Have, as designed, a slight logical problem:

The difference between Vorlon technology and an Act of (Deity of Choice) is, as far as anybody in the Spiral today -except- the Jurai is concerned, nil. They are very, very close to theoretical maximum. They have a good sized chunk of space and resources.

On their arrival back in Spiral Space, they absorbed one of the local heavies, a civilization that the Juraii had long regarded as rough equals, called the Imperium. Now, the distinction between extragalactics and natives is pretty much a matter of intonation and cultural cuisine nowadays, but the Vorlon still have the Imperium's navy to play with.

(Yeah, this is another link to Weber's Dahak books - lacking the canon 4th Imperium's evidence of the Accultanni threat, our Imperium developed their megaships because of evidence that a sufficiently massive body developed a connection to the hyperfield around it that made it -very- -difficult- to affect directly - IOW, if Tsunami wanted to destroy a planet, she couldn't take what would normally be the easy route and rewrite its connection to That Which Is, but would instead be forced to create and direct massive amounts of energy, which, getting back to the subject, the Imperium could at least hope to resist.)

Anyway, if for some reason the Vorlons chose to layeth the smackdown upon the entire rest of the Spiral at once, they could. Likewise, they're altruistic enough to want to prop up the Council, and would -definitely- resist Cthulu & Co.

So where are these almost-gods while the rest of Our Heroes are fighting for their lives?

Well, say there's a small independant power at about 110P, outboards of Vorlon space and riding the hard edge of the Big Empty, called Straumli Reach.

And they Found Something. Something that was Imprisoned. For good reason. I'm not sure what its actual name is - I'll leave that decision to those more knowledgable in the ways of Lovecraft - but what the Vorlon call it translates out of Marain as Perversion.

Blessed be.
-n
(And no, there are no Zones of Thought here to stop it.)

if we're thinking of the same er... entity... I believe the name is Y’golonac, aka the Violator. Of course what little I know about Lovecraft is cribbed from Children of an Elder God, but it sounds like an unpleasant neighbour.

btw: I'm trying to plot out Arc #3 (mainly because I'm jumping ahead). However I know very little about the Darkvoid. Thus far I am working on the basis of the Adeptus Astartes fleeing the Cadian Gate and the Eye of Terror as the Chaos Powers awaken and start swatting them like mosquitos. And then something big and nasty leaves the Shadow Realm around the Darkvoid and starts munching on planets.

At this point my Avatar is going to get involved and start trying to actually do something about the problem (at this early stage I have no clue what). What I want to ask is are there any guidelines on what can or can't happen during this Act.

drakensis

Of each thing ask what is it primary motivation, what is it nature, and most importantly, what sort of damage will it cause if thrown at a Visigoth with great force. -- From the unrecorded Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.

>if we're thinking of the same er... entity... I believe
> the name is Y’golonac, aka the Violator. Of course
>what little I know about Lovecraft is cribbed from
>Children of an Elder God, but it sounds like an
>unpleasant neighbour.

Actually, I don't have a specific Lovecraftian in mind - Straumli Reach and the Perversion they found are from the Vernor Vinge novel A Fire Upon the Deep (which, BTW, is highly recommended)

>btw: I'm trying to plot out Arc #3 (mainly because I'm
>jumping ahead). However I know very little about the
>Darkvoid. Thus far I am working on the basis of the
>Adeptus Astartes fleeing the Cadian Gate and the Eye of
> Terror as the Chaos Powers awaken and start swatting
>them like mosquitos. And then something big and nasty
>leaves the Shadow Realm around the Darkvoid and starts
>munching on planets.

>At this point my Avatar is going to get involved and
>start trying to actually do something about the problem
> (at this early stage I have no clue what). What I want
> to ask is are there any guidelines on what can or
>can't happen during this Act.

Act II is war, plain and in your face - the breakdown of treaties, alliances, and every other manifestation of The Old Order.

Act III is what happens when you throw wide the Gates of Hell - the Servants of the Mythos crowd act up and start wholesale efforts to gather the resources neccessary to Break the - ... I just had an idea.

I was going to say, 'break the gates', but what if, instead, we use "Break the World's Shell," in the sense of "If the chick cannot break through the egg's shell, he will die without ever being born. We are the chick. The world is our egg. Break the world's shell, and revolutionize the world!"... Or however it really goes. Play to the idea that the Goings-On at Ohtori Academy are actually some massive, intricate magical ritual, and suddenly SKU takes on an importance to the Spiral at large entirely out of proportion with what you'd expect - because, let us further speculate, the Seal upon Cthulu is upon a world which was later colonized... and, eventually, there was a school built upon it...

I should think, irregardless of the above paragraph, that while the Gods of Bad -would- make their appearances in Act III, most of the action would be buildup...

Not saying that things like the Chaos Gods or the Straumli Perversion can't get loose early and wreak havoc of their own, but the main event isn't 'till the end of the Act.

Blessed be.
-n
(Doesn't like Lovecraft.)

> Actually, I don't have a specific Lovecraftian in
> mind - Straumli Reach and the Perversion they found
> are from the Vernor Vinge novel A Fire Upon the Deep
> (which, BTW, is highly recommended)

so noted.

