Hexaflexagon

Starsong: A Peculiar Space Opera

@Keksalot@shinigami94@McHaggis@TheLoneDrifter@babbysama@Flagg@boomlover@polybius and anyone else I forgot to tag!

I did a thing!

Starsong

I N S T R U C T I O N S:

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• Using the provided template, please create a character sheet
• All other posts to the OOC tab.
• Please first post your CSs to the OOC, only Character sheets that have been accepted by me shall go here.

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O F F I C I A L D O C U M E N T A T I O N

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Basic Information

Name:
Age:
House Allegiance:
Physical Description:
Equipment: (What are they carrying on their person?)

Skills: (List from most potent to least)

The Mind

Psychological Profile: (What makes them tick? What irks them, who are they? Basically the personality but a little bit more than that )
History: (Either a couple of paragraphs or a whole analytical essay. Remember quality over quantity. Kiddos.)

Denouement

Character Motivation: (Everybody has a goal from getting the girl, to getting vengeance, to saving the day. What motivates your character?)
Significant Relations: (Anybody they would could significant to their existence alive or dead)
Other:

For Copying and Pasting

[H3]Basic Information[/H3]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[B]House Allegiance:[/b]
[b]Physical Description:[/b]
[b]Equipment:[/b] (What are they carrying on their person?)
[list]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[/list]
[b]Skills:[/b] (List from most potent to least)
[list]
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[*]
[/list]
[h3]The Mind[/h3]
[b]Psychological Profile:[/b] (What makes them tick? What irks them, who are they? Basically the personality but a little bit more than that )
[b]History:[/b] (Either a couple of paragraphs or a whole analytical essay. Remember quality over quantity. Kiddos.)
[h3]Denouement[/h3]
[b]Character Motivation:[/b] (Everybody has a goal from getting the girl, to getting vengeance, to saving the day. What motivates your character?)
[b]Significant Relations:[/b] (Anybody they would could significant to their existence alive or dead)
[b]Other:[/b]

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G M C H A R A C T E R S H E E T S

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Working on it.

Starsong

S T A R S O N G

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B L O O D S T A I N E D S T A R S

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"It all goes back and back, to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance on in our steads."

The chronicle of humanity's history among the heavens is a long and storied one stretching for over two millennia. It is not a simple tale or one of great virtue but one of bloodshed violence. From the early days of the great fighting by the earliest colonialist for land and resources to the bloody House Wars, humans have rarely been at peace in the great void. Each has suffered his own burdens and trials and had his fair share of triumph and tragedy in equal parts. Every man and woman fighting, struggling and grasping at there place in the stars. It is a grand composition made of many players and many parts all blending and fusing atop one another to create a grand arrangement a Starsong.

The earliest histories date back to when humanity was still bound to the cradle of blue and green that had birthed us long ago. The date was July 21^st 1969 when the ones known as Armstrong and Aldrin set foot upon the surface of Luna. It was during this great and historic exhibition that Armstrong and Aldrin found remnants of an old observation post left behind by a long dead race called the Kroth. Using the technology found within the Kroth observation post allowed for the people of Earth to discover the existence of what we now know of as refined Sifirium a rare element which when a supercharge current is run through it produces a dark energy fluctuation or bubble in space-time allowing for negative masses to be achieved for as long as you have Sifirium to fuel the reaction. (This feat allowing for Faster Than Light Travel along slight modifications of what we know as the Alcubierre metric without some of the more nasty effects of time dilation.) Advancing science forward in mere years what decades might have taken and soon fueled by the discovery of Sifirum and FTL humanity rushed ever onward into the stars with the first inner system ships launching during the 80s and the first outer system ships beginning their voyage by the year 2000.

It was during this time that planets of the Sol System unified under the rule of the SF, the Sol Federation to make sure that the interests of the mother system remained paramount over the new fledgling colonies that soon came under its dominion. The SF while established on the fundamentals of Democracy and liberty soon grew mad with its own power becoming corrupted by greed and inefficient and lumbering by the hands of a sprawling bureaucracy. As the SF grew more corrupt so did the discontent and hatred for the government and when the FTL technology was leaked by anarchist, the colonization process that had once been carefully controlled and monitored by the SF soon fell to chaos as those wanting to escape the tyranny and oppression of their homes fled en masse to foreign stars where they could make homes and kingdoms of there own. And so decades of warfare and unrest began between the SF and the colonists as every side fought in land grab that threatened to rip all of humanity apart.

These first waves of expansion and warfare established what would be known as the Home Sphere stretching three hundred light years across at the edge of its radius. The Home Sphere was for decades upon end a place of violence and death as the many planetary nations fought among one another for valuable resources primarily Sifirium deposits and land all while picking away the fading but still fighting remnants of the SF. The leaders of these nations formed ruling destiny and great houses to cement there rule for generations to come styling themselves after the aristocracy of their ancestral home.

