Legion02

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

I think we should all start make little tech and lore blurbs while we wait for IC.

Have we nailed down that we want to have two classes of void sensitives by the way? Proper Jedi like Vacare and less capable Navigators and Psychics? I'll get around to editing FTL and maybe making a blurb on that if nobody else feels like it. That said, I'd rather @Flagg or somebody more invested in the Vacare in general make that fluff.

@Isotope

I wrote some fluff on page 3. I kept it specific for Auraxian Vacare as to not impose my will upon others. But basics stuff is:
There are 2 'ways'. One focuses on manipulating the reality and surroundings. While the other way focuses on mental control and insight into minds. They also get kick-ass tattoos they don't remember getting and use implants and stuff. I kept the actual powers vague so far. But if anyone wants a Vacare discussion, I'd be happy to join.

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

Wrote some Vacare fluff for Aivira

The Two Ways

Auraxian Vacare, that is a Vacare that was either born or spent a significant portion of time mastering and studying their gifts in Aurax, often start to diverge from their outsider counterparts in several ways. One, obvious change is that they often master their powers better through the expertise of Aivira. Still, other changes are facilitated. One strange one is the two ‘ways’ of Auraxian Vacare. These ways certainly hold a religious feel. Though any and all Vacare following either way will sternly deny it. Even though their very explanation sounds religious in nature.

The first Way is called Aineth Kairn. Aineth Kairn dictates that the Void is all around. To achieve mastery, understanding and control over your gifts, you must reach out to the Void. Followers of Aineth Kairn are often found on ships and space stations. Prefering the closeness to the eternal void over the safety of a gravity well. They are talented navigators and greatly excel in manipulating their surroundings. There are more extremer practices too. Some Vacare will ‘bond’ with the ship. The ship in question is outfitted with various sensors picking up vague radiation types or just general radiation background noise. Though those following Aineth Kairn will say that this is the Void talking to them. Once the sensors are in place, a Vacare will outfit himself with a certain type of implant to connect himself with the ship. Getting closer to the Void. Extremists of Aineth Kairn are marked with antrophied bodies, as the zero-G environment wears heavily upon their unmoving bodies. It often gets so bad that they require exo-skeletal assistance to move. That being said, Aineth Kairnites can manipulate their surroundings in terrible ways.

The second way is called Aineth Ither. It dictates that mastery over the gift lies within understanding of yourself. To comprehend, discover and use your gift, one must first fully grasp the inner workings of the mind and everything beyond it. Aineth Itherites are often found meditating, contemplating or telepathically debating various subjects. Even mundane things as a rock can lead to hours upon hours of telepathic debate. The audible silence is often quite unnerving to those who cannot hear or understand the debate going on. Deeper understanding of one’s self leads to a deeper understanding of the Void. Though there are certain ‘side’ effects. Often times the Vacare meditates too deep and cannot comprehend that which he learned. Which can lead to decisions taken in a moment of panic or madness. Aineth Itherites often deprived themselves of one or more senses. Blindness is the most common one, though deafness or a cut out tongue are not unheard of. Never the less, Aineth Itherites perceive the world around them enough to wander it unaided. Even when missing several senses. The understanding of their own mind and that of others makes them expert diplomates, negotiators and interrogators.

While extremists exist of both ways, neither will deny the possibility of the other. Instead, the extremes simply state that they cannot grasp the founding concept of the other way. Not that the other way is wrong but they simply cannot understand it. Most Vacare opt to follow a bit of both ways. They meditate but also reach out to the Void around them. More balanced Vacare argue that mastering both ways to the extend as the extremists do at the same time would unlock a legendary third way: Aineth Vacirn. Or the True Way.

However, there is certain Auraxian Vacare behaviour that cannot be attributed to the level of understanding they have of one way. The most common is 'The Marking'. Where a Vacare wakes up in the middle of the night, wanders to the nearest tattoo parlor. The Tattoo artist will immediatly go to work in creating a complex mark on the skin of the Vacare. After which the Vacare leaves. Neither the Vacare nor the artist will remember this event. So far the reason behind these markings is unknown. As they offer no quantifiable increase in power. It has been theorized that this is the Void subconscoiusly marking those who achieved a milestone. Though as Vacare powers (especially mostly mental ones) are very hard to quantify, it is inconclusive at best.

