Index:
Characters:
Ships:
Nations:
Roleplays That Never Started:
Characters:
Ships:
Nations:
Roleplays That Never Started:
1 Guest
viewing this page
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From The Transreality War
|Ship Name: N1-B Romanova
|Universe of Origin: Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 (+25 years)
|Method of Transfer (inc. damage sustained during transfer/current supplies): The Soviet Union tested Chronosphere technology for the first time. Either something was uncalibrated, or the chronosphere was never designed to teleport itself, because the ship suffered some severe damage before ending up in a completely different universe. The ionizable materials tanks - vital for firing the tesla coils in an extra-atmospheric environment - are leaking heavily and there is significant melting, warping and other heat damage in the force field emitter. And while the chronosphere might be capable of activation again, there's no telling what the consequences might be.
|Ship Specifications: After the glorious Soviet victory in the Second Great War, humanity was could venture to the stars free of any capitalist chains. During the rush to design, build, and launch spacecraft, many new designs were tested. Many attempted to incoporate experimental technology liberated from the oppressed former capitalist nations. The most successful, however, was based upon an unfinished prototype for a Soviet lunar-landing rocket, the N1.
+Length: 1000m
+Armament:
10x Tesla coils arranged in three rings of three, modified for use in space. These actually spew a stream of ionized plasma at a target before following up with several thousand volts of electricity. While their range isn't particularly long (the primary coil has decent range), the combined electromagnetic and thermal effects is significant.
9x 23mm Rikhter machine guns. Originally used in the Tupolev Tu-22, the Rikhter is capable of spewing out 300 rounds per second at 850 meters per second. The Romanova uses them to supplement its Tesla coils against enemy fighters and as point defense against missiles.
6 missile silos. The Romanova carries a full complement of 12 nuclear warheads and 48 V5 long-range ballistic missiles.
+Propulsion: 30 Fission fragment rockets, maneuvering thrusters
+Utility: Magnetron - think very powerful directed magnet; essentially it's a tractor beam capable of pulling car-sized vehicles into space from extremely low orbit for about 6 seconds, followed by a significant cooldown.
Chronosphere - Mid-range teleportation device. It will kill living beings near the origin and destination of the vehicle being teleported if they aren't in a faraday cage (e.g. surrounded by metal). It takes 10 minutes to recharge. This particular chronosphere has its origin locked on the Romanova, or else random transuniversal teleporation (and damage) results.
+Defenses: 30 second force field (at the cost of all power and thrust for a minute and a half during and after activation). Note that the force field is nearly impenetrable, however.
+Crew: 1,200
+Cosmonauts (soldiers equipped with lasers, maneuvering packs, and space suits trained specifically to fight in vacuum): 300. Some ships have small personal fighter craft. The Soviets prefer to just use extremely maneuverable (and somewhat expendable) cosmonaut "volunteers" armed with laser rifles.
|Crew:
+Name: Venera Romanova
+Rank: Kapitan 2 ranga
+Job: Commander
+Description: Venera Romanova, a minor relation to the famous Romanov line, was only 15 when the soviet forces secured their victory against the evil traitor Yuri. Spurred by the endless patriotism in the world's new superstate, Venera enlisted in the new space branch of the soviet armed forces. Being, of course, a naturally higher-caliber leader, Venera was quickly sent to the Officer's training school. From there she was placed as captain of the latest top-secret military vessel, appropriately named after the Premier's family line. It was a quiet, out-of-the way position, easily covered up if she should fail while still sufficiently prestigious should she succeed.
Venera herself is a highly charismatic leader, either completely brainwashed by soviet ideology or very good at hiding unpatriotic thoughts. Most of her military tactics, when they are called for, follow the general Soviet strategy: might, power, and single-minded purpose. She commands her ship with an iron fist of respect and fear - as a matter of fact, there's not much difference in her mind. Some whisper that she is a bit power-mad, pointing to the Premier himself's madness in his twilight years. Those that make such whispers, however, are quietly reindoctrinated into more productive avenues of thinking.
Meanwhile, she's been fighting an internal struggle to maintain the prestige of the Romanov line without seeming like a weak and minor part of it herself. Having been elevated to such a high position, she feels pressured to act how she thinks people would expect her to.[/b]
+Name: Yevgeniy Utkin
+Rank: Kapitan 3 ranga
+Job: XO
+Description: Kapitan Utkin is a small rarity in the CCCP: a man that acquired command through merit alone. Frustratingly for him, however, a Romonov beat him to command of the N1-B. While he believes whole-heartedly in the message of the Soviet Union, he sometimes questions its methods (internally, of course). He's often stuck actually implementing the commander's plans, but takes advantage of this and often tries to tone down Venera's relentless ideological pratter.
+Name: Sergei Volkov
+Rank: Kapitan-leytenant
+Job: Cosmonaut Commander
+Description: Sergei Volkov is well-known amongst the crew for having attended re-education filming sessions voluntarily. He says that they're "fun" and "entertaining". He comes from a line of warring men, going all the way back to the First Great War, when his great-grandfather commanded a mammoth tank against the forces of Greece. His grandfather fought as a commando in several secret raids to help secure the World Socialist Alliance's secret buildup of armed forces, and his father was the captain of a Kirov-class heavy bomber airship. In reality, anyone who would willingly lead a battalion of men into one-on-one combat against enemy fighters in space would have to be a little crazy.
However, he has successfully proven the worth of the Cosmonaut concept. In several full-field scale excersizes, it was found that a swarm of highly maneuverable and expendable men is nearly as effective and much less expensive than an actual fighter escort. Some of these findings, of course, might have been due to the quality of the hastily-assembled MiG Cosmos starfighter, but nobody can deny that Volkov's equally-crazy commando force is effective.
+Name: Gregor Zelinsky
+Rank: Doctor
+Job: Scientist/Engineer
+Description: A nervous-seeming man who studied under Tesla himself, Dr. Zelinsky was quietly reappropriated from a top-secret project to work on the Romanova. His background in chrono technology (the Chronosphere being a joint invention between Einstein and Tesla) proved invaluable in the integration of captured capitalist technology. This has the unfortunate side effect of Dr. Zelinsky being the one whom everyone both blames and turns to should anything on the ship malfunction.
His knowledge of both Soviet and Allied technology is unparalleled as a result, and certainly nobody on board the Romanova could outmatch him.
|Ship Name: N1-B Romanova
|Universe of Origin: Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 (+25 years)
|Method of Transfer (inc. damage sustained during transfer/current supplies): The Soviet Union tested Chronosphere technology for the first time. Either something was uncalibrated, or the chronosphere was never designed to teleport itself, because the ship suffered some severe damage before ending up in a completely different universe. The ionizable materials tanks - vital for firing the tesla coils in an extra-atmospheric environment - are leaking heavily and there is significant melting, warping and other heat damage in the force field emitter. And while the chronosphere might be capable of activation again, there's no telling what the consequences might be.
|Ship Specifications: After the glorious Soviet victory in the Second Great War, humanity was could venture to the stars free of any capitalist chains. During the rush to design, build, and launch spacecraft, many new designs were tested. Many attempted to incoporate experimental technology liberated from the oppressed former capitalist nations. The most successful, however, was based upon an unfinished prototype for a Soviet lunar-landing rocket, the N1.
Bare
Annotated:
Under Construction:
Annotated:
Under Construction:
+Length: 1000m
+Armament:
10x Tesla coils arranged in three rings of three, modified for use in space. These actually spew a stream of ionized plasma at a target before following up with several thousand volts of electricity. While their range isn't particularly long (the primary coil has decent range), the combined electromagnetic and thermal effects is significant.
9x 23mm Rikhter machine guns. Originally used in the Tupolev Tu-22, the Rikhter is capable of spewing out 300 rounds per second at 850 meters per second. The Romanova uses them to supplement its Tesla coils against enemy fighters and as point defense against missiles.
6 missile silos. The Romanova carries a full complement of 12 nuclear warheads and 48 V5 long-range ballistic missiles.
+Propulsion: 30 Fission fragment rockets, maneuvering thrusters
+Utility: Magnetron - think very powerful directed magnet; essentially it's a tractor beam capable of pulling car-sized vehicles into space from extremely low orbit for about 6 seconds, followed by a significant cooldown.
Chronosphere - Mid-range teleportation device. It will kill living beings near the origin and destination of the vehicle being teleported if they aren't in a faraday cage (e.g. surrounded by metal). It takes 10 minutes to recharge. This particular chronosphere has its origin locked on the Romanova, or else random transuniversal teleporation (and damage) results.
+Defenses: 30 second force field (at the cost of all power and thrust for a minute and a half during and after activation). Note that the force field is nearly impenetrable, however.
+Crew: 1,200
+Cosmonauts (soldiers equipped with lasers, maneuvering packs, and space suits trained specifically to fight in vacuum): 300. Some ships have small personal fighter craft. The Soviets prefer to just use extremely maneuverable (and somewhat expendable) cosmonaut "volunteers" armed with laser rifles.
|Crew:
+Name: Venera Romanova
+Rank: Kapitan 2 ranga
+Job: Commander
+Description: Venera Romanova, a minor relation to the famous Romanov line, was only 15 when the soviet forces secured their victory against the evil traitor Yuri. Spurred by the endless patriotism in the world's new superstate, Venera enlisted in the new space branch of the soviet armed forces. Being, of course, a naturally higher-caliber leader, Venera was quickly sent to the Officer's training school. From there she was placed as captain of the latest top-secret military vessel, appropriately named after the Premier's family line. It was a quiet, out-of-the way position, easily covered up if she should fail while still sufficiently prestigious should she succeed.
Venera herself is a highly charismatic leader, either completely brainwashed by soviet ideology or very good at hiding unpatriotic thoughts. Most of her military tactics, when they are called for, follow the general Soviet strategy: might, power, and single-minded purpose. She commands her ship with an iron fist of respect and fear - as a matter of fact, there's not much difference in her mind. Some whisper that she is a bit power-mad, pointing to the Premier himself's madness in his twilight years. Those that make such whispers, however, are quietly reindoctrinated into more productive avenues of thinking.
Meanwhile, she's been fighting an internal struggle to maintain the prestige of the Romanov line without seeming like a weak and minor part of it herself. Having been elevated to such a high position, she feels pressured to act how she thinks people would expect her to.[/b]
+Name: Yevgeniy Utkin
+Rank: Kapitan 3 ranga
+Job: XO
+Description: Kapitan Utkin is a small rarity in the CCCP: a man that acquired command through merit alone. Frustratingly for him, however, a Romonov beat him to command of the N1-B. While he believes whole-heartedly in the message of the Soviet Union, he sometimes questions its methods (internally, of course). He's often stuck actually implementing the commander's plans, but takes advantage of this and often tries to tone down Venera's relentless ideological pratter.
+Name: Sergei Volkov
+Rank: Kapitan-leytenant
+Job: Cosmonaut Commander
+Description: Sergei Volkov is well-known amongst the crew for having attended re-education filming sessions voluntarily. He says that they're "fun" and "entertaining". He comes from a line of warring men, going all the way back to the First Great War, when his great-grandfather commanded a mammoth tank against the forces of Greece. His grandfather fought as a commando in several secret raids to help secure the World Socialist Alliance's secret buildup of armed forces, and his father was the captain of a Kirov-class heavy bomber airship. In reality, anyone who would willingly lead a battalion of men into one-on-one combat against enemy fighters in space would have to be a little crazy.
However, he has successfully proven the worth of the Cosmonaut concept. In several full-field scale excersizes, it was found that a swarm of highly maneuverable and expendable men is nearly as effective and much less expensive than an actual fighter escort. Some of these findings, of course, might have been due to the quality of the hastily-assembled MiG Cosmos starfighter, but nobody can deny that Volkov's equally-crazy commando force is effective.
+Name: Gregor Zelinsky
+Rank: Doctor
+Job: Scientist/Engineer
+Description: A nervous-seeming man who studied under Tesla himself, Dr. Zelinsky was quietly reappropriated from a top-secret project to work on the Romanova. His background in chrono technology (the Chronosphere being a joint invention between Einstein and Tesla) proved invaluable in the integration of captured capitalist technology. This has the unfortunate side effect of Dr. Zelinsky being the one whom everyone both blames and turns to should anything on the ship malfunction.
His knowledge of both Soviet and Allied technology is unparalleled as a result, and certainly nobody on board the Romanova could outmatch him.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From -=Sᵀᴿᴬᴺᴰᴱᴰ=-
||Something Interesting About Myself: I'm studying aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University. It's harder than I thought, but I still want to do it.
||Ship Name: C.C.C.P. Romanova (N1-B)
||Universe Background: The Romanova is from the Red Alert 2 universe. In it, Einstein went back in time to kill Hitler and stop World War II. Iteration two of WWII (now known as the "Great War II") has, instead, Stalin rising up in Hitler's abscence and invading western Europe. The Allies eventually win GWII, and install a puppet president in Russia. Eventually Russia gets pissed off enough to seek revenge, and they do so in the 70's by invading the United States (the global leader at that point), kicking off GWIII. The U.S.S.R. loses GWIII, too, however, a traitor within their midst takes advantage of the global chaos to take control of the world via mechanically-assisted psychic powers. The allies planned to use their time machine to go back and prevent this from happening; however, the remnant soviet forces managed to hijack the time machine at the last second. In this latest and final iteration, the Soviets not only managed to prevent Yuri from taking over the world, but also turned GWIII around, crushing the Allies completely.
In short, the Soviets have obtained a glorious victory, ensuring humanity's path to the stars was entirely free of any capitalist chains. In the fifteen years since, the Soviets have built the N1-B Romanova, taking advantage of captured enemy technology to create the world's first interstellar ship.
||Crew Complement: 600
||Ship Description:
The Romanova is based off of old Soviet designs for a moon rocket. She's an unreliableperfectly safe anachronism stew; nearly zero readouts are digital, the radar scopes are green, and the energy guns are powered by tesla technology. It has been hastilyflawlessly retrofitted with enemyvisionary Soviet designs and technologies created in GWIII. The vessel is armed with modified Tesla technology that spew a stream of ionized plasma at a target before following up with several thousand volts of electricity. While their range isn't particularly great, the combined EMP and thermal effects are significant. Furthermore, it has several space-modified machine guns and six missile silos, including twelve nuclear warheads. She's propelled by 30 fission fragment rockets, which literally propel themselves by spewing out hot radioactive materials that recently underwent fission.
||Unique Capabilities:
||History of the Ship: The Romanova was on her shakedown cruise; a three-year mission to Alpha Centauri and back, stopping at any points of interest the Commander deemed worthy of receiving the enlightened knowledge of the glorious Soviet system. Additionally, of course, it gave the Romanova some time to work out the kinks and oddities in its design far away from prying eyes. Nobody was really sure if the damn ship wouldn't just shake itself apart at some point, or if its diaspora of competing technologies could actually function together. Born out of war and forged by paranoia, the U.S.S.R. ensured its first interstellar ship would be well-capable of defending itself. The great minds of the citizens at the central planning bureau also saw fit to include several crates of propaganda reels, propaganda leaflets, propaganda posters, and propaganda sound bites.
||Some Important People:
||Something Interesting About Myself: I'm studying aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University. It's harder than I thought, but I still want to do it.
||Ship Name: C.C.C.P. Romanova (N1-B)
||Universe Background: The Romanova is from the Red Alert 2 universe. In it, Einstein went back in time to kill Hitler and stop World War II. Iteration two of WWII (now known as the "Great War II") has, instead, Stalin rising up in Hitler's abscence and invading western Europe. The Allies eventually win GWII, and install a puppet president in Russia. Eventually Russia gets pissed off enough to seek revenge, and they do so in the 70's by invading the United States (the global leader at that point), kicking off GWIII. The U.S.S.R. loses GWIII, too, however, a traitor within their midst takes advantage of the global chaos to take control of the world via mechanically-assisted psychic powers. The allies planned to use their time machine to go back and prevent this from happening; however, the remnant soviet forces managed to hijack the time machine at the last second. In this latest and final iteration, the Soviets not only managed to prevent Yuri from taking over the world, but also turned GWIII around, crushing the Allies completely.
In short, the Soviets have obtained a glorious victory, ensuring humanity's path to the stars was entirely free of any capitalist chains. In the fifteen years since, the Soviets have built the N1-B Romanova, taking advantage of captured enemy technology to create the world's first interstellar ship.
||Crew Complement: 600
||Ship Description:
The Romanova is based off of old Soviet designs for a moon rocket. She's an unreliableperfectly safe anachronism stew; nearly zero readouts are digital, the radar scopes are green, and the energy guns are powered by tesla technology. It has been hastilyflawlessly retrofitted with enemyvisionary Soviet designs and technologies created in GWIII. The vessel is armed with modified Tesla technology that spew a stream of ionized plasma at a target before following up with several thousand volts of electricity. While their range isn't particularly great, the combined EMP and thermal effects are significant. Furthermore, it has several space-modified machine guns and six missile silos, including twelve nuclear warheads. She's propelled by 30 fission fragment rockets, which literally propel themselves by spewing out hot radioactive materials that recently underwent fission.
||Unique Capabilities:
- Magnetronic Beam: a very powerful directed magnet (aka tractor beam).
- Chronosphere: Mid-ranged teleportation device, jerry-riggedwell-adapted by brilliant Soviet engineers for use as a jump drive. The ship travels in many rapid, short, instantaneous jumps.
- Cosmonauts: rather than go for expensive single-man fighters, the U.S.S.R. has opted for teams of cosmonauts with maneuvering packs, a single-use missile, and a gun. Such teams are known as flaks, after the aerial flak clouds from previous wars. Flaks of cosmonauts have been found to be nearly as effective and much more expendable than a fighter escort, and these findings are certainly not a reflection on the quality of the hastily-assembledwell-thought-out MiG Cosmos starfighter.
- Shield: Unlike most shielding technologies, the Soviet version renders the ship almost-totally invulnerable... for 30 seconds, with an inescapable 2.5-minute cooldown.
||History of the Ship: The Romanova was on her shakedown cruise; a three-year mission to Alpha Centauri and back, stopping at any points of interest the Commander deemed worthy of receiving the enlightened knowledge of the glorious Soviet system. Additionally, of course, it gave the Romanova some time to work out the kinks and oddities in its design far away from prying eyes. Nobody was really sure if the damn ship wouldn't just shake itself apart at some point, or if its diaspora of competing technologies could actually function together. Born out of war and forged by paranoia, the U.S.S.R. ensured its first interstellar ship would be well-capable of defending itself. The great minds of the citizens at the central planning bureau also saw fit to include several crates of propaganda reels, propaganda leaflets, propaganda posters, and propaganda sound bites.
||Some Important People:
- Venera Romanova: Commander of the Romanova.A minor relation to the famous Romanov line, placed into a quiet, out-of-the way position, easily covered up if she should fail while still sufficiently prestigious should she succeed. Very much the image of a good Soviet officer.
. - Yevgeniy Utkin: Romanova's XO He secretly believes that he's the only one capable of being in charge, and questions some of the USSR's methods, though he won't tell anyone that.
. - Sergei Volkov: leader of the cosmonaut flaks. He attended re-education sessions voluntarily. Twice. Then again, anyone with his job has to be at least a little mad.
. - Gregor Zelinsky: The chief engineer in charge of all the technology. It's unfortunate for him, really, because he only half-understands how the captured technology works in the first place.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Interference From the Higher Dimensions
\+Ship Name: NSEA Protector II
\+Ship Class: "Evolution" Heavy Cruiser
\+Ship Wiki Link
\+Ship Specs:
•Dimensions
-Length - 488m
-Beam - 402m
-Height - 82m
•Weaponry
-Resonance cannon battery (4x) - Fires clouds of gas and excites subatomic particles to produce a devasting (if short-ranged) shockwave.
-Gannet magnets (2x) - A focused penetrative electromagnetic burst designed to disable computers and overload electrical systems
-Pulse catapults (2x)- Chucks localized subspace energy pulses that misalign matter on detonation. Remarkably inaccurate, as they follow strictly ballistic trajectories.
-Quantum rockets - Rockets armed with quantum disentanglement warheads. Upon detonation, the target usually fails catastrophically in some manner around the detonation area. There is a chance, however, that no particles in the area are entangled, rendering the weapon a sub-par explosive.
-Blue particle cannons (8x, 6 fore, 2 aft [can be configured to blue or red]) - Gigawatt ultraviolet lasers accelerate a magnetic packet of energetic subnuclear particles to near lightspeed, giving this literal cannon quite a punch.
-Red particle cannons (8x 6 fore, 2 aft [see above]) - In this less-used variant, infrared lasers accelerate energetic subnuclear particle packet. Aside from a differently-colored special effectbeam, the red particle cannons require much less power, at the cost of decreased damage due to destructive wavefront interference.
•Defenses
-Plasma Armor - A protective sheaf of plasma, magnetically restrained to local space near the ship. It tends to absorb the energy of projectiles by melting them, and if the chemical composition is correct, it can even absorb electromagnetic-based weaponry. Too many hits, however, can disrupt the delicate chemical composition or electrical balance, causing the armor to disperse (though it can be re-formed).
•Ship Gadgets
-Quantum flux drive - Unrefined Beryllium (in spherical form) is used as quantum resonance substrate (that is, fuel) to power the ship's FTL drive. This drive pushes the ship FTL in normal space to speeds of up to Mark 15.
-Turbo - Jumping into hyperspace (for under one minute, or else!) gets the ship up to Mark 20.
-Digital Conveyor - Teleporter. Dices you up into cubes, demolecularizes the cubes, and then remolecularizes them at the digital conveyor platform. Or vice-versa.
-Food Replicators - Replicate food. Can be programmed for pretty much anything.
-Translator Circuit - seeks out matching patterns in neural structure to determine meanings
-Computer - Incredibly neutral ship AI. Only accepts vocal commands from Gwen Demarco.
•Personal Gadgets
-Ion Nebulizer - Laser guns. Operates on the same principle as a particle cannon, only on a much smaller and less-devastating scale.
-Ion sheild - Personal shield. Far more effective at stopping energy than projectiles.
-Vox box - Essentially cell phones with virtually unlimited range. Still can be jammed, however.
-Appearance Generators - Holographic projectors that can be pre-programmed to reasonably approximate another individual's (even of a different species!) appearance. Creating new templates takes a great deal of time, and all of the ones on the Protector II are set to humans. The Thermians all use them to avoid their own upsettingly-octopoidal apperance.
•Surface Pods - Small shuttles with six seats and a very small cargo bay.
- Hyperpulse thruster system - a sublight propulsion system small enough to fit beneath the pilot's chair.
- Autopilot - what it says on the cover
\+Galaxy Quest in a nutshell:
In the movie Galaxy Quest, the Thermians (a horrifically-tentacled octopoidal race) have received Earth's TV program transmissions. Unfortunately, any form of deceit - including acting - is a completely foreign concept to the Thermians. So when their planet is in danger, they shanghai the crew featured in the 20-years-old "historical record" Galaxy Quest - a cult-hit science fiction series. Thus the hapless (and completely washed-up) actors, most of whom just want to be rid of the series, find themselves on a functioning replica of the NSEA Protector. Hilarity ensues.
\+Pre-Departure Scene:
\+Notable Crew:
Plays the Commander on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Plays Commander Taggart's alien advisor on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Plays the token female bridge bunny on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Plays the navigator and gunner on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Plays the chief engineer on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Played a redshirt in one episode before getting killed off on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Leader of the Thermians, the aliens that shanghied the actors into this mess.
Thermian, has a thing for Fred.
\+Ship Name: NSEA Protector II
\+Ship Class: "Evolution" Heavy Cruiser
\+Ship Wiki Link
\+Ship Specs:
•Dimensions
-Length - 488m
-Beam - 402m
-Height - 82m
•Weaponry
-Resonance cannon battery (4x) - Fires clouds of gas and excites subatomic particles to produce a devasting (if short-ranged) shockwave.
-Gannet magnets (2x) - A focused penetrative electromagnetic burst designed to disable computers and overload electrical systems
-Pulse catapults (2x)- Chucks localized subspace energy pulses that misalign matter on detonation. Remarkably inaccurate, as they follow strictly ballistic trajectories.
-Quantum rockets - Rockets armed with quantum disentanglement warheads. Upon detonation, the target usually fails catastrophically in some manner around the detonation area. There is a chance, however, that no particles in the area are entangled, rendering the weapon a sub-par explosive.
-Blue particle cannons (8x, 6 fore, 2 aft [can be configured to blue or red]) - Gigawatt ultraviolet lasers accelerate a magnetic packet of energetic subnuclear particles to near lightspeed, giving this literal cannon quite a punch.
-Red particle cannons (8x 6 fore, 2 aft [see above]) - In this less-used variant, infrared lasers accelerate energetic subnuclear particle packet. Aside from a differently-colored special effectbeam, the red particle cannons require much less power, at the cost of decreased damage due to destructive wavefront interference.
•Defenses
-Plasma Armor - A protective sheaf of plasma, magnetically restrained to local space near the ship. It tends to absorb the energy of projectiles by melting them, and if the chemical composition is correct, it can even absorb electromagnetic-based weaponry. Too many hits, however, can disrupt the delicate chemical composition or electrical balance, causing the armor to disperse (though it can be re-formed).
•Ship Gadgets
-Quantum flux drive - Unrefined Beryllium (in spherical form) is used as quantum resonance substrate (that is, fuel) to power the ship's FTL drive. This drive pushes the ship FTL in normal space to speeds of up to Mark 15.
-Turbo - Jumping into hyperspace (for under one minute, or else!) gets the ship up to Mark 20.
-Digital Conveyor - Teleporter. Dices you up into cubes, demolecularizes the cubes, and then remolecularizes them at the digital conveyor platform. Or vice-versa.
-Food Replicators - Replicate food. Can be programmed for pretty much anything.
-Translator Circuit - seeks out matching patterns in neural structure to determine meanings
-Computer - Incredibly neutral ship AI. Only accepts vocal commands from Gwen Demarco.
•Personal Gadgets
-Ion Nebulizer - Laser guns. Operates on the same principle as a particle cannon, only on a much smaller and less-devastating scale.
-Ion sheild - Personal shield. Far more effective at stopping energy than projectiles.
-Vox box - Essentially cell phones with virtually unlimited range. Still can be jammed, however.
-Appearance Generators - Holographic projectors that can be pre-programmed to reasonably approximate another individual's (even of a different species!) appearance. Creating new templates takes a great deal of time, and all of the ones on the Protector II are set to humans. The Thermians all use them to avoid their own upsettingly-octopoidal apperance.
•Surface Pods - Small shuttles with six seats and a very small cargo bay.
- Hyperpulse thruster system - a sublight propulsion system small enough to fit beneath the pilot's chair.
- Autopilot - what it says on the cover
\+Galaxy Quest in a nutshell:
In the movie Galaxy Quest, the Thermians (a horrifically-tentacled octopoidal race) have received Earth's TV program transmissions. Unfortunately, any form of deceit - including acting - is a completely foreign concept to the Thermians. So when their planet is in danger, they shanghai the crew featured in the 20-years-old "historical record" Galaxy Quest - a cult-hit science fiction series. Thus the hapless (and completely washed-up) actors, most of whom just want to be rid of the series, find themselves on a functioning replica of the NSEA Protector. Hilarity ensues.
\+Pre-Departure Scene:
"Our former Commander was not... strong," Mathesar said.
Jason really didn't like the sound of that. His delicious steak was slowly getting colder. It was still impressive to be here, in the real mess hall that actual aliens built to match the show that he'd starred in. He'd felt touched, especially during the tour earlier. Seeing the entire crew in the barracks salute him - it made Jason feel like he'd actually done something worthwhile. He just wanted to give that feeling back to people, and was very thankful for this opportunity to do so.
The mess hall was full, yet strangely quiet. Aside from his fellow crew's table, very little talking took place. It was probably an alien thing.
"Former... Commander?" Jason finally asked. He'd been avoiding that question in his own head, but he had to know what'd happened to the man previously occupying his position.
"I'm sorry," Mathesar said, "You deserve to be shown." Mathesar nodded to another Thermian crewman, who pushed a button. A section of the wall moved aside, revealing a large viewscreen. Shakily, with a lot of static and white noise, an image appeared. A Thermian, sans appearance generator, was strapped to a table. Blue blood was everywhere. "The tape was smuggled off of Sarris' ship. Originally, one of our own tried to lead."
On screen, the former Thermian commander was brutally tortured, letting out hair-raising screams. Reality crashed down around Jason. This had been harmless fun to him before, but now this was more serious. Now they had to stay. There were important factors to consider. HIs fellow actors' shocked faces said otherwise, however. More telling was when they suddenly got up and left the table, running out the mess hall into the passageway.
Jason was shocked for a moment, facing Mathesar, whose jaw was trembling despite his brave attempt to smile after the torture scene that just played out on widescreen. There was a bright flash of light — maybe the ship had just dropped out of the turbo boost? — and then Jason got up and ran after his crew. It wasn't right! Here they were, an opportunity of a lifetime, and they got up and left without stopping to consider their options.
"Wait a minute, guys, come on. Hold on a minute. You can't just leave; give me some time to think!" Jason said.
Alexander glared at Jason as he turned down the next passageway. "He wants to 'think'," Alexander said.
"No, Jason. That's a wrap; there's nothing to think about!" Tommy exclaimed.
Guy suddenly grabbed on to Jason's arm.
"I'm not even supposed to be here," Guy said. "I'm just Crewman #6. I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove that the situation is serious. I gotta get out of here! I gotta—"
"Commander!" Mathesar said, running up from seemingly nowhere. Well, Jason needed to talk to the alien anyway; it was clear that his crew was having none of this.
"We gotta prepare the pods for my crew's departure," Jason said, disgusted with the others' lack of sense.
"Begging your Commander's pardon, sir, but we cannot launch pods at the moment. Earth… and indeed the entire galaxy… seems to have disappeared."
"What‽" Tommy said.
"Your presence is required on the command deck," Mathesar said. "The assistance of Dr. Lazarus will be especially invaluable in determining the cause of this anomaly."
"Wonderful," Alexander said sarcastically.
Jason really didn't like the sound of that. His delicious steak was slowly getting colder. It was still impressive to be here, in the real mess hall that actual aliens built to match the show that he'd starred in. He'd felt touched, especially during the tour earlier. Seeing the entire crew in the barracks salute him - it made Jason feel like he'd actually done something worthwhile. He just wanted to give that feeling back to people, and was very thankful for this opportunity to do so.
The mess hall was full, yet strangely quiet. Aside from his fellow crew's table, very little talking took place. It was probably an alien thing.
"Former... Commander?" Jason finally asked. He'd been avoiding that question in his own head, but he had to know what'd happened to the man previously occupying his position.
"I'm sorry," Mathesar said, "You deserve to be shown." Mathesar nodded to another Thermian crewman, who pushed a button. A section of the wall moved aside, revealing a large viewscreen. Shakily, with a lot of static and white noise, an image appeared. A Thermian, sans appearance generator, was strapped to a table. Blue blood was everywhere. "The tape was smuggled off of Sarris' ship. Originally, one of our own tried to lead."
On screen, the former Thermian commander was brutally tortured, letting out hair-raising screams. Reality crashed down around Jason. This had been harmless fun to him before, but now this was more serious. Now they had to stay. There were important factors to consider. HIs fellow actors' shocked faces said otherwise, however. More telling was when they suddenly got up and left the table, running out the mess hall into the passageway.
Jason was shocked for a moment, facing Mathesar, whose jaw was trembling despite his brave attempt to smile after the torture scene that just played out on widescreen. There was a bright flash of light — maybe the ship had just dropped out of the turbo boost? — and then Jason got up and ran after his crew. It wasn't right! Here they were, an opportunity of a lifetime, and they got up and left without stopping to consider their options.
"Wait a minute, guys, come on. Hold on a minute. You can't just leave; give me some time to think!" Jason said.
Alexander glared at Jason as he turned down the next passageway. "He wants to 'think'," Alexander said.
"No, Jason. That's a wrap; there's nothing to think about!" Tommy exclaimed.
Guy suddenly grabbed on to Jason's arm.
"I'm not even supposed to be here," Guy said. "I'm just Crewman #6. I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove that the situation is serious. I gotta get out of here! I gotta—"
"Commander!" Mathesar said, running up from seemingly nowhere. Well, Jason needed to talk to the alien anyway; it was clear that his crew was having none of this.
"We gotta prepare the pods for my crew's departure," Jason said, disgusted with the others' lack of sense.
"Begging your Commander's pardon, sir, but we cannot launch pods at the moment. Earth… and indeed the entire galaxy… seems to have disappeared."
"What‽" Tommy said.
"Your presence is required on the command deck," Mathesar said. "The assistance of Dr. Lazarus will be especially invaluable in determining the cause of this anomaly."
"Wonderful," Alexander said sarcastically.
\+Notable Crew:
Plays the Commander on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Plays Commander Taggart's alien advisor on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Plays the token female bridge bunny on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Plays the navigator and gunner on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Plays the chief engineer on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Played a redshirt in one episode before getting killed off on the Galaxy Quest TV show.
Leader of the Thermians, the aliens that shanghied the actors into this mess.
Thermian, has a thing for Fred.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Point of Departure: World War II
+Ship Name: USS Tulsa, ZRCV 1
+Affiliated Navy: United States of America
+Allegiance: Allied
+Captain: Cdr. Roy E. Owens
+Current Location: Atlantic Ocean, 400 mi. WNW of Glasgow
+Description:
Although the scenario pictured is absurd - no ZRCV would get anywhere near enemy airspace if they could help it.
USS Tulsa is a 900 ft. long flying aircraft carrier with a gas capacity of 10,000,000 cubic feet of helium. Though ZRCV's were originally thought of scouting craft, they soon found their niche as an anti-submarine warfare platform, ideal for escorting trans-Atlantic shipping. They have a chief advantage of being able to stay on station, hunting and tracking a submarine for up to a week - far longer than the submarine has air, or battery charge.
The ship is painted with the upper third silver and the bottom two thirds a matte gray for camouflage. As if anyone couldn't see a 900 foot long dirigible floating at 3000 feet. There are three national insignia - one beneath the envelope in front of the control car, and one on either side of the envelope in front of the fins. The name "USS Tulsa" is on both sides near the horizontal fins; "US Navy" is in large letters near the midsection.
USS Tulsa has a trapeze hook system to carry up to 10 aircraft.
+Aircraft:
3x ZOF Seafin - single seat high wing reconnaissance type. One .30 cal machine gun. Combat radius 200 miles on internal fuel, 300 with auxiliary fuel tank. Standard observation/reconnaissance plane on all airships 1939-1945. No conventional landing gear. Designed by BuAer and built by Grumman.
