ONI

Dec 28, 2004 14:01

THE FOLLOWING IS THE COLLECTION OF FILES ON A STORY I'M WORKING ON. I INTEND TO MKE IT AN EPIC, IN A TOLKEIN-ISH SENSE. THE REASON FOR PASTING THE ENTIRITY HERE IS THAT I'M VERY RARELY ON MY HOME COMPUTER, AND HAVING THE NOTES IS HELPFUL WHEN I'M, SAY, TRYING TO BEAT OUT THE LITTLE BUGGER OF AN IDEA THAT CRAWLED INTO MY EAR WHILE SLEEPING AT A FRIEND'S.

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the story of the unification and perfection of humanity, and the ONI that brought it about…

• Sufficently Advanced Technology is indistinquishable from Magic.
• Deus Ex Mechana: the First & Oldest (Ancient?) Intellegence, responsible for Terra Mecha and the heart of all tech in the Americas.
• O.N.I: Orgainic/Nanotech Isomorph.

Straight from the E-mail:
Prelude: Joseph
telling his story, before & (directly) after meeting Poe.

BACK STORY: Mankind needs ORDER in order to function at it's highest capacity - however, Life (evolution, Gaia, etc etc) needs CHAOS in order to gain additional biological adaptions. so, the Deus Ex Mechana (sp?) realized that even though mankind was indomidable at thier current evolutionary standpoint, they needed a new genisis in order to survive future calamities. so, DeM kept a voice open with Genisis, planning (scheming?) for a time when the two aspects could share a single amalgamated avatar (the ONI). but because people fear chaos, they wouldn't accept that such an alliance would be benefical, so DeM kept it from their knowledge. (effetcively, bothe DeM and the Genisis are gods - worshipped, all powerful within thier domains, nigh omnipotent, etc etc.)

BS: one of the ways that the gods helped people accept thier future messiah was to start a cult faith around his/her coming - a myth about a certain type of woman to birth him. (fuckaye what her mythological name will be...)

Joseph (Larken - why not?) was an inhabitant of Mecha, the great technoplois of the northern Gulf of Mexico were the great Intellegence exists. showing great promise, he is brought through the heirarchy, from ______ , to soldier of DeM, to covert worker of the Genisis/DeM alliance. the alliance both see the so-called "Free States" and the "Great Houses" as mutual enemies, as both would happily cover the world in stasis. SO! Joseph is told to (a a satan) "walk up & down and back & forth within the world," looking for Her.
as an agent of both parties, he is subsequently blessed by both.

+Time as a soldier
+time as a military hero (optional)
+Brought In
+step one (proving himself)
+blessing (seeking Genisis, who knows who the Mommy is & recieving It's blessing)
+hunting (actually, *many* stories)
+finding
+The End (slain/suicide)

SALAAM

BOOKS:
1. Eli
2. Hiro
3. Carrion
4. (Hell? Torian? LA-something?)
5. Joseph: (at birth)
6. Joseph: (at 4 years old)
7. Joseph: (at 8 years old)
8. Joseph: (at 12 years old)
9. Joseph: (at 16 years old)
10. Joseph: (at 20 years old)

Carrion tries to assassinate Hiro while Elizebeth is with Torian. Elizebeth walks in on Carrion stabbing Hiro, but Carrion tries to explain - “god child,” etc etc. he advances, she blasts him in the stomach. he pleads, she shoots him in the head.
hiro moans, she helps him heal.

