Wending Skies - Revision history

Shrike at 18:27, 30 November 2025

2025-11-30T18:27:40Z

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			[[File:Wending Skies map.png\|200px\|thumb\|right\|CC5501]]

	==The Empyrean==		==The Empyrean==
	No man knows where Mankind came from. A realm bereft of ether is it said, one with but a single radiant - a sun - in the sky above. Where Mankind was looked on the birds flying in the sky and only dreamt of joining them. This, the Urmheimat, has been lost for hundreds of generations. The legends say that the tribes of Mankind swore themselves to a millennia of slavery to the Gods to escape the predations of the Darkstalkers and the Red-Eyes. When this time came to an end, they willingly continued to serve the gods, their interactions mediated by the ascended Greaters. Declaring a new calendar, Mankind embarked on the path of Civilization.		No man knows where Mankind came from. A realm bereft of ether is it said, one with but a single radiant - a sun - in the sky above. Where Mankind was looked on the birds flying in the sky and only dreamt of joining them. This, the Urmheimat, has been lost for hundreds of generations. The legends say that the tribes of Mankind swore themselves to a millennia of slavery to the Gods to escape the predations of the Darkstalkers and the Red-Eyes. When this time came to an end, they willingly continued to serve the gods, their interactions mediated by the ascended Greaters. Declaring a new calendar, Mankind embarked on the path of Civilization.

Shrike: /* Inhabitants */

2021-02-02T05:54:57Z

Inhabitants

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	*''Terrans'' - Taking their name from the ancient and long-lost urheimat of humanity, Terra, Terrans are the primordial stock from which other human heritages are derived and still make up the bulk of known space. Skin color, hair color, eye color, height, weight, athletic, mental and etheric abilities are all 'normal'. Many have been touched by Dawn Era programs, with many alive today living without worry of genetic diseases, wisdom teeth, myopia or other unfortunate foibles thanks to ancient efforts to improve the 'sorry lot of man'. Others have slightly more obvious heritage, such as unusual hair colors, pointed ears, etc. All that aside, Terrans are fundamentally, statistically homogeneous. In more technical nomenclature they are sometimes called 'Orthodox Humans'.		*''Terrans'' - Taking their name from the ancient and long-lost urheimat of humanity, Terra, Terrans are the primordial stock from which other human heritages are derived and still make up the bulk of known space. Skin color, hair color, eye color, height, weight, athletic, mental and etheric abilities are all 'normal'. Many have been touched by Dawn Era programs, with many alive today living without worry of genetic diseases, wisdom teeth, myopia or other unfortunate foibles thanks to ancient efforts to improve the 'sorry lot of man'. Others have slightly more obvious heritage, such as unusual hair colors, pointed ears, etc. All that aside, Terrans are fundamentally, statistically homogeneous. In more technical nomenclature they are sometimes called 'Orthodox Humans'.