2x FAZ Shrike - single seat, single engine defensive fighter. Mid-wing monoplane based broadly on the Brewster F2A, but armed with only two .03 cal. machine guns. 150 mile radius on internal fuel. Light construction and elimination of retractable landing gear gave the Shrike significantly greater speed and maneuverability than the standard F2A. Usually operated without normal landing gear, but could be fitted with simple stick landing gear for conventional landings and takeoffs when necessary. Designed and built by Brewster. Relatively few built and rarely carried by airships operating in the Atlantic.
3x PBFZ Harrier - small, twin engine 2 seat ASW floatplane, based loosely on the Grumman Goose. Capable of carrying up to 4 depth bombs, surface search radar and active/passive sonar buoys. 200 mile combat radius. With a wingspan of 49 feet, the largest aircraft routinely carried by the ZRCV ships. No defensive armament. Optimized for airship operation by BuAer, built by Grumman.
+Armament: Aside from aircraft, USS Tulsa has nine .50 cal machine guns - two facing forward, one in the bow and the other on the lower fin; two on either side along the lateral keels; and three mounted dorsally along the top of the envelope. Very few expect them to ever be more than a token defense.
+Crew: 80
+Ship Name: USS Tulsa, ZRCV 1
+Affiliated Navy: United States of America
+Allegiance: Allied
+Captain: Cdr. Roy E. Owens
+Current Location: Atlantic Ocean, 400 mi. WNW of Glasgow
+Description:
Although the scenario pictured is absurd - no ZRCV would get anywhere near enemy airspace if they could help it.
USS Tulsa is a 900 ft. long flying aircraft carrier with a gas capacity of 10,000,000 cubic feet of helium. Though ZRCV's were originally thought of scouting craft, they soon found their niche as an anti-submarine warfare platform, ideal for escorting trans-Atlantic shipping. They have a chief advantage of being able to stay on station, hunting and tracking a submarine for up to a week - far longer than the submarine has air, or battery charge.
The ship is painted with the upper third silver and the bottom two thirds a matte gray for camouflage. As if anyone couldn't see a 900 foot long dirigible floating at 3000 feet. There are three national insignia - one beneath the envelope in front of the control car, and one on either side of the envelope in front of the fins. The name "USS Tulsa" is on both sides near the horizontal fins; "US Navy" is in large letters near the midsection.
USS Tulsa has a trapeze hook system to carry up to 10 aircraft.
+Aircraft:
3x ZOF Seafin - single seat high wing reconnaissance type. One .30 cal machine gun. Combat radius 200 miles on internal fuel, 300 with auxiliary fuel tank. Standard observation/reconnaissance plane on all airships 1939-1945. No conventional landing gear. Designed by BuAer and built by Grumman.
2x FAZ Shrike - single seat, single engine defensive fighter. Mid-wing monoplane based broadly on the Brewster F2A, but armed with only two .03 cal. machine guns. 150 mile radius on internal fuel. Light construction and elimination of retractable landing gear gave the Shrike significantly greater speed and maneuverability than the standard F2A. Usually operated without normal landing gear, but could be fitted with simple stick landing gear for conventional landings and takeoffs when necessary. Designed and built by Brewster. Relatively few built and rarely carried by airships operating in the Atlantic.
3x PBFZ Harrier - small, twin engine 2 seat ASW floatplane, based loosely on the Grumman Goose. Capable of carrying up to 4 depth bombs, surface search radar and active/passive sonar buoys. 200 mile combat radius. With a wingspan of 49 feet, the largest aircraft routinely carried by the ZRCV ships. No defensive armament. Optimized for airship operation by BuAer, built by Grumman.
+Armament: Aside from aircraft, USS Tulsa has nine .50 cal machine guns - two facing forward, one in the bow and the other on the lower fin; two on either side along the lateral keels; and three mounted dorsally along the top of the envelope. Very few expect them to ever be more than a token defense.
+Crew: 80
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Fade: Space Nation NRP-RPG Fusion
A hive of scum and villianry.
Helena is a 22-year-old female human with top-of-the-line wetware. She has long black hair, and if she actually tries, she can look quite elegant. Most of the time, however, she shoves her hair underneath a fedora and wears a trenchcoat. Things are just simpler that way. She has a few scars, and a few active tattoos - most noticeably an up-to-date model of her home system, Vall, on her side just beneath her ribcage.
Helena's ray-gun, held by its previous owner. He had it coming.
Helena's primary armament is a Bailey 10-shot ray gun, powered by battery packs. It has no stun setting. The gun is incredibly simple in its design, and despite being 100 years old, it is still very reliable (if no longer made of original parts).
Beyond her gun, Helena throws a pretty good punch and kick. Her time amongst the underbelly of society has taught her to handle herself in a fight, and furthermore taught her how to survive a fight: avoid them in the first place. She tends to start fights.
Crew: Captain, Bosun, Engineer, Sensors & Gunner, Astrogation & Comms, Deckhand, Chief Steward, Steward/Bartender, Executive Chef, Sous Chef
Passengers: Helena, Chief Adjuster Xam, Felix Twig
Length: 92m
Armament: 2x high-energy laser emitters, 1 plasma discharge cannon
Defenses: Active Shielding, Reflec-armor
Propulsion: High-burn maneuvering thrusters, Twin turbo quark 700 TWR sublight engines, 1 Clarke Industries-brand series iv warp drive, capable of 4.99 ly/day.
In other words, the Father's Delight was designed to be fast and highly maneuverable.
The Father's Delight is a luxury yacht purchased for Helena's 21st birthday by her father.
I hope I'm not assuming too much when I figure your explorer will need a spaceship to get around. Describe it, or face the ban-hammer
Nation Name:
The Coalition of Reasonable Peoples
Population and Demographics:
50 solar systems
16 inhabited planets
178 Billion people
Species Breakdown:
Cthons: 30%
Humans: 25%
Various (includes outcasts from most other races): 44.9%
Nebuloids: 0.1%
16 inhabited planets
178 Billion people
Species Breakdown:
Cthons: 30%
Humans: 25%
Various (includes outcasts from most other races): 44.9%
Nebuloids: 0.1%
Species:
Cthons are the native species of Ingress. They're 1m tall with stumpy vestigal wings that slowly rot away as they age, until fully grown Cthons have what amounts to bony protrusions with bits of slime stretching between them. They have two compound eyes and a bulbous head that ends in thousands of tentacles near their mouth. The tentacles range in thickness from hair-sized to arm-sized; the hair-sized ones are new, and arm-sized ones slough off as they age. They use their mouth-tentacles for eating as well as fine manipulation, such as writing. Despite appearances, their mouth-tentacles are not slimy at all. Their body ends in five sets of three tentacles each. Four sets are generally twisted together to facilitate movement, while the fifth is used for manipulation.
Cthons have no sense of smell, and intake air through pores on their lower tentacles. They taste with their mouth tentacles, and given their propensity toward paperwork, this has made several brands of flavored pens quite popular.
In short, Cthons are mini-Cthulhus.
The myriad tentacles that each Cthon has has conditioned them to have a propensity toward organization and bureaucratic work. It has been theorized that the plethora of committees on Ingress is due to an evolutionary imperative, and that red tape is inevitable in any organization that they create.
Cthons are sexually dimorphic, with females tending to be blue in color, while males are green. Other differences have to do subtle differences in mouth-tentacle size distribution, something which few other species can immediately recognize.
Cthons have no sense of smell, and intake air through pores on their lower tentacles. They taste with their mouth tentacles, and given their propensity toward paperwork, this has made several brands of flavored pens quite popular.
In short, Cthons are mini-Cthulhus.
The myriad tentacles that each Cthon has has conditioned them to have a propensity toward organization and bureaucratic work. It has been theorized that the plethora of committees on Ingress is due to an evolutionary imperative, and that red tape is inevitable in any organization that they create.
Cthons are sexually dimorphic, with females tending to be blue in color, while males are green. Other differences have to do subtle differences in mouth-tentacle size distribution, something which few other species can immediately recognize.
Nebuloids are giant molecular clouds of interstellar gas and dust that live for billions of years at a time. They measure in lightyears across. Their motives, morality, and nature are generally unclear, save for the Nebuloid communique received by the Committee on Foreign Relations over the hypernet. The coalition built a requisite diplomatic station near one of the Nebuloids with a very large radio antenna, should they choose to communicate again. They haven't.
Xenodiplomats hypothesize that the Nebuloids are attempting to complete their life cycle by collapsing into several stars, but warp drives have been interfering with this process in some inscrutable manner. The coalition has dedicated a portion of its military to maintain a blockade around the area, setting up detection nets and border patrols.
Request for membership in "Coalition".
Home coordinates: [a string of coordinates pointing to a stellar nursery].
Desist from travel through these coordinates.Xenodiplomats hypothesize that the Nebuloids are attempting to complete their life cycle by collapsing into several stars, but warp drives have been interfering with this process in some inscrutable manner. The coalition has dedicated a portion of its military to maintain a blockade around the area, setting up detection nets and border patrols.
System of Government:
-The coalition's central government rules with a bureaucratic fist... over the capital planet, Ingress. Its influence over the rest of its territory is debatable. Each member planet, system, station, or migrant fleet has varying degrees of loyalty to the central government, and effectively comprise separate states with distinct forms of government.
Nonetheless, grand, sweeping edicts percolate out of the central bureaucracy's millions of committees, and are mysteriously followed by the member states through what appears to be natural causes. Laws and edicts declared by the central government usually just happen to line up with what the various member states had adopted as law already.
Of course, such a system is doomed to colossal waste, inefficiency, and failure. This is why the Committee on Committee Effectiveness exists. Its function is to analyze the mass amounts of information in the central government, decide which laws are actually important and reasonable, and then dispatch adjustment teams to ensure the members states' compliance.
Of course, nobody in the C.C.E. has any real idea what its like in each of the member states, so it finally falls to the adjustment team chiefs to carry out their (often seemingly unreasonable) orders by any legal means at their disposal. The real power in the coalition, ultimately, lies with the chiefs. Chief of an adjustment team is possibly the most respected position someone can have. They walk a careful line, having gained just enough power to actually get things done but not so much that there's 18 regulatory committees carefully examining their actions. Furthermore, the amount absurd hoops that chiefs must jump through to reach their position eliminates all but the most competent, determined, and lucky beings from their ranks.
Individual member states, meanwhile, stay a part of the coalition for two main reasons. First, they feel no real pressure to leave. Why should they? The Coalition is pretty reasonable in terms of governance, and they get guaranteed freedom of trade, movement, and military protection all from "claiming" to be a part of it. Secondly, many planets and stations want nothing whatsoever to do with military production, yet the quadrant is filled with empires with some form of aggressive agenda or another. The coalition guarantees a common defense, but otherwise generally leave the member states to their own devices.
The Coalition is facing a problem, however. As its grown and expanded, the central bureaucracy kept pace to the point where it's composed of thousands of committees and subcommittees handling overly-specific tasks. The government is a giant morass of meetings. Furthermore, as the Coalition has expanded, the concept of what is "reasonable" to one species is different to the "reasonableness" of another species. The Coalition is at a tipping point; either it needs to change its internal structure, shrink, or dissolve into anarchy.
Nonetheless, grand, sweeping edicts percolate out of the central bureaucracy's millions of committees, and are mysteriously followed by the member states through what appears to be natural causes. Laws and edicts declared by the central government usually just happen to line up with what the various member states had adopted as law already.
Of course, such a system is doomed to colossal waste, inefficiency, and failure. This is why the Committee on Committee Effectiveness exists. Its function is to analyze the mass amounts of information in the central government, decide which laws are actually important and reasonable, and then dispatch adjustment teams to ensure the members states' compliance.
Of course, nobody in the C.C.E. has any real idea what its like in each of the member states, so it finally falls to the adjustment team chiefs to carry out their (often seemingly unreasonable) orders by any legal means at their disposal. The real power in the coalition, ultimately, lies with the chiefs. Chief of an adjustment team is possibly the most respected position someone can have. They walk a careful line, having gained just enough power to actually get things done but not so much that there's 18 regulatory committees carefully examining their actions. Furthermore, the amount absurd hoops that chiefs must jump through to reach their position eliminates all but the most competent, determined, and lucky beings from their ranks.
Individual member states, meanwhile, stay a part of the coalition for two main reasons. First, they feel no real pressure to leave. Why should they? The Coalition is pretty reasonable in terms of governance, and they get guaranteed freedom of trade, movement, and military protection all from "claiming" to be a part of it. Secondly, many planets and stations want nothing whatsoever to do with military production, yet the quadrant is filled with empires with some form of aggressive agenda or another. The coalition guarantees a common defense, but otherwise generally leave the member states to their own devices.
The Coalition is facing a problem, however. As its grown and expanded, the central bureaucracy kept pace to the point where it's composed of thousands of committees and subcommittees handling overly-specific tasks. The government is a giant morass of meetings. Furthermore, as the Coalition has expanded, the concept of what is "reasonable" to one species is different to the "reasonableness" of another species. The Coalition is at a tipping point; either it needs to change its internal structure, shrink, or dissolve into anarchy.
History:
Several thousand years ago, the Cthons were a vassal state to some empire or another, chiefly being used as a distant mining colony. Eventually the empire began to break apart due to internal stresses. The Cthons, fed up with the last two-hundred years of warfare and regime-changes, quietly declared independence until the rest of the empire could get its act together and behave in a more reasonable fashion. The empire did not get its act together, and instead collapsed and regressed to an earlier technological era. By then, the miners had established more permanent, self-sustaining infrastructure, and had no real need for the empire anyway.
Throughout the hundreds of years that followed, gradually more and more drifters, outcasts, and unwanted people from other civilizations allied themselves with the Cthons in a loose agreement of military protection. The Cthons, being natural bureaucrats, couldn't help but formalize this agreement with reams of paperwork. As more wars and persecution happened, more refugees and fiercely independent movements joined the Cthons until the Coalition itself was born.
One of the earlier states to join was a segment of drifters from a lost fleet of ships. The drifters separated when the fleet (known as the Memoria Fleet) passed through Coalition space. The outcasts were varied in their reasons for leaving. One group settled on a verdant forest continent of the planet V'Rile, hoping to finally stop drifting from star to star. A disparate group of ships (now known as the miniFleet) broke off to pursue a life of piracy. Finally, two larger ships broke off the fleet and took up residency at Margot Junkyard - one ship was crewed by exiles that banded together and buggered off rather than be executed, while the other was crewed by Captain Laschiv, who was rather violently against the Admiralty. A host of smaller ships also ended up in the Coalition, waiting for the Memoria Fleet to make contact again. This group has become known for superb ship crews.
Later, as a last-ditch effort against the Ascendency, an Atlas Parliament sleeper ship arrived in Coalition space and claimed the rest of the planet of V'Rile, leaving the Memoria Outcasts to their own isolated continent. The Atlas Parliament is in a perpetual state of emergency - at least, until such time as when they can retake their homeworld from the religious psychopaths that usurped the true government. Therefore their Prime Minister is granted absolute authority, with the houses of Parliament acting as "trusted advisors". Meanwhile, the Atlas Parliament has made a name for themselves as mercenaries, and has consistently contributed the majority of military vessels for the Astry.
To everyone's surprise, a system of rogue X'Cor next asked for membership. These X'Cor had fled their homeworld generations ago, wary at the signs of xenophobicism and imperialism that their brothers were embracing. The X'Cor Contingency inhabits the asteroids and airless moons of the Yeltz system. They are a race of honorable warrior-poets, actively pursuing the arts to maintain a healthy mental balance. In their society, honor is important above all else, and for them, their brethren have no honor. They have made a living as popular painters and musicians, as well as (of course) terrifying hand-to-hand opponents.
The documents of Coalition, signed by the Committee of Coalition, provide each member state with guaranteed military protection, so long as each state follows the laws and doctrines that pertain to it from the relevant committees within the central government. These committees generally just pass laws that are common sense, or at least are things the member states have already been doing. This was all in keeping with the unofficial motto of "Reasonableness". Of course, member states do their best to ensure that they have sway with the committees that govern themselves. In actual functionality, the central government is mostly powerless. The Committee on Committee Efficiency has resorted to picking and choosing what particular crises it actually cares about - the ones wherein its member states are actually being unreasonable - and sending in Adjustment Teams to smooth over the problems through whatever means is most appropriate.
The Coalition is facing a problem, however. As it has grown and expanded, the central bureaucracy kept pace. Now it's to the point where the central government is composed of thousands of committees and subcommittees handling overly-specific tasks. The government is one giant morass of meetings. Furthermore, as the Coalition has expanded, the concept of what is "reasonable" to one species is different to the "reasonableness" of another species. The Coalition is at a tipping point; either it needs to change its internal structure, shrink, or dissolve into anarchy.
Throughout the hundreds of years that followed, gradually more and more drifters, outcasts, and unwanted people from other civilizations allied themselves with the Cthons in a loose agreement of military protection. The Cthons, being natural bureaucrats, couldn't help but formalize this agreement with reams of paperwork. As more wars and persecution happened, more refugees and fiercely independent movements joined the Cthons until the Coalition itself was born.
One of the earlier states to join was a segment of drifters from a lost fleet of ships. The drifters separated when the fleet (known as the Memoria Fleet) passed through Coalition space. The outcasts were varied in their reasons for leaving. One group settled on a verdant forest continent of the planet V'Rile, hoping to finally stop drifting from star to star. A disparate group of ships (now known as the miniFleet) broke off to pursue a life of piracy. Finally, two larger ships broke off the fleet and took up residency at Margot Junkyard - one ship was crewed by exiles that banded together and buggered off rather than be executed, while the other was crewed by Captain Laschiv, who was rather violently against the Admiralty. A host of smaller ships also ended up in the Coalition, waiting for the Memoria Fleet to make contact again. This group has become known for superb ship crews.
Later, as a last-ditch effort against the Ascendency, an Atlas Parliament sleeper ship arrived in Coalition space and claimed the rest of the planet of V'Rile, leaving the Memoria Outcasts to their own isolated continent. The Atlas Parliament is in a perpetual state of emergency - at least, until such time as when they can retake their homeworld from the religious psychopaths that usurped the true government. Therefore their Prime Minister is granted absolute authority, with the houses of Parliament acting as "trusted advisors". Meanwhile, the Atlas Parliament has made a name for themselves as mercenaries, and has consistently contributed the majority of military vessels for the Astry.
To everyone's surprise, a system of rogue X'Cor next asked for membership. These X'Cor had fled their homeworld generations ago, wary at the signs of xenophobicism and imperialism that their brothers were embracing. The X'Cor Contingency inhabits the asteroids and airless moons of the Yeltz system. They are a race of honorable warrior-poets, actively pursuing the arts to maintain a healthy mental balance. In their society, honor is important above all else, and for them, their brethren have no honor. They have made a living as popular painters and musicians, as well as (of course) terrifying hand-to-hand opponents.
The documents of Coalition, signed by the Committee of Coalition, provide each member state with guaranteed military protection, so long as each state follows the laws and doctrines that pertain to it from the relevant committees within the central government. These committees generally just pass laws that are common sense, or at least are things the member states have already been doing. This was all in keeping with the unofficial motto of "Reasonableness". Of course, member states do their best to ensure that they have sway with the committees that govern themselves. In actual functionality, the central government is mostly powerless. The Committee on Committee Efficiency has resorted to picking and choosing what particular crises it actually cares about - the ones wherein its member states are actually being unreasonable - and sending in Adjustment Teams to smooth over the problems through whatever means is most appropriate.
The Coalition is facing a problem, however. As it has grown and expanded, the central bureaucracy kept pace. Now it's to the point where the central government is composed of thousands of committees and subcommittees handling overly-specific tasks. The government is one giant morass of meetings. Furthermore, as the Coalition has expanded, the concept of what is "reasonable" to one species is different to the "reasonableness" of another species. The Coalition is at a tipping point; either it needs to change its internal structure, shrink, or dissolve into anarchy.
Culture:
The coalition comprises of disaffected peoples from all over the quadrant, united with the singular desire for to be left to their own, reasonable devices. The exact nature of that desire varies from the extremely isolationist Nebuloids to the charitable quadrant-wide aid organization White Star.
This has attracted utopists, cultists, anarchists, capitalists, communists, deviants, countercultures, and shady businessmen of all types. Coalition members are hardy people - miners, junkyard workers, station keepers, freighter captains, rumrunners, pirates, mercenaries, and drug lords. There are two types of Coalition citizens - the cynical ones and the idealists. The cynical tend to see the central government as ineffective, the Adjustment Teams as autocratic, the military as not unified, and think that if you want anything done - you have to do it yourself. The idealists marvel at the effectiveness of the emergent chaos of the government, applaud the ability of the Coalition to absorb any culture that wishes to join, revel in the systemic freedoms guaranteed to member states, and find refuge in a portion of the galaxy that isn't trying to kill itself (or commit genocide, or discriminate based on silly things, or blow up planets, or go to war) every hundred years.
As for the Coalition's views on the rest of the galaxy, it's generally along the lines of an exasperated sigh and an eye-roll: "You guys are at war again? Really!"
Of course, the Coalition doesn't particularly care what the rest of the galaxy does. If they finally shape up and start being reasonable, then the Coalition would happily invite major civilizations to join itself. Quite probably, its member states would break off and rejoin whichever civilization they're most interested in at the time.
The exiles picked up from other nations, however, taints the Coalition's stereotypes somewhat. For instance, the Ascendency is stereotypically viewed as a bunch of evil religious autocrats. Of course, these stereotypes are combatted by the everyday contact made via trade with these civilizations.
This has attracted utopists, cultists, anarchists, capitalists, communists, deviants, countercultures, and shady businessmen of all types. Coalition members are hardy people - miners, junkyard workers, station keepers, freighter captains, rumrunners, pirates, mercenaries, and drug lords. There are two types of Coalition citizens - the cynical ones and the idealists. The cynical tend to see the central government as ineffective, the Adjustment Teams as autocratic, the military as not unified, and think that if you want anything done - you have to do it yourself. The idealists marvel at the effectiveness of the emergent chaos of the government, applaud the ability of the Coalition to absorb any culture that wishes to join, revel in the systemic freedoms guaranteed to member states, and find refuge in a portion of the galaxy that isn't trying to kill itself (or commit genocide, or discriminate based on silly things, or blow up planets, or go to war) every hundred years.
As for the Coalition's views on the rest of the galaxy, it's generally along the lines of an exasperated sigh and an eye-roll: "You guys are at war again? Really!"
Of course, the Coalition doesn't particularly care what the rest of the galaxy does. If they finally shape up and start being reasonable, then the Coalition would happily invite major civilizations to join itself. Quite probably, its member states would break off and rejoin whichever civilization they're most interested in at the time.
The exiles picked up from other nations, however, taints the Coalition's stereotypes somewhat. For instance, the Ascendency is stereotypically viewed as a bunch of evil religious autocrats. Of course, these stereotypes are combatted by the everyday contact made via trade with these civilizations.
Important people, places, and organizations:
The capital planet of the Coalition, or so it claims. Half of the economy is taken up by various types of bureaucratic work; the other half is devoted to support organizations and staff. While it can at times take eight forms and a map to the sector ZZ8 cafeteria to eat an apple, at other times the sheer quantity of information allows people to make surprisingly informed decisions. Everyone is a member of at least one committee.
A hive of scum and villianry.
A planet where capitalism has run rampant. It's in the same system as Ragnarok station.
V'Rile is a world occupied by the Outcasts on one continent - Memoria Fleet members who settled down, utilizing their ships as shelter - and the Atlas Parliament on the other five.
Originally debris from some space battle or another, people took to living inside the capital ships. Gradually this evolved into a moon-sized cloud of junked ships orbiting a star with people living in them.
Not a very nice planet to be - Teach is ruled by those who can take the most through force. If you're ever in need of a mercenary or pirate, Teach is where you'll find them.
A system of broken planets, asteroid belts, and four gas giants with difficult-to-settle moons. The X'Cor Contingency calls it their home.
A Communist planet originally founded by environmental refugees. The net carbon footprint of the planet is, by law, zero.
the closest thing to people in actual power over the entire Coalition. vaguely resembles a cross between a shadow government and a group of beings bravely fighting bureaucratic inefficiency, trying to figure out what the heck is even going on on Ingress.
A charitable aid organization, facilitating disaster-relief, medical and economic recovery, and spiritual obligations to any sentient being in throughout the quadrant, provided local governments allow them through.
Ranging from just the Chief to over thirty people, adjustment teams are the people that actually get things done, whip member planets back into line, and enforce edicts in reasonable ways. Their methods range from diplomatic chats over greasy hot dogs to establishing arms-dealing monopolies, depending on where they get sent within the Coalition and which edicts they were tasked with enforcing. They are responsible to the C.C.E. and their own Internal Affairs alone.
A group of wandering pirates broken off from the Memoria Fleet as it passed through at one point.
When Clarke Systems gained financial supremacy in the Vall System, it left a host of smaller companies in its wake. As Isaac Clarke consolidated his power into a self-declared monarchy, certain former competitors started funding anti-Clarke sabotage. This eventually developed into the extensive criminal organization known as the Syndicate.
Military size:
10.7 Billion military personnel - 6%
Medium. The military is mostly defensive - when you attack the Coalition, it tends to motivate the disparate factions, mercenaries, and pirates to contribute toward the Astry. Meanwhile, offensive operations tend to go against the founding intentions of the documents of coalition.
Medium. The military is mostly defensive - when you attack the Coalition, it tends to motivate the disparate factions, mercenaries, and pirates to contribute toward the Astry. Meanwhile, offensive operations tend to go against the founding intentions of the documents of coalition.
Military details:
The Astry Committee is the most efficient committee in the Coalition. In sharp contrast to the general pseudo-anarchic freedoms experienced throughout the rest of the Coalition, T.A.C. is organized in a strict, rank-based system with a supreme commander nominated from within but approved by the member states on a four-year basis.
Each member state is not required to contribute toward the Astry barring active war, but any military organization fielded is ultimately controlled by T.A.C.. The end result is a heavy reliance on each successive level of Astry officer to translate the supreme commander's will into actionable orders for their command.
Each member state is not required to contribute toward the Astry barring active war, but any military organization fielded is ultimately controlled by T.A.C.. The end result is a heavy reliance on each successive level of Astry officer to translate the supreme commander's will into actionable orders for their command.
Domestic Relations Committee
-Astry Officer Corps
--Local Militaries
Supreme Commmander - reports to the Domestic Relations Committee, translates Coalition will into military action, ultimate leader of all armed forces of all militaries in the Coalition.
-Sector Commander - Responsible for military actions within a particular sector of Coalition space.
-Offensive Commander - (wartime only) Responsible for military actions within a sector of non-Coalition space
--Group Commander - Responsible for a group of local militaries. Theoretically knows the strengths and weaknesses of their local militaries and how best to wield them synergistically.
---Local Advisor - Responsible for interfacing between a specific local military and the group commander. Well-acquainted with the local military's strengths and weaknesses, and given great leeway to ensure orders are carried out. Local advisor training requires extensive xenodiplomatic and xenocultural training so that they may best understand how to ensure orders are effectively carried out. No amount of theory, however, is worth the second phase of training, which consists of an almost-unregulated apprenticeship to the previous local advisor.
-Astry Officer Corps
--Local Militaries
Supreme Commmander - reports to the Domestic Relations Committee, translates Coalition will into military action, ultimate leader of all armed forces of all militaries in the Coalition.
-Sector Commander - Responsible for military actions within a particular sector of Coalition space.
-Offensive Commander - (wartime only) Responsible for military actions within a sector of non-Coalition space
--Group Commander - Responsible for a group of local militaries. Theoretically knows the strengths and weaknesses of their local militaries and how best to wield them synergistically.
---Local Advisor - Responsible for interfacing between a specific local military and the group commander. Well-acquainted with the local military's strengths and weaknesses, and given great leeway to ensure orders are carried out. Local advisor training requires extensive xenodiplomatic and xenocultural training so that they may best understand how to ensure orders are effectively carried out. No amount of theory, however, is worth the second phase of training, which consists of an almost-unregulated apprenticeship to the previous local advisor.
Weapons tech:
Weaponry is very disparate, which leads to supply issues for the Astry. If the local state government can't provide for a supply chain to keep its particular brand of weaponry active, then the central government won't have much better luck. Generally, however, plasma weaponry tends to dominate most ships. There are a few directed energy laser weapons - mostly used for point defense - and many love good, old-fashioned bullets and explosive missiles.
In short, very little innovation, a very broad field of weaponry, and no unexpectedly powerful doomsday devices.
In short, very little innovation, a very broad field of weaponry, and no unexpectedly powerful doomsday devices.
General Technology:
Cybernetics - "wetware" - is fairly common. Citizens can have computers implanted beneath their skin, integrated with their nervous system, so that thoughts or touch can bring up a graphical user interface superimposed upon standard optic nerve signals. Only the truly rich can afford touchless screens; most citizens opt for subcutaneous buttons or movement detectors. The quality and infection rate of implants depends on how shady of a dealer you obtain them from.
Going along with the cybernetics is an inevitable proliferation of "smart drugs" - injections with at least partial software implementation. There are uppers, downers, drugs that enhance senses, drugs that dull senses, ones that simulate drunkenness, happiness, bliss, pain, complete neutrality, and even some "combat cocktails" - drugs designed to make the user feel unstoppable, trigger adrenaline, and dull pain receptors. Some are relatively harmless - the equivalent of cigarettes or alcohol - while others are nearly instantly deadly.
Along with cybernetic implants comes a great deal of innovation with clothing and tattoos. Active tattoos - moving tattoos - are a common sight. Some go for full-body active tattoos wired into their implants, enabling them to appear to be wearing whatever skintight clothing they wish. Despite active camoflage being the holy grail of military research, nobody has managed to crack the problem of lag between input and display. Reactive clothing, meanwhile, has become all the rage - fabrics that distort and twist as the wearer moves, fabrics that change color based on environmental or user inputs (imagine one pair of shoes that go with any outfit!), and truly one-size-fits-all clothing are all made possible through reactive clothing. The more inventive the inputs for an outfit, the more trendy the outfit tends to be.
Aside from wetware, the Coalition isn't particularly innovative with technology. They aren't wildly behind the rest of the galaxy, but Coalition creations are few and far between. The Coalition being what it is, all of these technologies are available for purchase at the closest freeport to you - of course, it depends on whether or not you trust the vendors. Most of the military-grade wetware, however, is much more difficult to obtain.
Going along with the cybernetics is an inevitable proliferation of "smart drugs" - injections with at least partial software implementation. There are uppers, downers, drugs that enhance senses, drugs that dull senses, ones that simulate drunkenness, happiness, bliss, pain, complete neutrality, and even some "combat cocktails" - drugs designed to make the user feel unstoppable, trigger adrenaline, and dull pain receptors. Some are relatively harmless - the equivalent of cigarettes or alcohol - while others are nearly instantly deadly.
Along with cybernetic implants comes a great deal of innovation with clothing and tattoos. Active tattoos - moving tattoos - are a common sight. Some go for full-body active tattoos wired into their implants, enabling them to appear to be wearing whatever skintight clothing they wish. Despite active camoflage being the holy grail of military research, nobody has managed to crack the problem of lag between input and display. Reactive clothing, meanwhile, has become all the rage - fabrics that distort and twist as the wearer moves, fabrics that change color based on environmental or user inputs (imagine one pair of shoes that go with any outfit!), and truly one-size-fits-all clothing are all made possible through reactive clothing. The more inventive the inputs for an outfit, the more trendy the outfit tends to be.
Aside from wetware, the Coalition isn't particularly innovative with technology. They aren't wildly behind the rest of the galaxy, but Coalition creations are few and far between. The Coalition being what it is, all of these technologies are available for purchase at the closest freeport to you - of course, it depends on whether or not you trust the vendors. Most of the military-grade wetware, however, is much more difficult to obtain.
Economy:
Thanks to its support of rampant capitalism, communism, or whatever economic model most interests its member states, the Coalition is a haven for black market activities, megacorporations, and unreasonably wealthy royal families. On the other hand, the central government and Adjustment Teams are quite effective at stopping unreasonable activities - such as rampant murder, unwilling slave trade, and taxation, depending on the local citizenry's views on all of the above.
If you know where to go, you can buy pretty much anything you like (including wetware and reactive fabrics). Just don't try to take it by force where that sort of thing isn't a standard negotiating tactic.
If you know where to go, you can buy pretty much anything you like (including wetware and reactive fabrics). Just don't try to take it by force where that sort of thing isn't a standard negotiating tactic.
Spaceships:
Coalition ships tend to be one of three things: a cobbled-together junker vessel that should not be flying, a sleek craft fielded by the ultra-rich, or a modified craft bought from some other empire.
Examples:
A particularly awkward mess of a ship flown by General Ghivez Ro'Tep, the Razgiz is equipped with eight missile launchers, active shielding, and twenty plasma cannons. It's also slow, ponderously difficult to turn, and has rather large, protruding heat fins. It's 800m long and 852m tall, with a crew of 324.
The Missile Storm was purpose-built to be a damage-dealing frigate. Unfortunately, the Astry subcommittee of Financial Affairs scrapped the project, forcing the local government of Braktonne to improvise. This has lead to some interesting compromises - such as the Missile Storm's absurd offensive power when compared to its defensive measures. It has 62 missile launchers - 10 of which are approved for fusion weaponry, and 30 of which are an experimental rapid-fire variant. However, it has only cursory ablative armor for defense - that and her engines. The Missile Storm is 345m long with a crew of 75.
"Built" in the middle of the Margot Junkyard cloud, Captain R'leigh is proud of his nimble little fighter. At any given time either the engines work, or the weapons. Not both. Crew of one, with four forward-facing lasers and a turreted slug-thrower, the OhGodTheEnginesWhy is 11m long.
The Ingots is King Isaac Clarke's personal corvette. Made with the finest propulsion and weapons technology NAR ingots can buy, the ship has no viewports. Instead, it relies on sensory input directly linked to the pilot's wetwear. It's armed with two heavy plasma cannons (retractable), 4 All-Points Defense anti-projectile lasers, and a single mass driver stowed beneath the hull that fires depleted uranium rounds. Crew of 20 (minimum of two), 40m long.
Softridge can best be described as pirates-turned-corporate. The company specializes in military-grade hardware sold to the elite echelons of society. If you ever find yourself in need of a vessel capable of holding its own in an active battlespace, but still looks sexy when you pull up to the gala, the PDV is what you need. Crew of one, armament is a single plasma cannon. Comes with ablative armor, active shielding, and damned fast maneuvering thrusters. Length of 9m.
Examples:
A particularly awkward mess of a ship flown by General Ghivez Ro'Tep, the Razgiz is equipped with eight missile launchers, active shielding, and twenty plasma cannons. It's also slow, ponderously difficult to turn, and has rather large, protruding heat fins. It's 800m long and 852m tall, with a crew of 324.
