Spioff from two other threads...a What if? WIP for the holidays to keep the bad guys at bay...
Alternate Splugorth---The Good Splugorth
“Look, I’m really grateful for the rescue from the Demon Sea....and for patching me up afterwards...Thank you all so very much, ma’am...er...I mean SIR!...Kinda hard for me to tell there, sorry....But I’m fine now....can you give me back my guns...and my pants?”
----Anonymous Refugee on Atlantis.
This presupposes that the Splugorth, instead of being historically evil beings, have been the opposite, but no less extreme, alignments----In this altaverse, the name ‘Splugorth’ is synonymous with ‘Samaritan’, and they have been known for millenia as a visually hideous, but soul-set, force of good and charity. Evil Splugorth do exist, and their going against the grain of their species makes them ironically even MORE horrifying (Horror Factor 19, as opposed to canonical 17!) than their evil mirrors in most of the Megaverse, as well as a continuing lesson and source of shame for their kin.
In the Three Galaxies and other universes, the Splugorth are recognized as Champions of Light, an ancient race that has not become cold and callous with advanced age, nor grown inured to the sufferings of others. They fight cruelty with kindness, darkness with hope, and poverty with charity. They maintain a cross-dimensional network of affiliates that serve as a core of a megaversal movement to provide assistance to those who most need it.
On Rifts Earth, the Splugorth are on hand to attempt the best way to save the planet from itself, while preserving the enormous opportunities that Rifts Earth’s new status as a dimensional nexus presents both to their organization and to the peoples of Earth. They’re building up their knowledge and their bases of power, including what they hope to be forward staging areas for a global relief effort in Europe and North America.
The Splugorth are still feared and hated by many of the peoples of Earth, because they’re alien, they appear as an invading and occupying force, because they are arrogant and condescending, and because their methids of doing good are often heavy-handed and extreme.
From the Splugorths’ standpoint, the people of Rifts Earth(and most other places) are historically traumatized, ignorant, downtrodden, ill-treated, and uneducated, prone to slip into bad habits because that’s all we ever knew growing up as a species. Splugorth efforts to rescue large populations and restore them to some semblance of sanity, teach them to be responsible, and correct the physical and genetic damage of centuries of brutal life, are seen differently from the people who are being displaced, apparently brainwashed, and subjected to alien experiments(never mind that many of those ‘experiments’ are to make our lives longer, our health better, and better prepare us for life in an unfriendly megaverse). The fact that groups like the Republicans and the Coalition States shoot at aide teams every time they wander ashore hasn’t helped change the image of humans as a bunch of insane blighters in need of some serious help and anger management therapy any.
What perhaps most terrifying to individuals in the merciful attentions of the friendly Splugorth are; burly Kydian interns, orderlies, and nurses, and the fact that despite millenia of research and innovation, the Splugorth, Kydians, and Kittani combined have been unable to come up with a hospital gown that affords the wearer any sort of dignity.
The worst of the lot is the Splugorth psychiatric division.....For millenia, the tireless and selfless beings of the PsychWard have been responsible for treating the insane, the possessed, the traumatized...and when the cause of the trauma is magic in nature, or the patient is a superbeing, therapy can get quite strenous...especially when the patient, or rather the illness, doesn’t want to be treated.....Psych Ward most resembles the canonical Splugorth slaver industry...plenty of guards, incapacitating devices, straps, chains, and restraints, both physical and mental...but unlike the canonical Splugorth, or certain alt.fetish.straitjacket groups, the premises are clean, and the staff genuinely care for positive outcomes for their patients(even when wrestling a supernaturally strong witch into a straitjacket or trying to talk a MegaJuicer out of taking a fatal overdose of steroids....). Among the many lines of therapy PsychWard staff are pursuing; cyberpsychosis counseling, witch de-programming, childhood trauma coping, Nightbane schizoprenia, Entity Possession, Crazy meditation therapy, Temporal Mage recovery, and demigod rehab services. All of which are encountered on Rifts Earth, in addition to a flood of substance abuse, aggression, and post-traumatic stress syndromes.....
Compared to their canonical evil kin, the Good Splugorth would appear to be much weaker as a megaversal power...Their reluctance to abuse their power, their scruples, and their desire to avoid the darker aspects of power does indeed rob them and their strategies of much immediate firepower. However, being beneficent has allowed them to move more openly among the peoples of the Megaverse, gain many more true _allies_, and the willing devotion of their followers, and the PPE they contribute to the Good Splugorth is arguably greater in the long run than the short-term gains reaped by the canonical Splugorth through torture and blood sacrifice.
In a conflict between the Evil and the Good Splugorth, the advantage would be to Evil in the first rounds, but the Good would rally, as their determination stiffens. In the end, these two mirrors would fight to stalemate, but the many allies the GS have made over the millenia might well turn the battle.
*The Three Galaxies
“The contagion is airborne and 99.999% fatal to whoever contracts it...It has already jumped the quarantine efforts in the metropolitan areas it was first detected in, and panic has spread the disease even more quickly...These displays show the areas of known infection, but we can safely assume that fully fifty percent of the planet has been affected...a full ninety percent within the next six months. That is six billion casualties and an extinction event in the making. I cannot emphasize enough the looming humanitarian crisis we are facing on this world.” The tentacles slip away from the control orb as the massive eye turns to gaze at the assembled response staff. “Doctor Zharonzas?”
The long-craniumed Chief Meta-Healer activates his own display.”It’s a straightfoward weaponized immune-defficiency virus with a very rapid gestation and propagation, and hence a high mutation threshold, while still retaining its lethality. Very nasty, but you already know that. Conventional treatment regimens won’t touch the stuff...at least not the conventional medications available to most societies...However, the pathogen is biochemically identical to forty other pathogens we’ve encountered in the last two thousand years. We’ve adapted several of the treatments we used on those cases and that we’ve kept in stock against similar such contingencies, tested them remotely on samples we’ve taken via remote probe, and adjusted the strength of the medications accordingly. We’ve gene-tailored the fastest-acting anti-body, designated Agressor-1, into a stable-mutation, rapid-growth fungal spore bus we’ve used as standard in these situations, and have loaded it into biopackage warheads. We have also prepared similar cultures of the more-short-lived treatment virals and bacteria, designated Aggressor series 2 thru 6, and prepared them for tactical deployment.”
The broad-faced and horn-chinned flotilla Carrier Air Group commander took up the commentary. “We will commence mass high-atmosphere airburst release-launches within the next forty-eight hours, to achieve mass global immunizations. Individual air groups will perform localized delivery of the Aggressor 2, 3, and 4 agents, as well as targetted drops of Agressor 1 and 5 into water supplies and watershed areas. We expect no serious resistance to these incursions, but all aircrews have been advised to keep their shields and point defense systems active. Intelligence indicates there’s a lot of scared sentients down there and they may not be listening to our broadcasts to realize we’re not the vanguard of an invasion.”
Doctor Zharonzas continued again. “We expect to see the first slowdowns of mortallity reports within 48 hours of the first tactical deliveries, followed by an overall cessation of new outbreaks in the next week as the planetary jetstreams distribute the Aggressor 1 antipathogen. Should any new outbreaks occur within that period, we will re-apply Aggressors 1-4 and modify Aggressor 5 to deal with any unforeseen mutation in the pathogen. Once we see a leveling off of the outbreak in the next three weeks, we will commence Phase Two.”
A spindly globular body armored in irridiscent scales stood forward. “Once the overall situation has been stabilized and the effectiveness of global countermeasures confirmed, landings will commence, with Agressor series 6 applied to landing zones. Properly bioshielded staff will commence incursion into the initial outbreak zones to identify survivors, seek out, and destroy reservoirs of infection, determining the extent and type of decontamination needed as they do so. Efforts will be made to coordinate with local authorities to commence proper identification and disposition of the dead, and draw up priorities for reconstruction and recovery.”
The figure in arabesqued light power armor behind the stilt-borne globe added his piece.”We’ve prepared plasma and chemical ordnance for safe disposal of infection sites, so eco-ompact should be minimal. We’ve already selected our own sites for surface supply depots and strongpoints to better oversee the followup work.”
“That is the schedule, gentlebeings.” The medusa-tentacled Grand Coordinator finished for the staffers. “We have a world to save...Let’s get to it.”
In the Three Galaxies the territories of the GS are much more diffused and intermingled among those of the other star nations....the presence of GS enclaves is SOUGHT, not feared, by the denizens of the Three Galaxies. The GS go about the Three Galaxies as they please and where they are needed, as a sort of galactic Peace Corps. In fact, in the GS Three Galaxies, a favorite debate of speculative fiction writers is what the Splugorth would be like is they WERE evil (One of the most popular series of this morbid genre reads exactly like certain RPG books written in a far distant alternate universe).
At the behest of the High Lords and Sunaj accountants, the GS have established a sort of subscriber service to serve sectors of the Three Galaxies with medical care and disaster relief. By paying an annual service fee, worlds can take out what amounts to disaster insurance, insuring prompt assistance in times of crisis. Other worlds pay the GS to supervise and re-organize their planetary medical care systems and organizations. Still others donate generously to support the GS efforts to protect otehr worlds that lack the sophisticated medical support of other 3G powers. Payment doesn’t neccessarily have to be in Universal Trade Credits, however; the service fee can be in the form of volunteers, ships, real estate, goods and food for disaster relief, agreements to maintain GS communications relays and warp transit gates, etc. In this way the GS have acquired their own worlds as ‘firehouses’ across the Three Galaxies, where armies of emergency staff live, train, and practice, squadrons of ships are based, and megatonnes of supplies and medicines await their need.
The GS have served as mediators and diplomats in a variety of different theatres and conflicts. But not even the ancient power and universal good will of the Good Splugorth have managed to sway all belligents from war. Time and again they have offered to mediate in the war between the TGE and the FWC, but due to the influence of The Dweller, the Kreeghor have been stoked to a killing rage against their former benefactors, the Splugorth. The influence of the GS has also led to a civil war within the society of the Coloye Dopamen----half of the biochemist society are in the pockets of the criminal drug cartels, while the other half want to work wholeheartedly for the GS, producing medicines for the needy.
It is worth mentioning, however, that without the diabolical infighting among infernal beings and the elimination of competition that the canonical Splugorth routinely engaged in, the Three Galaxies of the GS is perhaps slightly MORE dangerous than that of canon. While many evil beings and races that might otherwise have come up the ranks under the mentorship of the Splugorth have wilted without Splugorth support, many others who would have been crushed and destroyed by the Splugorth for being upstarts have bloomed in malign fecundity instead. Other beings who might have sought allegiance with the Splugorth, have instead turned to other darker beings for patronage. Beings such as Cronus now have substantially larger presences in the Three Galaxies than they might otherwise enjoy. The infamous Demonstars (RDB 6: Three Galaxies, pg 148) are known not as mere legend, but are a reality, as they are even more common and prevelant in the GS 3G. This makes the services of the Good Splugorth all the more vital in maintaining the morale of the Forces of Light.
*Rynncryyl
The GS veriion of the canonical diabolically insane Rynncryyl, is instead the well-meaning, but organizationally inept, principled Rynncryyl. Given the job of organizing services in the Anvil Galaxy, Rynncryyl’s soft-heartedness led to him overextending himself on several service contracts and large loans to the Golgan Republik. The Golgans have time and again promised to pay the GS back for services rendered, and promised even more support, given more time, and time and again Rynncryyl has given them a pass on their due dates. The Service Region of Rynncryyl has thus suffered some economic hard times as donations are low and there aren’t enough resources to respond to all emergencies in the region, as the Forge Wars ramp up. Like a Red Cross blood bank and food pantry with low supplies. Some of the GS in neighboring sectors are concerned about the situation and have voiced their worries that Rynncryyl may not be up to the task of managing the increasingly important Threshold region. Adding to concerns is a major TGE incursion into the area. Even more worrisome is Rynncryyl’s recent disappearance, after he left to attend to some business, claiming that he was lining up some new patrons and support, and that negotiations had to be handled personally. His loyal(if underpaid) staff are fearing the worst and have considered asking the CosmoKnights to see if they can’t find the missing Splugorth.
(AU) Good Splugorth
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taalismn
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(AU) Good Splugorth
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"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
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"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
In the (Good) Splugorth hierarchy the following changes:
“I’d feel better about the Splugorth being involved in ‘Habitat for Humanity’ if it didn’t all look like giant hamster housing...”
Splugorth Highlords and Conservators---The Good versions are more symbiote than parasite to the Splugorth, and now serve to keep the altruistic and idealistic Splugorth level-headed. They’re the Splugorth’s secretaries and accountants, handling the paperwork and attending to practical matters...Sometimes their bosses drive them batty, but the prestige of being regarded as Elder Statesmen and diplomats across the Megaverse is well worth putting up with the latest idea of their bosses to put a meat-beast in every pot of starving and needy people across the Megaverse.
Kydians---The Kydians were rescued from extinction by the same deal as before...serve the greater good in return for guidance and assistance in managing their population...Now, before a Kydian family can have children, they must pass rigorous written tests and situational exams that prove that they can be good and responsible parents, plus ecological management and birth control have helped control rampant populations, at least until new planets and habitats are openned up. There are still Overlords and Powerlords in the GS organization, but there are also a wide range of service-oriented OCCs....particularly interns, nurses, paramedics, civil engineers, and rescue workers. The Tau of the Warhammer 40K universe would be incensed and calling their lawyers about copyrights to hear the Good Kydians parrot their slogan,’For the Greater Good’, but that’s exactly how the GKs feel....They get along famously with the Squilbs and DogBoys among others. However, some observers question the Kydian outlook towards the T’Zee, who the Kydians see as being in the same boat as they were, and feel that the T’Zee could be similarly ‘redeemed’ and made over into a force for good...others aren’t so sure...
Kittani---Same as canon, only the Kittani now serve a greater cause, rescuing other peoples. There are still many who want to return to their old ways of conquest, and who want to acquire magic to assist them in that pursuit, but the majority of the Kittani now study medical technology and build life-saving robotics. They insist, however, on a strong military, and in opposing the Mechanoids any way they can.
Metzla---The alien Metzla were all set to go the same path as canon, until the equally hideous Splugorth approached them, and in a millenia-old campaign to change their minds and win their hearts, have managed to persuade the Metzla that the rest of the Megaverse ain’t that bad, and that it is possible for widely different peoples to live and work in peace. The Metzla are still not entirely convinced, but are willing to go along with the Splugorth and see if it works out...if it doesn’t, odds are the Metzla will turn to evil in an even bigger way than their canonical mirrors ever did, out of sheer sense of betrayl(they may even join the Mechanoids)...However, the Metzla are acquiring a reputation for being architects....their Kreelong Carapace caste is responsible for creating beautiful, and functional, housing for refugees and displaced persons.
Splugorth Savers----Yes, it’s what the Slavers are now known as....Once on the verge of extinction, the Savers have been turned around into the Splugorth’s Saint Bernards, sent out into the worst of conditions to rescue victims of catastrophes. Their hover platforms have been modified from the canonical versions with capacity for 10-20 stretchers, rescue winches, and the slime tank is larger, with the ability to channel healing slime into stretcher pods for stabilizing patients and treating burn victims on-site.
Altarans---The Altarans were saved from their own extinction(at the hands of a biological weapon that killed their males) by Splugorth biowizardry. While Splugorth geneticists struggle to reconstruct the Altaran male genome, the Altarans gratefully serve their benefactors as scouts, soldiers, rescue workers, and therapists(their sonar senses are excellent diagnostic tools). They work particularly well with the Splugorth Savers, a working relationship some have compared to a Psi-Stalker and his Dog-Boys, though the friendship between Altarans and Savers is based less on pack dynamics and more on real mutual respect. Some wags, however, claim the relationships go a LOT further(XXX-WORM-GIRL-ACTION-XXX websites have the Altarans throwing fits, even though they can’t actually see the holo-shopped imagery...the tactile displays and sound effects are bad enough).
The Sunaj---The Sunaj remain very much close to their canonical mirrors, and they may be the real serpents in the GS organization, infiltrating it to twist it to their own purposes. The High Lords like the Sunaj because they are the most effective next step down from themselves in handling the massive amounts of paperwork and real scut-work of organizational management...The Sunaj are practical and level-headed, and attend to real-world matters, but they can also be cold and callous....We’ve all heard horror stories of Health Management Organizations...well, the Sunaj run that sort of parsing of charity cases and demand of payment in the GK organization. They’ve been accused of turning away people in need, and of hounding patients for payment, and have even been(it’s rumored) responsible for committing people for psychological evaluation and treatment against their will. It was the Sunaj who suggested Rune Head statues in hospitals to keep no-pays from skipping OUT. Sure, there are incidents, and the occasional investigation, but the High Lords have given the Sunaj a pass so many times....
“You think paying your bill is going to cost you an arm and a leg? May I remind you that if you HADN’T gotten medical care, it would have cost you MORE than an arm and a leg.”
The Staphra---The Staphra are a recent addition to the GS lineup of staffers. The GS happened upon them while investigating a spate of planetary plagues that indicated a common source. The source turned out to be a Lurgess freighter that was stopping at various worlds and accidentally spreading infection. Many of the worlds were horribly stricken, precipating mass humanitarian crisis, but one of the primitive worlds on the Lurgesses’ course was actually faring unexpectedly well---the Staphra homeworld. When GS hazmat teams visited the world, expecting to find rampant alien disease overwhelming the locals, they found instead a controlled quarantine, ongoing treatment of the sick, and an organized response. Courageous female Staphra warriors maintained a strict quarantine, while male healers, at no small risk to their own lives, attended to the sick and gathered information on the illness. The death toll was far lower than that on much more civilized and advanced worlds, and the stoic Staphra mindset stopped wholesale panic.
The GS were so impressed with this and with the effectiveness of Staphran herbal medications, that they practically hired the Staphra on the spot. The Staphran have since become a growing presence in the ranks of the healers of the GS organization; fearless female Staphran EMTs, dedicated male Staphran diagnosticians and herbalists. Some Staphran females, however, are concerned about what their growing assimilation into galactic society is doing to their traditional ways....with advanced galactic medical care waiting in the wings, some female Staphran believe that their males aren’t ‘giving it their all’ in mating, and that the long term effect may be a weakening of the bloodlines. Others believe the opposite; that more frequent matings made possible due to health-enhancing treatments are leading to a population boom among the Staphra. Only time will tell who’s right.
Tattooed Men---T-Men are still a fixture of GS life, but instead of being slaves, they instead constitute a sort of cult of servents and volunteers who dedicate their lives(and skin) to the cause of the GS. The T-Men are regarded somewhat like Curtiss Sehwa’s original Guardian Angels.....civic-minded, but aggressive, neighborhood toughs who aren’t above bending the law occasionally to protect others. Besides using their tattoo powers to save lives and respond to crisises, the T-Men often take it upon themselves to act as policemen in disaster zones, and head off people harassing the GS. While the GS don’t always approve of the tactics of the T-Men and T-Women in protecting them, they can’t fault the T-Men’s bravery. As such, the T-Men have been recognized officially by the GS and given an organizational rank much like ‘intern’ or ‘candystriper’, and T-Men retinues are a common sight, escorting GS medteams in the field and staking out security perimeters, their distinctive tattooed bodies being signposts of GS presence, and much more effective against trespassers than police tape.
A similar organization, the Norrek Brotherhood, is an association of bioborgs prevalent in the Three Galaxies. The T-Men and the Brothers/Sisters are good-natured competitors, and extensive chapters of both exist on GS Rifts Atlantis.
BioBorgs---The more hideous and monstrous abuses of biowizardry do not exist among the GS, and bioborgs are more often than not the equivalent of full bionic conversions for medical reasons. There are, however, those who volunteer for radical bio-augmentation in order to serve, like the T-Men, as a volunteer corp of security staffers and rescue workers. These brave men and women are typically modified for survival in harsh conditions, with armored bodies, improved health, greater strength and coordination, and greater perceptions. Others become ‘serum-dogs’, bioengineered to be able to survive exposure to various diseases and produce usable vaccines and antibodies within their own bodies. To become a GS Bioborg requires pre-conversion counseling and psychiatric evaluations to make sure that the volunteers are of sound mind; the GS insist on having a mentally and emotionally stable corps of Bioborgs.
“Hey, when I’m not pulling people out of burning buildings, I wrestle professionally...sometimes I do it for charity for orphanages.”
Gargoyles---The GS have extended sanctuary to Gargoyle refugees from Europe on the condition that they behave themselves...Currently, Splynncrythh sees the Gargoyles as a repressed minority in Europe, being brutalized by the jackbooted thugs of Triax. He’s prepared to give the Gargoyles the benefit of the doubt, but he’s not willing to give them weapons, which has caused some problems between him and the Gargoyle leadership. Splynncrythh’s even offered to mediate between the Gargoyles and the Germans, and has left an open invitation for them to visit his London embasssy, but so far the Germans have refused all offers to negotiate. The Phoenix Empire’s shipping of arms to the Gargoyles without his permission has given Splynncryth a headache, and he’s wondering if maybe he’s bitten off more than he can chew in involving himself in Europe, and has a storm brewing on his doorstep. He won’t ask the Gargoyles to leave, and may open his doors to more refugees, but he’s debating sending a strong note of disapproval to the Gargoyle representatives in Alvurron to pass on to Lord-King Zerstrun.
All in all, the situation is somewhat similar to Palestineans dwelling on Cyprus or in UN-monitored refugee camps.
Dragons---The GS ADORE dragons...sometimes so much so that the dragons find the adulation disquieting. On Rifts Earth, though, Splynncryth has been somewhat disillusioned by his dealings with Styphathal, who he rightfully sees as a thug and bully...But like a UN relief director dealing with regional warlords in Somalia, the Big Eyeball knows he’s gotta deal with the Big Wurm if he’s to get relief supplies into South America. He just wishes Styphathal’s brother Stydro was still conscious...he would have been a much better person to deal with...except that Stydro’s laying brain-dead in a hospital ICU on full life support after a mysterious ‘accident’.
Good Splugorth Channel-Healers---These are the GS version of canonical Splugorth Witches. Only, these worthies are Good in alignment, and are chosen to receive gifts of healing by their GS benefactors because they have been deemed sufficiently selfless in their dedication to helping others. GS Channel-Healers are considered to be always ‘on call’ for emergencies.
Eyes of Eylor---In the GK alterverse, Eylor is KNOWN as a sentient beast, that allows its Eyes to be used by the Splugorth in order to allow the living planet to tour the Megaverse by proxie.
Zembhak---The Zembhak of the Good Splugorth universe are very much better treated on a whole...The GS have managed to figure a way to effectively cyborgize willing Zembhak to serve as biowizardry components, without killing them or robbing them of their minds, and actually EXTEND their lifespans...Furthermore, the augmented Zembhak can disengage from their devices and move about(albeit at half their normal Speed) any time they want, but they lose any powers they might have had connected to the BW device. The relationship between a holder of a Zembhak-augmented device and the Zembhak is now more of a partnership than that of an owner and possession. The Zembhak now regard being BioWizarded as similar to how humans regard partial or full bionic conversion...some hate it and refuse to have anything to do with it, while others see it as opportunities.
“Slave Races”---Most of the other species listed in the canonical Splugorth tomes as slave species are instead, in the Good Splugorth continiuum, affiliates in healing, visiting customers/service subscribers, and/or patients. Each race has its own story for how it came to be in the service of the GS, usually because of GS intervention in a past time of crisis for the species. The Hawrk-duhk, Hawrk-ka, and Wark-ohl came into the GS fold after a nasty form of avian flu swept their world and nearly devastated their populations before GS pandemic response teams found cures. Ogres are being studied for cures to their infertility and infant mortality problems(in the meantime, the GS have set up a successful dating service for Ogres, matching them up with compatible human females, and am equally successful surrogate motherhood program). Were-Dragons came to the GS attention following an outbreak of disease that affected their transformational abilities, resulting in many turning into raving pyschotics. The Shaydor were at war with each other, and might have exterminated each other had not GS diplomats stepped in. Now both races work as volunteers as part of the PS organization. The Adarok came to the attention of the GS after certain forms of brittle bone disease became endemic among the offspring of the stony beings. Humans serve the GS in droves, from a variety of worlds, for a multitude of reasons, some pledging themselves body and soul to the Good Splugorth cause.
