While this is more or less an original setting, it has been heavily inspired this amazing music video. Go watch it, and come back to me. ;3
This RP is for anyone who likes:
- Space cowboys/cowgirls and other outlaw themes in space (Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, etc)
- ALLIES OF JUSTICE! (e.g. You're the good guys! kinda...)
- Wild adventures and exploration
- Blurring the lines between magic and science (Numenera, Star Wars)
- Space operas (e.g. Captain Harlock's Endless Odyssey, Star Wars, Outlaw Star, Battlestar Galactica)
- Dogfights and Starship Battles
Disclaimer
I'm mainly gauging interest in the setting at this time.
This is still an early draft, and I haven't figured out what the initial premise will be yet.
I just know what themes I want to incorporate.
✩ Lore ✩
The Bones of Civilization
The civilizations that exist now have been around for tens of thousands of years, but they are just small footnotes in the galactic history. The real Goliaths have already come and gone. The galaxy is quite old, and though the Talim Empire is the first in its era to claim an entire sector, it isn't the first galaxy-spanning civilization.
No one knows what the first civilization even was like, but their ancient presence litters the galaxy. In fact, the Talim Empire owes much of its progress to alien artifacts found on their home world, which improved their technology by leaps and bounds. The best dating techniques the Talim have indicate many of these artifacts are millions of years old. A notable few are even older, estimated to have been made over billion years ago.
Their continued search for more of these artifacts led them to the discovery of the first star drive, and the Galactic Leylines which power them. Often referred to as 'the veins of the galaxy', the leylines are streams of phantom energy that circulate across the galaxy. Star drives harness the exotic energy of the leylines to travel faster than light. No one really understands how exactly they work, but a handful of clever engineers quickly put the discovery to good use. The Galactic Leylines are now used as an FTL highway, and there are no other known methods of crossing vast stellar distances without them.
Despite the difficulty in finding them, ancient technology and alien ruins are quite common. Many star-faring societies, even outside the Talim Empire, were built on the bones of a previous one. The trash of one civilization became the treasure of another.
Despite alien junk being quite common, it's rare to find one in good working condition, and rarer still to find someone who can repair it. Many of these lesser artifacts, also known as a Cyphers, circulate the trading stations. Cyphers can be anything: a crystal wire, a ball of condensed sound, a metal slate covered in odd symbols, a silver disc with a button on it. Cyphers can create a wide variety of effects, but often break or become inert after 1 or 2 uses.
Small Omens
Nanos are perhaps more of a mystery than star drives. Often manifesting as small creatures made of hardened light, these fairy-like beings tend to appear wherever an powerful artifact or leyline nexus is found. Unsurprisingly, many see them as a sign of good fortune and luck in many space-faring societies.
However, they possess abilities which are barely understood by even the most dedicated researchers. Nanos can meld into ancient technology like electric ghosts, and control them freely. Also like ghosts, Nanos exist in whatever dimensions or number of dimensions they choose, and can change how they manifest on a whim. Despite repeated attempts, they cannot be captured, bound, or destroyed. They just come and go as they please.
Most Nanos do not speak, or even acknowledge the existence of most creatures. The ones that do, spout glitchy gibberish not even the best translator A.I. can comprehend. There are rumors that being near a leyline nexus makes them easier to understand, but no such research has ever been made public.
Life in the Empire
The Talim Empire has its flaws and detractors, but for the most part the royal family is content to let the many worlds under its dominion maintain whatever beliefs and practices they want, as long as they pay taxes and don't participate in rebellions, they don't seem to care.
The reality is that despite their claims they don't have the resources to to police every world or system. The Talim Royal Navy mainly polices the trade stations and leyline gates. In particular, the Navy operates a citadel-style battle station adjacent to every leyline nexus in Talim Space. The Royal Navy does not take kindly to insurrection or smuggling, and they police traffic near any nexus with impunity. Several well-known attacks have tried and failed to take down the citadels, and their infamy has even coined the phrase 'bombing the citadel', which generally means some idiot is pursuing a lost cause and will probably get himself killed.
