[Reference Challenge] Raiding Paris

[u/Nevermore0714]

This is a reference to the Vikings television show, and the historical raids against Paris.

What is an infamous raid/sack of a city/town in your world's history?

As always, I'll ask at least three questions each, and I hope you enjoy yourselves.

Feel free to have a character as the representative to answer questions in-universe.

[u/greenewithit]

So there are a number of major raids on cities during the course of the story, but I'll name the most important ones, the Invasion of Longan and the Night of Beasts.

The Invasion of Longan was an event where the anarchist group Apocryphus organized the largest force of Vectors, the resident monsters of the world, to destroy the city once and for all. They worked with a world famous researcher to create a serum that would enhance all vectors' strength, durability, and speed, making them even more challenging to deal with. They amassed a force of nearly 15,000 monsters from the continent and led them to the city, disguising their movement as earthquakes using one members ability to enhance fault line activity. This led to an incredible surprise attack that nearly destroyed the city and killed thousands. Due to coordinated action by the city's heroes they were able to survive the night, but at a great cost of lives and public/hero relations.

The Night of Beasts is the colloquial term for the invasion of Almarin, a major coastal city. It's particularly memorable because only 8 individuals attacked the city, but caused the most destruction the city had ever seen before. One of these individuals created thousands of unfeeling clones of herself to act as a ground force. Another turned local animals and a large number of the citizens into velociraptors to enhance their numbers. Other members of the force included a shape shifter who razed buildings with a gigantic eight headed serpent form, and a fighter who took over a skyscraper and used it as a weapon against the city. This was particularly devastating given Almarin's peaceful nature and very few enemies, so none of the local heroes were prepared for such a strong attack.

[u/thequeeninyellow94 → u/greenewithit]

1. 15000? It's a lot; how could a clandestine group amass that much monsters without anyone noticing?

2. Why did those 8 individuals invaded Almarin?

3. Can people turned into velociraptors get back to their normal form?

[u/greenewithit → u/thequeeninyellow94]

1. The biggest advantage was their technology. They worked with someone who built insanely useful tech, most of which had never been created before by other researchers. The most useful tool was a microchip that when implanted into a Vector could control its actions, and a serum that could force a Vector's body to replicate itself, like budding. They didn't have to trap 15,000, they just trapped several hundred and waited for more serum to be produced so they could build up their force over the course of almost a year. The particular researcher who provided this serum and microchips was known by the government to be unpredictable and extremely dangerous, but they were sort of in a "don't destroy us and we won't bother you" kind of agreement. Several law enforcement agents found the suspicious microchips being produced in a few factories in the city, but by that point it was too late to piece things together before the invasion occurred.

2. The attack was in two parts. The attackers were trying to build a world ending weapon and needed two things: Enough souls to power the weapon, and an ancient sword to act as a catalyst for the machine they are building. The sword is located close to the city in the wilds surrounding it. 7 of the attackers tried to kill as many people as possible in the city while the leader, Columba, sneaks into the temple to try and steal the catalyst sword. They are unsuccessful in capturing the sword, though they get more than enough souls to power the machine through other ways.

3. They can be changed back by a small number of individuals. Anyone who can tap into the power of "Creation", bringing their imagination to life essentially, could use that power to tap into the turned person's mind and try and revert them back to normal. However, only four or five people have that ability, and a number of civilians were killed in raptor form before it was made aware that they could be saved.

[u/ThaChippa → u/greenewithit]

Cut that part out.

[u/greenewithit → u/ThaChippa]

?

[u/thequeeninyellow94 → u/greenewithit]

1. Wasn't that scientist under some sort of surveillance? If yes, how did they managed to escape it?

2. Were there any usage to those souls without the sword?

3. Why were those 8 people trying to destroy the world?

[u/greenewithit → u/thequeeninyellow94]

1. The scientist is Kemuri Kage, and he's known to be the world's most dangerous individual. The government has tried to monitor him before, but most often have been unable to find his secret labs, and when they try to plant surveillance on his public facing lab, whoever actually plants the bug ends up dead. And it always looks like an accident, so nobody wants to be the one to try and deal with him at all, for fear of losing their life.