Rune Weapons---Most RuneWeapons and Rune Devices created by the GS are the result of terminally ill and dying volunteers willing their souls in further service to the GS organization, continuing their selfless service.
Atlanteans---Atlanteans are seen with some disdain by the Good Splugorth...An ancient, once-powerful people, the Atlanteans are also seen as irresponsible and impulsive troublemakers...They left Earth a mess and abandoned it when the neighborhood went bad...now they want to claim their old homeland back now that it’s risen again, through no effort of their own? Sorry, but your land claims are a little thin, buddies...And what’s this about setting the Mechanoids loose on the universe? Somebody’s got to answer for that, even we forgiving Splugorth can see THAT! Atlanteans have a ways to go before they can make up for their previous heavy-handed blunders, before the Good Splugorth will let them have any significant role in rebuilding Earth.
Naturally, the Atlanteans have taken offense at this attitude...Being used to being regarded as celebrities, the Atlanteans feel mortally insulted by the snub. The fact that the CosmoKnights haven’t weighed in on the issue is also galling.
Horune---On Rifts Earth, the Good Splugorth and the Horune do NOT get along well together, owing to the latter’s behaviors and role in the slave trade. Without the Evil Splugorth as the main slave trade hub, the Horune in this alternity have established their OWN more advanced slave business...and the GS do not like it. Unfortunately, the Horune have made it their practice of attacking GS aide convoys and ambushing evacuation efforts, snatching Atlantis-bound refugees into lives f slavery instead, and hampering relief efforts. The GS have tried negotiating with the Horune with limited success, but the attacks persist. The more aggressive minion affiliates, such as the Metzla, are calling for more decisive action, such as an all-out campaign of obliteration, against the marauding Horune, by GSplynncryth is still waffling on the idea....
The Kreeghor and the TGE---The Kreeghor are regarded as one of the Good Splugorths’ few failures...and it’s a doozer....An effort to uplift a barbaric species into an enlightened race of palladins that went very wrong.....Most of the blame is laid on the youth and inexperience of the Splugorth overseeing the uplift and relief effort, but some Splugorth now wonder(uncharacteristically uncharitably) if the Kreeghor just weren’t instrinscly bad to the bone...or maybe there was some other influence swaying them against the Splugorths’ best efforts. For the time being, the Splugorth just don’t know how to deal with this bully they’ve accidentally created....
Vampires---The Good Splugorth are even more violently opposed to Vampires. In fact, the GS regard vampires as little better than cosmic cancers, and the GS are working towards finding a cure for vampirism, including wrenching lower-level vampires out of the thrall to the higher echelon(voluntary) vampires. For now, though, the GS are forced to use lethal means to cure the disease.
The Good Splugorth have become such enemies of vampires that the very sight of a Splugorth induces a Horror Factor reaction in wild, secondary, and master vampires equal to canonical Splugorth HF. This fear is so deep-seated that vampires will have the same reaction to the GS symbol(a cadecus-like double-helixed and winged staff with a cyclopean eye atop it) much as they do crosses.
Naruni---The Naruni are as much the enemies of the Good Splugorth as before...because they’re unchanged and unrepentant arms merchants....The GS oppose these weapons-peddlars and the conflicts they facilitate because it means that much more pain and suffering for them to deal with. The Naruni abhor the GS because the Splugorth have managed to get more than a few governments to impose trade restrictions on the Narunis’ freewheeling gun-sales and ruin more than a few big deals with their peacemaking.
In retaliation, the Naruni have tried forming their own rival charity organization, or, at least, through clever publicity, try to hijack GS public relations campaigns by making it appear as if NE is partnering with the Good Splugorth, but these schemes have had little, if any effect, on affecting the balance of tensions between the two organizations.
Genesplicers and Gene-Techs----The GS abhor both these races, seeing them as abusing their talents in genetic manipulation for their own selfish gain. Genesplicer and Gene-Tech victims often show up in GS emergency rooms, hoping for some cure to their monstrous transformations.
The Mechanoids----The GS know of these murderous cyborgs, know their history, and know that their own association with humanoids makes them targets for the Mechanoids’ rage....The creation of the Mechanoids is another thing to hold against the uppity True Atlanteans. Some GS hope, however, that a solution short of total extermination might be found for dealing with the Mechanoids...The existance of the Abm Mechanoids gives them some hope that some sort of applied psychogenetic therapy might be developed to cure the Mechanoids of their deep-seated separation and rejection complexes. If such a cure could come about, and the race of bionic genocides turned into saints, it would be the greatest miracle the Good Splugorth ever accomplished since...well, the coming of the Good Splugorth!
Others-----The GS tend to make allies of the very sort of people ther canonical twins have as heardfelt enemies. CosmoKnights are seen as friends, the GS have good (if generally indifferent) relations with Faerie-Folk, and the GS are on at least speaking terms with the Gods of Light----Healer gods like Apollo are frequent visitors to GS communities. However, even some good-aligned gods and goddesses resent the encroachment the GS make on some of their territories in regards to worshippers.
The Nautyll are slightly more powerful as enemies of the Good Splugorth, and have harbored a resentment of the GS since the latter interfered in the Nautylls’ attempts to take over several water-worlds through ecological warfare. They now wage war against the efforts of the GS to expand their humanitarian efforts into the submarine realms.
*The Horror of Kryygorth
Kryygorth is regarded as a brilliant, perhaps inspired, Good Splugorth biochemist and geneticist who unfortunately went mad and became corrupted by his own power. While he is credited with devising hundreds of new treatments, and hundreds of new useful plant and animal species, in the course of his early centuries, he became increasing more erratic and disturbed in his later years, his medical experiments growing more inhumane and dubious in its purpose. By the time his true evil had been discovered, he was out of control. Despite attempts to peacefully subdue him and attempt to cure him of his apparent insanity, Kryygorth had to be killed...a painful decision for the Good Splugorth. As the enormity of Kryygorth’s savage disregard for life became more apparent, Kryygorth became a source of great shame for the Good Splugorth. ‘Kryygorth’ carries to the GS much the same connotations that the name ‘Mengle’ carries for post-WW2 Terrans. That...and several centuries of malpractice suits.
Kryygorth is today used as a boogieman for the GS, showing that no species is above producing monsters. His pathology is required study by high-level GS, both to teach them not to stray from the path of selflessness, and in hopes of one day uncovering what went terribly wrong with this brilliant mind.
In the meantime, all the species and races that he victimized are being sought and studied by the Good Splugorth, and helped as best they can be. The ‘Lessons’, once a diminutive and clever people who were transformed by a ‘cure’ for a common genetic disorder into massive, simple-minded hyperthyroid brutes, are the most pathetic of these....All GS maintain wards and rehab facilities of the creatures, hoping to find a way to reverse their abject state, and in the meantime using their public presence as a ‘Lesson’ to all Splugorth and healers of the dangers and consequences of madness and malpractice.
“I’d feel better about the Splugorth being involved in ‘Habitat for Humanity’ if it didn’t all look like giant hamster housing...”
Splugorth Highlords and Conservators---The Good versions are more symbiote than parasite to the Splugorth, and now serve to keep the altruistic and idealistic Splugorth level-headed. They’re the Splugorth’s secretaries and accountants, handling the paperwork and attending to practical matters...Sometimes their bosses drive them batty, but the prestige of being regarded as Elder Statesmen and diplomats across the Megaverse is well worth putting up with the latest idea of their bosses to put a meat-beast in every pot of starving and needy people across the Megaverse.
Kydians---The Kydians were rescued from extinction by the same deal as before...serve the greater good in return for guidance and assistance in managing their population...Now, before a Kydian family can have children, they must pass rigorous written tests and situational exams that prove that they can be good and responsible parents, plus ecological management and birth control have helped control rampant populations, at least until new planets and habitats are openned up. There are still Overlords and Powerlords in the GS organization, but there are also a wide range of service-oriented OCCs....particularly interns, nurses, paramedics, civil engineers, and rescue workers. The Tau of the Warhammer 40K universe would be incensed and calling their lawyers about copyrights to hear the Good Kydians parrot their slogan,’For the Greater Good’, but that’s exactly how the GKs feel....They get along famously with the Squilbs and DogBoys among others. However, some observers question the Kydian outlook towards the T’Zee, who the Kydians see as being in the same boat as they were, and feel that the T’Zee could be similarly ‘redeemed’ and made over into a force for good...others aren’t so sure...
Kittani---Same as canon, only the Kittani now serve a greater cause, rescuing other peoples. There are still many who want to return to their old ways of conquest, and who want to acquire magic to assist them in that pursuit, but the majority of the Kittani now study medical technology and build life-saving robotics. They insist, however, on a strong military, and in opposing the Mechanoids any way they can.
Metzla---The alien Metzla were all set to go the same path as canon, until the equally hideous Splugorth approached them, and in a millenia-old campaign to change their minds and win their hearts, have managed to persuade the Metzla that the rest of the Megaverse ain’t that bad, and that it is possible for widely different peoples to live and work in peace. The Metzla are still not entirely convinced, but are willing to go along with the Splugorth and see if it works out...if it doesn’t, odds are the Metzla will turn to evil in an even bigger way than their canonical mirrors ever did, out of sheer sense of betrayl(they may even join the Mechanoids)...However, the Metzla are acquiring a reputation for being architects....their Kreelong Carapace caste is responsible for creating beautiful, and functional, housing for refugees and displaced persons.
Splugorth Savers----Yes, it’s what the Slavers are now known as....Once on the verge of extinction, the Savers have been turned around into the Splugorth’s Saint Bernards, sent out into the worst of conditions to rescue victims of catastrophes. Their hover platforms have been modified from the canonical versions with capacity for 10-20 stretchers, rescue winches, and the slime tank is larger, with the ability to channel healing slime into stretcher pods for stabilizing patients and treating burn victims on-site.
Altarans---The Altarans were saved from their own extinction(at the hands of a biological weapon that killed their males) by Splugorth biowizardry. While Splugorth geneticists struggle to reconstruct the Altaran male genome, the Altarans gratefully serve their benefactors as scouts, soldiers, rescue workers, and therapists(their sonar senses are excellent diagnostic tools). They work particularly well with the Splugorth Savers, a working relationship some have compared to a Psi-Stalker and his Dog-Boys, though the friendship between Altarans and Savers is based less on pack dynamics and more on real mutual respect. Some wags, however, claim the relationships go a LOT further(XXX-WORM-GIRL-ACTION-XXX websites have the Altarans throwing fits, even though they can’t actually see the holo-shopped imagery...the tactile displays and sound effects are bad enough).
The Sunaj---The Sunaj remain very much close to their canonical mirrors, and they may be the real serpents in the GS organization, infiltrating it to twist it to their own purposes. The High Lords like the Sunaj because they are the most effective next step down from themselves in handling the massive amounts of paperwork and real scut-work of organizational management...The Sunaj are practical and level-headed, and attend to real-world matters, but they can also be cold and callous....We’ve all heard horror stories of Health Management Organizations...well, the Sunaj run that sort of parsing of charity cases and demand of payment in the GK organization. They’ve been accused of turning away people in need, and of hounding patients for payment, and have even been(it’s rumored) responsible for committing people for psychological evaluation and treatment against their will. It was the Sunaj who suggested Rune Head statues in hospitals to keep no-pays from skipping OUT. Sure, there are incidents, and the occasional investigation, but the High Lords have given the Sunaj a pass so many times....
“You think paying your bill is going to cost you an arm and a leg? May I remind you that if you HADN’T gotten medical care, it would have cost you MORE than an arm and a leg.”
The Staphra---The Staphra are a recent addition to the GS lineup of staffers. The GS happened upon them while investigating a spate of planetary plagues that indicated a common source. The source turned out to be a Lurgess freighter that was stopping at various worlds and accidentally spreading infection. Many of the worlds were horribly stricken, precipating mass humanitarian crisis, but one of the primitive worlds on the Lurgesses’ course was actually faring unexpectedly well---the Staphra homeworld. When GS hazmat teams visited the world, expecting to find rampant alien disease overwhelming the locals, they found instead a controlled quarantine, ongoing treatment of the sick, and an organized response. Courageous female Staphra warriors maintained a strict quarantine, while male healers, at no small risk to their own lives, attended to the sick and gathered information on the illness. The death toll was far lower than that on much more civilized and advanced worlds, and the stoic Staphra mindset stopped wholesale panic.
The GS were so impressed with this and with the effectiveness of Staphran herbal medications, that they practically hired the Staphra on the spot. The Staphran have since become a growing presence in the ranks of the healers of the GS organization; fearless female Staphran EMTs, dedicated male Staphran diagnosticians and herbalists. Some Staphran females, however, are concerned about what their growing assimilation into galactic society is doing to their traditional ways....with advanced galactic medical care waiting in the wings, some female Staphran believe that their males aren’t ‘giving it their all’ in mating, and that the long term effect may be a weakening of the bloodlines. Others believe the opposite; that more frequent matings made possible due to health-enhancing treatments are leading to a population boom among the Staphra. Only time will tell who’s right.
Tattooed Men---T-Men are still a fixture of GS life, but instead of being slaves, they instead constitute a sort of cult of servents and volunteers who dedicate their lives(and skin) to the cause of the GS. The T-Men are regarded somewhat like Curtiss Sehwa’s original Guardian Angels.....civic-minded, but aggressive, neighborhood toughs who aren’t above bending the law occasionally to protect others. Besides using their tattoo powers to save lives and respond to crisises, the T-Men often take it upon themselves to act as policemen in disaster zones, and head off people harassing the GS. While the GS don’t always approve of the tactics of the T-Men and T-Women in protecting them, they can’t fault the T-Men’s bravery. As such, the T-Men have been recognized officially by the GS and given an organizational rank much like ‘intern’ or ‘candystriper’, and T-Men retinues are a common sight, escorting GS medteams in the field and staking out security perimeters, their distinctive tattooed bodies being signposts of GS presence, and much more effective against trespassers than police tape.
A similar organization, the Norrek Brotherhood, is an association of bioborgs prevalent in the Three Galaxies. The T-Men and the Brothers/Sisters are good-natured competitors, and extensive chapters of both exist on GS Rifts Atlantis.
BioBorgs---The more hideous and monstrous abuses of biowizardry do not exist among the GS, and bioborgs are more often than not the equivalent of full bionic conversions for medical reasons. There are, however, those who volunteer for radical bio-augmentation in order to serve, like the T-Men, as a volunteer corp of security staffers and rescue workers. These brave men and women are typically modified for survival in harsh conditions, with armored bodies, improved health, greater strength and coordination, and greater perceptions. Others become ‘serum-dogs’, bioengineered to be able to survive exposure to various diseases and produce usable vaccines and antibodies within their own bodies. To become a GS Bioborg requires pre-conversion counseling and psychiatric evaluations to make sure that the volunteers are of sound mind; the GS insist on having a mentally and emotionally stable corps of Bioborgs.
“Hey, when I’m not pulling people out of burning buildings, I wrestle professionally...sometimes I do it for charity for orphanages.”
Gargoyles---The GS have extended sanctuary to Gargoyle refugees from Europe on the condition that they behave themselves...Currently, Splynncrythh sees the Gargoyles as a repressed minority in Europe, being brutalized by the jackbooted thugs of Triax. He’s prepared to give the Gargoyles the benefit of the doubt, but he’s not willing to give them weapons, which has caused some problems between him and the Gargoyle leadership. Splynncrythh’s even offered to mediate between the Gargoyles and the Germans, and has left an open invitation for them to visit his London embasssy, but so far the Germans have refused all offers to negotiate. The Phoenix Empire’s shipping of arms to the Gargoyles without his permission has given Splynncryth a headache, and he’s wondering if maybe he’s bitten off more than he can chew in involving himself in Europe, and has a storm brewing on his doorstep. He won’t ask the Gargoyles to leave, and may open his doors to more refugees, but he’s debating sending a strong note of disapproval to the Gargoyle representatives in Alvurron to pass on to Lord-King Zerstrun.
All in all, the situation is somewhat similar to Palestineans dwelling on Cyprus or in UN-monitored refugee camps.
Dragons---The GS ADORE dragons...sometimes so much so that the dragons find the adulation disquieting. On Rifts Earth, though, Splynncryth has been somewhat disillusioned by his dealings with Styphathal, who he rightfully sees as a thug and bully...But like a UN relief director dealing with regional warlords in Somalia, the Big Eyeball knows he’s gotta deal with the Big Wurm if he’s to get relief supplies into South America. He just wishes Styphathal’s brother Stydro was still conscious...he would have been a much better person to deal with...except that Stydro’s laying brain-dead in a hospital ICU on full life support after a mysterious ‘accident’.
Good Splugorth Channel-Healers---These are the GS version of canonical Splugorth Witches. Only, these worthies are Good in alignment, and are chosen to receive gifts of healing by their GS benefactors because they have been deemed sufficiently selfless in their dedication to helping others. GS Channel-Healers are considered to be always ‘on call’ for emergencies.
Eyes of Eylor---In the GK alterverse, Eylor is KNOWN as a sentient beast, that allows its Eyes to be used by the Splugorth in order to allow the living planet to tour the Megaverse by proxie.
Zembhak---The Zembhak of the Good Splugorth universe are very much better treated on a whole...The GS have managed to figure a way to effectively cyborgize willing Zembhak to serve as biowizardry components, without killing them or robbing them of their minds, and actually EXTEND their lifespans...Furthermore, the augmented Zembhak can disengage from their devices and move about(albeit at half their normal Speed) any time they want, but they lose any powers they might have had connected to the BW device. The relationship between a holder of a Zembhak-augmented device and the Zembhak is now more of a partnership than that of an owner and possession. The Zembhak now regard being BioWizarded as similar to how humans regard partial or full bionic conversion...some hate it and refuse to have anything to do with it, while others see it as opportunities.
“Slave Races”---Most of the other species listed in the canonical Splugorth tomes as slave species are instead, in the Good Splugorth continiuum, affiliates in healing, visiting customers/service subscribers, and/or patients. Each race has its own story for how it came to be in the service of the GS, usually because of GS intervention in a past time of crisis for the species. The Hawrk-duhk, Hawrk-ka, and Wark-ohl came into the GS fold after a nasty form of avian flu swept their world and nearly devastated their populations before GS pandemic response teams found cures. Ogres are being studied for cures to their infertility and infant mortality problems(in the meantime, the GS have set up a successful dating service for Ogres, matching them up with compatible human females, and am equally successful surrogate motherhood program). Were-Dragons came to the GS attention following an outbreak of disease that affected their transformational abilities, resulting in many turning into raving pyschotics. The Shaydor were at war with each other, and might have exterminated each other had not GS diplomats stepped in. Now both races work as volunteers as part of the PS organization. The Adarok came to the attention of the GS after certain forms of brittle bone disease became endemic among the offspring of the stony beings. Humans serve the GS in droves, from a variety of worlds, for a multitude of reasons, some pledging themselves body and soul to the Good Splugorth cause.
Rune Weapons---Most RuneWeapons and Rune Devices created by the GS are the result of terminally ill and dying volunteers willing their souls in further service to the GS organization, continuing their selfless service.
Atlanteans---Atlanteans are seen with some disdain by the Good Splugorth...An ancient, once-powerful people, the Atlanteans are also seen as irresponsible and impulsive troublemakers...They left Earth a mess and abandoned it when the neighborhood went bad...now they want to claim their old homeland back now that it’s risen again, through no effort of their own? Sorry, but your land claims are a little thin, buddies...And what’s this about setting the Mechanoids loose on the universe? Somebody’s got to answer for that, even we forgiving Splugorth can see THAT! Atlanteans have a ways to go before they can make up for their previous heavy-handed blunders, before the Good Splugorth will let them have any significant role in rebuilding Earth.
Naturally, the Atlanteans have taken offense at this attitude...Being used to being regarded as celebrities, the Atlanteans feel mortally insulted by the snub. The fact that the CosmoKnights haven’t weighed in on the issue is also galling.
Horune---On Rifts Earth, the Good Splugorth and the Horune do NOT get along well together, owing to the latter’s behaviors and role in the slave trade. Without the Evil Splugorth as the main slave trade hub, the Horune in this alternity have established their OWN more advanced slave business...and the GS do not like it. Unfortunately, the Horune have made it their practice of attacking GS aide convoys and ambushing evacuation efforts, snatching Atlantis-bound refugees into lives f slavery instead, and hampering relief efforts. The GS have tried negotiating with the Horune with limited success, but the attacks persist. The more aggressive minion affiliates, such as the Metzla, are calling for more decisive action, such as an all-out campaign of obliteration, against the marauding Horune, by GSplynncryth is still waffling on the idea....
The Kreeghor and the TGE---The Kreeghor are regarded as one of the Good Splugorths’ few failures...and it’s a doozer....An effort to uplift a barbaric species into an enlightened race of palladins that went very wrong.....Most of the blame is laid on the youth and inexperience of the Splugorth overseeing the uplift and relief effort, but some Splugorth now wonder(uncharacteristically uncharitably) if the Kreeghor just weren’t instrinscly bad to the bone...or maybe there was some other influence swaying them against the Splugorths’ best efforts. For the time being, the Splugorth just don’t know how to deal with this bully they’ve accidentally created....
Vampires---The Good Splugorth are even more violently opposed to Vampires. In fact, the GS regard vampires as little better than cosmic cancers, and the GS are working towards finding a cure for vampirism, including wrenching lower-level vampires out of the thrall to the higher echelon(voluntary) vampires. For now, though, the GS are forced to use lethal means to cure the disease.
The Good Splugorth have become such enemies of vampires that the very sight of a Splugorth induces a Horror Factor reaction in wild, secondary, and master vampires equal to canonical Splugorth HF. This fear is so deep-seated that vampires will have the same reaction to the GS symbol(a cadecus-like double-helixed and winged staff with a cyclopean eye atop it) much as they do crosses.
Naruni---The Naruni are as much the enemies of the Good Splugorth as before...because they’re unchanged and unrepentant arms merchants....The GS oppose these weapons-peddlars and the conflicts they facilitate because it means that much more pain and suffering for them to deal with. The Naruni abhor the GS because the Splugorth have managed to get more than a few governments to impose trade restrictions on the Narunis’ freewheeling gun-sales and ruin more than a few big deals with their peacemaking.
In retaliation, the Naruni have tried forming their own rival charity organization, or, at least, through clever publicity, try to hijack GS public relations campaigns by making it appear as if NE is partnering with the Good Splugorth, but these schemes have had little, if any effect, on affecting the balance of tensions between the two organizations.
Genesplicers and Gene-Techs----The GS abhor both these races, seeing them as abusing their talents in genetic manipulation for their own selfish gain. Genesplicer and Gene-Tech victims often show up in GS emergency rooms, hoping for some cure to their monstrous transformations.
The Mechanoids----The GS know of these murderous cyborgs, know their history, and know that their own association with humanoids makes them targets for the Mechanoids’ rage....The creation of the Mechanoids is another thing to hold against the uppity True Atlanteans. Some GS hope, however, that a solution short of total extermination might be found for dealing with the Mechanoids...The existance of the Abm Mechanoids gives them some hope that some sort of applied psychogenetic therapy might be developed to cure the Mechanoids of their deep-seated separation and rejection complexes. If such a cure could come about, and the race of bionic genocides turned into saints, it would be the greatest miracle the Good Splugorth ever accomplished since...well, the coming of the Good Splugorth!
Others-----The GS tend to make allies of the very sort of people ther canonical twins have as heardfelt enemies. CosmoKnights are seen as friends, the GS have good (if generally indifferent) relations with Faerie-Folk, and the GS are on at least speaking terms with the Gods of Light----Healer gods like Apollo are frequent visitors to GS communities. However, even some good-aligned gods and goddesses resent the encroachment the GS make on some of their territories in regards to worshippers.