It was during this time of chaos and destruction that people look towards different paths of salivation and stability; faith and gold.

The first of these came with the rise of the Celestial Faith, established by a priestess born on the slums of mars refereed to only as the Mother who claimed to be spoken to by in visions from a creator known as The One Beyond the Light. The Celestial Church by many is seen as a sort of reconciliation of the ideas of faith and of a broader world as exposed by the remnants of the Kroth with The One Beyond the Light being a sort of pancreator. The ideas of redemption and hope preached by the Mother as she spoke of the coming of the Vizarian, the supposed Prince of Light and Shadow who was to unify the entirety of existence for the coming of the The One Beyond the Light back into the mortal realm; these claims spoke to the underclasses who needed something and anything to cling onto to give them hope of at least peace in death if not in life. Eventually as more and more of the populace began to accept the faith and the members of the Church gained more and more political power and began to forge large armies of faithful, the lords less than willingly accepted the ideas of the Church as their own despite the fact that many still followed their own faiths in the shadows of their keeps.

The second of these powers to rise was the Merchant Guild. Once long ago they were the many monolithic corporations that held great influence upon the affairs of Earth and eventually the Sol Federation. But upon the Federation collapse and eventually disbandment these corporation were left without strong claims or backings of their own. So rather than try to fight among themselves or against the planetary lords that dreamed of stellar empires they instead martial their forces and bargaining power under one banner realizing that a great beast was much harder to slay than many restless hounds. By controlling the precious trade routes and the flow of goods and money they believed that they would be able to retain their political power and be able to have a voice in the years to come to make sure that their interests were followed.

Eventually under the auspices of the Merchants and the Church, the fighting slowly began to die down and Human Space know stretching far beyond the Home Sphere was once again unified in a new golden age as the Free Terran Alliance or as most refered to it as the Second Republic with the first being the old Sol Federation. Resting upon the backs of great statesmen who had seen too much warfare for five lifetimes they established a labyrinthine system of alliance and interdependence designed to prevent any major conflict from resurfacing. This work for a time as years passed into decades and decades into centuries and centuries into millennium. But as time marched ever forward the cost of life during those early wars of expansion were forgotten as the lords of old while still remaining great fortunes desired the power that they once held in their hands, the power to decide the fates of millions. And so conspiring with members of the Merchant Guild and high officials within the Church the lords planted the seeds of discord within the fabric of the Second Republic. These seeds sprouted as severe economic failure in part facilitated by the mechanization of the Merchant Guild left the Second Republic in a state of collapse as government systems collapsed leaving the millions of citizens under their rule in a state of anger. This anger became a revolt and a revolt became an rebellion that marched for the seat of the Republic on Earth.

Thus the Lords plan was set into motion as they sat idly by with their own private armies and forces as the rebel forces continually weakened and strained the armies of the Second Republic. The time for action came finally as Rebel forces seized Earth and declared the establishment of the Third Republic. The Third Republic stood for only two years before the Lords turned on the Third Republic whom they had pledged their support to and with support from the Church Militant were able to seize Earth once more in the name of "liberating the people from anarchy" but rather than reestablished the Second Republic the Lords instead refused to give up power and soon their own forces began to split upon house allegiances fire upon one another as they battled for supremacy. The Church was able to push them out of the Sol System with their own Army of the Faithful but fighting raged within the Home Sphere and the Outer Territories were the Lords began to conquer vast numbers of systems beneath their names.

This began the House Wars as the Lords once again fought one another for supremacy in a war that washed the stars red with blood. The House Wars were long and bloody but eventually they came to a brutal and violent end with the rise of Akylas Vermallo also known as Akylas the Pacifier. Akylas was born within the Sol System within the same holy city that the Mother of the Celestial Church was born in Mars. Born a child of the faith at a young age Akylas joined the Church Militant as a Sword Brother where he became renown for his skills in battle. Horrified by the bloodshed caused in the House Wars Akylas set forth to usher in a time of peace and prosperity which he did so by making the Army of the Faithful his own and slowly drawing in more Lords to his cause. Akylas army grew as he set out on a campaign of pacification crushing all those that did not boy to his rule and once again braining peace to Human Space. Akylas and his successors in House Vermallo would rule as Emperors of the Realm from the Home Sphere with their seat moved from the corrupt and dying world of Earth to the holy planet of Mars with Six Lords who joined his cause first and pledged their armies to him served as his representatives and regents in the outlaying systems as his Wardens..

