Nation Idea: LA Oceania

[normalphil]

So this is more of an AH then. The simplest explanation for an oceanan core is that when the Capricorns disenigrated and then R'yleh fell, there were still some cut off far-flung Oceana deep-sea provinces that hadn't been swept up by the Illithids yet, and those won by default, with their main claim to fame being an organized force of tritons. Which had been years without stepping fin inside a kelp citadel, operating on a shoestring, and had been holding the (rapidly collapsing) line by recruiting and putting into the field whatever the hell they could get their hands on, in whatever fashion their desperate immenant-doom focused intellects could innovate at the time.

The Amber Clan collaberators are as you describe, only end up with the Oceanans and instead of the ruins of the R'lyeh empire for a reason; their act of successor-state mojo was to /get the hell out/ of the collapsing R'lyeh empire as it began to be consumed by insanity, chaos, and it started to become time to pay the piper with the millions of tritons and mermen they bought their continued survival from the Illithids by oppressing (massive disoranized pogroms, throughout the former R'lyeh empire). They present themselves as you describe. The fact that this definately wasn't their grandfathers' amber-clan is initially glossed over, and all sorts of embarassing questions about their current practices and inexplicably expanded abilities and tollerances are pointedly not asked.

The Amber Clan collaberators provide indispensible leadership and noble caste. The Oceanans provide an indispensible small population base for middle-management, organization, and bloodline.

The Ichtyids began as just one conscripted part of the cut-off Oceanan's ad-hoc force (along with the shark-riders, the cannon-fodder lesser tritons, and the what-have-you), and have bred back, and bred up. They're kept subdued with chains of religion, the Amber Clan has found fertile ground corrupting these primitives into something useful. Communion-slave units level, like Pythium has. Also, you could just scrap the ichtyid idea and use mermen.


I wouldn't include blood-magic; not really needed and it doesn't mesh well with under-water. Void-summons as battle-field independants can fill the niche, imagine Ichtyid priest-magi that can do /that/. (although if you're hung up on blood, well... Yog Sothoth-Neblod Zin, Zurorugos Yog-Sothoth. 50 virgins gets you a Vastness.)

[Sombre]

Well blood magic is useless underwater, yes. But then I want the nation to be able to clamber out of the water too, using the Ichtyids. Blood isn't a part of the Triton / Amber system at all, it's purely used by the Ichtyids they are manipulating and they are destined for amphibious land warfare, after all. It also makes LA Oceania, as an underwater blood using (but not blood economy) nation, very different from everyone else. I'm thinking Ichtyid shamans with H1 B1 and a 110% random of DBW and Ichtyid robed cultists as a secondary sacred troop type (the primary sacreds will obviously be Tritons).

I'll give them some underwater blood summons (Sharks!) new national spells and whatnot, but I'm not keen on giving them void creatures. I don't see LA Oceania as having a void based religion - even with the rather corrupt ambers leading them they still hate what Ryleh has done to their entire world and would like to 'fix' it and possibly close the portals to the void.

So far the races in the nation are:
Amber Tritons (upper class)
Oceanian Tritons (middle class)
Common Tritons (low class)
Mermen/Coastal atlantian slaves (lowest)
Ichtyids (regarded with distaste, but generally a seperate class)

When I said the ambers set about rebuilding ruins I don't mean Ryleh ruins, I mean the ooooooold leftovers of EA Oceania. That's why when the Oceanian tritons turned up there on a last ditch crusade looking for the promised land the Ambers were able to pretend they'd always been there (living the dream, since they're obsessed with racial purity and the past) and quickly assume control of the Oceanians. They claim that in ages past it was THEM not the Triton kings that ruled over the glory of Oceania (they may even believe this themselves).

[Nix]

I like the idea of LA Oceania being a sort of refugee-nation for all kinds of void-warped submarine creatures fleeing an imploding Rlyeh. Half-insane Ichthyids, Mermen, etc. all frantically piling up into heavily fortified caves and ancient Oceanian keeps which are being hastily organized by a warrior overclass of Rlyeh-hating Tritons (the remnants of the Amber Clan?).

[HoneyBadger]

I really like the ideas going on here.

I don't think there's anything wrong with blood-magic underwater. Blood, supposedly, is very close in consistency to sea-water, and ofcourse sharks are practically designed around the stuff.

EA Atlantis does have 1 single national summon-the giant fish. I'm hoping to rectify that in some way, in a mod, since I want to make them weirder-going with the Lovecraftian theme. I think they deserve more national spells, and I think I have a way to kinda-sorta have a very different EA Atlantis that's still pretty much the same.

I'm thinking that when the Illithid Star fell and shattered the Basalt Kings' Dark Crystal, it created a rift in the space-time continuum, which influenced and afflicted the Atlantians with the Void going back in time from the destruction of their civilization.

I thought I'd also mention that I've got Aboleths pretty well covered. I don't know if you were thinking of using them (ofcourse you're welcome to), but I'm in the process of modding a middle and a late age for them. Middle will be a sort of underwater Arabian Mamluk-culture. Late era isn't finalized yet, but I've got some work done on it.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from doing any kind of mod you want, ofcourse, I just wanted to let you know what I'm working on so that we didn't feel the need to duplicate each other's efforts just to "fill in some blanks".

A couple of ideas for your mod: I'd really like to see sacred shark knights, and an Amber Clan version of the Triton King (A Triton King decked out in that amber armor would be a really awesome graphic! Let alone a really powerful unit). And what about some kind of amber golem? Since they're amber-manipulators and golems don't have to breathe underwater. If they're relatively insane submarine creatures, do they have any surviving Agarthans among them? I hate to think they *all* went extinct. Maybe they just evolved to be more "fishy"?

[Sombre]

I'm bumping this because I just restarted work on it. Lots to do still. I'll update at a later date.