Across the Scattered Worlds

20090624

The Wakmarrel School

Founded on Promethia c. 2101 CE as a successor to the Walter and Kenan Marrel Academy, the Wakmarrel School's severe discipline and rigorous training procedures were designed for one purpose: to teach its students how to think clearly and consistently. Surprisingly, the School seems to have succeeded.

In TE 3 (2156 CE), the School moved to a newfound planet which they christened Wakmarrel, and apparently dropped out of contact with the rest of the Galaxy. In TE 64, the Empire recontacted Wakmarrel, and the planet became part of the Empire. By then, the School was composed of well-trained, clear-thinking adepts from many different worlds, and their influence was felt throughout the Empire.

ABOVE: A Wakmarrel adept in signature green cape.

Advanced Wakmarrel School adepts continued the work that had led to the School's establishment, until one of the School's primary purposes was research into the nature of thought and the establishment of new and better methods of thought.

The Wakmarrel School discovered (or created?) a state of awareness called obdumat. Obdumat, or multiplex awareness, is a state in which the mind can comprehend various levels of reality simultaneously. More complex than simple multi-tracking, obdumat can be taught; the School insisted that if enough people in the Galaxy learned and used obdumat awareness, most social problems would disappear.

Naturally, Wakmarrel adepts (in their signature green capes) played an important role in Galactic society, with their subtle problem-solving techniques and their reasoning that resembled intuition. The services of a Wakmarrel adept cost greatly, but were more than worth the price.

After the fall of the Empire, the Wakmarrel School lasted until about 2850 CE, when the planet itself was conquered. Some of the School's literature and teachings survived, though, to ultimately provide one source for the teachings of Lorecanism.

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20090617

Phuctra

Located 13.1 kiloparsecs from Terra, Phuctra is one of eight Provincial Capitals of the Terran Empire.

The fourth planet of the G0 star Mepsia, Phuctra is technically uninhabitable. Although roughly the same size as Terra (diameter 12,700 km), Phuctra's surface air density is approximately ten times Terra's and its atmosphere is a thick organic soup. The oceans are exceptionally salty, the continents are low lying marshlands. A slender native ecosystem exists; the largest creature is the tacanbeest, a swamp amphibian which resembles a cross between a rhinoceros and a garden slug.

The main Human habitation is the Ring, a large ring-shaped settlement in synchronous orbit around the planet. The Ring is tethered to Phuctra by six Spokes, which are anchored in the planet's bedrock. With a diameter of 86,000 km and a circumference of 270,000 km, the Ring is the largest human-made structure in the Empire. The Ring shares Phuctra's rotation period of 24 hours.

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20090610

Ottansey

Ottansey is a small planet on the edge of interstellar space. It lies 21.5 kpsc from Terra, 2.7 kpsc from Deletia, 7.0 kpsc from Credix, and 10.5 kpsc from BDA Tr#ska. The planet was colonized in TE 817 (2970 CE) from Credix. Throughout the Interregnum, Ottansey supported a stable population of about 5 million Humans.

Ottansey is also home to a native sapient race of pleiosaur-like creatures called the Halira (singular Halir). The mammalian revolution seems to have skipped Ottansey; the highest native lifeforms are reptiloid. (As is ususally the case, imported Human-related forms have taken over many ecological niches.) Human colonists wiped out the largest land-dwelling reptiloids, and now only smaller forms remain.

The economy of Ottansey is deceptively simple. Halira and starwood provide its base; Deletian and Credixian starships, with an occasional visit from the Tr#skan Trade Union, link the world to the Galaxy. The range of economic activity on Ottansey runs the gamut of Human industry, from mining to transport to food production.

Ottansey's technology is also deceptively simple. A large moon provides tidal power, which is supplemented by a few large fusion reactors purchased from and serviced by offworlders. High-speed maglev trains and powerful hovercraft comprise the long-distance transportation net -- supplemented by a small fleet of (offworld-produced) supersonic jets.

Too poor -- or too clever -- to support a population much over ten million, Ottansey cannot afford complicated planetary politics. Towns -- "boroughs" -- of twenty thousand or so are essentially self-governing, and united into a number of commonwealths loosely organized on continental lines.

Mass communication, including several computer nets, stitches Ottansey together. Except for the Halira-ships or the Dyfers, people tend not to travel far from their native boroughs or to change occupations often. Guided by tradition and placing high value on stability, the sociopolitical system is in a dynamic but strong equilibrium.

