Well, thing is that a suitably advanced species could find a way to power exodus ships like these Arks without having to dump so much material into them, not to mention most of the space the ship occupies would be dedicated to the dwarf star anyways. During the long voyage, the ships could rely namely on scoops for the intermittent material scattered in the void, and stored reserves. Since most of the inhabitants will be on stasis anyways, and you mentioned that the ships are relying mainly on their initial velocity, the only power the ships would need to expend would be on maintenance.
All that considered, they wouldn't need to be quite as large as you have them now, but could still be relatively sizeable. This is even taking into account that there would only ever be one or two in this galaxy. Bigger is not always better after all.
on top of maintenance you also need to run the stasis field generators for millions of years, so you really need some kind of long lived power-source. Also the arks are suppose to be massive unwieldy monuments of hubris, because the only reason they built them rather than, say, firing hard drives filed with brain blueprints at other galaxy using rail cannons, is their elitist focus on having your original body. That said, I agree that a spacecraft twice the size of Jupiter is excessive so how about:
An ark's primary component is the dwarf star that has sustained it's journey across the void between galaxies. these stars are so small they are on the verge of being classified as gas giants but they are incredibly long lived and stable , making them n ideal source of power for systems requiring eons of operation time. this star is surrounded in a web of energy collectors that harvest heat and light from the dull star to power the stasis units holding it's dwarven passengers, and an array of magnets and shield projectors that hold the star steady in the grasp of the ark. the rear of this rig features a large array of boosters that initial sped up the ark and will also be used to slow it down upon arrival. At the front is the only solid part of the web, a ship/station, known as the Hearth, that is about the size of Germany. the Hearth houses everything the Mayall need to start restart their society in a new galaxy, such as the stasis held Dwarves themselves, backups of Demi minds, cloning equipment, bio material for slave/food production, manufacturing facilities and a vast array of smaller vessels docked in hangers or on it's surface.
also it probably shouldn't be in the military section
@DracoLunaris Most of the app is fine, I actually think the cultural divide resulting from their biotech is pretty neat, as is their extragalactic origins. Only real point of concern is the whole "Ark" thing. Gotta dial it down man, like those things are huge, and you have them as basically military super-weapons if I'm reading it right. My personal take on it is this. The Arks would be fine being rather large(Not nearly as much as you have them now) but only defensively armed. Not equipped enough to take out planets, or fend off entire military fleets, but modestly armed enough to ward off things like pirates or small incursions.
on the fire power I agree that that description is, in hind sight, excessive and a rather un-thematic/illogical design. putting guns on it wastes time/resource that could be put into making another one or making it more lily to survive the trip after all.
as for the size, does the fact that there is only going to be one, possibly two, of them in the narrative/galaxy elevate that issue or would you rather I still shrink them down? If so by how much?
The dwarves are an old race. A proud race. A greedy race. Standing at just over a meter tall they are a stocky race who evolved on a planet 1.5 times the size of earth. Other than being shorter and broader than humans they bear a striking resemblance to the earth born race despite being from an entirely different galaxy.
Demis are 3 salve races based upon Dwarven dna that have been made to fulfil specific roles in Mayall society.
Goblins:
Goblins are the first slave race manufactured by the Dwarves. While the same height as their overlords goblins have been deliberately twisted from their source dna to look as undwarvish as possible. They are hairless with green skin, have pointy ears(something shared by all slaves) beedy yellow eyes and sharp fangs. They were made to perform manual labor, but ever advancing technology means that most now operate machinery instead. They have not been fully replaced by that machinery thanks to their cheapness of production, requiring only raw biomatter to make, and their adaptability to new tasks/work environments. They are slightly stronger than the average dwarf, who are themselves already pint sized powerhouses, and have increased resistance to environmental forces and the pressures of gforce. All of these improvements come at the cost of premature aging, and a goblin only has an operational lifespan of about 30 years if they are treated well. Most aren't.
Psycnoids:
Psycnoids are grey skin goblins with a third eye in the center of their foreheads. All of those eyes feature dark grey sclera,silvery reflective pupils and thin jet black irises. When the materialistic dwarves discovered other races with magical and psionic abilities they grew to both despise and desire their natural born mastery of the universe and sought to use their organic sciences to acquire these powers for themselves. Unlocking their potential was a long and arduous journey, as they seemed to be substantially lacing in whatever traits it was that let these abilities come to others with such ease. The task of empowering dwarven kind was eventually deemed a failure, as all test subjects suffered mental burnout after only a few short years. This was an unacceptable price to pay for the dwarves, but not something they minded implementing in their slaves. Psycnoids then, are the mass produced psionics of the Mayall, created as a combination of untapable communication array and anti psionic defence/detection system. They are not taught how to use their powers offensively, for fear that they would turn this strength against their masters. Psycnoids are also often used as head slaves and personal servants, receiving and executing orders from their masters or doing important errands that can't be trusted to some random goblin or sprite.
