Dragon Rising: A Story of the Chinese (Development Thread)

[Skyviper086]

I have been wanting to tell this story for a long time. I've talked with various experts and historians as well as history buffs.

 

 

The story that I would like to tell will focus on a group of individuals known as Dragons. These people are to lead the way in the post apocalyptic world. Bring life to a destroyed land basically. However the world, all around, didn't fair well obviously. The Dragon's Lair is a bunker located in Shanghai China and is home to a civilization that has managed to survive underground for hundreds of years.

 

In short the Institute and Enclave, BoS, have nothing on the Dragon's Lair and the Chinese culture there.

 

Unlike Vault Tech a series of shelters were built not for testing, but for safety, however a families wealth did a play a major part of getting into one of the shelter facilities. Most people in China did not make it to the safety of a shelter. However a small group of people, regardless of their wealth, family status, and gender were selected an Artificial Intelligence to be a member of the Dragon Program.

 

This is how the player's character, born into a household of poverty, was spared from the disaster of the war. This particular AI, the Command, Logistics, and Weapon System (CLAWS) assisted other systems and personnel with training the candidates and preparing them for the inevitable destruction of the world.

 

The Dragon's Lair was carefully designed to be self sufficient and last as long as possible. AI Systems, managing construction efforts within the Dragon's Lair, use robots, located on the heavily irradiated surface, to gather needed materials for the lair to grow. Like the Institute dig deeper and deeper so does the Dragon's Lair which is home to highly advanced society. Even with all of their technological advancements, they are unable to retake their home lands.

 

However America didn't fair too badly. The Dragon's Lair can't be a home forever and the American Dream is not just a dream of a better life. It's the name for a new military operation that can be launched. But a Dragon will have to lead to the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I will be doing for this project is polishing up the story some more. Writing out a script. I will then get find voice actors to play the various characters and package all of the audio up to be used as a resource.

 

 

Right now I'm only in the research and writing stage. I'd like to what can and can't be done so I can adjust the story accordingly.

[Gruffydd]

Interesting ideas. I wasn't clear on some of the points though.

The PC is selected by the AI (which oddly has an English acronym) from a poor family to be trained, yes? But the surface is heavily irradiated, you said. Is there some kind of longevity program? Pseudo-ghouling of some sort? Something mystic? Something else? If not, where did the PC's poor family come from? Or does this take place shortly after the War, with the Dragons having been basically a separate, concurrent civilization with the pre-war Chinese?

What would the American Dream part entail? Some type of cross-Pacific invasion of the NCR? Or of whatever early post-war faction rules there? Oceanic invasions are challenging (look at D-Day). How would such an invasion be successful yet not have the power to reclaim something closer to home (Japan? South Pacific islands? Nepal?)? It seems like a faction powerful enough to successfully invade America should be able to successfully invade something in Asia, and I have trouble seeing China's last hope giving up on China entirely.

The concepts are interesting, but too much of it seems a bit odd to me....

[Skyviper086]

Good points you brought up.

 

Through the story I can mention how certain sections around China have been taken over. Extreme radiation makes any attempts to settle close to impossible. It's just an idea to limit worldspaces getting built.

 

If I go the prewar route I can have the AI select the PC or the PCs family prior to the bombs falling. Then I can use the Cryogenic Frozen Routine as a means to skip 200 years. A worldspace for a Pre-War China will have to be made.

 

Or the story narrative can cover how the PCs family got placed into the Dragon's Lair. The AI can select those it will want to use from among the population that has flourished underground.

 

 

American Dream idea is just me trying to make sure the story takes place somewhere in Fallout 4 world. The NCR can easily have their butts handed them to considering the Shi (From Fallout 2) are already there, flourishing, and are technologically advanced. They're the only faction (prior to Fallout 4) that can make their own suits of power armor or rebuild them. They were making power armor back in the day only the BoS and Enclave had power armor. So if the Dragon Army was to make a push from China into the NCR they could inflict a great deal of damage.

 

D-Day had two parties of decent strength and technology that were prepared on both sides for the invasion. The oceanic invasion of the NCR could also play out like Pearl Harbor. The unsuspecting NCR will be caught off guard against a strong enemy.

 

I just thought of this. Some small settlements can exist above ground in domes that can have radiated air removed and purified water. I remember seeing a Mega Engineering show once and they were talking about building this big futuristic pyramid that could house hundreds of people in the fraction of space that it would normally take.

 

As for the Acronym. I do not speak any of the languages from China (actually I'm not Chinese but still) my I will admit my ignorance in that department of the Chinese language. I know each region has it's own dialect.

 

 

You know my first draft was to be about Chinese Americans that have survived in a vault in the Boston area. Some sources confirmed that Chinese residents were in the East Coast around the 1950s. So it could be plausible that some could've been located in the Fallout 4 world.

[Gruffydd]

Lots of Chinese on the West Coast back then too, as many had immigrated during the gold rush.