The Vermallo Dynasty ruled the stars for generations upon end in a time of peace and warfare as the role of the dynastic dice provided strong rulers and those of weak fortitude. This lead up into the present under the rule of Emperor Daewon VII, the first strong Vermalloin leader to hold the Imperial Throne in nearly one hundred years. Beloved by the people for his pushes of reform but hated by the ancestors of the Lords that sweated allegiance to him due to his absolutist tendencies and habit of putting to death any and all those who oppose him while bombing their home planets to molten ash from orbit. And so it was to be that upon visit to the ancestral birthplace of Akylas, a small monastery on the far side of Mars far from the safety and protection of the Imperial Capital that Emperor Daewon VII and most of his family was killed by Assassins dressed in the garbs of the Church.

The ball has swung again as the War of the Six Houses began as each of the House Lords blames the others for the others for the assassination of the most loved Emperor. This is where our tale begins in a time of corrupt priests, scheming merchant princes and powerful lords all fighting to maintain their dominance and to secure the Imperial Title. All the while hordes of barbarian raiders from systems beyond the edge of Human Space whose coordinates were long thought to be lost in the wars of old appear on the edge of Imperial Space pillaging wars and desiring blood. It is a battle among the stars even as the common peasant is stuck upon the planet that they were born upon for their entire life as part of age old contracts that offered defense and protection in the name of a lifetime of servitude. Ashes to ashes and soon only dust will remain.

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D U T Y A N D H O N O R

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Among this period of chaos and bloodshed our story focus its lenses upon one of the Low Houses that had sworn allegiance to House Vermallo long ago. House Tyrin. Ohannes Tyrin, the founder of the House was once nothing but a simple solider in Akylas the Pacifier's grand army that restored peace in the galaxy. Ohannes himself actually saved the young emperor to be by pulling him free from the fiery hands of fate and by doing so became one of Akylas most trusted friends. A lowly peasant drafted into the Churches Army upon becoming Emperor, Akylas give his friend a knighthood and a few systems of his own to watch over in the outer reaches of Human Space entrusting his friend to serve to hold the peace in such a tumultuous area. Ohannes and his ancestors performed ever faithfully to their call and they remained close allies and friends of the Imperial House ever since. The current Lord of House Tyrin one Remao Tyrin grew up as a child hood friend of the Late Emperor Daewon VIII.

It was due to these close bonds of honor and family that House Tyrin currently harbor the only remaining heir to the Vermallo Dynasty, Daewon VIII youngest son of thirteen years, Prince Aleksanteri Vermallo III who was spending his days away from the politics and intrigue of the Imperial Court to learn under Remao the ways of life beyond the walls of the Court. And now with the death of the rest of his family the young Vermallo is the biggest bargaining chip in the world. Because of this unwanted attention is drawn to House Tyrin as the High Houses desire the boy as well as the forces within the Church and the Merchant Guild all to solidify their cliams on the Imperial Throne. Though little do they know that House Tyrin has no intention on giving up on the boy so easily, as Lord Remao swore to put the rightful heir upon the throne.

And thus the stage is set for a great game of intrigue, war, romance and treachery. The audience has been seated in fearful awe and all that remains is for the players to take their place upon the stage and for them to play their last long into the great void.

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L O R D S O F P L E A N T Y

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The Descriptions of the houses have been kept deliberate vague with just enough information so that you know there place in the galaxy, who some of their allies are and some of their enemies are but the rest is really up to you the players to shape, so that if somebody wants to be from one of the High Houses they have the freedom to tell the story which they want to tell. And if you want to change something feel free to ask the only thing not really subject to change are the names of the founders and the current High Lords as they are all very important NPCs in the time coming.

House Vermallo

"Faith and Iron"

House Vermallo has held power within the Galaxy ever since the first campaigns of Emperor Akylas. For a time that extends as far and as long as there own rule the Vermallo Dynasty has had its fair share of strong and weak rulers and dealt with its own matter of succession crises in the past. The Vermallo house retained its power through strict control of technology and of regulating the Sifirium trade that acts as the lifeblood of Human Space. After several years of decline resulting from arrogant and generally lackluster rule the reign of the Vermallos weakened and during this period the High Lords began to take more control and flex their reach more with a newfound sense of power. This all changed under the rule of Emperor Daewon VII, a man of immense marital skill and who was always a favorite of the people took control. The scholars saw the beginning of a new golden age as the young Emperor pushed for strong reforms and rooted out corruption. But than everything changed when he was killed upon the sacred stone of a small martian monastery.

