End of ages, time of the ghost warriors

[devinpatterson]

Here is a basic layout of the story line. Much like Geronimo a group of survivors (many generations old) from a native american reservation have been waging guerrilla warfare against Caesars legions. Through skill, luck and mobility they have been surprisingly successful against isolated outposts and small patrols. However over the last couple of years their ability has become almost legendary, as has their brutality. Their ability to attack unseen, unheard....leaving no survivors and to melt away, has fired superstitious belief in their prowess among even the legion's officers. More than one Tribune has fallen. Rumor has it a Legate sent to break the tribe was found slaughtered, his throat cut like a brahmin to bleed out, without a sound.

 

On the 9th of September 2276 during a total eclipse, a white brahmin was born to (if legend holds true) a young tribal name raging bull (just a placeholder the name will probably change). Named not just for his ferocity and power but also his single minded determination. During the eclipse Raging Bull had a vision of his ancestors (some slain by legion) rising from the dead to drive back the invaders if his people were pure of heart and fearless. On this day Raging Bull's true calling began. The tribe has been gaining followers from those few who have been able to flee or resist the legion. They espouse a belief in ghost warriors, resurrected ancestors immune to weapons that will force the invaders and their works from North America.

 

Roughly two years ago a group of nightkin, survivors of Attis's army (equipped with their stealthsuits) from BOS arrived in the tribal lands. Their leader Cheveyo, (placeholder) meaning spirit warrior, held strongly to his ancestors beliefs and traditions. During his years as a nightkin the stealth field from his suit had warped his mind and he became absolutely convinced of these same beliefs. Many of his fellow nightkin came from the same tradition/beliefs and were friends since their early teens (serving in the military together as codetalkers). One day a voice began to speak to Cheveyo, telling him it was his spirit guide (and at times his ancestor). It told Cheveyo what must be done to bring back the time of his people. And soon, with Cheveyo's religious fervor and beliefs, all of his nightkin believed as strongly as he. Some began to hear spirit guides of their own. Cheveyo's spirit guide told him he must return to the land of his ancestors, and so their journey began.

 

They stumbled across a encampment of raging bull during a ghost dancer cermony and Cheveyo knew that his spirit guide had led him true. Unable to tolerate turning off his stealthsuit in the company of others Cheveyo spoke to Raging Bull in Hopi, during the ghost dance. Raging Bull, shocked, answered and seeing/hearing no one realized his lost ancestors, the ghost warriors had returned to the land of the living.

 

 

I'm not sure whether to make Cheveyo a Mariposa or a vault 17 super mutant like Lily. Either way he could be as young as his early 20's if Mariposa or as old as his 80's if vault 17, when he was mutated. I thought he could be in the military under a program similar to the TRUE WHISPERS (Navajo Code Talkers) in which boys as young as 12 enlisted. Many of his compatriot nightkin would be childhood friends. And I'm not too sure about the numbers. A small band of nightkin that will be split into several groups/encounters.

 

I believe this mod has lot of potential in multiple aspects. It's morally ambiguous in typical FO style. It has a strong historical lore/atmosphere. Nightkin with stealth suits can make for some interesting tactics and ambushes. This is a mod that could be played from both tribals or legion. In fact they may also be against the NCR in principal so one might side with them against the legion, but against them later in re: to the ncr. There is even room for some twisted FO style humor with the nightkin's extra heaping of crazy. Could be some great graphics too, say tribal nightkin.

 

I see this one as being a lot of outside locations, but with a fair amount of interior locations as well (ruins, legion bases etc).

 

The spirit/ghost dance was a religious belief (embraced by many tribes) with two (among many other fascinating aspects) pertinent points for this mod. The belief of the resurrection of ancestors and the removal of whites and their works from North America

Edited October 5, 2011 by devinpatterson

[Quetzlsacatanango]

I would like to help you with this. The storyline blows doors.

[devinpatterson]

I would like to help you with this. The storyline blows doors.

