The Codexian Saga LP

[Jack]

How can you pass up information about the Raumen?
They have been the most secretive of them all.
Never telling the whole truth, keeping us in the dark.

I have doubts that we will find much interesting intel on the war.

 

[treave]

edit2: tl;dr WARWARWARWARWARWARWARWARWARWARWAR!!!!



I had a dream, Councillors. I must commit that dream to this session before it slips my memory. In that dream I saw an eagle and three dice. And the dice spun around the eagle and when they landed, they spelt out the numbers I, T and Z. The eagle then ascended into the heavens, out of sight, with a cry of "r00fles!"

I believe that dream is a sign, my brethren. ITZ coming. ITZ coming for us all. Codexia has been docile for far too long. Codexia has been overly concerned with the labyrinthine politics of the interstellar community, too anxious about what the other races think of us. Every Codexian is born with the primal desire to PURGE THE FILTHY XENOS. Since the end of the Raumen War we have not indulged in that innate rage, nor had the opportunity to do so. Fifty long years, brothers and sisters.

That repressed desire must have been magnified by the close presence of the Raumen, as they began to infiltrate our trade and healthcare sectors, and let loose in the only way Codexians knew how - liberal furfaggotry body modifications. This is the only reasonable explanation for the proliferation of mods in those peaceful times. ITZ almost came upon us then if not for the swift intervention of the Council, and even then the Council was divided. But if we stay as we are, ITZ comes again.

Our teeth are blunt, Councillors. We dare not engage without knowing a threat. How did it come to this? Many of you here are descended from glorious military families that were instrumental in ending the Raumen War. Your families must not have forgotten those heady days, when Codexia was young and every decision crucial to its survival. The excitement, the thrill of knowing every day could be your last - where has it all gone now? Are we doomed to debate hypothetical armchair warfare scenarios forever instead of actually committing ourselves to real combat and actually testing our strategy, tactics and technology?

I appeal to you now. I care not what manner of information floods in from our spies. What I know is that if we do not stay true to ourselves, ITZ coming.

Ladies and gentlemen, I declare now, that whatever information comes in, my soonest possible move will be to vote for FUCKING OVER WHICHEVER XENOS SCUM DARES TO EVEN FUCK WITH US NEXT EVEN IF IT IS THOSE CRYSTAL METH ALIENS THAT DON'T DO ANYTHING WE WILL SMASH THOSE OVERGROWN QUARTZ CRYSTALS AND MAKE GIGANTIC FUCK YOU SIGNS POINTING AT ALL THE OTHERS AND SAYING BRING IT ON IF YOU THINK YOU ARE HARD ENOUGH BITCHES AND SONS OF BITCHES FUCK YEAH even if there is no information. A civilization needs to be threatened to grow. We need a war, and we need one now. Codexia is complacent. Codexia is stagnant. Codexia is soft.

Have faith in what our brave soldiers are trained for, my brethren. Codexia the Brave, Codexia uber alles.

edit: Brave and mighty Barbarian, wasn't there supposed to be a State of the Union update every few posts? Obviously it's up to you if you want to spend the time writing it up, and I'm thinking some of us might prefer a faster paced game, but I'd be cool with regular 'fleshing-outs' myself. Or do we settle into a Q&A format now?

 

[The Barbarian]

lightbane:

Honestly, the Barbarian has grown these cultures over the last few days without drawing on any outside sources. He spent some time contemplating whether to go down the path of 'realism'/hard sci-fi (no) or pulp noir space opera - and the latter won convincingly. So, the voting body gets to deal with 'faux analogues' like the insectoid Raumen. The Barbarian decided to use these constructs because a) players know what to expect when they see 'bug' and b) because that's not necessarily what the Barbarian has in store, when he thinks up this particular brand of bug. It is a neat disjunction.

Which is why the Raumen are not a hive mind, but a clan-based society. And they're not idiotic automatons, but inquisitive and intelligent creatures.

Once the basic pattern is in his mind, the Barbarian fills in the blanks with - what is hopefully - a common-sense approach.

The end goal is creating 'NPCs'/characters that the voting body can begin to imagine and find to be convincing and, more importantly, interesting to read about.

