The Singing Stones

According to legend, the Singing Stones were delivered to the Daamin by the Elder Gods in the time before the Pylistroph.

The Stones were 21 in number, of many different colors and shapes. They produce music, music that is different for each listener, and which cannot be captured on physical recording devices. Scientists discovered that the Stones are telepathic resonator/amplifiers. That is, they pick up, focus, and re-project all the thought patterns and emotions that occur anywhere in the Galaxy. The combined concert of all the Galaxy's minds is perceived as the purest music ever created.

Over the eons, four of the Stones were destroyed. One is mounted on the Golden Throne of Avethell, and another is held by the Eldest Hlut in the Secluded Realm. Five are lost, their fates unknown.

The ten remaining Singing Stones are kept on Nephestal in Geva Elen, the Place of the Stones, before the Temple of All Worlds. There, the Watchers of the Stones, a cadre of telepathic-sensitive volunteers, attempt to divine meaning from the music of the Singing Stones.

Through the millennia, some specific prophecies have come from study of the Stones. The two best-known are those of Crettim Bruv and Hanna Hoister.

The Prophecy of Crettim Bruv

Only a weapon forged of a Singing Stone
Held by a scion of Forriva's line
And swung in friendship's truthful innocence
Shall serve to kill the dreadful Lord of Strife.

Prophecy of Hanna Hoister (directed to Gregori Hoister)

A son of yours shall fight and pave the way
And Love's bright daughter by his side will stand
Yet fruitless shall their greatest efforts be
The Lord of Strife will perish at the hand
Of only one: a scion of Forriva's line.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

The Kaa Cartel

The Planet Kaa was discovered in TE 203, and the Kaa Cartel was organized the next year under the Imperial Act of Nonexploitation, for the purpose of regulating contact with the nonhuman natives. The Cartel, after much wrangling and wheeling/dealing, turned out to be a five-member board composed of representatives of the Throne, the Wakmarrel School, Idara deVigny, the Karphos Corporation, and the Sisters of Mercy.

Human interaction with the Kaanese, when it took place, was based in Kaa Station: a large, complex station in Clarke orbit above the major population center of Kaa.

After TE 360, the Karphos Corporation's seat was taken over by Borshallan Artificial Intelligences. In the wake of the TE 381 upsets, the Borshallan Artificial Intelligences seat went to the Borshallan cyborg Kwofi, a re-animated corpsicle from pre-Imperial Umoja. House deVigny was at the time represented by the 52-year-old Alma deVigny. Alma and Kwofi fell in love and married in TE 385. Until TE 413, they totally dominated the Kaa Cartel. Kaa Station became an orbiting Victorian Gothic mansion, the Kaa Cartel wrapped its proceedings in secrecy and extended its power into odd corners of the Empire's socioeconomy in search of security for its charges.

The Kaa Cartel in TE 400 was as close as it could be to all-powerful. Kwofi shared time in Chance, a Svarth-series computer that the Cartel owned. Alma deVigny brought all the considerable power of her Idara to bear. Kandry Renj, the Wakmarrel adept, had slight telepathic sensitivity and spent her time studying the natives from orbit. Sister Julia the Blessed of the Sisterhood barricaded herself in her room and only conversed with the outside world by voice-and-vision circuits. And Ilanor Alexandrov, representative of the Throne, was a slight, pale man whose eyes stared past you and replied to all conversations on a skewed line.

It was a marvelous time.

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Find out more in A Voice in Every Wind by Don Sakers

The Ebettor

A pale, humanoid race from the Galactic Core. It is rumored that the Ebettor are descended from escapees from Cambolinee, who settled on other secret worlds undetectably close to the Core. From those worlds, settlers moved into the Core and under the dominion of the Gergathan.

The Ebettor contacted the Duchy of Geled via ultrawave c. 6390 CE.

First Contact with the Ebettor came in 6484 CE, during a Terran Library expedition to repair Ultrawave Relay Alpha.

Legend says that a daughter of Cambolinee will one day arise to free the Ebettor from slavery.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

TERRAD

TERRAD, the Terran Defense Network, is a series of linked sapient computers whose primary goal is the protection of the populace of Earth and, later, the Terran Empire.