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

Added my faction, going all in on the Vacare and rebrand it Aivira.

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

Question, what's keeping the clone guy from cloning the Emperor's DNA then?

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

Now you just need a code and give'em swords and you have jedi-- without the pacificism.

@GreivousKhan

I mean, I never specified what the Vacare forces of Aurax use... So maybe, juuuuust maybe they have swords and other melee weapons. As for code, they do have one. The code is: Aurax is coming for the Children of the Emperor! IE Whoever is keeping the Imperial heir (like the oldest son of the late Emperor, I presume) hostage is gonna get a visit. That being said, Aurax was kept on a very short leash by the emperor. Now with no Emperor, Aurax doesn't really know what to do (beyond finding the next emperor) and have 0 desire to put someone of their own on the Throne. So they are a very valuable potential ally.

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

House Teklis

Name: House Teklis
Ruling body
System-Lord Kest Teklis
Commander of ISO Illistra Hazen
Grand-Master Allegan Teklis
Lead Scientist of AIVIRA Ysabel Imken
Home System: Aurax System
Aurax I – Aurax I is far too close to the Aurax sun to support any kind of life. With acid rains, dense atmosphere and toxic gasses everywhere. Aurax I is generally used as a dumping ground for unusable material.
Aurax II – The Goldilocks area, Aurax II is a vibrant green world. It is a sustainable farm world capable of feeding Aurax and it’s neighboring system. This is intentional.
Aurax III – The only world that is substantially colonized. With a population of 20 billion people, Aurax III is far from a metropolitan world. However, it is large enough to have a substantial industry. Through imperial decree, Aurax III’s industry remains largely balanced. However, it is clear that the local military-industrial establishments are slightly larger than the average companies.
Aurax IIIa – in part the reason why the Aurax system is of such importance. Aurax IIIa was originally an observation moon. After the discovery of the Void and the rise of the Vacare, Aurax IIIa became home to AIVIRA. An institute that was approaching the Vacare and their sorceries. Vacare raised here were soon picked up by the Imperial Authority. Which began to develop its presence on the planet and turned it into a fortress moon.
Paragon Station – A military fortress station meant for zero-G combat training. Paragon station has grown substantially over the last few centuries, becoming the home of the ISO fleet as well as that of the ISO Grand Admiral.
Gibraltar Ring – An asteroid ring rich in minerals and metals. Several mining stations are hollowing out the asteroids and transport the ore to the orbital factories of Aurax III.
Primary Resource: Vacare
Armed Forces:
While Vacare make up the heart of House Teklis and the ISO-branch, they are still a somewhat rare sight at Aurax. Instead of only counting on the Vacare, ISO also employs a variety of special response forces. Each Order has a unique skill. The Order of Serenity, for example, is specialized in riot control and returning order and peace to an otherwise rebellious system. The Order of Fate, in turn, is specialized in covert operations and mostly stealth operations. This specialization makes sure that House Teklis and ISO was able to respond the second the Emperor told them to. Except for conventional warfare. As Aurax does lack the manpower to fight an all-out war unsupported.

These orders each have a handful of ships suited for their needs. For example, the Order of Fate has several corvettes and destroyers equipped with stealth drives (not invisibility) and the Order of Serenity hold a handful of cruisers. However, due to Imperial Decree, Aurax is prohibited from owning any battleships.

Imperial Assessment
Your Imperial Majesty

No doubt you know the heavily militarized system of Aurax very well. However, if you would indulge me I would like to go over the history of this system. So you can understand it’s current situation all the better.

The start of Aurax lays with Aurax IIIa. A uniquely qualified moon for Void research. It’s close proximity to an anomaly made the creation of an observatory necessary. Furthermore, Aurax IIIa has a very thin and uniquely composed atmosphere. It’s thin enough so it doesn’t block radiation all that much. However, more solid states of matter do get burned upon entry. Even though the object will often still reach the surface, it’s danger will be significantly reduced.

When the void showed humanity’s potentially in the form of the Vacare, the people of the observation post did not shy away from these new capabilities. Quite the opposite, with their scientific knowledge they researched they new found abilities. This created the Academy for Vacare Research. Which eventually became AIVIRA.

