@Sauron The Dark Lord
Sorry for the delay. You are accepted.

Sigma said
I think your faction is pretty neat and by the way, where are you gonna be located?

I'm thinking about the 2921 area with a two star system thick circle around the central system of 2921.

Sauron, I do have a question about your faction's technology. What exactly is this Xalium? From your sheet, the impression I've gotten is that it's use in reactors seems to eclipse the power gains from antimatter-matter annihilation reactions, which if I assumed correctly, is absurd. I could be wrong, however, so feel free to point out what I may have missed =D

Alf, where are you getting that information from? I don't see anywhere on Sauron's sheet saying that Xallium is more potent than anti-matter.

It is stated that it's on par with anti-matter, if not a little worse. Whilst it may be absurd in your eyes this is still sci-fi and the reason the Solar Empire uses Xalium is because it's more economically possible, the Xa18 anti-matter reactor does however do as you state, however it's created by the greatest mind in the entire solar empire and yet again, there's one of them. If you're going by the logic of current times you should just stop mainly because the Claudian's have excisted for a while and you cannot apply current day logic to a nation that is present in an advanced interstellar technological state.

That is my own opinion, anyway.

Ah, yes, I was kind of thinking you might bring up that argument, and let me simply start off by saying that I'm not trying to pick apart your nation's tech or say you can't have something because it's better than something else.

((Take into account, that I am by no means an expert in the field of Physics, Quantum Physics, or Nuclear Theory, that all opinions stated here are based upon my own observations and research, and therefore are subject to being countered by actual experts.))

I'll touch base with the actual topic at hand first, before I get to the point you made at the end of your post. Xalium is, correct me if I'm wrong, a completely fictional material, with no basis in the real world. While yes, the genre is Science-Fiction, the difference between Sci-Fi and standard fiction is the emphasis on the Science aspect, and of the adherence to real science for hard sci-fi, and less so for soft sci-fi. Regardless of either hard or soft sci-fi, there are still certain fundamental principles that are upheld, and that is foremost the Conservation of Mass principle, which from what I read, the Xalium17(or 18 even) reactor disregards by annihilating the atoms of the element and creating nuclear energy via the resulting explosion. The only known occurrence of total destruction to the atomic level, is found in the collisions of matter and antimatter particles, which create tremendous amounts of energy that far outstrip what our fission/fusion reactors can produce. To have an element fundamentally on par with antimatter, be a stable isotope(Since you don't specify otherwise) and be abundant enough to base your entire nation's energy reserves upon, seems to me to break far and away from what we already have established.

To get on point with the other topic you brought up, on saying that we can't apply current day logic to something which doesn't exist.... No, it doesn't work like that. I could easily do the same with the Synchronicity and say that the methods they use to harvest antimatter and harness the energy of the reactions is something beyond our current comprehension, but I don't. I don't do this, because there needs to be a certain amount of realism to things. Once you go beyond the scope of our current logical thought processes, you start to dive into the realm of the unreal, and things that we can't fathom. I think, from my previous discussions with Traveler, that that is a realm that we are staying out of, as the scope of the RP is quite a bit more limited than that. Keeping things within the scope of our current logical thinking is the only thing preventing someone from going off the deep-end into things that really have no place in this RP. Not saying that's what you've done, not at all. Just saying that it opens the door to some bad juju.

To get back to the Xalium element, is there anything else you can say about it that may make things more realistic, and alleviate concerns? Things like whether or not it is a stable isotope, how it is found in its natural form, if it's even found in nature, and things that would help to make it seem less of a "Hey, we got this thing." and more of a "Look, man we got some really cool shit over here, let me tell you all about it.". Basically, the more you describe it and give it an actual identity, the less people would really have to say about it, because you would have already answered their questions before they had to ask them =D

Also. Apologies I wasn't able to respond earlier, as I was at work and would not have been able to respond with a post that actually addresses your own post.

Also. I feel like I ranted at you, which was not at all the intention D: My bad if that's the impression you get from long-post, as that's not at all the tone I'm trying to convey.

