Committed Chaos Cult Marine
Lawrence, KS (United States)
|
This is an idea that I've had floating around in my head for a few years. As motivation to finally get started, I've decided to post a pre-emptive blog detailing the vision I have of the Demiurg. Since there is so little information available (aside from a few Battlefleet Gothic ships and a couple of paragraphs on Lexicanum), I am basically given free reign to do what I please. I have given this much thought, and seeing as how "Dwarves" or anything resembling them have been sorely lacking from the 40k Universe, there are probably high expectations that I have to meet. Hopefully my ideas, as well as my modeling and painting skills, will please at least a few of you. At the very least, I care about this far more than Games Workshop does, with the Demiurg 'existing' for years with no in-game incarnation whatsoever. The Squats were a piss-poor idea of how to incorporate Dwarves into a Science Fantasy setting. Hopefully I can do better.
Here are a few general outlines of the ideas I have concerning the Demiurg. Though a lot of it is pulling fluff out of thin air (and most of it is bare-bones structure that is essential before I can get started), nearly every one of these ideas will be shown in some way when I get around to modeling and painting. Even more will be shown when I get a chance to write the home-grown codex. If things seem a bit disjointed, I apologize. I'm just trying to get most of my concepts out there for all to see. If you have any comments or criticism, they are more than welcome. I'd like to know what people want to see, as again, there are probably fairly high expectations.
Most importantly, the Demiurg consume minerals to generate energy, in much the same way as any other living creature consumes other living creatures to survive. This explains their dependance and focus on mining and prospecting, as they must mine in order to survive as a species. The longer a Demiurg 'feeds' from a planet, the more he begins to take on the appearance of that planet. Oftentimes, they even begin to grow patches of local flora from their skin. The energy generated by a Demiurg glows through cracks in their mineral-hardened 'skin', and the color of this energy varies depending on the planet that they've been feeding from. A Brotherhood of Demiurg can completely ravage a planet through feeding almost as quickly as a Tyranid Hive Fleet can assimilate all of the genetic material on a planet, though unlike the Tyranids, the Demiurg are consciously aware of this fact and in a state of constant lamentation because of it. Many Brotherhoods have taken up mining uninhabitable asteroid belts without ever claiming a home planet because of this.
The Demiurg are born without legs, and instead are host to a spine that can take root in the ground and assimilate any nearby minerals very quickly (The Demiurg generally fashion themselves legs for mobility purposes). A series of tendrils that takes the appearance of a beard covers a very powerful circular maw that can crush through anything with ease (used for consuming minerals that the spine and other extremities have trouble breaking down). Due to the shape of their mouth, they speak in a series of unnerving clicks and hisses, though many Demiurg fashion themselves vocoders which can translate their tongue into any given language. Each hand of a Demiurg only has three large, unweildy fingers, which has led them to create much technology to accomodate this (Generally, mining tools cover the entire hand and operate on a neural interface).
Nearly every Demiurg fashions themselves a 'Power Core' to contain the energy that they generate and reroute it to power their own technology. As stated before, a Demiurg must create legs for himself if he is to be mobile. The Demiurg is not a hostile race, and so when they must participate in warfare, they use the tools which have been created to mine planets (Drills, picks, and hammers are often repurposed as close combat weapons, while ion demolition charges and particle cannons are commonly used as long-range weapons). Architecturally, their armor often displays geometric shapes such as hexagons and octagons, mirroring the basic molecular structure of their food source. It is made of a rare alloy that the Demiurg cannot consume, and as such, is used sparingly (Usually, the Demiurg leave their bodies completely exposed, as their skin provides sufficient armor in itself). Their vehicles are usually octupedal or multi-sectional, useful for traversing caves and near-impassable outcroppings of rock, and are powered by the energy emitted by the Demiurg pilot, who is usually placed in an open-air cockpit.
Though this isn't an all-encompassing breakdown for everything that I want to accomplish, it will hopefully give you a basic idea of what's to come. I wanted to get some feedback on it before I go diving headfirst into creating something that people could potentially end up hating (or, at the very least, not understanding). So, please feel free to post your questions, comments, and concerns, and I will get to modeling shortly, depending on people's reception.
|