This did not go unnoticed. The military branch, the Imperial Authority, soon began to offer great incentives to the Vacare of Aurax IIIa. As soldiers, the Vacare were a new resource to be understood and deployed. Through the specialization of AIVIRA, many of the combat deployed Vacare from Aurax showed great promise. Following the military and the Vacare researchers, many colonists settled the green planets of Aurax to supply the moon and the vast, orbital military constructions.

One of your forbearers found the gravitation of power towards Aurax troubling. He took personal control over the system. It would be part of the Imperial Authority only in name. While he himself would command the generals. The Emperor created the ISO-branch of the Imperial Authority. Since that forefather, several more Emperors came went. Each using ISO more or less. Though the ISO-branch continued to grow, with at its heart AIVIRA.

So I'm not going to lie, I kinda rushed the sheet and I'll be amending a lot of things and add some formatting. So allow me to just throw a blurb of information here to give everyone a more cohesive idea of what I want to make:

Due to several events, Aurax became a heart of Vacare research. This has created a 'feedback' loop of Vacare. The Vacare of Aurax learned how to control their powers better, so other Vacare came in to learn. With more and more Vacare coming in, they could discover more. Soon enough the Imperial Authority found all those Vacare really interesting and began to fortify the system and get the Vacare into the military. So the local research institute (AIVIRA, Auraxian Imperial Vacare Institute for Research and Application) teamed up with the military, got a boat load of funds and just rolled with it. Soon enough the Emperor (not the one that just died) found his own military getting so chubby with the Vacare rather dangerous. So he put Aurax under ISO (Interplanetary Special Operations) control, which he himself in turn controlled. Aurax was no longer part of the Imperial Authority (though the ties remained) and it became a staging place for the many Orders the emperor would employ should a planet, system, person or group became unruly and issues that couldn't be solved by simply sending the Imperial Authority's fleet somewhere. These days AIVIRA and ISO are still fiercly loyal to the Emperor, who gave them lots of goodies and toys to play with but also kept them on a very short leash (obviously).

Now he's dead and the galaxy is in turmoil. They are a small faction but hellbent on one thing: finding the Emperor's children. Or their corpses, so the next in line can be crowned. As you might have guessed, they aren't fond of usurpors.

Ocean Rescue

also @Legion02, Elizabeth needs a hug... or a frying pan to the face I haven't decided which yet

@Belle

She needs both! But probably the frying pan first, a few times.

@Legion02 agreed! I love me a morally complex villain,it seems like she's bound to make things interesting :D I really like how she's not just motivated by plain greed like a lot of antagonists in environment-themed works. Although she really does need a good talking to though, although tbf she's no worse than most politicians as far as the environment's concerned -_-

@2plus2isnot5

Thank you! I hope she continues to be interesting. I took the villain role because I frankly love making villains and often try to make them complex in many ways. What you said is true, too many villains (especially in enviroment-themed works) are simply greedy. With Elizabeth I am attempting to show people that it's not just greed for her. It's hatred for a woman that hurt her. But there will be more about her. Make no mistake, Elizabeth is evil. But I will fight to give her all the right reasons to be evil.

Ocean Rescue

The Midas Touch, Elizabeth’s private secret mega-yacht was making speed towards the island of Haven. As the owner of the ship, one would expect Elizabeth to have the best room on the small cruise ship. Somewhere with a view of the ocean all around and a clear view of the pool deck. And she did have such a room. It was a lavish place filled with silk, gold trims, handwoven carpets, paintings that should be in a museum and the finest tech toys money could buy (and couldn’t, she had her ways). Yet that room stood empty. She elected to sleep deep inside the bowels of the ship. Away from windows and views. A place where the sun’s natural beauty could not shine down. Instead of fluorescent lights beamed down from the ceiling. The floor was hardwood, only polished so nobody would get splinters from it. The doors were heavy and meant to fight the pressure of water rushing in. There she slept and lived during the past few days. Observing screens, numbers, maps, and contracts as thick as a book.

