20090930

Imperial Lifestations

In TE 62 the Imperial Department of Technology, under a mandate from the Imperial Council, began an ambitious program of placing and servicing automated rescue stations throughout the Galaxy where they would be convenient to primary traffic lanes.

Each Lifestation contained life-support equipment & supplies, communications, medical equipment, and basic repair parts.

By TE 300, there were millions of Lifestations throughout the Galaxy, with at least a dozen orbiting within each settled planetary system.

Lifestations were largely autonomous and self-repairing, and many of them remained in service for thousands of years after the fall of the Empire.



copyright (c) 2009, Don Sakers

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20090923

Prehistory of the Pylistroph

About 2.4 billion years ago, the Galactic Core was home to the Seven Races. The Daamin, Hchevidiire, and Evallan joined each other in a mutual trade/exploration society. They discovered the Kareffi, Talebba, and Hlutr, and settled altogether about twenty worlds.

Meanwhile, the Coruma had gained atomic power and ramship-drive, and settled about six colony worlds. While these worlds were fighting bitter colonial wars, Daamin and Hchevidiire landing parties set down on two Coruma worlds.

A Coruman named Dettalean Gankeh created the most awesome war-machine ever built, a vast amalgamation of advanced computer circuits and living minds, controlling the whole military force of the Coruman race. This war machine, created with the aid of Den and the blessing of Ka, became the Gergathan. Soon, it absorbed the personality of Dettalean Gankeh, and then it started its long war against life itself.

The Seven Races held conclave and made peace in the threat of the Gergathan. Many Corumans, fearing their own creation, joined the alliance. That long war continued for 1,500 years until one Coruman -- Dirunde Forriva -- became the main agent of the Seven Races.

Dirunde Forriva, accompanied by his spouse, travelled to Messilinia and stood in Geva Ganloohen, the Place of Despair, before the Gergathan itself. Forriva carried one of the Singing Stones, to serve as a focus for all the life-energy of the galaxy -- the only weapon capable of destroying the Gergathan. The Gergathan offered Forriva and his friend ultimate power, but they triumphed, and the blow was delivered. Yet at the last instant Forriva, pitying the war-machine and loathe to lose all its sophisticated circuitry, blunted his blow. The Gergathan was all but destroyed, yet still its empty circuits remained, and undetected sparks of life remained. This attack against the Gergathan was later called "Forriva's Strike."

In the war, Messilinia was all but destroyed in nuclear holocaust. The Daamin, Hechevidiire, and Evellan accepted Coruma survivors on all their worlds, and even settled some new planets (notably Maela Gres).

During the next thousand years, the planets of the Seven Races were fairly autonomous. Ramships were replaced by the slower light-sail vehicles, and physical contact between planets grew less frequent. Some telepathic contact was maintained. Daamin breeding experiments resulted in the Coruma becoming more peaceful. The Seven Races settled down to simple, non-technocratic lifestyles in a loose association of worlds.

Then, on Maela Gres, a descendant of Dirunde Forriva named Gaban Taroman conceived the idea of bringing all the Seven Races together under one benevolent government. Taroman found the ideal agent for his dream on Messilinia -- the dead-but-salvagable circuits of the Gergathan. So he went there, and raised the useful parts of the Gergathan, and proclaimed the Pylistroph....



copyright (c) 2009, Don Sakers

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20090916

State vs Church in the Jaret Dynasty

In the Credixian Imperium, the reign of the Jaret Dynasty (2189-2837 CI) witnessed an eight-century power struggle between the Sisterhood of Meletia and the Richstaag (dominated by the Kala Phenkae).

After Imperators Mark III and Gordon V became increasingly supportive of the Reichstaag, the Sisterhood arranged the assassination of the next Imperator, Antonia VI. The Reichstaag was forced to accept Elenor IV, High Priestess of Meletia, as her successor to the Crown.

Power remained in the Sisterhood's hands for over a century. When Imperator Mark IV accepted a Kala Phenkae-approved mate, their daughter Augusta was killed. The only remaining viable candidate for the Crown was High Priestess Nina -- she became Nina IV in 2413 CI.

In 2575 CI, the Kala Phenkae seized the chance to advance their own interests by poisoning pro-Sisterhood Daniel, heir to Imperator Daniel IV. Daniel IV's successor, Marcia III, proved to just as pro-Sisterhood as her brother, so in 2581 the Kala Phenkae arranged for Marcia to be poisoned and their own Anna I became Imperator, in place of Marcia's son who was still a minor.

The next few Imperators were Kala Phenkae sympathizers until 2653 CI, when Philip VII died -- perhaps murdered. Philip's son Stephen was still a minor, so the Crown passed to Augusta, daughter of Aurick (Daniel IV's grandson) and Marcia, High Priestess of Meletia (herself great-great-granddaughter of Marcia II). Augusta, ruling as Augusta VII, was sympathetic to the Sisterhood.

