[center][img]http://www.lagedorre.net/fds/machine-world.png[/img][/center]

[sub][h2][i]  Preamble[/i][/h2][/sub][color=BBBBBB][b]—————————————————————————[/b][/color]

[color=f6989d]☰[i][b] Humanity[/b][/i][/color]

[indent][i][b]2078 C.E.[/b][/i]—With their first macro-scale faster-than-light voyage, humanity, under the auspices of Origin, a government for all, broke the universal speed limit. Able to escape overpopulated local systems, pioneers from Sol, Tau Ceti, and Gliese colonized and exploited every habitable world in their ever-expanding bubble of influence.

[i][b]3028 C.E.[/b][/i]—Evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence was, for the first time, unexpectedly discovered at a distance of 370 light years from Sol after an exploratory vessel scanned exospheres in the star Maasym’s gravitational well. Amongst a handful of barren planets was an enormous machine: Presumed the abandoned habitat of a long-since extinct alien civilization, the mechanical planetoid was nicknamed Derelict. 

[i][b]3030 C.E.[/b][/i]—Derelict’s siren song enticed corporations, scavengers, and religious fanatics alike. They strove against one another until Derelict’s ravaged surface was chaotic and awash in a pal of blood redder than the light of its star -- that is until Origin, urged by the high-minded notions of ethics and scientific inquiry, sent an armada including no less than three Apocalypse-class battleships to ensure a modicum of the law was upheld and the machine-planet’s history left intact.

Mankind delved ever deeper into Derelict’s crust, but strange disasters kept impeding the bold and the greedy alike in descending too far. Meanwhile, heedless of their own safety, the cultist zealots disappeared into its dark labyrinths as if beckoned by a latent will in the abyss.

And then the machine quakes started. 

The litany arrived shortly after the first tremor. Nobody remembers who said it first. Yet, afterwards, whenever a profiteer started their shift and descended, they whispered: [i]“Sleep, Grand Automaton, That We May Plunder.”[/i][/indent]

[sub][h2][i]  Overview[/i][/h2][/sub][color=BBBBBB][b]—————————————————————————[/b][/color]

[indent]This game takes place on a planet-size machine in orbit around the star Maasym, 370 light years from Earth. Discovered by an exploration vessel shortly after the invention of faster-than-light transportation and dubbed Derelict, due to its apparent inactivity, it quickly developed into a frontier of humankind’s theft, lies, and exploitation. Yet, the deeper they delve, the more of Derelict’s automatons they encounter and the more it seems the machine world is not quite as dead as everyone would have liked to believe.

While the original purpose of this thread is to provide [@Circ] and myself with a platform to play out this story, interested parties are more than welcome to make their curiosity known. Additional roleplayers are absolutely welcome.[/indent]

[sub][h2][i]  Locations[/i][/h2][/sub][color=BBBBBB][b]—————————————————————————[/b][/color]

[color=f6989d]☰[i][b] Orbital Station[/b][/i][/color]

[indent]This is the place humans mingle before their excursions into Derelict. Replete with cantinas, corrupt police, bankrupt refugees, medical services, and hotels, this is the cultural hub: that shining beacon in the cold dark nothing where wares are pawned, backs are stabbed, people make it or break it, and in good old capitalist fashion nothing is ever really free.[/indent]

[color=f6989d]☰[i][b] Exploitation Shaft[/b][/i][/color]

[indent]Metal is why people flock to Derelict. Not because of its mystique or to gawk at the remnants of a dead alien relic, but metal. Self-healing, durable, incorruptible, and unable to be synthesized thus far by humanity’s brightest scientists. Moreover, the deeper one ventures into the machine world’s core the more potent the metal. Such a rare material translates into space elevators, battleship hulls, body armor, and -- most importantly -- cold hard cash. It is the reason so many profiteers, academics, and zealots alike descend into Derelict’s exploitation shaft and plunder as much as possible.[/indent]

[sub][h2][i]  Rules[/i][/h2][/sub][color=BBBBBB][b]—————————————————————————[/b][/color]

[color=f6989d]☰[i][b] Technology, Powers, Etc[/b][/i][/color]

[indent]Stunted by vanity, humanity’s evolution yielded a species not dissimilar to what roamed Earth in the 2020s. Appearances being surface deep, advancements in medicine and genetic engineering gave people the opportunity to live twice as long and doubled human potential in virtually every aspect: strength, cognition, dexterity, and so forth. Hardware augmentation remained rare due to social stigma and those who pursued such tended to be desperate or outcasts. Magic remained the currency of fools and charlatans. Everything is ultimately controlled by mega-corporations and Origin, humanity’s Earth-centric government, from weapons of mass destruction to meal rations and, with the advent of nigh-instantaneous faster-than-light travel, their regimes are enforced with brutal efficiency.[/indent]

[color=f6989d]☰[i][b] Player Interactions[/b][/i][/color]

[indent]Be respectful to one another as this is intended to be a cooperative effort rather than a fight.

Expect mature in-character content.

While there is no minimum post length, strive to render a complete scene that is descriptive, engaging, and advances the story.

Proof read with a focus on quality over quantity.

Embedded graphics, if present, should complement the written word rather than overwhelm the screen.

Standard RPGuild rules apply.[/indent]

[sub][h2][i]  Character Sheet[/i][/h2][/sub][color=BBBBBB][b]—————————————————————————[/b][/color]

[code]Name
 > real name, nicknames, or callsigns.

Physical Description 
 > gender, age, height, weight, colorations, tattoos, markings, clothes, items typically in their possession; essentially anything another person would notice when they see your character.

Purpose
 > trade skills, political alliances, and overall reason for being at Derelict

History[/code]