Notes on the universe in The Soap Space Opera ------------------------------------------------- Note: Only the first four races (Human, Ta'Kara, Dunmeri, Altmeri) are playable this time around. Sorry. ;_; I also might tinker more with the magic stuff later, or get rid of it altogether. I dunno. "Dammit! I'm too busy being creative to think rationally!" --Robin Strickland Setting: The year 2749. The majority of the galaxy has been explored, and much of it has been colonized. These two processes were sped up greatly when contact was made between humans and the first openly agressive alien race, the Ken. While many other alien races exist, none of them sought to antagonize one another, and they were able to coexist peacefully, and sometimes even breed together. The Ken, however, sought to controll all of the galaxy, due to belief in their manifest destiny. War erupted, but was quickly ended through negotioation. An uneasy aliance exists between the Ken and the mostly human Galactic Federation. Notes: Unless stated otherwise, all races an only have one level of Dynamic Sorcery, and/or 3 levels of Magic. Playable Races: *Human: Most populous race. Have an appalingly high birthrate, by the standards of most other races, but do not live as long. Come in an odd variety of colors. Males of the species sometimes exhibit fur on their faces. Typical lifespan is 80 years. Native to the unimaginatively-named planet Earth. Bonuses: May perform Dynamic Sorcery of higher than one level (up to four), but this must be done with a ritual. Defects: None Limits: Body: 10 Mind: 10 Soul: 12 *Ta'kara: Humanoid race, gifted with exceptional mental capabilities. Are physically indistinguishable from asian-born humans, save for a few who have exotic hair coloration. Are calm and often unagressive. Are often found in mercantile professions, where their empathic abilities make them excellent hagglers. Have somewhat high birthrates and 90-year lifespans. Come from the beautiful jungle (and resort) world of Taa. Bonuses: Have one free level of Empathy, and can also take the first level of Telepathy, Telekinesis, or Psionics for half the normal cost (only one may be bought with this discount, and only at character creation). Defects: Special Requirement l.2 ~ There's something in the water of Taa, and the Ta'kara need it to live. On other planets, they can take the necessary substances in the form of supplements taken twice daily. The supplements come in bottles of 20 'vitamins', and usually cost around two hundered credits for a refill (count as a minor item). Without the stuff in these 'vitamins', Very Very Bad Things will Happen. You don't want to know what they are, either. Limits: Body: 7 Mind: 11 Soul: 10 *Dunmer: Humanoid race, intense and emotional, but not allways agressive. Low birthrate, long (200 year) lifespan. Tend towards slender bodies, vary wildly in size (an adult can be from 4 to 9 feet tall), although ninety percent or so tend to be from five to six feet in height. Have dark grey skin, blue eyes, black or white hair, and long, pointed ears. Stereotype says that they are sex-crazed, and in truth most of them are. Can breed with most other known species. Have the odd trait of being immune to unwanted impregnation. Native to the volcanic belt of the planet B'riil. Bonuses: 2 free point Soul, 1 free Mind. Can have up to three levels of Dynamic Sorcery. Defects: Easily Distracted: Opposite Sex l.1 (This defect can be bought away in character creation, however, to represent a character with unusal restraint.) Marked: Grey Skin (Everyone will think you're easy to score with.) l.1 Limits: Body: 8 Mind: 11 Soul: 11 *Altmer: Humanoid race, aloof and condescending. They feel they are the supreme race of the universe, and they don't hesitate to let everyone else know it. Tend to be horribly formal and conformist. Aside from having bronzed or golden skin, they are phisiologically identical to their neighbors, the Dunmer. They are native to the southern grasslands of B'riil. Bonuses: 1 free point Soul, 2 free Mind. Can have up to four levels of Dynamic Sorcery. Defects: Unique Defect: Loathed. Altmer are generally resented by all other races. An Altmer PC will be at hefty penalties to engage in any social activity with another race (as high as +/-3), even if they themselves are friendly, approachable people. NOTE: a person playing an Altmer character can buy this off at creation to represent an Altmer who does not share the 'established views' of their society. In order for others to not be prejusdiced against them, however, they'd need to make an effort at disguising themselves ("Er, I'm just well-tanned human. Honest.") Limits: Body: 8 Mind: 11 Soul: 11 ----------- *Malian: Very large (eight or nine feet) and strong peoples, with long, slinkey-like arms, pebbley skin, and no visible ears or nose. Tend to be calm and are notoriously *un*agressive, but are excellent fighters when provoked. A deeply religious peoples, all Malians devote their lives to their deity Verra, who they believe is the source of all balance in the universe. Live four-hundered year lifespans, have a very low birth rate. Native to the fissure-jungles of Tanagra, a world largely covered by ice. Bonuses: four free points of Body, one free level of Super Strength Can have DS at level two, if they are trained as priests. Defects: Not Too Fast l.1 Attack Restriction ~ all living things l.1 Easily distracted; portents and signs l.1 Awkward Size l.1 Limits: Body: 12 Mind: 10 Soul: 11 *Yorn: Dwarfish, mechanically