While the universe we knew unraveled into nonexistence, the human race was rescued by interdimensional beings that took us to a new universe, one with thousands of other species already living and thriving in it. We were given a small planet on the outskirts of a large solar system, and we started rebuilding our society. We named the planet "Artemis" after the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom. The name would serve to remind of all we had lost, and to remind us to be wise and not make the same mistakes that led to our home's doom again.
We have struggled to adjust to the ways of aliens around us, but they aren't our only problems. From within the humans, some of our leaders have become corrupt and drunk for power, putting harsh restrictions on their citizens in the name of "keeping our planet safe," but really it's to gain more money and power for themselves. Tens of thousands of years of human history, and still we fall prey to the same primitive and selfish desires.
From this oppression and abuse of power a rebellion has sprung forth. It is small, to be sure, but throughout the solar system small groups of humans (and some of our sympathetic neighbors) have grown tired of their lives being controlled. Among this rebellion, a phrase is whispered.
"Veritas lux mea," or "truth is my light."
This is the name painted on the side of the flagship of the rebellion. To the naked eye, it is simply a normal ship used for minor criminal activities. Smuggling, transporting less than reputable people to rendezvous of a less than reputable nature, and other things of the like. If one were to join the crew, however, they would find a group of people who are working towards a greater purpose. It is on this ship that our story takes place.
Can the rebellion gain enough numbers to make a difference? Will humans be forced to live under the rule of oppressive leaders forever? Is there a darker, more sinister plan that our heroes have yet to discover?
Only time will tell.
Overview
Setting: Sci-fi/western Time Frame: 526 A.E. Type Of RP: Casual
@The Fated Fallen Yep! I'm going for the same kind of space-western vibe and whatnot. Obviously there are differences, but it's definitely based around Firefly.
@The Fated Fallen Sounds good. The Co-GM and I are just working out our characters, and then we'll post the actual rp. I'll @ you when we start it up ^-^
And so that everyone can start playing with ideas for their characters, here's some extra information about the universe our characters live in. I didn't think I'd have people signing up this fast, which is why I didn't initially include it in the interest check, but here you guys go lol
The Universe
Here is where you will find all the information you will need (plus some you don't) about the little corner of the universe that our weary travelers inhabit.
Perosphis
Letha This large solar system is where the human race has made it's new home. It is also home to the Zitari, Dalaori, Naka, Verrens, Glao, Ithlo, and Azavin.
Forl- Glao home-world
Aspen- Glao territory
Girfin- Glao territory
Loza- Ithlo home-world
Lal- ithlo territory
Rogzin- Ithlo territory
Alazden- Ithlo territory
Orgu- Neutral territory
Demtu- Neutral territory
Ryth- Neutral territory
Wran- Moon where the Zitari are often found in large groups.
Artemis- The new human home-world.
Kako- Neutral territory
Phylon- Neutral territory
Dotma- Dalaori home-world
Moahn- Dalaori territory
Tydo- Dalaori territory
Yu- Azavin home-world
The Hub- A giant conglomeration of spaceships and spacedocks. Neutral territory
Xizu- Naka home-world
Vin- Naka territory
Irlan- Verren home-world
Hethe- Verren territory
1. The Naka look like humans except with different, usually dark skin tones and pointed ears. They are typically very friendly and welcoming, always ready to lend a helping hand to their neighbors. Humans confuse them to no end, but they've done their best to help the newcomers to get settled in and used to their new home.
2. Dalaori are huge humanoids with horns and four arms. They are even more confused by human behavior than the Naka, but do their best to be understanding. The Dalaori are pillars of knowledge in the galaxy, known for their gigantic libraries and huge stores of data. If you need a fact checked, just ask a Dalaori. They'll be more than happy to lend a helping hand.
3. Zitari, the interdimensional beings that brought humans to the universe, stay in close contact. They have been very kind in helping humans adapt to life in their new home. They have also argued on behalf of the humans on several occasions.
4. Glaos are rather nasty creatures, deemed one of the only species that are more "savage" than humans. A glao more closely resembles a spider than a human, with an exoskeleton and six legs, plus two arms. By human standards they're pretty ugly, and have a major superiority complex. Needless to say, humans and glaos aren't on great terms. The rest of the universe thinks it's hilarious/are frightened by what the two species could do if they ever put their differences aside.
5. Verrens are typically warm and fuzzy creatures - literally. Verrens are small, adorable, hyper intelligent little balls of fluff. They're about the size of your average housecat, but appear to simply be blobs of moving fur with arms. The first time a human encountered a Verren, they thought that it was the Naka's pet, and nearly had a heart-attack when the tiny creature started speaking to them in a surprisingly deep voice. The Verrens are quite friendly, though somewhat irritable and low on patience. What they lack in physical intimidation, they make up for with their highly advanced technology.