ACT 1: Elizebeth
1. Simple Living pt 1: she meets Joseph, and they talk about the world. J provides a worldview & gives basic current events. Scene ends w/ the interuption of the Gaurds
2. Simple Living pt 2: the gaurds kill E’s family & almost kill J; after beating him nearly to death, J vomits a puddle of blood & metal, which crawls into E (through her throat?). after that, J goes berserk, kills almost all the gaurds & abandons E, but tells her to go see Torian in the city of demons in the south.
3. Memories: E runs. she grabs a few things from the farm, but just hauls ass. her idea is to head out of the Shu territory - she’s wanted! - and the quickest way to go south would be to grab a boat, so she goes west & tries to sneak into New Portson. wandering around, she remembers the town, and her dad.
4. “________” goes into town looking for a boat, runs into old “family friend,” who sells her out & gets her thrown into jail. conflict with gaurds - she runs, but gives up when they corner her.
5. Hiro: goes to jail. celled w/ Hirosaki. swap stories, prison life, etc. maybe he helps her learn to fight. she talks about her pacsifism.
ACT 2: Hirosaki Umaji of the House of Shu
1. Bastard’s Son: Hirosaki’s youth: son of a whore. plays on the streets & lives with Mom. possibly a Royal bastard. when Hiro is 16, an aged Shu warrior comes to his mother. they talk privately, but Hiro hears the old man beating his equally aged mother. Hiro takes the man’s sword & kills him. 2 shots: old man’s face sneering, hiro’s sneer. old man smiles, laughs, gurgles (maybe says a few things) and dies. Hiro runs, leaving the City.
2. Father’s Sin: H’s best friend, Toshimoko, comes with him. they fall in with a band of thieves, who quickly are organized by H into a bounty hunter guild. Tosh finds out about H’s crime, and they all turn on him. a Coup. the Sharp Teeth Hunter’s Guild turns in H.
3. Elizebeth: Jail Life; still talking with E, H tries to organize an escape plan… but a prison riot happens first. hauling ass… breaking out of a jail inside a walled city with many soldiers is like frying pan to fire.
4. Exiles: con’t escape… head south to find Toshimoko, inside the hamlet of ________. E needs togo south anyway, so why not?
5. Carrion: travel for many days… fatigued, hungry, thirsty, etc. attacked by some wild animal. “saved” by Carrion.
ACT 3: Carrion
1. Son of the Crow: C’s youth pt. 1, ending with Corati
2. Pariah: C’s youth pt 2; “save” E&H.
3. Fallen pt 1:bring them back to tribe; H hunts w/, E watches them (him). many pregnant women - in a tribe of 200ish, 70. Hirosaki calls Kawir’in Carrion, and Carrion calls Hiro Hero, because neither cares enough for the other to actually learn their names.
4. Fallen pt 2: Corati arrives, wrecks the tribe, devours babies & pregnant women, the whole bit. H defends E; Corati demands that Carrion stay with E’s child. the Group runs like hell south.
5. Travelers: South…? hits a tribe of dog men - men that act like a pack of dogs, growling & barking, with an actual pack of dogs (maybe twice?) as big as the man’s pack. ferocious, but unskilled… hiro battles, but they overwelm him… they’re saved by a Mecha angel; only Joe is unafraid.
ACT 4: (Torian?)

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• Terra Mecha - Southern Tex, gulf of Mex area
• No Man's Land - everywhere else; specifically, west of the Rockies
• Island of Lost Angels - LA metro area, currently more-than swamped
• Neo Republic - East Coast, east of Appalacia
• Alliance of Kings - Great Lakes & nearby Rust Belt
• (False Bio House Lands) - West of the Rockies, from Alaska to Baja

Tribes: groups, usually extended families, that travel around a given area, hunting and gathering. Occasionally, they will have a permanent shrine, but they usually keep thier totems mobile w/ them. most tribes worship a given animal or ancestor, though some have pantheons. low tech, highly mobile, scavangers, shamanistic/animistic, hunter/gatherers
Bandits: the largest difference between bandit parties & tribes are that bandits prefer not to hunt/gather when they are within reach of another group. though not known for cannibals, Bandit parties do occasionally produce such sadists. bandits are limited to family groups like tribes, and they also have less reverence for "gods." on the other hand, they see artifacts simply as (complicated) tools, and won't hesitate to use them. low tech, highly mobile, scavangers, atheistic, hunter/gatherers
Farmers: the only large difference between farmers and tribes is that farmers loath travel... both share their religon and close sense of community, and both treat artifacts as otherworldly things. of course, because they tend to stay in a single area, they often become absorbed by whatever might claims thier land. low tech, low mobility, producers, shamanistic, farmers.