Sprites:
A sprite is a 20 cm tall elfine humanoids who have four dragonfly wings growing out of their backs that allow graceful and nimble flight. They have a lifespan of roughly 5 earth years. At some point a dwarven technician looked at the maintenance aisles streaking through their server farm and decided that they were a massive inefficiency that should be reduced as much as possible. The end result of years of tinkering was a reduction of maintenance isles to 30 cm gaps in a room otherwise stacked from floor to ceiling with computer components and the genetic engineering of the 20 cm tall sprites that would use them. With their vertical mobility, a high resistance for both high and low temperatures that let them work in refrigerated rooms and next to overheating circuitry, the tiny creatures were initially used only as repair technicians, but were gradually introduced to other areas as well. Most noticeably they were used in place of AI in drone and robotics technology, as their capability for creativity, adaptability and unpredictability made them useful for combat operations, often been used enmass as pilots of expendable drones and man sized mechas where they could often outperform others artificially commanded drones while also being cheaper to manufacture. These drones are often shaped like the sprites so that they can translate their instinctual and learned flight skills from flesh to machine.
Description of government:
The Mayall are controlled by an immortal oligarchy of CEOs and Shareholders who are in control of the various corporations that have occasionally overlapping monopolies over every part of the Mayall economy. With scant few exceptions most of the citizenship are either employed or contracted by these corporations and generally live in company housing where corporate policy is law. The only real systems of governance that remain are those relating to violence, namely law enforcement and the military, which are used to protect the power of the corporations as a whole inside and outside of the Mayall’s territory respectivly. These are made up predominantly of slaves rented out from various companies and lead by dwarves who, because they are bribed by every single corporation simultaneously, function as neutral neutral arbiters between them and effectively makes the corporations the shareholders of various government organisations.
Description of military:
Arks: the arks are the current center of Mayall existence, both culturally and militarily. Vast spacecraft twice the size of jupiter housing brown dwarf stars at their cores these craft are massive mobile battlestations capable of leveling words with their raw firepower, but as they hose the entire remaining dwarven population are almost never committed militarily and are instead used as launching points for military action, much like aircraft carriers are used in naval warfare.
The arks set the standard for the rest of the Mayall military, with large command ships or vehicles staffed by the dwarven high command directing large swarms of slave troops. In space vast super carries are the center of a fleet, with expendable escorts ships, attack craft and drones all being piloted by slaves.
Planate side operations are no exception. If the dwarves decided to come down to the surface at all they will generally reside in ocean based carriers or in mobile armored command centers in the form of huge mecha or landships capable of rapidly turning local resources into more slaves and equipment. The vast majority of these forces will be goblin infantry who fight with reckless abandon and are armed with equipment that is as disposable and cheaply mass produced as they are. In stark contrast their tanks, mechas and other vehicles having been designed to operate effectively in high gravity environments, are remarkably sturdy, particularly when compared with those made by species used to operating on smaller words.
Technological Overview:
Bioengineering: The Mayall have long since mastered the science of biology and the practical application of this knowledge can be found all across Mayall society. Genetic engineered crops feed their hords of slaves while specially modified viruses hunt down and kill infectious bacteria, eliminating most forms of disease. However they have limited themselves from investing in pure organic technology, preferring metal and crystal commanded by organics over actual living systems of technology.
Cloning, 3D bioprinting and Neural Read/Write: A body is just a complex machine of flesh, blood, bone and graymatter. There is nothing unique about a living being, there is no soul nor any secret spark of life needed to make a sentient creature. These things the dwarves know yet are loathe to admit. Bodies can be grown in vats or constructed from base atoms in the span of just a few minutes or evens seconds. Minds can be broken down atom by atom and then rebuilt just as they were, with the subject only experiencing a momentary lapse of consciousness as a result. This allows for the digital transfer of individuals from place to place, mental backups and mass production of any individual, though these uses are the purview of the paranoid, the desperate and the slave.
Biological Immortality: Through centuries of study the Mayall have solved the problem of their own mortality and can, for a price, slow or completely stop the aging process of an individual. The oligarchs of the Mayall live forever while their subordinates have to make do with either merely slowing the aging process or replacing their decrepid bodies all together to escape the hungry jaws of death.
