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314d1
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314d1
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In our world, there was a roman philosopher named Hero, or Heron, depending on who you ask, who lived in the town of Alexandria. He was one of the greatest inventors of the ancient world, who had developed many inventions that where often ignored during their time. One such invention was the aeolipile, a steam engine.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Aeolipile_illustration.JPG

In the real world, the invention was almost entirely ignored, despite the potential of the engine, it was mostly used to open doors and such. In the world of the story, the invention did not go unnoticed.

When Hero built the steam engine, he then immediately saw it's usefulness. He had designed a cart that could spin using the engine, then perfected it. The engine was perfected, the carrier was perfected, and the whole world had changed. Cars and trains had developed around the world, with all of Rome sponsoring him, Heron was unstoppable. The trains and cars soon turned into giant horses of metal with running legs, moved by the rotating steam engines and made of bronze. Eventually even better weapons where made, steam guns, giant humanoids of metal, balloons and zeppelins, the world was revolutionized under the guidance of Hero. Before 100 ad, the world was revolutionized into a strange land. Using the new technology, Rome had conquered great lands, often to the south and middle east. But other nations had also risen to power, the Germanic tribes had stolen some of the technology and built a powerful and violent nation, uniting under one flag for the common cause. China had become an industrial power, using it's resources to trade Rome for it's ingenuity and metals in return for building their war machines, and many other nations had learned some of the simpler technologies second hand. The world had been changed forever, for better or worse.

But one day, the celebrated inventor Hero had vanished, a week after announcing his big project. No one knows what had happened to him, and all of Rome went insane looking for him. The senate (Which had been reinstated do to disputes with the current emperor) had offered a statue of pure gold to anyone who gave information of his whereabouts, but no one had found him.

So to recap for everyone who had skipped to the end, this is basically an ancient Roman steam punk.

Character sheet:

Name:
Age:
NationRome, China, or Germanic tribes)
Profession: (Something logical for your country of choice, for example if you choose China you could be a factory worker, or if you choose the Germanic tribes you could be a raider)
Inventory: (Go ahead and put 2-3 logical items for your job, I may change them if I find them to be overpowered or unfitting.)
Status: Normal

Well that is all for now, anyone want to play?

  • 29 Replies
draick
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draick
1,461 posts
Farmer

Name: Michael
Age: 24
Nation: Rome
Profession: Mechanic
Inventory: 2 silver, Wrench, toolbox, welder
Status: Normal

I get my things and lock the doors of my garage while I say "I'm sorry but I don't know anything. Anyways I have to meet a friend soon so if you will excuse me, I have to go."

ShadowArcher
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ShadowArcher
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Nomad

Name:Ii Machimori
Age: 17
Nation: China
Profession: Chinese General
Inventory: Kantana (Samurai Sword), Steam Matchlock Gun, New China's flag.
Status: Normal

I take out my katana and hold it gently to his neck and with my left hand I pull down my cloth mask and spat "You don't need orders, hey? Well then, without order no succession can be achieved!" I bring my katana up ready to slash off the boy's head, when my second in command hold's my arm, shaking his head and saying, "No."
I sheathed my katana, I looked at the small boy, "Expect a metsuke, Off with you now, Boy! or I really will kill you."
after he heads back I shout "Kai!" and a metsuke does a short bow and I say, "Bribe them, onto our team your limit is 5,000 Yen, ten bars of gold and one settlement just for them, named Fort Taiyo."
I pull up my mask and tell my second in command, this is partly stalling tactics for reinforcements and the injured to get well, If they accept I'm fine with that, I just want this threat over with, they should have low morale since their leader is now gone."

314d1
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314d1
3,817 posts
Nomad

Name: Michael
Age: 24
Nation: Rome
Profession: Mechanic
Inventory: 2 silver, Wrench, toolbox, welder
Status: Normal

You send the man out and throw down the large, metal bar that acts as a lock for your door. The door is thick and made of good wood, it would take a lot of effort to break down. You also block of the windows, witch are essentially open holes in your garage for letting out exhaust, with some hasty barricades. The windows will still be a weakness if you where actually attacked...

You gather up your supplies and prepare for what is next. You could skip town, and try to stay hidden. This could help you survive in the case some one is after you. As a mechanic you are unable to have a large beard, if you hide for a long enough time you will be unrecognizable with the beard of a fashionable Roman citizen. This does risk that they will find you in an unfamiliar town, or worse, on the empty road where they would have no trouble finding and eliminating you. You could take your car, and go to another city in Rome, or even another country if you are really worried. Or, if you are worried about your car being noticed, you could take the merchant's cart. The cart would technically be stolen, but it is larger than your cart and they could have your car under observation. Alternatively, you could stay in your garage at home, either barricading yourself in, or brushing this off as paranoia. What do you do?