	*''Magi'' - Often not anything official, 'magi' represent the various efforts over history to improve the magical potential of humanity. In practice they tended to be the results of (un)systematic breeding programs, the Nth generation of wizard families and their forgotten offshoots - or even just random individuals who won the genetic lottery. Consequently 'magi' is often also the general term for anyone with unusually high etheric potential while being otherwise orthodox; Lyonessans and True Atlanteans are not 'magi' in this sense, though they are often 'magi' in the sense of being capable of performing magic. Truly confusing. In truth, many 'magi' throughout history were simply lucky individuals who happened to have unusually high etheric sensitivity and potential.
	*''Alfar/Dokkar'' - An ancient offshoot of humanity, the Alfar/Dokkar are colloquially known as 'elves' today. While sharing a similar origin to the planetouched, they lack the more otherworldly features of the Dia. The Alfar have long exhibited heightened magical sensitivity and power while the Dokkar were best known for wiry, unexpectedly powerful physiques. One of the two common members of the Lyonessan pan-diaspora, elves were also favored servants (or slaves) to the Atlanteans and can be found scattered across much of local space.		*''Alfar/Dokkar'' - An ancient offshoot of humanity, the Alfar/Dokkar are colloquially known as 'elves' today. While sharing a similar origin to the planetouched, they lack the more otherworldly features of the Dia. The Alfar have long exhibited heightened magical sensitivity and power while the Dokkar were best known for wiry, unexpectedly powerful physiques. One of the two common members of the Lyonessan pan-diaspora, elves were also favored servants (or slaves) to the Atlanteans and can be found scattered across much of local space.
	*''Dia Lyonessans'' - Lyonesse has a long and storied history of mingling with beings from the astra; notorious as witches when such beings were still feared as demons, the ancient Lyonessans and their fellows sought the power of the astra. They bound these beings to themselves willingly or unwillingly, traded mental, physical and sexual favors and even embraced them as parents to their children. These wild and sometimes feckless adventures led to many things, but one difference between Lyonesse and other similar witches - and in part why Lyonesse became a great power - is that the men and women of Lyonesse never mistook ''embracing'' the other with ''becoming'' the other.		*''Dia Lyonessans'' - Lyonesse has a long and storied history of mingling with beings from the astra; notorious as witches when such beings were still feared as demons, the ancient Lyonessans and their fellows sought the power of the astra. They bound these beings to themselves willingly or unwillingly, traded mental, physical and sexual favors and even embraced them as parents to their children. These wild and sometimes feckless adventures led to many things, but one difference between Lyonesse and other similar witches - and in part why Lyonesse became a great power - is that the men and women of Lyonesse never mistook ''embracing'' the other with ''becoming'' the other.
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	'''Nonhumans'''<br>		'''Nonhumans'''<br>
	*''Lizards'' - still have an empire far in the East.		*''Lizards'' - still have an empire far in the East.
			*''Onykia'' - sky-cephalopods with fantastic bioluminescent abilities, a generally harmless companion race for almost two thousand years.

