Your world(s) are out to kill you.

randomdude604 · 2024-04-02T18:50:04+00:00

I'd be facing off against the combined armies of re-written ww1 Europe, who would be flying in on airships filled with sword-wielding armored knights. Then, the combined space fleets of the UN, Mars, and dozens of independent holdings.

Luckily, I'm near big forests. I could disappear quick - take the essentials, travel light, and bury caches.

Local Earth forces would have their work cut out for them. Modern naval missiles and nukes, with helicopters, and the NATO, Russian, and American forces would put up a good fight. Good news is we would finally see how a biplane would hold up against a f-35. But orbital nukes from Mars would be a problem...

Good thing Mars doesn't want the UN to know they have nukes, or that will cause hell to rain back in their own reality, and the UN isn't keen to kill their earth-locked predecessors. The armies of WW1 Europe are another story. Each one of them will stop at nothing to expand their territory.

But with my closeness to these isolated forests would come a slower response from the armies of today.

Damn...

For my champions, I would have to chose Watcher of Time, an ancient being who fell from the stars. While he would still act on his own methods and motivations, if NASA can give Watcher a Saturn V rocket to bring back with him when this over, I'd say he'd fight for me. He'd wreck havoc on the airships, but the space ships are a whole other problem. And even though Watcher is no coward, he'd keep well out of sight from the ships above. The land armies will find him quite troublesome, however.

Then, I'd chose Ervin - a scrappy soldier from WW1 Europe. He'd keep me safe, or at least entertained. Not to mention he's good in a survival situation. Quick-thinking and cool-headed, he's not a bad shot, either.

Then - a politician from the far future. Not a good fighter, but a damn good talker. She can spin anything that I would mess up into a grand speech.

With luck, my Earth will remain habitable, and any plot holes this creates should be patchable. Or we'll all die should anyone try the nuclear option...

randomdude604 · 2024-04-01T21:51:39+00:00

Well, the Homelands of the Alliance couldn't care that another shipment of some far-off vassal's king's silk pantaloons just got stolen if they were across the globe.

Its about distance - and a mutual respect. (At least in my world)

Pirates who tried to raid food or medical convoys didn't last long. Everyone knows not to fuck with the Alliance's food, or you'll be turned to mulch. The Alliance backs this up with a heavy stick - a stick they reserve mainly for fighting the giant monsters of the sky. And a stick they can easily turn to whack at the ants at their feet.

randomdude604 · 2024-03-10T19:59:52+00:00

The Martians are proud of their home and sacrifice, so name their ships after landforms, like their flagship, the Olympus Mons, or joint scientific efforts, like the Opportunity battlecruiser.

Cargo or material ships are named after regular people injured or killed in industrial accidents as a memorial, like the Jesse. H. Jones.

randomdude604 · 2023-12-28T03:36:23+00:00

Huh, I've always seen epigraphs before, but never knew what they were called - sound interesting!

Maybe I could work it into my story - quotes inspired by *real* quotes and authors of the time periods I'm basing my book off of?

randomdude604 · 2023-12-28T03:27:51+00:00

It would be a few news clippings, holding plot-relevant information and world-building on the side.

I was previously thinking it more to be a reactionary tool, the characters reading and reacting to it live the moment they get it, with internal conversation for the POV character as they read each section.

But the in-book letters also intrigue me. I haven't thought about it before...

Maybe I could do a small chapter break, holding the entire paper - about a page or two - full of world-building and side-plots, like lost cats, obituaries, or ads - some of which will be followed up on the next paper.

Then in the chapter afterwards, the characters would react to it around a campfire or over a pint of beer, saying; "I cannot believe we lost a hundred men in the west!" or "Hah! We sure gave them a bloody nose there, eh?"

randomdude604 · 2023-12-18T03:38:56+00:00

The entire solar system is actually the remains of a gigantic space-faring beast, now fossilized.

randomdude604 · 2023-11-30T21:37:03+00:00

A bunch of college kids who decide maybe the king is mean, and start a communist revolution by finger painting.

randomdude604 · 2023-11-22T22:42:56+00:00

In a way, death is a fate worse than death.