The Nautyll are slightly more powerful as enemies of the Good Splugorth, and have harbored a resentment of the GS since the latter interfered in the Nautylls’ attempts to take over several water-worlds through ecological warfare. They now wage war against the efforts of the GS to expand their humanitarian efforts into the submarine realms.
*The Horror of Kryygorth
Kryygorth is regarded as a brilliant, perhaps inspired, Good Splugorth biochemist and geneticist who unfortunately went mad and became corrupted by his own power. While he is credited with devising hundreds of new treatments, and hundreds of new useful plant and animal species, in the course of his early centuries, he became increasing more erratic and disturbed in his later years, his medical experiments growing more inhumane and dubious in its purpose. By the time his true evil had been discovered, he was out of control. Despite attempts to peacefully subdue him and attempt to cure him of his apparent insanity, Kryygorth had to be killed...a painful decision for the Good Splugorth. As the enormity of Kryygorth’s savage disregard for life became more apparent, Kryygorth became a source of great shame for the Good Splugorth. ‘Kryygorth’ carries to the GS much the same connotations that the name ‘Mengle’ carries for post-WW2 Terrans. That...and several centuries of malpractice suits.
Kryygorth is today used as a boogieman for the GS, showing that no species is above producing monsters. His pathology is required study by high-level GS, both to teach them not to stray from the path of selflessness, and in hopes of one day uncovering what went terribly wrong with this brilliant mind.
In the meantime, all the species and races that he victimized are being sought and studied by the Good Splugorth, and helped as best they can be. The ‘Lessons’, once a diminutive and clever people who were transformed by a ‘cure’ for a common genetic disorder into massive, simple-minded hyperthyroid brutes, are the most pathetic of these....All GS maintain wards and rehab facilities of the creatures, hoping to find a way to reverse their abject state, and in the meantime using their public presence as a ‘Lesson’ to all Splugorth and healers of the dangers and consequences of madness and malpractice.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
(Good) Rifts Atlantis...
“Aw MAnnnnn......The medical care’s great here, but the magazines in this waiting room haven’t been replaced since Atlantis first sank! In fact, I think these still have water stains on them!”
The Good Splugorth enclave of Atlantis is the beach-head for an ambitious relief effort with forseeable benefits for both the natives and the GS. If Earth can be successfully pacified, and its people helped out of their dark ages, Rifts Earth could become a major hub in the GS megaversal relief efforts. The youngish Splugorth Intelligence Splynncrythh has taken on this challenge, taking the island-continent of Atlantis as the first stepping stone to helping a world. He reasons that Atlantis’s place in the Atlantic provides both isolation and access to the various mainlands, allowing his people to become established in relative peace and quiet, and build up to the task of tackling the big problems in the Americas and Europe...Once that happens, the daunting task of Asia will be next.
Some Splugorth may feel that Splynncrythh is moving slowly and cautiously, too much so, but Splynn, as the Intelligence on the spot, recognizes the delicate balance of forces on the planet, and realizes how easily it could go bad and overwhelm even the most determined and aggressive relief effort.
Rather than a slave population, the cities of Rifts Atlantis now sport camps of volunteer aide workers and re-educatees being trained and re-educated...Massive rehab camps work to straighten out patients and victims from catastrophes across the globe and across the megaverse. Part of Splynncrythh’s long-term plan is to show by deed and action the peoples of Rifts Earth that he and his people mean no harm, and provide the various tribes of Rifts Earth a living, working example of how vibrant and lively, amd prosperous Rifts Earth could be, using the establishments on Atlantis as an example(sort of a megaversal ‘EPCOT Center’). Of course, some of the more deranged rehabilees claim they’re being held against their will, forced to perform forced labor (remedial skill work or job therapy).
“Did you see that?! Was that a streaker?! That woman was---”
“Cult of Splynncryth the Invigorator...They’re into the whole health thing, including body-pride. Don’t mind them...”
“But all she had on was a tattoo of ---”
“...An eyeball radiating light, right. Like I said; don’t mind them...Give them half the chance and they’ll talk your head off about ‘living in the light’, ‘basking in the gaze of the Invigorator’, and all that.. She’d give you her kidney if you needed it, and preach at you to pass the favor on....And it’s not like they’re going to catch cold or anything around here...You so much as sneeze, you’re going to be jumped by two dozen different health agencies looking to treat you with everything from chicken soup to mystically-empowered nanotech.”
There’s also a large proportion of GS cultists in the city; despite the Good Splugorths’ modest assertations that they’re not gods, and their request for only a small tithe of PPE, there are many mundane beings who feel that the GS ARE gods(or at least alien saints), and entreat/worship them accordingly. These cultists follow various doctrine, but in general they practice good deeds, selflessness, charity, tolerance, and physical fitness in the name of the Good Splugorth, and stage frequent worship services to will their alien benefactors PPE. Others are even more zealous, constantly volunteering for drug trials, giving blood, bone marrow, and kidneys for transplant, or offering to act as gene-plasm donors or surrogate parents for various GS fertility clinic programs. Many become T-Men or BioBorgs, and regard these enhancements as gifts from their gods. Good Splugorth cultists often sport distinctive tattooes, especially of the Beneficent Eye, somewhere on their bodies.
Whereas canonical Splynn catered to blood sports, GS Splynn caters to their own version of the Special Olympics, the crippled and maimed testing their limits and new limbs in competition. In place of the gladiatorial pits and arenas that are the centerpiece of canonical Splynn, Good Splynn has over a hundred simulation areas where GS affiliates get to test, practice with, and demonstrate various rescue procedures and types of equipment in real-life conditions, such as firestorms, burning buildings, chemical spills, acid rain, driving sandstorms, near-cryogenic cold, and the like. Some of the tests and demos even involve common monsters and live predators....kept under tight security and under the close watch of well-armored and well-equipped handlers. Other monsters are kept in special pens and laboratories for study, in order to discover counters and cures to venomous bites or special attacks, and others are actually bred for harvesting special chemicals from them(such as venom). These demonstrations are often open to public viewing from specially shielded galleries, with donations for admission welcome(the collected proceeds go to GS humanitarian efforts). More extravagant, and just plain helf for entertainment, sporting events are held in the massive colliseums and stadiums around the city; participants are assured of some of the best medical care available in the event of an accident.
Splynn
The GS City of Splynn is also known as the City of Light and Life. Under Splynncryth’s administration, the city has become a center of medical research, humanitarian outreach administration, and information exchange. The city is a tour-de-force of excellence in civic engineering, architecture, and organization, both a hub of megaversal business and a model to others of how a megacosmopolitan community can operate.
The Dimensional Market
“Behold the Jaai-Zoon 800 Field Surgibot! A handheld medical tool that will revolutionize the way paramedics treat injuries everywhere from the grandest arcologies of the Three Galaxies to the meanest back-alleys of Chi-Town!”
The Dimensional Market is much the same as before, but there’s a greater emphasis on rescue gear, firefighting equipment, medicine, and similar goods, while businesses that profit from others’ suffering are non-existant...Sale of weapons is also frowned upon, and weapons-sellers don’t last long in the Market before being run out....Part of all profits is donated to the Splugorth hosts for the continuation of good works throughout the Megaverse. The marketplace is cleaner, friendlier, and caters much more to quality of life goods, though there is also a fair amount of trade in vehicles, tools, and other hardware(usually with some added ‘safety’ aspect tacked on/built in). As mentioned, while one still might find weapons and paramilitary services for hire here, such business is typically done back-alley and under the table. More prominent are clinics and health centers catering to life-extension(and near-immortality), genetic enhancement treatments, psychological therapies, cosmetic surgery, and other services. If you’re afflicted with something, there’s likely a place that will cure it, help you live with it, kick the habit, or move on with your life. Mystic herbalogy shoppes, crystal sellers, potion-mongers, psychic healers, curse removal experts, and other magic healing practitioners also are common in the Great Market.
To the uninitiated and those unfamiliar with the Good Splugorth(and most of the peoples of Rifts Earth count is this category), however, the Dimensional Market of Health is as terrifying as the Evil Splugorth Market would be....Miles and miles of aliens hawking incomprehensible wares, that are usually doing something to someone or something(not helped any by graphic aides such as super-regenerating volunteers, cloned cadavers, simu-flesh dummies, and very realistic holographic displays), flames, chemical spills, alien devices that look like weapons, and more than a few hapless-looking beings being herded about either naked or in rags, collared and shackled, under the supervision of aliens(actually refugees who have had their clothing confiscated for cleaning, and now wearing medical ID bracelets and gowns, while they’re being moved to temporary housing). Other ‘slaves’ are actually paid models or volunteer ‘actors’, hired by the various medical salesmen to hawk their wares and to demonstrate harmless procedures, rescue gear, and the like. Others are biowizardry-modified to heal fast, the better to actually demonstrate certain types of equipment(or the biowizardy therapies themselves). Anybody with a fear of hospitals or paranoia about health care professionals is likley to be VERY uncomfortable in the greater part of the Market, but otherwise the whole place is harmless.
Unfortunately, the Coalition has publicized some graphic images that show, among other things, a display of medical restraint devices, a demonstration of surgical laser systems on a (simulated) human body, ominous-looking physical therapy gear, and a mistranslated ‘slave market’ sign(in reality a directory to a labor pool recruiting center...one of many where refugee laborers and potential employers can meet). These images are the only known extent information on Splynn available to most people in North America(and Europe), so most go with the line of propoganda promulgated by the CS and NGR that they’re evidence of inhuman slavery , torture, and cannibalism on Atlantis. This sort of negative PR has most Rifts Earth natives so terrified of being captured by the Splugorth that they’d rather kill themselves than fall into their clutches(of course, this sort of behavior only convinces the Splugorth that the psychological damage to Earth natives is even worse than they thought, the need for assistance all the more dire, and even stronger measures called for).
Some ancient rulers of Earth claimed that a naked virgin carrying a bag of gold could walk across their kingdoms unmolested, so safe was their kingdom. Splynncrythh has heard this old saw and thinks it a good idea; he randomly sends similarly dressed and encumbered (vulnerable-looking) beings to wander the width and breadth of the dimensional market. Four out of five make it without incident(and are generously rewarded with the gold, credits, or other commodity they’ve been carrying); the fifth usually falls afoul of something( accidentally trip an automated patient restraint system, wander into an aerosol drug dispenser demo, are mistaken for an escaped lab animal and tranq-darted), and has to be bailed out or revived by market security. Still, Splynncrythh considers it a fair test of his market’s security, and is pleased with the results so far(as in nobody’s gotten killed or seriously hurt).
However, GS Splynn DOES have its share of crime...All that (bloodless) cutting edge technology and powerful magic attracts temporal thieves and corporate spies out to pick up loose scrolls and tech-matrices. Genesplicers, despite the standing orders of the Kydians and Sunaj security to shoot on sight, send their minions to steal new genetic technologies and gene-bank stock from the many biotech firms that call Splynn home. Mad scientists make their way to acquire new technology to mis-apply. Drug addicts creep around the fringes looking for access to new painkillers, narcotics, and other chemicals to abuse. Despite the best efforts of GS security, charlatans manage to get into the marketplace, selling supposedly miraculous cures and various nostrums of every description to dupes and the easily swayed. There are rumors of mutants roaming the back alleys, and a gang of rogue medical robots that stalk ‘patients’ off the main drags.
And, of course, there’s the Coalition and ARCHIE-3 agents hidding out, convinced that everything is a thin disguise underneath of which the REAL alien agenda is being played out, So far all they’ve managed to do is hurt some people and release some gravely ill people(whose subsequent deaths are blamed on the Good Splugorth) and a few mental patients.
There’s plenty of employment to be had, either working directly for the Good Splugorth or for any of the many independent biotech and assistance firms that call Splynn home. Besides the usual medical positions of nursing and hospital work(which require medical training), a few possibilities include:
*Drug Trials---Company wants to run clinical drug trials to see how a new drug acts on live subjects...Trials typically take 1 week to a year, the participants receive regular check-ups, free medical care, and a stipend for their trouble, but they must check on regularly, and keep a thorough personal log recording their day-to-day activity and state of health. Participants in drug trials can make 500-3,000 credits for their trouble...but the whole reason for trials is to identify unforseen side effects(read the contract and any associated waivers carefully before signing).
*Equipment Test---Company wants the PCs to test out new field equipment; bio-monitors, camping gear, protective clothing, etc...Testers must, again, keep thorough records and write reports on how the equipment performed, and turn in the gear for examination and study afterwards. Depending on the risks involved, the PC test dummies can get 500-5,000 credits, and in some cases may get to keep the equipment.
*Sampling Expedition---The PCs are hired to seek out and retrieve samples of some medicinal plant, animal, or mineral.
Sometimes the mission is to recover samples of a pathogen and/or its vector(s); the Good Splugorth don’t, in all good conscience, send untrained third parties out to do this sort of dangerous work, prefering to use their own specially trained and equipped hazmat specialists, but some private firms are less scrupulous.
The Suburbs
“They’re sending me out to the country now that I’m out of the ICU....Nice little rehab camp where’s I can learn to use my new body...Not too many open tracks available in the big city big enough where a two ton cyborg can really get out and stretch her legs.”
GS Splynn is surrounded by island-galaxies of suburbs, farmland, and parks....John Frederick Olmstead would be proud, and Feng-Shuists would delight in the perfect landscaping and harmony of these environs. While most of the suburb areas are set aside for GS affiliates, the parks, farms, and satellite spas are frequented by tourists, rehabilitated refugees, and patients prescribed gentle surroundings. Many rescuees from the mainlands of Rifts Earth are given jobs working the farms, or enrolled in classes on scientific farming methods.
Ki-Talan--The Kittani industrial center is much the same as canon, with advanced technology and weapons very much in abundance. There’s a greater racial diversity, however, as many other races come here to study engineering and technology from the experts. The highlights of the city include various levels of robot, power armor, and vehicle competitions in contest-duels and simulated disasters; outsiders are perfectly welcome to come and try their luck.
Metzla-Xym-- Not the friendliest of places, but it’s far better than canon. A growing corps of Metlza healers and psychic physicians is growing , and while their bedside manner still leaves a lot to be desired, they’re making the effort. The miracles they’ve wrought so far have earned them the respect and admiration of peoples who might otherwise cringe in fear and revulsion from them. Metzla-Xym is starting to see a small, but significant, tourist industry emerge as pilgrims come to view the stately Metzla hives from a distance.
Dragcona---Since Styphathal took over from his comatose brother Stydro, the city of Dragcona has become something of a dive, increasingly dirty, seedy, and there’s an increasingly dragon-centric attitude in the streets there, with mounting intolerance towards non-dragons. This concerns G-Splynncryth greatly, especially with Styphathal’s insistance that his brother Stydros be removed from life support and allowed to die naturally....and incidentally removing the last official block from him assuming full power in the city.
Fortunately, Styphathal spends much of his time in South America promoting his cult of Dragonwright, usually to avoid having to listen to G-Splynncryth complain to him about his increasingly rephrenesible behavior.
“So tell me, young human, where’s it hurt? Oh, silly question! And what were you doing when the Spiney Ravager jumped you? I don’t suppose anyone saved your legs? Oh dear, guess we’ll have to grow you new ones then....Be glad it was your legs, and not the other end that went down the gullet...we can’t regrow heads and brains...yet.”
*Azlum---A community specializing in mental illness, especially violent insanities....The Portal is entirely missing, but the community is under a powerful Sanctuary spell in order to contain the criminally insane housed in the Asylums. The Ayzlum doesn’t exist as such...instead there is a genuine sanitorium and maximum security prison for holding truly evil monsters and supervillians(including members of several ‘rival’ psychiatric institutes that were anything BUT altruistic organizations), while attempts are made to somehow rehabilitate them. They’ve had few successes, but the few they’ve had have been stunning and increase hope that nobody is beyond help (other sanitoriums also exist across Atlantis, catering to non-criminally insane, while treatments are sought for Possession, curses, and other seemingly inconquerably illnesses...Even, and ESPECIALLY, vampirism, which the Splugorth are particularly interested in stamping out).
Despite its emphasis on healing shattered minds, and the special attention given to insure a peaceful environment for the disturbed, Azlum is considered one of the saddest places in GS Atlantis, where both the criminally insane and the completely disturbed are incarcerated for their own safety.
*Agricultural and Zoological Stations--- The GS have converted parts of Atlantis into reserves for raising rare animals of Earth and other worlds in the Megaverse...They’ve also set aside land for experimentation in creating and raising new foodstuff and medicinal plants and animals, including beneficial symbiotes.
In Good Splugorth Atlantis, the regions known as the Refuge and the Preserves have switched names....
*The Refuge(formerly the Preserves)---This largely untamed wilderness is kept as an extension of the Preserves...but deluded refugees who have escaped from the rehab centers further east have settled here, setting up squatters’ camps. The enemies of the Good Splugorth such as the Coalition and Nautyll have also established secret bases here. The GS occasionally send aide expeditions to track down escaped patients and refugees and try to persuade them to rejoin the rest of the rehabilitees. Failing that, they leave aid packages and try to get the squatters to build safer communities, against the many threats coming over from the Demon Coast zone. The GS hope some of these communities will accept their aide and develop into orderly, organized, fortified communities similar to the Israeli kibbutz...and eventually into secure open communities as the region is slowly tamed. GS Associate rangers frequent the area; they will pick up and aid anybody who calls for it.
The GS have encouraged the settlement of areas of the Refuge by T-Men and BioBorgs, whose enhancements allow them a better change to survive, and whose humanity would be a better inducement to the refugees hiding in the wilds to come out and parlay with than with the more intimidating visages of GS Associates. A number of T-Man and Brotherhood communes have sprung up, based around temples to Splynncrythh....The ‘wildmen’ have taken notice of these communities, resulting in raids against their farms for food, and acts of vandalism.
The settling of these territories with enhanced humans loyal to the GS has another aspect, conceived of by Splynncryth’s Sunaj allies; it denies the territory to True Atlantean claims to regain their old homeland. Since some of the bioborg settlers are easily equal to a True Atlantean in terms of physical abilities, that’s no small thing.
*The Preserves(Formerly the Refuge)---This northern region is being developed as a combination wildlife park and colonization zone, with rehabilitees given homesteads to develop. A number of new towns have been established in the area with GS assistance. The region is also a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Atlantis. Like the Refuge, this area has been infiltrated by enemies of the GS...The New Navy in paricular has been looking in concern at several new ports being established on the northern coast(the GS hopes these sea ports will help support trade between settlers and the North American and European mainlands once formal relations have been established).
*The Terror Coast---The GS still know this place as the Terror Coast...the number of dangerous animals(and plants) makes this place a hazard for all but the toughest of natives of Atlantis. Out of consideration for those who aren’t naturally armor plated, the Good Splugorth have placed elaborate warning signs around the Terror Coast advising people not to venture in. Occasionally, they send in Associate patrols to sample new lifeforms for potential medicinal value, pick up stranded d-beees deposited by the Rifts, and rescue adventurers from themselves.
“Okay, who’s in here for a magically-induced phobia of tentac--”
“ARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! GIANT SQUID!!!! SLIMY COILS OF DEATHHHHH!!!!CAPTAIINNNNNNNNEEMMMOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
*TACKLE*
“Never mind...thanks for holding him down, mister...?”
“Sir Thomlinson....Sorry about his reaction...can you help him?”
“It’s what you’re here for, getting him help? Then that’s what WE’re here for...We get violently ill people in here all the time. We can handle it and we know the sick don’t mean to do it...”
“*Groan*....ahhh mannnn...I had another episode, didn’t Iiiiiiii.......?”
*patter*patter*patter*patter*patter*
*Thomp*Thomp*Thomp*Thomp*
“Ma’am! We’re here to help you! Please stop! We aren’t going to hurt you!--”
“Soylent Green is Made of People! Soylent Green is Made of People! Tell the Wor--”
*ZOMP*(((Carpet of Adhesion*Magic Net)))
“Thanks, Dragon-Head, we’ll take it from here...”
JUST DOING MY JOB.
“Okay, get that robe back on her, on the stretcher and let’s get her to a nice calming slime-bath...”
.....
“I see...ah, those were...”
“Kydian nurses....Strong enough to bend armor plate...but gentle as a mother reezbeht.....Ain’t they wonderful?”
Obviously, there’s still a lot of work to do...and a lot missing from the Good version of Rifts Atlantis....Such as...
*Tattooes
“Skin cancer---what a bastard....I almost died of it....After I got treated, I laid out some money to get myself a Sunblocker ‘too...now when I’m working out in the open, I can touch the thing and it protects me against any sort of solar radiation up to a nuclear fusion airburst. No need to worry about comparing SPFs ever again.”
The GS have worked on ways to make the process of receiving magic tattoos less painful and have been experimenting with therapeutic tattoos...working in conjunction with Chinese chi-paths to moderate health and control both metabolic and mental problems...Magic Tattoos may offer a way around or to block the effects of some curses and magical illnesses...The most fanatic of subscribers to this form of medicine are the T-Men, who swear by the mystic tattooists as modern day Asians might swear by their accupuncturists.
*Suppression Tattoo(1 PPE to activate, effects last 2 hours)---This is a therapeutic Tattoo applied in extreme cases of drug addiction, and used in conjunction with therapy. Touching the Tattoo will suppress a body’s cravings for a fix, and alleviate the worst of withdrawl pains. This gives the person a +15% to efforts to kick a drug addiction. Note, however, that the tattoo must be VOLUNTARILY activated by the recipient; it is not a cure-all. It also used as part of an ongoing program to wean the recipient off the substance dependancy, and not serve as a crutch unto itself.
The Suppression Tattoo appears as a red circle with a slash mark or red ‘x’ , sometimes with a symbolic depiction of the substance being guarded against inside the circle.
Biowizardry
“I’m never alone with the new friends in my head---they calm me down whenever I feel like doing bad things to other people.”
The worse aspects of biowizardry are entirely missing from the GS; instead GS Biowizardry is considered a wholly healing art, a blending of lifeforms in harmonious symbiosis. Deliberate augmentation is frowned on, and none but the most callous and self-serving of GS Affiliates would consider doing such work, especially for pay.
(Because the GS avoid parasites, enslavement, and other debilitating treatments, their arsenal of Biowizardry would appear starkly limited compared to what their evil canonical twins have available. However, the GS focus more on symbiotic organisms, and have developed organisms more akin to those in Splicers---which can be used to represent them--Systems Failure’s Organitech, or Heroes Unlimited....many of which have the added properties of magic or psionics)
*SaphroSkin---This is the GS equivalent of the Splicers’ Leatherback bioarmor---only much lighter----It’s a body suit, overalls, or leotard, leggings, and arm gloves of a latex- or leather-like skintight material. The material is actually a modified saphrophyte fungus that lives off body sweat, shed hair, waste, and dead skin cells...One telltale sign of long duration use is that the lack of body hair on the covered areas of a wearer of SaphroSkin. The suits have 30-40 MDC main body, 16-25 MDC arms and legs, and 30-40 for a light helmet or hood. They are thermo-adaptive...conserving heat in cold conditions, and shedding it in hot conditions. SaphroSkin regenerates 1d6 MD per minute under normal conditions, but a quick spray of a nutrient-polish allows the suit to regenerate 2d4 MD per minute. SaphroSkin suits come in just about any color, pattern, or cut imaginable, weigh about 4 lbs, and cost about 7,000 credits on the open market, plus extra for features such as collar-flap filter masks, gill-packs, water-reservoirs/cooling pads/shock cushions, climbing hairpads, and other add-ons.
Due to its tight appearance and favored status among many GS-cultists, SaphroSkin is often dubbed by anti-GS organizations(such as the CS) as ‘slave wear’
New Slimes:
“Great...so he’s whiling away the centuries in a big blob of rubber cement.”
The Good Splugorth have found that one of their leisure activities...bathing in mystic slime....is equally of benefitt to other lifeforms, although they’ve had to do some research to tailor the substance to other metabolisms and for specific purposes.