			'''Titans'''<br>
	*''Great Dragons'' - The Rmasters never trusted the Great Dragons. Their servants are no different.		*''Great Dragons'' - The Rmasters never trusted the Great Dragons. Their servants are no different.
	*''Great Old Ones'' - These beings of eye and tentacle keep their own counsel in the deeps of the Great Wall.		*''Great Old Ones'' - These beings of eye and tentacle keep their own counsel in the deeps of the Great Wall.

Shrike: /* Astrographic lexicon */

2021-02-02T05:28:35Z

Astrographic lexicon

Show changes

Shrike: /* Concepts */

2021-01-31T19:17:47Z

Concepts

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	Some places have even gone full circle; 'AIDs' (All Integrated Devices) are effectively commercially-produced loci with a stock of civilian cantrips, produced and operating by technological means and casting spells as software.		Some places have even gone full circle; 'AIDs' (All Integrated Devices) are effectively commercially-produced loci with a stock of civilian cantrips, produced and operating by technological means and casting spells as software.

			==Briefing==
	===Engines (historic)===		===Engines (historic)===
	'''Star Dial'''<br>		'''Star Dial'''<br>
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	====~~FUEL~~====		====Fuel====
	It is axiomatic that known space runs on ether and has for millennia. Ether in various forms permeates the universe and finds itself used in equally myriad ways, but the single most significant use today is as a fuel. In broad terms there are three conventional formats in which it is so used; ether clathrates, ether gas and ether geodes.		It is axiomatic that known space runs on ether and has for millennia. Ether in various forms permeates the universe and finds itself used in equally myriad ways, but the single most significant use today is as a fuel. In broad terms there are three conventional formats in which it is so used; ether clathrates, ether gas and ether geodes.
	*'''Etheric Clathrates''' are cosmically common; 'burning ice' can be found across known space on ice moons, in glaciers or permafrost and permeating cometary drifts. If there is ice exposed to the cosmos, there is a good chance of there being ether clathrates somewhere. These ices - mostly but certainly not exclusively water ice - are naturally impregnated with ambient ether, the ices' molecular structure trapping the ether. The resulting clathrates are generally slightly less dense than natural ice and are stable to temperatures above freezing at which point they will begin to decompose into a far less convenient mixture of etherically-charged water, gas and miscellaneous secondary compounds nicknamed 'firedamp'. (This said, long-term storage is generally done with temperatures kept below the freezing point of water to minimize the emission of firedamp from nominally stable clathrates)		*'''Etheric Clathrates''' are cosmically common; 'burning ice' can be found across known space on ice moons, in glaciers or permafrost and permeating cometary drifts. If there is ice exposed to the cosmos, there is a good chance of there being ether clathrates somewhere. These ices - mostly but certainly not exclusively water ice - are naturally impregnated with ambient ether, the ices' molecular structure trapping the ether. The resulting clathrates are generally slightly less dense than natural ice and are stable to temperatures above freezing at which point they will begin to decompose into a far less convenient mixture of etherically-charged water, gas and miscellaneous secondary compounds nicknamed 'firedamp'. (This said, long-term storage is generally done with temperatures kept below the freezing point of water to minimize the emission of firedamp from nominally stable clathrates)

Shrike: /* Concepts */

2021-01-31T19:16:08Z

Concepts

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	==Concepts==		==Concepts==
			===Magic===
			Magic is the long-established process for manipulating ether to achieve all manner of results. Its principles are well understood and there are five evolutionary stages of magical theory and process.

			'''Body Magic'''<br>
			Ether flows through all living things, indeed for many it is the stuff of life itself. With adequate practice the ether flowing through the body can be manipulated and controlled to effectively supercharge innate biological functions. This manifests as rapid healing, greatly increased physical capabilities and going long periods in good health. Many people with interests in athletics or health often have at least some basic capabilities to perform body magic.

			'''Hedge Magic'''<br>
			Hedge Magic is essentially the externalization of body magic, using a body's internal ether to externalize an effect. These could be as simple as stimulating someone else's body to heal rapidly, or conducting an astral projection, or even encasing one's fist in a fireball. While many signature styles date all the way to the Astroclassical, hedge magic as a whole has long been relegated to niche interests and groups.

			'''Low Magic'''<br>
			This is what most commonly comes to mind when the laity speaks of 'magic'. The critical distinction between hedge magic and low magic is that the latter introduces the 'locus'; this is a device (often a mental construct) that stores spells in all their complexity and allows for the user to cast them repeatedly. This ancient innovation enabled vastly more complicated and efficient magework, as any given spell could be modified, changed and improved over time and no longer needed to be held purely in the concentration of the moment and created from scratch every time.

			'''High Magic'''<br>
			The ultimate expression of 'pure' magic, high magic takes the ultimate step of not just externalizing the effect, but externalizing the entire etheric process. Mages have long extracted ether from other objects to power their magic but one limit has been how well their body can channel the ether; high magic takes that out of the mage entirely so vastly larger volumes can be used. Often wasteful in strict energy terms, high magic is nonetheless much more powerful than low magic.

			'''Technomagic'''<br>
			The final step of removing the mage entirely and comparable to the replacement of muscle power with machines, technomagic uses physical objects to engage in the full process of magic start to finish. These can be mass produced and can often be much more efficient at whatever they're designed for, though a beam pistol will always be a beam pistol as opposed to a mage that can cast a featherfall or healing spell just as easily as they could fire a ray of destructive light from their fingers. Recognizable technomagic dates back to the Canon Period thousands of years ago and reached ubiquity during the Republican Period; many advanced technologies were lost for centuries during the Cataclysm Period but human space is once again technic space.

			Some places have even gone full circle; 'AIDs' (All Integrated Devices) are effectively commercially-produced loci with a stock of civilian cantrips, produced and operating by technological means and casting spells as software.