The Missile Storm was purpose-built to be a damage-dealing frigate. Unfortunately, the Astry subcommittee of Financial Affairs scrapped the project, forcing the local government of Braktonne to improvise. This has lead to some interesting compromises - such as the Missile Storm's absurd offensive power when compared to its defensive measures. It has 62 missile launchers - 10 of which are approved for fusion weaponry, and 30 of which are an experimental rapid-fire variant. However, it has only cursory ablative armor for defense - that and her engines. The Missile Storm is 345m long with a crew of 75.
"Built" in the middle of the Margot Junkyard cloud, Captain R'leigh is proud of his nimble little fighter. At any given time either the engines work, or the weapons. Not both. Crew of one, with four forward-facing lasers and a turreted slug-thrower, the OhGodTheEnginesWhy is 11m long.
The Ingots is King Isaac Clarke's personal corvette. Made with the finest propulsion and weapons technology NAR ingots can buy, the ship has no viewports. Instead, it relies on sensory input directly linked to the pilot's wetwear. It's armed with two heavy plasma cannons (retractable), 4 All-Points Defense anti-projectile lasers, and a single mass driver stowed beneath the hull that fires depleted uranium rounds. Crew of 20 (minimum of two), 40m long.
Softridge can best be described as pirates-turned-corporate. The company specializes in military-grade hardware sold to the elite echelons of society. If you ever find yourself in need of a vessel capable of holding its own in an active battlespace, but still looks sexy when you pull up to the gala, the PDV is what you need. Crew of one, armament is a single plasma cannon. Comes with ablative armor, active shielding, and damned fast maneuvering thrusters. Length of 9m.
Name:
Princess Helena Clarke
Species:
Human
Gender:
Female
Appearance:
Helena is a 22-year-old female human with top-of-the-line wetware. She has long black hair, and if she actually tries, she can look quite elegant. Most of the time, however, she shoves her hair underneath a fedora and wears a trenchcoat. Things are just simpler that way. She has a few scars, and a few active tattoos - most noticeably an up-to-date model of her home system, Vall, on her side just beneath her ribcage.
History:
Helena is the firstborn daughter of King Adam Clarke, an industrialist whose wealth grew to the point of owning an entire star system. He became king simply by decreeing it - nobody had the wealth to do anything about it, and anybody who didn't like it could leave the Vall system. Of course, there's a fair amount of people who didn't like it but didn't have enough money to leave. Her childhood, up to the age of ten, was spent in her daddy's adoring, fawning arms. They were generally inseparable until Helena learned what a horrible, corrupt sort of person her father was. She requested to go to a boarding school, and her father sent her off to the best school in Vall. No expense was spared.
For her sixteenth birthday, her father gave her a space station - Ragnarok station. It was his way of preparing her to rule. She let the station continue to run under its own local governance, wanting nothing to do with it. For her 19th birthday, her father bought her a space yacht. Helena took it out once, on a booze-filled maiden voyage, and then told the extremely well-paid crew to find themselves whatever work they pleased. They became smugglers and racers with the front of a charter cruise line.
After graduation, Helena started her quest to try and right the wrongs in her father's corrupt state. She toured the system, going from one haunt to the next, trying to leave people just a little bit better off. It made no difference, and her quest gradually dissolved into her becoming a woman-for-hire - a fixer for things that needed fixing, a detective for things that needed finding, and occasionally an aid worker. Now, she mostly drifts from one job to another on Ragnorak station, lost in her quest to right just a few wrongs.
For her sixteenth birthday, her father gave her a space station - Ragnarok station. It was his way of preparing her to rule. She let the station continue to run under its own local governance, wanting nothing to do with it. For her 19th birthday, her father bought her a space yacht. Helena took it out once, on a booze-filled maiden voyage, and then told the extremely well-paid crew to find themselves whatever work they pleased. They became smugglers and racers with the front of a charter cruise line.
After graduation, Helena started her quest to try and right the wrongs in her father's corrupt state. She toured the system, going from one haunt to the next, trying to leave people just a little bit better off. It made no difference, and her quest gradually dissolved into her becoming a woman-for-hire - a fixer for things that needed fixing, a detective for things that needed finding, and occasionally an aid worker. Now, she mostly drifts from one job to another on Ragnorak station, lost in her quest to right just a few wrongs.
Weapons:
Helena's ray-gun, held by its previous owner. He had it coming.
Helena's primary armament is a Bailey 10-shot ray gun, powered by battery packs. It has no stun setting. The gun is incredibly simple in its design, and despite being 100 years old, it is still very reliable (if no longer made of original parts).
Beyond her gun, Helena throws a pretty good punch and kick. Her time amongst the underbelly of society has taught her to handle herself in a fight, and furthermore taught her how to survive a fight: avoid them in the first place. She tends to start fights.
Personality:
Helena is cynical, fatalist, and frustratingly persistent. Once she actually decides to do something, she does her best to follow through with it. She can also be greedy, petty, ruthless, and has her share of vices - alcohol, rezsticks, the occasional line of mokchaw, and far too many sexual partners. At this point, she's accepted the inevitable - no matter what she does, she'll end up sinking farther into vices. Occasional flashes of sobriety and a desire to make herself into something better usually end up crushed by harsh reality, but she'll at least give them a shot, for a little while.
Skills:
Contacts - if there's a shady place where Helena is going, chances are that she knows someone there, or at least knows someone who knows someone.
Hand to Hand Combat - Helena has been taught the harsh lessons of combat from street fights, bar brawls, and a few months of ameteur boxing.
Sleuthiness - Having worked as a private detective for a good portion of her life, Helena is pretty good at following clues and solving crimes.
"Unlimited" Financial Backing - So long as she can reveal her identity, Helena has access to a trust fund capable of buying at least one planet (and a good portion of it is devoted to earning even more money).
Brute Force - Helena works out.
Hand to Hand Combat - Helena has been taught the harsh lessons of combat from street fights, bar brawls, and a few months of ameteur boxing.
Sleuthiness - Having worked as a private detective for a good portion of her life, Helena is pretty good at following clues and solving crimes.
"Unlimited" Financial Backing - So long as she can reveal her identity, Helena has access to a trust fund capable of buying at least one planet (and a good portion of it is devoted to earning even more money).
Brute Force - Helena works out.
Starship:
Crew: Captain, Bosun, Engineer, Sensors & Gunner, Astrogation & Comms, Deckhand, Chief Steward, Steward/Bartender, Executive Chef, Sous Chef
Passengers: Helena, Chief Adjuster Xam, Felix Twig
Length: 92m
Armament: 2x high-energy laser emitters, 1 plasma discharge cannon
Defenses: Active Shielding, Reflec-armor
Propulsion: High-burn maneuvering thrusters, Twin turbo quark 700 TWR sublight engines, 1 Clarke Industries-brand series iv warp drive, capable of 4.99 ly/day.
In other words, the Father's Delight was designed to be fast and highly maneuverable.
The Father's Delight is a luxury yacht purchased for Helena's 21st birthday by her father.
I hope I'm not assuming too much when I figure your explorer will need a spaceship to get around. Describe it, or face the ban-hammer
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strengths:
+blending in to the lower classes or the higher classes - social mobility
+brute force methods to solve problems
Weaknesses:
-Vices - Helena may be an alcoholic; she's certainly addicted to rezsticks, and she's also been known to use men like a most people use Kleenex
-Cynicism - sometimes Helena's general distrust of everything is good, but most of the time it just isolates her.
-Depression - She really hates herself for basically everything she ever does.
+blending in to the lower classes or the higher classes - social mobility
+brute force methods to solve problems
Weaknesses:
-Vices - Helena may be an alcoholic; she's certainly addicted to rezsticks, and she's also been known to use men like a most people use Kleenex
-Cynicism - sometimes Helena's general distrust of everything is good, but most of the time it just isolates her.
-Depression - She really hates herself for basically everything she ever does.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From OPTEVFOR JDF-1
In the interest of joint divisional cooperation within OPTEVFOR, JDF-1 was recently formed to be a total-fleet testbed for ship designs, fleet composition, and tactics for the United States Navy. New ideas, eccentric captains, odd ship designs, and unusual missions are par for the course. So are equipment failures, poor interpersonal and intership discipline, crew nobody else wants, really bad plans, and utterly banal missions. Everything from untested submarines to not-quite-crazy-enough to discharge captains to combat airship test platforms are now quietly shoved into this fleet and left to hang themselves.
---
Premise
This is a ship-based fleet RP. You will roleplay an entire ship in conjunction with the other players (and their ships) to acheive the mission objectives given to you by COMOPTEVFOR. There's a twist, though - your ships are experimental. They should (mostly) be based on real-life or concept ships, as that makes it much easier to fill out the dimensions, speed, and other fields on the ship sheet. Additionally, the RP is set in the modern day, real-life Earth, so no hyperlaser mecha ships that transform into crabs and can walk on land. Acceptable breaks from reality might include an anti-missile laser ship, for example, as the military (as far as I know) is at least testing that technology. As a general rule, if a modern military is testing, using, or used the technology, then it's probably okay. If you'd like to make an airship, that's fine, too - but I'll only allow one airship in the RP (first come first serve).
Missions:
This RP will be mostly player-driven. I'll give you your orders and mission briefing (including an intelligence report), but from that point on what happens is up to the players. I will try to be as transparent as possible as to what obstacles you'll encounter; however, your characters only know the information in the intelligence report. Obviously your characters can discover this information as the RP progresses, but they might not know what you, the player, knows.
One of the benefits of this transparency is that you (the players) are free to roleplay as the NPC forces. I retain the right to veto the actions of NPC's in player posts, however. I'll only do that if I think the NPC actions are out of character for said NPC's, or if the story demands it (theoretically, you should know what the NPC's are planning to do, anyway, so that second reason likely won't come into play). The other benefit is that if I should be absent for a few days (I'll notify you in advance should this happen), the RP will be able to continue.
Between missions, of course, is travel time. Missions may not take place in the same part of the world, so the fleet has to move to the next place. So what the heck do you post when the fleet is travelling and the plot isn't directly advancing? Here's a few options:
I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something.
Remember, the more you give other ships and players to react to, the better the RP will be!
Command:
One of the "experiments" in JDF-1 is the command structure. Strictly speaking, Rear Admiral Walter Davis is in command of the fleet. RADM Davis, however, is happily behind a desk in San Diego. The most commanding that he ever does is issuing orders via secure transmission. The captains of the ships are then left to figure out amongst themselves how to carry out said orders. All of this stems from some Admiral's son's thesis paper entitled Eusocial Groups and their Applications to the Modern Navy. Like many other things that ended up in JDF-1, the Navy had to pay lip service to said paper (even if the Admiral firmly requested that they didn't), and therefore shoved the idea into JDF-1 to either die or emerge victoriously.
Of course, just because RADM Davis is in San Diego doesn't mean that there'll be hell to pay if the fleet fails to carry out orders.
Combat:
Will be decided entirely via roleplay.
Setting:
This RP is taking place on our modern-day Earth. Tensions are rising between the West and East due to the Crimean/Ukraine crisis. JDF-1 is only one month old. Your ships may be older, but they've been reassigned to JDF-1 last month. That means that your ship crew will have had time to at least get acquainted with the other ships in the fleet. The first mission you receive is the first patrol JDF-1 will ever perform. The majority of the US Navy (and the world) has never heard of JDF-1, which by rights is hardly even a fleet (it's more a task force with an inflated name).
Rules:
Gunther's List of Ships (not necessarily accepted)
Don't be afraid to ask questions or make comments!
OPTEVFOR Joint Divisional Fleet 1
(Operational Test and Evaluation Force)
{Closed (see here for more details}
Interest Check (Just for posterity's sake)
,_assemble_in_a_formation_for_a_photo_exercise.jpg/1024px-US_Navy_040506-N-7586B-290_Ships_assigned_to_Combined_Task_Force_One_Five_Zero_(CTF-150),_assemble_in_a_formation_for_a_photo_exercise.jpg)
"Where good ideas go to die thrive."
(Operational Test and Evaluation Force)
{Closed (see here for more details}
Interest Check (Just for posterity's sake)
"Where good ideas go to die thrive."
In the interest of joint divisional cooperation within OPTEVFOR, JDF-1 was recently formed to be a total-fleet testbed for ship designs, fleet composition, and tactics for the United States Navy. New ideas, eccentric captains, odd ship designs, and unusual missions are par for the course. So are equipment failures, poor interpersonal and intership discipline, crew nobody else wants, really bad plans, and utterly banal missions. Everything from untested submarines to not-quite-crazy-enough to discharge captains to combat airship test platforms are now quietly shoved into this fleet and left to hang themselves.
---
Premise
This is a ship-based fleet RP. You will roleplay an entire ship in conjunction with the other players (and their ships) to acheive the mission objectives given to you by COMOPTEVFOR. There's a twist, though - your ships are experimental. They should (mostly) be based on real-life or concept ships, as that makes it much easier to fill out the dimensions, speed, and other fields on the ship sheet. Additionally, the RP is set in the modern day, real-life Earth, so no hyperlaser mecha ships that transform into crabs and can walk on land. Acceptable breaks from reality might include an anti-missile laser ship, for example, as the military (as far as I know) is at least testing that technology. As a general rule, if a modern military is testing, using, or used the technology, then it's probably okay. If you'd like to make an airship, that's fine, too - but I'll only allow one airship in the RP (first come first serve).
Missions:
This RP will be mostly player-driven. I'll give you your orders and mission briefing (including an intelligence report), but from that point on what happens is up to the players. I will try to be as transparent as possible as to what obstacles you'll encounter; however, your characters only know the information in the intelligence report. Obviously your characters can discover this information as the RP progresses, but they might not know what you, the player, knows.
One of the benefits of this transparency is that you (the players) are free to roleplay as the NPC forces. I retain the right to veto the actions of NPC's in player posts, however. I'll only do that if I think the NPC actions are out of character for said NPC's, or if the story demands it (theoretically, you should know what the NPC's are planning to do, anyway, so that second reason likely won't come into play). The other benefit is that if I should be absent for a few days (I'll notify you in advance should this happen), the RP will be able to continue.
Between missions, of course, is travel time. Missions may not take place in the same part of the world, so the fleet has to move to the next place. So what the heck do you post when the fleet is travelling and the plot isn't directly advancing? Here's a few options:
- Resupply! Your guns need ammo, your ships need fuel, your crew needs consumables (food, water), and you need an excuse to go to Singapore.[/*]
- Character Development[/*]
- 21-year-olds (the average age of US Navy sailors) being idiots[/*]
- Equipment Malfunctions[/*]
- Steel Beach Picnics[/*]
- Storms[/*]
- Intership Rivalries and Pranks[/*]
I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something.
Remember, the more you give other ships and players to react to, the better the RP will be!
Command:
One of the "experiments" in JDF-1 is the command structure. Strictly speaking, Rear Admiral Walter Davis is in command of the fleet. RADM Davis, however, is happily behind a desk in San Diego. The most commanding that he ever does is issuing orders via secure transmission. The captains of the ships are then left to figure out amongst themselves how to carry out said orders. All of this stems from some Admiral's son's thesis paper entitled Eusocial Groups and their Applications to the Modern Navy. Like many other things that ended up in JDF-1, the Navy had to pay lip service to said paper (even if the Admiral firmly requested that they didn't), and therefore shoved the idea into JDF-1 to either die or emerge victoriously.
Of course, just because RADM Davis is in San Diego doesn't mean that there'll be hell to pay if the fleet fails to carry out orders.
Combat:
Will be decided entirely via roleplay.
Setting:
This RP is taking place on our modern-day Earth. Tensions are rising between the West and East due to the Crimean/Ukraine crisis. JDF-1 is only one month old. Your ships may be older, but they've been reassigned to JDF-1 last month. That means that your ship crew will have had time to at least get acquainted with the other ships in the fleet. The first mission you receive is the first patrol JDF-1 will ever perform. The majority of the US Navy (and the world) has never heard of JDF-1, which by rights is hardly even a fleet (it's more a task force with an inflated name).
Rules:
- Have fun![/*]
- Any drama or horrible arguments should take place in PM (if at all). If there's a major issue you feel is not being addressed, please PM me.[/*]
- Don't be a tool.[/*]
- Forum rules apply.[/*]
(Feel free to steal these)
Perfectly normal ship; crazy captain
Drone warfare carrier airship
Electronic warfare command and control airship
Slightly faster and more maneuverable, but significantly less well-armored cruiser
Stealth ships
Anti-missile sea-based laser system
Perfectly normal actual US Navy ship, no frills
Perfectly normal ship; crazy captain
Drone warfare carrier airship
Electronic warfare command and control airship
Slightly faster and more maneuverable, but significantly less well-armored cruiser
Stealth ships
Anti-missile sea-based laser system
Perfectly normal actual US Navy ship, no frills
|Ship Name:
|Ship Class:
|Ship Hull Classification Symbol: (See Here, or Here for airships. Make one up if you can't find it.)
|Ship Role:
|Armament:
|Dimensions: (Length x Beam x Height; Draft)
|Speed:
|Crew:
|Motto:
|Other:
|Captain's Name:
+Appearance:
+Personality:
+Bio:
|Name:
+Rank:
+Role:
+Appearance:
+Personality:
+Bio:
|Ship Class:
|Ship Hull Classification Symbol: (See Here, or Here for airships. Make one up if you can't find it.)
|Ship Role:
|Armament:
|Dimensions: (Length x Beam x Height; Draft)
|Speed:
|Crew:
|Motto:
|Other:
|Captain's Name:
+Appearance:
+Personality:
+Bio:
|Name:
+Rank:
+Role:
+Appearance:
+Personality:
+Bio:
(okay, I completely skimped out on the crew part, but you get the idea)
|Ship Name: USS John F. Kennedy
|Ship Class: John F. Kennedy
|Ship Hull Classification Symbol: CV-67
|Ship Type: Aircraft Carrier
|Armament: 2 × GMLS Mk 29 launchers for Sea Sparrow missiles; 2 × Phalanx CIWS; 2 × RAM launchers; 80 x aircraft
|Dimensions: 1052ft (length) x 252 ft (beam) x 192 ft (height); 32 ft draft
|Speed: 34 knots (63 km/h)
|Crew: 3,297
|Motto: Date Nolite Rogare (Latin for "Give, be unwilling to ask")
|Other: Modified for strictly drone warfare; no manned aircraft
|Captain's Name: John Phillips
+Appearance:
+Personality: Entirely too friendly
+Bio: A former tugboat captain, Captain Philips was promoted via clerical error. It was a happy accident, however, as he's done such a remarkable job that the Navy kept him as captain (although they also quietly reassigned him to Upsilon task force and demoted the clerk that made the error).
|Name: Ron Swanson
+Rank: Commander
+Role: XO
+Appearance: Brown hair, chiseled face, mustache, thick body (from muscle, not fat), though not very sculpted
+Personality: He's a manly man, and won't hesitate to be direct and to the point
+Bio: At some point he realized that he didn't feel like enough of a man, so he joined the Navy.
|Ship Name: USS John F. Kennedy
|Ship Class: John F. Kennedy
|Ship Hull Classification Symbol: CV-67
|Ship Type: Aircraft Carrier
|Armament: 2 × GMLS Mk 29 launchers for Sea Sparrow missiles; 2 × Phalanx CIWS; 2 × RAM launchers; 80 x aircraft
|Dimensions: 1052ft (length) x 252 ft (beam) x 192 ft (height); 32 ft draft
|Speed: 34 knots (63 km/h)
|Crew: 3,297
|Motto: Date Nolite Rogare (Latin for "Give, be unwilling to ask")
|Other: Modified for strictly drone warfare; no manned aircraft
|Captain's Name: John Phillips
+Appearance:
+Personality: Entirely too friendly
+Bio: A former tugboat captain, Captain Philips was promoted via clerical error. It was a happy accident, however, as he's done such a remarkable job that the Navy kept him as captain (although they also quietly reassigned him to Upsilon task force and demoted the clerk that made the error).
|Name: Ron Swanson
+Rank: Commander
+Role: XO
+Appearance: Brown hair, chiseled face, mustache, thick body (from muscle, not fat), though not very sculpted
+Personality: He's a manly man, and won't hesitate to be direct and to the point
+Bio: At some point he realized that he didn't feel like enough of a man, so he joined the Navy.
USS Leviathan - Wernher (Gargantuan SSBN)
USS America - Gunther (Amphibious Assault Ship)
USS Lyndon Baines Johnson - Gunther (Multirole Destroyer)
USS Fenrir - Slypheed (Guided Missile Cruiser)
USS Navassa Island - TheEvanCat (Heavy Escort/Battlecruiser)
USS Hermes - Sylpheed (Electronic Warfare Corvette)
USS Wyvern - DeltaWing222 (Multirole Littoral Combat Ship)
USS America - Gunther (Amphibious Assault Ship)
USS Lyndon Baines Johnson - Gunther (Multirole Destroyer)
USS Fenrir - Slypheed (Guided Missile Cruiser)
USS Navassa Island - TheEvanCat (Heavy Escort/Battlecruiser)
USS Hermes - Sylpheed (Electronic Warfare Corvette)
USS Wyvern - DeltaWing222 (Multirole Littoral Combat Ship)
USS JFK - Raidne - Crew bios, planes, weapon systems (Carrier)
USS Tripoli - Rare - Crew sheets (Amphibious Assault Ship)
HMCS Gander - TheFake - Accepted, pending someone dropping out (Multirole Corvette)
USS Tripoli - Rare - Crew sheets (Amphibious Assault Ship)
HMCS Gander - TheFake - Accepted, pending someone dropping out (Multirole Corvette)
Gunther's List of Ships (not necessarily accepted)
Don't be afraid to ask questions or make comments!
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
PARANOIA
(Information may not be Available at all Clearance Levels)
[b][u]Thank you. The mental restimulation cocktail should be taking effect. Now that you can speak, be sure to thank the medibot for its service. And since you now have a higher level of cognitive awareness, let the first thing you remember be Medical Services Vitajuice: It's BETTER than Bouncy Bubble Beverage. This announcement has been sponsered by Medical Services: We can be there when you need us to be.
Thank you, [Citizen Name Here]. My records show that you have turned in one of your friends for treason! Congratulations! For this glorious service to the Alpha Complex and me, Friend Computer, you have been promoted to: REd CLEarskzzt!CE. You have also been assigned to: TroubleSHOOter team Alpha OneOneOne dash Seventeen. [/b][/u]
There's a brief silence from the intercom.
Congratulations! As of now, your team has survived longer than - One - Zero - point - OneOne Three - percent of troubleshooter teams! You may now pick up one RED reflec armor coverall and one REd CLEarskzzt!CE laser pistol (laser barrels sold separately). Thank you, have a nice day, and, again, congratulatio-skzzzt!
A nearby wall panel flips, revealing a repurposed scrub bot, holding said items. With your new higher cognitive functions, you note that the laser pistol is useless without a barrel. Part of you is excited to be Red clearance - finally! no more mindless shambling of the Infrared classes! - but the rest of you is terrified. Troubleshooting is not the most envious assignment of Alpha Complex. It certainly reduced your life expectancy.
---
[For those both curious and knowledgeable, I'll be using Paranoia XP, Service Pack One; The Mutant Experience, and Extreme Paranoia (since those are all the books I have). Classic style of play.]
Welcome to the world of Paranoia! It is the year 214 (and has been as long as you can remember) of Friend Computer's glorious reign. Alpha Complex is the only habitable section of the world. The Computer reassures you that Alpha Complex is a much nicer place to live than anywhere in Old Reckoning times. Even so, Communist traitors might lurk around every corner; anybody could be a mutant. Mutants and secret socieies (such as communists) are, of course, treasoneous.
You are both a mutant and a member of a secret society.
You are part of a troubleshooter team (so named because they find trouble and shoot it). As a Red clearance citizen, you are subservient to any citizens of higher clearance. Here's the clearance spectrum, for your reference:
IR [Infrared, represented by black] R [Red] O [Orange] Y [Yellow] G [Green] B [Blue] I [Indigo] V [Violet] U [Ultraviolet, represented by white]
IR ROYGBIV U! It's the colors of the rainbow!
As a troubleshooter, you get six free clones! Should you die, your clone will be regrown, and all items that you had on your person will be molecularly reconstructed. This new clone lacks the last five minutes of the previous clone's memory, but is otherwise identical in every other way.
---
Character Sheets:
Character sheets are divided between secret and public parts. The secret part should be PM'd to me. If you do not PM me the secret part, I will assume that all relevant sections of the secret part are "zero" or "none", with the exception of secret society and mutant power, which will be the worst possible ones I can think of (spontaneous combustion, anyone?)
The Public Part:
|Name: [Names follow a format of Name-Clearance (You are RED)-Sector (three capital letters) Clone number (You are clone 1)]
|Gender: [Male or Female. Note that hormonal suppresants in the air supply make the difference a moot point. Should you go in the rumored OUTDOORS sector, however....]
|Service Group and Firm: [You can roll a d20 (that's code for a 20-sided die; see Dice Rolling) and consult chart; otherwise just select from chart]
|Tics: [A tic is any obvious and recognizable behavior or condition that seldom, if ever, directly affects the game—for example, humming absently, twiddling your thumbs when you’re nervous, or twitching when anyone mentions ‘the sewers’. Taking a tic can earn you up to five perversity points per tic (I'll tell you how much you get). In general, the more recognizeable the tic, the more perversity points I'll give. Two tics max.]
|Perversity Points: [Starts at 25. Perversity points can be spent to affect any dice roll (when I allow it). Examples might include spending points to prevent your team leader's laser pistol from firing properly. Or spending points to ensure that it does fire properly. One perversity point can either raise or lower the number that you're rolling against. Raising the number makes it easier, lowering the number makes it harder. These stay with the player, not the character. So if you make a new character, you still have the same perversity point pool. When you spend a perversity point, make sure to RP something to indicate that you've spent it. Example: I spend three negative points. My character knocks into his laser pistol.]
[Please see "Skills and Choosing Them"]
[h ider=Action Skills]
[h ider2=Management]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][h ider2=Stealth]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][h ider2=Violence]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][/hider]
[h ider=Knowledge Skills]
[h ider2=Hardware]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][h ider2=Software]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][h ider2=Wetware]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][/hider]
Secret Part:
Mutant Power: [roll a d20; consult the table]
Registered: [yes/no: Registered mutants can use their power openly. However, they must always wear a yellow armband, marking them as filthy mutants]
Secret Society: [you cand roll a d20 and consult the table, otherwise pick one from the table]
Secret Society Rank: [you start as a Junior Member]
Power: [Power keeps track of how effective your mutant power is. You start with [REDACTED]]
Access: [Access lets you maneuver within Alpha Complex society. It helps you accomplish bribes, etc. You start with [REDACTED]]
Credits: [you start with 1000]
Inventory: Don't spend more than 1000 credits on stuff! See "IR Market" under "Tables".
Example:
|Name: George-R-MTN 1
|Gender: Male
|Service Group and Firm: Internal Security; Threat Assessors
|Tics: Only turns left. To accomplish a right hand turn, turns left three times; Shivers constantly.
|Perversity Points: 25
---
Skills and Choosing Them
Each skill starts at 0. You have 40 points to spend. The skills are: Management, Stealth, Violence, Hardware, Software, and Wetware. Management is useful for getting around the omnipresent red tape in Alpha Complex. Stealth is used for anything sneaky. Violence is used whenever any sort of combat or athletic situation arises. Hardware deals with your knowledge about mechanical systems. Software is used when you need to know something about electronic systems. Wetware is, for all intents and purposes, medical and biological knowledge.
Beyond skills are common specialties. Common specialties are things that you are particularly good at; if you are using a common specialty, you get a +4 to your skill roll when you perform that task. However, you must take a common weakness under that same skill. Common weaknesses give -4 to skill rolls when you perform that type of task. Consult the Common Specialty Table for a few examples, but feel free to make up your own! You may only have 6 common specialties (and therefore 6 weaknesses).
Beyond common specialties are narrow specialties. If common specialties are for types of tasks, narrow specialties are for specific tasks. You might have a narrow specialty in "Getting the vending machine to give me a second packet of algae chips", for instance. Narrow specialties give you +6 on your rolls. You get one narrow specialty per skill, however, you don't have to decide what your narrow specialties are yet. At any point in the game, you may PM me what you want a narrow specialty to be and what skill it would fall under. There are no corresponding narrow weaknesses.
---
What is and is not Treason, and Plausible Punishments
---
Dice Rolling
We will be using Orokus. It's free and almost simple. You'll have to make an account. Please link to your rolls - don't just say "I got an 18". You should always fill in "Raidne's Paranoia" for the campaign field. Note the example character sheet.
All rolls use a 20 sided die.
The goal is to try to roll lower than or equal to the trait that you're rolling against. Therefore, rolling against a 20 is a guaranteed success; rolling against a 1 is nearly impossible to succeed. Perversity points raise or lower the number you roll against.
---
PM's
ONLY PM'S MARKED WITH [PARANOIA] IN THE TITLE WILL BE READ
If you don't want the other players to know, you can PM me your actions, secret plots where you publicly do one thing but privately do another, mutant power activations, or other nefarious schemes. I'll include the results of said PM's in my next post.
---
Posting
Will take place in rounds. There will be a posting order. If you do not post within 24 hours, it is assumed you stand, doing nothing, absent-mindedly staring at the wall. If you repeatedly do nothing, you'll likely end up permanently terminated and your clone imprint will be subject to erasure. If you're going to be absent or scarce in posting, please both PM me and say so in the OOC. I'll find a reason for your character to be suspiciously absent for a bit.
---
Resolving Actions
When posting, basic actions (such as walking down a corridor) or actions with an obvious outcome (such as drinking plain Bouncy Bubble Beverage) can be RP'd freely. As can thoughts, conversation, and other things that your character should just generally be able to do. Major or significant actions, such as firing an experimental weapon, require a post or PM by the GM to see what happens.
---
My God, it's Full of Tables!
[You know a post is big when you have to preemptively post it so that way you can read what you've already posted.]
(Information may not be Available at all Clearance Levels)
[b][u]Thank you. The mental restimulation cocktail should be taking effect. Now that you can speak, be sure to thank the medibot for its service. And since you now have a higher level of cognitive awareness, let the first thing you remember be Medical Services Vitajuice: It's BETTER than Bouncy Bubble Beverage. This announcement has been sponsered by Medical Services: We can be there when you need us to be.
Thank you, [Citizen Name Here]. My records show that you have turned in one of your friends for treason! Congratulations! For this glorious service to the Alpha Complex and me, Friend Computer, you have been promoted to: REd CLEarskzzt!CE. You have also been assigned to: TroubleSHOOter team Alpha OneOneOne dash Seventeen. [/b][/u]
There's a brief silence from the intercom.
Congratulations! As of now, your team has survived longer than - One - Zero - point - OneOne Three - percent of troubleshooter teams! You may now pick up one RED reflec armor coverall and one REd CLEarskzzt!CE laser pistol (laser barrels sold separately). Thank you, have a nice day, and, again, congratulatio-skzzzt!
A nearby wall panel flips, revealing a repurposed scrub bot, holding said items. With your new higher cognitive functions, you note that the laser pistol is useless without a barrel. Part of you is excited to be Red clearance - finally! no more mindless shambling of the Infrared classes! - but the rest of you is terrified. Troubleshooting is not the most envious assignment of Alpha Complex. It certainly reduced your life expectancy.
---
[For those both curious and knowledgeable, I'll be using Paranoia XP, Service Pack One; The Mutant Experience, and Extreme Paranoia (since those are all the books I have). Classic style of play.]
Welcome to the world of Paranoia! It is the year 214 (and has been as long as you can remember) of Friend Computer's glorious reign. Alpha Complex is the only habitable section of the world. The Computer reassures you that Alpha Complex is a much nicer place to live than anywhere in Old Reckoning times. Even so, Communist traitors might lurk around every corner; anybody could be a mutant. Mutants and secret socieies (such as communists) are, of course, treasoneous.
You are both a mutant and a member of a secret society.
You are part of a troubleshooter team (so named because they find trouble and shoot it). As a Red clearance citizen, you are subservient to any citizens of higher clearance. Here's the clearance spectrum, for your reference:
IR [Infrared, represented by black] R [Red] O [Orange] Y [Yellow] G [Green] B [Blue] I [Indigo] V [Violet] U [Ultraviolet, represented by white]
IR ROYGBIV U! It's the colors of the rainbow!
As a troubleshooter, you get six free clones! Should you die, your clone will be regrown, and all items that you had on your person will be molecularly reconstructed. This new clone lacks the last five minutes of the previous clone's memory, but is otherwise identical in every other way.
---
Character Sheets:
Character sheets are divided between secret and public parts. The secret part should be PM'd to me. If you do not PM me the secret part, I will assume that all relevant sections of the secret part are "zero" or "none", with the exception of secret society and mutant power, which will be the worst possible ones I can think of (spontaneous combustion, anyone?)
The Public Part:
|Name: [Names follow a format of Name-Clearance (You are RED)-Sector (three capital letters) Clone number (You are clone 1)]
|Gender: [Male or Female. Note that hormonal suppresants in the air supply make the difference a moot point. Should you go in the rumored OUTDOORS sector, however....]
|Service Group and Firm: [You can roll a d20 (that's code for a 20-sided die; see Dice Rolling) and consult chart; otherwise just select from chart]
|Tics: [A tic is any obvious and recognizable behavior or condition that seldom, if ever, directly affects the game—for example, humming absently, twiddling your thumbs when you’re nervous, or twitching when anyone mentions ‘the sewers’. Taking a tic can earn you up to five perversity points per tic (I'll tell you how much you get). In general, the more recognizeable the tic, the more perversity points I'll give. Two tics max.]
|Perversity Points: [Starts at 25. Perversity points can be spent to affect any dice roll (when I allow it). Examples might include spending points to prevent your team leader's laser pistol from firing properly. Or spending points to ensure that it does fire properly. One perversity point can either raise or lower the number that you're rolling against. Raising the number makes it easier, lowering the number makes it harder. These stay with the player, not the character. So if you make a new character, you still have the same perversity point pool. When you spend a perversity point, make sure to RP something to indicate that you've spent it. Example: I spend three negative points. My character knocks into his laser pistol.]