inclined people. Were considered primative when first encountered (they are a young race), but became enamored with technology. Yorn are no taller than four feet, can vary in girth quite a bit, and have vaguely greenish skin due to their copper-based blood. Don't take insults very well. Have an average birth-rate, and live about 100 years. Come from the planet of Gargantia, which is one of the largest inhabited planets in the galaxy. Bonuses: Two free levels of Mechanical Genius. Defects: Not Too Tough l.1 Not Too Strong l.1 Cannot use magic. Limits: Body: 7 Mind: 10 Soul: 7 *Dra'Nagh: Large saurian beings of great strength. Are often easily enraged, and are excellent fighters, although they try to follow a doctrine of peace and calm taught by their cousins, the Dra'Ma'Tongh. Can be up to eight feet tall, and are durable and agile. Are often friendly to those who don't offend them. Often called 'Dragons', which doesn't seem to offend them. They have a fairly low birthrate, and rarely talk about their expected life span. "Suffice to say," spoke Llethan the Dra'Ma'Tongh, "That none of them expect to die of old age." Bonuses: One level of Combat Mastery and Speed free. Defects: Unique Defect: Easily Enraged l.1 Easily Distracted: Violence. Most Dra'Nagh will try to either dominate or break up any fight they see, and cannot help watching if they aren't involved. Limits: Body: 11 Mind: 7 Soul: 10 Other races of note: *Bedoryani: A paranoid avian race. Fortify planets, but do not seek to expand their own sphere of influence. Little is actually known of them, although their wine is legendary, as well as very difficult to come by. *Kendali: A terribly agressive race, any given member of the Kendali would as soon kill you as look at you. Vaguely reptilian. Adult males grow oseous frills on the back of their heads, which can grow to be as long as four feet (although one foot is the norm). These frills often grow protrusions which can be used offensively. Most die in battle before they reach fifty, and so the actual life expectancy of this race is unknown. Their leader, K'rill, however, is well over one hundered years old, and is still hale and hearty. Native to the planet Gragh. *Dra'Ma'Tongh (Great Old Dragons): The larger cousins of the Dra'Nagh. Walk on all fours and can be up to five hundered feet long. Have magical prowess unheard of amongst other races, and can fly freely amongst the stars. Despite their fearsome size and appearance, they are usually gentle creatures who find other races fascinating. They often encourage and endorse scholarship (And are also often very wealthy). Dra'Ma'Tongh are a wealth of knowledge sought by all scholars of other races, partially due to their multi-millenia lifespan. At a rumored 10000 years old, Almalexia is the eldest of the Dra'Ma'Tongh, and is therefore it's leader. It is said that the Dra'Ma'Tongh taught magic to other races long ago. *Centaurians: Extinct race. As near as anyone can tell, the Centaurians once ruled the entire galaxy; their ruins have been discovered in every sector of the galaxy, as well as in the Magellanic clouds. However, archeological finds show that their extinction predated the birth of any other sentient species by hundereds of thousands of years. What caused this extinction is still unknown, and is subject to much debate amongst the archeological community. Were native to Alpha Centauri A's second planet. Empires: Galactic Federation: Governed from Earth, Composed of humans, Altmer, Dunmer, Malians, and a few other races. Consist of some four hundered populated worlds, and takes up a little more than a third of the galaxy. Ken'Dali Empire: Governed from Darr by the (literally) iron fist of K'rill. Consists of three hundered populated worlds, takes up a little less than a third of the galaxy. Free Worlds Hegemony: a small, independantly governed collective of about twenty worlds. Home base to many pirate clans. Bedoryan Coalition: home of the bedoryans. Visitors not welcome. Fringelands: A collection of partially settled planets around the rim of the Federation's part of the galaxy. Most of them are not really aligned with each other, but simply haven't joined any other stellar empire. Pirates: Not really a stellar empire, nor are they even very organized. However, they are pervasive enough that all should be aware of their presence. If you are noted to be carrying valuable cargo by pirates, you *will* be attacked, unless you manage to cut some sort of bargain with them. Notes on Space Travel: "Tel Ahl's guide to the universe" Brought to you by Plasticakes! Delicious feaux pancaces made from 100% recycled foodlike polymers! *Weapons & Scanners? *Denton Drive A solid-state quantum waveform generator powered by a ship's fusion torches, which are in turn fed with semisolid deuterium ('super-slush'). The wavefront induces an effect known as 'quantum tunneling', which effectively 'digs' a hole from A to B. While travel through the wavefront tunnel is not instantaneous, it is fast enough to allow a ship to traverse dozens of lightyears in a relatively short time (the average effective speed is 3 parsecs per hour, or roughly nine light-years). Naturally, the faster the drive speed, the more expensive the drive. While inside this 'hole', the ship cannot contact the outside universe without an expensive subspace communications system. If one looks out the window of a ship in travel in this manner, they will see the outside universe in a highly abstracted form. One of the perks of this method of travel is that