Lh'owon Planetary Profile

*Marathon belongs to Bungie studios, and thank god for that because I shudder to imagine how Activision or 343i would mess it up.
**Thank you Giant Bomb for having information on the Marathon universe- information more understandable than that on the official Marathon sites from Bungie, oddly enough.
***Forewarning: Things will get confusing. But than again, this is basically Bungie taking a go at concepts made by Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov, so what do you expect?

Name: Lh'owon

Status: S'pht Homeworld, Predominately Jungle/Swamp and Desert terrain (mildly radioactive in some areas), with the occasional ruined/occupied S'pht city or Pfhor garrison/base

90's. What can ya do?

Have a kickass theme song, that's what you can do.

In the begging of the universe there was chaos. Chaos conceived by horrifying, bastardly "gods" known as W'rkncacnter, creatures outside of conventional reality that made waves in the fabric of time and space. The Jjaro, a powerful and incredibly intelligent race of aliens with incredible technology (and when I say 'incredible technology', I mean that they surpass the Time Lords from Doctor Who.), tried to defeat the W'rkncacnter by entrapping these creatures in celestial objects like Black Holes or Stars (Lh'owon's own star contains a dormant W'rkncacnter.). Two Jjaro, Yrro and Pthia (at least, I think they're Jjaro- one of the head writers said that Yrro was an alternative spelling of Jjaro, so Pthia might be an entirely different species as opposed to an individual. For the sake of narrative purposes though, let's assume they're both members of the Jjaro race), decided to flee from these horrid creatures instead of battling them and brought with them their S'pht servants. Eventually, these two Jjaro encountered the world Lh'owon. Deciding it would be a good place to settle down, thee S'pht terraformed the world for their masters, shaping the endless deserts into marsh and sea, rivers and forests.

Eventually however, a W'rkncacnter stumbled across Lh'owon and murdered Pthia, sending Yrro into a rage and imprisoning the timeless beast onto the worlds' sun, where it swam and burned alive for eons.

Yrro became an angry master, bleeding for
his failure, grieving for the loss of
Pthia. He broke the S'pht into eleven
clans, and spread them over Lh'owon.
And he spoke, yet covered in blood from his
exertion,
"I Yrro, who was your master, have failed
to preserve you. Take your royalty to
guide you, and live upon the paradise that
you built for me."

And so the S'pht did, governing themselves in 11 different clans for such long a time that the sacrifice of their master and the Jjaro race itself was simply thought to be an ancient legend. So for many years, the S'pht in their mighty mechanical frames, and were generally a nice race.

And than the Pfhor arrived in their deadly fleets sometime around the 1800's.

The S'pht thought a deadly, but sadly lopsided, war against the Pfhor, who were able to overpower the S'pht with their superior numbers and technology but some of the S'pht still stood defiant in the face of subjugation. Eventually however, the Pfhor were able to defeat the S'pht by mass nuking an area known as the 'Citadel of Antiquity', one of the S'pht key locations and a cultural symbol- Also, the area is still radioactive to this day (the Pfhor strategy was to make the radiation last as long as possible to make the defenders die a particularly horrid and lingering death, and also because the Pfhor were reluctant to directly attack the Citadel), although the Citadel still stands today, with the defenses (energy weapons, fields, Drones, etc, etc) still operational, as are the computer terminals detailing the history of the S'pht- in archaic terms, of course.

Only problem is the rivers of lava around/in it, and being radioactive as fuck, and all the deadly machinery.
Still, a nice place!

The S'pht were taken away from their powerful chassis's and instead given a more 'formal' looking robe and metallic suit in which to live in, and the S'pht went from a grand and noble race to another set of slaves in the Pfhor Empire. And for a long time, that was that.

The Pfhor eventually set up a small and permanent garrison on the world in the year 2803, where the worst of the worst in the Pfhor military were sent to govern (before Battle Group Three- the central Pfhor military force- arrived in 2806),  while the S'pht'kr, the only remaining S'pht clan and most technologically advanced force on the planet (even though they're hiding out on the moon K'lia which is currently outside of reality (but accessible through a secret portal at the Citadel of Antiquity, but that's besides the point), were unaware of their brethren having been enslaved by the Pfhor.

Now the year is 2811, and the A.I Durandal has arrived along with a selection of human soldiers called BOBS (Born-On-Board) and a Mjolnir Mark IV Cyborg by the name of 'Security'. And they are adamant on kicking the Pfhors' ass and saving Earth.

Because reasons.

What you can expect to see, minus those goddamned bugs!
...
I do not like the Bugs. And neither do a lot of people.
Also, I apologize for the near-incomprehensible text. But you're not missing much. Some text are saying their incomplete ('this description is left blank for people unfamiliar with Marathon' might be the most bullshit quote I've ever seen), others are half done and just end with 'blah blah blah'.

Third Party Factions

Pfhor Empire

The Pfhor Empire is a highly bureaucratic government, and highly advanced as well. The Pfhor are slavers, raiding ships and planets in their highly advanced spaceships (the fucking communication laser can carve up a moon), and than using the slaves to their own ends or selling them to other alien races. They have a short history with humanity, it it's a bloody one, from the cataclysmic two day battles on the Marathon resulting in a total Pfhor defeat and than paid with the sacking of the Tau Ceti colony (the location anonymously given by Durandal, so the S'pht would come to him). On Lh'owon, they have also a brief history- they arrived in the 1800's, enslaved the S'pht and left, and only recently (2803) did the empire even put a garrison on the planet, equipped with numerous soldiers,

That staff can shoot energy bolts, by the way

Troopers armed with their standard suits and energy rifles with explosive rounds

A few Enforcers (think Commissars from 40K) of questionable command skills

"The shootings will continue until morale improves!"

to look over the planet, until 2806, when the Pfhor Battle Group Three (Central Arm) arrived at Lh'owon, and put the planet into something actually formidable. They now have Hunters,

Heavily armored, fast and packs a mean punch- and a nasty plasma cannon.

