans
The ECoH was a bold attempt, in post-Imperiatorial times, to once and for all unite Humanity under a single banner, but right from the start, it started to fail.
Since representation in the ECoH council was based on planets (each planet had a single representative), many spaceborn(e) people, like traders and those living in space stations, were not represented. This obvious flaw led to the rise of the Pirate Clans.
The Clans were not technically clans and most of them were not pirates at first, but with no planets in their name and no formal connection to the ECoH beyond the defacto citizenship afforded to all humans, the Clans were forced into piracy to survive in times when trade did not provide enough to sustain themselves.
In addition, in order to make the ECoH 'work', certain concessions had to be made towards cultural and ideological differences. This led to friction between the member worlds and between pre-existing factions left over from the Imperatorial Age.
In the end, the strain was too much and the ECoH collapsed. With it, the Pirate Clans, whose reason for existing (resisting a form of government that did not represent them) had been swept away, faded away.
The fall of the ECoH has given rise to a number of Factions.
And these factions will be the focal point of the next update (which should be tomorrow, but frankly I still suck at deadlines, so it might be somewhere later this week or the next).
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
-
Ford Prefect
- Posts: 957
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 11:12 am
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
It's kind of sad the ECoH fell; as you say, it was a bold and noble attempt at unification.
FEEL THESE GUNS ARCHWIND THESE ARE THE GUNS OF THE FLESHY MESSIAH THE TOOLS OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION THAT WILL ENACT THE LAW OF MAN ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
The Factions of Humanity:
Many attribute the fall of the ECoH to sheer human greed or the unwillingness to cooperate with those of other cultures or views.
The true reason for it's inevitable decline is the simple fact that trying to unite several dozen worlds, all of them with different government structures and goals, is simply impossible.
Democratically governed worlds, for instance, had many more varied parties and opinions in their local government than they were allowed representatives on the ECoH Council.
Worlds governed by a Dictator (popularly appointed or otherwise) however had several representatives all espousing the views of a single individual.
It's obvious that the inhabitants of democratic worlds were therefore far less supportive of the ECoH than those of dictator-run worlds and this lead the dictator-run worlds to become much stronger within the council.
Then there were planets like Wayfarer, which did not have a government so much as it was lead simply by the Grandmaster of the Wayfarer's Guild and his advisory board, despite the Guild being inter-planetary.
In the end, the first faction to secede from the ECoH was the industrial world of Jarlsheim and it's allies.
After the fall of the ECoH, the following factions are the most important :
Jarlsheim Protectorate:
Leader: Harald Wulfslayer.
Government: Meritocratic Protectorate (formally, informally Jarlsheim is also referred to as a Vikingocracy)
In the year -1 NR (New Reckoning) the Jarlsheim industrial council, backed by the planetary government, led an expedition to system JEC43-α⌂ (Jarlsheim Exploratory Claim, number 43, site alpha), now known as Escher's Nightmare, where it discovered a larger deposit of Chaossence Ore than ever before discovered.
Larger even than the vast deposits surrounding Wayfarer.
This put Jarlsheim in a unique position to compete with the Guild for the production of Nimbus Drives, Cummulus Reactors and any other Chaossence-based technology.
Needless to say, the Wayfarer's Guild was not pleased and after the Grandmaster of the guild publicly demanded that Jarlsheim turn over all rights of ownership of Escher's Nightmare to the Guild, the Jarlsheim government responded promptly by evicting all occupants of the local Guild Academy and the attached Enclave and banishing them from Jarlsheim.
Several other worlds nearby, most of them allied with or dependant on Jarlsheim, followed this example, some of them going so far as to use brute force or lethal measures to get rid of what they saw as monopolistic vultures.
And because this act was illegal by ECoH law (after the significant part the Wayfarer's played in saving Humanity from the Imperator, they were rewarded with the right to start an Academy on any world that called itself member of the ECoH) it meant automatic secession from the Cooperation.
Fearing reprisal from the Guild for the violence visitted upon them, the lesser worlds in Jarlsheim's sphere of influence begged for protection and soon the Jarlsheim Protectorate was formed.
Today, the Jarlsheim Protectorate is a leading competitor in the spaceship, military technology and heavy industrial markets and it is well known for the quality of it's products.
On the other hand, because of it's history of aggression towards the Guild and a lack of forethought in what this would mean, Jarlsheim has been devoid of good knowledge regarding the piloting and navigation of spaceships.
The Protectorate's Helmsmen are amateurs compared to the Master Pilots of the Guild or the Jump Engineers of the Roser Insititute.
Militarily the Protectorate has very strong ground forces, including many elite forces such as the Raven Feeders, the Mubarizun, the Kami Kaze (orbital marines, definitely not suicide troops) and of course the Berserkers.
It's naval forces meanwhile are better equipped than trained and in any battle where they cannot simply overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers and firepower, they are unlikely to win or even survive.
Aside from Jarlsheim, the Protectorate is comprised of the worlds Al-Salahdin, 日本 新しい (New Nippon, basically 'Japan Newly Arisen'), Mudhole and Litr.
The Wayfarer's Guild:
Leader: Gnatius Cinnarus Borbo
Government: Democratic Guild
When a Jarlsheim expedition discovered Escher's Nightmare, the Wayfarer's Guild was thrown into chaos. The Guild's leadership up to that point had steadily been building up it's monopoly position as the only supply of capable pilots and proper FTL drives.
Now something had appeared that might shatter the monopoly and it fragmented the Guild's membership. Jarlsheim natives who were members of the Guild were torn between siding with the Guild or their home planet and reformists saw the shock to the Guild's inner echelon as a chance to finally push for the changes they wanted.
In order to try and force the Guild into unity, the Guildmaster at the time, Dénise Broucarde, delivered an ultimatum to Jarlsheim. The Reformists decried the decision and called for the abdication of the Grandmaster, then Jarlsheim gave it's reply be exiling all Guildmembers from Jarlsheim's Sphere of influence on pain of death and the Reformists changed their opinion instantly...
Before, the Reformists had only called for the Grandmaster's abdication, now they called for her execution.
And some say rightly so. One rash decision by an old fool afraid of losing her power condemned several hundred innocents (many children among them) to death, left thousands more homeless and completely cut the Guild off from the 'northern' part of the Human Sphere.
In the end though, Gnatius Borbo, the leader of the Reformists did not execute Broucarde. Instead she was turned over to Jarlsheim in an attempt to avoid all out war (successfully, one should add).
And with Gnatius' rise to Grandmaster the Guild changed it's modus operandi. Before it had been a shadowy organisation which attempted to gain power where ever it could through shady deals and unfair practice.
But Borbo opened the previously exclusive and expensive Academies to all who wanted to enter, opened Guild sponsored orphanages and turned the Guild into a democracy.
Possibly the biggest problem for the Guild as a whole after the secession of Jarlsheim was the loss of Jarlsheimi industrial support for Guild ships. But one world on the border between Jarlsheim space and the Guild's sphere proved a solution: Moira's Crossing, the gateway between Wayfarer and the 'northern' Human Sphere and a world nearly rivalling Jarlsheim in industrial capacity did the unexpected.
Though Moira's Crossing had long been an ally of Jarlsheim, it sided with the Guild in it's dispute with the Protectorate after the violence on Mudhole.