Developed during the crisis of 2042 CE, the TERRAD system rarely took direct command of Terran defense forces; instead, it issued recommendations and strategic plans. Nominally under the command of the Terran Council/Imperial Council/Emperor, Terrad was in reality quite autonomous.

All details about TERRAD were kept classified for security reasons; however, it is known that TERRAD's main processors were buried some kilometers under the surface of Earth, in a secret location or locations. It is conjectured that major TERRAD resources also existed on other worlds, most notably some Provincial Capitals and the Nexus Worlds. After the Imperial Capital was moved to Laxus in TE 381, TERRAD's functions continued unimpeded. However, the Patalanian Union seemed unable to access or influence TERRAD, so any installations on Patala must have been shut down or destroyed at the time of the Secession.

TERRAD most often menifested itself as a single voice and personality. The system was a major advisor to Secretary-Generals and Emperors.

Nothing is known of the fate of TERRAD after the fall of the Terran Empire.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Dunsinane

Human world near Neordan, home of Idara Adelhardt, founded 2091 CE.

Features:

Birnam Wood: Gerald Adelhardt began Birnam Wood by planting a tree for each new member of his Family. Within a few centuries, it was a dense and trackless forest. One path, the Southern Approach to Castle Adelhardt, was always kept clear of vegetation -- it was a long, impressive, rough-hewn stone staircase. In addition, Birnam Wood is honeycombed with secret paths known only to the members of Idara Adelhardt.

Castle Adelhardt: Built by Gerald Adelhardt, a modern re-creation of Mad King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein.

Cawdor: Capital city. The Adelhardt Planetary Administrator (inevitably) carries the title "Thane of Cawdor."

Thanes of Cawdor

1. Gerald Adelhardt (2091-2144 CE)
2. Howard Adelhardt (2144 - TE 56)
3. Luis Adelhardt (56-116)
4. Karel Adelhardt (116-135)
5. Grant Adelhardt (135-205)
6. Joseph Adelhardt (134-249)
7. Kurt Adelhardt (249-274)
8. Dave Adelhardt (274-297)
9. Martin Adelhardt (297-381)
10. Stepkan Adelhardt (381-385)
11. Gerald Adelhardt (385-422)
12. Duncan Adelhardt (422-435)
13. Beldon Adelhardt (435-438)
14. Heather Adelhardt (438-?)

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Empress Mary Tattersall

b. 12 October 390
d. 6 July 419

401 - 419: Empress of the Terran Empire

Mary Tattersall was the result of a political marriage between Denise Löwenger and Edward Tattersall. At the time, Idara Tattersall controlled a bloc of about 25 votes in the Imperial Council, votes which were desperately needed by the unraveling Carroll Coalition. The Tattersall allies, who generally steered a middle course between the Throne and its chief opponents, agreed to support Joseph Löwenger and, later, Denise, against the Elendan-led opposition which wished to make peace with the Patalanian Union.

In 390 the Imperial Council passed an Act of Succession which named Mary as Denise's Heir. The same Act also, as a matter of routine, named Edward Tattersall as Regent in case Mary was too young to take the Throne.

Denise had little interest in her daughter or her spouse; she left Mary to be raised by Edward under the vague supervision of other Carroll elders.

Idara Tattersall won its gamble in 401 when Denise died while Mary was only 11. Under the terms of the Act of Succession, Edward took on the mantle of Regent, while at the same time he moved Mary firmly away from the influence of the Carrolls. Edward's Regency lasted until 406, when Mary passed her adulthood tests and took on the Crown. (Edward remained Mary's most trusted advisor until his own premature death in 411.)

Edward's Regency was a time of quiet anticipation and political suspense, as Edward worked to balance the two factions -- Carroll and Opposition -- against one another. By skillfully adjusting appropriations, Edward was able to beef up the local Navy forces of Borshall, New Sardinia, Credix, and Geled -- the Provinces which adjoined the Patalanian Union, and the sites of the heaviest fighting. At the same time, he allowed the Provincial Dukes to increase their control over Navy forces in their Provinces, thus satisfying those of the Dukes who wanted more autonomy. Edward began a strategy of "defense only" -- under his rule (and, subsequently, for the rest of Mary's reign), the Empire ceased attacking Union worlds and did not intrude into Union space.