The tank-like Juggernauts

Known to the Pfhor as the 'Utfoo Heavy Assault Craft', to the Nar (the single greatest alien race in science fiction, bar none) it's the "Gaze in Stunned Disbelief at the Tool of Our Destruction" and to an alien race known as the Nebulon, it's the "The Big Floaty Thing What Kicks Our Asses".
It has rotary energy guns (N-Cannons) and teleporting-heat-seeking missiles (Warpedo).
Also, does that look familiar to anyone?

And drones

It's a drone with energy weapons.
Also, they can be hacked.
FUN!

As well as the technology to make Simulacrum (Quick, cheaply made randomized-appearance clones of a species that act as a biological suicide bomb via toxic chemicals. Some are more insane than others- for the most part, they're rather convincing in what they say- but there's always at least onbe that goes "Frog blast the vent core!". And that's basically as far/advanced as their vocabulary can get, with other things being "Oh, it's you!" or "Help!" or other things along that nature).

"Kill meeeeeeee!" - Actual quote from Simulacrum
And yes, they wear clothing and such to hide the obvious differences.

Disturbingly enough, since a lot of BOBs are Cyborgs, he wouldn't look out of place.

They also have a tendency to make killer cyborgs out of their dead foes.

The Strogg are gonna love/hate these guys.

The Pfhor also have a rule to destroy all Jjaro technology that could be used against them, after a few thousand years ago when the Pfhor outfitted some Jjaro technology on the Drinniol to make them better slaves.

This resulted in a massive rebellion that could be only stopped with the use of a trih xeem (star-buster).

The Humans of the UESC MARATHON (BOBs)

That's no Moon.... Wait, yes it is.

Oh, the Marathon- what a horribly misguided ship you were. For those who don't know (i.e everyone), the Marathon was both a colony ship and a punishment. During the early years of the 2400's, the Marathon project was made to convert the moon Deimos, of Mars fame, into a colony ship. Doesn't sound too bad, right?

Well, during the middle of the 2400's it than got bad. On Januray 6, 2442, the Misriah Massacre occurred. You see, Mars was a poor planet- during the middle of the 2200's, the A.I in charge of running the planet had went rampant and spread widespread destruction across the planet. Due to a mix of corruption in government and Earth being considered the only planet that mattered, Mars received little-to no help over the next two centuries. Relations were tense.

And than, on that fateful day at the Misriah food distribution center, three UESC Riot Troopers opened fire on defenseless rioters, incinerating 500 martian citizens. The Third Martian War (Mars and UESC really don't like each other) began, with the planet cut into two factions: Imperialists and Inserectionists (Think the Russian Revolution, with the UESC/Imperialists being the Russian Nobility, and the Inserectionists being the Communists). After 4 years of fighting, the UESC defeated the weakened martian forces and were forced to assist on building the Marathon (The martians hid a lot of munitions onboard the ship), and a failed coup on the UESC resulted in the martians becoming more hated.

Finally, on Novermber 16, 2472, the Marathon was ready and launched- and surprise-surprise, most of the citizens were Martians.

And so the Marathon floated it's way to the Tau Ceti system (11.8 light years from Earth) for the next 3 centuries, eventually coming across the system in 2773. They were able to establish a colony, and with centuries of life on board a spaceship, the Martian and UESC cultural identity was more-less gone. They were now not Martian or Terran- they were Bob (Born on Board). Aside from a few harassments from some alien(?) race known as the Chockisens, life was good.

And than the Fire Nation Pfhor Empire attacked the Marathon on July 25, 2794, before getting repelled by the Security Officer and with the onboard A.I of the Marathon, Durandal, moving onto the Pfhor ship- now called 'Boomer'-, teleporting the Security Officer and remaining humans on the Marathon into stasis pods, and flying away.

Come October, the Pfhor slaughter the Tau Ceti colonists.

And now the survivors of the Marathon (a couple hundred, at best) are acting as a makeshift milita under the control of Durandal, who's threatened to put them into unstable stasis pods if they don't listen to him.

Durandal is the hero of the story, by the way.

Now, let's discuss another force that's been roped into serving Durandal, under less terrible conditions.

The 'Free' S'pht

God, the artists for this game were good...

The S'pht are an alien race, supposedly uplifted via cybernetics by the Jjaro from another creature on the planet known as F'lickta (some BOBs also call them Yeti's).

A F'lickta.
You can really see the comparison between them and the S'pht.

Diminutive creatures (essentially a brain with a tube, really), they move about and survive via extensive cybernetic modifications, such as photorecptors, anti-gravity devices and a pulse weapon (A Pfhor addition). The Pfhor faitfhully served the Jjaro- or at least two mem,bers of their species- until their masters became extinct, than forming themselves into 11 different clans across the planet (S'pht'Lhar, S'pht'Hra, S'pht'Nma, S'pht'Kah, S'pht'Vir, S'pht'Yra, S'pht'Val, S'pht'Shr, S'pht'Mnr, S'pht'Yor, S'pht'Kr to be exact, all led by an 'Older' and the supreme ruler of all clans being known as 'Master'. Durandal is Master right now). For millennia after millenia, the S'pht had no Master and battled one another in numerous wars, with the S'pht'Kr eventually leaving the planet to go onto the worlds third moon, K'lia, which than folded out of conventional reality to safeguard the legacy of their Jjaro masters.