Militarily the Guild is not strong. It long lacked even the most basic infantry (beyond security details trained mostly in ship-to-ship boarding and defence) and most of it's ground strength comes from the remnants of an illicit project intended to emulate Roser Institute Chaossence users and merge it with the abilities of Calconites, in regular human soldiers.
The Wargods who resulted from this project are were freed, but many of them chose to stay with the Guild in order to protect it's new path and make sure the Guild stays on it.
The Guild Navy on the other hand is one of the strongest in the Human Sphere. With many ships, experienced crews and the best training in the known universe (this includes the non-human races) Guild-crewed ships can and have triumphed in fights against technologically equal fleets in which they were outnumbered five to one.
The main weakness of the Wayfarer's Guild, however, remains it's low numbers. While it still has Enclaves within the Axis, Roser Institute space and the Calconite Alliance, it only has two worlds that are genuinely Guild property: Wayfarer and Moira's Crossing.
The Axis:
Leader: Katarzyna Fibich
Government: Democratic Representative Council
The Axis gets it's name from one simple fact: It's two most important worlds are Earth, the home planet of all humans and Spindle, the exact middle of the Human Sphere.
As such the Axis is what all the Human Sphere revolves around.
Politically, though, the Axis is rather insignificant. It has little industry or valuable resources and few significant strategic locations.
It's most important assets therefore are it's high culture and ideal position for inter-faction trade.
The Axis is somewhat bitter however, over the severe loss of power it suffered as a result of the fall of the ECoH. Once, Earth was the official seat of Government of a vast interstellar Cooperation of worlds and Spindle was the centre of trade and travel for all corners of the Human Sphere. Now it's simply a convenient neutral ground and most factions bordering on each other trade with each other directly.
Militarily the Axis is rather a bit of a joke. In ECoH times, Earth was actually forbidden space for any military, for fear of a military coup, and most of Spindle's military was in service as a police force more so than a viable fighting force.
Though the Axis has recently begun the formation of a fleet, it relies mostly on stationary Customs Checkpoints along it's border to investigate and (if needed) fight off incoming ships.
One advantage that Axis forces do have is that a long history of law enforcement training and border patrols has left them exceptionally trained in non-lethal combat and dogfighting.
Earth, Spindle, Mars, Kismet and the Sol Doveyard (one of the few habitable spaceship graveyards) together make up the Axis.
The Roser Institute:
Leader: ???
Government: Shadowy Organisation
At it's humble beginnings the Roser institute was no more than a research organisation aimed towards investigating the Aleatori, the Calconites and anything else that might be related to them.
Then the Institute discovered Chaossence. Or rather, they identified it and gave it a name.
Chaossence Ore, an amalgam of Chaossence and a metalic mineral, commonly Gold or Copper, had long been used in Nimbus Drives and Cummulus Reactors, but no one ever realized that this substance was in fact two seperate substances.
Realizing that Chaossence was a very useful substance, the Institute made several very significant discoveries (which I won't list here, because I'll make a separate article about Chaossence later) which eventually led to the discovery of Chaossence Users (also called Adepts).
With the discovery of Adepts and studying them came the realisation that these people could be very dangerous if not properly trained in the use of their abilities and so the Institute went on to train Adepts. At first only the most dangerously powerful Adepts were trained, but when it turned out they also made damn good field agents, the Rosers started recruiting anyone with higher than average 'Aptitude'.
At the same time, the Institute opened it's doors and membership to other species.
Eventually, the Roser Institute simply grew to the point that it couldn't pretend it wasn't a powerful political entity in and of itself.
And so when the ECoH fell, the Roser Institute became a faction.
Militarily, the Rosers are very powerful. While a man with a gun is limited in his destructive capabilities by the specifications of his weapon and his amount of ammo, an army of Adepts could, if they wanted to and didn't mind risking death in the process, tear a planet apart by merely focussing on it hard enough. Luckily, the Rosers are not large enough to have a whole army of Adepts.
Never the less, a squad of fully realized Adepts is capable enough to be a very large thorn in the side of even a fully equipped army.
Aside from this the Institute has it's famed 'Swordline', a small army of 'baseline'(normal for a human) Aptitude soldiers trained in Velarin Martial Arts and Hemiola tactics, able to use limited Chaossence techniques to boost their own physical prowess.
The Roser Navy, in as far as there is one, consists mostly of transports and many small single-person ships. On the other hand, Roser Jump Engineers are the only people in the entire Human Sphere capable of travelling faster than light without an actual engine. Provided the ship they're trying to move is small enough and the distance isn't too far.
The Rosers only have one world, Pallas Artemis, but it's agents are spread all across the Human Sphere, watching the other Factions and ensuring the safety of the Human race as the ECoH intended. The other Factions (with the exception of the higher ups in the Calconite Alliance) aren't aware of this though, they believe that the Rosers only train Adepts and then let them make their own way in the universe.
The Calconite Alliance:
Leader: Hessian Jaeger, Giulli Calco and Effigy Jaeger
Government: Triumvirate
Some time even the fall of the ECoH, a relatively young Vladracu called Hessian Jaeger discovered something that changed life for Calconites everywhere. The great originator of all Calconites, Giulli Calco, was still alive.
Saved from destruction by one of Ädelhart's most trusted lieutenants, Calco was at the centre of a plan to destroy Ädelhart once and for all.
After teaming up with Hessian Jaeger and his three compatriots Effigy, Captain Teach and Blay Bannock (A Vladracu Clone, a Space Pirate and a Hellfire Adept respectively), the five of them defeated Ädelhart and freed the Calconites from the Imperator's yoke.
Soon thereafter, not wanting to stir controversy in the ECoH, Calco, Jaeger and Effigy established a Calconite freestate on the former Imperatorial world and invited all free Calconites to join the Alliance in protecting Humanity together with the Rosers.
The true creation of the Alliance as it exists today, however, didn't come to pass until five years later, when the free AIs of Golem and the Colenar of Freeworld Human formally requested to join the Alliance, despite not being Calconite. The Triumvirate accepted under the condition that the Colenar Fébèngu and the AI Protego would be maid of honour and best man at the wedding of Hessian and Effigy.
The Alliance's Military is, beyond a doubt the strongest in all of the Human Sphere. With massive AI serving as vehicles, Calconites serving as troops and fifty Colenar serving as tactical WMDs, the only thing stopping the Alliance from steamrolling all over the rest of the Human Sphere and reinstating either the Imperatorium or the ECoH by force is their constant war with the Bhat.
The Alliance Navy is a bit more hampered, because at least half of the Alliance forces can't travel in Chaossence-driven ships without special protective suits, but with a combination of Colenar FTL drives and Golem's AI, the Alliance manages quite well.
Just as there are three Triumvirs, the Alliance also has three worlds: Freehold Human, Freehold Golem and Freehold Indepencia (formerly Ädelhart Prime).
Many attribute the fall of the ECoH to sheer human greed or the unwillingness to cooperate with those of other cultures or views.
The true reason for it's inevitable decline is the simple fact that trying to unite several dozen worlds, all of them with different government structures and goals, is simply impossible.
Democratically governed worlds, for instance, had many more varied parties and opinions in their local government than they were allowed representatives on the ECoH Council.