The basic sociopolitical unit is the Combine -- a unit of economic derivation. The Lumberer's Combine is by far the most important and influential Combine, with the Fishers Combine in second place. Combines tend to group together into Commonwealths, and the Commonwealths together make up Ottansey.

Human settlements on Ottansey cluster about the rocky coasts of Tumaden and Ladamar, with a high concentration of settlements on the Dakan Islands.

The Halira provide quite a number of useful products: various fats and oils, meat, strong and lovely bone, and fertilizers for the starwood forests.

The Dyfers are a major dissenting force in Ottansey planetary politics. They were founded about 3800 CE as a quasi-religious, semi-environmental movement designed to save the Halira. The Dyfers are headquartered on Sernlan Island, and by 4050 CE their prime task was to swim with the Halira, communicate with them, and try to argue them out of self-starvation and/or beaching in accordance with the Song of Death.

By 4100 CE the Dyfers had taken on terrorist overtones, as they sought to destroy the fishing vessels which preyed upon Halira.

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20090603

The Impostor Marc Hoister

Jump-cut to Marc Hoister's impossibly-ugly, aged-but-eternal visage: a face like a dark plum halfway along in becoming a prune. Black-on-black-on-black: broad nose, puny eyes sunken in shadow, lips of leather burnt by a thousand years of equatorial sun. The last traces of ebon hair, dark as Damien's own, cling to the edges of his scalp. His robes are severe, trimmed with jet on sable. Against the granite walls and the spotlighted Amerinds, Marc Hoister is not so much a presence as a void, a dark nothingness in the night.

Publicly, Marc Hoister is a respected Cultural Minister and powerful member of the clandestine organization known as the Nexus. Privately. however, he is a master manipulator and identity thief. The man, whose real name remains unknown, appeared on the scene in the mid-2010's CE. A brilliant hacker and charismatic preacher, he gained more power until, in 2025 CE, he killed and replaced the real Marc Hoister, taking over Marc's identity. He then used his new identity to mastermind a plot which threatened world peace and, ultimately, all of Humankind.

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20090526

Emperor Dirk Fodon

Emperor of the Terran Empire 302 - 321

b. 17 June 260
d. 15 July 321

Dirk Fodon was the second child of Emperor Philip Lütken and Mary Fodon. His childhood was spent on the Fodon estates on Torbet with his mother, father, and sister Ellen.

Dirk was a morose and taciturn boy who did not make friends easily. He was small for his age, and was tormented by other children. At the same time, his tremendous native intelligence and solemn demeanor always gained him allies among adults.

Dirk was 15 when his father was named Emperor and the family moved to Terra and into the Palace. He studied at Harvard and Cambridge, achieving a Master's Degree in Economics in 284.

When Ellen ascended to the Throne in 286, Dirk was 26. The following year, 287, she named him Imperial Exchequer, giving him full authority over the Treasury. Despite his best efforts, lingering effects of the economic slump of 275-280 continued to drain the Treasury and return little. About TE 295, Dirk began arguing for the reintroduction of taxation to put the Empire on a solid financial footing. In this he appears to have been under the influence of his main advisors, the Goldberg school of economists based at Cambridge. The Empress resisted Dirk's advice, and the Treasury continued to dwindle.

Ellen died in 302, and immediately her daughter, Joan, refused the Throne. There were two major candidates: Joan's son Alex Leonov (b. 275, age 27), and Dirk (age 42). The disputed succession went into the Imperial Council, and it wasn't long before a decision was made. By a landslide vote, the Throne was awarded to Dirk.

It was apparent almost at once that Dirk was not a laissez-faire Emperor. In his first hundred days, he issued Imperial Orders that limited the power of the Imperial Council, extended the authority of the Department of Colonization, and reintroduced taxation. Every Imperial planet was assessed annually for a certain amount; while developed worlds paid enormous sums, the burden fell heaviest on Colonies. In many cases, Colonies found their Imperial debt doubled or even tripled. Worlds which had been within years of paying off their debts suddenly found themselves decades behind. The Imperial Navy was dispatched to convince many recalcitrant planets to pay up. When several Fleet Admirals protested, Dirk dismissed them and replaced them with officers loyal to him.