In TE 406, days before she turned 16, Mary took and passed her adulthood tests; she formally ascended to the Throne on her sixteenth birthday (although, thanks to her rigorous training and daily stints under the Memory Crown, she appeared to onlookers like a woman of thirty.)

Mary continued Edward's policy of political neutrality, balancing one party against the other while all the time trying to keep the Empire together and defend it against the Union.

In order to placate Opposition forces, who still formally called for peace with the Union, Mary agreed to an Act of Succession which named her cousin Charles Castiligoni as Imperial Heir. (The same Act, as a major concession to Carroll forces, named Thomas Carroll as Heir's Heir.)

In all her dealings, Mary tried to steer a middle course. Personally, she was a calm and diginified person, and after the juvenile excesses of Denise's reign, she brought a sense of style and decorum back to the Throne. During Mary's reign, a new restrained style of fashion and furniture swept the Empire; it is referred to by historians as Regency or Tattersall Style.

By force of personality and skillful politics, Mary Tattersall soothed the Imperial Council and the Dukes, and restrained the growing power of the Idara. Beginning in TE 412, she held an annual summit meeting between Galactic leaders -- she and Union President Pola Masilek were the chief attendees, but the summits also included the Archdukes of Elendan, Odonia, Sedante, and Teleskany. Largely as a result of these summits, hostilities between Union and Empire slowed down.

Mary's reign, which had begun in a hostile atmosphere with all sides waiting for the other shoe to drop, turned out to be a period of relative peace and quiet -- just what the Empire needed.

In 419, at the chronological age of 38 and the biological age of 100, Mary Tattersall passed the Crown to her Heir, Charles Castiligoni, then closed her eyes and died peacefully. She was mourned throughout the Galaxy; even in the Patalanian Union flags were lowered and the President declared a tenday of mourning.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Empires of the Gathered Worlds

The Pyslistroph (c. 2.4 - 1.2 billion BCE)

Little is known of this culture, as most records were lost during the Schism and the Flight of the Daamin. The Pylistroph was a loose confederation of 50-100 worlds inhabited by the Seven Races. The Pyslistroph was led by The Council of the Wise, composed of a few beings from each of the Seven Races.

It is known that the Pylistroph did not have tachyon conversion, nor the antigrav. Pylistroph ships were mainly light-sail vessels. The Pylistroph sent light-sail ships out into the Galactic Halo (aka the Scattered Worlds), apparently to seed suitable worlds with Pylistroph-based life. It is conjectured that a Pylistroph vessel passed by Terra about 8-900 million years ago; it has been further conjectured that almost all life on planets in the Scattered Worlds is descended from Pylistroph Seed Vessels.

Mertorthar (c. 1.2 billion - 600 million BCE)

Mertorthar was born when the Gergathan recalled the Coruman race to Messilinia and launched a war of conquest against the Pylistroph. The Gergathan is a great war-machine, constructed on Messilinia during the wars that preceded the foundation of the Pylistroph. Composed of computer parts plus the living minds of those it has absorbed, the Gergathan is vastly intelligent, utterly implacable, and relentlessly ruthless.

The Council of the Wise capitulated quickly, but others fled the Core into the Scattered Worlds (the "Flight of the Daamin"). The Schism of the Hlutr divided the Hlutr race.

About 600 million BCE, Mertorthar reached beyond the Core to destroy the Empire of the Iaranor. During this effort, many tributary worlds rebelled, and Mertorthar's authority fell apart. The Gergathan was forced to turn its attention back to the Core.

Garadhros (c. 600 million - 22 million BCE)

Garadhros was established in the wake of a successful war against the Empire of the Iaranor. During its rule, the Gergathan established a boundary about the Gathered Worlds that prevented its subjects from leaving or observing the freedom of the Scattered Worlds. Teleportation was developed about 500 million BCE, and Garadhros expanded into the Cores of nearby galaxies, most notably Andromeda.