	===Engines (historic)===		===Engines (historic)===

Shrike: /* Concepts */

2021-01-24T02:34:46Z

Concepts

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	==Concepts==		==Concepts==

			===Engines (historic)===
			'''Star Dial'''<br>
			The "Star Dial" is a classic deep-sky motive system, in use in various forms for four millennia and the first truly effective and fast way to get between the stars. It operates by effectively 'locking on' to a large distant body and then sliding towards it while significantly reducing the gravitational pull of the origin state, essentially falling away from the latter and towards the destination. While quite elegant as a stellar engine, Star Dials are really only good at going in straight lines and thus cannot avoid things like bad weather. A second engine system - typically aetheric spheres or force motors - is also required for actually puttering around. Even though they need one or more properly trained wizards to perform the initial navigational grav-lock as well as regular en-route calibrations, the required skills are not terribly difficult to learn and all but the most inept magi can operate a Star Dial.<br>
			Star Dials are still in use among those without the benefit of modern shipbuilding advances, but they have long been superseded by other methods.

			'''Aetheric Spheres'''<br>
			One of the earliest methods of controlling ether mechanically (as opposed to with magic), the Aetheric Sphere is fundamentally quite simple; they are thick glass spheres filled with compressed and electrically charged ether and then securely strapped to the vehicle inside which it is mounted. Currents induced in the ether inside the orbs results in surprisingly sophisticated control over force and direction and thus the aetheric sphere was the motive system of choice for quite literally millennia; refinements and additions eventually saw them become a familiar warp drive of today; the long warp nacelle of charged ether hearkens back to these distant ancestors.<br>
			The most significant improvement to the Aetheric Sphere was the innovation of enriched (and eventually highly enriched) ether for the spheres. While this came with various overhead costs - and the issue of what to do with the highly toxic nucleonic ether afterwards - using purified and enriched ether was a significant generational leap in performance. While dated today aetheric spheres are a cheap and very accessible technology that need no complicated hardware to build, though a solid understanding of electrodynamics goes a very long way in properly constructing their control mechanisms.

			'''Starbow Breaker'''<br>
			The so-called "Starbow Breaker" is an extreme application of highly purified sildron combined with magic sufficiently strong to heavily twist the laws of physics in deep sky. It is highly power intensive and requires the personal attendance of an archmage to function, but is extremely fast. This ensured that the Starbow Breaker would always be limited in numbers and fitted to only the most important of ships.

			'''Starburst'''<br>
			A downscaled and much-simplified version of the Starbow Breaker, a Starburst is a pre-charged force induction coil that can be ignited to propel the fitted ship at high velocity down a star way. While relatively straightforward to use - essentially point your ship in the direction you want to go and activate - a Starburst has important limitations as well. The most central of these is the fact that a Starburst is effectively single-use and while their mechanical components are robustly built they need to be refilled and recharged by a mage after each use. While this was offered at any spaceport worth the name in the Canon Period, it still meant that going somewhere without services at the far end meant you were crawling back home on whatever you had for a secondary motor. Starbursts are only marginally steerable once in motion and have no throttle; they can be cut to dissipate their remaining charge but that is about it. A Starburst motor is generally charged with a precalculated amount of ether for the ship's tonnage and distance to be travelled plus a small extra so in practice a Starburst is normally just ridden until it naturally dissipates.<br>
			It was uncommon but not unusual for ships to have two Starbursts, allowing them to make a trip and a return without needing servicing. The second was generally charged with extra ether to make up for the inevitable losses over time, but more than two Starbursts was generally a recipe for excessive complexity, unreliability and an engine room full of poisonous ether condensate when the glassware shatters after a month of stress.<br>
			The Starburst had broadly fell out of use by the High Republican Period as contemporary spacedrives could get comparable speeds without the sundry hassles and then returned to use in the post-Ragnarok technical nadir. Today they are once again eclipsed by modern propulsion systems though downscaled derivatives are commonly still found on deep sky attack craft.