Dwarven Micro RuneCraft: The art of carving runes to direct magical energy is an ancient art that has remained relevant thank to constant advances in complexity and miniaturization which have turned the art into a reality altering programing language. Dwarves no longer lovingly hand carve their runes into treasured artifacts but instead write out programs in a higher level language that is easier to work in than base runes. This language is then translated into rune-code by the a compiler, after which the runes themselves are inscribed onto a given object using an automated micro laser.
Non invasive Brain Links (NIBL): The Mayall alternative to cybernetics is a system that can link brain and machine without drastic alteration of a person's body. This is done generally using specialised helmets or crowns worn by the subject, the inside of which is lined with electronics capable of artificially mimicking some basic psionic abilities, effectively allowing the wearer to mind control the machine without themselves needing psionic powers. A lot of their machinery, particularly mechas, are controlled in this manner and they are also used as non invasive mental augments, allowing the user multitasking capabilities, rapid data retrieval/storage, hands free long distance communication etc. Lighter, more regal models are expensive shows of wealth, while full head covering models are either cheaply made mass production units or incredibly advanced specialist devices.
Stasis Technology: Stasis is a quasi magically powered state that massively slows down time for all subjects within a stasis field. Generally this is used as a more advanced form of cryo sleep, but can also be used for military purposes as the field of slowed time can act as an almost impenetrable barrier, making it useful for trapping enemies or blocking incoming fire. They are rather power hungry and it is impossible for the field projector to be contained within its own field, as the system cannot function in the frozen time within, nor can it be enveloped by a thin shell or dome of frozen time, as doing so freezes everything in the shell as well.
Aether Jumping: The Mayall’s primary method of ftl is the Aether jump, which plunges the craft into an alternate reality known as the Aether. Here time speed up compared to that in reality, allowing the craft to travel immense distances in realspace far faster than they normally could. However the actual ship still experiences all the time it would take for them to travel the journey normally, even as an observer would see them arriving at their destination moments after they left. The realm is also seemingly occupied by strange beings that seem to like to invade the minds of those traveling though their domain. To prevent madness and the ravages of time from destroying the crew two methods are employed: either the passengers use stasis chambers to sleep through the trip, or their minds are uploaded to the ships computer and their bodies dismantled into raw resources, to be remanufactured upon arrival. The dwarves generally use stasis, while any non esensial slaves suffer the latter fate. All this results in an ftl method that is generally faster, harder to intercept and less fuel hungry than its competitors (power only needed to enter and exit, with the only costs in the Aether being maintaining the functionality of the stasis pods), but requires time at the start and end of each jump for storing/unpacking the crew and cannot be adjusted mid jump. To counter some of these flaws the pilots/bridge crews often have stasis fields built into their flight chairs and ships will often make several smaller jumps where only essential crew are woken on the stops in between the destination to make decisions as to whether to continue on the current heading or to adjust the flight path.
Other: The Mayall have access to most standerer tech usd by space faring nations such as shielding, lasers, nuclear fusion/fission generators, (non sentient) AI, automated production lines etc.
Cultural Overview:
The dwarves are elitist to a tea, and are as a result obsessed with acquiring and showing of their status in society. The upper crust adorn themselves with precious metals, exotic fabrics and illustrious gems, often braiding these through their hair as decoration. Slaves, strange alien pets, artists, musicians, spouses and suitors, all equally extravagantly decorated, are also shows of wealth that can be found trailing behind the rich dwarf as part of their elaborate entourage. The dwarven citizenry engage in this as much as their wealth can allow, resulting in petty shows of riches that few of them can truly afford being commonplace.
Dwarves social structures are loosely based on the old clan system that held them together in ages past. Family and kin are of incredible importance to the dwarves, while those from other “clans” are of little importance. Clans are generally very small, consisting of a couple of families all living and working in the same general area, that area being anything from a city block to an entire satar system depending on local population density. New people are added to the clan though birth(a rare occurrence) or marriage, while dwarves can leave a clan by being ostracized for some misdeed or by joining another clan via marriage. Who stays in their clan and who leaves is decided by which person is wealthy, with the richer dwarf accepting their spouse into their clan.
