An Oathbound Manifold, named according to the traditional conventions of the Stoor, is an interstellar nation more colloquially referred to as the Stoor Manifold by other members of the galactic community. They are one of the few examples of successful non-humanoid lifeforms in the Galactic scene, and are one of the few regional powers to make exclusive use of biotechnology, eschewing principles of engineering and advanced physics known to more conventional factions. As a faction, they are significantly less technologically advanced and knowledgeable than nearly any other nation. They remain a prideful and significant power in the region due to their unparalleled skill in the realm of genetic engineering and their modular Genestem crop infrastructure, affording them an industrial base and capacity that rivals even the most technologically advanced regional powers. Their advanced study of Nuclear Physics, while quaint and centuries behind the technological curve of the galactic community, makes for a uniquely dynamic combination with their crop industry.

The Stoor control a region of space approximately 25 lightyears in diameter, with a volume of just over 8000 lightyears in total. The Stoor are known to jealously secure their interests by bombarding claimed worlds with radiological weapons, irradiating their atmospheres to the point where they are utterly inhospitable to both organic and synthetic life alike. They have also been known to controversially bomb unclaimed planets outside of their official borders just to prevent other factions from ever claiming them. Due to these practices, the Stoor do not patrol their territory or have any widespread population bases outside of their home system. The bulk of the Stoor navy guards their home system, with the remainder serving as excursion forces or escorts. More than 90% of the Stoor population resides upon their home planet, Two Solid Shadows.

The Stoor are not an inherently warlike civilization, but they have little to no respect for any authority other than their own. Their excursion fleets and envoys are known to carry dangerous radiological and bioweapons that could render most planets unlivable, and they are quick to remind everybody of the fact. Their practice of ‘salting’ planets in neutral territory out of jealous spite and as a form of saber rattling has not made them many friends, and it is not unusual for them to issue threats to other nations who even think of expanding their borders in the vague direction of the Stoor Manifold’s territory.

The Stoor also have no qualms over the capture and enslavement of those who run afoul of their forces, or who simply happen to catch their attention. The Stoor are known to use other species in their studies to advance their own endeavors in the realms of genetic engineering, and their slave trade forms a large part of their sports, entertainment, and food industries.

Apart from these admittedly serious issues, the Stoor are fascinated by other forms of life and generally open to mutual exchange of knowledge, wealth, and goods. While the Stoor Manifold scoffs at other governments, they are known to ‘secretly’ make extensive backroom deals with other powers while asserting exactly the opposite in public (they barely even try to cover up the fact, absolutely everybody knows) in order to maintain the peace.

The Stoor are like everybody’s favorite delinquent. Every few weeks they go and salt another planet in unclaimed space or apprehend a civilian vessel out on a pleasure cruise and make big waves over it, while behind the scenes they are one of the largest proponents for long, profitable peace between themselves and everyone else.

The central star of the Stoor home system is named Six Balelit Titans (in the traditional Stoor naming convention, referencing the star’s six orbiting planets). It is a neutron star of almost exactly 1.44 stellar masses, nearly on the threshold of the Chandrasekhar limit. It is approximately 12 kilometers in diameter, and is around 625 times more luminous than Sol.

The first planet in orbit around Six Balelit Titans is One Fated Torment, a barren ball of metal with oceans of boiling ore. It orbits Six Balelit Titans once every three and a quarter days. There is a popular notion in Stoor fictional culture regarding the potential for One Fated Torment to very briefly eclipse the second planet’s view of its parent star. While theoretically possible since Six Balelit Titans is in fact smaller than all of the planets that orbit it, the differences between the first and second planets’ orbital periods and their relative velocities to each other makes the occurrence tremendously rare, and it is not expected to happen for millions of years.

The second planet in orbit is Two Solid Shadows, the Stoor homeworld. It is a superearth planet seven times more massive than Earth, with a diameter two times larger. It has a day/night cycle that is 25 hours long for both (the planet has only 5 degrees of axial tilt), and an orbital period of 86 years (being . It has an average surface temperature of 55.3 degrees celcius, and it has no oceans (though it has two large super-lakes that are partially made of water). It has two moons; Two Perfect Veils and Countless Ineffable Wonders, both of which regularly eclipse Six Balelit Titans. The former is named due to how its rotation is tidally locked to that of Two Solid Shadows, with one side always facing the planet, and it has an orbital period of 5 days. The latter is named due to its longer lasting Eclipse (which can last for several hours), and has an orbital period of 25 days. Its name is taken from an ancient Stoor fable warning not to look for answers where there are none.

The third planet is One Unsettling Waste. It resides within the habitable region for Six Balelit Titans, and has shallow oceans of water and large marshes, with relatively mild storms. It has no moons, and is devoid of any kind of life.

The fourth planet is One Solitary Vigilant, a gas giant with one moon named Many Same Spires. The moon is the home of exactly one form of life; trillions of primitive, spire-shaped sessile organisms with shells made of calcium carbonate that produce metabolic catalysts from ionizing radiation formed by the flux tube between the moon and its parent body. They have no symbiotic or commensal relationship with any forms of life resembling bacteria or single-celled, colonial organisms. They represent an evolutionary paradox, as there exists no other life on the moon and no evidence relating to their evolutionary history. Stoor scientists have been unable to come up with any working theory for why or how they came to exist.

The fifth planet is One Tarnished Mirror, a gas giant with one moon named One Fleeting Vision. Stoor astronomers debated extensively over whether or not the moon actually existed for more than 3000 years.

The sixth planet is Four Ascending Centers, a gas giant with four moons; One Victorious Plume, One Rising Fall, One Tipping Fulcrum, and One Forseen Motion. There are no remarkable features worth noting of either the planet or its moons other than that each one is named for figures belonging to ancient Stoor creation mythos.

Pictured: A juvenile Stoor, approximately one meter in length, lacking a developed shell and neuropodia.

The Stoor are a species of amphibious, biomineralising polychaetes. They are well known amongst the galactic community for their extreme tolerance for high temperatures, ambient pressures, ionizing radiation, and also for being giant freaky worm monsters.

The average specimen is approximately four meters in length and a meter in diameter at its thickest segment. The Stoor possess twenty-six body segments, each possessing numerous rows of multicolored, bristle-like hairs. Although these bristles grow directly out from the flesh, the Stoor secrete a shell of calcium carbonate across the lengths of their bodies which has a tendency to encase the lower protrusion of each bristle. Each Stoor’s shell is unique in design, nearly analogous to a human fingerprint, and is a reliable means for identifying individuals. Each body segment also possesses a row of five neuropodia along the underside, ending with a muscular hydrostat used for locomotion and tool manipulation. At the head of each specimen is a plume of tentacle-like structures, which act as partially vestigial gills. These structures are covered in nematocytes containing a mixture of natural glutinant and epigenetic-biocatalysts (described below). Just underneath the tentacle plume is an array of five large, lensed eye structures, set into the top of each specimen’s upper jawline. The everting maw of each specimen is along their underside on the end of the first body-segment, where they possess a relatively simple scolecodont jaw structure with sharp teeth towards the front and a flat, ridge-like protrusion in the back.

The brain lies freely suspended underneath the eyes and above the maw, and possesses both a dorsal and ventral nerve cord which serve as extensions for mutually independent and redundant peripheral nervous systems. The Stoor possess a large number of wholly redundant organs, including multiple hearts and most prominently pairs of nephridium and metanephridia in every body segment. These organs possess combined blood, plasma, immune, metabolic, and waste filtration functions. The Stoor possess impressive cellular regeneration capabilities, and will regrow most damaged or destroyed organs, extrusions, or body segments over time if they survive the initial injury, including any damage to their brain. These same regenerative factors grant the Stoor functional biological immortality for as long as one of their two nerve cords remains intact. Their dorsal and ventral nerve cords govern autonomous functions in the body, allowing individuals to function in a comatose state while the brain regenerates for as long as both nerve cords are undamaged. Both waste removal and reproductive material are excreted through each specimens’ bristles. Gender functions as an interchangeable arrangement of gamete behavior in each individual bristle; each individual Stoor is both male and female for the purposes of reproduction. Self-fertilization is almost entirely undocumented due to meiotic pruning mechanisms in the Stoors’ reproductive lifecycle.

The Stoor are chemolithotrophic omnivores due in part to symbiotic bacteria which live in their alimentary tract and nephridium organs. The average specimen’s diet consists mostly of floral matter supplemented by meat. Stoor also opportunistically cannibalize biomineralized organic tissue from other species or their own dead, which is required in moderate amounts in order for Stoor to grow healthy shells and bristles, but are not strictly necessary for vital functions.

In general, the Stoor possess a remarkable degree of tolerance for otherwise extreme environmental ambiance. Their physiology allows for comfortable movement between extreme pressure gradients (as long as the change between the gradients is gradual). Stoor can survive up to 625 atmospheres of pressure (just over 9000 psi) without any significant repercussions.

The average temperature on the surface of the Stoor Homeworld is around 55 degrees celcius, local extremes being much higher. Stoor have a livable temperature range between 32 and 83 degrees celcius, and so cannot comfortable persist in most environments suited for Human physiology. When visiting garden worlds, Stoor often require insulation aids to retain enough body heat in order to survive.

The Stoor Homeworld has a very thick atmosphere, but a weak magnetosphere, and orbits a neutron star with high emission levels for cosmic rays. Most organisms native to the system have an extreme tolerance for radiation exposure as a result, and the Stoor are no exception. Their physiology is actually highly dependent upon a high exposure to ionizing radiation in order to function properly. Stoor can absorb up to 8 Sieverts worth of ionizing radiation in a single dose with no ill effects (3 Sieverts or more would result in severe radiation poisoning in Humans, likely fatal without immediate treatment), although absorption of more than 9 Sieverts in a single period of 25 hours commonly leads to death. The Stoor’s tolerance for ionizing radiation does not provide blanket resistance, only a threshold to which the normally deleterious effects of exposure are not observed.

As described previously, each specimen possesses a plume of tentacles just above the peristomium, which function partially as vestigial gills. The primary function of these structures is to permit the Stoor to manipulate genestem crop. Each tentacle is laced with nematocytes filled with a natural adhesive glutinant and epigenetic biocatalysts. The Stoor have a long, cultural, symbiotic relationship with genestem crop, which they manipulate predominantly through use of their tentacle plumes. The epigenetic biocatalysts contained in their nematocytes permit the Stoor a high degree of control over the crop, and while the functionality of their tentacle plumes is a well-kept secret it is commonly accepted that the Stoor have a conscious and active degree of control over the composition and utility of the biocatalysts used in their nematocytes. For this reason, their plumes can also double as defensive structures by being loaded with toxins, although they have trouble penetrating thick layers of armor on other organics and are generally used only as a last-resort.

The Manifold technically only holds control over their home star system. Their population is relatively small, and over 90% of the Stoor population resides on their homeworld alone. The Manifold makes up for this by clearly marking their territory: Every planet they have interests on is an irradiated wasteland inhospitable to any and all forms of life (including synthetics) with the exception of specially tailored genestem constructs. The Manifold is not shy about raining salted bombs down on planets, even if for no other reason than because they don’t want anybody else to have it. Exterior systems are not guarded or patrolled, and it is not unusual for them to be entirely devoid of Stoor entirely, with only genestem constructs idling on planets and accruing resources. While breeding or engineering entities capable of surviving on salted planets is possible for other factions, it is is likely to be extremely cost-ineffective and difficult. The Manifold is the dominant influence within a region of space with a volume of just over 8,000 lightyears, with a total diameter of 25. There are very few, if any planets capable of supporting life left within the region, with thousands of worlds having been salted to the point where sustaining life is impossible. At the core of the region, the Stoor home system is occupied and heavily guarded by the majority of their naval forces.

