Retaking the Rogue Isles

For a while now, I've talked about what it would be like if Arachnos were taken out of most zones and control passed on to the regional governors. I thought I'd put my money where my mouth was and actually outline an in-canon timeline for how and why this might happen. I don't know that I'll be able to write that up all at once, but we'll start with:

Warburg

Even with Marshal Jason Blitz gone, Warburg does not stay in a power vacuum for long. Having been disgusted with how the Rogue Isles betrayed and mistreated the man she idolised and appalled at her own part in it, Fortunata Erin Gossomer enacts a violent purge of Warburg leadership and takes sole control as governor of the island. The soldiers under her command will no longer bear Arachnos insignias and colours, and will instead call themselves the Warburg Militia. Gossomer's first order of business is to repay Arachnos for their betrayal, ordering mass raids on Grandville Island. In order to save Warburg's WMDs from being wasted against Arachnos point defence batteries, amphibious assaults are being carried away, with missile strikes reserved for taking out strategic targets only. Over the span of just a few days, Warburg Militia forces have essentially taken control of the beach areas all around Grandville island, though the Fab's automated defences ground-level have managed to keep that area clear.

This puts Arachnon in a very bad position, at a time when they are hurting in many other ways. To preserve his image, Recluse recalls nearly all Arachnos surplus forces back to Grandville island to fight the land invasion and closes all borders. However, this is just one of many problems. The Praetorian war is sapping massive numbers of Arachnos soldiers and destroying a lot of equipment, leaving the islands with just a skeleton crew, essentially. Scirocco has defected after the events of Dark Astoria, leaving a power vacuum leading to infighting among Arachnos forces, themselves. After the blatant Aarachnos incursions on American soil in Overbrook and especially their devastating raids on Paragon City following the horrific disaster in Galaxy City has caused the United Nations to issue an embargo against the Rogue Isles and begin deliberations on declaring the nation a rogue state. In the meantime, the US government has entered into a cold war with Arachnos and developed a practice for intentionally turning a blind eye towards licensed heroes performing blatant incursions into Rogue Isles territory.

Pressed from all sides, Recluse finds himself unable to hold onto his nation. Insufficient men, materials and morale have left his forces badly overstretched, and he's doing the only sensible thing he can, which is to hold onto his capital with all remaining forces, leaving the rest of the islands dangerously unguarded, with only basic forces around to protect them. Given that the Rogue Isles are populated by some of the most ruthless, opportunistic, selfish people on the planet, this is a very clear recipe for disaster and Reclues knows it. However, his options at this point are severely limited, and all other islands aside from his capital are, at this point, liable to be sacrificed.

How the game needs to change:

*Recolour all Rogue Arachnos troops to match the grey of Rogue Fortunatas. Swap their faction name to "Warburg Militia." Should be relatively simple as the Architect can already do this.

*Replace all spawns on the beach around Grandville with Warburg Militia and occasionally have them fight against regular Arachnos troops outside. Possibly introduce them into the Gutter in smaller numbers. No art time necessary.

*Close the Grandville customs and move the queue of people into a throng at the dock instead of a queue along customs similar to the souls in Night Ward. No art time necessary.

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Port Oaks

With the Arachnos presence in Port Oaks significantly diminishes, it's just a matter of time before the locals would grow bold enough to challenge them. The first to move is Guido "the Mooch" Verandi, acting on informant information that the Arachnos government building in Marconeville will unusually lightly defended. Guido's Mooks attack the building, but just as they're about to overwhelm the Arachnos defenders, Emil Marcone and his men enter the fight and attack the Mooks. Pressed on both sides, they scatter and run away. Instead of pursuing them, Emil's men proceed to secure the government building, only to turn on its Arachnos defenders, catching them by surprise and moving to occupy the building themselves. The last few remaining forces receive orders from Grandville: Reinforcements ARE NOT available, and they are to hold the building at any cost. No retreat is permitted.

The defenders of the government building radio for help to Fort Hades to the east, only to find that the for is under siege by invaders from the mainland - Family hitmen. It then transpires that Sebastian Frost, godfather of the mainland Family cartel, has been supplying Emil Marcone with men, money and materials pretty much since old man Marcone died. The old man was Family through and through and he ran the island tight. Since his death, however, Arachnos have tightened security and taken a massive cut into Family smuggling operations. Frost aims to install Emil as governor of the island and kick Arachnos off entirely, returning Port Oaks to Family hands and restoring it as a major no-customs smuggling port. After a VERY protracted battle, Emil's men are able to secure the Arachnos government building. With this victory, Emil declares the island free of Arachnos control and raises his own flags, reforming the land a the "Nation of Port Oaks," an independent island country under the Family's thumb.