Cloning is an incredibly important and somewhat taboo part of Mayall society. It is what fuels the Mayall’s reckless disregard for the lives and life spans of their slaves, for if and when they die they can simply be regrown from raw materials and have the same skills and memories loaded into them from backups of their minds. The Dwarves can also benefit from this technology, and the poorest often do, sacking body after body because it is, in the short run, cheaper than acquiring the immortality of their betters. But to do so is seen as abhorrent, both in terms of social standing and spirituality. Legally a clone has access to all the same assets, and debts, as the original, but it is seen as a being with a new soul by dwarven religion, making this form of rejuvenation an uncomfortable moral quandary for those who use it. Some might chose to die and pass on their wealth to their offspring, but those saddled with debt will be reborn so that their next self can keep working for the sake of the clan. It is also looked down upon by the those who can afford to extend the lifespan their original bodies rather than renewing them, for cloning is irreversibly tainted by its use for slave manufacturing. There is then a cultural divide, one generally mirrored by class divisions, between those whose bodies are the ones they were born with and those who live in freshly printed ones, with the former looking down their noses at the latter.
The Demi slaves meanwhile are not bothered by such concerns of the soul and have, out of necessity, embraced their eternal cycle of death and renewal. They are certain the soul will always find their fresh home after death or dismantlement and that it can even split itself into multiple copies if multiple bodies are available, which is something of a regular occurrence as the Dwarves simply copy an existing salves memories to make a new one. This results in many of them sharing common memories of “ancestors” and they often form faximalies of an extended family/clan based upon these shared experiences. It is something of a common belief among the Demi that they are all sourced from a single common ancestor, a belief that binds them together and can bring about acts of selflessness for total strangers that their dwarven creators would never even consider performing.
History:
The Mayall are simultaneously both one of the oldest race in the galaxy and incredibly recent additions to it. This is because Hundreds of millions of years ago the Mayall where but one of many species that evolved in an entirely different galaxy, one that was on a collision course with a third, entirely different, galaxy.
The Mayall are ruled by a race of dwarves who evolved on a heavy world. Short and strong as a result of the haigh gravity of their home it also caused them to develop space travel far later than most species, meaning that when they finally crawled out of their gravity well they were considerably stronger than others expected, something they exploited to heave themselves rapidly up the local political ladder. Acquiring for themselves several planets deemed undesirable by other races they verasisosly mined and expanded across them, causing their population and wealth to boom relatively unmolested. Having grown rich of resource mining dense and large worlds, they developed several species based off of their own dna to do dreary and dangerous work for them while they, or rather their oligarchs, enjoyed all the profit.
With the introduction of cheap slave labor and the discovery of immortality the dwarven population stopped expanding while their empire continued to grow. While the galactic collision slowly approached the Mayall became a powerhouse of their part of the galaxy, controlling hundreds of star systems with many home to millions of slaves working at the beck and call of a few free dwarven governors. Wars were waged, markets conquered, systems striped bare of all easily accessable resources. The oligarchs grew spectacularly rich, the slowly dwindling masses fought over the few remaining jobs available for free dwarves and the slaves endlessly toiled, died and were remade to continue their servitude.
When collision became imminent the peoples of the galaxy finally looked up from their petty squabbles and recognised the doom approaching them and all simultaneously, and separately, scrambled to find a solution. Some developed vast simulations to predict which regions of space they believe would be spared from the carnage and waged bloody, desperate migratory wars too these supposed sanctuaries. Some hunkered down, constructing vast bunkers out of whole planets or around entire stars, hoping that some of their masterworks would survive. Other simply ignored the problem and strove to exploit their fearful neighbours unpreparedness for conquest, carrion birds reaping one last harvest before the end took them all. The Mayall decided the best option would be to leave the galaxy entirely.
Great sleeper arks where constructed that would enable to efficiently carry their civilization across the seemingly infinite dark between galaxies. These were small dyson spheres built around gas giant sized brown dwarfs that would reliably power the arks for millions of years, equipped with thousands of stasis pods to hold the populace and enough materials to hopefully maintain the machines keeping them alive till they reached their destination. The arks where a major undertaking, with all available resources being diverted to either the ark project or to the military, which fought a near constant war against carriorn empires, migration crusades and other desperate doomsday preppers in battles for the supplies necessary to complete the construction ontime.
In the end a dozen arks where produced, just barely enough to house the dwarven population that survived the apocalypse wars. Their engines flared, powered by thousands of solar panels inside and out, the vast boosters bringing the arks up to close to light speeds before shutting off, leaving their passengers fates in the hands of the mathematicians, that had calculated their trajectory, the engineers, that had finally balanced the engine, and pilot that had executed the burn. The arks soared out of the galaxy, borne upon the wings of Newton's Second Law, as the two vast stellar disks crashed together and chaos engulfed the races, and untold trillions of abandoned Mayall slaves, that remained there.
