An Account of the Affairs of the Unfallen

Word Count: 475

BEGIN SUBMISSION:

A new desolation.
Once an enlightened planet, now a forsaken dearth.
We were of that place, yet we remain as it cannot be, Unfallen.
We traverse the heavenly lights, and our Ancients have dreamed their dreams,

"We have envisioned a thousand years of flowering.
A millennia of unfathomed growth.
Saplings, cradling our future in their boughs, stretching forth their sprigs toward their hopes,
And as their crowns tremble with ozone and glory, their elders bestowed upon them uncounted blessings."

The greatest of our guardians perceive the beckoning war path,
And the least of these our seed recognize a looming disgrace.
One scion of a brood feels an outpouring, yet the next of kin sorrows.
From the first forest to the farthest reaches, the commissioned prepare,

"Call upon the enlivened underlings of unclaimed spheres.
Make them ready to receive our younglings and our keepers.
Gather the forward scouts and make haste.
Herald to the poleis our coming rest."

But some who once observed to reel in subservience now aspire to try themselves against the law.
Where has the honor of a long suffering people fled in this impending age of dire circumstance?
Seek ever knowledge of the statutes ordained by no being and wisdoms of the most high order.
Why do our capable instincts this day take leave their betrayed and disadvantaged hosts?

"One aspiration to reject the ways of the Unfallen invites denial of our exceedingly profound fortitude.
Hear now this admonition, turn from your senseless warmongering,
Let us put the savor of conflict to trial and determine an action to reveal our fate.
Honorable consensus is the only forerunner to an expedient course."

The remnants of a newly Fallen world drift upon plumes of ash.
Many of our brethren continually stir the immortal Pith-Heart with words of vengeance.
They cry mightily of blistering flame and praise the pain of Falling as the pain of Sacrifice.
In preparation for war they murmur,

"The Demons raze this life-place after the fashion of their people.
When the noble ancients Fell they sank in the soil with moans of agony and a crack of doom.
Now, as the hive burns, every spore is herald to a coming rot.
Our past is become consumed by ravaging fire and our future filled with the embers."

Yet even as lingering Souls exude from flickering red in black masses,
Peace floods the Pith-Heart, but the Heart remains, bared to the pains of other nations.
The wise ones among us soothe our rage and stoke the spirit of harmony within.
In their tranquility they seek security, singing of the old path,

"Now, in the tradition of the elders, breath deeply the Soul of the Fallen and rise again.
This culling is finished.
These Demons never knew our world, but we grant them faith and time, they have known so little."

END OF SUBMISSION

Explanation, not a part of submission:

Some of the following clarifications are important for viewing this submission in a manner that does not conflict with previous developments made in the race creation process or specifics of the competition. If you are interested in the submission please review them briefly. Thank you.

The disposition of the population is peaceful, but I did not focus heavily on the pacifist standpoint because 1. a major race is already listed as being pacifist, and 2. the Unfallen are specifically labeled as "Dual-Natured" and can avoid war time penalties by electing militarist leaders.

For these reasons I tried more to develop the diplomatic aspect (if this race is similar to the amoebas this approach is more faithful too, as they always seem to declare war on me).

The descriptions of some of the racial abilities scream ecologist faction, but I stayed mostly away from that because it is not the concept presented by the contest.

The point of view is that of an Unfallen aboard a colony ship of survivors of a localized apocalypse who is giving consideration to the current state and future success of his species and pondering on various related assertions.

The two paragraph sections consist of an introduction to and an excerpt from 1. the premonitions of the eldest of the Unfallen seers, 2. orders given by custodians of colony ships in similar circumstances, 3. an interjection by the narrator, 4. orators debating in favor of militarist actions (order through martial law and so on), and 5. experienced elders of the species speaking in favor of a more conservative, pacifist approach.

The design of my submission most significantly provides a motivation for the Unfallen to desire an empire (and therefore have become one of the major factions vying for control).

The speaker and the individuals whom he quotes could be sourced for hero concepts, while quests are not clearly defined, enabling a system in which players can choose from variations depending on whether he or she favors the diplomatic or the all in militaristic approach enabled by the intricacies of the "War and Peace from the Senate" ability.