*Psychotropic Slime---This is a calmative slime that affects the nervous system through skin absorption. Patients soaking in this substance are drowsy, docile, and sedate, -25% to all skill rolls. Beings with Superhuman or Supernatural Strength will find their P.S. reduced by HALF, and down to normal human levels(i.e. Supernatural P.S. 30 becomes P.S. 15 and is no longer considered Supernatural)
*Restorative Slime---A less powerful version of Healing Slime, Restorative Slime is a rejuvenant and life-extender by virtue of its ability to cleanse the body of dead cells, correct genetic damage while it’s still initial, and flush carcinogens and other toxins from the body. Sleeping(at least six hours a day) in a tub of Restorative Slime at least five days a week can extend a person’s life and vitallity by at least 30%, perhaps as much as 50%, and gives the person the following bonuses; +15% to save versus Coma/Death, healing is accelerated by x3, and +5 to save versus poisons and toxins.
*Preservative Slime---A golden mystic compound that acts as a stasis system...Beings immersed in Preservative Slime go into a state of death-like deep sleep equivalent to the best cryogenic systems. The preservative fluid is syrupy at first, but sets into a tough jello-like solid that shields and cushions the enveloped person(the gel actually has 4d6 MDC and is resistant to fire damage and acids, and is elastic enough to protect from falls and shocks...drops up to 200 ft and ramming attacks of 60 MPH). A single application is good for 120 years or more. Reviving a stasis-patient involves spraying the gel down with a special enzyme spray that dissolves it; the patient will revive in 2d6 minutes.
“Aw MAnnnnn......The medical care’s great here, but the magazines in this waiting room haven’t been replaced since Atlantis first sank! In fact, I think these still have water stains on them!”
The Good Splugorth enclave of Atlantis is the beach-head for an ambitious relief effort with forseeable benefits for both the natives and the GS. If Earth can be successfully pacified, and its people helped out of their dark ages, Rifts Earth could become a major hub in the GS megaversal relief efforts. The youngish Splugorth Intelligence Splynncrythh has taken on this challenge, taking the island-continent of Atlantis as the first stepping stone to helping a world. He reasons that Atlantis’s place in the Atlantic provides both isolation and access to the various mainlands, allowing his people to become established in relative peace and quiet, and build up to the task of tackling the big problems in the Americas and Europe...Once that happens, the daunting task of Asia will be next.
Some Splugorth may feel that Splynncrythh is moving slowly and cautiously, too much so, but Splynn, as the Intelligence on the spot, recognizes the delicate balance of forces on the planet, and realizes how easily it could go bad and overwhelm even the most determined and aggressive relief effort.
Rather than a slave population, the cities of Rifts Atlantis now sport camps of volunteer aide workers and re-educatees being trained and re-educated...Massive rehab camps work to straighten out patients and victims from catastrophes across the globe and across the megaverse. Part of Splynncrythh’s long-term plan is to show by deed and action the peoples of Rifts Earth that he and his people mean no harm, and provide the various tribes of Rifts Earth a living, working example of how vibrant and lively, amd prosperous Rifts Earth could be, using the establishments on Atlantis as an example(sort of a megaversal ‘EPCOT Center’). Of course, some of the more deranged rehabilees claim they’re being held against their will, forced to perform forced labor (remedial skill work or job therapy).
“Did you see that?! Was that a streaker?! That woman was---”
“Cult of Splynncryth the Invigorator...They’re into the whole health thing, including body-pride. Don’t mind them...”
“But all she had on was a tattoo of ---”
“...An eyeball radiating light, right. Like I said; don’t mind them...Give them half the chance and they’ll talk your head off about ‘living in the light’, ‘basking in the gaze of the Invigorator’, and all that.. She’d give you her kidney if you needed it, and preach at you to pass the favor on....And it’s not like they’re going to catch cold or anything around here...You so much as sneeze, you’re going to be jumped by two dozen different health agencies looking to treat you with everything from chicken soup to mystically-empowered nanotech.”
There’s also a large proportion of GS cultists in the city; despite the Good Splugorths’ modest assertations that they’re not gods, and their request for only a small tithe of PPE, there are many mundane beings who feel that the GS ARE gods(or at least alien saints), and entreat/worship them accordingly. These cultists follow various doctrine, but in general they practice good deeds, selflessness, charity, tolerance, and physical fitness in the name of the Good Splugorth, and stage frequent worship services to will their alien benefactors PPE. Others are even more zealous, constantly volunteering for drug trials, giving blood, bone marrow, and kidneys for transplant, or offering to act as gene-plasm donors or surrogate parents for various GS fertility clinic programs. Many become T-Men or BioBorgs, and regard these enhancements as gifts from their gods. Good Splugorth cultists often sport distinctive tattooes, especially of the Beneficent Eye, somewhere on their bodies.
Whereas canonical Splynn catered to blood sports, GS Splynn caters to their own version of the Special Olympics, the crippled and maimed testing their limits and new limbs in competition. In place of the gladiatorial pits and arenas that are the centerpiece of canonical Splynn, Good Splynn has over a hundred simulation areas where GS affiliates get to test, practice with, and demonstrate various rescue procedures and types of equipment in real-life conditions, such as firestorms, burning buildings, chemical spills, acid rain, driving sandstorms, near-cryogenic cold, and the like. Some of the tests and demos even involve common monsters and live predators....kept under tight security and under the close watch of well-armored and well-equipped handlers. Other monsters are kept in special pens and laboratories for study, in order to discover counters and cures to venomous bites or special attacks, and others are actually bred for harvesting special chemicals from them(such as venom). These demonstrations are often open to public viewing from specially shielded galleries, with donations for admission welcome(the collected proceeds go to GS humanitarian efforts). More extravagant, and just plain helf for entertainment, sporting events are held in the massive colliseums and stadiums around the city; participants are assured of some of the best medical care available in the event of an accident.
Splynn
The GS City of Splynn is also known as the City of Light and Life. Under Splynncryth’s administration, the city has become a center of medical research, humanitarian outreach administration, and information exchange. The city is a tour-de-force of excellence in civic engineering, architecture, and organization, both a hub of megaversal business and a model to others of how a megacosmopolitan community can operate.
The Dimensional Market
“Behold the Jaai-Zoon 800 Field Surgibot! A handheld medical tool that will revolutionize the way paramedics treat injuries everywhere from the grandest arcologies of the Three Galaxies to the meanest back-alleys of Chi-Town!”
The Dimensional Market is much the same as before, but there’s a greater emphasis on rescue gear, firefighting equipment, medicine, and similar goods, while businesses that profit from others’ suffering are non-existant...Sale of weapons is also frowned upon, and weapons-sellers don’t last long in the Market before being run out....Part of all profits is donated to the Splugorth hosts for the continuation of good works throughout the Megaverse. The marketplace is cleaner, friendlier, and caters much more to quality of life goods, though there is also a fair amount of trade in vehicles, tools, and other hardware(usually with some added ‘safety’ aspect tacked on/built in). As mentioned, while one still might find weapons and paramilitary services for hire here, such business is typically done back-alley and under the table. More prominent are clinics and health centers catering to life-extension(and near-immortality), genetic enhancement treatments, psychological therapies, cosmetic surgery, and other services. If you’re afflicted with something, there’s likely a place that will cure it, help you live with it, kick the habit, or move on with your life. Mystic herbalogy shoppes, crystal sellers, potion-mongers, psychic healers, curse removal experts, and other magic healing practitioners also are common in the Great Market.
To the uninitiated and those unfamiliar with the Good Splugorth(and most of the peoples of Rifts Earth count is this category), however, the Dimensional Market of Health is as terrifying as the Evil Splugorth Market would be....Miles and miles of aliens hawking incomprehensible wares, that are usually doing something to someone or something(not helped any by graphic aides such as super-regenerating volunteers, cloned cadavers, simu-flesh dummies, and very realistic holographic displays), flames, chemical spills, alien devices that look like weapons, and more than a few hapless-looking beings being herded about either naked or in rags, collared and shackled, under the supervision of aliens(actually refugees who have had their clothing confiscated for cleaning, and now wearing medical ID bracelets and gowns, while they’re being moved to temporary housing). Other ‘slaves’ are actually paid models or volunteer ‘actors’, hired by the various medical salesmen to hawk their wares and to demonstrate harmless procedures, rescue gear, and the like. Others are biowizardry-modified to heal fast, the better to actually demonstrate certain types of equipment(or the biowizardy therapies themselves). Anybody with a fear of hospitals or paranoia about health care professionals is likley to be VERY uncomfortable in the greater part of the Market, but otherwise the whole place is harmless.
Unfortunately, the Coalition has publicized some graphic images that show, among other things, a display of medical restraint devices, a demonstration of surgical laser systems on a (simulated) human body, ominous-looking physical therapy gear, and a mistranslated ‘slave market’ sign(in reality a directory to a labor pool recruiting center...one of many where refugee laborers and potential employers can meet). These images are the only known extent information on Splynn available to most people in North America(and Europe), so most go with the line of propoganda promulgated by the CS and NGR that they’re evidence of inhuman slavery , torture, and cannibalism on Atlantis. This sort of negative PR has most Rifts Earth natives so terrified of being captured by the Splugorth that they’d rather kill themselves than fall into their clutches(of course, this sort of behavior only convinces the Splugorth that the psychological damage to Earth natives is even worse than they thought, the need for assistance all the more dire, and even stronger measures called for).
Some ancient rulers of Earth claimed that a naked virgin carrying a bag of gold could walk across their kingdoms unmolested, so safe was their kingdom. Splynncrythh has heard this old saw and thinks it a good idea; he randomly sends similarly dressed and encumbered (vulnerable-looking) beings to wander the width and breadth of the dimensional market. Four out of five make it without incident(and are generously rewarded with the gold, credits, or other commodity they’ve been carrying); the fifth usually falls afoul of something( accidentally trip an automated patient restraint system, wander into an aerosol drug dispenser demo, are mistaken for an escaped lab animal and tranq-darted), and has to be bailed out or revived by market security. Still, Splynncrythh considers it a fair test of his market’s security, and is pleased with the results so far(as in nobody’s gotten killed or seriously hurt).
However, GS Splynn DOES have its share of crime...All that (bloodless) cutting edge technology and powerful magic attracts temporal thieves and corporate spies out to pick up loose scrolls and tech-matrices. Genesplicers, despite the standing orders of the Kydians and Sunaj security to shoot on sight, send their minions to steal new genetic technologies and gene-bank stock from the many biotech firms that call Splynn home. Mad scientists make their way to acquire new technology to mis-apply. Drug addicts creep around the fringes looking for access to new painkillers, narcotics, and other chemicals to abuse. Despite the best efforts of GS security, charlatans manage to get into the marketplace, selling supposedly miraculous cures and various nostrums of every description to dupes and the easily swayed. There are rumors of mutants roaming the back alleys, and a gang of rogue medical robots that stalk ‘patients’ off the main drags.
And, of course, there’s the Coalition and ARCHIE-3 agents hidding out, convinced that everything is a thin disguise underneath of which the REAL alien agenda is being played out, So far all they’ve managed to do is hurt some people and release some gravely ill people(whose subsequent deaths are blamed on the Good Splugorth) and a few mental patients.
There’s plenty of employment to be had, either working directly for the Good Splugorth or for any of the many independent biotech and assistance firms that call Splynn home. Besides the usual medical positions of nursing and hospital work(which require medical training), a few possibilities include:
*Drug Trials---Company wants to run clinical drug trials to see how a new drug acts on live subjects...Trials typically take 1 week to a year, the participants receive regular check-ups, free medical care, and a stipend for their trouble, but they must check on regularly, and keep a thorough personal log recording their day-to-day activity and state of health. Participants in drug trials can make 500-3,000 credits for their trouble...but the whole reason for trials is to identify unforseen side effects(read the contract and any associated waivers carefully before signing).
*Equipment Test---Company wants the PCs to test out new field equipment; bio-monitors, camping gear, protective clothing, etc...Testers must, again, keep thorough records and write reports on how the equipment performed, and turn in the gear for examination and study afterwards. Depending on the risks involved, the PC test dummies can get 500-5,000 credits, and in some cases may get to keep the equipment.
*Sampling Expedition---The PCs are hired to seek out and retrieve samples of some medicinal plant, animal, or mineral.
Sometimes the mission is to recover samples of a pathogen and/or its vector(s); the Good Splugorth don’t, in all good conscience, send untrained third parties out to do this sort of dangerous work, prefering to use their own specially trained and equipped hazmat specialists, but some private firms are less scrupulous.
The Suburbs
“They’re sending me out to the country now that I’m out of the ICU....Nice little rehab camp where’s I can learn to use my new body...Not too many open tracks available in the big city big enough where a two ton cyborg can really get out and stretch her legs.”
GS Splynn is surrounded by island-galaxies of suburbs, farmland, and parks....John Frederick Olmstead would be proud, and Feng-Shuists would delight in the perfect landscaping and harmony of these environs. While most of the suburb areas are set aside for GS affiliates, the parks, farms, and satellite spas are frequented by tourists, rehabilitated refugees, and patients prescribed gentle surroundings. Many rescuees from the mainlands of Rifts Earth are given jobs working the farms, or enrolled in classes on scientific farming methods.
Ki-Talan--The Kittani industrial center is much the same as canon, with advanced technology and weapons very much in abundance. There’s a greater racial diversity, however, as many other races come here to study engineering and technology from the experts. The highlights of the city include various levels of robot, power armor, and vehicle competitions in contest-duels and simulated disasters; outsiders are perfectly welcome to come and try their luck.
Metzla-Xym-- Not the friendliest of places, but it’s far better than canon. A growing corps of Metlza healers and psychic physicians is growing , and while their bedside manner still leaves a lot to be desired, they’re making the effort. The miracles they’ve wrought so far have earned them the respect and admiration of peoples who might otherwise cringe in fear and revulsion from them. Metzla-Xym is starting to see a small, but significant, tourist industry emerge as pilgrims come to view the stately Metzla hives from a distance.
Dragcona---Since Styphathal took over from his comatose brother Stydro, the city of Dragcona has become something of a dive, increasingly dirty, seedy, and there’s an increasingly dragon-centric attitude in the streets there, with mounting intolerance towards non-dragons. This concerns G-Splynncryth greatly, especially with Styphathal’s insistance that his brother Stydros be removed from life support and allowed to die naturally....and incidentally removing the last official block from him assuming full power in the city.
Fortunately, Styphathal spends much of his time in South America promoting his cult of Dragonwright, usually to avoid having to listen to G-Splynncryth complain to him about his increasingly rephrenesible behavior.
“So tell me, young human, where’s it hurt? Oh, silly question! And what were you doing when the Spiney Ravager jumped you? I don’t suppose anyone saved your legs? Oh dear, guess we’ll have to grow you new ones then....Be glad it was your legs, and not the other end that went down the gullet...we can’t regrow heads and brains...yet.”
*Azlum---A community specializing in mental illness, especially violent insanities....The Portal is entirely missing, but the community is under a powerful Sanctuary spell in order to contain the criminally insane housed in the Asylums. The Ayzlum doesn’t exist as such...instead there is a genuine sanitorium and maximum security prison for holding truly evil monsters and supervillians(including members of several ‘rival’ psychiatric institutes that were anything BUT altruistic organizations), while attempts are made to somehow rehabilitate them. They’ve had few successes, but the few they’ve had have been stunning and increase hope that nobody is beyond help (other sanitoriums also exist across Atlantis, catering to non-criminally insane, while treatments are sought for Possession, curses, and other seemingly inconquerably illnesses...Even, and ESPECIALLY, vampirism, which the Splugorth are particularly interested in stamping out).
Despite its emphasis on healing shattered minds, and the special attention given to insure a peaceful environment for the disturbed, Azlum is considered one of the saddest places in GS Atlantis, where both the criminally insane and the completely disturbed are incarcerated for their own safety.
*Agricultural and Zoological Stations--- The GS have converted parts of Atlantis into reserves for raising rare animals of Earth and other worlds in the Megaverse...They’ve also set aside land for experimentation in creating and raising new foodstuff and medicinal plants and animals, including beneficial symbiotes.
In Good Splugorth Atlantis, the regions known as the Refuge and the Preserves have switched names....
*The Refuge(formerly the Preserves)---This largely untamed wilderness is kept as an extension of the Preserves...but deluded refugees who have escaped from the rehab centers further east have settled here, setting up squatters’ camps. The enemies of the Good Splugorth such as the Coalition and Nautyll have also established secret bases here. The GS occasionally send aide expeditions to track down escaped patients and refugees and try to persuade them to rejoin the rest of the rehabilitees. Failing that, they leave aid packages and try to get the squatters to build safer communities, against the many threats coming over from the Demon Coast zone. The GS hope some of these communities will accept their aide and develop into orderly, organized, fortified communities similar to the Israeli kibbutz...and eventually into secure open communities as the region is slowly tamed. GS Associate rangers frequent the area; they will pick up and aid anybody who calls for it.
The GS have encouraged the settlement of areas of the Refuge by T-Men and BioBorgs, whose enhancements allow them a better change to survive, and whose humanity would be a better inducement to the refugees hiding in the wilds to come out and parlay with than with the more intimidating visages of GS Associates. A number of T-Man and Brotherhood communes have sprung up, based around temples to Splynncrythh....The ‘wildmen’ have taken notice of these communities, resulting in raids against their farms for food, and acts of vandalism.
The settling of these territories with enhanced humans loyal to the GS has another aspect, conceived of by Splynncryth’s Sunaj allies; it denies the territory to True Atlantean claims to regain their old homeland. Since some of the bioborg settlers are easily equal to a True Atlantean in terms of physical abilities, that’s no small thing.
*The Preserves(Formerly the Refuge)---This northern region is being developed as a combination wildlife park and colonization zone, with rehabilitees given homesteads to develop. A number of new towns have been established in the area with GS assistance. The region is also a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Atlantis. Like the Refuge, this area has been infiltrated by enemies of the GS...The New Navy in paricular has been looking in concern at several new ports being established on the northern coast(the GS hopes these sea ports will help support trade between settlers and the North American and European mainlands once formal relations have been established).
*The Terror Coast---The GS still know this place as the Terror Coast...the number of dangerous animals(and plants) makes this place a hazard for all but the toughest of natives of Atlantis. Out of consideration for those who aren’t naturally armor plated, the Good Splugorth have placed elaborate warning signs around the Terror Coast advising people not to venture in. Occasionally, they send in Associate patrols to sample new lifeforms for potential medicinal value, pick up stranded d-beees deposited by the Rifts, and rescue adventurers from themselves.
“Okay, who’s in here for a magically-induced phobia of tentac--”
“ARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! GIANT SQUID!!!! SLIMY COILS OF DEATHHHHH!!!!CAPTAIINNNNNNNNEEMMMOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
*TACKLE*
“Never mind...thanks for holding him down, mister...?”
“Sir Thomlinson....Sorry about his reaction...can you help him?”
“It’s what you’re here for, getting him help? Then that’s what WE’re here for...We get violently ill people in here all the time. We can handle it and we know the sick don’t mean to do it...”
“*Groan*....ahhh mannnn...I had another episode, didn’t Iiiiiiii.......?”
*patter*patter*patter*patter*patter*
*Thomp*Thomp*Thomp*Thomp*
“Ma’am! We’re here to help you! Please stop! We aren’t going to hurt you!--”
“Soylent Green is Made of People! Soylent Green is Made of People! Tell the Wor--”
*ZOMP*(((Carpet of Adhesion*Magic Net)))
“Thanks, Dragon-Head, we’ll take it from here...”
JUST DOING MY JOB.
“Okay, get that robe back on her, on the stretcher and let’s get her to a nice calming slime-bath...”
.....
“I see...ah, those were...”
“Kydian nurses....Strong enough to bend armor plate...but gentle as a mother reezbeht.....Ain’t they wonderful?”
Obviously, there’s still a lot of work to do...and a lot missing from the Good version of Rifts Atlantis....Such as...
*Tattooes
“Skin cancer---what a bastard....I almost died of it....After I got treated, I laid out some money to get myself a Sunblocker ‘too...now when I’m working out in the open, I can touch the thing and it protects me against any sort of solar radiation up to a nuclear fusion airburst. No need to worry about comparing SPFs ever again.”
The GS have worked on ways to make the process of receiving magic tattoos less painful and have been experimenting with therapeutic tattoos...working in conjunction with Chinese chi-paths to moderate health and control both metabolic and mental problems...Magic Tattoos may offer a way around or to block the effects of some curses and magical illnesses...The most fanatic of subscribers to this form of medicine are the T-Men, who swear by the mystic tattooists as modern day Asians might swear by their accupuncturists.
*Suppression Tattoo(1 PPE to activate, effects last 2 hours)---This is a therapeutic Tattoo applied in extreme cases of drug addiction, and used in conjunction with therapy. Touching the Tattoo will suppress a body’s cravings for a fix, and alleviate the worst of withdrawl pains. This gives the person a +15% to efforts to kick a drug addiction. Note, however, that the tattoo must be VOLUNTARILY activated by the recipient; it is not a cure-all. It also used as part of an ongoing program to wean the recipient off the substance dependancy, and not serve as a crutch unto itself.
The Suppression Tattoo appears as a red circle with a slash mark or red ‘x’ , sometimes with a symbolic depiction of the substance being guarded against inside the circle.
Biowizardry
“I’m never alone with the new friends in my head---they calm me down whenever I feel like doing bad things to other people.”
The worse aspects of biowizardry are entirely missing from the GS; instead GS Biowizardry is considered a wholly healing art, a blending of lifeforms in harmonious symbiosis. Deliberate augmentation is frowned on, and none but the most callous and self-serving of GS Affiliates would consider doing such work, especially for pay.
(Because the GS avoid parasites, enslavement, and other debilitating treatments, their arsenal of Biowizardry would appear starkly limited compared to what their evil canonical twins have available. However, the GS focus more on symbiotic organisms, and have developed organisms more akin to those in Splicers---which can be used to represent them--Systems Failure’s Organitech, or Heroes Unlimited....many of which have the added properties of magic or psionics)
*SaphroSkin---This is the GS equivalent of the Splicers’ Leatherback bioarmor---only much lighter----It’s a body suit, overalls, or leotard, leggings, and arm gloves of a latex- or leather-like skintight material. The material is actually a modified saphrophyte fungus that lives off body sweat, shed hair, waste, and dead skin cells...One telltale sign of long duration use is that the lack of body hair on the covered areas of a wearer of SaphroSkin. The suits have 30-40 MDC main body, 16-25 MDC arms and legs, and 30-40 for a light helmet or hood. They are thermo-adaptive...conserving heat in cold conditions, and shedding it in hot conditions. SaphroSkin regenerates 1d6 MD per minute under normal conditions, but a quick spray of a nutrient-polish allows the suit to regenerate 2d4 MD per minute. SaphroSkin suits come in just about any color, pattern, or cut imaginable, weigh about 4 lbs, and cost about 7,000 credits on the open market, plus extra for features such as collar-flap filter masks, gill-packs, water-reservoirs/cooling pads/shock cushions, climbing hairpads, and other add-ons.
Due to its tight appearance and favored status among many GS-cultists, SaphroSkin is often dubbed by anti-GS organizations(such as the CS) as ‘slave wear’
New Slimes:
“Great...so he’s whiling away the centuries in a big blob of rubber cement.”
The Good Splugorth have found that one of their leisure activities...bathing in mystic slime....is equally of benefitt to other lifeforms, although they’ve had to do some research to tailor the substance to other metabolisms and for specific purposes.
*Psychotropic Slime---This is a calmative slime that affects the nervous system through skin absorption. Patients soaking in this substance are drowsy, docile, and sedate, -25% to all skill rolls. Beings with Superhuman or Supernatural Strength will find their P.S. reduced by HALF, and down to normal human levels(i.e. Supernatural P.S. 30 becomes P.S. 15 and is no longer considered Supernatural)
*Restorative Slime---A less powerful version of Healing Slime, Restorative Slime is a rejuvenant and life-extender by virtue of its ability to cleanse the body of dead cells, correct genetic damage while it’s still initial, and flush carcinogens and other toxins from the body. Sleeping(at least six hours a day) in a tub of Restorative Slime at least five days a week can extend a person’s life and vitallity by at least 30%, perhaps as much as 50%, and gives the person the following bonuses; +15% to save versus Coma/Death, healing is accelerated by x3, and +5 to save versus poisons and toxins.
