MissingAxis

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

@Keyguyperson Will do. I dunno if you'll be around when I edit some more stuff into it, but if you're not, I may just start posting anyway. Worst case scenario, my post gets retconned if the edits aren't approved of.

To anyone else, if you're interested in starting a first contact scenario tonight, let me know.

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

Ouroboros Congregation

Name of nation: Ouroboros Congregation
Species: The Ophis are colony-beings formed from swarms of eel-like creatures. The eels entwine their bodies and latch onto each other, sharing brainpower and muscle strength to form walking, thinking beings. The Ophis themselves are very difficult to permanently kill, as a surviving clump of eels can be regrown by a skilled caretaker into the formerly deceased Ophis, though they will not be exactly the same.

Description of government: Neo-Feudalism
The Lords of the Congregation each hold sovereign authority over their personal domains, reigned in only by a unifying Constitution and Congregational politics. Every three decades, a Lord is elected by the rest of the Congregation to serve as the Warlord; figurehead, moderator, and arbitrator. Only they have the authority to call the Lords to assemble for political discussion or to war against outside threats. They may decide to use these assemblies to reign in unusually unruly Lords, discuss amendments to the Constitution, or to give the other Lords an opportunity to witness the settling of a dispute between two others. If the Warlord declares a call to arms, any quarrels between Lords of the Congregation must indefinitely cease, and the Lords must each swear their allegiance to the Warlord until the resolution of the war.

Description of military: Each Lord maintains for themselves a personal armed retinue. The sizes and composition of these forces vary. Additionally, they maintain defensive fleets to guard their subjects from outside threats and their fellow Lords. These fleets tend to be small compared to the levies Ophis Lords have been known to raise, little more than a police force and border patrol to dissuade domestic piracy and foreign raids. However, Ophis industry and a substantial number of mothballed ships means that a moderate sized fleet could be raised as quickly as new recruits can be trained. Lords have known to require compulsory service and annual military drills to keep their subjects battle-ready.

Technological Overview: Nuclear space age. The Ophis largely utilize technology developed thousands of years ago after their first global war, just prior to their second and final one. Advances have been made, however. The Ophis utilize both nuclear fission and fusion powerplants, with arsenals consisting mostly of mass drivers and missiles. Silicon computing is lacking, in some respects, but not entirely useless. Computers in the domains of the Congregation are intended to supplement Ophis scholars and warriors, not replace them. This is seen best in targeting and sensors; while many Ophis can often calculate orbital maneuvers and targeting solutions faster than their computers, they can't see in infrared or determine surface gravity and altitude on the fly. Because it seems a crime against god to take the Ophis out of war, scholars have not taken computing much further than needed to cover the weaknesses of Ophis. This limits their industry in some ways, but the Congregation and the Ophis have done very well in making up for it.

The Ophis make extensive use of cloning and bio- technology, growing vats of eels and tweaking their genes just right to resurrect a fallen colony-being or create a faster, stronger, smarter one.

Among their limited access to exotic technology is their system of FTL. The FTL drive requires a steep gravitational gradient in order to be activated, with such an environment typically only found near stars and black holes. After the drive is activated, the vessel appears to be removed from realspace. Data on navigating while the drive is activated is limited, as the navigators themselves often do not survive the experience. In the event that they do survive, they are driven mad and mutated. These navigators can often be used for several more trips, if cared for. A few after activation, assuming successful navigation, the vessel will reappear in realspace at a steep gravity well near the destination. The gravity gradient required to deactivate the shuntdrive does not need to be nearly as steep as when it is activated; however, it is virtually impossible to safely arrive in a star system without gas giants, as the vessel would be immediately swallowed by the sun.

Cultural Overview: The Ophis weigh two aspects of a being above all else. Ancestry is the first that a colony-being is judged by. Ophis have keen genetic memories due to their unique physiology. An Ophis may have some vague memories inherited from their parents or grandparents, and therefore a grudge may (perky breasts because no one actually read this) outlive the one originally holding it. A bloodline's personal merit and their misdeeds will be the basis for which all their kin thenceforth are judged. However, ancient grudges may still be forgiven. Ophis judge next by personal merits. It is very possible for an Ophis to redeem their bloodline or at least gain status as an exception to the feud.