[Please see "Skills and Choosing Them"]
[h ider=Action Skills]
[h ider2=Management]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][h ider2=Stealth]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][h ider2=Violence]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][/hider]
[h ider=Knowledge Skills]
[h ider2=Hardware]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][h ider2=Software]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][h ider2=Wetware]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][/hider]
Secret Part:
Mutant Power: [roll a d20; consult the table]
Registered: [yes/no: Registered mutants can use their power openly. However, they must always wear a yellow armband, marking them as filthy mutants]
Secret Society: [you cand roll a d20 and consult the table, otherwise pick one from the table]
Secret Society Rank: [you start as a Junior Member]
Power: [Power keeps track of how effective your mutant power is. You start with [REDACTED]]
Access: [Access lets you maneuver within Alpha Complex society. It helps you accomplish bribes, etc. You start with [REDACTED]]
Credits: [you start with 1000]
Inventory: Don't spend more than 1000 credits on stuff! See "IR Market" under "Tables".
Example:
|Name: George-R-MTN 1
|Gender: Male
|Service Group and Firm: Internal Security; Threat Assessors
|Tics: Only turns left. To accomplish a right hand turn, turns left three times; Shivers constantly.
|Perversity Points: 25
[hider2=Management 10]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][hider2=Stealth 5]
Common Specialties (if any): Concealment
Weaknesses: Disguise
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][hider2=Violence 5]
Common Specialties (if any): Fine Manipulation; Field Weapons
Weaknesses: Thrown Weapons; Demolition
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][hider2=Stealth 5]
Common Specialties (if any): Concealment
Weaknesses: Disguise
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][hider2=Violence 5]
Common Specialties (if any): Fine Manipulation; Field Weapons
Weaknesses: Thrown Weapons; Demolition
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2]
[hider2=Hardware 6]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty: Getting the vending machine to vend two packets of algae chips for the price of one.
[/hider2][hider2=Software 7]
Common Specialties (if any): Bot Programming, Hacking
Weaknesses: C-Bay, Operating Systems
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][hider2=Wetware 7]
Common Specialties (if any): Biosciences
Weaknesses: Bioweapons
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2]
Common Specialties (if any):
Weaknesses:
Narrow Specialty: Getting the vending machine to vend two packets of algae chips for the price of one.
[/hider2][hider2=Software 7]
Common Specialties (if any): Bot Programming, Hacking
Weaknesses: C-Bay, Operating Systems
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2][hider2=Wetware 7]
Common Specialties (if any): Biosciences
Weaknesses: Bioweapons
Narrow Specialty:
[/hider2]
Mutant Power: Light Control
Registered: No
Secret Society: Purge
Secret Society Rank: Junior Member
Power: [REDACTED]
Access: [REDACTED]
Credits: 1000
Registered: No
Secret Society: Purge
Secret Society Rank: Junior Member
Power: [REDACTED]
Access: [REDACTED]
Credits: 1000
---
Skills and Choosing Them
Each skill starts at 0. You have 40 points to spend. The skills are: Management, Stealth, Violence, Hardware, Software, and Wetware. Management is useful for getting around the omnipresent red tape in Alpha Complex. Stealth is used for anything sneaky. Violence is used whenever any sort of combat or athletic situation arises. Hardware deals with your knowledge about mechanical systems. Software is used when you need to know something about electronic systems. Wetware is, for all intents and purposes, medical and biological knowledge.
Beyond skills are common specialties. Common specialties are things that you are particularly good at; if you are using a common specialty, you get a +4 to your skill roll when you perform that task. However, you must take a common weakness under that same skill. Common weaknesses give -4 to skill rolls when you perform that type of task. Consult the Common Specialty Table for a few examples, but feel free to make up your own! You may only have 6 common specialties (and therefore 6 weaknesses).
Beyond common specialties are narrow specialties. If common specialties are for types of tasks, narrow specialties are for specific tasks. You might have a narrow specialty in "Getting the vending machine to give me a second packet of algae chips", for instance. Narrow specialties give you +6 on your rolls. You get one narrow specialty per skill, however, you don't have to decide what your narrow specialties are yet. At any point in the game, you may PM me what you want a narrow specialty to be and what skill it would fall under. There are no corresponding narrow weaknesses.
---
What is and is not Treason, and Plausible Punishments
Being extremely happy.
Completing a mission.
Completing it successfully.
Completing a service service and filing a report.
Doing a favor spontaneously for a higher-clearance citizen.
Doing a favor for a secret society friendly to your own.
Risking your life to serve or rescue a higher-clearance citizen, to save Alpha Complex or to serve The Computer.
Terminating a traitor with sufficient evidence.
Turning a traitor over to Internal Security.
Unctuous flattery.
Completing a mission.
Completing it successfully.
Completing a service service and filing a report.
Doing a favor spontaneously for a higher-clearance citizen.
Doing a favor for a secret society friendly to your own.
Risking your life to serve or rescue a higher-clearance citizen, to save Alpha Complex or to serve The Computer.
Terminating a traitor with sufficient evidence.
Turning a traitor over to Internal Security.
Unctuous flattery.
Credits
Promotion (of security clearance)
Special Equipment (that probably works, too!)
Promotion (of security clearance)
Special Equipment (that probably works, too!)
Understanding these charts and their contents. (Drummed into every INFRARED from decanting onward.)
Knowledge of the current Year of The Computer (214) and general awareness The Computer hasn’t always been here; knowledge that a corrupt, destructive Old Reckoning culture existed before the rise of our friend The Computer. (However, curiosity about that benighted time is very impolite.)
Mere knowledge of the existence of specific secret societies, mutant powers, the Outdoors or Outdoor plant and animal life. (None of this is polite conversation, but it’s not treasonous.)
Mere knowledge of various kinds of real food and drink; expressions of envy and the general living conditions of higher-clearance citizens. (Portrayed daily on glamorous vidshows.)
Expressions of ambition; desire to rise in clearance, get rich, live in luxury, etc. (The Computer encourages aspiration to greater service, though blatant greed is impolite.)
Casual joking or warnings about service firms, service groups, or higherclearance citizens in general, as opposed to specific individuals or agencies. (Impolite and likely to draw suspicion, but not technically insubordinate.)
Unauthorized vandalism or destruction of property of equal or lower clearance, in line of duty.
Asking questions directly relevant to a mission or duty (these questions are grudgingly condoned).
Asking whether a particular hypothetical question would be considered directly relevant to a mission or duty.
Knowledge of the current Year of The Computer (214) and general awareness The Computer hasn’t always been here; knowledge that a corrupt, destructive Old Reckoning culture existed before the rise of our friend The Computer. (However, curiosity about that benighted time is very impolite.)
Mere knowledge of the existence of specific secret societies, mutant powers, the Outdoors or Outdoor plant and animal life. (None of this is polite conversation, but it’s not treasonous.)
Mere knowledge of various kinds of real food and drink; expressions of envy and the general living conditions of higher-clearance citizens. (Portrayed daily on glamorous vidshows.)
Expressions of ambition; desire to rise in clearance, get rich, live in luxury, etc. (The Computer encourages aspiration to greater service, though blatant greed is impolite.)
Casual joking or warnings about service firms, service groups, or higherclearance citizens in general, as opposed to specific individuals or agencies. (Impolite and likely to draw suspicion, but not technically insubordinate.)
Unauthorized vandalism or destruction of property of equal or lower clearance, in line of duty.
Asking questions directly relevant to a mission or duty (these questions are grudgingly condoned).
Asking whether a particular hypothetical question would be considered directly relevant to a mission or duty.
This is a set of guidelines, not an exhaustive list. Lots of other things are treason and insubordination, too.
Asking a question irrelevant to a mission or duty.
Asking whether a particular hypothetical question unrelated to a mission or duty would be considered insubordinate or treasonous.
Asking whether a particular hypothetical question, if it were hypothetically directly related to a mission or duty, would be considered insubordinate or treasonous (nobody likes a smartass).
Being out of uniform or sloppy.
Being unhappy.
Bringing bad news.
Curiosity about or postulation of supposed virtues of Old Reckoning times.
Curiosity in general, undue.
Evading Internal Security or Computer surveillance.
Excessive impoliteness.
Failing a hygiene inspection.
Jokes, insolence, or disregard for the importance of a mission or duty.
Jokes, insolence, or disrespect for a specific higher-clearance citizen.
Jokes, complaints, or warnings about a specific service firm or group.
Questioning the ability or judgment of a higher-clearance citizen.
Questioning the ability or judgment of The Computer.
Turning off one’s PDC (communicator) during a mission.
Unauthorized vandalism or destruction of property of equal or lower clearance, not in line of duty.
Asking a question irrelevant to a mission or duty.
Asking whether a particular hypothetical question unrelated to a mission or duty would be considered insubordinate or treasonous.
Asking whether a particular hypothetical question, if it were hypothetically directly related to a mission or duty, would be considered insubordinate or treasonous (nobody likes a smartass).
Being out of uniform or sloppy.
Being unhappy.
Bringing bad news.
Curiosity about or postulation of supposed virtues of Old Reckoning times.
Curiosity in general, undue.
Evading Internal Security or Computer surveillance.
Excessive impoliteness.
Failing a hygiene inspection.
Jokes, insolence, or disregard for the importance of a mission or duty.
Jokes, insolence, or disrespect for a specific higher-clearance citizen.
Jokes, complaints, or warnings about a specific service firm or group.
Questioning the ability or judgment of a higher-clearance citizen.
Questioning the ability or judgment of The Computer.
Turning off one’s PDC (communicator) during a mission.
Unauthorized vandalism or destruction of property of equal or lower clearance, not in line of duty.
Accusations of treason
Being accused of treason.
Falsely accusing a citizen of treason.
Conduct and bearing
Arguing with the Gamemaster.
Assaulting a citizen.
Being present in a location of higher security clearance.
Damaging, destroying, or losing assigned equipment.
Demonstrating knowledge of the PARANOIA rules above your own clearance.
Failure to defer to a citizen of higher security clearance.
Framing a citizen of lower clearance for a crime.
Lying to the GM.
Possessing a treasonous skill.
Possessing unauthorized food, information, or equipment.
Refusal to take a prescribed drug.
Theft of equipment, possessions or files, including filesharing.
Threatening the physical or financial safety of another citizen.
Unauthorized destruction of higherclearance property.
Missions
Disobeying an order.
Failure to complete a mission or service service, or failure to file a proper report of the completion.
Refusing the assignment of a service service.
Refusing to accept a mission.
Mutation
Banned mutation registration.
Suspicion or proof of mutation possession.
Secret society membership
Confessing to, suspicion of, or proof of secret society membership.
Knowledge of Communist doctrine.
Being a Communist.
Terminations
Terminating a citizen without sufficient evidence.
Being accused of treason.
Falsely accusing a citizen of treason.
Conduct and bearing
Arguing with the Gamemaster.
Assaulting a citizen.
Being present in a location of higher security clearance.
Damaging, destroying, or losing assigned equipment.
Demonstrating knowledge of the PARANOIA rules above your own clearance.
Failure to defer to a citizen of higher security clearance.
Framing a citizen of lower clearance for a crime.
Lying to the GM.
Possessing a treasonous skill.
Possessing unauthorized food, information, or equipment.
Refusal to take a prescribed drug.
Theft of equipment, possessions or files, including filesharing.
Threatening the physical or financial safety of another citizen.
Unauthorized destruction of higherclearance property.
Missions
Disobeying an order.
Failure to complete a mission or service service, or failure to file a proper report of the completion.
Refusing the assignment of a service service.
Refusing to accept a mission.
Mutation
Banned mutation registration.
Suspicion or proof of mutation possession.
Secret society membership
Confessing to, suspicion of, or proof of secret society membership.
Knowledge of Communist doctrine.
Being a Communist.
Terminations
Terminating a citizen without sufficient evidence.
Official Reprimand
Probation
Censure and medication corrections
Fines
Demotion to lower clearance
Brainscrub: What memories? May not always be 100% accurate.
Probation
Censure and medication corrections
Fines
Demotion to lower clearance
Brainscrub: What memories? May not always be 100% accurate.
Immediate Termination.
Erasure. You never existed. Your clones never existed. You and your clones are also terminated. Roll a new character. Perversity points, however, may be awarded for managing to screw up this badly.
---
Dice Rolling
We will be using Orokus. It's free and almost simple. You'll have to make an account. Please link to your rolls - don't just say "I got an 18". You should always fill in "Raidne's Paranoia" for the campaign field. Note the example character sheet.
All rolls use a 20 sided die.
The goal is to try to roll lower than or equal to the trait that you're rolling against. Therefore, rolling against a 20 is a guaranteed success; rolling against a 1 is nearly impossible to succeed. Perversity points raise or lower the number you roll against.
---
PM's
ONLY PM'S MARKED WITH [PARANOIA] IN THE TITLE WILL BE READ
If you don't want the other players to know, you can PM me your actions, secret plots where you publicly do one thing but privately do another, mutant power activations, or other nefarious schemes. I'll include the results of said PM's in my next post.
---
Posting
Will take place in rounds. There will be a posting order. If you do not post within 24 hours, it is assumed you stand, doing nothing, absent-mindedly staring at the wall. If you repeatedly do nothing, you'll likely end up permanently terminated and your clone imprint will be subject to erasure. If you're going to be absent or scarce in posting, please both PM me and say so in the OOC. I'll find a reason for your character to be suspiciously absent for a bit.
---
Resolving Actions
When posting, basic actions (such as walking down a corridor) or actions with an obvious outcome (such as drinking plain Bouncy Bubble Beverage) can be RP'd freely. As can thoughts, conversation, and other things that your character should just generally be able to do. Major or significant actions, such as firing an experimental weapon, require a post or PM by the GM to see what happens.
---
My God, it's Full of Tables!
Groups:
1 Armed Forces (group)*
2-3 Armed Forces (service firm)
4-5 Central Processing Unit
6-8 HPD & Mind Control
9 Internal Security**
10 Internal Security (service firm)
11-13 Production, Logistics & Commissary
14-15 Power Services
16-17 Research & Design
18-19 Technical Services
20 Industrial spy or saboteur***
* You serve in the Armed Forces proper, not as an outsourced civilian contractor. Don’t roll for a service firm.
** Type ‘Internal Security’ on the secret part of your character sheet. Roll again for another service group. Only link to this second roll! You are a spy for Internal Security in that group. The second group is your ‘cover’, the group everyone thinks you work for. You learn a service firm specialty from Internal Security, not your cover group.
*** You’ve been assigned to spy on or sabotage another service firm in your group. Roll again to determine your group, then roll twice on its firm table to get two service firm types. Your first roll determines who you’re spying for, the second whom you’re spying on. Only link to this second roll. (If you roll the same firm type both times, you’re spying on a direct rival.) Type 'Spy for [first firm]' on the secret part of your character sheet. You learn a service firm specialty from your original group, not your cover group. You’ll collect a salary from both firms, assuming you survive a month.
Firms:
Armed Forces
Workers for these service firms are civilian contractors, but often were assigned to their firms after an early stint as an Armed Forces grunt.
1-2 Ammunition Fresheners
3-4 Armed Forces Friends Network
5-6 Bodyguard Communications Liaisons
7-8 Blast Shield Maintenance
9-10 Crowd Control (Armed Forces)
11-12 Sensitivity Trainers
13-14 Threat Assessors (Armed Forces)
15-16 Tool & Die Works
17-18 Vulture Squadron Recruiters
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Central Processing Unit
1-2 116 Emergency Systems
3-4 Credit License Checkers
5-6 Facility Surveillance Control
7-8 Form Facilitators
9-10 Form Inventory Officers
11-12 Form Disposal Advisors
13-14 Pocket Protector Refurbishers
15-16 Security System Installers
17-18 Volunteer Collection Agencies
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
HPD & Mind Control
1-2 Entertainment Scouting Agencies
3-4 History Purifiers
5-6 News Services
7-8 Public Hating Coordination
9-10 Sector Expansion Surveyors
11-12 Semantics Control
13-14 Singalong Agents
15-16 Subliminals Police
17-18 Trend Identifiers
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Internal Security
1-2 Crowd Control (IntSec)
3-4 Forensic Analysis
5-6 Glee Quota Adjutants
7-8 Re-Education Client Procurement
9-10 Surveillance Operatives
11-12 Termination Center Janitorial
13-14 Thought Surveyors
15-16 Threat Assessors (IntSec)
17-18 Treason Scene Cleanup
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Production, Logistics & Commissary (PLC)
1-2 Armored Autocar Escorts
3-4 BLUE Room Caterers
5-6 Equipment Assembly Control
7-8 Field Logistics Advisors
9-10 Food Vat Control
11-12 Inventory System Updaters
13-14 Printing Office Field Checkers
15-16 Storage Media Integrity Assessors
17-18 Warehouse System Inspectors
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Power Services
1-2 Battery Backup
3-4 Burn Radius Assessors
5-6 Circuit Maintenance
7-8 Fuel Cell Replenishment (Power)
9-10 Fuel Rod Disposal Consultants
11-12 Odor Fresheners
13-14 Power Oscillation Professionals
15-16 Safe Atoms Initiative
17-18 Wire Supply Checkers
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Research & Design
1-2 Biological Niceness Indexers
3-4 Bot Processing
5-6 Drug Interaction Testers
7-8 Field Data Collectors
9-10 Goo Cleanup
11-12 RoboPsych Auditing
13-14 Scientist Sanity Checkers
15-16 Vehicle Therapists
17-18 Weapon Effectiveness Assessors
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Technical Services
1-2 Bedding Inspectors
3-4 Clone Tank Support Services
5-6 Consolidated Motorized Transport (CMT)
7-8 Fuel Cell Replenishment (Tech Svcs)
9-10 MemoMax Quality Assurance
11-12 Medical Services
13-14 Paint Control
15-16 Slime Identification
17-18 Tech Support
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
1 Armed Forces (group)*
2-3 Armed Forces (service firm)
4-5 Central Processing Unit
6-8 HPD & Mind Control
9 Internal Security**
10 Internal Security (service firm)
11-13 Production, Logistics & Commissary
14-15 Power Services
16-17 Research & Design
18-19 Technical Services
20 Industrial spy or saboteur***
* You serve in the Armed Forces proper, not as an outsourced civilian contractor. Don’t roll for a service firm.
** Type ‘Internal Security’ on the secret part of your character sheet. Roll again for another service group. Only link to this second roll! You are a spy for Internal Security in that group. The second group is your ‘cover’, the group everyone thinks you work for. You learn a service firm specialty from Internal Security, not your cover group.
*** You’ve been assigned to spy on or sabotage another service firm in your group. Roll again to determine your group, then roll twice on its firm table to get two service firm types. Your first roll determines who you’re spying for, the second whom you’re spying on. Only link to this second roll. (If you roll the same firm type both times, you’re spying on a direct rival.) Type 'Spy for [first firm]' on the secret part of your character sheet. You learn a service firm specialty from your original group, not your cover group. You’ll collect a salary from both firms, assuming you survive a month.
Firms:
Armed Forces
Workers for these service firms are civilian contractors, but often were assigned to their firms after an early stint as an Armed Forces grunt.
1-2 Ammunition Fresheners
3-4 Armed Forces Friends Network
5-6 Bodyguard Communications Liaisons
7-8 Blast Shield Maintenance
9-10 Crowd Control (Armed Forces)
11-12 Sensitivity Trainers
13-14 Threat Assessors (Armed Forces)
15-16 Tool & Die Works
17-18 Vulture Squadron Recruiters
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Central Processing Unit
1-2 116 Emergency Systems
3-4 Credit License Checkers
5-6 Facility Surveillance Control
7-8 Form Facilitators
9-10 Form Inventory Officers
11-12 Form Disposal Advisors
13-14 Pocket Protector Refurbishers
15-16 Security System Installers
17-18 Volunteer Collection Agencies
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
HPD & Mind Control
1-2 Entertainment Scouting Agencies
3-4 History Purifiers
5-6 News Services
7-8 Public Hating Coordination
9-10 Sector Expansion Surveyors
11-12 Semantics Control
13-14 Singalong Agents
15-16 Subliminals Police
17-18 Trend Identifiers
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Internal Security
1-2 Crowd Control (IntSec)
3-4 Forensic Analysis
5-6 Glee Quota Adjutants
7-8 Re-Education Client Procurement
9-10 Surveillance Operatives
11-12 Termination Center Janitorial
13-14 Thought Surveyors
15-16 Threat Assessors (IntSec)
17-18 Treason Scene Cleanup
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Production, Logistics & Commissary (PLC)
1-2 Armored Autocar Escorts
3-4 BLUE Room Caterers
5-6 Equipment Assembly Control
7-8 Field Logistics Advisors
9-10 Food Vat Control
11-12 Inventory System Updaters
13-14 Printing Office Field Checkers
15-16 Storage Media Integrity Assessors
17-18 Warehouse System Inspectors
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Power Services
1-2 Battery Backup
3-4 Burn Radius Assessors
5-6 Circuit Maintenance
7-8 Fuel Cell Replenishment (Power)
9-10 Fuel Rod Disposal Consultants
11-12 Odor Fresheners
13-14 Power Oscillation Professionals
15-16 Safe Atoms Initiative
17-18 Wire Supply Checkers
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Research & Design
1-2 Biological Niceness Indexers
3-4 Bot Processing
5-6 Drug Interaction Testers
7-8 Field Data Collectors
9-10 Goo Cleanup
11-12 RoboPsych Auditing
13-14 Scientist Sanity Checkers
15-16 Vehicle Therapists
17-18 Weapon Effectiveness Assessors
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
Technical Services
1-2 Bedding Inspectors
3-4 Clone Tank Support Services
5-6 Consolidated Motorized Transport (CMT)
7-8 Fuel Cell Replenishment (Tech Svcs)
9-10 MemoMax Quality Assurance
11-12 Medical Services
13-14 Paint Control
15-16 Slime Identification
17-18 Tech Support
19-20 Other (PM Gamemaster for details)
You get a choice! After you roll, pick one of the two powers listed
1 Charm | Call Bots
2 Corrosion | Chromativariation
3 PM the GM "1"| PM the GM "2"
4 Electroshock | Gravity Manipulation
5 Empathy | Haze
6 Energy Field | Haze
7 Hypersenses | Hyperreflexes
8 Levitation | Jump!
9 Machine Empathy [!Grounds for Termination if Caught!] | Machine Empathy [!Grounds for Termination if Caught!]
10 Magnetize | Metal Eater
11 Pouches | Mental Blast
12 PM the GM | PM the GM
13 Radioactivity | Creeping Madness
14 Scream | Pyrokinesis
15 Sculpt | Regeneration
16 Second Skin | Slippery Sking
17 Speed | Telekinesis
18 Spikes | Teleportation
19 Stench | Uncanny Luck
20 Stretchy | X-Ray Vision
1 Charm | Call Bots
2 Corrosion | Chromativariation
3 PM the GM "1"| PM the GM "2"
4 Electroshock | Gravity Manipulation
5 Empathy | Haze
6 Energy Field | Haze
7 Hypersenses | Hyperreflexes
8 Levitation | Jump!
9 Machine Empathy [!Grounds for Termination if Caught!] | Machine Empathy [!Grounds for Termination if Caught!]
10 Magnetize | Metal Eater
11 Pouches | Mental Blast
12 PM the GM | PM the GM
13 Radioactivity | Creeping Madness
14 Scream | Pyrokinesis
15 Sculpt | Regeneration
16 Second Skin | Slippery Sking
17 Speed | Telekinesis
18 Spikes | Teleportation
19 Stench | Uncanny Luck
20 Stretchy | X-Ray Vision
Prices and items subject to change. Not liable for treasonous use of items. I scratch your back, you scratch mine, see? All items are marked with appropriate security clearance!
Special: "Mis-filed" PLC Box (0.8m Cubed): Only 500 credits!
[IR] Bouncy Bubble Beverage (plain): 5cr
[R] Bouncy Bubble Beverage (extra classic): 10cr
[R] Bouncy BubdIe Beverage: 300cr
[R] CruncheeTym Algae Chips (plain): 1cr
Cold Fun (available in three fun flavors: Pink, Brown, and Vanilla)
+[IR]Single-serving cup: 2cr
+[R]Single-serving cone: 3cr
+[O] 5-gallon tub: 200cr
[G] Gelgernine aerosol spray: 200cr
[R] PlastiLaser—realistic zap noise!: 50cr
[R] Pyroxidine (Wide-Awake) tablet: 20cr
[R] Pyroxidine capsule: 100cr
[R] Teela-O Pocket Mirror: 5cr
[R] Mark IV Warbot Figurine: 35cr
[R] Hottorch: 1000cr
[R] Instant Cleans-O-Spray: 50cr
[R] Comb, red: 1cr
[R] Lemonie-Moistened Towelettes, 200 count: 50cr
[IR] Pen (plastic, black stick, black ink): 3cr
[R] Pen (metal, black w/gold trim, red or black ink): 10cr
Ink refills:
+[IR] Black 100cr
+[R] Red 100cr
[O] FastDraw Executive laser holster: 90cr
[O] Sunglasses: 2cr
[R] Bullhorn, with MegaBooster!: 50cr
[R] Plasticord, per meter: 1cr
[IR] Additional Clones, Six Pack: 6000cr
Special: "Mis-filed" PLC Box (0.8m Cubed): Only 500 credits!
[IR] Bouncy Bubble Beverage (plain): 5cr
[R] Bouncy Bubble Beverage (extra classic): 10cr
[R] Bouncy BubdIe Beverage: 300cr
[R] CruncheeTym Algae Chips (plain): 1cr
Cold Fun (available in three fun flavors: Pink, Brown, and Vanilla)
+[IR]Single-serving cup: 2cr
+[R]Single-serving cone: 3cr
+[O] 5-gallon tub: 200cr
[G] Gelgernine aerosol spray: 200cr
[R] PlastiLaser—realistic zap noise!: 50cr
[R] Pyroxidine (Wide-Awake) tablet: 20cr
[R] Pyroxidine capsule: 100cr
[R] Teela-O Pocket Mirror: 5cr
[R] Mark IV Warbot Figurine: 35cr
[R] Hottorch: 1000cr
[R] Instant Cleans-O-Spray: 50cr
[R] Comb, red: 1cr
[R] Lemonie-Moistened Towelettes, 200 count: 50cr
[IR] Pen (plastic, black stick, black ink): 3cr
[R] Pen (metal, black w/gold trim, red or black ink): 10cr
Ink refills:
+[IR] Black 100cr
+[R] Red 100cr
[O] FastDraw Executive laser holster: 90cr
[O] Sunglasses: 2cr
[R] Bullhorn, with MegaBooster!: 50cr
[R] Plasticord, per meter: 1cr
[IR] Additional Clones, Six Pack: 6000cr
Management
Bootlicking: How to ingratiate yourself with superiors.
Chutzpah: Getting others to accept doubtful statements through confident assertion, bluffing and unmitigated gall.
Con Games: Hoodwinking a citizen or bot through fast talk, spurious logic and persuasion. This isn’t physical sleight of hand (see Sleight of Hand under Stealth).
Hygiene: Maintaining cleanliness in yourself, your surroundings, your teammates and innocent passersby.
Interrogation: Extracting useful information from Commie mutant scum.
Intimidation: This doesn’t exactly ingratiate you with your inferiors, but it gets their cooperation.
Moxie: Streetwise smarts; canny assessment of a person, situation or statement.
Oratory: How to get a bunch of people to do what you want.
Stealth
Concealment: Hiding stuff on your person or in your surroundings; also, spotting stuff others have hidden.
Disguise: Wearing a higher-clearance jumpsuit or false mustache without looking idiotic.
High Alert: Sensing imminent danger or covert surveillance. Not really different from most Troubleshooters’ typical state, except you only get alarmed over actual threats.
Security Systems: Jiggering locks and alarms.
Shadowing: Following someone without being noticed.
Sleight of Hand: Palming and pocketing small things without being noticed.
Sneaking: Moving around without being followed or noticed.
Surveillance: How to bug things. How to debug things.
Violence
Agility: Rapid or balanced movement, gymnastics, jumping.
Demolition: How to use TNT without killing yourself. At clearances below GREEN this skill is treasonous.
Energy Weapons: Hitting someone with a laser, sonic weapon or blaster. You can’t take Energy Weapons as a weakness, and it doesn’t count as one of your six common specialties.
Field Weapons: Flamethrowers, gauss guns, tanglers and the ever-popular plasma generator.
Fine Manipulation: Lockpicking, watchmaking, cutting the red wire one second before detonation.
Hand Weapons: Hitting someone with a force sword, neurowhip or truncheon, or with primitive weapons.
Projectile Weapons: Hitting someone with a slugthrower, cone rifle or other aimed weapon that uses ammunition.
Thrown Weapons: Hitting someone with a grenade, brick or rock.
Unarmed Combat: Hitting someone when you don’t have a hand, energy, projectile, thrown or vehicular weapon.
Vehicular Combat: Hitting someone with a weapon mounted on a vehicle.
Hardware
Bot Ops and Maintenance: How to operate and fix docbots, guardbots/warbots, jackobots, scrubots and vehicle autopilots.
Chemical Engineering: Lots of uses for this, but somehow PCs always want to use it to make explosives.
Electronic Engineering: How to string together circuits and microprocessors.
Habitat Engineering: Knowledge of the air, communication, transport, power, water and waste systems. Mighty handy when you need to find a ventilation shaft to escape incoming fire.
Mechanical Engineering: How to make really neat Rube Goldberg-type contraptions.
Nuclear Engineering: How to operate a reactor without flooding half the sector with radioactive waste.
Vehicle Ops and Maintenance: How to use and repair all vehicles: autocars, crawlers, flybots, copters and Vulturecraft.
Weapon and Armor Maintenance: Sabotaging others’ weapons and armor, and keeping yours from being sabotaged.
Software
Bot Programming: Revising bot instructions.
C-Bay: Getting the best price buying and selling on Alpha Complex auction sites.
Data Analysis: How to understand Computer-generated stuff.
Data Search: Finding something useful using The Computer.
Financial Systems: How to transfer credits safely for legitimate or criminal purposes.
Hacking: Breaking into The Computer’s systems. Really, what could go wrong? Treasonous at clearances below GREEN.
Operating Systems: Revising MemoMax clone backup tech.
Rewriting The Computer’s instructions. Treasonous at clearances below BLUE.
Vehicle Programming: Revising vehicle instructions.
Wetware
Biosciences: Knowing what’s likely to mutate you and how.
Bioweapons: Engineering your own Black Death or weaponized anthrax. Treasonous at clearances below BLUE.
Cloning: Repairing and operating the tanks that grow new and backup citizens. Operating MemoMax backup devices so the new clone remembers his name and boot size.
Medical: How to heal the injured and cure the sick, or ensure they don’t heal or get cured.
Outdoor Life: Telling a tree from a weed, or a bird from an elephant, when most citizens have never heard of these.
Pharmatherapy: Ensuring wakefulness, sleepiness, happiness or any mental state through the application of little pills.
Psychotherapy: Recognizing insanity; helping others recover from it or descend further into it.
Suggestion: Biochemical and psychological techniques of subliminal persuasion.
Bootlicking: How to ingratiate yourself with superiors.
Chutzpah: Getting others to accept doubtful statements through confident assertion, bluffing and unmitigated gall.
Con Games: Hoodwinking a citizen or bot through fast talk, spurious logic and persuasion. This isn’t physical sleight of hand (see Sleight of Hand under Stealth).
Hygiene: Maintaining cleanliness in yourself, your surroundings, your teammates and innocent passersby.
Interrogation: Extracting useful information from Commie mutant scum.
Intimidation: This doesn’t exactly ingratiate you with your inferiors, but it gets their cooperation.
Moxie: Streetwise smarts; canny assessment of a person, situation or statement.
Oratory: How to get a bunch of people to do what you want.
Stealth
Concealment: Hiding stuff on your person or in your surroundings; also, spotting stuff others have hidden.
Disguise: Wearing a higher-clearance jumpsuit or false mustache without looking idiotic.
High Alert: Sensing imminent danger or covert surveillance. Not really different from most Troubleshooters’ typical state, except you only get alarmed over actual threats.
Security Systems: Jiggering locks and alarms.
Shadowing: Following someone without being noticed.
Sleight of Hand: Palming and pocketing small things without being noticed.
Sneaking: Moving around without being followed or noticed.
Surveillance: How to bug things. How to debug things.
Violence
Agility: Rapid or balanced movement, gymnastics, jumping.
Demolition: How to use TNT without killing yourself. At clearances below GREEN this skill is treasonous.
Energy Weapons: Hitting someone with a laser, sonic weapon or blaster. You can’t take Energy Weapons as a weakness, and it doesn’t count as one of your six common specialties.
Field Weapons: Flamethrowers, gauss guns, tanglers and the ever-popular plasma generator.
Fine Manipulation: Lockpicking, watchmaking, cutting the red wire one second before detonation.
Hand Weapons: Hitting someone with a force sword, neurowhip or truncheon, or with primitive weapons.
Projectile Weapons: Hitting someone with a slugthrower, cone rifle or other aimed weapon that uses ammunition.
Thrown Weapons: Hitting someone with a grenade, brick or rock.
Unarmed Combat: Hitting someone when you don’t have a hand, energy, projectile, thrown or vehicular weapon.
Vehicular Combat: Hitting someone with a weapon mounted on a vehicle.
Hardware
Bot Ops and Maintenance: How to operate and fix docbots, guardbots/warbots, jackobots, scrubots and vehicle autopilots.
Chemical Engineering: Lots of uses for this, but somehow PCs always want to use it to make explosives.
Electronic Engineering: How to string together circuits and microprocessors.
Habitat Engineering: Knowledge of the air, communication, transport, power, water and waste systems. Mighty handy when you need to find a ventilation shaft to escape incoming fire.
Mechanical Engineering: How to make really neat Rube Goldberg-type contraptions.
Nuclear Engineering: How to operate a reactor without flooding half the sector with radioactive waste.
Vehicle Ops and Maintenance: How to use and repair all vehicles: autocars, crawlers, flybots, copters and Vulturecraft.
Weapon and Armor Maintenance: Sabotaging others’ weapons and armor, and keeping yours from being sabotaged.
Software
Bot Programming: Revising bot instructions.
C-Bay: Getting the best price buying and selling on Alpha Complex auction sites.
Data Analysis: How to understand Computer-generated stuff.
Data Search: Finding something useful using The Computer.
Financial Systems: How to transfer credits safely for legitimate or criminal purposes.
Hacking: Breaking into The Computer’s systems. Really, what could go wrong? Treasonous at clearances below GREEN.
Operating Systems: Revising MemoMax clone backup tech.
Rewriting The Computer’s instructions. Treasonous at clearances below BLUE.
Vehicle Programming: Revising vehicle instructions.
Wetware
Biosciences: Knowing what’s likely to mutate you and how.
Bioweapons: Engineering your own Black Death or weaponized anthrax. Treasonous at clearances below BLUE.
Cloning: Repairing and operating the tanks that grow new and backup citizens. Operating MemoMax backup devices so the new clone remembers his name and boot size.