 

That sounds awesome :thumbsup:

 

A lot of good supermutant resources we could utilize.

 

I was thinking this morning about a Wendigo. Essentially they are malevolent cannibalistic spirits which can transform into humans, or which could possess humans. The Algonquian people believed if you ate human flesh you would (or could, because some people could resist, and some medicine men even specialized in fighting Wendigo sprits) become a Wendigo. It's not the right area (they are back east), but in 200 years rumors/legends could spread and current tribes are probably a mix of many tribal beliefs. The fallout version could be a variant deathclaw specimen. Semi-intelligent, and able to use primitive melee weapons and trash item armor. I'm not sure if it should be a large single creature worshiped and feared as a evil sprit/demi-god or a small group, a tribe with half-dozen members with pack hunting tactics and a tribal mentality. Maybe a little bit of fur, similar to the pic. Perhaps some basic verbalizations as well (yells, grunts, not a true language in any sense of the word). Possibly like other cultures it/they like to adorn it/themselves with small pieces of glass or metal embeded into it/their hide or score themselves with dye or other adornments.

 

It would also be interesting to throw in some animal totem/guide/demi-god story lines. Whether that's a opponent like the Ghost of She (honest hearts unique, mythical yao guai) or a asset like a wolf totem or raven that aids the character, I think there is fertile ground for quests.

 

Here is one interpertation (pic);

 

http://cogitz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/wendigo.jpg

[TrooperScooperMKII]

You're going to drive me into obsolescence... brainstorming is/was my main area of expertise.

Count me in. :P

I suck at naming things, I usually resort to variables.

Story story story...

 

Why not go south into Mexico? If only for novelty, but the different setting + the relative proximity of the Baja (NCR's main front) would open several possibilities.

[devinpatterson]

You're going to drive me into obsolescence... brainstorming is/was my main area of expertise.

 

No worries, you have great ideas, that's why I asked you to check in on this one.

 

 

Why not go south into Mexico? If only for novelty, but the different setting + the relative proximity of the Baja (NCR's main front) would open several possibilities.

 

I'm not sure, because I don't know what they'r (legions) presence is in southern america and they are a key component to the story.

 

I would like this one to have a heavy atmosphere of mysticism, but walking the line iwth no actual evidence of the supernatural, and yet a very palatable sense of unseen forces at work . When the mod is done, ideally I'd like the player to have the feeling of going through a mod that is heavy with legend/mysticism etc, but be unable to point to anything that could not exist in the fallout universe. So I'd guess in practice that would come about by "amazing coincidences", heavy native american lore, a atmosphere of religious conviction/belief etc etc.

 

So the beginning of questlines. These are in no particular order just throwing out ideas and although I'm listing legion questlines I'm still unsure about them.;

*The big one is to kill the legate coming to break the tribes back (or if your legion, kill Raging Bull).

*One of the tribals achilles heals will be their family. They will try to keep their children, women and old in a secret location or (less likely) with them. The ncr part of this quest would be preventing a massacare. I guess the legion version would be finding them (and carrying out legates orders).

*destroying the legion "super weapon" I have no idea what would constitute a super weapon against gorilla warfare tactics. Maybe something like a plane or control of a satellite to spot the locations of the tribe and their movments. A bomb, massive artillery etc. are probably pretty ineffective with stealth forces like these. if your legion then locating and liberating the super weapon to use against the tribe.

* Multiple raiding parties against legion patrols/bases or if you legion, the same but against raging bull's tribe.

* recurring quest (maybe 2 or 3 times) will be acquiring weapons. Some from ruins, some from legion, perhaps other locations.