About 22 million BCE, Garadhros met the expanding cultures of M-87 and its surrounding galaxies of the Virgo Cluster -- the so-called Virgo Cultures. A great war ensued, a war which resulted in the detonation of M-87's Core. Garadhros, however, was conquered and the Gergathan shut down. The Virgo warrior Jel Haran fought, and was seriously damaged, in this final war.

After an interregnum of approximately one million years, Garadhros was succeeded by Diebethar.

Diebethar (c. 21 million - 5.2 million BCE)

After its defeat by the Virgo Cultures, the Gergathan took a million years to recover power and influence. Although hindered by the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds (and particularly by Jel Haran and Lirith), by 21 million BCE the Gergathan had regained enough power to start reconquering the Milky Way's Core, and to proclaim the third great Core Empire, Diebethar.

Through treachery, guile, and division, Diebethar rapidly spread through the Local Group and beyond, meeting and defeating the Virgo Cultures about 19 million BCE.

About 5.2 million BCE, the Avethellan Empire led an assault against Diebethar and Messilinia, and the Avethellan hero Kylvin struck at the Gergathan with one of the Singing Stones. However, Kylvin's Strike -- like Forriva's -- was blunted at the last moment.

Nonetheless, Diebethar fell, and the Core was briefly integrated into the Avethellan Empire. About 5.19 million BCE, Diebethar was succeeded by Malreppidar.

Malreppidar (c. 5.19.million - 2.7 million BCE)

After the fall of Avethell, the Gergathan proclaimed Malreppidar, and began the systematic destruction of all life in other galaxies. Before this effort was really begun, about 3 million BCE, intercontinuual travel was developed, and Malreppidar spread like a virulent plague into the Secondary Spaces. (The Deserted Worlds of the New Continuum date from this era.)

About 2.7 million BCE, a tributary state in an adjacent continuum revolted and seriously damaged the Gergathan. Malreppidar fell.

The Kohlenebian Empire (c. 2.7 - 2.3 million BCE) carried on the Core culture in the Scattered Worlds, but a true successor to Malreppidar did not appear until about 900,000 BCE, with Kaypleskrit.

Kaylpeskrit (c. 900,000 BCE - present)

Kaylpeskrit rose about 900,000 BCE, following an interregnum of more than a million years. After destroying all copies of the Gergathan in Secondary Spaces (completed about 100,000 BCE), Kaylepskrit began isolating the Secondary Spaces from one another, and systematically eliminating all life in each.

Kaylpeskrit destroyed the Scattered Worlds state of Marpethtal c. 300,000 BCE.

Kaylpeskrit was instrumental in the collapse of the First Terran Empire c. 2600 CE.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

The Children of Lost Time

A Scattered Worlds race which flourished c. 550 million BCE on the planet Lamtek Tarluen. The Children of Lost Time were an offshoot of the Daamin race, descended from a Pylistroph-era exploration vessel that was marooned in the Scattered Worlds. The original Daamin had regressed to nonsapience, then evolved back up to a high cultural level, although they never developed star-travel. They excelled at the construction of intricate artificial intelligences.

After a long history of nearly a million years, the Children of Lost Time passed into a still, contemplative silence and over the next centuries their bodies withered and became one with their world.

The only survivor was Hes-Namu, a sapient computer constructed by the Children shortly before their ultimate demise. In time, Hes-Namu picked up and deciphered ultrawave transmissions from the Scattered Worlds. After a period of communication that lasted several centuries, Hes-Namu came to Nephestal to serve the Council of the Free Peoples.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

A Daamin Song

Before your mother's mother's dams
Yet danced in magic twilight dim
Before their mother's tribes were born
When time was new and yet unworn
We lived in endless day.

Remember, cub, the sea from which
In far-gone past the Daamin sprang
Now feel the soil of ages lost
And clouds that in a bright sky hang
Beneath a million suns.

We fled away into the night
When night was yet a haunting dream;
In dreams remember, cub, our home
Verkorra in eternal light
To light we shall return.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

The Oath of the Fey

The Oath of the Fey, also called the Raytheonic Oath (named after Eduard Raytheon, first Master of the McIntyre School) is an oath taken by telepaths and, eventually, by all psi-talented individuals.

The oath is given in the presence of a telepath, and the swearer's mind is open so that the telepath may read his/her sincerity. No practicing telepath is given the approval of the McIntyre School without swearing the Oath.