			'''Starsender'''<br>
			More of a concept than a specific technology, Starsenders (also known as spatial catapults and similar terms) have webbed known space for more than two millenia. Another outgrowth of the Starbow Breaker magitechnology,


			'''Gap Demon'''<br>
			Affects summoning and other time/space magic. Operates by binding a superdimensional entity or "Gap Demon" to a vessel. Such a form of propulsion is not the most impressive in terms of physical performance but allows a vessel to break the boundaries between dimensions or even other more esoteric borders with some refinement.



	====FUEL====		====FUEL====

Shrike at 02:34, 24 January 2021

2021-01-24T02:34:17Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:34, 23 January 2021
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	These smaller objects are only smaller in relative terms, with the largest moons true worlds unto themselves with their own miniature host of moonlets. Even those that do not rise to the level of planets still being several thousand km in diameter. Alongside them are the shells, continents set into the sky and equally as large albeit irregular and far flatter. Accompanying these are island, asteroids and comets, not to mention wandering seas and free-floating jungles.		These smaller objects are only smaller in relative terms, with the largest moons true worlds unto themselves with their own miniature host of moonlets. Even those that do not rise to the level of planets still being several thousand km in diameter. Alongside them are the shells, continents set into the sky and equally as large albeit irregular and far flatter. Accompanying these are island, asteroids and comets, not to mention wandering seas and free-floating jungles.

			===History===
			Calendar notes:<br>
			Many polities and worlds maintained their own calendars and the chaos of Ragnarok combined with different day length and year length meant that determining actual date-relations was no easy matter. The most common are listed below.
			*BR - Before Ragnarok. Shorthand, uses an extremely arbitrary date of 800 years ago, making 0 BR equal to -72 MM. Note that Ragnarok and associated nonsense was a period, not a date. Call it -900 to -600 at the greatest
			*CDS - Common Dating System. The standard 'universal' calender, introduced by Lyonesse traders before Ragnarok, later revised to cover prehistory. 0 year was set as the loss of Lyonesse into the umbra. Popularized during the Revolutionary Period and effectively interchangable with SDS.
			*SDS - Synchronized Dating System. An extended version of the Common Dating System which adds 10,000 to all dates to convert all dates to a positive value. Also includes various error corrections which were later introduced back into the CDS calendar.
			*MM - Millenium Magisterium. Official calendar in the (post) Mastery space.
			*CC - Correct Calender. Dating system from the Archaic Period, now mostly superseded by CDS/SDS.

			'''Pre-Archaic Period'''<br>
			Humanity's origins are obscure and its history before the Archaic period has proven difficult to piece together; that said the oldest unambiguously human artifacts date to roughly 15 centuries before the start of the Archaic Period.

			'''Archaic Period''' - CDS-3600 to CDS-2100<br>
			For the Archaic Period, humanity was - depending on the sources used - either the slaves or the servants of the gods, one of several such races. Culture was relatively static and economies were centered around the temple-capitals and the decrees of the priest-interlocutors.

			'''Astroclassical Period''' - CDS-2100 to CDS-1293<br>
			The shift from the Archaic to the Astroclassical was the shift of power from the priest-interlocutors to a more direct interaction between the gods and their greatest subjects. These became known as the Greaters, demigods empowered by a tiny fragment of deic essence. It was a turbulent, chaotic period of great works of art and exploration and the explosive growth in the magic arts, the first recognizable technologies and great feats of heroism. However the latter two centuries were marked by near-continuous conflicts large and small, all of which were silenced by the Descent of Zeus.