*Preservative Slime---A golden mystic compound that acts as a stasis system...Beings immersed in Preservative Slime go into a state of death-like deep sleep equivalent to the best cryogenic systems. The preservative fluid is syrupy at first, but sets into a tough jello-like solid that shields and cushions the enveloped person(the gel actually has 4d6 MDC and is resistant to fire damage and acids, and is elastic enough to protect from falls and shocks...drops up to 200 ft and ramming attacks of 60 MPH). A single application is good for 120 years or more. Reviving a stasis-patient involves spraying the gel down with a special enzyme spray that dissolves it; the patient will revive in 2d6 minutes.
Last edited by taalismn on Thu Sep 18, 2014 2:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
And for good measure, I'll repost the PearlStar...
Peace on Earth and in the Megaverse, Good Will to All Sapients...
GS PearlStar Planetary Assistance Mothering Ship
“See? I told you the aliens were watching us! And that they were friendly! And that they just won’t let us little people down here die stupid stinking deaths because of some global pandemic! I TOLD you!....Though I do admitt I was kinda expecting them to be little gray big-eyed fellas or lovely tall blond women...The large tentacled eyeball’s kinda unexpected. ”
The PearlStar-class Planetary Assistance Mothering Ships are the Good Splugorth (among whom it is known as the ‘Gaeza’)version of the Gortha-class Dreadnought. Instead of instruments of conquest, though, these shining, ivory-white vessels deliver salvation to beleagured planets in crisis.
Though fairly common in their own universe, the PearlStar is unknown in the canonical Three Galaxies universe-line...though on several occasions reports of unusual white and gold starships similar in description to PearlStars have swooped down on devastated worlds, usually in the aftermath of a system-wide cosmic catastrophe, and delivered much-needed relief assistance and supplies. These ships are kept in excellent shape by their crews, their medical equipment and avionics constantly upgraded and updated as medical science and space technology advances.
PearlStars are immediately distinguishable by their opalescent main hulls, mirrored main globe, petal-like sensor arrays, and thirteen snowflake-like secondary hulls radiating out from the central sphere.
The PearlStars are one of the few starships for whom the Maqui Knouldum(see Rifter #34) still manufacture MK(i)SE drives and spares, after their race as a whole turned inward and dropped out of the wholesale engine production business. The GS were able to prove that the MK(i)SE drives were of great humanitarian use to them, and the Maqui Knouldum were convinced of the righteousness of their cause enough to continue servicing them. The rate of new engine production is slow, however, so many newer PearlStars must make do with less powerful drives; the GS are currently negotiating with the Prometheans for access to Phase Drives.
The interiors of these ships couldn’t be more different from their canonical brethren. Sparkling, pristine, and antiseptic, yet warm and welcoming. State of the art medical laboratories and treatment rooms, comfortable wards, and quiet lounges for restful recreation and healing meditation. Even the psych wards are comfortably accoutered. The PearlStars represent the best of GS medical technology and design.
The secondary hulls support quarantine labs and cargo bays filled with emergency relief gear, ready for use. Entire pre-fab housing units, decontamination centers, and field hospitals able to house, clean, and treat whole towns, can be dropped from orbit, and rapidly assembled by power armored Kittani engineers and Minions within hours, if not minutes.
Magic pervades the PearlStar...healing magic, light magic, and other benign forms fairly drench the interior. Unlike the Gorthas, the PearlStars are fitted with state of the art crystalline PPE generators that draw ambient PPE from subspace and harnessed low-level Elemental essences, giving the ships plenty of PPE to run the various magical systems and allowing for energy taps in the treatment rooms(roughly equivalent to being on a Ley Line). However, if necessary, chambers in the hull can be isolated from the PPE system, and insulated from PPE saturation(this is usually done to diagnose and treat magical illnesses and control dangerous beings able to manipulate magic).
PearlStars maintain only self-defense weaponry(which is still very heavy for a humanitarian aide vehicle) for use against those who would seek to violate and pillage these flying temples of good will(the GS are pragmatic enough to recognize that total pacifisim is not always possible or desireable in a hostile universe), and the ships also maintain a diligent internal security staff for fending off pirates, keeping hysterical survivors from each others’ throats, subduing deranged patients, and stopping the occasional supernatural predator or malign spirit that tries to get aboard. Armor is among the heaviest of battleship-sized vessels in the Three Galaxies, as is the protective shielding; often the same crisis conditions that necessitate the arrival of a PearlStar prove equally as dangerous to rescuers.
Besides carrying a complete hospital-corps of aide workers, PearlStars also carry a regiment of Kittani engineers, In planetary crisises, these valiant technicians are responsible for setting up field hospitals and aid stations, throwing up refugee housing, clearing debris, restoring essential services, seacrh and rescue, and repairing port and transportation facilities. An armored brigade of robots, power armors, and vehicles also stands ready to assist in efforts.
While these ships are forces of good unto themselves, PearlStars rarely respond to planetary emergencies alone. They are typically the core of a relief flotilla of transports, hospital ships, shuttle carriers, engineering craft, and security escorts.
Even if damaged and decommissioned, PearlStars continue to serve; the ships are frequently converted into the cores of vast orbital spacestations(indeed, on long term relief efforts, GS engineers will frequently attach additional modules to the outrigger arms of the ships, turning them into temporary orbital stations). The giant Haayador IX facility is one such example; it was once the ancient GS PearlStar -Benign Touch-, which was badly damaged when responding to a plasma storm that swept through the system, nearly incinerating the inhabited world of Haayador Nincis. Today the giant spacestation that was built from the wreck of the -Benign Touch- orbits above the slowly re-greening planet, and serves as both part of the re-terraforming effort, and as a hub for relief efforts in the Seclada Sector of the Anvil Galaxy.
Type: Good Splugorth PearlStar
Class: Planetary Relief Hospital Ship
Crew: 3,000 +12,000 aide workers/troops+ capacity for 14,000 patients
50-200 Rune Statutes
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 500,000
Bridge Citadel 150,000
Secondary Pylon Hulls(13) 10,000 each
Long Range Missile Launchers(4) 500 each
‘Snowflake’ Defense Cannon(6) 600 each
Point Defense Laser Turrets(80) 300 each
Rail Guns(25) 300 each
Hangar Bays(4) 7,000 each
Tractor Beam Mounts(20) 100 each
Variable Forcefields 5,000 each side(30,000 total)
Magical Shield of Invulnerability 15,000 *
* Can be raised 3 times per 24 hour period-6,000 PPE and 5 minutes lag-time to to rebuild/reset beyond that.
Height: 4,000 ft
Width: Roughly 11,000 ft in diameter; the central sphere is 4,000 ft in diameter
Length: Roughly 10,000 ft in diameter; the central sphere is 4,000 ft in diameter
Weight: 85 million tons
Cargo:35 million tons
Powerplant: Advanced Nuclear with 80 year energy life
PPE Generators---------The PearlStar has no less than 18 crytsal TW generators, in order to power its magic systems. One generator is mounted in each secondary hull, and five in the main sphere Each generator provides 400 PPE(72,000 PPE for all eighteen generators combined) and regenerates at 50 PPE per hour(900 PPE per hour total). each also has an adjacent PPE Battery Bank, that can hold up to 1,200 PPE each(21,600 PPE total), and recharges/absorbs energy at 100 PPE per 24 hours, plus they accept any additional power contributed by passengers/crew.
Note: All TW Generators are shielded by special Ley Line Protection devices, analogous to Faraday Cages, in order to prevent being disabled during infrequent, but powerful, deep space ley line storms. During such events, all magical systems are turned off and secured, until the storm passes. Invariably, though, some dmage is inflicted to peripheral systems that could not be shut down or drained in time, but at least the main generators will not be damaged.
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; Transatmospheric
(Space) Mach 6
(Kitsune Value: 60% of light speed. Accelerate/Decelerate at 1.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) (Original)8.6 light years per hour
(Modern) 7 light years per hour
(Rift Drive) 20 light year range per 2,000 PPE expediture.
(Underwater)---Fully operational underwater; can reach speeds of 30 MPH, and depths up to 8 miles.
Market Cost: Roughly 70 billion credits---Fully outfitted and stocked, a PearlStar’s medical supplies and medical equipment adds another 10 billion or more, making these ships tempting targets for pirates.
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus;
*Dimensional Teleport Chamber---Deep in the heart of every PearlStar is a D-Chamber rigged for Dimensional Teleportation, allowing for personnel and cargo to be moved to and from the ship from distant ports and even other dimensions. This allows the PearlStar to act as a transit-gate over a crisis-zone, and personnel can be poured through the chamber to join the relief effort on new worlds until more permanent field gates can be set up. The D-Chamber has the spells Dimensional Portal (600 PPE to operate for 10 minutes), Circle of Travel(default portal to the PearlStar’s homeport), and Dimensional Teleport(400 PPE to operate for single-person teleports).
*Tractor Beams(20)----Effectively rated for 1,000 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass. Range: 2 miles
*Biowizardry Labs---Onboard facilities allow for the implantation of symbionts and viral modifications. Thaumapronic growth vats also allow for the onboard production and culturing of medicinal slimes, basic medicines, and the small-scale breeding of useful medical symbiotes. Within 48 hours the facilities aboard the ship can produce enough medicinal slime to treat a fair-sized community of 10,000 sentients. Major procedure operating room capacity for 400 at a time.
*Superior Targetting Systems---The point-defense systems are tied in to an advanced sensor target acquisition and tracking system that gives a +3 to the PDS turrets to strike.
*Internal Magic Systems:
*Extinguish Flame---Magic fire control systems.
*Cleanse(Self)---This is a magical sanitation system that allows entire sections of the ship to be scrubbed and sterilized magically clean.
*Globe of Daylight---Globe of Daylight spells can be channeled to whereever needed aboard the ship.
*Cloud of Steam---Like Cleanse, sections of the ship can be subjected to a thorough steam-cleaning via the Elemental Warlock spell, only the steam can reach autoclave temperatures(doing DOUIBLE damage).
*Circles of Protection---The GS know disasters draw creatures of evil, especially malign spirits, so they’ve set up both Simple and Greater Circles of Protection(typical ratio of 1 Greater to every 10 Simple) in alcoves and special areas aboard the ship. In the event of an infiltration by malign spirits, patients and staff can be quickly moved to the special safe areas, the circles activated, and any potential victims in the path of the entities afforded sanctuary until the ship’s security staff can respond to the emergency.
Weapons Systems:
1) SunBeam Projector(1)---The spherical main hull can project a broad beam of magically-generated sunlight(like a massive Globe of Daylight). This is used to illuminate disaster areas for rescue workers to better operate. It is also a great morale-booster for beleagured survivors of a disaster---a great ray of sunshine breaking through the gloom to show that all is not lost. It can, incidentally, be used to attack vampires!
Range:16 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 100 miles in atmosphere, 100,000 miles in space)
Affects a 10 mile-wide area
Damage: None from the sunbeam
People caught in the beam will be +1 to save versus Horror Factor, +1 to save versus illness, +2 to M.E., gain an extra point of healing, and will generally feel happier and more hopeful.
The beam is powerful enough to break through cloud overcast.
Against vampires and other beings harmed by sunlight, it does full sunlight damage.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee; can keep up the beam for 45 minutes per ‘charge’
Payload: Effectively Unlimited; each shot costs 300 PPE
2)Long Rnge Missile Launchers(4)---These are used only in the direst of emergencies to launch weapons; typically they are used to deploy probe packages and aerosol dispersal pods (carrying bactricides, fungicides, immunizers, etc.) to disaster areas. In combat they are primarily used to deploy decoys and anti-missile/anti-fighter interception to allow the mothership to escape.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space) Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 800 LRMs, 200 missiles per launcher, . Additional missiles may be stored in the cargo holds and reloaded within 30 minutes(1 ton of cargo per 12 missiles)
3) ‘Snowflake’ Defense Cannon(6)---These are identical to the ‘Death Cloud’ Cannons developed by the United Worlds of Warlock. In the GS universe the United Worlds of Warlock formed not in response to Splugorth aggression against the Elven Star Kingdom, but in response to an attack by a Demon Planet!!! The Good Splugorth did such an excellent job helping the broken worlds of the Warlocks and the ESK recover, that a grateful United Worlds of Warlock repaid them with technical assistance. The ‘Death Cloud Cannon’ was one of several technologies deemed sufficiently defensive in nature(since they argue that the devices use an opponent’s own strength/speed against themselves) that the GS approved their installation on their flagship assistance ships. The StarPearl-mounted projectors produce a larger cloud than those mounted on UWW Arcane Mk II Patrol Ships, but also cost more to recharge.
Range: 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10,000 miles in space)
Covers an 800 ft area of space
Damage: Ships flying into the the ice cloud will take 4d6 MD times their Mach number, larger ships of 10,000-40,000 tons will take 10 times damage, 41,000-100,000 tons by 20, and ships massing more take 100x damage. Ships are -6 to dodge the cloud, gigantic vessels are -8 to dodge. Missiles automatically detonate upon impacting the cloud.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee round
Payload: 10 shots per cannon per 24 hours; further activations require 700 PPE.
4)Point Defense Lightning/Laser Turrets(80) ---These can either be conventional lasers or TW Lightning Rod weapons...range and damage remained unchanged.
Range:1 mile in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload:Effectively Unlimited . TW systems typically need the spells refreshed every six months(300 PPE per cannon)
5)Rail Guns(25)---These are basic rapid-fire electromagnetic acceleration weapons firimg bursts of metallic projectiles, machine-gun style. Again, the more pragmatic GS affiliates have insisted that Good Intentions are poor defense against Nuclear-Armed Malice, and that the aide ships should have a good mix of defensive systems able to deal with a variety of threats.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 1,000 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 500 bursts per turret. Additional drums can be reloaded from the cargo holds within 30 minutes(a drum takes up a ton of cargo space)
6) Planetary Magic---These are special magic systems used from low orbit or in atmosphere in support of rescue and assistance endeavors.
*Calm Waters---Effective range of 20 miles and affects a fifteen mile area; costs 200 PPE. Effects similar to that of the spell of the same name(page 88 )
*Cap Volcano---Effective range of 10 miles and duration of 48 hours; costs 160 PPE. Effects similar to that of the spell of the same name(page 73)
*Summon and Control Rain---Effective range of 150 miles and affects a fifteen mile area; costs 150 PPE. Effects similar to that of the spell of the same name(page 146)
*Calm Storms---Effective range of 15 miles and affects a ten mile area; costs 200 PPE. Effects similar to that of the spell of the same name(page 143)
*Metropolis---Effective range of 1 mile and affects a 2,000 ft radius---1,600 PPE for 10 days or 7,600 PPE + the sacrifice of 1 P.E point by a volunteer mage to make permanent. This is used to set up establish fortified(against civil unrest/harsh weather/predators) facilities on a world.
*Sanctuary---Used to create ‘safe zones’. Effective range of 2 miles and affects a two mile area; costs 3,000 PPE for 3 days duration. Effects similar to that of the Spell of Legend(page 157)
*Slowness---A broad-area effect application of the Time Walk Spell of Legend, it is used to slow down time in an area, allowing rescuers outside the affected area more time to get set up and prepare to deal with whatever is transpiring within. Effective range of 2 miles and affects a 1 mile area; costs 6,000 PPE for 15 minutes. Effects similar to that of the Spell of Legend(page 158)
Auxiliary Craft:
200 Fighter-sized vehicles
16 Light Freighters
100 Shuttles
50 Creax Land Rovers
40 Insecton Rovers
4,000 ABW-4 Basic Work Drones
2,000 ABSS-2 Simple Security Drones
600 ABS-3 Basic Security Drones
Notes:
PearlStars are suffused with such an atmosphere of hope and good will that patients will be at a +2 to save versus Coma/Death, illness, and insanity, while aboard the ships. Beings of evil will be -2 to save versus magic attacks directed at them, and must roll versus a Horror Factor 10 (Vampires and other Undead at Horror Factor 13) every 10 minutes they are aboard the ship or suffer the consequences.
Peace on Earth and in the Megaverse, Good Will to All Sapients...
GS PearlStar Planetary Assistance Mothering Ship
“See? I told you the aliens were watching us! And that they were friendly! And that they just won’t let us little people down here die stupid stinking deaths because of some global pandemic! I TOLD you!....Though I do admitt I was kinda expecting them to be little gray big-eyed fellas or lovely tall blond women...The large tentacled eyeball’s kinda unexpected. ”
The PearlStar-class Planetary Assistance Mothering Ships are the Good Splugorth (among whom it is known as the ‘Gaeza’)version of the Gortha-class Dreadnought. Instead of instruments of conquest, though, these shining, ivory-white vessels deliver salvation to beleagured planets in crisis.
Though fairly common in their own universe, the PearlStar is unknown in the canonical Three Galaxies universe-line...though on several occasions reports of unusual white and gold starships similar in description to PearlStars have swooped down on devastated worlds, usually in the aftermath of a system-wide cosmic catastrophe, and delivered much-needed relief assistance and supplies. These ships are kept in excellent shape by their crews, their medical equipment and avionics constantly upgraded and updated as medical science and space technology advances.
PearlStars are immediately distinguishable by their opalescent main hulls, mirrored main globe, petal-like sensor arrays, and thirteen snowflake-like secondary hulls radiating out from the central sphere.
The PearlStars are one of the few starships for whom the Maqui Knouldum(see Rifter #34) still manufacture MK(i)SE drives and spares, after their race as a whole turned inward and dropped out of the wholesale engine production business. The GS were able to prove that the MK(i)SE drives were of great humanitarian use to them, and the Maqui Knouldum were convinced of the righteousness of their cause enough to continue servicing them. The rate of new engine production is slow, however, so many newer PearlStars must make do with less powerful drives; the GS are currently negotiating with the Prometheans for access to Phase Drives.
The interiors of these ships couldn’t be more different from their canonical brethren. Sparkling, pristine, and antiseptic, yet warm and welcoming. State of the art medical laboratories and treatment rooms, comfortable wards, and quiet lounges for restful recreation and healing meditation. Even the psych wards are comfortably accoutered. The PearlStars represent the best of GS medical technology and design.
The secondary hulls support quarantine labs and cargo bays filled with emergency relief gear, ready for use. Entire pre-fab housing units, decontamination centers, and field hospitals able to house, clean, and treat whole towns, can be dropped from orbit, and rapidly assembled by power armored Kittani engineers and Minions within hours, if not minutes.
Magic pervades the PearlStar...healing magic, light magic, and other benign forms fairly drench the interior. Unlike the Gorthas, the PearlStars are fitted with state of the art crystalline PPE generators that draw ambient PPE from subspace and harnessed low-level Elemental essences, giving the ships plenty of PPE to run the various magical systems and allowing for energy taps in the treatment rooms(roughly equivalent to being on a Ley Line). However, if necessary, chambers in the hull can be isolated from the PPE system, and insulated from PPE saturation(this is usually done to diagnose and treat magical illnesses and control dangerous beings able to manipulate magic).
PearlStars maintain only self-defense weaponry(which is still very heavy for a humanitarian aide vehicle) for use against those who would seek to violate and pillage these flying temples of good will(the GS are pragmatic enough to recognize that total pacifisim is not always possible or desireable in a hostile universe), and the ships also maintain a diligent internal security staff for fending off pirates, keeping hysterical survivors from each others’ throats, subduing deranged patients, and stopping the occasional supernatural predator or malign spirit that tries to get aboard. Armor is among the heaviest of battleship-sized vessels in the Three Galaxies, as is the protective shielding; often the same crisis conditions that necessitate the arrival of a PearlStar prove equally as dangerous to rescuers.
Besides carrying a complete hospital-corps of aide workers, PearlStars also carry a regiment of Kittani engineers, In planetary crisises, these valiant technicians are responsible for setting up field hospitals and aid stations, throwing up refugee housing, clearing debris, restoring essential services, seacrh and rescue, and repairing port and transportation facilities. An armored brigade of robots, power armors, and vehicles also stands ready to assist in efforts.
While these ships are forces of good unto themselves, PearlStars rarely respond to planetary emergencies alone. They are typically the core of a relief flotilla of transports, hospital ships, shuttle carriers, engineering craft, and security escorts.
Even if damaged and decommissioned, PearlStars continue to serve; the ships are frequently converted into the cores of vast orbital spacestations(indeed, on long term relief efforts, GS engineers will frequently attach additional modules to the outrigger arms of the ships, turning them into temporary orbital stations). The giant Haayador IX facility is one such example; it was once the ancient GS PearlStar -Benign Touch-, which was badly damaged when responding to a plasma storm that swept through the system, nearly incinerating the inhabited world of Haayador Nincis. Today the giant spacestation that was built from the wreck of the -Benign Touch- orbits above the slowly re-greening planet, and serves as both part of the re-terraforming effort, and as a hub for relief efforts in the Seclada Sector of the Anvil Galaxy.
Type: Good Splugorth PearlStar
Class: Planetary Relief Hospital Ship
Crew: 3,000 +12,000 aide workers/troops+ capacity for 14,000 patients
50-200 Rune Statutes
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 500,000
Bridge Citadel 150,000
Secondary Pylon Hulls(13) 10,000 each
Long Range Missile Launchers(4) 500 each
‘Snowflake’ Defense Cannon(6) 600 each
Point Defense Laser Turrets(80) 300 each
Rail Guns(25) 300 each
Hangar Bays(4) 7,000 each
Tractor Beam Mounts(20) 100 each
Variable Forcefields 5,000 each side(30,000 total)
Magical Shield of Invulnerability 15,000 *
* Can be raised 3 times per 24 hour period-6,000 PPE and 5 minutes lag-time to to rebuild/reset beyond that.
Height: 4,000 ft
Width: Roughly 11,000 ft in diameter; the central sphere is 4,000 ft in diameter
Length: Roughly 10,000 ft in diameter; the central sphere is 4,000 ft in diameter
Weight: 85 million tons
Cargo:35 million tons
Powerplant: Advanced Nuclear with 80 year energy life
PPE Generators---------The PearlStar has no less than 18 crytsal TW generators, in order to power its magic systems. One generator is mounted in each secondary hull, and five in the main sphere Each generator provides 400 PPE(72,000 PPE for all eighteen generators combined) and regenerates at 50 PPE per hour(900 PPE per hour total). each also has an adjacent PPE Battery Bank, that can hold up to 1,200 PPE each(21,600 PPE total), and recharges/absorbs energy at 100 PPE per 24 hours, plus they accept any additional power contributed by passengers/crew.
Note: All TW Generators are shielded by special Ley Line Protection devices, analogous to Faraday Cages, in order to prevent being disabled during infrequent, but powerful, deep space ley line storms. During such events, all magical systems are turned off and secured, until the storm passes. Invariably, though, some dmage is inflicted to peripheral systems that could not be shut down or drained in time, but at least the main generators will not be damaged.
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; Transatmospheric
(Space) Mach 6
(Kitsune Value: 60% of light speed. Accelerate/Decelerate at 1.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) (Original)8.6 light years per hour
(Modern) 7 light years per hour
(Rift Drive) 20 light year range per 2,000 PPE expediture.
(Underwater)---Fully operational underwater; can reach speeds of 30 MPH, and depths up to 8 miles.
Market Cost: Roughly 70 billion credits---Fully outfitted and stocked, a PearlStar’s medical supplies and medical equipment adds another 10 billion or more, making these ships tempting targets for pirates.
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus;
*Dimensional Teleport Chamber---Deep in the heart of every PearlStar is a D-Chamber rigged for Dimensional Teleportation, allowing for personnel and cargo to be moved to and from the ship from distant ports and even other dimensions. This allows the PearlStar to act as a transit-gate over a crisis-zone, and personnel can be poured through the chamber to join the relief effort on new worlds until more permanent field gates can be set up. The D-Chamber has the spells Dimensional Portal (600 PPE to operate for 10 minutes), Circle of Travel(default portal to the PearlStar’s homeport), and Dimensional Teleport(400 PPE to operate for single-person teleports).
