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Futuristic Tanis (Earth's first extrasolar colony)

Mitheral

"Growf!"
Roleplay Availability
Roleplay Type(s)
Landfall.jpg


By the middle of the 22nd century, literally thousands of extraSolar planets with conditions that might support life had been discovered. Most had gravities higher than Earth. But as Earth’s population had skyrocketed to over 22 billion, and global warming was increasing with no end in sight, the governments of Earth made plans for a number of interstellar expeditions.

Earlier in the 21st century (2072 to 2095) dozens of interstellar probes, nicknamed Comet Class XS probes, had been launched. They were designed to reach speeds around 25% of the speed of light, powered by a light sail-type system (though lasers were not employed here). At a pre-determined point the main probe scattered multiple probes bound for various systems along its general trajectory. Tanis was some 127 LY distant. Its probe had not even reached this system when the Tanis mission began. Rather the Tanis mothership was launched in 2147, some 60 years after the probe was launched (2087), and altered course when one of the probes scattered by the main probe sent back telemetry of a viable system.

The mothership was designed to reach a speed of 10% of the speed of light. It took some 1357 years for the ship to reach the new world. It was of a mixed design; park Ark, part Sleeper ship. Only 5000 colonists were sent on the mission – about 25 times what was really needed to start a new civilization utilizing the embryonic storage systems of the Ark. Thousands of ‘near perfect’ human embryos were stored there. The future. It was the colonists’ job to build the colony and prepare the way for the children.

In 2337 the Tanis mission began the trajectory changes to guide it toward its destination. 17 years later all communication with Earth was lost. There was no turning back. News of living conditions back on Earth was something out of science fiction horror. It was getting crowded even in space. The flight crew kept the news to themselves and continued their mission. A little over halfway there, the ship’s systems began to suffer their first failures. High energy cosmic radiation began to take its toll on the ship and the colonists. The flight crew was forced to awaken engineers in attempts to modify the shielding to survive the trip.

At the end of the journey most of the flight crew was dead of old age or hibernation unit failures. Most engineers with skills for keeping the ship or hibernation units suffered the same fate. Of the original colonists only 1500 survived. In its degraded condition the mothership made a poor orbital insertion and ended up crashing into the planet a modest distance offshore from a major continent. Sections of the ship still protrude above the water – high enough that gravity ripped part of it down.

The flight crew had many years to plan for contingencies and they planned well. Two major plans were made. One was ejecting hibernation units to the three most likely looking sites detectable upon final approach. The other was having the units ejected after crashing, the rationale being the ship’s carcass would provide much material for building the colony.

Welcome to Tanis. On Earth it would now be the year 3504. But for all intents and purposes it is Year One.

Characters
Please no aliens, androids or cyborgs. These are humans. Yes, there will be First Contact situations. The available technology is comparable to that suggested by the TV series Earth II. (I will add more specific details about technology under Lore. However, it will be realistic.) Please remember that the colonists intended to start a colony ... i.e. breed. Colonists tend to be a cut above the average as the weak rarely survive. Sickly humans will not be accepted. The selection process was very rigid with very few exceptions made (largely determined by funding).

With the loss of the Flight Crew, some careers will not be accepted. No astronauts (atmospheric and recreational pilots are fine). This game is best suited for players who are motivated, creative builders.

Terran Politics
There were three major political factions on Earth: The Federation was formed based on UN principles - ethics above all. The Consortium was based on megacorporations and organized crime - profit at the expense of freedom and civil rights. And then there were the Pure Earthers who placed Earth before humanity and felt that humanity should not be allowed to spread to the stars until it had cleaned up its own world.

The Tanis mission was sponsored by the Federation. All crew and colonists were very carefully screened and monitored for years during the ship’s construction to prevent sabotage.

The Aliens and NPC’s
The aliens will be run by the Storyteller. These have been in development for many years. Many of the NPC’s were once PC’s in tabletop rpg’s and are likewise very well developed.

“Demon” Races
Derahn, Mak Taurog, and Mogradoth. You should be prepared to set prejudice aside and actions in the present, not by their appearances. These three races have formed a simple agrarian society still in a pre-industrial stage of development. (The Mak Taurog are a bit more advanced than the other two races.)

Derahn are empaths, shapeshifters. They look like a succubus. It has been said that human males respond to certain physical characteristics common in all racial types. The Derahn have ALL of those features to perfection. Sensual is the word that best describes them. However, her eyes are slitted, like a reptile’s. Their wings are partly batlike, partly saurian. Their fingers are tipped with razor sharp claws, hands slightly webbed. And they have a snake-like tail. They have sharpened catlike teeth and a forked tongue - not smooth like a snake’s, but more pinkish and soft like a human’s. Their hide is dark greenish and smooth, like an amphibian. They are all females, reproducing by parthenogenesis..

Mak Taurog (Those That Stand Apart) are very similar in form to the Derahn and Mogradoth – two arms, two legs, and wings. However, they give the appearance of having evolved from bats. Their skin is a soft black leathery hide. Their eyes are solid pitch black. Their wings are equally black, and reminiscent of bats. Their faces are expressionless, giving no hint of their emotions.

Mak Taurog are devoted to logic and hard sciences rather than biomedical ones. They do their best to remain removed from other races. They are a highly reclusive race - even among themselves, Derahn speaking FOR them. Mak Taurog did not care to even communicate directly with others. They are almost xenophobic - except that fear would not be logical.