However, the battle at the government building turns out to be so protracted and severe that it ties up essentially all of Emil's men for a full day, leaving Villa Montrose essentially undefended. Guido's Mooks - who have not suffered serious casualties during their retreat - regroup and change priorities. With all of the island's soldiers focused on Marconeville, they are free to take the nearly empty Villa Montrose and hole up there. Before Emil is even aware of this, the Mooks have already repositioned the coastal defence turrets along the area's exterior wall and begun reinforcing it and building it up, transforming the Villa area into a nearly impregnable stronghold. By the time Emil's men are able to secure Marconeville and turn their attention back to their base of operations, it's too late - any Family assault ends up in them being cut down by Villa Montrose's automated turrets.

Caught in a state of stalemate, Emil proclaims Guido and his Mooks enemies of the state and begins referring to them as guerilla insurgents. His forces manage to quarantine the Mooks at Villa Montrose and cut off their access to the rest of the city. Fort Hades proves to be completely impregnable to ground assault, as the walls of the old fortress are nearly impossible to climb and Arachnos forces have mined the approaches. Mounted turrets on the ramparts prevent anyone from even approaching the fort, but the Arachnos forces are essentially trapped there, holding the landing pad for reinforcements which will never come. Amidst the chaos, the island's smaller-time villains have gone out in force. The Hellions have all but taken over Oil Spill, with more arriving from the mainland every day. The Snakes have grown bold and moved to the surface and infested Dockside, where they are caught in a constant struggle against the Lost who have also been pushed there by Family forces.

Emil's Family forcess have complete control over Marconeville and the Arena, but their forces are unable to shift the Mooks, who seem to be getting supplies from some unknown source. This unknown source, it transpires, is the Council, who have all but disappeared from topside Port Oaks, forced back into their hidden underground bases by Emil's forces and the chaos on the island. Seeing Guido as the most approachable side, the Council begin supplying his mooks with weapons, food, ammunition and high-tech devices, secretly upgrading the Villa's defence turrets to their superior Council designs and moving Mooks out into the city to cause disturbances through their own underground tunnels.

How the game needs to change:

*Swap most spawns in Marconeville and the area around the Arena with Family spawns. Have them act like PPD spawns in Kings Row, i.e. peering into windows, checking cars, patrolling the streets and holding other factions at gunpoint. No art time necessary.

*Swap almost all spawns in Oil Spill to Hellions, and have them mostly move crates around, set oil slicks on fire and party. Possibly have some Girlfriends along to silently guide them into messing with Gadzul Oil. No art time necessary.

*Move all Arachnos spawns inside Fort Hades and put Trip Mines on the ramps leading up that detonate like Barrels on the DFB. Move Veluta Lunata inside the fort. No art time necessary.

*Have all spawns in Dockside be Lost and Snakes, with either the Lost lying around asleep or the Snakes looking for victims, or otherwise the two groups fighting. No art time necessary.

*Move all Mook Spawns to Villa Montrose and have them spend most of their time cleaning guns and doing combat drills, or otherwise having fight clubs. Move all turrets on the exterior wall. No art time necessary.

*Replace the Villa Montrose exterior wall with the wall of a Freakshow fort, the one made of scrap iron plates and steel girders, then put the turrets on top of the wall's towers. Probably significant art time required.

*Replace all the Arachnos Quartermaster with a Marcone Shady Dealer. Replace the zone's Arbiter with Emil Marcone himself to act as trainer. Replace the Fortunata with a either a "Warburg Militia" Fortunata suggesting they're helping, or otherwise a Deserter Fortunata that chose to work with the winning team.

*Almost all of the stories in the zone can remain untouched, but the one with Emil and Guido in it might need to change. Instead of getting both of them together for a peace talk, you're asked beat both of them up and give them a stern talking-to. This then leads to their lieutenants defecting and conspiring to end the stalemate by killing both Emil and Guido and joining forces as one faction, the first business of which will be finding and killing the player character who "knows too much." That might constitute quite a bit of work, but it's all text work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Sounds brilliant. I'd also like to see a little more about Arachnoids...maybe they try to take Grandville?