Now, millions of years later, one of the arks has at long last reached its destination. The arms of the galaxy embrace it and the curtain of darkness is replaced by the lights a million individual stars. Solar Panels soak in this light and the Mother AI begins manufacturing salve workers from its backups so that they might make ready for their master’s awakening. Their eternal journey is almost at an need, now all they need to do is stop.
The dwarves are an old race. A proud race. A greedy race. Standing at just over a meter tall they are a stocky race who evolved on a planet 1.5 times the size of earth. Other than being shorter and broader than humans they bear a striking resemblance to the earth born race despite being from an entirely different galaxy.
Demis are 3 salve races based upon Dwarven dna that have been made to fulfil specific roles in Mayall society.
Goblins:
Goblins are the first slave race manufactured by the Dwarves. While the same height as their overlords goblins have been deliberately twisted from their source dna to look as undwarvish as possible. They are hairless with green skin, have pointy ears(something shared by all slaves) beedy yellow eyes and sharp fangs. They were made to perform manual labor, but ever advancing technology means that most now operate machinery instead. They have not been fully replaced by that machinery thanks to their cheapness of production, requiring only raw biomatter to make, and their adaptability to new tasks/work environments. They are slightly stronger than the average dwarf, who are themselves already pint sized powerhouses, and have increased resistance to environmental forces and the pressures of gforce. All of these improvements come at the cost of premature aging, and a goblin only has an operational lifespan of about 30 years if they are treated well. Most aren't.
Psycnoids:
Psycnoids are grey skin goblins with a third eye in the center of their foreheads. All of those eyes feature dark grey sclera,silvery reflective pupils and thin jet black irises. When the materialistic dwarves discovered other races with magical and psionic abilities they grew to both despise and desire their natural born mastery of the universe and sought to use their organic sciences to acquire these powers for themselves. Unlocking their potential was a long and arduous journey, as they seemed to be substantially lacing in whatever traits it was that let these abilities come to others with such ease. The task of empowering dwarven kind was eventually deemed a failure, as all test subjects suffered mental burnout after only a few short years. This was an unacceptable price to pay for the dwarves, but not something they minded implementing in their slaves. Psycnoids then, are the mass produced psionics of the Mayall, created as a combination of untapable communication array and anti psionic defence/detection system. They are not taught how to use their powers offensively, for fear that they would turn this strength against their masters. Psycnoids are also often used as head slaves and personal servants, receiving and executing orders from their masters or doing important errands that can't be trusted to some random goblin or sprite.
Sprites:
A sprite is a 20 cm tall elfine humanoids who have four dragonfly wings growing out of their backs that allow graceful and nimble flight. They have a lifespan of roughly 5 earth years. At some point a dwarven technician looked at the maintenance aisles streaking through their server farm and decided that they were a massive inefficiency that should be reduced as much as possible. The end result of years of tinkering was a reduction of maintenance isles to 30 cm gaps in a room otherwise stacked from floor to ceiling with computer components and the genetic engineering of the 20 cm tall sprites that would use them. With their vertical mobility, a high resistance for both high and low temperatures that let them work in refrigerated rooms and next to overheating circuitry, the tiny creatures were initially used only as repair technicians, but were gradually introduced to other areas as well. Most noticeably they were used in place of AI in drone and robotics technology, as their capability for creativity, adaptability and unpredictability made them useful for combat operations, often been used enmass as pilots of expendable drones and man sized mechas where they could often outperform others artificially commanded drones while also being cheaper to manufacture. These drones are often shaped like the sprites so that they can translate their instinctual and learned flight skills from flesh to machine.
Description of government:
The Mayall are controlled by an immortal oligarchy of CEOs and Shareholders who are in control of the various corporations that have occasionally overlapping monopolies over every part of the Mayall economy. With scant few exceptions most of the citizenship are either employed or contracted by these corporations and generally live in company housing where corporate policy is law. The only real systems of governance that remain are those relating to violence, namely law enforcement and the military, which are used to protect the power of the corporations as a whole inside and outside of the Mayall’s territory respectivly. These are made up predominantly of slaves rented out from various companies and lead by dwarves who, because they are bribed by every single corporation simultaneously, function as neutral neutral arbiters between them and effectively makes the corporations the shareholders of various government organisations.