Medical: How to heal the injured and cure the sick, or ensure they don’t heal or get cured.
Outdoor Life: Telling a tree from a weed, or a bird from an elephant, when most citizens have never heard of these.
Pharmatherapy: Ensuring wakefulness, sleepiness, happiness or any mental state through the application of little pills.
Psychotherapy: Recognizing insanity; helping others recover from it or descend further into it.
Suggestion: Biochemical and psychological techniques of subliminal persuasion.
[You know a post is big when you have to preemptively post it so that way you can read what you've already posted.]
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From The Pub at the End of the Multiverse
{Always Accepting}
__
This pub ("The Really Public Gardens") is an [Inn Between Worlds](tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/I…). You can enter the pub from any multiverse. Inside the pub, real-life characters, roleplay characters, fictional characters, fictional gods, and roleplayers themselves can chat, have a pint, play pool/billiards/darts/game of your choosing, eat any dish they can dream of (they've got a very extensive kitchen), or just sit and watch the proceedings.
It's owned by Mary Sue, an omnipotent and omniscient ultra-Goddess capable of performing any action at any time, including kicking gods out, restoring the bar to its original condition, being generally right about things, and being completely impossible to harm, kill, or incapacitate. She doesn't normally tend the bar or wait tables, however.
TL;DR: It's a place where characters from any roleplay can hang out with characters from any other roleplay. Or meet real-life people. Or meet fictional people. Or meet the roleplayers.
---
####Character Sheets:
Note that to be "accepted" into this "roleplay", all you have to do is correctly and completely fill out a character sheet and post it in the "Characters" tab. I retain the right to veto your character if they're overly sexual or violate the site rules.
**Name:**
**Gender:**
**Appearance:**
**One-Sentence Description:**
**Link to Character Sheet/Reference Source:**
_**Example**_
**Name:** George W. Bush
**Gender:** Male
**Appearance:**
**One-Sentence Description:** A former President of the United States of America with a severe public speaking problem.
**Link to Character Sheet/Reference Source:** [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush]…
---
####OOC Rules:
1. Site rules apply.
2. Erotic things have no place here. Feel free to take it to a PM, but tastefully fade to black in the RP.
3. Multiverse means multiple copies of the same character can exist. Or characters from different points in time.
4. To participate, you must fill out a character sheet.
5. Try to avoid taking over the bar.
If someone suddenly stops posting, it's assumed that their characters have picked up and left the pub. They can come back at any time, of course.
{Always Accepting}
__
This pub ("The Really Public Gardens") is an [Inn Between Worlds](tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/I…). You can enter the pub from any multiverse. Inside the pub, real-life characters, roleplay characters, fictional characters, fictional gods, and roleplayers themselves can chat, have a pint, play pool/billiards/darts/game of your choosing, eat any dish they can dream of (they've got a very extensive kitchen), or just sit and watch the proceedings.
It's owned by Mary Sue, an omnipotent and omniscient ultra-Goddess capable of performing any action at any time, including kicking gods out, restoring the bar to its original condition, being generally right about things, and being completely impossible to harm, kill, or incapacitate. She doesn't normally tend the bar or wait tables, however.
TL;DR: It's a place where characters from any roleplay can hang out with characters from any other roleplay. Or meet real-life people. Or meet fictional people. Or meet the roleplayers.
---
####Character Sheets:
Note that to be "accepted" into this "roleplay", all you have to do is correctly and completely fill out a character sheet and post it in the "Characters" tab. I retain the right to veto your character if they're overly sexual or violate the site rules.
**Name:**
**Gender:**
**Appearance:**
**One-Sentence Description:**
**Link to Character Sheet/Reference Source:**
_**Example**_
**Name:** George W. Bush
**Gender:** Male
**Appearance:**
**One-Sentence Description:** A former President of the United States of America with a severe public speaking problem.
**Link to Character Sheet/Reference Source:** [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush]…
---
####OOC Rules:
1. Site rules apply.
2. Erotic things have no place here. Feel free to take it to a PM, but tastefully fade to black in the RP.
3. Multiverse means multiple copies of the same character can exist. Or characters from different points in time.
4. To participate, you must fill out a character sheet.
5. Try to avoid taking over the bar.
If someone suddenly stops posting, it's assumed that their characters have picked up and left the pub. They can come back at any time, of course.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Orbitum 2 - Sci Fi Space Nation NRP
|Nation Name: Kerbal Interstellar Program
|Race(s): Kerbals
|Physiology: Kerbals have very bulbous eyes, a comparitively small torso and large head, two teeth (one attached to the jaw and one attached to the skull), two arms with four-fingered hands, and two feet with four toes. Their blood uses vanadium rather than hemoglobin, giving them a greenish tint. 80 percent of a Kerbal skeleton is actually cartilage, significantly increasing their squishiness and allowing them to survive falls from great heights... not that that, honestly, helps them significantly. The majority of their organs are housed in their cylindrical heads, leaving only their lungs, heart, and "intestinal piping" in their torso. They have no nose, instead relying on their mouths to breathe. Nor do they have ears; instead, sound is detected through vibrations in the fluids contained in their oversized eyeballs.
In the Age of Genetic Engineering, however, a few things changed from their natural physiology. The first was the invention of asexual breeding via mitosis, preventing all those tricky times when Kerbals forgot about Kalentine's Day. This also had the effect of quadrupling their birth rate. The second was the addition of symbiotic algae to their skin, enabling them to survive without food for longer periods of time. This was totally the intended result, and not brought about because a genticist was embarrased at the paleness of his skin.
|Habitat: Earthlike
|Summary in a Sentence: Lovable idiots with rockets, whose main goal is to land on every celestial body that they find (they're still figuring out how to land on their sun).
|Racial Traits:
-Extreme Stupidity (Or is it just courage?)
Kerbals will generally try anything at least once, no matter how ridiculous. Perhaps it stems from an innate trust that the Kerbals before them knew what they were doing. If a rocket was designed with thrusters off-center and only on one side (because the engineer's printer ran out of ink halfway through), then the builders will construct it without question. Similarly, the pilot will fly it without question. And then die when it inevitably explodes -spontaneously lands- 50m from the launch pad.
+Incredibly Rapid Reproduction
One of the more prominant families on Kerbin, the Kerman line, has over 1,000 siblings in the current generation. At least half of those have died.
|Systems Occupied:
|Name: Kerbol
+Planets:
burnt planet, no atmosphere, close to the sun.
toxic purple world with a surprisingly thick atmosphere
lovely temperate world, quite habitable
-This is the Kerbal homeworld. Although interstellar rockets are now assembled in Uranian or Joolian orbit (to take advantage of those planets' magnetospheres for antimatter production), much of the space industry is still centered here.
thin atmosphere, full of iron and therefore red
-Beyond a few mining and research bases, not much is on this world.
no atmosphere, small, orbit is eccentric; possibly a moon that escaped Uranian orbit
blue gas giant with many moons, two of which are habitable (though cold), and one of which (a captured planet) is so hot, it nearly qualifies as a brown dwarf
-Although the Jool has a better magnetosphere to collect antimatter from, Urania's moons are significantly warmer. Therefore, Urania is home to most of the Kerbal's interstellar manufacturing industry.
+Hestia:
Remarkably warm (only -7 C!) world covered in mats of algae and moss
-The plentiful algae and moss is extracted to make space food
+Ares:
World rich in iron, similar to Duna, except Ares managed to hold on to its oceans
-Ares is the second-most populated world in the Kerbol system aside from Kerbin itself. Many kerbals live on Ares and commute to the interstellar construction yards in Uranian orbit.
green gas giant with several moons, one of which is habitable (and also, at -40C, very cold)
-Due to a strong magnetosphere, Jool is Kerbal's primary antimatter collection site. Therefore, it is the primary refuelling site in the Kerbol system.
+Laythe:
Kerbal-like world... only the oceans are incredibly salty, preventing them from freezing
-Despite its temperature, it's the third-most populated world in the Kerbol system, to support the burgeoning fuel industry
distant frozen iceball
|Location: In the middle of a galactic arm, not unreasonably far from other civilizations
|Civilization Tier: 3
The Kerbals have finally, after many thousands of deaths, stranded kerbalnauts, and mysterious accidents, just managed to crack the secrets of FTL travel. Now if only there was any guarantee of their rockets actually making it anywhere....
|Population: 25 billion
|Culture/Society: The Kerbal way is trial and error. They got into orbit only after losing their initial crop of volunteers, and then they realized that they never put parachutes on the oribiter. Luckily for Jebadiah, he was rescued after only 7 more attempts. His rescue went down in history as the first successful orbital rendevouz. Missions to Duna, the fourth planet in their system, regularly ran out of fuel until they managed to guess the correct amount (and the correct thrust-to-weight ratio of the rocket).
They also are a remarkably one-purpose civilization. Their society goes through different phases, each marked by a remarkable drive for the entire species to work toward a singular goal. In the modern era, they are obsessed with rocketry, spaceflight, and aeronautics. Their entire economy is devoted to that goal, which is good for them, because the cost of the sheer number of failed spacecraft is astronomical.
These guys generally have three emotions - terrified, bored, and ecstatic. Arguably they also have a fourth - terristatic, a combination of the first and the last. Kerbals are adrenaline
|Military: The Kerbals don't have a real military. In the Age of Hunting, they developed the standard spears and guns with which to defend themselves, but once they progressed to the top of the food chain, weapons development practically stagnated. They've stumbled upon space weaponry via rocket staging accidents and wildly overpowered communications arrays, but never having a need to use them, there's no military to speak of. They do have a few weapons lying around that they like to use on uninhabited planets and to deorbit space stations, though.
Kinetic Missile: This is an unmanned rocket. Explodes rather nicely.
Mass Driver: If you put a big ball of ceramics in front of a rocket, it gets launched at speed. Great fun.
Maser: Early experiments in beaming power via microwave lasers occasionally roasted chunks of Kerbin and the Mun.
Lasers: A kerbal engineer accidentally designed a vastly overpowered communications laser once, and this is the weaponized result.
|Government: There is no government. Any actual progress in society is due to emergent behavior, generally speaking. This makes it difficult, however, to reassure other civilizations that treaties will be respected. Not that they've met any other civilizations yet.
|Economy: Kerbal economy is generally capitalist. Given the complete lack of law, several megacorporations and monopolies have cropped up, and the stock market tends to crash and peak rather spectacularly every few decades. Most Kerbals don't actually care, instead being focused on whichever goal their society is working toward at the moment. That means that any company that doesn't demonstrate its usefulness towards aerospace in the current age will fail. Even restaurants are sponsered by aerospace groups, if not owned by them outright.
|History:
Age of Hunting: Lasting from the initial Kerbals wading ashore (and waving goodby to their tunicate cousins) to the moment Tombal Kerdison discovered steam power.
Age of Steam: Lasting from the first steam engines until Nikla Teska discovered electricity.
Age of Electrics: Lasting from the first dc generator up to Howie Kendel's completion of the Kerbal Genome Mapping project
Age of Genetics: Lasting from the first hesitant steps toward mitosis to the moment Wernher von Kerman's lab exploded so violently that some of the ceiling tiles never fell back to Kerbin.
Age of Aerospace: From the first rather explosive rockets all the way up to the present day Alkubierre Drive technology.
|Ships:
The Kerbal's first (relatively) successful attempt at a truly interstellar ship. The Jebediah was named after one of the three great heroes of the early Space Age, Jebediah Kerman. It comes fully equipped with a science lab, various comms dishes, an external analog computer (just in case), more science experiments than you can shake a stick at, an antimatter-initiated fusion reactor, alkubierre faster-than-light technology, and the reconfigurable KIS Bob/Bill lander/space plane system (to be assembled in orbit). Crew of seven.
The Bob/Bill cockpit segment in the Jebediah's cargo bay.
The Jebediah in FTL.
|Nation Name: Kerbal Interstellar Program
|Race(s): Kerbals
|Physiology: Kerbals have very bulbous eyes, a comparitively small torso and large head, two teeth (one attached to the jaw and one attached to the skull), two arms with four-fingered hands, and two feet with four toes. Their blood uses vanadium rather than hemoglobin, giving them a greenish tint. 80 percent of a Kerbal skeleton is actually cartilage, significantly increasing their squishiness and allowing them to survive falls from great heights... not that that, honestly, helps them significantly. The majority of their organs are housed in their cylindrical heads, leaving only their lungs, heart, and "intestinal piping" in their torso. They have no nose, instead relying on their mouths to breathe. Nor do they have ears; instead, sound is detected through vibrations in the fluids contained in their oversized eyeballs.
In the Age of Genetic Engineering, however, a few things changed from their natural physiology. The first was the invention of asexual breeding via mitosis, preventing all those tricky times when Kerbals forgot about Kalentine's Day. This also had the effect of quadrupling their birth rate. The second was the addition of symbiotic algae to their skin, enabling them to survive without food for longer periods of time. This was totally the intended result, and not brought about because a genticist was embarrased at the paleness of his skin.
|Habitat: Earthlike
|Summary in a Sentence: Lovable idiots with rockets, whose main goal is to land on every celestial body that they find (they're still figuring out how to land on their sun).
|Racial Traits:
-Extreme Stupidity (Or is it just courage?)
Kerbals will generally try anything at least once, no matter how ridiculous. Perhaps it stems from an innate trust that the Kerbals before them knew what they were doing. If a rocket was designed with thrusters off-center and only on one side (because the engineer's printer ran out of ink halfway through), then the builders will construct it without question. Similarly, the pilot will fly it without question. And then die when it inevitably explodes -spontaneously lands- 50m from the launch pad.
+Incredibly Rapid Reproduction
One of the more prominant families on Kerbin, the Kerman line, has over 1,000 siblings in the current generation. At least half of those have died.
|Systems Occupied:
|Name: Kerbol
+Planets:
burnt planet, no atmosphere, close to the sun.
toxic purple world with a surprisingly thick atmosphere
lovely temperate world, quite habitable
-This is the Kerbal homeworld. Although interstellar rockets are now assembled in Uranian or Joolian orbit (to take advantage of those planets' magnetospheres for antimatter production), much of the space industry is still centered here.
thin atmosphere, full of iron and therefore red
-Beyond a few mining and research bases, not much is on this world.
no atmosphere, small, orbit is eccentric; possibly a moon that escaped Uranian orbit
blue gas giant with many moons, two of which are habitable (though cold), and one of which (a captured planet) is so hot, it nearly qualifies as a brown dwarf
-Although the Jool has a better magnetosphere to collect antimatter from, Urania's moons are significantly warmer. Therefore, Urania is home to most of the Kerbal's interstellar manufacturing industry.
+Hestia:
Remarkably warm (only -7 C!) world covered in mats of algae and moss
-The plentiful algae and moss is extracted to make space food
+Ares:
World rich in iron, similar to Duna, except Ares managed to hold on to its oceans
-Ares is the second-most populated world in the Kerbol system aside from Kerbin itself. Many kerbals live on Ares and commute to the interstellar construction yards in Uranian orbit.
green gas giant with several moons, one of which is habitable (and also, at -40C, very cold)
-Due to a strong magnetosphere, Jool is Kerbal's primary antimatter collection site. Therefore, it is the primary refuelling site in the Kerbol system.
+Laythe:
Kerbal-like world... only the oceans are incredibly salty, preventing them from freezing
-Despite its temperature, it's the third-most populated world in the Kerbol system, to support the burgeoning fuel industry
distant frozen iceball
|Location: In the middle of a galactic arm, not unreasonably far from other civilizations
|Civilization Tier: 3
The Kerbals have finally, after many thousands of deaths, stranded kerbalnauts, and mysterious accidents, just managed to crack the secrets of FTL travel. Now if only there was any guarantee of their rockets actually making it anywhere....
|Population: 25 billion
|Culture/Society: The Kerbal way is trial and error. They got into orbit only after losing their initial crop of volunteers, and then they realized that they never put parachutes on the oribiter. Luckily for Jebadiah, he was rescued after only 7 more attempts. His rescue went down in history as the first successful orbital rendevouz. Missions to Duna, the fourth planet in their system, regularly ran out of fuel until they managed to guess the correct amount (and the correct thrust-to-weight ratio of the rocket).
They also are a remarkably one-purpose civilization. Their society goes through different phases, each marked by a remarkable drive for the entire species to work toward a singular goal. In the modern era, they are obsessed with rocketry, spaceflight, and aeronautics. Their entire economy is devoted to that goal, which is good for them, because the cost of the sheer number of failed spacecraft is astronomical.
These guys generally have three emotions - terrified, bored, and ecstatic. Arguably they also have a fourth - terristatic, a combination of the first and the last. Kerbals are adrenaline
|Military: The Kerbals don't have a real military. In the Age of Hunting, they developed the standard spears and guns with which to defend themselves, but once they progressed to the top of the food chain, weapons development practically stagnated. They've stumbled upon space weaponry via rocket staging accidents and wildly overpowered communications arrays, but never having a need to use them, there's no military to speak of. They do have a few weapons lying around that they like to use on uninhabited planets and to deorbit space stations, though.
Kinetic Missile: This is an unmanned rocket. Explodes rather nicely.
Mass Driver: If you put a big ball of ceramics in front of a rocket, it gets launched at speed. Great fun.
Maser: Early experiments in beaming power via microwave lasers occasionally roasted chunks of Kerbin and the Mun.
Lasers: A kerbal engineer accidentally designed a vastly overpowered communications laser once, and this is the weaponized result.
|Government: There is no government. Any actual progress in society is due to emergent behavior, generally speaking. This makes it difficult, however, to reassure other civilizations that treaties will be respected. Not that they've met any other civilizations yet.
|Economy: Kerbal economy is generally capitalist. Given the complete lack of law, several megacorporations and monopolies have cropped up, and the stock market tends to crash and peak rather spectacularly every few decades. Most Kerbals don't actually care, instead being focused on whichever goal their society is working toward at the moment. That means that any company that doesn't demonstrate its usefulness towards aerospace in the current age will fail. Even restaurants are sponsered by aerospace groups, if not owned by them outright.
|History:
Age of Hunting: Lasting from the initial Kerbals wading ashore (and waving goodby to their tunicate cousins) to the moment Tombal Kerdison discovered steam power.
Age of Steam: Lasting from the first steam engines until Nikla Teska discovered electricity.
Age of Electrics: Lasting from the first dc generator up to Howie Kendel's completion of the Kerbal Genome Mapping project
Age of Genetics: Lasting from the first hesitant steps toward mitosis to the moment Wernher von Kerman's lab exploded so violently that some of the ceiling tiles never fell back to Kerbin.
Age of Aerospace: From the first rather explosive rockets all the way up to the present day Alkubierre Drive technology.
|Ships:
The Kerbal's first (relatively) successful attempt at a truly interstellar ship. The Jebediah was named after one of the three great heroes of the early Space Age, Jebediah Kerman. It comes fully equipped with a science lab, various comms dishes, an external analog computer (just in case), more science experiments than you can shake a stick at, an antimatter-initiated fusion reactor, alkubierre faster-than-light technology, and the reconfigurable KIS Bob/Bill lander/space plane system (to be assembled in orbit). Crew of seven.
The Bob/Bill cockpit segment in the Jebediah's cargo bay.
The Jebediah in FTL.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From You All Meet at an Inn
I'm looking for four to five people to play a fantasy RPG. In playing the game, you will also be worldbuilding it. I will not play every NPC; I will just play the important ones. That means that if you need a shopkeeping assistant to talk to, or a love interest, or anything of the sort, just create them. If you aren't sure how our elves are better, make them so.
The three caveats to this rule are as follows:
1 - I reserve the right to veto creations in extreme circumstances (eg: against the site rules)
2 - If you come up with some elaborate backstory for a race in your head, but don't demonstrate any of it in your writing, then that backstory doesn't exist yet
3 - Group worldbuilding means that all of our creations can be added to; this means that nothing we create will be specifically ours aside from our characters. If you make an incredibly elaborate backstory for elves, and then someone adds to elves and takes them in a different direction, then too bad.
In other words, go off of what's been posted, and then add to it. If you need to make up an entire race and kingdom to justify some small thing, just do it.
Rather than post 16,000,000 words on the backstory of the dwarves or something in the IC, put in the OOC. Exposition dumps in the OOC; IC is for introducing/acting upon new elements of the setting.
I will do my best to collect races, kingdoms, etc on the zeroth post of the OOC.
The setting which I'm going for is a trope-filled, tongue-in-cheek, fantasy setting with magic, stock fantasy races, probably some sort of pantheon of gods, and the inevitable kingdom or two.
This is sort-of like DnD without the tabletop elements.
Characters:
Characters will grow as the adventure progresses. After each module, you'll receive loot - part of that loot might be a new spell or strength training. Obviously, I'll tailor these to the characters. Alternatively, you could spend time in town learning new bardic songs or reading up on animal tracking. Character advancment, in other words, can happen organically, so long as it's RP'd (nothing is free).
All of that means you should not start out very powerful; leave room for your character to grow. Aim for slightly-better than normal.
In addition to the character sheets, the party should know each other. To that end, I've made a party sheet for everyone to fill out via decisions in OOC.
The ale is flowing, spirits are high, and three things catch the party's eye:
1)
A small list tacked half-hazardly to a well used pole. It contains advertisements for magical items of dubious quality and a posting that says, "Alchemical Shop-Minders Wanted". At the top, in dark, blood-red ink and wide, sans-serif letters, it says, "Craig's List".2)
A mysterious gentleman with a long, white beard lurks in a shady corner, staring at the party from underneath a dark, hooded cloak. Several times, he has started to stand and move toward the party, but he quickly changes his mind. He periodically mutters something about a ring.3)
A dwarf sits at the bar, war hammer leaning on his stool, blankly staring at his ale and not drinking it. Engraved on the hammer is a masterfully designed image of a dwarf, an elephant, and a butterfly. The dwarf is making a plaintive gesture. The elephant is laughing. The butterfly is dead.I'm looking for four to five people to play a fantasy RPG. In playing the game, you will also be worldbuilding it. I will not play every NPC; I will just play the important ones. That means that if you need a shopkeeping assistant to talk to, or a love interest, or anything of the sort, just create them. If you aren't sure how our elves are better, make them so.
The three caveats to this rule are as follows:
1 - I reserve the right to veto creations in extreme circumstances (eg: against the site rules)
2 - If you come up with some elaborate backstory for a race in your head, but don't demonstrate any of it in your writing, then that backstory doesn't exist yet
3 - Group worldbuilding means that all of our creations can be added to; this means that nothing we create will be specifically ours aside from our characters. If you make an incredibly elaborate backstory for elves, and then someone adds to elves and takes them in a different direction, then too bad.
In other words, go off of what's been posted, and then add to it. If you need to make up an entire race and kingdom to justify some small thing, just do it.
Rather than post 16,000,000 words on the backstory of the dwarves or something in the IC, put in the OOC. Exposition dumps in the OOC; IC is for introducing/acting upon new elements of the setting.
I will do my best to collect races, kingdoms, etc on the zeroth post of the OOC.
The setting which I'm going for is a trope-filled, tongue-in-cheek, fantasy setting with magic, stock fantasy races, probably some sort of pantheon of gods, and the inevitable kingdom or two.
This is sort-of like DnD without the tabletop elements.
Characters:
Characters will grow as the adventure progresses. After each module, you'll receive loot - part of that loot might be a new spell or strength training. Obviously, I'll tailor these to the characters. Alternatively, you could spend time in town learning new bardic songs or reading up on animal tracking. Character advancment, in other words, can happen organically, so long as it's RP'd (nothing is free).
All of that means you should not start out very powerful; leave room for your character to grow. Aim for slightly-better than normal.
In addition to the character sheets, the party should know each other. To that end, I've made a party sheet for everyone to fill out via decisions in OOC.
Accepted:
Pending:
Pending:
Feel free to add catagories to this, if you like
Name:
Gender:
Class: What's your job in the party? Do you heal? Make spells? Shoot things? Talk?
Race:
Description:
Why you're adventuring with the party: Don't list literally everything, and keep in mind that you should have room to grow.
Notable skills or equipment:
Background:
Some classes I thought of just now; by no means should this list limit you:
Name:
Gender:
Class: What's your job in the party? Do you heal? Make spells? Shoot things? Talk?
Race:
Description:
Why you're adventuring with the party: Don't list literally everything, and keep in mind that you should have room to grow.
Notable skills or equipment:
Background:
Some classes I thought of just now; by no means should this list limit you:
Alchemist
Tinkerer
Artificer
Wizard
Knight
Cleric
Bard
Merchant
Fighter
Ranger
Thief
Driver
Druid
Tinkerer
Artificer
Wizard
Knight
Cleric
Bard
Merchant
Fighter
Ranger
Thief
Driver
Druid
See my note above "class ideas".
Human
Elf
Dwarf
Orc
Halfling
Gnome
Pixie
Hobbit
Lizardman
Construct
Kobold
Mer (tricky to play on land, I imagine)
Human
Elf
Dwarf
Orc
Halfling
Gnome
Pixie
Hobbit
Lizardman
Construct
Kobold
Mer (tricky to play on land, I imagine)
[u]Name:[/u]
[u]Gender:[/u]
[u]Class:[/u]
[u]Race:[/u]
[u]Description:[/u]
[u]Why you're adventuring with the party:[/u]
[u]Notable skills or equipment:[/u]
[u]Background:[/u]
I will add answers to this as you decide things in OOC.
- Who is the best cook?
- Who owes someone else a favor, and what is it?
- How did you meet?
- What is the best purchase your party ever made?
- Who is the messiest person?
- Who is the most dependable?
- Who should never, ever keep watch again, and why?
- What's the most illegal thing you've done?
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Exile: A Sci-Fi NRP on an Untamed World
I've had an idea. Can I have a colony outside the safe zone? Well, less a colony than horrible-idea-for-a-theme park, still under construction.
~o~0~o~
Complete. To do: Flag? Pictures? Integration with other players?
==================================================
)Name - Pratchapadri
)Summary in a sentence: Nation with a wealthy, pleasure-loving upper class, ostensibly "green" but completely condescending toward the dangers of Brahma, flagrantly abusing valuable resources, rapidly sliding toward an economic collapse.
)Location -
)Leader - Demi Kaan - A relatively young Chief Counsel of Pratchapadri, Demi often wonders if she's even necessary. Many of the problems that actually make their way up to her office have been boiled down to three choices: the obviously correct one, an obviously incorrect one, and what the National Party wants her to do. Very rarely do any of those choices coincide, but even more rarely do her actions matter. Honestly, she feels like an advisor to the other Counsels than the other way around, occasionally offering advice or a recommended course of action. She would ask the other Chief Counsels if this is how they felt, if any of them were alive. Indeed, the position seems to have a disturbing trend of death, whether accidental or otherwise. Only two Chief Counsels in Pratchapadri's history have died of old age.
)History -
Originally a district of the original colonization efforts, Pratchapadri grew into it's own not long after settling. The nation became known for its prosperous citizens, bustling central stock market, and fervent love of Brahman wildlife. The society welcomed Tkrai as equals, or at least claimed to. There was always a "learning gap" - many "batmen" had to learn human customs before being hired. Such customs tests were, while perhaps well-intentioned, poorly executed. Very few batmen ever rose above middle management, if they were employed at all.
Once the Listeners came on the scene, Pratchapadri welcomed the new immigrants with open arms and easy naturalization laws. As the population grew, new businesses expanded, and the nation entered an economic boom. A new class of citizens found themselves suddenly ultra-wealthy, making money off of the stock market - once they could afford to invest. The new class of citizenry could now afford more extravagent entertainment. Although very few ultra-wealth citizens actually engaged in such antics, all were equally fascinated by them. When you had trillions of rupheeds, even a 1% budget devoted to entertainment would result in vast expenditures. Extravagent balls, harkening back to a "bygone era of enlightenment"; charity auctions of priceless flora and fauna (whose charities were devoted to the preservation of the Brahman environment, of course); and vacations into the "Wild" Zone became all the rave.
All was not perfect, however. Many immigrants were exploited mercilessly, forced to work long hours with no reaks just to make a living. The robotic intelligences, expanded from the original colonization effort, felt threatened by the new wave of immigrants - they felt that they were being treated as third and fourth class citizens with a new group taking the place of second-class. Not that the RI's were particularly pleased being second-class. Pressures began to grow especially high, however, as limited silver supplies grew even more scarce. Silver, of course, is crucial in the construction of an RI, and without it, new RI's couldn't be constructed without special permits from the Robotics Oversight Committee. The RI's were forced, in essence, to ask the government for permission to have new kids. Meanwhile, batmen became increasingly restless with the impossibility of advancement.
A few economists, studying historical models of present-day behavior (so-called "historeconomics") became concerned with the growing trend of complete trust in the stock market. Many pointed out that this type of growth was competely unsustainable, while others tried to quiet the "fear-mongering" before people took it to seriously and withdrew too many funds at once. Increasingly complex stock-buying schemes defied public comprehension (stock-broking was, in fact, one of the principal employers of RI's). With many of the public seeing RI's as suspicious and untrustworthy, stock-broking companies have had to resort to more and more elaborate "Attractive Options".
Throughout all of this, Pratchapadrians are optimistic about the future. The market would, in the end, work itself out - once it had finished fluctuating from the sudden refugee/immigrant influx. Rather than focusing on important societal issues, most media attention turned to Kama Brahma, the pet project of ultra-wealthy Chandra Patil. Patil wanted to capture the "harmony of Man and Brahma" by creating a Wild Zone park and animal preserve. More specifically, he aimed to disarm the public of its notions about the danger of Brahman wildlife. To that end, he'd carved out a remote island in a crater to the southwest, hired mercenaries and "upstanding citizens" of neighboring states to capture Brahman wildlife, and flew said wildlife to the island. Kama Brahma is divided into eight pens, a tourist area, and a small airport/docks. It features "authentic Brahman tours" with Tkrai guides (many of whom have lived in the city all their life), sixteen megafauna (seven of which are carnivorous), and a Brahman petting zoo.
)People:
-Dr. Moya Jain: Economic Advisor to the Chief Counsel. She feels very trapped in her position. On the one hand, she wants to exploit the current boom to encourage more economic progress. On the other, however, she sees the coming economic collapse and wants to stop it, but feels a need to do so without accidentally causing it in the process.
-Tikrik V'khari: Perhaps one of the most controversial appointments in Pratchapadri history, Tikrik is the first Tkrai appointment to the Counsel of Diplomacy. The media made a circus of his appointment, both praising the open mindedness of Chief Counsel Demi and deriding it as an obvious move to "diversify" the National Party. Though he is in charge of Pratchapadri's relations with its neighbors, he feels incompetent due to the overwhelming media circus around his appointment. This is especially problematic, as Tikrik is well aware that the state he represents may not be around much longer.
-Chandra Patil: An ultra-wealthy business man, known for his charitable donations and creation of Kama Brahma. Though he earnestly sees himself as a fervent environmental advocate, he's hardly been beyond the Safe Zone, nor even into the enclosures in his theme park. He leaves all the "just and vital work" to the hired hands, trusting them completely. He comes off as either very naive or good-natured but misguided, but he has the money to pay for everything, so what can anyone do?
-Vivek Dipaka: The Security Counsel. A very scary (and rather old) man, having survived the second Ecological Harmonization period of Pratchapadrian expansion. He commands what is really more of a cadre of xenobiologists than any proper military, though he does offer contracts to nearby states' mercenaries for any civil unrests. Such a policy is not well-received by the lower classes that cause said unrests, but Vivek has little choice. A tired old man for a tired position.
)Organizations:
-Workers United: The WU is a coalition of Tkrai, immigrant workers, and robotic intelligences whose goal is to reform the government to acknowledge new population demographics. While entirely peaceful and nonviolent, the WU is looked at with extreme distrust because of the actions of the Morganists. Obviously, this has caused a lingering mistrust between the two organizations.
-The Organization for the Protection of Brahma and the Environment: Orignally a charity, the OPBE claim to be the only "true" environmentalists left in Pratchapadri. While technically legal, membership in this organization is suspicious. Backdoor dealings in the Senate lead some to believe that the OPBE is covertly attempting to gain control of the National Party. Very opposed to Kama Brahma, as the OPBE is convinced that Patil is, in fact, exploiting the wildlife and doing so in an incredibly dangerous, arrogant manner.
-The Morganists: A faction in favor of stricter regulation of businesses, convinced that the economy is going to collapse. Labelled as a terrorist organization by the state due to their increasingly violent demonstrations. Several bombings have been unsubstantially blamed upon the Morganists. While they are not opposed to the Workers United, the Morganists try to distance themselves for the WU's own protection. This policy has only served to sour relations between the two factions further.
-Kama Brahma: [located on the island in the large crater to the southwest] A theme park featuring the wildlife and megafauna of Brahma, "safely" caged and controlled. They also offer jungle tours and "authentic" native Tkrai guides! Transportation by aircraft is preferred. Kama Brahma is perhaps one of the largest private employers of mercenary security forces in Pratchapadri, being unconscionably wary of the OPBE and Morganists. The Morganists, Kama Brahma feels, would love to get their hands on the park and implement many economic controls that would prevent the animals from roaming free. Or at least, in a simulated freedom.
I've had an idea. Can I have a colony outside the safe zone? Well, less a colony than horrible-idea-for-a-theme park, still under construction.
~o~0~o~
Complete. To do: Flag? Pictures? Integration with other players?
==================================================
)Name - Pratchapadri
)Summary in a sentence: Nation with a wealthy, pleasure-loving upper class, ostensibly "green" but completely condescending toward the dangers of Brahma, flagrantly abusing valuable resources, rapidly sliding toward an economic collapse.
)Location -
)Leader - Demi Kaan - A relatively young Chief Counsel of Pratchapadri, Demi often wonders if she's even necessary. Many of the problems that actually make their way up to her office have been boiled down to three choices: the obviously correct one, an obviously incorrect one, and what the National Party wants her to do. Very rarely do any of those choices coincide, but even more rarely do her actions matter. Honestly, she feels like an advisor to the other Counsels than the other way around, occasionally offering advice or a recommended course of action. She would ask the other Chief Counsels if this is how they felt, if any of them were alive. Indeed, the position seems to have a disturbing trend of death, whether accidental or otherwise. Only two Chief Counsels in Pratchapadri's history have died of old age.
)History -
Originally a district of the original colonization efforts, Pratchapadri grew into it's own not long after settling. The nation became known for its prosperous citizens, bustling central stock market, and fervent love of Brahman wildlife. The society welcomed Tkrai as equals, or at least claimed to. There was always a "learning gap" - many "batmen" had to learn human customs before being hired. Such customs tests were, while perhaps well-intentioned, poorly executed. Very few batmen ever rose above middle management, if they were employed at all.
