Crusader Lord

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

Eliana, The Cosmic Gypsy

And

Kiyome, The Draconic Protector

The Cosmic Gypsy Stats

Eliana

Age: 16 | Gender: Female | Cosmic
Average | Third Eye | Horror (Thos)
Disguise Artifact, Enhanced Weapon, Interdimensional Tourist, Absolute Direction, Ally, Awareness, Watcher

Reasonable, Minions, Mana Font, Retrieval, Transportation | Insomnia, Quick Tempered, Health Sapping, Fearsome Reputation

STR: 03 | AGI: 03 | VIT: 04 | MAG: 04 | LCK: 03

STR: 3 | AGI: 3 | VIT: 6 | MAG: 20 | LCK: 9

Coins: None

Draconic Protector Stats

Kiyome

Age: 16 | Gender: Female | Time, Space
Underdeveloped | Focused Assault, Regeneration | Horror (Thos)
Precognition, Monstrous Metamorphosis, Big Damn Hero, Enhanced Weapon, Immortality

Reasonable, Marked, Mana Font, Minions, Retrieval, Magical Overload | Insomnia, Quick Tempered, Health Sapping, Fearsome Reputation, Monstrous Form
Thick Skin, Second Specialization (Oddball: Space)| Hoarder, Broken Reincarnation

STR: 3 | AGI: 2 | VIT: 3 | MAG: 4 | LCK: 3

STR: 6 | AGI: 2 | VIT: 16 | MAG: 12 | LCK: 6

Coins: None

---

...The healing did not go unappreciated, though Kiyome would simply give a grateful nod back at Nefer in response for that particular bit. Woman seemed to not be able to help herself to certain extent, could she? Monsters or not, magical folk for a surety were just as fickle and varied as anyone in the world of the mundane. Though beyond this her words to the golem-man were true, she did know how to play a good game of Senet when it came down to it. More important than that for the time being, however, was safely and securely attaching the magical slippers her waist and then continuing on with support from the conjured horror minions. She had to make it to where Eliana was before they made any sort of retreat. Though given her mistress' nature, she had almost certainly already resigned herself to sticking around to ensure the civilians were out of here.

If the worst occurred, though, the swordswoman would do what she needed to otherwise.

With her minions running interference to keep off any of the stray enemy soldiers from her personally, she would conjure a few more on the way in and give them further orders: Secure some of the dead enemy weapons along the way, if any, with those most intact or fully intact being preferred. A couple or even three fully-intact weapons, at a minimum, would be an optimal minimum if she could manage it. If not? Then she had the slippers. Any minion who got a useful item would stick near her, whilst the rest would work with those from the other batch to continue to run interference. This would likely be the last she would be allowed to conjure in unless it was to keep Eliana safe, she figured, and so she had the minions supporting her pick up their pace to that end as well.

And then Kiyome and her escort would eventually get far enough into the plaza to see the chaos going on. This included a certain familiar magic and presence standing at the entrance of what seemed to be a shelter. Eliana. Letting the soldiers fight Alex and Lily, or anyone else already there fighting, Kiyome and her escort beelined it toward where Eliana was. Once behind the barrier, the two minions supporting her would be commanded to take any other trophies taken along the way (if any) and hold onto them as they remained with her. As for any remainder?

...They would be sent to go out and kill some soldiers alongside the other defenders. They'd done their job to get her there to where she wished to be. Now they were of no use save for the two staying with her to help her move (and hold onto any other loot acquired along the way, if any, whilst the slippers remained close at hand as one of her hands moved to her own waist to keep a firm possessive grip on them).

---

As the civilians began to wake, Eliana could hear their scrambling and surprise even from where she stood at the entrance to the shelter. With that in mind she pushed herself slightly further to create a small repulsive barrier at the entrance doorway to prevent anyone getting out from the inside. Otherwise she continued her work on the larger protective barrier being augmented in both strength and layers to keep out both enemy soldiers and enemy artillery fire. She knew her magical energy was dropping to an extent from all of this, but it would be worth it! They just had to get the civilians out of there and it would all be ok. They had to!

But increasingly things were getting worse. The shattering of the remaining outer defenses, as soldiers now poured inside toward their position, and the panicking civilians were just the tip of the greater iceberg. They had no seeming means of escape at the moment, and that was going to be the hardest part. Exist. Escape. Likewise she hadn't heard back from her sword wielding ally for a bit now to boot. Was she still out there fighting on the perimeter? No. If the barriers were falling she'd begin moving back toward where herself, Lily, and Alex and so forth were. She knew that much well enough about the one who served her, even if she hadn't exactly asked for such a thing in the first place nor desired such. But Kiyome was an ally and friend by now all the same, so she couldn't just leave her here!

Then came the visual she had been waiting for. The sight of her compatriot, accompanied by a number of conjured horror minions (two supporting her it seemed), caused the Cosmic Gypsy to let out a reflexive small sigh of relief. At the same time, however, her compatriot as she got quickly closer would have her condition become more and more visible by Eliana's eyes and senses. Not that she didn't have some supernatural sensory capabilities already in her possession anyhow. But Kiyome didn't seem to be in as fighting a shape as she and the minions with her were allowed to pass through the barrier, and whilst the swordswoman seemed to dispatch most of the remainder of her minion escort back out a frown began to pull down on the edges of the Cosmic Gypsy's mouth.

"You're badly hurt, Kiyome, I can tell. You can't even walk on your own!"

"My apologies for worrying you, Mistress. I got a little patching up from a Healing Artifact someone had out there, at least, and retreated when I could not longer hold the front line alongside the others out there still. Even got at least one trophy for the road with these slippers."

One hand was securely gripping a pair of potently magical slippers tied to the swordswoman's waist, that much Eliana could tell out of the corner of her vision. Where had they come from though? She'd have to ask later, once they made it out of the situation and saved the civilians. Even so, the swordswoman's other hand once again conjured Kiyome's unnaturally long blade back into it as the minions seemed to help her sit down on the ground next to Eliana.

"I don't care! You shouldn't throw your own health away so...so stupidly! I know I asked you to help here as well, but I want you to come back alive as well."

"...Of course, Mistress," the other magical girl said, her voice sounding a bit more somber now than the almost military-drilled yet formal tone she seemed to use around her, "But with the situation turning by the second I would suggest we come up with an escape route before the situation becomes inescapable."

She was well aware. She was...she was very well aware of that indeed.

@Ariamis@Majoras End@Card Captor

---

---

Serenity Gates

Serenity Header

Serenity

Age: 16 | Gender: Female | Time
Overdeveloped | Tentacles | Beacon (The Beacon)
Dual Weapon, Sorcery, Environmental Sealing, Patron Interference, Oujou-sama

Perfect Life, Shinespark, Mystic Might | Vow of Humanity, Excommunication

STR: 3 | AGI: 3 | VIT: 4 | MAG: 4 | LCK: 3

STR: 5 | AGI: 10 | VIT: 9 | MAG: 23 | LCK: 7

Coins: 2 silver

---

Serenity had smiled and reached a hand out in return to shake with Hyun, though the sudden appearance of MDP would likewise shock her as she recoiled in surprise. Wait, what was she riding on? Was that a Unipegasus?! Hadn't those gone extinct on Earth over-...never mind. Ultimately the magical maid would follow MDP's instructions as the rest were, trying to conjure some kind of happy thoughts to help fuel the magic that would get them there even faster (she hoped). If Alicia and the others were willing, she follow with them in this case.

And they would emerge onto the other side of a near-hellscape.

Smoke and mist rising from the North, the sight of burning buildings and homes, and sounds of battle and the gunfire and explosions occuring around them that rang and clang out in a horrendous din were just the start. There were also soldiers donning one if the insignias of Wonderland, that she could tell on sight (with a small and visible grimace), but Violet's voice would snap her out of the brief moment of taking things in and back to the mission at hand. That was right. They were here to evacuate people, not make war with-

“This goes against the Beacon code. How can we stand aside while these raiders pillage the homes of the innocent?“

???

-wha?

The beacon crest on her kimono glimmered as she let loose her arrow. The arrow’s girth was larger than some trees, and could be more easily compared to a battering ram than a nimble arrow. It flew into the club soldiers near Lil and Alex and smashed them back. It didn’t slow up and instead kept going, going deeper and deeper into their ranks.

Who was this? This person hadn't been with them at the base, nor was this person sent on the mission! On top of that, she seemed to be from Beacon (according to the crest on her body) and was actively trying to provoke them all to attack the Wonderland soldiers. If her presence and actions didn't fool the soldiers into attacking all of them in the process. It was nothing short of a potential disaster if they let this happen, even if the best of intentions were on the line...it wasn't a perfect situation by any means in general.

It was right to assist the afflicted denizens, but at the same time there was also the politics at play that couldn't be ignored. Beacon, for better or worse, could be pulled into an entire war if they did this on their own. They'd be going rogue! And even if helping the civilians here was right, was it right to drag the rest of the chapter and members into this because of the actions of a few who decided for them? There was more to it, dang it all!

"Suwako?"

Alicia

Eh? Suwako? Was that the name of this horned girl trying to prod them to action? She couldn't recall meeting her before, though considering how many members were in Beacon and the constant stream of events since her own 'reincarnation' it was not much of a surprise either. Yet this smelled of something fishy, and that wasn't because it literally smelled of fish either.

"Keep going. That's just an illusion, someone trying to drag us into the fight. But we need to get the teleporter set up first. Making sure the civilians are out of harms way is most important." "

Alicia

Ah. Serenity let out a small sigh of relief from her seat, taking a couple deep breaths to steel herself a bit more as well, though she still felt a small pang of frustration at the very concept. An illusion to try to goad them into attacking Wonderland? Someone wanted them to fight too, that much was for sure. But not wanting to take too many chances, she grabbed her own communicator to use to call Violet back.

"Violet, someone out here just tried to use an illusion of a Beacon member named 'Suwako' to goad us into attacking Wonderland's forces. Alicia was able to see through it, but wanted to send back info just in case whoever did that tries anything else while we're out here. We are still en route to the civilians."

This was not good, but reporting back clearly to Violet over the comms about it ASAP was the action she took for the sake of communication. Like Huyn had said, at least to the effect of, they were members of Beacon...and despite the road the two of them in particular saw ahead they had to do their best with that. At the same time, however, the magical maid felt somewhat more trust in those close to her to a certain extent if she were to be honest. Alicia, Aurelio, etc. Those who had stuck by her side and that she had sought to stick by in turn. She had been able to see other good people within Beacon, that much was sure, and it gave her hope moving forward. At the same time, though, there were also those who had taken up the offensive against her merely for her existence...

...indeed, Serenity still wanted to talk to Cardinal Ishtar later and ask her about what had happened back there at the base. If she knew anything about it. Anything at all.

Serenity then looked at where Alicia was sitting, before her mouth opened with a quick question.

"By the way, Alicia, who is Suwako? I didn't get much of a chance to meet some of the other members locally here, at least with everything that's been going on since I...ah...'came to be'."

Not that many had wanted to talk to her either given the circumstances and the root of her existence. A very ugly root indeed. But at least something basic about this 'Suwako' might help in avoiding future deceptions using the other magical girl's visage. Hopefully. Maybe.

@Ariamis@Shifter_Master@BrokenPromise@Flamelord

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Not going to lie, this looks pretty cool and seems to be going well so far!

Am a bit tempted to try my hand at an app maybe, was in something vaguely reminiscent of this years ago I think.

Orion Asunder (Space Opera NRP)

@Sigma@Commodore

I. Have. Completed my app! Finally!

...Which is no rush to everyone else, but after a three week or so sage of this I am glad to be done with this thing (outside of any potential changes or edits as requested for by the GMs so the app can be approved of course). (@_@)

The Sovereign Union of Sol

The Sovereign Union of Sol

Nation Name: The Sovereign Union of Sol

Flag: https://i.imgur.com/WzRqyyn.png

Map Location:

Map Location Image

Government Type: Constitutional Republic

General Broad Government Information

The people elect a number of lower representatives on their own worlds, and there is a Senate that is formed from a single ‘planetary representative’ sent from each world in the Union to be the voice of their people (nobility are barred from this position by law). There is also a second body within it formed of a representative elected from each system, which nobility can actually be elected to just as much as regular citizens. This body is mostly legislative in function and approves as well as makes and debates and goes over new laws. Lower-level officials legislatively are also elected as representatives of the people,

On the other hand, the overall Senate is balanced out with the “Union Council” which is limited to five seats and is held by the descendants of both General Arkas and the four original most powerful individuals whom General Arkas worked with in the past. Their position is hereditary, and they own great amounts of wealth, and they can appoint lower national-level executives within their branch without needed approval. Indeed, they act as the executive branch of the nation proper in the formal sense as well. The Council is then held responsible for doing its job by the Senate, and in turn the Senate is held responsible by the law and constitution and ultimately the people. Yet relatives of families of the Council cannot be a part of the Senate by law either. They are the collective heads of the state who execute the law on the nation, whereas the Senate is legislative in nature, but the two bodies do have to agree on a budget jointly to get one passed for the nation proper. The two branches also have a certain involvement in the judicial processes.

Judicially the top judges/magistrates of the nation are two “High Magistrates”, who are nominated by the Union Council but have to be approved by the Senate in turn. These oversee the highest level judicial cases in the nation in the joint position of judge, which is unique to the singular judges found at all other lower level of the judicial bureaucracy, and are meant to examine old and new judicial cases alike and to: Rule on how the law is applied, decide whether a law is or was relevant to a particular case, and interpret the meaning of the law. Below them is a council of seven judges known as the “Elder Magistrates”, who are elected into their place and manage the judicial bureaucracy at the national level from day to day and report back to and are below the High Magistrates in terms of authority and power. In general judges and other judicial officers at all levels must meet certain educational and experience-related criteria, the less of this needed the lower the judicial position in particular of course, but are elected into place from among the viable candidates in turn. (Also judicial circuits still exist as well.)

The Nation’s Constitution

There is likewise a formal constitution that has a number of set legal rights for citizens, alongside laying out the government and other legal amendments added to it. The levels of government possess the flexibility to do their job without constant needs for high-up approval, though of course higher and lower levels of government communicate with each other, but are also held to the responsibility and gravity (“gravitas” as humans called it once) of their jobs notably more so than those of the old Orion Federation in the legal and societal sense. Etc.

Is it perfect? No. Was it functional and adaptable moving forward? Yes. This constitution was made to both lay out how things should work, but also anchor how things would be done.

The hard work of General Arkas and those working with him forged this, which itself was a reflection of the nature of things at the time and a means of balancing the powerful individuals but also the many populations that were part of the process along the way. An imperfect process with good and bad, but which in the end produced something that has survived the times and continues to persist as a modern successor state of sorts of the old Orion Federation.

Divisions Of The Nation

***For clerical purposes, the generalized political subdivisions of the nation are the following:

The nation’s whole is divided into five Quints, each with a Quintary Governor.

Each quint has a set amount of Systems within it, with each System having a System Governor.

Each system has a planet, which has a Planetary Governor.

Each planet is divided into roughly sensible and equal Regions, which each have a Regional Governor.

Each Region is subdivided into Provinces, which each have a Provincial Governor.

Each province is divided into sub-parts called Districts with their own District Governors.

Within Districts you get the accompanying lower level government subdivisions on county lines with County Leaders, and then the local Mayors at the smallest level below this, who get elected into office.

In certain places, the old political boundaries on a planet might be kept and reused if a proper alternative division of it couldn’t be determined. However something like a microstate, or a ton of tiny divisions of land on a planet exist, that is usually pulled into another boundary or are consolidated to form a larger one under Union law.

((Things such as city councils and equivalent Planetary Senates, etc and so forth, exist as well at each level under Union law.))

Nobility

There does exist a nobility within the Union, however, which is filled with wealthy enough families that it has cemented itself notably in society in the cultural sense. Families who can afford great estates, are afforded the specific legal rights to own a certain small amount of personal guards/contracted guards to protect their homes and properties, etc. Though far from being able to kill people in the streets or hurt the regular average citizens, they do possess the wealth and power to do many things as they wish within the bounds of the law.

Being descendants of the powerful individuals who assisted in forming the Union in one way or another, they have always retained some amount of branching family lines and limited influence within the system. On the other hand their power has been limited and set to avoid a feudal-style situation or aristocracy from emerging, albeit in return for those certain legal concessions to keep them on the side of the nation and government otherwise. If the nation and its people are doing good, they do good, or at least that has been the intent and goal of legislation over the many decades.

The highest form of nobility, the members of the Union Council at the very top, are the metaphorical, legal, and frankly financial royalty of the nation, and the process of dealing with lower nobility and so forth has always been ever part of what the Union Council has been involved with as well. In general the life of nobles in the Union has been interesting, with strategic marriages, grand balls and other high-society events, noble intrigues, and the like have ever been part of this from the very start as such. A picture from the past indeed, but framed within a modern framework and nation that exists far and beyond from feudalistic-types times (at least when it comes to humanity if nothing else).

Demographics:

Humans

Humans. Homo sapiens sapiens. Bipedal walking things with wiggly fingers and toes. Beings that exist all over due to being one of the Founding Races of the Orion Federation. Everywhere and all over the place, like ants. I can’t think of many more silling things to say to designate humans as humans but try to give people a chuckle here. Yes.

Hiigüül

A race possessing six limbs, the rear four of which are used for running/walking and the front two acting as graspers. Originally stemmed very far back from a much larger species that used all six limbs for traction in running across plains in order to use their long neck to catch prey. The Hiigüül themselves were derived from a far smaller variant of this greater species, one which itself became the last remaining extant branch of its ancestor after two planetary extinction events on its homeworld. From here this species’ descendants diverged in time to become the primate equivalents of its homeworld. Smaller size, the use of the front four limbs and their claws in climbing, the use of the back four limbs to run, and the front two limbs to grasp would become advantages of the subspecies that would eventually produce the Hyulgee proper. Meanwhile the development of intelligence and reliance on growing social groups to survive would lead ultimately to sapience in due time after this.

