(AU) Good Splugorth

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:31 pm

That is an interesting line of thought with the other servators being so concerned in the other races future! More interesting material.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:45 pm

The GS are also responsible not only for curing diseases and responding to planetary crisises, but their word is also taken for the declaration of planetary and system quarantines...this can be as simple as a cordon preventing ships from leaving an infected planet, to the anchoring of special devices and automated defense devices that prevent starships from hypering into a system(causes ships to effectively 'bounce off', rather than pulls them into normal space)...in extreme cases, a system's coordinates may be stricken from all updated starcharts, and even more drastic measures(whispered about only in spaceport backrooms) are taken to control truly bad situations....

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:43 pm

Now that is something I expect from the responsible powers of the 3G's.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:31 pm

The responsible parties of the 3G still do a lot of heavy lifting, especially since the GS can't be everywhere, but they're also relative newcomers...The GS have a LONG history in the 3Gs...in fact, one of the problems is that some cultures have become dependent on them..fortunately, only a relative handful, since the GS are, due to their lack of canonical territorial ambitions, rather thinly spread...That leaves the major modern players and powers to handle their own affairs...

Still, when they run into something they can't handle on their own, they'll often sound out the GS for advice or assistance, once they overcome their own pride about doing so....

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:41 pm

That is something I expect from the powers in that 3Gs area.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:30 am

In the GS 3G, the Good Splugorth are a far more integrated part of everyday life in the great powers...people either love or hate them(sorta like the Salvation Army...You appreciate their work, but you feel a twinge of guilt/annoyance every time you walk past their bellringers).

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:00 pm

Yeah I sort of figured that is the way it would be in that alternate universe. Nothing wrong with it.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:07 pm

Of course, folks are far more likely to cooperate with them and share their technology(except that of a sensitive military nature)...This gives the GS a far larger and broader tech(and magic) base than they normally would...But because they prefer to partner, trade, or buy the tech, rather than conquer and take it as spoils of war/commerce, it takes them longer to do so, though admittedly with far less bloodshed...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:30 pm

Always a good thing from your neighbors to trade rather than kill you for your tech and magic materials.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:15 pm

...And you're more inclined to bargain in good faith when the other party rescued a family member, your planet, or provided your race with a cure for some virulent disease.

The HIgh Lords and Sunaj, being the pragmatic sorts they are, are quick to capitalize on that sort of sentiment...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:59 am

That is very true. It makes negotiations very much an up front and open event. Would those GS be honest in all manners or would they still have their own secret agendas? It is your call, since it is your cool alternate universe.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:57 pm

The GS are not without their agendas....Some of them feel that the ultimate goal of their race and organization should be to position itself in charge of the affairs of the 'less civilized' beings, while other GS feel that dimension-wide 'uplift'---raising the rest of existance to their state of mind---is the answer...Some GS already look forward, seeing their current state as a stage to some more enlightened, immaterial, state of being, while others feel that as species, they've biologically plateaued, and that the only way they can continue to evolve is philosophically....

There's controversy too.....The Central Alliance, for instance, is not too pleased with an initiative by GS-affiliated organizations offering to trade 'metal for flesh'; using bioborg-style bioregeneration to restore any CA citizens who want it back to being wholly biological beings, admittedly with a few improvements. The more ardent cyberpunks in the CA have taken insult at this campaign, and the more historically minded have compared it to the short-sighted efforts of geneticists on a number of lower-tech worlds to 'cure' mental and emotional preferences such as homosexuality....
While the CA hasn't charged ALL GS-affiliated efforts and organizations in their region of space with being involved with social engineering efforts, or attacks on the fundaments of CA society, including the right of self-improvement through cyberaugmentation... Activists in the CA want to know who was behind it, and how far up the sentiment goes(or how far the ignorance extends if it turns out the upper management didn't know or cared about what was going on...). It could be a young Intelligence who felt that bionics bred violence, or merely overzealous lower-echelon management taking a pigheaded initiative a little too far without considering the PR fallout....