The conflict finally ended in 2837 CI with the death of Imperator Elenor V. Prime Minister Fredric LaVerne was voted Imperator as Fredric V; from High Priestess Marcia Jaret he forced the concession of the Pragmatic Sanction of 2838, which ruled that no Priestess or High Priestess of Meletia could ever again occupy the Throne.



copyright (c) 2009, Don Sakers
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20090909

Mars 2068


(from My Favorite Martians by Jacob Matthews, Alee Publishing, 2068)

Sagan Station, in northern Xanthe, is the oldest continuous settlement on Mars. Primarily a research base, the station is built to support a crew of 150. In recent decades that population has fallen to a scant three dozen dedicated scientists and their families. Largely abandoned by its sponsor, the North American government, Sagan Station is currently supported by the other settlements on Mars. Among Martian teenagers, an overnight visit to Sagan Station is considered something of a rite of passage.

Harmonious City in the Heavens is located on the Martian equator in Meridian. A bustling city of over twenty thousand, Harm City (as it is locally known) is legally part of Outer China and was primarily settled by transportees from all over the Three Chinas. In theory, travel to Harm City is restricted; in practice, the restriction is enforced only on off-planet vessels. Native Martians visit freely, and some have even settled in the city. Both the European Union and Umoja maintain embassies in Harm City. Harm City dedicated its twelfth dome, another agricultural dome, in 2064. With the resultant increase in rice production, Harm City has started exporting rice to other Martian settlements.

Gagarin Town in the north of Hellas is a European city of about eight thousand. Until completion of the Deimos Automated Factory Platform in 2036, Gagarin Town was the manufacturing center of Mars. After the arrival of the fusion drive in 2042, Gagarin Town underwent a renaissance fueled by tourism, primarily from Earth. La Maison Rouge, widely acknowledged to be the best restaurant on Mars, usually has a waiting list tendays long.

The Cities of the Valley, the four largest cities on Mars, are located along the Valles Marineris. In order from east to west, they are: Bagunda, Axum, Kilwa, and Bunyoro. Settled from Africa and politically part of Umoja, these four cities and their associated minor settlements house the majority of the Martian population. Each was a relatively small village until 2042, when the discovery of the fusion drive made emigration to Mars much more economical. In the past 24 years, the Cities of the Valley have expanded tremendously: they are now home to over 150,000 people (a population that is rising steadily). Lavish use of fusion power revolutionized construction on Mars. Instead of the domes and caverns of other cities, the Cities of the Valley are relatively open: strong nanofilm barriers across large sections of the Mariner Valley contain atmosphere and heat and provide effective radiation shielding. A network of high-speed trains connects all four cities in the Valley.

The University of Axum is the nexus of an academic and research community on the cutting edge of high-energy physics, nanomanufacturing, and biotech. The Bunyoro Symphony regularly tours across Mars.

New Athens Located in Tharsis and founded by the legendary Miranda Maris, New Athens is permanent home to 200-250 artists, entertainers, and intellectuals, and temporary home to hundreds more. It is the entertainment capital of Mars, and a popular site for tourists. Entirely contained within one domed crater, New Athens' terraced balconies and constantly-changing holograms are familiar throughout the Solar System. Regular shuttle service to Bagunda, Harm City, and Gagarin Town links New Athens to the rest of Mars.

Politically, New Athens is a free city under Nexus administration. As such, it is often the site of interplanetary and international conferences.



copyright (c) 2009, Don Sakers

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20090902

The Eldest Hlut

(aka The Venerable, The Eldest of All)

The Eldest Hlut broke soil on Paka Tel three billion years ago, before the Pylistroph. She was created by the Hlutr Elders as a new type of Hlut, with a vastly-exapnded lifespan and the promise to right the wrongs that they had witnessed.

During the Pylistroph, it was the Eldest Hlut (still a sapling) who argued for the Hlutr to send their spores into the Scattered Worlds, thus paving the way for the arrival of life.

With the birth of Mertorthar, the Eldest Hlut was one of the driving forces behind the Flight of the Daamin and Schism of the Hlutr. She accompanied the refugees, and established Her home in the Secluded Realm.


In the Secluded Realm the Eldest Hlut resides on an island-continent which is largely dominated by Her substance. She has countless trunks and offshoots all over the island, and the many other plants and Hlutr which occupy the island are, to some degree, part of Her as well.

Her island also contains a cemetery where honored heroes of the Scattered Worlds are buried, so that their substance becomes part of Her. In this way She is able to absorb their memories and their wisdom.

The Eldest Hlut bears within Herself one of the Singing Stones.



copyright (c) 2009, Don Sakers

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