(Also, as a small note, I believe it is "Port Oakes," not "Port Oaks.")

I would like to see a reflection of First Ward. A survivor compound, with infected in the sewers instead of ghouls, snakes instead of ghosts, and arachnos instead of DUST. Not a copy of First Ward, but close enough that the parallel is obvious.

Uh...Perhaps thou ought not to have mention'd the First Ward in the presence of friend Samuel...

I would like to know what will happen in Sharkshead, with it being, ya know, on the back of a giant Incarnate.

....Somebody get Sam a visa so he can be hired, stat

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Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

As much as I'd like to agree with this, "No art time necessary" is not a magical shortcut that will drastically reduce implementation time.

A CoV minus the pervasive influence of Arachnos would basically be a new game.

While I'm with you in spirit here Sam, I just don't see it ever happening.

I would really love to see this, especially with how all the other zones would end up changing too. Imagine an Aeon that no longer has to answer to Arachnos!

I love it. Just the whole idea. Recluse and his empire crumbling around him. His greatest enemy dead at the hands of some two-bit magic thief, and his own power made trivial by the power that so many now wield as Incarnates. The story opportunities would be incredible. Now instead of Arachnos contacts just assuming that you want to be their whipping boy, they could have to beg our villains to help them hang onto what ever bit of control they have left in the isles. Maybe they could work in some Gold Side style choices, be loyal to Arachnos, or backstab them as much as possible.

*begin countdown to Sam Tow invading Dr. Aeon's cube at Paragon Studios, defeating him in single combat & taking his paycheck*

Here are a couple of issues I forgot:

Cap Au Diable

*Replace all Arachnos Quartermasters with Aeon Corps employees. Possibly a new character model from the character creator, but it's high time we gave those guys their own dress code.

*Relocate all of the new Aeon Corps employees away from where the current Quartermasters are and reposition them around Aeon City and New Haven. Have the Mutation one be on the opposite side of town from the government building and have the Magic and Natural ones down in New Haven.

Nerva Archipelago

*Replace all Arachnos Quartermasters with Crey Industries business relations officials.

*Retrofit Operative Ruthger into a Crey Agent. Swap his Arachnos uniform for a Crey MIB suit, give him slicked-back black hair and shades. His arc is almost entirely focused on being AGAINST Longbow so swapping his allegiances isn't a big problem.

And now we return you to your regularly-scheduled programming:

---

Sharkhead Island

The losses of Port Oakes and Cap Au Diable and the the withdrawal of Arachnos forces from Nerva Archipelago puts the power of Arachnos in question. Kirk Kage is often caught discussing a dangerous question with his executives: What, exactly, are Arachnos doing for him on Sharkhead? They're supposed to keep the peace, and yet the Family runs the docks, clogging them up with contraband and routinely embezzling from shipping profits, Freakshow run rampant and have actually founded a fort, Council and Sky Raider forces have dug in around the mine, and the Scrapyarders... If Kirk Kage had his way, he'd have had Scrapyard "disappeared," then held a mock funeral, given everyone a bonus of company money then given them a day off to drink it all back to him in the company cantina. But no, Mako had to "make an example" of the man and so gave the Scrapyarders both a cause and an unkillable persistent leader to constantly rile them up into open revolt.

Well, OK, there is ONE thing Arachnos are good for - collecting taxes. With Grandville under siege and taxes from the other islands drying up, the remaining Arachnos skeleton crew on Sharkhead has been demanding higher and higher taxes and taking a much bigget cut of the Red Coral. For doing nothing. It doesn't take an economics genius to figure out that that's just bad for business. Action must be taken, but the Cage Consortium 9-5 mall cops aren't up to the task. So Kirk does what any self-respecting CEO would do and enacts some corporate restructuring by firing his entire security staff and contracting mercenaries from the mainland. And he contracts them for a very specific reason - the armed takeover of Sharkhead Island. With Arachnos forces as overstretched as they are across the island, they stand no real chance of holding their installations against veteran soldiers in large numbers.