Some would call Elizabeth’s behavior a textbook case of obsession. It had all the telltale signs. The repression of her environment. Sometimes she read the same text five times, just to get sure she understood it all. Yet Elizabeth would call it hard work. Whatever you would call it though, you could hardly deny that she was hell-bent on destroying Haven. She had even gone so far as put the survey results as the background of every screen in her hole. A copy of it was even pinned in the middle of her board. A faint clang finally ripped her eyes off the documents before her. Carefully a sailor opened the door. He was surprised for a second when he saw her. She was a far, faint memory of the beauty she radiated just a few days now. “Ma’am. Haven is within sight. You told me to call you when we could see it?” the man said rather uncertain. Elizabeth rose from her chair and took her glasses off. The moment let her realize just how long she had been working. “What time is it?” she asked as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Six, fifteen am, ma’am.” Six in the morning? Elizabeth wanted to feel like that had to be impossible. But the truth was that she hadn’t seen a clock or the sun in a week. It could as well be midnight. “Very well. Prepare the speedboat. I’ll be down in an hour.” With that, the sailor left her cabin. Not much later she too came out and headed for her lavish room.

An hour later and a handful of sailors were just done with lowering the speedboat in the water of the inside dock. They all stood straight up when they heard the familiar ting of the elevator arriving. The sailor that once was surprised as how faded Elizabeth looked, was surprised once more by how beautiful she was now. Her once greasy hair was clean and wavy. With a light touch of makeup, Elizabeth looked as if being beautiful was just an effortless endeavor. Dressed in a black suit pants, black heels and a breezy, white blouse she boarded her speedboat. The dock’s doors opened up, letting the small boat free onto the water. With staggering speed, the little boat shot out of the giant yacht. Just mere minutes later and the yacht could very well look like a small cruise liner passing along. Exactly as Elizabeth had intended it. With staggering speed the boat approached Haven. “That’s a nice spot if you’d ask me.” The rather grizzled, old sailor steering the speedboat said as Elizabeth lifted her sunglasses to completely absorb the beauty of the island. “I’ve sailed for many people who’d pay good money to come to a place like this.” He added. Elizabeth couldn’t suppress the small grin. Why should she? Yes, it was beautiful now. Everyone would call the azure water, the lush green and the soft, sandy beaches a paradise. Everyone but Elizabeth. Who saw her mother in everything. If she could, she would burn the green from the island, trash the shores and let oil flow into the azure water. But for now, she’d be happy with merely burning down the huts and drilling for the liquid, black gold.

Within minutes she was upon the nearest dock and set foot on the island. Two rather grim looking fellows disembarked with her. Each holding a suspiciously dangerous-looking object on their belt and looked like they benched their weight every morning. Behind them, Elizabeth's scrappy lawyer tried to get the few wisps of hair on his head in order. For a moment Elizabeth absorbed the scene. The picturesque bungalows, the rescue boat. Her mother was a fool.

Prized Bride (A New Beginning)

Keregar

_{Warlord of Kereg-Kor
Interacting with: The Warden of Harand Kor@ClocktowerEchos, Aymiria Unalim @Amethyst and Zakroti Unalim @darkwolf687}

Keregar’s face turned grim. The Warden? Dead? The times were most certainly growing darker. Back in Keregar’s day, there were few certainties in the world. But the undying danger of Harand Kor was as sure as Krenta’s embrace. Now, with the old Warden gone, Keregar could not help but feel as if Harand Kor lost a bit of its splendor. Still, as he gazed upon the newer Warden before him, his mood lightened a little. Yes, this new one seemed worthy of the Mask. “I will extend you the same courtesy as I gave the previous Warden. I will not ask your name.” He said, his voice as serious as he was speaking a vow. “Indeed, long live the Warden.”

Keregar’s gaze turned to the distant Pits. “I do not know you, Warden. But I hope we will meet on the sand.” Few could really know it. Fewer would understand it. But Keregar rarely hoped he would meet someone on the field of battle. It was a strange form of honor he extended to another Drakkan. A worthiness few had gained outside of Kerg-Kor. With a small nod of his head, he marched towards the Pits.

Some Drakkan would opt for armor, or a polearm weapon. His younger sons called it sensible, wise and advantageous. To Keregar, it was dishonorable. On his way he saw a Gem. Running around, alone. The sight struck him as odd. In his sober state, he did question why a Gem would be alone in the streets of the Drakkan capital. The Warlord kept waiting as the streets emptied out. Keeping an eye on the little Gem. He didn’t care if he was late. He felt like he would see something soon. Something that would not sit him well. He did not know what exactly. But he didn’t get to live so long by not knowing when to follow his guts. Soon enough he was rewarded.