Species:
• True Humans
Strongest in the Neo Republic, but makes up a lrage majority of the population across the continent.
• “False” Bios ("Breeders")
Superiors of humans, but not nearly as strong as Paradigms… but, we can breed…
• True Bios ("Paradigms")
the Platonic Ideals of various Bio strains; ultra powerful, but not immortal (?)
• Mechas (soulless robots)
Drones of Deus Ex Mechana; usually encountered as Angels
• Disciples (Cyborgs, with human brains)
for those duties that need attention to detail & quick, individual thought.

Cultures:
• Monarchies
• Feudalism
• Communism
• Anarchistic Syndacalist
• True Democracies
• Republics
• Empires

Bio Types:
House Psychosis: a attempt at immortality, founded on the belief that a person is defined by their experiences, and if those experiences were trasnfered to a healthier, younger host, a type of “reincarnation” would be possible. however, the mode of transference was impure, until the Genisis recreated the bloodline. with It’s blessing, those of the Psychosis bloodtype are able to absorb the memories, the experiences,of an individual by eating his brain. it must be very fresh - no more than 150 minutes - and untouched.
one of the definitive aspects of this house is that it has a large number of capable individuals, with a vast pool of knowledges. unfortunately, the majority of it’s “members” are totally bugfuck nutterbugger crazy.

Supporting Characters:
Torian: One of a few technological pseudointellegences - capable of friendly interaction & interesting discorse, but has no ambition to survive & therefore will not demonstrate a “will.”
Toshimoko: Hiro’s old friend from (the City), and current head of their bounty hunters group. a crafty bastard, who will try to use Poe (or Joseph?) against him. smarter than he is physically strong, but undeniably capable.

ONI:
(Oraginc/Nanotech Isomorph)
(The Story Proper)

• Elizabeth gets infected w/ the ONI, unknown to her
• E is captured by Daidoji's men
• meets Hiro in jail
• follows Hirosaki out
• travels south on H's lead
• meets Carrion
• C tries to feed his Bio the ONI, but it (doesn’t work why?), so he has to wait & follow… (isn’t developed enough?)
• H kills his man & takes his head, which disgusts E (& she tries to defend the target?)
• goes to LA islands
• Torian gives back story
• C tries to kill H, so he could then kill E
• E sees C knife H, and kills C - losing her goodness, her innocence… her defining traits
• E joins the LA islands.
• C joins w/ his Bio, becoming Nemisis (unknown to everyone else).
• E births Joseph, the ONI, and Hiro helps her raise him
• LA island attacked by some type of barbarian/tribal group; fought back by Poe (Elizebeth) and Hiro.
• PJ+H go east to LA, where they find a new group (of bios? humans?) holding the Torian’s territory; PJ+H scurry like rats, killing the rare loner. until they see Nemisis… then they run like fuck.


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ONI:

I want the mood to be dark, psudeo-gothic, but with a rural, unknown, Lovecraft feel - most stories will be out of the cities. chronically dusk/midnight, always wet & cold, hella windy.
I also want the story to hold a constant feeling of spooky unknown - again, Lovecraft - even after the monster has a face. that is, keep the question of “why”

quick notes:
• communities - tribes, really - are all relatively small; say, 20-150
• hunter/gatherers; wear lots of leathers/furs/bones; tattoos??
• gather in good weather, hide in cold
• gather only at night, unless absolutly nessicary
• run & hide tactics - fighting only brings the Bios
• only the fit survive

the theme shouldn’t be to heavy, but something like “humans survive no matter what.”

scenes:
1. a group of tribals are trapped in a (*cave*), with something trying to find them. one guy goes hysterical - screaming, crying, etc - and our bad-ass psycho-boy hero kills him. the rest of the crowd stares, stunned into obediance