*About half-way through the mod another tribal will arrive. He will be similar in his relationship to the goths/visgoths and the romans. He is native to this area, a former leader and has served the legion as bodyguard, special scouts, and bounty hunters. He has been gone for many years aiding in the pacification of other tribes, the price for his tribes safety. For over 15 years he and his men have done the legions bidding. The price of disobedience is the death of his tribe and his family (held in the capital city). Although smaller in number, their scouting skills and knowledge of the land will eventually reveal raging bull's tribe and turn the balance. He will have to be turned or killed. As an incentive his family is being brought from the capital city. When they arrive one of his children will be killed each week (starting with the youngest) until he brings raging bulls head to the legate. But this also offers the opportunity for the player rescue his family and stoke rebellion in his tribe, thus allying him to the cause.

*If that tribe joins, then further tribes will consider joining and multiple quests will open up. These quests will vary from tribe to tribe, some may be rescues, aid in a battle, acquiring weapons for them, spiritual quests, transporting their family to a safe base of operations, defeating their greatest brave in combat, killing a menace/monster etc. but the purposes will all be the same. To gather an alliance.

*If the legion is unable to make progress or more than several tribes ally with Raging Bull, it's tactics will change to a "salting the earth approach". Dirty bombs will be used in fertile areas, villages etc. Water and it's tributaries will be poisioned (biological and chemical agents, whatevet he legion has access to). Villages will be razed and tribals crucified in hte name of raging bulls crimes and in an effort to deny his tribe sanctuary. Whole scale slaughter will begin. Better to raise the land to ashes than let whelps grow into wolves. This is a dangerous time for the legion and a rebellion now after hoover damn (and the assumed death of Caesar) could be the beginning of the end for the empire. They won't spare they're hand. All of these elements could be small quests.

*Stopping the legion is only part of the problem. Cheveyo is unlikely to stop at the legion. Raging Bull would, in his future he would gather the nations of his people and protect it's boarders, even have trade and congress. But to Cheveyo this would only be the beginning. His hatred goes far beyond hte legion, it encompasses all that was done to him personally (his mutation) as well as all that was done to mother earth in the white man's madness. He's also convinced it's only a matter of time before all life is extinguished in another war or from the same technology. Cheveyo believes this of all non tribals (NCR, wastelanders, enclave etc), and also believes the original native americans should "guide" all other tribals in the way. Dealing with Cheveyo will probably be the last or second to last quest. It can't be straight out combat, as killing Cheveyo will turn the entire tribe against the player, and it must be handled delicately because Cheveyo would even kill raging bull if he believed it was to save his people.

*The last quest can be trying to pave a road of peace between raging bull and the ncr (as well as other factions) or as legion the invasion and consumption of his people.

 

Hmmmm that all came out really fast. I suspect the hard part of this mod won't be making the quests but deciding on which ones to leave out of the mod.

[TrooperScooperMKII]

 

I'm not sure, because I don't know what they'r (legions) presence is in southern america and they are a key component to the story.

Why Mexico matters:

 

1. The NCR is apparently focusing on the "Baja" i.e. the Baja Peninsula, which is (relatively) close to the Mexican mainland.

 

2. Pre-War America almost certainly had a strong hand in Mexican affairs. Petro-Chico (oil company bought out by Poseidon) and the proximity of America itself- Canada was annexed- suggest Mexico might have been at least partially annexed. At the least I'd expect a strong American "peacekeeping" force in the northern area of Mexico.

 

3. The setting is almost exactly the same as the Mojave; hell, it is the Mojave, or at least a continuation of it (Gobi?)

and given the existing Villa resources (DM and SSWWWW) there isn't too much more to add in the way of scenery.

 

4. I (and Quetzalcandahingy? I presume, given the God factor) know a bit of Spanish and an inkling of Mexican culture, and finding spanish speakers/Mexicans on the board seems relatively simple.

 

5. It's a totally new geographic direction; no real lore conflicts and plenty of possibilities.

 

6. The legion's capital is Flagstaff, Arizona, and they extend to the Mojave and IIRC Utah/Colorado? So it's quite plausible that they extend further south as well, especially if they don't have any major regional competition (aside from the locals...)

