Legions of Steel Forum

Legions of Steel => History and Fiction => Topic started by: Clark on March 26, 2011, 01:03:40 AM

Title: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Clark on March 26, 2011, 01:03:40 AM
I got the inspiration to write an Infranite story.  It is actually set well before the LOS era.

What I need is a plethora of tribes and a 10 word  description of their mentality.

It will all make more sense as I get further with this.

I do not intend to use the tribes in the game, but if so then anyone responsible will get full credit.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: sergeant_hastp on March 26, 2011, 10:27:10 PM
Going to need an example.  The '10 word description' is a little vague.

Do you just want 10 individual words, or a sentence of less than 10 words...or...
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Clark on March 27, 2011, 11:49:45 AM
One or two non-run-on sentences would be good although two sentences will almost certainly be more than 10 words.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Katharsis on March 27, 2011, 10:15:44 PM
Clark, I always wanted to read a 'back story' on the full page Infranite illo i did... the one with the warrior chief in the throne of machine parts. (probably my fav infranite pic!)
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: grendeljd on March 28, 2011, 09:59:51 AM
Clark, I always wanted to read a 'back story' on the full page Infranite illo i did... the one with the warrior chief in the throne of machine parts. (probably my fav infranite pic!)

THAT would be cool. Its a great image.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: sergeant_hastp on March 28, 2011, 02:14:31 PM
Tribe Kravk'maka
Trust the fire and the audacity of the young.


Tribe Tulkvarric
Traditional, inflexible, they yearn for the old ways.

Tribe Feyyid utkal
Respected as the peacemakers between feuding tribes.



Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Kindred on March 28, 2011, 02:44:42 PM
I think it would be cool, if the Infranites are to be tribal based, to base their language on Apache/Navajo...

http://www.native-languages.org/navajo.htm#language (http://www.native-languages.org/navajo.htm#language)

Łizhiní Tł'éhonaa'éí (Black Moon)
specializing in infiltration and fast deployment, the Black Moon tribe dominates the Infranite infiltration and scout squads
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Katharsis on March 28, 2011, 04:12:45 PM
i don't know if this helps but, the only northamerican indian language to be written is Ojibway. Any Infranite writing that i drew that is NOT symbolism is based on Ojibway but, i always concidered them to be similar to the plains indians of Apache/Navajo!
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Kindred on March 28, 2011, 04:18:32 PM
interestingly enough...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabaskan_languages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabaskan_languages)

there is a common root for a large chunk of the western "native american" languages.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Clark on March 29, 2011, 08:00:43 PM
I think there have been some sci-fi movies where the aliens were speaking Amerindian.  I can't remember which one.

I don't have a problem with shamelessly borrrowing from the language in the mostly-illiterate way we did with Russian/Cyrilic and Fantasian.

For the particular story, I think collaboration would be enhanced if I wrote the first section to set the scene, because it will make more sense in terms of coming up with new tribes.

Dave, the burning question I have is: WTF is fido, there?!  The other thing is the statue: is it a human or Infranite?  Hard to tell as it is, er, made out of stone.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Clark on March 29, 2011, 09:57:37 PM
This is like a voice recording of the people on the scene.  It is poor style but I hope you can follow the story.


They were deep in Roakfel territory.  But this was not a decisive invasion, but part reconnaisance and part recovery.  The shamans had visons of three mountains that collectively beared a gift to defeat the Roakfel, but those mountains were in enemy territory.  A combination of politics, tradition and other pragmatic considerations made the expedition necessary, but not involving an overwhelming force.

Two mountain lay behind them.  They had defeated waves of enemies, secured the target, and mined samples.  They had the black and yellow, now they just needed the white one.  However, the cost had been great.  They had lost half their numbers and now the Roakfel had amassed a defensive force in their path to the third mountain.

The war party was larger than most with seven sisters.  They contemplated the coming battle out loud while their warleader got his instructions.

“This is madness as it was from the beginning.”
”And yet you came.”
“The madness of men; The madness of powerful men.”
“And they followed the women, the powerful women.”
“Madness.”
“There is one more mountain.”
“One mountain, not a lot of warriors.”
“And we are them.”
“We are too far from the sea, and we have too far to go. Well, not so far, but a long way back.”
“Not so far, but a lot of terrain and enemies.”
“And that is the nature of battle: distance, terrain, enemies.”
“I’m not sure about this battle.”
“As always: the powerful women lead the powerful men. . .into madness.  And we are the warriors, who follow them.”
“More madness?”
“Of course!”
“Sister, I hope you are wrong.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The battle for the third mountain was a Pyrric victory.