*Tractor Beams(20)----Effectively rated for 1,000 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass. Range: 2 miles
*Biowizardry Labs---Onboard facilities allow for the implantation of symbionts and viral modifications. Thaumapronic growth vats also allow for the onboard production and culturing of medicinal slimes, basic medicines, and the small-scale breeding of useful medical symbiotes. Within 48 hours the facilities aboard the ship can produce enough medicinal slime to treat a fair-sized community of 10,000 sentients. Major procedure operating room capacity for 400 at a time.
*Superior Targetting Systems---The point-defense systems are tied in to an advanced sensor target acquisition and tracking system that gives a +3 to the PDS turrets to strike.
*Internal Magic Systems:
*Extinguish Flame---Magic fire control systems.
*Cleanse(Self)---This is a magical sanitation system that allows entire sections of the ship to be scrubbed and sterilized magically clean.
*Globe of Daylight---Globe of Daylight spells can be channeled to whereever needed aboard the ship.
*Cloud of Steam---Like Cleanse, sections of the ship can be subjected to a thorough steam-cleaning via the Elemental Warlock spell, only the steam can reach autoclave temperatures(doing DOUIBLE damage).
*Circles of Protection---The GS know disasters draw creatures of evil, especially malign spirits, so they’ve set up both Simple and Greater Circles of Protection(typical ratio of 1 Greater to every 10 Simple) in alcoves and special areas aboard the ship. In the event of an infiltration by malign spirits, patients and staff can be quickly moved to the special safe areas, the circles activated, and any potential victims in the path of the entities afforded sanctuary until the ship’s security staff can respond to the emergency.
Weapons Systems:
1) SunBeam Projector(1)---The spherical main hull can project a broad beam of magically-generated sunlight(like a massive Globe of Daylight). This is used to illuminate disaster areas for rescue workers to better operate. It is also a great morale-booster for beleagured survivors of a disaster---a great ray of sunshine breaking through the gloom to show that all is not lost. It can, incidentally, be used to attack vampires!
Range:16 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 100 miles in atmosphere, 100,000 miles in space)
Affects a 10 mile-wide area
Damage: None from the sunbeam
People caught in the beam will be +1 to save versus Horror Factor, +1 to save versus illness, +2 to M.E., gain an extra point of healing, and will generally feel happier and more hopeful.
The beam is powerful enough to break through cloud overcast.
Against vampires and other beings harmed by sunlight, it does full sunlight damage.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee; can keep up the beam for 45 minutes per ‘charge’
Payload: Effectively Unlimited; each shot costs 300 PPE
2)Long Rnge Missile Launchers(4)---These are used only in the direst of emergencies to launch weapons; typically they are used to deploy probe packages and aerosol dispersal pods (carrying bactricides, fungicides, immunizers, etc.) to disaster areas. In combat they are primarily used to deploy decoys and anti-missile/anti-fighter interception to allow the mothership to escape.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space) Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 800 LRMs, 200 missiles per launcher, . Additional missiles may be stored in the cargo holds and reloaded within 30 minutes(1 ton of cargo per 12 missiles)
3) ‘Snowflake’ Defense Cannon(6)---These are identical to the ‘Death Cloud’ Cannons developed by the United Worlds of Warlock. In the GS universe the United Worlds of Warlock formed not in response to Splugorth aggression against the Elven Star Kingdom, but in response to an attack by a Demon Planet!!! The Good Splugorth did such an excellent job helping the broken worlds of the Warlocks and the ESK recover, that a grateful United Worlds of Warlock repaid them with technical assistance. The ‘Death Cloud Cannon’ was one of several technologies deemed sufficiently defensive in nature(since they argue that the devices use an opponent’s own strength/speed against themselves) that the GS approved their installation on their flagship assistance ships. The StarPearl-mounted projectors produce a larger cloud than those mounted on UWW Arcane Mk II Patrol Ships, but also cost more to recharge.
Range: 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10,000 miles in space)
Covers an 800 ft area of space
Damage: Ships flying into the the ice cloud will take 4d6 MD times their Mach number, larger ships of 10,000-40,000 tons will take 10 times damage, 41,000-100,000 tons by 20, and ships massing more take 100x damage. Ships are -6 to dodge the cloud, gigantic vessels are -8 to dodge. Missiles automatically detonate upon impacting the cloud.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee round
Payload: 10 shots per cannon per 24 hours; further activations require 700 PPE.
4)Point Defense Lightning/Laser Turrets(80) ---These can either be conventional lasers or TW Lightning Rod weapons...range and damage remained unchanged.
Range:1 mile in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload:Effectively Unlimited . TW systems typically need the spells refreshed every six months(300 PPE per cannon)
5)Rail Guns(25)---These are basic rapid-fire electromagnetic acceleration weapons firimg bursts of metallic projectiles, machine-gun style. Again, the more pragmatic GS affiliates have insisted that Good Intentions are poor defense against Nuclear-Armed Malice, and that the aide ships should have a good mix of defensive systems able to deal with a variety of threats.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 1,000 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 500 bursts per turret. Additional drums can be reloaded from the cargo holds within 30 minutes(a drum takes up a ton of cargo space)
6) Planetary Magic---These are special magic systems used from low orbit or in atmosphere in support of rescue and assistance endeavors.
*Calm Waters---Effective range of 20 miles and affects a fifteen mile area; costs 200 PPE. Effects similar to that of the spell of the same name(page 88 )
*Cap Volcano---Effective range of 10 miles and duration of 48 hours; costs 160 PPE. Effects similar to that of the spell of the same name(page 73)
*Summon and Control Rain---Effective range of 150 miles and affects a fifteen mile area; costs 150 PPE. Effects similar to that of the spell of the same name(page 146)
*Calm Storms---Effective range of 15 miles and affects a ten mile area; costs 200 PPE. Effects similar to that of the spell of the same name(page 143)
*Metropolis---Effective range of 1 mile and affects a 2,000 ft radius---1,600 PPE for 10 days or 7,600 PPE + the sacrifice of 1 P.E point by a volunteer mage to make permanent. This is used to set up establish fortified(against civil unrest/harsh weather/predators) facilities on a world.
*Sanctuary---Used to create ‘safe zones’. Effective range of 2 miles and affects a two mile area; costs 3,000 PPE for 3 days duration. Effects similar to that of the Spell of Legend(page 157)
*Slowness---A broad-area effect application of the Time Walk Spell of Legend, it is used to slow down time in an area, allowing rescuers outside the affected area more time to get set up and prepare to deal with whatever is transpiring within. Effective range of 2 miles and affects a 1 mile area; costs 6,000 PPE for 15 minutes. Effects similar to that of the Spell of Legend(page 158)
Auxiliary Craft:
200 Fighter-sized vehicles
16 Light Freighters
100 Shuttles
50 Creax Land Rovers
40 Insecton Rovers
4,000 ABW-4 Basic Work Drones
2,000 ABSS-2 Simple Security Drones
600 ABS-3 Basic Security Drones
Notes:
PearlStars are suffused with such an atmosphere of hope and good will that patients will be at a +2 to save versus Coma/Death, illness, and insanity, while aboard the ships. Beings of evil will be -2 to save versus magic attacks directed at them, and must roll versus a Horror Factor 10 (Vampires and other Undead at Horror Factor 13) every 10 minutes they are aboard the ship or suffer the consequences.
Last edited by taalismn on Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
glitterboy2098
- Rifts® Trivia Master
- Posts: 13548
- Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:37 pm
- Location: Missouri
- Contact:
since splugorth can be any alignment, alot of this stuff could be used in normal games. the idea of good splugorth leading aid orginizations is a neat one, BtW.
if these represent the good splugorth, and WB2 are the evil, does that make Pieus'cryth "selfish"?
if these represent the good splugorth, and WB2 are the evil, does that make Pieus'cryth "selfish"?
Author of Rifts: Deep Frontier (Rifter 70)
Author of Rifts:Scandinavia (current project)
* All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
* Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.
-Max Beerbohm
Visit my Website
Author of Rifts:Scandinavia (current project)
* All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
* Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.
-Max Beerbohm
Visit my Website
-
cornholioprime
- Palladin
- Posts: 7686
- Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:05 am
- Comment: At long last....I am FINALLY free of my wonderful addiction to the online Flash game "Bloons."
Well, mostly..... - Location: In the Hivelands with General Jericho Holmes, taking advantage of suddenly stupid Xiticix...
Don't take this as a shootdown of your idea, taalismn......
But I have always LOVED Kevin's concept of "live longer than the beings around you and pretty soon you just won't give a damn about them" premise as regards supernatural beings of indeterminate lifespan.
The overall concept of what immortality would truly entail was one of the things which, as a kid, made me decide then and there that I didn't really want to live forever...I thought pretty much along Kevin's lines and realized that after a few hundred years, I'd be so bored with the same ol' same ol' (and you get to be as old as a Splugorth, EVERYTHING is the same ol' same ol'), that I just wouldn't care after awhile...about anyone or anything else.
Again, don't take my love of Kevin's philosophical bent on Alien Intelligences as a shootdown of your idea, just letting you know where I'm coming from.
[[And as for Alternate Universes, you should consider fleshing out your ideas with some help from Forum Member Phalanx if he'll agree to --he's the guy who created (the unofficial) Rifts: Pax Atlantea, an alternate reality where the Atlanteans never screwed things up with the Great Rift Experiment; consequently, his Earth of A.D. 2298 is a TechnoWizardry paradise.]]
(BTW, if the Splugorth are the good guys in your campaign, considering their vast might in the Megaverse, who exactly is their mortal enemy??)
But I have always LOVED Kevin's concept of "live longer than the beings around you and pretty soon you just won't give a damn about them" premise as regards supernatural beings of indeterminate lifespan.
The overall concept of what immortality would truly entail was one of the things which, as a kid, made me decide then and there that I didn't really want to live forever...I thought pretty much along Kevin's lines and realized that after a few hundred years, I'd be so bored with the same ol' same ol' (and you get to be as old as a Splugorth, EVERYTHING is the same ol' same ol'), that I just wouldn't care after awhile...about anyone or anything else.
Again, don't take my love of Kevin's philosophical bent on Alien Intelligences as a shootdown of your idea, just letting you know where I'm coming from.
[[And as for Alternate Universes, you should consider fleshing out your ideas with some help from Forum Member Phalanx if he'll agree to --he's the guy who created (the unofficial) Rifts: Pax Atlantea, an alternate reality where the Atlanteans never screwed things up with the Great Rift Experiment; consequently, his Earth of A.D. 2298 is a TechnoWizardry paradise.]]
(BTW, if the Splugorth are the good guys in your campaign, considering their vast might in the Megaverse, who exactly is their mortal enemy??)
The Kevinomicon, Book of Siembieda 3:16.
16 Blessed art Thou above all others, O COALITION STATES, beloved of Kevin;
17 For Thou art allowed to do Evil without Limit, nor do thy Enemies retaliate.
18 Thy Military be run by Fools and Dotards.
19 Yet thy Nation suffers not. Praise be unto Him that protects thee from all harm!!
16 Blessed art Thou above all others, O COALITION STATES, beloved of Kevin;
17 For Thou art allowed to do Evil without Limit, nor do thy Enemies retaliate.
18 Thy Military be run by Fools and Dotards.
19 Yet thy Nation suffers not. Praise be unto Him that protects thee from all harm!!
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
glitterboy2098 wrote:since splugorth can be any alignment, alot of this stuff could be used in normal games. the idea of good splugorth leading aid orginizations is a neat one, BtW.
if these represent the good splugorth, and WB2 are the evil, does that make Pieus'cryth "selfish"?
Entirely possible...but the GS universe is not necessarily a TOTAL mirror of the canonical one...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
cornholioprime wrote:Don't take this as a shootdown of your idea, taalismn......
But I have always LOVED Kevin's concept of "live longer than the beings around you and pretty soon you just won't give a damn about them" premise as regards supernatural beings of indeterminate lifespan.
The overall concept of what immortality would truly entail was one of the things which, as a kid, made me decide then and there that I didn't really want to live forever...I thought pretty much along Kevin's lines and realized that after a few hundred years, I'd be so bored with the same ol' same ol' (and you get to be as old as a Splugorth, EVERYTHING is the same ol' same ol'), that I just wouldn't care after awhile...about anyone or anything else.
Again, don't take my love of Kevin's philosophical bent on Alien Intelligences as a shootdown of your idea, just letting you know where I'm coming from.
[[And as for Alternate Universes, you should consider fleshing out your ideas with some help from Forum Member Phalanx if he'll agree to --he's the guy who created (the unofficial) Rifts: Pax Atlantea, an alternate reality where the Atlanteans never screwed things up with the Great Rift Experiment; consequently, his Earth of A.D. 2298 is a TechnoWizardry paradise.]]
(BTW, if the Splugorth are the good guys in your campaign, considering their vast might in the Megaverse, who exactly is their mortal enemy??)
I'm not offended at all...I figured I get at least one reply along the lines of "are you some fluffy munchkin octopus-hugger?!", and you're polite about it...
I did bear that in mind, when I listened to discussions of 'what if..?"..Well, sure, immortality does make you grow callous with time and turn a blind eye to the little guys, and even the Gods of Light have bad days...power corrupts, but absolute power is fun...So the fact that the Good Splugorth have bucked this (well-known) trend and still remain humble and good hearted(for near-immortal alien intelligences), makes their achievement all the more remarkable, and their goodness all the more attractive to potential worshippers...
But in answer to the question who their main enemies are...well, again, what major changes would we see if the Splugorth were long-time good-guys?
What if, however despicably evil the canonical Splugorth are, by their very nature they kept OTHER forces from rising into full-blown evil?
Because the GS are more reluctant to throw their power around, wipe out entire species, enslave entire peoples, whole chunks of the Megaverse instead spawned myriad cultures that reached for the stars, touched other civilizations, and promptly began fighting them? Without alliances that sap their independence, many demonic beings would have gone it alone...and potentially become even MORE vicious without the Splugorth supporting them...like the difference between a skidrow criminal who lives off a soup-kitchen and does petty crime for something extra, and a skidrow criminal who goes into full-blown armed robbery and assault because he's entirely dependent on his own efforts.
I don't have one single or handful of bad guys opposing the Good Splugorth, but a whole lot of little ones who have grown big in the absence of the Evil Splugorth smacking them down....
The Good Splugorth DO fight back, but they don't go out prowling to make other people miserable....There's enough trouble out there that figures that hitting the galactic equivalent of the Red Cross is a great way to get supplies or technology, or just have evil fun.
You want a real enemy for the Good Splugorth? Think in terms of megaversal balance...the ultimate enemy of the GS would be the canonical Evil Splugorth...the ultimate sib-war.
It's still very much a work in progress, and overall, the idea of power corrupting seems to hold true in the Megaverse...that's why the GS as a species are such a rarity in Megaversal terms
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
cornholioprime
- Palladin
- Posts: 7686
- Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:05 am
- Comment: At long last....I am FINALLY free of my wonderful addiction to the online Flash game "Bloons."
Well, mostly..... - Location: In the Hivelands with General Jericho Holmes, taking advantage of suddenly stupid Xiticix...
Good Alien Intelligences are a rarity, period.taalismn wrote:that's why the GS as a species are such a rarity in Megaversal terms
The only actually good ones (as opposed to Unprincipled or Anarchist) that I can think of off the top of my head are the Psynex Entity and the Rainbow Serpent.
The Kevinomicon, Book of Siembieda 3:16.
16 Blessed art Thou above all others, O COALITION STATES, beloved of Kevin;
17 For Thou art allowed to do Evil without Limit, nor do thy Enemies retaliate.
18 Thy Military be run by Fools and Dotards.
19 Yet thy Nation suffers not. Praise be unto Him that protects thee from all harm!!
16 Blessed art Thou above all others, O COALITION STATES, beloved of Kevin;
17 For Thou art allowed to do Evil without Limit, nor do thy Enemies retaliate.
18 Thy Military be run by Fools and Dotards.
19 Yet thy Nation suffers not. Praise be unto Him that protects thee from all harm!!
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Exactly...which is why an entire species of them not only being in agreement, but sustaining that agreement for eons is even more mind-bending...
IMHO of my own setting, the GS realize that they're NOT eternal or invulnerable...there are gods that are more powerful and more ancient than they are..and enough (Good) Splugorth have died over the ages that they can feel their mortality...but rather than make them more paranoid and self-centered, they feel more sympathy towards the short-lifes...
Perhaps the GS feel a requirement of staving off dangerous ennui is to spend time in a mortal form...take sabbaticals where they assume another form and lock away their powers, seal their memories, and live as mortals for awhile...until some event or recall condition allows them to return to their old selves, hopefully enlightened.
I have another race, the Tane, who are looking at Altess-like immortality becoming available to their own people, and who fear what it will do them as a species...their motto is "Complacency is Stagnation, Stagnation is Death"...The GS may take a similar view and see death and destruction as the game of simple fools...actually CONSTRUCTING something positive is a greater challenge.
IMHO of my own setting, the GS realize that they're NOT eternal or invulnerable...there are gods that are more powerful and more ancient than they are..and enough (Good) Splugorth have died over the ages that they can feel their mortality...but rather than make them more paranoid and self-centered, they feel more sympathy towards the short-lifes...
Perhaps the GS feel a requirement of staving off dangerous ennui is to spend time in a mortal form...take sabbaticals where they assume another form and lock away their powers, seal their memories, and live as mortals for awhile...until some event or recall condition allows them to return to their old selves, hopefully enlightened.
I have another race, the Tane, who are looking at Altess-like immortality becoming available to their own people, and who fear what it will do them as a species...their motto is "Complacency is Stagnation, Stagnation is Death"...The GS may take a similar view and see death and destruction as the game of simple fools...actually CONSTRUCTING something positive is a greater challenge.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
glitterboy2098
- Rifts® Trivia Master
- Posts: 13548
- Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:37 pm
- Location: Missouri
- Contact:
But I have always LOVED Kevin's concept of "live longer than the beings around you and pretty soon you just won't give a damn about them" premise as regards supernatural beings of indeterminate lifespan.
The overall concept of what immortality would truly entail was one of the things which, as a kid, made me decide then and there that I didn't really want to live forever...I thought pretty much along Kevin's lines and realized that after a few hundred years, I'd be so bored with the same ol' same ol' (and you get to be as old as a Splugorth, EVERYTHING is the same ol' same ol'), that I just wouldn't care after awhile...about anyone or anything else.
just because they grow callus about things as they don't age doesn't mean they grow evil.
a good splugorth probably grows less and less interested in their patients praise, or co-operation.
they're out to help people, even if these people refuse to accept the help. if you watch medical drama's, or scifi that includes the occasional medical drama, you'll see examples of this. the child that has an esily curable but potentially fatal desiese, whose parents/guardians hold beleifs that won't allow them to accept medical treatment. typically the doctor gives the kid treatment anyway, despite the parents refusal. because he/she considers the kids life to be more important than the parents beleifs.
a good splugorth is likely the same way. if a being is in need, wether a single person of an entire world, the good splugorth will help. forcing their help on them if need be. even if it means violating treaties, religious doctrine, or even starting wars. because to not help goes against their moral beleifs.
Author of Rifts: Deep Frontier (Rifter 70)
Author of Rifts:Scandinavia (current project)
* All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
* Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.
-Max Beerbohm
Visit my Website
Author of Rifts:Scandinavia (current project)
* All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
* Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.
-Max Beerbohm
Visit my Website
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Keith Laumer, in his novel "A Plague of Demons" sez "Hell has two colors, black and white"...
The Good Splugorth are a much more cohesive society than their evil true-kin, but they're also individuals, so you have the mavericks like "House" who Resuscitate With Extreme Prejudice and the laid-back ones who beleive in a natural order of things and that the best a healer can do is Do No Harm...
Over the millenia GS society has also seen swings between the two extremes...periods in which it was felt that a light hand on galactic affairs was best...during which whole galactic civilizations have collapsed...and periods where the extreme activists have taken a heavy-handed approach in meddling....The last great period of such meddling produced the Kreeghor(or so many GS believe...if they only knew about the Devourer...)
The whole running(streaking?) gag about open-backed hospital gowns is a case in point about the GS seeing the Very Big Picture and not the small details...Take dirt-poor primitives from the mainlands of Rifts Earth? Take their rags from them? Spin them through anti-sepsis and subject them to poking and prodding, monstrous alien beings gibbering at them and subjecting them to bizarre experiments, then dumping them in some barracks-style housing and make them attend lectures taught by more aliens? To the GS they're doing these people a favor, taking them out of danger, curing their ills, and teaching them how to get by in a megacosmic society and learn better ways of doing things...Of course, initially, the poor saps might feel like Cambodians during Pol Pot's Collectivization and Year Zero terrors, without the killing fields(though many of the refugees suspect that)...That's providing a major stumbling block to the GS efforts to 'save' and pacify Rifts Earth...
Of course, the GS don't mean it, and some can really get into the frame of mind of the little people by judicious use of their essence fragments...and by their psionic abilities...A Good Splugorth near a disaster zone is a terrible thing to behold...they can FEEL the suffering via their psionics, and want to do something to alleviate all that pain...and sometimes that means they go heavyhanded(or rather heavy-tentacled)...
But to the unintiated...you've just lost your home, the world as you know it is shattered, maybe you've lost most of your family...and here comes this forty-ton alien monster and a horde of beasties come claiming to help you!
Your first impulse might be to run like hell!
The Good Splugorth are a much more cohesive society than their evil true-kin, but they're also individuals, so you have the mavericks like "House" who Resuscitate With Extreme Prejudice and the laid-back ones who beleive in a natural order of things and that the best a healer can do is Do No Harm...
Over the millenia GS society has also seen swings between the two extremes...periods in which it was felt that a light hand on galactic affairs was best...during which whole galactic civilizations have collapsed...and periods where the extreme activists have taken a heavy-handed approach in meddling....The last great period of such meddling produced the Kreeghor(or so many GS believe...if they only knew about the Devourer...)
The whole running(streaking?) gag about open-backed hospital gowns is a case in point about the GS seeing the Very Big Picture and not the small details...Take dirt-poor primitives from the mainlands of Rifts Earth? Take their rags from them? Spin them through anti-sepsis and subject them to poking and prodding, monstrous alien beings gibbering at them and subjecting them to bizarre experiments, then dumping them in some barracks-style housing and make them attend lectures taught by more aliens? To the GS they're doing these people a favor, taking them out of danger, curing their ills, and teaching them how to get by in a megacosmic society and learn better ways of doing things...Of course, initially, the poor saps might feel like Cambodians during Pol Pot's Collectivization and Year Zero terrors, without the killing fields(though many of the refugees suspect that)...That's providing a major stumbling block to the GS efforts to 'save' and pacify Rifts Earth...
Of course, the GS don't mean it, and some can really get into the frame of mind of the little people by judicious use of their essence fragments...and by their psionic abilities...A Good Splugorth near a disaster zone is a terrible thing to behold...they can FEEL the suffering via their psionics, and want to do something to alleviate all that pain...and sometimes that means they go heavyhanded(or rather heavy-tentacled)...
But to the unintiated...you've just lost your home, the world as you know it is shattered, maybe you've lost most of your family...and here comes this forty-ton alien monster and a horde of beasties come claiming to help you!
Your first impulse might be to run like hell!
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
The ‘Givers’---Organ Donor BioBorgs
“I had the opportunity to study several ‘Givers’ when I was working with the Splugorth relief teams at Hyphatz Zero...The donor-cultists aren’t shy at all about doffing their golden robes and submitting to an examination. Their biology’s been modified in some freakish ways...not gross modifications like the hostile environment rescue bioborgs, but in subtler ways...Their ribcages have HINGES, and their breastbones have the equivalent of ZIPPERS, for easy access! I never saw these in actual use, though; they tended to use psychic surgery to remove parts at Hyphatz...But I can tell you, any scars and incisions healed in a matter of seconds! My internal scans showed that the liver had more lobes than normal, the kidneys were ringed by smaller ‘kidney buds’, the appendix is grown into a length of unspecialized intenstinal tissue, and even the heart grows several extra lobes that I’m told can grow into extra pumping vessels...though I’m also told that they never harvest the heart...The other organs, though...remove one and the ‘buds’ start fast-growing into fully functional mature state...My blood tests showed that the ‘Givers’ have a far higher percentage of fresh stem cells than any ‘normal’ adult human...Somehow the Splugorth have managed to both avoid mitotic fatigue and replicant error that would lead to aging of the body and cancer in fast growth tissue.