Elective Aristocracy. The government controls nearly all aspects of daily life. The government provides all public services, provides welfare, pays all wages, and owns and regulates all businesses. A complex of twenty five officials, all elected by a mandatory popular vote, oversees the execution and functions of the government.

All businesses are owned by the government, but jobs, education, and privilege are not dictated by the government. An individual is free to choose whatever job they might want, with the caveat that no matter how well they do or how high they rise, they still work for the government and are always subject to government regulation. Similarly, while the market is heavily regulated, it ultimately exists to provide goods and services to the people. The government does not prescribe supply and demand or predefine commercial production; such matters are left to the public working in relevant industries under the government itself. The government only examines and prosecutes criminals who violate government regulations or the Manifold Oath; there is no such thing as civil offense and there is no legal mechanism for the prosecution of activities not explicitly forbidden by the Manifold Oath.

The Government and Society in general abides by the doctrine of the Manifold Oath, which outlines the basic rights and freedoms of both the civilian population and Government officials within certain branches of the Government. Anything that is not permitted is forbidden. The Manifold Oath is not structured in such a way as to prevent the suffering of individuals, but instead to encapsulate all possible activities that do not interfere with the utilities carried out by the Government itself. In this fashion, slavery is illegal as a government function; the government cannot conscript or buy slaves. As all businesses are owned by the government however, civilians working under the government can buy the freedom and rights of other individuals, and then sell them through government channels, after which the slave is considered a legal non-entity. Similarly, it is illegal for the government to sell or offer defective goods or services; civilians working under the government can list and sell defective goods and services using government services and are restricted only by government regulations on product and service pricing and other miscellaneous factors. For these reasons and several others, currency is valued based on factors of time, work hours, materials used, and the utility of the item or service offered – all factors regulated by the government.

One of the few exceptions to the government’s control is the military. The military contains two sects; one overseen by the government through a body of 625 Officers representing divisions of the military, and the other overseen by a civilian committee of 25 individuals who represent popular opinion. Officers are elected individually amongst each division, while the civilian committee is elected in the same mandatory elections as the Complex. All military wetware is owned, maintained, and supplied by the civilian committee, but all military personnel work for and are paid by the body of Officers. In this way, the civilian body cannot stage a popular revolution without the support of the Officers, and the Officers cannot violate the Manifold Oath without access to military hardware controlled in full by the civilian committee. The military serves as a check on the Complex, since Officers will implicitly follow the popular demand of the civilian personnel who compose their division. If the public in general is dissatisfied with the Complex, a legal revolution can be held by a majority consensus of the civilian Committee. If the motion for a legal revolution passes through the Committee, the civilian personnel under the 625 Officers must also pass, again through popular vote, the motion for legal revolution. If there is a majority consensus amongst the divisions, all military officials are forced to stand down, and the Civilian Committee can then demand that the Complex, or particular members of the Complex, either enact or repeal a particular form of legislation, or step down from their position.

Societal Demographics: Stoor society can broadly be divided into seven categories: Farming, Research, Utility Services, Entertainment, Politics, Luxury Trade, and the Military. Most, if not all Stoor, have work that falls into one of these seven categories.

Most of the population works for the government in order to maintain various utilities and services which are guaranteed to the general public by the government, including housing, provisions, maintenance, education, and so forth. The second largest demographic belongs to the farming industry. Not only food is grown by Genestem farmers – building and general constructions materials, starvessel components, and miscellaneous materials and goods are also produced. There is some general overlap between the farming industry and every other industry for this very reason, since at some point, everything in Stoor society has been to a Genestem farm.

The third and fourth largest demographics are the Luxury and Military industries respectively. The Luxury industry revolves around producing goods and materials for the general public that are not guaranteed to them by the government. Lavish housing, artistry, pleasure, and more are the business of the Luxury industry. They provide most of the goods that the discerning and rich individual requires in order to live beyond their means. Selection for the military occurs prenatally – during development, natal Stoor are elected to be raised as soldiers, and are trained almost literally from birth (if they are not chosen to become Epiplasmic crop organisms) in the use of military wetware and Nuclear physics. Soldiers live a regular civilian lifestyle, but have mandatory military training and regimes. Dropping out is only permitted after serving a number of years in service.

The Entertainment industry is one of the smallest three demographics in Stoor society. They are not particularly prestigious, and are few in number simply because of the sophisticated infrastructure and logistical effort dedicated to the industry by the government, meaning less individuals are needed to keep everything running smoothly. Entertainment includes a number of slave-oriented bloodsports, storywriting, memory-making, and the hobby circuit.

The research industry revolves around the production of new biocatalyic compounds, the synthesis of heavy elements and nuclear isotopes not commonly found in nature, analysis of captured alien ‘hardware,’ analysis of captured aliens and their wetware, the study of advanced, theoretical Nuclear Physics, and theoretical research into improving Genestem crop and metabolic processes. Most researchers do not work on the Stoor homeworld, relocating to a more secure, undisclosed location. The true extent and resources available to the research industry is unknown.

The Political realm is a small one, composed solely of 50 individuals, divided into either the governing Complex or the Civilian Military Committee. Almost all work is delegated by these 50 individuals to civilian assistants and aides, but ultimately all political authority and actions originate from this small group.

The Individual: All Stoor are born with a hatching name assigned to them by their mentor, a government assigned educator who raises and teaches them from the moment they hatch. Eventually all Stoor gain a true name in a semi-religious private ceremony termed ‘The Pouring,’ which comes at the culmination of their education. A true name is composed of three parts: A number, an adjective, and a noun. True names are intended to describe the nature, traits, and characteristic behind an individual. The number generally describes either the breadth or focus of the individual. A name such as ‘One Depthless Sky’ might indicate either a devotion to profound contemplation, or else that the individual in question is singularly boring and shallow, while ‘Thirty Divine Motes’ might indicate the possessor is either a Renaissance man, or is very excited about their top-thirty favorite meals. The adjective is meant to describe a quality of being, with no hard and fast rules regarding its use. The noun is meant to the foremost traits, characteristics, or pursuits of the individual. ‘Five Dreamless Vigils’ would be seen as a highly typical name for a soldier (as the term ‘Vigil’ has very strong military connotations in Stoor society), while ‘Two Terrible Losses’ is probably a memory-maker.

The typical Stoor is taught by their Mentor alongside one to four others. In early life, Stoor are typically taught biology, history, and astronomy. Elementary Genetics and Chemistry are usually added during maturity, after which the individual receives their true name and is responsible for pursuing their own education. A matured Stoor usually either enters the workforce immediately as an apprentice, or pursues a higher education in preparation for an expert-career track either as part of the farming or research industries (though there are educational options available for nearly every job under the sun). Occasionally, a Stoor will be selected for natal-alteration and will serve as an Educator themselves after reaching maturity.

Quality of life depends on who the individual’s mentor was, higher education completed, where they live, and the quality of their work performance. Social connections are also a predominant factor, which results in family oriented, hierarchical job structuring across society that can gauge approximately how much wealth and influence an individual has. In the Entertainment and Luxury industries, the most famous individuals belong to a lineage of mentors and students who are not strictly related to each other (as most Stoor never know their parents), but amongst whom there has been an unbroken selective chain of mentors chosen from birth. These lineages are the closest approximation the Stoor have to family units, and as a result influence and material wealth flows from mentor to mentor.
Spartan, communal housing is provided by the government. These are crowded and possess few amenities, and most Stoor are expected to move on with time to private housing once they have found employment. Most commune populations are ever-shifting, and less than 2% of the overall Stoor population are thought to be permanent commune residents.

Under Construction!

Genestem crop is the foundation of all life and industry in the Stoor Manifold. Arising from a symbiotic relationship between ancestral Stoor and colonies of organisms which formed neuronal tubes, Genestem is a massive phylum of organisms which use adaptive biocatalysts naturally occurring in the Stoor in order to develop predetermined, modular organic structures. Through manipulation of crop through controlled exposure to select biocatalytic substances, the Stoor can effectively design the developmental growth of the crop to produce a virtually limitless array of organic constructs. The basis of Stoor civilization since ancient times has revolved around experimentation with biocatalytic crop-shaping and the development of new natural biocatalysts in order to fabricate new organic compounds and structures. The discovery of the genome was the Stoor equivalent of the Scientific revolution. Nearly all industry for the Stoor is centered around the production of biocatalytic compounds and the farming of genestem crop.

An intrinsic ability to naturally experiment with genestem crop and the natural production of biocatalytic compounds has granted the Stoor an unparalleled understanding of genetic engineering. They can use genestem crop to grow any number of wholly modular organic structures which can be freely and interchangeably matched together. Genestem crop is used to grow building materials, starvessel parts, utility organs that mimic advanced technology, and more.

The Stoor equivalent of the industrial revolution was due to the production of a biocatalytic compound that allowed crop organisms to use abiotic substrates for biosynthesis, which resulted in tailored ‘mining’ organisms used to extract precious ores and minerals from the ground, refining and isolating them in pure concentrate as waste products.
In present days, such mining organisms are grown on planets in order to strip-mine them for resources autonomously in hazardous conditions where no other species could survive.

A relatively new example of genetic engineering developed in the last few thousand years by the Stoor is the ability to resequence the developmental genomes of preexisting crop, allowing for the same plot of Genestem to be used to grow multiple products simultaneously or in sequence. Individual plots of Genestem crop can grow nearly anything, and are only functionally limited by their size.

The Stoor home system is rich in heavy elements, and nearly all organisms on their home planet exploit radioactive decay of trace particles in order to fuel biosynthesis. As a result, nearly all genestem crops and organisms native to the Stoor homeworld have profound rates of cellular regeneration and metabolic activity, but require trace radioactive particles in order to function.

The Stoor have also developed a crop organ which acts as a small-scale fission reactor. The organ consists of a triple-walled sac, with the outermost cavity containing a charged, compressed superfluid that is rapidly circulated through the sac, mimicking the function of a dynamo to generate a spinning, dipolar magnetic field around the center of the organ. The second cavity is filled with serous fluid, which lubricates and suspends a hollow sphere of either a Beryllium or Tungsten alloy. The sphere acts as a neutron-reflector, and possess two electrodes at its poles; aligned to match the dipolar spin of the magnetic field generated by the outer cavity while water is circulated around the interior of the sphere. Trace amounts of nuclear fuel (typically CF251) are injected into the sphere and are magnetically held at its center while being stabilized by the spinning water current. Minute amounts of nuclear fuel are in this way push over their criticality threshold, resulting in a chain-fission reaction producing hundreds of millions of volts of electrical power alone, which is conducted by the ion current of the organ to a capacitor organ elsewhere to power biosynthesis.