 

7. Mexican aboriginal culture (Aztecs, anyone?) would be quite entertaining/interesting, and the New Mexico/Arizona tribes probably have an influence as well.

 

All in all, Mexico would make the most of existing resources, open intriguing cultural possibilities, give a radically different/original locale and offer a relatively free hand lorewise.

 

I would like this one to have a heavy atmosphere of mysticism, but walking the line iwth no actual evidence of the supernatural, and yet a very palatable sense of unseen forces at work . When the mod is done, ideally I'd like the player to have the feeling of going through a mod that is heavy with legend/mysticism etc, but be unable to point to anything that could not exist in the fallout universe. So I'd guess in practice that would come about by "amazing coincidences", heavy native american lore, a atmosphere of religious conviction/belief etc etc.

 

:thumbsup:

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

So the beginning of questlines. These are in no particular order just throwing out ideas and although I'm listing legion questlines I'm still unsure about them.;

*The big one is to kill the legate coming to break the tribes back (or if your legion, kill Raging Bull).

*One of the tribals achilles heals will be their family. They will try to keep their children, women and old in a secret location or (less likely) with them. The ncr part of this quest would be preventing a massacare. I guess the legion version would be finding them (and carrying out legates orders).

*destroying the legion "super weapon" I have no idea what would constitute a super weapon against gorilla warfare tactics. Maybe something like a plane or control of a satellite to spot the locations of the tribe and their movments. A bomb, massive artillery etc. are probably pretty ineffective with stealth forces like these. if your legion then locating and liberating the super weapon to use against the tribe.

* Multiple raiding parties against legion patrols/bases or if you legion, the same but against raging bull's tribe.

* recurring quest (maybe 2 or 3 times) will be acquiring weapons. Some from ruins, some from legion, perhaps other locations.

*About half-way through the mod another tribal will arrive. He will be similar in his relationship to the goths/visgoths and the romans. He is native to this area, a former leader and has served the legion as bodyguard, special scouts, and bounty hunters. He has been gone for many years aiding in the pacification of other tribes, the price for his tribes safety. For over 15 years he and his men have done the legions bidding. The price of disobedience is the death of his tribe and his family (held in the capital city). Although smaller in number, their scouting skills and knowledge of the land will eventually reveal raging bull's tribe and turn the balance. He will have to be turned or killed. As an incentive his family is being brought from the capital city. When they arrive one of his children will be killed each week (starting with the youngest) until he brings raging bulls head to the legate. But this also offers the opportunity for the player rescue his family and stoke rebellion in his tribe, thus allying him to the cause.

*If that tribe joins, then further tribes will consider joining and multiple quests will open up. These quests will vary from tribe to tribe, some may be rescues, aid in a battle, acquiring weapons for them, spiritual quests, transporting their family to a safe base of operations, defeating their greatest brave in combat, killing a menace/monster etc. but the purposes will all be the same. To gather an alliance.

*If the legion is unable to make progress or more than several tribes ally with Raging Bull, it's tactics will change to a "salting the earth approach". Dirty bombs will be used in fertile areas, villages etc. Water and it's tributaries will be poisioned (biological and chemical agents, whatevet he legion has access to). Villages will be razed and tribals crucified in hte name of raging bulls crimes and in an effort to deny his tribe sanctuary. Whole scale slaughter will begin. Better to raise the land to ashes than let whelps grow into wolves. This is a dangerous time for the legion and a rebellion now after hoover damn (and the assumed death of Caesar) could be the beginning of the end for the empire. They won't spare they're hand. All of these elements could be small quests.

