Friday, January 4, 2013

The Anapa

Anubis by ~mribby 294

The jackal-headed Anapa are one of the most hated and feared alien races in the galaxy - especially so for a race that is so shrouded in mystery. Nicknamed "Skulkers" and  "Barkers" by some within the Empire, the sorcerer-scientists of the Anapa are masters of unlife and of the transformation of the recently dead. One of their number is said to attend each successive Imperial Sovereign upon their death, preparing them for the afterlife.

Aside from this solemn task, the Anapa are rarely seen. Even more rarely are they detected by other means, as their bodies are highly modified with all sorts of stealth technologies. Some speculate that the Anapa are properly transbiological: that what we see is more of a cybershell for self-aware or ascended software rather than the body of an organic intelligence.

Most Anapa live a solitary existence on cemetery worlds, in catacombs, in lonely and long-abandoned orbitals circling dead worlds, or sheltered within their laboratories within pocket universes of their own making.

In ancient times, the Anapa fought a great, no-quarter-given war against an enigmatic, transplanar species of felids. The felids were fierce rivals, each being able to live simultaneously on entirely different worlds and planes. The Anapans' own numbers were devastated by this great war. They survived by going even deeper underground.

Ultimately, the Anapa and their armies of cyberartificia, flesh golems, and the nanomortified were succeessful in defeating their ancient enemies and in banishing them from this plane. A few brave or foolhardy explorers today search dead worlds to uncover the abandoned laboratories and weapons of the Anapa. The few who return from these expeditions seldom live long. Strange diseases claim them, and their bodies shuffle away of their own accord.

The Anapa below was built using the Legends of Anglerre RPG, a complete fantasy RPG using the Starblazer Adventures implementation of FATE.


OGL MECHANICS

Anapa (neutral)

Scale 2 (Small)
Physical Stress: 5
Composure Stress: 6 
Fate Points: 3

ASPECTS:
  • Masters of death - and unlife
  • Dwellers in the dark spaces 
  • Our vision extends into the Planes Beyond
  • Bleeds circuitry not blood
  • The cats are our ancient enemies
SKILLS:
  • 1 Great (+4): Power of Death
  • 2 Good (+3): Academics, Power of Dimensions
  • 3 Fair (+2): Alertness, Intimidate, Science 
  • 4 Average (+1): Fists, Endurance, Guns, Resolve
STUNTS:
  • Control Undead (Power of Death skill, LoA p. 124)
  • Create Portal (Power of Dimensions skill, LoA p. 126)
  • Destroy Undead (Power of Death skill, LoA p. 124)
  • Dimensional Casting (Power of Dimensions skill, LoA p. 126)
  • Dimensional Sanctuary (Power of Dimensions skill, LoA p. 125)
  • Raise Lesser Undead (Power of Death skill, LoA p. 125)
  • Raise Greater Undead (Power of Death skill, LoA p. 125)
EQUIPMENT:
  • Staff Weapon: The Anapa often have staff weapons that are capable of delivering a directed nanomortification cloud blast at their enemies. Treat as a Gas Grenade (LoA p. 50) except that the weapon releases the nanocloud in a cone reaching into the next Zone. 

2 comments:

  1. Cool. I like how you've translated Anubis to a species.

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  2. Hey Trey! yes, hardly original as Liz Williams did this in her wonderfully atmospheric gothic-occult SF novel "The Poison Master", and Monte Cook did that with his "Arcana Unearthed" setting. Interestingly, both of these efforts positioned the anubian race as the servitors of another race that was dominating humans (in William's case, a malevolent overlord, in Cook's case a benevolent overlord).

    The Anapa are kind of a behind the scenes overlord race that have seen better days. There is another "behind the scenes" reference in their history as well.

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