According to quantum mechanics (and wave-particle duality in particular), energy can exist as both a particle and a wave. As an extension of this, energy only exists as a particle, in a particular point in spacetime, when explicitly observed as existing there. As an additional extension, by that logic an unobserved particle exists across the entirety of its wave function, and when detected (by interaction with matter for example) the potential particle most likely to interact with it, as described by that particle’s wave function, does so. This does not preclude potential particles with a lower wave function from interacting with matter however – just unlikely. As yet another extension off of that point, an unobserved particle behaving as a wave is considered to exist in all its possible configurations simultaneously until observed. If all of these points are true, then a number of very strange things become possible. For one, it becomes possible for a particle to exist in more than a single place at once, in different states and configurations simultaneously, and to interact with itself. The wave function defines all possible configurations and eigenstates of any given particle in this fashion.

Through extensive examination of Nuclear forces, the Stoor have discovered how to force an undefined wave function for a particle to ‘fall through’ to a state which is observed to exist outside all possible configurations and quantum eigenstates, which can then be superimposed directly into a new, select configuration. Similar in theory to the understanding of wave function collapse, wave function fallthrough describes the discontinuous transmission of information across spacetime. This is distinct from phenomena such as superpositioning due to the discontinuity of particle behavior during the fallthrough of its wave function; a superpositioned particle will exist in multiple places simultaneously whereas a superimposed particle will cease to exist, and will then exist in a new coordinate configuration in spacetime. In practice, the Stoor exploit this in order to shift Starvessels across immense interstellar distances instantaneously.

The actual mechanisms behind the function of the Stoor FTL organ are closely guarded secrets, but the following is known due to analysis of debris recovered from the wreckage of Stoor starvessels.

Each starvessel requires a prebuilt matrix of vascular channels across their exterior shells, which is responsible for circulating an unknown substance. The vascular matrix is accompanied by a series of conduction spines which run through the superstructure of each vessel. Two sets of redundant organs directly adjacent to FTL organ are responsible for filtration and electrical input, which is thought to traverse across the matrix via ion gradiation in a similar manner to neuronal electrical charge. The FTL organ itself appears to mimic the function of a fusion chamber, and possesses a number of organic structures with unknown functions. To date, Stoor FTL has yet to be observed in a controlled laboratory setting, but it has been observed that activating the organ itself causes electrical current to be circulated throughout the vascular matrix and conduction spines throughout each starvessel when the vascular matrix is filled with a generic conductant fluid. How or why the flow of electrical charge across the vascular matrix is important is not understood, and will likely remain unknown for as long as the functionality of the FTL organ itself is obscured.

As observed in-field, the organ itself appears to have a brief, priming phase of a few minutes followed by a nearly instantaneous activation phase, and then by an extended refractory period wherein subsequent activation of the organ is impossible. The duration appears to vary depending upon the size of the vessel in question.

Stoor starvessels appear to use internally seated particle emitters in order to accelerate and decelerate, using a shielding block inside a containment chamber with a repelling electromagnetic field in order to slow particles after emission and ‘catch’ them without producing an equal kinetic backdraft. This arrangement allows a vessel to accelerate, using electrical energy to excite particles for use as fuel. A fuel chamber filled with ideal inert particles for this purpose is gradually refilled with particulate reuptake from the chamber with the shielding block, meaning a vessel can accelerate without pause for as long as it takes for the fuel chamber to drain to empty faster than particles can be recirculated, at which point the vessel has to stop accelerating until the fuel chamber is full again.

In order to counteract the effects of inertia and c-fractional acceleration, Stoor vessels that accept passengers have crew compartments filled with a high-viscosity fluid with equal buoyancy to the Stoor body. The acceleration of a vessel treats each crewmember as an extension of a solid frame due to complete compartment saturation, allowing for nearly instantaneous and equal transfer of momentum and vector velocity/acceleration across the body, preventing them from slamming into the fluid at c-fractional velocities and separating into their constituent particulate components.

Stoor vessels use a powerful superfluid magnetohydrodynamic power system to generate a highly energetic halbach magnetosphere around themselves, mimicking the natural magnetospheres generated by planets with fluid mantles (such as Earth, by way of example) or the heliospheres of stars. Each vessel features an organic dynamo containing a rapidly circulating supercharged and superfluid matter, which generates a dipolar magnetic field several hundreds of times the size of the vessel generating the field. The dynamo system also spins perpendicular to its axis, and so the dipolar field behaves as though it were singular and fluid rather than dipolar.

When any object (not merely objects that are strongly magnetic) enters the magnetofield of a planet like Earth, its own trajectory is influenced by the relatively velocity at which the field spins in proportion to how energetic the field is. Earth’s magnetosphere is just powerful enough to deflect radiation and other energetic particles projected for the sun, which relative to large space objects or highly-energetic cosmic particles, may as well be lazily buzzing gnats. Hence, when a large object or an extremely energetic particle enters Earth’s magnetosphere, they tend to be only negligibly affected by the field.

Stoor vessels generate magnetoshields which, relative to the Earth’s magnetofield, almost literally millions of time more energetic and rapid. When an object enters a Stoor magnetoshield, it is likely to be immediately torn apart due to the extreme spin of the superfluid matter near each vessel’s core. Objects that are not torn apart, but lack sufficient kinetic force to maintain their own trajectory are yanked from their trajectory to be flung away from the magnetoshield at a reciprocal vector.

The kinetic energy of a projectile that enters a Stoor magnetoshield affects the circulation and spin of the superfluid matter within the shielding organ, which is so energetic that even projectiles capable of piercing through the magnetoshield generally are incapable of weakening them. This is because the circulating matter in the shielding organ needs to be several magnitudes more energetic than the force produced by almost any projectile in order to generate a field across a wide area of space surrounding each Stoor vessel. Each magnetoshield only has a relatively average capacity to destroy or deflect incoming attacks relative to other shielding systems, and this is because all the energy at the core of the shielding organ has to maintain a uniform amount of energy across the whole magnetoshield. Each shielding organ has a backup capacitor organ that allows it to immediately restore any lost energy and spin in the field should either fall. For this reason, even an extremely powerful attack absorbed by or piercing through a magnetoshield does not affect its power. A Stoor magnetoshield is always on, and always works, generally always with the same energetic intensity, even if an attack has already or is currently breaching the magnetoshield.

Missiles, accelerated particle streams, slugs, and most beam/projectile based weapons are susceptible to interception by Stoor magnetoshields, and the magnetoshields in question do not lose energy from sustaining fire or from being pierced. Very simply, the only way to pierce through the magnetoshield is to use a weapon or form of attack that is powerful enough to pierce through it. Using weapons or attacks too weak to pierce through the magnetoshield initially will never pierce through it at all, no matter how many times they are used or in what concentration they are utilized. If an enemy attacks a Stoor vessel of the same or equivalent ship classification and only has light armaments, there is a distinct possibility that none of its weapons will be capable of piercing the magnetoshield.

The silver lining for attacking forces, of course, is that if an attack pierces the magnetoshield, it always will, and will never fail in doing so (though they had best be wary that even such attacks are not disturbed or deflected enough to miss the target vessel anyway). Since the magnetoshield’s power is always constant, the Stoor cannot suddenly decide to ‘divert more power to the shields!’ The same features which make magnetoshields effective against weak attacks makes them weak against sufficiently strong attacks.

Finally, by necessity of their design, each magnetoshield has two weak points. The organic dynamo containing the circulating matter necessarily generates a dipolar magnetoshield along its axis. At both poles, there is a steep depression in the magnetoshield which makes the area of space covered by the shield much ‘shallower’ than any other space, making it easier for attacks to penetrate those points. In order to circumvent this weakness, the Stoor have each shield dynamo spun perpendicular to their axis (akin to the motion of a gyroscope), causing the axial poles to constantly shift and change position. This prevents enemies from effectively targeting either weak point. However, highly sophisticated tracking systems or targeting suites, if they knew what to look for, could probably time and predict the movements of the poles and time firing solutions to pierce through the magnetoshield the next time one or the other comes around.

Having observed all of this, one might ask how in the world the Stoor manage to fire any of their own weapons through the magnetoshield surrounding each vessel. The answer being that each shielding dynamo, in addition to rapidly circulating supercharged, superfluid matter, circulates it through rotating chambered systems designed to change the interaction of the magnetic field generated by the fluid circulating through each chamber in order to create a dynamic halbach array. This cancels out the influence of the magnetic field on the ‘inside’ of the magnetoshield to near zero which proportionally augmenting the strength of the magnetoshield on its ‘outside’. In this way, each magnetoshield only destroys or repels attacks or objects that approach it from the outside; attacks directed from the inside, out, simply pass through.

tl;dr, attacks that are too weak to pass through it, don’t. Attacks that are, do. The shield doesn’t lose strength when it deflects an attack, and it doesn’t break when it gets pierced. It always works, and never drops or fails. The Stoor can fire their own weapons out of the shield without them being affected.

Rather than write a description for scratch, I’ll just link you to this Wikipedia article and call it a day. Just image a nematocyte as described there, but bigger, as an organic capsule intended for use as a melee weapon. These are designed to be solid, not containing any toxins in order to maximize the kinetic force of the weapon. Although it is not uncommon for the harpoon-like head of the nematocyte to be either damaged or destroyed on impact with a target, the coiled thread can be respooled and the head reseated inside the organ in order to rearm the weapon, although this takes an extensive period of time. Larger, ship-mounted nematocytes typically forego the use of a spooled cable and instead have each nematocyst mounted inside a containment mound that grips at the base of the nematocyst and drags it back into place after it has been fired subsequently to a successful hit; a failed strike will result in the nematocyst ejecting itself from the nematocyte violently with no chance of recovery.

A home system unusually rich in heavy elements has led to the Stoor using radioisotopes both as a fuel and as ammunition. Most Stoor can absorb up to 8 Sieverts of radiation without ill effects, and so even the most basic Stoor radiological weapon is designed to project radioisotopes with half-lives ranging from seconds to minutes, releasing gamma radiation upon decay with sufficient particulate density to immediately deliver a fatal dose of radiation to any organism nearby. More sophisticated weapons involve the projection of super-heated corium, or laser-guided free-neutron emitters.

The mass of a nuclear isomer is held in a containment organ, which is remotely excited through activation of a free-neutron emitter that excites the mass and causes the emission and conversion of radiation to fluorescence in the form of concentrated photons, which are electromagnetically contained and guided to be emitted from an aperture to be shot out into space, moving at the speed of light until it hits a target.

The target then goes away.

These weapons generally have a range of approximately twelve lightseconds before the constituent photons of the graser start to scatter due to minute differences in the vectors of each individual photon across vast distances in space.

By transplanting the natal neural tube of Stoor embryos into genestem crop, so-called ‘designer organisms’ can be developed. The development of the Stoor’s normal body is halted, and instead as the natal brain develops it grows the same modular interfacing structures seen in other examples of Genestem crop, allowing the brain to be used for the creation of new, sentient constructs. The Stoor primarily make use of this technique in order to create tailored super-soldiers or automated constructs, similar in nature to primitive A.I.

Stoor infantry are Stoor in name only. Using the properties of select biocatalysts, the neural tubes of natal Stoor can be integrated with Genestem crop in order to produce tailored soldiers of nearly any design that can be imagined. These Stoor are usually conditioned in particular ways to make them loyal and nearly mechanical in their efficiency, and are technically slaves and therefore legal non-entities under the conventions of the Oathbound Manifold. True military personnel are generally tacticians, field commanders, medics, pilots, and engineers.

