The Setting
The year is 4500 of the Imperial Era, exactly one millennium after the Sacking of Almata by the Rival Claimants and the final destruction of the Arcturian Empire. The galaxy has known a millennium of chaos as astro-goths, pirate bands and slaver-kings have ravaged the systems of the dead Empire, carving out petty fiefdoms for themselves. Outposts of the old order have struggled to survive amid the general anarchy, fending off barbarian threats or bribing their would-be assailants in exchange for protection. Alien peoples, made vengeful by centuries of humano-centric oppression in the old Empire, have risen up against their former masters and founded space-faring nations of their own amid the general chaos.
Politics along the Golden Crescent
Along the subspace lane known as the Golden Crescent, once a major route of trade and commerce in the Acturian Empire, new powers are arising in the ruins of the old order. The Second Empire recently emerged victorious from a hundred-year war against the astro-goths, reconquering many planets and many millions of subjects in the name of the Successor Emperor Severin IV Arcturus. Consolidating its power, refilling its armies and re-equipping its fleets with old Imperial technology, the Second Empire prepares for a crusade to bring the systems along the Golden Crescent once again under the dominion of a purified humanity.
It's rivals, however, are powerful.
The Seven Houses, a league of First Empire Great Houses that survived the worst ravages of the Dark Ages, view the pretensions of the Second Empire with contempt. The reactionary human aristocrats of the Seven Houses rule over a significant stretch of the Golden Road, and over vast xenos subject populations, and the self-proclaimed Successor Emperor's genocidal ambitions are a threat to their position. The Houses control a formidable fleet of Imperial ships of the line, and have deep pockets.
The third major power along the Golden Crescent is perhaps the most dangerous, since it shares the Second Empire's expansionary vision. The Ascendancy of Kaasid, a theocratic empire open to believers of all sentient species, has used the chaos of the Dark Ages to spread its influence throughout the Golden Crescent, and though it controls a territory much smaller in size and wealth to that of the Seven Houses, it boast unorthodox technology, unity, and fanaticism. The cult of Kaasid appeals to the forward thinking, the anti-racists and anti-reactionaries, promising them a future utopia in which all species are united in brotherhood.
You...
...are not among the great powers. You dwell along a sub-space offshoot of the Golden Crescent, known as the Lesser Arm. Even in the days of the First Empire, the systems adjoining the Arm were known as the Dolorous Shoals: the heart of the Sector's black market, the haunt of pirates and mercenaries, a haven for smugglers, a place for corporations to conceal their assets from Imperial oversight, and a hiding place for terrorists, slavers and fanatics. Since the fall of the Empire, the factions of the Shoals have only increased their tradition of lawlessness and disunity, but as the major powers of the Golden Crescent jockey for position, the Lesser Arm has assumed a greater strategic importance than ever, since whomever controls it can strike at their enemies from a new direction. Which of the powers succeeds at controlling the Dolorous Shoals, or whether they all fail, is up to you and your rivals...
Are you a pirate band? A dictatorship? A small republic? A megacorp? A terrorist cell? Ascendancy heretics? Something else? Something...worse? Do you control a planet or two, or do you hide among ancient space stations and asteroid belts?
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Ok so that's the basic premise of the RP. The idea here is for an RP set in a far future combination of the American wild west and the Third World during the Cold War, a no man's land where the black market thrives, terrorists and pirates abound, megacorps are unchecked, and agents of major powers vie for influence as major NPC powers are busy gearing up for war with one another. Players will design any type of faction or characters they like in the Shoals, with the understanding that they will be playing the space-nation equivalent of minor, third world powers and non-state actors. As this gains momentum, I would love to design the setting and the major NPC powers collaboratively with the players. Standards here will be advanced.
I know this is a bit complicated, so please feel free to ask questions. CS and NS application forms are below. I will add a rough map of subspace lanes, etc, shortly.
A note on FTL:
Chat: piratepad.net/nmjH6p5xTN