Some of the grammar will seem a bit off, mostly in ways that create ambiguity of tense, and especially in the address of the Ancients. This is deliberate, and designed to cause confusion as to whether the events recorded depict a historical event, an ongoing cycle, or even a prediction of a future conflict.

The majority of plant life is hermaphrodite, so I use gender neutral pronouns when referring to individual beings in order not to compromise characterization of this race in that way.

I would like to acknowledge the submission "Fallen (V1.2)" by Tlaloc, in which an interesting plot is developed and at least three incredible hero concepts are presented (these are both explained in some detail in the comment section).

I am promoting Tlaloc's submission in some form as a part of the extended backstory for the Unfallen race (in the case of it not directly winning the competition) with the argument that no race has only one source of conflict and have deliberately left room in much of the wording of my own submission to accommodate it if Tlaloc is okay with that (there are no infringements currently).

I worked under the following assumptions about the mechanics of the civilization:

This race has difficulty enacting vengeance because the death of their own releases a pacifying chemical (referred to as the Soul of the Fallen, the Fallen being those who have died [or been driven insane by infection, though this possible aspect remains unconfirmed at the time of submission]).

Since the Demons destroy the biosystems of entire planets, those of the Unfallen who survive but must flee into space are no longer exposed to the chemical, and are freed to avenge the Fallen of any wrong committed that led to the destruction.

The Demons are not solely an explicit reference to another race, or even necessarily living antagonists, only a devastating source of conflict, whether a series of ultimately disastrous decisions made by a faction of the Unfallen race, a chain of destructive natural calamities, or something else entirely, and may even assume multiple forms in varying situations, keeping in mind the ambiguity of time.

Some wish for someone to atone for their hardships, while others desire to maintain the safety and peace of their pacifist traditions.

Unfallen (a name referencing the biologically immortal [or near to it] nature of the race in terms of those who have not yet died of disease or conflict) are extremely cooperative among themselves (their incentive being that violence may deprive them of so much time or create permanent deformities and grudges).Due to this, those of differing opinions have not fractured into factions, instead working together and logically attempting to determine the overall most favorable course of action (three cheers for player interpretation and versatility).

One of the most significant conclusions that they have come to is that if they create an empire encompassing every race in the galaxy they can suppress war (as diplomats with drugs they are obviously good at that).

Despite the addictive nature of the Soul, Unfallen feel no temptation burn each other for pleasure or relief because their tolerance is extremely high due to their cells production and storage of it.

The distinction between Fallen and Unfallen is vitally important to the Unfallen viewpoint.

Unfallen are extremely reverent towards the oldest members of their race. The Unfallen tend to be respected more than the Fallen, and very few of the Fallen continue to be as highly regarded as before their Falling.

This prejudice and pride stems from the common Unfallen perspective that if an Unfallen lives in a correct manner it will never Fall (due to their massive lifespans). This belief is supported by the doctrines of many Unfallen sects. Thus the longer an Unfallen survives the more venerated it becomes.

The Sacrifice is the process of becoming a tool for exploitation by the race (including voluntary burning to protect a population).

Sentience is maintained even following the Sacrifice, so there must be something else that makes it a sacrifice-an Unfallen is capable of infinite growth, given time and resource; however, expanding their bodies necessitates expanding their vital organs, so they are unable to twist into a new form without major surgery (Sacrifice hurts), or reduce to a smaller form once beyond a certain extent of growth (such as becoming a starship) unless infused with dust before growth occurred (so heroes among the Unfallen are perhaps more versatile).

The Pith-Heart is a network comprised of an underground root system on a planetary surface or alternatively a connection through the biomatter of a starship that, while not necessarily a continual stream of integrate consciousness, allows for direct communication between individuals over large distances, similar to those developed by plants on Earth.

The Pith alone represents the physical facet of the connection, and the Heart (heartwood) represents the less tangible aspects.

Feel free to dissect and analyze this as intensely as you like. Let me know if you have any suggestions or want further elaboration, I appreciate it.

An Account of the Affairs of the Unfallen

Report comment

Report comment

Moderate comment

Annotate comment

Moderate proposition

Move proposition