Mogradoth looks like a Balrog or Pit Fiend from AD&D. It has a reddish brown leathery hide. It bears a powerful musculature. It has angry, slitted eyes, larger canines, the same forked tongue, but smoother. The tail was much heavier, talons longer. They stand about twice as tall as a human. Culturally they are similar to Klingons. Battle is everything to them. This isn’t to say that they are violent for no reason.

Dragons
No, they don’t breathe fire. However, they do teleport (and have telepathy). Their ability to comprehend technology is quite limited. Most will only communicate with a single human - if they choose to do so at all. They will choose names by drawing words from human minds. Most of these dragons are still fledglings.

Thonne
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Physically the Thonne resemble rather large stingrays. The mantle is about 1 to 1.5 meters wide, with a shark-like head. The tail is about 1 meter long, with a membrane on the lower edge to improve propulsion through the seas. Unlike the Terrestrial stingray, the Thonne have no stinger. They DO have a cluster of tentacles on the lower back part of the body, just in the back of the head. There may be anywhere from four to a dozen tentacles, always in multiples of two. The species has two sexes, but most members of the tribe will be neuter due to lack of sexual partners.

Thonne villages are invariably found near the shores of the sea. They live on land, moving about with the tentacles and tail in a manner similar to an Earthly seal. They can swim with great quickness and agility in the sea, where they hunt ‘kthia’, jellyfish-like creatures invested with symbiotic and parasitic plant life. Kthia form a complete diet for Thonne. They maintain rough farms around their villages.

Thonne villages have a population of 200-500. They are a neolithic culture with surprisingly advanced knowledge of mechanics and metallurgy. (They are extremely intelligent!!!) They live in a collection of mud and stone domes made with refractory clay that has been fired. All members of the tribe will be armed with stone or metal tipped spears. They also carry flint and steel. Surrounding the villages can be found 4 to 24 ‘pillboxes’. These are actually powerful ballistas. While they won’t get through a tank, they can penetrate human body armor causing grievous injury. Thonne gunners are surprisingly accurate.

The town is surrounded by ‘fields’, actually shallow pools full of kthia. Inside these are pillboxes, then the village proper. They are highly aggressive and may attack humans unprovoked. Or they may decide to talk first if approached peacefully (50% chance). The language shows its roots; it is extremely comple and very irregular. Only an expert linguist will ever be fluent in it and will need a full year. However, a working pidgin dialect can be developed in less than a week.

The rest must be learned through interaction. (Storyteller privilege here.)

Rolasians
For all intents and purposes, these are the “gods” of this world. Think of them as being much like the Organians of Star Trek (beings who have evolved to a pure energy state). They created Tanis long ago as an experiment. They still monitor the experiment’s progress. Just what that experiment is … Perhaps they regard the planet as some form of wildlife preserve.

Storyteller NPC’s (list incomplete)
Mark Nolan
Age 22, 5’6” athletic frame, Sandy brown hair, blue eyes, has a bit of that all American boy look to him. Natural born merchant. Some laugh jokingly that he could sell ice to Eskimos. Raised on the streets, not a child of eugenics.

Roy Habersham
Age 32, 5’3” wiry frame, pale sandy brown hair, steel blue eyes. Complains constantly, blames others for everything – even when there isn’t anything to blame.

Noah Maddock – Materials Sciences engineer
Age 28, 5’10” Athletic frame, dark brown hair, green eyes. Engineer specializing in Applied physics and materials sciences. Demolitions knowledge. Has a sister who is autistic.

Sarah Jones – Entomologist
Age 28, 5’6” Black (Kenyan?) – Asian mix, exceptionally good shape, but doesn’t have that supermodel sculpted look. Rather that natural outdoorsy look.

Erin Davenport – Oceanographer

Kjarvel Sverjasson – Geologist
Age 28 – looks a bit like the handyman in Earth II

Karen Adams - Comms, Journalist
Age 28 -

Arielle Trudeaux - Pilot
Age 28, 5’3” spritely build, brunette, green eyes, Pilot and aerodynamics engineer. Very friendly in person.

James Braxton – Scout

Kumiko Toronaga - Scout
Age 28 5’8” Asian, covered from head to toe in beautiful tattoos. Professional archer. Very, very quiet.

Injiro Asakai – Command
Looks like Jet Li. Head of Security.

Fauna and Flora
The wildlife on Tanis is comparable to that of Earth, but considerably more dangerous and evolved (not necessarily sapient, just more adapted for survival).

Writing Rules
  • Posts must be of good writing skills, and generally a minimum of three paragraphs. Really I am looking for better than that. I want paragraphs that aren’t two sentences long. Good content. Use third person, past tense.
  • Characters need to interact. While I realize that dialogue is challenging for some, it will be a requirement. Watch for examples of how to make speech more noticeable. (Most usually use boldface. Some add color.)
Each Scene should begin with a preface of:

Title
Location
Time:
Characters present: (include character and member name with a tag)
 
I have a doctor character that I created for a similar RP that seems to have died. (I'm the last poster and it doesn't seem to be picking up. I could definitely Transition him over here!
 
In that RP he had an arm that had been replaced with a mechanical one. But of you prefer me to cut that, that's fine. I saw you "no cyborg" requirement, ha ha.
 

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