Having seen the fate of the Arachnos garrisons of Port Oakes and Cap Au Diable, the Sharkhead Arachnos garrison doesn't even put up a fight. As soon as they detect a large force of Cage Mercenaries paradropping onto the island and begin taking strategic positions, the Arachnos soldiers hop onto their Black Helicopters and evacuate. Not to Grandville where they'll be shot for desertion, no, but for the mainland where they hope to go to ground. These men are NOT interested in being pinned down and picked off one by one. The remaining few soldiers who missed the evacuation swiftly surrender and plead with Cage to take them into his employ, instead. These join the ranks of the Cage Consortium's new military police.

The bloodless takeover of Sharkead Island worries the Family. Local cartel rulers, fearing that they too will follow Emil's fate of being in Sebastian Frost's pocket, send Lorenz Ansaldo to Kirk Cage's own residence to negotiate, partly as a gesture of good will and partly as a sacrificial lamb. But Kirk is no warmonger. He's a businessman, and a protracted civil was is bad for business. His offer is simple - the Family can run the docks freely and ship anything they want through them, provided Cage Consortium shipments are never messed with and never delayed. Essentially, the Family get free, no-questions-asked reign over Port Recluse, but only on the condition they police themselves and deal with the Scrapyarders. Because if Crey Military Police forces have to get involved, they will be shooting on sight. The Family, wisely, choose the carrot instead of the stick and become the Cage Consortium's silent partners.

With both Family and Cage Military Police patrolling Port Recluse, the Freaksho's ramshackle village becomes essentially sealed off from most of the island, but Kirk doesn't actually choose to move on the fort itself. Casualties would be too costly for what it's worth considering the Freakshow are a nuisance at best, who could actually be used. The Crush's ground level is infested with the Golems that threaten the Hell Forge. By pressing cutting the Freakshow away from Port Recluse, their violence is directed towards the Golems. A reward offered for the Red Coral at the heart of the Golems is just the incentive to get the Freaks embroiled with the monsters, and once the fight becomes "personal," then two problems solve each other. The Freakshow no longer threaten Port Recluse and are instead doing wonders for keeping Golem numbers down.

The Council's static fortifications so close to the Pit remains a problem for Cage. While Council forces aren't specifically targeting his operations, their soldiers are still using his men for target practice and stealing his shipments. To combat this with Cage Military Police would be to involve the consortium into a very costly war of attrition, and that's bad for business. Instead, working through Lt. Heathcliff Chalmers, Cage is able to hire the Sky Raiders into carrying out several seemingly minor operations against Council positions in the area, knowing that the Council's sense of pride will not allow them to take this lightly. Unsurprisingly, the Council retaliate by attacking Sky Raider operations in the area in minor skirmishes. As a means of escalating the conflict, Cage Military Police commandos set explosives at the base of the Sky Raider rig at night shortly following a Council operation, leaving the Raiders to assume it a Council operation, causing them to respond in full force. From there, the conflict spirals out of hand until both factions are too busy fighting each other to mess with the Pit's operations.

All is not good news for the Cage Consortium, however. Still defiant of her father, she is horrified of seeing him take such full control of Sharkhead Island. And so is the Circle of Thorns. Their ongoing research into the Leviathan of Merulia requires large numbers of sacrifices, and with Cage Military Police and Family forces occupying the island, this really can't happen. Having inherited her father's knack for finding unconventional solutions to problems, it's Crash's idea to push against the Family instead of fighting Crash Military Police directly. The CMP are hardened veterans, and they get paid well. They'll fight like demons. The Family, on the other hand, are under Kirk's thumb after he makes them an offer they can't refuse. Kirk promised them full reign over the city, but what if he can't deliver on that promise? What if the Circle were to push against the Family and at the same time infiltrate their ranks as a means of turning them against Kage? That would surely work. And the best place to push would be Villa Requin. Trouble there would sting the most as this is where the Family big fish call home, and you don't attack a person at his home.

And it would have worked, were it not for Diviner Maros whose pans don't always coincide with the larger objectives of the Circle of Thorns. He is the one who "lets slip" what the Circle are doing to a random villain, and word soon filters over to Kirk Cage. Thinking fast, Kirk appeals to the one person on the island who can help him in this matter - the spirit of the Mu Mystic Tarixus. Several former Arachnos Mu Mystics now in the Cage Consortium's employ confer with the spirit and offer as tribute the information gathered by Leslie Kirland - now working for Cage - on the nature of the beast under the island. It is Maros' idea to deliver this information to the Banished Pantheon cultists at Potter's Field via a "failed" raid which will have sacrificial soldiers carrying the information on them. This potential for massive devastation will surely cause the two groups of sorcerers fight each other over it. The idea of risking literally the entire island, if not the entire world, doesn't sit well with Kirk Cage, who works to reason with the Spirit, but Tarixus is not one who is easily dissuaded. And being intangible, there's really not much Kirk can do against him with just a handful of My defectors.