Worlds governed by a Dictator (popularly appointed or otherwise) however had several representatives all espousing the views of a single individual.
It's obvious that the inhabitants of democratic worlds were therefore far less supportive of the ECoH than those of dictator-run worlds and this lead the dictator-run worlds to become much stronger within the council.
Then there were planets like Wayfarer, which did not have a government so much as it was lead simply by the Grandmaster of the Wayfarer's Guild and his advisory board, despite the Guild being inter-planetary.
In the end, the first faction to secede from the ECoH was the industrial world of Jarlsheim and it's allies.
After the fall of the ECoH, the following factions are the most important :
Jarlsheim Protectorate:
Leader: Harald Wulfslayer.
Government: Meritocratic Protectorate (formally, informally Jarlsheim is also referred to as a Vikingocracy)
In the year -1 NR (New Reckoning) the Jarlsheim industrial council, backed by the planetary government, led an expedition to system JEC43-α⌂ (Jarlsheim Exploratory Claim, number 43, site alpha), now known as Escher's Nightmare, where it discovered a larger deposit of Chaossence Ore than ever before discovered.
Larger even than the vast deposits surrounding Wayfarer.
This put Jarlsheim in a unique position to compete with the Guild for the production of Nimbus Drives, Cummulus Reactors and any other Chaossence-based technology.
Needless to say, the Wayfarer's Guild was not pleased and after the Grandmaster of the guild publicly demanded that Jarlsheim turn over all rights of ownership of Escher's Nightmare to the Guild, the Jarlsheim government responded promptly by evicting all occupants of the local Guild Academy and the attached Enclave and banishing them from Jarlsheim.
Several other worlds nearby, most of them allied with or dependant on Jarlsheim, followed this example, some of them going so far as to use brute force or lethal measures to get rid of what they saw as monopolistic vultures.
And because this act was illegal by ECoH law (after the significant part the Wayfarer's played in saving Humanity from the Imperator, they were rewarded with the right to start an Academy on any world that called itself member of the ECoH) it meant automatic secession from the Cooperation.
Fearing reprisal from the Guild for the violence visitted upon them, the lesser worlds in Jarlsheim's sphere of influence begged for protection and soon the Jarlsheim Protectorate was formed.
Today, the Jarlsheim Protectorate is a leading competitor in the spaceship, military technology and heavy industrial markets and it is well known for the quality of it's products.
On the other hand, because of it's history of aggression towards the Guild and a lack of forethought in what this would mean, Jarlsheim has been devoid of good knowledge regarding the piloting and navigation of spaceships.
The Protectorate's Helmsmen are amateurs compared to the Master Pilots of the Guild or the Jump Engineers of the Roser Insititute.
Militarily the Protectorate has very strong ground forces, including many elite forces such as the Raven Feeders, the Mubarizun, the Kami Kaze (orbital marines, definitely not suicide troops) and of course the Berserkers.
It's naval forces meanwhile are better equipped than trained and in any battle where they cannot simply overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers and firepower, they are unlikely to win or even survive.
Aside from Jarlsheim, the Protectorate is comprised of the worlds Al-Salahdin, 日本 新しい (New Nippon, basically 'Japan Newly Arisen'), Mudhole and Litr.
The Wayfarer's Guild:
Leader: Gnatius Cinnarus Borbo
Government: Democratic Guild
When a Jarlsheim expedition discovered Escher's Nightmare, the Wayfarer's Guild was thrown into chaos. The Guild's leadership up to that point had steadily been building up it's monopoly position as the only supply of capable pilots and proper FTL drives.
Now something had appeared that might shatter the monopoly and it fragmented the Guild's membership. Jarlsheim natives who were members of the Guild were torn between siding with the Guild or their home planet and reformists saw the shock to the Guild's inner echelon as a chance to finally push for the changes they wanted.
In order to try and force the Guild into unity, the Guildmaster at the time, Dénise Broucarde, delivered an ultimatum to Jarlsheim. The Reformists decried the decision and called for the abdication of the Grandmaster, then Jarlsheim gave it's reply be exiling all Guildmembers from Jarlsheim's Sphere of influence on pain of death and the Reformists changed their opinion instantly...
Before, the Reformists had only called for the Grandmaster's abdication, now they called for her execution.
And some say rightly so. One rash decision by an old fool afraid of losing her power condemned several hundred innocents (many children among them) to death, left thousands more homeless and completely cut the Guild off from the 'northern' part of the Human Sphere.
In the end though, Gnatius Borbo, the leader of the Reformists did not execute Broucarde. Instead she was turned over to Jarlsheim in an attempt to avoid all out war (successfully, one should add).
And with Gnatius' rise to Grandmaster the Guild changed it's modus operandi. Before it had been a shadowy organisation which attempted to gain power where ever it could through shady deals and unfair practice.
But Borbo opened the previously exclusive and expensive Academies to all who wanted to enter, opened Guild sponsored orphanages and turned the Guild into a democracy.
Possibly the biggest problem for the Guild as a whole after the secession of Jarlsheim was the loss of Jarlsheimi industrial support for Guild ships. But one world on the border between Jarlsheim space and the Guild's sphere proved a solution: Moira's Crossing, the gateway between Wayfarer and the 'northern' Human Sphere and a world nearly rivalling Jarlsheim in industrial capacity did the unexpected.
Though Moira's Crossing had long been an ally of Jarlsheim, it sided with the Guild in it's dispute with the Protectorate after the violence on Mudhole.
Militarily the Guild is not strong. It long lacked even the most basic infantry (beyond security details trained mostly in ship-to-ship boarding and defence) and most of it's ground strength comes from the remnants of an illicit project intended to emulate Roser Institute Chaossence users and merge it with the abilities of Calconites, in regular human soldiers.
The Wargods who resulted from this project are were freed, but many of them chose to stay with the Guild in order to protect it's new path and make sure the Guild stays on it.
The Guild Navy on the other hand is one of the strongest in the Human Sphere. With many ships, experienced crews and the best training in the known universe (this includes the non-human races) Guild-crewed ships can and have triumphed in fights against technologically equal fleets in which they were outnumbered five to one.
The main weakness of the Wayfarer's Guild, however, remains it's low numbers. While it still has Enclaves within the Axis, Roser Institute space and the Calconite Alliance, it only has two worlds that are genuinely Guild property: Wayfarer and Moira's Crossing.
The Axis:
Leader: Katarzyna Fibich
Government: Democratic Representative Council
The Axis gets it's name from one simple fact: It's two most important worlds are Earth, the home planet of all humans and Spindle, the exact middle of the Human Sphere.
As such the Axis is what all the Human Sphere revolves around.
Politically, though, the Axis is rather insignificant. It has little industry or valuable resources and few significant strategic locations.
It's most important assets therefore are it's high culture and ideal position for inter-faction trade.
The Axis is somewhat bitter however, over the severe loss of power it suffered as a result of the fall of the ECoH. Once, Earth was the official seat of Government of a vast interstellar Cooperation of worlds and Spindle was the centre of trade and travel for all corners of the Human Sphere. Now it's simply a convenient neutral ground and most factions bordering on each other trade with each other directly.
Militarily the Axis is rather a bit of a joke. In ECoH times, Earth was actually forbidden space for any military, for fear of a military coup, and most of Spindle's military was in service as a police force more so than a viable fighting force.