But what I find particularly disconcerting is their whole ATTITUDE...Oh, we laud and encourage blood donations and organ donor signatories, but these people take it to a new extreme...Like I said, they’re not modest at all about stripping down and going on a surgibed....They even enter some sort of state of meditative prayer...I saw the Shaydorian Associates reconstruct the innards of one of the Hyphatz victims....simultaneously pulled parts from three Givers...amounted to a liver, two kidneys, a complete set of lungs, a complete transfusion, and several yards of skin and muscle...the kid was a mess when they brought her in...Major surgery...Barely a minute or so after they closed everybody up, the donors woke up and THANKED the surgeons...like the scalpels had just done them a FAVOR or a benediction....I saw all three the next day walking around, pictures of health, without a single scar, and asking if they’d brought in anybody else who needed anything else...blood, or spare part or two?
I’m all for the wonders of medicine, but those few days working with those people...I still shake my head...”
---Doctor Grellen Yollomoc, General Practitioner, CCW Mutual Medical Assistance Society
“I have no shame in showing what Nature and the Benefactors have given me...I have no fear in the act of Giving, for it is the finest of acts to give of oneself to others...And should I die in the act of Giving...Is not giving one’s life in the act of serving others the greatest of achievements? I have no fear, though; the Benefactors have made it so that I would not so easily pass in the act of Giving. I will yet serve for many, many years in the service of others, helping them live long and fulfilling lives of their own through both my actions and my Gifts.
Is that not the definition of a good life?”
----Giver Samuel Parolli
The Good Splugorth are masters of therapeutic genetic engineering, cloning of replacement organs, magic regeneration, and the breeding of medical symbiotes, but sometimes fresh organs, blood, and tissue are immediately needed...and cloning tanks or symbiotes aren’t immediately available. That’s when GS-Associate surgeons and healers turn to the Givers.
The Givers are extremists of the various Good Splugorth cults, people who live in the the service of others, pursuing a course of selflessness and self-sacrifice...’Givers’ have gone so far as to offer up parts of themselves for the healing of others, serving as living transplant banks and donors. Those who elect this path are regarded in highest esteem by other cultists, with a rank similar to that of monks or nuns, or recognized sealots, especially since the Good Splugorth have deigned to honor such dedication with their own ‘gifts’. Those approved for such service undergo extensive biowizardry modification into minor Bioborgs to insure that the act of donation isn’t a dangerous one, especially repeat donations....
‘Givers’ are granted incredible regenerative abilities. Their regenerative abilities serve both to minimize physical trauma from donation, and to allow the donors to grow fresh tissues and organs. for repeat donations; they’re usually up and active again within a day or so of even major surgery. They also enjoy lifespans up to triple the normal life expectancy of their species, and retain youthful looks and vigor well past middle-age. They have been engineered into the equivalent of Blood Type O Universal Donors; their blood will be comnpatible with almost all members of their species and many other related species as well(so a Human Giver will be able to donate to all related humans, Atlanteans, ogres, psi-stalkers, and there will be a much lower rate of rejection for other mammals such as Wulfen). Their immune systems have been enhanced to keep them healthy, and to allow them to also be used to develop vaccines...Givers can be injected with weakened pathogens and their blood later harvested for antibodies.
Givers often perform such tasks in an environment of ritual; for them, their temporary sacrifice and momentary discomforture are acts of piety. Part of their self-created training is intense meditation and biofeedback that allows them to enter deep states of sleep, during which their bodies register no pain, the better to facilitate surgery.
Givers in the service of the Good Splugorth, besides being health-fanatics, come across as extrememely devout followers of the GS principles of Service to Others with a religious zeal. Their purpose is to help others, both through good deeds such as charity and moral support, and through the act of Giving(donation of their body parts). In interaction with outsiders, Givers may be extremely modest, making small light of their actions and gifts, or may take a more proselytical in attitude, enthusiastically encouraging others to follow their example and live in the service of others through self-sacrifice.
While some uber-extremists have even offered to be modified into veritable humanoid breeding tanks of spare organs and tissues(simultaneously growing a dozen or more hearts inside a greatly expanded thoraxic cavity, for example), the Good Splugorth have stepped forward and denied such a request, refusing to perform such radical biomodification, and even insisting that such people undergo mandatory psych-evaluations.
Of course, for the gifts of health and long life that Givers recieve, the other side of the golden coin is that Givers are on call...when a blood drive comes up, they give; if somebody needs a compatible transplant, they must be available, and when the doctors put out the call, the Givers come. They also must avoid activities that endanger their health and the well-being of the valuable biological material they carry, so activities like mountain-climbing, skydiving, and combat, that would leave even their super-regenerative bodies in unsalvageable condition, are proscribed. Givers also tend to be on ‘short leash’....they rarely go unsupervised and unmonitored, and they are required to undergo frequent checkups. Many take oaths of chastity, most are celebite, though others see no conflict of interest in having families while still being in service to the GS.
‘Givers’ are typically examples of excellent physical health and condition; all can be described as health-nuts, strong on regimens of daily exercise and healthy diet. More so than even the protective GS Tattoomen, the Givers are into keeping in shape, the better to keep ready when the tissues they grow are needed. They rarely stray from GS facilities, living in resort-style housing within easy transport distance of GS medical facilities. Many ‘Givers’ accompany expeditions and relief missions to provide assistance; when not giving blood, tissues, or serving as vaccine factories, ‘Givers’ frequently busy themselves with serving as ‘candystripers’ nurse-assistants to aide-workers, or pass their time in meditation and devotionals.
Not surprisingly, many people find the entire idea of the ‘Givers’ to be rather ghoulish and unsettling; people willing to go repeatedly under the knife or serving as biochemical guinea pigs as a professional calling, at the behest of Alien Intelligences. The most extreme anti-GS factions constantly harp on these ‘donor-slaves’ in the service of the Splugorth, and lurid depictions and horror-vids featuring sapients brainwashed or pressganged into becoming ‘Givers’ are a popular genre of low-brow entertainment. For the most part, however, the medical and social assistance organizations of the Three Galaxies extend the same courtesy to the ‘Givers’ as with other Associates of the Good Splugorth organization. Some worlds, such as the Paradise Worlds, fete them as celebrities(though the Naruni have been known to use social occasions that the Givers leave their spa-cloisters to gather cell samples in hopes of discovering how to create their own or apply the same augmentations to super-soldier programs).
Occasionally, however, some Givers do have changes of heart and elect to leave the service of the GS...It’s rare, but it happens...These individuals are free to leave the service without any shame or reprimand from the Good Splugorth(though other GS cultists may regard such a fall from the faith as shameful). These people typically find other employment within the GS organization or leave altogether to strike out on their own.
Alignments: Givers are all Good in alignment, 98% Principled
Physical Bonuses: +1d4 P.B., +1d6 P.E. , +6d6 Hit Points(not tougher; just more vital), +1d6 PPE, +22% save versus Coma/Death, +3 save versus Horror Factor.
Biowizardry Modifications:
*Death Trance---By meditation and biofeedback, Givers can place themselves in a deathtrance like state that allows then to slow their breathing, heartbeat, and numb their pain threshold. Entering this state takes 15 minutes of preparation They can maintain this state for up to 18 hours at a time, during which their oxygen needs drop by 60%.
*Glandular Overdrive---The Givers have redundant glandular networks that allow them, through ingestion/injection of trigger chemicals, and certain biofeedback exercises, to produce extra amounts of various body chemicals....adrenaline, estorgen, testosterone, growth hormones, enzymes, etc.....The Givers cannot make use these chemicals themselves(if not tapped they are harmlessly broken down and re-absorbed into the blood), but the extra production can be easily tapped for refining from an extra capillary network that deposits the biochemicals into reservoirs near the skin(usually in the arm pits or pectoral region.
*Lazarus Organs---Organs such as the kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, and blood vessels are engineered to regenerate in 2d6 hours(a portioned liver will grow back a removed lobe in 2d6x10 minutes). Unlike the Heroes Unlimited power, the GS Givers can regenerate entire organs far more than five times in the course of their expanded lifespans...it’s estimated that a Giver can produce up to 1d6x100 kidneys in the course of his or her active life. Of course, this phenomenal regeneration is facilitated by GS treatments such as slime-baths and Dimensional Pyramid healing chambers.
* Bio-Regeneration---Regenerates 1d6 Hit Points or 1d6+3 SDC per melee round of rest/sleep/meditation. With proper food, drink and rest, a Giver can give blood as often as four times a day, as their bodies regenerate fresh blood cells at a boggling rate.
*Advanced Immune System---Impervious to disease and +7 to save vs poisons and toxins.
*Medicinal Blood---The GS have spliced their Giver servents with Iborian genetic material(see Rifts: Anvil Galaxy, pg. 37-38 ). Giver blood thus acts as an incredible medicine, though not as powerful as the original Iborian blood. A Giver can be injected with a virus or other pathogen and their immune system will develop an antibody within 1d6 hours, making them living vaccine factories. Transfusions of un-’immunized’ blood will receive a +20% to save versus coma/death, and +5 versus poison.
OCCs: Most ‘Givers’ fall into the category of Vagabond Scouts, Rogue Scholar, or Athlete. Those who elect to leave GS service can start anew in virtually any profession.
Skills of Note:
First Aid(+20%) or Paramedic(+10%)
2 Physical skills of choice(+5% where applicable)
Meditation
Lore: Good Splugorth(+15%)
Magical Tattooes: Givers recieve a modified version of the GS sigil tattoo GS cultists, only this one is magical tattoo---the equivalent of a mystical pager that alerts the Giver that their service is needed. A GS doctor/administrator with a matching ‘pager’ tattoo can expend 2 PPE to active it; it will alert all Givers in a 10 mile radius with a tingling sensation and intermittant glow in the tattoo’s center to call in. The tattoo is frequently placed on the upper chest, forehead, forearm, or base of the spine. Givers leaving GS service can have the pager tattoo stricken out by a Tattoo Mage.
Cybernetics/Bionics: Givers shun bionics and cybernetics; they’re all about flesh and blood...if they need replacement parts that their regenerative abilities can’t take care of, they know their Good Splugorth patrons will provide cloned parts or advanced regenerative therapies
Money/Possessions:
As fanatics devoted to the service of the Good Splugorth and others, Givers desire little in the way of material possessions. In GS service they are provided with free housing(a comfortable four or five room apartment), clothing(most prefer to wear robes or light clothing, while some extremists prefer partial or total nudity), access to exercise and resort-style facilities, food, and health care. They also recieve a small stipend of (the truly devout give it back to charity), typically 800 credits a month, ...considered to have savings of 1d6x1,000 credits.
“I had the opportunity to study several ‘Givers’ when I was working with the Splugorth relief teams at Hyphatz Zero...The donor-cultists aren’t shy at all about doffing their golden robes and submitting to an examination. Their biology’s been modified in some freakish ways...not gross modifications like the hostile environment rescue bioborgs, but in subtler ways...Their ribcages have HINGES, and their breastbones have the equivalent of ZIPPERS, for easy access! I never saw these in actual use, though; they tended to use psychic surgery to remove parts at Hyphatz...But I can tell you, any scars and incisions healed in a matter of seconds! My internal scans showed that the liver had more lobes than normal, the kidneys were ringed by smaller ‘kidney buds’, the appendix is grown into a length of unspecialized intenstinal tissue, and even the heart grows several extra lobes that I’m told can grow into extra pumping vessels...though I’m also told that they never harvest the heart...The other organs, though...remove one and the ‘buds’ start fast-growing into fully functional mature state...My blood tests showed that the ‘Givers’ have a far higher percentage of fresh stem cells than any ‘normal’ adult human...Somehow the Splugorth have managed to both avoid mitotic fatigue and replicant error that would lead to aging of the body and cancer in fast growth tissue.
But what I find particularly disconcerting is their whole ATTITUDE...Oh, we laud and encourage blood donations and organ donor signatories, but these people take it to a new extreme...Like I said, they’re not modest at all about stripping down and going on a surgibed....They even enter some sort of state of meditative prayer...I saw the Shaydorian Associates reconstruct the innards of one of the Hyphatz victims....simultaneously pulled parts from three Givers...amounted to a liver, two kidneys, a complete set of lungs, a complete transfusion, and several yards of skin and muscle...the kid was a mess when they brought her in...Major surgery...Barely a minute or so after they closed everybody up, the donors woke up and THANKED the surgeons...like the scalpels had just done them a FAVOR or a benediction....I saw all three the next day walking around, pictures of health, without a single scar, and asking if they’d brought in anybody else who needed anything else...blood, or spare part or two?
I’m all for the wonders of medicine, but those few days working with those people...I still shake my head...”
---Doctor Grellen Yollomoc, General Practitioner, CCW Mutual Medical Assistance Society
“I have no shame in showing what Nature and the Benefactors have given me...I have no fear in the act of Giving, for it is the finest of acts to give of oneself to others...And should I die in the act of Giving...Is not giving one’s life in the act of serving others the greatest of achievements? I have no fear, though; the Benefactors have made it so that I would not so easily pass in the act of Giving. I will yet serve for many, many years in the service of others, helping them live long and fulfilling lives of their own through both my actions and my Gifts.
Is that not the definition of a good life?”
----Giver Samuel Parolli
The Good Splugorth are masters of therapeutic genetic engineering, cloning of replacement organs, magic regeneration, and the breeding of medical symbiotes, but sometimes fresh organs, blood, and tissue are immediately needed...and cloning tanks or symbiotes aren’t immediately available. That’s when GS-Associate surgeons and healers turn to the Givers.
The Givers are extremists of the various Good Splugorth cults, people who live in the the service of others, pursuing a course of selflessness and self-sacrifice...’Givers’ have gone so far as to offer up parts of themselves for the healing of others, serving as living transplant banks and donors. Those who elect this path are regarded in highest esteem by other cultists, with a rank similar to that of monks or nuns, or recognized sealots, especially since the Good Splugorth have deigned to honor such dedication with their own ‘gifts’. Those approved for such service undergo extensive biowizardry modification into minor Bioborgs to insure that the act of donation isn’t a dangerous one, especially repeat donations....
‘Givers’ are granted incredible regenerative abilities. Their regenerative abilities serve both to minimize physical trauma from donation, and to allow the donors to grow fresh tissues and organs. for repeat donations; they’re usually up and active again within a day or so of even major surgery. They also enjoy lifespans up to triple the normal life expectancy of their species, and retain youthful looks and vigor well past middle-age. They have been engineered into the equivalent of Blood Type O Universal Donors; their blood will be comnpatible with almost all members of their species and many other related species as well(so a Human Giver will be able to donate to all related humans, Atlanteans, ogres, psi-stalkers, and there will be a much lower rate of rejection for other mammals such as Wulfen). Their immune systems have been enhanced to keep them healthy, and to allow them to also be used to develop vaccines...Givers can be injected with weakened pathogens and their blood later harvested for antibodies.
Givers often perform such tasks in an environment of ritual; for them, their temporary sacrifice and momentary discomforture are acts of piety. Part of their self-created training is intense meditation and biofeedback that allows them to enter deep states of sleep, during which their bodies register no pain, the better to facilitate surgery.
Givers in the service of the Good Splugorth, besides being health-fanatics, come across as extrememely devout followers of the GS principles of Service to Others with a religious zeal. Their purpose is to help others, both through good deeds such as charity and moral support, and through the act of Giving(donation of their body parts). In interaction with outsiders, Givers may be extremely modest, making small light of their actions and gifts, or may take a more proselytical in attitude, enthusiastically encouraging others to follow their example and live in the service of others through self-sacrifice.
While some uber-extremists have even offered to be modified into veritable humanoid breeding tanks of spare organs and tissues(simultaneously growing a dozen or more hearts inside a greatly expanded thoraxic cavity, for example), the Good Splugorth have stepped forward and denied such a request, refusing to perform such radical biomodification, and even insisting that such people undergo mandatory psych-evaluations.
Of course, for the gifts of health and long life that Givers recieve, the other side of the golden coin is that Givers are on call...when a blood drive comes up, they give; if somebody needs a compatible transplant, they must be available, and when the doctors put out the call, the Givers come. They also must avoid activities that endanger their health and the well-being of the valuable biological material they carry, so activities like mountain-climbing, skydiving, and combat, that would leave even their super-regenerative bodies in unsalvageable condition, are proscribed. Givers also tend to be on ‘short leash’....they rarely go unsupervised and unmonitored, and they are required to undergo frequent checkups. Many take oaths of chastity, most are celebite, though others see no conflict of interest in having families while still being in service to the GS.
‘Givers’ are typically examples of excellent physical health and condition; all can be described as health-nuts, strong on regimens of daily exercise and healthy diet. More so than even the protective GS Tattoomen, the Givers are into keeping in shape, the better to keep ready when the tissues they grow are needed. They rarely stray from GS facilities, living in resort-style housing within easy transport distance of GS medical facilities. Many ‘Givers’ accompany expeditions and relief missions to provide assistance; when not giving blood, tissues, or serving as vaccine factories, ‘Givers’ frequently busy themselves with serving as ‘candystripers’ nurse-assistants to aide-workers, or pass their time in meditation and devotionals.
Not surprisingly, many people find the entire idea of the ‘Givers’ to be rather ghoulish and unsettling; people willing to go repeatedly under the knife or serving as biochemical guinea pigs as a professional calling, at the behest of Alien Intelligences. The most extreme anti-GS factions constantly harp on these ‘donor-slaves’ in the service of the Splugorth, and lurid depictions and horror-vids featuring sapients brainwashed or pressganged into becoming ‘Givers’ are a popular genre of low-brow entertainment. For the most part, however, the medical and social assistance organizations of the Three Galaxies extend the same courtesy to the ‘Givers’ as with other Associates of the Good Splugorth organization. Some worlds, such as the Paradise Worlds, fete them as celebrities(though the Naruni have been known to use social occasions that the Givers leave their spa-cloisters to gather cell samples in hopes of discovering how to create their own or apply the same augmentations to super-soldier programs).
Occasionally, however, some Givers do have changes of heart and elect to leave the service of the GS...It’s rare, but it happens...These individuals are free to leave the service without any shame or reprimand from the Good Splugorth(though other GS cultists may regard such a fall from the faith as shameful). These people typically find other employment within the GS organization or leave altogether to strike out on their own.
Alignments: Givers are all Good in alignment, 98% Principled
Physical Bonuses: +1d4 P.B., +1d6 P.E. , +6d6 Hit Points(not tougher; just more vital), +1d6 PPE, +22% save versus Coma/Death, +3 save versus Horror Factor.
Biowizardry Modifications:
*Death Trance---By meditation and biofeedback, Givers can place themselves in a deathtrance like state that allows then to slow their breathing, heartbeat, and numb their pain threshold. Entering this state takes 15 minutes of preparation They can maintain this state for up to 18 hours at a time, during which their oxygen needs drop by 60%.
*Glandular Overdrive---The Givers have redundant glandular networks that allow them, through ingestion/injection of trigger chemicals, and certain biofeedback exercises, to produce extra amounts of various body chemicals....adrenaline, estorgen, testosterone, growth hormones, enzymes, etc.....The Givers cannot make use these chemicals themselves(if not tapped they are harmlessly broken down and re-absorbed into the blood), but the extra production can be easily tapped for refining from an extra capillary network that deposits the biochemicals into reservoirs near the skin(usually in the arm pits or pectoral region.
*Lazarus Organs---Organs such as the kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, and blood vessels are engineered to regenerate in 2d6 hours(a portioned liver will grow back a removed lobe in 2d6x10 minutes). Unlike the Heroes Unlimited power, the GS Givers can regenerate entire organs far more than five times in the course of their expanded lifespans...it’s estimated that a Giver can produce up to 1d6x100 kidneys in the course of his or her active life. Of course, this phenomenal regeneration is facilitated by GS treatments such as slime-baths and Dimensional Pyramid healing chambers.
* Bio-Regeneration---Regenerates 1d6 Hit Points or 1d6+3 SDC per melee round of rest/sleep/meditation. With proper food, drink and rest, a Giver can give blood as often as four times a day, as their bodies regenerate fresh blood cells at a boggling rate.
*Advanced Immune System---Impervious to disease and +7 to save vs poisons and toxins.
*Medicinal Blood---The GS have spliced their Giver servents with Iborian genetic material(see Rifts: Anvil Galaxy, pg. 37-38 ). Giver blood thus acts as an incredible medicine, though not as powerful as the original Iborian blood. A Giver can be injected with a virus or other pathogen and their immune system will develop an antibody within 1d6 hours, making them living vaccine factories. Transfusions of un-’immunized’ blood will receive a +20% to save versus coma/death, and +5 versus poison.
OCCs: Most ‘Givers’ fall into the category of Vagabond Scouts, Rogue Scholar, or Athlete. Those who elect to leave GS service can start anew in virtually any profession.
Skills of Note:
First Aid(+20%) or Paramedic(+10%)
2 Physical skills of choice(+5% where applicable)
Meditation
Lore: Good Splugorth(+15%)
Magical Tattooes: Givers recieve a modified version of the GS sigil tattoo GS cultists, only this one is magical tattoo---the equivalent of a mystical pager that alerts the Giver that their service is needed. A GS doctor/administrator with a matching ‘pager’ tattoo can expend 2 PPE to active it; it will alert all Givers in a 10 mile radius with a tingling sensation and intermittant glow in the tattoo’s center to call in. The tattoo is frequently placed on the upper chest, forehead, forearm, or base of the spine. Givers leaving GS service can have the pager tattoo stricken out by a Tattoo Mage.
Cybernetics/Bionics: Givers shun bionics and cybernetics; they’re all about flesh and blood...if they need replacement parts that their regenerative abilities can’t take care of, they know their Good Splugorth patrons will provide cloned parts or advanced regenerative therapies
Money/Possessions:
As fanatics devoted to the service of the Good Splugorth and others, Givers desire little in the way of material possessions. In GS service they are provided with free housing(a comfortable four or five room apartment), clothing(most prefer to wear robes or light clothing, while some extremists prefer partial or total nudity), access to exercise and resort-style facilities, food, and health care. They also recieve a small stipend of (the truly devout give it back to charity), typically 800 credits a month, ...considered to have savings of 1d6x1,000 credits.
Last edited by taalismn on Wed Nov 26, 2008 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
Awesome information! I don't know how I missed this thread! Thank you for sharing it!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
I figured I should flit back to the Megacosmos and Three Galaxies after a streak of working on Paladin Steel equipment...back and fro between the small and the galactic...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Lucas wrote:i love it, we are using a good S in our game now and using this as the setup.
I figured that the idea of introducing an alternate universe(or MEGAverse) where the Splugorth are GOOD would be more than"you turned them all cute and goody-goody...their universe is a bunch of pansies...or else everybody else is an evil mirror of what they are canonically"...I just heaved a big rock into the pond and I'm watching the ripples....
As has been discussed previously, the GS universe could be potentially even MORE dangerous than the canonical one....to fill the role of galactic or interdimensional slavers, other powers that might otherwise have been kept in check by the Splugorth as maniacial warlords, may now be expanding....So for the many races who might otherwise be opposing Evil Splugorth, the eons-ancient GS organization uniting them is a GOOD thing...
It also allows me to explore how even great altruistic ideas like the Givers could be construed as disquieting or somehow sinister(organ donation fetishists?!), how the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and how intelligence can find compassion and work beyond the barriers of appearance to do good...
The GS are powerhouses, yes, who have been reluctant to use their power...that makes them both vulnerable, and yet worthy....Given the vast body of material already written for the EVIL Splugorth, creating unique biotechnologies, OCCs, and the like that reflect the Good Splugorths' eons of good works is a challenge...and fun...but in a megaverse of monsters, the GS may be the unexpected cavalry the PCs need...