At the end of the day, this leaves Sharkhead Island held together by uneasy alliances and various faction vendettas held in a state of deadlock. Kirk Cage has gambled everything that his machinations will hold out, but if any of those balance points were to slip, the entire island would be thrown into turnmoil that even the Cage Military Police would not be able to hold. Will Kirk Cage follow the same fate as the Arachnos occupiers he had expelled before?

What needs to happen to the game:

For as much as I've written above... Not TOO much.

*Remove the Cage Security Guards from the game entirely. They're a copy of the RIP and the bank security guards anyway. Replace them with the 20-30 PPD, with uniforms tinted brown with Cage insignias. I'm referring to the SWAT Officer, Ghost, Equaliser, Sergeant and Grenadier. Call them "Cage Military Police.

*Replace all Cage Consortium Guards spawns with Cage Military Police spawns, most specifically around the Hell Forge and the Cage Residence.

*Remove all Arachnos spawns from the zone and replace them with Cage Military Police. Specifically, have both Arachnos forts held by CMP forces.

*Slightly alter Port Recluse spawns to exclude Arachnos and consist of Family extorting people, CMP patrolling the streets, Family fighting with Scrapyarders and Scrapyarders protesting. Have only occasional Circle of Thonrs spawns conducting rituals on civilians and Family members.

*Move spawns around the Crush and the Freakshow fort to consist of either Golems or Golems fighting the Freakshow outside and the Freaks lounging around inside their fort.

*Alter spawns around Villa Requin to consist almost entirely of Family, Family fighting Circle of Thorns and Circle of Thorns performing rituals on the Family.

*Alter spawns around the Pit. Leave the interior the same, but have the exterior comprise mostly fights between the Council and the Sky Raiders... Actually, kind of like it is now.

*Alter the spawns around Potter's Field to exclude the Freakshow and feature just battles between Circle and Banished Pantheon forces.

*Swap the zone's Arbiter with either Kirk Cage himself, or otherwise a new character entirely, a leader of the Sharkhead Island Family cartel.

*Swap the zone's Fortunata with a Hero Corps Field Agent in a Crey uniform. Imply that Cage is cooperating with the Crey Corporation in a very limited fashion.

*Swap the Arachnos Quartermasters with Crey Corporation sales agents. Explanation same as above.

*Swap Leo Vargass and Kirkland from Arachnos Agents into Cage Consortium Officials. Swap references to "Arbiter Leery" from Vargass' story with references to Vince Dubrovski trying to muscle in on his responsibilities. Kirkland's story shouldn't need much changed about it since there's very little about it that's specific to Arachnos aside from his uniform.

*Swap mentions of Arachnos coming after the Red Coral for references to the Legacy Chain coming after it to tie into Vincent Ross.

That's all I can think of.

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Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

St. Martial

Unlike the rest of the Arachnos "provinces," Sr. Martial Island is not some kind of run down rathole populate by the poor and downtrodden who resent their Arachnos overlords. Well, the denizens of The Hard Way might, but who cares about those thugs? No, the people of Jackpot are all too happy to pay the pittance Arachnos charges in tax even now that taxes are the highest they've ever been. The high-rollers of St. Martial Island are more than wealthy enough to afford this. Chief among them is Johnny Sonata, whose Golden Giza has never been more profitable, especially considering the man owes his very survival to the intricate and complicated wards that Arachnos' Mu Mystics have placed around his fortress of a casino and hotel complex. The man is far too smart to bite the hand that feeds him, especially when he essentially has all of the Family on St. Martial Island in his pocket?

Or does he? Basse Croupier has recently discovered some disturbing evidence suggesting Lord Nemesis himself has gotten his hands on the Family, possibly decades ago, before Johnny was even famous. Normally this would be Family business handled on the down-low. Gang wars and police investigations are bad for tourism. However, it's becoming very clear that Nemesis is starting to have bigger ideas than just embezzling money from the cartel to use for his own ends. People have been going missing, automatons have turned up in place of certain consigliere and there are rumours of a planned coup. Nemesis, it transpires, really is planning to set the Family up and manipulate him into taking St. Martial island for him. Well, two can play at that game.