EDIT:

Another update will be done in a few hours, then tomorrow some fluff material will be posted.

treave:

We've been stuck in the same 'turn' for a bit now (180-200AU). A State of the Union update was done for the previous period, at its conclusion. Yes, the Barbarian will definitely do one for this period, when that point is reached.

 

[treave]

Ah, I was under the impression that turns were updates. Sorry about that.

 

[GarfunkeL]

I find myself leaning towards the Phyr, for some reason. Somehow the Ursine have gotten their furry paws at my heart. While I would love to put one over the smug bugs (we WILL eradicate them at some point!), I think its best to find out the truth about this war between xenolizards and the ursinoid furries and if it turns out that Phyr have been even semi-decent in this war, we should finally ally with them!

C!

 

[The Barbarian]

In actual fact, the Barbarian is a retarded manchild.

It seems the last SotU was superseded by the 'Genetic Intermission'. One will definitely be done for this 'turn'/period.

A tentative timeline:

Tonight:

Update #1
Possible: Fluff #1

Tomorrow:

Definite: Fluff #1
Possible: Fluff #2
Update #2
Probable: Update #3
Possible: Fluff #3

EDIT:

One vote for A.

Three votes for B.

Six votes for C.

War info it is.

 

[treave]

By the end of this game, we will probably have a world more plausible and fleshed out than Mass Effect.

 

[TNO]

We're not there already?

 

[treave]

Nah, not enough Codex entries yet.

I mean, we've only got Codexian ubermensch, meth people, lizard people, bear people and bug people for now.

Mass Effect has Shepard, blue bisexual people, avian-lizard people, tentacle people, elephant people, mole people, bug people and human people, amongst others.

edit: But yeah, plausibility wise at least we're not using Element Zero and giving our Codexians superpowers.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Why did they have to include magic in a sci-fi game, I'll never know. Fucking Bioware

 

[treave]

Jedi sell.

In fact I was surprised we didn't get laser swords of some sort.

 

[Jack]

edit2: tl;dr WARWARWARWARWARWARWARWARWARWARWAR!!!!



I had a dream, Councillors. I must commit that dream to this session before it slips my memory. In that dream I saw an eagle and three dice. And the dice spun around the eagle and when they landed, they spelt out the numbers I, T and Z. The eagle then ascended into the heavens, out of sight, with a cry of "r00fles!"

I believe that dream is a sign, my brethren. ITZ coming. ITZ coming for us all. Codexia has been docile for far too long. Codexia has been overly concerned with the labyrinthine politics of the interstellar community, too anxious about what the other races think of us. Every Codexian is born with the primal desire to PURGE THE FILTHY XENOS. Since the end of the Raumen War we have not indulged in that innate rage, nor had the opportunity to do so. Fifty long years, brothers and sisters.

That repressed desire must have been magnified by the close presence of the Raumen, as they began to infiltrate our trade and healthcare sectors, and let loose in the only way Codexians knew how - liberal furfaggotry body modifications. This is the only reasonable explanation for the proliferation of mods in those peaceful times. ITZ almost came upon us then if not for the swift intervention of the Council, and even then the Council was divided. But if we stay as we are, ITZ comes again.

Our teeth are blunt, Councillors. We dare not engage without knowing a threat. How did it come to this? Many of you here are descended from glorious military families that were instrumental in ending the Raumen War. Your families must not have forgotten those heady days, when Codexia was young and every decision crucial to its survival. The excitement, the thrill of knowing every day could be your last - where has it all gone now? Are we doomed to debate hypothetical armchair warfare scenarios forever instead of actually committing ourselves to real combat and actually testing our strategy, tactics and technology?

I appeal to you now. I care not what manner of information floods in from our spies. What I know is that if we do not stay true to ourselves, ITZ coming.

Ladies and gentlemen, I declare now, that whatever information comes in, my soonest possible move will be to vote for FUCKING OVER WHICHEVER XENOS SCUM DARES TO EVEN FUCK WITH US NEXT EVEN IF IT IS THOSE CRYSTAL METH ALIENS THAT DON'T DO ANYTHING WE WILL SMASH THOSE OVERGROWN QUARTZ CRYSTALS AND MAKE GIGANTIC FUCK YOU SIGNS POINTING AT ALL THE OTHERS AND SAYING BRING IT ON IF YOU THINK YOU ARE HARD ENOUGH BITCHES AND SONS OF BITCHES FUCK YEAH even if there is no information. A civilization needs to be threatened to grow. We need a war, and we need one now. Codexia is complacent. Codexia is stagnant. Codexia is soft.