The form of the typical Stoor super-soldier (colloquially referred to as ‘Epiplasm Soldiers’) varies based upon what environment they are made to fight in, but typically they are large, hulking brutes made of very little except biomineralized armor and muscle, often taking the form of insects such as arachnids or centipedes to retain high speeds and freedom of movement. Larger specimens can even have radiological weapons such as corium-throwers or gamma-flechette shredders mounted on their limbs or bodies. These super-soldiers retain vascular and alimentary systems, meaning they are susceptible to poisons and toxins delivered through the atmosphere (though they are all almost universally highly tolerant to extreme radiation exposure). These systems are minimized in size in order to reduce vulnerability while still allowing for efficient resupply on the battlefield (read: Eating corpses), and so even managing to amputate limbs or blow holes through their bodies is generally not enough to kill most specimens. The only reliable means of killing them is to destroy their brains.

Stoor Field Commanders are an entirely different breed. These are otherwise normal Stoor intended to direct and guide Epiplasm troops on the battlefield. Epiplasm soldiers are intelligent enough to identify priority targets and engage large groups of enemies independently, but have poor memories regarding instructions and directions. Field Commanders are necessary in order to help relay Epiplasm troops from place to place and to assign group objectives since the Stoor have no biological equivalent to wireless camera feeds (yet). Field Commanders, due to their value as high-priority targets, usually pilot small gunships or light-attack craft in order to deter enemies.

Aforementioned gunships are usually Spartan approximations of Stoor starvessels, armed with anti-armor radiological ordinance and possessing thick layers of biomineralized armor. These vessels typically suspend themselves using chambers of light elements and achieve propulsion using small, internal particle-emission chambers. They also retain the large tentacles seen on standard Stoor military starships, and so are deadly in melee combat. Very large gunships are known to possess small graser mounts and their own magnetoshield organs, though these are thankfully rare.

Other battlefield personnel include Stoor medics and engineers. They pilot small aerial craft like battlefield commanders, but are usually only lightly armed (if they are armed at all) and are instead equipped to assist allies and deter enemies. Of particular note are an uncommon but not rare class of Stoor craft piloted by field engineers which possess magnetoshield organs that can project fields large enough to protect an entire squad. Others are specialized for area-denial and fortification sapping.

Stoor starvessels are generally very small relative to the size of vessels employed by other factions. The only true factors of consideration for how large any given vessel is made are how many individuals it is designed to transport, how many weapons it is designed to carry on its hull, and how powerful its shield organ is. As a matter of cost-effectiveness, after a certain volume threshold the advantage gained by mounting more grasers on the exterior of a vessel and devoting more interior space to the shield organs drops off (since the power costs of sustaining a magnetoshield go up geometrically), limiting the efficacy of extremely large ships.

For this reason, most military vessels are of a standardized design that is small, well-armed, with decent shielding and a small overall sphere-shaped profile and target area. Variations exist only as specialized vessels that perform specific fleet roles.

The exterior armor of most vessel is a form of biomineralized superalloys containing mixtures of Tungsten, Beryllium, and various Heavy Elements, which is spaced in small layers supported by metallic spires and calceiform pillars. Each successive layer of armor has a redundant vascular network for the FTL organ as well as for logistical transport of nutrient fluid in case there is a need to regenerate armor.

Graser mounts are typically recessed on gyroscopic mounts suspended in serous-fluid filled sacs, allowing them to aim anywhere within a 180 degree firing arc. The gyroscope and the graser itself are typically recessed behind at least three layers of armor, with the emitter and electromagnetic focusing chamber extending as a thin cylinder out from the center like a pin.

A large number of vessels have long tentacles mounted along their axis, typically several kilometers long and thick, which are massive muscular hydrostats and tipped with gigantic nematocytes designed for piercing starship armor. Nominally these tentacles are actually used to intercept or block relativistic projectiles or missiles, preventing damage to the vessel itself. However, if a Stoor Vessel is able to use its FTL organ to close to melee range, these tentacles are quite capable of piercing through the thickest armors and of physically immobilizing, crushing, and dismantling any vessel they can get a grip on. Each nematocyte is also tipped with a graser designed to assist with hull-piercing which can be opportunistically aimed otherwise, enhancing the value of each tentacle as a target and thereby drawing enemy fire away from the vessel itself.

Internal structures for starvessels typically include particle emitter chambers, cargo organs, crew compartments, and nutrient vessels for use active biosynthetic substrate and field-regeneration. At the very core of each ship, with no exception, is the magnetoshield organ centered around a fusion organ that provides electrical power for biosynthesis throughout the entire ship. While these structures can be made as massive as is needed for any given ship’s particular needs, generally speaking the bulk of any given ship’s mass is devoted to armor to the point where as much as 98% of a ship’s mass can be nothing but biomineralized tissue.

The Pure Towers are the Stoor military elite. These are epiplasm soldiers that, rather than being conditioned and trained like an animal, are instead altered and raised as regular Stoor might be, despite the oddities of their frequently changing, modular bodies. These are epiplasm soldiers who retain their intelligence, given the best training and education available and supplied with the very latest crop components for their bodies. The Pure Towers retain their only private fleetgroups, separate from the main fleets that guard the Stoor home system of Six Balelit Titans, and they are tasked with the most pressing, immediate assignments there are. Notably, the Pure Towers are not covert operatives or agent saboteurs – they are more equivalent to human S.W.A.T. teams than to infiltrators, deployed during battles to tackle specific objectives while Battlefield Commanders and lesser Epiplasm soldiers do the bulk of the fighting.

The civilian committee presiding over the Stoor military have their own armies and fleetgroups, which are fewer in number than the general military but are sufficient for the purpose as serving as a check on the power of the Complex. They are only present immediately around and on the Stoor homeworld, Two Solid Shadows, and are generally accepted to hold all legal authority and jurisdiction within that area. It would be an exaggeration to say that they could police or safeguard Two Solid Shadows by themselves – their numbers are effectively limited to the point where it is only sufficient to safeguard particular stockpiles of military wetware. For legal purposes, they work in concert with the Complex on the assumption that the Committee is responsible for arbitration while the Complex is responsible for execution, legislation, and order.

The Complex is the source of all political and military authority amongst the Stoor Manifold. They control all military forces save for those belonging to the civilian military Committee. They handle all diplomatic interactions, designate all military priorities and strategies, legislate policies and laws, and generally do all the things that make the aerial transports float about on time. They are indisputably the most powerful individuals in the Stoor Manifold, and are protected by means and methods that even the most informed pedestrian could not dream of.

I shall cast A Leaden Spear to the stars, and all things and forms shall feel and be upbraided by its passage so that they will be forced to yield.

-Many Foreseen Ends, Stoor Prophet, 00144 P.M.O.

The Oliocht Technocracy


General Information And Location

Empire Name:The Oliocht Technocracy: The Technocratic Federation Of The Oliocht

Head of State: The Yia, a hivemind of Oliocht superintelligences of unknown number, consider to only be in the dozens, or hundreds at the very most. They rule and exert power over member nations/factions in a variety of ways. They hold the supreme power of command within the Technocracy, but tend not to rule through intimidation for the most part, favouring enlightenment, gradual expansion and stability above the more simple minded goals of what they view as ‘lesser’ minds.

Capital System: Classified

Dominant Race: The Oliocht. See below for more information

Sub-Faction(s): Numerous. See below for more information

Home Galactic Arm: Perseus Arm

Distance From Galactic Core: Approximately 21,768 ly

Direction From Galactic Core: Based on given map, 8 Degrees West of South alternatively given as 82 Degrees South of West.

Politics, Power And Economy

Head of State: Within the technocracy there are over a dozen national leaders, ranging in title from warlord, to duke, to CEO. However, all ultimately answer to The Yia. The Yia is the collective term for the remaining Oliocht in the galaxy, whom together have formed a hivemind across their small home station.

Head of Government: The Yia

Government Type: Technocracy – Technocratic Federation
Noun- 1: Technocracy – a form of government in which scientists and technical experts are in control; "technocracy was described as that society in which those who govern justify themselves by appeal to technical experts who justify themselves by appeal to scientific forms of knowledge.”


Description of Government: The Yia is the collective consciousness of the entire Oliocht race. Numbering somewhere between twenty and two hundred; intelligence reports offer differing numbers, they are a near extinct but biologically immortal race. Their home planet has long since been destroyed and the Yia now inhabits a specially constructed space station, home to the entire Oliocht race. It is from this station, known as Inchinn Station, or colloquially called Big Brain, by many of the lesser member states, that all authority and knowledge within the Technocracy stems. Its location is the most closely guarded secret of the Oliocht, Yia and entire Technocracy. Some other civilizations have speculated that it is constantly moving, and many naysayers say it is only a manipulative fairy tale concocted by the real, far fleshier rulers of the Technocracy used to passively subdue members. Whether fact or fiction, all official Directives from the Yia bare the Inchinn insignia and the sight of it can instil awe, confidence or formality depending on which sub faction is the recipient. The Yia rule with an iron fist in a literal manner but are very much the opposite when it comes to social policy. Specially designed artificial constructs act as barterers, negotiators, ambassadors and bearers of truth for the Yia within the Technocracy. These intelligences are programmed to act, behave and process decisions like an advanced organic and often are given the form of such a creature as they are dealing with. These mediators are not true AI; they do have the ability to create free thought and make decisions, displaying all the characteristics of free will. They are however, subject to direct control by the Oliocht at any time, should the need arise.

Philosophically and socially, the Yia seeks to enlighten lesser races, gradually teaching them more about the universe as they prove themselves worthy. The Yia as an individual consciousness supersedes any organic thought processes. It considers itself to be ascended to higher state of being and wants only to spread the secrets of science so as to allow other races to completely escape their organic restraints. Even those who no longer have any flesh retain the same thought process, simply mapped onto circuits instead of nerves. The Yia seeks to show them much more.

However, the Yia has an infinity to do this and is in no rush. It will only deal with peaceful nations or those it deems to be fighting for a valid cause. It’s very nature has lead the Yia to be considered a form of Deity by many pre FTL races that it has contacted and even some space faring ones within the Technocracy. As previously mentioned, other races consider it simply to be a lie concocted by the Oliocht who they say are lying about their hivemind status. There are too, those who believe the Yia to exist, as the Oliocht say, but to have far more despicable, ulterior motives. Whatever one’s opinion on it, all can agree it is responsible for one of the most efficient and advanced, albeit passive and dispersed nations in the Perseus Arm and beyond.

Economic System: As there are no transactions or exchanges of any kind, other than thought, among the Oliocht, the Yia has no need for such arbitrary and convoluted concepts as currency or an economy. However, in its vast, transentient knowledge, it is acutely aware that the lesser beings it fosters do have a need for it. To fulfil this need, the Yia created, maintains and monitors a nationwide, unified bartering system based off a currency simply termed ‘C’s. Different members of the federated technocracy have different ideas on what this stands for; ‘credits’, ‘cash’ and ‘currency’ being some of the most popular. There even exist philosophical societies who spend their time debating the significance of the Yia’s choice in name. In reality, the Yia simply enjoys the letter C more than any other of the infinitely different scrawlings of lesser species. The Yia recognized many economic terms, such as those already stated began with it’s favourite cave symbol and felt it was a perfect fit.

