Nocturnals 18th Century Settler's AU concept

[worthy totem]

So I have this idea about an AU that takes place somewhere around 18th century where Nocturnals arrived from Asteroids from space which landed nearby various American settlements. Our man Ted is raised by Fur trappers, learning various skills how to survive. But one day his post got attacked by raiders, and only Ted was able to survive the attack. Whilst wondering around the prairie side injured he was rescued by a young man named Diego.

Cast

Ted- Young man raised by Fur trappers, who ventures around the land in order to find a group and safe space to thrive. He is hopeful about society getting rebuild and humans would able to thrive once again.

Diego- Young settler boy who was betrayed by his own people after nocturnals arrived. While kind, he is also distrustful about people. He is good at playing fiddle.

Mia- She use to run the orphanage, and when the nocturnals arrived she saw some tragic and traumatic events. She is doing her best to keep the remaining surviver from her post safe.

Maggie- She use to run the orphanage with Mia. She is more aggressive then her friend, but she does care about her team.

Raiders- They are group of French Fur trappers turned bandit. They attack Ted's group and burned his fort to the ground. They also seems keen to hunt nocturnals, capturing people for live human bait.

Nocturnals- They are once known to be peaceful creatures with sophisticated intelligence until they turned feral by a mysterious plague. They will attack and eat everything alive.

They hate the sunlight.

If there are any suggestions for this AU you can comment down below

[hollow brook]

I have a few, baseline questions I think needs to be asked:

1.) What's the timeframe? Is it earlier or during the Seven Years' War, or even later during the Civil War? If it's during a war, how does it affect and effect the characters? Are they suffering from food shortages, on the opposite side of a larger feud, or just strangers caught in the crossfire of a brutal land grab? And if not, what else during your selected time could happen to enhance the narrative, tie everything together, akin to said conflict/war?

2.) Where exactly is it taking place in North America? Certainly not Philadelphia, as you mentioned prairies, but there's a lot of grasslands and such in North America. Would they be far North, near modern Quebec, Ontario, or even as far as Saskatchewan; cold and bitter lands, bleeding close to the heartlands and the such? Or would it be more down South in the country, as in Indian Territory or the Great Plains, which at the time would be untamed, but under Spanish claim? Or, better yet, is it in a made up place, much like the game you're basing this AU off of?

3.) What is the state of the world? Is it apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, or did no apocalypse come? You say that the nocturnals have arrived via meteors, so how many hit, and what's the damage? Did Boston get Hiroshima'd by some hungy aliens and their sky rocks, or has nothing happened, and this is all considered a tiny, unrecorded incident in bumfuck, Nowhereseville ? Hell, if it's the former and not the latter, how will Britain, Spain, France and Russia respond to this? Is North America a Hellish warzone with foot soldiers protecting their lands and livelihoods from foreign agents and extraterrestrial threats? Are all of them hiring large hunting parties to genocide a batch of starving alien invaders, or have they just secured their own coffers and left their colonies to ruin? To summarize: what will the world be like, and how will it react to what you're trying to do here?

[hollow brook]

4.) Nocturnals- what exactly are they? You say that they were a "peaceful" race of creatures, so we have to ask: when did the change happen? How did a race of "peaceful" star-stone strangers turn into wild, bloodthirsty maniacs? Or, if that doesn't work out, what exactly are the Nocturnals? Are you leaving it vague, much like the game again, or is there a detailed explanation for what they are, how they are, and why they're preying the likes of man? Do they have a strict diet of twinks and redcoats, or do they not care where the meat comes from, and considering they're aliens, do they even need or want to eat at all? Most importantly: are these fuckers intelligent or just animals deep down? Do they have enough braincells to have a conscience, which would make everything all the more tragic, or do they go by instinct and vibes alone and hunt us for banal reasons?

5.) What kind of differences will there be in the characters? We already know that Mia and Maggie are still a group, but their occupation's definitely changed, which I do find interesting. Then again, I could be reading too deep into this; it could just be set dressing for the time period, and the rest could remain similarly. What I'm wondering is: how far are you going to branch off from the source material? Entirely, fifty-fifty, or just not at all? There aren't any wrong answers considering it's all a WIP.

And lastly, as I'm talking way too damn much...

6.) Why are you doing this AU? What inspired you, what are your goals (if any exist) with it, what can you add or do different, and what would you like to see come from this? Is this all just a cool idea, like a passing thought, or do you want to legitimately make something for yourself and others within this AU? This question isn't meaning to degrade you, gatekeep, or to shun you from trying; it's asking specifically what your intentions are so you can go about doing it. And, like the last question, there aren't any wrong answers.

[hollow brook]

Overall it'd be an interesting shakeup to Nocturnals. I wanna see where this leads.

[worthy totem]

Holy heck, thank you for all these questions. I'll try to gather the answers as soon as possible

[worthy totem]

1. I'm thinking it takes place during the late 18th century to early 19th century. Ted's fort fortunately wasn't suffering from serious food shortages until the post got ambushed and burned down by French Raiders.

2. It will be more Mid or South to the country, but it will be some sort of made up place.

3. That is actually an interesting idea. I was thinking a quite similar plan for the story. North America becomes like a post apocalyptic war zone, but each country still sends soldiers and settlers to claim the natural resources. Sure there are abandoned places where it got overrun by Nocturnals, but yes there are various communities scattered around and they do train their own soldiers to not just to hunt animals and Nocturnals but also invade other territories. Blanches Mains(It means White Hands in French. They are group of French Fur trappers turned into Raiders.) Is one of the examples.

4. For the Nocturnals, as I explained they were a peaceful creatures until they were met by the plague that turned then feral. Sure they do retain a glimpse of intelligence( They to plan and stalk to catch the prey) but they are just the husk of their former selves. Their diet now consists on meat and they do not care where they come from.

5. fifty fifty. Some f the elements retain the same, but some could be different from original source material