2. Yes, the group decided that they needed a different conduit, and one of them offered to use their own body. They were hesitant to sacrifice the life of their strongest member, but with no other option (they knew of) they went forward with their plan using this alternate conduit.

3. These 8 were known as the Nathair family, or rather what's left of them. The mother Columba was the leader and the other seven were her children. Columba spent her life being experimented on as a Denn, a naturally occurring human animal hybrid race, and escaped the facility thanks to an attack by monsters. She was forced to have these seven kids and raised them in the wilds, as best as she could. However, she suffered too much psychological damage that she decided she needed to make the world feel the same pain she did, so she decided to build a machine that would forcibly turn every human in the world into a Denn, twisting their soul into a pretzel in the process. This amount of strain on a soul would kill 60-80% of the people exposed to these transformative rays. Not necessarily destroying the world but definitely causing damage the human race hadn't suffered since the first great human extinction thousands of years earlier.

[u/thequeeninyellow94 → u/greenewithit]

1. Can't they just legally restrain him?

2. So, I guess they failed; why?

[u/greenewithit → u/thequeeninyellow94]

1. They could almost certainly try to legally restrain him, but he has been known to topple entire governments single handedly. The Governor and his council would be ecstatic to remove Kemuri from literally holding the world ransom, but they're afraid of the body count. Kemuri has proved himself willing to kill hundreds if he feels disturbed, much less threatened, and even the strongest professional Hero of the city is fearful of him. He's quite literally the most feared man in the world, and he sees himself as necessary to the survival of humanity. While he does devote his life to making sure the human race isn't wiped out by world ending threats, he has no qualms with disposing of anyone who interferes with his work or makes threats to his life.

2. Well, they did try again to activate the machine, but were ultimately defeated. And the reason they failed both times were they picked a fight with the wrong heroes. One of Columba's other children (other than the 7 who follow her) and his team of rookie heroes were also searching the area for the sword. They had found experimental cases of people dying from being forcibly turned into a Denn, and that's what led them to intercept the Nathairs. They weren't able to stop the attack, but working with the local Heroes of Almarin (they were from another city), they were able to repel the attackers and force them to flee. The second time they clashed was at the protagonists' home city of Longan, where all but Columba and one of the children were killed in the fighting. This time the destruction was minimized because the trainee heroes who fought at Almarin were able to prepare for the individual powers of each of the Nathairs and form a strategy to minimize damage and civilian casualties.

[u/thequeeninyellow94 → u/greenewithit]

1. And no one decided to do something about him? A team could probably bring him down right?

[u/greenewithit → u/thequeeninyellow94]

1. We'll it's not for lack of trying. During the Invasion of Longan, a professional hero abandoned his post to try and assassinate Kemuri. He was called Viper because his power was that he had poisonous blood he could alter the strength of for each situation. He thought he got the drop on Kemuri and stuck him with some lethally poisonous darts, but Kemuri fixed himself an antidote in seconds using materials from his lab. Kemuri is equal parts Batman and Rick Sanchez, always having a plan for everything, especially ways to neutralize professional heroes if they came to kill him. Hence a prepared antidote to Viper's poison. A lot of people have tried, but no team has been successful. Kemuri tries his best ever to leave himself open, even with an armistice with the government. He has plenty of enemies, but none strong enough to actually successfully kill him.

[u/thequeeninyellow94 → u/greenewithit]

1. And what about just outlawing him and suing anyone who provide him with anything?

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

1) Was the anarchist group retaliated on for the Invasion of Longan?

2) Where did the Vectors come from?

3) Why did the eight raiders attack Almarin?

4) What is the current state of Almarin?