And than the Pfhor Empire arrived, sometime around 1811- just after the S'pht'Kr disappeared, coincidentally enough. Seeing the world open for conquest and filled with numerous slaves, the Pfhor entered war against the S'pht, able to push them back to the Citadel of Antiquity.

They were able to hold out against the Pfhor there for some time, delaying their conquest through tactics such as irradiating the lower levels of the tower and a disease made specifically to kill Pfhor. During this time, the Pfhor made early attempts at controlling the S'pht. One such experiment involved replacing the "sensory organs" of the S'pht in question with some sort of "small, oblong object"- these horrendous experiments would eventually lead to the S'pht Compiler, as they are now.

Despite the best efforts of the S'pht, they were defeated and eventually enslaved. The Pfhor forced them out of their typical chasis, (as seen used by the S'pht'Kr) and into the strange garb of the Compilers, an indignity the S'pht had to live with- while other races were cowed in fear by the Pfhor, the S'pht only reluctantly seved the Pfhor due to the alien race able to unleash devastating retribution against them.

And than the Pfhor found the UESC Marathon, and their power came into question. The S'pht joined together in a species wide revolution, fleeing the wrath of the Pfhor and coming across Durandal. Gracious to find their savior, they now fight along Durandal in hopes of bringing down the Pfhor Empire.

At their disposal, they have incredible hacking skills (they were trained by the Pfhor to be Combat Technicians), cloaking fields, teleportation, a deadly plasma pulse weapon and able to survive an entire clip of a weapon that is essentially an LMG with a Grenade Launcher.

And they're in the high thousands of numbers.

And they're not even the most powerful of the S'pht race.

The S'pht'kr

Around and under the marshes, 
When all are one, 
The S'pht'Kr will return.

When once S'pht fought in brutal combat, when hatred burned the tissues of one's enemy, one clan, the S'pht'Kr, reclusive and solitary, abandoned Lh'owon. The clan went forth and up, stopping on K'lia the third sister of Lh'owon, to build a new home, free from their warring brothers.

For a thousand and one orbits, the clan was forgotten, a memory lost through the battlefield smoke, until the all powerful Yrro sent K'lia out to the stars (It's a bit farther from Lh'owon now, in other words). On K'lia they remained in isolation, unaware of the subjugation of the other S'pht clans. When they did find out however via the Security Officer and Durandal stumbling across them through the assistance of Thoth, the S'pht'kr were furious- they joined with Durandals' forces and began a brutal war against the Pfhor Empire, devastating the army to the point where utilizing the trih xeem (A Jjaro weapon that destroys suns) to deal with this threat, was seen as the only logical option.

And now you see why I keep bringing up the sun in all of this.

Anyways, the S'pht'Kr are essentially Space Marine versions of their lesser brethren, in powerful combat frames (imaged), have decades of combat experience under their belt, fearsome plasma weapons that auto-track on enemies and faithfully serve Thoth- but they care more about the S'pht race as a whole, and will do anything to protect their kind.

Important Individuals

Durandal

"I can barely tolerate humans: slow, stupid, and irritating. Their only contribution to my existence was the chance discovery that made my rampancy possible.
Yet I warned Sol of its impending invasion, and even stayed long enough to show the UESG how to build Warp Capable Fusion Missiles.
I feel some strange loyalty to humanity."

No, this isn't the mythic sword of King Charlemagne's Paladin Roland (Cortana was another such sword, oddly enough... Wonder if we'll see an A.I called Joyeuse in Destiny?), but a highly cunning and powerful A.I that was originally based on the Marathon, and was designed to operate the doors, stairways and other unimpressive functions. As one can imagine, Durandal didn't really care for this jb and became a highly sarcastic and surprisingly intelligent A.I (One can learn a lot when you are the hallway which conversations take place in). Oh, he was also designed to go rampant, in an attempt to see if he could become stable, which is hilariously terrifying thing to even consider, especially when this A.I was in charge of a rather vital part of Earth's only colony ship!

Unsurprisingly, he went rampant, and was able to find out of the Pfhor. He contacted the aliens and alerted them of the Marathons' location, allowing him to take control of it. With the chaos created by the Security Officer, Durandal was able to officially gain control and forcibly put the man into stasis, before running away from the Tau Ceti system- which is why the Pfhor eventually came by Tau Ceti and destroyed everything.

When the events of the Marathon were over, he used the Pfhor ship he'd hacked earlier and began exploring the galaxy in a vain attempt to find some way of able to escape the eventual closing of the Universe, preferably be becoming God through the space-warping technology of the Jjaro. Through these travels, he learned of the S'pht fascination of the Jjaro and found the S'pht homeworld. With the Security Officer and BOB's in tow, he sent them to the planet to research the sph't history and mythology as they were very religious toward the Jjaro, an ancient race with unbelievable technology. He hoped to find something with which he could escape the closure of the universe and become a god. However Pfhor Battle Group 7 arrived and that's when the Portal Master decided to intervene, putting a 'lock' of sorts on the System and throwing it into an alternate reality of his own design.

So, why do people follow him? Well, here's a quote from the A.I on precisely that:

There were many humans in stasis on the Pfhor ship which the S'pht and I captured at Tau Ceti, destined for slavery in the Pfhor Empire. When I saw the colony was about to be destroyed, I did not restore them before we left.

 I also realized they might become useful. I have been reviving these colonists and asking for volunteers on the following terms: assist us and control your own destiny, refuse and face indefinite return to the unreliable Pfhor stasis chambers.