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:33 pm

LOL So they are going to take over their universe thru kind words and good deeds! That is really twisted!!!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:36 pm

Entirely possible...some of the more extreme GS intelligences feel that if it's necessary to bring peace to the Three Galaxies and other universes...Others feel they should have a more 'tentacles off' approach...As I've mentioned, there ahve been several cycles of more aggressive/proactive approaches, followed by periods of withdrawl and more passive activity, both because of reactions to their campaigns, and because of the balance of power/influence shifting between the two major viewpoints....
Good Splugorth politics(shrug)

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 3:14 am

That sounds like what I was thinking you were going to say. Makes a lot of sense.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:23 pm

For example, some GS radicalist might figure the best way to combat drug addiction and simultaneously encourage galactic peace would to create an easily made euphoric plant or fungus that proliferates freely, and induces a drugged-out bliss, without any other side effects (you hope)....

Problem is, you either end up with something like 'Serenity' or you lay open entire sections of the galaxies to attack by peoples immune to the effects, and perfectly willing to scythe down the lotus-eaters...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:46 pm

That is a very true observation! Excellent observation Taalismn!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:25 pm

So the stalemate between idealllism and prgamatism continues...until some disaster takes place that has the GS impulsively rushing int to do what they can to alleviate the suffering...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:19 am

And if their enemies engineer a disaster to get them to come in and then ambush them. That would be very bad.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:31 pm

Exactly...which is why the more militant of the Associates want a greater emphasis on weaponry, even if it means paring down on the 'Benign and Harmless' image of golden semi-nuetrality many GS try to promote...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:15 am

LOL Now that will make them more familiar to those from where they are normally evil and use force regularly.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:26 pm

Or provides the GS enemies with additional grist for their negative PR campaigns that depict the GS as having hidden, nastier, agendas...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:09 am

Yep, that it does. Just imagine the nice Omni News in that universe!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:48 pm

It seems to me that an excellent enemy for the Good Splugorth would be Brulyx...the alien intelligence behind the upcoming Reign of the Dead RPG...Only in the GS continua it's managed to establish itself on at least one world using necromantic means, and is looking to expand...
While most the GS's Associates are treated to be proof against such things as the Zombie Bite, most of the 3G/megaverse isn't...and thus the GS regard Brulyx as a mortal enemy(mortal because they have no compunction about destroying Brulyx when they catch up to it)...
In fact, there's one Good Splugorth who's changed his name to Tragbrulyxyth('Brulyx-Killer') who has an organized taskforce dedicated to responding to outbreaks of zombism...Its ranks are recruited of mineraloid races and other 'impervious' beings, and has massive logistics stores of robots(including such ominous-sounding types as 'Cremators' and 'Bonebreakers') to deal with zombie infestations....Tragbrulyxyth dreams of one day finding out exactly where Brulyx is hiding, and 'curing' the malign alien intelligence permanently...

For now, the anti-zombie taskforce uses heavy weaponry, plasma, and bio-weapons...including a heavy duty high-concentration mixture of microbial cultures nicknamed 'Mulcher', which when sprayed in aerosol form causes a form of rapid necrosis in zombie- tissue, breaking down dead tissues faster than the mystic animating force can keep it together...harmless to living tissue(unless you're standing right in front of the spray, in which case it will raise blisters and second-degree chemical burns as the microorganisms eat away the layers of dead skin) it can turn a walking predatory corpse into a stationary pile of fungus and mundge within a few minutes...
Brulyx's followers aren't stupid, of course, so they often try to start outbreaks wide apart to overstrain the response teams...and on Delox IV, they plastic-dipped the zombies to seal them against spray weapons...In retaliation, the GS bio-engineered a mosquito-like insect vector(Brulyx hasn't bothered with animal vectors because they are generally less effective killers and have less individual PPE) that could bite through the plastic to inject a slower-rotting dose of the Mulcher...The Brulyxers thickened the coat of plastic, and soon had zombies too stiff to move, while the GS used the time to mass-produce nanobots with far sharper 'stings', as well as hordes of RMK 'Cleaners' programmed to dismantle zombie undead...