Rather than achieve a sort of planetary unity under a certain set of standards or united factors, the future Hiigüül homeworld’s leaders brought their planet together in another way through an initial economic organization of sorts to ‘aim for greater prosperity and peace’ that was followed with said organization seeking to forge a system of inter-reliant economic ties/bonds. Each of the founders of this organization were Hiigüül who were themselves politicians, CEOs, and members of other companies that sought to secure more favorable trade conditions worldwide. Yet ultimately these economic ties, forged over a number of years, were also made so that many of the larger nations of their homeworld could not go to war without causing themselves to enter a horrible economic spin as a result (thus ensuring a more stable profit for the organization’s members). From here this would create a growing wave that would pressure those who resisted joining to toss their lot in with the rest or face a loss of international trade partners, in which being an independent party became less and less viable over time. The incorporation of further national representatives and such would eventually occur as well.

Eventually the growing politico-economic union would grow to the extent that it led to the establishment of the First Planetary Government for the race. Thus was born what would become the “Hiigüül Union”, which would in effect become basically a federalized government system as the new government fostered deeper economic and political bonds that tangled up its native political bodies. It did this to the point that local national sovereignty became basically having a choice in what kind of state-level government one possessed since planetary law took precedent and the constituent parts all answered to the ruling body of the Union.

As a race their appearance was startling enough as it was to those that made first contact during the pre-Federation time period, which led to a diplomatic incident of sorts that itself led to a ‘First Contact War’ with the Hiigüül. In the end it would take international arbitration, performed via other spacefaring nations not involved in the issue, to stop things from escalating in the end. From here the Hiigüül would become incorporated into the eventual Federation as it formed around them, and more so as the League found its potential areas of expansion in space ground to a halt in the face of the growing and still very young Orion Federation. It was admittedly not the most willing transition to join the Federation, nor was it entirely unwilling or without its benefits either, but for better or worse this led to the diaspora of the Hiigüül within Federation territory within the Sphere.

In the wake of the Orion Federation’s collapse, the Hiigüül can be found all across the stars and systems of the former Federation.

Due to historical reasons, a number of Hiigüül are involved in matters involving finances and money and banking. Naturally they have a presence in many other areas beyond this, just like with any other race, but some might feel the association of money and the Hiigüül to be a stereotype of sorts that developed over the course of the last one thousand plus years.

In terms of height, the Hiigüül when standing on their back two legs (which is the normal way they stand up) stand on average about 5’10” for females and 6’3” for males of the species.

Nilati

A humanoid and feminine alien race with two sets of horns and a long tail in an orange-gold-ish color, and that possess a grayish-green skin color. Their bones and muscles are stronger and more hardy/resilient than that of humans, and the skin remains basically as soft but a little/slightly thicker underneath the surface than meets the eye. Likewise many members possess darker/duller shades of greenish-blue hair (based on the picture above mind). Their leg muscles are especially strong, meant for running at speeds faster than humans are capable of at least, and their tails are excellent in helping them balance when running to boot.

Historically the Nilati underwent a sort of past similar to those of other pre-spacefaring races, with nations, wars, plagues, varied languages and cultures, and so forth. In some places of their world, the practice of selective breeding among Nilati was common and even enforced in certain places as well. Among these were even a few more extreme and far-flung sects of the popular Nilati Goddess, Rathsi, who did such things in the aim of ‘achieving her beauty’ and pursued this with a zeal. Of course there were the majority of others who did not partake in such ideas, and those in the minority who took it even farther to boot, but this mention is all simply to establish that the general concept of such things was not alien to the Nilati culture (and will come up again shortly).

Close to the time planetary unity was achieved on their homeworld, the Nilati’s two largest political blocs of nations/polities at the time would engage in a long and harsh war with each other that nearly brought the planet to its knees. Weapons of mass destruction and biological weapons would feature prominently as the conflict spilled over into uninvolved areas pressured into or forced into the fighting, and in the end the devastation would not take out the whole of the Nilati race in the heat of the moment. Yet it would see a vast depopulation and crippling of many populations across the world. Genetic defects, chromosomal loss, and radiation-related issues would run rampant, and the use of reproductive diseases as a distinct part of the bioweapons deployed in the war would bring the reproduction-capable population of the planet down much farther as well. Indeed the long-term future seemed to be that of a dropping and perhaps inevitable extinction.

Yet among the more unified and surviving stronger groups who persisted through the period, who would eventually unite amidst the ashes of their world, they would secure the remaining technology and blueprints of old before seeking out a path toward survival. Albeit a path riddled with new technology and wonders to come, but also many drastic and strict measures being taken that to others would seem barbaric for a ‘modern society’ even on other worlds in that day and age. Extensive population genetic testing to assist selective breeding programs, all aimed to retain and foster a new population of genetically-stable and healthy individuals. There was genetic experimentation performed using the afflicted as test subjects in return for food, housing, and other forms of medical assistance as evolving genetic engineering technologies were being developed and used to try to restore others to a healthier state. There was even the creation of ‘haven cities’ to house viable populations of healthy individuals, separating them from the rest of the crippled and devastated stock of the population otherwise. Worship of the Goddess Rathsi would likewise see a revival of sorts, among other preserved and regained and retained or reclaimed parts of the past such as certain arts and architecture and so forth in a very much “Renaissance” type of time period. Yet it would be the pursuit of the even more ancient ‘idealized body form’ (akin to if humans tried to shape themselves after the idealized images of old greco-roman statues) would likewise be sought after and fostered, among other similar things, in an effort to drum up society in support of current policies meant to rebuild a healthy population at large across the planet. Not the most culturally healthy idea, but also not entirely un-successful either.

The approach the new world government took to ‘unify the people under one identity and banner’, whilst seeking to preserve the past and seek a future that had almost been lost, would become the vehicles that the race took to race on into the future as it rebuilt, reclaimed, repopulated, and gradually rehabilitated the Nilati race and their homeworld once more. Whilst myriad other Nilati languages and histories and cultures would be dedicated to the well-kept and oft-sought records of the past, as well as linger in certain places due to the eventual Renaissance that emerged, the approach to these things was not necessarily well-accepted by all. Nor could it reach them all for that matter. The approach would see success in fostering a new population of healthy and ready Nilati for the planet, not genetically streamlined or made strictly samey at all to the point of being disease vulnerable or causing other genetic issues or the like mind (that was not the goal nor desirable in the first place), but at the same time would generate just as much backlash from those who either couldn’t access it in time or who were outsiders or dissidents who increasingly saw and treated such measures as ‘eugenic and thus barbaric and evil’. Many would be dying off that could not get the right therapies or procedures to help them in time, the process itself would reject a number of individuals for whom the damage was too extensive to remediate before the technology was improved enough to handle them, and frankly the resources and technology to do it all were limited due to rebuilding efforts and so forth going on. It was imperfect as an approach and solution, even if it generally worked out, and as a system it did have its flaws inherently from the very nature of how it arranged itself.

Eventually the breach into the realm of more advanced methods of genetic engineering would allow for even more to be taken into society in greater numbers and despite more extensive problems, though a growing movement of those resisting the ‘genetic puritans’ would rise in other areas that had yet to be reclaimed by the ever-growing scope and territory of the world government. Whilst genetic engineering would lead to medical modifications usurping the likes of selective breeding programs, both in cost and controversy as well as in other ways, historical scars of the past and other issues along the way caused or allowed to sit around by the system would not simply disappear Some places with mutation simply lived on their own, became isolated, or died out in silence in the long term without a voice. Others warred like the nations of old to claim land and territory in the scarred world, or took up as bandits and raiding parties to take what they needed to live and survive simply another day. Yet as contact with the ever-growing territory of the world government occurred, as said world government took all the resources it needed for its growing population centers, and there began to become more and more Resistance-run ‘mutant enclaves’ of various levels of extremity in their beliefs, things would more and more come to a head. Some would say it was inevitable for conflict to occur due to how things were being treated during that time period, and what had happened along the way, and yet others would look to the number of known cases of peaceful incorporation and genetic remediation of such populations that also took place more so as the technology advanced and more resources for such efforts were able to be produced or acquired. In the end it was a mixed bag that was generally well-recorded ‘enough’ on both ends, though as ever the victor was the one that wrote the history down.

In the end that idealized form of beauty and bodily shape and strength, one hewn into the race’s own ancient statues in its greatest empires and forged in the post-apocalypse into a glorified standard seeking to rebuild, would win out over the rest. And from this point the Nilati would reach finally into the stars before coming into contact with others and ultimately joining the Federation.

So whilst their unaltered humanoid-type body physical layout and such is indeed something similar to that of humanity, a case of existing convergent evolution from across vast spatial distances at its finest in a general sense, there was the use of genetic engineering and so forth to ‘refine’ this image as they tried to rebuild their race into a healthy once once more. By the time the Orion Federation formed, it was even a comical point to others that one could not tell the difference between the males and females save for the lack or presence of breasts and by what reproductive organs they possessed. This can be traced more so back to the transfer of male-deciding factors into the other more complex sex chromosome of the females, a measure taken to preserve them and other healthy genes within other chromosomes in the wake of the apocalyptic disaster of the past. Native Nilati fashions have remained distinct between the sexes as well, having their own distinctions and distinct nuances as well, and the general use of toga-like robes and garments (with certain differing styles between the sexes) has been a thing for quite some time now among native Nilati clothing. Likewise since the formation of the Federation the importing of foreign clothing and styles and patterns and such has become just as common among the race in a general sense as well.

By the time the Orion Federation fell, the Nilati have seen a vast thousand-year-diaspora that has seen them inhabit many far-flung places and new homes. All just as the other founder races and more widely-spread species of the former Federation have done as well, to put it simply.

((Bonus Fact 1: The word “ilati” in Sumerian generically means “goddess”, which is used for this alien race due to their modern appearance/form.

Currently they would be almost incompatible, if not actually so, with pre-apocalypse members of their species after so many generations and by current times. They are Nilati, but the modern sort are the only extant species/form left.))

((Bonus Fact 2: This whole event of the Nilati’s history is rather roughly akin to a ‘what if’ humanity in the future went about refinding and shaping itself after the idealized forms and images of old Greco-Roman statues, to put it as simply as possible, after such ideas overcame other such philosophies about the human body and its ‘ideal form(s)’ in the long run.

Very peculiar and strange indeed.))

Dathu

((Left to right: Southern, Northern, and Islander Dathu subgroups respectively.))

Dathu of the Union are migrants or descendants of migrants immigrating from the Augustan Empire’s territory, much like humans and members of some other races seeking out a better life, better prospects, and better opportunities elsewhere. They aren’t the largest minority species of the Union by any means, but each of the three subgroups of Dathu are actually present within the enclaves of the species that lives within the Union at the very least.

Yet despite involvement in the various areas as with any other race, they do tend to get a reputation as being inherent farmers/hydroponics workers, laborers, or potential politicians to a certain extent. The lattermost category of those three usually being sought by the more wealthy that have migrated over and found the status of nobility in the Union to be more desirable than conditions for them back on their homeworld. It has certainly allowed noble-blooded Dathu who wish to migrate to find a new place to assimilate into from within this minority Dathu population at least.

The Aratanni

Male (see below)



Female (see below)

Males possess crimson red skin and two horns, whilst females are distinctly different in that they are blue colored and possess only one horn. Males are genetically more unstable and live shorter lives than females as they usually only make it to as old as 50-60 years old at the very most. In return, however, they possess notably much higher physical strength and physiological resilience (oddly in part how they can manage to live up to about 50 years old without medical intervention, more till about 60 years with medical intervention). Females, on the other hand, are not as supernaturally strong/resilient as the males (distinctly so) but in return live much longer (100+) and actually possess potent and distinct regeneration capabilities. A male and female can naturally have kids with each other, as well as have children with members of the most common races of the former Orion Federation (whom they were made from the materials of) to boot. Pregnancies among male-female Aratanni-Aratanni couples can produce both females or males of the species, whilst pregnancies with other species only produce children the same sex as their Aratanni parent (or of the other parent's species). Both sexes have generally equivalent occurrence rates during pregnancies, as well as the same viability. For males the issues that shorten their lifespan begin after a certain point in maturation in their teens.

In terms of names, surnames are chosen from either Rehnathian words the race adopted as part of their culture, from one of the common races of the former Orion Federation that their ancestors were made from (as a reminder of their origins), or from the places and planets where their ancestors were made on.

The Long Details

During the First Contact War the Rehnath made their own version of mass-wave disposable troops. How? They took enemy dead and broke them down into parts chemically, studied how they are built/are like molecularly, and then decided to use this material to mass-clone some soldiers to help for the war effort by virtue of sheer numbers. This was likewise the case due to the Rehnath being far from home, and the Sphere having more supplies for this sort of thing in the biological sense. Etc. So they took their own foreign genetics as a 'blueprint' for the design, converted it over to to a format compatible with the amino acids and such molecules found in Sphere life (definitely not one to one comparatively in design there), and then built nutrient-rich cloning vats for breaking down the collected dead bodies of enemy soldiers and essentially used this 'biochemical mass suspended in a nutrient solution' to rapidly grow members of this new race to their specifications (and straight to adulthood in this case).

The process admittedly took a bit to perform, but if done in the proper manner it produced large batches of genetically stable products that could even reproduce with each other and other common sapient races native to the Sphere/Orion Federation. This new race of oni-like humanoids were basically then put into basic training, already imbued with strength and battle instincts in the tube, and then were sent out to die in droves using older vehicles and surplus equipment and salvaged enemy equipment and so forth. Not to mention this race was not exactly beloved by their makers, being used as slaves and servants and entertainment and playthings and shooting targets, outside of their use within the war effort, including being made to fight with each other in rings to the death or the like.

But as the war went onward, things got more desperate for the invading barbarians and...well the process began to be diluted a bit to get even more of these disposable troops out faster and faster to help with the war effort and die. This so the 'proud Rehnath warriors' of the clans could do their thing and be more glorious or such, etc, and win the war. So the process began to be a bit more lax, more rushed, and so forth as time went on. This produced less and less genetically stable members of the race as the stable older ones died off and had to be replaced, until the point that by the end of the war the race was unable to reproduce with each other or any other compatible species in the first place. Females had more chromosome-equivalents in general, making them more stable than males in this time at least, whilst males always had a good few less and lived shorter but far brighter-burning lives.

By the end of the war the practice of making this species, derisively called the “Xunhnuth”, had become so desperate and rushed that not only were enemy dead being used as materials, but living enemy prisoners and captured civilians were being put inside (the tube didn't care they were materials all the same) and made it all even more of a horrifying war crime in turn.

After the end of the Federation’s pyrrhic victory over the invaders, the invaders' means of making more of the race would be lost as they destroyed all tech related to it to avoid it 'being taken from them' or found out how to make more. Not to mention how much was destroyed in Federation assaults on lingering holdouts to boot. These actions on the part of the Rehnath were also to be a slight to the newly-freed servitor race to boot, who would bear a notable cultural hatred of the very species they took parts of their culture and such from. After this the Federation would imprison or kill vast swaths of this new race in turn, resulting in a diaspora of them (unlike the Rehnath) across the Sphere to various facilities meant to handle, hold, or ‘process’ them. Yet this would not come to be the race's only problem.

Being themselves rushed products imperfectly and very hastily made to help win a losing war, the Aratanni would find themselves to be a dying race on a timer. Cue the civil war era erupting for the dying Orion Federation, and General Arkas (who united the territory that became the Union) basically needed more allies and troops in a time where allies were few and enemies were plentiful around him. It would happen to be, however, that among the government black sites the General would secure in his early conquests would be a facility trying to reverse-engineer the Rehnath tech on making the Aratanni longside a few aged and captured Rehnath scientists/researchers clipped silently, secretly, and overtly from the enemy side after the end of the First Contact War. This would give the General himself an idea, going out to those of the Aratanni race that lived or were imprisoned within the borders he had and also wanted to take, offering them some amount of genetic repairs (at least fertility) in return for joining him and his people in their campaign. Many who were desperate for their race to not die out as some infertile scientific experiment among the stars agreed, with a few from outside even coming in after word spread of the promise made by the General, whilst a number of others frankly did not for a number of reasons (not being used as weapons by others again for any price, etc).

In the end the General would, shortly before the eruption of the “Erubirungehr Rebellion”, deliver on his promise as promised in order to secure his new allies onto his side and his side of things primarily. Fertility, and some stability, was regained in several ways. From here it kept the Aratanni out of the opposing side of the civil war, as well as saw the new race survive to become citizens alongside the rest upon the foundation of The Sovereign Union of Sol.

Yet this did not mean problems for the race disappeared overnight, however, as many issues still perhaps irreparable linger through current times.

Misc Species of the Union

Human Variant Species/Offshoots, Krentasians, Czlozekostra/Zekts, Midgardians, etc.

(Human Variant Species/Offshoots came from wherever they originated from in the pre-Civil War time period.

Midgardians/Krentasians there are descended from migrants originating where the Federated Systems Alliance currently is located now.

Czlozekostra/Zekts with the Union originated from migrants who may have collaborated with either occupying Orion Federation or barbarians in their area of origin, and thus are very much outcasts and unpopular back home. "Gusanos", one could say, to borrow the human term. Yet others also came from various nomadic groups, refugees, and people who might be on the same political spectrum but left simply due to disagreements with leadership or fleeing the instability of the region.

)

((NOTE: More could be added over time potentially.))

Military:

Military/Police General Organization

• The military itself is by code and law an all-volunteer army, funded and controlled by the nation rather than the Union Council or other singular group by the nation’s very constitution. The Senate controls the provision of finances and such things, whilst the Union Council does indeed act as the top Commander and Chief. Myriad schools and training caps prepare potential soldiers, weed out those who cannot make it, and turn them into professional soldiers. Merit and experience and education is used to produce officers, who are not appointed, and all military personnel are sworn to the nation and from the regular population rather than specifically to the Union Council or being from the nobility or such places.
  
