Significance of East Terrestia

[Aerukai]

What is the outcome of East Terrestia? I haven't thoroughly played through the fourth game, but everything achieved in the fourth game seems useless as the fifth game is in West Terrestia. Despite the major landmarks and cities (such as Poryphra) and huge shaper advantage at the time, the majority of the Shaper force is on West Terrestia, including all the councilors and the provinces they control? I can't make sense of any of this. I understand that Geneforge 4 meant the release of the unbound and such, but it seems that since the fourth game supports the rebellion ending for the most part, the Rebellion should have a far greater force than that portrayed in the fifth game (Gazaki-Uss and surrounding area).

[Randomizer]

Even with the Rebels controlling the east, they still have to keep forces there to protect against a new Shaper uprising. A sea approach could allow a Shaper camp that could raise creations and terrorize the east and draw troops away from the west.

[Star Sage]

More to the point, I think the rebels might be having trouble making Lifecrafters. Remember, it's only been three years, but I doubt the Drakon's would really allow the Northforge to reactivate, considering they're going to a lot of trouble to make that site secure as the source of the unbound. Having random 'untrustworthy' people stomping around would make them less than happy. Also, let's face it, making lifecrafters with the Geneforge is rather a bad case of roulette. Of the 5 Geneforge users you meet in game 4, only one isn't crazed.(The spy playing at being a fisherman in the first area). Two of the remaining are slightly unhinged, and beginning to have bouts of megolomania(The Canister distributer in the Safehouse in Area 2, the lifecrafter in the rebel camp), one is just crazy(Shalai in the first area), and then there's your PC, who constantly has to deal with anger issues, and recognizes that something is wrong.

 

So it does make sense that they're having personnel problems. The Drakon's are probably using the Unbound as often as possible to keep their stranglehold on power.

[Goldengirl]

Assuming a straight rebel run for G4 (which G5 indicates is canon) it makes some sense for me to see Southforge being reactivated. Sure, its location is compromised, but it is pretty far from the front lines. The agents and chemicals all would have been safely transported to Northforge Citadel by caravan, under the protection of Warmaster Kharikiss and the remaining soldiers from Southforge Citadel.

 

There's some dialogue in the G5 that suggests that the Rebels have taken over the sea advantage. This is further suggested by the fact that they are able to send in Lifecrafters to the Dera Reaches by boat under cover of night. These Lifecrafters then can make a swarm of rogues and leave the way they came, scrambling the loyalists.

 

Moreover, the Rebels aren't overly active in west Terrestia. In the Dera Reaches, they are mainly running hit-and-run tactics to harass the loyalists, rather than open warfare. The Drakons are bogged down at the Line in the Storm Plains, with a few infiltrators working in the province. There's a truce in the Mera Tev, with the majority of the human Rebels in waiting in the Okavano Fens. Again, a few infiltrators are working to sabotage the Shapers, especially by means of the Shadow Road and the experiments going on there, but that's a low key operation. The Rebels are nearly absent from the Foundry, and completely absent from Lethia Province, the Nodye Coast, and the Shaper Citadel.

 

This leads me to believe that the brunt of the Rebel Army is doing clean up. The Burwood Infiltrators wreaked a lot of havoc on one of the last strongholds of the human parts of the Rebellion. Even the Grayghost Mountains suffered some damage in General Alwan's last ditch effort to stop the Unbound. Monarch literally tore apart the only city in the Fens of Aziraph, and the Rebel fort there would have likely been all but abandoned in a retreat to Burwood Province after the Shapers were free to focus on that meager camp. Illya Province was thoroughly occupied and ruined, save for Dillame. The Forsaken Lands were forsaken, even occupied by the loyalist Therile colony, and Southforge Citadel devastated and abandoned after the assaults by General Crowley.

 

Between the ravages of warfare, the prevalence of refugees, and the disdain the civilians had for the Rebels, there would be a lot of work to restore productivity and win the hearts and minds of east Terrestia.

[Level 1 Hermit]

Forsaken Lands - Burned down to the ground. No one wants it. Rebels were driven out and the Shapers need men on the front in the Fens, Burwood, and Grayghost. Probably wouldn't have enough men to secure it even if they wanted to. But now main Shaper forced to West Terrestia. Shaper recapture would have to be done at the end of the war. The area holds no significant military importance except for the fact that the Geneforge was there. And as we all know, the Rebels broke the Geneforge up and moved the parts north.