History: Even prior to the Congregation's formation, there was a seemingly endless cycle of civil war that often resulted in records and archives being destroyed. This has continued long into the Congregation's reign. Few records survive, fewer still are consistent. Warrior-philosophers cite this is as one reason for the perpetuation of the Cycle.
Other: App may be supplemented with edits as time goes on.

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

Another time then. I've got too many bad feelings about where this is headed.

Hope you guys have fun.

@Ophidian

Thanks, you too. See you, space cowboy.

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

Drafting up a nation app.

The New Empires

Is this map a world map or a region map?

The New Empires

Now that a few nations have been put on the map, I think I can safely say I'll be settling my nation primarily on the coasts in the narrow sea between the western and eastern continents. I'm planning on playing a trade nation, with the main city built in a coastal lagoon, not unlike Venice.

Once there are a few more nations on the map, I'll determine where exactly my territory will be, and throw up my sheet.

The New Empires

I'll join this if it gets off the ground.

Final Frontier(Sci-fi Faction Roleplay)

@Druby

---

As Gabriel lashed out, so too did Di, swinging his knife through the air without aiming. Diraphus didn't see if it hit or not, and adrenaline flooded his bodies. Raphus kept their weapons trained on the alien as Di replaced his knife with a gun. Moving as one, he formed a half-circle around Gabriel, certain pitches of his mindsounds barely reaching the human range of hearing.

"D-drop your weapons?" Diraphus' reply was perfect mimicry, apparently coming from Raph on Gabriel's left, though his mouth barely moved.

The alien's mouth-noises meant nothing to the Pack, and he couldn't make out any mindsounds. Could it be some kind of automaton, or a trained warbeast without any intelligence? The body plan was unlike anything the scout had ever heard of: two arms, two legs, a stubby neck and a weird head. It seemed fleshy enough to be living, but of course, Diraphus couldn't see much.

"D-drop your weapons?" The ever-shifting semicircle of Diraphus paused a moment as Raph repeated the alien's phrase. Then, the Pack started shifting around even faster than before, and all three heads were almost shouting at him as they circled and paced.

"D-drop your weapons?"

"D-drop your weapons?"

"D-drop your weapons?"

Amid the babbling chorus of mimicry, one member stopped a moment to fiddle with their radio, pressing a circular protrusion against their head tympanum. The packmember's speech sounded something like gobbling and a canid's whine as it began to relay information to the pilot. The other two members dared to step closer to the alien, still mimicking his earlier demand, jabbing toward him with their guns as they did so, trying to back him into a tree.

Final Frontier(Sci-fi Faction Roleplay)

Dragonruby said
Not dying

This.

Final Frontier(Sci-fi Faction Roleplay)

@Druby

---

The terrain didn't hold as much resemblance to Diraphus' Packworld as he thought. Some of the trees were faintly similar, but those were sparse in the dense greenery. Diraphus was born and raised in the mid-north, some hours south of the frostier tine expanse. He grew up with bigleafs and some tine trees, rarely seeing a snow or unbearably hot summer. The plant life on this alien world, so far, was as alien to him as the equatorial jungles of the Packworld as a result. Still, he was comforted by the occasional sight of the alien bigleafs, and found his path wandering naturally to each of those trees, so long as he could see one.

A breeze passed through the trees, and the scout thought he heard something up ahead. He took a few more steps forward, sniffing, only to realize the wind was at his back. Di nosed ahead a short distance as Raphus drew his weapons, both bodies now wielding a short bullpup submachine gun. It wouldn't do any good to get attacked without a weapon drawn, especially as a threesome. Di drew a knife from a calf-sheath and inched forward some more as Raphus caught up. A rather large tree sat in the direction they crept, and as they approached it, Di shifted to pass it on one side while Raph went along the other. Us followed a little ways behind Di, weapon raised.

As Diraphus poked a head around the tree, surprise ran through his body and he almost cried out.

---

The ramship's crew was quick to act when the light of nuclear fire reached them from low-orbit. Countermeasures were brought online, and the limited sensor suite was set to active scanning. With most of the Effort's packs still in coldsleep on board the ship, those awake feared the Colonization Effort might crumble before the supports could be laid. As the fight raged on, the ramship remained silent in high orbit, save for their scanners. Mind-noise and the hum of machinery were the only sounds in the quilted hallways.