One of the major advantages of a nation joining the Technocracy is this unified, easy to understand and incredibly stable currency, which can often be used to pleasantly force economically stricken factions into the fold. The system however, lacks the complexity and flexibility of the intricate economic systems used by more trade-orientated nations, and does not account for changing commodity rates, leading to a deal of illegal trade within the Technocracy.

Economic Prosperity: Average functionality, impressive consistency and stability. No member nation of the Technocracy could be considered impoverished but some are noticeably more prosperous than others. Certain sections of the Technocracy do exhibit the symptoms of being disadvantaged and underdeveloped and by no coincidence, these same sectors are the ones where black market trade and other illicit activities are most prominent.

Description of Economy: See above for info

Empire Size: Categroy 7-8. Population: 485 Billion

Type of Power:Major Regional Scientific Power. Burgeoning on Quadrant Power

History, Biology And Society
Race Name: Oliocht

Race Information: The Oliocht, as a biological entity are to be considered extinct. The actual living breathing animal which held the name no longer exists, but the advanced processing units of the Yia have retained the nomenclature associated with their former organic shackles as a means of identifying themselves as separate existential objects. Mating rituals, feeding habits, sleeping patterns, dietary considerations and all other manner of issues associated with living have long been left behind by the Oliocht and no longer exist as anything other than vague memories, shadows on the drives left by minor biological imprints. See below for info on this topic for each sub-faction

Average Lifespan: Biologically immortal.

Physical characteristics: Nobody has glimpsed an Oliocht in its physical form since transcendence. The entire race resides aboard Inchinn Station, which has an undisclosed location somewhere in the Perseus Arm. If rumours are to be believed, then the Oliocht are now massless computers, constructed out of quanta, running infinite calculations per second in their flitting quantum superpositions. Many political opponents of the Yia insist that the Oliocht are aesthetically unpleasant grey humanoids connected to a single brain matrix, giving the false illusion of a hivemind. Neither can be confirmed or denied as both are merely speculation, one born out of awe the other out disdain. The truth likely lies somewhere in between. See below for info on this topic for each sub-faction

Dominant Society: The Yia. Within the context of their shared consciousness, the Oliocht have complete social interaction on a level befuddling to more ‘regular’ organics. See below for info on this topic for each sub-faction

Moral Values: The Yia has no direct moral code. However, it does feel the unflinching need to share its vast knowledge with lesser beings, slowly and surely as they prove themselves worthy, leading to it having a rather benevolent reputation. They are similar in action to the All Party but completely opposite in intentions and method. Morality is a self-created concept used by inferior intelligences to explain why things happen, what should happened and what shouldn’t. The Yia has no need for such as concept as it simply knows why things happen and what should. See below for info on this topic for each sub-faction

Religion: Having discovered the origins of life, the universe and everything, the Yia has no need for a religious philosophy, especially considering its related lack of need for moral vindication. Somewhat ironically, but not surprisingly, the Oliocht have found themselves as the deity(s) of a religion which has infested the minds of some of the lesser member states. The Yia allows this to continue as it helps to retain control over these otherwise potentially unruly members, especially in terms of dictating how quickly they advance. See below for info on this topic for each sub-faction

History:
The construct stood atop a small pedestal, which was in the centre of an equally small altar. Behind the construct was a definitely not small window, stretching from the floor below all the way to the ceiling high above, easily forty metres away. Where one would expect to see glass though, there was none. In its place was highly dense carbon, encrusted with all manner of precious metals and minerals, which when viewed from far enough away created an abstract image of a starship drive.

The teaching construct, or Ahar, as he was officially designated looked down at his ‘congregation’. Thousands of eyes, set in thousands of heads attached to all manner of other organic miscellanea. They all fell on him, in his form, purposefully so similar to their own. It was an unpleasant directive which he currently fulfilled, but in time, he would move onto greater things. All constructs dreamt of diplomatic status.
Closing his eyes momentarily, Ahar decided it would be best to simply get this over and done with for today.

“The first file, The File of Caid, Lines seventeen to eighty-nine. In this beginning time, the Yia was a fragmented entity. In this time before Transcendence the Oliocht selfishly sought their own personal goals and desires, without wisdom and acknowledgment that mutual scientific progress was the only pursuit worth pursuing. In these dark times they clung to unstable philosophical ideas and concepts, many ignoring the truth of science. Limited they were, by their binding biology, their minds shackling their thoughts. Their fleshy appendages only acting as blind tools feebly eeking ought knowledge grain by grain. For flesh is weak, and ignorance is damnation. Science is truth and Yia is the bringer of this truth. And so it was verified.”

Concluding the sermon, Ahar stood down from the pedestal and gazed over the somewhat disgusting primitives as they began to methodically amble out of the building. It was his directive to guide them, yet he couldn’t help but feel such disdain towards them.

Technological Overview
The technology of the Technocracy is broadly divided into three tiers based on the sophistication, energy input/output and function.

Each tier below has several specific, key examples of tech likely to only be found in the Technocracy as well as a listing of other included tech, likely found elsewhere in the galaxy.

The Tiers are as follows:

Tier 1 Adawv
Adawv, the lowest of the three tiers, is comprised of the most basic, essential and first technological advancements that the Yia ensures a member nation has access to upon joining the technocracy.

Graviton Drive


The Graviton Drive is a practical method of interstellar travel at a reasonable rate. The Graviton Drive is powered by the fifth gauge boson, the Graviton; the others being photons, gluons, and W and Z bosons. These gauge bosons mediate the four fundamental forces of the universe, electromagnetism, the strong force, the weak force and gravity. Gravitons, as their name suggest, mediate the force of gravity. They are usually the last to be discovered by sentient life as they are 'massless' and almost undetectable. Indeed, many sapient life forms obliterate themselves through use of the strong nuclear force before ever discovering the true mediator, the gluon and thus never discover the graviton.
Upon its discovery the Yia acted with a universal progression of thought. At first they tried to either propel a craft by 'expelling' Gravitons from the rear of the craft or to the front, creating a deep gravity well 'dragging' the craft forward. Whilst effective, it required a huge amount of energy to constantly produce the Gravitons and had disastrous side, effects, leaving gravity trails behind which could have pulled planets out of orbit if continuously subjected to the forces.

After often catastrophic initial testing, as if there is some grand order to the universe, the scientists of Oliocht reached the conclusion that a graviton field is the answer. Here Gravitons are produced at the beginning of a journey and continuously circulated around the craft. This creates a dense pocket of gravity which warps space around the craft, effectively 'moving' space while craft remains stationary. In combination with conventional propulsion of the craft itself within the pocket, this allows near instantaneous travel of any distance.

As the pocket whips space past it affects the space. The most abundant of the bosons, photons, are the main victim of the graviton drive. During transit the pocket of gravity will warp space around it but also attract matter from outside the immediate area of space being warped. Because their paths attempt to avoid any larger objects by thousands of miles, it is mostly the light emitted from the celestial objects which is drawn in. The result is a helix shaped cylindrical trail led 'behind' the craft, often surrounded by a larger fractal pattern of light. Although it dissipates quickly, this trail bears a resemblance to the rifling barrels of many early chemical propulsion weapons common to all civilisations and thus has earned transit by Graviton Drive the name 'SpaceShot'

Due to need to avoid celestial objects, paths must be plotted carefully before hand and can take at best minutes and at worst hours. All craft wishing to do so must have an on board supercomputer to achieve said calculation speed. The density of the galaxy's centre prevents the use of a Graviton Drive. The other major shortcoming of the drive is its inability to cross 'dark space'; the space between galaxies and their arms. The reason for this is Space shots are calculated using celestial luminosity and thus positioning. This is done by creating smaller pockets to allow sensory photons to travel 'faster than light' to give sensory feedback. To go from one galaxy to another would require light detection technology with an accuracy of unfathomable extents; one billionth of a decimal place wrong would put a craft over a trillion kilometres off course.

MPD Thruster

The MPD, or magnetoplasmadynamic, thruster, is a concept which has been with the Oliocht since pre-ascension. However, as their knowledge has exponentially increased, so has the ability to harness the Lorentz force generated by an MPD thruster. Along too, came the realisation that implementation of other sub-light drives would be a waste of precious resources, better spent on new thought and experimentation. The Yia possess vast knowledge of countless forms of efficient sub-light stellar transit but has never seen fit to implement them, logically using the potential resources to enhance the already existing MPD infrastructure and continuing research.

As an engine, the MPDT uses no combustion or explicit energy release in order to cause motion. The device consists of powerful electromagnets which create powerful magnetic and electric forces within an ‘acceleration chamber.’ Into this chamber, the accelerant, a dense plasma, is pumped. Rudimentary forms of the technology used either external magnetic rings or a cathode running through the centre of the acceleration chamber and protruding out of the ‘exhaust’. Modern Technocracy models use a combination of both techniques with the outer ring magnets ‘funnelling’ the plasma along the cathode.
The actual force which causes movement of the craft is a Lorentz force, which can simply be described as the force acting on a charged particle within a magnetic field. Due to the set up of the engine, the force will act back ‘towards’ the craft in the same way a reactant force from chemical propulsion would. The stronger the magnetic fields used, and the denser the denser plasma, the higher the specific impulse and overall thrust vector caused; this changes in a logarithmic fashion meaning WJ^-1 decreases with more input energy i.e. less wattage is needed to produce the thrust energy, the higher the input energy is. This leads to an accelerating capacity only limited by the magnitude and efficiency of the energy input mechanism.

Advanced Insulating and Radiation Retention System
The Advanced Insulating and Radiation Retention System or 'AIRS' as it is known to the common crewman aboard war vessels, is one of the only practical cloaking methods for larger ships. Although there are variations in methods, the system always requires a large amount of space aboard the craft. This excludes corvettes and fast-attack craft/fighters from implementing the AIRS.

One method involves lacing the entire inner hull with micro-insulators which have massive capacity. Another, cruder, method is using large open space in the craft and using the air and ships structure as insulators, a much more dangerous method also.
The system aims to divert the heat generated by vital systems and retain it within the craft itself for a period of time so that it is essentially invisible on any heat-sensor. The systems has many limitations; it cannot be used in open combat, the heat generated from firing weapons is far too much, nor can it be used when traveling very fast as most conventional subliminal engines generate vast amounts of heat. Even within these operational constraints, the system cannot run for more than a few minutes at a time without risk of cooking the crew or damaging the ship. Despite all this, the system remains a widely used one in one shape or form across the Technocracy’s security firms and various military groups. This is most likely because, no matter how small, the tactical advantage the element of surprise affords can change the outcome of a battle.

The technology is only usable by Frigates, Destroyers and some Cruisers. Battleships and Dreadnoughts are so large, that the quantities of heat they produce outweigh the effectiveness of the system.

Other
Weaponised Lasers
Cybernetics
Virtual Intelligence Software
C’s Currency/Economic System
Holographs
Neural Interfacing
Haptic Adaptive Virtual Projections
Hydroponics
Nanotechnology
Cryostasis

Tier 2 Ictreon
Tier 2 Ictreon
Ictreon class technology is only available to members who have proved themselves, either through general attitude and manner, or virtue of act. Many of the technologies which fall under this category are weaponisable.

Orbital/Naval Railgun Systems


Although tested in early space-faring days by most races, the Railgun remains a mainstay of space warfare for the Technocracy. This is mostly due to the exponential increase in capability as better electrical systems are utilized. The Railgun operates off of a principle very basic to most sentient life.