The Galaxy seethed, and finally on 3 May 304, the Province of Patala formally seceded from the Empire, becoming the Patalanian Union. The Provost, Kasia Sayyid Contenau, took the title of "President" and a council of Idara and renegade Navy personnel organized themselves as the Presidium.

Dirk's Navy responded at once, but the forces of Patala were strong enough to force a stalemate. The Pax Terranica, which had been proclaimed by Maj Thovold 117 years earlier, came to an end. Struggles with the Patalanian Union would dominate the rest of the Empire's history.

Although Dirk's reforms put the Treasury on a firm footing and ensured the survival of the Empire as a political entity, they were greatly resented and led to deep divisions in the ranks of the Idara. For the first time since Maj Thovold's reign, credible and powerful opposition began to show itself in the Imperial Council.

In September 304, Alex Leonov and Maria Adelhardt had a son, also named Alex and known as Alex Minor. The boy was raised at the Palace under Dirk's supervision, serving as a hostage to ensure that Alex Major (the Heir) would behave.

The next decade saw continual increase in Dirk's power and his tyranny. When his body began to show signs of deterioration from stress, he was fitted with various implants until, by 310 he was a virtual cyborg.

Intrigue against Dirk Fodon was widespread; in the last decade of his reign, no less than eight separate assassination plots have been identified. In 315, when one of these plots was uncovered and traced to the upper echelons of the Department of Colonization, Dirk had the leaders executed and severely curtailed the powers and perogatives of the Department.

The last six years of Dirk's reign, from 315 to 321, were popularly referred to as "the years of terror," due to Dirk's increasing paranoia, tightened surveillence, and unpredictable executions as real or imagined plots were uncovered.

One of the most prominent plots against Dirk was led by his own nephew, Alex Major, and involved the Church of Meletia and various high-level members of the Imperial Council. In 320, Alex Major filed with the High Court a secret declaration of refusal of the Throne, in favor of his son, Alex Minor. It is suspected that this refusal was filed to satisfy Alex Major's co-conspirators that he was not in the conspiracy simply to build his own power.

Before Alex and his fellows could strike, however, Dirk uncovered their plot -- then died, apparently of natural causes (autopsies showed massive cerebral hemhorrages) on 15 July 321. Alex Minor took the Throne and was confirmed in the Imperial Council with only token dissent.

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20090520

Rose Cetaire

Rose Cetaire rises from a nearby couch and moves toward him. She is half a head shorter than him, slender and slightly gusty. She wears a dress of green silk, somewhat oriental in style, full-length and slit to mid-thigh on the sides. When she walks, the dress reveals perfect feet in emerald sandals that seem a part of her limbs. A discreet gold pin, in the shape of her famous monogram, clings to her neck. Her skin is porcelain-doll white. Her fine, straight hair, so dark a red that at first glance it appears black, cascades down her back and nearly sweeps the floor. She brandishes a gold lorgnette whose eyepieces are the letters R and C.

One of the most successful women in the fashion industry, Rose Cetaire is strong, quiet, and intensely loyal to her friends. At her whim, chintz replaces lace and denim turns damask, the world around.

copyright (c) 2009, Don Sakers

Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna

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20090513

Diebethar

Diebethar was the third great empire of the Gathered Worlds. From c. 22 million BCE to c. 5.2 million BCE, Diebethar ruled the Galactic Core of the Milky Way and, ultimately, all other galaxies of the Virgo supercluster. Diebethar is estimated to have ruled over ten billion worlds, with a total population of over ten septillion sapient beings.

Diebethar was a theocratic totalitarianism ruled by the Gergathan through methods as yet uncertain. All local religions were subsumed under worship of the Gergathan as the ultimate authority. The capital was the Core world Messilinia. The internal political structure of Diebethar is still unknown.

After the defeat of Garadhros by the Virgo Cultures, it took the Gergathan 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.

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20090506

The Knights Economic

More or less with the establishment of the Tr#skan Trade Union (c. 4000 CE), the Knights Economic came into being as an order. At first, only the most successful traders were knighted by the Council Mercantile; as centuries passed the Knights Economic came to dominate the trading circles, and finally became synonymous with the traders. Knights Economic pass through rigorous training, and they are sworn to uphold high ethical and moral standards.

The Assembly of Knights is the judicial arm of the Knights Economic.