And somewhere, in a distant past, or a far flung future...the canonical Evil Splugorth may yet encounter the Good Splugorth...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
I guess in that sort of universe CosmoKnights would be amongest the worst of the truly evil people. The Risen (Fallen) Knights are one who became good. And the Dominators of this universe would be great people to meet!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Aramanthus wrote:I guess in that sort of universe CosmoKnights would be amongest the worst of the truly evil people. The Risen (Fallen) Knights are one who became good. And the Dominators of this universe would be great people to meet!
As I said....the GS universe is NOT a funhouse mirror...the main change is that the Splugorth are good...other races have been distorted, yes, but by the influence, or lack, of the Splugorth...Admittedly, the True Atlanteans are seen in a somewhat dimmer light, but many races who had no major interaction with the Splugorth over the millenia are going to remain pretty much the same...
Evil CosmoKnights? The GS are likely to be a big target of theirs...on the other hand, those who have Fallen due to what could be termed mental illness, are far more likely to recieve a friendly reception, help, and counseling from sympathetic Good Splugorth(maybe the only beings who CAN)...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
I'm looking forward to seeing exactly what you do with this GS multiverse!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Well, a lot of smaller guys who normally wouldn't be threats because they were held in check by either the evil Splugorth or by alliances that formed to fight the Evil Splugorth, and found it easy to deal with Splugorth wannabees, are going to be a lot bigger...people like the Kybyree, for instance...
Nation-states that formed out of desperation to fight the Splugorth will either not exist, be slower in organizing, or wil have found other excuses to come about...The UWW, for instance, rather than forming out a unification against Splugorth Slavers, was actually formed in part BY the Good Splugorth after a Demon Planet ripped into the vulnerable Star Elf worlds and devoured several Dwarven planets...The survivors were consolidated by the GS to speed the recovery...
Nation-states that formed out of desperation to fight the Splugorth will either not exist, be slower in organizing, or wil have found other excuses to come about...The UWW, for instance, rather than forming out a unification against Splugorth Slavers, was actually formed in part BY the Good Splugorth after a Demon Planet ripped into the vulnerable Star Elf worlds and devoured several Dwarven planets...The survivors were consolidated by the GS to speed the recovery...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
The GS will also have a lot of new biotech(I'm raiding Splicers) for ideas...Heck, maybe the GS are behind the Splicers in their continua(though in that case, I'd have some some means to make Librarians and their kin less gruesome and more amiable folk...and maybe do away with them altogether in favor of other ways of producing Splicertech.)!
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
I could see them communicating to those librarians on a Splicers planet. I agree!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
But consider what other symbiotes the Good Splugorth might create along the same lines as the Heart Beast...
Maybe the LobeLung....a bladder-like plant that can be implanted in place of a lung...it functions just like a lung, but its plant origins are evident in that the recipient can actually 'rebreath' a lung full of air for up to 30 minutes( a full hour if two lobelungs are implanted), as the plant cells separate oxygen from the carbon dioxide(would be near indefinite if the lobelungs were connected to a source of sunlight to conduct full-scale photosynthesis...but that would necessitate turning the person into something like 'Greenpeace' from the 'Dominion: Tank Police' series...).
Maybe the LobeLung....a bladder-like plant that can be implanted in place of a lung...it functions just like a lung, but its plant origins are evident in that the recipient can actually 'rebreath' a lung full of air for up to 30 minutes( a full hour if two lobelungs are implanted), as the plant cells separate oxygen from the carbon dioxide(would be near indefinite if the lobelungs were connected to a source of sunlight to conduct full-scale photosynthesis...but that would necessitate turning the person into something like 'Greenpeace' from the 'Dominion: Tank Police' series...).
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
That is another great idea. Getting the body to except the photosynthesis might be a little tough. Although you could hook it up to the a covering over the body which could be photosynthetic and therefore provide the energy for the lobe lungs.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
That's why I'd look at something akin to a Photosynthetic-metabolism'ed Biotic as a good example of what might be done...
The GS might suggest this radical conversion to worlds with deteriorating ecosystems or incipient famine as a way of avoiding catastrophe...
The GS might suggest this radical conversion to worlds with deteriorating ecosystems or incipient famine as a way of avoiding catastrophe...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
It is still an excellent idea Taalismn! I hope you'll elaborate more this sort of GS development.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
The GS would also establish networks of Temples, Towers, and Refuges...the first being places where their followers would contribute PPE to the GS cause, collect donations, and the like, and act as local helath clinics, Towers as communciations posts and survey stations, and Refuges...shelters and bunkers for emergency supplies...Most often pyramids are used(especially dimensional pyramids) with associated outbuildings and a compound for various functions, including nearby landing fields.
Depending on the local situation, the compounds will have anything froma light security staff and measures(sensors) to full-scale defenses(paramilitary squad, automated defenses, fortifications)...Of course, various Kittani security 'bots can be quickly set out in response to trouble...
Another feature would be something like the 'baby chutes' in some shelters and monasteries, that allow orphans to be deposited safely at the facilities...In the GS organization, if the locals can't place an unwanted child, the orphan is raised by the GS organization(of course, most of them grow up to be devotees of the organization)...Less common would be a similar arrangement for adult beings at their wits' end...These hapless cases are held for psych evaluation and given options...released for a momentary lapse of reason/hope, released into the custody of local health authorities, or given the choice of temporarily turning over management of their lives to a 'life coach', or in the extreme cases...'remade' through psychosurgery and even biowizardry into new beings who spend their new existances in the service of the GS organization..
Depending on the local situation, the compounds will have anything froma light security staff and measures(sensors) to full-scale defenses(paramilitary squad, automated defenses, fortifications)...Of course, various Kittani security 'bots can be quickly set out in response to trouble...
Another feature would be something like the 'baby chutes' in some shelters and monasteries, that allow orphans to be deposited safely at the facilities...In the GS organization, if the locals can't place an unwanted child, the orphan is raised by the GS organization(of course, most of them grow up to be devotees of the organization)...Less common would be a similar arrangement for adult beings at their wits' end...These hapless cases are held for psych evaluation and given options...released for a momentary lapse of reason/hope, released into the custody of local health authorities, or given the choice of temporarily turning over management of their lives to a 'life coach', or in the extreme cases...'remade' through psychosurgery and even biowizardry into new beings who spend their new existances in the service of the GS organization..
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
I can see that the Sunaj assissins would have a truly different role in this universe! They would be heros here!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
The Sunaj are not as heroic as everybody might think...they're still better, public-image wise, than their canonical twins, but the clan still has its own agendas...In the GS organization they figure prominently in the accounting and billing departments, and are more akin to bean-counting HMO officers, refusing care to some folks....On the other hand, they've also had their hand in some questionable practices....like being involved in forcibly hospitalizing/institutionalizing folks because of either misplaced altruism, or because they got independently paid for it....If there's a truly corrupt element in the GS organization, the Sunaj are it...They just happen to be using GS facilities to run their own businesses within a charity...
The High Lords happen to like the Sunaj because of the outward appearance of reasonability and responsible stewardship they put out...Combined with the High Lords' own pragmatism, the Sunaj have been able to keep costs down and reign in some of the Good Splugorths' more idealistic and far-fetched plans and keep them from becoming expensive boondoogles...
As peacekeepers/peaceforcers, they're nearly as bad as the canonical ones...doing the sort of behind the scenes dirty work that supposedly does the REAL work of diplomacy...Of course, a lot of the 'problems' are 'humanely' disposed of, ending up in prison psych-wards or anonymously relocated to GS psych-wards where they are kept, virtually lobotomized by drugs or symbiotes...Including a large number of True Atlantians that Aerihman wanted out of the way of his schemes, but not permanently disposed of. The few times the head GS have asked, the Sunaj have found it convenient to trot out these basket-cases suffering withdrawal from their mood medications or otherwise not in the most cognizant of states, and paraded as examples of the sort of raving loons and egomaniacal thugs the Good Splugorth tend to regard most True Atlanteans as...
The High Lords happen to like the Sunaj because of the outward appearance of reasonability and responsible stewardship they put out...Combined with the High Lords' own pragmatism, the Sunaj have been able to keep costs down and reign in some of the Good Splugorths' more idealistic and far-fetched plans and keep them from becoming expensive boondoogles...
As peacekeepers/peaceforcers, they're nearly as bad as the canonical ones...doing the sort of behind the scenes dirty work that supposedly does the REAL work of diplomacy...Of course, a lot of the 'problems' are 'humanely' disposed of, ending up in prison psych-wards or anonymously relocated to GS psych-wards where they are kept, virtually lobotomized by drugs or symbiotes...Including a large number of True Atlantians that Aerihman wanted out of the way of his schemes, but not permanently disposed of. The few times the head GS have asked, the Sunaj have found it convenient to trot out these basket-cases suffering withdrawal from their mood medications or otherwise not in the most cognizant of states, and paraded as examples of the sort of raving loons and egomaniacal thugs the Good Splugorth tend to regard most True Atlanteans as...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
That is some more very interesting ideas Taalismn! I'm looking forward to seeing more information on the GS.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Akira Von Mainframe wrote:Love the work!
Thanks...I like entertaining the idea that anything is possible...
There ARE Good-Natured Sunaj who disagree with their fellows and their ultimate agenda, and who will cut people some slack, misplace a billing statement, or chose to ignore it altogether...Other Sunaj, assigned to rescue groups and whatnot, find they ENJOY being seen as(and actually being) heroes, and not fearsome masked assassins, and begin shifting their alignments towards Good...These converts could become a threat to the Sunaj agendas in the long run....These folks are in the minority however, and though Aerihman acknowledges that some of his people have really gotten into the act, he doesn't regard them as a threat to his own schemes...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
It be nice to see those bad boys brought down by those good sunaj from this alternate universe!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
In the GS universe, the Sunaj are fond of poisons that don't kill, but induce dementia and mental effects...They're also fond of dart guns and stunners...especially types that don't leave external marks or that dissolve in the flesh...the better to create 'psychotics' for committal, or to subdue bill-skippers for transport to court...
Of course, the more extreme GOOD Sunaj use the same techniques to enforce Doctor's Orders on people who ignore them....Not taking your meds? Too bad; we'll induce a harmless obsessive-compulsive disorder that makes you absolutely convinced you won't live without following the full drug regimen(of course, you might have to be treated for other problems stemming from stress and addiction afterwards, but hey...you were taking your meds...)
Of course, the more extreme GOOD Sunaj use the same techniques to enforce Doctor's Orders on people who ignore them....Not taking your meds? Too bad; we'll induce a harmless obsessive-compulsive disorder that makes you absolutely convinced you won't live without following the full drug regimen(of course, you might have to be treated for other problems stemming from stress and addiction afterwards, but hey...you were taking your meds...)
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Here's another fun foray...The Good Splugorth aren't necessarily limited to their version of the Three Galaxies universe...They could appear in alternate versions of other universe as well....
For instance...what if they appeared on the scene soon after the Coming of the Rifts?
I've already hinted at an alternity in which they help out the Splicers against NEXUS by slipping in biotech(or maybe an alternate form of biotech).
....Became aware of the MInion War?
...Stumbled across the Robotech Continua at any point...or maybe found a Robotech Earth where the SDF-1 never showed up and the Global Civil War went all-out nuclear/near-apocalyptic? How might the familiar characters of the Macross arc have been like if they were wards of alien rescuers? Living in a world where benign aliens are reconstructing the world and dictating the terms of Earth's 'probation' while we're all being re-educated into being responsible planetary custodians, getting along with each other, and fitting into the galactic/megaversal society that 's dropped in on Earth?
THEN Zor's fortress drops in on us....
For instance...what if they appeared on the scene soon after the Coming of the Rifts?
I've already hinted at an alternity in which they help out the Splicers against NEXUS by slipping in biotech(or maybe an alternate form of biotech).
....Became aware of the MInion War?
...Stumbled across the Robotech Continua at any point...or maybe found a Robotech Earth where the SDF-1 never showed up and the Global Civil War went all-out nuclear/near-apocalyptic? How might the familiar characters of the Macross arc have been like if they were wards of alien rescuers? Living in a world where benign aliens are reconstructing the world and dictating the terms of Earth's 'probation' while we're all being re-educated into being responsible planetary custodians, getting along with each other, and fitting into the galactic/megaversal society that 's dropped in on Earth?
THEN Zor's fortress drops in on us....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
Those are a couple of great ones! I especially like the one where the sunaj force you to take your meds. In somes ways that reminds me of "Monk".
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
In the GS/Robotech scenario, for instance, we might see the GS working a F.A.R.R.O.A.D. style deal with Earth....Regions of Earth have been hit hard with nuclear and biological weaponry, so the Good Splugorth are reloacting people, similar to what happened after the Rain of Death, setting up strict cordons around ecological reserves like the Amazon and jungles of Asia, the polar regions, and declaring areas like urban Europe and the Eastern Seaboard of North America largely off-limits until such areas are adequately decontaminated and cooled off.
Roy Fokker, as a combatant in the GCW, was briefly detained and questioned psychically, like all active combatants were, then released(T.R. Edwards wasn't so lucky...the Sunaj arrested him), but he is now a Penitent(ex-soldiers who feel guilt or responsibility for the parts they placed...however minor...in the near-apocalypse, and who now work to exorcise personal demons)...flying relief missions and serving alongside the Kittani, Kydian, and GSAA(Good Splugorth Assiocate Alliance...essentially elements of various nations allowed to tag along with the GS as volunteers, treaty allies, or in repayment of previous help).
Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes have effectively switched places. A young Lisa Hayes, rebelling against her military upbringing and blaming her father for his role in the War)even though he was making plans on how to contain it, he DID command combatant units in it), runs away and becomes a GS cultist (currently a Devotional, though she aspires to become a Giver)....very pacifistic, spiritual...kinda loopy...While Rick has grown up seeing the deprivations and mass relocations of the Reconstruction...He follows his Big Brother and becomes a pilot for the GS, working his way up through the ranks with his natural talent until he becomes one of the youngest starshuttle pilots operating off Terra...He becomes self-sacrificing in other ways, disciplined, and looks down on the 'civilians' squabbling and still fighting for no real reason...
Haven't made up my mind who else survives and how they've changed...Gloval either died in the GCW(nuke strike on his sub or carrier group) or else now runs aerospace operations to the new colonies on the Moon and Mars...Minmei is either dead in the Asian fighting or else is among the relocated...Unlikely she and Rick will ever meet...Claudia is likely to be a member of the new administration recruited from old military units, and is a part of Roy's life, trying to salve the man's wounded conscience as he tries to work off his feelings of guilt.
Roy Fokker, as a combatant in the GCW, was briefly detained and questioned psychically, like all active combatants were, then released(T.R. Edwards wasn't so lucky...the Sunaj arrested him), but he is now a Penitent(ex-soldiers who feel guilt or responsibility for the parts they placed...however minor...in the near-apocalypse, and who now work to exorcise personal demons)...flying relief missions and serving alongside the Kittani, Kydian, and GSAA(Good Splugorth Assiocate Alliance...essentially elements of various nations allowed to tag along with the GS as volunteers, treaty allies, or in repayment of previous help).
Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes have effectively switched places. A young Lisa Hayes, rebelling against her military upbringing and blaming her father for his role in the War)even though he was making plans on how to contain it, he DID command combatant units in it), runs away and becomes a GS cultist (currently a Devotional, though she aspires to become a Giver)....very pacifistic, spiritual...kinda loopy...While Rick has grown up seeing the deprivations and mass relocations of the Reconstruction...He follows his Big Brother and becomes a pilot for the GS, working his way up through the ranks with his natural talent until he becomes one of the youngest starshuttle pilots operating off Terra...He becomes self-sacrificing in other ways, disciplined, and looks down on the 'civilians' squabbling and still fighting for no real reason...
Haven't made up my mind who else survives and how they've changed...Gloval either died in the GCW(nuke strike on his sub or carrier group) or else now runs aerospace operations to the new colonies on the Moon and Mars...Minmei is either dead in the Asian fighting or else is among the relocated...Unlikely she and Rick will ever meet...Claudia is likely to be a member of the new administration recruited from old military units, and is a part of Roy's life, trying to salve the man's wounded conscience as he tries to work off his feelings of guilt.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
Sounds very cool! I like the part about Minmei being dead! Let's leave her that way!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Kyle, however, IS alive...and blames a number of people for the death of his family and friends....he's so deadset on hating everybody...The Penitents, who he feels aren't as remorseful as they claim to be, the aliens for not arriving sooner and conversely for not punishing those he considers guilty enough....He's become something of a raging nationalist and terrorist in fact, and wants revenge on certain groups...He also hates people who help the GS, seeing them as sellouts to alien overlords...
Robotics takes a different course in the GS/R universe because people like Emil Lang are influenced by the Kittani and other alien tech...
When the SDF-1 arrives, it is immediately impounded by the GS, who attempt to tour the derelict to a less environmentally sensitive spot for study...like the Moon...but the ship keeps activating, throwing its lines, and trying to return to Earth, which rings all sorts of alarms...
When the Zentraedi appear, they're actually met with LESS resistance than normal in canonical Robotech, for all that the high-tech presence is much greater...The GSplugorth respond rather meagerly at first...If the Zentraedi are smart, they just grab the fortress and run...They don't, and the GS and their allies move in resources to protect the Earth...defensive weaponry mostly...
Unfortunately, they send in Khyron...who gets captured and diagnosed as criminally insane...He gets forcibly micronized and incarcerated in Lunatic Acres...a mental ward on the Moon(video of a straitjacketed Khyron being hauled foaming and cursing by power-armored guards away to a padded cell). The Zentraedi send away for more reinforcements, because the GS are fighting using magic...especially after they figure the Zentraedi to be a bunch of brainwashed sociopaths...
Rick and Lisa likely meet during the relief efforts to parts of Earth or the colonies...he's moving supplies and refugees and she's giving aide to the wounded and displaced...
Eventually, in the course of events, the truth about Protoculture gets out...The GS find it interesting enough to bring more than TWO Pearlstars into the system on semi-permanent station while they research the possible medicinal properties of the alien bioform...
Fun really happens if the GS, in probing dimensional folds in the GS/R Sol System...stumble into a CANONICAL Robotech solar system....
Robotics takes a different course in the GS/R universe because people like Emil Lang are influenced by the Kittani and other alien tech...
When the SDF-1 arrives, it is immediately impounded by the GS, who attempt to tour the derelict to a less environmentally sensitive spot for study...like the Moon...but the ship keeps activating, throwing its lines, and trying to return to Earth, which rings all sorts of alarms...
When the Zentraedi appear, they're actually met with LESS resistance than normal in canonical Robotech, for all that the high-tech presence is much greater...The GSplugorth respond rather meagerly at first...If the Zentraedi are smart, they just grab the fortress and run...They don't, and the GS and their allies move in resources to protect the Earth...defensive weaponry mostly...
Unfortunately, they send in Khyron...who gets captured and diagnosed as criminally insane...He gets forcibly micronized and incarcerated in Lunatic Acres...a mental ward on the Moon(video of a straitjacketed Khyron being hauled foaming and cursing by power-armored guards away to a padded cell). The Zentraedi send away for more reinforcements, because the GS are fighting using magic...especially after they figure the Zentraedi to be a bunch of brainwashed sociopaths...
Rick and Lisa likely meet during the relief efforts to parts of Earth or the colonies...he's moving supplies and refugees and she's giving aide to the wounded and displaced...
Eventually, in the course of events, the truth about Protoculture gets out...The GS find it interesting enough to bring more than TWO Pearlstars into the system on semi-permanent station while they research the possible medicinal properties of the alien bioform...
Fun really happens if the GS, in probing dimensional folds in the GS/R Sol System...stumble into a CANONICAL Robotech solar system....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
Intreresting alternate history! I like it. Please keep it coming!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
Jefram_denkar
- Rifts® Trivia Runner Up
- Posts: 246
- Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:45 pm
- Location: The Great White North
It is good stuff like this that justifises Palladium Books doing a set of AU books.
I've got an advanced pre-rifts energy rifle, A soul drinking rune blade, living bio armor, and a hover truck full of nukes. So why do I feel under equipped for this??? (Sir Joe the Gardner 7th level Ogre Keeper of the garden on his first encounters with the Mechanoids)
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Thanks...It's ironic that one of the THINNEST of the recent Rifts books, Megaversal Builder, encompasses the most... 
Another irony of the GS/Rverse is that Palladium's Kittani designs were INSPIRED by Robotech....in the GS/Rverse, Robotechnology takes its inspiration from what the humans see their galactic benefactors using....Traditional Veritechs are late in coming to the scene because everybody's already using Kittani-style power armors and technowizardry...And when they DO show up, they start out as rescue vehicles, rather than combat craft...
Another note on GS technology....The Kittani retain much of the same designs, especially for combat/security purposes(preferable to intimidate people than have to kill them)...but in order to appear less threatening, many of their general purpose designs have a more aesthetic and awe-inspiring design...so it's not uncommon to see GS transports shaped like elegant swans, cranes, herons, ladybugs, butterflies, and the like, often with a TW component like amplified Globe of Daylight(bright, beautiful lighting, plus it keeps vampires and ghouls away...).
Another irony of the GS/Rverse is that Palladium's Kittani designs were INSPIRED by Robotech....in the GS/Rverse, Robotechnology takes its inspiration from what the humans see their galactic benefactors using....Traditional Veritechs are late in coming to the scene because everybody's already using Kittani-style power armors and technowizardry...And when they DO show up, they start out as rescue vehicles, rather than combat craft...
Another note on GS technology....The Kittani retain much of the same designs, especially for combat/security purposes(preferable to intimidate people than have to kill them)...but in order to appear less threatening, many of their general purpose designs have a more aesthetic and awe-inspiring design...so it's not uncommon to see GS transports shaped like elegant swans, cranes, herons, ladybugs, butterflies, and the like, often with a TW component like amplified Globe of Daylight(bright, beautiful lighting, plus it keeps vampires and ghouls away...).
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
Excellent addition! Taalismn! I agree that the dimensional builder book is awesome too!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
I'm also considering a wider range of Good Splugorth drones...perhaps an ornithopter mini-drone that looks like a cross between a dragonfly and an dove with a mini-eye of Eylor(remember, in the GS universe, Eylor is recognized as a sentient megabeing who permits use of its Eyes as a way of seeing the Megaverse by proxy), life sensors, Globe of Daylight spell(very useful spell that...)...deployed in mass 'flocks' around crisis scenes.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
Cool! More information from that cool alternate universe you are working on.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
Some of the GS also specialize in such niches as Terraforming(you can never have too many habitable planets, especially if you have galactic refugee problems)...Landing and using dimensional pyramids to open and control planetary leylines to good effect in altering a planet's environmental characteristics, then seeding the planets with progenitor lifeforms...Some as-yet-completed worlds are given to particularly needy species as 'starter' worlds, for the people to develop and shape to their own needs...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
-
Aramanthus
- Monk
- Posts: 18712
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:18 am
- Location: Racine, WI
Hm. That is an interesting thing to do. But it does make sense, since it should keep terratorial aspirations to a minimum. The TeeZee could use their help to spread their population to more planets. That is if they want it.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
"As you will it, your Grace."
HH....FIE
-
taalismn
- Priest
- Posts: 48669
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
- Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England
The GS are rather in a quandry over the TeeZee...they can't very well suggest improved birth control without telling humans and wulfen the same thing....The High Lords think the TeeZee are one matter the GS shouldn't waste resources on because it's the TZs' internal matter to solve, and the GS would end up essentially pumping resources down a bottomless well...The Kydians on the other hand, see the TeeZee as akin to themselves...breeding themselves into extinction...But with GS guidance, the Kydians have averted disaster, become responsible citizens of the Megaverse, and a major force for good...They'd like to help the TeeZee, who they feel have similar potential, do the same, and are among the few real advocates the TeeZee have, plugging away for them in the arena of galactic politics.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
--------Rudyard Kipling
------------