Johnny is no fool. He has seen the news and he has his own sources. It's clear to him that Arachnis is facing hard times, and the Arachnos soldiers in St. Martial know this. Every day more are recalled to die at the walls of Grandville and it's pretty clear they don't want to go. Who would, when they could instead spend a night hitting the slots and then drinking like a fish? So, moving first, that's exactly what Johnny Sonata offers them - abandon Arachnos, assume control of the St. Martial Island fortifications and elect him as permanent governor. In exchange, the men will get unlimited credit at the Casino (with interest, of course), lodgings in the best hotels around Jackpot and even a steady paycheck. Nothing around the island has to change, Johnny insists, except that Recluse no longer calls the shots. In fact, as far as the regular citizens of St. Martial Island are concerned, no change has taken place. No reason to be alarmed.

Well, that doesn't exactly go to plan. Johnny, you see, is still in hot water. Lord Recluse still holds the contract for his soul, a retrieval that will take a special kind of contract to carry out. Nemesis, not being one to take defeat lying down, broadcasts Johnny's secret deal with the Arachnos soldiers, throwing people into a panic and forcing a change of plans. A new nation of St. Martial is announced out of necessity, with Johnny Sonata as its president and a large contingent of Arachnos forces serving as the public face of his new regular armed force. Black and red uniforms give way to simpler grey uniforms, but access to the large cache of weapons and other technology left over at the Double Dawn makes these men a sizable threat. Johnny's more questionable business partners in the Family are often seen assisting the new St. Martial Army, but they still prefer to work covertly and keep out of the limelight. After all, with "Arachnos" now serving Johnny, their illicit operations can continue uninterrupted while someone else entirely can take the heat for the extortion and murder side of things.

With Arachnos taxes gone and lodging costs slashed to nearly nothing, tourism in St. Martial booms. The Carnival of Shadows, once just a travelling circus pitching tents temporarily, now find they have a much greater choice of victims. Their numbers grow as the Carnival becomes settled in. Originally being welcomed for their carnal talents and used as covert assets by the Golden Giza, the Carnival quickly become more trouble than they're worth as their chaotic and destructive tendencies begin to cause real damage to the worst possible aspect of St. Martial Island - its reputation as a great tourist destination. As more young women go missing and more young men are found dead, the Carnival become a problem that the St. Martial Army is forced to tackle head on. But storming the Carnival circus proves to be a losing venture as even trained Fortunatas end up forgetting why they went there, spending a few days watching shows, then joining the Carnival.

To maintain some semblance of peace, Carnival performers are allowed to host shows within the grounds of the circus, but forbidden from leave its premises. This doesn't work very well, seeing Carnival Mistresses battling against Crab Spider Webmasters across the streets of the island become commonplace among the poorer neighbourhoods.

With the Carnival raising a ruckus, the Wailers soon see an opportunity to step up their attacks. They push against St. Martial Arachnos forces daily until, after a major joint operation by both St. Martial Army and Family forces, the caves and sewers below St. Martial are cleared for the little screeching demons and they are pushed back to the Hard Way and the Flop and, crucially, out of Jackpot where the tourists leave. This has the unfortunate implication of pushing them into territory held by the Freakshow and the Devouring Earth, who are in turn displaced all over the rest of the city, causing chaos wherever they go.

The Freakshow, being kicked out of their usual stomping grounds, migrate to industrial and largely run-down area of the Black Mariah where they already have a presence. Arriving in numbers, this sees the Freakshow move in on Tsoo territory, causing massive gang wars across the entire area. Luckily, no-one important or rich lives at the Black Mariah, so Johnny is all too happy to let both groups of unrefined thugs kill each other if it frees up his forces to deal with the Wailers.

The Devouring Earth, in turn, are forced out into the forested area of Fortune's Wheel, where they come into conflict with both the Circle of Thorns trying to migrate to the area and the Carnival of Shadows in the circus to the North. This serves to limit the spread of the Carnival and take some pressure of the Sr. Martial Army, though it seems to have upset the Circle greatly, causing them to launch night time attacks on Jackpot itself.

