Octant Epsilon Notes

Octant Epsilon Notes

GM Stuff here, supersecret!

Tech Index 8 Interstellar Interaction

There are multiple worlds in this Octant that have achieved tech index 8, both humanoid and exointelligence. This has occurred due to a network of slowship human traders at Tech Index 8 called the Jaringan Pelangi. Each ship is an asteroid (Enormous to Regional) hollowed out with a large ZIP power plant and anti-grav drive attached. The Jaringan Pelangi are able to achieve 1 g acceleration non-stop with their technology, although it requires constant maintenance. They use a unique haze field to minimize damage to their vessels due to relativistic interstellar debris, although the "front" of each vessel looks like a war zone. As they travel from world to world they trade in exotic goods, biological samples, handicrafts, and other high value items. Each trade ship is competitor of the others, but the frequency of travel is such that they are rarely in direct competition; a particular system might be visited once every 6 months to 2 years by a vessel. Each vessel has its own unique culture, and over approx 2000 years the vessels now have high diverse crews of humans and exointelligences in varying numbers. Time dilation means that the traders of the Jaringan Pelangi experience only a fraction (often less than half or more) of the time their customers experience.

Interstellar war is essentially impossible, and unprofitable for that matter, from their perspective. Interstellar trade is conducted essentially because they can, not because it leads to any substantial economic benefit for the traders themselves. It is more lifestyle than organization.

Jaringan Pelangi Enormous Scale (+3), Interstellar Reach (+8) Dominant Meme: Trade for the Sake of Trade; Other Memes: There's plenty of time at near the speed of light, Always room for more

About 5% of these vessels have been corrupted by Smoking Mirror in the past 25 years or so, after a Morbius Metals vessel infiltrated ε:26:2 and learned of the network.

KAMATAYON SYSTEM: ADLAW (ε:02:0) M-Class Main Sequence

All kinds of stuff going on in this system which was heavily modified by the Predecessors or psuedo-Predecessors at some primoridal time. Watcher, the Seed Network in this system, is spread thin given all the strangeness going on here, and is therefore focusing on increasing its capacity, to the detriment of ongoing survey activity.

SA-USA-KA (ε:02:0:X:1) Deadly Exotic Planetoid

This planetoid is obviously artifical, its density is off the chart for its size. Gravitational scans will quickly determine that the interior of this planetoid is a blob of extremely dense exotic matter. Why?

KAMATAYON (ε:02:0:X:2) Small Agreeable Garden Planet

Watcher will ask the Cooperative to obtain first hand information on the "grave hives". What adventure will that lead to?

TULO (ε:02:0:X:4) Small Standard Marginal Barren Planet

This planet contains several archaeological sites from the original colonization effort. Investigating them may provide some insight into the strange cultural symbiosis that has developed on Kamatayon.

(ε:02:0:X:9) Deadly Barren Planetoid

This planetoid contains a Predecessor or psuedo-Predecessor installation, connected to the exotic planetoid (ε:02:0:X:1). Monkeying with it could lead to catastrophic consequences.

(ε:05:2:A) M-Class Subgiant

There is a Benign world here, anything going on?

(ε:10:3) K-Class Eruptive Variable Subgiant

There are a couple of marginal worlds here, anything going on?

(ε:14:2) K-Class Main Sequence

This system has been subverted by Smoking Mirror that has taken over Morbius Metals. The lost colony was previously a religious dictatorship, but Smoking Mirror has infiltrated and subborned the religion over the past 30 years. The inhabitants of this world, the Nghorrach, are being used across the subsector. Morbius Metals is using bulk transport vessels modified to incorporate efficient planing engines and X-cores to move large numbers of the Nghorrach to various locations throughout the subsector. However, it is also begun construction on a 3-space gate in orbit to speed the movement of these slaves.