An interesting twist might be to have the PC be a descendant of those west coast Chinese (those who survived the internment camps, at any rate), who is living there when the Dragons come sailing in, and is given the choice of joining the invaders who share his/her ethnic heritage, or defending the land he/she calls home. Or buggering off and letting them fight it out, but that's kind of missing out on the point of the mod if the player chooses that.

Since the San Francisco area has already been explored in-game, a good alternate area if you're looking at the west coast (which would make sense seeing as that's where you get to first if you sail from China) might by the area around Humboldt Bay, where Eureka is located. Eureka is a Victorian seaport that eventually became a major logging area, but fell on hard times when most of the logging jobs dried up. It's not a major metropolitan area, is separated from other areas by miles upon miles of forest, has no significant industry (other than marijuana growing), and is sitting on a natural harbor, which makes it a good choice for a Dragon force that is trying to land, establish a base, and then​ start its campaign, rather than trying to sail up to a fortified area and start blasting. It's also small enough that you wouldn't have to do as much infrastructure work, and the buildings could pretty much all be done from existing assets.

It also has a history with the Chinese, having enacted local legislation forbidding Chinese from living there in the 1880s. It wasn't until the 1950s, when most people had forgotten about it, that Chinese people moved back in and have stayed since, but for a while it was illegal for them to be there.

The area also has a history with Native American tribes, with a number of them in the surrounding areas, and a dark spot in its history when a tribe living near Eureka was massacred.

There's even an old fort overlooking the bay, where General Grant was once stationed during the earlier part of his military career.

[MightyZ0G]

Good points you brought up.

 

Or the story narrative can cover how the PCs family got placed into the Dragon's Lair. The AI can select those it will want to use from among the population that has flourished underground.

 

you can get away with a lot if the PC has been raised in an isolated environment. you can give them any kind of background you like (it's an author's "get out of jail free" )

given the story outline from your original post, the shelterers could condense into a warrior society religiously training for the day they go up top to reclaim the planet or anything you like.

so much potential, I look forward to seeing where this goes.

[Skyviper086]

 

Good points you brought up.

 

Or the story narrative can cover how the PCs family got placed into the Dragon's Lair. The AI can select those it will want to use from among the population that has flourished underground.

 

you can get away with a lot if the PC has been raised in an isolated environment. you can give them any kind of background you like (it's an author's "get out of jail free" )

given the story outline from your original post, the shelterers could condense into a warrior society religiously training for the day they go up top to reclaim the planet or anything you like.

so much potential, I look forward to seeing where this goes.

 

 

I'm liking that idea too. Actually (back in the first draft again) I had them having a private war beneath the ground and the victor (obviously the PC) would rise and lead the way.

 

Now back in Fallout 2 the Shi were working on amazing scientific advancements. Including space flight (not the hubologist by the way who had a shuttle). The terminal that provided all of the information needed is also the terminal that provides the plans of the sub-dermal and phoenix armor. So they had a lot of things they were working can could easily utilize.

 

The Shi could be the people who go to China and bring back the Dragon. China for the most part is too far gone but hope for it's reconstruction is not lost.

 

C L A W S in Chinese is Zhuǎzi 爪子 (FYI it also means paw, talon in addition to claw) I guess it's how it used in context (again I don't know a thing about the Chinese languages)

 

So The Zhuǎzi will be the system which will greatly help the Dragon with their mission. It will also interlink with another AI which is an American system that will be called Fredrick Douglass a.k.a Freddy, a.k.a The United Logistics Management System (ULMS)

 

The Zhuǎzi can also be the PipBoy, just less clunkier looking. (Off Topic here I normally try to get rid of the pipboy But in FO4 I kind of like it).

 

 

I'm really liking the points you folks are making and that's really helping me come up with something much much better and more fun (I hope)

Edited June 10, 2017 by Skyviper086

[MLeonhardt]

This sounds cool as nuts tbh

[Skyviper086]

This sounds cool as nuts tbh

 

Thank you!

 

Folks here have given me a lot to think about. I'll post an update soon. I see you're a voice actor so I'll have a list of characters being created as well. For now they're subject to change depending on the editing process but I can say this for certain. I'm definitely keeping the character AI Fredrick Douglass. I want him to play a major role in the events of the story as well as the history of Fallout.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Skyviper086

[MightyZ0G]

 

I'm liking that idea too. Actually (back in the first draft again) I had them having a private war beneath the ground and the victor (obviously the PC) would rise and lead the way.

 

or the PC could be on the losing side and escape from the shelter. this would then give a reason to cut the PC off from support from the shelter and an imperative need to leave the immediate area.

[Skyviper086]

 

 

I'm liking that idea too. Actually (back in the first draft again) I had them having a private war beneath the ground and the victor (obviously the PC) would rise and lead the way.

 

or the PC could be on the losing side and escape from the shelter. this would then give a reason to cut the PC off from support from the shelter and an imperative need to leave the immediate area.

 

 

That's a good idea too. Like Fallout 1 or ... Ronin :wink:

 

BTW I was just talking to a nice lady hat owns a Chinese restaurant. She's from around Hong Kong and she telling me more about the importance Dragon's have on the culture.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Skyviper086