Like Vampires, Brulyx and its minions have been declared 'enemies of life', and thus the GS have no reservations about annihilating the creature where its plans and minions surface...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:59 am

Very interesting enemy and the equipment to counter it. Excellent additions Taalismn!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:53 pm

Well, as I said, if the Splugorth are Good, then other beings, who might simply have been minor threats due to the canonical Splugorth keeping them down/in their place, coudl conceivably grow in power and threat level...The previewed Reign of the Need provided just such a threat...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:08 pm

It does make sense! I guess this means I'll have to make sure to pick up Dead Reign when it comes out!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:44 pm

Zombies...give me the creeps...Another reason to be fully 'borged...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:47 pm

But if those zombies can do MDC damage even a borgs body isn't immune to them.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:22 pm

Aramanthus wrote:But if those zombies can do MDC damage even a borgs body isn't immune to them.

That's where built-in weaponry and LOTS of propulsion options come in handy...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:56 pm

LOL That does make a lot of sense! :lol:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:40 pm

Of course, being linked to a robot army would also be nice...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:41 am

Yeah, I'm sure it would be a big advantage of not having your opponent trying to eat your brains.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:31 pm

Sit on top of a mountain, growing enough food hydroponically to keep your organic components alive, recharge off solar power, and pick off any zombies that can survive freezing solid while clawing up the mountain after you...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 3:52 am

LOL That is a good idea. Stay in one heavily fortified fortress and just keep killing.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:54 pm

Provided you don't need replacement parts or anything from the lower elevations...

Still...I can see the Good Splugorth also embracing technology like hermetically-sealed 'scout-borgs', perhaps the equivalent of small aerospace scoutships unto themselves, used to scout worlds and check on quarantine zones....of course, once down there, they have to stay awhile, or else sterilize themselves by making several 'hot' dips through re-entry to let friction-plasma cleanse them, or bathe in a microwave beam from a support ship, then blow away their outer shell and let drones recover their inner biosystems for re-installation in a new frame...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:35 pm

I can see that being a great quarantine method for planetary plagues are occurring. I was thinking along a similiar line. Kitsune has a Cyborg plane, using something similiar only with CG tech instead of standard propulsion would work nicely.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:36 pm

Some sort of robotic probe that can be landed, creating its own mini-base, then deploy semi-autonomous sampler and monitor sub-units to check on the situation, and gather samples to check disease/disorder progression and mutation rates...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:41 am

Interesting idea! Cool! And it would be unlikely to draw the attention of the zombies.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:01 pm

Bite Decoys....android 'bots with fake flesh skins designed to emulate and test what attracts zombies....If the Zombies don't home in on them, the decoy-bots could conceivably be used to infiltrate and destroy swarms from within...if they do attract zombies, then countermeasures can be developed to lure the animate dead away from still unafflicted survivors...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:51 pm

That is one way of taking care of those problematic zombies.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:51 pm

Just laying the ground work so when Reign of Dead comes out...it will be nothing more dangerous than a head cold, before the waiting legions of Containment and Disease Control...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:01 am

LOL! I'm sure the GS will be able to control it!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:24 pm

Major Health Crisises are the GS's stock and trade...as noted, the GS have a compulsion to handle these sorts of problems...amd when the anti-life are involved, the GS hit with a vengeance...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:34 pm

I'm sure it is their stock in trade. I bet whenever a crisis occurs their stock goes up! Esppecially if they can contain it and cure it!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:38 pm

If not, and quarantine seems to be untenable....the GS 'look the other way' while powers like the CW nuke the place....But those are EXTREME cases...unusally one every 100,000 years or more...

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:49 am

That is probably the truth on that one. Zombies might be the one thing if generated like the Death Reign material that might be uncurable. Except for nukes of course.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:25 pm

Which beggers the question; if any benign technology can be abused to destructive ends, can the reverse also be true?

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:49 pm

I think you might be on to something. It would take a little work.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:14 pm

Certainly the Vrusk would consider 'dirty' bombs to be a useful terraforming tool, considering how they LOVE basking in radiation and toxic wastes as part of their lifestyle...

But we have yet to find a benign use for 21-inch railway cannon...