How about a good ole Prophecy?

[Robert Lai]

I believe it would have to have been discovered by accident (at least if the records/memories of the site have been blanked) ... as an active site would have been revealed during the Dominion War - either by the Vorta maximizing efficiency, or by others feeling the war qualifies as the great evil for which this installation was built.

And if the bombardment only exposed some of the power conduits, then there might not be an immediate identification with the device/site ... only later, as someone traces the lines, would the location become apparent.

Bob

[Antonsb214]

How about this, the batteries are under ALL major Cardassian cities at least ten thousand years old. The conduits are under their ancient road system. They all lead to one spot under a huge mountain. This mountain would normally take millions of years to form, but a geological analysis will show it to be less than 50,000 years-old.
What could this be?
cue foreboding dramatic music...

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"Retreat?! Hell, we just got here!"

[Cessna]

You want a Prophecy?

Okay one is coming to me…

Wait…

Wait…


“Enterprise will suck!”


(Sorry, I couldn’t resist…!)

[Owen E Oulton]

Cessna, try resisting more next time, or take it over to the Star Trek Chat forum. This is the Narrator's Ready Room, for discussing game-related issues.

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[Flamestrike]

Here's a thought...

What is the prophesy designed to prevent?

What if the focus of the prophesy is to keep some sort of Chthonic menace leashed or trapped in some manner?

Perhaps a War Planets/Shadowraiders/Unicron/Galactus style planet devourer is imprisoned within the core of Cardassia Prime?

Maybe it's a race of creatures that would make Babylon 5's Shadows turn araound and say "Hang on a minute, that's just flat WRONG!"...

How about Chtulhu's big brother?

Just some random thoughts....

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Even in this age of technological wonders, the human mind is still the most powerful weapon in the universe.

[Calcoran]

A race of creatures? Care to develop a bit? What kind of threat could it represent? Would it have something to do with the Prophets/Pah-Wraiths?

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Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)

[Antonsb214]

How about something like those things seen in the "Final Fantasy" movie trailers?
"Some... thing... is awakened... it needs... US... for some... thing...!"
OK was that bad of me?
Do you want these bad boy non-corporeal, phase shifting, or what? How do they sense prey or communicate? Psionics?
How about this, they find these monstrous statues. 3-4 meters tall warrior things, make them reptillian, insectoid, whatever would creep your players out the most. These "statues" are actually the vehicles for this race of creatures, they can inhabit and animate the suits. Something like the Vorlons from B5. Or like the Protoss Archons from Starcraft. This could be a challenging adventure for any psionic characters.

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"Retreat?! Hell, we just got here!"

[Owen E Oulton]

You want some arcane prophecies which can be interpreted to fit your game? Try lifting a quatrain or two from Nostradamus. They're so couched in allegory that with no more creative interpretation than is required to adapt the average gaming module, you can fit them in to just about any campaign. If the quatrain mentions a "man of peace" it might be a Vedek or the new Kai. A "man of violence" could be a Cardassian or a Klingon, or an unreformed guerrilla/terrorist. As a canon example of how hard it can be to interpret prophecies, see the DS9 episode Destiny.

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[Antonsb214]

This is all adjustable to suit your vision.
Ko'mah tal'thrac
Fitness 4
Coordination 3
Intellect 3
Psionics 4
skills: all the psionics you can eat.

Appearance: How about something that chooses its form from the mind of its target ala Gozer in "Ghostbusters"? Have them be slightly out of phase so weapons only do half damage. Throw in the ability to animate the dead and this could get scary. They could be vulnerable to psionic attacks by powerful psychics or weapons using psychic energy. Or maybe they're just here to finish the Cardassians off. Make them parasitic worms like in "Dark Skies". This adventure could get really gross.
Here's a little adapting from the book of Revelation, if you want to create a prophecy, why not borrow from the master?
...and the seal was broken
and I saw 3 galors with 3 trumpets
and the first galor sounded his trumpet
and hail and fire mixed with blood fell from the heavens...
and then the second galor sounded his trumpet
and the mountains fell, the seas turned as blood and the skies as sackcloth
and then the third galor sounded his trumpet
and the beast was awakened
it devoured cities and lay waste to the land
for it was the time of judgement.

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"Retreat?! Hell, we just got here!"

[Owen E Oulton]

"And lo, I saw a pale targ, and the name of the warrior who sat upon him was Fek'lhr, and Gre'thor followed after..."

Yeah, it's got potential.

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[Robert Lai]

The problem with adapting/borrowing either Revelations or Nostradamus ... is that those works would be in the LCARS, and the parallels would raise other questions ... such as, if these prophecies were made as early as circa 40 AD, why have there been no traces of this danger/threat or the device on Earth?

I think you can look at them for style, but be cautious about lifting verbatim. Allegory, generalities, capitalization, and archaic words for which the meaning has changed are indisposable.

One other thought - what if, though the inscriptions are in Bajoran - multiple layers of meaning are perceived by other races or psionic sensitives? That is, a Bajoran sees Prophecy A, while a Cardassian sees Prophecy B, and a Human sees Prophecy C. Unless all are matched together, you'll come to the wrong conclusion.

And now, the Prophecy ...

The Third shall be as the First;
Darkness without form shall rise
and the Actions of One will defy.
A Call to Arms shall sound
and the Final Battle shall begin.

Within the Book of Knowledge
To three Visions pay heed
Silence is the Path of Darkness
But Darkness may be Clothed in Light

... and so on.

Bob

[This message has been edited by Robert Lai (edited 07-02-2001).]

[Robbert Raets]

How many Prophets and Pah-wraiths are there?

[Captain Zymmer]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Robert Lai:
And now, the Prophecy ...

The Third shall be as the First;
Darkness without form shall rise
and the Actions of One will defy.
A Call to Arms shall sound
and the Final Battle shall begin.

Within the Book of Knowledge
To three Visions pay heed
Silence is the Path of Darkness
But Darkness may be Clothed in Light

... and so on.</font>

Wow...I like that, I think it would have to be a bit less cvague for players to grasp and work with, but yeah that's the right vien for sure

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Captain Zymmer
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