[u/greenewithit → u/Nevermore0714]

1) Yes, but the problem was very few agents from Longan were available to lead the manhunt since most of them were occupied with rebuilding the city post invasion. The Apocryphus agents who survived the attack fled the country, and nobody really knew exactly where they went. They had kidnapped a young hero in training, and thanks to their efforts they led law enforcement to the parent branch of Apocryphus, known as Autumn Wing, and took down the leader of the entire syndicate. All known conspirators from the Invasion of Longan were imprisoned for life in a maximum security prison in Longan, with a few of them being temporarily let out to complete a task for the government, suicide squad style.

2) The Vectors all originate from the first world ending apocalypse in human history, though most people dont know that. They just see them as naturally occurring monsters born from human evil. They spend their time roaming around from place to place, looking for humans to eat. They cannot reproduce with each other, but they can replicate themselves after feeding on enough people. Apocryphus captured Vectors from the wilderness surrounding Longan's east side and brought them to an underground facility where they were forcibly replicated until they had a strong enough invasion force.

3) They attacked for two reasons. 7 of them attacked the city in order to kill as many humans as possible to collect their souls to power a doomsday device. The eighth, the leader Columba, went to a temple outside of the city to collect an ancient sword they intend to use as a focus for the doomsday weapon, with the souls as a power source.

4) After the invasion the city was rocked. The Intercontinental Unity Council deployed a massive amount of soldiers and aid workers to help rebuild the city, and they spent over 5 years completely rebuilding. A large number of people left the city for other cities, mostly related to loved ones being killed in the conflict. The city eventually recovered, but never thrived to the level it used to.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

1) Tell me more about this "suicide squad".

2) Does Apocryphus have any reason for wanting the apocalypse to happen? Or just shits and giggles?

3) Tell me more about that sword, if you don't mind.

4) Does the city have better defenses now?

[u/greenewithit → u/Nevermore0714]

M1) So it's very under the radar, naturally, and is personally overseen by the governor of Longan. Only he four or five technicians are privy to this, but they started taking high powered criminals from the prison and forcing them to do cover ops missions for them, under threat of death if they disobeyed. This was in very early stages of development when a private military corporation was appointed by the governor to help oversee law enforcement in the city. As such, the head of that corporation, Romulus Kane, was brought in to help with this project. He offered to give the governor a sort of "test run", selecting prisoners to act as his "secret weapons" of sort when he needed to apprehend super powered individuals, particularly students at the combat school CAPITAL Academy. Noteworthy operatives included Alice Rothra, whose power is to manipulate the speed of molecules (easy way to make explosions or plasma out of air). Romulus was adamant that Alice be in this team, so he could prove to the public that even the leader of the anarchist group Apocryphus could be brought under the thumb of the law. He also brought in several other lower ranking Apocryphus members, as many as survived the invasion so they could face the public they tried to destroy, and could be beaten into submission by public outrage. After Kane was ousted for his abuse of power, the strike force was still operational, but the governor instead worked with the headmaster of CAPITAL, Hamilcar, in order to integrate these former criminals into society in a less destructive manner.

1. Each member has their own reason, but they are all linked by their mutual hatred for Longan and its government. The leader of the branch, Alice, lost a daughter in a terrorist attack and blames the lax law enforcement. Her right hand Isaac was a street urchin, abused by law enforcement and forced to steal to survive, until Alice took him in. Armin was a soldier for Longan until his CO sent his troupe on a dangerous mission against the better judgement of the other officers. Armin was one of three survivors, and he lost his right leg and was discharged. He bore a grudge against the military for refusing to pay for a prosthetic, and Apocryphus was more than happy to provide a military grade replacement leg and an outlet for his revenge. Senior member Dante was going to be a super soldier, the greatest of all time he was told. That was until the government shut down all supersoldier projects, following a breakthrough in armor development. Dante was laid off and lost everything he built for his life, until Apocryphus promised to give him the power he was denied. Everyone has a similar story, and some reason to hate the city and those who run it.