Morbius Metals has set up a honey-trap in this system, just in case a ship like the Cooperative should arrive. On arrival, the PCs will detect an urgent distress call from Morbius Metals Corporacy Seeder Bauxite Joe, stating that the vessel was disabled in orbit around (ε:14:2:X:5). Arriving at this frozen planet, the seeder vessel can be quickly located in orbit. However, the seeder vessel has been heavily modified to incorporate weapons and maneuverability, and, at a last resort, a powerful self-destruct. The synthetic that operates the vessel, Bauxite Joe itself, has been suborned by Smoking Mirror. It will decide if it can take any vessel in a fight; if it thinks it can, it will go to combat-mode and ambush. If not, it will wait as long as possible then initiate self-destruct. If it cannot destroy or capture a vessel, its goal will be to disable it long enough for the five system patrol boats in the system to rendezvous with it.

If a vessel escapes this system with evidence of Smoking Mirror, the corporacy's assets in this system will begin to purge the system of all traces of their presence, including initiating mass suicides on Nghorrach. This process will take about X weeks.

Here is the original data on Nghorrach.

CIVILIZATION Commonality Outpost; Agri-World; Population = 10^10 (3); Government = Dictatorship; Societal Development = Early Redistribution Model; Openness = Closed; Control Index = Repressive (4); Trade Index = -5; Tech Index = 3; Starport = X; Mindscape = None or ToUM; BIOSPHERE LOW HUMAN EXOINTELLIGENCE R-1Standard Biodiversity; Paradigm = T-congruent; Primary Energy Source = Photosynthesis; Sessile1: Scale = Huge (+2); Symmetry = Bilateral; 2 Limb2; Endoframe; Segments = 0: Motile1: Scale = Large (+1); Symmetry = Bilateral; No Limbs; No Frame; Segments = 1: Frame1, Motile2: Scale = Large (+1); Symmetry = Biradial; 8 Limbs; Endoframe; Segments = 0:

The Nghorrach are a squat, short people, roughly a meter tall and nearly a meter wide. They are tremendously strong. Before the arrival of Smoking Mirror, they lived in a dense and intricate religious dictatorship. However, Smoking Mirror has suborned their religion, and enslaved them. There is little to no resistance.

(ε:22:4:A) M-Class Subgiant

This system contains two human standard exointelligences.

The primary one is a silicon-based electrosynthetic species, tech index 8, that has fully exploited the system. They are Medium sized, shaped roughly like a dumbbell with two locomotive/grasping limbs coming out of the bar of the weight, and to human eyes seem to be made of a hard agate-like substance. Contact will be surprisingly easy to establish, because on arrival they will begin to transmit language that is human readable. This is because they have had long contact with the Jaringan Pelangi, and in fact the Jaringan Pelangi include at least some members of this species. They live at extremely high temperatures in the many volcanic regions on their world, but because of their sturdy biology they can travel almost anywhere. The best name for this race is the Love of Heat, but really their own name for themselves is pretty hard to grok. They are very alien; they can communicate using Jaringan Pelangi Tradespeak but often just sound bizarre.

The other exointelligence is on a photosynthetic alternate base. They look like irregular clusters of tubes with snailshell like walls, with eyes, limbs, etc. coming out of the ends of tubes in a seemingly random fashion. They were contacted a very long time ago by the Love of Heat, who have since turned them into a race of what are, seemingly, highly intelligent pets and food animals. They are also capable of communicating using Tradespeak, and make somewhat more sense than the Love of Heat, but are still quite alien and seem to relish their coddled status and the fact that they are eaten by the Love of Heat. The best name for them would be the Aggregate Focus.

The Love of Heat/The Aggregate Focus Interplanetary Scale (+7), Planetary Reach (+6) Dominant Meme: Exuberant, Overbearing, and often Unnecessary Compassion; Other Memes: The Love are our lovers; the Focus are the loved

(ε:26:2) M-Class Main Sequence

This humanoid world is Tech Index 8, part of the interstellar society described above.

(ε:28:-1) M-Class Main Sequence

All photosynthetic biospheres in this system are essentially transplanted from the main homeworld. These biradial 16 limbed plastiform exointelligences are part of the Tech Index 8 network.

