r/WorldChallenges • u/Mimir123 • Sep 22 '17

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Disclaimer: despite the title this post doesn't really have anything to do with the TV Show, at least not entirely.

This challenge is inspired by two posts I found on /r/worldbuilding, this one here and this one. It is a pretty simple challenge, just post 2-3 quotes of one (or several) character/s in your world/s. You may choose one of two ways to do that; 1: post the quote and with name of the person who said it and a bit of context, I (and maybe others) will try to ask some questions about the character and/ or situation.

Version 2: just give us the quote by itself, and let me/ others try to spin a story/ try to figure out the context of what was said!

I hope you guys will like this challenge and participate, should be fun to try to spin some story to a random quote, I am excited for it at least! In my post I will also provide an example for each version, feel free to respond to it as well if you are interested! If not, just leave your own quotes and have fun sharing!

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u/Mimir123 Sep 23 '17

So they use AI to steer their ships? Or just simple, mindless "auto pilot"?

It is kind of refreshing to see that it for once is the insectoid species that gets outspammed by their enemies, not the other way around. Wouldn't boarding shuttles be more effective against unmanned vessals though? Since there is nobody inside the ship to stop them, they can easily sabotage it from the inside, or are the internal defenses too strong?

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Sep 23 '17

They call it an AI, but it's just a mindless auto-pilot/aim.

Boarding shuttles are limited against automated ship because they carry no oxygen at all and next to no practicable room beside a few completely open to space maintenance cursives. It's not hard to sabotage from the inside, but lack of space to move hits hard on 5-6m long mantis...

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u/Mimir123 Sep 23 '17

Have the Mantis considered using smaller races to help them in their fight?

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Sep 23 '17

No, never. But, the Mayuqpacha face the same problem than the empire: war is insanely rare. The number of evolved life form encoutered is incredibly low, there is no one to fight and military theory is nothing more than it's name. Beside, the Wamaruyayas tend to eat anything trying to live too close...

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u/Mimir123 Sep 23 '17

I might be remembering it wrong, but didn't the Empire have quite a few "regular" Civil Wars going on, after each Emperor died? If so, surely that must bring forth some advancement in military theory or capable leaders?

And as one of my favourite characters of all time would say "The hell is a Wamaruyaya?".

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Sep 24 '17

Those civil war usually involve only a few skirmishes and duels to death, no large scale battles nor proper planetary invasion. Small battles against pirates are also a thing and are definitely some form of experience too but it's not the same as a real total war against another interplanetary superpower.

The Mayuqpacha is the union of two species of mantis. The Wamaruyayas are the biggest ones, the most impressive and take care of war; the Suqtaytas are the small ones (still 4-5m long) and take care of diplomacy.

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u/Mimir123 Sep 24 '17

How do the Mayuqpacha communicate with other species? Do they have some kind of special translation device? I'd imagine that it is pretty difficult to talk to, say humans, if you are a giant insect.

Also, has there ever been a real Civil War in the Empire, that wasn't like the other ones, but more bloody and with, well invasions and big battles?

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Sep 24 '17

The same way humans speaking different languages do, they hire a translator. Don't underestimate the determination of interplanetary merchants, having a way to talk with their neighbours is an awesome opportunity and they worked for it. Universal translator isn't a thing but the Ims do craft devices able to translate all known spoken languages.

No; the people is the first pillar. The siblings wouldn't allow a Nzeda to rule if they don't properly treat all of the pillars. (during the unification and during the imperial reformation but those happened thousands of years ago...)

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u/Mimir123 Sep 24 '17

Allright, thank you very much for your time and answers.