Crusade aliens

[Ulkesh]

In the episode "Appearances and Other Deceits" where we see Mr Welles again, the Excaliber encounters a huge derelict alien ship and encounter an alien race who infect other species with a physical touch to pass their 'essence' into another being thus controlling it. I believe it was said that instead of colonising planets, they colonise the dominant lifeform.

Where do people think that race came from? What about the aliens that were infected previously on that large mothership? That was quite large and the aliens looked quite.. alien... I mean they had no mouths or clothes.

Also in "The Path of Sorrows" we see that alien who 'heals' pains suffered by other beings on that ancient planet. What about that alien? Was it the creation of another race (maybe Mid-Born or First One)?

I got the Crusade factbook but it doesnt go into details about both races. Don't have the Rim so don't know if its in there.

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

Ooh I haven't thought about Crusade in a long time...good topic!

The psychic colony aliens and the mothership species seem fairly straightforward, as they're just alien, not incomprehensible. I'd call them just something from far away, maybe even something outside the gate network entirely. Alternately, they could simply be very, very old, and have fallen out of galactic memory. Finding the wellspring or a colony of that particular psychic threat might make for an interesting scenario though...I'd love to see an archaeological record that breaks off and changes drastically in a short time, until finally the PCs discover a cryo-vault...

As for the Path of Sorrows alien...something about that episode always really bothered me. I liked it in principle, but everyone seemed a little off. They mention it's an oracle and place of healing for parsecs around and Gideon just grabs the little weirdo, bubble and all? That's just one of many things in there that annoyed me.

That being said...the fact that the thing seems to live in a bubble and thrive cut off from the rest of the galaxy seems to imply that it's an artificial life form. Presumably it's a construct of some sort, but it is tough to lay it at the feet of any known First One race. The Vorlons might be it, since it's clearly telepathic and it's all about restoring order to its subjects...but then it also draws up painful memories and forces subjects to grow through confronting them, which is mild for the Shadows, but fitting none the less. Gut level, I'd put it at the feet of the First Ones, but not one we have much info about (i.e. not the Shadows or the Vorlons).

I don't know much about Mongoose First One canon, so I can't offer much besides what's in the show, sorry to say. Are there any First Ones who might have left a weird little guy in a bubble as a healing shrine?

 

[Ulkesh]

Well its possible it could be from a completely different First One race since I doubt that the ones we knew are the only ones out there. Or again it could be a Mid-Born species that created the sphere creature.

But out of the possible known First Ones well I doubt the Torvalus or the Kirishiac would be interested in making such a creature. The Walkers are more concerned with exploration and knowledge so again such a creature would serve little purpose for them. Triad are concerned with neutrality so might not be them. The Mindriders were the telepathic ones and all about communication so possibly them? Don't know why they would create such a creature though/

 

[Shadow Queen]

I'd was going to say possably Mindriders.

 

[Ulkesh]

Well since the Mindriders were telepathic and all; perhaps individuals that were filled with pain were discomforting for them? I mean if you are telepathic and you encounter individuals or even entire races that are suffering it might be quite discomforting to 'feel' them in pain. So maybe they created an artificial lifeform to help ease that pain?

Cause I think Gabriel_Luna is quite right, the creature in the sphere can't be a creature that evolved on its own... I mean due to its nature it might very well be an artificially created being.

Also I agree that finding a colony of those psychic aliens might be a good scenario for players to go through... partly because its quite spooky, I mean all it takes is for simple physical contact and the person is now host to an alien consciousness. I wonder how telepaths would do against such a race....

 

[Shadow Queen]

finding the telepathic aliens would be scariy them in your mind all the time. there is a telepathic trap in the end section in the lost tails.

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

If you're a telepath yourself, you'd have to house rule something...presumably there'd be something involving Will saves and Concentration checks. Maybe even contested Concentration checks. I don't remember, did the Excalibur's resident teep get infected in that episode? If he fell victim it might indicate how to handle it. (Though if he fell victim, it might mean there's no need to make up anything.)

The trick to running this as a scenario would be to have enough NPCs on hand, because a possessed PC isn't fun for anyone. Or to not have a possession to deal with, but other dangers, like a trapped city trying to fight off an internal threat like this one.

 

[Shadow Queen]

he didnot get infected

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

Well so much for a solid answer to that question from the show. Thanks for the help, Derina!

 

[Shadow Queen]

np hon it was the d$%^ wells that got infected never liked him in B5