SG Revised Lore Concept (Unfinished)

[Mudskipper]

EDIT: Added Reavers to the Wiki. Feel free to remove them if they don't work.

EDIT 2: Lepimorphs look somewhat like this: http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/ ... 4kbpsd.jpg

Yes, they ARE based (very loosley ) on the "Mothman" urban legend.

After reading Snowdrop's revised Shadow Guild/[Insert Name Here] concept, I quickly saw a lot of the issues with the previous ideas kicked around, as pretty much any spin put on the previous incarnations of the faction still made them look like bad Star Wars villains. The term "Guild" also doesn't really work given the fact that the faction now appears to be a society of nomadic refugees from a country outside Wesnoth that grew over time.

Some of the ideas I previously posted still work (such as multiple groups within SG, evil sages, etc), but the basic concept is getting a total overhaul, and my additions will also be changed to fit the new lore, something I feel is for the best. (In fact, the only reason I even called them the "SG" is because we still haven't figured another name out yet.)

This time, I'll simply be writing the backstory as a few basic paragraphs, so I can edit it with ease, as opposed to the italicized and stylized stuff in my previous entry. Once suggestions/revisions ahve been posted, I'll work on the Wiki and submit an outlined and drafted peice of work for your consideration if you decide to incorporate a "Lore" page on the main site.

Once again, this is all a very early concept, and I'll be more than happy to adjust the lore if anything seems redundant, out of place or in conflict with the game mechanics.

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So basically, the SG (Before they became the SG) originally lived in a country far beyond Wesnoth (Known as the "Voidlands" there). They were either a nomadic society or an established kingdom/empire until a strange man claiming to be a "bringer of truth" arrived in their territories. The man was a Reaver* Master, a mage with the power to turn ordinary people into horrible, disfigured beings known as "reavers". These reavers were controlled by the Master via a psychic symbiosis that allowed the him to directly control his new minions by either telepathically giving them orders or directly possessing them, resulting in the widespread looting and destruction of the pre-SG society by its own (corrupted) members.

The curse spread like a plague, infecting and corrupting several of the pre-SG towns/cities/encampments, forcing the inhabitants to flee the country and seek new territories. Among the survivors were those who contracted the telepathic capabilities of the curse, but remained immune to its full effect. These men became pariahs among the survivors, and were subsequently chosen as leaders from that point on. Under their power, the SG was formed, and as they traveled far and wide for a new home, other races afflicted by Reavers, disease or societal discrimination joined the pre-SG humans. This resulted in a nomadic society of humans, elves, goblins, lepimorphs (moth-monster people. because.) and dwarves who were bound by faction loyalty and a disdain for the tyranny of kings and empires.

As the SG continued to flourish outside the reach of the mighty Empire, several sub-factions were formed, the largest and most influential of which was the Children of the Moon**. Led by the former bandit leader Jorrath Morneau, it sought to improve the relations between the SG nomads and the other factions, which were at best, shaky.

The empire in particular felt that the SG represented everything in life they stood against, as the general acceptance of practices, religions and races deemed "unclean" by the empire were often tolerated or encouraged by SG nomads. To make matters worse, a group of SG Fanatics known as the Priesthood of Nightmares began committing atrocities against Imperial subjects. Attacking their children, livestock and property, the Preisthood worshipped fear itself, whom they belived was fully manifested in the form of "He Who Sits on The Black Throne". Though the Children of the Moon and other SG tribes denounced the Preisthood as a destructive cult, The Empire quickly retaliated against all SG members, claiming they were "disgusting vermin". Several sackings and raids of known SG communities followed suit, forcing Jorrath Morneau and his followers to flee, seeking asylum in the long-abandoned caves of the ancient Mountain Trolls.

Those within the SG unfortunate enough to have stayed behind were ruthlessly and publicly executed by burning, hanging and the gillotine, having been blamed for every major calamity and disater that happened. One of these victims was a Reaver Infiltrator, created to follow the SG refugees until they came across a large concentation of potential victims. Disgised as a frail old, man, the infiltrator was, along with dozens of SG members, accused of "black magic"; the punishment being an iron maiden. As the spikes, pierced his flesh, the Infiltrator suddenly exploded, spreading a gaseous black cloud containing the dark energies of the reaver curse, infecting hundreds of Imperials who quickly went berserk. As the Reaver curse ran rampant among the Imperial territories, The Preisthood of Nightmares made their move and smuggled several infected humans into quarantined zones, making this the deadliest pandemic in Wesnoth's history.

