Leliel
2013-09-22, 10:47 PM
I'm working on a mecha setting in which the players are basically supporters of the French Revolution, IN SPACE!, after being given a fresh coat of paint from the Ruinous Powers of Chaos; For one, the mecha the Malandanti Rebellion use are so-called "Solomonic Familiars"-literal archdemons who their sorcerers summoned, bound to a specific person, and then preformed extensive cybernetic modification on to insert a cockpit for that person, armor, a control system, and various weapons. They're actually quite tame, all things considered (though that may be because demons were already meant to be a force of servants for their creators, a godlike race known as the Titans sealed in superspace. The more useful they make themselves, the more they can entice their summoners to attempt to free their forefathers).
Now, I am aiming for moral ambiguity here, that's why I'm looking at the French Revolution and not the Industrial one. Indeed, one of the Malandanti's favorite sayings is "The time for words is gone, now is the time for swords." Of course, I also recognize that the Jacobins and their ilk had some pretty legitimate complaints about their government and it really, really needed to change.
So, for an enemy, I'm thinking of what would happen if the Imperium of Man disguised itself as Starfleet-the Confederation of Light (cue bad jokes about "the Con" from the more vitriolic rebels).
Thing is, the Imperium is very near and dear to a lot of people's hearts. It's near mine, as well-but a lot will go out of their way to defend them as "doing the best they can in the grim darkness of the far future." I actually agree with this-but the point of the Confederation is that they made their own demons (pun intended), and their own mythos of being the Last Bastion of Good is the cause of that reality rather than a result.
So, yeah. I'm going to try and show that while there may be heroic individuals in the Confed ranks, the organization as a whole is irredeemably corrupt and probably in need of dissolution for the good of everyone.
Also, it should be noted that the Malandanti are more Jacobins than Chaos: There is an utterly evil group of beings in this universe that feed on negative emotions and abuse humans (and other humanoid races, if I want to draw on Starfleet more to create a more unique society) to get them, but they're a particular race of xenos, not demons. Demons here are more like the Exalted version, alien and extremely bitter about not being able to stomp around normal space to their heart's content, but they're angry and strange, not evil. They're certainly more rebellious than the Exalted variety, but a demon that frees itself is largely content to find a nice corner of the universe, build a domain there, and then live their eldritch life in peace (although given the behaviors and biological needs of many of them, a free demon can still be a local menace-they won't doom a planet though). Really, they want freedom, not corruption-their entire goal of freeing the Titans revolves around this, since once the Titans return in infernal splendor, so may the demons, and they have been promised long-overdo end of their service.
So, any ideas on this? What horrors may even the wicked, extremist demonlogists of the Malandanti recoil from in disgust at how far the would-be Imperium has fallen?
(And yes, I know about Black Crusade. I own all the books in Black Crusade)
Now, I am aiming for moral ambiguity here, that's why I'm looking at the French Revolution and not the Industrial one. Indeed, one of the Malandanti's favorite sayings is "The time for words is gone, now is the time for swords." Of course, I also recognize that the Jacobins and their ilk had some pretty legitimate complaints about their government and it really, really needed to change.
So, for an enemy, I'm thinking of what would happen if the Imperium of Man disguised itself as Starfleet-the Confederation of Light (cue bad jokes about "the Con" from the more vitriolic rebels).
Thing is, the Imperium is very near and dear to a lot of people's hearts. It's near mine, as well-but a lot will go out of their way to defend them as "doing the best they can in the grim darkness of the far future." I actually agree with this-but the point of the Confederation is that they made their own demons (pun intended), and their own mythos of being the Last Bastion of Good is the cause of that reality rather than a result.
So, yeah. I'm going to try and show that while there may be heroic individuals in the Confed ranks, the organization as a whole is irredeemably corrupt and probably in need of dissolution for the good of everyone.
Also, it should be noted that the Malandanti are more Jacobins than Chaos: There is an utterly evil group of beings in this universe that feed on negative emotions and abuse humans (and other humanoid races, if I want to draw on Starfleet more to create a more unique society) to get them, but they're a particular race of xenos, not demons. Demons here are more like the Exalted version, alien and extremely bitter about not being able to stomp around normal space to their heart's content, but they're angry and strange, not evil. They're certainly more rebellious than the Exalted variety, but a demon that frees itself is largely content to find a nice corner of the universe, build a domain there, and then live their eldritch life in peace (although given the behaviors and biological needs of many of them, a free demon can still be a local menace-they won't doom a planet though). Really, they want freedom, not corruption-their entire goal of freeing the Titans revolves around this, since once the Titans return in infernal splendor, so may the demons, and they have been promised long-overdo end of their service.
So, any ideas on this? What horrors may even the wicked, extremist demonlogists of the Malandanti recoil from in disgust at how far the would-be Imperium has fallen?
(And yes, I know about Black Crusade. I own all the books in Black Crusade)