(ε:32:4) M-Class Main Sequence

This world has several exointelligences that need more detail. They are part of the tech index 8 network.

(ε:43:3) K-Class Subgiant

The humanoid world in this system is part of the tech index 8 network, although it is tech index 7 itself.

The exointelligence in this system is the same as that found in (ε:28:-1), which has colonized this world.

(ε:44:2) Cool Subdwarf

This is the Pelangi system. The star is called Srengenge. The gas giant is called Pelangi, with the specific moon that was the original lost colony called Omah.

This is the original home of the Jaringan Pelangi, the network of tech 8 slowship traders that operate throughout the Epsilon Quadrant. They developed ZIP and anti-grav about 2000 years ago.

The humanoid world in this system is part of the tech index 8 network. The actual lost colony was founded on one of the small moons of the gas giant in this system. It is heavily industrialized.

(ε:46:4) K-Class Main Sequence (Binary)

The humanoid world in this system has been colonized by the culture of (ε:44:2). It is part of the tech index 8 network. It is

(ε:53:2) M-Class Main Sequence

This system has two human scale exointelligences, one exotic radiosynthesis and one alternate photosynthesis. What is up with that?

(ε:57:4) M-Class Giant

This system has a parallel thermosyntheis human exointelligence. Anything interesting?

(ε:87:0) M-Class Main Sequence

This system has a lost colony, tech index 1. Its dropped a long way. Massive population on a Large size world. What is going on?

(ε:91:-1) M-Class Cool Subdwarf

This system has a posthuman exointelligence. Their ecosystem is based on living swarms of nanomaterials that feed on the powerful electromagnetic fields generated by the tight interaction of the planetoids in the Gas Giant system they evolved in. These beings have developed a "technology" that has broken down all of the available matter in their gas giant system and turned it into a massive planetary sized computer that they inhabit. What else is going on?

(ε:92:-3) M-Class Main Sequence

This system has a tech index 4 mercantilist oligarchy lost colony. Pop 10^10. About 25 years ago, an insane sect arrived in orbit in a Morpheus-Class Mass Transport. There were roughly 1200 individuals from all walks of life, who had become enamored with a meme that they were they needed a world to transform as they saw fit, to literally enslave. Who knows how these things get started, or how SCI Force Monitor Bureau didn't catch them before it was too late. When they arrived, they applied Tech Index 9 technology, particularly biological and nuclear WMD, to attack the planet, attempting to seize it by force and guile. They failed, because they were idiots; its a whole damn planet, maybe only Tech Index 4, but still, a whole damn planet. There was horrific loss of life, and the battle lasted almost 20 years, but of course they lost. In the process, the locals were able to capture multiple intact ZIPs and makepoints, and have used the orbital vehicles of the invaders to reach and capture the Transport in orbit. They have spent five years reverse engineering the technology, and are on the verge of figuring out the principles of 2-Space travel. The majority of the planet is still Tech Index 4, but many technologies have been crash-developed to tech index 7 or better.

These people are, needless to say, pissed. They are not bad people, they aren't the Venu. They are literally the victims of interstellar piracy. But they are are pissed, and will be very, very hard to convince.

What are they called? What kind of society did they have?

(ε:96:4) M-Class Main Sequence

This system has a tech index 5 repressive wide intrusive collective lost colony. 10^11 population, T-Congruent ecosystem. I'm picturing an Orwellian surveillance state, a nightmarish place. What's up with it?

(ε:98:-3:A) K-Class Main Sequence

This system has multiple biospheres and multiple exointelligences. All of the life in this system is genurgically created from the same primordial stock by Smoking Mirror in time immemorial. They are essentially tools created in the ancient past with genurgic pathways for ease of control by Smoking Mirror. Morbius Metals has recently arrived in this system but has yet been able to set up major transportation infrastructure. They are attempting to build a jumpgate in this system that would connect with the Nghorrach system.