			'''Canon Period''' - CDS-1293 to CDS445<br>
			A long period of deliberate stasis, the Canon Period was a direct reaction to the unbridled chaos of the Astroclassical. Enforcing a baroque and vertical organization of churches and temples the deic architects of this period clamped down on both the worst behavior of the other gods and their champions as well as pan-humanity's broader tendency to push boundaries. Soon enough, the Canon period became a sedate period of Civilization where the ragged fringes of known sky were explored and settled.<br>
			Of course this was hardly the end of the story. Major events in the Canon period that cast long historic shadows include the loss of Old Lyonesse to the Astra, the arrival of the Murians, the founding of Great Atlantis and the beginning of the Exalter Movement.

			'''Revolutionary Period''' - CDS445 to CDS535<br>
			The Canon period came to a close with the century-long Revolutionary Period, a disruptive period that saw the by then creakingly out of touch clerical bodies of the Canon Period collapse under their own contradictions and the force of late-Canon enlightenment philosophies.

			'''Republican Period''' - CDS535 to CDS1430<br>
			A millennia of great empires and states, the Republican Period was dominated politically by a number of massive, powerful human empires. Philsophies, sciences and economies lept ahead in this dynamic time.

			'''Cataclysm Period''' - CDS1430 to CDS1775<br>
			The end of the Republican period was a drawn-out affair; no single event was the cause of the collapse of greater civilization. It was instead one disaster (both human and natural) after another that defeated the ability of any one state or empire to compensate and like dominos they fell. Successor states grew like mushrooms out of the ashes of older states, in many cases themselves falling afoul of other travails. The end of this period was marked by the Great Roar, a decade of immense waystorms that fatally disrupted many of those intersky polities that had survived everything else thrown at them.

			'''Modern Period''' - CDS1775 to CDS2315<br>
			It seemed as if the Great Roar was the end of a massive temper tantrum and as it dissipated it left behind skies clearer than they had been for centuries. There were still problems aplenty but decades later, people began to realize that the worst really ''had'' passed. Crippled by centuries of disasters, humanity picked itself back up and began to rebuild, to recover the wisdom of the ancients and plumb the depths of space for all that had been lost.

	===Astrographic lexicon===		===Astrographic lexicon===

Shrike: /* Inhabitants */

2021-01-24T00:25:50Z

Inhabitants

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	*''Prime Murian'' - The Murian Confederation was long known for its life-shaping techniques and over the centuries the upper classes were selectively bred and shaped into what became known as the Prime Murians. These individuals were essentially 'peak human', with refined bodies and minds. Aesthetic preferences gave Prime Murians a distinctive sexual dimorphism of the most attractive sort. With the Murian Confederacy's former territory being in the far south, Prime Murians are rare in local space.		*''Prime Murian'' - The Murian Confederation was long known for its life-shaping techniques and over the centuries the upper classes were selectively bred and shaped into what became known as the Prime Murians. These individuals were essentially 'peak human', with refined bodies and minds. Aesthetic preferences gave Prime Murians a distinctive sexual dimorphism of the most attractive sort. With the Murian Confederacy's former territory being in the far south, Prime Murians are rare in local space.
	*''True Atlantean'' - Atlantis was a mageocracy for its entire history, and one with a sharp divide between True (or sometimes Ancient) Atlantis which exercised all sovereign power and its numerous satraps, or Greater Atlantis. It was possible to socially climb from the latter to the former, or sometimes fall the opposite direction, but the two did not mix casually. While the inner workings of True Atlantis remain esoteric and often unknown to this day, it is no secret that one of the main preoccupations of the Atlantean population was the creation of ever more powerful mages.		*''True Atlantean'' - Atlantis was a mageocracy for its entire history, and one with a sharp divide between True (or sometimes Ancient) Atlantis which exercised all sovereign power and its numerous satraps, or Greater Atlantis. It was possible to socially climb from the latter to the former, or sometimes fall the opposite direction, but the two did not mix casually. While the inner workings of True Atlantis remain esoteric and often unknown to this day, it is no secret that one of the main preoccupations of the Atlantean population was the creation of ever more powerful mages.
	True Atlanteans are direct descendants of these arcane breeding programs, not the common folk of Greater Atlantis who were by and large orthodox humans. True Atlanteans have significantly improved ether retention and often show a particular talent for magic. On the more physical end of things True Atlanteans are almost universally unusually tall (commonly circa 7 feet) and with less sexual dimorphism than the human norm; the terms statuesque and imposing were all but invented for True Atlanteans. While the Northern Leaf was home to several antideluvian Atlantean satraps, True Atlateans are vanishingly rare to the point of being believed extinct in known space and in these dark days they instead represent the fruits of experiments to replicate their powers; cyber-newtypes, designer children, etc.		:True Atlanteans are direct descendants of these arcane breeding programs, not the common folk of Greater Atlantis who were by and large orthodox humans. True Atlanteans have significantly improved ether retention and often show a particular talent for magic. On the more physical end of things True Atlanteans are almost universally unusually tall (commonly circa 7 feet) and with less sexual dimorphism than the human norm; the terms statuesque and imposing were all but invented for True Atlanteans. While the Northern Leaf was home to several antideluvian Atlantean satraps, True Atlateans are vanishingly rare to the point of being believed extinct in known space and in these dark days they instead represent the fruits of experiments to replicate their powers; cyber-newtypes, designer children, etc.