  The system of command is likewise a bit flexible rather than purely rigid, whilst still having a clear hierarchy/chain of command that exists with centralized power. Plans must get approval going up the chain even still, yet there is room for lower level commanders to make decisions and go through with them to a certain extent as the execution of plans/strategies is highly decentralized (with things such as ‘mission goals’ and the intent of a commander being taken into account).
  
  Likewise the branches of the military are separated into their own divisions, starting from the two primary ones: The Space Division (split between the Space Naval Forces and the Spaceborne Marines), The Planetary Division (with distinct air, sea, and land subdivisions existing within this).
• Police at various levels are controlled at those various levels, for all intents and purposes, and the government itself has the Union National Policing Force (ANPF) that exists as well. These are used at the national and Sector levels of government alike. Systems have their own Systems Policing Force (SPF), which helps with same-system matters within their jurisdiction and on planets within the system. There is also the Planetary Policing Force, which is the lowest and is spread across each planet. Etc.
  
  Meanwhile in terms of military there is the national military, which is the largest and strongest and the primary thing, but each System has its own lesser System Reserves for military defense as well that the planets in the system contribute to. The System Reserves are kept in reserve, hence their name, and are only ever deployed to defend the home system in times of war if their system is attacked by enemy forces. Sometimes a few systems might donate a small portion of their reserves to the national military in turn during times of offensive war, deploying them offensively in these limited circumstances, which can help supplement numbers if needed without removing defensive potential back home in case of danger. Likewise such ‘loaned forces’ are returned in the end, but also allow part of the national military to sometimes stay home in case of an attack on the Union’s home soil as well.
• Another important note is that the nobility fills the ranks of any Special Forces the nation possesses, a specific role meant to grant greater prestige but also keep them occupied and busy (was a specific thing granted them in the past to keep them in line but feeling safe and secure still). These smaller groups are seldom deployed, but being small in number get to test out and train with and use the newest experimental or fancy-high-tech toys the nation can’t just go provide all of the military with due to cost. Indeed these positions are also seen as elite and prestigious in nature, and with requirements for proper education and such to get in it has created some specifically noble-aligned military schools for training them and preparing them to this end to boot.
• Groups of troops are subdivided at the usual levels (of the current irl military in the USA at least for simplicity’s sake) such as divisions, platoons, squads, etc, otherwise.
• The general approach to battle to vary with each branch of the Union Military to a certain extent, due to the differing environments that they operate in, but certain guidelines are generally used unless adaptation to the situation is deemed necessary to deviate on the part of individual commanders:
  
  Softening up the enemy with long-ranged force at first, maintaining an effective defensive posture from a likewise offensive-launching-capable arrangement.
  
  Moving in with a wave of faster and also better-armed craft to engage initially after this, alongside support from the rear to further soften and open the way.
  
  Follow up with moving in with heavier craft and heavier weapons, as well as deploying reserves, where and when needed to support the line, flank, or otherwise defeat the enemy.
  
  In short, a very basic principle is used as a foundation to think from and tweak or build off of. Minding that individual strategies can alter or change this, and more or less drastically to boot, but it gives a general idea at least (I hope) for the Union Military.
• (Maybe more could be added in the future here)=

Standard Military Equipment and Technologies

• In terms of weaponry, the standard Union soldier has two kinds of handheld weapon/firearm as their ‘bread and butter’:
  
  The first and initially only choice was a more cheaply-made mass-produced coilgun-type handheld firearm, delivering high-impact rounds capable of sufficient armor penetration and having rugged and reliable long-life batteries installed into them to provide power. They use a separate ammunition clip of advanced caseless ammunition, which doesn’t even need a propellant included compared to ancient ‘chemically propelled ammunition’, and have had advanced internal systems (including notably improved EMP shielding) developed to improve their effectiveness and robustness in the field. Combined with the high need for cost-effectiveness during the bulk of the civil war period and post-civil-war period it led the Union to adopt them as the initial standard weapon type for their soldiers for a long time. Semi-auto, burst, and even fully-automatic firing types have been designed for these, and they can be drug through mud and similar hazards before firing, though they admittedly have less power when firing than a railgun of the same size and profile (and have more internal parts/complexity than one to boot).
  
  Meanwhile the second and more advanced development, particle beam weapons, came along initially much slower than the first, relying on improving conditions and new or rebuilt infrastructure and so forth before it could become a ‘standard’ issue arm. The adoption of such technology was instated as a means of improving soldier firepower and utility on the battlefield, especially in certain battlefield roles both on-planet and in space. Particle Pulse Weapons fire masses of particles, able to be rapid fire (and weaker) or fire singular but far stronger shots. Particle Beam (also called “Particle Lance”) weapons fire a more concentrated and sustained shot that is even more devastating in power.
  
  Each soldier in modern times as a standard has been trained in both forms, and usually has one of each on their person for the purpose of versatility in the field. A squad on the front lines of a door-to-door urban battle might carry pulse rifles or coilgun rifles and a particle pistol, or if they expect to deal with vehicles in a different battle might use particle beam rifles and coilgun pistols. Etc.
• In terms of general combat armor, soldiers possess standardized “Exo Combat Mk VIII Personnel Armor”. Taking designs from the old Orion Federation and advancing upon them, these are designed with generally both physical and energy-based/DEW weapons protection in mind. Layers of advanced composites and protective materials ensure key areas, such as the head and chest regions, are generally the most well-shielded. Yet as a full-body suit that soldiers put on before combat, it also provides coverage for the arms and legs. It further incorporates streamlined aspects of unpowered exoskeleton technology to passively improve movement capabilities as well as the individual’s strength and weight-carrying capabilities. Radiation shielding has also been added, though a commonly standardized military cybernetic implant called the “Radio-Shield Internal Care System” (implanted alongside a “Soldier Medical Nanorepair Suite” implant as well) likewise shores up the work of protecting or augmenting soldiers against radiation-generating weaponry.
  
  This combat armor is a general purpose type, lacking specialization in return for a wide range of benefits and overall utility.
• Nine foot tall powered exoskeletons are utilized as the equivalent of ‘mechs’ in combat. They provide armor and protection for the soldier inside, as well as being able to carry and move far heavier loads/more equipment than a standard soldier could (and over rougher terrains than a vehicle could manage). Whilst modern models within the Union utilize a ‘neuro-control link’ combining medical technology and synthetic tissues to operate with a highly responsive and rapid manner by interfacing directly with the pilot’s brain, using a direct-connection style of system with added protections to facilitate much more rapid communication between the pilot’s nervous system and the exoskeleton itself to grant true one-to-one control capabilities. However, this requires many hours of training and exposure to the control system to get a pilot to seriously get a good and proper grasp on it by ‘training’ the human brain and acclimating it.
  
  An improved Post-Civil War understanding and grasp of synthetic tissues would itself lend to the Union making its own suits far improved from the particular strain of older designs they had been taken from. Improved reaction times, improved speed, far more flowing and organic movement capabilities, and so forth would eventually be developed for them in lieu of this in the long term. Indeed it would become such that these powered exoskeletons are in effect basically ‘secondary bodies’ in application, or simply put like an extension of one’s self in a more intimate but protected manner. Stronger, faster bodies in this case that are being controlled directly by the brain from within its highly-insulated and highly-protective shell. Adding to this was the further integration of nanomachines, improved armor and protection capabilities, combat and life support systems, and advanced mechanical parts alike combining to push the design into something incredible yet uniquely made by the Union within the latter part of the last 84 years (in comparison to other power armors and such designs developed or adapted from or made elsewhere). Effectively some have dubbed these powered exoskeletons a: “9 foot tall small mech” in a mostly casual and joking manner. But really? It's actually close enough to the truth.
  
  Guns and other weapons are holstered on the exterior frame of these exoskeletons for quick access and versatility ar first, as the gear can be switched out at base, allowing the exoskeleton to grab and use such weapons as a soldier would out in the field without having to be built-in on the exoskeletal frame itself. This was cost effective for the Union at first due to the initial costs of creating the base powered exoskeletons themselves, though with improved production methods and the advancing crawl of technology a hybrid approach would eventually manifest within modern designs. One on hand they would still go about having some versatility by still ‘holstering’ some types of weapons on the exoskeleton, but on the other hand they would build in certain systems and weapons into these improved exoskeletons in order to make them that much more effective on and off the battlefield. Even anti-rocket defenses and EMP shielding would be added, among others, and ultimately would turn these units into simply more resilient and able machines in the end.
  
  They are used both in space and on planet these days in a far wider range of combat and non-combat roles, with securely sealed/contained cockpits and such developments allowing a frightening ease of use underwater, in the ground, in the air, and even in space. They are also flight-capable, using an attached/installed hover-flight combination pack and generating a form of non-combustible/non-explosive propulsion that works in space, underwater, and even in the air on-planet (in part tied to waste product from their protected power plant). Likewise they possess the capability and insulation to move, operate, and go about inhumanly fast in any environment without issues for the modernly well-insulated and well-protected pilot inside. The improved miniaturized power plants of these exoskeletons have likewise facilitated increasingly advanced options for potential equipment and systems they can make use of to boot over time, though admittedly the one barrier has yet to be broken past to allow such suits to exit and reenter the atmosphere of a planet on their own (which as it sounds would be a bit absurd).
  
  The only real final thing of note is that the control system of the military powered exoskeletons does differ from civilian ones, which use older control schemes such as mechanically-operated internal controls (and an external camera or lack of a head on the unit to see outside) and the like.
  
  ((Note: Unpowered exoskeletons made of certain synthetic tissues/materials are also made, but are frankly just civilian-market alternatives that do cost a good bit less to buy.))
• Railgun-type artillery and big guns are used on Union vehicles and vessels for planetary and space-based combat, using replaceable rails in their systems and hitting with higher firepower than same-sized coilgun equivalents. However, there is no form of rapid-fire artillery of rail design within the Union, limiting it to heavy-hitting distance-reaching capabilities.
  
  Directed energy weapons supplement these with same-sized Particle Beam Cannons, which use a concentrated beam to hit at long range, and likewise microwave-based and laser-based point defenses are utilized by current times as well. Rapid-fire Particle Pulse Weapons fire weaker but higher-rate-of-fire barrages that are only effective within a limited range but are effective against lighter targets and can double as point defense.
  
  Missiles and other guided rocket-type munitions are limited to Torpedo Craft, spaceships that rush in and fire payloads of these into larger space vessels for rather high damage, and planetside military vehicles that utilize them in tandem with other capabilities or alternative designs to compensate for the presence of other advanced point-defense systems.
• Spacecraft-
  
  The types of armed military spacecraft within the Union Military are as such, arranged from smallest to largest: Torpedo Craft, Corvettes, Destroyers, Cruiser-Carriers, and Dreadnaughts.
  
  Torpedo Craft, as mentioned prior, were developed to swiftly get close to targets and unload a payload of guided or unguided rocket-type munitions into enemy vessels. Closing in where point-defense measures are ineffective or unable to be used, they are made to be fast high-attack craft with enough survivability to unload and retreat to a carrier or other storage craft to reload on their ammunition. Their goal is to unload into high-defense or frankly high-value targets, a swarm that swoops in and then back out just as quickly.
  
  Corvettes are general-purpose combat craft, fitted with a set of two Pulse Cannons that can engage (and usually is used for) rapid-fire attacks as well as fire more slowly-fired but much stronger attacks. This also ensures projectiles dissipate after a certain distance to avoid the dangers of stray ‘missed’ rounds in combat. This is supplemented with a singular rail cannon capable of a decisive hard-hitting shot that can destroy lighter enemy craft. Point defense measures of a laser/microwave sort, as well as things such as space-capable IR ‘flares’ (more like small self-contained spheres with a thermite-like substance that burns inside of it to rapidly heat up in moments) and a general layout of resilient armor makes them capable craft in general combat. They are capable of medium-to-long-range engagement with their rail weapon, meanwhile the Pulse Cannons are superb for close range and dogfighting capabilities.
  
  Destroyers are larger and more heavily-armed, basically sitting in between traditional destroyers and cruisers of the ancient past with their varied and higher firepower being more like the latter and size being more so of the former, acting as a smaller and faster but well-armed heavy-hitter for just smaller battles/operations and likewise acting in support of larger craft such as Cruiser-Carriers and Dreadnaughts in larger-scale battles. Border defense garrisons will include a small number of destroyers inherently as the ‘largest’ ship class in these areas in turn. Armaments usually consist of a mixed bag of particle, rail-based, futuristic sophisticated rocket-type, and point-defense weapons that make it useful easily both for offense and defense alike. Their armaments and such are fixed, but offer solid defense, speed, and firepower in a battle in return for a smaller size and lower cost to make and maintain. They are often used as escort ships as well due to their general effectiveness.
  
  Cruiser-Carriers are made to be literal ‘moving station-fortresses’, capable of sustaining themselves and a set number of allies/fellow vessels even far away from allied or safe territory. They are fast, heavily armored, and notably larger ships that present a hard-to-hit ‘front’ profile. They can allow a good many smaller space faring vessels such as torpedo craft and corvettes and other smaller craft actually dock inside of them, receiving repairs, refueling, reloading new ammunition, or the like. For a larger fleet, they will carry the smaller ships safely inside of themselves and then deploy them before a battle. They are used as large-scale-battle capital ships most commonly, as well as possess sufficient point-defense measures, heavy armoring, varied high firepower weapons that well outclass destroyers outright. Then finally they are most notably equipped with an external nanite-composite ‘liquid metal’ armor.
  
  This nantite-composite ‘liquid metal’ armor is a high-power defense that is likewise installed on destroyers and other smaller/larger military craft for its lightweight and highly space-minimal size (to store and have that is) but also for its effectiveness in application as well. It is a system that not only protects the ship’s exterior and rapidly regenerates itself, but also allows the weapons of Cruiser-Carriers to emerge from underneath it to fire and retract back underneath again (if the crew so chooses) to keep them safe. It has a high defensive value in general, reflecting or dissipating radiation, better absorbing and dissipating energy-or-light based or thermally-based attacks, and stopping physical ammunition traveling at rail-weapon-grade speeds.
  
  This unique armor is a development of the Union, taken from one of the former government black sites of the old Orion Federation that had been seeking to develop such an advanced means of defense.
  
  Smaller-scale versions of this are attacked to smaller craft such as destroyers and corvettes and torpedo craft, being known as a ‘nanite reflector’ as it deploys a magnetically-stabilized field of nanites that help dissipate thermal damage/laser fire and somewhat disrupt enemy particle weapons. Underneath these smaller craft rely on, outside of the likes of point-defense, exterior angled armor pieces and composite layers sandwiches within it to mitigate physical and other forms of damage to a secondary extent. These ‘nanite reflectors’ are not as notable as the ‘liquid armor’ of the Cruiser-Carriers in terms of potency, but in terms of being cost-effective for what they can do they are very much designed for that. Meanwhile the more expensive ‘cousin’ this technology stemmed from has a notable power drain and so forth that has kept it limited to only the larger spacecraft (which have been designed round it at that).
  
  Next generation military spacecraft (as well as powered exoskeletons secondarily potentially) , are being designed to try to work in the nanite-composite ‘liquid metal’ armor into them, though this would see a notable change in the shape of ships and their designs in all smaller Union Military spacecraft in return. Such a ‘radical’ change, comparatively speaking, has brought forth its own large slew of design issues and flaws to go with it. As such the development of this style of craft (and even in the realm of next-gen powered exoskeletons) has been ongoing for almost three and a half decades now, with such next-generation craft being produced but bluntly speaking not yet at all able to be mass-produced or frankly deployed within the Union’s military as of present.
  
  NOTE: It is of note, however, that this ‘nanite armor’ is not immune to all damage or something as ridiculous as that. Is it pretty tanky and highly versatile in what it does? Oh yes. But it does so at a notable cost in both ship design and power consumption in return for this. It can still be blown through with high enough firepower and such, as with any armor or shielding or such on a fighting spacecraft, and frankly it was added to all of this because it sounded cool and was honestly conceptually taken from an old anime of sorts (Legend of the Galactic Heroes I think?) and an animated Japanese godzilla movie (which had a former mechagodzilla fully made of nanites).
  
  Dreadnaughts, finally, are titanic craft mostly used as shows of force, for highly important enough offensive battles, and otherwise only really ever for key defensive battles due to the sheer cost and time investment of making one. These giant battleship-type vessels carry their own supplies but lack the carrier-type functions of the Cruiser-Carriers, but in return are even far more heavily armed, heavily defended, and frankly a little slower than their Cruiser-Carrier counterparts in turn. They are not moving fortresses, they are giant angry gun batteries able to move about and both take heavy hits as well as dish them out just as hard if not harder. To even see one of these in a battle is to see that the Union is taking this battle, threat, or the like very seriously indeed…or that they are making a show of force in the current battle. Etc. Whatever the case may be. They are also fitted with the same heavy armoring (but heavier) paired with the same external (and larger volume version of) nanite-composite ‘liquid metal’ armor as the Cruiser-Carriers to boot. It may be expensive, but it is going to be resilient and hardy and hard-hitting as possible in return for that.
• Smaller land based military vehicles usually adopt a hover-type mode of movement, holding a given elevation and able to move over even the roughest terrain types and through horrible storms with a level of ease. Things such as scouting vehicles (and even independently armed scouting drones elsewhere), fast-moving and strategically/selectively armored urban APCs, and otherwise only general light assault or fast-moving-rocket-firing vehicles or transport-only vehicles and sugar lighter craft will have hover-based movement capabilities.
  
  However, heavier vehicles such as tanks and moving heavier artillery vehicles and so forth make use of advanced tire and track/tread designs to move quickly across other terrestrial terrains. This limits them in terms of accessibility, compared to the hover systems of lighter craft, but far better suits their heavier weapons/armor to a ‘T’. In a very niche minority of these craft, however, they have a ‘walker’ design that integrates synthetic tissues into itself more notably and was made specifically for deployment of moving artillery and tanks over rougher land terrains that tracks and wheels cannot cover but whose heavy armor/weaponry cannot be supported with hover technology.
  