Text of the Oath:

I swear by all the gods of my house, by the spirits of my ancestors, and by the integrity of my being that I will keep this oath to the end of my life.

I will hold in highest regard those who taught me my art. They shall be as my parents and siblings, and I pledge that they shall never suffer want or neglect while I can prevent it.

I will use my talents as I have been taught, always guided first by the dictates of conscience and morality, second by civil law, and third by the orders of my superiors. I will be personally and singly responsible for all my actions, and will allow no other to take that responsibility from me.

I pledge never to use my talent in anger or other emotion, nor while I am made irresponsible by drugs. I pledge always to be respectful of the rights of those without my abilities, and always to be courteous to those who share my talent. I pledge that I will render aid and instruction to any who have not mastered their talents.

With purity and holiness I will pass my life and practice my art. Whatever I learn through my art and under seal of secrecy, this shall remain secret; whatever I learn without such seal, I will not reveal without clear and compelling reason.

While I continue to keep this oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of my art and craft, respected by all men, in all times; but should I trespass and violate this oath, may the reverse be my lot, and may my life be forfeit to the one who took this oath and to all paranormals everywhere. In token of my sincerity I open my mind to my oath-taker and my teachers, that they may read and judge my intentions.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Empress Amy Kuchta

Empress of the Terran Empire TE 235 - 242


b. 30 April 209, Nagoya, Terra
d. 28 December 242, New York, Terra

Amy Kuchta was the only daughter of Mandike Kuchta (177-290) and mathematician Lisand Vasiliev. From before her birth, her destiny was dominated by her great-grandfather, Sten Kuchta (TE 123-237). Sten, in a bid for more political power for Idara Kuchta, embarked upon a program of genetic enhancement beginning with his daughter Erika (151-232) and continuing with Mandike (177-290) and Amy. Amy's particular enhancements included the strengthening of genetic constellations associated with mathematical ability and pattern-formation.

Amy's education included stays at Harvard, Cambridge, and Harare Universities. She passed her adulthood exams at age 15, and immediately began moving up through the Imperial bureaucracy. At 16 she attracted the attention of Emperor Tsung Dao Wu, who took an instant liking to the girl. She was attached to the Imeprial Court in 227, and in 229 she rose to the position of Imperial Hand, the Emperor's chief assistant. In 231, when she was 22, Tsung Dao Wu formally adopted Amy, naming her as his chosen successor.

In 223, at age 14, Amy entered into a dynastic marriage with Robert Churchill. The couple's three children (David, b. 224; Cathie, b. 227; and Judy, b. 231) were grown in vitro and raised under the supervision of Mandike Kuchta.

For the four years following her appointment as Emperor's Hand, Amy was the instrument of Tsung Dao Wu's administration. She travelled throughout the Empire on various missions, and built a reputation as a stern but rigorously fair person of great practical intelligence.

Upon Tsung Dao Wu's death in 235, Amy ascended to the Throne without serious challenge. Her seven-year reign was mostly absorbed in political machinations aimed at establishing a hereditary succession. It was not until 240 that the Imperial Council approved her nomination of her son David as her Heir.

Amy died in 242 at the age of 33; it is conjectured that the daily operation of the Memory Crown conflicted with her brain structure and caused cumulative damage. She was succeeded by her son, David Kuchta.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

The Marching Morons

It used to be an article of faith, among the self-appointed intelligentsia, that the human race would grow steadily stupider as time progressed. After the advent of reliable birth control, so the reasoning went, intelligent people would choose not to have children, or would stop after one or two—whereas the non-intelligent would continue to breed like rabbits. Over the course of generations, then, the proportion of intelligent people in the population would decline, and in the end, we would all be a bunch of morons.

This reasoning was impeccable—but it rested on the erroneous assumption that intelligence is hereditary. In fact, once economic factors are removed, there is absolutely no evidence of any correlation between the intelligence of parents and the intelligence of their children.

In short, the morons have not marched over the rest of us, because morons insist on having just as many intelligent children as do geniuses.

-from Closet to Chamber: An Autobiography by Miranda Maris, Firebrand Books, 2035

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Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna by Don Sakers