 

Illya Province - Dillame probably gave the Rebels a decent fight, Unbound or not. There's probably pro-Shaper lurkers somewhere disrupting the Rebel troop movements south, especially since the only three paths from the north to south is through a mountain. Not even the Unbound can move mountains right? I mean the Rebels could have some naval presence but it doesn't seem likely because an effective troop movement require a huge armada of transports. Grayghost Mountains have no ports, Rebels unlikely to have a huge fleet (Unless Ashen Isles...). Lifecrafters may be possible but I remember the Rebels being low on that end and everyone one of them go mad or something in the end.

 

Fens of Aziraph - Lurking rogues everywhere, causing disruption to Rebel movements. Also, moving an army through a large marsh land like that is definitely a hindrance. Again, movement north to Burwood or south to Fens is either one mountain pass or the secret Shaper tunnel.

 

Burwood Province - Decimated, devastated, destroyed, demolished by the Unbound. The ruins of Poryphra and Valeya are laid flat. No more greenery and trees are all mangled/dead. Scenery is probably a lot similar to the Forsaken lands. Rebels would probably not have any tangible base after the release of Unbound. Litalia leaves and joins the Trakovites in the west after witnessing the horrors first hand.

 

Grayghost Mountains - Safest Rebel Haven, assuming the Unbound do not walk back LOL(Reminds me of WW1 gas attacks). Rebels continue their insane research for Unbound 2.0. Drakes are entirely banished, as are humans and other "lesser" creations. These would have to seek refuge either in Mera-tev or Illya Province or even the Storm Plains if they are sneaky enough.

There is no way there can be stable Rebel support lines with the emergence of the Unbound. I remember they were violent to all living creatures, Rebel or Shaper, after release.

 

Summary: Loosely rebel controlled territory. No place is safe, especially with the emergence of the Unbound and unchecked shaping powers as decreed by Rebel philosophy. War-torn, desolate areas filled with bandits, rogue creations, and crazed mutant "Shapers". Rebels cannot properly maintain troop supply/movement with the barren lands and Unbound presence. Many rebels have already died in Geneforge 4. Only the remaining few were left during the release of the Unbound. That may explain the troop deficiency, reliance on an outside force and creations for battle during Geneforge 5.

[Goldengirl]

That violates canon. First of all, the Unbound were not released in Burwood Province at all, so none of the damage you cite that turned the lands into a desert would be accurate. The Unbound were marched through the land under the strict control of the Drakons, who with Akhari Blaze were able to control them long enough to get them to the Western Morass. From there, the only instruction that the Unbound had was simple (and would save the Rebels): Go west and kill everything. There's reason to believe that all of the Unbound in the Mera Tev fen are the remainders of this first generation.

 

The rebel ending also states that the Rebel army was able to retake Illya province. Not the Unbound, but the human/servile coalition that still had residual troop presence in the form of the Illya safehouse. The Shapers were reeling to stop the Unbound, as was evidenced by the fact that the Storm Plains were initially almost wiped out before Alwan came into control, so that indicates tactical retreats would have happened all throughout the east. This is further supported by the fact that the Drakon's main base is in the Drypeak Mountains, which are accessible only through the Storm Plains or Illya Province.

 

Moreover, in the Trakovite stronghold a servile straight up says that as long as they didn't mess with the settlements in the east, the Rebels didn't care about the Trakovites. That shows pretty clearly to me that the east was more or less peaceful and under reconstruction.

 

 

The evidence from pro-Rebel endings that they were able to quickly summon negotiators and organize a new Rebellion also seems to show that they weren't just living in rogue-infested anarchy.

 

[Level 1 Hermit]

Wow I totally forgot about those specifics. My bad

[Goldengirl]

Wow I totally forgot about those specifics. My bad

 

No problem! I'm a huge Geneforge nerd, haha. In addition. a lot of the points you have are accurate. It's certainly shown through the games that the civilians don't really like the Rebels, since they sow chaos and release rogues. The landscape would also definitely be devastated by conflict, though not as wasted as they might seem otherwise. And, admittedly, my conjecture about the reopening of Southforge Citadel was just that - conjecture.