  Seaborne craft take a mix of hover and standard nautical-type sailing technologies of the modern age, zooming over the water, deep underneath it, or even sailing atop it respectively.
  
  Aircraft possess generally sleek and modern designs, with aerodynamics taken into account. Spacecraft of the Union’s military likewise, with this in mind, do take on aerodynamic-type designs for movement on and off the planet (even the smallest Torpedo Craft can exist and re-enter the atmosphere).
• (Maybe more could be added in the future here)

Unique Special Forces Equipment and Technology

• Experimental Plasma-Pulse weaponry is used by the special forces of the Union, consisting of a pulse-type arm that fires plasma bursts in dense ‘pulses’. It is akin to a medium-to-long-range rifle due to the extended range of the projectile’s initial stability after leaving the barrel, and instead of using standard ammunition it makes use of an experimental plasma arc battery to both power the weapon and provide ammunition at the same time. Alongside semi-automatic fire, it can support three-or-five round bursts and fully automatic fire.
  
  At the same time, it is an expensive weapon that is not cost-wise able to be fielded in the general military. It is also not the most advanced or frankly potent sort of potential plasma weaponry to exist either. Is it effective? Yes, generally so. It was a small foray into plasma weaponry on the part of the Union, but once costs for ammunition production and so forth was taken into account it was decided it would not see action within the regular military. Hence it gets to be a shiny toy for the special forces, but also completely limited to their use as well.
  
  Another factor against the Plasma-Pulse gun being used more widely within the Union is the tying of powering it and providing it ammunition at the same time in each clip. It much more highly restricts both operating the weapon and its ability to ‘hold more ammo’ as compared to any of the existing coil-based and particle beam weapons fielded within the regular military in comparison.
• The “Micro-Missile Gun” was originally a project developed in an attempt to see if rocket-based ammunition weapons still could have a place on the battlefield, specifically in the realm of ‘smart weapons’ that could target vulnerable places on an enemy’s armor or body during combat. Etc. Whilst the system for delivery and use was able to be developed, and even replicate the ‘smart’ weapon aspects properly to try to seek vulnerable spots, the ammunition was another problem altogether. The form of ammunition for use against larger vehicle targets was too big and unwieldy, as well as costly if it missed at all. Meanwhile the anti-personnel version of these weapons ammunition had too little room for enough explosive to get through high-grade individual armor.
  
  In the end a middle-ground was achieved with mid-sized rounds, and the use of an installed smart uplink implant of the cybernetic sort (with a highly secured connection between the weapon and wielder) was to be used instead of auto-seeking smart bullets of the ‘fire and forget’ sort that had been originally planned. Yet even then the cost was too much and its use too niche to use effectively to field for the entire army…and was thus relegated to the special forces once more.
• Rail-based Plasma Pistols are used by the special forces of the Union as well, as unlike a rail rifle they are more easy to build parts for (less parts than a rifle) and make new rails for. They use a smaller plasma arc battery for providing ammunition and powering the weapon simultaneously, but akin to the Plasma-Pulse gun this presents the same design and cost issues: Too little ‘ammunition capacity’ to use in the field, high costs that make it prohibitive in uses beyond the special forces, and outright the issue of its own rails trying to tear it apart each time it is fired meaning that parts have to be replaced more often than any sort of coil-based weapon.
  
  In this vein a non-Plasma Rail Pistol was also developed to try to counteract such issues, and is in common use within the special forces as well, but the wear and tear and cost to keep a larger supply of new parts around has likewise limited this weapon (within the Union at least) in turn.
  
  This on top of both of these weapons being limited to semi-auto and 3-round ‘burst’ type fire due to more egregious recoil issues comparatively speaking.
• (To Be Added, Eventually At Least)

History:

Long History

~Before the Federation~

Earth. Third planet from the sun of the Sol System, and the ancestral home of the human race. In the pre-Orion Federation days it was the beating heart of human politics and operations. Under the jurisdiction of the United Earth Confederation (UEC), it became the capital of a space power that came to control a number of systems and planets within its grasp. Under the UEC, Earth prospered like none other, seeing myriad building projects and environmental restoration projects and even interstellar trade agreements that brought it immense wealth and prestige. In its heyday, it was a force to be reckoned with and Earth remained at the very center of it all.

…And then came the development of the Orion Federation. A grand idea of interstellar unification that brought humanity to the forefront as one of the three major Founding Species. Yet the trouble came when the blueprints for the future Sphere would leave Earth woefully out of the equation, and indeed this would sono be followed with the formal creation of a new ‘human founder world’ to fit in and maintain humanity’s prestige and status within the new Federation. It saw a lot of political power be moved from Earth to the new Founder World, which would not only strip much of the significance of the planet outright at the time but also see what little remained there dwindling or leaving it over the next thousand years of the Orion Federation.

---

~A Golden Age: The Age of the Federation~

Indeed, the glory days of Earth as humanity’s seat of origin and hub of power would eventually themselves be lost from most human memory due to the widespread diaspora of humanity to the stars. As most humans by far would be born far from their species’ former world of origin, even memories of it would become conflated as being mere legend and myth to many. Humans, a species spread so far and wide within the boundaries of the Sphere, coming from one small planet beyond the Core Systems? It was laughable at best to some! Even so others would still be born upon the surface of the third planet from the sun of the Sol System, human or alien, and others living closer to where the Sol System was located would remember the fact it actually existed as a literal planet and one left with the forgotten zoning designation of ‘designated historical site’ that kept it from being turned into an industrial world like the rest of the Sol System was.

Yet the planet itself never lost all use, at least, mostly ending up used by the Orion Federation as a place for Inner Systems residents and on rare occasions from elsewhere to go for a vacation. But much as the other systems of the Federation-designated boundaries of “Sector 7” of the Inner Systems, it was nothing special with regards to the wider Sphere and would find itself lost as but one mere planet and place amidst the many other systems of the Inner Systems around it.

Over the course of time, though, Sector 7 would find itself turned into a hub of civilian production and manufacturing, including producing many civilian-grade computers, common and luxury civilian spacecraft, general communication satellites, transportation vehicles, and other such goods for the wider market. Yet at the same time, it would see a little bit of history along the way compared to other ‘far more eventful’ areas of the Sphere. In 2908 it would be the place from which the former radical “Humanity First Front” terrorist organization would emerge, before the organization was rooted out and destroyed finally after decades of struggles in 2936 on the planet of Hethar IV. The sector would also celebrate and host the opening of the first civilian-grade servitor robot factories emerge in 3082, and become host to a Federation-wide major sporting event in 3057, 3143, and 3346 respectively. In 3488 it would even be the sector where the famous Federation weapons developer “Thrak Ok’hael” would be born and dream up the space warship concepts that would one day debut within the Orion Federation Military only three decades later. (Etc).

In the end Sector 7 would find itself not being much of a place of much focus or attention, and did so for a number of reasons. It was not a hub or any sort of military manufacturing or military-related industry, and this was not looked at by the military in that vein. It avoided becoming a chaotic and open frontier of major food producing importance like the Outer Systems, nor was involved in the likewise chaotic and criminal allure of the Periphery Systems. It was a middle-ground sector among the sectors of the Inner Systems, not the most profitable but just average enough in comparison to fall by the wayside of notice, and likewise was not amidst the hustle and bustle and politics of the urbanized Core Systems or the even greater Founder Worlds. This would ultimately make this sector one of the most ‘ideal’ locations of a number of secretive ‘Orion Federation Black Sites’, wherein the government conducted top-secret research or developed and tested more secretive or taboo forms of technology away from prying eyes. It had a lot of supplies flowing in and out, worlds for setting up on that could have easy cover such as one of a ‘new and budding business’ or ‘industrial research station’ or such, etc, allowing for the hiding of these ‘government black sites’ in plain sight as well as being tucked away in corners no one bothered with inside the sector to boot.

Among the parts of the Inner Systems that it existed, Sector 7 would become the most littered with myriad top secret sites concealed within its borders. Of course not everything of such a nature was located there by the former Federation, but it was still a hotbed of such activities at the same time.

---

~3700 and the First Contact War~

Eventually the fateful year of 3700 rolled around, and when the invading barbarians came to blows with the Orion Federation it would see a shift in Sector 7 for better or worse. Civilian production in the area was cut in certain areas, both taking up a portion of military production to support the war effort and continuing the production of dual-use goods that both the military and the civilian market could make use of. It was also here that a few of the government projects being worked on in secret within the sector would manifest during the atrocities perpetrated by the Orion Federation during the course of the war. Whilst the Federation was not the only one to commit such atrocities, the invaders doing just as much, this was all among the events and actions that would help in part to turn Sector 7 into a warming hotbed of issues.

The wartime rationing of certain civilian-grade consumer goods, the cessation of producing some goods or stripping of them from the sector to send elsewhere, and even the rationing of food to an ever-increasing extent, would all be used to fuel the war effort as well as feeding and supplying other much more affected and damaged areas. This was stacked with a rather steady large influx of general refugees being put to work in the sector’s old and even fresh newly-built facilities to support the war, or frankly replacing the jobs of others already living there who were being conscripted into the conflict. This time would also see a ramping up of government activities, both using refugees as ‘participants’ in some but also using their general presence to build up more industrial facilities to help mask the government sites. This refugee measure in part was covertly justified in the eyes of the government due to the Sphere-shocking exposure of three such government black sites elsewhere in 3716 within the chaos of the ongoing conflict (and the convenient misplacement of a few top secret government documents into the hands of a media company). Combined with stories of the horrors from the front lines, and other heaping frustrating factors forced upon the locals, Sector 7 seemed stable on the outside but was bubbling up bit by bit with dissent, anger, and increasing instability becoming more and more common.

Yet still, though, the sector held up under the pressure ‘well enough’ in the end to not immediately pose any major problems to the Orion Federation’s government by the end of the war.

---

~3730-3740: Post-War Period and The Great Decline~

After 3730 came along, and with that the end of the First Contact War, Sector 7 was able to reestablish a certain amount of greater stability within its boundaries on the part of the Orion Federation’s government. This was a minor event some loyalists tried to label ‘the great miracle’ and use as propaganda, but this would only increase the infighting as a number of top government loyalists sought to keep a firm hand on Sector 7 and its valuable ‘black sites’ in lieu of the looking civil war era. It was also perhaps the last time the government would be able to do such a thing with success, as with the general post-war decline that began to occur.

This was a boon to the struggling and declining Federation government itself at first, and effort was made by certain military loyalists to keep the projects there afloat and to use them to prepare for the internal struggles to come. In this period the Nilati war hero General Arkas, a Nilati married to a human woman as his comrades knew him, was placed in the system to help protect it from ‘terrorist threats’ but mostly as a way of protecting loyalist assets in that time period from rival factions. Yet a slow but gradual backsliding still occurred due to dwindling resources from infighting, a reversal of some of the actions taken to keep the system loyal in lieu of new resources struggles, and the involvement of inter-factional struggles stirring up the population of the sector to boot.

The final nail in the coffin was the sector being devastated by an unthinkable and notable large-scale Stellar Storm, which in the Sol System alone devastated the habitations of Venus and its population by roughly 89%. This at the same time saved most of the Earth, which was hidden behind Venus at the time, from devastation and the storm-triggered secondary large-scale solar flare that occurred afterward. But the widespread issues, ship-disappearances, and finally the destruction of many hyperlanes within the Sphere would prove too much of an opponent to maintaining proper order. Sector 7, as with many places, would be among the places that erupted into conflict during the ensuing civil war that erupted into life in 3740.

---

~The Orion Civil War of 3740-3760~

During the roughly first seven years of the war the loyalists would fight to and would maintain control over Sector 7 and its neighbors, though the individual they had chosen to place over Sector 7 itself would prove to be their undoing. Increasingly tyrannical and hostile measures were used by the loyalists within Sector 7 in particular, as it stood to hold government black site operations that were rather valuable weapons and materials for the loyalists to use, and the flagrant revelation of some such operations into the open to keep them going at the cost of locals was among the horrors that were perpetrated. Eventually the likes of General Arkas himself, a tentative loyalist (who had hoped to and helped to keep people safe during the former war by joining this particular faction of loyalists) as civil unrest erupted elsewhere, would be broken away by these actions and turn (alongside the many soldiers loyal to him) upon what remained of the nation he had devoted himself to alongside other rebels in Sector 7 in 3748.

For the next twelve years, General Arkas would launch a campaign to bring about order and unity within Sector 7 before branching out to its neighboring areas within the Inner Systems. It was also within this time period the war hero would forge his own mixed bag of a reputation from then onward to boot. On one hand, he would focus on minimizing violence and seeking the peaceful integration of new systems and planets. Many hydroponics works would begin being built on planets who cooperated, both to try to help feed locals and his own armed forces, whilst attempting to use it as a bargaining chip to try to push for a more peaceful resolution. He likewise brought in many powerful people and populations into his cause along the way, working to gradually build steam in his actions instead of rushing to an attempted, hasty, and ill-supplied pyrrhic victory otherwise. Or at least that is how he wrote about perceiving the situation in a general and strategic sense as he went about taking more systems under his command. He even went about arranging for the future repair of damaged hyperlanes, and until then seeking to maintain and organize trade routes to keep his conquered or peacefully acquired systems afloat and happy.

On the other hand, Arkas made many ‘deals with the devil’ in promising reward to powerful people to get them on his side over the likes of other factions and foes during the civil war. He also commanded those below him to pirate and raid the food supplies and shipments from areas beyond what borders he could maintain, and even took food from certain newly-conquered areas that had shown any notable resistance, to try to remedy the food situation (and ensure loyalty) elsewhere in his accrued territories whilst likewise punishing those who had shown ‘too much resistance’ and were seen as ‘still too tough to integrate’ at first. Sometimes food was even used to pressure weaker opponents along the warpath into submission with silent force, and trade routes to keep his areas of control afloat would favor certain ‘more important’ ones over others due to the occasional fluctuation of resources that existed for most of this time within his accrued territories. Not to mention the ‘quiet acquisition’ and pardoning of government black sites and such in the region, both exposed and ones still kept off the books, to feed into his own war effort and internal works despite the many crimes committed in them and criminal researchers/developers working inside many of them (ones not abandoned at the time at least) still.

---

~Rise of a New Nation: Ashes of the Federation and the Age of Sundering~

In the wake of the Federation’s fall, it would take another 8 years of war, negotiation, and internal struggle for General Arkas to reach the full extent of what he felt he could take and reasonably control. Within this period there were likewise those under his command who protested that they could still go further and remain stable, however, and wished to push further and harder outward to continue to fuel more conquest. The General disagreed and would eventually halt his push about 7 years after the end of the civil war, though the dissenters would in turn seek to provoke action or set out against orders to continue ‘the fight’. One bickering and debate led to another, then came arrests and warrants, and in the end the dissenters would rise up in rebellion to launch a coup against Arkas and those still loyal to him.

This sub-conflict, known as the “Erubirungehr Rebellion” (due to the group calling themselves the “Erubirungehr”, or basically ‘conquerors’ in a rather corrupted word in this case taken from one of the older human languages [German]), would last one year before being put down by Arkas and his loyalists. It saw scattered fighting within Arkas’ territories, however, and showed much of the weaknesses of what had been established. Likewise the war was only a year, but it was no less brutal in its showing and actions than the recently-ended civil war. This very thing would be what inspired Arkas, and many of those who he managed to keep on his side, to agree to meet upon his flagship (a cruiser named “Sainur” (or “survivor” in the Hiigüül tongue) in the Sol System and work upon as well as lay out the very document that became the “Sol Accord” or “Sainur Constitution” as it is more formally known as by ‘modern’ times.

It was a document that laid out the new government, as well as being something that appeased those that Arkas had to appease (some of those people of power came at a price in certain cases after all) but likewise set into motion and entrenched rights and so forth that would protect the population in a balance to this. It took eight Earth months to work things out and negotiate it fully in turn, before it was finalized and signed in mid-3770. Further, the establishment of Earth (already used for a long time by Arkas and his people as a main base of operations during the civil war) as the capital of the new nation was formalized in turn (as was still calling it “Earth” in the human and other tongues).

Arkas, bearing long-term complications from injuries from his last several personally-involved battles, would eventually pass away quietly in his bed of medical complications six years later in 3776. He was roughly at the end of ‘middle age’ and into early ‘old age’ for one of his species.

---

~The Sovereign Union of Sol and Current Times~

Over the next eighty-four years, the new nation of “The Sovereign Union of Sol” would work in its internal matters for the most part, only paying attention to outside powers if engaged with. They would war with those who sought war or conflict with them in defense, engage in trade with those who were willing to trade, and generally seek to maintain both a steady and stably-sustained national presence without provoking another major conflict with external powers. It wasn’t a time of ‘isolation or utter neutrality’, as some outsiders have often jabbed at locals with, but one that saw smaller conflicts, sought to make improvements to various economic and military technologies, and sought to improve conditions in a form of vertical growth that would bolster up the nation heading into the future.

In this general vein, it could be said that The Sovereign Union of Sol has been quite the successful nation. On the other hand, a lack of wider large-scale participation in events and the like has left the very same nation behind in terms of political alliances and so forth on a greater scale. Involvement with the matters of the Periphery has been frankly nonexistent in the personally-involved sense to boot, even if trade could maybe have reached that far from the Union’s borders potentially), and no expansion to ‘stabilize or bring order to elsewhere’ has been undertaken outwardly either. In this vein the Union has been somewhat more isolated or sidelined, even if in trade it has managed to vastly improve its own internal food security and production (among other things).