Have faith in what our brave soldiers are trained for, my brethren. Codexia the Brave, Codexia uber alles.

FOR GLORY, FOR CODEXIA!

 

[Orgasm]

B - Raumen motivations

Its unbelievable. No wonder Bioware is so popular. Easy choices, you prefer. As Yoda would put it. Have you not witnessed how the OP punished you for choosing the goody shoes option?

Just side with the bugs! Remember their mind-bending brothels!

 

[lightbane]

Nah, not enough Codex entries yet.

I mean, we've only got Codexian ubermensch, meth people, lizard people, bear people and bug people for now.

Mass Effect has Shepard, blue bisexual people, avian-lizard people, tentacle people, elephant people, mole people, bug people and human people, amongst others.

edit: But yeah, plausibility wise at least we're not using Element Zero and giving our Codexians superpowers.

You forgot that ME has CLICHE characters, these bi-sexual people are specifically made for fatty nerds (in doubt ask for Liara Sue and her vague age), over-the-top main characters that can do as much they want without consequences; what's more, in ME's universe being an asshole will always result in a something profitable, never, EVER a npc was angry due Shepard's "Extremity" and reacted in consequence. And our aliens are much more originals than ME. Period.

 

[praetor]

He spent some time contemplating whether to go down the path of 'realism'/hard sci-fi (no) or pulp noir space opera - and the latter won convincingly.

does that mean that we can expect (some time in the not too distant future) a scenario involving the former rather than the latter, o mightiest of all cimmerians?

 

[treave]

Nah, not enough Codex entries yet.

I mean, we've only got Codexian ubermensch, meth people, lizard people, bear people and bug people for now.

Mass Effect has Shepard, blue bisexual people, avian-lizard people, tentacle people, elephant people, mole people, bug people and human people, amongst others.

edit: But yeah, plausibility wise at least we're not using Element Zero and giving our Codexians superpowers.

You forgot that ME has CLICHE characters, these bi-sexual people are specifically made for fatty nerds (in doubt ask for Liara Sue and her vague age), over-the-top main characters that can do as much they want without consequences; what's more, in ME's universe being an asshole will always result in a something profitable, never, EVER a npc was angry due Shepard's "Extremity" and reacted in consequence. And our aliens are much more originals than ME. Period.

Was just making some throwaway comments, bro. Let's not sidetrack this thread with Biowhoreism.

 

[Jack]

I can't wait to be a part of an interstellar warmachine again.

 

[The Barbarian]

War Stories

The broken husk of a man slumped in his chair, a low death rattle escaping his lips, as his eyes slowly rolled back into his head. The information now in the hands of the Codexian Security Bureau had cost a great deal, indeed. Likely, it was to cost Codexianity more still. The dead spy had spent the last months of his life amongst the largest of the Raumen clans - the Rau'dey - combing his usual sources for any and all information on the Phyr and the Turanei. As usual, his luck had been poor to middling. Nothing of true worth had been gleaned from the exercise. That was still the state of affairs a mere four weeks before his death. It was then that he was given a data-chip 'obtained' from clan archives by a very ambitious and suddenly wealthy file clerk.

The files it contained were marked as 'non-knowledge' - the Raumeni equivalent of 'top secret', in the sense that the existence of such knowledge was to be denied vehemently by Clan officials, and was deemed absolutely beyond valuation or public access. It was, obviously, most certainly not for outsiders. The spy was not aware of what he had, until the file clerk came looking for him the next day, desperate to get it back. The spy did not oblige him (despite pleading and begging on the part of the Raumen), and was instead informed, later, that the unfortunate clerk had met a grisly end at the hands of unknown perpetrators. Needless to say, the agent then made a run for it, and was extricated successfully - but not before an incident with local security forces left him mortally wounded. Jaymes Jebediah Treave would eventually be listed as another one of Codexia's fallen heroes.