------------------------------------------

Name:Ii Machimori
Age: 17
Nation: China
Profession: Chinese General
Inventory: Kantana (Samurai Sword), Steam Matchlock Gun, New China's flag.
Status: Normal

Your soldier came back swiftly with no progress. "They are dedicated to their cause," he said "I saw a few of them with kamikaze vests on. I could offer them a hundred times what you allowed, and still no progress would be made". You wave him off with your hand.

Your actual goal of gaining time was a success, partially. The dock men, working independently from you, managed to get two quilin mech out of the dock. The quilin is a short, weak mech, about the size of a horse. A single man sits in the seat, much like a horse as well, witch is almost completely undefended. It's weaponry consists of two machine guns, of a small caliber like often carried for base defense by humans. They lack aiming, do the the nature of the mech, but are often used for suppressing fire. Your men will have to drive it, since the dock workers lack the skills to.

In addition to the mechs, some of the troops in the area managed to deploy. With the new troops, you have double what you had before easily. Your tactics where rather successful.

Now what do you do? You now have enough forces to wipe them out, but you would take a decent amount of casualties. The strategy of attack would be up to you to decide. Alternatively you could think of something else to stall for time. The enemy still has many troops in the area, if you act fast you could still defeat them while you still have the advantage of numbers. But of course you have more, better armed troops, if you can wait significantly longer. What do you do?

draick
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draick
1,461 posts
Farmer

Name: Michael
Age: 24
Nation: Rome
Profession: Mechanic
Inventory: 2 silver, Wrench, toolbox, welder
Status: Normal

I search my garage for any materials I can use and start building a miniature mech.

314d1
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314d1
3,817 posts
Nomad

Name: Michael
Age: 24
Nation: Rome
Profession: Mechanic
Inventory: 2 silver, Wrench, toolbox, welder
Status: Normal

You sit around thinking of ways to get out of this situation when it hits you. A combat vehicle! That would be perfect! You quickly go and take tally of your materials. You don't have enough materials for the mech you wanted to build, just some scraps. You might be able to get a small engine out of the scraps, as well as a large metal box, but not a mech. You would need some more materials.

You quickly search for materials elsewhere. You then remember the cart. You could do several things to it, for example you could scrap it for materials to build a cheap mech, or you could modify it to be a tank. Both would technically be illegal, since it is not your property. The materials could be used to make a weak gun and to modify it for armor, but it would be difficult to run by yourself. A mech is difficult to make, with many complicated parts. A tank would be far simpler to make.

Other than the cart, the only thing you can think of to get parts from would be your car. But getting rid of that would mean you have no escape if you fail, and you would have to exit the garage to reach the car. Your car has several large engines, as well as some metal, but would be useful if you could get it in. What do you do?

draick
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draick
1,461 posts
Farmer

Name: Michael
Age: 24
Nation: Rome
Profession: Mechanic
Inventory: 2 silver, Wrench, toolbox, welder
Status: Normal

I go outside and bring my car in while I warily watch my surroundings.

ShadowArcher
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ShadowArcher
1,001 posts
Nomad

Name:Ii Machimori
Age: 17
Nation: China
Profession: Chinese General
Inventory: Kantana (Samurai Sword), Steam Matchlock Gun, New China's flag.
Status: Normal

I summon a Metsuke again, "Say I want a 16 year old female or a 18 year old male to come out here."
He does a short bow and runs over and delivers the message, I say to my second in command, when they come out were going to hold them hostage for a while doing some useless talks while we wait for heavy mechs like the Kunoichi mech and some Yari Samurai and Katana Samurai.

314d1
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314d1
3,817 posts
Nomad

Name: Michael
Age: 24
Nation: Rome
Profession: Mechanic
Inventory: 2 silver, Wrench, toolbox, welder
Status: Normal

You open the door and make a run for the car, weary of your surroundings and trying to lower the time spent outside. You jump in the drivers seat and flip the lever that turns on the car, jumping into action a few seconds later. Normally they take longer to get on, but you had just driven to work on it and the engine was still ready. You hid the levers forward fully, as the car was driven by two levers. If you push the right one, the car turns right. If you push the left one, the car goes left. Push both and the car goes strait. It is a method derived from the fact that the car has two engines, that are both controlled separately by the levers. It gets annoying on long trips, but usually works well.