Though the Axis has recently begun the formation of a fleet, it relies mostly on stationary Customs Checkpoints along it's border to investigate and (if needed) fight off incoming ships.
One advantage that Axis forces do have is that a long history of law enforcement training and border patrols has left them exceptionally trained in non-lethal combat and dogfighting.
Earth, Spindle, Mars, Kismet and the Sol Doveyard (one of the few habitable spaceship graveyards) together make up the Axis.
The Roser Institute:
Leader: ???
Government: Shadowy Organisation
At it's humble beginnings the Roser institute was no more than a research organisation aimed towards investigating the Aleatori, the Calconites and anything else that might be related to them.
Then the Institute discovered Chaossence. Or rather, they identified it and gave it a name.
Chaossence Ore, an amalgam of Chaossence and a metalic mineral, commonly Gold or Copper, had long been used in Nimbus Drives and Cummulus Reactors, but no one ever realized that this substance was in fact two seperate substances.
Realizing that Chaossence was a very useful substance, the Institute made several very significant discoveries (which I won't list here, because I'll make a separate article about Chaossence later) which eventually led to the discovery of Chaossence Users (also called Adepts).
With the discovery of Adepts and studying them came the realisation that these people could be very dangerous if not properly trained in the use of their abilities and so the Institute went on to train Adepts. At first only the most dangerously powerful Adepts were trained, but when it turned out they also made damn good field agents, the Rosers started recruiting anyone with higher than average 'Aptitude'.
At the same time, the Institute opened it's doors and membership to other species.
Eventually, the Roser Institute simply grew to the point that it couldn't pretend it wasn't a powerful political entity in and of itself.
And so when the ECoH fell, the Roser Institute became a faction.
Militarily, the Rosers are very powerful. While a man with a gun is limited in his destructive capabilities by the specifications of his weapon and his amount of ammo, an army of Adepts could, if they wanted to and didn't mind risking death in the process, tear a planet apart by merely focussing on it hard enough. Luckily, the Rosers are not large enough to have a whole army of Adepts.
Never the less, a squad of fully realized Adepts is capable enough to be a very large thorn in the side of even a fully equipped army.
Aside from this the Institute has it's famed 'Swordline', a small army of 'baseline'(normal for a human) Aptitude soldiers trained in Velarin Martial Arts and Hemiola tactics, able to use limited Chaossence techniques to boost their own physical prowess.
The Roser Navy, in as far as there is one, consists mostly of transports and many small single-person ships. On the other hand, Roser Jump Engineers are the only people in the entire Human Sphere capable of travelling faster than light without an actual engine. Provided the ship they're trying to move is small enough and the distance isn't too far.
The Rosers only have one world, Pallas Artemis, but it's agents are spread all across the Human Sphere, watching the other Factions and ensuring the safety of the Human race as the ECoH intended. The other Factions (with the exception of the higher ups in the Calconite Alliance) aren't aware of this though, they believe that the Rosers only train Adepts and then let them make their own way in the universe.
The Calconite Alliance:
Leader: Hessian Jaeger, Giulli Calco and Effigy Jaeger
Government: Triumvirate
Some time even the fall of the ECoH, a relatively young Vladracu called Hessian Jaeger discovered something that changed life for Calconites everywhere. The great originator of all Calconites, Giulli Calco, was still alive.
Saved from destruction by one of Ädelhart's most trusted lieutenants, Calco was at the centre of a plan to destroy Ädelhart once and for all.
After teaming up with Hessian Jaeger and his three compatriots Effigy, Captain Teach and Blay Bannock (A Vladracu Clone, a Space Pirate and a Hellfire Adept respectively), the five of them defeated Ädelhart and freed the Calconites from the Imperator's yoke.
Soon thereafter, not wanting to stir controversy in the ECoH, Calco, Jaeger and Effigy established a Calconite freestate on the former Imperatorial world and invited all free Calconites to join the Alliance in protecting Humanity together with the Rosers.
The true creation of the Alliance as it exists today, however, didn't come to pass until five years later, when the free AIs of Golem and the Colenar of Freeworld Human formally requested to join the Alliance, despite not being Calconite. The Triumvirate accepted under the condition that the Colenar Fébèngu and the AI Protego would be maid of honour and best man at the wedding of Hessian and Effigy.
The Alliance's Military is, beyond a doubt the strongest in all of the Human Sphere. With massive AI serving as vehicles, Calconites serving as troops and fifty Colenar serving as tactical WMDs, the only thing stopping the Alliance from steamrolling all over the rest of the Human Sphere and reinstating either the Imperatorium or the ECoH by force is their constant war with the Bhat.
The Alliance Navy is a bit more hampered, because at least half of the Alliance forces can't travel in Chaossence-driven ships without special protective suits, but with a combination of Colenar FTL drives and Golem's AI, the Alliance manages quite well.
Just as there are three Triumvirs, the Alliance also has three worlds: Freehold Human, Freehold Golem and Freehold Indepencia (formerly Ädelhart Prime).
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
-
Ford Prefect
- Posts: 957
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 11:12 am
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Grandmaster Broucarde was, in a word, criminally incompetant. About the only good thing to come out of her demanding that another nation hand over bits of its territory purely so her own nation could maintain an economic monopoly was that it got Gnatius Borbo put in charge. He's a considerable improvement.
FEEL THESE GUNS ARCHWIND THESE ARE THE GUNS OF THE FLESHY MESSIAH THE TOOLS OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION THAT WILL ENACT THE LAW OF MAN ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Well that means I did it right, because Broucarde was indeed intended to seem horribly incompetent (or at least rushed to make a decision which turned out to be exactly the wrong one).
As a side note: Prior to it's secession, Jarlsheim was not actually a separate nation, but rather different province within the same overarching nation (the ECoH) and if Broucarde hadn't made her demand, the ECoH council would probably have ruled in favour of signing Escher's Nightmare over to the Guild any way.
Chaossence Ore, you see, is rather dangerous to be around without the proper precautions and of all the ECoH members the Guild had by far the most expertise at handling it safely.
With the ECoH falling apart however, many Pirates joined Jarlsheim and the Pirates also had their fair share of self-taught Chaossence Ore specialists. (And the Pirates are the only reason why Jarlsheim has any competent pilots at all).
As a side note: Prior to it's secession, Jarlsheim was not actually a separate nation, but rather different province within the same overarching nation (the ECoH) and if Broucarde hadn't made her demand, the ECoH council would probably have ruled in favour of signing Escher's Nightmare over to the Guild any way.
Chaossence Ore, you see, is rather dangerous to be around without the proper precautions and of all the ECoH members the Guild had by far the most expertise at handling it safely.
With the ECoH falling apart however, many Pirates joined Jarlsheim and the Pirates also had their fair share of self-taught Chaossence Ore specialists. (And the Pirates are the only reason why Jarlsheim has any competent pilots at all).
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Human Faction Military Units
And the equipment they use
In the years prior to the fall of the ECoH, most military units belonging to the worlds and colonies making up the current factions were remnants of armed resistance cells that had fought in the war against Ädelhart and the Bhat.