it sidesteps the relativistic considerations of superluminal travel in relation to the passage of time. A minute spent in hyperspace is the same as a minute spent anywhere else. Also, a single large ship with such a drive can carry other ships through the waveform tunnel with it. This has benefited merchant convoys tremendously over the years. *The Fold Generator A more recent invention, the Fold Generator allows for effectively instantaneous travel. The Fold Generator operates by 'swaping' the space occupied by the Fold-equipped ship (along with the ship itself and anything in it's immeidate area) with the space in the place where they want to go. How this is done is not understood in the slightest. The Fold Generator was designed not by an engineer, oddly enough, but by a poor (both in wealth and skill) artist. The plans he made were auctioned along with the rest of his estate after he died from an overdose of Brilliance, a fairly popular drug. While nothing is known about *how* the Fold Generator workd, the fact that it *does* work is enough for most. *Space Madness / lonesomeness / comfort and entertainment "Many people consider entertainment equipment to be every bit as important as the actual drive system of a space ship. The uncaring vastness and utter silence of interstellar space can easily destroy the sanity of someone who has nothing to occupy their time. Notes on the assorted races in the Galaxy and their culture. ~Balmora: A Dra'Ma'Tongh who has spent over a millenium studying other cultures. ~Sadrith Mora: A Dunmer who studies first-hand cultural oddities of various races. ~Orah Baladrin: A Malian historian. ~Tal Adruin: An Altmer sociologist. ~Brian Smithson: The interviewer. Welcome, everyone, and I hope it wasn't too inconveniencing to be here. Not at all. And again, I thank you all for coming on such short notice. Anytime, cutie. ...yes, well. (chuckles nervously) (chuckles) (sniffs derisively) Uh, anyway... If you don't mind, I'd like to go ahead and get my own species out of the way rather quickly. Oh? Yeah. Don't worry, there's a good reason for it. Well, I can think of a good enough place to start. It is said in one of your own race's ancient tongues-- Uh, I don't speak any of my races' ancient tongues. (stares at Brian) What do you *mean* you don't speak your species' ancient tongues? What kind of stupid species doesn't pass on their culture from one generation to the next? (fidgets nervously) Please, Orah, let us not dwell on this right now. We shall broach the matter shortly. Yes, please. While the day is yet young. Oh, like you have anywhere better to be. (declines to comment on the matter) At any rate, the rough translation is "By his home you shall know him". And we all know how important it is to pay attention to people who reverse the subject and auxiliary verb in their sentence. (clears throat, causing Sadrith, Brian, and Tal to jump in startlement) Yes, well. Anyway, the Human homeworld displays an astonishingly wide variety of climactic conditions. While it has none of the extremities of B'riil or Tanagra, it has a certain quantity of nearly everything to be found existing on any other planetary surface. One point of interest is that this planet, Earth, is one of only three worlds to develop-- I think most of our readers know enough about Earth to work with, Orah. Eh? Er, just trust me. With the interest in mind of not wishing to bore those who would peruse this article, I will say only a few short words about the Humans. I believe Orah was working up to a perfectly valid point; this being that Humans exhibit as many wildly different traits as their homeworld does. There are some who are content to drift through life, "going with the flow", as they sometimes say, while there are others who cannot be content unless they are hard at work on something. You are, of course, correct, Balmora. Another interesting facet of Human culture, however, are their religions. (sniffs) If you can call them that. Most notably, the fact that roughly half the species doesn't have a religion. ::nods:: I'd noticed that, myself. Although, oddly, many Humans without their own religion will still swear by a certain god worshiped by many Human sects. Who, as far as anyone can tell, doesn't exist. Which brings up another interesting point, which is the fact that none of the deities worshiped by any human religion seem to exist, as opposed to the gods of most other races, who have been observed in the flesh, as it were, by many. I, myself, have met Verra, as have all Malians. I have met her, as well. She is a very interesting woman. You have met Verra? Of course. In my study of other races, I have taken it upon myself to meet the deities of all the species I undertake a study of. However, my study of humans was held up for decades which I spent fruitlessly searching for a Human god. There was something there that I couldn't put my talon on, but I am certain it wasn't any sort of deity. Er, would any of you mind if I used the mention of Verra to segue into the discussion of Malians? Tal probably finds it disgusting, but that's to be expected. (sneers ar Sadrith) (thumbs her ear at Tal) Now, now, children. (fumes) Who are you calling 'children'? You. (snickers) next... (Malians) (Ta'Kara) (Yorn) (Dunmer) (Altmer) ~ Altmer and Dunmer. Been at war on and off since they can remember. There used to be a third race on their planet (the Bosmer), but these people did not advance as quickly as the other two and were consequently wiped out (or so it is thought).