The Darkness Beyond [discussion]

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This is the discussion thread for The Darkness Beyond: A Space Opera! Post questions, concerns, and the like here. I will be posting important information here to help bring the world together and to answer some questions.

edited 19th Feb '16 7:53:18 PM by AllHailThrall

Alliance Member Species

• Ashkathi. The host nation of the Galactic Alliance, the Ashkathi Union was originally formed from a religious movement on the water planet Larine that was uplifted when a probe landed on the planet's surface. The Ashkathi are scrawny, salamander-like beings with large unblinking solid yellow eyes and webbed hands and feet, as well as gills on their hips. The Ashkathi follow a religion that venerates the Songstream, which is an empathic link to all Ashkathi. If one Ashkathi feels pain, all Ashkathi in the vicinity do. For this reason, the Ashkathi religion has a strict non-violence policy.
• Human. The Terran Republic, based on on the planet Earth, is descended from the United Nations, a coalition of almost 200 nations of Earth. After World War II, a conflict that involved many nations on the planet and nearly ended in a nuclear exchange, the United Nations was founded to foster peace and cooperation. Today, the now-unified Terran Republic favors freedom over other ideologies, and promotes self-determination. The nation is a democratic republic and makes strong attempts at peaceful diplomacy with other nations.
• Fessk. The fessk are thin-bodied hunchbacked semi-humanoids with three claw legs, two hands on thin arms, and three fingers. Master shipbuilders, they defended the quenosequan from an attack by the Skal. Their nation is called the People's Republic of Fasil, and has a socialized government where every citizen is expected to work for the good of the whole country. Their homeworld, Fasilku, is a rocky planet riddled with caves and highly rich in valuable metals like iron, titanium, gold, and uranium.
• Kair-Shaan. This race of beings is lighter-than-air, and lives on the low-gravity planet Shaantu. They resemble cuttlefish with gasbags filled with helium and other gases. Their nation, also called Shaantu, is traditionally a sort of Athenian democracy, but due to growing population has shifted to a democratic republic. Shaantu is allied with the Ashkathi Union, and the two nations have trade treaties involving raw materials and cultural exchange. The Kair-Shaan usually keep a quiet, observing eye to the majority of galactic politics, but their indifference (and affiliation to the Ashkathi) makes them good mediators.
• Quenosequan. The Quenosequan are a mammalian species with long arms, shaggy fur, four nostrils, and caprine hooves on their feet. Gentle and unassuming, their Tree Kingdom of Gaquen, their homeworld, was defended by the Fessk when the Skal attacked them. The kingdom is a monarchy which gives the current king power over the forests of the nation. For this reason, the Quenosequani king is often known as the Tree King.
• Rhizon. The Rhizon Collective is a nation of plant-like beings that hail from the planet of the same name. Their leader, the Mother Root, holds its various construct creations under its mental thrall, and strives for the protection and self-preservation of the nation above all else. Most Rhizon constructs that interact with non-Rhizon resemble sultry humanoid women, ostensibly to improve relations with other nations but more likely intended to lower guard in order to control or dominate other individuals.