Because each cell had it's own practices and it's own preferred equipment and most importantly because the ECoH simply did not have the resources to standardize the equipment of such a large and diverse force of soldiers, the ECoH used a practice referred to as 'Se Armant' (latin for 'They arm themselves/each other'), where each world or division was responsible for arming it's own troops with a basic budget provided by the ECoH if needed.
Several decades of peace, followed by the forming of the Factions however has made it so that setting up a standardized load out for each soldier per faction is both feasible and, in the face of heavy recruitment, even essential.
Jarlsheim Protectorate:
As of the year Secession + 3, Jarlsheim was the first Faction to fully standardize military equipment for all it's units.
Varangian Arms PCAR3
Type: Electromagnetic Coil Assault Rifle (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 8mm+4TF (Thread Ferric)
Rate of Fire: 450 RPM
Grip: Straight
The Personal Coiled Assault Rifle '3 made by Varangian Arms, the main supplier of the Jarlsheim arsenal, is a result of Jarlsheimi research into viable electromagnetic weapons for the use of solid ammunition.
The main problem faced by VA designers was the fact that regular ferric (iron and steel or amalgams containing iron) ammunition simply did not keep it's shape under the forces required to penetrate modern day armour.
After several attempts at using miniaturized shaped charged or a railgun design for the purpose of delivering non-ferric bullets, it was a straightforward idea by a young lab tech that provided the perfect solution.
The PCAR3 uses a two-phase magnetic coil to fire an artificial diamond bullet, 8mm in diameter, threaded with four spirals of non-magnetized steel. The advantage of this cartridge, aside from it's high penetration potential, is that the steel spirals threaded around the bullet cause it to spin as it leaves the barrel. Rifling is generally useless in Coil guns, but the ferric thread of the 8mm+4TF produces a very similar effect, increasing accuracy.
At 450 RPM, the PCAR3 has a very low rate of fire for an assault rifle. This was a conscious decision by the designers, rather than a technical limitation, based on their conclusion that the most effective method of firing for any Assault Rifle is in short bursts. The reduced rate of fire allows for a smaller coil than was used in test models (which had an RPM of between 1500 and 2000 RPM) and also reduces energy drains on the magazine's battery.
Varangian Arms LCMG3
Type: Light Electromagnetic Coil Machine gun (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 8mm+4TF (Thread Ferric)
Rate of Fire: 2500 RPM
Grip: Straight
Born in the same project as the PCAR3, the Varangian Arms Light Coil Machine Gun '3 is a heavier version of the same design. Mounted with a bipod and fed from a 2000 round 'box slide' magazine, the LCMG3 features a longer barrel and a heavier coil than it's little brother.
This weapon can fully discharge it's magazine in less than a minute. Combined with a special magazine that is easy to replace when empty, this allows a LCMG3 equipped soldier to lay down a near-continuous hail of bullets.
Unlike the PCAR3, the LCMG3 is not meant for 'on the move' firing, due to it's cumbersome design, and as such it is not quite as useful when not deployed into a stable position. It is, however, excellent at providing suppressive fire and covering important tactical positions, such as bottlenecks and doors and windows.
Varangian Arms HRCG4
Type: Heavy Electromagnetic Rail Chain Gun (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 8mm UDF (Unthreaded Diamond Flechette)
Rate of Fire: 2x3000 RPM
Grip: Straight
Half a year after it's Coil Gun cousins were first approved, the Heavy Rail Chain Gun '4 resulted from a side-project in the Electromagnetic Armaments project.
Unlike the threaded bullets of the '3 designs, the HRCG4 uses completely non-magnetic diamond 'darts' intended for optimal penetration of heavy infantry and light vehicle armour.
The HRCG4 has two barrels, both of which use a chain of steel 'slings' to fling it's projectiles at incredible speeds and firing rates.
Unlike the Coil guns, the HRCG4 is not technically intended for infantry use and is instead used solely in a vehicle mounted or base defence role.
(Placeholder for more that is to follow later, that's it for now, I'm still tired from the whole 'holiday' period).
And the equipment they use
In the years prior to the fall of the ECoH, most military units belonging to the worlds and colonies making up the current factions were remnants of armed resistance cells that had fought in the war against Ädelhart and the Bhat.
Because each cell had it's own practices and it's own preferred equipment and most importantly because the ECoH simply did not have the resources to standardize the equipment of such a large and diverse force of soldiers, the ECoH used a practice referred to as 'Se Armant' (latin for 'They arm themselves/each other'), where each world or division was responsible for arming it's own troops with a basic budget provided by the ECoH if needed.
Several decades of peace, followed by the forming of the Factions however has made it so that setting up a standardized load out for each soldier per faction is both feasible and, in the face of heavy recruitment, even essential.
Jarlsheim Protectorate:
As of the year Secession + 3, Jarlsheim was the first Faction to fully standardize military equipment for all it's units.
Varangian Arms PCAR3
Type: Electromagnetic Coil Assault Rifle (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 8mm+4TF (Thread Ferric)
Rate of Fire: 450 RPM
Grip: Straight
The Personal Coiled Assault Rifle '3 made by Varangian Arms, the main supplier of the Jarlsheim arsenal, is a result of Jarlsheimi research into viable electromagnetic weapons for the use of solid ammunition.
The main problem faced by VA designers was the fact that regular ferric (iron and steel or amalgams containing iron) ammunition simply did not keep it's shape under the forces required to penetrate modern day armour.
After several attempts at using miniaturized shaped charged or a railgun design for the purpose of delivering non-ferric bullets, it was a straightforward idea by a young lab tech that provided the perfect solution.
The PCAR3 uses a two-phase magnetic coil to fire an artificial diamond bullet, 8mm in diameter, threaded with four spirals of non-magnetized steel. The advantage of this cartridge, aside from it's high penetration potential, is that the steel spirals threaded around the bullet cause it to spin as it leaves the barrel. Rifling is generally useless in Coil guns, but the ferric thread of the 8mm+4TF produces a very similar effect, increasing accuracy.
At 450 RPM, the PCAR3 has a very low rate of fire for an assault rifle. This was a conscious decision by the designers, rather than a technical limitation, based on their conclusion that the most effective method of firing for any Assault Rifle is in short bursts. The reduced rate of fire allows for a smaller coil than was used in test models (which had an RPM of between 1500 and 2000 RPM) and also reduces energy drains on the magazine's battery.
Varangian Arms LCMG3
Type: Light Electromagnetic Coil Machine gun (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 8mm+4TF (Thread Ferric)
Rate of Fire: 2500 RPM
Grip: Straight
Born in the same project as the PCAR3, the Varangian Arms Light Coil Machine Gun '3 is a heavier version of the same design. Mounted with a bipod and fed from a 2000 round 'box slide' magazine, the LCMG3 features a longer barrel and a heavier coil than it's little brother.
This weapon can fully discharge it's magazine in less than a minute. Combined with a special magazine that is easy to replace when empty, this allows a LCMG3 equipped soldier to lay down a near-continuous hail of bullets.
Unlike the PCAR3, the LCMG3 is not meant for 'on the move' firing, due to it's cumbersome design, and as such it is not quite as useful when not deployed into a stable position. It is, however, excellent at providing suppressive fire and covering important tactical positions, such as bottlenecks and doors and windows.
