Re: Background story

[Jens Granseuer <jensgr@gmx.net>]

On 11.02.2004 14:46, Dave Fancella wrote:
> Hm, maybe I wasn't that clear.  I'm saying leave the number the same, 2487 FA.  
> Add something to the story that says "When Nexus lost contact with the 
> humans, they established their independence and built the city of Allantha".  
> Some history rewriting here to allow for a period of peace and rebuilding 
> before the factions take over, and they start numbering their years from the 
> founding of Allantha, which coincides with their declaration of independence.  
> Then after the factions take over, Allantha gets sacked a few times and 
> finally fades.  Then, when the new freedom fighters emerge and end the 
> Tyarinian War they rebuild Allantha, hoping to bring about the same peace and 
> prosperity with which the legends of Allantha are now seeped.  Then Nexus is 
> separated from mankind for about 2,500 Nexus years before the Kandelians 
> come.

Ah, ok, that's better.

> So that would actually put the arrival of the Kandelians (assuming a 365 day 
> year on Nexus, an assumption we don't have to make) around 5000 AD.  If we 
> make the Nexian year shorter (and having it in a binary system is starting to 
> make less and less sense), like say 400 days, then we can make the gap a 
> little more reasonable.

Those numbers can make your head spin, eh? 400 days is shorter than 365? ;-)

> Anyway, there's also the question of development.  SInce Nexus only had to 
> revert back to steam and was able to keep a lot of documentation that helped 
> them advance post-nuclear quickly, what level of development should we expect 
> them to have after 2500 years?  It might be quite a stretch there just to try 
> to retain the original dating used in the game.

On the other hand, if they really experienced a long-lasting period of
peace, maybe they just didn't care much about weapon technology. And of
course research on Earth did not stand still, either. I somehow get the
feeling that this is not what you wanted to say, though? Why would this be
a stretch? Because they should be much more advanced, I presume? Maybe their
tanks are powered by whatnot (and that's why you don't need to care about
fuel ;-).

> So, the idea is that the Nexians do a lot of damage and are very close to 
> winning the war on their own.  It could be said that the Nexians have won, 
> the Kandelians just haven't figured it out yet.  Then some starships from the 
> rest of the human race show up and the Kandelians bail completely.  For some 
> reason or other, yet to explain, the humans are now at war with Kand 
> formally, and discovery of Nexus provides a planet that has the resources to 
> reverse the tide of the war completely.  But Nexus wants to be free.  That 
> could make for an interesting situation.  :)

Indeed. I'm curious to see what this will lead to.

> A couple of things I think we should settle.  How long is a Nexian day and a 
> Nexian year.

Whatever fits best, I guess. As you have already pointed out, a shorter
year seems to suit us better.

> I'd like to see at least half a millenia (earth years) between 
> loss of contact with the larger portion of the human race and the Kandelian 
> invasion.  Time for the factions on Nexus to really sink into the culture, 
> time for plenty of peace and prosperity dotted with periodic wars, and time 
> for them to rebuild their tech base to a level that would be competitive with 
> the Kandelian army.  And enough time for the fabled city of Allantha to be 
> built, become a huge technological and economic power on its own, get sacked 
> a few times, become a legend, and ultimately fade to mythical proportions.  
> That way, the discovery of the site of Allantha and the subsequent rush to 
> rebuild it become very symbolic of Nexian independence and unity when the 
> Nexians unite in order to end the Tyarinian War.  Also leaving time for the 
> rest of the human race to beat itself to near oblivion and recover, so that 
> they can show up towards the end of the Nexian battle for freedom from Kand 
> and throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

Fine with me.

Jens