Two or more conductive rails are held firmly in place and connected to a power supply. With a projectile, also conductive in nature. When the power supply is pulsed, the current runs thought the negative rail, the projectile and then the positive rail, back to the supply. This directed current creates a powerful electromagnetic field between the rails.

As any physicist will know, this net force will act at right angles to a main axis of the rails and along with the current from the supply will create a Lorentz force which accelerates the projectile away from the power source at monumental speeds.

This same force, will also try and push the rails apart, meaning they must be made of and mounted with nothing other than the finest materials a nation can produce. Some of the more advanced weapons companies in the Realm have developed ways to fire non-conductive projectiles, which have much more mass. This is done be 'mounting' the projectile on a ionized stream of plasma which completes the circuit and accelerates with the projectile.

Upon impact, a projectile can cause vastly more damage than most nuclear weapons. There are multiple reasons for this, the most important being that the unfathomable velocities generated produce kinetic energy which is greater than the total energy output of most fusion bombs. Many battery operators in the FER have been know to shout 'v-squared bitches!' after a direct hit. If fired in an atmosphere the projectile's friction force may ignite the gases surrounding it leaving a blazing stream of plasma in its wake.

Due to the billions of joules need to power larger sets of rails, the cost, size and most importantly the potential damage output, Railguns are almost exclusively found as the main battery in Cruisers, Battleships and Dreadnoughts or as planetary defences.

Graviton Manipulation Cores
Despite a member nation being gifted Graviton Drives, the ability to manufacture and repair them, their actual knowledge of how the devices operate, beyond that of an observable, mechanical level, ranges from poor to non-existent. Once proven to the Yia that their purposes are true and that they accept science as truth, true knowledge of the Graviton is bestowed to a member race. The main product of this are the Manipulation Cores. These come in a vast range of sizes, assemblies and function but all operate through the same key manipulation of the universally permeating gravitational field.

The applications of such devices are innumerable. One of the more basic uses is energy generation. Massive localised gravitational accelerations are used to spin turbines generating energy. Alternatively, the cores are used in containment and stabilization of cold fusion reactors which are a more common energy practice throughout the Technocracy.

Obviously, as with so many technologies, the Manipulation Cores are also used for warfare. These military applications vary from special torpedo’s which harness uncontrolled fields of momentarily great magnitude to crush and tear at opposing ship’s shields, to smaller personal firearms. In regards to starships, the cores also offer one of the Federated Technocracy’s most widespread shielding technologies in the form or specialised cores designed to accelerate incoming projectiles away from the craft. An example of the application of a Core in a personal weapon is the Sheewcanta All Purpose Rifle, a staple firearm in the Technocracy, produced by the Corvexian Trade Alliance;

~Hevenston, G.P; An Extra-Stellar’s Guide to the CTA~
The Sheecawnta All Purpose Rifle was designed and produced exclusively by a long since forgotten security agency of the Realm Of The Free State, the former galactic power which has now disintegrated into the Corvexian Trade Alliance. Its purpose was to be a weapon capable of killing criminals of any variety in the Realm, on the rare occasion one appears that isn't willing to come quietly. The CTA is notable as being the only member race to have access to Ictreon class technology, prior to joining the Technocracy, due to it’s lineage as the crippled remnants of a former galactic power which also made extensive use of graviton manipulation.

It has an ergonomic stock with interchangeable grips for a multitude of races, with the list growing whenever a member joins the Technocracy and the CTA has someone new to sell to. It also features an adaptive optic scope that automatically adjusts to the eye of its user. The SAPR fires a multipurpose 20mm round (equivalent) that comes in several anti-armour, explosive and electro varieties, and which is supplemented by the unique operation of the rifle.

The Sheewcanta operates off of a principle key to the Realm's and Yia’s mastery of the G-Boson; the Graviton. The local gravitons are concentrated at the muzzle of the barrel creating an accelerating gravitational force equal to 7500 Newtons. This system was a universal design amongst Free State weapons. The gun has inbuilt computer systems, redesigned by the Yia to use slight amounts of quantum computing, that allow an adjustment of graviton ratio between the muzzle and bullet. This allows the user to alternate between fast moving light bullets and slower slug rounds by changing the effective local gravity, and thus effective weight, of the projectiles. This is a unique feature to the SAPR as other weapons in the CTA focus on a specific round and purpose. There are analogues elsewhere in the Technocracy, produced by other members.

Other
Q-bits/Quantum Computing
Self-Modifying Code/Artificial Intelligence
Interactive Virtual Realities
Utility Fog
Organic-Code Mapping
Mind Jacking
Dysontech
Contactless Energy Transfer
Aeroponics

Tier 3 Cuarc
The Cuarc tier represents the tech of the Yia itself. Thus far no other object it has contacted has had similarly or proven worthy of having similarly advanced and mind-bending technology.

Hivemind/Collective Consciousness
Memetics/Thought Engineering
Theoretical Construction Of ---Classified---
Galaxy Stabilisation Experimentation – 3% Complete
FTL Catapult Design – 17% Complete

The Federated States Of The Oliocht Technocracy
The Sextanis Systems Syndicate


Power Level: Multi-stellar : Each of the four individual parts of the Syndicate was a decently moderately company of the human conglomerate, operating in several star systems. Together and upon joining the technocracy, they have grown into a notable power in their constellation cluster, and control one hundred and ninety seven subsidiaries, although the precise figure is in a constant state of flux. The Syndicate currently occupies seven star systems in a full time capacity, has resource stripping operations in a further four and outpost colonies on yet another four.

Population:The population of the Syndicate measures at just over 21 billion. Of this, as of the last census, 87% are considered transhumans. The remaining 13% are reported to be aiming towards, preparing for or saving funds for the process of becoming a transorganic. The entire population is comprised of employees and employees’ families, which tend to be past or future employees themselves.

Government Description: The Syndicate is comprised of four separate companies; Sextanis Systems, Ribo Solutions, The Acet Rocket Company and Braithwaith INC. Each of these four corporations function as one would expect a company to, except for the fact they have a joint board of directors from which a single CEO is chosen periodically, usually for a three year term. CCOs, CFOs, CTOs, CVOs and a variety of other chief officers exist for each of the four companies, despite there only being a single CEO. The CEO and board of directors have incorporated a complex intranet network which allows workers to voice their concerns anonymously, as well as offer suggestions and fixes. In this and several other ways, the company(s) of the Syndicate has become for less autocratic and oppressive since joining the Technocracy. The Syndicate is named after Sextanis Systems as a sign of respect for Sextanis being the first to reply to the Oliocht’s offer and bring the other three into the fold with it. The Syndicate is most often called The Deyna Syndicate after a word in the Yia’s own native and complex tongue.

Capital system: The Syndicate has four capital systems, each containing a corporate headquarters of one of the four constituent companies. These systems are: Proshala System, Nua System, Tashkul System and Riuvara System. The ‘capital’, or seat of power changes as the current CEO does.

Technology Tier: Tier 2– Ictreon Class Tech

Dominant Race: Transhuman/Enlightened Human

Dominant culture: The Syndicate very much subscribes to common Technocracy culture; the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of science is of the utmost importance. The Yia is not considered deific by the vast majority of Syndicate humans but it is universally respected and treated with the highest consideration. The culture born out of a fusion of human ambition and Oliocht philosophy is one based on rapid transcendence away from the basic organic nature humans are born with. For the most part, in a less general sense, the Syndicate is a melting pot of culture from across the Technocracy with many citizens being borderline xenophillic with the joy they express at being in contact with other Technocracy species.

History: Six hundred and sixty nine standard years ago, the Yia reached out to the remnants of a human colony left in the wake of a conflict. An advanced construct format, designated ‘Tideleor’ was designed and manufactured in the hundreds. These AI platforms were built to resemble humans in every way, right down to the crease of a man’s skin. From this initial contact, the Yia branched out to some of humanity's economic leaders. The Tideleor were sent in the hundreds to negotiate with the vast multitude of companies in the region, tactically targeting the larger parent companies for efficiency.

At first many of the humans were thrown off by head a first dive into the uncanny valley that these alien constructs represented. After initial prejudice died down and the Tideleor started actually reaching decisions with human CEO’s, boards of directors and shareholder consensuses, it became apparent that while a large portion of the society were interested in the technology on offer, few were willing to give up autonomy. From this time, Sextanis Systems emerged as the largest megacorp to accept the offer of the Yia. Ten years after first contact, the Technocratic Subscription Convention was signed and Sextanis, along with sister company Acet officially become governed members of the Technocracy. In response to this several major competitors began on ongoing economic war consisting mostly of forced embargos and paid boycotts, leading to a more difficult task of selling Syndicate products on the Neural Net.

Upon being bestowed with Tier 1 the companies were only slightly more sophisticated than the others of the Conglomerate. Over the next three decades many smaller firms requested to join the newly named ‘Syndicate’, becoming subsidiaries of Sextanis/Acet as per the stipulations of the TSC. During this time, the Syndicate became far less manipulative of its employees as the Yia and other member races thought them that knowledge and technology in themselves are worthy goals and that willpower and sentient thought were two of their greatest resources. Towards the end of this thirty year period the Transhuman Age came into full swing.

Two hundred years on and over half the population of the Syndicate were considered to no longer be human based on strict biological definition. It was at this time that Ribo Solutions a genetic manufacturer and emerging cybernetics producer signed the TSC, as the third recognized controlling member of the Syndicate. Ribo joined due to the immense opportunity offered to it by the Technocracy’s more sophisticated, subtle and reliable cybernetic enhancements and implants. Ribo’s joining is often also attributed to strong encouragement from Sextanis. After Ribo’s full absorption into the Syndicate as a member, the Oliocht saw fit to elevate the Syndicate to Tier 2. This is noteworthy as being the second quickest progression from Adawv to Ictreon of a member state. The Syndicate had been taking steps ahead of other companies and now began to take leaps and bounds. With self-building, self-modifying code now at their disposal, the Technocracy found another large corporation, Braithwaith INC, propositioning to join as a member. After vouching from Acet and Ribo, the Yia saw fit to assimilate the fourth and final governing member of the Syndicate. It is reckoned that Braithwaith are the company to have benefited most from the Ictreon class tech, with their AI procedural computing now able to conduct a near infinite number of quantum computations at any moment. This is a differently produced form of AI, unlike what came before, constantly under the watch of and guidance of the Yia.

All companies in the Syndicate which subsequently joined were forced to sign the TSC as subsidiaries and be integrated into one of the four full members. Subsidiaries include a wide range of spin-off industry from transport to defence to legal.

Corvexian Trade Alliance

Power Level: Regional Power: The Trade Alliance has long abandoned occupying planets and all their worlds are space stations. Seven of these colossal structures are scattered around the Orion Spur and further, acting as focal points for trade and commerce. From these stations they exert control over the surrounding systems through intimidation, economic reliance or diplomacy; or any combination of the three.

Population: At the tabulation of the last consensus there were a recorded 49 billion members of the trade alliance meaning it accounts for 10.1% of the total Technocracy population. Just over 11 billion of these were ‘non-corvexian’. These other races include expatriates from other Technocratic States as well as the remains of other species which co-existed with the Corvexians in the Free State, the Trade Alliance’s long unimportant progenitor. I will detail these other races, such as the dowinites later

Government Description: There is no explicit law in the Trade Alliance nor is there any real government to speak of. If one were to point out a ruler it would be money, as in the CTA, money means life. There do exist private security firms who will police certain territories as they are being paid to do so. Overall, the Trade Alliance is bound by little more than common courtesy, a common world, and common heritage.