Varangian Arms HRCG4
Type: Heavy Electromagnetic Rail Chain Gun (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 8mm UDF (Unthreaded Diamond Flechette)
Rate of Fire: 2x3000 RPM
Grip: Straight
Half a year after it's Coil Gun cousins were first approved, the Heavy Rail Chain Gun '4 resulted from a side-project in the Electromagnetic Armaments project.
Unlike the threaded bullets of the '3 designs, the HRCG4 uses completely non-magnetic diamond 'darts' intended for optimal penetration of heavy infantry and light vehicle armour.
The HRCG4 has two barrels, both of which use a chain of steel 'slings' to fling it's projectiles at incredible speeds and firing rates.
Unlike the Coil guns, the HRCG4 is not technically intended for infantry use and is instead used solely in a vehicle mounted or base defence role.
(Placeholder for more that is to follow later, that's it for now, I'm still tired from the whole 'holiday' period).
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
You know what?
Fuck it.
Apparently no one gives a shit, so why should I?
Fuck it.
Apparently no one gives a shit, so why should I?
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
-
Ford Prefect
- Posts: 957
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 11:12 am
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Hey, I happen to give a shit. However, do keep in mind that you cannot expect much in the way of input if you yourself or not known for input into other peoples' work.
FEEL THESE GUNS ARCHWIND THESE ARE THE GUNS OF THE FLESHY MESSIAH THE TOOLS OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION THAT WILL ENACT THE LAW OF MAN ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Actually, that was more about me keeping up with the rather strict the scheldule I'd set for myself.
But since you mention it, I have been relatively annoyed not so much lack of input, but by how, recently, I've noticed that my newer updates get only about 3 views from people who aren't me.
I noticed this when I had this forum (that is the 'Worldbuilding General Topics') and another 'verse forum which I was reading up on at the time in seperate tabs in Firefox and the (relatively) old topic I was reading at the time got more views in a single day that this thread got over the course of a week.
And as for input, that's mostly because: a. I don't like saying something to the extent of 'cool stuff, write more' over and over and at the same time I view writing as something very personal, so I'm not likely to give negative feedback either and b. While I've kept up with some of the 'verses, I'm still catching up on others. I rather liked The Eternal Game's 'The Alien Empires' thread. I had some questions about it (for instance whether the houses of the Holy Eternal Empire are all the same species, which I'd assume is the case since they intermarried), but the thread itself is relatively old, so I'm reading on until I'm up to date, in case there's an answer further on.
In my defence, when I made that post, it was 7 am, and I had just spent the whole night finishing the Jarlsheim entry for weaponry and vehicles and I wanted to post it because I expected people would be waiting for it, only to find out the thread hadn't gotten a single view in three days... So I decided that if no one was that eager to see the rest, than there was no hurry and I might as well finish the factions.
Which turned out to be just as well, I've switched a few weapons around between the factions to make them more appropriate to the over all style of the Faction (and in keeping with their technology. The Guild had a weapon that was listed as stolen from Jarlsheim, but then I decided it didn't suit Guild tactics so much, but would be excellent for the Rosers and fitting for their tech etc..)
But since you mention it, I have been relatively annoyed not so much lack of input, but by how, recently, I've noticed that my newer updates get only about 3 views from people who aren't me.
I noticed this when I had this forum (that is the 'Worldbuilding General Topics') and another 'verse forum which I was reading up on at the time in seperate tabs in Firefox and the (relatively) old topic I was reading at the time got more views in a single day that this thread got over the course of a week.
And as for input, that's mostly because: a. I don't like saying something to the extent of 'cool stuff, write more' over and over and at the same time I view writing as something very personal, so I'm not likely to give negative feedback either and b. While I've kept up with some of the 'verses, I'm still catching up on others. I rather liked The Eternal Game's 'The Alien Empires' thread. I had some questions about it (for instance whether the houses of the Holy Eternal Empire are all the same species, which I'd assume is the case since they intermarried), but the thread itself is relatively old, so I'm reading on until I'm up to date, in case there's an answer further on.
In my defence, when I made that post, it was 7 am, and I had just spent the whole night finishing the Jarlsheim entry for weaponry and vehicles and I wanted to post it because I expected people would be waiting for it, only to find out the thread hadn't gotten a single view in three days... So I decided that if no one was that eager to see the rest, than there was no hurry and I might as well finish the factions.
Which turned out to be just as well, I've switched a few weapons around between the factions to make them more appropriate to the over all style of the Faction (and in keeping with their technology. The Guild had a weapon that was listed as stolen from Jarlsheim, but then I decided it didn't suit Guild tactics so much, but would be excellent for the Rosers and fitting for their tech etc..)
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
-
Magister Militum
- Posts: 921
- Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 8:01 pm
- Location: California
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Even writing something as simple as 'keep up the good work' can have a positive impact and influence someone who might have lost interest to keep at it.
As for your question, yes, the original Houses (which are quite large coincidently) that made up the Holy Eternal Empire were indeed of the same species. I will admit that there are sections of TEG that are out of date; the Greater Republic of the Arm, for example, has changed completely in terms of origins and structure. I'm currently in the process of updated the older, non-canon (at least in comparison with my updated concepts) threads, so just hang in there if you have any questions.
As for Loaded Dice, all I can say is that as long as you keep working on it, I will have some sort of constructive feedback to input.
As for your question, yes, the original Houses (which are quite large coincidently) that made up the Holy Eternal Empire were indeed of the same species. I will admit that there are sections of TEG that are out of date; the Greater Republic of the Arm, for example, has changed completely in terms of origins and structure. I'm currently in the process of updated the older, non-canon (at least in comparison with my updated concepts) threads, so just hang in there if you have any questions.
As for Loaded Dice, all I can say is that as long as you keep working on it, I will have some sort of constructive feedback to input.
Democratic Socialist | Atheist | Transhumanist | Bright Green Environmentalist | Worldbuilder | IT Professional |
Germania your game is through, now you're gonna answer to... The Freestates! Fuck Yeah! Now lick my balls and suck on my cock! Freestates, Fuck Yeah! Coming in to save the motherfuckin' day! Rock and roll, fuck yeah! Television, fuck yeah! DVDs, fuck yeah! Militums, fuck yeah! - Shroomy
Germania your game is through, now you're gonna answer to... The Freestates! Fuck Yeah! Now lick my balls and suck on my cock! Freestates, Fuck Yeah! Coming in to save the motherfuckin' day! Rock and roll, fuck yeah! Television, fuck yeah! DVDs, fuck yeah! Militums, fuck yeah! - Shroomy
-
Ford Prefect
- Posts: 957
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 11:12 am
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
As an aside, I find the concept of a spiral of ferromagnetic material as a particularly clever idea. I'ven ever seen such a thing before, so it's also rather original.
FEEL THESE GUNS ARCHWIND THESE ARE THE GUNS OF THE FLESHY MESSIAH THE TOOLS OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION THAT WILL ENACT THE LAW OF MAN ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Yeah, I came up with that when I realised (rather late in the thinking process) that diamond isn't magnetic. I considered iron cores, an iron plate at the end and simply making all of them railguns and at the same time I had the weapons being rifled with small 'fins' on the bullets that fit into the rifling to make the bullet spin before I realized that simply winding an iron or steel thread around the bullet would both make it firable from a coil gun and make it spin.
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Damn, work has been catching up to me again.
A small update for now, to show everyone I'm still working on this.