6. The Ithlo are another humanoid race. They are tall and slender with horns of varying sizes and shapes, and typically have very long hair. If you ever see an Ithlo with short hair, keep your distance; the cutting of hair is a sign of disgrace. They aren't as friendly as the Naka, and tend to get offended easily by the antics of other races. Their sense of humor is somewhat dry and underdeveloped. Still, their medical knowledge and advanced hand-to-hand combat techniques make them ideal people to keep around - if you can put up with their unkindly manner.
7. Azavin are a hive mind that tend to keep to themselves for the most part. Their behavior mimics that of bees; They have a queen and drones, and they all work to further the goals of the hive. Being telepathically connected, it is hard to find a species that is more coordinated than the Azavin. Their ships run like well oiled machines, each part working in perfect unison with the other without missing a beat. They are known for their astonishing dance and acrobatic performances. The Azavin themselves are cordial and diplomatic, if not one of the more introverted species of the galaxy. It is a very tight knit collective, and it is rare to see an Azavin anywhere without a group of their kind somewhere nearby. As for their appearance, they have fish-like faces, and instead of arms and legs the Azavin possess tentacles.
In the year 501 A.E. the stars started going out.
One by one, all the lights in the universe disappeared, blipping out of existence without a trace. Scientists tried to find a solution, but with Earth long gone, their resources were limited, and they simply couldn't find an answer to save the remaining scraps of humans that were left drifting in the universe. To make matters worse, the last star was about to disappear. All the remaining humans had gathered in one spot, a mere 2,000,000 people remain from a once thriving galactic civilization. Panic was widespread, and even the remaining military stations had descended into near chaos. Not only were they dying from lack of supplies, there was also an unknown plague ravaging the population. The human race was going to die, and there was nothing they could do about it.
And that’s when they came.
Lights began appearing around all the gathered ships, and upon closer inspection it became obvious that they weren’t just lights. They were creatures. Aliens. Billions upon billions of years of being alone in the universe, and now humans discover new life- or rather, new life discovered them, and they had been watching the humans for a very long time.
One of the creatures approached a ship, a military outpost, and explained who they were and where they were from. They were called the Zitari, and they were from another dimension. A dimension that they were willing to transport humanity to, if they could meet the qualifications. Once every hundred Earth years, all the species of this strange universe gathered together for “games”. In these games, the endurance of the contestants from each species was tested. The games were designed to push you to your mental, physical, and emotional limits, and then push you a little more. The Zitari’s proposition was that if the humans send contestants that manage to last for a reasonably long time in the games (thus earning the respect of the other species), they would be granted a permanent place in their universe.
Humanity succeeded in the games. They didn't win, but they did place third and earned a place among the rest of the species in the universe. They were given a small planet to terraform, and told that they would be granted another planet when they had reached the necessary level of population.
It has been twenty-four years since the games, and humanity has started to settle into their new home. They have established trade with several species and made a few friends, and the population has reached well over 19,200,000.
The universe is governed by a collaborative group formed by the leaders of each species. This group is called The Syndicate. The idea of The Syndicate is that all decisions made will be fair and take everyone's considerations into mind before voting. Of course, this doesn't always go as planned, and as with any political system it never makes everyone happy.
Under the Syndicate, you have the chancellors; elected officials who control individual countries and report to the Syndicate. Under the chancellors, you have the city chiefs who run the individual cities inside the country and report to the chancellor.
Everyone has collectively decided that humans are just weird. There are other humanoid lifeforms of course (some even appear shockingly similar to humans, such as the Naka, who look like humans except with different, usually dark skin tones and pointed ears. Some humans jokingly refer to them as "Drow," which greatly confuses the Naka), but the cultures are all vastly different, and as the new kids on the block, humans have a lot of learning to do about alien customs, and vice versa.
For instance, for the Dalaori, (humanoid giants with four arms, and horns), the painting of nails represents the initiation of a mating ritual. Needless to say, it was an awkward situation when they encountered a human with nail polish on their fingertips.
Let's not even get started on how they reacted to humans pack-bonding with random (sometimes inanimate) things.
As part of the contract humans signed for citizenship, they are only granted a limited amount of technology from other species. The more they progress on their own, the more technology they will be allowed. As a comparatively young species everyone is being careful to make sure they don't destroy themselves before they even get started again. They did just cause their entire universe to unravel.
Some chancellors in the human government have started being incredibly restrictive in their laws, causing a bit of unrest among the people. They say that their restrictions are in place to make sure that they don't destroy another planet, but really it's all for the sake of saving money for themselves. A small rebellion has sparked due to this.
As far as the human level of technology goes, it has been set back a bit. They have regressed back to using bullets, and though some parts of the planet are more advanced, the majority of the population uses horses to get around since most of the mechanical methods of transportation were lost.
Those who do have ships have spliced together a bunch of spare parts to make some form of something that'll fly. Very few human ships are pretty to look at, but most will stay in the air no matter what you do to them.