*Stopping the legion is only part of the problem. Cheveyo is unlikely to stop at the legion. Raging Bull would, in his future he would gather the nations of his people and protect it's boarders, even have trade and congress. But to Cheveyo this would only be the beginning. His hatred goes far beyond hte legion, it encompasses all that was done to him personally (his mutation) as well as all that was done to mother earth in the white man's madness. He's also convinced it's only a matter of time before all life is extinguished in another war or from the same technology. Cheveyo believes this of all non tribals (NCR, wastelanders, enclave etc), and also believes the original native americans should "guide" all other tribals in the way. Dealing with Cheveyo will probably be the last or second to last quest. It can't be straight out combat, as killing Cheveyo will turn the entire tribe against the player, and it must be handled delicately because Cheveyo would even kill raging bull if he believed it was to save his people.

*The last quest can be trying to pave a road of peace between raging bull and the ncr (as well as other factions) or as legion the invasion and consumption of his people.

 

You're starting to bruise my artistic self esteem...

 

Hmmmm that all came out really fast. I suspect the hard part of this mod won't be making the quests but deciding on which ones to leave out of the mod.

Narrowing down on ideas is definitely a difficult task.

Cheveyo would likely remain anonymous for the first 60% of the questline. If he's not going to reveal himself to the tribes, he's not going to speak with a foreigner human without that human earning his trust. Though he would definitely be watching....

Also what about that name I mentioned for the SS board?

 

Agoyoanye means falling star in the Tewa language. The Tewa are a group of Pueblo tribes in the southwest, so that puts him in the vicinity

[devinpatterson]

Cheveyo would likely remain anonymous for the first 60% of the questline

 

Oh yeah no doubt. If the player doesn't uncover his identity he will remain anonymous/hidden until the end of the mod. And although many players will guess relatively quickly (because the stealth related kills/feats) our job as authors is to frame the narrative in such a way that Cheveyo seems like a supernatural entity (for as long as we can). But of course there will be clues to his true nature.

 

Pre-War America almost certainly had a strong hand in Mexican affairs

 

True, we get a lot of our oil from Mexico, I'm sure it was important to them as well.

 

given the existing Villa resources (DM and SSWWWW)

 

Sorry what is DM? re: the villa resources, yeah that would be a plus. Although I ddin't really think of any standing structures that size. Mostly small villages composed of tepees, perhaps an occasional trash (shipping container, big rig trailer) home etc.

 

no real lore conflicts and plenty of possibilities

 

Well it kind of depends. As I mentioned I don't know if hte legoin has any real presence down south. If they don't then it could be a major lore conflict. I tend to assume if they were down there we'd already have info on it in the wiki.

 

7. Mexican aboriginal culture (Aztecs, anyone?) would be quite entertaining/interesting

 

Sure, I have no doubt it would be interesting, but half of the challenge is staying within the lore with FO mods and without legion down there we'd have problems. And as amazing as that region is, the 4 corner states actually have a **huge** amount of legend and history in re: to native americans. The trick is going to be choosing what to leave in, from a massive amount of info. Plus I have a **slight** familiarity with them (and I couldn't stress the slight part more). But lets do a littel research and see if legion is in south america so we know if it's a viable route.

 

So I thought of a tracking perk that would be fun. It would probably be taught by RB's (Raging Bull) tribe. In function it would slightly to moderately highlight clues on the trail (no need to be in "aim" mode). So say your on a path following a legion patrol and it forks. With this perk a broken tree branch would be subtly glowing (if you have the first rank, or moderately glowing if you have the second rank) on the left fork. There could be many "signs" from small items left behind (as tiny as shell casings), to the temperature of a campfires ashes. Since this would essentially be a whole game mechanic we could have a ton of creative uses for it. And the info it provides wouldn't be limited to just the glow as a visual marker. With the tracking perk, activating a sign could tell you how long ago the campfire was out, or what kind of boot made a track etc. However the perk wouldn't really be effective outside this mod (unless somebody has come up with a working tracking mod), so it would be unfair to require you to earn it via a level, which is why I was going with it being taught. And in actuality it's probably not a real perk, just a dummy perk to put a name on scripted events.