In frontier space, life is very different. The long arm of Talim Imperial Law can't stretch the vastness of space, so the outer world far from the loyal colonies, play by their own rules. Many systems are too remote to even collect taxes from. Governance and cultures vary wildly the farther one travels from the leylines.
The Istio system, in particular, is a known stomping ground of many exiles, navy deserters, refugees, smugglers, traders, pirates, and adventurers. Every station and colony in the Istio system is a melting pot of different cultures and alien species, and each one is starkly different from the next.
One might think this chaotic experiment in alien cohabitation would fail miserably, but it didn't. Istio thrives. In fact, it is the most prosperous trading outpost outside the inner worlds (mostly off the books of course).
Sun Eaters
"This is Marzia Satauros captain of the Halcyon, a frigate of Talim Imperial Navy.
If you're receiving this message, then we're already dead.
What it's important now is that you listen and spread the word.
We rode the leyline to the Theurge's Nexus to trade food and supplies, but when we arrived there was nothing. The station was gone. The planets were gone. Even Theurge's Eye, a red giant, one of the few left in the sector, was gone. We only found bits of debris floating around in the void.
At first we thought it was fluke. We thought the star charts were wrong at first, but they weren't. My navigator was able to analyze and update our star charts. Our high-energy scans attracted... them. The Eminent.
My navigator thinks they've been mining nearby systems for at least the past decade, but no one noticed them until they came to harvest Theurge's Eye. The debris field we found earlier was what remained of the trading stations in orbit are the Eye. The best data we have suggests they've been targeting resource-rich systems and plundering them to the last atom, which means the Talim Sector is in danger.
The Eminent are real, and they are coming."
If you're receiving this message, then we're already dead.
What it's important now is that you listen and spread the word.
We rode the leyline to the Theurge's Nexus to trade food and supplies, but when we arrived there was nothing. The station was gone. The planets were gone. Even Theurge's Eye, a red giant, one of the few left in the sector, was gone. We only found bits of debris floating around in the void.
At first we thought it was fluke. We thought the star charts were wrong at first, but they weren't. My navigator was able to analyze and update our star charts. Our high-energy scans attracted... them. The Eminent.
My navigator thinks they've been mining nearby systems for at least the past decade, but no one noticed them until they came to harvest Theurge's Eye. The debris field we found earlier was what remained of the trading stations in orbit are the Eye. The best data we have suggests they've been targeting resource-rich systems and plundering them to the last atom, which means the Talim Sector is in danger.
The Eminent are real, and they are coming."
--The last transmission of the Halcyon
Echoes from the Void
"In the worlds of Talim system, Theurge's Nexus could be seen easily in the night sky. The nebula with its colorful palette of gold and blue stood out among the stars. Theurge's Eye was at its center, a red gem studding the starry canvas. It's been gone for thirty years now. It disappeared over the course of ten days, slowly fading into the pale white backdrop of more distant stars.
The Eminent were only rumors when I was a young boy, the kind of thing the old veteran merchants and traders told stories about after one too many shots of Istian Firebrew. We weren't blind. We all knew the legends. We all saw the stars fading... We just didn't want to believe it. Sun eaters? It sounded impossible.
The SOS message from the Halcyon was received by every station and scrap hauler from the Eos nexus to Istio.
The loss of the Halcyon and Theurge's Nexus made the nightmares real."
The Eminent were only rumors when I was a young boy, the kind of thing the old veteran merchants and traders told stories about after one too many shots of Istian Firebrew. We weren't blind. We all knew the legends. We all saw the stars fading... We just didn't want to believe it. Sun eaters? It sounded impossible.
The SOS message from the Halcyon was received by every station and scrap hauler from the Eos nexus to Istio.
The loss of the Halcyon and Theurge's Nexus made the nightmares real."
--Edel Thane, Comms Engineer aboard the Ymeria
✩ Character Creation ✩
So....
What do you guys think?
Does this sound like something you'd be interested in?
Feedback and questions are both appreciated~
5x Like