After a decade of horrific deaths and destruction, The Empire's influence was all but ended, and an aged Jorrath and his loyal followers once again ventured forth to settle new land, unaware that the reavers, now hidden in the dark forests and barrows, were merley biding their time till they once again heed their's master's call for blood.

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Not as fancy as the last one, but a bit easier to edit, if need be. The reason I added the "Reavers" (*Or Plaguewalkers, Voidwalkers, Revenants, Wights or The Dirge if any of those names sound better), was that the "plague rocks from outer space" thing suggested earlier sounded suspiciously close to a certain George Romero movie that inspired a certain movie moster that you might have heard of. I'm sure it was unintentional, but I think the idea of Reavers (or some other magically-engineered sickness) allows for the possiblity of Reavers/Evil to appear in future expansions as factionless (or SG if used by Nightmare) creature cards with an "infect" mechanic. I've also totally axed the "mafia" analogy, references to "necromancers" or "dark mages" and completley ignored the skellies. They're still there, I just think giant mothmen are WAY cooler personally. Feel free to edit those guys out if you don't like them though.

**Also, not sure about "Children of the Moon". I just used that as a placeholder title, as I'm still not sure what the SG will officially be called yet (I'm persoally leaning towards "The Voidwalkers")

[Rest Coming Soon!]

[Mattaiyah]

Sorry it took so long to reply, I got a little busy. This is a written without reading past the current point, so I apologize in advance for errors.

lived in a country far beyond Wesnoth (Known as the "Voidlands" there).

Stop. I realize that the name is a placeholder of sorts, but nobody in their right mind would call the place they lived "The Voidlands". Mabye they did after the corruption, but what was it called before then? The people of the Shadow Guild would refer to it under that name, so it's important.

The man was a Reaver* Master, a mage with the power to turn ordinary people into horrible, disfigured beings known as "reavers". These reavers were controlled by the Master via a psychic symbiosis that allowed the him to directly control his new minions by either telepathically giving them orders or directly possessing them, resulting in the widespread looting and destruction of the pre-SG society by its own (corrupted) members.

Remember that the Shadow Guild uses the undead. While we can object about the diffrences between an infected an a zombie all day, there's also skeletons to consider. You know, the brainless, soulless mass of bones that can't be controlled telepathically? Please don't say telekinesis as an answer, because people with the ability to field an army of skeletons are strong enough to level cities.

Also, what happened to this guy? Did he die or something?

Among the survivors were those who contracted the telepathic capabilities of the curse, but remained immune to its full effect.

First, for future lore, remember than being immune does not mean that you can't be a carrier.

Second, the whole plague thing causes a lot of problems. If it's so virulent, why doesn't a SG member just walk in a city (see previous point)? If it's stopped spreading, how are new members joining? If it's been controlled, why hasn't it been weaponized, and are they hypocritical enough to actually use it to create new members? Right now, they all seem like a bunch of idiots with nuclear missiles.

These men became pariahs among the survivors, and were subsequently chosen as leaders from that point on.

You need to look up a dictionary.

lepimorphs (moth-monster people. because.)

Actually, why? I can't really see what there is to gain from adding a new race. If there is a need for a winged SG member, we can just use a corrupted drake or gryphon. If you wanted something interesting, you could probably come up with a half-zombie of sorts, born from a womOH GOD WHY WAS I ABLE TO THINK ABOUT THAT THROWING UP

bound by faction loyalty and a disdain for the tyranny of kings and empires.

Please explain why people in the SG hate such things.

several sub-factions were formed, the largest and most influential of which was the Children of the Moon

If this actually remains relevent, remember to actually give characterization to the other faction.

This means don't make them clones of the main one.

Actually, what happens during a fight between 2 factions? Do the SG members try to take over the other's forces? That would be rather interesting.

Jorrath Morneau

I've mentioned this before, but naming a guy Bob Kr'trkel is a horrible idea.

2 entire paragraphs about the Empire not liking the Shadow Guild

DING, DONG, IT'S TIME FOR THE WITCH HUNTS!

Sorry, but the whole "witch hunt" thing is just so generic that it's painful. You'll need to work hard to not make this generic. These guys live in a world where people can rain down lightning, but psychics? That's unacceptable!

As the Reaver curse ran rampant among the Imperial territories

So the CotM aren't evil enough to to this, but the PoM and the Reavers are? Actually, why haven't they done this before they were getting prosecuted?

After a decade of horrific deaths and destruction, The Empire's influence was all but ended, and an aged Jorrath and his loyal followers once again ventured forth to settle new land, unaware that the reavers, now hidden in the dark forests and barrows, were merley biding their time till they once again heed their's master's call for blood.