> Act II is war, plain and in your face - the
> breakdown of treaties, alliances, and every other
> manifestation of The Old Order.

Yeah, I've got a general idea of what I want to happen in the Cluster at that point.

> I was going to say, 'break the gates', but what if,
> instead, we use "Break the World's Shell," in the
> sense of "If the chick cannot break through the
> egg's shell, he will die without ever being born. We
> are the chick. The world is our egg. Break the
> world's shell, and revolutionize the world!"... Or
> however it really goes. Play to the idea that the
> Goings-On at Ohtori Academy are actually some
> massive, intricate magical ritual, and suddenly SKU
> takes on an importance to the Spiral at large
> entirely out of proportion with what you'd expect -
> because, let us further speculate, the Seal upon
> Cthulu is upon a world which was later colonized...
> and, eventually, there was a school built upon it...

I like that notion.The layers of manipulation inherent in the idea are delicious.

> I should think, irregardless of the above paragraph,
> that while the Gods of Bad -would- make their
> appearances in Act III, most of the action would be
> buildup...
>
> Not saying that things like the Chaos Gods or the
> Straumli Perversion can't get loose early and wreak
> havoc of their own, but the main event isn't 'till
> the end of the Act.

Oh I quite agree there. I'm planning on killing planets and billions of people as a PRELUDE to introducing even the concept of a main event, so to speak.

What I'm thinking (I wrote the bare bones of a scene to clarify my plans) was that:

a) the Chaos Gods wake up and are rather unhappy about the various chaos sorcerers drawing on their power. The Chaos Legions, aware of what is going on and terrified break through the Cadian Gate and are quickly followed by what remains of the Imperial Legions after a largely futile attempt to contain the Chaos Powers.

b) something travels from the Darkvoid to the Core. I haven't pinned down what it is except that it wants to feed on all the radiation and that it's massive, about the size of Jupiter. It hops from star system to star system using the radiation of each sun to feed itself for the next step. Anything in the way is incidentally trashed. Nueva Terra takes a near miss and breaks up under the gravitaitonal stress.

c) While organising the refugees, my avatar is visited by the Primarchs - think more than a dozen Majestic-class SPBs - who have compared their notes on ancient prophecies and are looking for the One they believe is destined to play a key role. Please note: 'they believe', I'm not saying they're right and the prophecy is ambiguous. I'll paste what I drafted below.

From there I don't know exactly. To use UF: Twilight as an example, I've got as far as Skuld turning up in Gryphon's bedroom.




When the Dark is rising, one shall hold it back
Worlds will fall and the spiral turn, lest he lead the attack
Nine from the circle, loyal to the end
Seven from the rebel lords, to him their knees bend
Three peoples shall guard him, defender of all
And One shall betray One, desiring the fall
Herald of the Ending Days, Last Champion of Man
Upon their final meeting shall all our fates hang

Okay, with 'nine' it _could_ mean the reincarnated Senshi.

Seven Rebel Lords? Hmm ... nope, can't think of anything here. 'cept maybe something to do with the fall of the Taiidani. That, or nobility from the Cameron Sector.

Three peoples shall guard him ... interesting, it can mean either three individuals or three entire races.

Betrayer ... no idea. Weirdness sensor indicates that it _could_ be Hotaru - after all the pain she suffered from the Taiidani and after she saw how hopeless everything was her Mistress 9 persona took over and decided it was best to end it all. Nothing states that the betrayer has to be a different person than one of the nine or the seven ... hell, even of the three.
But that's just me jumping at shadows.

All in all, sufficiently mixed up to be good and instill paranoia wherever it shows up.


-Griever
'Bring in the giant mecha!'

oh yes, that's the interesting thing. It could apply to an number of things. The primarchs are pretty sure it means them but that doesn't mean that they're RIGHT...

versions of this could turn up anywhere in the spiral and any number of differing interpretations could be suggested. This might very well lead to a certain divisiveness among the various groups.

And that is assuming that the prophecy is even correct.

It could be right, it could be wrong, or it could even be only partly corrrect... Feel free to make your own interpretations.

drakensis

Of each thing ask what is it primary motivation, what is it nature, and most importantly, what sort of damage will it cause if thrown at a Visigoth with great force. -- From the unrecorded Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.

>Actually, I don't have a specific Lovecraftian in
>mind - Straumli Reach and the Perversion they found
>are from the Vernor Vinge novel A Fire Upon the Deep
>(which, BTW, is highly recommended)

Actually, to cause problems for the Vorlons the Straumli Perversion doesn't have to be directly Lovecraftian in nature. It's been a while since I've read FUtD, but the P. is some form of rogue cybernetic intelligence, right?

Well, the Vorlon civilization is literally built on hyperbeing-level CIs, with human-level beings more of an added feature than a critical component. A Vingeian Perversion would qualify as a Big Bad enough threat to tie the Vorlons up for at least the opening salvos of Act III



---
Mr. Fnord, Map Boy and Chief Vorlonologist
GSV _Suppressed Transmission_
http://fnord.sandwich.net/