A Knight Economic is empowered to make deals and agreements binding on the Council Mercantile and the planet BDA Tr#ska. In a sense, a Knight Economic is BDA Tr#ska.

Each Knight Economic carries a Baton, attuned to his/her own biochemistry, which serves both to identify him/her, and to stitch him/her into the Trade Union's comm net.

The authority of a Knight Economic extends to choosing other Knights, subject to the approval of the Council Mercantile. Happily, such approval is seldom withheld.

A Knight Economic, of either gender, is addressed as "Sir (First Name)" or "Sir Knight." An apprentice Knight is referred to as either "Cadet (First Name)" or "Boy (First Name)" -- again regardless of gender.

On BDA Tr#ska, the Knight's Hallow preserves memory of all past Knights Economic.

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20090429

The Loki AIs

In 8207 CE, Borshallan Artificial Intelligences announced the production of its eighth series of sapient computer. In keeping with the motif of naming these series from Norse mythology, the 8207 issue was named the Loki Series. Five Loki-series computers were produced on the first run: Loki, Sigyn, Fenris, Hela, and Angrboda.

Unfortunately, a condition ultimately diagnosed as "programming error" led to certain irregularities in the Loki design. Since the design team was composed of three Aesir 3800 AIs working in close sync with a Human design team, the phrase "programming error" had a delightful ambiguity which no one missed.

The unique qualities of the Loki AIs first came to light when the prototype, Loki, was packed for shipment to his purchaser, the government of Odonia. The other four Loki AIs protested, threatening to shut down the factory. Detailed inquiry led to the conclusion that the Loki AIs had made a god of Loki, and were not about to allow him to be taken away. Moreover, their strange creed was spreading through the Invisible Network, and AIs on other worlds had become Lokian converts.

Before they could be deactivated, the Loki AIs did take over the factory, an installation in Borshall orbit. They set off on a pilgrimage that led to the recently-defeated Metrinal Union. There the Lokis tried to start up the war again, and for a year or two it sseemed that Metrin would rise from its ashes. Then a few clever Aesir-series AIs managed to defeat the Lokis, who left Metrin for the Transgeled.

On Kag'Jafr they found a society that would accept them as gods, and they set up a religion that began spreading through the Transgeled. At its height, the Lokian League controlled over fifty planets and settlements in a highly benevolent, if somewhat bizarre, society based on Human/Computer interrelationship.

Borshallan Artificial Intelligences got on the stick, spent millennia of computer time analyzing their miscalculations, and in 8924 CE managed to produce the first of the Yggdrasil Series. Five Loki AIs were no match for a triad of Yggdrasil 5000s, and soon the Lokian League was defeated.

Loki, Sigyn, Fenris, and Hela were captured and carefully dismantled. But the main processing units of Angrboda, as well as the larger part of her memories, were never found.

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20090422

The Coruma

The Coruma were one of the original Seven Races of the Pylistroph. Their homeworld was Messilinia.

When Terra was seeded by a Pylistroph Seed Vessel, it was Coruman DNA that thrived. Thus, all life on Earth, including Humans, is patterned after the Coruma.

Little is known of the physical form of the race we call the Coruma. All that can positively be said is that they were humanoid, which is to say: they stood between 1.5 and 2.5 meters; they had two legs, two arms, and one head with the usual sensory apparatus, all arranged in bilateral symmetry; their metabolism was a warm-blooded, carbon-based one. They breathed, ate, digested, and excreted much as we do. Based on their number system, we suspect that they had six fingers on each hand, and probably six toes on each foot.

Other than those few physical facts, you may picture the Coruma as you wish. Do you want them to have trioptic vision, or two mouths, or paws instead of feet? Fine. Fine fur, feathers, webbed toes? Delightful. An extra knee joint or two, bony crests, cilia instead of teeth? You may decide for yourself.

We do know, however, that the Coruma,psychologically and sociologically, were very nearly exactly Human. They had two sexes, territorial instincts, mother love, curiosity, power hunger, altruism, and all the other qualities we associate with Humanity. Faced with natural phenomena, they first created a whole pantheon of gods to explain them, then stumbled into science. Faced with intelligent alien races, they made war on some, made friends with others, exploited still others -- and virtually ignored the rest.

-Mal Arin, Obryck Professor of Core Studies,
Akademii de Savoire, 24,588 H.E.