A Drakkan. He looked almost unnaturally short. Was it really a Drakkan. Yes, yes he was. The greater question was why a Drakkan so small, so insignificant could have an apparent bride. Still, Keregar was not pleased by the sight. Why was he looking so desperate for her? Why did it look like he was caring? She was a Gem! Instead of slapping some sense in her, he barely touched her. Instead of chaining her and dragging her back, he remained gentle. Where was the punishment? It was clear that she was not supposed to be on the streets. Keregar moved closed, hearing him stumble over his words. Disgusting!

Luckily the little Gem knew her place. At least, she almost did. “A Bride does not move from the side of her husband unless specifically allowed.” He said with a stern, harsh voice. His eyes were filled with menace and hatred. Not just to her, but to the Drakkan with her. “And a Drakkan should know when to punish his Bride. You know our history, do you not boy?” Keregar was not afraid of throwing the insults. What would such a small Drakkan even do to him? Other than harm the collective superiority of the Drakkan race by procreating. Deep inside he hoped that Sorrak wouldn’t let it happen.

---

Kyrena

_{Bride of Unknown and Sister-Bride of Unknown
Interacting with: no-one}

In her entire night, Kyrena never ever had a sleepless night. Under the shadow of the mountain, she felt protected. The winds of Auram would stand their guard. Gems of Serenity Mountain were not often subjected to evil deeds. In her bed, she still cursed her own stupidity for not changing clothes. How could she be so blind!? Well, she knew why. The dazed sensation. She wished it would return. But when she returned to her room after a long and exhausting day keeping together a torn dress, she jumped on her bed and silently sobbed in her pillow. Her Sne must have sensed something was wrong as the little creature came out of hiding and snuggled up to the Air Gem. Who embraced the gentle animal as the slow, ugly subs continued. Yesterday she wanted to dance, to feel free. Today she just wanted to feel numb. Why did she choose this life!?

After a long time of trying (and failing) to suppress her crying, she could finally wipe the tears away. Looking at her little companion, she realized she had been selfish. The animal probably hadn’t eaten yet! “You must be hungry.” She managed to say, not really expecting an answer from the little creature nuzzling her hand. But Kyrena knew. “I’ll find you some food tomorrow. I promise.”

Holding her pet close, Kyrena had tried to sleep through the night. When the gentle fingers of the sandman nearly wiped her tears away, her mind woke up again. Fearing a Drakkan might barge into her room at any moment and yell at her. Or worse, find her Sne! So when it inevitably happened, she was just in time to throw her blanket over the tiny creature and hide it. This time around she was not so stupid as not change her clothes. Tired, but more alert, she walked into the grand room trying to find the glowing Gem of yesterday. Maybe it was the comfort she gave, or maybe it was because she was the only Gem she actually spoke to. But Kyrena couldn’t find her before the Drakkan entered the hall. The second she saw him, Kyrena stood up to bow. Yet the Drakkan stopped them all. Rather attentively she listened to what he said. Hot springs? Kyrena had never been to a hot spring before. After the announcement she wanted to keep looking for the glowing girl. But when her stomach rumbled, she instead chose to settle down on a bench and eat some of the strange foods. At first, she was rather hesitant and merely nibbled at the heavy black bread. Under normal circumstances, she would have disliked it. But in the past days she had rarely eaten. So, for now, she tore into it after she realized it wasn’t all that bad. After eating quite a bit off the bread, she began to look around her to spot any Drakkan. She couldn’t find any, so she quickly wrapped several pieces of the bread in a cloth and put in her pocket. Hoping nobody saw it.

These Dark Stars - IC is open -

I'm making a faction that will largely depend on the Vacare so if I may offer some things I'd like to see:
- A form of mind control. Obviously, I expect the Empire to have several countermeasures in place so Vacare can't just mind control whoever they want. But it could make for interesting situations.
- A form of mind reading. Which again, has several counters but it would feel obvious, no?
- A form of void-energy control. My idea would be that they can open small, temporary portals that allow the 'matter' of the void to slip into reality, take the form of some dark-energy substance and be shot off. The portals could also serve to act as a mini, very local, not that powerful singularity.
- Divination. I wanted to say precognition but with Divination, we can add some ranting of space gods. (because who doesn't love slightly unhinged sorcerers?)

I'll probably come up with several more ideas but these are the ones I'd very much like.