I like reading, so longer posts are something I do enjoy, as long as they are something that I can actually enjoy reading about. To answer your question for me:
Xalium is a sort of unobtainium found only on three planets out of the many star systems that the Empire has their hands on. As you've read a simple uncontrolled detionation of a single piece of Xalium 17 forced a planet evacuation and even affected the sun with it's Xalium radiation. Xalium radiation is incredibly lethal and if the resource Xalium 17 is even affected in the slightest it will unleash incredible amounts of xalium radiation, it sort of affect's other pieces of xalium at the same time, so if one detonates and the xalium radiation spreads to other xalium 17 elements then the xalium radiation is unleashed by them also.

Xalium 17 is incredibly rare and xalium transports are far from regular. Basically the moment that it's touched outside of a controlled environment shit'll go down. To top it all of Xalium 17 is volatile, incredibly so.

Ah, so it is a highly unstable isotope then, that makes a bit more sense. As for the radiation, I assume that it emits radioactive waves on a different wavelength than say, X-Rays or Gamma-Rays? What would the range of these rays be? Also, what kind of half-life are we talking for Xalium, as I would assume it would decay outside it's native environment to something more stable.

well, according to the Solar Calender the main producer of all Xalium 17 there's ever been became unstable and uninhabitable like Chernobyl, only now, a couple thousand years later is it becoming slightly less Xalium Radioactive. They are still forced to use protective gear for other reasons than visible light, they wear gear for that and most certainly the still incredibly high amounts of Xalium radiation present on the planet's surface.

Alright, sounds fair enough. Just thought I would ask for clarification and all.

Please, I enjoy conversing, if there's anything else I am avalible.

My next post is going. to be rather... Large.

Expect a few days eta

Isotope said
My next post is going. to be rather... Large.Expect a few days eta

Damn you, you TEASE.

First post of the Graal Hegemony is up!

Will the players of Asphodel be upset if I send a Graal scout ship to their system during this era of expansion for the Graal?

Theodorable said
First post of the Graal Hegemony is up! Will the players of Asphodel be upset if I send a Graal scout ship to their system during this era of expansion for the Graal?

Probably, since they are located in the middle of a dark nebula.

Not only would most sensors be inadequate for the task, but functionally all forms of FTL would fail in the Nebula (as indicated in Asphodel's nation sheet) - meaning all scouts would be limited to sublight.

It would be extremely strange for a scout to independently survey a sector of space like that without due cause, and they'd probably have better luck elsewhere.

Terminal, from your words I get the idea that getting there is the easy part, getting out is harder, due to limitations forced upon engines by the dark nebula. But what if the FTL system work's seperately from the engines?

As a chemist, I'd go as far to say as you don't know the exact specifications of dark nebulae beyond it's physical composition and the addendum of whatever hi-fi you added to isolate your nation. Nebulae, even dense nebulae that are so inappropriately named (dark), are not immune to radio waves or waves that are beyond the standard spectrum: X-Rays, Gamma, Infrared.

The Graal would have no trouble identifying the presence of thermonuclear heat signatures planetside or the abundance of low frequency radio waves on the planet, this is technology Humanity in the 21st century possess. I won't press the issue however. LOL.

Theodorable said
As a chemist, I'd go as far to say as you don't know the exact specifications of beyond it's physical composition and the addendum of whatever hi-fi you added to isolate your nation. Nebulae, even dense nebulae that are so inappropriately named (), are not immune to radio waves or waves that are beyond the standard spectrum: X-Rays, Gamma, Infrared.The Graal would have no trouble identifying the presence of thermonuclear heat signatures planetside or the abundance of low frequency radio waves on the planet, this is technology Humanity in the 21st century possess. I won't press the issue however. LOL.

Actually, chemistry has little to do with it. Dark Nebula obscure both thermal energy waves and visible light due to the density of the stellar dust of the clouds, and as such only infrared and radio waves are able to discern what is on the other side of them. The Graal would be able to discern that there is a star and planets within Asphodel's nebula, but they would not be able to discern whether or not there is actually life on the worlds unless they scouted directly.

Further reading: Dark Nebula

Edit: Though I suppose really it would all be a matter of "We've picked up radio transmission from the cloud, kind of odd, eh?"