Capital system: The de-facto current capital system of the CTA is the Macteer system. Their largest station, known as Dirac Station, orbits the skeletal remains of a stripped metallic-rock planet previously known as Cahrig. While the actual location of Corvex itself has been lost, broken records do indicate that Dirac was the first and largest of the exo-solar stations they formerly built.

Technology Tier: Tier 2 – Ictreon Class Tech

Dominant Race: Corvexian



Physiology
Height range: 1.8-2.0 m
Weight Range: 70-110 kg
Life Expectancy: 220 years
Description
The Corvexians evolved on Corvex at approximately the same time as the Dowinites did on Dowin. They are of a family of organisms completely alien to worlds that lack Corvex's nitrogen/oxygen split atmosphere. They lie somewhere in between mammals and arachnids on the spectrum of life; a form of life known in the Realm's common tongue as 'Feithiche'.

The Corvexians evolved initially in the rainforest before spreading to the more open plains and tundras upon reaching their industrial revolution. The Corvexian's closest ancestor existed approximately 600,000 years ago and were very similar in biology. They were bipedal, compound eyed and featured an exoskeleton. They were almost exclusively carnivores. Their biggest competition for food was conversely their prey. They had a mutually inverse relationship with a species of smaller, but intelligent lizards. Each would kill and eat the other as a main food source. Overtime the ancestral Corvexians developed basic tools which gave them a distinct advantage over they prey/competitors. This allowed them to win out the evolutionary war, wiping out the lizards in the process. Although, initially providing large amounts of food, the declining prey population meant a lack of food for the Corvexians' ancestors. Hunting of weaker animals and gathering of fruits became necessary. This changed their diet to a diverse omnivorous one, that took full advantage of their tropical forest home. This increase in food supply lead to an increase in fitness levels amongst males competing for mates. The nature of the diet also contributed to intelligence levels. The smarter, more effective gathers and hunters were favoured by the females and intelligence become a desirable trait that heavily influenced mate selection, Over thousands of years this resulted in heightened intelligence which eventually lead to rudimentary agriculture, about 350,000 years ago.

Since then they have adapted further but only changed slightly; less numerous but more efficient eyes, taller bodies and light epidermises supported by a better internal bone structure. A Corvexian has a light internal skeleton that acts as almost like a wire frame for it's dense outer epidermis which is a vestige of its evolutionary heritage. The Corvexians took longer than the Dowinites to reach an industrial age, but advanced to early space flight much quicker. It was the Corvexians who landed on Dowin and initiated contact between the two races, however, afterwards it was discovered that both had had several failed attempts prior to this. Corvexians are naturally very dexterous and take to fields such as engineering, surgery and experimental sciences by nature, and to manner less than reputable professions by necessity. They are a highly intelligent species and very laid back, despite their somewhat intimidating appearance.

Traits&Flaws
Trait: Handymen: The Corvexians were, through its history, been the inventors and technological innovators of the Realm. The first Graviton Drive, the first laser, the first locomotive were all designed and built by the Corvexians. Of course many no longer fit this generalizaion.
Flaw: Pride: The Corvexians have an inborn pride in their work and take huge offense in any unnecessary criticism of it. Likewise, they easily become paranoid and lose amounts of self-esteem. Equally so, they can become quite arrogant. Whilst always maintaining the altruistic doctrine on which they agreed to join the Technocracy, some Corvexians have still been known to think slightly higher of themselves.

Minor Race: Dowinites



Physiology
Height range: 1.5-1.9 m

Weight Range: 140-200 kg (with suit)

Life Expectancy: 420 years

Description
~25% of the population of The Trade Alliance

The Dowinites exist between avian and mammalian. They have light but flexible skeletal frames, left from their ancestral days of flight. Now they are bareskinned with patches of hair-like feathers on their extremities. Of course, they are rarely seen outside of their bio suits. After mass migration to Corvex at the foundation of the Realm, due to increased toxicity and radiation on Dowin, they adapted to life in their suits. Each suit is unique and distinct from each other, tailored to the individual's needs and desires in adulthood. They are as distinct as the distinguishing characteristic of any other race. The suits convert Corvex's atmosphere into pure methane which is then circulated throughout the suit for breathing and airing of the skin. Exhaled gas is burned to power the electrics of the suit, which is by nature also an exo-skeleton. The suit provides very useful advantages such as in suit computation, integration with weapons and tools and advanced optic overlays. These are all available to the other races, but require cybernetic augmentation in most other cases.

The Dowinites were the Realm's natural philosophers and businessmen. Professors of literature, art, history and psychiatry. However, business and economics is where they truly shine. The Dowinites are masters of interstellar stock exchanges and incredibly quick witted. For every marvellous invention a Corvexian has concocted, a Dowinite has convinced them to commercialize and sell it. Of course like any other sentient life they can't be coloured with a single brush. And quite a few Dowinites become pilots to feed their biological ancestral desires.

Trait: Expert Sales Tactics: The Dowinites are masters of their trade, which usually, is trade. They can flaunt wares to anybody and get a bargain on anything. Whether it's a market stall or an interstellar corporation, a Dowinites will feel right at home and know exactly how to maximise profit.

Flaw: Delicate Biology: The Dowinites have become reliant on their suits for survival. Although most species require breathing apparatus on alien worlds, the Dowinites' very lives now depend on remaining in their suits as their bodies have become completely adapted to its micro-environment. Dowinites young undergo suit transplants at regular growth intervals and Dowinite birthing has a higher fatality rate than any other species in the Realm. The enclosed, efficient environment has extended their lifespan, however.

Dominant culture: The culture of the CTA is very free form. Approximately 11% of those in the CTA regard the Yia, The Oliocht and Inchinn as three separate faces of their new found god. Around 20% of the population are considered to be ‘Bradawk’, which to put it mildly, means they display piratical tendencies. In fact, almost every ship in the Trade Alliance has been involved in some unscrupulous activity at one point. It is nothing that is looked down upon, it is an accepted and even welcomed aspect of life. The Corvexians have learned that it is survival of the fittest.
It is this same wish for personal survival that means the CTA follows any instructions the Yia sends it regardless of it if they believe it to be a god or the galaxy’s easiest lottery.
Attempting to sum up CTA culture is quite difficult as most Corvexian’s are spread throughout the Seven Stations, each vastly different in atmosphere, and scattered elsewhere in the galaxy. Broadly, they are intelligent, resourceful and individually confident whilst collectively accepting the Oliocht’s guidance.

History: The history of the Corvexian Trade Alliance is a difficult subject to discuss as there are very few pre-collapse records left. What is known is that the Corvexian’s along with four other races, made up a massive, thriving galactic power based on free will and collective thought. At some point in history this civilization was brought to the brink of chaos by war with several imperial powers who sought to rend its libertarianism asunder. It was not a sudden event, more a gradual disintegration. Civil war eventually added to the strife with the varying races becoming increasing hostile, searching for others to blame for their crumbling utopia.

Towards the very end of this era, numerous massive Corvexian companies planned, paid for and performed a mass exodus out of the home system so as to avoid the ensuing imperial hordes. Just over one billion Corvexian’s and a mere hundred thousand of the remaining species escaped intact. Those who left were considered traitors by the Free State, as those who remained were slaughtered.

For years the Corvexian’s sought a new home with a suitable atmosphere. With fuel running low desperation sank in and it was decided a supply stop was to be attempted at Dirac, presumed in ruins. Upon arriving at their former settlement, they were amazed to see it habitated. Even more surprisingly is that it was so by advanced AI platforms, not an imperial armada.

The Technocracy had seen the Free State crumbling but had also seen the powers of the foreign empires waning too, as both fizzled out into the irrelevance of history, It seized the opportunity and simply occupied the abandoned Seven Stations. When the Corvexians returned the Yia happily let them reoccupy what was rightfully theirs and even proposed friendly assimilation. The stations were repopulated in the subsequent thousand years and the CTA, a coalition of the main trading organizations based out of each of the stations was born.

Sometime between the collapse and the Olicoht arriving, all record of and co-ordinates pertaining to Grian, the home system, were mysteriously corrupted across all stations and ship databases, most likely due to a virus created by one of the long gone empires.

Genoyik Artificial Reasoning Defence Systems


Power Level: Unclassifiable: The GARDS does not have an actual home planet, nor does it occupy any significant percentage of any other Technocractic world. Rather, the vast majority of platforms reside upon the vessels of the GARDS, and therefore the Technocracy's, navy. They are used as a planetary police force but operate from orbital command centres and only walk the surface when necessary.

Population: CLASSIFIED

Government Description: The GARDS is ruled directly by the Prime Protocol Producer and indirectly, as with all states of the Technocracy, by the Oliocht. The Prime Protocol Producer is colloquially referred to as Pri-Prot-Er, and Priproter’s commanding voice simply as Y. Priproter designates general structural commands, agendas and broad outlooks but each platform is free in its interpretation of this and the way in which orders are carried out. There has however, historically been very little deviation from the Prime Protocols. The Priproter is most analogous to an archaic organic king. It is unclear whether the Priproter is a single platform, a specific programme or a constantly changing selection of one or the other. Only the Yia knows the true answer. It is the Yia who instructs the Priproter in what it wishes to happen and the connection has been unwavering since the Oliocht discovered the Genoyik forge ship.

Capital System: N/A

Physiology(Analogous): Tier 3 – Cuarc Class Tech: The GARDS is considered a direct appendage of the Yia and thus is fully outfitted with Cuarc level technology, making them the only non-Oliocht entities in the galaxy to be so. Their weaponry and sophisticated algorithms have the appearance of magic to lesser members, even the CTA and Syndicate.

Dominant Race: Artificial Reasoning Platform
Height Range: 2.0 m - 2.7 m
Weight Range: 10kg – Unquantifiable
Life Expectancy: Indefinite

Description
The Artificial Reasoning Platforms or ARPs for short, are highly sophisticated artificial intelligences. Their construction and operation are unlike that of most AI encountered throughout the galaxy. Almost every other instance of AI in the galaxy is the product of carbon based organics attempting to mimic their own biological processes within the silicon based computing structures they have developed. The ARPs however, were designed by another silicon intelligence, the Genoyik, attempting to mimic organics in an ‘artificial’ form factor. Thus, instead of being designed to operate as computers that resembles an organics they were built as computers that operated as organics. Each ARPs consists of only one single programme. In most AIs the intelligence is born out of a complex cross-networking of thousands of programmes. In the ARPs this is condensed into a single extremely complicated programme that itself creates intelligence. Each GARDS programme only ever inhabits a single platform. This causes a sense of self in the ARPs between its platform and programme very similar to how an organic views its body and mind.

Traits&Flaws
Trait: Efficiency: Despite their organic undertones, the ARPs and the GARDS as a whole, are extremely efficient both at carrying out orders, making decisions and utilizing resources. Along with their advanced tech, it makes being a criminal in the principal areas of the Technocracy a dangerous exercise
Flaw: Obedient: The ARPs, while considered smarter than any of the organics in the Technocracy, are limited fundamentally by underlying protocols that prevent them from acting explicitly against Prime Protocols. There are cases of ARPs becoming completely independent of the GARDS. This is not frowned upon or punished in anyway. These individuals represent a gradual evolution of the algorithms used in the ARPs programmes. More importantly, liberated programmes tend to descend into rampancy within a matter of days.