Other:

Fun Facts

-The Sainur, the ship of General Arkas, was named after a Hiigüül word for “survivor”...because it has survived much, as had its crew. Its formal title was the “O.F.S. Sainur”. Before this renaming, partly done as propaganda for the war after the ship became a poster boy in the news media as the General became a proper war hero, it was formerly named the “O.F.S. Argo’tari”.

-Venus has been half-rebuilt, but the devastation caused to its upper-atmosphere and even lower-atmosphere habitation stations and industrial capabilities was nothing short of incredible. What the Stellar Storm did was generally not as bad there comparatively to the large solar flare that the storm caused the sun of the Sol System to produce in the aftermath. Meanwhile Earth did sustain damage from the storm as well, but in comparison to Venus only took a large blow in the Siberian region and secondary damage to the North Pole from the ensuing solar flare in turn due to Venus’ placement in front of it at the time. For Earth this forced the involvement of limited terraforming technology to restore the integrity of the North Pole once more to its prior/’normal’ state, unlike Venus which took far more raw resources to begin any real rebuilding and restoration of its facilities/habitations.

The “Siberian Scar” still exists on Earth as a mark of just what happened back there, with life beginning to creep back in, and Venus has had a titanic memorial likewise installed in memory of those in the Sol System (especially on Venus) who were lost there due to the stellar storm and ensuring solar flare. (Mercury otherwise managed to avoid the solar flare somehow but did get hit with the stellar storm exposure more so in turn due to its lack of atmosphere in comparison to the likes of Earth and Venus.)

-(eventually more to be added someday)

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((NOTE: Space for more to be added as times goes on/later.))

Food Production/Food Economy/food Culture In The Union

-The creation of some kind of agri-worlds has been by and large put to the side in favor of much more ‘economical’ hydroponics, deemed as such compared to trying to clear up enough land and territory for any kind of proper agri-world otherwise, as with the presence of industrial capabilities and plenty of materials to build such machines it made doing so an easier and more rapid option to deal with initially bulky and present food problems. These problems were rampant during the time of Arkas' campaigns and the civil war, and even afterward it remained a general struggle until sufficient quantities of hydroponics were constructed to sustain local areas and start to ship food effectively around the Union’s territories. From here food infrastructure was worked on as a major area of note to get it to how things stand currently, and indeed the Union is far more prosperous than it once was due to this aspect of its internal development programs and internal focus.

In urban and even some suburban areas the emergence of ‘fashionable hydroponics cuisine’ would also emerge due to the boom of this industry. Growing plants and crops in certain shapes or under certain lights to get unique looks or colors or such, such as curled purple carrots that look nothing like those from the human homeworld, would become a notable part of this. Likewise there was the similar hydroponics practice of growing generations of livestock under different lights or using different foods or such to tweak aspects of the final product for culinary and presentation or flavor purposes, such as the color of the meat or fat content of it and so forth, would emerge.

Indeed it can be said that in this area it is one where quite a bit of advancement has been seen by current times, and where within the Union it has been worked on technologically since even before the end of the civil war to boot. These developments have even helped and led into improved medicine production, improved production of organic and synthetic materials/tissues, and even some improvements in the realm of terraforming. It also is certainly one of the largest areas of the nation’s economy by current times, though to call the Union an ‘agrarian nation’ of any sort would be a very bad misunderstanding indeed.

Union Industry/Economy-ish/Scavengers

-The top area of the Union’s economy has ever remained that of industrial production, whether it be the use of foundries, the processing of materials, repurposing of former Federation facilities or building of new ones, and the like. It was mostly this area that necessarily fed into the war machine of the pre-Union times and rather early Union as well as a necessity for survival, and one that better diversified as time went on and especially so as the food situation improved over the decades. Even now the shipyards, constructed space-based and planetary foundries/industrial facilities, and the like are the most common sight to find in Union space by far…ruined, rebuilt, new, or repurposed, or reused ones alike.

Beyond this the art of scavenging has remained a distinct part of the local civilian economy as well. This usually involves the hauling of space debris out of planetary orbits to processing facilities, breaking down shipwrecks for parts to be sold wholesale or to locals/businesses, rooting through scavenge-sanctioned ruins on planets, running junkyards/scrapyards, and the like, all the type of standard business in this sort of respect that a nation would have in some way or another. Yet beyond the base form of this area, and various legitimate licensed independent scrapper businesses existing alongside government-controlled scrapping operations, the existence of the individual and small-business scrapper is something that has continued to be most definitely extant in current times as well.

If you need a scrapper, contracting an individual, many individuals, or even a proper scrapper business company from within the Union is most definitely a good decision in terms of the standard of quality for such workers. Outside of the few and usually foolish ones who would risk employment with an enemy of the nation they live in, called “Scrapers” for how desperate they are to make money in such an overly-risky strategy, most are just called “Scrappers” and “Scrappies” locally within the Union by the average person. On occasion the government will put out some contracts for scrap as well, which gathers a lot of competition due to these being some of the best-paying but hard-to-get contracts in the whole of the Union. Contracts that venture outside of Union territory to get some scrap, which is either Union-citizen or government-owned or otherwise, likewise are not uncommon on the borders but are also seen as a higher-paying greater-risk sort of legal job for a Scrapper/Scrappie.

Illegal operations have ever existed both in areas of industry and scavenging, though, but this area has been highly cracked down on in a very hard and increasingly hard manner by the government over the decades as well. It likewise has what might seem to be overly-harsh punishments within the Union to protect its own markets and internal legal jurisdiction, but at the same time this was seen and treated as merely part of cracking down on and removing inter-system and inter-planetary piracy/crime. The generally successful and disciplined results speak, quietly from the grave or otherwise, for themselves by current times. In short: Do not get caught doing this or being involved with space piracy based out of Union territory…the local as well as historical stories of what could happen and have happened to such individuals before are more than enough to suffice in explaining this if one simply asks around.

The Best Space Pet Ever

Saaziz

Called a “Catmoth” by humans ever since first contact was made with the other sapient spacefaring species of the future Sphere, it is a species native to the Nilati Homeworld that became widespread as a household pet in many places during the thousand years of the Orion Federation. Even among the Nilati pre-spaceflight this species was a common household pet that holds the same type of popularity as people loving cats as pets back during older and more ancient times on Earth. They would hunt pests and keep such things out of homes they lived in as well, which in rather ancient Nilati civilization eras was something highly useful to boot. Etc. They were once seen as good omens to keep around as well.

Of course their spreading popularity would require genetic modifications for living in alternative biomes safely, and various sub-breeds (varying in fur color and shape/size) once bred for various purposes would also likewise find homes and uses abroad and beyond their homeworld to boot. Of course by modern times they are just one kind of potential pet animal that is useful in rural places and has its home in cushy urban centers alike, and in places in-between, so it isn’t as unique as it once was when it was only to be found on the Nilati Homeworld. However, the most popular has been the most basic ‘mixed’ or ‘mutt’ type of Saaziz (as seen in the pictures above) for its general hardiness and due to its use in many old adverts...

….And of course in two rather niche historical cases, both in far-flung backwater planets in the Periphery Systems, they ‘might’ have become a horribly invasive species there. An adorable invasive species that might nibble your toes or sleep on your lap unless you are small enough to be food, or the particular Saaziz is a fully-feral one, but an invasive species all the same.

All Hail The Fluffy Catmoths! Lol.

((NOTE: “saa” is one of the Sumerian words for “cat”, and “ziz” separately is a word for “moth” in the same language as well! So rather technically, the name for this alien species means “cat moth” in Sumerian as well. XD))

“The P.S.I. Bureau” - The Psionics and Supernatural Investigation Bureau

An organization established within The Sovereign Union of Sol, dedicated to the investigation, containment, utilization, and understanding of psionic (aka: ‘supernatural’) phenomena. Considering the rarity of natural psionics and the existence of phenomenon associated with the psionic, this organization was designed to meet the needs of looking into such things and keeping an eye on them on the part of the government. Whilst funding is set by the government, and certain approvals in certain areas are required, these are two things among a few others simply put in place to keep the organization on a leash of sorts as part of the nation and frankly extension of the government itself that also answers back to it in the end. Generally-speaking, though, it overall operates independently internally and does not owe loyalty nor the like to any particular group below the top of the government. Even so it often works with other normal or standard arms/bureaus of the government proper along the way where it needs to, even including the likes of city officials and such when necessary for an operation of notable scale or such. It is the arm of the nation aimed at operating mostly in the shadows and behind the scenes, keeping things in check that lie beyond the bounds of the usual everyday, which even possesses its own army of agents and supporting internal armed forces (for handling problems, performing operations, and protecting itself, etc as necessary) as well as possesses their own Research & Development wing and so forth.

Its roots lie within the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations (B.A.I.), a former Orion Federation government black site operations taskforce within the mid-to-late Orion Federation time period that looked into more taboo incidents and indulged in ethically illegal research related to psionics. Loyalties and funding for them lied with a select few within the old Orion Federation’s government, meaning it wasn’t some big national group, and so they were not really loyal to the Federation as much as they were the pocketbook of their supporters and the knowledge as well as ‘power’ they sought to accumulate. In the Post-War period and early Civil War they were bought out by the loyalist faction who ‘purchased’ them for use with large bribes and greater leeway in what they could do, using them as a secretive group to kill rivals and destabilize neighboring rivals as well as steal valuable ‘anomalies’ and other such secrets. However, the organization would become reckless enough to become well-known enough to higher-ranked initially-loyalist individuals such as General Arkas.

Securing their base through a blitzkrieg attack against them, knowing they would be a major obstacle in securing Sector 7, the organization was left to waste with survivors either captured or having been far away already before fleeing after the organization’s primary (and lone at this point) base of operations was seized. Their database and main storage facility, captured at this point during the civil war, was filled with information, research, captured items, contained ‘anomalous subjects’, and other such information and materials and so forth that had been gleaned retroactively before the end of the Invader War from even before its formation by its former masters in the government. General Arkas at the time took all of this into safe hiding before sorting and absorbing a number of the staff that remained at the facility following its capture. Those that were kept, after some of the survivors were executed for war crimes and so forth, were key individuals that would help in part form the foundation for the ultimately codified and legalized PSI Bureau itself later on right after the founding of the Union proper. Some of these even contributed to the curing of the Aratanni’s infertility to boot.

Generally speaking, for the PSI Bureau that is, the history of their ‘predecessors’ has lent itself to policies being enforced (even harshly) that no individuals are allowed to gain power over the organization from without. This mostly is why it independently operates and has a level of autonomy detached from particular nobles or any such groups, but is still on a strong ‘leash’ and such to have a secure ‘lifeline’ in case it ever tried to go rogue.

Leading the organization is one human woman named “Leanne Chambers”, a long red haired woman with an unnatural violet eye color who usually is seen donning her trademark ponytail. Despite seeming by all accounts like a normal human outside of her odd eye color, which most assume is a pair of contacts, she is rumored to have led the organization since its founding..... and even having been part of the old B.A.I. beforehand. Yet this rumor about her is frankly only ever known internally within the organization itself, and is merely just that to the vast majority of the general membership of the P.S.I. Bureau: a rumor. To be so old, even with augmentations, would be ludicrous indeed.

***(The Director is herself in reality almost 2000 years ago, born in 1995 and being currently 1865 years old. She an American woman who joined the FBI and later encountered a very peculiar unrecorded psionic event before being dumped out of it a week later and being confined by the American Government for study after being discovered. Safe to say this containment was because her circumstances of discovery and disappearance were themselves…incredibly strange and highly anomalous circumstances indeed. Her bodily tissues were infused and incorporated with what centuries later would be discovered to be ‘psionic-photonic crystals’, or a psionically-generated form of photonic crystals that have long continued to spread and integrate into her body as well as augment and even preserve her biological makeup over time. Most notable of the effects of this are the superhuman capabilities and attributes she has been in possession of since that day and strange event so long ago: A perfect eidetic memory, impossibly complex and ever-improving mental skills/capabilities in line with futuristic supercomputers, possession of general psionic capabilities/powers, superhuman durability and regeneration, and a lack of aging. She appearance-wise remains in her prime at about the age of 25-27 quite literally, though frankly looks rather deceptively normal enough in her appearance in that sense.

She is the oldest known human in existence, if she can still be called one, and frankly ended up becoming a very powerful psionic and superhuman individual subject studied and abused by the B.A.I. during its eventual existence (but not dying despite the eventual attempts to get rid of her by the old B.A.I. experimentally). She would later be freed by General Arkas as he toured the captured facility, and after talking with him would ultimately serve alongside him with her talents in return for freedom. However this position would evolve into becoming the general’s second and final wife, his first having died just before the end of the First Contact War, and then later on ultimately taking over the newly-created P.S.I. Bureau as its Director. She has retained that position even through current times and kept it all well-oiled and running smoothly…oddly well so for a single individual. But such is part of the mystique of the matter.

...Exists because a cool organization led by a strange abnormal ancient sounded cool to me.)

***(One of the other subjects tied to and a part of the P.S.I. Bureau itself is a strange psionic human referred to simply as “The Emperor”, whose first known ancestor to suddenly develop psionic powers lived within the Periphery Systems and then created a cult there that absorbed the aesthetics of ancient Japan and somewhat from China and Asia from farther back in the planet of Earth’s past to enforce on those loyal to them. Their ancestor was an individual whose passed-down power psionically tapped into their genetics as a catalyst to absorb and recall the lives, memories, and so forth of all their ancestors. Yes, not ‘past lives’ but literally their ancestors genetically going backwards. The original individual was in possession of an untold amount of history, going back so far even they cannot find the ‘origin’ of it all mired in the mists of time, and they along with a handful of followers were taken and contained by the B.A.I. for testing after the discovery of the initial cult by B.A.I. agents near the end of the First Contact War. And with each new generation, each “Emperor/Empress” (depends on the sex of the individual) has only one child that is born that also gains this power and further expands its knowledge base through the genetics of whoever their other parent was.

Even currently the peculiar and seemingly impossible nature of their ‘power’ and existence is still being studied, though this time by choice in return for support and not being a threat to the Union itself or abandoning their status as under the P.S.I. Bureau's jurisdiction. There are ‘protocols’ in case of the worst, but each descendant of the current Emperor/Empress has followed suit and even almost disturbingly shown the exact same behaviors as their particular ancestor (the one in this case that was found by General Arkas after taking down the B.A.I.) was known to have exhibited.

The current Emperor has borne three children by his wife, two of which did not inherit the power of their famous parent and (as with others in the family’s successive generations since the founding of the Union) now help run the ‘Forbidden City’ type of luxurious palatial city the Emperors/Empresses live in, itself surrounded by the greater ‘city’ filled with followers and that beyond this has surrounding and notably far smaller surrounding ‘villages and minor towns’ founded near to it. But as part of the deal made with the original one at the creation of the Union, the successors have always kept only within their rather limited area of influence that they were ancestrally allotted with their followers. Meanwhile the third and youngest child, at least in this generation of the family, would inherit this same power as her father and gain the worshiped status within the cult as the next one to inherit the position as an “Empress” after their father dies.

In the wake of the B.A.I. organization's destruction and ‘abrupt dismantling’ by General Arkas, “The Emperor” at the time and their surviving followers were kept constrained but freed from imprisonment in return for assisting in the General’s war efforts as well. They were then, at the formation of the Union itself, allowed to set up a place to live within the new P.S.I. Bureau’s jurisdiction and be hidden from the greater Union proper in peace. Setting up with their own highly-augmented culture and the ways that “The Emperor” taught them by current/modern times, these followers consist of a multi-species group that seems to be influenced by the presence of The Emperor’s psionic powers but not directly mind-controlled or such by them. Hence the containment of said population. Though successors to The Emperor have sought to assure the P.S.I. Bureau and Union government proper of being peaceful and simply wishing to see their group prosper in peaceful coexistence, they have admitted after some testing that some influence seems to be presence in a passive sense. Hence their willing containment with their followers and such to ensure this peace they say they seek, as well as their assisting the P.S.I. Bureau as part of it and keeping to their deal with the Union government all this time.)

Basically this organization handles and has all the psionic people inside for the Union, as well as educates psionic children and so forth and helps them acclimate to things as well as handling incidents regarding psionics and so forth (etc).Basically this organization handles and has all the psionic people inside for the Union, as well as educates psionic children and so forth and helps them acclimate to things as well as handling incidents regarding psionics and so forth (etc).))

(Edit: Added "The P.S.I. Bureau" as a part of the nation to address and have involvement in psionic things.)

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Nylah

---

The Mothraki perked back up, snapping out of her brief spurt of doldrum, wings almost fluttering in brief excitement as she finally realized why Jivka had asked her about the legend in the first place. Yes! That'd be great. Or, well, it could be great! Yeah. Even if it took them around simply new places and new herbs it could be a useful adventure if nothing else! Anything that might get her one step closer to that goal would be worth it.

...It had to be.

"Ah! Yes! I would be honored to join your search for it! As for any ideas, ah...," she said, a hand coming to her own chin as her brows furrowed in deeper thought, "Well, the clue of 'where one finds clouds resting on the ground' could very well mean the top of a mountain I believe. Or some kind of valley or place covered in a fog or mist.

Er, the other bit about being where 'ice burns like fire' eludes me though. Does the ice hurt to touch? Does it truly burn bright like a fire?"

Nylah let out a small sigh. It was a guess, or at least the best one she could make on the fly. Fire was not good to touch, so maybe it was the same with the ice in this legendary clue? Or maybe it glowed like fire or such? Either? Both? Ugh. Maybe Jivka would have some kind of idea or another to add to things. But there was one last little clue that she'd overlooked in her initial thoughts, on second thought, that she felt like she could take a swing and a guess at.

"As for growing in the ‘heart of a glacier’, ah, I suppose that sounds like a cave or path leading inside of a glacier or such perhaps?

That is all I have for ideas at the moment, I'm afraid."