The documents he purchased with his life and delivered to the Codexian government concerned the origins and current status of the Turanei-Phyr War. In short, they explained that the war had begun more than a hundred years previous, when the Phyr - who are considered a relatively young race - began to encroach on Turanei-claimed territory. They had been paid to do so by the Raumeni Confederacy, who were themselves deeply engaged in fighting the Hin'in Empire (no explanatory entry); a period of time that is today remembered as the 'Fourth Great Muster of the Clans'. The Turanei, who occupied only three hundred lightyears of galactic real-estate, shrugged off the Phyr invasion, and burned a number of their colonies, in response, with fearsome weapons.

By the fourth year of the conflict, the Phyr were losing badly - totally outmatched by the Turanei, whose dreadnoughts quickly became the stuff of legend. It was then that the mysterious and usually aloof Amoneth intervened, for reasons unknown, gifting the Phyr with a number of advanced technologies, including the stealth cloak they employ today. A sort of 'balanced stalemate' was achieved over the next decade. The Phyr were better able to combat the Turanei, who for their part seemed relatively disinterested in taking any Phyr territory. However, ursine incursions into the Turanei home systems were defeated with unbridled ferocity and remarkable efficiency.

The stalemate lasted for over thirty largely uneventful years, before the Fifth Great Muster of the Raumeni Clans, under Magon do te Gargiis (the Clan Father) poured across the borders of both the Phyr Dominion and the Turanei, simultaneously. It was a brutal episode in the conflict; a general conflagration over a thousand lightyears of space. It ended with the death of te Gargiis in the Battle of the Eye, three years after it began, when an entire fleet of Turanei dreadnoughts confronted the bulk of the mighty Raumen host, and barely defeated it in pitched battle. The death of the Clan Father broke the back of the Raumeni war effort. They were left to prey only on the much weakened Phyr, having been entirely evicted from the Turanei expanse, thereafter.

The ursine aliens, however, waged a desperate war of resistance that eventually saw them drive back the insectoids. A peace treaty was finally signed, after the Raumeni ceded swathes of systems to the suddenly reinvigorated Phyr horde. The truce between the two races generally held, with a few notable exceptions, as the Raumen tacitly acknowledged their weakened position. Yet, no treaty was ever signed between the Phyr and the Turanei. The former, who reportedly could not 'leave well enough alone', continued to prod the latter. Small-scale raids were organized by commanders hungry for glory and the riches that invariably followed glory. Twelve years ago, a single raid did - finally - manage to piece the Turanei defensive net. One of their major colonies was heavily bombarded by the Phyr, before they withdrew. The Turanei have not relented from their reprisals, ever since, and the conflict has been steadily escalating. Recently, several Phyr worlds have been entirely depopulated by the 'lizard scum'.

***

A short time after the above information was received and analyzed, a border picket was attacked. By sheer good fortune, the picket escaped, and finally was able to confirm that the attackers were the ursine Phyr, all along. Difficult choices await.

***

Do you... order your fleets to fortify your borders against further attacks?

OR

Do you... issue a warning to the Phyr, threatening action?

OR

Do you... mobilize immediately, in preparation for war?

 

[Maria]

To war!

No warning, no diplomacy and no backing down! They have betrayed us for the last time!

We attack their homeworlds and make them suffer once and for all!

Death to the space-turds!

 

[Jack]

So this is finally it.
This is the day we have been waiting for.
We must strike quickly and fearless if we are to win this war. If we begin to mobilize our armies immediatley we will be able to finish them off quickly.
C.
I have no doubts about this choice, THIS IS IT.
The Raumeni and the Phyrries will be crushed by our mighty empire.

TO WAR!

 

[lightbane]

Can we really win against two enemies at once? What's more, what if this misterious enemy the documents mention appear? And these Amoneth are suspicious... I'll declare my vote later, I have things to think about, brothers-councilmen...

 

[Orgasm]

A.

Wtf , dudes?

1! Crystal people gave the spiderbears the stealth tech!
2! Spiderbears are a buffer between Codexia and xenophobic lizards!
(3) Should have stayed with the pragmatic bugs and received gifts...

 

[Jack]

The Hin'in Empire could be a reference to us.
And even so our enemy's enemy is our friend.

 

[Maria]

The Hin'in Empire could be a reference to us.
And even so our enemy's enemy is our friend.

Indeed and we can't let everyone walk all over us because they might have a friend or an enemy. The time for action has come. Option C is the only way.

 

[Jack]

We have waited centuries for this moment. The rivers will flow with the blood of those who oppose us.

My photoshop skills are very limited, but I tried.