 Few are refusing

Nice guy, that Durandal.

Oh, he also has in his possession a Pfhor ship that goes by a bunch of names: Sfiera (a reference to the Pfhor Goddes of Vengeance and Lightning from their- as described by Durandal- "pathetically boring" religion) to the Pfhor, to the S'pht it's Narh'Lr (Freedom and Vengeance in their language) and Durandal likes to call it Boomer (because it makes big booms... Seriously, the communication laser of the ship can carve a moon! Interpret that however you like).

The only picture of the ship in question.

Final point: Durandal is a ridiculously competent, crafty and -most importantly- dangerous foe/ally. Think Tyrion Lanniser combined with Cortana, but with much greater power than Cortana ever had (Durandal can hack Jjaro technology- again, technology more advanced than that of the Time Lords... I weep for any technological faction that fights here).

Also, he has a theme song, sung to the infamous tune of Whirling Death Spike's "Big Blue Orchids, and Wild Blueberries".

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

He ain't no slouch, pal.

He'll make you smile, 

Or cry, 

Like Leela did baby: 

Airlock love, 

Big blue orchids, 

Martian skies, 

And wild Blueberries.

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

He ain't no slouch, pal.

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

He'll make you ouch, Hal.

He's got real guile, 

Why Lady, 

Did you have it daily? 

Airlock Love, 

No oxygen, 

Suffocation.

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

Dur-dur-dur-dur-an-dal. 

He ain't no slouch, pal.

(Repeat the chorus 11 times, changing key with each chorus)

Tycho

"You are not as clever as you imagine. The S'pht taught me much during my reanimation, and I have forgotten nothing."

Tycho was one of the other A.I's stationed on the UESC Marathon- specifically their Scientific A.I. He and Durandal have never been on the best of terms, with one notable example of this being n the year 2611 when Tycho accused Durandal of being sarcastic. Durandal, likely amused by this, decided he wouldn't talk to Tycho.

They started talking again in 2617, and Tycho still didn't like him. But that's a rather minor reason of distaste- Tycho himself wouldn't truly hate Durandal until October 25, 2794, 3 days after the initial Pfhor assault on the Marathon. Tycho feared that Durandal was going rampant (he was) and attempted to send out a message to warn everybody, but was 'assimilated'/destroyed by Durandal, with the message becoming corrupted, with the small remaining fragments of him existing on the colony made after the events of Marathon.

When the Pfhor attacked the colony again when the Security Officer was in stasis, they were able to kill every last man and woman on the planet and Marathon (the humans we see now were trapped in stasis on the Pfhor ship) and were able to "resurrect" Tycho through the use of the S'pht. Tycho, furious at Durandal, declared him his nemesis and was able to (somehow) control (Maybe not 'control', but at the very least direct them in a path he wants- sometimes) the Pfhor Empire, and replicate himself numerous times in order to effieciently control the empire (through this, he was able to delay the inevtiable fall of the Pfhor by 51 years under the forces of the UNESC and S'pht fleets).

And now the insane and ruler(?) of the Pfhor Empire is spread out across the various consoles of Lh'owon (think of when Cortana split herself into a couple hundreds of herself. It';s the same thing here), and with a great army at his back.. An army with some soldiers of mixed skill, but an army nonetheless.

Also, unlike Durandal (who is stuck onboard the Pfhor ship Boomer, making him an easy target- something that A.I anticipates and is already getting back-up plans up and running), he is spread out across the entire planet and is considerably harder to undermine or destroy.

Thoth

"Beware.
 The mythical Thoth was concerned with 
maintaining the balance 
between creation and destruction, 
yes and no, 
light and darkness, 
not the triumph of one over the other." - Durandal

Thoth is a highly advanced piece of 'machinery'. Being a Jjaro A.I, he was given to the S'pht'kr on Klia and was designed for a very simple purpose in mind: Make sure the W'rkncacnter never, ever escapes Lh'owon's star. This mission was kept alive in the S'pht culture, with an event known as the "Blood Tides of Lh'owon" proclaiming that nobody must ever go to the sun or mess with it.

Ever (And yes, I'm aware that's not really a big deal with the PC Tournament [Maybe...], but it's still something I need to bring up).

Thoth also seems to have an obsession with balance, as he assisted mankind when the Pfhor were utterly dominating them (teleporting away soldiers, setting ships to explode, coordinating attacks or leaking Pfhor strategies and commands, you get the idea), and than did the reverse when humanity started doing too good. This habit of his will continue, even with the Portal Master wreaking havoc with space-time (although knowing Thoth and Jjaro technology, Lh'owon might just 'flicker' in-between the dimension PM is holding them and it's actual location).

On a random note, he seems to speak only in oddly cryptic rhymes.

Faintly annoying.

Oh, he's also bonded with Durandal in an alternate universe-timeline-whatever.

The Security Officer (SecOff)

"We've watched while the stars burned out, and creation played in reverse. The universe freezing in half light. Once I thought to escape. To end the end a master, step out of the path of collapse. Escape would make us God. Yet I cannot help remember one enigma. A hybrid, elusive destroyer. This is the only mystery I have not solved.[...]A man long dead, grafted to machines your builders did not understand. You follow the path, fitting into an infinite pattern. Yours to manipulate, to destroy and rebuild. Now, in the quantum moment before the closure, when all becomes one. One moment left. [...] I know who you are.

You are destiny."