Other Species in the Known Galaxy

• Viela. A mysterious race that uplifted several other nations as part of their twisted experiments. They were tall, thin bipeds with blue skin and no hair, as well as piercing yellow eyes. Their homeworld, now thought to be a barren waste, was called Vellerine and was the capital of their Viela Empire. They are most well-known for abducting and uplifting various species that are now sovereign nation-states, the Kingdom of Heaven among them, before they vanished under unknown circumstances.
• Filiidei. Once human, these genetically-modified aliens are now the self-proclaimed pinnacle of existence, resembling beautiful blonde humans, occasionally with wings. Descended from medieval crusaders that were originally uplifted by the Viela, they staged a violent uprising before the Viela vanished mysteriously. Their Kingdom of Heaven is now a militant theocracy, and the filiidei are violently hateful towards non-humans, believing them to be demonic in origin. Their homeworld was originally Earth, but they now live on the adopted world of Eden.
• Skal. The Skal from the desert world of Kestos are an aggressive species with a muscular build, their most striking feature being their long, curving horns and the bony protrusions erupting from their faces. Their nation is called the Skalan Empire, and was ancient enough to be one of the first true enemies of the Viela nation. After being beaten back by the Filiidei, their economy collapsed. Despite the name, the Second Skalan Empire is now in a state of anarchy, with a provisional government backed by the Galactic Alliance set up until the Empire can re-stabilize itself.
• Nicarist. The Nicarist Consortium is a mysterious, capricious, and highly independent nation from the uncharted world of Nica, made up of the enigmatic Nicarist species. The Nicarist have pallid grey skin with large, almond-shaped eyes, no nose or ears, and a small mouth, and a row spikes down the back, as well as thin, almost skeletal-looking limbs. This appearance, which resembles Earth's legendary "Grey" aliens, has led some historians to believe the Nicarist visited Earth in the mid-to-late 20th century. Nicarist ships, which resemble flattened discs, fly across the Known Galaxy to pick up junk and random bits to be collected and sold to the highest bidder.
• Sarken. Not much is known about the mysterious and distant Sarken Hegemony, except that the head nation, the Sarken, is dangerously amoral and has conquered numerous nations and kept them under their thumb. Extreme caution is advised traveling nearby Sarken space, which is on the frontier edge of the Known Galaxy.

edited 3rd Feb '16 9:01:12 PM by AllHailThrall

FTL in the Known Galaxy

In the late 20th to early 21st century, it was believed that travelling faster than light was impossible. Then, in the 2200s, humanity was introduced to the galaxy at large when a Fasil vessel crashed in what is now the desert of Algeria. In exchange for helping them get back on their feet, the Fessk commanding the vessel offered to share the secret of faster-than-light travel with humanity.

FTL in this setting involves opening a ship-sized opening into a parallel dimension for a fraction of a second. This plunges the ship into a universe where distances are shortened compared to the "normal" dimension, from now on referred to as Realspace. Hyperspace, this alternate dimension, was quickly utilized to be able to travel distances much farther than would be possible in Realspace, for a fraction of the fuel cost. However, it is not instant; it is a time-consuming process. Also, hyperspace FTL travel is impossible in a gravity well (such as within the gravitational pull of an object that creates a large amount of gravity, such as a star, planet, or black hole), as the warping of space time collapses the fabric of hyperspace.

For this reason, in the 27th century Terran and Fessk scientists devised the idea of "jump-gates", where two locations in the universe are quantum-linked using gates large enough to fly a starship through. These gates are two-way, link only to their respective gate on the other end, and instantaneously send objects from one gate to the other. Populated star systems contain many of these such gates, creating a gate network much like the network of airlines from airport to airport. This speeds up travel time, but traditional hyperspace FTL is used for off-the-beaten-path travel, usually by military or explorer vessels.

FTL communications works in much the same way. By sending messages through hyperspace or through a jump gate, planets can communicate with each other in a fraction of the time it would take to receive these messages in realtime. The downside to this is that the larger the distance between the message sender and its intended recipient, the larger latency is experienced between statements in the message.

Psionics in the Known Galaxy

Some species in the Known Galaxy exhibit a mental power that is unusual, a connection between minds that transcends the boundaries of what some consider to be possible. Only a couple of species can exhibit this power, and most species (including humans) are incapable of exhibiting this trait entirely. This power is known as psionics or empathy.

This psychic power can allow members of a species to read the emotions of others of the same species, as long as they maintain a constant focus on the other individual. The greater effort exerted, the more one can learn about another's general emotional state. However, it is an extremely difficult process that is very hard to control for most individuals, and thus the most one can obtain is a feel for how someone is feeling at a particular moment. Certain species, such as the Ashkathi and Rhizon below, have an easier time using empathy, while other species struggle to even get the faintest hint of an empathic reading. However, there are always the rare outlier individuals within these species that end up being powerful empaths.