Despite the lack of a rightful heir the Imperial Forces underneath House Vermallo still retained Sol and the neighboring systems around it even as the High Lords took the rest of the Home Sphere for themselves. Under the rule of the Royal Seneschal Viktus Orathus know acting as Lord Regent, an elder man who had served the Imperial Throne faithfully for many years as a general and advisor who mustered the Imperial Home Fleet and was able to repulse the High Lords through technological prowess and by nature of being able to fight a defense battle on there own terms. And even still the Imperial House still has many allies among the Low Lords and more importantly among the Church whose relationship had always been close. Despite this without trade and supplies coming in from the rest of the Empire, the Imperial Forces can only hold out for so long.

The High Houses

House Strant

"Fight Onward"

The Strant Lineage traces its lineage back to one Charles Strant, a former military man turned settler who left the comforts of the Sol Federation to forge a new life. The Seed Ship that he departed own landed upon the rocky highlands of Rusward, a planet rich in heavy elements but filled with alien life that wanted nothing more than for the colonist to be dead. Charles Strant lead the colonist during these early years and established himself as the leader of the Rusward Colonist and as more flocked to the planet, Strant small town became a small stellar kingdom that expanded to control many systems. The Strant's were always known for there aggressive policies commonly conquering other worlds through brought force believing that force of arms could work as well as any speech or political meeting. And thus when Akylas came to the scene conquering worlds left and right, the Strant's were some of the first to muster there forces and clash against them but Akylas was able to handily defeat them earning their respect and King Robb Strant IV became the first of the former kings to swear allegiance to Akylas and give up his crown.

For there service and loyalty after the Conquests were over Robb Strant IV became High Lord Strant and was granted a large dominion outside of the Home Sphere to watch over and due with as he pleased with Rusward at its center. The Strant's from that point onward served faithfully for many years to the Vermallo Dynasty serving as military advisors and generals with many Strant men serving as part of the prestigious Imperial Guard. Now in this time of chaos the Strant's see an opportunity to seize control through superior military might and force of arms alone under the rule of High Lord Kranly Strant, the current head of House Strant.

House Blancht

"Vigilant We Stand"

The Blancht's traces their ancestry back to legendary folk hero and criminal Jon Blancht who swindled a minor lord out of his estate and planet in a card game and ever since the Blancht have ruled from Blancht Castle upon the planet Tordie. The Blancht's have from the beginning been trying to claw there way to the top through whatever treachery and deals needed to be done to do so. Because of their aspirations and willingness to go to desperate lengths to achieve such goals, the Blanchts have an unsavory reputation among the other High Lords as scoundrels and crooks who would sell their best friend down the river if it meant gain on their part. When the Blanceht still ruled as kings rather than lords they after the defeat of the Strant armies were the next of the Kings to kneel to Akylas placing their backing and plentiful supplies of coin behind Akylas in a gamble to secure their dominance in the new hierarchy of things they saw coming.

The Blancht's gamble paid off and they were giving the title of High Lords and allowed to keep there old kingdom now part of the Vermallo's Empire. The Blanchet's from that point onward continued what they did the best making money and connections, the money coming primarily from the very dangerous work of planet cracking to gather raw Sifirium, a process which they diverted outwards to the many Low Houses that they ruled over even as they gained all the profits from the venture. Connections came in backroom deals and games of intrigue as they secured relationships with venerable organizations such as the Merchant Guild. It is spoken in hushed whispers especially in Blancht controlled territory that High Lord Steffon Blancht was one of the instrumental pieces in the assassination of the late Emperor. The Blancht's at the current control much of the Home Sphere as well as there own territory with backing from the Merchant Guilds, their own small if well funded force along with the many mercenary groups that they hired to serve their interests, earning their army the unsavory title of the the Gold Fleet of Brigands.

House Cyrill

"Ever Stalwart"

Unlike many of the other High Houses and High Lords, House Cyrill does not posses the lineage of Kings but rather that of peasants. Henri Cyrill also known as Henri the Rebel, the founder of the House was born a peasant under the rule of a terrible warlord named Siegfried the Terrible, a pirate turned tyrant whose ancestors conquered the many systems which would one day become the Cyrill Domain. Henri lead the peasantry in a revolt on the small farming planet of Varsuss within Siegfried's domain, to support the invading forces of House Vermallo and of Akylas. Upon Akylas eventually defeat of Siegfried's men, Henri the Rebel was given the title of Highlord and command over all of Siegfried's former domain for his service to House Vermallo and his people. And just like that the peasant became a High Lord and while the High Lords of House Cyrill were popular among the Lesser Lords under their rule and the peasantry for their fair rule, they were often looked down upon by the other High Lords as upstarts, a fact made ever sour as House Vermallo always seemed to favor the descendants of Henri over others due to their peasant background.