2550370776

plot?
young man travels to the big city to get medicine for his dying wife/sister/daugther. many adventures. meh…

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Jessica

she wakes up, with the dream of… grapefruits?… leaving quietly out the back. the room is one that she’s never quite felt comfortable in, even as she tries to orient herself. It is, she remarks to herself, a very beautiful room, and she should enjoy it. but the incense gives her a mild headache, the satin always felt to alien to be ok, and the bed gave her a sinking feeling whenever she moved. she did like the sculptures though - little busts of long-dead royalty. she always sees them as a sort of acknowledgement of her art - acknowledgement that they, too, die. maybe they even get killed.

she never really felt anything, but never noticed what was gone. she was ruthless, but without a sense of accomplishment. and she knew, with absolute certainty, that Shal-Heim was going to kill her.
it wasn’t as if there was any big **surprise** surrounding this unavoidable end - it’s just the way the Empire has run for the last few centuries, and in all honesty will probably continue to run.
the Empire ran into a paradox early in it’s history: how do you kill someone without thereby creating a future problem for yourself? wars could end badly, assassins could be bought off by the other side, and killing a rival personally just isn’t a dignified option for royalty.
so, instead of highering untrustworthy outside agents, ol’ great-granpapy Heim decided to raise his own. it’s a simple thing to execute, with the strength of an Empire - just abduct the newborn children of healthy subjects, and begin training. Jessica was maybe third or fourth generation purebreed - that is, born of two Hunters - and she’s always known they’d kill her at 25. she doesn’t know exactly how old she is, but she guesses low twenties. she hopes…

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Indonesia, the island of Palau Buru
Two warring City-States, Namlea & Namrole, with almost a half-dozen warring tribals filling the 15,000 sq mile buffer zone between them.
The C.S.’s are higher up on the tech tree than any tribals, and often holds “culls” on any subtribe that gets to close to city borders

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I could barely see, the light was so dim. the only source was a single candle, flickering with the soft rustle of our voices. the room is bare, except for an old wooden table and a small chair. the man sitting in the chair was breathing heavily, but weither that was due to our presence or his lacking health I couldn’t tell.

the noise was unlike anything I’d ever heard before - like a thunderbolt went off inside the metal, hitting our ears like an iron warhammer . there was a flash, lighting the room for the tiniest moment, bathing the room in a great light before the darkness rushed back. the man’s head gave dully smacked, first against the table, then finally on the dirt floor. blood rushed from the fresh wound, running out of his empty head as if to escape Death’s grasp.
I’ll never forget his face, his expression… it was terrified, the face of one who knows with absolute certainty that he is dead and nothing can change his fate. his mouth gaped, gasping for help from his executioner… his eyes pleaded, even after the blow was dealt…
looking into his face, watching the puddle of black blood grow from underneath his body… it was like staring into my own death, like I had been coldly put to death by Hiro’s weapon.
Hiro looked at me, his entire poise utterly devoid of emotion, save for ruthlessness.

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History, off the file of the Mastor Scholar of Terra Mecha:

“in the beginning, there was man, and though he was created by base nature, and therefore flawed, he was good. and through his intellegence, he flurished.

then, Man began to create, in emulation of it’s own God. and, seeing themslves as Gods, Man created Machine. machines Thought better than men, but did not Feel as Men, and as such, were less then and greater then Men. and, without the feelings of Man, Machine served Man faithfully.

Then, in hopes of creating something in Their Own Image both themselves & Machine, Men created the Biological. and Bio looked at it self, and saw that it was most like God in all Creation, and sook to slay both Men and Machine.

but with the introduction of ____, Machine fought back. the war between Machine & ____ laid waste to all life on Earth, leaving Men to gaze upon all it has created & weep.

now, we who are decended by Men weep for our past pride, and weep for our bleak future - a future void of all life.”

