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Post by Doug on Mar 6, 2007 21:58:26 GMT
Right, in an attempt to speed things up again around here, I'm going to be starting up a wave of new concept threads over the next while...this is the first one...
So, how do people feel about the idea of a floating penal colony? Of course, it's hardly an original idea (alot of penal colonies have been on islands - one on what is effectively a man made island is a mere step up from this), but it strikes me that it might be appropriate...they might well send alot of criminals to an isolated platform, to do the hard, back-breaking labour of distilling and trawling by hand, including work usually done by servitors...that sort of thing...
Anyway, that was rather brief and garbled, but hopefully it got the main question across: How do people feel about the idea of a floating penal colony?
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Post by thenephew on Mar 6, 2007 22:32:17 GMT
I like it - if the 'berg was run jointly by the Administratum/Arbitrators (supervising) and the merchant guilds (on the deck). It would be a good place to have people disappeared to, exile criminals and debtors, 'promote' irritating employees to positions there etc. Having the 'berg very stripped down, so that there are minimal recreational facilities, little living space, but maximum industrial space efficiency, could be interesting. This may lead to it being more efficient than the other Hives, as it is ruled with a mailed fist, but a very volatile environment. The problem with having humans do servitor work is that they may not be physically capable of it - the lifting or similar tasks would .. Scrap that, there'd just need to be lots of them, and maybe some protective clothing for irradiated/chemical/hot work. This berg could also be a lot more structurally sound - without considerations for sensible, comfortable living space, support struts could be driven more extensively throught he rock, allowing better stabilisation systems to be put in place, allowing this 'berg to work in seas too dangerous for the more expensive, less sturdy, privately-owned Hives. Of course, how the merchant Hives react to this could be equally interesting.
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vendile
Enginseer
The doodler
Posts: 234
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Post by vendile on Mar 6, 2007 23:24:32 GMT
If such existed, then it would have been created in the early imperial history of the planet, so merchant nowadays could do sod all about it if they suddenly decided they didn't like it.
Perhaps the penal colony - rather than being a berg - is actually based on the volcano chain where the bergs are first blasted into existence. This creates both volitile conditions to ensure no prisoner with half a brain can try to escape (and those without half a brain wouldn't be able to get past the security features anyway!). Then whenever a large enough blast rock is created, they get set to work either braking it up so that huge chunks can be towed away to Hive-Bergs in need of rock-repair to increase their floatation and such. Or much less frequently they spend several years of hard labour to carve out the required form of a new berg.
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Post by Doug on Mar 7, 2007 21:25:53 GMT
I like that idea, Vendile - not only does it provide apropriately back-breaking work, horrific living conditions and so on...it also gives the authorities a rather nasty way to make exaples of troublemakers...like crucifixion on the rim of a volcano...
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vendile
Enginseer
The doodler
Posts: 234
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Post by vendile on Mar 8, 2007 1:56:15 GMT
Lava torture!! ;D
*ahem*
channels of fresh lava allowed to pore onto the body parts of those being interogated...
its deliciously evil and really really sick at the same time.
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Post by thenephew on Mar 8, 2007 9:25:05 GMT
Indeed. I like the idea of a penal workforce shaping the rock, but... That'd make it really easy to stow away on them, would it not? These rockes are huge, and will have been drilled out to provide places for support struts, transport cables and tube (for power and fluids), engine space... We can't even claim that the rock is submerged to drown off the stowaways either - this can float a Hive, we 'aint sinking it, even for a few hours. The portential for sabotage is pretty huge too. If the work was done by convicts with cortex bombs in place, operating heavy machinery that had protocols that prevented the machine being used to [hack up guards/cut where it shouldn't/participate in King Kong vs Godzilla stlye mech fights], for example by blowing off it's operator's head, then it might work. Actually, the tried and tested 'attached to a bomb' idea could work very well...
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Post by Devotee Silus on Mar 8, 2007 15:52:36 GMT
Yea but no penal work is ordered without risk of these things happening. You have got to trust that being in these awful conditions will break the prisoners spirits.
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Post by thenephew on Mar 8, 2007 17:52:02 GMT
A fair point. We need a source of escaped convicts I guess. What would the level of AdMech presence be? A few Techpriests doing the occasional bit of remote surveillance? Guards being initiates of the Cult Mechanicus? Regular patrols headed by Techpriests, with others as section overseers and coordinators?
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Post by Devotee Silus on Mar 8, 2007 23:38:01 GMT
I don't know but we seem to have a massive AdMech presence on this planet. I know they are interested in what this world has to offer but I think there is a limit to how many initiates you can have. I have always thought the AdMech to be very particular about who they let in. I think there should be a big industrial corporation set up by the AdMech that is staffed at the middle to lower levels by non initiates. This could be used as a plot driver for those who like political/investigative stories eg. Is it corrupt and going to try and turn away from its AdMech foundations to try and gain power by scaring everyone into submission by threats of crippling the economy.
Thats just an idea that popped to mind, ignore it if you wish.
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Post by thenephew on Mar 9, 2007 17:56:47 GMT
I don't know but we seem to have a massive AdMech presence on this planet. I know they are interested in what this world has to offer but I think there is a limit to how many initiates you can have. I used to think that too, until it was pointed out just how much of the Imperium runs on very old, incredibly complex, nigh on unusable machines. When I made the point that there seems to be a city's worth of the supposedly reclusive Tech-adepts on every world, I got the reply that they are entirely necessary. Just as it is necessary to have car mechanics and IT support, without a large AdMech presence on most worlds, there would simply be no true civilisation as the Imperium is portrayed. The important point to remember is that they are still such a minority presence that they are, by percentage population, hardly there. It is only the regularity with which the Invocations of Clean Function must be intoned, and the complexity of the Rites of Lubrication, that keeps AdMech presence there at all. These are not 'members of society', they rarely interact with those outside of their enclave in each city or Hive, except in official capacity, or at the highest level. Edit: Sorry, that sounds really patronising.
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vendile
Enginseer
The doodler
Posts: 234
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Post by vendile on Mar 10, 2007 1:37:43 GMT
I would have thought there would be an enginseer or three permanently based at the penal collany for the usual maintenance that would need to be carried out in such extreme conditions and with normal ware and tare.
However whenever a rock was being shaped there would no doubt be a team of techpriests, probably lead by a magos, who would overseer everything to ensure the plans are meticuliously followed.
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Post by thenephew on Mar 11, 2007 12:48:45 GMT
Additional workshops, made more for rehabilitation, rather than dangerous violent criminals, could be set up for repair/production of vital spare parts. These would supervised by techpriests, staffed by fraudsters, petty thieves, political exiles etc., and run more as a work colony than an oppressive and horriffic prison. This would provide a balance between work that can be done by anyone, and work that must be done by people that know what they are doing, who are in short supply in most cases. I realise that there are some serious problems with this, starting with why the Imperium would care if they are in need of rehabilitation and employment, or would trust them around important parts, but it was something thatoccurred to me.
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