 

On the topics of perks, another one that could be cool, would kick in after your spirit/vision quest. I'm just going to call this one "belief" as a placeholder, but it could be named vision quest, medicine man, what have you. Essentially it's a quest earned perk and it allows you to have bonuses via items of native american lore. Without the perk these items provide no advantage, and the perk itself without at least one item provides nothing. But each individual item will have a specific bonus associated with it (assuming you have the perk). Perhaps a medicine bag will add +2% to guns or melee. Maybe a sacred totem will add +1 to dt. Tribal weapons will act like war club honors. Anything that could be influenced by faith/belief could be a potential area of advantage. So it couldn't really add to a knowledge only skill like science or repair, but there is ample evidence of religious conviction giving believers increased stamina, strength, pain resistence etc. Well leave it intentionally vague as to whether there is any real power or is simply subjective. This is a perk that would continue outside the mod, and may have a diametrically opposed perk similar to dreamcrusher in FO3. There probably wouldn't be a parallel legion perk, but an addition to legion faction rep or something like that could suffice.

 

Random thoughts;

As Apocalyptic Girl pointed out a drug induced vision quest and tribal weapons like the medicine stick are a must.

Tribal attitudes re: technology may be similar to the legion. Weapons are fine, but other aspects of tech are taboo.

I would guess they would accept other tribals (but as lesser brethren than native americans) but in general have a low opinion of large civilized factions like the NCR, BOS etc. This doesn't include raiders, which are also rejected. But individuals that prove themselves and renounce their former ways can be accepted into the tribe.

Seriously expanded medicinal recipes.

Another quest could be saving the white bramin from legion (or if your legion, killing it), since it's a very important symbol.

Lots of petroglyphs. This is partly for background/atmosphere but also for a tie in to a quest. There was a group in the wiki that scientist that kept their knowledge of circuits alive via carving them into the cave walls. One part of a quest to reactivate some ancient machinery will use similar carvings. The other petroglyphs will make sure hte circuit diagrams don't stand out. That way the info will be hiding in plain view.

 

A backstory on Cheveyo would be important. I'd kind of assumed he really pissed someone off. Possibly discovered massive corruption, say of a general and/or project that violated all morals (the FEV projects perhaps) in Mariposa. He told his his fellow code talkers as insurance against him suddenly "disappearing". As a result his corp was "volunteered" to engage in FEV experiments. Partially explaining his extreme hatred of forbidden science and why his fellow nightkin are native americans as well. That does break lore though, because I think it was the master that started the super mutants so I guess some elements of the story will have to be changed.

 

Agoyoanye means falling star in the Tewa language. The Tewa are a group of Pueblo tribes in the southwest, so that puts him in the vicinity

 

Cool. Sounds like it might be more of Pocahontas type name that would be good for a NPC Indian princess. Or were you suggesting it for Cheveyo? I think the guy who prophesized the ghost dance was Pueblo

Edited October 7, 2011 by devinpatterson

[Quetzlsacatanango]

I like the Mexico idea personally. It's not very likely that the legion would respect pre-war borders...

[devinpatterson]

I like the Mexico idea personally. It's not very likely that the legion would respect pre-war borders...

 

Not in relation to boarders as boundaries, they could care less. Much like Rome they would need to absorb other nations to fuel their future military conquest through tribute. I'm referring to them being an actual military presence in the south as they are the required villains of the story. Without them we have no conflict.

 

It's the reason we have to research how much territory the legion controls so we know *where* this story can unfold.

Edited October 7, 2011 by devinpatterson

[TrooperScooperMKII]

The distance between GFlagstaff and Zion is 153 miles; LV is 100 miles. The distance to Denver is 232 miles; and the distance to Salt Lake City is about 350 miles. The distance to the Mexican border is about 260 miles, but are there any majore powers there? Really, the Legion could walk right through Arizona, and Mexico is hardly ever mentioned in Fallout. A lack of mention implies a lack of information; the Legion's presence in Mexico is, for the most part, open to interpretation.

Again, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. A plausible blank slate is better than a fully developed chalkboard.