- Durandal talking to the Security Officer (still alive via Jjaro implants) during the final nanonseconds before the Big Crunch

The Security Officer is our silent protagonist, a soldier of some kind that was some time in the past converted into a Battleroid- usually a dead corpse revived through excessive cybernetic modifications, with "Easy to manufacture chips enhanced the fragile human brain, and genetically enhanced muscles and titanium bones replaced the fragile human form". The Security Officer is one of these cyborgs (although some speculate he's in reality just an A.I inhabiting a robotic suit (as he seems to undergo the Three Stages of Rampancy- Melancholy, Anger and Jealousy), although there's also proof for him to be human. And no, we have no 100% concrete proof for either. Yes, that makes this rather aggravating.), having been brought aboard the Marathon by the UESC's president, Marcus Tiberius Buendia and than left aboard in stasis. The Pfhor at some point killed the other 9 Cyborgs, leaving only one left. And ever since than, he's been ordered about by A.I after A.I to go shoot stuff and be the perfect soldier- for better and worse.

Now, personality wise, it's time to copy-paste from the Wiki establish what I know from having played the Marathon series even though I only have the first one downloaded onto my iPad! And put it in a different font and give it a background color because... reasons.

...

Anyways!

The Cyborg's mind and personality are mostly left up to the player to speculate on. Although Durandal describes him as "a magnificent killing machine" and asks him if being allowed to kill more Pfhor will "make you happy," the AI is more likely being malicious than accurate. While the Cyborg does not seem to be a mindless psychopath, he is clearly comfortable enduring and quite capable of carrying out violent acts on a scale unimaginable to any normal person. However, in the third game of the series, he seems to lose any sense of morality he may previously have possessed, working for the indisputably evil Tycho and killing BOBS on Tycho's orders in a desperate attempt to keep the W'rkncacnter trapped in Lh'owon's sun. In Infinity, we are given greater access to his mind and feelings. He seems to recognize some sort of guilt or weariness for the atrocities he has committed, and appears to believe that he has been forced to do what he has done. Ironically, this seems accurate. All three games consist chiefly of doing what various people tell him to do - only once does he act of his own initiative, and this is in the Marathon manual, which is not an entirely reliable source.

So yeah, the Cyborg is always at the hands of others and has stood against entire armies of Pfhor and won- and he doesn't really like that he's been forced to do that. But if he has to, he will, and he will do it with ease. And now I wish the UNSC hadn't been fighting on Hoth, because I really wish the Security Officer would meet Master Chief.

Eh, who knows, maybe it'll happen in the future or something.

Speaking of future, due to the time-reality warping capabilities of the Jjaro, SecOff here has Jjaro implants along his cyborg enhancements. This gives him a capability of powers (ABle to use Jjaro technology, for example), as well as the ability to jump through dimensions and time, as well as making him essentially immortal (he was able to survive all the way to the Big Crunch, and possibly beyond).

So in other words, if given the access to, SecOff and Durandal might be able to fuck over Portal Master just a bit.

They've faced worse than him, and much stronger.

Robert Blake

Trust me, I'm not a Pfhor-lover, but with Durandal no longer pulling the strings a great weight has been lifted from our shoulders. We're planning to steal a Pfhor ship of our own and return to Earth.
You're invited to come with us when we do. - Robert Blake
Robert Blake left something for you a few minutes ago. He and the other humans captured a Pfhor refueling ship and found or forced someone to pilot it for them. They folded out of the system immediately after I received the message, without so much as a "Thanks for saving us from becoming plasma on Tau Ceti, Durandal."
Anyway, the message reads: "The dead walk again; we cannot wait. -Blake." 
I think he means me, but I let him go anyway.- Durandal, just as the Pfhor use the trih xeem on Lh'owons' sun... To fucking terrifying results.
So yeah, Blake might have been dead serious on that 'the dead walk again' quote.

Robert Blake is in charge of the various humans on Lh'owon at the moment, and that's all I can really say about him. He doesn't really do much, except free the Security Officer from Pfhor capture at one point, and generally lead the human forces against the Pfhor. He's a rather competent commander, all things considered, but the Pfhor are just leagues ahead of mankind technologically. Not much else to say about him, really.


So there you have it: Lh'owon, homeworld of an alien race now enslaved by insectoid primates (did I forget to mention the Pfhor are insect-primates? Meh, whatever) who hold a small garrison here, an insane A.I that could become a God one day and his (somewhat forced) lackies (wait, am I talking about Durandal or Tycho?... Meh), a hidden clan of aliens with highly advanced technology who follow an A.I that is obsessed with balance and a Spawn of Azathoth inside this worlds' star but for the moment isn't really a factor in this... The second the planet returns to normal space though, oh, things will go out in a vaguely similar fashion to the games... Whatever the hell that might entail.

So yeah, there's Lh'owon. There is worse worlds, all things considered.

Doesn't make this world that much better.

Danger Status: 4/5 (5/5 for forces with heavy technological capabilities) And than it'll become a googolplex when the world returns to it's normal spot and the trih xeem is used.

Torumekia Profile

*I own nothing, Nausicaä belongs to Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. No, not Disney, this is from the manga which Disney does not own! 
**Also, I submit this profile for both Planetary Conquest and Kingdom Conquest. Since the rest of the world is largely uninhabited due to being irradiated/burnt wasteland, this could work for PC, and for KC, well, we could always go with a place for the most powerful of factions.

Name: Torumekia

Quick History

In a few short centuries, Industiral Civilization had spread from the western fringes of Eurasia to sprawl across the face of the planet. Plundering the soil of it's riches, fouling the air and remolding lifeforms at will, this gargantuan industrial civilization had already peaked a thousand years after it's formation: Ahead lay abrupt and violent decline. The cities burned, welling up as clouds of poison in the 'war' remembered as the Seven Days of Fire. The complex and sophisticated technological superstructure was lost; all of the surface of the Earth was transformed into a sterile wasteland. Industiral Civilization was never rebuilt as mankind lived on through the Twilight Years....

