Úath Ring
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A secluded galactic region commonly known as the Pandora Cluster, but local nomads and rifters know it better as the Hyperstorm. The region is accessible practically only through an artificially maintained stable wormhole called The Eye (also known as the Pandora’s Eye), which is held open by a ring-shaped hyper-advanced alien structure, the Ring.

There are currently almost thirty Gate Worlds, and new gates are being built to the colonies of the New Horizon and the Prosperity Chain to reconnect the Gate Worlds with the Lost Expanse – a previously colonized part of the cluster, which was lost to the Locusts almost thirty years ago.

The Consortium and the Gate Worlds


The first colonists arrived in Pandora Cluster almost five hundred years ago, but the expansion has been slow and painful. Many metacorporations came in the cluster after it was found and tried to claim its riches. After the first century of constant conflict and turmoil, the Consortium was established. It is a union between several metacorporations, alien domains, AIs, and colonial governments and tribes. Currently, the Consortium is the most significant political and economic power in the Pandora Cluster, and it controls the amatium trade and space travel between the Gate Worlds, and traffic through The Eye.

The Gate Worlds comprises the oldest Pandoran colonies, and they have a strong Consortium military and endopol presence compared to the New Horizon colonies or the Dead Space, where the Consortium has almost nonexistent authority.

There are currently almost thirty Gate Worlds, and new gates are being built to the colonies of the New Horizon and the Prosperity Chain to reconnect the Gate Worlds with the Lost Expanse – a previously colonized part of the cluster, which was lost to the Locusts almost thirty years ago.

The Hyperstorm

The whole Pandora Cluster is affected by a strange gravitational phenomenon, probably caused by several gigantic black holes near the cluster. This phenomenon is commonly known as the hyperstorm. It makes hyperspace travel much more unpredictable and hazardous, by interfering with hyperspace navigation and causing strain on the ship systems.

On the other hand, it is theorized that the phenomenon enables the high amount of wormholes in the region, and the Consortium has taken advantage of this. The Consortium AIs have developed a way to control this phenomenon by retro-engineering The Ring and manufacturing smaller rings, called fargates, that can create stable wormholes between planetary systems.

While challenging, hyperspace travel is not impossible, and the fact that most of the space travel within the cluster happens through the fargates has created a demand for spaceships and pilots, who know how to navigate the hyperstorm and even find routes to worlds that are hidden in the storm.

The Rifts and the Malakim Ruins

There are dozens of smaller wormholes, called rifts, found around the Pandora Cluster and many of these lead to worlds with ancient alien ruins riddled with wondrous alien artifacts. Most of these worlds are inhabited – or perhaps even guarded – by weird creatures, and terrible traps can be found within these alien ruins. There are also several worlds with moon-sized strange structures rich in amatium, a rare and valuable mineral that is important to space travel, highly advanced fractal technology, and the psychic voyants.

The Edge


The Edge refers to a series of planetary systems that lie on the edges of the fargate network. These are worlds with some Consortium influence, but most of the planets and colonies are autonomous or under megacorporation control.

Dead Space

Dead Space is a lawless zone between the Consortium Gate Worlds and the Lost Expanse. After the Lost Expanse fell to the Nephilid Swarm, this area was where the last battles against the nephilids were fought. Some even as recently as a few years ago.

This region is at the same time a war zone, with sentinel warships and metacorporation privateer frigates patrolling the star systems, and an autonomous zone with many criminal cartels fighting over the control in the area.

The Prosperity Chain

The Prosperity Chain is a string of resource-rich star systems close to the Lost Expanse. The riches of the Prosperity Chain have attracted House Azuria, along with many smaller metacorps and prospector rigs, into the region.

The Clan Stars

The Nomad Clans have built several refueling and repair docks in a small cluster of stars in the Dead Space. No one else but Nomad clanarks is welcome into these systems, and Nomad patrols politely escort any unwanted ships out of the star system. Any hostilities are met with relentless return fire.

Kraken’s Maw Nebula

The Kraken’s Maw Nebula hides several pirate safe havens and resupply stations on its star systems’ inhospitable worlds and asteroid fields. The nebula’s strong background radiation makes navigation and sensor use very difficult in the area, and pirates use this to their benefit when hiding their tracks and striking out into different parts of the New Horizon and The Prosperity Chain and their trade routes.

The New Horizon

The New Horizon is a region of space where the metacorporations are expanding with the Consortium’s mandate. New colonies are found and terraformed. Fargates are being built to several of these worlds, and a few have an operational fargate already.