Once the Listeners came on the scene, Pratchapadri welcomed the new immigrants with open arms and easy naturalization laws. As the population grew, new businesses expanded, and the nation entered an economic boom. A new class of citizens found themselves suddenly ultra-wealthy, making money off of the stock market - once they could afford to invest. The new class of citizenry could now afford more extravagent entertainment. Although very few ultra-wealth citizens actually engaged in such antics, all were equally fascinated by them. When you had trillions of rupheeds, even a 1% budget devoted to entertainment would result in vast expenditures. Extravagent balls, harkening back to a "bygone era of enlightenment"; charity auctions of priceless flora and fauna (whose charities were devoted to the preservation of the Brahman environment, of course); and vacations into the "Wild" Zone became all the rave.
All was not perfect, however. Many immigrants were exploited mercilessly, forced to work long hours with no reaks just to make a living. The robotic intelligences, expanded from the original colonization effort, felt threatened by the new wave of immigrants - they felt that they were being treated as third and fourth class citizens with a new group taking the place of second-class. Not that the RI's were particularly pleased being second-class. Pressures began to grow especially high, however, as limited silver supplies grew even more scarce. Silver, of course, is crucial in the construction of an RI, and without it, new RI's couldn't be constructed without special permits from the Robotics Oversight Committee. The RI's were forced, in essence, to ask the government for permission to have new kids. Meanwhile, batmen became increasingly restless with the impossibility of advancement.
A few economists, studying historical models of present-day behavior (so-called "historeconomics") became concerned with the growing trend of complete trust in the stock market. Many pointed out that this type of growth was competely unsustainable, while others tried to quiet the "fear-mongering" before people took it to seriously and withdrew too many funds at once. Increasingly complex stock-buying schemes defied public comprehension (stock-broking was, in fact, one of the principal employers of RI's). With many of the public seeing RI's as suspicious and untrustworthy, stock-broking companies have had to resort to more and more elaborate "Attractive Options".
Throughout all of this, Pratchapadrians are optimistic about the future. The market would, in the end, work itself out - once it had finished fluctuating from the sudden refugee/immigrant influx. Rather than focusing on important societal issues, most media attention turned to Kama Brahma, the pet project of ultra-wealthy Chandra Patil. Patil wanted to capture the "harmony of Man and Brahma" by creating a Wild Zone park and animal preserve. More specifically, he aimed to disarm the public of its notions about the danger of Brahman wildlife. To that end, he'd carved out a remote island in a crater to the southwest, hired mercenaries and "upstanding citizens" of neighboring states to capture Brahman wildlife, and flew said wildlife to the island. Kama Brahma is divided into eight pens, a tourist area, and a small airport/docks. It features "authentic Brahman tours" with Tkrai guides (many of whom have lived in the city all their life), sixteen megafauna (seven of which are carnivorous), and a Brahman petting zoo.
)People:
-Dr. Moya Jain: Economic Advisor to the Chief Counsel. She feels very trapped in her position. On the one hand, she wants to exploit the current boom to encourage more economic progress. On the other, however, she sees the coming economic collapse and wants to stop it, but feels a need to do so without accidentally causing it in the process.
-Tikrik V'khari: Perhaps one of the most controversial appointments in Pratchapadri history, Tikrik is the first Tkrai appointment to the Counsel of Diplomacy. The media made a circus of his appointment, both praising the open mindedness of Chief Counsel Demi and deriding it as an obvious move to "diversify" the National Party. Though he is in charge of Pratchapadri's relations with its neighbors, he feels incompetent due to the overwhelming media circus around his appointment. This is especially problematic, as Tikrik is well aware that the state he represents may not be around much longer.
-Chandra Patil: An ultra-wealthy business man, known for his charitable donations and creation of Kama Brahma. Though he earnestly sees himself as a fervent environmental advocate, he's hardly been beyond the Safe Zone, nor even into the enclosures in his theme park. He leaves all the "just and vital work" to the hired hands, trusting them completely. He comes off as either very naive or good-natured but misguided, but he has the money to pay for everything, so what can anyone do?
-Vivek Dipaka: The Security Counsel. A very scary (and rather old) man, having survived the second Ecological Harmonization period of Pratchapadrian expansion. He commands what is really more of a cadre of xenobiologists than any proper military, though he does offer contracts to nearby states' mercenaries for any civil unrests. Such a policy is not well-received by the lower classes that cause said unrests, but Vivek has little choice. A tired old man for a tired position.
)Organizations:
-Workers United: The WU is a coalition of Tkrai, immigrant workers, and robotic intelligences whose goal is to reform the government to acknowledge new population demographics. While entirely peaceful and nonviolent, the WU is looked at with extreme distrust because of the actions of the Morganists. Obviously, this has caused a lingering mistrust between the two organizations.
-The Organization for the Protection of Brahma and the Environment: Orignally a charity, the OPBE claim to be the only "true" environmentalists left in Pratchapadri. While technically legal, membership in this organization is suspicious. Backdoor dealings in the Senate lead some to believe that the OPBE is covertly attempting to gain control of the National Party. Very opposed to Kama Brahma, as the OPBE is convinced that Patil is, in fact, exploiting the wildlife and doing so in an incredibly dangerous, arrogant manner.
-The Morganists: A faction in favor of stricter regulation of businesses, convinced that the economy is going to collapse. Labelled as a terrorist organization by the state due to their increasingly violent demonstrations. Several bombings have been unsubstantially blamed upon the Morganists. While they are not opposed to the Workers United, the Morganists try to distance themselves for the WU's own protection. This policy has only served to sour relations between the two factions further.
-Kama Brahma: [located on the island in the large crater to the southwest] A theme park featuring the wildlife and megafauna of Brahma, "safely" caged and controlled. They also offer jungle tours and "authentic" native Tkrai guides! Transportation by aircraft is preferred. Kama Brahma is perhaps one of the largest private employers of mercenary security forces in Pratchapadri, being unconscionably wary of the OPBE and Morganists. The Morganists, Kama Brahma feels, would love to get their hands on the park and implement many economic controls that would prevent the animals from roaming free. Or at least, in a simulated freedom.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Battletrek SG-5
"The series has allegedly performed well on DVD."
Battletrek SG-5, the classic cult hit sci-fi series, is holding its 10th annual in Phoenix, Arizona. Equaling, if not exceeding, most other series at the time, Battletrek is about the adventures of the SG-5, the Earth Republic's finest starship. The actors are gathered in the green room, preparing to go on stage for a Q&A period. Unbeknownst to them, in five minutes time, with an incredibly cheesy sound effect, they'll find themselves on board a fully functional replica of the SG-5. The SG-5 is fully crewed by hundreds of mute clones, each ready to take orders from their bridge crew. To make matters worse, the hapless actors are violating the Aegean Neutral Zone!
~o~0~o~
Okay, yes, this is heavily inspired by Galaxy Quest. It's an awesome movie and you should go watch it. But you don't have to in order to enjoy this RP.
The Show:
Take popular sci-fi series - Babylon 5, Stargate, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica - and spoof them. Spoof them mercilessly. The baseline, however, is Star Trek. The show is about a spaceship (really mostly just its bridge crew) going on adventures-of-the-week, with space aliens and red shirts aplenty. This is a three-season show dropped by Fox before its time. Sci-Fi picked it up, and then cancelled it after a mere two seasons while they transitioned to Syfy. It now only comes on, of all places, BBC America. However, it has allegedly done quite well on DVD, and fans are hopeful for either a sequel or at least a movie. Paramount, who owns the copyright, hasn't budged, however.
The Ship:
The SG-5 that the actors eventually find themselves on is a nearly perfect replica of the one on the show. Is a hallway mysteriously filled with crushy-gnashy-metal things for no clear reason other than to build tension on the show? Well, it's there on the ship. The only exceptions are minor changes to the living quarters (they included bathrooms [extrapolated from the biology that they saw on the show], for instance) and engineering spaces.
There is no information on who built the ship or why they beamed up the actors.
The RP:
We're going to start at the convention, just so characters can get to know one another, and then beaming up will commence. This is a comedic RP, - not that I don't see there being potentially darker or more serious moments, though.
Character Sheet:
|Actor's Name: [if we get enough people, then genre-savvy fans could be okay, too]
|Actor Gender:
|Character's Name:
|Character Gender:
|Appearance: [feel free to include a second section to describe the character]
|Character Race: [if not human, include a short description. Remember, spoof! Spoof like you've never spoofed before!]
|Character Job:
|Character Trope: [what kind of archetype does your character fit into?]
|Actor Personality:
|Actor Bio: [especially what they've been doing since the show ended 10 years ago]
"The series has allegedly performed well on DVD."
Battletrek SG-5, the classic cult hit sci-fi series, is holding its 10th annual in Phoenix, Arizona. Equaling, if not exceeding, most other series at the time, Battletrek is about the adventures of the SG-5, the Earth Republic's finest starship. The actors are gathered in the green room, preparing to go on stage for a Q&A period. Unbeknownst to them, in five minutes time, with an incredibly cheesy sound effect, they'll find themselves on board a fully functional replica of the SG-5. The SG-5 is fully crewed by hundreds of mute clones, each ready to take orders from their bridge crew. To make matters worse, the hapless actors are violating the Aegean Neutral Zone!
~o~0~o~
Okay, yes, this is heavily inspired by Galaxy Quest. It's an awesome movie and you should go watch it. But you don't have to in order to enjoy this RP.
The Show:
Take popular sci-fi series - Babylon 5, Stargate, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica - and spoof them. Spoof them mercilessly. The baseline, however, is Star Trek. The show is about a spaceship (really mostly just its bridge crew) going on adventures-of-the-week, with space aliens and red shirts aplenty. This is a three-season show dropped by Fox before its time. Sci-Fi picked it up, and then cancelled it after a mere two seasons while they transitioned to Syfy. It now only comes on, of all places, BBC America. However, it has allegedly done quite well on DVD, and fans are hopeful for either a sequel or at least a movie. Paramount, who owns the copyright, hasn't budged, however.
The Ship:
The SG-5 that the actors eventually find themselves on is a nearly perfect replica of the one on the show. Is a hallway mysteriously filled with crushy-gnashy-metal things for no clear reason other than to build tension on the show? Well, it's there on the ship. The only exceptions are minor changes to the living quarters (they included bathrooms [extrapolated from the biology that they saw on the show], for instance) and engineering spaces.
There is no information on who built the ship or why they beamed up the actors.
The RP:
We're going to start at the convention, just so characters can get to know one another, and then beaming up will commence. This is a comedic RP, - not that I don't see there being potentially darker or more serious moments, though.
Character Sheet:
|Actor's Name: [if we get enough people, then genre-savvy fans could be okay, too]
|Actor Gender:
|Character's Name:
|Character Gender:
|Appearance: [feel free to include a second section to describe the character]
|Character Race: [if not human, include a short description. Remember, spoof! Spoof like you've never spoofed before!]
|Character Job:
|Character Trope: [what kind of archetype does your character fit into?]
|Actor Personality:
|Actor Bio: [especially what they've been doing since the show ended 10 years ago]
|Actor's Name:
|Actor Gender:
|Character's Name:
|Character Gender:
|Appearance:
|Character Race:
|Character Job:
|Character Trope:
|Actor Personality:
|Actor Bio:
|Actor Gender:
|Character's Name:
|Character Gender:
|Appearance:
|Character Race:
|Character Job:
|Character Trope:
|Actor Personality:
|Actor Bio:
|Actor's Name: Sam Marrs
|Actor Gender: Male
|Character's Name: Captain Hu Toshiba
|Character Gender: Male
|Appearance:
|Character Race: Human
|Character Job: Captain
|Character Trope: James T. Kirk; The Catchphrase-Spouting, Fearless Hero
|Actor Personality: Self-obsessed, Believes he's great at improvising in any situation, Never thinks he's wrong, Thinks he's MacGyver just because he used duct tape to fix his beat-up BMW's door.
|Actor Bio: [work in progress, but you get the idea]
He's a third generation American citizen, with no traces of his Japanese heritage other than his looks. Originally a night janitor at Paramount studios, he happened to be replacing the right executive's lightbulb at the right time. Thus landing him his first (and only) big break - Captain Hu Toshiba. Pleased at his sudden success, some of his worse personality traits began to make themselves known over the course of filming. He may have come from a relatively humble beginning, but he became anything but humble.
In the years since filming, he's hosted several "reunion" barbecues at his house (which the rest of the cast only showed up to for his ribs), attended every convention he could get his hands on, and generally has been milking all that he can from his fame. At first, he did pretty well for himself, but as the fanbase gradually dissipated, so too did his income. Now, Sam lives in a trailer parked in the middle of nowhere, eating mostly rice and beans.
|Actor Gender: Male
|Character's Name: Captain Hu Toshiba
|Character Gender: Male
|Appearance:
|Character Race: Human
|Character Job: Captain
|Character Trope: James T. Kirk; The Catchphrase-Spouting, Fearless Hero
|Actor Personality: Self-obsessed, Believes he's great at improvising in any situation, Never thinks he's wrong, Thinks he's MacGyver just because he used duct tape to fix his beat-up BMW's door.
|Actor Bio: [work in progress, but you get the idea]
He's a third generation American citizen, with no traces of his Japanese heritage other than his looks. Originally a night janitor at Paramount studios, he happened to be replacing the right executive's lightbulb at the right time. Thus landing him his first (and only) big break - Captain Hu Toshiba. Pleased at his sudden success, some of his worse personality traits began to make themselves known over the course of filming. He may have come from a relatively humble beginning, but he became anything but humble.
In the years since filming, he's hosted several "reunion" barbecues at his house (which the rest of the cast only showed up to for his ribs), attended every convention he could get his hands on, and generally has been milking all that he can from his fame. At first, he did pretty well for himself, but as the fanbase gradually dissipated, so too did his income. Now, Sam lives in a trailer parked in the middle of nowhere, eating mostly rice and beans.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From The Nielson Ratings
You play a TV show (or rather, its associated crew and actors) vying for a spot on prime time television. Possibly you play an actor or crewmember for someone else's TV show. Every half-season, the National Broadcasting Network (NBN) receives the new ratings and reschedules all the shows accordingly.
The goal, aside from the antics that competing TV shows shot in close proximity to one another are bound to have, is to obtain and keep a prime time slot.
That's the basic concept. It needs some work, and I'm uncertain where the RP would belong. It's sort-of like a nation RP, but it definitely isn't. On the other hand, it might end up in tabletop or arena because of the competitive scoring nature. Or maybe it's just a normal RP. I'm leaning toward that. Think Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in RP form. The glaring problem is, of course, determining the Nielsen rating in a fair manner.
You could play almost any type of show - live sketch comedy, particularly exciting news of some sort (bit of a stretch there), action serials, scifi monster-of-the week, drama, 1/2 hour comedy, and so on.
Rough Application Sheet:
Show Name:
Show Type:
Length:
Synopsis:
Important People
Executive Producer:
Head Writer:
Director:
Actors:
Miscellaneous Crew:
Thoughts?
Interest?
Improvements?
You play a TV show (or rather, its associated crew and actors) vying for a spot on prime time television. Possibly you play an actor or crewmember for someone else's TV show. Every half-season, the National Broadcasting Network (NBN) receives the new ratings and reschedules all the shows accordingly.
The goal, aside from the antics that competing TV shows shot in close proximity to one another are bound to have, is to obtain and keep a prime time slot.
That's the basic concept. It needs some work, and I'm uncertain where the RP would belong. It's sort-of like a nation RP, but it definitely isn't. On the other hand, it might end up in tabletop or arena because of the competitive scoring nature. Or maybe it's just a normal RP. I'm leaning toward that. Think Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in RP form. The glaring problem is, of course, determining the Nielsen rating in a fair manner.
You could play almost any type of show - live sketch comedy, particularly exciting news of some sort (bit of a stretch there), action serials, scifi monster-of-the week, drama, 1/2 hour comedy, and so on.
Rough Application Sheet:
Show Name:
Show Type:
Length:
Synopsis:
Important People
Executive Producer:
Head Writer:
Director:
Actors:
Miscellaneous Crew:
Thoughts?
Interest?
Improvements?
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From From Stardust to Stardust: Tales from Andromeda
####**|Name of nation:** Queendom of Faerie
__
####**|Summary in a Sentence:**
Mischievous, chaotic-neutral, magical beings living in a pinched-off bubble of hyperspace.
__
####**|Species:** [Fay or Fairy](imgur.com/a/pGhIC)
Fay are naturally rather plain-looking humanoids with disproportionately small torsos, large ears, and wings. They're inherently magical, however, and almost always wear a glamour of ageless beauty. Their magic can extend the illusion so that they can disguise themselves as nearly any species, and some even undergo surgery to complete the effect. A very few even remove their wings (obviously their wings were never very impressive in the first place). As a rule, however, they are *always* extravagantly beautiful, decadently wasteful, and incredibly vain.
Iron is so poisonous to the Fay that mere touch causes skin lesions. The colder the iron, the worse the reaction; conversely, hot iron will do nothing more than cause a rash. By now, however, most Fay have figured out ways to avoid iron, and a carefully-prepared dose of radium can cure Iron Sickness. Of course, the same carefully-prepared dose of radium will also temporarily disconnect a Fairy from the magical aether. The connection can be re-established, but doing so is incredibly painful and draining. Fairies don't, generally, hang around nuclear reactors.
__
####**|Description of government:** Nominal Queendom
Nobody rules the Fay so much as *manages* them. Herding cats is easier than getting any member of the species to not do something, and any ruler that's tried to say the word "no" is usually quickly devoured. Or entombed in a brick wall. Or strapped to a table and fed one drop of a nutrient paste every two weeks to just barely keep them alive. These aren't punishments so much as entertainments.
[Queen Titania](imgur.com/a/ymTCw#0), on the other hand, has learned to manage the antics of her subjects through cajoling, trickery, careful bargaining, unusually strong connection to the aetherfield, and outright manipulation. Her court is a never-ending party, each night starting with a stomach-topping feast and ending with a drug-induced haze. Dances, raves, orgies, absurd sports, and disturbing "entertainment" are par for the course, and many Fairies mistakenly try to curry favor with ever-more extravagant displays. As far as Queen Titania is concerned, the never-ending party (aside from being great fun) is a marvelous way for the more feral of her subjects to let off steam.
On the other hand, there's an unwritten Fairy Code. Any who go back on their word are exiled on the spot. Unsuspecting hyperspace travelers occasionally run across these "exiled" bodies. Particularly nice Fay will merely force twice the agreed-upon price from contract violators. Creative Fay will occasionally extract an elaborate and slow-burning revenge before the inevitable exile. Similarly, it is strictly forbidden to reveal the location of, much less guide foreigners to, Faerie.
__
####**|Home Planet:** [Faerie](i.imgur.com/rjpiOFj.png)
A lush, over-terraformed world wrapped in thousands of conflicting enchantments. It's locked away in a separate bubble of pinched-off hyperspace, but if you know the way, and the Path lets you, you can walk there.
__
####**|Other Territories:**
Along the Fairy Path are various Inns between Worlds where weary travelers can stop for the night. Nor are the Inns limited to just those who happen to wander onto the Fairy Path; hyperspace jumps will very rarely result in arriving at an Inn's "parking lot", pulled in on a whim by the Path itself. Unlucky travelers may end up as dinner, or new members of the permanent Inn staff, their vehicles and belongings confiscated in exchange for practical immortality. Lucky travelers will never feel so refreshed, often finding chronic aches and injuries healed upon waking, and their vehicles in mysteriously perfect working order. These Inns are, of course, privately run for the amusement of their Fay owner.
__
####**|Description of military:**
The Queendom of Faerie relies on its estranged location and Queen Titania's unparalleled rapport with the Path - allowing her to change which routes lead to Faerie for protection. Even so, in times of great duress, it's not unheard of for the individual Fairies to band together and fight invaders. When they do, it's a chaotic series of all-out assaults, guerrilla warfare, and idiotic suicide missions. However, the only two times the Fay have fought on that scale resulted in the complete xenocide of their assailants. Or so the Fay claim.
Any military equipment is up to the individual to field. So you'll end up facing an army cobbled-together from various technologies and magics, ranging from platinum-iridium spears to railgun tanks. Any technological artifact is, of course, stolen from somewhere at some point in time.
__
####**|Technological Overview:**
The technology level varies massively from one individual to the next. The Fay themselves invent nothing, preferring to steal from other races (and even steal the scientists of the other races) when they feel so inclined.
Their one great technomagical achievement is the Fairy Path, created by the outcast fairy [Euryale](i.imgur.com/RSi5skt.jpg). A living entity comprised of beautifully subtle aetherfied hyperspace tunnels, the Path is a series of trails threading through most known worlds. Literally - the Fay can walk from world to world. Of course, so can anyone else who stumbles upon them. Not that they'd notice - one of the Path's many Glamours make each transition from world to world seamless. You only realize you're no longer in Kansas when it's far too late. And walking the Path is dangerous - some trails lead to airless moons, glassed planets, and frigid ice worlds. The routes change according to the Path's inscrutable whim, influenceable only by Queen Titania herself. The Fay themselves, of course, know how to navigate the Path; it's part of the Glamours lacing the thing. Like all Fairy magic, however, it's thwarted by radiation. The Fairy Path has learned to stay away from highly-populated technological areas, sticking to the deep woods where at all possible. Fewer people usually means less radioactivity.
__
####**|Magical Overview:**
Glamours are an innate ability shared by all Fay. A glamour is an illusion cast on either themselves or a small object altering its appearance. Many glamours are incredibly elaborate, as it's considered a marker of high status to have a detailed glamour. Queen Titania can change what she appears to be wearing based on how she's feeling at the moment. Fairy gold is another example of a glamour: exchanging a few leaves that look and feel like gold for favors is an old trick. The more tech-savvy Fay can fool e-banks into believing funds have been transferred - for a day or so, anyway.
On top of glamours (or perhaps as a subset of glamours), Fay can cast simple prestidigitations - real-life magic tricks. Levitating small objects, turning paper roses into real ones with a flash of fire, making objects disappear, increasingly complicated card tricks, that sort of thing.
Otherwise, the Fay magic affects processes. They can curse or bless items and organics, causing harvests to be particularly good or bad, or certain industrial processes to function foully or fairly. Tech-savvy Fay can even bless code to execute to the author's intentions, and not what they mistakenly typed.
__
####**|Cultural Overview:**
The Fay are a long-lived species (or at least appear to be; time works weirdly on Faerie, and very few Fay allow themselves to appear old). They believe totally in the freedom of the individual. No organizations exist within the Queendom, and the only true planet ruled by Titania is Faerie itself. The rest of the Fay are scattered throughout the galaxy. Some live as shopkeepers, some as farmers, some as seers and sooth-sayers, and a very few even take up residence on starships. Exiles, outcasts, and other Fay deemed as "weird", "untrustworthy", and "suspicious" drop their glamours. When pressed, they usually claim that they're a member of a near-extinct nomadic species (something not far from the truth). If further pressed, they usually leave. Most, however, try to directly interact with the species of the galaxy as little as possible. Note that that doesn't mean they're above the occasional abduction, experiment, meal, or risqué escapade. The two constants are vanity and pride. Fairies are convinced that they are the best at whatever they choose to do (and with magic, that's not always a lie), and of course they're the most beautiful beings in existence. Or else.
Despite the individualistic chaos, every Fairy keeps to one gilded commandment: never reveal the way to Faerie. Most go as far as concealing themselves as natives of whatever culture they reside in, wary of even revealing the existence of their race. Plus, it helps to allay suspicion in missing child cases, or whatever mischief the Fairy has gotten themselves into.
Thanks to their history, they're rather understandably very territorial; very few foreigners have been to Faerie and left alive. There are a few aliens who live on Faerie, kept alive through an intricate series of deals and parties interested in their entertainment value. It also helps that they've sworn to never leave. As a general rule, however, foreigners are tolerated (so long as they are nowhere near Faerie). The Path itself tends to favor certain aliens, deeming them "worthy" enough to see Faerie.
Fairies are obsessed with the fine arts. Rumors of Fairies letting themselves get enchanted by a particularly beautiful melody, painting, statue, or dance aren't unfounded. And any alien that makes a pact or deal with a Fairy will see the Fairy hold up their end to the (exact) letter of the bargain. Fay demand equal trade and reciprocation. No deed is for free, and saying "thank you" is often deadly. Fay view "thank you" as attempting to repay a kindness with words, and very few Fairies think *their* special kindnesses are worth mere words. Fairies will also do whatever they think is most interesting, and if nothing interesting is happening, they'll make something interesting happen. These two behaviors mean that any slight or insult will be avenged mercilessly.
__
####**|History:**
Once upon a time [couldn't resist, sorry], there was a democratic federation of magical beings known as Fay. The Fay spanned a few star systems, having travelled there via the good will of their neighbors, as the Fay themselves had no interest in technology, but every interest in all things beautiful. That interest motivated them to reside on strange new worlds, absorbing fantastic natural sights. In return for the shuttle services, for which no bargain was struck, the Fay took it upon themselves to beautify their neighbor's planets, making them all the more incredible to behold. And there was peace and prosperity for a while.
One day, however, an evil man came to power in a nearby empire. This empire violently expanded. When the evil emperor learned of the beauty of the neighboring planets, he immediately declared war. The neighbors regretfully informed the Fay that it could no longer afford to shuttle the Fay from planet to planet while fighting a war.
A young Fay by the name of Euryale, self-exiled for her love of technology, created the ultimate masterpiece of Fay art and engineering: the Fairy Path. To birth the Path, however, there was a price to be paid. Faerie and the star it orbited were forevermore inaccessible to the universe at large. This was, of course, Euryale's intention; the evil empire couldn't destroy Faerie if they couldn't find it.
The peaceful neighbors, meanwhile, were utterly annihilated. Those that survived were "assimilated" into the empire. Thus they paid the price for slighting the Fay nation. Meanwhile, the glamours and blessings bestowed upon the planets faded, and soon very little that was not ugly grew in the soil there. And so peace and prosperity once again followed.
At one point or another, one particular Fairy decided it would be more fun to rule permanently than to continue with democracy. An insurrection followed, and the would-be ruler was entombed behind a brick wall filled with spiders and insects that liked to chitter in his ears. Complete anarchy took hold of the Fay, with nobody wanting to submit to anyone.
Another Fairy, seeing this anarchy, sought to reform a peaceful government capable of "getting things done". If anything, the insurrection that followed was more violent than the previous one, and the would-be ruler was kept forever alive while forever starving, her wrists and ankles bound to a stone alter with rings of frozen iron.
Finally Queen Titania rose to power through a deceptively simple deal. She agreed to host a party. So long as the party continued, she would be host, and so long as she was host, she had authority. It helped that she was extremely adept at manipulating the aetherfield, and had a mysteriously good rapport with the Path. Would-be assassins were eliminated long before they got near her (often in public, to everyone's chagrin). In short, she maintained power by being *entertaining*.
####**|Name of nation:** Queendom of Faerie
__
####**|Summary in a Sentence:**
Mischievous, chaotic-neutral, magical beings living in a pinched-off bubble of hyperspace.
__
####**|Species:** [Fay or Fairy](imgur.com/a/pGhIC)
Fay are naturally rather plain-looking humanoids with disproportionately small torsos, large ears, and wings. They're inherently magical, however, and almost always wear a glamour of ageless beauty. Their magic can extend the illusion so that they can disguise themselves as nearly any species, and some even undergo surgery to complete the effect. A very few even remove their wings (obviously their wings were never very impressive in the first place). As a rule, however, they are *always* extravagantly beautiful, decadently wasteful, and incredibly vain.
Iron is so poisonous to the Fay that mere touch causes skin lesions. The colder the iron, the worse the reaction; conversely, hot iron will do nothing more than cause a rash. By now, however, most Fay have figured out ways to avoid iron, and a carefully-prepared dose of radium can cure Iron Sickness. Of course, the same carefully-prepared dose of radium will also temporarily disconnect a Fairy from the magical aether. The connection can be re-established, but doing so is incredibly painful and draining. Fairies don't, generally, hang around nuclear reactors.
__
####**|Description of government:** Nominal Queendom
Nobody rules the Fay so much as *manages* them. Herding cats is easier than getting any member of the species to not do something, and any ruler that's tried to say the word "no" is usually quickly devoured. Or entombed in a brick wall. Or strapped to a table and fed one drop of a nutrient paste every two weeks to just barely keep them alive. These aren't punishments so much as entertainments.
[Queen Titania](imgur.com/a/ymTCw#0), on the other hand, has learned to manage the antics of her subjects through cajoling, trickery, careful bargaining, unusually strong connection to the aetherfield, and outright manipulation. Her court is a never-ending party, each night starting with a stomach-topping feast and ending with a drug-induced haze. Dances, raves, orgies, absurd sports, and disturbing "entertainment" are par for the course, and many Fairies mistakenly try to curry favor with ever-more extravagant displays. As far as Queen Titania is concerned, the never-ending party (aside from being great fun) is a marvelous way for the more feral of her subjects to let off steam.
On the other hand, there's an unwritten Fairy Code. Any who go back on their word are exiled on the spot. Unsuspecting hyperspace travelers occasionally run across these "exiled" bodies. Particularly nice Fay will merely force twice the agreed-upon price from contract violators. Creative Fay will occasionally extract an elaborate and slow-burning revenge before the inevitable exile. Similarly, it is strictly forbidden to reveal the location of, much less guide foreigners to, Faerie.
__
####**|Home Planet:** [Faerie](i.imgur.com/rjpiOFj.png)
A lush, over-terraformed world wrapped in thousands of conflicting enchantments. It's locked away in a separate bubble of pinched-off hyperspace, but if you know the way, and the Path lets you, you can walk there.
__
####**|Other Territories:**
Along the Fairy Path are various Inns between Worlds where weary travelers can stop for the night. Nor are the Inns limited to just those who happen to wander onto the Fairy Path; hyperspace jumps will very rarely result in arriving at an Inn's "parking lot", pulled in on a whim by the Path itself. Unlucky travelers may end up as dinner, or new members of the permanent Inn staff, their vehicles and belongings confiscated in exchange for practical immortality. Lucky travelers will never feel so refreshed, often finding chronic aches and injuries healed upon waking, and their vehicles in mysteriously perfect working order. These Inns are, of course, privately run for the amusement of their Fay owner.
__
####**|Description of military:**
The Queendom of Faerie relies on its estranged location and Queen Titania's unparalleled rapport with the Path - allowing her to change which routes lead to Faerie for protection. Even so, in times of great duress, it's not unheard of for the individual Fairies to band together and fight invaders. When they do, it's a chaotic series of all-out assaults, guerrilla warfare, and idiotic suicide missions. However, the only two times the Fay have fought on that scale resulted in the complete xenocide of their assailants. Or so the Fay claim.
Any military equipment is up to the individual to field. So you'll end up facing an army cobbled-together from various technologies and magics, ranging from platinum-iridium spears to railgun tanks. Any technological artifact is, of course, stolen from somewhere at some point in time.
__
####**|Technological Overview:**
The technology level varies massively from one individual to the next. The Fay themselves invent nothing, preferring to steal from other races (and even steal the scientists of the other races) when they feel so inclined.
Their one great technomagical achievement is the Fairy Path, created by the outcast fairy [Euryale](i.imgur.com/RSi5skt.jpg). A living entity comprised of beautifully subtle aetherfied hyperspace tunnels, the Path is a series of trails threading through most known worlds. Literally - the Fay can walk from world to world. Of course, so can anyone else who stumbles upon them. Not that they'd notice - one of the Path's many Glamours make each transition from world to world seamless. You only realize you're no longer in Kansas when it's far too late. And walking the Path is dangerous - some trails lead to airless moons, glassed planets, and frigid ice worlds. The routes change according to the Path's inscrutable whim, influenceable only by Queen Titania herself. The Fay themselves, of course, know how to navigate the Path; it's part of the Glamours lacing the thing. Like all Fairy magic, however, it's thwarted by radiation. The Fairy Path has learned to stay away from highly-populated technological areas, sticking to the deep woods where at all possible. Fewer people usually means less radioactivity.
__
####**|Magical Overview:**
Glamours are an innate ability shared by all Fay. A glamour is an illusion cast on either themselves or a small object altering its appearance. Many glamours are incredibly elaborate, as it's considered a marker of high status to have a detailed glamour. Queen Titania can change what she appears to be wearing based on how she's feeling at the moment. Fairy gold is another example of a glamour: exchanging a few leaves that look and feel like gold for favors is an old trick. The more tech-savvy Fay can fool e-banks into believing funds have been transferred - for a day or so, anyway.
On top of glamours (or perhaps as a subset of glamours), Fay can cast simple prestidigitations - real-life magic tricks. Levitating small objects, turning paper roses into real ones with a flash of fire, making objects disappear, increasingly complicated card tricks, that sort of thing.
Otherwise, the Fay magic affects processes. They can curse or bless items and organics, causing harvests to be particularly good or bad, or certain industrial processes to function foully or fairly. Tech-savvy Fay can even bless code to execute to the author's intentions, and not what they mistakenly typed.
__
####**|Cultural Overview:**
The Fay are a long-lived species (or at least appear to be; time works weirdly on Faerie, and very few Fay allow themselves to appear old). They believe totally in the freedom of the individual. No organizations exist within the Queendom, and the only true planet ruled by Titania is Faerie itself. The rest of the Fay are scattered throughout the galaxy. Some live as shopkeepers, some as farmers, some as seers and sooth-sayers, and a very few even take up residence on starships. Exiles, outcasts, and other Fay deemed as "weird", "untrustworthy", and "suspicious" drop their glamours. When pressed, they usually claim that they're a member of a near-extinct nomadic species (something not far from the truth). If further pressed, they usually leave. Most, however, try to directly interact with the species of the galaxy as little as possible. Note that that doesn't mean they're above the occasional abduction, experiment, meal, or risqué escapade. The two constants are vanity and pride. Fairies are convinced that they are the best at whatever they choose to do (and with magic, that's not always a lie), and of course they're the most beautiful beings in existence. Or else.
Despite the individualistic chaos, every Fairy keeps to one gilded commandment: never reveal the way to Faerie. Most go as far as concealing themselves as natives of whatever culture they reside in, wary of even revealing the existence of their race. Plus, it helps to allay suspicion in missing child cases, or whatever mischief the Fairy has gotten themselves into.
Thanks to their history, they're rather understandably very territorial; very few foreigners have been to Faerie and left alive. There are a few aliens who live on Faerie, kept alive through an intricate series of deals and parties interested in their entertainment value. It also helps that they've sworn to never leave. As a general rule, however, foreigners are tolerated (so long as they are nowhere near Faerie). The Path itself tends to favor certain aliens, deeming them "worthy" enough to see Faerie.