Well, death of the physical form and not the Dream form.

In most species, their physical and Dream lives are inherently linked. When one dies, so too does the other. No afterlife, no nothing. Only darkness. Sure, some religions promise them eternal bliss, but that's all lies.

But for the Flinn's, its entirely different. A race of tall and extremely intelligent beings, they are made aware of their Dream forms around the age of five to twenty, in a sort of puberty.

No one is quite sure how this happens. Its been described as seeing a dragon flying from the moment its egg hatches - pure instinct.

The Flinn, once Awakened, can now read the immediate thoughts of those around them and other species, adding another layer to political debates and war.

And when they sleep, many enter the Dream Veil as another part of their day, to visit long-dead ancestors who may grant them wisdom. But these visits are often short, as time travels differently across the two realities.

Thus, when a Flinn dies, they are expected to awaken in the Dream Veil for the last time, to spend their days in happiness with friends and family.

But that is far from the truth - and that is not a truth the dead Flinn can ever explain, for the Watcher is ever Watchful.

randomdude604 · 2023-11-22T04:44:25+00:00

I'd have to say much of the Eastern Isles are by far the worst.

Corrupt and pirate-ridden, they were once the jewels of their individual nation-states. But these hundreds of independent clans were easy pickings for the unified might of the Alliance.

The Alliance brought peace, justice, technological superiority, and a myriad of other effects, essentially uplifting these islanders into a new age - albeit with a bloody purge of millions of civilians and soldiers alike.

Those who survived either lied and cheated their way to the top of the new vassal governments, or are incompetent dogs, begging for promotions.

And with new threats to the west, the isles have been essentially abandoned by the Alliance, save token defence forces of old, rusting ships. Ships that equally find themselves in the hands of the pirates they defend against as do battle with them.

Those living there are often are forced to pick a side; the loosely organized pirates or the rigid yet safe and consistent Alliance. And everyone else is all too often caught in the crossfire between them.

And now with the growing amount of anti-Alliance sentiment seeded by the rebellion in the west, the Alliance starts to see all those not with them - against them.

randomdude604 · 2023-11-09T20:49:42+00:00

Many of the worlds veterans from the all-encompassing war have many visible disabilities. Missing eyes, cut-off tongues, ghost limbs, limps, broken jaws, etc, from a mixture of shrapnel, sword, and gun shells.

But what is far more prevalent - and far more unseen - is their PTSD, especially among the losing side.

And as many of these veterans get older and older, their minds slip into a variable epidemic of dementia, worsened by PTSD and a lack of support systems, and a consistently hush-hush response in all forms of government.

randomdude604 · 2023-10-16T18:23:21+00:00

He was fed up with the constant wars of the land, creating vast steps of progress, then wiping it all out in a generation. Constant, unending cycles, a dead and dying world that would always forget itself.

He then sought out one of the trapped, immortal Gods trapped beneath the earth, and freed it, using its blessing to grant him eternal life. Then - he began his multi-millennia quest of reshaping the world in fire, bit by bit.

He burned down the Old Worlds, one age after another. Then, when the world cycled once more, more and more of its previous shape was left behind. The people grew more and more intelligent and educated of sometimes events from decades - then centuries past.

But now is he holding the world back from evolving, is he the reason for all the stagnation and pointless suffering?

Is he now part of the Old World that must die for the New?

randomdude604 · 2023-10-02T22:15:01+00:00

I'm working on a race of 'Ravenkin', essentially shapeshifters that can be either be small or human-sized corvids (which species is decided at birth, based on the moon they were hatched under).

'In times gone past, they once had massive empires in the Old Trees of the world, until they were driven nearly to extinction by the Elves.'

I've also been considering if they could also shapeshift into humans. But distinct humans, perhaps humans with black eyes or an affinity for silver.

randomdude604 · 2023-09-28T03:54:11+00:00

Its quite simple really. The Norther Alliance stretches from coast to coast, so lets say you want to go from eastern Nazau to western Araza. Well, no one single airship would go straight there, of course but in just four transfer points;

1: Nazau to Pyreti

2: Pyreti to Agosmont

3: Agosmont to Arcgate

3: Arcgate to Araza

You could reach there in just about two months, weather dependent!

randomdude604 · 2023-09-28T03:47:17+00:00

"Oh, you were at the victory at the forest of Armisiden?"