Your car slams forward into action, and soon you arrive in your garage. You slam the door shut once again and throw down the latch, then sit down to catch your breath. Your adrenaline was running, your heart was pumping, and you where taking large gasps of breath. Being a mechanic does not leave a lot of room for exercise.

You throw open the hood and see what you can find. Your car has two good engines of a good size, as well as enough fuel to power them for a long time. It also has many of the pipes and such needed to control both the engines. On top of that, the car is also a good source of scrap.

Now that you have the car inside safely, what do you do?

-------------------------------------------

Name:Ii Machimori
Age: 17
Nation: China
Profession: Chinese General
Inventory: Kantana (Samurai Sword), Steam Matchlock Gun, New China's flag.
Status: Normal

Your eyes follow your messenger, but he does not get close enough to delver the message. Out of the city came three large carts, about the size of the average man and as thick as two horses, filled with enemy soldiers. The carts seem to be modified merchant vehicles, with some extra modifications added. Each one has spikes on the bottom, and each appears to have two small caliber machine guns on a rotating plate. It also seems that the armor was modified to be thicker, and a roof of sorts was added with slits for the defenders to fire threw. Each one probably carried between twenty and thirty soldiers, but you can' see the numbers properly.

The carts rush past your troops, with all of it's guns and the guns of the troops inside firing, as well as it simply mowing down your troops with it's wheels, doing a ton of damage to your troops. Dust flies into your face when a machine gun strafes right around you, killing a man to your left. The carts are fast, about as fast as charging horses, and the run was soon over. You notice that the carts take a decent amount of time to turn, after they passed you.

You also notice that a wave of people was starting to come out of the building. The initial invaders are taking up the offense again, at first as a trickle, but now all of them are charging at your men. As well, men are jumping out of the carts during the wide turns, unloading a decent amount. Negotiations have broken down, and the fighting has started again.

What do you do now? The carts could easily be considered your biggest threat, the tore threw a good part of your men. The small fire that the quick teams brought is not going to be enough to bring it down easily, but a few of your men have small anti-personnel grenades. You heard rumors that one of your men may have a flask of Greek fire that his wife had given him as a present, and that could easily defeat a cart. But that man would be hard to find, if he is still alive, and the grenades would be difficult to get into a position to do damage. They can't penetrate the armor, but if you managed to get one into the slot from close range you may be able to kill the personnel and ruin the interior. Other than that, you still have several of your Yari who are good shots. You might be able to get a bullet threw the slots and kill the driver, if you organize your men right and get lucky. But that might be able to slow them down enough to do something before a new driver takes his place. But that would be difficult, as hitting a moving target that small from any distance would be. The carts have the advantage in the field, so you could change fields. You could retreat your men to the dock, where you will have some turrets and some of the already made cover, if you hurry you can do it before the carts make another run. But that would leave you trapped if the foot soldiers managed to break threw. You could also go to the city, where you would have the height advantage. Grenades would be easier to lob and the roof is made so that they can not fire up easily. But that would risk civilian lives, as well as leaving the dock exposed. You could also retreat to the forest, witch will give a little bit better protection and cover, as well as making it more difficult for the carts to move, but you would have to get past the carts and the troops deployed by them first.

While the carts are a large problem, it could be argued that the foot soldiers are a bigger problem. There are a ton of them, and they have the advantage of surrounding you. If you don't act fast they will have you wiped out just as well as the carts would. What do you do?

ShadowArcher
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ShadowArcher
1,001 posts
Nomad

Yari means "Spear" in Japanese...

314d1
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314d1
3,817 posts
Nomad

Yari means "Spear" in Japanese...


Whatever. Sharpshooters. I don't speak Japaneze.
ShadowArcher
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ShadowArcher
1,001 posts
Nomad

Japanese*, and I'll just pretend you said sharpshooters.

314d1
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314d1
3,817 posts
Nomad

Japanese*, and I'll just pretend you said sharpshooters.


That was intintionle...I have frie fxo speel chck, I know when I missspelll thinhs.
ShadowArcher
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ShadowArcher
1,001 posts
Nomad

Sow dow eye

draick
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draick
1,461 posts
Farmer

Name: Michael
Age: 24
Nation: Rome
Profession: Mechanic
Inventory: 2 silver, Wrench, toolbox, welder
Status: Normal

I check if I can make a good mech using the materials from the cart, my car and the materials in my garage.

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