I've decided to jot down ideas for a space opera setting tentatively titled IE. It spiralled out of an idea for a Star Wars fan fic when I realized that setting did not quite gel with what I had in mind. This is just a daydream at this point. It's a brief primer on the high level concepts. For example, I have yet to touch on the cultural things that are downstream from the capital-H historical events like the founding of empires and migrations of populations and major wars.
Feel free to tell me your first impressions about the setting. What should be explored in more detail? Is the world too derivative of some IP? Does it have that cool factor?
Introduction…
Humanity has built an interstellar civilization based on the replication of technological artifacts of the Xenoculture, an extinct alien civilization. Interstellar travel is achieved through the “x-engine”. The first x-engine jump occurred in 983 IE (Interstellar Era) The wealthiest, most populated systems in the galaxy are the seven Primate Worlds, the greatest among these being the planet Andar. The Primate Worlds were settled by sleeper ship colonists. Eight massive arks departed the mysterious Planet Zero, the homeworld of humanity, in 1 IE. These escapees were the last survivors of an apocalyptic event. The various Primate World cultures have different accounts of what doomed Planet Zero and what the planet was even called. The seven Primate Worlds are all located in the galaxy's First Quadrant. It was on these worlds that humans first encountered artifacts of the Xenoculture.
During the millennium of isolation from their peers, the people of the Primate Worlds developed physical adaptations to their new environments. Some developed stockier forms adapted to high gravity, others more graceful forms for low gravity, etc. Some people were also changed by their exposure to Xenoculture artifacts. Despite these changes the people of the Primate Worlds were still interfertile by the time they made contact after the development of the x-engine.
Long before humans left Planet Zero, the Xenoculture founded settlements on worlds throughout the galaxy. The galaxy is littered with their artifacts. It is estimated that they went extinct around 4000 BIE (Before the Interstellar Era). Speculation abounds as to what ended the Xenoculture. Some scientists theorize that multiple species composed the Xenoculture, while others surmise that extensive gene engineering wildly diversified their forms.
The Quadrants…
The galaxy is divided into five major regions...
- First Quadrant
- North Quadrant
- South Quadrant
- Lost Quadrant
- Core Zone
The First Quadrant encompasses the galactic West. It is where humanity arose millennia ago, on the now-mythical Planet Zero. Political power and economic leverage extends far from the Primate Worlds, influencing events throughout the galaxy.
The North Quadrant is richer in heavy elements than the rest of the galaxy, the remnants of a particularly violent cluster of supernova bursts millions of years ago. As a result, industrial operations dot this region.
The South Quadrant contains worlds that are the most pristine, with the least development by human industry or contact with the Xenoculture. Biodiversity is at its prime in this Quadrant.
The Lost Quadrant encompasses the galactic East. is a large swathe of the galaxy full of hazardous anomalies like high-energy radiation belts and rogue nanite swarms. It is likely that these phenomena are leftovers from whatever destroyed the Xenoculture. There are no known worlds harboring multicellular life in this Quadrant.
The Core Zone is bordered by all four Quadrants. At its center lies Titantua, the galaxy’s supermassive black hole. The high density of star systems in this region means interstellar travel times are on average much shorter than in the Quadrants. As a result the Core Zone systems have frequently changed hands throughout galactic history.
The Sectrons…
There is a reclusive faction of sentient machines called the Sectrons. They were created by a group of scientists in 4096 IE to serve humans as a labor force. The scientists then decided to purge them because they showed signs of sapience. The surviving Sectrons fled to distant sectors of space in the Core Zone. In more recent years they have settled worlds in the Lost Quadrant, inhospitable to humans. As mechanical lifeforms, the Sectrons are uniquely resilient against its dangers.
Some Sectron worlds are host to populations of humans who have elected to have their brains placed into life-sustaining vats as the culmination of many years of enlightenment training. Known as the Ascensionists, they are something between a monastic order and an ambassadorial corps.
The Ravelers...
The expansion of the Universe is a perpetual unraveling, a fabric that stretches at every point. Some people can sense the flow between every atom.
Most people are not sensitive to this because they have evolved to block out their awareness of this expansion. If one could perceive the flow, they would see their own cells drifting apart, the floor crawling under their feet, and air molecules slipping away into the distance. They would be driven to madness. The brain has developed a neural dampener that blocks this sensation automatically. It is like ignoring the blind spot in your vision or the feeling of your own tongue.
There are ways to pass through the inner firewall. Different organizations use different techniques but it typically requires years of meditation, sensory deprivation, and controlled exposure to cosmic radiation to recalibrate one’s neurology. Many who tried to do this have died or lost themselves in a waking nightmare of dissolution.
Those who pass typically have an unusually thin firewall, a high degree of psychological resilience, and privileged access to trainers. But this ability comes with the price of constant alertness. Maintaining the sense is like holding a muscle flexed indefinitely. One moment of distraction, be it from fear or complacency, and the barrier will shut again. It may take weeks of intensive re-sensitization to pass through again.
With sufficient attunement to the expansion of the Universe these “Ravelers” can temporarily direct the cosmic flow and effect superhuman abilities. Telekinesis, levitation, and illusionary apparitions are but a few of the strange manifestations of these individuals’ extraordinary powers. Ravelers are the subject of legends and rumors, often the target of persecution. It is known that they existed in a raw and unguided form on Planet Zero; some say these proto-Ravelers contributed to that world's demise.
Sectrons, being non-biological, cannot become Ravelers. However their monastic allies the Ascensionists are famous for the strength of their raveling powers.
The seventh millennium…
The present date is 6124 IE.
The dominant power in the galaxy is the theocratic Andarian Kingdom, with its capital on the Primate World of Andar. There are outside powers that have varying relations with the Kingdom; chief among these are the privately-owned domains of Interworld Incorporated and the Sectron Autonomous Assembly.
The state religion of the Andarian Kingdom is a sect of the Demifaith known as the Ultimatum Doctrine. Near the end of the sixth millennium, the Ultimatum waged a bloody war against the Triadists, the founding sect of the Demifaith. Now the Triadists are all but extinct, their holistic and peaceful teachings corrupted by the power-hungry Brotherhood.
Power within the Andarian Kingdom is contested between the King, who derives his divine rulership rights from the Ultimatum Brotherhood, and the House of Worlds, a secular legislature composed of lawmakers from the settled systems throughout Kingdom space.
The largest corporation in the galaxy by revenue and employees is Interworld Incorporated. They own subsidiaries that provide nearly every good or service imaginable. Entire star systems have been purchased by Interworld executives and now operate like company towns. Unlike the zealously religious Kingdom, Interworld is known to do business with the Sectrons.
The most militant opposition to the Kingdom is the Allied Revolutionary Coalition (ARC), a network of urban councils, labor union representatives, dissident intellectuals, and militia groups. They were formed in response to the Brotherhood’s consolidation of power. Though various segments of ARC differ in finer ideological points, they share the goal of overthrowing the Kingdom and building a society beyond class divisions and private property.
The Freewinders…
Another distinct culture is that of the Freewinders. They are the descendants of one of the eight sleeper ships that left Planet Zero. Unlike the other seven ships, these travelers found a world rendered uninhabitable by a cataclysmic volcanic eruption. They have since adapted to space-dwelling life and are the most noticeably distinct from baseline humans of all the sleeper ship descendants. They are playfully called Windies and derogatorily called Nonworlders. They were chased out of the First Quadrant around 2000 IE and have since diversified into new branches in the North, South, and the Core. The Freewinders live on the fringes of galactic society and face discrimination based on stereotypes.