Description of military:
Arks: the arks are the current center of Mayall existence, both culturally and militarily. Vast spacecraft twice the size of jupiter housing brown dwarf stars at their cores these craft are massive mobile battlestations capable of leveling words with their raw firepower, but as they hose the entire remaining dwarven population are almost never committed militarily and are instead used as launching points for military action, much like aircraft carriers are used in naval warfare.
The arks set the standard for the rest of the Mayall military, with large command ships or vehicles staffed by the dwarven high command directing large swarms of slave troops. In space vast super carries are the center of a fleet, with expendable escorts ships, attack craft and drones all being piloted by slaves.
Planate side operations are no exception. If the dwarves decided to come down to the surface at all they will generally reside in ocean based carriers or in mobile armored command centers in the form of huge mecha or landships capable of rapidly turning local resources into more slaves and equipment. The vast majority of these forces will be goblin infantry who fight with reckless abandon and are armed with equipment that is as disposable and cheaply mass produced as they are. In stark contrast their tanks, mechas and other vehicles having been designed to operate effectively in high gravity environments, are remarkably sturdy, particularly when compared with those made by species used to operating on smaller words.
Technological Overview:
Bioengineering: The Mayall have long since mastered the science of biology and the practical application of this knowledge can be found all across Mayall society. Genetic engineered crops feed their hords of slaves while specially modified viruses hunt down and kill infectious bacteria, eliminating most forms of disease. However they have limited themselves from investing in pure organic technology, preferring metal and crystal commanded by organics over actual living systems of technology.
Cloning, 3D bioprinting and Neural Read/Write: A body is just a complex machine of flesh, blood, bone and graymatter. There is nothing unique about a living being, there is no soul nor any secret spark of life needed to make a sentient creature. These things the dwarves know yet are loathe to admit. Bodies can be grown in vats or constructed from base atoms in the span of just a few minutes or evens seconds. Minds can be broken down atom by atom and then rebuilt just as they were, with the subject only experiencing a momentary lapse of consciousness as a result. This allows for the digital transfer of individuals from place to place, mental backups and mass production of any individual, though these uses are the purview of the paranoid, the desperate and the slave.
Biological Immortality: Through centuries of study the Mayall have solved the problem of their own mortality and can, for a price, slow or completely stop the aging process of an individual. The oligarchs of the Mayall live forever while their subordinates have to make do with either merely slowing the aging process or replacing their decrepid bodies all together to escape the hungry jaws of death.
Dwarven Micro RuneCraft: The art of carving runes to direct magical energy is an ancient art that has remained relevant thank to constant advances in complexity and miniaturization which have turned the art into a reality altering programing language. Dwarves no longer lovingly hand carve their runes into treasured artifacts but instead write out programs in a higher level language that is easier to work in than base runes. This language is then translated into rune-code by the a compiler, after which the runes themselves are inscribed onto a given object using an automated micro laser.
Non invasive Brain Links (NIBL): The Mayall alternative to cybernetics is a system that can link brain and machine without drastic alteration of a person's body. This is done generally using specialised helmets or crowns worn by the subject, the inside of which is lined with electronics capable of artificially mimicking some basic psionic abilities, effectively allowing the wearer to mind control the machine without themselves needing psionic powers. A lot of their machinery, particularly mechas, are controlled in this manner and they are also used as non invasive mental augments, allowing the user multitasking capabilities, rapid data retrieval/storage, hands free long distance communication etc. Lighter, more regal models are expensive shows of wealth, while full head covering models are either cheaply made mass production units or incredibly advanced specialist devices.
Stasis Technology: Stasis is a quasi magically powered state that massively slows down time for all subjects within a stasis field. Generally this is used as a more advanced form of cryo sleep, but can also be used for military purposes as the field of slowed time can act as an almost impenetrable barrier, making it useful for trapping enemies or blocking incoming fire. They are rather power hungry and it is impossible for the field projector to be contained within its own field, as the system cannot function in the frozen time within, nor can it be enveloped by a thin shell or dome of frozen time, as doing so freezes everything in the shell as well.