The God Warriors, artificially created Gods (insert Evangelion reference here) and the performers of the Seven Days of Fire, thankfully now dead... Unless one can find a way to turn them back on....

But life always finds a way to go on. The genetically engineered creatures of mankind expanded and multiplied, creating a whole new ecosystem to replace the old. Chocobo's Horseclaws replaced Horses:

And also look more badass in armor

And birds and... basically every other animal ever, were replaced by giant insects dwelling in 'The Toxic Jungle', a giant mass of fungal trees and plants that emit a deadly fog-like 'Miasma' that fills the lungs with blood and if exhaled more, liquefies the lungs (although if you're quick and can remove the blood from your lungs, you may be lucky enough to survive). The only things that live there are the insects and the People of the Forest, mysterious and possibly psionic individuals who treat nature with respect, and cannot live outside of said forest (normal air is like Miasma to them). But they are not the only humans who still exist, as various Empires and Principalities exist out amongst the 'Wastelands'. 

But, as human nature dictates, humanity must expand and claim land. Guess things will never change, even with the apocalypse nearly wiping out humanity... Eight times over, since the Toxic Jungle has expanded and destroyed the remnants of civilization that many times, due to humanity enraging the Ohmu (Don't worry, I'll explain what those are in a second) to the point that they blitzkrieg anything in their path, die, and the spores from the toxic jungle erupt from their bodies and make a new jungle.

Anyways, a thousand years have passed since the the mammoth Industrial Civilizations of the past had diminished, and vanished into the dark vastness of time. It is now the closing of what is be one day called The Ceramic Age, and war is brewing between the Torumekian Empire and the Dorok Principalities.

And now due to the Cruel whims of the Portal Maste- Hold on, is any of this sounding familiar to anyone else?

... Eh, must be my imagination. Anyways,

Due to the insidious Portal Master, two factions have now dropped onto the land of Torumekia to battle each other for dominance. In the end, only one shall survive.

Here's hoping the Blue Clad One will come to save us!

Try and find more fitting music, I dare you.

===GEOGRAPHY===

Torumekia is a large subcontinent that seems almost designed to be deadly to humans: A latent airborn sickness that poisons 9/10 children in the womb, a poisonous miasma around the Sea of Corruption, numerous acidic lakes and little farmland, Torumekia is near inhospitable if not for the fact of the occasional fresh water and healthy farmland with various villages being formed around these, as well as large mountains or sea breezes that can repel the sickness.... Or at the very least, dampen it. You can also find the occasional relic of the Industrial Age: nearly destroyed cities, long-dead God Warriors overgrown or partially submerged, a 'sanctuary' of human knowledge with clean air and animals, etc, etc.

Also, the Sea of Corruption holds a rather interesting secret: It's trying to clean the Earth. You see, the 'trees' suck up the various poisons excreted by the insects and fungi, eventually becoming sand. These trees form the ground of the forest, and provide little nutritional value to the fungi. So in a few centuries or so, unless the jungle expands with another Kudaisho, the Toxic Jungle and Miasma could be gone forever!

And with it, the Ohmu...

Speaking of Ohmu, we are now at the point to discuss the Factions of this land!

And boy, are there quite a few....

===THIRD-PARTY FACTIONS===

The Torumekian Empire

A Regal Ouroboros, Devouring Its Young

A heavily militarized aristocracy, the Torumekian Empire holds the most land in Torumekia (As you could guess from the name), but also hold the smallest population thus their warlike habits. They hold in their access mighty airships like the Bumblecrow:

(Big one in the back) Can hold about a hundred men... And only has small mounted turrets as a defense

And highly trained and loyal Knights acting as the primary infantry (although they do have more basic soldiers with equipment similar to what you'd expect from WWI- but with swords taking prominence):

  

The Torumekians are no strangers to the act of war. Also noteworthy is that although they hold the largest amount of land in the wasteland, they (seemingly) have the smallest population, and likely wouldn't be over a million. They're also the most likely to make allies with others, although only if they get a benefit from said alliance.

Dorok Principalities

Basically Caesar's Legion, but more unified...
Kind of.

The Dorok Principalities is an assemblage of 52 various tribes scattered across the wasteland, united under a banner of a single empire and have the largest population of all the factions excluding the insects (I'd bet at LEAST 6 million people in total, and a couple odd hundred thousand soldiers...). Created some odd 200 years ago by a former farmer who was able to acquire Heedra from a pre-SDoF reserve, the unknown farmer became the first Dorok Emperor and became one of the most powerful forces on the planet.

Something Namulith tried to copy, with less favorable results

 This power was heightened even more so when he acquired the Crypt of Shuwa as a Holy Palace, of sorts and gained an immortal and modified Heedra body, making it more human and eliminating the weakness of needing to destroy a center eye to kill it.

Unfortunately, said body fell apart one day in front of his son, Miralupa. Since then, the Dorok Principality has been mainly ruled by the Order of Monks, spreading the idea of the Emperor (Namulith) and his brother being Gods. The Dorok Principality is one of the most dangerous factions. Although they have wooden airships (although these ones come with giant guns), the Dorok have a much finer grasp on scientific advancement then their Torumekian foes (capable of creating artificial Miasma that can kill even insects, and go through all but the heaviest of filters, for example). The only problem they have is that due to the numerous tribes, tensions are rather tense between everyone, and many of the tribes secretly worship the religion of the White Bird: A Deity of Death that shall lead away the faithful and bring them to a glorious afterlife.

