Allayi Faction: Survivors of the Dark Season

The Allayi Questline in Endless Legend ends (pun not intended) with the Allayi discovering that they cannot save their Mother Auriga, and that the pearls, rather than her salvation, are her final gift to her children- so that they might survive the coming winter.

It's been stated by the Devs that the Vaulters were the only ones to survive the coming ice age, but if any of the other factions had a chance at all, it would be Auriga's children, the Allayi.

With that out of the way, here are my ideas:

Faction Questline: Rebirth

The Allayi are eeking out a meager living, insulated beneath the snow and ice of Auriga's lifeless surface (Think of the Rebel Base on Hoth). Things change when Endless facilities are discovered deep, deep below the surface, revealing secrets of advanced technology, spaceflight, and research on Auriga's 'Life Force'/the Guardians.

This development gives the Allayi hope- if Guardians exist elsewhere, could there also be more living worlds like Auriga? Perhaps even beings with the knowledge to give her new life- to finally end the dark season.

Once more with purpose, the Allayi spring into action- restarting ancient foundries, constructing their first spacecraft, and scavenging all they can from the ruins of ages past (including what seems to be more recent Vaulter Settlements- whatever happened to them, they seem to be gone now. Wink Wink).

Caring not for the rest of the galaxy, and unshakable in their drive- Heaven help whomever stands in their way.

Faction Affinity: Shifters

The seasons may have stopped on Auriga, but the Allayi's biology ticks on nonetheless. The Allayi Faction has a 'Season' that determines special bonuses that they receive. 'Summer' Allayi are cordial, and recieve bonuses to incentivize peace and minor faction assimilation. 'Winter' Allayi are aggressive, and recieve bonuses to warfare. The Allayi's 'Season' flips every election, with the coming Season heavily influence voters.

(Militarists for incoming Winter/Pacifists for incoming Summer)

Playing to the current season's strength will be paramount if the Allayi are to keep up with larger, more populous factions.

Homeworld: Auriga

[FIDS] 0/0/16/19/7

The base Dust/Science yields of Auriga are much better compared to other homeworlds, but steps can be taken to account for this:

-Give the Allayi Faction negatives to science production. Auriga will offset this in the early game, but their science will begin tapering off as they settle new planets.

-Give Allayi Population bonuses to Food/Production to offset the lack of it on Auriga.

-(Optional) Allow Auriga to appear anywhere in the galaxy, rather than just the galactic center. This will keep the Allayi from starting too close to the Academy, and will make the Vaulter's search for it more interesting.

Note that an Allayi presence on Auriga would NOT disrupt the Vaulter's main questline. In several of my Vaulter games, I've discovered Auriga already colonized (usually by the Riftborn) and I had no trouble completing my objectives.

Population: Allayi

Make Allayi one of the better Populations (similar to Vodyani and Riftborn). To counteract this, Allayi pops would grow much slower than average.

An additional idea, if possible, is to include a negative happiness modifyer on foreign systems. This, coupled with their slow growth, would make minor pops very useful for expanding (especially since their Shifter Affinity would help them switch between assimilating and conquering minor civs).

Special Resource: Pearls

In a game with the Allayi, Auriga would have a unqiue Pearl deposit. Pearls could be used in several ways, but the small trickle would force players to only use them as the current situation allowed.

-Pearls are the Booster Resource for Allayi Pops, counteracting their slow growth

-Allayi Ships include extra 'Pearl' slots, allowing Allayi ships to outperform their competitors (for a high price)

-Unqiue buildings and Modules unlocked in the Faction Questline would include Pearls in their cost, including the classic 'Altar of Auriga' (Influence/Happiness, +Religious Sentiment?)

Misc. Ideas

-Drastically reduce the amount of Systems the Allayi can colonize before overcolonization, making them a decidedly 'Tall' Faction.

-Starting Government could be Dictarship. It would allow the player to make the most out of their Shifter Affinity, and the predicability of Allayi voters could be used to keep the people happy rather than rebellious. Federation could also make sense, but we already seem to have so many Federation Factions.

-The Allayi Architecture in Endless Legend was amazing, and I bet they would make beautiful spaceships.

Feedback

So what do you guys think? Let me know what I missed, and how we can fill in the blanks.