Aether Jumping: The Mayall’s primary method of ftl is the Aether jump, which plunges the craft into an alternate reality known as the Aether. Here time speed up compared to that in reality, allowing the craft to travel immense distances in realspace far faster than they normally could. However the actual ship still experiences all the time it would take for them to travel the journey normally, even as an observer would see them arriving at their destination moments after they left. The realm is also seemingly occupied by strange beings that seem to like to invade the minds of those traveling though their domain. To prevent madness and the ravages of time from destroying the crew two methods are employed: either the passengers use stasis chambers to sleep through the trip, or their minds are uploaded to the ships computer and their bodies dismantled into raw resources, to be remanufactured upon arrival. The dwarves generally use stasis, while any non esensial slaves suffer the latter fate. All this results in an ftl method that is generally faster, harder to intercept and less fuel hungry than its competitors (power only needed to enter and exit, with the only costs in the Aether being maintaining the functionality of the stasis pods), but requires time at the start and end of each jump for storing/unpacking the crew and cannot be adjusted mid jump. To counter some of these flaws the pilots/bridge crews often have stasis fields built into their flight chairs and ships will often make several smaller jumps where only essential crew are woken on the stops in between the destination to make decisions as to whether to continue on the current heading or to adjust the flight path.
Other: The Mayall have access to most standerer tech usd by space faring nations such as shielding, lasers, nuclear fusion/fission generators, (non sentient) AI, automated production lines etc.
Cultural Overview:
The dwarves are elitist to a tea, and are as a result obsessed with acquiring and showing of their status in society. The upper crust adorn themselves with precious metals, exotic fabrics and illustrious gems, often braiding these through their hair as decoration. Slaves, strange alien pets, artists, musicians, spouses and suitors, all equally extravagantly decorated, are also shows of wealth that can be found trailing behind the rich dwarf as part of their elaborate entourage. The dwarven citizenry engage in this as much as their wealth can allow, resulting in petty shows of riches that few of them can truly afford being commonplace.
Dwarves social structures are loosely based on the old clan system that held them together in ages past. Family and kin are of incredible importance to the dwarves, while those from other “clans” are of little importance. Clans are generally very small, consisting of a couple of families all living and working in the same general area, that area being anything from a city block to an entire satar system depending on local population density. New people are added to the clan though birth(a rare occurrence) or marriage, while dwarves can leave a clan by being ostracized for some misdeed or by joining another clan via marriage. Who stays in their clan and who leaves is decided by which person is wealthy, with the richer dwarf accepting their spouse into their clan.
Cloning is an incredibly important and somewhat taboo part of Mayall society. It is what fuels the Mayall’s reckless disregard for the lives and life spans of their slaves, for if and when they die they can simply be regrown from raw materials and have the same skills and memories loaded into them from backups of their minds. The Dwarves can also benefit from this technology, and the poorest often do, sacking body after body because it is, in the short run, cheaper than acquiring the immortality of their betters. But to do so is seen as abhorrent, both in terms of social standing and spirituality. Legally a clone has access to all the same assets, and debts, as the original, but it is seen as a being with a new soul by dwarven religion, making this form of rejuvenation an uncomfortable moral quandary for those who use it. Some might chose to die and pass on their wealth to their offspring, but those saddled with debt will be reborn so that their next self can keep working for the sake of the clan. It is also looked down upon by the those who can afford to extend the lifespan their original bodies rather than renewing them, for cloning is irreversibly tainted by its use for slave manufacturing. There is then a cultural divide, one generally mirrored by class divisions, between those whose bodies are the ones they were born with and those who live in freshly printed ones, with the former looking down their noses at the latter.
The Demi slaves meanwhile are not bothered by such concerns of the soul and have, out of necessity, embraced their eternal cycle of death and renewal. They are certain the soul will always find their fresh home after death or dismantlement and that it can even split itself into multiple copies if multiple bodies are available, which is something of a regular occurrence as the Dwarves simply copy an existing salves memories to make a new one. This results in many of them sharing common memories of “ancestors” and they often form faximalies of an extended family/clan based upon these shared experiences. It is something of a common belief among the Demi that they are all sourced from a single common ancestor, a belief that binds them together and can bring about acts of selflessness for total strangers that their dwarven creators would never even consider performing.
History:
The Mayall are simultaneously both one of the oldest race in the galaxy and incredibly recent additions to it. This is because Hundreds of millions of years ago the Mayall where but one of many species that evolved in an entirely different galaxy, one that was on a collision course with a third, entirely different, galaxy.
The Mayall are ruled by a race of dwarves who evolved on a heavy world. Short and strong as a result of the haigh gravity of their home it also caused them to develop space travel far later than most species, meaning that when they finally crawled out of their gravity well they were considerably stronger than others expected, something they exploited to heave themselves rapidly up the local political ladder. Acquiring for themselves several planets deemed undesirable by other races they verasisosly mined and expanded across them, causing their population and wealth to boom relatively unmolested. Having grown rich of resource mining dense and large worlds, they developed several species based off of their own dna to do dreary and dangerous work for them while they, or rather their oligarchs, enjoyed all the profit.