Also, I'm going to say that from personal RP experience with Terminal, he likely knows exactly what he's talking about, and has proven to be a knowledgeable source in the fields of physics, whether standard, quantum or astro.

Sauron the Dark Lord said Terminal, from your words I get the idea that getting there is the easy part, getting out is harder, due to limitations forced upon engines by the dark nebula. But what if the FTL system work's seperately from the engines?

From what I've been told of the Nebula and the Asphodel system, the nebula does not extend fully into the system proper due to Erebos' heliosphere, which keeps interstellar media (like any good heliosphere should) out of the system. Trace elements still filter in of course, and functionally these traces impose a significant barrier to FTL. I couldn't provide you with an exact mechanism, but to provide some context, both the EOA's wormhole matrix and the Vazri Swarm's 'anything we can steal from other people' cannot function within the nebula, or transit directly into it (this is at the behest of the writers for Asphodel). So not only can FTL not be used within the Nebula, but they can't be used to go inside it either. I'm unsure if the attempt would be like ramming into a physical obstruction or more like an unexpected strain on whatever FTL system is being used, but I hadn't intended to press the issue. So if you want to enter the nebula, you'd have to stop at its boundaries and continue at sublight velocities - and to answer your question, that would mean it wouldn't matter if the FTL was separate from the engines. Additionally, the nebula doesn't appear to appreciably (results may vary) impact the functionality of sublight engines.

However, if you have an idea or argument as to why your/a particular form of FTL would work, I would contact a member of the Asphodel crew (Riemann, REDSHEILD, Druby, MissingAxis) and ask them about it.

Theodorable said
As a chemist, I'd go as far to say as you don't know the exact specifications of beyond it's physical composition and the addendum of whatever hi-fi you added to isolate your nation. Nebulae, even dense nebulae that are so inappropriately named (), are not immune to radio waves or waves that are beyond the standard spectrum: X-Rays, Gamma, Infrared.The Graal would have no trouble identifying the presence of thermonuclear heat signatures planetside or the abundance of low frequency radio waves on the planet, this is technology Humanity in the 21st century possess. I won't press the issue however. LOL.

I am aware that dark nebulae are not as insulating as most people might think. However, this particular nebula is, as indicated above, somewhat unusual. It's been stated multiple times that it is very much a 'cold background' - any energy-intensive emission directly outside of it would stand out on sensors like a lighthouse beacon, which implies that any particular thermal/heat/nuclear signatures from inside the nebula are being masked, distorted, dampened, take your pick.

If one still posits that radiowaves would make it through, I have to cede the point. A potential excuse could be made by the point that the nebula is directly adjacent to another, much larger dark nebula (occupied by the Synchronicity), emitting radiowaves that are much more numerous. I am unsure if their nebula has similar properties (its proximity would infer so; the Erebos nebula may likely have split off from the larger Synchronicity nebula), but if you compared them on sensors side by side they would likely appear to be identical in terms of emission/output, skewed in magnitude towards the synchronicity. If you don't go out of your way to compare them side by side, any emissions escaping from the Erebos nebula could potentially be mistaken or masked by emissions from the Synchronicity nebula - depending on your sensors.

Either way, I believe it is the intent of the Asphodel writers to focus on their nation in the past, and to keep it off-the-grid in the present until those events have concluded.

If you really want to scout the system regardless, by all means - the Graal Hegemony will do what it will do. You may be left hanging indefinitely on that end if you choose to do so however.

The Dead Stars Nebula, though it may be in some respects similar to the one surrounding Asphodel, does not mask emissions as much as theirs upon reading their NS. It is fully possible to see the extent of civilization within the Dead Stars, though what would be found from scans would be a large region of very inhospitable space with few planets inhabited by organic life. I'll also throw my own hat in the ring of "FTL probably won't work there" by siding with the creative decision behind Asphodel's nebula and saying that the Synch's own drives probably wouldn't be able to achieve a lock with the system. This is more because the Synch's systems relies heavily on achieving a point of syzygy with the opposing planet/star, and their dark nebula would make things very difficult.