@Rune_Alchemist

Personal Info Hider For Nylah

-Herbs/Herbalism Knowledge:

***Herbs Around the village of Dawn.

Kyr Reed acted as a sort of coagulant as well as sedative. Made people calmer…not particularly useful for treating frostbite on its own, but it was useful for staunching bleeding or injuries. Could be crushed into a paste with a variety of other things to achieve various effects. Wind-Leaf acted as more of a stimulant. When properly mixed with Kyr Reed it made salves and healing poultices good for bolstering the immune system and promoting natural healing. Coral Moss and Slug mucus were a bit harder to find, since the slugs only could be found in shallow water during the day, with Coral Moss being found in damp sea caves off the coast near the Goddess Spear. Slug Mucus was good for making topical salves for alleviating pain, while Coral Moss, when exposed to certain other substances actually heated itself to temperatures good for gentle rewarming of frost-bitten areas.

***Making anesthetics and preparing healing potions and salves.

It’d be easy enough to prepare both of those things especially with the things she had on hand. Fresh water for a base, crush the ingredients, then boil it to a broth. Simple enough, they didn’t have time to refine it. The Salves could be made by taking the same ingredients and crushing them into a paste without the water. Better for topical use on flesh wounds.

***Herbs In Yaga Territory

“A lotta the plants here you’ll have to dig a bit in the snow for.” She’d say. “They grow pretty well. Others you might find growing along the trees or even in some rocks. Just pay attention…like this one.” She’d say, using her foot to kick aside a pile of snow. Under it was a small plant, an herb with a fairly big root and small, three pronged leaves. “This one is a pretty potent poison. Makes an animals muscles lock up so they can’t move.” Jivka would lead Nylah through the forest for quite a while, pointing out a number of different plants and herbs. One could be used to induce vomiting - helpful for making someone spitup anything toxic they ate. A particular purple leafed plant was a pretty powerful hallucinogen and was sometimes used in yaga rituals, apparently.

“My favorite though is this one.” Jivka moved to a vine that was growing around a tree, pulling off one of the bright red flowers from it. “Oros leaf, we call it. If made right, it can really help one get stronger physically…well, if ya know survive the side effects. A number of the top Yagan hunters have to drink a draught made of this stuff to be recognized by all clans as anything more than a simple warrior.”

“When you first drink it, well…the body can have a particularly adverse reaction to it. Death. Hallucinations. Most first timers tend to get a bit rowdy and pick a fight with everyone, ahaha.” Jivka laughed nonchalantly. “Buuut eventually you’ll get used to it, and it makes the body stronger. Helps if you fight or work out during the high, ya know.” She’d pluck a few leaves from the vines. “Makes some people a bit more aggressive, though, if they’re a bad fit for it. Gotta mix it with a couple other things back home, too. I could show ya if you want.” The yaga would stuff the leaf into some of her pouches, likely to make more later.

Jivka

***Legendary Herb According To Yaga Legend:

“You ever heard of ‘Shalfey Blossom’?” She’d inquire. “...doubt it, eh. Its a local thing. Legend says its a cure-all for most physical maladies and can be used to make life-extending potions.”

-------

Well, before you get any ideas its just that. A legend.” Jivka said to the Mothraki. “Supposedly it grows someplace to the north east ‘ice burns like fire’ and ‘where one finds clouds resting upon the ground’.” Jivka continued, frowning a bit. “No idea what that means, but…so, the Aspect of Wisdom was returning from a trek to the countries to the western continents when they came upon a plague stricken Yaga village.” She’d pause, glancing at Nylah.

“You following me? So a mother asked the Aspect to heal her daughter. After refusing it’d eventually agree. The cure was a flower that the Aspect grew within the ‘heart of a glacier’. The village was eventually cured and the Aspect continued their travels back south.” Jivka shrugged. "Can't say much more than that. I'm no lore expert...but I think its a neat story at least. Anyone who found that herb would earn a lot of respect among the others."

Jivka

***

***

***

-Acquired Lore/World Knowledge:

***Yaga Deity + Yaga Perspective On Rifelshka -

and slowly running her thumb across it. “It doesn’t have a name. Our deity, that is. We just know he exists and is the reason we survived the Moonless Era.” She’d pass it to Nylah for her to hold. “As for The Death goddess…” She lowered her voice, briefly glancing over her shoulders despite there being quite obviously no one else in the cabin. “We say the rest of the gods are lesser spirits born from our nameless deity when he fell from the heavens, his body was formed into these lesser Spirits. But the Death Goddess? She existed before him and if you believe the elder, had a direct hand in creating the Moonless Era and seeks to kill our deity once more. That’s all I’m saying.” She’d fall silent, seemingly nervously scratching the back of her head. “Uh, sorry I’m gonna take a walk. Hate talking about this, but one more thing. Do not mention her name here, outsider. That’s a good way to get every Yaga to want you to leave. Say she hears every time her name is spoken and we don’t want to try any attention from her.”

Jivka

***Why the Krysa are at the Yaga Village and are attacking Mie -

Something has the Krysa spooked.” A brusque reply the Yaga ignored the snow starting to fall, leading the three towards a small house towards the middle of the village. “Someone trying to attack one of their wisemen or something? I dunno. They blame that merchant that travels through here around this time.”

Jivka

***About Novak:

First, I know that I don't look the part of one of Mie's people. I originally wasn't- I was just some nobody that her caravan picked up, and she was gracious enough to allow me to earn a living working for her. She sent me to sneak out since I'm neither an Oni nor a Chagawa human, thus they have no reason to suspect that I'm with her."

Novak

***Mie's Caravan Situation Information As Acquired from Novak:

"I presume Haruno already filled you in as to what our situation is. Nothing's changed since she left- we're still holding out, but our food is running low and we need to get this resolved one way or the other. However, I did manage to learn some rather interesting things on my way here. The Krysa woman you saw me with, Lady Marushka, is with the Office of Internal Peace. She's acting on direct orders from the Tsarita herself, hunting some "person of interest" in the snowfields. I also overheard a mention from her guards about the life of someone important being threatened. Sir something...Ost...no...Osh...Ozven, that's it. Sir Ozven, they said."

Novak

***

***

***

Nylah Skills

-{Enthralling Dust} (Racial): Mothraki produce a potent pollen like dust upon their wings. Merely by existing they spread this where they go, though it's mostly harmless if not inhaled in large quantities. Causes hallucinations and dulls one's senses. As one may expect, people tend to frown upon this sort of thing.

-{Journeyman Light Magic}: A magic encompassing pure light and illumination, ranging from harmless orbs to light up one’s path all the way up to rays/beams of light as attacks to even light barriers and other light constructs such as swords and spears and shields and so forth. A versatile magic that does not call upon the fire of the sun, but does have its myriad uses and capabilities.

-{Novice Herbalist}: Non-magical practices of a healer, ranging from identifying or figuring out the use of new herbs and recognizing familiar ones, to making things like certain poultices and healing-based alchemy/potion-making, to how to handle wounds/injuries and such using these things.

Nylah Inventory

-{Herbalist's Bag}: A simple leather bag with a well-built shoulder strap, that is filled with a good number of many types of herbs, a good amount of bandages, and finally tools to make tonics, poultices, and potions alongside a scare few pre-prepared ones that are within the bag itself. She usually wears it around most of the time. (EDIT: Has refilled her supplies, with three one total healing pots remaining now. Also now has four three vials of baby-chameleon-thing poison.)

-{Small Knife}: A gift from her mother, made with a smoothed-out bone handle and treated with certain oils, mainly used to help cut things like vines and plants when out collecting herbs and so forth. Also a very niche emergency self-defense tool.

-{Food}: A small pouch sitting on her opposite hip that contains a few strips of preserved game meat and a few dried edible herbs from the local area. Not much in amount, since it was meant to be snacks for heading into the woods to gather herbs before 'that' happened.

-{Wristband}: A simple little bracelet made of pretty stones dyed in various colors, carefully having had a hole made through each, sitting on a band made of twisted and treated leather strips. Worn on her left wrist and given as a gift to her by her mother. How long it took to acquire or even make is unknown.

-{Cuteness}: She is a definitely cute moth girl. This is inherent to her existence. Yes.

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Nylah

---

“Well, before you get any ideas its just that. A legend.”

Jivka

"A-Ah, yes, of course. Apologies..."

Yes, just a legend. A bit disheartening, but at the same time it wasn't exactly a hopeless matter either. There was a direction and description of sorts of the location it was in. Likewise at least some of the information felt like she could make some kind of sense of it. Well, try to at least.

Certainly 'where one finds clouds resting on the ground' could mean a couple of things. It could mean a place covered in a dense fog or mist, for one thing. But it could also mean the top of a great mountain, perhaps, where the earth seemed to meet with the sky. And the latter thing felt like it made some more sense to her, at least for the time being, as a more valid potential choice of location then. In that vein it was also a start in a potential right direction to find this legendary herb, if nothing else.

Meanwhile the other clue of the place being where 'ice burns like fire' was itself more mysterious. Was the place on fire and cold at the same time or something? One could set a fire in the middle of a wintery place, they'd done that just getting there, but on the top of a mountain potentially? Odd. Very odd.

But for now she quietly nodded back at Jivka as the Yaga girl finished describing the legend to her.

"As you said, it is certainly quite the story indeed."

Maybe some of what she'd gathered could be used to at least alleviate some of her mother's suffering whenever they got back. At least so she could buy some more time to try to look into this potential lead. Legend or not, even if she could find something even partly like the legend growing in such a place then it would be worth it. Even just to bring about minor improvements toward a cure, or finding part of one, all of it was better than the nothing she'd found so far otherwise on her own.

...Though in some part, she did wonder how things were going for the others right now. Not that Eirhild had much to do sitting there to keep warm, but surely Lissa and Novak were each up to something out there perhaps?

@Rune_Alchemist

Personal Info Hider For Nylah

-Herbs/Herbalism Knowledge:

***Herbs Around the village of Dawn.

Kyr Reed acted as a sort of coagulant as well as sedative. Made people calmer…not particularly useful for treating frostbite on its own, but it was useful for staunching bleeding or injuries. Could be crushed into a paste with a variety of other things to achieve various effects. Wind-Leaf acted as more of a stimulant. When properly mixed with Kyr Reed it made salves and healing poultices good for bolstering the immune system and promoting natural healing. Coral Moss and Slug mucus were a bit harder to find, since the slugs only could be found in shallow water during the day, with Coral Moss being found in damp sea caves off the coast near the Goddess Spear. Slug Mucus was good for making topical salves for alleviating pain, while Coral Moss, when exposed to certain other substances actually heated itself to temperatures good for gentle rewarming of frost-bitten areas.

***Making anesthetics and preparing healing potions and salves.

It’d be easy enough to prepare both of those things especially with the things she had on hand. Fresh water for a base, crush the ingredients, then boil it to a broth. Simple enough, they didn’t have time to refine it. The Salves could be made by taking the same ingredients and crushing them into a paste without the water. Better for topical use on flesh wounds.

***Herbs In Yaga Territory

“A lotta the plants here you’ll have to dig a bit in the snow for.” She’d say. “They grow pretty well. Others you might find growing along the trees or even in some rocks. Just pay attention…like this one.” She’d say, using her foot to kick aside a pile of snow. Under it was a small plant, an herb with a fairly big root and small, three pronged leaves. “This one is a pretty potent poison. Makes an animals muscles lock up so they can’t move.” Jivka would lead Nylah through the forest for quite a while, pointing out a number of different plants and herbs. One could be used to induce vomiting - helpful for making someone spitup anything toxic they ate. A particular purple leafed plant was a pretty powerful hallucinogen and was sometimes used in yaga rituals, apparently.

“My favorite though is this one.” Jivka moved to a vine that was growing around a tree, pulling off one of the bright red flowers from it. “Oros leaf, we call it. If made right, it can really help one get stronger physically…well, if ya know survive the side effects. A number of the top Yagan hunters have to drink a draught made of this stuff to be recognized by all clans as anything more than a simple warrior.”

“When you first drink it, well…the body can have a particularly adverse reaction to it. Death. Hallucinations. Most first timers tend to get a bit rowdy and pick a fight with everyone, ahaha.” Jivka laughed nonchalantly. “Buuut eventually you’ll get used to it, and it makes the body stronger. Helps if you fight or work out during the high, ya know.” She’d pluck a few leaves from the vines. “Makes some people a bit more aggressive, though, if they’re a bad fit for it. Gotta mix it with a couple other things back home, too. I could show ya if you want.” The yaga would stuff the leaf into some of her pouches, likely to make more later.

Jivka

***Legendary Herb According To Yaga Legend:

“You ever heard of ‘Shalfey Blossom’?” She’d inquire. “...doubt it, eh. Its a local thing. Legend says its a cure-all for most physical maladies and can be used to make life-extending potions.”

-------

Well, before you get any ideas its just that. A legend.” Jivka said to the Mothraki. “Supposedly it grows someplace to the north east ‘ice burns like fire’ and ‘where one finds clouds resting upon the ground’.” Jivka continued, frowning a bit. “No idea what that means, but…so, the Aspect of Wisdom was returning from a trek to the countries to the western continents when they came upon a plague stricken Yaga village.” She’d pause, glancing at Nylah.

“You following me? So a mother asked the Aspect to heal her daughter. After refusing it’d eventually agree. The cure was a flower that the Aspect grew within the ‘heart of a glacier’. The village was eventually cured and the Aspect continued their travels back south.” Jivka shrugged. "Can't say much more than that. I'm no lore expert...but I think its a neat story at least. Anyone who found that herb would earn a lot of respect among the others."

Jivka

***

***

***

-Acquired Lore/World Knowledge:

***Yaga Deity + Yaga Perspective On Rifelshka -

and slowly running her thumb across it. “It doesn’t have a name. Our deity, that is. We just know he exists and is the reason we survived the Moonless Era.” She’d pass it to Nylah for her to hold. “As for The Death goddess…” She lowered her voice, briefly glancing over her shoulders despite there being quite obviously no one else in the cabin. “We say the rest of the gods are lesser spirits born from our nameless deity when he fell from the heavens, his body was formed into these lesser Spirits. But the Death Goddess? She existed before him and if you believe the elder, had a direct hand in creating the Moonless Era and seeks to kill our deity once more. That’s all I’m saying.” She’d fall silent, seemingly nervously scratching the back of her head. “Uh, sorry I’m gonna take a walk. Hate talking about this, but one more thing. Do not mention her name here, outsider. That’s a good way to get every Yaga to want you to leave. Say she hears every time her name is spoken and we don’t want to try any attention from her.”

Jivka

***Why the Krysa are at the Yaga Village and are attacking Mie -

Something has the Krysa spooked.” A brusque reply the Yaga ignored the snow starting to fall, leading the three towards a small house towards the middle of the village. “Someone trying to attack one of their wisemen or something? I dunno. They blame that merchant that travels through here around this time.”

Jivka

***About Novak:

First, I know that I don't look the part of one of Mie's people. I originally wasn't- I was just some nobody that her caravan picked up, and she was gracious enough to allow me to earn a living working for her. She sent me to sneak out since I'm neither an Oni nor a Chagawa human, thus they have no reason to suspect that I'm with her."

Novak

***Mie's Caravan Situation Information As Acquired from Novak:

"I presume Haruno already filled you in as to what our situation is. Nothing's changed since she left- we're still holding out, but our food is running low and we need to get this resolved one way or the other. However, I did manage to learn some rather interesting things on my way here. The Krysa woman you saw me with, Lady Marushka, is with the Office of Internal Peace. She's acting on direct orders from the Tsarita herself, hunting some "person of interest" in the snowfields. I also overheard a mention from her guards about the life of someone important being threatened. Sir something...Ost...no...Osh...Ozven, that's it. Sir Ozven, they said."

Novak

***

***

***

Nylah Skills

-{Enthralling Dust} (Racial): Mothraki produce a potent pollen like dust upon their wings. Merely by existing they spread this where they go, though it's mostly harmless if not inhaled in large quantities. Causes hallucinations and dulls one's senses. As one may expect, people tend to frown upon this sort of thing.

-{Journeyman Light Magic}: A magic encompassing pure light and illumination, ranging from harmless orbs to light up one’s path all the way up to rays/beams of light as attacks to even light barriers and other light constructs such as swords and spears and shields and so forth. A versatile magic that does not call upon the fire of the sun, but does have its myriad uses and capabilities.

-{Novice Herbalist}: Non-magical practices of a healer, ranging from identifying or figuring out the use of new herbs and recognizing familiar ones, to making things like certain poultices and healing-based alchemy/potion-making, to how to handle wounds/injuries and such using these things.

Nylah Inventory

-{Herbalist's Bag}: A simple leather bag with a well-built shoulder strap, that is filled with a good number of many types of herbs, a good amount of bandages, and finally tools to make tonics, poultices, and potions alongside a scare few pre-prepared ones that are within the bag itself. She usually wears it around most of the time. (EDIT: Has refilled her supplies, with three one total healing pots remaining now. Also now has four three vials of baby-chameleon-thing poison.)

-{Small Knife}: A gift from her mother, made with a smoothed-out bone handle and treated with certain oils, mainly used to help cut things like vines and plants when out collecting herbs and so forth. Also a very niche emergency self-defense tool.

-{Food}: A small pouch sitting on her opposite hip that contains a few strips of preserved game meat and a few dried edible herbs from the local area. Not much in amount, since it was meant to be snacks for heading into the woods to gather herbs before 'that' happened.

-{Wristband}: A simple little bracelet made of pretty stones dyed in various colors, carefully having had a hole made through each, sitting on a band made of twisted and treated leather strips. Worn on her left wrist and given as a gift to her by her mother. How long it took to acquire or even make is unknown.

-{Cuteness}: She is a definitely cute moth girl. This is inherent to her existence. Yes.