“Stop your weeping!”
“But we have lost our warleader!”
“We bury him here, on the mountain. Do you have the samples?”
“Yes, Sister.”
“Then we bury him here and return to the sea, with the samples.”
“But we have lost our warleader!”
“I AM THE WARLEADER! Does anyone dispute the tradition? Does anyone stand-and-face?”
.
“I thought not. We bury him here.  We return to the sea. We give the old witches their samples.  If they are right, then victory is ours.”
“You were told?”
“I was told enough.  We return with the sample and victory is ours.  Sisters, we will be known as the Ni’al’ Niekee (bringers of victory) and we shall have our choice of a new warleader rather than being sold off. . “
“That’s harsh. . “
”But true, my Sisters. . .and our children will be known as the Niekee.”
“Warleader, the main force has been obliterated and the remaining elements scattered.  We are alone with a three day journey to the sea.  Between us and the refuge of the sea are a dozen tribes, some of which are aligned with the Roakfel, some of which have their own desires, and some of which have been mad since the cataclysm. “
“But why shouldn’t we prevail?”
.
“Then we have a three day journey that we will complete, because we are warriors; we are the Niekee, my Sisters.”
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Katharsis on March 29, 2011, 11:34:45 PM
Well, asking the 'artist' to talk about his artwork.... floodgates open!
Marble statue, marble walls and marble stairs - kind of in style of the Roman Republic/Athenian Greece. 'Fido' is simply some sorta indigenous animal, nothing crazy, just a beast!
The statue is an Infranite, but highly stylized. The idea i had was that its an ancient culture and this 'leader' and honourguard are the newblood... hence the throne. It was not part of the original architecture except the base, the machine and empire pieces are 'trophies'.
(for the record: the words above translate to "our grandmothers" and the rest of the text is an homage to the mothers of the tribes) my thoughts were that this would be a shrine to the original tribe - before the scism as a reminder that ALL tribes are one.
Marco and i agreed that it was going to be a matriarch society and that the warriors would do their best to keep important women from battle, even though Everyone trains for combat.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: sergeant_hastp on March 30, 2011, 07:23:05 PM
Clark...

that was....incomprehens ible.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Clark on March 30, 2011, 08:34:50 PM
Yes, stream-of-consciousness dialogue can be like that.  I will update that post with names and exposition so it will make more sense.

And I now have a database of over 500 Native American names to choose from, if anyone else is interested.

But while I am working on making the whole of the introduction more intelligible, concentrate on this passage:

“Warleader, the main force has been obliterated and the remaining elements scattered.  We are alone with a three day journey to the sea.  Between us and the refuge of the sea are a dozen tribes, some of which are aligned with the Roakfel, some of which have their own desires, and some of which have been mad since the cataclysm. “

That is why I need a bunch of tribal conceptions.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Arfiel on March 30, 2011, 11:19:17 PM
I think a cannibal tribe would be good.
The classic eating your enemies gives you their strength.


A tribe that runs strongly on superstition.
"we do no battle when the red tur flies south in the morning sun"


the traditionalists
they forsake the advantages of new technologies but seem to have super natural insight, and the luck of the gods.


The elementals
have a magical command over the basic elements (air, fire, water and earth)


My pain brings me strength
A tribe that is rich in scarring and self mutilation as a form of proving ones strength and cleansing the soul.


The balanced tribe
have an equal balance of young warriors struggling for change balanced by traditional elders.


The druids
A tribe that uses drugs, fasting , and spiritual journeys to bring them closer to the land and animals that support their life.


warriors for god
a tribe that always fight for what is "right" according to the gods.



There are a few general ideas. I didn't include names due to the fact that a random generator could do that.
They are a little generic and one dimensional but sometimes a list helps with the creative stuff.

Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Clark on March 31, 2011, 09:35:53 PM
Marco and i agreed that it was going to be a matriarch society and that the warriors would do their best to keep important women from battle, even though Everyone trains for combat.

The whole matriarchal/patriarchal thing got really twisted once I got my hands on it.  Women make up about 85% of the population and virtually all of the shamans (psychics) but men have an honoured, revered, and leadership position within the society.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Scoutzout on April 01, 2011, 09:47:52 PM
I always thought African tribes were a good source of names. There is a list of 7400 names here

http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20Tribal%20Names%20-%20African%20Tribe%20Names.htm (http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20Tribal%20Names%20-%20African%20Tribe%20Names.htm)

When I was building my Infranite storyline, I named my War Leader after an adult male lion I saw on a National Geographic special
Eetwidomayloh (He who greets with fire.)
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: grendeljd on April 06, 2011, 04:31:03 PM
Well, asking the 'artist' to talk about his artwork.... floodgates open!
Marble statue, marble walls and marble stairs - kind of in style of the Roman Republic/Athenian Greece. 'Fido' is simply some sorta indigenous animal, nothing crazy, just a beast!
The statue is an Infranite, but highly stylized. The idea i had was that its an ancient culture and this 'leader' and honourguard are the newblood... hence the throne. It was not part of the original architecture except the base, the machine and empire pieces are 'trophies'.