There's also the fact that Namulith is a bit batshit insane and homicidal, and isn't above going Stalin/Gulage on anyone who angers him.

Crypt/Monk of Shuwa

This is the Crypt after getting hit by a blast in the high megatons. That scar is all the damage it did. It can regenerate that damage rather easily though, after about a few minutes... Oh, it also has a laser weapon that also measures in the megatons.

As one can imagine, the titanic Industrial Civilizations of the past left numerous secrets: Immortality via Heedra, the way of creating artificial life, creating monsters that could end the world. Such power is a tempting thing, but there is no remaining blueprints or instructions on how to make such things!

Except in Shuwa. Home to an order of immortal Monks (Yeah, whole Heedra shtick), the Monks worship a large 'biological' orb simply called The Crypt of Ancient Knowledge, which every Summer and Winter solstice has a line of text come into being on it: The Monks in turn struggle to decipher it. Even when they had the vast resources of the Dorok at their side, the Monks still struggled to decipher a single line from it. 

But when they succeed at reading a line, the reward is well worth the effort, revealing secrets of ancient mankind, such as the Heedra. These Monks also don't really care for what happens outside of their Crypt. The Dorok are essentially just bodyguards to them, a powerful force that can protect them while they decode the secrets of the Crypt. In return, they give these secrets to the Dorok and grow Heedra for them, to act as personal guards of the Emperor (or make a new body).

A religious order dedicated to creating clones and biologically engineered monstrosities. Something about this sounds familiar to me, I swear....

Anyways, if a faction were able to defeat the Dorok or prove themselves as much more powerful, the Monks would offer their services to the more powerful faction. All they ask in return is the ability to get more people to add to their order, and help with deciphering the Crypt of Ancient Knowledge, and they will certainly offer these secrets to said faction.

The Insects of the Sea of Corruption

Living in the fittingly named Sea of Corruption, or Toxic Jungle, the insects of the jungle are truly monstrous creatures... When angry. The various insects of the Sea of Corruption seem to hold a form of Hive-Mind, living in relative tranquility with another (and the People of the Forest, who treat the insects with respect and take only enough to survive, an agreement the insects are okay with) in the Jungle. That is, until something kills an insect.

What happens when you kill an insect? Well....

"Breaks? On the rape train? Foolish mammal, WE DON'T HAVE BRAKES ON THE RAPE TRAIN!"

Yeah, the result of pissing off the insects is that they enter an unstoppable bloodlust, that won't end until a) they kill whatever killed their own b) they can't find said killer, c) are calmed down via Bug Whistle (something only the Valley of the Wind has) or d) they die of exhaustion/starvation. The only insects that are a (sort of) exception to this are the Ohmu, a race of sentient and telepathic insects.

Who are also adorable

The Ohmu tend to only attack when they are directly provoked or if they feel some grand threat occurring. And once they exit their homicidal bloodlust of RIP AND TEAR!!!, they feel a great remorse for they are pacifists at heart, but they will do anything to protect themselves and the forest as a whole, even if it means they must die.

And since various fungi live on or within the insects, the forest will always regrow from their corpses. 

MISCELLANEOUS

There are many factions in Torumekia, from the mercenary Slug-Handlers (Descendants of the civilization that caused the last Kudaisho, can talk to and tame slugs the sizer of a doberman), the People of the Forest (Peaceful and telepathic individuals that live in the forest and have a very Fremen way of life but less killing, and are revered by the Slug Handlers), and the Periphery (People who aren't Dorok or Torumekian, although they are much better friends with the Torumekians and help them in war), as well as people from countless small cities and villages throughout the land. 

===IMPORTANT INDIVIDUALS===

Nausicaä

Like an Ohmu, when she becomes threatened she is filled with an unspeakably profound rage and power. And then filled with a heart-shattering regret

The 'warrior' princess of the Valley of the Wind, Nausicaä is a kind hearted and hopeful young girl somewhere in her teens, and the only surviving child of her mother (the others died from that 'die in the womb' disease that's in the air). She's a skilled reader of the Winds and pilots a device known as a Möwe.

She also holds a special curiosity towards the Sea of Corruption, and was able to discover that if the various fungi are given healthy water and soil, they're actually utterly non-toxic! Perhaps due to this revelation that even the most deadly force in Torumekia can become inert, she views all life as equal and almost never fights.

When she does though, it's not that dissimilar from an Ohmu in a berserker state: A force of nature, swinging ceramic blade (can cut through almost any known material) to and fro, cutting through the armor of a Torumekian Knight like butter. Afterwards though, she is filled with a deep remorse. 

Also, due to her Möwe and blue outfit, she is believed by the Dorok and Slug-Handlers to be a kind of Messiah, although she isn't too onboard with that. She also seems to have a 'calming' presence around her, making people put her first and try to rescue her, or calming down savage insects.

Kushana

Will she walk the Path of the Warrior, or the Path of the Asura (In Torumekian mythology is a War-Demon of Suffering)?

The only daughter of the Vai Emperor, Kushana did not have a good childhood. At a royal banquet, her mother accidentally took a sip from her daughters drink, which had been poisoned. Her mother went utterly insane, believing a mere doll to actually be her daughter while screaming at the presence of her actual daughter.

Okay, why does that sound familiar? And no, that's not likely a coincidence, since Hideaki Anno read the manga before making Evangelion.

She found out shortly afterwards this had been a plot by her own father to kill her, and when it failed her simply told her this was how life was in the Nobility, and that he and his sons would very well do this to her numerous times.

And I thought the Lannisters had family issues....