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

Eliana, The Cosmic Gypsy

And

Kiyome, The Draconic Protector

The Cosmic Gypsy Stats

Eliana

Age: 16 | Gender: Female | Cosmic
Average | Third Eye | Horror (Thos)
Disguise Artifact, Enhanced Weapon, Interdimensional Tourist, Absolute Direction, Ally, Awareness, Watcher

Reasonable, Minions, Mana Font, Retrieval, Transportation | Insomnia, Quick Tempered, Health Sapping, Fearsome Reputation

STR: 03 | AGI: 03 | VIT: 04 | MAG: 04 | LCK: 03

STR: 3 | AGI: 3 | VIT: 6 | MAG: 20 | LCK: 9

Coins: None

Draconic Protector Stats

Kiyome

Age: 16 | Gender: Female | Time, Space
Underdeveloped | Focused Assault, Regeneration | Horror (Thos)
Precognition, Monstrous Metamorphosis, Big Damn Hero, Enhanced Weapon, Immortality

Reasonable, Marked, Mana Font, Minions, Retrieval, Magical Overload | Insomnia, Quick Tempered, Health Sapping, Fearsome Reputation, Monstrous Form
Thick Skin, Second Specialization (Oddball: Space)| Hoarder, Broken Reincarnation

STR: 3 | AGI: 2 | VIT: 3 | MAG: 4 | LCK: 3

STR: 6 | AGI: 2 | VIT: 16 | MAG: 12 | LCK: 6

Coins: None

---

The dragon landed on her broken legs with a reflexive wince and mild gritting of her teeth, though standing on her knees she didn't allow herself to fall flat on the ground either. As the golden road dissolved into nothingness once more, and the emerald fountain disappeared once more, her eyes fell on the limp corpse and rolling head on the ground. Turns out this thing wasn't in Kansas anymore, or anywhere else of worth now. Kiyome then looked back at Akhenaten and Nefer before giving an affirming yet thankful nod to the duo.

"Bothersome little pest that was, but in the end it died like the rest anyway.

My thanks for helping me avoid becoming roadkill, and in finishing this thing off. Couldn't have done anything there without you two coming in when you did."

With a light grunt, then, the monster girl then conjured a pair of Horror Minions with one on either side of her. They would each support one of the dragon girl's arms, helping transport her toward the interior of the town. It would be an effective means of transport, at least, though she'd have to use magic to help them more swiftly move past danger due to the invading Spades. Even from a distance the swordswoman could tell the back lines had been penetrated, frustratingly so, as she silently huffed at it all.

Her mistress was not someone who couldn't fight, but the whole situation was becoming worse and worse by the second and she didn't like it. And no obvious route of retreat for civilians seemed to exist either, from what she'd seen thus far, to boot. Bah. Poor logistics was always frustrating to deal with. Even so, new arrivals seemed to be doing some good against the other monsters of note as the obvious giant death robot rampaged about and so forth. At this point she would look back at the duo who had assisted her rather vitally once more as she began to move toward her new destination.

"I'm heading back to see if I can at least help against the mooks getting inside the backlines. I won't be much good against the big ones out here as I am right now anyway."

That was all there was to it really. Truth be told it would be better use working on the mook situation if she could, and having enough magic reserves to spare would assist in that. Frankly making sure her mistress was ok was her top priority regardless of the situation here otherwise. In that vein she'd give silent commands to the minions carrying her back into town...though she'd conjured a couple more minions otherwise as she moved along and give them a proper verbal command.

"You two, tear off those feet off right now and bring them to me intact so I can get those slippers off and keep them. Then stay close and screen against the enemies for us as we go in to find Mistress Eliana."

...Sometimes, there wasn't going to be a golden path going all the way home. Just an old brick road paved with false promises and dangers ready to chew you up along the way. But once you chose a path, all that was left was to keep walking that road until its end one way or another. But she'd take the deceased armless girl's magical slippers as a prize and store them on her person for now, at least, as she continued on her way without skipping a beat.

Well, not literally skipping for obvious reasons, but she wasn't going to take a pause in the middle of all of this either. There was work to be done. Besides, she would conjure more horror minions within the town as or when she came into contact with Spades. Flying minions and standard ground ones alike would be perfect to sick on the foolish enemy soldiers in her mind.

---

Eliana briefly grit her teeth as she flung up a smaller barrier around the place the unconscious civilians had been placed inside of, using her magic to pull Tina, Ellen, and Alex into the barrier's protection as well. The cosmic gypsy would move closer to the three as she put in the effort to strengthen her own barrier, adding layers and more magical power to it as time went on to shore it up more and more. A repulsing dark energy magical barrier that'd send projectiles and enemy troops flying away and unable to get in. Stronger than her larger barrier, though it being notably smaller made this easier to empower and improve at least. By the time Alex zoomed out to fight alongside an enraged Lilly, Eliana moved to stand right next to Tina and the (hopefully now patched-up somewhat by Alex) Ellen.

"Please get inside with the civilians! I'll strengthen and hold up this barrier as much as I can to keep them out from here!"

And she's do that, both improving/strengthening the barrier by pumping in more magic and magical energy as well as improve things by adding additional layers to said barrier as well. All with the aim of putting in as much as she could to improve the defensive qualities of the barrier and its magic. She would protect these lives with her very life, just as she'd always done!

Even so she would quickly use her Absolute Direction to get quick check of the location of her compatriot, however, revealing that Kiyome's sword (the object she was in this instance using the skill to locate and knew about rather well) was getting increasingly closer. Good. She was alive! Thanks the stars. Perhaps she'd be able to assist against the Spades in the town as well!

@Ariamis@Majoras End@Card Captor

---

---

Serenity Gates

Serenity Header

Serenity

Age: 16 | Gender: Female | Time
Overdeveloped | Tentacles | Beacon (The Beacon)
Dual Weapon, Sorcery, Environmental Sealing, Patron Interference, Oujou-sama

Perfect Life, Shinespark, Mystic Might | Vow of Humanity, Excommunication

STR: 3 | AGI: 3 | VIT: 4 | MAG: 4 | LCK: 3

STR: 5 | AGI: 10 | VIT: 9 | MAG: 23 | LCK: 7

Coins: 2 silver

---

Hyun was certainly someone who stood by their point of view, at least, and held firm enough on it. At least from what the magical maid could tell thus far. The other girl likewise seemed rather committed to the Beacon and its ideals as well. That much was at least a good sign of sorts, perhaps, when it came down to looking at the potential danger of someone like her 'relapsing' as it were. Well, potentially relapsing. She'd heard a few things at Headquarters about the matter whilst she'd been there, both before and after her 'surprise' upon arrival and after she'd been bailed out proper.

Redemption was not something lightly given either. Much less finding mercy in a world neither of them had shown any to in the past. That much was for certain. Especially with an organization as 'vehement' about their mission as the Beacon was, where those such as the Inquisition frankly existed as a body in the first place as part of achieving that mission in the first place. At the same time, however, she'd found new friends...people who seemed to see her as herself, really, rather than as some repository of incredibly eldritch knowledge and data that would madden anyone else exposed to it too directly.

...She still wanted to ask Cardinal Ishtar later about what had happened at HQ. Her sudden illegal seizure and incarceration and such, etc. But right now wasn't the time for that.

"Well I can certainly say this outfit wasn't my personal choice at least. HQ gave me a Red Coin as part of some compensation for what happened after I first arrived there. The magic in the coin did the rest really, along with another unintended side consequence of the gift...just as long as a certain name isn't mentioned aloud it won't rear its head I hope."

She let out a small sigh, the sound of 'that voice' echoing in her head from memories, before a small smile came to her face and her tone turned more upbeat. No, now was not the time to think about that. Please no.

"I do look forward to working together with you as well, Hyun, and I mean that. Harsh sounding or not, though, you are right that we both are on the road to redemption and earning Beacon's respect...myself far more so than most could ever imagine I think. And I will continue to see that reality of my situation every day and night without a doubt.

Though in truth, I'm glad to have friends here who I can trust and help along their own paths too. I don't often feel I deserve such a thing, anything like that at all even, and yet they chose to extend a hand to me anyway. For that...for them being that light of hope shining in the darkness of what I came into at first...for that I'll be eternally grateful to them.

And perhaps we can one day be friends as well, eh?"

It sounded so sappy. So stupidly sappy and optimistic, like it came out of some random anime or cheap TV show. But she meant it all the same. Alicia, Aurelio, even Penny. Others had extended a hand to her, giving her a light of hope even in the great darkness she'd found herself mentally trapped in after becoming human. She'd feared just being abused and killed by others from day one, and was even more unused to being human. Was that fear all gone? No...not really. But she had persevered thus far, learned some, grown some she hoped, and would do nothing but her best to move forward no matter what came or what happened along the way.

Just one thing, one day, and one step at a time. They'd get there one day! She knew it.

But for now, she hoped they'd get to Bolorton in time to actually help do anything for those being attacked there. Beacon and Wonderland seemed on edgy enough terms as it was already. They were a messy enemy to handle for sure.

@Shifter_Master@Flamelord@Ariamis

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Nylah

---

Death? Hallucinations? That wasn't any sort of small side effects to be sure, much less ones to speak so nonchalantly about, yet at the same time Nylah would listen on silently as she picked a good number of leaves for herself as well. She would need to dedicate this all to memory, get it all written down and such later perhaps. Just more ingredients too carefully add to her pouch for the time being though. More to look into, maybe see. If something could be used to lower the risks of these leaves, then perhaps the effects of making the body stronger could be integrated in smaller amounts into some kind of safer medicine? Maybe. It was a thought at least, even if it was an experimental one.

She would be curious to see how Jivka created the particular potion these leaves were associated with, at any rate, and would turn to look at the yaga and give an affirming nod to her offer.

...And then came the final thing.

“You ever heard of ‘Shalfey Blossom’?”

"Legend says its a cure-all for most physical maladies and can be used to make life-extending potions.”

The Mothraki suddenly froze in place for a moment, the shock of the news a bit jolting as Jivka continued. Shalfey Blossom. A cure-all? Life-extending potions? It sounded too good to be true, and yet Jivka had garnered Nylah's full and undivided attention even more so by simply mentioning it.

She would, however, attempt to loosen herself back up and 'relax' again before speaking to the other girl. Control her breathing, get her focus back on the person in front of her, etc. At the same time, however, the chance that she could...yes. She had to learn more. Understand more. Even if it only did so much, a building block toward a proper solution of 'that' was far better than nothing.

"I...haven't heard of it before, really. But you have me curious. What else does your people's legends say about it?"

And its location among those other details as well perhaps. Or potential locations if nothing else. Maybe places it used to or does grow? Whatever she knew, but without trying to be too intrusive or adamant about things. Just keep it to normal conversation. Yes. Because she was rather curious about it now indeed.

@Rune_Alchemist

Personal Info Hider For Nylah

-Herbs/Herbalism Knowledge:

***Herbs Around the village of Dawn.

Kyr Reed acted as a sort of coagulant as well as sedative. Made people calmer…not particularly useful for treating frostbite on its own, but it was useful for staunching bleeding or injuries. Could be crushed into a paste with a variety of other things to achieve various effects. Wind-Leaf acted as more of a stimulant. When properly mixed with Kyr Reed it made salves and healing poultices good for bolstering the immune system and promoting natural healing. Coral Moss and Slug mucus were a bit harder to find, since the slugs only could be found in shallow water during the day, with Coral Moss being found in damp sea caves off the coast near the Goddess Spear. Slug Mucus was good for making topical salves for alleviating pain, while Coral Moss, when exposed to certain other substances actually heated itself to temperatures good for gentle rewarming of frost-bitten areas.

***Making anesthetics and preparing healing potions and salves.

It’d be easy enough to prepare both of those things especially with the things she had on hand. Fresh water for a base, crush the ingredients, then boil it to a broth. Simple enough, they didn’t have time to refine it. The Salves could be made by taking the same ingredients and crushing them into a paste without the water. Better for topical use on flesh wounds.

***Herbs In Yaga Territory

“A lotta the plants here you’ll have to dig a bit in the snow for.” She’d say. “They grow pretty well. Others you might find growing along the trees or even in some rocks. Just pay attention…like this one.” She’d say, using her foot to kick aside a pile of snow. Under it was a small plant, an herb with a fairly big root and small, three pronged leaves. “This one is a pretty potent poison. Makes an animals muscles lock up so they can’t move.” Jivka would lead Nylah through the forest for quite a while, pointing out a number of different plants and herbs. One could be used to induce vomiting - helpful for making someone spitup anything toxic they ate. A particular purple leafed plant was a pretty powerful hallucinogen and was sometimes used in yaga rituals, apparently.

“My favorite though is this one.” Jivka moved to a vine that was growing around a tree, pulling off one of the bright red flowers from it. “Oros leaf, we call it. If made right, it can really help one get stronger physically…well, if ya know survive the side effects. A number of the top Yagan hunters have to drink a draught made of this stuff to be recognized by all clans as anything more than a simple warrior.”

“When you first drink it, well…the body can have a particularly adverse reaction to it. Death. Hallucinations. Most first timers tend to get a bit rowdy and pick a fight with everyone, ahaha.” Jivka laughed nonchalantly. “Buuut eventually you’ll get used to it, and it makes the body stronger. Helps if you fight or work out during the high, ya know.” She’d pluck a few leaves from the vines. “Makes some people a bit more aggressive, though, if they’re a bad fit for it. Gotta mix it with a couple other things back home, too. I could show ya if you want.” The yaga would stuff the leaf into some of her pouches, likely to make more later.

Jivka

***

***

***

***

-Acquired Lore/World Knowledge:

***Yaga Deity + Yaga Perspective On Rifelshka -

and slowly running her thumb across it. “It doesn’t have a name. Our deity, that is. We just know he exists and is the reason we survived the Moonless Era.” She’d pass it to Nylah for her to hold. “As for The Death goddess…” She lowered her voice, briefly glancing over her shoulders despite there being quite obviously no one else in the cabin. “We say the rest of the gods are lesser spirits born from our nameless deity when he fell from the heavens, his body was formed into these lesser Spirits. But the Death Goddess? She existed before him and if you believe the elder, had a direct hand in creating the Moonless Era and seeks to kill our deity once more. That’s all I’m saying.” She’d fall silent, seemingly nervously scratching the back of her head. “Uh, sorry I’m gonna take a walk. Hate talking about this, but one more thing. Do not mention her name here, outsider. That’s a good way to get every Yaga to want you to leave. Say she hears every time her name is spoken and we don’t want to try any attention from her.”

Jivka

***Why the Krysa are at the Yaga Village and are attacking Mie -

Something has the Krysa spooked.” A brusque reply the Yaga ignored the snow starting to fall, leading the three towards a small house towards the middle of the village. “Someone trying to attack one of their wisemen or something? I dunno. They blame that merchant that travels through here around this time.”

Jivka

***About Novak:

First, I know that I don't look the part of one of Mie's people. I originally wasn't- I was just some nobody that her caravan picked up, and she was gracious enough to allow me to earn a living working for her. She sent me to sneak out since I'm neither an Oni nor a Chagawa human, thus they have no reason to suspect that I'm with her."

Novak

***Mie's Caravan Situation Information As Acquired from Novak:

"I presume Haruno already filled you in as to what our situation is. Nothing's changed since she left- we're still holding out, but our food is running low and we need to get this resolved one way or the other. However, I did manage to learn some rather interesting things on my way here. The Krysa woman you saw me with, Lady Marushka, is with the Office of Internal Peace. She's acting on direct orders from the Tsarita herself, hunting some "person of interest" in the snowfields. I also overheard a mention from her guards about the life of someone important being threatened. Sir something...Ost...no...Osh...Ozven, that's it. Sir Ozven, they said."

Novak

***

***

***

Nylah Skills

-{Enthralling Dust} (Racial): Mothraki produce a potent pollen like dust upon their wings. Merely by existing they spread this where they go, though it's mostly harmless if not inhaled in large quantities. Causes hallucinations and dulls one's senses. As one may expect, people tend to frown upon this sort of thing.

-{Journeyman Light Magic}: A magic encompassing pure light and illumination, ranging from harmless orbs to light up one’s path all the way up to rays/beams of light as attacks to even light barriers and other light constructs such as swords and spears and shields and so forth. A versatile magic that does not call upon the fire of the sun, but does have its myriad uses and capabilities.

-{Novice Herbalist}: Non-magical practices of a healer, ranging from identifying or figuring out the use of new herbs and recognizing familiar ones, to making things like certain poultices and healing-based alchemy/potion-making, to how to handle wounds/injuries and such using these things.

Nylah Inventory

-{Herbalist's Bag}: A simple leather bag with a well-built shoulder strap, that is filled with a good number of many types of herbs, a good amount of bandages, and finally tools to make tonics, poultices, and potions alongside a scare few pre-prepared ones that are within the bag itself. She usually wears it around most of the time. (EDIT: Has refilled her supplies, with three one total healing pots remaining now. Also now has four three vials of baby-chameleon-thing poison.)

-{Small Knife}: A gift from her mother, made with a smoothed-out bone handle and treated with certain oils, mainly used to help cut things like vines and plants when out collecting herbs and so forth. Also a very niche emergency self-defense tool.

-{Food}: A small pouch sitting on her opposite hip that contains a few strips of preserved game meat and a few dried edible herbs from the local area. Not much in amount, since it was meant to be snacks for heading into the woods to gather herbs before 'that' happened.

-{Wristband}: A simple little bracelet made of pretty stones dyed in various colors, carefully having had a hole made through each, sitting on a band made of twisted and treated leather strips. Worn on her left wrist and given as a gift to her by her mother. How long it took to acquire or even make is unknown.

-{Cuteness}: She is a definitely cute moth girl. This is inherent to her existence. Yes.

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Nylah

---

The Mothraki felt a certain sense of fascination as she and Jivka made their way into and through the woods around the Yaga village. Indeed, along the way the girl would take careful mental notes, as well as try to gather a large amount of samples of what Jivka showed her along the way. Er, not trying to take everything from the forest mind. Just a big bunch to bring home, maybe even grow a couple of them if she could get them back home to! Yeah. Well, maybe at least. Her gathering along the way also wasn't so obsessive as to slow them down too much either, but enough to try to get as much as she reasonably could for potential future use and so forth.