The statue was the one thing that didn't quite fit the feel of the rest of the image to me - now that you describe it as roman/greek inspired, I would say that influence was maybe too strong? It always looked like a sculpture of a human to me, which was actually intriguing in its own right... but I love the overall look of the marble 'temple'.

I also like the concept of the 'Newblood' in front of the old, that overall concept shines through the piece, right down to the bullet holes across the stairs.  And the throne is bad-ass cool, hands down. :)
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: smokingwreckage on April 12, 2011, 06:33:12 AM
Clark: maybe I'm crazy but I followed the dialogue easily enough. Cool.

I'm going to add wildlife to my infranite army: Heresy Miniatures' "Hellhounds". I can't paste a link, sadly, but you can google 'em up easily enough.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Kindred on April 12, 2011, 10:03:21 AM
why can't you post a link?  the link restriction is only on users with fewer than 5 posts

http://www.heresyminiatures.com/ (http://www.heresyminiatures.com/)
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Arfiel on April 12, 2011, 10:57:12 AM

I'm going to add wildlife to my infranite army: Heresy Miniatures' "Hellhounds".


That seems pretty cool, they look tough enough for the infranite home world.
I would be interested to see what kind of modifiers you give them though.
An unarmoured beast in a powered armour war.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: grendeljd on April 12, 2011, 11:34:48 AM
I'm going to add wildlife to my infranite army: Heresy Miniatures' "Hellhounds".

Yeah, they look much like the beastie in Dave McKays throne pic... coolness! I happened to notice there were 'Hellbeasts' in there that re the critters from Ghostbusters... also awesome. And somehow I picture those 'Hellmites' being on Infranite worlds too - feeding on rocks or something, lol!

I am sensing a thread here... first the Terminator/Nightmare image, then the Samoan/Fantasian, and now the Hellhound/Infranite doggie... Dave, you shameless rip-off artist!!!!! I held you up in such esteem, and now I am crushed!!!!  [LOL - Totally joking, of course!!!]
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: smokingwreckage on April 13, 2011, 06:11:45 AM
Yeah he ripped off Heresy from fifteen years into the future, that bastard.

I couldn't paste because my PC is suffering terminal illness of some sort.

So i borrowed my wife's laptop, which doesn't have working spellcheck. Sorry fofr teh horible spellingg.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Kindred on April 13, 2011, 09:53:32 AM
:)  ok, as long as it's not an issue with the website. BTW: The forum has a spellcheck option built in. :)
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Katharsis on April 13, 2011, 01:56:12 PM
Very nice, guys! lol
I have seen many things since i started freelancing so many years ago... I roughly started in 1988/89. There have been many artists and companies that have either been inspired by, or totally ripped off another artist/company! I put out some art in the early '90s that showed up almost line for line in a comic book... the company i did the work for was pissed to say the least! I, however, was incredibly flattered.
I've been to quite a few conventions (like GenCon) where other artists have complimented my art and said that it had inspired them - and, just so i'm not tooting my own horn - i've overheard others say the same of both Tom and Wes as well.
Oddly enough, you don't hear of too many writers of games complaining that they got ripped off! (unless they're from GW!)
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Clark on April 13, 2011, 02:59:48 PM
One gaming blogger was salivating at the idea of an open gaming system based on LOS, saying it would be just so "anti-GW".
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Vok Ytalinov on April 21, 2011, 06:42:06 PM
  The Infranite language I used was actually a series of pictograms representing phonetic sounds, many of which had English correspondents.  It was called Omishkago(?) Cree.  I just subbed these characters in for the English, similar to Fantasian pseudo Cyrillic/Glageolithic.  Dave and Marco made up the # system, so far as I remember.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Katharsis on April 22, 2011, 10:57:59 AM
That's right, Tom! I still have most of the sketches still... it's nice to look over some of the thought processes and its also interesting to see some of the failed attempts or even the unused ones that are still good ideas!
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: Clark on April 29, 2011, 10:03:15 PM
But will it be as popular as Klingon?  :-*
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: rcbecker1 on March 20, 2012, 08:39:29 AM
I always thought the infranite language was more insectoid.
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: grendeljd on March 22, 2012, 10:29:52 AM
I always thought the infranite language was more insectoid.

Interesting idea - not sure if it suits them, being stone-like people though...

I always imagined them having rather gravelly voices - not overly creative, I know :)
Title: Re: Infranite Tribes and their Warriors
Post by: bobloblah on March 22, 2012, 10:31:58 AM
That's what I hear in my head when I think of them, too...gravel.