Leliel
2007-10-14, 02:26 PM
Of course, you read the title, so without further ado...
How would you, the responders, make an interplanetary enemy sent to take control of the planet and away from (demi)human hands seem somewhat well...human?
I ask because, frankly, I like the whole "alien invasion by a far more advanced species" idea, but I also like anti-villains (they facilitate emotional reactions). So I thought, "Why don't I combine the two?"
One way I was thinking is that the "invaders" are have actually been fighting a very, very long-lasting war against another alien race, and it just so happens that the campaign world is a prime location to launch an assault from. They really don't like the taking over of an inhabited planet anymore than the inhabitants do, but they have to in order to buy just a little more time for their kind. In fact, I composed a speech for a general of a race that illustrates this point of view, just before the start of the invasion:
Take a look at this tiny planet.
So small. So beautiful. So fragile...
Just innocently floating through the void, happily unaware of the unending destruction that rages just beyond it's system...
Our world was like this. After five mass extinctions, the sky was uncared. After the many pointless wars of the countless feuding nations of our ancestors, the soil was not tainted. After the First Industrial Revolution pumped then-unheard of levels of chemicals into the atmosphere, the ocean remained pure. Even after that last, terrible Great War, in which nuclear weapons were used to bloody efficiency, the planets overall beauty was undiminished by clouds of ash. And it gave us hope. Hope of a future without needless destruction, of a future without the blood that countless generations had sowed before us, of a future were war was a distant memory...
Our hope...was unfounded.
For unbeknownest to us, another race had gone into the stars long before us. A race, that had long had learned how to cross the boundary between dimensions. A race, who had no word, let alone concept, of peace. We found them waiting for us...They, who call themselves the Iul. (OOC: Thats my name for the, uh, "long-fought enemy" I pointed out in this concept. Just in case you didn't notice.)
The Iul came upon us like a dark tide, sparing no quarter their mercy. Many civilians were killed by their ruthless warriors, and many more by their even more ruthless servants. Some joined them simply to survive, and to this day, I wonder if they were right. By creating the Dimensional Skimmer, we thought that we might be able to find a home free of the threat of the various Iul empires, only to discover that they were in many a universe besides our own. And so, the war between us continued, with both sides gaining powers through both technology and magic to rival that of gods...
Is our world still that beautiful? Is it even there anymore? We have had many eons since we all left our world to hide from the Iul, and time is not always consistent between universes...But still, this planet looks a lot like it. Right down to the wars that constantly rage on it's surface, never leaving more than a passing mark...
But it has one fatal flaw. One flaw that it can never escape: It sits on the border line between this universe and another that, if struck, would prevent the Iul from ever attacking this dimension again, and finally finding a safe home for my clan and I. And, from what I have seen, the natives would not allow us to turn their world into a battlefield of their own free will. And while that is understandable, I have no other choice.
Take a long look at this, tiny, beautiful planet.
When our war is done, this veiw...will be forever gone.
OK, I've got the "aliens thrust into a neverending" war down pat.
The trouble is, I have no idea how to make the Iul (pronounced "OO-ul" in case you're wondering), an otherwise stereotypical "Evil Empire(s)" a sympathetic race as well. Although I can say they became spacebound because they realized that their hyper-expressionistic tendencies were going to destroy their planet, and that they learned to cross dimensions because their galaxy wasn't faring much better, I don't know how to make any changes in their demeanor and personality to make them seem genuinely regretful of/good justifications for their actions. I did note that they recruit servants from other races, so maybe I should make sure that the Iul treat them as equals. And after all their enemies (I'm not going to reveal their names, just in case this becomes a full-fledged campaign) are the ones who invaded, not the Iul.
And about the whole "Multiple Empires" thing...My theory is that any race capable of traveling across multiple dimensions would become so widespread that they would naturally form into a tribe based society. Less roots, you understand.
3...2...1....INNOVATE!
How would you, the responders, make an interplanetary enemy sent to take control of the planet and away from (demi)human hands seem somewhat well...human?
I ask because, frankly, I like the whole "alien invasion by a far more advanced species" idea, but I also like anti-villains (they facilitate emotional reactions). So I thought, "Why don't I combine the two?"
One way I was thinking is that the "invaders" are have actually been fighting a very, very long-lasting war against another alien race, and it just so happens that the campaign world is a prime location to launch an assault from. They really don't like the taking over of an inhabited planet anymore than the inhabitants do, but they have to in order to buy just a little more time for their kind. In fact, I composed a speech for a general of a race that illustrates this point of view, just before the start of the invasion:
Take a look at this tiny planet.
So small. So beautiful. So fragile...
Just innocently floating through the void, happily unaware of the unending destruction that rages just beyond it's system...
Our world was like this. After five mass extinctions, the sky was uncared. After the many pointless wars of the countless feuding nations of our ancestors, the soil was not tainted. After the First Industrial Revolution pumped then-unheard of levels of chemicals into the atmosphere, the ocean remained pure. Even after that last, terrible Great War, in which nuclear weapons were used to bloody efficiency, the planets overall beauty was undiminished by clouds of ash. And it gave us hope. Hope of a future without needless destruction, of a future without the blood that countless generations had sowed before us, of a future were war was a distant memory...
Our hope...was unfounded.
For unbeknownest to us, another race had gone into the stars long before us. A race, that had long had learned how to cross the boundary between dimensions. A race, who had no word, let alone concept, of peace. We found them waiting for us...They, who call themselves the Iul. (OOC: Thats my name for the, uh, "long-fought enemy" I pointed out in this concept. Just in case you didn't notice.)
The Iul came upon us like a dark tide, sparing no quarter their mercy. Many civilians were killed by their ruthless warriors, and many more by their even more ruthless servants. Some joined them simply to survive, and to this day, I wonder if they were right. By creating the Dimensional Skimmer, we thought that we might be able to find a home free of the threat of the various Iul empires, only to discover that they were in many a universe besides our own. And so, the war between us continued, with both sides gaining powers through both technology and magic to rival that of gods...
Is our world still that beautiful? Is it even there anymore? We have had many eons since we all left our world to hide from the Iul, and time is not always consistent between universes...But still, this planet looks a lot like it. Right down to the wars that constantly rage on it's surface, never leaving more than a passing mark...
But it has one fatal flaw. One flaw that it can never escape: It sits on the border line between this universe and another that, if struck, would prevent the Iul from ever attacking this dimension again, and finally finding a safe home for my clan and I. And, from what I have seen, the natives would not allow us to turn their world into a battlefield of their own free will. And while that is understandable, I have no other choice.
Take a long look at this, tiny, beautiful planet.
When our war is done, this veiw...will be forever gone.
OK, I've got the "aliens thrust into a neverending" war down pat.
The trouble is, I have no idea how to make the Iul (pronounced "OO-ul" in case you're wondering), an otherwise stereotypical "Evil Empire(s)" a sympathetic race as well. Although I can say they became spacebound because they realized that their hyper-expressionistic tendencies were going to destroy their planet, and that they learned to cross dimensions because their galaxy wasn't faring much better, I don't know how to make any changes in their demeanor and personality to make them seem genuinely regretful of/good justifications for their actions. I did note that they recruit servants from other races, so maybe I should make sure that the Iul treat them as equals. And after all their enemies (I'm not going to reveal their names, just in case this becomes a full-fledged campaign) are the ones who invaded, not the Iul.
And about the whole "Multiple Empires" thing...My theory is that any race capable of traveling across multiple dimensions would become so widespread that they would naturally form into a tribe based society. Less roots, you understand.
3...2...1....INNOVATE!