	'''Giantkin'''<br>		'''Giantkin'''<br>

Shrike: /* Inhabitants */

2021-01-24T00:25:32Z

Inhabitants

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	*''Terrans'' - Taking their name from the ancient and long-lost urheimat of humanity, Terra, Terrans are the primordial stock from which other human heritages are derived and still make up the bulk of known space. Skin color, hair color, eye color, height, weight, athletic, mental and etheric abilities are all 'normal'. Many have been touched by Dawn Era programs, with many alive today living without worry of genetic diseases, wisdom teeth, myopia or other unfortunate foibles thanks to ancient efforts to improve the 'sorry lot of man'. Others have slightly more obvious heritage, such as unusual hair colors, pointed ears, etc. All that aside, Terrans are fundamentally, statistically homogeneous. In more technical nomenclature they are sometimes called 'Orthodox Humans'.		*''Terrans'' - Taking their name from the ancient and long-lost urheimat of humanity, Terra, Terrans are the primordial stock from which other human heritages are derived and still make up the bulk of known space. Skin color, hair color, eye color, height, weight, athletic, mental and etheric abilities are all 'normal'. Many have been touched by Dawn Era programs, with many alive today living without worry of genetic diseases, wisdom teeth, myopia or other unfortunate foibles thanks to ancient efforts to improve the 'sorry lot of man'. Others have slightly more obvious heritage, such as unusual hair colors, pointed ears, etc. All that aside, Terrans are fundamentally, statistically homogeneous. In more technical nomenclature they are sometimes called 'Orthodox Humans'.
	*''Magi'' - Often not anything official, 'magi' represent the various efforts over history to improve the magical potential of humanity. In practice they tended to be the results of (un)systematic breeding programs, the Nth generation of wizard families and their forgotten offshoots - or even just random individuals who won the genetic lottery. Consequently 'magi' is often also the general term for anyone with unusually high etheric potential while being otherwise orthodox; Lyonessans and True Atlanteans are not 'magi' in this sense, though they are often 'magi' in the sense of being capable of performing magic. Truly confusing.		*''Magi'' - Often not anything official, 'magi' represent the various efforts over history to improve the magical potential of humanity. In practice they tended to be the results of (un)systematic breeding programs, the Nth generation of wizard families and their forgotten offshoots - or even just random individuals who won the genetic lottery. Consequently 'magi' is often also the general term for anyone with unusually high etheric potential while being otherwise orthodox; Lyonessans and True Atlanteans are not 'magi' in this sense, though they are often 'magi' in the sense of being capable of performing magic. Truly confusing. In truth, many 'magi' throughout history were simply lucky individuals who happened to have unusually high etheric sensitivity and potential.
	~~As the Mastery generally frowned on the use of any significant magical arts, magi are happenstance as opposed to deliberate~~. In truth, many ~~wizards~~ throughout history were simply lucky individuals who happened to have unusually high etheric sensitivity and potential.