A week from now I have to have an operation. It's nothing too serious, but I'll require bed rest for a while, so I'll have plenty of time to write then.
Varangian Arms TAPCSR 'Deathbolt'
Type: Electromagnetic Coil Anti-Personnel Sniper Rifle (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 14mm+4TF (Thread Ferric)
Rate of Fire: 150 RPM
Grip: Straight
The Deathbolt Tactical Anti-Personnel Coiled Snipe Rifle is an assassin's weapon. Snipers equipped with the Deathbolt are not meant to get into direct combat and they are not intended to waste their ammo on rank-and-file soldiers.
Jarlsheim snipers instead focus on breaking down the enemy's chain of command by taking out anyone in charge.
This weapon has a relatively low rate of fire for a Varangian Arms weapon, but since it is completely recoilless at 150 RPM, it can take out a general and anyone standing nearby in a single minute. This means that the survival rate of anyone who steps into a Jarlsheim sniper's scope is slim to none.
The Deathbolt's 14mm rounds, as opposed to the standard 8mm used by most other VA weapons means a heavier bullet, which in turn increases stopping power. The bullets use flechette style wings, while still using the standard four threads of ferric material to allow coil gun firing. This lends it stability to compensate for the larger round's susceptibility to gravity.
Varangian Arms MCAR5
Type: Electromagnetic Coil Marksman's Rifle (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 14mm+4TF (Thread Ferric)
Rate of Fire: 550 RPM
Grip: Straight
A marriage of the VA LCMG3 and the Deathbolt, the Marksman's Coiled Assault Rifle '5 features the Light Machine gun's overall build with a Deathbolt type scope and loading mechanism. This cuts down on the bulk of the LCMG3, allowing the user to fire it accurately without the bipod. Nevertheless the integrated bipod is still incorporated in the design.
The MCAR5 was created primarily to lend Jarlsheim troops defensibility against enemy snipers as well as other enemy positions.
Jarlsheim Terraforming 'Peeps'
Type: Personal Plasma Sidearm (Carbon Plasma pistol)
Cartridge: 10SCP (Ten shot Carbon Plasma)
Rate of Fire: 50 RPM
Grip: Pistol
When the weapon bids for Jarlsheim's military armament were up, Varangian Arms was not the only company to propose weapons. Jarlsheim Terraforming had years of experience working with carbon plasma, a result of the method used to reduce the amount of Carbon-Dioxide in Jarlsheim's atmosphere.
Realizing they could not compete with Varangian Arms' excellent Assault Rifle and Machine Gun prototypes, JT instead focussed on making weapons which would be able to use the significant power of plasma, without being hindered by it's main weakness: lack of range.
The 'Peeps' Personal Plasma Sidearm is intended for short range use only, which is not a problem for a sidearm, and fires a powerful 'short stream' of Plasma at the intended target. Though the plasma dissipates quite quickly against highly armoured targets, it wreaks havoc on flesh and light armour.
Jarlsheim Terraforming 'Untrencher'
Type: Plasmathrower (Carbon Plasma streamer)
Cartridge: CP10min (10 minute tank)
Rate of Fire: 100 liters/min
Grip: Pistol
Another JT close range weapon, the 'Untrencher' Tactical Plasma Streamer harkens back to one of the earliest plasma weapons known to man: The flamethrower.
Working on similar principles, the Untrencher is used to fire a wide, all consuming stream of Carbon plasma into enemy positions. With a range of only 50-100 meters, it's user needs to get close, but the intended target isn't usually moving any way.
Field testing revealed that the Untrencher has a secondary use as well: When fired for only a few seconds at, for instance, a closed door, the weapon's stream covers what's hit with a layer of a mixture of graphite and diamond (bort, specifically). This effectively seals said door against all attempts to open it from the other side, short of burning through.
For this reason, many heavily armoured victims on the Untrencher die not from plasma burns, but suffocation as the weapon coats any enemies with armour strong enough to withstand it in the same substance, causing them to remain immobile with their air filters clogged up until they run out of air, or of dehydration, if they are unlucky enough to be immobilized without having their air filters clogged.
Jarlsheim Terraforming 'Boomstick'
Type: Anti-personnel Plasma Trenchgun (Carbon Plasma Trenchgun)
Cartridge: 15SCP (fifteen shot Carbon Plasma)
Rate of Fire: 150 RPM
Grip: Pistol
The Boomstick is the last in the line of JT's plasma-based weapon. A plasma-based trenchgun, it serves a similar function as the Untrencher, but is easier to carry and does not require a designated user.
The Boomstick fires a more focussed 'stream' of plasma than the Untrencher, allowing it to burn through slightly thicker armour. It's mainly to be used as the designated weapon of the point man of a trench/position clearing operation, but has also been used as a boarding weapon in ship-to-ship action, where it excels due to a lack of heavy armour on the enemy's side.
A small update for now, to show everyone I'm still working on this.
A week from now I have to have an operation. It's nothing too serious, but I'll require bed rest for a while, so I'll have plenty of time to write then.
Varangian Arms TAPCSR 'Deathbolt'
Type: Electromagnetic Coil Anti-Personnel Sniper Rifle (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 14mm+4TF (Thread Ferric)
Rate of Fire: 150 RPM
Grip: Straight
The Deathbolt Tactical Anti-Personnel Coiled Snipe Rifle is an assassin's weapon. Snipers equipped with the Deathbolt are not meant to get into direct combat and they are not intended to waste their ammo on rank-and-file soldiers.
Jarlsheim snipers instead focus on breaking down the enemy's chain of command by taking out anyone in charge.
This weapon has a relatively low rate of fire for a Varangian Arms weapon, but since it is completely recoilless at 150 RPM, it can take out a general and anyone standing nearby in a single minute. This means that the survival rate of anyone who steps into a Jarlsheim sniper's scope is slim to none.
The Deathbolt's 14mm rounds, as opposed to the standard 8mm used by most other VA weapons means a heavier bullet, which in turn increases stopping power. The bullets use flechette style wings, while still using the standard four threads of ferric material to allow coil gun firing. This lends it stability to compensate for the larger round's susceptibility to gravity.
Varangian Arms MCAR5
Type: Electromagnetic Coil Marksman's Rifle (slug thrower)
Cartridge: 14mm+4TF (Thread Ferric)
Rate of Fire: 550 RPM
Grip: Straight
A marriage of the VA LCMG3 and the Deathbolt, the Marksman's Coiled Assault Rifle '5 features the Light Machine gun's overall build with a Deathbolt type scope and loading mechanism. This cuts down on the bulk of the LCMG3, allowing the user to fire it accurately without the bipod. Nevertheless the integrated bipod is still incorporated in the design.
The MCAR5 was created primarily to lend Jarlsheim troops defensibility against enemy snipers as well as other enemy positions.
Jarlsheim Terraforming 'Peeps'
Type: Personal Plasma Sidearm (Carbon Plasma pistol)
Cartridge: 10SCP (Ten shot Carbon Plasma)
Rate of Fire: 50 RPM
Grip: Pistol
When the weapon bids for Jarlsheim's military armament were up, Varangian Arms was not the only company to propose weapons. Jarlsheim Terraforming had years of experience working with carbon plasma, a result of the method used to reduce the amount of Carbon-Dioxide in Jarlsheim's atmosphere.