The two main exceptions among the lesser powers of the Known Galaxy include the Ashkathi Union and the Rhizon Collective. The Ashkathi have a strong psychic link between members of their own species. They are passively empathic to each other, and can feel the emotions of all other Ashkathi within an area. If one Ashkathi experiences pain, they all feel a portion of that pain. In addition, Ashkathi can broadcast telepathic messages to other Ashkathi. The Rhizon Collective is linked by a hivemind to their Mother Root, which controls each and every drone psychically like a puppet of the greater Collective's will. With time and distance, a construct can be separated from the Collective but will be rejoined when proximity is obtained again.

Timeline of the Known Galaxy

This is the timeline of the Known Galaxy. Even though not every alien uses the Terran calendar, this timeline will, to make things easier on those signing up.

• ~600 CE: Estimated time that the Viela Empire achieved FTL spaceflight.
• ~1100 CE: Viela uplift the Filiidei.
• 1358 CE: Skal achieve FTL spaceflight.
• 1453 CE: People's Republic of Fasil achieves FTL spaceflight.
• 1715 CE: The Quenosequan achieve FTL spaceflight.
• ~1800 CE: Filiidei Uprising occurs and the Viela vanish.
• 1844 CE: First sighting of Nicarist ships in the Known Galaxy.
• 1923 CE: Kair-Shaan achieve FTL spaceflight.
• 2140 CE: The Ashkathi achieve FTL spaceflight.
• 2214 CE: Terrans achieve FTL spaceflight.
• 2652 CE: Jump gate technology invented.
• 2730 CE: First sighting of the Sarken Hegemony.
• 2746 CE: Rhizon Collective achieve FTL spaceflight.
• 2781 CE: Galactic Alliance founded.
• 2786 CE: Present day.

edited 23rd Feb '16 1:50:52 PM by AllHailThrall

Is there still enough room to stick in a species and nation of Mechanical Lifeform people?

There's still enough room, go ahead.

We should start an Association of Mechanical Beings.

I'd assume the first thing on the ledger is "Removal of all organic life"?

That's racist!

Er... roboticist?

Syntheticist?

Man, I don't even know any more.

The Le'Ka are not interested in organic extermination. It got them nowhere and was just pointless.

"KILL CRUSH AND DESTROY!!" is somewhere down the list, probably above "Dream of electric sheep" and below making Transformer sounds.

Trust me insisting A.I. Is a Crapshoot in front of a Le'Ka is basically just profiling to them. Transformer noises and dreaming of Electric sheep though.

Dibs on the Autobot symbol!

You two are silly.

Yes they are.

edited 14th Jan '16 7:43:35 PM by darkdestinysoul

This is why sirians are superior - they're fluffy and stronk!

Just ignore the rampant, institutionalised sexism against 25% of the population...

.

edited 22nd Jan '16 3:00:33 AM by Flanker66

International history idea! Who wants to get involved in a war with the Nomads that involves the Nomads initially overpowering them, but who are eventually victorious after a prolonged insurgency forces the Nomads to call it quits.

I almost forgot that this discussion thread existed.

Pretty good so far, though Koruuna isn't the ambassador from the Ashkathi Union (that honor would go to a gent named Maros). Koruuna is the chairwoman of the entire Galactic Alliance.

Will edit to fix that.

I'll post tomorrow when I get the chance. Been away from a proper computer.

As clarification - "kiarrokir" is the Sirian rank equivalent to "captain". It's not something that's going to come up often, if at all, just something to help flesh out the SU. Most of the time I'd probably say "captain" in text unless there's a compelling IC reason not to.

I apologize that the post has been slow, but it's finals week for me. I need to focus on my assignments.

Once Saturday hits I'll have a lot more time to work on posts for this game.