(Apologies for the long post)
Guys, I am not a writer by any means, but this afternoon I found I could not contain the need to write this very familiar ("Bradbury-ish") tale . . .
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Mars: First Contact (SF Storyline)
Contrary to popular thinking, Mars was a thriving and fertile planet until an unknown astronomical event a thousand years ago (perhaps a comet or asteroid) rendered the planet barren or nearly so. The air grew thinner and the weakened atmosphere caused most of the plant life to die off. The few plant species that did survive did so in tiny sanctuaries, such as in the deepest reaches of Valles Marineris, where the deep canyon overhangs prevented direct ultraviolet effects to the valley floor, except during the Martian high noon.
With the drastic destruction of habitat came the near-obliteration of all intelligent life on the planet. For millennia, this culture had reached a high level of sophistication, with cities, canals, temples and grandiose monuments. But it could not overcome by any means the chaos that followed "the event". Many considered it as punishment from the gods, for the gross arrogance they had come to display over their accomplishments.
"The event" nearly buried what had endured the ages. What little remained laid in ruins barely detectable from orbit.
But, as the masses died off, and the few remaining survivors found themselves victims of their own planet, small bands found refuge in the very same canyons and valleys that allowed the dwindling vegetation to survive.
The decline of their society followed a pattern similar to what happened in Easter Island (Rapa Nui) on Earth. With drastic weather changes and dwindling resources (though not as devastating as what happened on Mars), society became fragmented, wars ensued and few survivors remained.
And then came the first human colonists to the planet.
At first these human settlers, prospectors and terraformers did not even suspect that a sentient culture had once ruled the red planet. Then they began to find bones, bits of pottery and eventually, more apparent signs of cities and monuments. But wherever the humans went, they could not find signs of any still living creature on the planet, except for small patches of microscopic organisms barely clinging to life.
But, one day, a team was sent to explore the deepest reaches of the largest canyon ever detected in our solar system, Valles Marineris:
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As other forms of life were found, such as highly resilient plants and simple arthropods, the hope grew that more biological discoveries would be made in the canyon.
But, as they continued their explorations and surveys along the valley floor and the cliff faces, additional traces of the past inhabitans were discovered. However, what surprised them most was the incredible state of preservation of these "ruins".
And then, without explanation, one day communication with the teams working the canyon was lost, and they were never seen or heard of again.
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Here are the Bradbury-ish image that inspired me to come up with my gaming background:
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Those "Martian Chronicles" illustrations aren't all. Additional inspiration came from the many ideas for Martian ruins that TMP members provided me a while back:
TMP link
And also from the fantastic alien vegetation you guys are always coming up with, such as these:
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TMP link
TMP link
Valles Marineris is huge, so I am forced to think in terms of smaller figures. In this case, I've chosen 15mm.
For the prospectors/scientists in the canyon . . . well, that would be the GZG SG15-V10 Spacesuited crew (in light-duty vacc-suits – male and female, 8 assorted figures from 5 variants):
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These other guys could play the part of a few rogue and armed human intruders scavenging among the Martian ruins, or they could be the initial security personnel sent in to investigate the disappearance of the prospectors/scientists that first came upon the valley "ruins":
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And, when things really get way out of hand, these are the "tough hombres" called in to go in and settle things with the Martian survivors:
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What do you guys think so far? Any additional suggestions?
Thanks!
CC
PS. By the way, I have absolutely no idea what rules I would use for this.
And the next obvious question is who will make the cloaked and masked Martians:
TMP link
looks at a multi-period building.