With the introduction of cheap slave labor and the discovery of immortality the dwarven population stopped expanding while their empire continued to grow. While the galactic collision slowly approached the Mayall became a powerhouse of their part of the galaxy, controlling hundreds of star systems with many home to millions of slaves working at the beck and call of a few free dwarven governors. Wars were waged, markets conquered, systems striped bare of all easily accessable resources. The oligarchs grew spectacularly rich, the slowly dwindling masses fought over the few remaining jobs available for free dwarves and the slaves endlessly toiled, died and were remade to continue their servitude.
When collision became imminent the peoples of the galaxy finally looked up from their petty squabbles and recognised the doom approaching them and all simultaneously, and separately, scrambled to find a solution. Some developed vast simulations to predict which regions of space they believe would be spared from the carnage and waged bloody, desperate migratory wars too these supposed sanctuaries. Some hunkered down, constructing vast bunkers out of whole planets or around entire stars, hoping that some of their masterworks would survive. Other simply ignored the problem and strove to exploit their fearful neighbours unpreparedness for conquest, carrion birds reaping one last harvest before the end took them all. The Mayall decided the best option would be to leave the galaxy entirely.
Great sleeper arks where constructed that would enable to efficiently carry their civilization across the seemingly infinite dark between galaxies. These were small dyson spheres built around gas giant sized brown dwarfs that would reliably power the arks for millions of years, equipped with thousands of stasis pods to hold the populace and enough materials to hopefully maintain the machines keeping them alive till they reached their destination. The arks where a major undertaking, with all available resources being diverted to either the ark project or to the military, which fought a near constant war against carriorn empires, migration crusades and other desperate doomsday preppers in battles for the supplies necessary to complete the construction ontime.
In the end a dozen arks where produced, just barely enough to house the dwarven population that survived the apocalypse wars. Their engines flared, powered by thousands of solar panels inside and out, the vast boosters bringing the arks up to close to light speeds before shutting off, leaving their passengers fates in the hands of the mathematicians, that had calculated their trajectory, the engineers, that had finally balanced the engine, and pilot that had executed the burn. The arks soared out of the galaxy, borne upon the wings of Newton's Second Law, as the two vast stellar disks crashed together and chaos engulfed the races, and untold trillions of abandoned Mayall slaves, that remained there.
Now, millions of years later, one of the arks has at long last reached its destination. The arms of the galaxy embrace it and the curtain of darkness is replaced by the lights a million individual stars. Solar Panels soak in this light and the Mother AI begins manufacturing salve workers from its backups so that they might make ready for their master’s awakening. Their eternal journey is almost at an need, now all they need to do is stop.
The boss really can't commit to being nice can he. There always just has to be a backhand involved in any apology or compliment he gives
”That's not what I... Ah never mind.”
At least her poor word choice ment nobody realised what she had been planning to do. Planning to do because after arriving at the fortress and hearing the odds they were up against wandering up into the mountains alone at night seemed like a bad idea, as did leaving the already small team alone to face that many laser gun welding deer hat enthusiasts and their animal themed bots commanders. Once she heard the Bosses surprising sane, if simple, plan, she silently kicked her whole solo expedition plan into the dustbin of bad ideas and focused on the task at hand.
”That's actually… yeah that'll work. Sets us up for a pincer move on the wolf too which is nice. We can figure out specific tactics once we actually set eyes on the place, seeing as no plan survives the boarding impact. Only thing I can suggest as far as overall strategy goes is that we try and focus on luring the laser gunner guys into places where our melee fighters can ambush them to get some guns of their own while avoiding places where we’d be advancing across coverless ground. This for example,“ she pointed at the crude depiction of the riverside with its long walkways and bridges ”looks like it might be awful exposed whereas this” she pointed to the varois homes and stairways leading up to the treasury house “looks like it’ll be alot better for gap closing.” She imagined this was rather obvious for everyone, the warriors themselves had certainly learned the advantage of cover, but she believed it worth repeating just incase it prevented the boss form ordering any suicidal charges.
She was pleased to hear that Azura seemed to have more tricks up her sleeve than just her enchanting singing voice and after a few moments of contemplation suggested that: “maybe if we can spot some of them from here” she pointed at what looked like some large rocks or buildings across the river from the penguin's lair “I can get their attention with some fancy marksmanship and maybe pull them down to the riverside where they’ll be in the aforementioned coverless danger zone and in rage of your, uh, magic”
She was still getting used to the idea that magic might be real.
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