First, change the Empire's name. There's already a faction with that name in Wesnoth's lore.

Second, who are we playing? The CotM don't seem like the masters of the undead that they're supposed to be.

[snowdrop]

The direction Mudskipper took it into is an unholy blend from previous stories, existing background stories and some other instructions topped of with his epic-high-fantasy-style Meaning, it's hard as hell to mix everything up, make all happy and actually produce anything that is worth a while.

The notion that the faction (actually more kind of "people") of the SG are somehow not liked by most people and unwelcome immigrants was mine and it is easiest described as the situations for the jews all over europe during middle ages ore there about, or witches and the inquisition. While generic, I still think it's less so than most of the stories found in pretty much any CCG around, and I think them being just villans or a bunch och sad mages that wreck havock is even more generic. At least the immigration concept touches upon the overall theme of the game: Scarcity, living conditions, a world in change and need, a time of turmoil where people are forced to run for their lives and so on.

The Empire won't change name as it's called just the Empire. Mudskipper didn't invent it - it's in our wiki I have played Wesnoth plenty and never seena faction called "The Empire" in it, but maybe it's because I only played MP and never did any campaigns. Even if it did exist in Wesnoth we would still use it.

As for new additional species it's a no-go in the core set: We have probably also included it somewhere in the design documents that we rather have richer and broader, more extended, cultures and species/people than to add plenty of highly-specialized and "flat" species with little story or material around them. It's a matter of depth and resources, and the two have a connection. Once we really have explored the already available factions enough we can move on and introduce new species (which isn't the same as new factions) as parts of them. There were for example designs already made for a new one resembling some kind of forrest-fantasy-version of a protoss zealot drawn and available in the dropbox.

I and Mudskipper spoke on IRC some day ago about styles and I suggested I'll write up the SG-story soon(ish). I think he put in a nice effort and that some of the concepts could be used elsewhere if toned down a bit and made less epic, for example in interactive fiction.

Lastly, SG will change name as well to reflect they won't be the Sopranos or a bunch of evil maniacs that just cuddle with undead.

[Mudskipper]

The direction Mudskipper took it into is an unholy blend from previous stories, existing background stories and some other instructions topped of with his epic-high-fantasy-style Meaning, it's hard as hell to mix everything up, make all happy and actually produce anything that is worth a while.

I'm loving your usage of the word "unholy blend". It makes me feel like some mad scientist frankensteining together all these scraps of lore

That being said, I totally agree with what needed to be cut. Now that I've gotten on IRC and gotten to know the direction in which you're taking the game, I've got a better idea of what kind of setting you're going for, lore-wise. From what I can tell, mythological and magical creatures within a low fantasy
(ie, Conan, Game of Thrones) setting, emphasizing the struggles between the factions as opposed to a more LotR-style "darkness will rise, hero will stop it" type thing. I actually like this better, since the game is easier to explain that way. It's less of a "put on my robe and wizard hat" type thing and more of an extreme game of War set within a very rich backstory.

Anyway, back to SG. From what I gathered, this stuff is confirmed:

The SG/Umbra were a race of foreign people that came to wesnoth after a disease or curse wiped out most of their civilization

The disease/curse did not kill everyone, and those that survived gained mind-transferring powers

As they traveled towards IMP territories, they picked up other races/species and expanded quickly

Their growth prompted the attention of the Imperials, who believed that they were evil or possessors of dark magic due to their abilities. They were ostracized and blamed for society's ills, leading to conflict

Additions of mine that might actually add to that are:

The SG has multiple organizations within, some horrific and fanatical, other attempting to make peace with other factions

One of these factions is essential pre-revision SG, using skeletons, monsters and summoned nightmares to attack imperial settlements

The diversity of races within the SG stirred up old prejudice amongst Imperials, thus adding fuel to the(literal and metaphorical) fires of hate

Additions that are fully removed or reserved for later

Lepimorphs, otherwise known as the Moth People (They added nothing of value to the plot)

Reavers as the cause of SG abandonment of old country (They are VERY complicated, and would make a better expansion creature if at all implemented)

Jorrath Morneau. It's a stupid name and I feel stupid just typing it

Return of the disease as a weakening of the Empire - If Imps had THAT many enemies and a pandemic to boot, they'd be conquered by the time the Reaver outbreak was over.

Overall, not a WHOLE lot can be gained from that revision of mine, but I came into this project knowing stuff would end on the cutting room floor, and now I've got a better idea of the setting and tone. The additional information will help me work with Misty Nights, lore, etc in the future.

Aaaand, that's another long post. Looking forward to seeing your wiki edits!