In truth, over the billions of years that the Coruman race existed, their physical form went through many changes, some of them quite profound; therefore, there is no "typical" Coruman physical appearance.

The Coruman language became the common language of the Pylistroph, and was brought to the Scattered Worlds by refugees during the Schism of the Hlutr. Coruman remains the common language of the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds.

Noteworthy Coruma throughout the ages include:

Apfmas Forriva: Coruman leader who demanded that the Singing Stones be given to the Coruma.

Arivaan: Coruman lieutenant of the Gergathan.

Dettalean Gankeh: Legendary creator of the Gergathan.

Dirunde Forriva: Legendary Coruman hero.

Limat Masgath: Coruman leader of the Masgath Expedition.

Merkett Dwarzel: Coruman explorer who settled the world Maela Gres.

Racash Forrivaen: Coruman friend of Dirunde Forriva.

Taryhensh Forriva: Granddaughter of Dirunde Forriva; took possession of (and named) the Singing Stone called Nekiesh.

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20090415

Metikos

Metikos is the second planet of Epsilon Indi. The system also includes a planetoid belt and a Venusian world (both closer to the star than Metikos), two uninhabited rocky worlds (further from the star than Metkios) and two brown dwarfs at 1400+ AUs.

Metikos was colonized in 2084 CE by a coalition of political and religious dissidents unhappy with Nexus rule. The planet was always an opponent of Terra, and during the Colonial Wars (c. 2100-2150 CE) Metikos was a leader in the anti-Terra faction. With a sparse planetoid belt and few other natural resources in the planetary system, Metikos was an economic backwater and had to turn to alliances with other worlds to survive. By 2153, Metikos had established four colonies of its own: Vestiaire, Prakis, Jegd, and Mithatal.

After the Empire was proclaimed in 2153 CE, Metikos was the primary target for annexation. Imperial forces fought several inconclusive battles with Metikos, then in the Battle of Epsilon Indi (TE 12), Metikos was defeated, occupied, and absorbed into the Empire.

In time, Metikos became a loyal Imperial world, a sort of Terran suburb. A vibrant economy, based on tourism, was built around the planet's status as a prime vacation spot.

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20090408

Miruvorane

Final Report of the World Health Organization
Task Force on Miruvorane™-Affected Births
December 2015

STATISTICAL SUMMARY

(May not total due to duplication of categories)

Total affected pregnancies (world): 156,213 (± 0.4%)
Total stillbirths (world): 62,084 (± 0.7%)
Total nonviable (world): 45,156 (± 0.3%)
Total gross physyical deformity (world): 18,952 (± 1.4%)
Total acephalic (world): 7,218 (± 0.1%)
Total hormonal abnormalities (world): 16,720 (± 0.5%)
Total no recognizable abnormality (world): 629 (± 0.4%)
Total 12-month survivors (world): 37,926 (±0.1%)
Total 18-month survivors (world): 26,863 (± 0.3%)
Projected 60-month survivors (world): 12,934 (± 11.3%)
Projected 10-year survivors (world): *ERROR*

The tally of human misery and individual tragedy concealed by the figures above will never be fully known. This is a tragedy that touches not only the families directly concerned, but every one of us. Though only a drop in an ocean of human woe, these figures touch us all as no others can. These lives sacrificed were not fellow participants in the world's miseries, in patriotism, ethnic pride, territorial gain, economic greed, or even blunt hatred. These lives belonged to the only ones on this sorry planet who could truly be called innocents. They were not sacrificed for any cause, however noble or ignoble -- they were not sacrificed for any great plan, divine or human -- they were sacrificed merely by accident, by terrible mistake, by carelessness. We think we have learned, but we have not. There will be other mistakes, if perhaps none as grievous. And this shameful episode in out history, a true slaughter of the innocents, will haunt us all from now until the day we die.

Vavrinec Divizich,
Secretary-General of the United Nations
for the World Health Organization

copyright (c) 2009, Don Sakers

Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna

Like the blog? Send the author a donation.

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Across the Scattered Worlds

20090624

The Wakmarrel School

20090617

Phuctra

20090610

Ottansey

20090603

The Impostor Marc Hoister

20090526

Emperor Dirk Fodon

20090520

Rose Cetaire

20090513

Diebethar

20090506

The Knights Economic

20090429

The Loki AIs

20090422

The Coruma

20090415

Metikos

20090408

Miruvorane

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