The Cyrill's using the support of the Imperial throne began to expand and rise into conflict with the other High Houses in minor House Wars taking over the so called Green Belt from the Blanceht's in the Green War securng the belts many highly productive and valuable agricultural planets. Controlling over many rich and fertile lands in close proximity to the Home Sphere, the Cyrill Space is one of plenty and surplus as bountiful trade flows through important routes and grains of all sorts are grown. At the current time the Cyrill's hold one of the strongest claims of legitimacy as Emperor Daewon's late queen Esmeralda was the daughter of High Lord Tobias Cyrill but despite this the Cyrill's still hold allegiance to House Vermallo and have paid dearly for it in blood and destruction as many of their prosperous planets with their fields of gold and soaring hills have been reduced to nothing more than ash as Cyrill Space has become a deadly warzone.

House Hoyce

"Yield Not"

The Hoyce line traces its ancestry back to Jonathan H. Hoyce, a businessman who fled the collapsing Sol Federation with all his money and fortune to the safety of the outer worlds. Hoyce established himself upon Jobin II, an Earth sized moon orbiting the great Gas Giant Jobin I. The Hoyce with their bounty of wealth and resources were able to easily gain control of the Planet and soon the entire Jobin System. The Hoyce Kings controlled the turbulent space on the far reaches of what would become the Expanse an area plagued by stellar storms and barbarians beyond the control of the Empire. And yet the Hoyce lineage held strong and fast ruling over the Expanse with an iron fist for generations through strict law and adherence to tradition to hold them together. When Akylas and his armies came the Hoyce kings fought a long and terrible war where Akylas came to closet to defeat as the planets he tried to invade where not just simple worlds but fortresses built up to defend against the invaders from beyond the edge. Eventually though the Hoyce Kings yielded as the months stretched into years and Akylas impressed by their courage and tenacity and seeing that the Hoyce were the best men to be put in charge of defending the Western Expanse, the Western Kings became High Lords.

Traditionally the Hoyce stay out of the politics of the Imperial Throne preferring to keep to themselves and dealing with their own issues in the Expanse. Never the less when the armies of House Strant began to push into their territory to prevent them from striking at their unprotected flank, House Hoyce joined the fray and have engaged another bitter defense war against House Strant. Currently allied with the Strant's bitter rivals the Blancht's due to the marriage of High Lord Tytos Hoyce's son Alyn and Steffon Blancht's daughter Joanna Blancht in Steffon's part to secure a strong military ally in the war to come.

House Acciai

"Giants Still Fall"

House Acciai are the current High Lords of The Wastes, a large stretch of bitter and inhospitable planets located far from the Home Sphere. Traditionally the Waste are home of interstellar nomadic warlords who fled to the system to escape the rule and restrictions of the Second Republic. Having only a few planets that can support life most members of the Wastes live upon large space stations or in huge Seed Ships retrofitted to act as a sort of floating home world. These wandering nomads clashed against one another for ages upon end but eventually they became unified under the Shipmaster. A great warlord and pirate that unified the clans and made them into a force to be reckoned with continually pillaging the Second Republic's colonies and taking back large bounties of riches and Slaves. Upon the Ship master's death a new Ship Master is elected among the leader of the clans and their clan gain control of the Wastes. Balder the Cunning of Clan Acciai was the Shipmaster in charge of the Wastes when the Akylas took control of the rest of known space and Balder using the chaos caused by the war mustered his fleet and sent it deep into the core to ride the plentiful system within. The War of the Wastes as it was called was one of the first tests of the newly crowned Emperor Akylas to see if he was able to protect his newly created Empire and Akylas did more than just protect it he utterly destroyed Balder's fleet and captured the Shipmaster.

Akylas had Balder killed and made his son Vietar Acciai, the so called Last of the Ship masters to swear allegiance to him before crowning him as High Lord of the Expanse. As Vietar was still a small boy of ten years at the time of this, Akylas made the Expanse into a military province for many years while he educated the boy in the ways of civilized society. During this time the warlords and pirates of the Expanse were crushed and culled so that when the reformed High Lord Vietar took control of the Expanse he had a perfectly obedient Imperial Territory to control. But the distinctive culture of the Expanse remained as they used their own dialects and practiced their own old faiths openly as they were far from the watchful eyes of the Church and most importantly of all they held onto their rage towards those that had oppressed them long ago. And now with the Emperor Dead and the Expanse's fleet having been the largest it had been since the time of Balder under the rule of High Lord Eist Acciai or as the people of the Expanse now call him Eist the Shipmaster, it was time for war once more.