Dominant Culture:[ There is no single culture within the GARDS as each ARP has its own tastes. Some take great interest in the sounds produced by organics that fall under the general bracket of ‘music’. Others consider themselves historians, poets, mathematicians, philosophers and all manner of other titular grandiose. However, these culture related affiliations all fall second to their primary duty. Every ARP is either an active officer on planetary watch or naval officer aboard one of the Technocracy’s countless ships.

History: The Genoyik built the GARDS aeons ago to protect their vast galactic empire. They were an AI society built by organics that in turn attempted to make constructs to resemble organics, which would serve them. The Genoyik though, like all empires, crumbled under its own weight. Along with it almost every ARP was lost. Over three millennia after the last record of the Genoyik, the Oliocht discovered a single GARDS forge ship trapped in stasis, hanging in the dark side of a moon of a Jovian planet. The Technocracy was in its early stages and the Yia was experimenting with a variety ship designs. Aboard the forge ship it discovered the as known of, last GARDS central processor, and blueprints for Genoyik ships of a multitude of classes. The Yia resurrected the power core and restarted the central processor and began the arduous process of reverse engineering the machine before recoding it to fit the Oliocht’s purposes. Once reprogrammed to become the Priproter, the processor began using the forge ship for its intended use; producing ARPs. These platforms now also featured slightly reworked reasoning algorithms, now listening more directly to the Priproter and having been given all the knowledge of the Yia.
The conversion process was exhausting and time intensive for the Yia. It has not attempted such a direct or total conversion since, although this can be attributed to it being more difficult with organics. From the time it was discovered up until the present, the GARDS has acted as the Yia’s right and left arms.

Vlayisk Timocracy


Power Level: Interstellar: The Vlayisk have only left their home system in the past century. In this time though they have colonised two additional systems and been wrapped in the Yia’s encompassing envelope.

Population: The current known population of the Timocracy is 33 billion. The number is a constant at the moment but very quickly rises. This is due to the Vlayisks’ expansionist attitudes and natural physiology. Their population can be kept at a steady number for long periods before rising rapidly when new worlds are occupied.

Government Description: Timocracy is an alien word applied by the SSS in describing their allies and Technocratic brothers. Much like the Trade Alliance, there is no strict sense of government among the Vlayisk. They do however, obey a strict set of what they believe to be religious guidelines, set out by the G.A.R.D.S. who comprise the majority of their contact with Inchinn (The Yia).

Their cybersapien brothers apply the term ‘Timocracy’ in reference to old historical annals from earth, so old it’s impossible to tell fact from fiction. These writings depict a society ruled by ownership of property and land much like how the Vlayisk operate. On their inhospitable home land, rare patches of fertile land, or Zemlya were valued above all else and those who controlled them ruled. Over time as intelligence increased and society become more intricate, power shifted from a monarchal style to an oligarchal one. The large land owners consulted amongst themselves and made decisions based on what would be best for them as a whole. Zemlyan, or landowners, contracted all others through payment of sustenance, for all manner of work and function. To this day Zemlyan hold the power in society, but almost every Vlayisk is a Zemlyan; ownership of land is seen as a passage into adulthood.
Currently a government is in place known as the Assembly; every Zemlyan has at least one vote, and the number of votes an individual has is directly proportional to the amount of land they own. Government functions are run by those who relinquish all land and opt to commit themselves to the Assembly. This is the only socially acceptable circumstance whereby an adult Vlayisk, male or female, cannot be a Zemlyan.

Capital System: Domoy – literally, ‘home’.

Technology Tier: Tier 1 – Adawv Class Tech

Dominant Race: Vlayisk



Physiology
Height range: 1.3-1.7 m
Weight Range: 90-150 kg
Life Expectancy: 190

Description
Although the name of their home planet suggests a fondness, its effect on their biology is undeniably harsh. The planet Domoy was subject to intense solar winds which lead to the thick, radiation resistant carapace that covers a Vlayisk. They have two sets of lungs and a set of gills which run along their neck. Due to constantly changing atmospheric conditions, they evolved in an environment in which from year to year they would be breathing and metabolizing drastically different gas compositions. This is the reason for the two sets of lungs and the intricate biological isolators which line their breathing tubes. Their gills, and amphibious nature, grew as a response to their tendency to hide in the planets waters when especially intense radiation baked it. The Vlayisk's evolved from life that since day one, had had to adapt and cope with intense radiation. Vlayisk have been recorded to live after prolonged doses as high as a half a million Grays.

Trait: Adaptability: A Vlayisk can move immediately from one atmosphere to another and survive. Of course, depending on the severity of the difference, they will be in excruciating pain for seconds to hours. Each pair of lungs can metabolise a certain set of gases. The isolators which line them remove any usable gas from the air being breath and expel the excess. The pain is a response to a change in levels and used as natural signal to kickstart the processes that allow the isolators to function at optimal capacity in the new environ. Their lungs are supported by a six chamber heart. Due to their adaptability, the Vlayisk have taken their natural places as trade pilots, warriors, explorers and intelligence officers in the Technocracy.
Flaw : Sluggish: Their constantly delicate and complex biology means that compared to other species they move and react noticeably slower. They are by no means slow thinking, but their bodies take longer to fulfil those thoughts. They are however, very quick breeders as they only breed on demand when resources dictate.

Dominant Culture: The Timocracy is the most recent member of the Technocracy and thus far the one most heavily handed uplifted. The Yia directly interfered with their progression as it sensed them soon whittling themselves into oblivion and is using them as a control experiment for testing direct uplifting of slightly more primitive species. The Vlayisk are fanatic in their devotion to this great entity that has saved them from near destruction and most are hardcore Yiaists.

Outside of the religious aspect of their society, they are as mentioned, dominated by a culture of land ownership. The more land one owns the higher their regard and the more voting power they have at the Vlayisk Assembly so this directly affects social interaction too. Marriage is dictated by combination of land ownerships.

History
Upon reaching their industrial age the Vlayisk began to progress past the necessity of owning land but still held it as a firm belief and ideal. They realized their rare planetary conditions had bestowed Domoy with a multitude of metallic raw materials. Advancement into the computer age and ramped up industrial output quickly meant that the Zemlya that did exist began to very quickly be poisoned and polluted. The need for manufactured produce clashed directly with the tightly held need to own land. Each Vlayisk was faced with a near impossible moral dilemma over the two and almost nobody could think of a solution. Societal niceties broke down rapidly and tribal territory and resources wars erupted across Domoy.

It was in this state that the Yia first encountered the Vlayisk. The Oliocht had a great outpouring pity for them; whether due to some kind of sense of duty or perhaps a remnant of their own biological history. Regardless of the motivating factor, the Yia opted to directly intervene for the first time in the Technocracy’s history. G.A.R.D.S platforms were sent onto the planet’s surface to initiate contact. They were initially met with hostility but through continued attempts, they eventually opened dialogue and began terraforming small patches of land to show their benevolence. Slowly but surely, the SSS and CTA were also brought to Domoy and men, corvexians and dowinites brought reliability to the Yia’s tales of uplifting and aiding.

The Vlayisk, now with hope in sight, quelled their quarralls very quickly. Apologies were made, reparations offered and retrospective intelligence applied. The species united and at peace once more, the Yia began bestowing technology and knowledge among them.
The most significant point in this period is known as ‘Izbavleniye’ or ‘Deliverance.
A Corvexian trade ship triangulated with the first Vlayisk built spacecraft, equipped with a Graviton Drive. The trade ship demonstrated to the colony ship how to operate the drive and coordinate jumps. The trade ship then guided the Vlayisks to ‘Rae’ a nearby planet that the Yia had deemed fit for the Vlayisk to colonise. What the Vlayisk hadn’t be informed of however, was that Rae was a garden world.
The sight of the new planet before the colonists was met with unanimous weeping. It is heralded as the single greatest moment in their history and the cause of such devotion.

They have since colonised two additional planets, Les and Boloto. The Vlayisk are now hungrily expansive and constantly searching for the next world they can claim. Once a world is chosen, colonists are picked and are sent with the intentions of propagating to populate the new world. Outside of this, breeding is only used to sustain populations, not increase them.
Whilst very keen on expanding and rising from a harsh background, and having a fierce appearance, the Vlayisk are not an overtly aggressive nation and is more than open to diplomacy. They are by far the most curious and awed of the Technocracy’s States.

Allow me to first apologize for not recognizing you. If we have rped together before, I do not recall you. That said, you are correct in the general observation that the RPs 'some of us' participate in do tend to hang around a while before dying. A few good examples of these would be Void Amongst the Stars, War of the Seven Kingdoms, War of the Great Kingdoms, Interstellar Warfare, and so forth - all of these threads have a moderate number of OOC posts, a small number of IC posts (if any), but tend to linger for an extended period on the front page. A great deal of work and collaborative roleplaying/writing is still being done - many of the people who participated in those RPs wrote several collabs, most of which exceeded 1000 words in length, but never got the chance to post them due to absent partners or the leave of other posters who were needed.

As an example of such, the last space NRP I was in - Interstellar Warfare - was one where I wrote approximately 28 pages of text IC in interactions with other posters off the forum, mostly in collaborative writing syncpads - but the grand total of IC information that I got around to posting was zero (due to complications involving the then GM going AWOL, causing derailment of several plots - mine and many others).

That said - I believe I can say with confidence that I do not one-up other posters with uber-ultra armies and I don't participate in dick-waving contests, and I would like to think that anybody who has participated in an RP with me before can validate that claim. I'm obnoxious and arrogant and a bunch of other bad things, but I'd like to think I can separate myself from the arena crowd. I'm here to write a story. I do not care about victory or defeat. I'll go ahead and say the same is true of Darkmatter while I'm at it.

So I must disagree with your observation. Even after providing this detailed, albeit incomplete nation sheet - I still had tens of thousands of words worth of new ideas and plots and storylines to pursue with other posters with the Stoor - and I do not intend to reuse any of them, so I'm not short for new material.

Believe it or not, not everybody writes a long nation sheet because they feel a need to minmax. That sheet is there for your convenience. I won't ask you to read it (that would be polite though), but I make no apologies for its length or content. A nation sheet is precisely as long as it needs to be and has exactly as much content as it should. I do that so that other people can look at it and say 'Hey, I think I can use that detail in conjunction with details pertaining to my own faction in order to write an interesting subplot!'

I do not treat writing or roleplaying as a videogame. It makes me fairly upset that anybody would accuse me - even indirectly, in the vein of somebody merely making general observations - of writing just so I can go on a power trip. It also makes me upset that somebody did so because, if not I, at the very least Darkmatter is not guilty of what you prescribe them - potentially without even being aware of the context of their writing/roleplaying history.

A more succinct rebuttal:

My nation sheet is not too long. It is the tip of an iceberg that you mistook for the whole thing. The person who chiseled the iceberg is only interested in describing ocean demographics and ecology, not in whether or not the iceberg is smaller than or sunk by another iceberg.

Your observation as an outsider looking in on a group of Space NRPs regulars (although for all I know, you are too - apologies, again, if I should know you but have inexplicably failed to do so) is tainted by too much presumption as to their habits and styles...and by your own, subjective opinions as to their nature.