Realizing they could not compete with Varangian Arms' excellent Assault Rifle and Machine Gun prototypes, JT instead focussed on making weapons which would be able to use the significant power of plasma, without being hindered by it's main weakness: lack of range.
The 'Peeps' Personal Plasma Sidearm is intended for short range use only, which is not a problem for a sidearm, and fires a powerful 'short stream' of Plasma at the intended target. Though the plasma dissipates quite quickly against highly armoured targets, it wreaks havoc on flesh and light armour.
Jarlsheim Terraforming 'Untrencher'
Type: Plasmathrower (Carbon Plasma streamer)
Cartridge: CP10min (10 minute tank)
Rate of Fire: 100 liters/min
Grip: Pistol
Another JT close range weapon, the 'Untrencher' Tactical Plasma Streamer harkens back to one of the earliest plasma weapons known to man: The flamethrower.
Working on similar principles, the Untrencher is used to fire a wide, all consuming stream of Carbon plasma into enemy positions. With a range of only 50-100 meters, it's user needs to get close, but the intended target isn't usually moving any way.
Field testing revealed that the Untrencher has a secondary use as well: When fired for only a few seconds at, for instance, a closed door, the weapon's stream covers what's hit with a layer of a mixture of graphite and diamond (bort, specifically). This effectively seals said door against all attempts to open it from the other side, short of burning through.
For this reason, many heavily armoured victims on the Untrencher die not from plasma burns, but suffocation as the weapon coats any enemies with armour strong enough to withstand it in the same substance, causing them to remain immobile with their air filters clogged up until they run out of air, or of dehydration, if they are unlucky enough to be immobilized without having their air filters clogged.
Jarlsheim Terraforming 'Boomstick'
Type: Anti-personnel Plasma Trenchgun (Carbon Plasma Trenchgun)
Cartridge: 15SCP (fifteen shot Carbon Plasma)
Rate of Fire: 150 RPM
Grip: Pistol
The Boomstick is the last in the line of JT's plasma-based weapon. A plasma-based trenchgun, it serves a similar function as the Untrencher, but is easier to carry and does not require a designated user.
The Boomstick fires a more focussed 'stream' of plasma than the Untrencher, allowing it to burn through slightly thicker armour. It's mainly to be used as the designated weapon of the point man of a trench/position clearing operation, but has also been used as a boarding weapon in ship-to-ship action, where it excels due to a lack of heavy armour on the enemy's side.
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
-
Ford Prefect
- Posts: 957
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 11:12 am
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
There is something extremely nasty about a flamethrower with the same sort of 'secondary' use that the Untrencher has. It sets it apart from most normal flamers.
FEEL THESE GUNS ARCHWIND THESE ARE THE GUNS OF THE FLESHY MESSIAH THE TOOLS OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION THAT WILL ENACT THE LAW OF MAN ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
-
Magister Militum
- Posts: 921
- Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 8:01 pm
- Location: California
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
That is truly a very nasty flamethrower you've desinged there, Blackwing. Like Ford mentioned, it has quite a unique secondary function.
Democratic Socialist | Atheist | Transhumanist | Bright Green Environmentalist | Worldbuilder | IT Professional |
Germania your game is through, now you're gonna answer to... The Freestates! Fuck Yeah! Now lick my balls and suck on my cock! Freestates, Fuck Yeah! Coming in to save the motherfuckin' day! Rock and roll, fuck yeah! Television, fuck yeah! DVDs, fuck yeah! Militums, fuck yeah! - Shroomy
Germania your game is through, now you're gonna answer to... The Freestates! Fuck Yeah! Now lick my balls and suck on my cock! Freestates, Fuck Yeah! Coming in to save the motherfuckin' day! Rock and roll, fuck yeah! Television, fuck yeah! DVDs, fuck yeah! Militums, fuck yeah! - Shroomy
-
Booted Vulture
- Posts: 965
- Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 9:33 pm
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Nice weapons, Blackwing. Although 10 minutes seems like an awful lot of fire for just one tank on the untrencher. Is the ammo mounted on the gun or is in a backpack tank ?
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
It's a backpack tank, which contains graphite powder. I did some calculations and ten minutes of continuous fire (with a 100 liter volume per minute) requires about ten liters worth of solid fuel... That's a about 5 large soda bottles (2.5 gallons).
This is because solid to plasma results in a significant volume increase.
For the Untrencher (and the other plasma weapons) I decided to go a different route from most Sci-fi writers.
Most sci-fi plasma weapons are long range weapons with some kind of technobabbly explanation for why the plasma doesn't disperse a few meters after leaving the weapon.
Those weapons also tend to use the heat of Plasma as the main 'effect'.
The Untrencher however relies on the (realistic) dispersal/expansion of the plasma as well it's highly reactive nature. The Untrencher essentially 'eats' the armour off it's target, while the high energy load (heat and ionisation) cause damage to the armour's electrical systems, not to mention potentially pressure-cooking the victim inside their armour.
This is because solid to plasma results in a significant volume increase.
For the Untrencher (and the other plasma weapons) I decided to go a different route from most Sci-fi writers.
Most sci-fi plasma weapons are long range weapons with some kind of technobabbly explanation for why the plasma doesn't disperse a few meters after leaving the weapon.
Those weapons also tend to use the heat of Plasma as the main 'effect'.
The Untrencher however relies on the (realistic) dispersal/expansion of the plasma as well it's highly reactive nature. The Untrencher essentially 'eats' the armour off it's target, while the high energy load (heat and ionisation) cause damage to the armour's electrical systems, not to mention potentially pressure-cooking the victim inside their armour.
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Well, I just got back from surgery.
While it isn't as bad as I initially thought (I'm still able to sit and type without being in horrible pain), I do have a few weeks off work, so expect more Loaded Dice stuff soon.
Now I just hope that I can get a 'verse forum for LD soon.
While it isn't as bad as I initially thought (I'm still able to sit and type without being in horrible pain), I do have a few weeks off work, so expect more Loaded Dice stuff soon.
Now I just hope that I can get a 'verse forum for LD soon.
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Whoa, surgery? What did I miss?
Also: sorry I didn't get around to creating your universe for you sooner- I take it you want it called "Loaded Dice"? Or do you want the "second coming of" bit tacked on as well?
Also: sorry I didn't get around to creating your universe for you sooner- I take it you want it called "Loaded Dice"? Or do you want the "second coming of" bit tacked on as well?
"Nick Fury. Old-school cold warrior. The original black ops hardcase. Long before I stepped off a C-130 at Da Nang, Fury and his team had set fire to half of Asia." - Frank Castle
For, now De Ruyter's topsails
Off naked Chatham show,
We dare not meet him with our fleet -
And this the Dutchmen know!
For, now De Ruyter's topsails
Off naked Chatham show,
We dare not meet him with our fleet -
And this the Dutchmen know!
Re: Loaded Dice, The second coming of
Just Loaded Dice is fine.
And as for the surgery, it was pretty routine, as far as surgeries go, nothing life threatening at least. But as said, I do need some time to recover, which I'll spend on LD.
And as for the surgery, it was pretty routine, as far as surgeries go, nothing life threatening at least. But as said, I do need some time to recover, which I'll spend on LD.
So Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen. ~ Stephen Hawking