Fairies are obsessed with the fine arts. Rumors of Fairies letting themselves get enchanted by a particularly beautiful melody, painting, statue, or dance aren't unfounded. And any alien that makes a pact or deal with a Fairy will see the Fairy hold up their end to the (exact) letter of the bargain. Fay demand equal trade and reciprocation. No deed is for free, and saying "thank you" is often deadly. Fay view "thank you" as attempting to repay a kindness with words, and very few Fairies think *their* special kindnesses are worth mere words. Fairies will also do whatever they think is most interesting, and if nothing interesting is happening, they'll make something interesting happen. These two behaviors mean that any slight or insult will be avenged mercilessly.
__
####**|History:**
Once upon a time [couldn't resist, sorry], there was a democratic federation of magical beings known as Fay. The Fay spanned a few star systems, having travelled there via the good will of their neighbors, as the Fay themselves had no interest in technology, but every interest in all things beautiful. That interest motivated them to reside on strange new worlds, absorbing fantastic natural sights. In return for the shuttle services, for which no bargain was struck, the Fay took it upon themselves to beautify their neighbor's planets, making them all the more incredible to behold. And there was peace and prosperity for a while.
One day, however, an evil man came to power in a nearby empire. This empire violently expanded. When the evil emperor learned of the beauty of the neighboring planets, he immediately declared war. The neighbors regretfully informed the Fay that it could no longer afford to shuttle the Fay from planet to planet while fighting a war.
A young Fay by the name of Euryale, self-exiled for her love of technology, created the ultimate masterpiece of Fay art and engineering: the Fairy Path. To birth the Path, however, there was a price to be paid. Faerie and the star it orbited were forevermore inaccessible to the universe at large. This was, of course, Euryale's intention; the evil empire couldn't destroy Faerie if they couldn't find it.
The peaceful neighbors, meanwhile, were utterly annihilated. Those that survived were "assimilated" into the empire. Thus they paid the price for slighting the Fay nation. Meanwhile, the glamours and blessings bestowed upon the planets faded, and soon very little that was not ugly grew in the soil there. And so peace and prosperity once again followed.
At one point or another, one particular Fairy decided it would be more fun to rule permanently than to continue with democracy. An insurrection followed, and the would-be ruler was entombed behind a brick wall filled with spiders and insects that liked to chitter in his ears. Complete anarchy took hold of the Fay, with nobody wanting to submit to anyone.
Another Fairy, seeing this anarchy, sought to reform a peaceful government capable of "getting things done". If anything, the insurrection that followed was more violent than the previous one, and the would-be ruler was kept forever alive while forever starving, her wrists and ankles bound to a stone alter with rings of frozen iron.
Finally Queen Titania rose to power through a deceptively simple deal. She agreed to host a party. So long as the party continued, she would be host, and so long as she was host, she had authority. It helped that she was extremely adept at manipulating the aetherfield, and had a mysteriously good rapport with the Path. Would-be assassins were eliminated long before they got near her (often in public, to everyone's chagrin). In short, she maintained power by being *entertaining*.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Patchwork
{Dead :( }
{This post subject to change}
[center][img=i.imgur.com/M1dEMWF.png]
~o~0~o~
This world is not our own, but we may be here to stay.[/center]
It's an average day in your faction's universe when there's a great flash of sizzling red on the horizon and a boom like the thunder of a thousand cannons. At the edge of a perfect 1-mile wide hexagon, the land ends. It's been replaced with a great freshwater sea. Other islands are visible in the distance. Perhaps land continues beyond your island, but it is not what you're familiar with. Now it's up to you to survive, thrive, or possibly escape in this new world.
Islands hold dark shapes, ruined cities, strangely glowing crystals, forboding castles, massive forests, secret temples, cities towering up to the clouds, creatures of myth and legend, or perhaps even other factions.
---
This NRP is multiversal faction based. That means that you can select any videogame, book, tv show, movie, other form of media, or real life, grab a mile-wide hex chunk of land (or sea, or space-station), and throw it and its inhabitants into this new world. There are other islands to explore, and other factions to meet, trade with, and possibly war with. I may, as the game continues, start teleporting in even more islands, or throwing "mega events" at you (such as a hurricane, or, oh, I don't know, rearranging the hexes).
Important note: Everybody should start off at an approximately similar level of surprised and mildly screwed. So, sure, you may have star-trek technology, but you might not have power, farmland, or a large amount of people, for example. Or perhaps your magic kingdom lost its connection to the mana-field, and your chief sorcerer's are forced to research the aether fields of this strange new place. I'll mostly trust you to self-limit.
[hider=The Map]
{I'll start filling in factions as they come along} {{Feel free to make suggestions of parcels of land to teleport in - I may or may not use them}}
[img=i.imgur.com/S7Tl0JW.png]
[img=i.imgur.com/bhBmdzT.png]
[/hider]
* You may also, if you like, RP a single character. Below is the character sheet to allow for that. The single character in question would get teleported to Patchwork via a "mini" red-hex event.
I'm always open to questions, comments, or suggestions!
{Dead :( }
{This post subject to change}
[center][img=i.imgur.com/M1dEMWF.png]
~o~0~o~
This world is not our own, but we may be here to stay.[/center]
It's an average day in your faction's universe when there's a great flash of sizzling red on the horizon and a boom like the thunder of a thousand cannons. At the edge of a perfect 1-mile wide hexagon, the land ends. It's been replaced with a great freshwater sea. Other islands are visible in the distance. Perhaps land continues beyond your island, but it is not what you're familiar with. Now it's up to you to survive, thrive, or possibly escape in this new world.
Islands hold dark shapes, ruined cities, strangely glowing crystals, forboding castles, massive forests, secret temples, cities towering up to the clouds, creatures of myth and legend, or perhaps even other factions.
---
This NRP is multiversal faction based. That means that you can select any videogame, book, tv show, movie, other form of media, or real life, grab a mile-wide hex chunk of land (or sea, or space-station), and throw it and its inhabitants into this new world. There are other islands to explore, and other factions to meet, trade with, and possibly war with. I may, as the game continues, start teleporting in even more islands, or throwing "mega events" at you (such as a hurricane, or, oh, I don't know, rearranging the hexes).
Important note: Everybody should start off at an approximately similar level of surprised and mildly screwed. So, sure, you may have star-trek technology, but you might not have power, farmland, or a large amount of people, for example. Or perhaps your magic kingdom lost its connection to the mana-field, and your chief sorcerer's are forced to research the aether fields of this strange new place. I'll mostly trust you to self-limit.
If you're lacking inspiration, here's some ideas I had. Feel free to steal, expand upon them, or get inspired from them:
The White House from The West Wing
A Soviet base from Red Alert 2
The city of Mogadishu from Black Hawk Down
Grantville from Eric Flint's 1632 series
Gotham City, from the Batman comics
Pawnee, Indiana, from Parks and Recreation
The White House from The West Wing
A Soviet base from Red Alert 2
The city of Mogadishu from Black Hawk Down
Grantville from Eric Flint's 1632 series
Gotham City, from the Batman comics
Pawnee, Indiana, from Parks and Recreation
Hexs are 1 mile (1.609km) wide at their widest point. That means that they're about 0.366 miles (~0.589km) per side, or 1/(1+sqrt(3)) miles per side. The border is a precise, clean, perfectly straight cut down to the molecule. This means that hills would end in straigth, smooth cliffs if they're on the border. Dirt would clump into a shiny substance on the border, but it would crumble back into normal dirt at a touch.
[hider=The Map]
{I'll start filling in factions as they come along} {{Feel free to make suggestions of parcels of land to teleport in - I may or may not use them}}
[img=i.imgur.com/S7Tl0JW.png]
[img=i.imgur.com/bhBmdzT.png]
[/hider]
Faction Name: (Example: Soviets)
Universe: (Please include a link so we know what the heck you're talking about. Example: Red Alert 2)
Summary in a Sentence: (Exampe: Soviets with a mad-science tesla technology twist!)
Description:
Technology Level: (remember, we want to start out with everybody (roughly) equally confused and powerless)
Magical or other Supernatural Powers: (see the note on technology level)
Other:
Important People:
+Name:
+Role:
+Description:
+Brief Bio:
Hex Location: (see map)
Terrain Type: (example: Hilly Grassland)
Important Terrain Features:
Important Structures:
Other:
Universe: (Please include a link so we know what the heck you're talking about. Example: Red Alert 2)
Summary in a Sentence: (Exampe: Soviets with a mad-science tesla technology twist!)
Description:
Technology Level: (remember, we want to start out with everybody (roughly) equally confused and powerless)
Magical or other Supernatural Powers: (see the note on technology level)
Other:
Important People:
+Name:
+Role:
+Description:
+Brief Bio:
Hex Location: (see map)
Terrain Type: (example: Hilly Grassland)
Important Terrain Features:
Important Structures:
Other:
* You may also, if you like, RP a single character. Below is the character sheet to allow for that. The single character in question would get teleported to Patchwork via a "mini" red-hex event.
|Name:
|Gender:
|Species:
|Universe of Origin:
|Abilities:
|Equipment:
|Backstory/Bio:
|Other:
|Start Hex:
|Gender:
|Species:
|Universe of Origin:
|Abilities:
|Equipment:
|Backstory/Bio:
|Other:
|Start Hex:
I'm always open to questions, comments, or suggestions!
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Stellvia
|Name of nation: Eastwing
|Species: Khasi
The Khasi are typical green-skinned humanoids. Their actual skin color ranges from a subtly translucent aqua to a pale sort of gold, but the majority are a delightfully leafy green. Females are the only ones with hair. Both hair dye and skin-paint are wildly popular. Other than their rather exciting skin color and bald males, the Khasi are a distressingly standard humanoid species. They've got two sexes, are about 2.5 meters tall, and don't have any particularly egregious manifestations of physical or mental strength. The males generally appear more muscular than the females, though that doesn't mean that the males are more muscular than the females.
|System: The Khasi system consists of one yellow star and five planets.
|Description of government:
|Description of military:
|Technological Overview:
|Cultural Overview:
|History:
|Name of nation: Eastwing
|Species: Khasi
The Khasi are typical green-skinned humanoids. Their actual skin color ranges from a subtly translucent aqua to a pale sort of gold, but the majority are a delightfully leafy green. Females are the only ones with hair. Both hair dye and skin-paint are wildly popular. Other than their rather exciting skin color and bald males, the Khasi are a distressingly standard humanoid species. They've got two sexes, are about 2.5 meters tall, and don't have any particularly egregious manifestations of physical or mental strength. The males generally appear more muscular than the females, though that doesn't mean that the males are more muscular than the females.
|System: The Khasi system consists of one yellow star and five planets.
Arcon - the star
Moiti - a desolate, heat-ablated rock orbiting close to Arcon
Ezon - a hot planet with a thick, overbearing atmosphere
|Gob - a tiny captured asteroid, Ezon's only moon
Khas - a verdant world, fairly earthlike, teeming with life; the Khasi homeworld
|Muon - a large gray moon, fairly unremarkable
|Meson - a captured asteroid of a suspiciously green color
Desera - a rusty-colored planet with a light atmosphere and large ice caps
|Igenvalue - Desera's impressively-sized moon, atmosphereless, dark gray, and once volcanic.
Drol - an airless planetoid in a highly eccentric orbit amongst a small asteroid belt
Julian - a large gas giant with many moons
|Layla - an oceanic moon, the largest of the system. it's heated by proximity to Juliani radiation; capable of sustaining life, the only other one in the Khasi system to do so; here lies a substantial (if somewhat cold) Khasi settlement.
|Viz - an icy moon, the third largest of the Juliani system
|Tyke - a massive rocky moon with a surprising lack of atmosphere despite its high gravity. worshippers of Raheel have an elaborate temple in competition with a neighboring temple for the worshippers of Kron.
|Blip - a small captured asteroid, named for what the Khasi originally thought it was - a stray blip
|Punt - a tiny captured asteroid with an unusually yellow surface coloration.
Etzi - a distant ice ball
Moiti - a desolate, heat-ablated rock orbiting close to Arcon
Ezon - a hot planet with a thick, overbearing atmosphere
|Gob - a tiny captured asteroid, Ezon's only moon
Khas - a verdant world, fairly earthlike, teeming with life; the Khasi homeworld
|Muon - a large gray moon, fairly unremarkable
|Meson - a captured asteroid of a suspiciously green color
Desera - a rusty-colored planet with a light atmosphere and large ice caps
|Igenvalue - Desera's impressively-sized moon, atmosphereless, dark gray, and once volcanic.
Drol - an airless planetoid in a highly eccentric orbit amongst a small asteroid belt
Julian - a large gas giant with many moons
|Layla - an oceanic moon, the largest of the system. it's heated by proximity to Juliani radiation; capable of sustaining life, the only other one in the Khasi system to do so; here lies a substantial (if somewhat cold) Khasi settlement.
|Viz - an icy moon, the third largest of the Juliani system
|Tyke - a massive rocky moon with a surprising lack of atmosphere despite its high gravity. worshippers of Raheel have an elaborate temple in competition with a neighboring temple for the worshippers of Kron.
|Blip - a small captured asteroid, named for what the Khasi originally thought it was - a stray blip
|Punt - a tiny captured asteroid with an unusually yellow surface coloration.
Etzi - a distant ice ball
|Description of government:
The current government (known colloquially as Eastwing after the building housing the office of the President) has unobtrusive microdrone cameras buzzing about everywhere, recording and broadcasting the President's every speech and aria. Their government (currently in it's 187th season) is a democratic republic with a refined balance of exposition, speeches, dramatic reveals, and last-second saves. The president, Penelope Kate, is a serious figure, commanding authority, yet still maintaining a supernatural attractiveness. Their judiciary is particularly entertaining, with big, flashy court cases and heavily-gavelled decisions. Finally, they have a senate, which makes up for its lack of flashiness with its quiet negotiations and backroom politics.
|Description of military:
Their weapons are colorful, flashy, terrifying, and rather expensive as a result. For example, they spent some time inventing explosive devices that created a nice planar shockwave upon detonation, rather than the standard spherical expanding cloud of gas. The resulting complicated series of magnetic and gravitational bottling increased the size of their torpedoes by 300%, but also resulted in pinpoint-accurate plasma weaponry. Unfortunately, that same plasma weaponry was rapidly overdesigned so that the length, duration, and color of the pulses could be modified. The extra machinery practically nullified the newfound accuracy and decreased the amount of practical space for plasma cannons. Military enlistment, however, has never been higher.
Their military ships themselves are either elegant spiderwebs of struts that could only exist in space; large, chunky rectangles reminiscient of rifles; or something suspiciously similar in shape to ocean-going ships.
The Khasi military is broken into a few branches. There's the Space Fleet, which handles spaceborne assets; Commandoes Elite, an all-terrain special ops unit; Unit 13, a black ops and espionage organization; STRATCOMM, in charge of war games and potential threats; and Planetary Forces, each of which are separated into separate commands and branches for each planet and planetoid.
Their military ships themselves are either elegant spiderwebs of struts that could only exist in space; large, chunky rectangles reminiscient of rifles; or something suspiciously similar in shape to ocean-going ships.
The Khasi military is broken into a few branches. There's the Space Fleet, which handles spaceborne assets; Commandoes Elite, an all-terrain special ops unit; Unit 13, a black ops and espionage organization; STRATCOMM, in charge of war games and potential threats; and Planetary Forces, each of which are separated into separate commands and branches for each planet and planetoid.
|Technological Overview:
Overall, Eastwing technology is advanced but not more effective, with the singular exception of their various stardrives. They spend so much time making a technology look, feel, and sound good that they neglect obvious improvements. While they have compact and powerful computational chips controlling most equipment, well over half the chips' capability is taken up maintaining intricate user interfaces and special effects. In general, if something powerful is switched on, the Khasi take the time to make sure that it glows. Particularly frightening power sources, for example, make arm-hairs stand upright and a sense of unease settle on nearby lifeforms through a well-researched combination of subsonics and magnetic fields. And they glow. The leftover processing power is used for the dull, necessary functions of things.
Although their engineer-artists enthusiastically create drives that exploit strange niches of physics, most of their ships use a flashy point-to-point bluespace crystal jump drive. Even so, there are the mega-artworks, like the ES Merkano, a leviathan that moves around by exploiting macrofissures in subspace, slipping into one and coming out the other side in the space of minutes. Or the ES Oglethrope, a corvette-sized ship that pulls itself along via magnetic discharge, flinging particulate retrograde at incredible speeds. The Oglethrope is particularly flashy, looking like lightning is pulling the ship along.
Weaponry, although very pretty, tends to be expensive. That means there's much less weaponry on their ships than if they'd just use something cost-efficient. Furthermore, a lot of the Kaanite weapons aren't as powerful as they could be. All of that energy poring into the lightshows has to come from somewhere, after all. In short, every round that fires is a tracer.
Particularly unique techs:
|Bluespace Crystals
Bluespace crystals are actually carefully-manufactured containment bottles. The manufacturing process involves manipulating an alternate dimension that mirrors our own in a similar manner to subspace from realspace. The laws of physics in bluespace are radically different from our own, however, and any normal matter that enters Bluespace gets summarily ejected from Bluespace instantaneously. Bluespace crystals act function as anchors to Bluespace. With the application of an appropriately modulated electric field, the crystals become highly sensitive to pressure. If done appropriately, the resulting resonance patterns within a bluespace crystal yanks the user into Bluespace. The more crystals you have, the farther you can go, to an approachable limit of around one lightyear. Similarly, the more precision with which you apply pressure to points along the containment surface, the more exacting of a location that you can jump to. However, the farther and more accurate you want to be, the longer it takes to jump. Teleporting a foot to your left might take half a second. Teleporting an entire lightyear might take a few days of warming up.
They're also notoriously brittle things, and the collapsing containment bottle will teleport the user who broke it several dozen meters in a random direction. That can present problems when you're on a starship, with space only a few dozen meters away.
Although their engineer-artists enthusiastically create drives that exploit strange niches of physics, most of their ships use a flashy point-to-point bluespace crystal jump drive. Even so, there are the mega-artworks, like the ES Merkano, a leviathan that moves around by exploiting macrofissures in subspace, slipping into one and coming out the other side in the space of minutes. Or the ES Oglethrope, a corvette-sized ship that pulls itself along via magnetic discharge, flinging particulate retrograde at incredible speeds. The Oglethrope is particularly flashy, looking like lightning is pulling the ship along.
Weaponry, although very pretty, tends to be expensive. That means there's much less weaponry on their ships than if they'd just use something cost-efficient. Furthermore, a lot of the Kaanite weapons aren't as powerful as they could be. All of that energy poring into the lightshows has to come from somewhere, after all. In short, every round that fires is a tracer.
Particularly unique techs:
|Bluespace Crystals
Bluespace crystals are actually carefully-manufactured containment bottles. The manufacturing process involves manipulating an alternate dimension that mirrors our own in a similar manner to subspace from realspace. The laws of physics in bluespace are radically different from our own, however, and any normal matter that enters Bluespace gets summarily ejected from Bluespace instantaneously. Bluespace crystals act function as anchors to Bluespace. With the application of an appropriately modulated electric field, the crystals become highly sensitive to pressure. If done appropriately, the resulting resonance patterns within a bluespace crystal yanks the user into Bluespace. The more crystals you have, the farther you can go, to an approachable limit of around one lightyear. Similarly, the more precision with which you apply pressure to points along the containment surface, the more exacting of a location that you can jump to. However, the farther and more accurate you want to be, the longer it takes to jump. Teleporting a foot to your left might take half a second. Teleporting an entire lightyear might take a few days of warming up.
They're also notoriously brittle things, and the collapsing containment bottle will teleport the user who broke it several dozen meters in a random direction. That can present problems when you're on a starship, with space only a few dozen meters away.
|Cultural Overview:
The Khasi have developed a fundamental belief in doing your heart's fondest desire. As a consequence, they value art, especially performance art, more highly than other cultures. One of their most celebrated operas, a masterpiece called Yanhallow, actually started a war. Furthermore, while the various fields of engineering exist, most pursue it as a form of art. While some prominent engineers are praised for their brilliant efficiency and utilitarianess, the more prestigious ones are known for their intricate, highly-complex masterpieces. To that end, they love making spaceships. Their ships function as massive installations and testaments to the emotional and species progress as a whole. Completely impractical solutions to long-solved have been carefully engineered, launched, tested, and used. A kilometers-long lattice of crystalline film was launched as a celebration of the life-giving sun; that particular ship was commissioned as a communications relay. In general, the less practical or more experimental the drive system, the more artistically meaningful, and the more unique, the more glamorous.
Though they pursue art to the highest degree, most consider staged plays "boring", preferring to either do the deeds in the play themselves or watch the events unfold in real life via holovision. To that end, the Khasi have taken reality TV to a privacy-stripping extreme; microdrone cameras flit about everywhere. It's not unusual to find yourself relaxing in your home while being pursued by some camera or another from Drhmi-knows-where. It's only fair, as most Khasi return the favor.
Though not universal, the predominant Khasi religion is a polytheistic. It consists of a small pantheon of Gods and Godesses and a lower tier of Heroes and Heroines. Kes numbers amongst the latter. Included in the former are Drhmi, the godess of spacetime; Tr-tza the godess of electromagnetism; Arcon and Elcore, the dueling brother-gods of the weak and strong nuclear forces; Raheel, the godess of gravity; and Kron, the god of probability. This is by no means an exhaustive list; some popular alternate deities include Drol, god of matter, and Rho, godess of fundamental constants.
While they have created many spaceships of varying types of FTL and sublight capability, the Khasi don't have much interest in expansion. Sure, you get have the Exploration Squad, a set of brave adventurers roughing it from planet to planet, and there's many "dashing rogue" types, and there's even a few deep-space refueling, mining, and manufacturing operations, but the Khasi impulse is for adventure and exploration, not expansion.
Though they pursue art to the highest degree, most consider staged plays "boring", preferring to either do the deeds in the play themselves or watch the events unfold in real life via holovision. To that end, the Khasi have taken reality TV to a privacy-stripping extreme; microdrone cameras flit about everywhere. It's not unusual to find yourself relaxing in your home while being pursued by some camera or another from Drhmi-knows-where. It's only fair, as most Khasi return the favor.
Though not universal, the predominant Khasi religion is a polytheistic. It consists of a small pantheon of Gods and Godesses and a lower tier of Heroes and Heroines. Kes numbers amongst the latter. Included in the former are Drhmi, the godess of spacetime; Tr-tza the godess of electromagnetism; Arcon and Elcore, the dueling brother-gods of the weak and strong nuclear forces; Raheel, the godess of gravity; and Kron, the god of probability. This is by no means an exhaustive list; some popular alternate deities include Drol, god of matter, and Rho, godess of fundamental constants.
While they have created many spaceships of varying types of FTL and sublight capability, the Khasi don't have much interest in expansion. Sure, you get have the Exploration Squad, a set of brave adventurers roughing it from planet to planet, and there's many "dashing rogue" types, and there's even a few deep-space refueling, mining, and manufacturing operations, but the Khasi impulse is for adventure and exploration, not expansion.
|History:
True Khasi culture can be traced back to one woman who, in their early industrial (think early 1800's Earth) period, started an alarmingly effective cult. Her name was Kes. Her cult spread a simple message: stop fantasizing and, instead, start living your fantasies. The key to the cults success and survival was their performance art that came about as a result. Khasi found it far more entertaining to live their fantasies than to watch others live them, and soon fiction began to fall to the wayside. All this came to a head with the debut of Kes' masterpiece, Yanhallow. In it, she staged a coup d'etat and steered her government to an all out war of ideological conquest. It was, to quote newspapers of the time, "The most magnificent opera in the history of Khasikind."
The cult became a way of life for the Khasi. This was partially influenced by the rather draconian rule of Kes' empire. She was soon worshiped as a great heroine, if not an outright godess. Her empire would have lasted a good deal longer had an inevitable rebellion cropped up. Eventually, after several more tumultuous wars between individual nations, a relatively democratic world government formed.
In the intervening period, however, Kes' message was gradually distorted. Far from the liberating cry to actually follow your dreams, people now turned toward performance art for the ultimate in entertainment and thrills - who'd want to hear about a war when you can fight in one? And any painting is paltry compared to the thrill of completing a decades-long engineering project. Even so, some dreams fell to the wayside (if only to pursue greater ones), and these waylaid dreams were pursued via holovision microdrones. Though there are a few large holovision companies offering professionally-edited footage, there are many more private microdrones eavesdropping on whatever catches the user's fancy. Privacy has long since become a thing of the past.
It's gotten to the point where entire organizations can drift apart from a lack of interest, and people just quietly move on to other projects. There's a guiding "invisible hand" at work, a form of emergent behavior wherein the essential requirements of a small interstellar empire is maintained in the most manner deemed most exciting or interesting. In fact, that very hand was responsible for the dissolution of the previous government, an esoteric system of Houses, Fuedalities, minor Duchies, and a tangled web of intrigue and backstabbing. At a certain point, nobody really cared who betrayed whom anymore, and the great houses gradually sublimated.
One holdout from that period, though not universal, is their polytheistic religion.
The cult became a way of life for the Khasi. This was partially influenced by the rather draconian rule of Kes' empire. She was soon worshiped as a great heroine, if not an outright godess. Her empire would have lasted a good deal longer had an inevitable rebellion cropped up. Eventually, after several more tumultuous wars between individual nations, a relatively democratic world government formed.
In the intervening period, however, Kes' message was gradually distorted. Far from the liberating cry to actually follow your dreams, people now turned toward performance art for the ultimate in entertainment and thrills - who'd want to hear about a war when you can fight in one? And any painting is paltry compared to the thrill of completing a decades-long engineering project. Even so, some dreams fell to the wayside (if only to pursue greater ones), and these waylaid dreams were pursued via holovision microdrones. Though there are a few large holovision companies offering professionally-edited footage, there are many more private microdrones eavesdropping on whatever catches the user's fancy. Privacy has long since become a thing of the past.
It's gotten to the point where entire organizations can drift apart from a lack of interest, and people just quietly move on to other projects. There's a guiding "invisible hand" at work, a form of emergent behavior wherein the essential requirements of a small interstellar empire is maintained in the most manner deemed most exciting or interesting. In fact, that very hand was responsible for the dissolution of the previous government, an esoteric system of Houses, Fuedalities, minor Duchies, and a tangled web of intrigue and backstabbing. At a certain point, nobody really cared who betrayed whom anymore, and the great houses gradually sublimated.
One holdout from that period, though not universal, is their polytheistic religion.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From A Superpowered War
I'm having entirely too much fun with this. <3
---
|Name: Aria
|Age: 19
|Country of Origin: Italy
|Power(s): Dimensional Awareness: Aria's mind is attuned to the electromagnetic spectrum of an alternate dimension (specifically this one). She's been driven mad {I am not mad!} (in everyone else's eyes) by sights of gray rectangles and white text detailing her life and those around her.
|Greek Name: Upsilon
|Appearance: Brown hair, frizzy, curly, and everywhere. 5'4". One green eye, one blue. Often with a far-off, wild-eyed look about her face. Scrawny, like she never eats. {I do too eat!} Dressed in clothing from at least three different styles and decades, little of which matches. She stands out, to say the least.
|Personality: How do I describe Aria? She's funny, sometimes, and poignant at other times. But most of all, she tends to remind me of a lost puppy. {Don't build me up too much, hey?} Honestly! She'll bug me about the most random things sometimes, like going on and on about goggles. {That was one time, thankyouverymuch.} I think maybe Aria's just lonely.
|History: To be honest, she's forgotten much of it, and her superpower's not been much help. {Really‽ That's it‽ Real helpful, thanks.} She's tried to reason with whatever intelligences (or even to determine if there are intelligences) are on the "other side" quite a few times, with mixed results. {Hello?} The first time she witnessed the vision, in fact, she learned little about her past, and then shortly afterward made contact. Erm, hello, by the way. {Holy crap, it worked! That's super freaky, hey? Are you, like, me in a different world?} But the brief contact then ended. {What? No it didn't.}
{Hel-looo?}
{Damnit.}
I'm having entirely too much fun with this. <3
---
|Name: Aria
|Age: 19
|Country of Origin: Italy
|Power(s): Dimensional Awareness: Aria's mind is attuned to the electromagnetic spectrum of an alternate dimension (specifically this one). She's been driven mad {I am not mad!} (in everyone else's eyes) by sights of gray rectangles and white text detailing her life and those around her.
|Greek Name: Upsilon
|Appearance: Brown hair, frizzy, curly, and everywhere. 5'4". One green eye, one blue. Often with a far-off, wild-eyed look about her face. Scrawny, like she never eats. {I do too eat!} Dressed in clothing from at least three different styles and decades, little of which matches. She stands out, to say the least.
|Personality: How do I describe Aria? She's funny, sometimes, and poignant at other times. But most of all, she tends to remind me of a lost puppy. {Don't build me up too much, hey?} Honestly! She'll bug me about the most random things sometimes, like going on and on about goggles. {That was one time, thankyouverymuch.} I think maybe Aria's just lonely.
|History: To be honest, she's forgotten much of it, and her superpower's not been much help. {Really‽ That's it‽ Real helpful, thanks.} She's tried to reason with whatever intelligences (or even to determine if there are intelligences) are on the "other side" quite a few times, with mixed results. {Hello?} The first time she witnessed the vision, in fact, she learned little about her past, and then shortly afterward made contact. Erm, hello, by the way. {Holy crap, it worked! That's super freaky, hey? Are you, like, me in a different world?} But the brief contact then ended. {What? No it didn't.}
{Hel-looo?}
{Damnit.}
Like the information in this hider. Take that, Aria! She was actually born an orphan, and drank meteorite-contaminated water while on a mission trip to help those in need. Powers then developed. Unfortunately, to the vast majority of the population, Aria's attempts at communicating came across as mad ramblings in the street. Not very conducive to hiding at all.
Ever since, Aria's been drifting in a trance-like haze from city to city, arguing with a being no-one else can see or hear. I try to warn her away from government agents (not that she always listens), unless I think it'd be good for her. I suppose that we've become friends. Almost.
Recently, speaking of government agents, she chose not to listen to me and tried to save a stray cat. This cat was bait. So she was captured and experimented upon heavily. These experiments are, in fact, the reason she can't remember much. Aria did manage to escape via striking a deal with one of the middle management men. She'd be their eyes and ears (temporarily, at least), and he wouldn't come after her. Since then, she's been a bit of a freelance agent. Striking deals with governments and people alike has been her number one method of surviving unsurvivable situations.
Ever since, Aria's been drifting in a trance-like haze from city to city, arguing with a being no-one else can see or hear. I try to warn her away from government agents (not that she always listens), unless I think it'd be good for her. I suppose that we've become friends. Almost.
Recently, speaking of government agents, she chose not to listen to me and tried to save a stray cat. This cat was bait. So she was captured and experimented upon heavily. These experiments are, in fact, the reason she can't remember much. Aria did manage to escape via striking a deal with one of the middle management men. She'd be their eyes and ears (temporarily, at least), and he wouldn't come after her. Since then, she's been a bit of a freelance agent. Striking deals with governments and people alike has been her number one method of surviving unsurvivable situations.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Ashes to Ashes
It's fairies In Space! along a semi-sentient magical hyperspace path that lets anyone walk from world to world (at the Path's pseudo-random whims), if you can find it in the first place.
|\Name of nation: The Faerie Inns
|\Summary in a Sentence: Fairies living in hyperspace that can literally walk between worlds (and so can everyone else, mostly).
Fairies!
It's fairies In Space! along a semi-sentient magical hyperspace path that lets anyone walk from world to world (at the Path's pseudo-random whims), if you can find it in the first place.
|\Name of nation: The Faerie Inns
|\Summary in a Sentence: Fairies living in hyperspace that can literally walk between worlds (and so can everyone else, mostly).
|\Species: Fay or Fairy, plural Fairies, possessive/adjective Faerie or Fae
Pictures
Spindly humanoids of height between three and four-and-a-half feet tall with splendidly-colored wings and large ears, born with a natural connection to the magical "aetherfield". When seen "naked" - that is, without the omnipresent glamour concealing their true appearance - they're rather plain. That same glamour allows them to conceal themselves as members of other species, and some even undergo surgery to complete the effect. A very few even remove their wings (obviously those few had rather boring wings). As a rule, however, they are always extravagantly beautiful, decadently wasteful, and incredibly vain.
Relatively speaking, they're fairly weak - flight doesn't work well with muscle density. They make up for it with their mastery of illusion and subtle enchantment.
However, their natural bond with the aetherfield also makes them extremely sensitive to radiation and cold iron. Radiation disconnects fairies from the aetherfield in a painful way. Iron is so poisonous to the Fay that mere touch causes skin lesions. The colder the iron, the worse the reaction; conversely, hot iron will do nothing more than cause a rash. Only recently did an enterprising fairy realize that a small dose of radium, taken every day, can disconnect a fairy from the aetherfield and prevent the symptoms. The "cure" has the obvious side effect of preventing a fairy from using her magic. It's also disorienting having one of your senses suddenly shut off. If used too often, the disconnect becomes permanent, and the fairy is usually labelled an outcast.
Pictures
Spindly humanoids of height between three and four-and-a-half feet tall with splendidly-colored wings and large ears, born with a natural connection to the magical "aetherfield". When seen "naked" - that is, without the omnipresent glamour concealing their true appearance - they're rather plain. That same glamour allows them to conceal themselves as members of other species, and some even undergo surgery to complete the effect. A very few even remove their wings (obviously those few had rather boring wings). As a rule, however, they are always extravagantly beautiful, decadently wasteful, and incredibly vain.
Relatively speaking, they're fairly weak - flight doesn't work well with muscle density. They make up for it with their mastery of illusion and subtle enchantment.
However, their natural bond with the aetherfield also makes them extremely sensitive to radiation and cold iron. Radiation disconnects fairies from the aetherfield in a painful way. Iron is so poisonous to the Fay that mere touch causes skin lesions. The colder the iron, the worse the reaction; conversely, hot iron will do nothing more than cause a rash. Only recently did an enterprising fairy realize that a small dose of radium, taken every day, can disconnect a fairy from the aetherfield and prevent the symptoms. The "cure" has the obvious side effect of preventing a fairy from using her magic. It's also disorienting having one of your senses suddenly shut off. If used too often, the disconnect becomes permanent, and the fairy is usually labelled an outcast.
|\Description of government: Confederation of four independent city-states. Inasmuch as there exists a government, anyway. Nobody rules the Fay so much as manages them. There's a long history of rulers that have tried to say "no" meeting horrifying fates - such as being devoured. Or entombed in a brick wall. Or strapped to a table and fed one drop of a nutrient paste every two weeks to just barely keep them alive. These weren't viewed as punishments as much as they were entertainments.