House Vontief

"In Life Virtue, In Peace Vitality, In War Victory"

The Vontief's are the High Lords of the ever prosperous Blue Routes, named for the verdant prosperity of the planets which lay within it. The many planets under the control of House Vontief are known for their vast and bountiful oceans filled with life. And it is in these oceans that the Blue Route gets its name as the Vontief process these natural bounties into water vital for and are then sent along the Blue Route across Imperial Space. Gaining a large wealth and fortune to their name that is only rivaled by House Blancht. The Vontief have ruled over the Blue Routes for generations from the large blue marble known as Artina, a large planet composed of many large islands and the vast Ocean which surrounds it all. The Vontief's joined Akylas late into his conquest as they were once part of the staunch alliance with House Hoayce in trying to repulse the petty boy trying to become Emperor. But by continual pressure placed upon the Vontief's especially by the former kings of Blancht, the Vontief's submitted to Akylas.

From that point forward the Vontief's history becomes a rather normal one never engaging in any open conflict with any other houses and making alliances and friends among most of the other High Lords. It is fort that reason that the Vontief projected an air of honesty and chivalrous nature about them. But the Vontief's held as much cunning as any of the other houses but they did so in ways more subtle to not hamper their image, with systems coming under their control through old treaties and arranged marriages rather than brute force or assassination. And with one of the largest fleets in the Realm sitting in orbit above Artina when the Emperor was killed they struck outward like a bolt of thunder. Currently they are allied with House Strant against their old bitter foes of House Blancht and of House Hoyce but High Lord Augustus Vontief has no plans to let the barbaric Kranly Strant seize the throne that could very well be his.

The Lesser Houses

• House Tyrin
• More to be added later/

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T E C H N O L O G Y

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Technology in Starsong is pretty futuristic in that I mean you have laser beams and plasma tech and cyborgs with most of what you are seeing not being uncommon in something like Star Wars but it all has a much more used and rustic vibe to it less polish and clean more grime and well used feeling to it all. Though the use of technology had been very very regulated by both the Church and the Imperial House to prevent another uprising that destroyed the Second Republic. Technology is limited to the nobles with it slowly drifting down to the peasantry over decades of time where in the nobles have already advanced years ahead. Beside that many things have been banned by Church decrees such as Smart AIs and ways to extend the human life span far beyond its normal limits. Though other techs are more common place like gene altering by the Nobles to create more perfect children and the like.

One thing of interesting note is the prevalence of melee weapons. In Starsong it is very common to see nobles dressed in knights armor fighting one another with futuristic swords and that is for a good reason. Most nobles use personal shield technology that protects them from most conventional laser fire and some types of plasma weaponry. So to circumnavigate this, bladed weaponry like swords were created that vibrate a specific frequency to disrupt the shields and cut into the Noble's flesh. And now dueling and sword fighting has come back in a real big way as it is sometimes the only real effective way of killing somebody.

Anyway this is just a real rough summary if you would like to get into the nitty gritty details feel free to ask me any questions that may arise and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

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M A P

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Map

Key

1: The Home Sphere or what is left of it. Much the area is currently heavily contested and in an almost constant blood bath.
2: Space currently controlled by House Blancht aka The Golden Way
3: Space currently controlled by House Acciai aka The Wastes
4: Space Ccurrently controlled by House Strant aka The Strant Shield
5 Space currently controlled by House Cyrill aka The Cyrillian Fields
6: Space currently controlled by House Hoyce aka The Expanse
7: Space currently controlled by House Vontief aka The Blue Routes

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N E W S

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Important GM updates and News will be posted here.

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R U L E S

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01: I'm not the biggest fan of rules because I like to assume everybody is sane human being so I'll keep this short. If you have to abide by any rules be it these two. Common decency and common sense is something that everybody should strive for. Treat your fellow humans like they are just that your fellow humans and with all the respect that implies. Disputes between players should not be long blown out affairs in the OCC, hell disputes should not happen at all if we are doing this right. If you want to argue have your characters dispute about something mundane like the importance of starch or something.
02: In regards to any roleplay involving the dark depravity of mankind and giant monsters there are mature themes within this story. This is not a very nice world and terrible things happen to good people for no good reason. In that regard I heavily suggest you treat these matters with the weight that they would actually entitle. Romance falls into the same thing, sure it can happen just don't be stupid about it
03: Quality matters people, show me that you care. And remember I'm asking for your best not the best of Shakespeare or the like. I've been doing this shit for about a decade now and I'm still learning things everyday. Just remember Quality over Quantity and always remember Fail Faster.

