CONCEPT - The War of the Worlds Campaign flavor text
I've been working on the campaign and things are starting to congeal. I've got half the scenarios laid out. I'm not going to release an alpha until all of the scenarios are ready for feedback, but I wanted to let you know the plans after re-reading the novel and my ideas/inspiration for the campaign. The quotes in italics are from the novel with the regular text being my own flavor that inspired the scenario.
The Cylinder Opens
March 25, 1918
”With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter.” ~ The War of the Worlds
Rumors of Martian scouting missions had only recently reached the White Cliffs of Dover from the Western European front. In our hubris the nations of Europe believed the assault repulsed, our divine right affirmed. The first wave of landings targeting our sovereign soil appeared like those on the continent - meant as a test of our resolve - with an expeditionary landing impacting at Woking, Surry. Our response at was woefully inadequate due to the commitment of resources on the continent.
The Fighting Begins
March 27, 1918
“It would seem that these giants spent the earlier part of the afternoon in going to and fro, transferring everything from the second and third cylinders—the second in Addlestone Golf Links and the third at Pyrford—to their original pit on Horsell Common.” ~ The War of the Worlds
Mankind was still reeling from the first assault when the second wave of cylinder landings began a few days later. The Martians had established a foothold and were now consolidating their supply chain – a clear indication they were preparing for a lengthy campaign.
The Work of Fifteen Days
April 11, 1918
“When I had last seen this part of Sheen in the daylight it had been a straggling street of comfortable white and red houses, interspersed with abundant shady trees. Now I stood on a mound of smashed brickwork, clay, and gravel, over which spread a multitude of red cactus-shaped plants, knee-high, without a solitary terrestrial growth to dispute their footing.” ~ The War of the Worlds
We quickly realized that the Martians planned on remaking the Earth in their own twisted image, destroying our food supply by corrupting our soil with the red weed. If Mankind was to have any chance of survival, we must not allow the diseased plant to spread.
The Exodus from London
April 14, 1918
“So you understand the roaring wave of fear that swept through the greatest city in the world just as Monday was dawning—the stream of flight rising swiftly to a torrent, lashing in a foaming tumult round the railway stations, banked up into a horrible struggle about the shipping in the Thames, and hurrying by every available channel northward and eastward.” ~ The War of the Worlds
As the Martians advanced toward London unabated and the stench of death began to waft through the streets, the population’s faith in our military might and resolve faded, giving way to panic and desperation, fleeing the city by any means necessary, choking the roads and the river Thames itself.
Dead London
April 20, 1918
“The farther I penetrated into London, the profounder grew the stillness. But it was not so much the stillness of death—it was the stillness of suspense, of expectation. At any time the destruction that had already singed the northwestern borders of the metropolis, and had annihilated Ealing and Kilburn, might strike among these houses and leave them smoking ruins.” ~ The War of the Worlds
The united might of Europe has come together in what was greatest city in the world for what may very well be the final stand for humanity.
The Epilogue
April 22, 1918
But there are no bacteria in Mars, and directly these invaders arrived, directly they drank and fed, our microscopic allies began to work their overthrow. Already when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed, dying and rotting even as they went to and fro. It was inevitable. ~ The War of the Worlds
We realized that the germs of disease to which we spent centuries living amongst and by birthright became resistant to would be the salvation of our species. The smallest, microscopic of creatures would be the undoing of our Martian invaders.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks