S T A R S O N G
B L O O D S T A I N E D S T A R S
"It all goes back and back, to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance on in our steads."
The chronicle of humanity's history among the heavens is a long and storied one stretching for over two millennia. It is not a simple tale or one of great virtue but one of bloodshed violence. From the early days of the great fighting by the earliest colonialist for land and resources to the bloody House Wars, humans have rarely been at peace in the great void. Each has suffered his own burdens and trials and had his fair share of triumph and tragedy in equal parts. Every man and woman fighting, struggling and grasping at there place in the stars. It is a grand composition made of many players and many parts all blending and fusing atop one another to create a grand arrangement a Starsong.
The earliest histories date back to when humanity was still bound to the cradle of blue and green that had birthed us long ago. The date was July 21st 1969 when the ones known as Armstrong and Aldrin set foot upon the surface of Luna. It was during this great and historic exhibition that Armstrong and Aldrin found remnants of an old observation post left behind by a long dead race called the Kroth. Using the technology found within the Kroth observation post allowed for the people of Earth to discover the existence of what we now know of as refined Sifirium a rare element which when a supercharge current is run through it produces a dark energy fluctuation or bubble in space-time allowing for negative masses to be achieved for as long as you have Sifirium to fuel the reaction. (This feat allowing for Faster Than Light Travel along slight modifications of what we know as the Alcubierre metric without some of the more nasty effects of time dilation.) Advancing science forward in mere years what decades might have taken and soon fueled by the discovery of Sifirum and FTL humanity rushed ever onward into the stars with the first inner system ships launching during the 80s and the first outer system ships beginning their voyage by the year 2000.
It was during this time that planets of the Sol System unified under the rule of the SF, the Sol Federation to make sure that the interests of the mother system remained paramount over the new fledgling colonies that soon came under its dominion. The SF while established on the fundamentals of Democracy and liberty soon grew mad with its own power becoming corrupted by greed and inefficient and lumbering by the hands of a sprawling bureaucracy. As the SF grew more corrupt so did the discontent and hatred for the government and when the FTL technology was leaked by anarchist, the colonization process that had once been carefully controlled and monitored by the SF soon fell to chaos as those wanting to escape the tyranny and oppression of their homes fled en masse to foreign stars where they could make homes and kingdoms of there own. And so decades of warfare and unrest began between the SF and the colonists as every side fought in land grab that threatened to rip all of humanity apart.
These first waves of expansion and warfare established what would be known as the Home Sphere stretching three hundred light years across at the edge of its radius. The Home Sphere was for decades upon end a place of violence and death as the many planetary nations fought among one another for valuable resources primarily Sifirium deposits and land all while picking away the fading but still fighting remnants of the SF. The leaders of these nations formed ruling destiny and great houses to cement there rule for generations to come styling themselves after the aristocracy of their ancestral home.
It was during this time of chaos and destruction that people look towards different paths of salvation and stability; faith and gold.
The first of these came with the rise of the Celestial Faith, established by a priestess born on the slums of mars refereed to only as the Mother who claimed to be spoken to by in visions from a creator known as The One Beyond the Light. The Celestial Church by many is seen as a sort of reconciliation of the ideas of faith and of a broader world as exposed by the remnants of the Kroth with The One Beyond the Light being a sort of pancreator. The ideas of redemption and hope preached by the Mother as she spoke of the coming of the Vizarian, the supposed Prince of Light and Shadow who was to unify the entirety of existence for the coming of the The One Beyond the Light back into the mortal realm; these claims spoke to the underclasses who needed something and anything to cling onto to give them hope of at least peace in death if not in life. Eventually as more and more of the populace began to accept the faith and the members of the Church gained more and more political power and began to forge large armies of faithful, the lords less than willingly accepted the ideas of the Church as their own despite the fact that many still followed their own faiths in the shadows of their keeps.
The second of these powers to rise was the Merchant Guild. Once long ago they were the many monolithic corporations that held great influence upon the affairs of Earth and eventually the Sol Federation. But upon the Federation collapse and eventually disbandment these corporation were left without strong claims or backings of their own. So rather than try to fight among themselves or against the planetary lords that dreamed of stellar empires they instead martial their forces and bargaining power under one banner realizing that a great beast was much harder to slay than many restless hounds. By controlling the precious trade routes and the flow of goods and money they believed that they would be able to retain their political power and be able to have a voice in the years to come to make sure that their interests were followed.
Eventually under the auspices of the Merchants and the Church, the fighting slowly began to die down and Human Space now stretching far beyond the Home Sphere was once again unified in a new golden age as the Free Terran Alliance or as most refered to it as the Second Republic with the first being the old Sol Federation. Resting upon the backs of great statesmen who had seen too much warfare for five lifetimes they established a labyrinthine system of alliance and interdependence designed to prevent any major conflict from resurfacing. This work for a time as years passed into decades and decades into centuries and centuries into millennium. But as time marched ever forward the cost of life during those early wars of expansion were forgotten as the lords of old while still remaining great fortunes desired the power that they once held in their hands, the power to decide the fates of millions. And so conspiring with members of the Merchant Guild and high officials within the Church the lords planted the seeds of discord within the fabric of the Second Republic. These seeds sprouted as severe economic failure in part facilitated by the mechanization of the Merchant Guild left the Second Republic in a state of collapse as government systems collapsed leaving the millions of citizens under their rule in a state of anger. This anger became a revolt and a revolt became an rebellion that marched for the seat of the Republic on Earth.
Thus the Lords plan was set into motion as they sat idly by with their own private armies and forces as the rebel forces continually weakened and strained the armies of the Second Republic. The time for action came finally as Rebel forces seized Earth and declared the establishment of the Third Republic. The Third Republic stood for only two years before the Lords turned on the Third Republic whom they had pledged their support to and with support from the Church Militant were able to seize Earth once more in the name of "liberating the people from anarchy" but rather than reestablished the Second Republic the Lords instead refused to give up power and soon their own forces began to split upon house allegiances fire upon one another as they battled for supremacy. The Church was able to push them out of the Sol System with their own Army of the Faithful but fighting raged within the Home Sphere and the Outer Territories were the Lords began to conquer vast numbers of systems beneath their names.
This began the House Wars as the Lords once again fought one another for supremacy in a war that washed the stars red with blood. The House Wars were long and bloody but eventually they came to a brutal and violent end with the rise of Akylas Vermallo also known as Akylas the Pacifier. Akylas was born within the Sol System within the same holy city that the Mother of the Celestial Church was born in Mars. Born a child of the faith at a young age Akylas joined the Church Militant as a Sword Brother where he became renown for his skills in battle. Horrified by the bloodshed caused in the House Wars Akylas set forth to usher in a time of peace and prosperity which he did so by making the Army of the Faithful his own and slowly drawing in more Lords to his cause. Akylas army grew as he set out on a campaign of pacification crushing all those that did not boy to his rule and once again braining peace to Human Space. Akylas and his successors in House Vermallo would rule as Emperors of the Realm from the Home Sphere with their seat moved from the corrupt and dying world of Earth to the holy planet of Mars with Six Lords who joined his cause first and pledged their armies to him served as his representatives and regents in the outlaying systems as his Wardens..
The Vermallo Dynasty ruled the stars for generations upon end in a time of peace and warfare as the role of the dynastic dice provided strong rulers and those of weak fortitude. This lead up into the present under the rule of Emperor Daewon VII, the first strong Vermalloin leader to hold the Imperial Throne in nearly one hundred years. Beloved by the people for his pushes of reform but hated by the ancestors of the Lords that sweated allegiance to him due to his absolutist tendencies and habit of putting to death any and all those who oppose him while bombing their home planets to molten ash from orbit. And so it was to be that upon visit to the ancestral birthplace of Akylas, a small monastery on the far side of Mars far from the safety and protection of the Imperial Capital that Emperor Daewon VII and most of his family was killed by Assassins dressed in the garbs of the Church.
The ball has swung again as the War of the Six Houses began as each of the House Lords blames the others for the others for the assassination of the most loved Emperor. This is where our tale begins in a time of corrupt priests, scheming merchant princes and powerful lords all fighting to maintain their dominance and to secure the Imperial Title. All the while hordes of barbarian raiders from systems beyond the edge of Human Space whose coordinates were long thought to be lost in the wars of old appear on the edge of Imperial Space pillaging worlds and desiring blood. It is a battle among the stars even as the common peasant is stuck upon the planet that they were born upon for their entire life as part of age old contracts that offered defense and protection in the name of a lifetime of servitude. Ashes to ashes and soon only dust will remain.
The earliest histories date back to when humanity was still bound to the cradle of blue and green that had birthed us long ago. The date was July 21st 1969 when the ones known as Armstrong and Aldrin set foot upon the surface of Luna. It was during this great and historic exhibition that Armstrong and Aldrin found remnants of an old observation post left behind by a long dead race called the Kroth. Using the technology found within the Kroth observation post allowed for the people of Earth to discover the existence of what we now know of as refined Sifirium a rare element which when a supercharge current is run through it produces a dark energy fluctuation or bubble in space-time allowing for negative masses to be achieved for as long as you have Sifirium to fuel the reaction. (This feat allowing for Faster Than Light Travel along slight modifications of what we know as the Alcubierre metric without some of the more nasty effects of time dilation.) Advancing science forward in mere years what decades might have taken and soon fueled by the discovery of Sifirum and FTL humanity rushed ever onward into the stars with the first inner system ships launching during the 80s and the first outer system ships beginning their voyage by the year 2000.
It was during this time that planets of the Sol System unified under the rule of the SF, the Sol Federation to make sure that the interests of the mother system remained paramount over the new fledgling colonies that soon came under its dominion. The SF while established on the fundamentals of Democracy and liberty soon grew mad with its own power becoming corrupted by greed and inefficient and lumbering by the hands of a sprawling bureaucracy. As the SF grew more corrupt so did the discontent and hatred for the government and when the FTL technology was leaked by anarchist, the colonization process that had once been carefully controlled and monitored by the SF soon fell to chaos as those wanting to escape the tyranny and oppression of their homes fled en masse to foreign stars where they could make homes and kingdoms of there own. And so decades of warfare and unrest began between the SF and the colonists as every side fought in land grab that threatened to rip all of humanity apart.
These first waves of expansion and warfare established what would be known as the Home Sphere stretching three hundred light years across at the edge of its radius. The Home Sphere was for decades upon end a place of violence and death as the many planetary nations fought among one another for valuable resources primarily Sifirium deposits and land all while picking away the fading but still fighting remnants of the SF. The leaders of these nations formed ruling destiny and great houses to cement there rule for generations to come styling themselves after the aristocracy of their ancestral home.
It was during this time of chaos and destruction that people look towards different paths of salvation and stability; faith and gold.
The first of these came with the rise of the Celestial Faith, established by a priestess born on the slums of mars refereed to only as the Mother who claimed to be spoken to by in visions from a creator known as The One Beyond the Light. The Celestial Church by many is seen as a sort of reconciliation of the ideas of faith and of a broader world as exposed by the remnants of the Kroth with The One Beyond the Light being a sort of pancreator. The ideas of redemption and hope preached by the Mother as she spoke of the coming of the Vizarian, the supposed Prince of Light and Shadow who was to unify the entirety of existence for the coming of the The One Beyond the Light back into the mortal realm; these claims spoke to the underclasses who needed something and anything to cling onto to give them hope of at least peace in death if not in life. Eventually as more and more of the populace began to accept the faith and the members of the Church gained more and more political power and began to forge large armies of faithful, the lords less than willingly accepted the ideas of the Church as their own despite the fact that many still followed their own faiths in the shadows of their keeps.
The second of these powers to rise was the Merchant Guild. Once long ago they were the many monolithic corporations that held great influence upon the affairs of Earth and eventually the Sol Federation. But upon the Federation collapse and eventually disbandment these corporation were left without strong claims or backings of their own. So rather than try to fight among themselves or against the planetary lords that dreamed of stellar empires they instead martial their forces and bargaining power under one banner realizing that a great beast was much harder to slay than many restless hounds. By controlling the precious trade routes and the flow of goods and money they believed that they would be able to retain their political power and be able to have a voice in the years to come to make sure that their interests were followed.
Eventually under the auspices of the Merchants and the Church, the fighting slowly began to die down and Human Space now stretching far beyond the Home Sphere was once again unified in a new golden age as the Free Terran Alliance or as most refered to it as the Second Republic with the first being the old Sol Federation. Resting upon the backs of great statesmen who had seen too much warfare for five lifetimes they established a labyrinthine system of alliance and interdependence designed to prevent any major conflict from resurfacing. This work for a time as years passed into decades and decades into centuries and centuries into millennium. But as time marched ever forward the cost of life during those early wars of expansion were forgotten as the lords of old while still remaining great fortunes desired the power that they once held in their hands, the power to decide the fates of millions. And so conspiring with members of the Merchant Guild and high officials within the Church the lords planted the seeds of discord within the fabric of the Second Republic. These seeds sprouted as severe economic failure in part facilitated by the mechanization of the Merchant Guild left the Second Republic in a state of collapse as government systems collapsed leaving the millions of citizens under their rule in a state of anger. This anger became a revolt and a revolt became an rebellion that marched for the seat of the Republic on Earth.
Thus the Lords plan was set into motion as they sat idly by with their own private armies and forces as the rebel forces continually weakened and strained the armies of the Second Republic. The time for action came finally as Rebel forces seized Earth and declared the establishment of the Third Republic. The Third Republic stood for only two years before the Lords turned on the Third Republic whom they had pledged their support to and with support from the Church Militant were able to seize Earth once more in the name of "liberating the people from anarchy" but rather than reestablished the Second Republic the Lords instead refused to give up power and soon their own forces began to split upon house allegiances fire upon one another as they battled for supremacy. The Church was able to push them out of the Sol System with their own Army of the Faithful but fighting raged within the Home Sphere and the Outer Territories were the Lords began to conquer vast numbers of systems beneath their names.
This began the House Wars as the Lords once again fought one another for supremacy in a war that washed the stars red with blood. The House Wars were long and bloody but eventually they came to a brutal and violent end with the rise of Akylas Vermallo also known as Akylas the Pacifier. Akylas was born within the Sol System within the same holy city that the Mother of the Celestial Church was born in Mars. Born a child of the faith at a young age Akylas joined the Church Militant as a Sword Brother where he became renown for his skills in battle. Horrified by the bloodshed caused in the House Wars Akylas set forth to usher in a time of peace and prosperity which he did so by making the Army of the Faithful his own and slowly drawing in more Lords to his cause. Akylas army grew as he set out on a campaign of pacification crushing all those that did not boy to his rule and once again braining peace to Human Space. Akylas and his successors in House Vermallo would rule as Emperors of the Realm from the Home Sphere with their seat moved from the corrupt and dying world of Earth to the holy planet of Mars with Six Lords who joined his cause first and pledged their armies to him served as his representatives and regents in the outlaying systems as his Wardens..
The Vermallo Dynasty ruled the stars for generations upon end in a time of peace and warfare as the role of the dynastic dice provided strong rulers and those of weak fortitude. This lead up into the present under the rule of Emperor Daewon VII, the first strong Vermalloin leader to hold the Imperial Throne in nearly one hundred years. Beloved by the people for his pushes of reform but hated by the ancestors of the Lords that sweated allegiance to him due to his absolutist tendencies and habit of putting to death any and all those who oppose him while bombing their home planets to molten ash from orbit. And so it was to be that upon visit to the ancestral birthplace of Akylas, a small monastery on the far side of Mars far from the safety and protection of the Imperial Capital that Emperor Daewon VII and most of his family was killed by Assassins dressed in the garbs of the Church.
The ball has swung again as the War of the Six Houses began as each of the House Lords blames the others for the others for the assassination of the most loved Emperor. This is where our tale begins in a time of corrupt priests, scheming merchant princes and powerful lords all fighting to maintain their dominance and to secure the Imperial Title. All the while hordes of barbarian raiders from systems beyond the edge of Human Space whose coordinates were long thought to be lost in the wars of old appear on the edge of Imperial Space pillaging worlds and desiring blood. It is a battle among the stars even as the common peasant is stuck upon the planet that they were born upon for their entire life as part of age old contracts that offered defense and protection in the name of a lifetime of servitude. Ashes to ashes and soon only dust will remain.
D U T Y A N D H O N O R
Among this period of chaos and bloodshed our story focus its lenses upon one of the Low Houses that had sworn allegiance to House Vermallo long ago. House Tyrin. Ohannes Tyrin, the founder of the House was once nothing but a simple solider in Akylas the Pacifier's grand army that restored peace in the galaxy. Ohannes himself actually saved the young emperor to be by pulling him free from the fiery hands of fate and by doing so became one of Akylas most trusted friends. A lowly peasant drafted into the Churches Army upon becoming Emperor, Akylas give his friend a knighthood and a few systems of his own to watch over in the outer reaches of Human Space entrusting his friend to serve to hold the peace in such a tumultuous area. Ohannes and his ancestors performed ever faithfully to their call and they remained close allies and friends of the Imperial House ever since. The current Lord of House Tyrin one Remao Tyrin grew up as a child hood friend of the Late Emperor Daewon VIII.
It was due to these close bonds of honor and family that House Tyrin currently harbor the only remaining heir to the Vermallo Dynasty, Daewon VIII youngest son of thirteen years, Prince Aleksanteri Vermallo III who was spending his days away from the politics and intrigue of the Imperial Court to learn under Remao the ways of life beyond the walls of the Court. And now with the death of the rest of his family the young Vermallo is the biggest bargaining chip in the world. Because of this unwanted attnetion is drawn to House Tyrin as the High Houses desire the boy as well as the forces within the Church and the Merchant Guild all to solidify their cliams on the Imperial Throne. Though little do they know that House Tyrin has no intention on giving up on the boy so easily, as Lord Remao swore to put the rightful heir upon the throne.
And thus the stage is set for a great game of intrigue, war, romance and treachery. The audience has been seated in fearful awe and all that remains is for the players to take their place upon the stage and for them to play their last long into the great void.
It was due to these close bonds of honor and family that House Tyrin currently harbor the only remaining heir to the Vermallo Dynasty, Daewon VIII youngest son of thirteen years, Prince Aleksanteri Vermallo III who was spending his days away from the politics and intrigue of the Imperial Court to learn under Remao the ways of life beyond the walls of the Court. And now with the death of the rest of his family the young Vermallo is the biggest bargaining chip in the world. Because of this unwanted attnetion is drawn to House Tyrin as the High Houses desire the boy as well as the forces within the Church and the Merchant Guild all to solidify their cliams on the Imperial Throne. Though little do they know that House Tyrin has no intention on giving up on the boy so easily, as Lord Remao swore to put the rightful heir upon the throne.
And thus the stage is set for a great game of intrigue, war, romance and treachery. The audience has been seated in fearful awe and all that remains is for the players to take their place upon the stage and for them to play their last long into the great void.
W E L C O M E
Hello one and all and let me welcome you to my latest iteration of Starsong, a roleplay that I have been working on and off on for what may amount to many years at this point. The way that most people that have partaken in the story describe it as is like A Song of Ice and Fire in SPACE and while on the surface that may be true I like to think the World of Starsong is one with its own merits and quirks. Starsong if you have not guessed takes place in the far flung future long after Humanity has begun to colonize the stars. Civilization is in a sort of odd Feudal Future where ideas of knights, emperors, peasants and kings stand aside starships, nanotechnology, and robotic death machines; In Starsong it is much more likey to see a knight commanding a giant robot than it is to see him riding in any actual horse. The disparity between the lower classes and the elite is kept apparent as technology that is given down to the peasants is very much restricted and highly monitored while the Nobles travel across the Galaxy in stellar luxury craft. From a historical perspective it is based upon primary the Interegum period of the Holy Roman Empire the so called die kaiserlose, die schreckliche Zeit with some late Medieval and Early Renaissance influences thrown in as well. The world of Starsong is an old and dying one on verge of collapse as the golden age of humanity like the many species that had come before it has long since fallen to the wayside of pauper princes and hungry warlords.
The story this time in Starsong in an attempt to kept things a bit more tighter focuses primarily on one Low House known as House Tyrin who currently are protecting the only heir to the Imperial Throne after the rest of his Family was killed. The story follows the members of House Tyrin, those that serve under them and the various members of the High Houses, Church and Merchant Guild all trying to secure the Heir and there claims on the Throne all of which who will be played by you the players. As it focuses more upon the conflicts of the human heart than anything else dealing with conflicts of desire, love, hatred and all the irrational feelings that dictate us all.
While much of the world of Starsong has been fleshed out with an established back story and history it is done in a very broad strokes style allowing for you the players to fill in as many and as little gaps as they wish about the world. It's a half finished canvas spanning an entire galaxy that you will be able to put your mark upon. While there is a general plot moving ever constantly forward as the Young Prince makes his slow journey towards the Imperial Capital upon Mars and the growing threat of barbarian kings on the edge of known space the story is generally one that the players dictate through their actions and choices morphing as it goes along.
So if a galaxy spanning epic of intrigue, warfare and all the like sounds like your cup of tea, or if you really like world building and corrupt space empires based upon the europe of yester year or really want to see what jousting competions would look like with giant robots... Well why don't you stop in and say hi?
The story this time in Starsong in an attempt to kept things a bit more tighter focuses primarily on one Low House known as House Tyrin who currently are protecting the only heir to the Imperial Throne after the rest of his Family was killed. The story follows the members of House Tyrin, those that serve under them and the various members of the High Houses, Church and Merchant Guild all trying to secure the Heir and there claims on the Throne all of which who will be played by you the players. As it focuses more upon the conflicts of the human heart than anything else dealing with conflicts of desire, love, hatred and all the irrational feelings that dictate us all.
While much of the world of Starsong has been fleshed out with an established back story and history it is done in a very broad strokes style allowing for you the players to fill in as many and as little gaps as they wish about the world. It's a half finished canvas spanning an entire galaxy that you will be able to put your mark upon. While there is a general plot moving ever constantly forward as the Young Prince makes his slow journey towards the Imperial Capital upon Mars and the growing threat of barbarian kings on the edge of known space the story is generally one that the players dictate through their actions and choices morphing as it goes along.
So if a galaxy spanning epic of intrigue, warfare and all the like sounds like your cup of tea, or if you really like world building and corrupt space empires based upon the europe of yester year or really want to see what jousting competions would look like with giant robots... Well why don't you stop in and say hi?
3x Like