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Starsong: A Peculiar Space Opera

@babbysama
FTL works on the premise of what most people end up calling Sifirium Drives because they run on Sifirium how original of them. It supercharges the refined Sifirium which basically creates a negative mass bubble around the Starship allowing for something along the lines of an Alcubierre drive to actually be used. Objects outside the affected ship will appear refracted. The greater the difference between the objective (exterior) and subjective (interior) speeds of light, the greater the refraction and the ship will appear to start to blue shift. While from the inside it will look like everything is starting to red shift. This releases a crud ton of energy as you would imagine which makes ships very visible on radar technology as they have to continually vent out huge amounts of heat into the void to prevent their own ships from fraying and the crew from melting which would be very bad.

Another Update!

So when things crashed, I lost all the CSs which is a real bummer. So basically all I'm doing right now is finishing a little blurb on technology and editing the galactic map and than I'm just going to post the OCC and get the CSs up later because I feel you guys have been waiting too long and it will give you a chance to start working on your own CSs and explore this little world a little bit deeper. Expect the OCC very very very soon.

dreamsArewatching: A Strange Little Mystery

_{I saw the future in a dream last night.
There’s nothing in it.}

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dreamsArewatching

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“I've always been an ironic dreamer, unfaithful to my inner promises.
Like a complete outsider, a casual observer of whom I thought I was,
I've always enjoyed watching my daydreams go down in defeat.
I was never convinced of what I believed in.
I filled my hands with sand, called it gold, and opened them up to let it slide through.
Words were my only truth.
When the right words were said, all was done; the rest was the sand that had always been.”
~ Fernando Pessoa

Documents recovered from _______ Police Department
Journal Entry 6/22/20XX

You know ever since I was kid, I grew up on stories about Camp Ulysses. It's like.... I don't fucking know a permanent fixture of the town or whatever? Mrs. Milner would tell us it has been "Ingrained in the cultural foundation of our fair town", whatever that means. I guess it's kind of hard not to think about I mean you can see it right from almost anywhere up on top of the Mountain, the old Radar Tower sticking up over the edge watching over everything like some sort of watchmen or something. Honestly it just plain old gives me the creeps thinking about it. A lone little outpost set up atop a mountain, the men and women that used to work there just watching the skies for any sign of incoming death by way of nuclear payload. Well of course it doesn't do that anymore, when they started downsizing everything well we didn't really have much fear of angry Russians coming to bomb us anymore so Camp Ulyssess just sort of became a ghost town. Everything's still there mostly tended to by the ghosts of the past and protected by a big old fuck off fence with barbed wire atop of it and lots of signs telling you that entering the Camp is forbidden under federal law and that you'll go to prison for like a very long time. Only problem is no cop wants to go climb a mountain looking for some hooligan rummaging around in the rundown ruins of the United States' military industrial complex.

Guess that's why the whole tradition thing happened you know? It's pretty stupid and all but you know it's something we all just gotta do. They call it the 'big party' every year the Seniors from the high school are supposed to go up there and throw a big old party among the ruins on the first day after classes are over. I don't know something poetic about and all so in fifty years or whatever we can all talk about it and remissness about our crazy younger years. My Dad still talks about it all the time with his buddies, but then again my Dad isn't the most exciting person in the world still teaching Chemistry at the same High School he went to and talking to all his old friends that never found a way out of town. God I'd rather walk into the bay than end up like that.

So yeah we are supposed to go up to the top of some mountain and have a party among the haunted ruins of Cold War observation post. Oh yeah it is supposedly 'haunted'. I probably forgot to mention that didn't I? Yeah apparently it's something to do with the radios at the camp reacting with the old transceiver at the top of the lighthouse out on the bay and causing you to be able to hear some weird things in between all the static. A group of television paranormal investigators even 'investigated' the place for some show called Ghost Watch or something, and while they did call it totally creepy it seemed they weren't lucky enough to pick up any spooky voices from beyond the grave. Personally I think it's a lot of BS you know? Some kid got high during one of the parties once and started hearing things that weren't there or whatever.

But anyway we aren't going there for that, I guess. We go there because its tradition or whatever to get drunk and maybe get a little bit lucky and more importantly to say goodbye. One last big hurrah before we all separate upon the four winds and never talk to one another ever again. Yeah ain't that a depressing though. Anyway it's supposed to be this weekend so let's see what happens.

News Report Transcript 6/26/20XX

Welcome back to Channel 12 Local News, we are still in the middle of a developing story. A group of teenagers from ___________ are still missing after two whole days of searching by local police. Reports say that students were attending a party among the ruins of Camp Ulysses, a now defunct Military Observation Post when a large freak storm hit the area. When the children failed to report the next day, parents and search and rescue desperately climbed _____ Mountain to locate their children but too there dismay found no signs of them.. If you have any formation please call.......

Radio Transmission received at ____ Lighthouse.