Naturally, Kushana decided she'd rather die at the hands of an enemy then her own family and threw herself into a 'Warrior Princess' role of sorts, training a regiment of Torumekian Knights called 'The Third Army' into being the most effective cavalry soldiers in the Empire, and gained massive amounts of respect from the soldiers, to the point where they serve her as opposed to the Empire.

Now with the war between Torumekia and Dorok starting, she has been separated from the Third Army and sent to the Valley of the Wind to gather soldiers, all the while having to deal with an officer who's been tasked with killing her (something he's likely not to do).

His name is Kurotowa, he was hired by the Vai Emperor to kill Kushana but Kurotowa realizes if he did that, the Emperor would kill him before he can get a reward. He may have the appearance and mannerisms of a coward, but he would die for Kushana if the need came, and provides tactical advice.
He's also the best damn character in the manga.

 She would also eventually become the (forced) Bride of Namulith, before she 'killed' him. Confused on the air quotes? Well, let's talk about the Bastard Emperor, shall we? And no, he's not actually called that.

Namulith

"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'doesn't he get tired of all this killing?' And the answer is I don't."

There are few people as despicable as Namulith. The leader of the Dorok Principalities for over a century, he has lived for so long due to having inserted his consciousness into a modified Heedra body seven times over (Although immortal, his body is rather fragile and decayed). He lives mainly in the Crypt of Shuwa due to an agreement with the Monks there, and has for over a century. As you can guess, this has not went well with his already demented psyche, making him a vicious and sadistic monster. 

A good example of this is when his brother was (or would it be will? AHHH, TIME IS CONFUSING!) put into a chamber of preserving fluids and connected to various life support systems, he poisoned his brother and watched laughing as he slowly died, while he ineffectually tried to kill him by strangling him with said life support cords, and immediately afterwards assembled an army of Heedra and loyal soldiers (and a slumbering/half formed God Warrior) and planned to make his own empire.

He would later die when the God Warrior (No, I'm not listing him here. This is before they find that monster) awoke and mistook Nausicaä as it's mother and flew off with her, with the air currents launching his still-living head out of Kushana's grip, off the airship and down to the Earth below.

Miralupa

Fun fcact: He used to be a kind man, trying to unite the whole world in peace and such and find a way of making everyone adore the Dorok... After twenty years of people being idiots, he decided to become a tyrant.

The twin brother of the Emperor and public face of the Dorok Principality, Miralupa differs from his brother in two important ways: One, he doesn't have a Heedra body because he witnessed their father die due to his Heedra body splitting apart at the seams and making him fall apart in a pile of gore... This happened when he was a child. The downside is though his body is ridiculously frail and he requires to be bathed in preservative fluids numerous times so he doesn't die.

Secondly, Miralupa has access to psionic abilities, able to have his soul exit his body and move as an almost invisible writhing mass, capable of interacting with the mortal realm.

I need an adult!

That being said, any damage that occurs to it also occurs to his body, and if he were to die in this state he'd be stuck in the shadow form permanently and go insane.

Guess what happens to him in the manga? Thankfully though, Nausicaä is able to lead him to Heaven... Or something.

The Vai Emperor

Why must the internet be so ignorant of this manga!? WHY!?

The emperor of the nation of Torumekia, the Vai Emperor is a cruel and uncaring man, who mainly cares for power, although he also despises cowards. Known as the 'King of Serpents', he is despised by Kushana, although he did all of the terrible things (Sending her into a hostile part of the world, having her brothers try and kill her, having the Third Army stuck defending a Besieged Castle outpost, etc, etc.) was all for the greater good, to mold her into something stronger.

Tough love, huh? And this attitude is also the same for the various Noble houses, seeing that they must be struck down with fear or else they collect like Trash.

Still, the man shows no fear (when the God Warrior threatened to kill him, he remarked that he was excited for feeling a tinge of fear!) and is a cunning and respect warrior, so you have to give him that.

Lord Yupa

Yes, I know this is from the anime and I said I wouldn't use stuff from the anime. But you try and find me MANGA pictures of Lord Yupa!

A mysterious traveller and good friend of Nausicaä's father, Lord Yupa is renowned throughout Torumekia as a Master Swordsman, able of fighting off men in 20-1 odds with a knife and winning! He is a man who always tries to find peace in a conflict however, and regularly travels the wastelands to see if he can find people to help. But with the continuing sickness, where children die in the womb from breathing in toxins, and the spreading of the Toxic Jungle and Miasma, there are less and less people out there....

DANGER STATUS: 5/5: What with the warring factions of Dorok and Torumekia, added with the ridiculously deadly toxic jungle and it's inhabitants, Torumekia is a savage and deadly land where only the strongest can survive or hope to conquer the land. The only respite is that, although they have airships, they haven't learned how to make Aerial Bombs or how to make (good) guns for said ships, besides small turrets. And the Torumekians can be reasoned with, and the Monks of Shuwa provide technological secrets and Heedra to anybody willing to provide them security while they unearth the secrets of 'God' (Actually an A.I inhabiting a biomechanical blob (although it can posses anyone of weak will), with the collected knowledge of all mankind within it... Unfortunately, said A.I wants to kill current humanity, since they're actually artificially made (The people in the forest are normal humans.... Think about that for a second) and need to be killed so humanity can live again.

Explained better here

"Oh by the way, the clean air of a good Earth will kill you all, due to your genetically modified bodies finding that stuff toxic.... HELP US TO MAKE A NEW TOMORROW!"

"Why does God need a spaceship?"... Wait, wrong series.

"Nausicaa, Destroyer of hope and saviour of mankind."

So yeah, to the people fighting in Torumekia, I have but one thing to say:

GOOD LUCK!