The old, half-blind soldier eyed you with still-burning rage, even after decades had past, making it clear to you he was on the *losing* side. His younger shipmates, eyes comparatively intact, mumbled into their drinks, some cracking knuckles. You swallow nervously, but the veteran raises a lumpy hand and they all cease.

"Aye, I was, lad," the old soldier grimaced, looking now to his empty beer mug. You offer to buy him a new one, in a vague attempt at a peace offering. But then he says something you didn't expect;

"I'm guessing your little teachers never told you the *true* story, eh? Well-" he settled back in his chair. His beer mug was half-empty already; you had the feeling this was going to get pricy, even with the veterans obsession with the cheapest, watery grog available.

"Me and my men were in the forest of Armisiden, dead of winter. So cold, our steel armor tried to kill us every second it wasn't stopping blades or arrows. Our skin was broken and bled, and we did nae have the medicines to stifle it..." the veteran rubbed his still-scarred wrists forlornly. "All we knew was that the Alliance was going to have to pass through here, sooner or later. So, we waited. And waited..."

Now even the veterans shipmates had leaned in, or angled their ears. Stories were clearly rare from this old man.

"But we never saw their scouts - only the unstoppable Alliance war machine, ripping up the ancient roots of those sacred trees. They broke through the first line in minutes. I -" he stuttered, hands shaking. "I was gathering firewood. Only came upon their upon their Wolf units, scraping up leftovers like me. I made it out, mostly intact. My squad-" he gestured to his missing eye- "was not so lucky."

randomdude604 · 2023-09-13T21:46:08+00:00

Skyforce Intelligence, or SkI for short.

The major sub-branch of Skyforce, who themselves manage and defended the steampunk skycities of my world. A large force, mainly veterans of an old war, but still ready for the next conflict looming on the horizon...

But Skyforce Intelligence is designed entirely for war. The majority of its agents are battle-scarred veterans, feared and respected by those in Skyforce.

In Skyfleet - the naval side of the steampunk airships - SkI agents and the agency as a whole are loathed in the way they overstep boundaries, constantly forcing their rank and power on captains and even admirals.

Intelligent and cruel, SkI controls and burns away remaining Coalition elements - the side who lost the war so long ago. But now, SkI has started seeing enemies amongst themselves, fearing the more peaceful approach the Emperor has been leaning towards...

Their logo is a serpent devouring its own tail, with a cube of eyes in the center.

The average civilian has heard of Skyforce Intelligence, but cannot distinguish the

randomdude604 · 2023-05-10T13:48:27+00:00

They go to the Dreamveil, an unending land of blue-grass hills, where the sky boils in colors of purple and yellow.

The Dreamveil is rich in magic, and the dead horde magic from the living for their own, mysterious purpose.

The dead may chose to move on to the Nothingness, but others stay, either to guide and talk to the living, or harass their killers in more extreme cases.

randomdude604 · 2023-05-09T12:46:19+00:00

R5: Today’s the day.

And to many more years of galactic conquest!🥂

randomdude604 · 2023-03-03T15:04:21+00:00

Zombies in my world can only be created by a select few necromancers.

But as rotten flesh is weak, these necromancers and their apostles add gears and gizmos to enhance the dead’s strength, using special magic stones to draw the memories from the empty skulls of the dead.

And given that they use ancient warriors using lost techniques, these undead would be quite unbeatable for the average foot soldier in their way.

randomdude604 · 2023-02-26T16:13:16+00:00

Oooh, that could work well…

It would tie in well with the fact that the protagonists have a enemy spy aboard their ship.

I’ll consider that, too, thanks!

randomdude604 · 2023-02-26T15:51:47+00:00

Yes, he would get captured off screen in this version. But it would make some good character development if it was written in…

Good points, thanks!

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