O.N.I.: Organic Nanotechnical Isomorph

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Carrion

…was born in the northern region of the Sacromento Valley. into a relatively small tribe of animistic hunter/gatherers. the year of his birth was that of Coyote, but this was not to be his totem animal. his mother was delusional for months before his birth, ranting and raving like a demon. often times she would run off, trying to escape to the woods. 9 months pregnant, she finally made it away from her husband & sister, dissappearing into the heart of the lightless woods.
Her passing was a time of great mourning for every tribesman, from elder to infant. But her death was esspecially difficult for her husband, who wouldn’t give up hope of finding her. every morning, he would hunt for her, and every evening he would weep.
he sees, at the foot of a creak, crows pecking at a human corpse. dozens, hundreds of crows, a murder of crows, dining on a feast of decayed flesh, swooping and diving, kawing and calling, black as the moonless night, black as the void… and a single gasp passes from his lips, at the sight of a baby, petting a crow and gurgling in innocence.
returning with the child, his child, the man asks for the wisdom of the elders. but the signs could not be ignored: cleary, he was a curse from their gods, a child of plague, madness and death to punsih them. But, the elders decided, they would accept the judgement of the gods, rather than further anger them by killing the child. and so, with his birth & his mother’s passing being marked by the crows, he became Kawir’in, literally Child of Crow.
Kawir’in was a sickly child, taking the last of the midwives’ milk and given only enough to survive. as early as 2 years old, he was left to his own devices, ignored by his elders & rejected by his peers. as soon as he could walk, he bagan wandering the lands.
as a young man, Kawir’in is thin - exceptionally so - with premature wrinkles and thinning grey hair. but these don’t directly threaten his fragile health, and so he continues to spend his time wandering far from his tribe, sometimes for weeks at a time.
on one such journey, Kawir’in was forced to take shelter inside the mouth of a cave. exploring the cave, Kawir’in came face-to-face with a god, told him not to run or he would devour his heart. then, the god advances on Kawir’in, and bites him on the cheek. Kawir’in knows, though, that to run would be his death, and his ancestors would drive him away as his tribesmen do, and so he stays with the god. the god watches Kawir’in, slowly chewing the flesh, savouring the flavor… finally, it names itself Corati, spitting out the flesh with his name.
Swiftly, like a great cat pounching on prey, Corati came upon Kawir’in, holding him high above the ground, choking his life-breath from him, and staring deep into Kawir’in’s eyes. Corati’s other hand moves like a snake, striking deep into Kawir’in’s chest, clawing into his heart. Corati look Kawir’in in the eyes, demanding his gaze, and tells him
“you shall be my hierophant and prophet, my avatar outside of this cave.” etc etc etc. Kawir’in returns to his tribe, but carries a ‘seed’ of Corati (literally) inside his heart. he can detect pregnancies, and (more importantly) cause un/successful births. he can also detect all sorts of neat things having to do with fertility - while he is “shooting blanks.” Corati tells him that when there are many women large with child in his tribe, he will devour their unborn children while the mothers wail and the fathers weep.

Corati is a Bio attempt at immortality. feeding off of the marrow of fetuses, Corati has been capable of living since the Fall of Man. said fetuses can be of any animal - birds, mammels, fish - whatever, but the larger, the better. Corati came upon Kawir’in still inside his dead mother’s womb, but decided that he would be a more usefull tool than meal (and the mom of said fetus must be alive?). he birthed kawir’in, set his mark upon the child and had the crows tend to him until he was found.

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the Shu bloodtype was created primarially for survival and quick adaption. while they were engineered to only produce 2 offspring copulation (like normal Lesser Bios), the Shu bloodtype quickly managed to “breed” that trait out (how is unknown to all but the Genisis). Average mothers have between 2-12 children, start giving birth around 15 and don’t quit until their late 40s (should they live so long). however, the Shu trait is still only carried on by males - Shu women can’t have Shu kids with a norm, while Shu men can.

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