|
Well, I had a thought, before further the development of each 'individual' race in the expanse, perhaps we should construct a proper framework for the whole thing now we have a 'rough idea' of whats going on in there.
Now, here's what I put out for the Tobari Raiders:
The Testimony of Inquisitor Lord Revic to the Forum of Ansamas
An old man approached the brass etched pulpit, ascending the stairs to inner section. Struggling to stand, he coughed, clearing his throat, leaning on his staff, he begun.
?Long after I departed with Dregan and his Tarellian band, I received word that my acquaintance within the Thurm brotherhood, Akrhan Phyllokk, had successfully returned to his kin, in the vicinity of Pech. Unfortunately he was unable, though I suspect unwilling, to take me any further on my journey to Condeh Khar. The subject of the Tobari was a troubled one it would seem, and he was unforthcoming except to wish me fortune and prosperity in such a dangerous endeavour.
?As we journeyed, we were waylaid many times, once only just escaping a confederation of alien pirates that boarded as far as the command core of the Tarellian carrack. Fortunately Dregan?s ?warriors retaliated with sufficient swiftness to prevent the carrack from being totally overrun. On the borders of Berelan Space we encountered the drifting hulks of a dozen smaller starships that, according to Dregan, were left as a result of an apocalyptic war between two of the minor races fleets in the near area.
?Soon we arrived at the Caredlio Portal, a gap in the obscuring dust clouds that border the Khareshi expanse. There we allowed some of the crew to leave, through their choice, and we continued north-eastward through the portal. After seventeen months within the expanse, we discovered on of the reputed hulk sites. An aeon old graveyard, the twisted and stripped hulks spiralling through the void in the expanse, appearing derelict and abandoned over the ages.
?At that point, unknown to ourselves, the expanse was not dead. Deep within the slowly arcing hulks energy signatures appeared, many. Within scant moments the expanse was alive with signatures.? Revic winced momentarily, recoiling from some distant memory it seemed.
He let his staff fall, grasping the rail, he steadied himself. ?They took the ship, and the crew. I saw no more of Dregan in all my voyages since. I will not say how I escaped the expanse, suffice to say that it was at extreme cost.? A deep, distant whirring sounded from Revic, he raised his arm and pondered his coppered and bronzed forearm, glinting with the hint of ancient polish, dulled over the decades. ?I was compensated, and my objective achieved, but I now know why Akrhan Phyllokk spoke with such foreboding pessimism of the expanse. Truly, he was wise beyond his years to be sceptical of that place. Until such a time, as the Imperium is able to act in force to quarantine the region, if even such a thing is now possible, then I foremost speak for the immediate return of all Imperial agents within the one hundred light year of the locale??
Now, from that alone I come up with 'these' points about the expanse:
1- Condeh Khar: Planet?
2- Berelan Space: Who?s this? They lie outside the expanse though
3- Caredlio Portal: A gap in the extensive dust clouds that surround the expanse. What?s the ?Radius? of the Expanse? I?d say ~200 lyr radius with a 10 lyr gas and dust cloud ?surrounding? layer, the Caredlio Portal being a relatively remote point in regards to the populations of the expanse, and thus one of the few clear navigational ?runs? into and out of the expanse.
4- Several ?aeon old? hulk sites, populated by the Tobari raiders we can say
We need to decide some more, expecially pertaining to the other races. So small 'summary' bullet points are needed, and I'll try and compile a 'brief overview' of what we have so far. Also, of note, we should 'tag' some races with an 'end date' in their histories, for example, when they finally died out as a major player. Perhaps they were 'ultimately' beaten by their enemies? I know it's painful to have your race killed off, but it adds a bit of credibility IMO, or certainly a reason why they aren't as big as they 'should' be given such and such a time.
Now, some other contenders for 'entry' into the Expanse:
- Derilict Demiurg Vessels, ones on pure simplistic(ie not advanced) Demiurg automation. Drifting hulks seemingly damaged beyond repair that will protect themselves or carry out their last orders(gouge that giant lump of adamantium for all its worth...even if it is a heavily armed and well shielded starship...)
- A 'human' colony? Small and discrete, and generally 'runted' by the epxnase?
- Orks. Nowhere in 40k is without orks. Not powerful IMO, probably mere freebooterz on the odd escort, no 'overarching' fleets.
- A squadron of Eldar pirates(ie one or two escorts)
- A Necron 'artefact' of some description?
Now, thats just to involve the big races.
Personally, I intend to have the Khareshi expanse at the very limits of the Tau's 'reach' into the Galaxy. Kor'o Bork'an Xis'or, IMO, led his '3rd Phase Expansion' fleet out to the very extremes of their reach, and entered the expanse. Let the horror commence!
Now, also I have marked in the Lord Inquisitor Revic also journeyed to the Expanse. I mark that as after his expedition with the 'Demiurg Envoy' in my first article about the Demiurg(the one with the Inquisitor stuff). I don't really want to detail too much of his journey, but I liked the idea of drawing up the rules for the Tarellian Carrack that journeyed with him. I'm thinking a humble, but swift, 2-4HP cruiser, a bit ramshackle in appearance, but not too bad, just 'normal' rules as it were.
Now, aside from that, I think the 'Big Little Three' could be 'kept out' of the expanse otherwise.
Demiurg: They won't go near it. Some of their stuff is left inside from whatever the truth is behind it all, but when it comes to it, they're generally not for going in...or are they?
Hrud: It could be mentioned there's some in there, but I'd feel best to leave them back from this one as it'd require too much focus on them, something GW hasn't been willing to do.
Tarellians: I don't mind converting up a ship for them, but generally speaking it'd just use very 'normal' rules, nothing terribly special. However, their place in the expanse, like the rest of the Galaxy(as far as we can tell) is as a handful of mercs and pirates. I'm happy to leave their inclusion at the 'escort' or companions of Revic into the expanse, but not actually having a 'presence' there.
Anything else? Let the bullet points commence...
Xisor
_________________
"Number 6 calls to you
The Cylon Detector beckons
Your girlfriend is a toaster"
|