	*''Alfar/Dokkar'' - An ancient offshoot of humanity, the Alfar/Dokkar are colloquially known as 'elves' today. While sharing a similar origin to the planetouched, they lack the more otherworldly features of the Dia. The Alfar have long exhibited heightened magical sensitivity and power while the Dokkar were best known for wiry, unexpectedly powerful physiques. One of the two common members of the Lyonessan pan-diaspora, elves were also favored servants (or slaves) to the Atlanteans and can be found scattered across much of local space.		*''Alfar/Dokkar'' - An ancient offshoot of humanity, the Alfar/Dokkar are colloquially known as 'elves' today. While sharing a similar origin to the planetouched, they lack the more otherworldly features of the Dia. The Alfar have long exhibited heightened magical sensitivity and power while the Dokkar were best known for wiry, unexpectedly powerful physiques. One of the two common members of the Lyonessan pan-diaspora, elves were also favored servants (or slaves) to the Atlanteans and can be found scattered across much of local space.
	*''Dia Lyonessans'' - Lyonesse has a long and storied history of mingling with beings from the astra; notorious as witches when such beings were still feared as demons, the ancient Lyonessans and their fellows sought the power of the astra. They bound these beings to themselves willingly or unwillingly, traded mental, physical and sexual favors and even embraced them as parents to their children. These wild and sometimes feckless adventures led to many things, but one difference between Lyonesse and other similar witches - and in part why Lyonesse became a great power - is that the men and women of Lyonesse never mistook ''embracing'' the other with ''becoming'' the other.		*''Dia Lyonessans'' - Lyonesse has a long and storied history of mingling with beings from the astra; notorious as witches when such beings were still feared as demons, the ancient Lyonessans and their fellows sought the power of the astra. They bound these beings to themselves willingly or unwillingly, traded mental, physical and sexual favors and even embraced them as parents to their children. These wild and sometimes feckless adventures led to many things, but one difference between Lyonesse and other similar witches - and in part why Lyonesse became a great power - is that the men and women of Lyonesse never mistook ''embracing'' the other with ''becoming'' the other.
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	*''Great Dragons'' - The Rmasters never trusted the Great Dragons. Their servants are no different.		*''Great Dragons'' - The Rmasters never trusted the Great Dragons. Their servants are no different.
	*''Great Old Ones'' - These beings of eye and tentacle keep their own counsel in the deeps of the Great Wall.		*''Great Old Ones'' - These beings of eye and tentacle keep their own counsel in the deeps of the Great Wall.


	==Concepts==		==Concepts==

Shrike at 00:24, 24 January 2021

2021-01-24T00:24:47Z

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 :The largest nebulae often extend for quite significant distances, such as the Great Wall and the nearby Tiamat's Shroud, the Pillars of Creation and the Greater and Lesser Drakenwalds.  A few are even haunted by weapons of ages past, with the aptly-named Gunpowder Nebula thick with millennia-old shock mines, their corroded metal shells still protecting a payload of metastable merculite.
 :A far more benign relative of the nebula are fogwalls.  Benign, that is, until your ship smashes into a rock concealed inside the fluffy white mists.  Consisting (mostly) of innocuous water clouds, fogwalls are readily distinguishable from nebula by their clean white color as opposed to various rich shades.  Generally found at the intersection of multiple air masses, the main difference between a fogwall and a simple large cloudbank is that fogwalls are - within the bounds of seasonal variance - essentially permanent features.  Like nebula, the shade side of fogwalls often creates significant mesoclimates with the most famous of this being Quahog Sound bordering the Nanket archipelago.
 ==Concepts==