In the meantime, the Golden Giza remains open for business. Set so far above the waterline and out of the way as it is, little danger ever comes close, though Wailer sightings at the Hard Way across the bay are becoming a more frequent occurrence. Almost the entire force of the St. Martial Army's contingent of Mu Mystics have, consequently, positioned around the perimeter of the Golden Giza, in reality to reinforce the wards which keep the Wailers at bay, and in terms of publicity as a testament to safety of the casino complex.

Under pressure from the Wailers, the local Facemaker has run out of business. It makes no sense to buy a new face if a Wailer is waiting just outside to tear it off. Instead, Johnny Sonata has gone out of his way to demonstrate the legitimacy of his island by contracting Icon itself to open St. Martial's very own branch of the business. Now even the heroes of Paragon City can come to St. Martial on holiday and make use of the states-sponsored Icon facilities. Deals are currently undergoing with Wentworth's Fine Consignments in regards to opening a new branch there, but no agreement has been reached. Wentworth's representatives have alleged to the existence of a "black market" on the island which, selling items from the many Wentworth's shipments stolen in the area. Until St. Martial authorities can provide assurance that they are not only not condoning this practice but are taking steps to shut it down, Wentworth's Fine Consignments do not see opening a St. Martial branch as economically viable.

In the end, little has changed about St. Martial Island. Johnny Sonata is still in charge, the rich are still enjoying a decadent life and the poor are still kicked to the sides and tossed in the gutter where they can struggle for survival out of sight of the rich tourists looking for a paradise vacation. The tension around the island is still high. Hardcase's workload holding the Wailers back AND dealing with the Circle's demon summoining AND the Carnival's soul-sucking has never been higher, and outside the city limits of Jackpot, battles rage constantly... But you wouldn't know that, sipping a Martini from your expensive penthouse suite or getting swindled out of your money at the Blackjack table. Just, ah... Don't listen to the talking slot machine. That one's just a tourist trap right there.

What needs to happen to the game

*Swap Arachnos forces in the area to the Frotunata Grey of the Rogue Arachnos. Have regular street spawns show up without My Mystics, then arrange said Mu Mystics along the fence of the Golden Giza, floating just a foot off the edge over the water.

*Swap all spawns in Jackpot to either the St. Martial Army doing partrols and fighting the various enemy factions (CoT, Carnival, Wailers, DE) or Family spawns burying bodies and giving people cement shoes.

*Swap all spawns in The Hard Way and The Flop to Wailers.

*Mobe all Freakshow and Tsoo spawns to the Black Mariah and depict them either fighting each other or doing what the gangs normally do - the Freakshow faff about playing with junk and the Tsoo warship their Ancestor Spirits.

*Populate Fortune's Wheel with spawns of Circle of Thorns battling Devouring Earth monsters in the wooded area, but leave the circus area as is.

*Leave Double Dawn spawns as they are, just replace them with the new St. Martial Army of grey Arachnos Soldiers.

*Either replace the zone's Arbiter with a new Family member or representative of the casino, or simply rename him to a St. Martial Army Representative. Leave the Fortunata Fateweaver as is. She's already wearing a grey uniform.

*Shut down the Facemaker store, but leave its interior intact, just empty of NPCs. Introduce a new Icon building somewhere in the middle of Jackpot.

That's really all I think needs to be done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

I like your ambition Samuel, write on!

Why not make the Icon a door inside the Giza? The ultra-rich that can contract those services will be bored while recovering from surgery after all.

So Grandville and Mercy Island would be the last strongholds of Arachnos.

Sounds awesome. Bout time someone shook things up.

Though I must point out that currently in the Pandora's Box SSA, villains are starting to oppose arachnos with an organization of their own, and have currently recruited the sky raiders, the warriors, and a lot of researchers.

While I can't really see Arachnos being shaken up like this without someone taking out Recluse (or at least his lieutenants; sure, the big man has all the power of Tartarus, but he's still just one guy and can't be killing people everywhere at once), I have to say I really do like some of these ideas - especially the rework of Sharkhead.

One thing about Cap, though: what if Aeon and Brass actually worked together instead of keeping their feud even after Arachnos is 'gone'? Since Arachnos was pretty much the whole reason for it, if they work together, I could see them actually turning the place into something nice. Okay, so maybe not all the way due to Luddites and CoT, but Aeon's a genius, so he can probably put two and two together and figure out something as basic as happy people = less interruptions = more SCIENCE! Kind of a reverse Neutropolis - yeah, the center is the nice place, but the outskirts aren't just left to rot.