Birdsie
The God-Emperor of Mankind
Somewhere in the year 199 G.T. all of the colonies once again made contact and after another 50 years of complex politics, built a galaxy-spanning empire, called The Galactic Federation. Some of them remained independent for quite a time, only to join at a later date, or be conquered via various means. In years from 250 to 750, the Galactic Federation greatly expanded, assimilating small, pocket alien empires that were barely just arising and thus claiming the whole milky way galaxy to be a part of the new, human supremacy.
The thing that caused the galaxy to go sideways was probably the appearance of Psykers in the year 925. An event called The Great Storm took place. A storm of radiation, an after-effect of the Big Bang came through the galaxy like a malignant cloud. It disabled all space travel for over 10 years, but the most interesting impact of it is the effects it had on some sentient creatures. It forced evolution on some adapted individuals in certain species and permanently altered the genome of all life in the galaxy. Some beings were born on random with the so-called Psykic Powers, due to parts of their brain evolving a new pocket that was responsible for controlling the tides of reality by using sheer mental strength. This, in turn, caused a Civil War between Psykers and the unevolved and unaffected side for 17 years, before signing a peace treaty and hopefully, for once, achieving tranquility.
Nowadays, the galaxy stands more divided than ever. Although you can't exactly tell due to heavy propaganda, the Galactic Federation is slowly falling apart. Its politicians become more and more inept every day, and in the early 1150's, a new theme in "space culture" surfaced. It is usually called Dark Trade, because of its... unpleasant effects. Criminals, bounty hunters, bandits, corrupt government officials. It's all common now and the capitalism of the Federation gives little attention for it, trying to maintain a steady income of everything it can find, so the rich aristocratic bureaucrats can gorge themselves with exclusive, exotic butters and meats.
Tell me about our story, now.Our story begins on the newly discovered backwater planet, on the edges of the milky way. Voyrillia, as it is called, was discovered in the early 1st millennium G.T, and was quickly colonized. Its prominent attraction? Large cities full of crime. Imagine New York but in space. It was only natural that the Dark Trade would emerge here very quickly. There are several hits on famous, or rich people that messed with the wrong, different rich and famous person. This type of war of attrition between the powerful attracted a herd of bounty hunters seeking to make an easy credit and then indulge in the great entertainment the world could provide. While rich bureaucrats sat in nice, cozy office rooms, criminals and gang members fought over dominance down on the streets. Of course, then there's the peaceful office worker or farmer that just try to get by. The police force of the planet has their hands busy with work trying to stop all of the chaos.
There are rumors of an alien conspiracy and military experiments on the planet, but these are just rumors, right?
If you want an experience of a lifetime, full of madness and hilarious greed, you're in the right place.
| I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people. Isaac Newton |
Overview:
Human culture has declined somewhat, but people still have fancy pictures and "rituals," but religion is overall not present, at least in most humans. Some of them believe in Gods, but it is usually the youthful alien races that are naive enough to believe in deities despite a lack of evidence.
The technology differs from planet to planet, but seeing someone wield a plasma pistol that uses hydrogen gas mags isn't uncommon, similar stuff goes for devices that generate a gravitic shield, etc.
Genetical modifications aren't all that uncommon, but you will rarely see them from a gang member. It is usually the Federation soldiers that can afford profitable changes to their DNA and usually, only the Federation has the equipment to do so. Seeing a Black Market offer of genetical modifications isn't uncommon, but such procedures are much riskier, less profitable and less effective than proper mods given by the Galactic Federation.
Cybernetical modifications are also pretty common. Most people prefer to replace their lost arm with a cybernetic one, than go through the risk of DNA degradation and other suspicious procedures via the black market. Not to mention, they are more affordable in general. For an example, you could have a cybernetical modification that replaces your lost eye, but you could have one that enhances it beyond what you could naturally do.
An individual who uses psionic/psychic powers is called a Psychic, or a Psyker. All of the words are synonymous.
The psionic levels are measured in PL's (Psionic Levels) and their measurements go like this:
(Minus) 1-10PL's: A differing level of resistance to psychic attacks and manipulations. A psionic blank that sucks psychic energy into itself like a black hole.
0: No psychic powers. Unaffected by changes to the tides of psionic energy and thus incapable of experiencing things like 'deja vu' or having that subconscious feeling that something bad will happen.
1-4: Average human. No psychic powers. May manifest as subconscious information, like having a bad feeling about some situation, like something bad will happen, but you aren't sure of it.
5-6: No psychic potential, but some psionic changes to the brain are present. May manifest as increased luck due to the brain psychically calculating likelihood of outcomes and sending it to the consciousness as urging subconscious knowledge. Does not allow for true manifestations of actual "powers."
7-8: Actual psychic powers of small degree. Limited telepathy, telekinesis, pyromancy and other such phenomena.
9-11: High levels of psychic power that allow for differing amounts of manipulation. Telepathy, telekinesis, pyromancy, biomancy, and divination.
12-15: Very high psychic potential. At this point, an individual alone can pose a threat to a large company of troops. Potent powers, regeneration. It is possible to attain very high longevity and perhaps immortality. It is very hard for even an alien brain to process all of the psychic information contained in it, so all individuals seem slightly derived psychologically in some way.
16-20: 20 is the largest ever recorded psychic level, at which point, an individual can create new lifeforms out of thin air, affect weather on a global scale, smite large tanks with the flick of a wrist and crush them with a hand gesture, only to throw them at squads of troops effortlessly. It is confirmed that not even alien nervous systems are capable of handling any level of psychic power above 16 and go insane in some way.
Disclaimer: 16-20 are only fluff and may not be used by roleplayers for balancing reasons.
Rules:
- I am always right.
- If I am wrong, refer to the rule above.
- No interspecies breeding. A human having a child with a goat doesn't produce a goat-humanoid. It produces a half-living genetical abomination. Think the story will be different with aliens?
- Don't be a dick.
- RPN rules apply.
- No one liners. I want at least a small paragraph for each post.
You can be anyone you want. From a member of the police force, military, gang member, psychic, a civilian, or a dangerous bounty hunter. All that's needed is that you have a reason to get mixed up in the affairs of the Dark Trade.
I advise all characters have a pre-determined goal, because there won't be any strict plot to this. Think of this as an extremely bizarre, dangerous and action-packed adventure in space. It isn't a slice of life, but it is player driven.
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