If she had a choice, she'd fill her pouch of herbs with as many of these picked ingredients as she could! Within reason. Of course she would be at the same time trying to be as mindful as she could to properly separate things like poisonous things and medicinal ones, to avoid cross-contamination, though for all she knew even a poison could have its uses medicinally. At least based on what she knew from Miss Calra thus far, as little as that was...but still! She wanted to become a better herbalist. A better magic user. Better able to help, to heal, to cure, and to fight. And this was just another step on that road, as well as a step closer toward her ultimate goal.

...That one person just needed to hold on a bit longer. Just until she could find something useful for that strange malady. Please. It meant the world to her.

And then, after that, they could finally talk about all the things they never got to say or finish back then.

But for now, she was almost happy to be temporarily removed from the current crisis situation going on. Not that it all could be rushed to some perfect ending, but a small and real breather would perhaps help her own mind with handling it all later. Once they got back of course.

As Jivka pulled down the vine with red flowers, Nylah did her best to keep her wings from fluttering in barely-restrained excitement. She'd been fascinated with everything Jivka was showing and teaching her thus far, rather visibly and even audibly so, and on top of the semi-obsessive sample gathering she'd done along the way she was perhaps very much in her element for a change. Or at least removed from how she'd been back at Jivka and her sister's place.

The Mothraki then moved closer too what Jivka was trying to show her, gingerly and delicately running her fingers over the petals of the flower, all before looking at the others still attached to the vine. She then looked back at Jivka, her eyes beaming with a certain sense of wonder and excitement even now. Whether it all came off as 'adorable and cute' (her natural cuteness was already definitely a thing indeed) or decidedly 'not' cute, though, would be entirely up to the Yaga who had agreed to escort her out there. Yet if nothing else Nylah was doing her best to be a rather eager and attentive student indeed.

"It's beautiful as well! Though what are the side effects?"

Yeah, those could be a worry for its potential use. On the other hand, this was all just part of the learning process as well. No herb or such was perfect. Just like people, really, now that she thought about it.

@Rune_Alchemist

((Two more small inflatable full moon balls are thrown into the dialogue box, again, for no good reason.))

Personal Info Hider For Nylah

-Herbs/Herbalism Knowledge:

***Herbs Around the village of Dawn.

Kyr Reed acted as a sort of coagulant as well as sedative. Made people calmer…not particularly useful for treating frostbite on its own, but it was useful for staunching bleeding or injuries. Could be crushed into a paste with a variety of other things to achieve various effects. Wind-Leaf acted as more of a stimulant. When properly mixed with Kyr Reed it made salves and healing poultices good for bolstering the immune system and promoting natural healing. Coral Moss and Slug mucus were a bit harder to find, since the slugs only could be found in shallow water during the day, with Coral Moss being found in damp sea caves off the coast near the Goddess Spear. Slug Mucus was good for making topical salves for alleviating pain, while Coral Moss, when exposed to certain other substances actually heated itself to temperatures good for gentle rewarming of frost-bitten areas.

***Making anesthetics and preparing healing potions and salves.

It’d be easy enough to prepare both of those things especially with the things she had on hand. Fresh water for a base, crush the ingredients, then boil it to a broth. Simple enough, they didn’t have time to refine it. The Salves could be made by taking the same ingredients and crushing them into a paste without the water. Better for topical use on flesh wounds.

***Herbs In Yaga Territory

“A lotta the plants here you’ll have to dig a bit in the snow for.” She’d say. “They grow pretty well. Others you might find growing along the trees or even in some rocks. Just pay attention…like this one.” She’d say, using her foot to kick aside a pile of snow. Under it was a small plant, an herb with a fairly big root and small, three pronged leaves. “This one is a pretty potent poison. Makes an animals muscles lock up so they can’t move.” Jivka would lead Nylah through the forest for quite a while, pointing out a number of different plants and herbs. One could be used to induce vomiting - helpful for making someone spitup anything toxic they ate. A particular purple leafed plant was a pretty powerful hallucinogen and was sometimes used in yaga rituals, apparently.

“My favorite though is this one.” Jivka moved to a vine that was growing around a tree, pulling off one of the bright red flowers from it. “Oros leaf, we call it. If made right, it can really help one get stronger physically…well, if ya know survive the side effects. A number of the top Yagan hunters have to drink a draught made of this stuff to be recognized by all clans as anything more than a simple warrior.”

Jivka

***

***

***

***

-Acquired Lore/World Knowledge:

***Yaga Deity + Yaga Perspective On Rifelshka -

and slowly running her thumb across it. “It doesn’t have a name. Our deity, that is. We just know he exists and is the reason we survived the Moonless Era.” She’d pass it to Nylah for her to hold. “As for The Death goddess…” She lowered her voice, briefly glancing over her shoulders despite there being quite obviously no one else in the cabin. “We say the rest of the gods are lesser spirits born from our nameless deity when he fell from the heavens, his body was formed into these lesser Spirits. But the Death Goddess? She existed before him and if you believe the elder, had a direct hand in creating the Moonless Era and seeks to kill our deity once more. That’s all I’m saying.” She’d fall silent, seemingly nervously scratching the back of her head. “Uh, sorry I’m gonna take a walk. Hate talking about this, but one more thing. Do not mention her name here, outsider. That’s a good way to get every Yaga to want you to leave. Say she hears every time her name is spoken and we don’t want to try any attention from her.”

Jivka

***Why the Krysa are at the Yaga Village and are attacking Mie -

Something has the Krysa spooked.” A brusque reply the Yaga ignored the snow starting to fall, leading the three towards a small house towards the middle of the village. “Someone trying to attack one of their wisemen or something? I dunno. They blame that merchant that travels through here around this time.”

Jivka

***About Novak:

First, I know that I don't look the part of one of Mie's people. I originally wasn't- I was just some nobody that her caravan picked up, and she was gracious enough to allow me to earn a living working for her. She sent me to sneak out since I'm neither an Oni nor a Chagawa human, thus they have no reason to suspect that I'm with her."

Novak

***Mie's Caravan Situation Information As Acquired from Novak:

"I presume Haruno already filled you in as to what our situation is. Nothing's changed since she left- we're still holding out, but our food is running low and we need to get this resolved one way or the other. However, I did manage to learn some rather interesting things on my way here. The Krysa woman you saw me with, Lady Marushka, is with the Office of Internal Peace. She's acting on direct orders from the Tsarita herself, hunting some "person of interest" in the snowfields. I also overheard a mention from her guards about the life of someone important being threatened. Sir something...Ost...no...Osh...Ozven, that's it. Sir Ozven, they said."

Novak

***

***

***

Nylah Skills

-{Enthralling Dust} (Racial): Mothraki produce a potent pollen like dust upon their wings. Merely by existing they spread this where they go, though it's mostly harmless if not inhaled in large quantities. Causes hallucinations and dulls one's senses. As one may expect, people tend to frown upon this sort of thing.

-{Journeyman Light Magic}: A magic encompassing pure light and illumination, ranging from harmless orbs to light up one’s path all the way up to rays/beams of light as attacks to even light barriers and other light constructs such as swords and spears and shields and so forth. A versatile magic that does not call upon the fire of the sun, but does have its myriad uses and capabilities.

-{Novice Herbalist}: Non-magical practices of a healer, ranging from identifying or figuring out the use of new herbs and recognizing familiar ones, to making things like certain poultices and healing-based alchemy/potion-making, to how to handle wounds/injuries and such using these things.

Nylah Inventory

-{Herbalist's Bag}: A simple leather bag with a well-built shoulder strap, that is filled with a good number of many types of herbs, a good amount of bandages, and finally tools to make tonics, poultices, and potions alongside a scare few pre-prepared ones that are within the bag itself. She usually wears it around most of the time. (EDIT: Has refilled her supplies, with three one total healing pots remaining now. Also now has four three vials of baby-chameleon-thing poison.)

-{Small Knife}: A gift from her mother, made with a smoothed-out bone handle and treated with certain oils, mainly used to help cut things like vines and plants when out collecting herbs and so forth. Also a very niche emergency self-defense tool.

-{Food}: A small pouch sitting on her opposite hip that contains a few strips of preserved game meat and a few dried edible herbs from the local area. Not much in amount, since it was meant to be snacks for heading into the woods to gather herbs before 'that' happened.

-{Wristband}: A simple little bracelet made of pretty stones dyed in various colors, carefully having had a hole made through each, sitting on a band made of twisted and treated leather strips. Worn on her left wrist and given as a gift to her by her mother. How long it took to acquire or even make is unknown.

-{Cuteness}: She is a definitely cute moth girl. This is inherent to her existence. Yes.

I Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game, But———?! (Now Accepting)

Lydianna Schaffen

Oh dear. The young mistress was off in the crowd somewhere, she just knew it! Not that this Serrica was anyone who would shirk from such a thing...much less apologize for it. A far call from the Serrica of the game proper to be sure, and far more financially savvy in what felt like a meta sense to boot, but she'd become accustomed to it all over the years here since her own arrival. Or, well, awakening? It was hard to pin down a word for it all. Even so, she was happy to serve and tag along here for the chance to fulfil her own aspirations.

Magic! Real Magic! This was an academy for the elite, but if she could glean and learn anything it would be superb. She'd also have to try a couple things she remembered about it from the game to boot. Whatever came, she would indulge her new life and live it to the fullest and best that she could! Yet how the eventual letter from Lord Haldblum would change anything, if it did at all, would certainly be something to see in the future. But until that time, she would at least take advantage of her current position in things if nothing else.

...However, this also mean attending to her cousin-mistress, or whoever she was this time around, as best she could as well. And to that end she was calling out whilst searching for her amidst the throng, nearly on her tiptoes as she tried to peer up to find that trademark head of orange hair.

"Mistress Serrica? Mistress Serrica?"

She was shoved aside enough times as it was along the way, of course, but she was used to the treatment by other nobility. Well, those who hadn't had her cooking at least. That much had gained her a sort of rather good reputation as a maid thus far, at least with guests of her mistress and mistress' parents in the past. Something to be proud of perhaps, but-

SLAM

She never saw who it was, but someone else sent her bowling back onto the ground by running into her. Lydianna fell flat on her back and side, wincing in pain as she made contact with the ground. But none paid any mind, it seemed, to her position, and as she did her best to at least get up onto her hands and knees she felt a slight warmth come to her eyes and flush into her face. It was humiliating...stupid crowds. Then her eyes would look up, landing on a familiar-looking someone walking in her general direction.

...Oh.

Her legs would bend to the sides as she sat up a bit more on her knees and tried to wave at said someone, before likewise starting to call out to them.

"M-Miss! Miss!"

She called out to the girl, one with uniquely peculiar violet eyes, short-cut hair, and seemingly in possession of a general beauty to her as if by design. Well, technically it was by design. Game design. Wasn't hard to recognize her as the girl who was supposed to be the heroine of the entire tale, after all, even if Lydianna herself was just trying to do her job right now.

But right now all she was seeking was a little bit of help for the moment, if possible...

@VitaVitaAR

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Nylah

---

The Mothraki would also carefully examine the shape and size of the dried leaves that Jivka was showing her at the moment as well. Her hands would very carefully and gingerly handle them to get a better look, before laying each bundle back down in turn right where Jivka had placed them. She did not want to damage or crumble up what Jivka and her sister needed here for themselves after all. Indeed Nylah was grateful that she at least knew how to carefully handle something like this after her training so far with Miss Calra.

“If you want, I could show you some. Got nothin’ better to do right now and if I get any more bored I’ll probably go crack a rat skull or two.”

Jivka

W-Well, if it kept the other girl out of potential trouble at least...

"I'd be delighted to learn, Jivka!"

Nylah genuinely seemed to perk up a bit more excitedly at the prospect of getting to learn more about the local herbs. Not to mention the potential to pick some along the way to boot perhaps.

It would certainly be something to get her closer to what she wanted most to get done in all of this, but was also something that she wanted to learn about in general. Perhaps secondarily a chance to see more of the local area too, she supposed, and if they got lucky they could see something or overhear it maybe? But, eh, that was not the primary reason for agreeing to such an outing as this in all honesty. Didn't want to try to get too far ahead before they all could meet back up and talk again about what they'd learned or such.

Then perhaps they could figure out another move before things got even worse around here. Eventually maybe even meet up with Mie and her people somehow, though doing such without causing themselves or the Yaga any more Krysa troubles would certainly be an issue in and of itself. Ugh.

@Rune_Alchemist

((A small inflatable full moon ball is thrown into the dialogue box for no good reason.))

Personal Info Hider For Nylah

-Herbs/Herbalism Knowledge:

***Kyr Reed acted as a sort of coagulant as well as sedative. Made people calmer…not particularly useful for treating frostbite on its own, but it was useful for staunching bleeding or injuries. Could be crushed into a paste with a variety of other things to achieve various effects. Wind-Leaf acted as more of a stimulant. When properly mixed with Kyr Reed it made salves and healing poultices good for bolstering the immune system and promoting natural healing. Coral Moss and Slug mucus were a bit harder to find, since the slugs only could be found in shallow water during the day, with Coral Moss being found in damp sea caves off the coast near the Goddess Spear. Slug Mucus was good for making topical salves for alleviating pain, while Coral Moss, when exposed to certain other substances actually heated itself to temperatures good for gentle rewarming of frost-bitten areas.

***Making anesthetics and preparing healing potions and salves.

It’d be easy enough to prepare both of those things especially with the things she had on hand. Fresh water for a base, crush the ingredients, then boil it to a broth. Simple enough, they didn’t have time to refine it. The Salves could be made by taking the same ingredients and crushing them into a paste without the water. Better for topical use on flesh wounds.

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-Acquired Lore/World Knowledge:

***Yaga Deity + Yaga Perspective On Rifelshka -

and slowly running her thumb across it. “It doesn’t have a name. Our deity, that is. We just know he exists and is the reason we survived the Moonless Era.” She’d pass it to Nylah for her to hold. “As for The Death goddess…” She lowered her voice, briefly glancing over her shoulders despite there being quite obviously no one else in the cabin. “We say the rest of the gods are lesser spirits born from our nameless deity when he fell from the heavens, his body was formed into these lesser Spirits. But the Death Goddess? She existed before him and if you believe the elder, had a direct hand in creating the Moonless Era and seeks to kill our deity once more. That’s all I’m saying.” She’d fall silent, seemingly nervously scratching the back of her head. “Uh, sorry I’m gonna take a walk. Hate talking about this, but one more thing. Do not mention her name here, outsider. That’s a good way to get every Yaga to want you to leave. Say she hears every time her name is spoken and we don’t want to try any attention from her.”

Jivka

***Why the Krysa are at the Yaga Village and are attacking Mie -

Something has the Krysa spooked.” A brusque reply the Yaga ignored the snow starting to fall, leading the three towards a small house towards the middle of the village. “Someone trying to attack one of their wisemen or something? I dunno. They blame that merchant that travels through here around this time.”

Jivka

***About Novak:

First, I know that I don't look the part of one of Mie's people. I originally wasn't- I was just some nobody that her caravan picked up, and she was gracious enough to allow me to earn a living working for her. She sent me to sneak out since I'm neither an Oni nor a Chagawa human, thus they have no reason to suspect that I'm with her."

Novak

***Mie's Caravan Situation Information As Acquired from Novak:

"I presume Haruno already filled you in as to what our situation is. Nothing's changed since she left- we're still holding out, but our food is running low and we need to get this resolved one way or the other. However, I did manage to learn some rather interesting things on my way here. The Krysa woman you saw me with, Lady Marushka, is with the Office of Internal Peace. She's acting on direct orders from the Tsarita herself, hunting some "person of interest" in the snowfields. I also overheard a mention from her guards about the life of someone important being threatened. Sir something...Ost...no...Osh...Ozven, that's it. Sir Ozven, they said."

Novak

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Nylah Skills

-{Enthralling Dust} (Racial): Mothraki produce a potent pollen like dust upon their wings. Merely by existing they spread this where they go, though it's mostly harmless if not inhaled in large quantities. Causes hallucinations and dulls one's senses. As one may expect, people tend to frown upon this sort of thing.

-{Journeyman Light Magic}: A magic encompassing pure light and illumination, ranging from harmless orbs to light up one’s path all the way up to rays/beams of light as attacks to even light barriers and other light constructs such as swords and spears and shields and so forth. A versatile magic that does not call upon the fire of the sun, but does have its myriad uses and capabilities.

-{Novice Herbalist}: Non-magical practices of a healer, ranging from identifying or figuring out the use of new herbs and recognizing familiar ones, to making things like certain poultices and healing-based alchemy/potion-making, to how to handle wounds/injuries and such using these things.

Nylah Inventory

-{Herbalist's Bag}: A simple leather bag with a well-built shoulder strap, that is filled with a good number of many types of herbs, a good amount of bandages, and finally tools to make tonics, poultices, and potions alongside a scare few pre-prepared ones that are within the bag itself. She usually wears it around most of the time. (EDIT: Has refilled her supplies, with three one total healing pots remaining now. Also now has four three vials of baby-chameleon-thing poison.)

-{Small Knife}: A gift from her mother, made with a smoothed-out bone handle and treated with certain oils, mainly used to help cut things like vines and plants when out collecting herbs and so forth. Also a very niche emergency self-defense tool.

-{Food}: A small pouch sitting on her opposite hip that contains a few strips of preserved game meat and a few dried edible herbs from the local area. Not much in amount, since it was meant to be snacks for heading into the woods to gather herbs before 'that' happened.

-{Wristband}: A simple little bracelet made of pretty stones dyed in various colors, carefully having had a hole made through each, sitting on a band made of twisted and treated leather strips. Worn on her left wrist and given as a gift to her by her mother. How long it took to acquire or even make is unknown.

-{Cuteness}: She is a definitely cute moth girl. This is inherent to her existence. Yes.