The New Horizon is sometimes called Wild Space, because of its status as a widely uninhabited and unexplored region where different kinds of criminals and outlaws can hide in the outskirts of the civilized world.

The Lost Expanse


Previously a colonized area that was lost to nephilids when they attacked for the first time. Most of the worlds in the Lost Expanse now lie in ruins, or they were abandoned in the evacuation efforts over thirty years ago.

There are still many spaceship wrecks to salvage and lost colonies to find. The first Malachim ruins are also located in the Lost Expanse.

The Rift Worlds

Rift worlds are worlds that have a relatively stable wormhole somewhere in the system. Almost always these worlds have alien ruins or other remains of the Malakim culture. Many of these worlds are located in the Dead Space or the Lost Expanse.

Cultures


Factions


USCC

United Systems’ Consortium of Cultures (USCC) has been the central political and economic power between the allied cultures for over five hundred years. It has created social conventions and standards to unify cultures and help them prosper.

One of the greatest achievements of the Consortium is the fargate network that connects all the significant Consortium worlds. The fargates allow near instantaneous travel and communication between two fargates, but their construction is very expensive and time-consuming. Only the richest and most influential worlds can afford to build a fargate of their own, and this has created a division between the wealthy gate worlds and the less influential and poorer frontier worlds. In the recent years, this has led to separatist movements appearing around the Consortium borders – including the Edge.

Construction work on the first fargate in the Edge started roughly twenty years ago, but it was interrupted for over eight years because of the locust hostilities. Now the construction work is in progress again, and many of the metacorps are supporting it, but there are separatist worlds and other organizations that try to obstruct the efforts. During the past two years, this has led to armed conflicts between the Consortium and the separatists, and the situation seems to be getting more tense day by day. The Consortium has deployed armed forces into the region in order to secure the construction of the fargate.

Mega-corporations (also “Megacorps”)

Metacorporations are commercial entities that have cultures of their own. The smallest metacorporations can consist of a few hundred citizens or even just a few dozen members, but the most influential ones rule over whole worlds. There are three major metacorps in the Edge region.

  • House Azuria Trade Combine – One of the largest traders and manufacturers of consumable goods, smart fabrics, ore and energy in the Consortium. House Azuria runs extensive mining and amatium extraction operations on many worlds of the Edge. During the last year or two, House Azuria has begun to expand its operations into the Lost Expanse.
  • Volk-Kozerog Collective – The undisputed leader in military and heavy machinery manufacturing, warclone and nemogen-slave production and military contract operations.
  • Ushwami League – The League deals in advanced software development, technology industry, virtual applications, and neural manipulation.

Nomad Clans

Nomad clans are mostly humans who live on huge interstellar space arks or wandering fleets. The Nomads usually avoid the gate worlds and move around the frontier worlds trading and offering their services to others.

Each clan has their own culture and specialties they are known for. The Nomad clans do not have actual homeworlds, but they have a few safe havens close to the Edge and the Lost Expanse.

  • Clan Kalaga – Known for their skills in trading and entertainment, they also have a reputation of being very adept smugglers.
  • Clan Saratoga – Respected mercenaries. They are known for their honor and bravery, but also for their ruthlessness.
  • Clan Taori – Asteroid miners and wreck salvagers, but also known as very capable privateers.

Pirates

Pirates have always been a menace on many of the frontier worlds, but the resource-rich worlds and the treasures of the Lost Expanse have now drawn many a corsair ship to the Edge.

The Voyant Orders

The most well-known voyant organization in the Consortium is Ordo Verugenus, also known as the Verugenite Sisterhood. Ordo Verugenus is a matriarchal society that uses eugenic methods to breed more potent voyants. Other notable organizations include:

  • Vala Templars – The valorous warrior-monks of the Louhos.
  • The Silent Covenant – The mysterious and respected oracles of the Nibirans.
  • The Cabal – The dreaded shape-changers who have devoted their psychic abilities to espionage and assassinations.
  • Mentacore – Consortium’s secretive intelligence service and the highest authority in enforcing the psionic regulations in Consortium worlds.

In addition to the formal organizations and schools, there are other traditions that operate either hidden or away from the reach of the Consortium’s close monitoring. For example, nomads have their bioshamans, and some metacorporations employ “wild” freelance voyants to take care of their sensitive matters or psychic counter-measures.

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