.-. / ..- / -. / .-.-.- / .-. / ..- / -. / .-.-.- / .-. / ..- / -. / .-.-.- / -.. / --- / -. / --- / - / -.-. / --- / -- / . / .-.-.-

.. / .----. / -- / ... / -.-. / .- / .-. / . / -.. / ... / -.-. / .- / .-. / . / -.. / ... / -.-. / .- / .-. / . / -.. / ... / -.-. / .- / .-. / . / -.. / ... / -.-. / .- / .-. / . / -..

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Welcome ladies and gents to dreamsArewatching an odd little mystery yarn that I've established for you to come and unravel if you so very much desire. Inspired by the likes of Serial Experiment Lain, Life is Strange, Oxenfree and other strange little contemporary mysteries dreamsAreWatching is a strange little tale about a Mountain, a lighthouse, a radio and some teens in way over their heads. It's a tale about strange government doings, dreams and branching realities. And at the heart of it all it is a tale about one thing that everyone is notoriously bad at especially teenagers... learning to let go.

While the mystery is the fundamental engine that keeps everything moving much of the story is about player interaction with a world whose reality is breaking and with one another as you take on the role of the teenagers facing off against the great unknown. Maybe there is a happy ending or in the end it was all for nothing. I don't really know yet, that's for you to decide. So if you are in the mood for something a little different, a little mystery and lots and lots of strangeness well why don't you come and say hi?

Starsong: A Peculiar Space Opera

@boomlover
More or less.

Starsong: A Peculiar Space Opera

@boomlover
Think less Star Trek or Star Wars more something out of Dead Space, Firefly or Cowboy Bebop since ship parts are very expensive so most are made out of the scraps of other ships (with a few notable expectionss) giving them a very used and ruggad feeling to them as platess of metal have been continuously welded atop of older pieces.

And another Update.

SO I'm a terrible liar it seems as work has been unusually hectic this week and with the Guild instability I haven't been able to finish up that OOC. Butttt the good thing is it's the weekend so I have some much needed free time to work on RP stuff and the Guild doesn't seem to be slowing dying at the moment so expect that OOC soon!

Starsong: A Peculiar Space Opera

So emmm... When will be launch day ?

@boomlover

Update:
All in all it should be done sometime today or tomorrow at the latest.

@Hexaflexagon

That was yesterday so today! Just later when I have a free moment!

I've a question about just how technically advanced the world of this game is - is trans- and posthumanity already a thing? Has natural death been already vanquished in the more civilized and advanced places of the galaxy? Also, are wars and assassinations an acceptable way of furthering one's goals in the civilized space or are such things considered blunt and tactless by the scheming, cunning nobility of the world?

@Keksalot

Good question!

Well in terms of trans and post humanity cyborgs are a thing, but robots are rather stupid as Church Doctrine kind of frowns upon people bestowing intelligent and feelings to shells of metal and anyone caught fooling around with such dark and vile acts have to answer to the Inquisitors which is something that you don't want to happen as they are not a real happy bunch. Though genetically modifying fetuses is okay to make them all all around better humans (though a pleasure that is only reserved for the upper class of course). Natural death has not been eliminated by this point at a time during the early years of the Second Republic it was but in the wars that followed the technology was lost and such lost tech is seen as vile works by the Church. Not that it would be help since most people get stabbed or shot long before they can die of natural causes. Which sort of leads into your final question warfare and assassination isn't frowned upon as despite all our fancy spaceships we can't get away from the fact that we are just angry apes that 'think good'. In fact its more or less seen as a natural part of life as a way for the strong to deal with the weak and minor House Wars were not an uncommon site during the Vermallo Dynasaty but nothing truly as big as the one that is starting up now.

Starsong: A Peculiar Space Opera

@shinigami94
Basically, generally 1 on 1 fights if they occur will be encouraged to be done through collars so that the flow is easier and people don't fill up the IC with one paragraph actions and responses though if collabs can't be done than single posts can work. In terms of who is going to win well generally the combatants should decide that before hand so that they both have a clear goal in mind that they can both work towards without any confusion in there writing to keep up clarity.

Againstt NPCs the writers will have completed control but they just have to be responsible about it if you character has just learned how to use a sword they shouldn't be taking down five trained soldiers in the span of four minutes.

Update:

OOC is about 75% done at this point just need to finish up the character sheet template, finish my own CSs for NPCs and the like and make some final edits. All in all it should be done sometime today or tomorrow at the latest. Thank you for your patience.

The Spirits Within: Oakridge Chronicles

Urgent News Bulletin: I'm not dead yet!

But yeah I'm still here have some potential ideas for the next post currently sketched out really all depends on how the next couple of IC posts shape up. In the meantime I'll continue my eternal struggle against the indecisive weather which can't decide if it wants to be Winter or Spring