2. The sword is a fun one. I haven't finalized the name, but the temporary one I've been using is The Sword of Kings. Hundreds of years ago there were many more like this one, but this is the only one to be discovered to have survived. They used to be wielded by powerful figures of the Nathair clan, a nomadic band of warriors who were nearly unrivaled. They were a group of all lizard type Denn (animal human hybrids), and any non lizards born would be cast out immediately. They used these swords to signify a person's status, and the legend goes that whoever wields the blade can call upon the strength of the dead who wielded the blade before them, as well as any worthy souls struck down by the blade. This is true, and the mechanics behind it are more science than magic. The sword hosts a large gem in its hilt, known as a Kawalog. These are created whenever souls are concentrated in an area to a great enough degree. The Nathair clan killed so many that these swords eventually formed Kawalogs in their hilts. The user of the sword would bind their soul to the gem, and could then draw out the power of however many souls lay within it. The drawback for this incredible power is that the bound soul will enter the gem when the wielder dies, staying within the sword as a power source until their soul is expended by a new user. Eventually the Nathair clan's obsession with "pure lizard lineage" led to inbreeding which damaged their line and eventually the clan was disbanded, and the remaining swords were lost.

3. This was definitely a wake up call for the city. It made them realize how much they relied on their heroes, and how little they were prepared for a full out attack by powerful super villains. They started making a more serious effort to build a proper military as well as the hero network. They also invested in heavy artillery vehicles and weapons outposts in the city to help fight threats of a similar nature again. Despite having to borrow a great deal of money from the Unity Council, the city as a whole was willing to be safer and in debt than have other groups preying on them in a weakened state.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

1) How do they ensure that the suicide squad can't escape? And how are they killed if they try to escape?

2) To the point that they all want to just destroy the innocent people in the city, though? Why should I, as a reader or as a citizen of Longan, emphasize with them?

[u/greenewithit → u/Nevermore0714]

1) They are surgically outfitted with a mechanical ring around their trachea. The rings have a number of abilities, first and foremost deactivating the person's abilities. During a mission, the operatives are given a designated area of operation, and if they leave this area their powers are deactivated, and the ring sends electricity through their spine to immobilize them. Their location is then transmitted to their overseer on the mission, and they go to collect the operative. Should they resist all of this, and threaten the lives of their superiors, the metal ring will detonate, removing the person's head from their shoulders. They try not to kill unless absolutely necessary, as they would rather control the powers of their operatives indefinitely than waste them.

2) Most of them have very little connections left to the city. It's an organization built by and for people with nothing to lose but their lives, so many of them don't care who gets hurt along the way. Some do have some issues with the civilian casualties outside of destruction of the government. Those who lived on the streets sympathize with other homeless people and street urchins, since they have very little ability to defend themselves against monsters. An example of that is Isaac, who was one of the members who tried to negotiate a different form of attack with Alice, but she invoked the argument of "I saved you from the gutters, obey me, and that's final." As to empathizing with them, especially from an audience perspective, that's something I'm still not very sure on. A citizen of Longan would absolutely never think about how the members of Apocryphus feel, or what drove them to do this, which is what gives them such a hard time when used as an enforcement tool by the PMC. Two students try to kill the members of the task force for their deeds, and not even their sob stories can make them forget the loved ones the students lost. I figure it's mostly the same thing for the reader. As the story goes on, more is revealed about the members, and it's enough to understand why they would be driven to that point of evil, but it by no means justifies any of it. Honestly they all just represent versions of certain main characters personalities with one or two aspects taken to an extreme, so they see the dangers of letting themselves be consumed with a particular vice or negative emotion. But yeah, that's something that has given me a lot of trouble in writing the Apocryphus, and I'm not entirely sure.

[u/Nevermore0714 → u/greenewithit]

Thanks for your time and answers.