On the other hand, there's an unwritten Fairy Code. Any who go back on their word are exiled on the spot. Unsuspecting hyperspace travelers occasionally run across these "exiled" bodies. Particularly nice Fay will merely force twice the agreed-upon price from contract violators. Creative Fay will occasionally extract an elaborate and slow-burning revenge before the inevitable exile.
Each city-state, namely, the Inns-Between-Worlds, functions independently, with its own form of "government". They all amount to a weak dictatorship held up by one thing or another, with the head of each Inn known as an "owner". However, under crisis, the four owners can almost comfortably rely on each other. They generally all gather only in emergency, but that doesn't preclude one owner meeting with another for the purpose of trade, gossip, or repayment of a debt.
Finn's is ruled by the titular Finnegan, who relies on an extensive network of favors owed to him to stay in power. While other people (even of varying species) have degrees of power in Finn's, all profitable deals tend to have Finnegan involved in some way. Even if it's just in the "respects" paid to Finnegan for operating on his turf.
The Tawdry Oyster is ruled by Cinnamon, who relies on her good looks, charms, party-planning skills, and overall entertainment value to keep her Fairies in line. It works so long as she remains the most interesting Fay in The Oyster. Her current glamour of the moment is to make her wings (and clothes in general) appear to be made of flowing water.
The Marblehead Inn and Suites is ruled by Rock, the night watchman, who relies on his extensive knowledge of secrets. The original owner is lost somewhere above the 731st floor, so Rock has taken over the checking in of guests, charging them one secret apiece for admission. At this point, anyone who challenges Rock risks a torrent of terrific secrets being let loose; unfortunately, Fairies being what they are, it's inevitable that this will happen some time.
The House at the End of the Road is ruled by Lady Ruby. Hers is a more traditional power structure; she has both the most extensive knowledge of hexes and largest amount of "willing" sacrificial victims with which to fuel them.
On the other hand, there's an unwritten Fairy Code. Any who go back on their word are exiled on the spot. Unsuspecting hyperspace travelers occasionally run across these "exiled" bodies. Particularly nice Fay will merely force twice the agreed-upon price from contract violators. Creative Fay will occasionally extract an elaborate and slow-burning revenge before the inevitable exile.
Each city-state, namely, the Inns-Between-Worlds, functions independently, with its own form of "government". They all amount to a weak dictatorship held up by one thing or another, with the head of each Inn known as an "owner". However, under crisis, the four owners can almost comfortably rely on each other. They generally all gather only in emergency, but that doesn't preclude one owner meeting with another for the purpose of trade, gossip, or repayment of a debt.
Finn's is ruled by the titular Finnegan, who relies on an extensive network of favors owed to him to stay in power. While other people (even of varying species) have degrees of power in Finn's, all profitable deals tend to have Finnegan involved in some way. Even if it's just in the "respects" paid to Finnegan for operating on his turf.
The Tawdry Oyster is ruled by Cinnamon, who relies on her good looks, charms, party-planning skills, and overall entertainment value to keep her Fairies in line. It works so long as she remains the most interesting Fay in The Oyster. Her current glamour of the moment is to make her wings (and clothes in general) appear to be made of flowing water.
The Marblehead Inn and Suites is ruled by Rock, the night watchman, who relies on his extensive knowledge of secrets. The original owner is lost somewhere above the 731st floor, so Rock has taken over the checking in of guests, charging them one secret apiece for admission. At this point, anyone who challenges Rock risks a torrent of terrific secrets being let loose; unfortunately, Fairies being what they are, it's inevitable that this will happen some time.
The House at the End of the Road is ruled by Lady Ruby. Hers is a more traditional power structure; she has both the most extensive knowledge of hexes and largest amount of "willing" sacrificial victims with which to fuel them.
|\Territories:
The fairies have four territories - the Inns Between Worlds - that they control (five if you count the Path itself). Each exists in a locally-stabilized hyperspace node along the Fairy Path. These nodes vary wildly in climate and terrain, partly due to the enchantments thrown down by the fay to make the places look better.
There are three ways to get to these nodes. The first is through happenstance wandering along the Fairy Path. The Path will decide on its own terms to favor aliens, and guide them toward one place or another - which usually isn't an airless asteroid. The second is through guided wandering along the Path. Either you are a fairy, and thus have a natural instinct for Path navigation, or you have a fairy token, which will guide you to a specific place along the Path (or via hyperspace in general). The third way is through happening to stumble along the Path as you navigate hyperspace in your starship - Finn's and The Tawdry Oyster even have purpose-built zero-gravity docking ports for such encounters. Of course, you occasionally find yourself randomly plucked out of hyperspace and docked between two great pillars of dirt, stone, and grass, as if it were an advanced spaceport... but not.
Lucky travelers, after staying at an Inn, never feel so refreshed, often finding chronic aches and injuries healed upon waking, and their vehicles in mysteriously perfect working order.
Unlucky travelers, however, may end up as dinner, new members of the permanent Inn staff, mermaids (not as fun as you'd think), or sacrificial victims. Said traveler's vehicles and belongings are confiscated in exchange for their new role at the Inn.
Finn's - A recently rebuilt bar at which nobody speaks of the former establishment, lest they be banned, but otherwise resembles a merry pub (with rooms for rent up top!) in the middle of a large blast crater. The establishment is rather dwarfed by the trading boomtown which surrounds it, all owned and leased out by Finn's.
The Tawdry Oyster - A tropical resort boasting live mermaids (stay there too long and risk becoming one!). Like Finn's, The Oyster rents out land to other guests. Stringent guidelines (and pricing) make the Oyster the locale for only the richest, beautiful, and most famous of species' celebrities.
Marblehead Inn and Suites - A towering modern edifice that adds more floors as people climb the stairs, despite the owner's best efforts to get the building to stop already. If you don't want to be found, you have a chance of ending up here for a while. Ironically, it's a good place to "lay low", despite its skyscraper nature. Interestingly, the decor subtly changes as you rise, so you might start off in the luxurious marble lobby and end up in a minimalist observation lounge with square plastic benches and recessed strip lighting.
The House at the End of the Road - Which has various names, (The House, House on the Hill, Quiet Hill Inn, 1408 Elm Street, etc.) but invariably appears to travelers with no other choice in lodgings and a desperate need for them. Rather spooky, but only at night.
The fairies have four territories - the Inns Between Worlds - that they control (five if you count the Path itself). Each exists in a locally-stabilized hyperspace node along the Fairy Path. These nodes vary wildly in climate and terrain, partly due to the enchantments thrown down by the fay to make the places look better.
There are three ways to get to these nodes. The first is through happenstance wandering along the Fairy Path. The Path will decide on its own terms to favor aliens, and guide them toward one place or another - which usually isn't an airless asteroid. The second is through guided wandering along the Path. Either you are a fairy, and thus have a natural instinct for Path navigation, or you have a fairy token, which will guide you to a specific place along the Path (or via hyperspace in general). The third way is through happening to stumble along the Path as you navigate hyperspace in your starship - Finn's and The Tawdry Oyster even have purpose-built zero-gravity docking ports for such encounters. Of course, you occasionally find yourself randomly plucked out of hyperspace and docked between two great pillars of dirt, stone, and grass, as if it were an advanced spaceport... but not.
Lucky travelers, after staying at an Inn, never feel so refreshed, often finding chronic aches and injuries healed upon waking, and their vehicles in mysteriously perfect working order.
Unlucky travelers, however, may end up as dinner, new members of the permanent Inn staff, mermaids (not as fun as you'd think), or sacrificial victims. Said traveler's vehicles and belongings are confiscated in exchange for their new role at the Inn.
Finn's - A recently rebuilt bar at which nobody speaks of the former establishment, lest they be banned, but otherwise resembles a merry pub (with rooms for rent up top!) in the middle of a large blast crater. The establishment is rather dwarfed by the trading boomtown which surrounds it, all owned and leased out by Finn's.
The Tawdry Oyster - A tropical resort boasting live mermaids (stay there too long and risk becoming one!). Like Finn's, The Oyster rents out land to other guests. Stringent guidelines (and pricing) make the Oyster the locale for only the richest, beautiful, and most famous of species' celebrities.
Marblehead Inn and Suites - A towering modern edifice that adds more floors as people climb the stairs, despite the owner's best efforts to get the building to stop already. If you don't want to be found, you have a chance of ending up here for a while. Ironically, it's a good place to "lay low", despite its skyscraper nature. Interestingly, the decor subtly changes as you rise, so you might start off in the luxurious marble lobby and end up in a minimalist observation lounge with square plastic benches and recessed strip lighting.
The House at the End of the Road - Which has various names, (The House, House on the Hill, Quiet Hill Inn, 1408 Elm Street, etc.) but invariably appears to travelers with no other choice in lodgings and a desperate need for them. Rather spooky, but only at night.
|\Description of Military:
Any military equipment is up to the individual to field. So you'll end up facing an army cobbled-together from various technologies and magics, ranging from platinum-iridium spears to railgun tanks. Any technological artifact is generally stolen from some other species.
Each Inn-Between-Worlds is responsible for its own defense, and each has wildly different strategies to that effect. For instance, The House relies on hexes and terrifying glamours, which ultimately costs its residents dearly each time it has to defend itself. Happily for the House, it's usually terrifying enough to make most would-be invaders not bother after the first few nights. Finn's takes rather the opposite approach, preferring to be such a valuable trading hub for everyone that nobody would want to invade and everyone wants to defend it.
The Tawdry Oyster has the most familiar military, consisting of a small number of legions fit for policework and defense, and all with a maritime theme. Meanwhile, the Marblehead Inn and Suites has no military. The ever-growing staff can barely keep up with the building as it is; a large number of bellhops and concierges are their best option. However, the Marblehead usually opts for retreating up a few floors. Once they even tricked an invasion force into taking a recently-installed elevator to the top floor. It's said that, late at night, you can still hear distant dings and screaming.
Any military equipment is up to the individual to field. So you'll end up facing an army cobbled-together from various technologies and magics, ranging from platinum-iridium spears to railgun tanks. Any technological artifact is generally stolen from some other species.
Each Inn-Between-Worlds is responsible for its own defense, and each has wildly different strategies to that effect. For instance, The House relies on hexes and terrifying glamours, which ultimately costs its residents dearly each time it has to defend itself. Happily for the House, it's usually terrifying enough to make most would-be invaders not bother after the first few nights. Finn's takes rather the opposite approach, preferring to be such a valuable trading hub for everyone that nobody would want to invade and everyone wants to defend it.
The Tawdry Oyster has the most familiar military, consisting of a small number of legions fit for policework and defense, and all with a maritime theme. Meanwhile, the Marblehead Inn and Suites has no military. The ever-growing staff can barely keep up with the building as it is; a large number of bellhops and concierges are their best option. However, the Marblehead usually opts for retreating up a few floors. Once they even tricked an invasion force into taking a recently-installed elevator to the top floor. It's said that, late at night, you can still hear distant dings and screaming.
|\Technological Overview: The technology level varies massively from one individual to the next. The Fay themselves generally invent nothing, preferring to steal from other races (and even steal the scientists of the other races) when they feel so inclined. Yet, they have a few claims to fame. On is the Fairy Path, created by the outcast fairy Euryale. A living entity comprised of beautifully subtle aetherfied hyperspace tunnels, the Path is a series of trails threading through most known worlds. The Fay can literally walk from world to world. Of course, so can anyone else who stumbles upon them. Not that they'd notice - one of the Path's many glamours make each transition from world to world seamless. You only realize you're no longer in Kansas when it's far too late. And walking the Path is dangerous - some trails lead to airless moons, glassed planets, and frigid ice worlds. The routes change according to the Path's inscrutable whim, influenceable only by Queen Titania herself (recently missing). The Fay themselves, of course, know how to navigate the Path; it's part of the glamours lacing the thing. Like all Fairy magic, however, it's thwarted by radiation. The Fairy Path has learned to stay away from highly-populated technological areas, sticking to the deep woods where at all possible. Fewer people usually means less radioactivity.
Their other claim to fame is the reason that the locally-stabilized hyperspace nodes still exist, despite the planet Faerie (the heart of the Path) mysteriously disappearing. Each Inn-Between-Worlds has a stabilizer, powered by the blood sacrifice of a specific type of individual once each relative year. The type of individual varies for each inn; the Marblehead requires a cold, logical thinker; the Tawdry Oyster requires a beautiful seductress; Finn's needs someone with wealth that yearns for more; and the House at the End of the Road requires a brash adventurer.
A minor achievement are Fairy Tokens, which allow other species to use the Path to walk to a specific node. Each token is keyed to a specific Inn (though they could be keyed anywhere, in theory; you'd just have to make them wherever you wanted to go). Far and away the most tokens are keyed to Finn's.
Their other claim to fame is the reason that the locally-stabilized hyperspace nodes still exist, despite the planet Faerie (the heart of the Path) mysteriously disappearing. Each Inn-Between-Worlds has a stabilizer, powered by the blood sacrifice of a specific type of individual once each relative year. The type of individual varies for each inn; the Marblehead requires a cold, logical thinker; the Tawdry Oyster requires a beautiful seductress; Finn's needs someone with wealth that yearns for more; and the House at the End of the Road requires a brash adventurer.
A minor achievement are Fairy Tokens, which allow other species to use the Path to walk to a specific node. Each token is keyed to a specific Inn (though they could be keyed anywhere, in theory; you'd just have to make them wherever you wanted to go). Far and away the most tokens are keyed to Finn's.
|\Magical Overview:
Glamours are an innate ability shared by all Fay. A glamour is an illusion cast on either themselves or a small object altering its appearance. Many glamours are incredibly elaborate, as it's considered a marker of high status to have a detailed glamour. Queen Titania, the former head of state, could change what she appeared to be wearing based on how she was feeling at the moment. Fairy gold is another example of a glamour: exchanging a few leaves that look and feel like gold for favors is an old trick. The more tech-savvy Fay can fool e-banks into believing funds have been transferred - for a day or so, anyway.
On top of glamours (or perhaps as a subset of glamours), Fay can cast simple prestidigitations - real-life magic tricks. Levitating small objects, turning paper roses into real ones with a flash of fire, making objects disappear, increasingly complicated card tricks, that sort of thing.
Another aspect to fairy magic is curses and blessings. Curses and blessings affect processes. Fairies can curse or bless items and organics, causing harvests to be particularly good or bad, or certain industrial processes to function foully or fairly. Tech-savvy Fay can even bless code to execute to the author's intentions, and not what they mistakenly typed. In general, curses and blessings can be mistaken as periods of particularly bad or good luck, which aid the Fay in their secretive, semi-mythical lifestyle.
Finally, there are hexes. Developed by the House on the Hill after the Path got "ornery" following the planet Fairie's disappearance, Hexes are a dark subset of Fae magic requiring sacrifice. The more powerful the effect, the greater the sacrifice. In return for this bit of darkness, complex and specific things can be achieved - like the series of carefully-calculated spacetime manipulations that keep the Inn's hyperspace nodes locally stable.
Glamours are an innate ability shared by all Fay. A glamour is an illusion cast on either themselves or a small object altering its appearance. Many glamours are incredibly elaborate, as it's considered a marker of high status to have a detailed glamour. Queen Titania, the former head of state, could change what she appeared to be wearing based on how she was feeling at the moment. Fairy gold is another example of a glamour: exchanging a few leaves that look and feel like gold for favors is an old trick. The more tech-savvy Fay can fool e-banks into believing funds have been transferred - for a day or so, anyway.
On top of glamours (or perhaps as a subset of glamours), Fay can cast simple prestidigitations - real-life magic tricks. Levitating small objects, turning paper roses into real ones with a flash of fire, making objects disappear, increasingly complicated card tricks, that sort of thing.
Another aspect to fairy magic is curses and blessings. Curses and blessings affect processes. Fairies can curse or bless items and organics, causing harvests to be particularly good or bad, or certain industrial processes to function foully or fairly. Tech-savvy Fay can even bless code to execute to the author's intentions, and not what they mistakenly typed. In general, curses and blessings can be mistaken as periods of particularly bad or good luck, which aid the Fay in their secretive, semi-mythical lifestyle.
Finally, there are hexes. Developed by the House on the Hill after the Path got "ornery" following the planet Fairie's disappearance, Hexes are a dark subset of Fae magic requiring sacrifice. The more powerful the effect, the greater the sacrifice. In return for this bit of darkness, complex and specific things can be achieved - like the series of carefully-calculated spacetime manipulations that keep the Inn's hyperspace nodes locally stable.
|\Cultural Overview: Fairies are vain, fickle creatures that make ironclad bargains (which they take seriously, if only at face value) and believe wholly in the power of the individual. This value emphasis on the individual permeates their society so wholly that the Fay are essentially ungovernable. Getting a group of them to do anything is generally more difficult than herding hungry cats. There once was a fairy Queen - Titania - who survived as such chiefly because she remained entertaining; that and she'd agreed to host a party and clean up afterwards. The trick was that she still hadn't cleaned up for the past several dozen years, so she was still technically host, which was more authority than anyone else had. Unfortunately, she disappeared with the rest of the home planet of Faerie. The owners of the Inns Between Worlds fell into the power "vacuum" (Titania herself freely admitted that she had little actual control over subjects).
The Fay are a long-lived species (or at least appear to be; time tends to dilate along the Fairy Path - and very few Fay allow themselves to appear old). They believe totally in the freedom of the individual. Aside from the four Inns, which are really only ruled out of happenstance or convenience, there are no organizations. The rest of the Fay, scattered throughout the galaxy, live as shopkeepers, farmers, seers, sooth-sayers, "demons", kleptomaniacs, and minor deities (or so they claim). Generally, Fairies will do anything but reveal themselves as fairies, instead preferring to assume a glamour of the locally-dominant species. This goes back to a practical and deep-seated distrust of other species. When you have almost no military, it behooves you to keep your race (let alone the location of your homeworlds) a secret. Plus, it helps to allay suspicion in missing child cases, or whatever shenanigans the Fairy has gotten themselves into.
Outcasts are those who eschew their magic for living near radiation and cold iron; namely, on starships. When pressed, they usually claim that they're a member of a near-extinct nomadic species (something not far from the truth). If further pressed, they usually leave. While outcasts are seen as weird and there's a social stigma toward them, they enjoy the same rights as any other fairy. The outcasts just choose not to exercise them, most of the time.
The two constants among all fairies are vanity and pride. Fairies are convinced that they are the best at whatever they choose to do (and with magic, that's not always a lie), and of course they're the most beautiful beings in existence. Or else. Aside from relatively standard activities, Fairies love mischief. Whether that mischief comes in the form of the occasional abduction, experiment, meal, or risqué escapade, if there are fairies, it exists.
Fairies are obsessed with the fine arts. Rumors of Fairies letting themselves get enchanted by a particularly beautiful melody, painting, statue, or dance aren't unfounded. And any alien that makes a pact or deal with a Fairy will see the Fairy hold up their end to the (exact) letter of the bargain. Fay demand equal trade and reciprocation. No deed is for free, and saying "thank you" is often deadly. Fay view "thank you" as attempting to repay a kindness with words, and very few Fairies think their special kindnesses are worth mere words. Fairies will also do whatever they think is most interesting, and if nothing interesting is happening, they'll make something interesting happen. These two behaviors mean that any slight or insult will be avenged mercilessly.
The Fay are a long-lived species (or at least appear to be; time tends to dilate along the Fairy Path - and very few Fay allow themselves to appear old). They believe totally in the freedom of the individual. Aside from the four Inns, which are really only ruled out of happenstance or convenience, there are no organizations. The rest of the Fay, scattered throughout the galaxy, live as shopkeepers, farmers, seers, sooth-sayers, "demons", kleptomaniacs, and minor deities (or so they claim). Generally, Fairies will do anything but reveal themselves as fairies, instead preferring to assume a glamour of the locally-dominant species. This goes back to a practical and deep-seated distrust of other species. When you have almost no military, it behooves you to keep your race (let alone the location of your homeworlds) a secret. Plus, it helps to allay suspicion in missing child cases, or whatever shenanigans the Fairy has gotten themselves into.
Outcasts are those who eschew their magic for living near radiation and cold iron; namely, on starships. When pressed, they usually claim that they're a member of a near-extinct nomadic species (something not far from the truth). If further pressed, they usually leave. While outcasts are seen as weird and there's a social stigma toward them, they enjoy the same rights as any other fairy. The outcasts just choose not to exercise them, most of the time.
The two constants among all fairies are vanity and pride. Fairies are convinced that they are the best at whatever they choose to do (and with magic, that's not always a lie), and of course they're the most beautiful beings in existence. Or else. Aside from relatively standard activities, Fairies love mischief. Whether that mischief comes in the form of the occasional abduction, experiment, meal, or risqué escapade, if there are fairies, it exists.
Fairies are obsessed with the fine arts. Rumors of Fairies letting themselves get enchanted by a particularly beautiful melody, painting, statue, or dance aren't unfounded. And any alien that makes a pact or deal with a Fairy will see the Fairy hold up their end to the (exact) letter of the bargain. Fay demand equal trade and reciprocation. No deed is for free, and saying "thank you" is often deadly. Fay view "thank you" as attempting to repay a kindness with words, and very few Fairies think their special kindnesses are worth mere words. Fairies will also do whatever they think is most interesting, and if nothing interesting is happening, they'll make something interesting happen. These two behaviors mean that any slight or insult will be avenged mercilessly.
|\History: Once upon a time [couldn't resist, sorry], there was a democratic federation of magical beings known as Fay. The Fay spanned a few star systems, having travelled there via the good will of their neighbors, as the Fay themselves had no interest in technology, but every interest in all things beautiful. That interest motivated them to reside on strange new worlds, absorbing fantastic natural sights. In return for the shuttle services, for which no bargain was struck, the Fay took it upon themselves to beautify their neighbor's planets, making them all the more incredible to behold. And there was peace and prosperity for a while.
One day, however, an evil man came to power in a nearby empire. This empire violently expanded. When the evil emperor learned of the beauty of the neighboring planets, he immediately declared war. The neighbors regretfully informed the Fay that it could no longer afford to shuttle the Fay from planet to planet while fighting a war.
A young Fay by the name of Euryale, self-exiled for her love of technology, created the ultimate masterpiece of Fay art and engineering: the Fairy Path. To birth the Path, however, there was a price to be paid. Faerie and the star it orbited were forevermore inaccessible to the universe at large. This was, of course, Euryale's intention; the evil empire couldn't destroy Faerie if they couldn't find it.
The peaceful neighbors, meanwhile, were utterly annihilated. Those that survived were "assimilated" into the empire. Thus they paid the price for slighting the Fay nation. Meanwhile, the glamours and blessings bestowed upon the planets faded, and soon very little that was not ugly grew in the soil there. And so peace and prosperity once again followed.
At one point or another, one particular Fairy decided it would be more fun to rule permanently than to continue with democracy. An insurrection followed, and the would-be ruler was entombed behind a brick wall filled with spiders and insects that liked to chitter in his ears. Complete anarchy took hold of the Fay, with nobody wanting to submit to anyone.
Another Fairy, seeing this anarchy, sought to reform a peaceful government capable of "getting things done". If anything, the insurrection that followed was more violent than the previous one, and the would-be ruler was kept forever alive while forever starving, her wrists and ankles bound to a stone alter with rings of frozen iron.
Finally Queen Titania rose to power through a deceptively simple deal. She agreed to host a party. So long as the party continued, she would be host, and so long as she was host, she had authority. It helped that she was extremely adept at manipulating the aetherfield, and had a mysteriously good rapport with the Path. Would-be assassins were eliminated long before they got near her (often in public, to everyone's chagrin). In short, she maintained power by being entertaining.
Eventually, enterprising fay discovered four natural nodes of stability along the Path. The Fay set up Inns on said nodes. These nodes became meeting spots for various cultures that stumbled upon the Path, whether Fay or otherwise.
One night, the home planet of Faerie mysteriously disappeared, and the Path began to unravel. While Finnegan shouted "last call" and hyperspace distortions rippled spacetime, Lady Ruby from the House at the End of the Road stabilized the Path. The feat had been accomplished through a rather elaborate sacrifice of seven hundred souls.
There's been a relatively easy peace since then. Finn's has continued on as the main meeting place and tradinghouse between worlds and cultures, the Marblehead continues to be an excellent place to disappear for a while (some whole kingdoms have been known to take up residence from time to time), and the Tawdry Oyster remains an excellent getaway for the elite. The House continued down its path, getting progressively more creepy with each passing year.
One day, however, an evil man came to power in a nearby empire. This empire violently expanded. When the evil emperor learned of the beauty of the neighboring planets, he immediately declared war. The neighbors regretfully informed the Fay that it could no longer afford to shuttle the Fay from planet to planet while fighting a war.
A young Fay by the name of Euryale, self-exiled for her love of technology, created the ultimate masterpiece of Fay art and engineering: the Fairy Path. To birth the Path, however, there was a price to be paid. Faerie and the star it orbited were forevermore inaccessible to the universe at large. This was, of course, Euryale's intention; the evil empire couldn't destroy Faerie if they couldn't find it.
The peaceful neighbors, meanwhile, were utterly annihilated. Those that survived were "assimilated" into the empire. Thus they paid the price for slighting the Fay nation. Meanwhile, the glamours and blessings bestowed upon the planets faded, and soon very little that was not ugly grew in the soil there. And so peace and prosperity once again followed.
At one point or another, one particular Fairy decided it would be more fun to rule permanently than to continue with democracy. An insurrection followed, and the would-be ruler was entombed behind a brick wall filled with spiders and insects that liked to chitter in his ears. Complete anarchy took hold of the Fay, with nobody wanting to submit to anyone.
Another Fairy, seeing this anarchy, sought to reform a peaceful government capable of "getting things done". If anything, the insurrection that followed was more violent than the previous one, and the would-be ruler was kept forever alive while forever starving, her wrists and ankles bound to a stone alter with rings of frozen iron.
Finally Queen Titania rose to power through a deceptively simple deal. She agreed to host a party. So long as the party continued, she would be host, and so long as she was host, she had authority. It helped that she was extremely adept at manipulating the aetherfield, and had a mysteriously good rapport with the Path. Would-be assassins were eliminated long before they got near her (often in public, to everyone's chagrin). In short, she maintained power by being entertaining.
Eventually, enterprising fay discovered four natural nodes of stability along the Path. The Fay set up Inns on said nodes. These nodes became meeting spots for various cultures that stumbled upon the Path, whether Fay or otherwise.
One night, the home planet of Faerie mysteriously disappeared, and the Path began to unravel. While Finnegan shouted "last call" and hyperspace distortions rippled spacetime, Lady Ruby from the House at the End of the Road stabilized the Path. The feat had been accomplished through a rather elaborate sacrifice of seven hundred souls.
There's been a relatively easy peace since then. Finn's has continued on as the main meeting place and tradinghouse between worlds and cultures, the Marblehead continues to be an excellent place to disappear for a while (some whole kingdoms have been known to take up residence from time to time), and the Tawdry Oyster remains an excellent getaway for the elite. The House continued down its path, getting progressively more creepy with each passing year.
OP
Queen Raidne Raspberry Diva
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
From Stargate - H.M.S. Tempest
I'm very interested in Head of Research. Could be a fun position. Please forgive some formatting errors; I've yet to fully adjust to the new site.
Edit: Wow. I hadn't read the IOA Rep's bio until after I posted. Talk about a marvelous coincidence!
|Appearance: Fair-skinned and short of height with dark green, almost gray eyes. His hair is a thick dark brown, well-parted and short. He has dyed his temples gray (or perhaps his hair is prematurely gray and he's dyed the rest brown). He also sports a mustache and goatee. His face, with its strong jaw-line and generally rectangular shape, has a very few wrinkles, mainly on his brow.
|Name: Dr. Abel Ishpetyr
|Title: Doctor (awarded Sc. D. from the University of Cambridge for work in theoretical physics; PhD in Acoustics from the University of Cambridge)
|Role: Head of Research
|Unit: Research
|Age: 32
|Gender: Male
|Reason chosen for Tempest: Someone very high up "owed" him a favor; not that he's particularly unqualified, so it was no great loss for him to be assigned to the Tempest. The "official" reason cites his experience leading a team of researchers and his work in theoretical physics, not to mention that working with sub- and hyper- space comes incredibly naturally to him.
|Personality: A façade of pleasantness, smiles, and good manners. Behind the façade, he is manipulative and political. Very, very political. Every power, event and person is an opportunity to him. Mildly vindictive.
|Short Biography:
In truth, and as one of his greatest secrets, he never achieved a PhD in Acoustics. Dr. Ishpetyr came very close, but there was a girl involved. He made the mistake of pursuing her, rather than his degree. She dumped him, and then he realized his mistake. In desperation, Able got a "friend" to hack the records, gained leverage over a faculty member or two, and moved on with his life. Before he moved on, however, he carefully sowed the secrets of his former girlfriend amongst her colleagues, friends and family. She dropped out of university a month before completing her degree, and he never heard from her again.
His second greatest secret is that he never got over her, and is plagued with guilt at what he'd done. Occasionally he'll discreetly and anonymously make her life better; he's her "guardian angel".
Other than those juicy bits of unshared gossip, he studied abroad at MIT in the United States. He earned a dual Aerospace Engineering and Physics major with a minor in Mathematics after six years of difficult course work. For graduate school he (obviously) returned to his native England.
After earning his doctorate, Dr. Ishpetyr was the head of a research team studying the fluid, acoustic nature of spacetime. Several years into their research he very nearly independently discovered and confirmed the existence of subspace. However, funding mysteriously dried up before he could complete the study — a civilian hacking into subspace communications bands would be very bad for the Stargate program. Thus Abel's attention turned to the Stargate program.
He didn't know about it at first, of course. But the deeper he dug, the less sense things started to make. Tracking the financial status of research studies, a pattern began to emerge. Any research into spacetime seemed to halt prematurely — either the lead researchers would mysteriously change careers, funding would disappear, or some other small disaster occurred. And the more he dug, the more he found. Astronomical data, in particular, was either very poorly tracked or simply absent at times. A model revealed that the blurry "holes" in the data tracked across the sky and moved in an impossible manner. Certain recent projects and inventions had plenty of funds, but not enough personnel, or vice versa. Yet the advancements kept coming, apparently impervious to the pressures other projects felt.
So he called in a few favors, met the right people, found the right leverage, and finally ended up in a secure room being briefed about the Stargate program. Then he was "invited" to participate - a result he found very agreeable. After all, he figured, if such a massive secret was kept from the public, what secrets were they keeping from themselves?
The Americans, it turned out, were hiding something. Something involving a pattern in cosmic background radiation, a covered-up base codenamed "Icarus", a lost expedition to somewhere codenamed "Destiny", and a rather involved equation that he only caught bits and pieces of. It became his newest obsession, but he'd learned all he could whilst on Earth. So the Tempest seemed like a natural means to get closer to the mystery.
I'm very interested in Head of Research. Could be a fun position. Please forgive some formatting errors; I've yet to fully adjust to the new site.
Edit: Wow. I hadn't read the IOA Rep's bio until after I posted. Talk about a marvelous coincidence!
|Appearance: Fair-skinned and short of height with dark green, almost gray eyes. His hair is a thick dark brown, well-parted and short. He has dyed his temples gray (or perhaps his hair is prematurely gray and he's dyed the rest brown). He also sports a mustache and goatee. His face, with its strong jaw-line and generally rectangular shape, has a very few wrinkles, mainly on his brow.
|Name: Dr. Abel Ishpetyr
|Title: Doctor (awarded Sc. D. from the University of Cambridge for work in theoretical physics; PhD in Acoustics from the University of Cambridge)
|Role: Head of Research
|Unit: Research
|Age: 32
|Gender: Male
|Reason chosen for Tempest: Someone very high up "owed" him a favor; not that he's particularly unqualified, so it was no great loss for him to be assigned to the Tempest. The "official" reason cites his experience leading a team of researchers and his work in theoretical physics, not to mention that working with sub- and hyper- space comes incredibly naturally to him.
|Personality: A façade of pleasantness, smiles, and good manners. Behind the façade, he is manipulative and political. Very, very political. Every power, event and person is an opportunity to him. Mildly vindictive.
|Short Biography:
In truth, and as one of his greatest secrets, he never achieved a PhD in Acoustics. Dr. Ishpetyr came very close, but there was a girl involved. He made the mistake of pursuing her, rather than his degree. She dumped him, and then he realized his mistake. In desperation, Able got a "friend" to hack the records, gained leverage over a faculty member or two, and moved on with his life. Before he moved on, however, he carefully sowed the secrets of his former girlfriend amongst her colleagues, friends and family. She dropped out of university a month before completing her degree, and he never heard from her again.
His second greatest secret is that he never got over her, and is plagued with guilt at what he'd done. Occasionally he'll discreetly and anonymously make her life better; he's her "guardian angel".
Other than those juicy bits of unshared gossip, he studied abroad at MIT in the United States. He earned a dual Aerospace Engineering and Physics major with a minor in Mathematics after six years of difficult course work. For graduate school he (obviously) returned to his native England.
After earning his doctorate, Dr. Ishpetyr was the head of a research team studying the fluid, acoustic nature of spacetime. Several years into their research he very nearly independently discovered and confirmed the existence of subspace. However, funding mysteriously dried up before he could complete the study — a civilian hacking into subspace communications bands would be very bad for the Stargate program. Thus Abel's attention turned to the Stargate program.
He didn't know about it at first, of course. But the deeper he dug, the less sense things started to make. Tracking the financial status of research studies, a pattern began to emerge. Any research into spacetime seemed to halt prematurely — either the lead researchers would mysteriously change careers, funding would disappear, or some other small disaster occurred. And the more he dug, the more he found. Astronomical data, in particular, was either very poorly tracked or simply absent at times. A model revealed that the blurry "holes" in the data tracked across the sky and moved in an impossible manner. Certain recent projects and inventions had plenty of funds, but not enough personnel, or vice versa. Yet the advancements kept coming, apparently impervious to the pressures other projects felt.
So he called in a few favors, met the right people, found the right leverage, and finally ended up in a secure room being briefed about the Stargate program. Then he was "invited" to participate - a result he found very agreeable. After all, he figured, if such a massive secret was kept from the public, what secrets were they keeping from themselves?
The Americans, it turned out, were hiding something. Something involving a pattern in cosmic background radiation, a covered-up base codenamed "Icarus", a lost expedition to somewhere codenamed "Destiny", and a rather involved equation that he only caught bits and pieces of. It became his newest obsession, but he'd learned all he could whilst on Earth. So the Tempest seemed like a natural means to get closer to the mystery.
1 Guest
viewing this page
of
2
© 2007-2024