The 'Verse: The Fellwars

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AE (Ascencion Era) 0-1,200

2411 AD.  0 AE.  The Year of Ascension.  The Seventh High Arbiter, Yaun Ducant-Rayner-Logan-Eliot, pioleted the first FTL craft in a test flight that took him from Earth to the edge of the Oort Cloud and back again in two hours.
This began the Age of Prosperity, a 1,200 year period that barely warrents a page in most grade school history books.
For the first 400 years of the Age of Prosperity, man expanded alone in the galaxy.  By the year 396 AE, man had expanded to 13 star systems and over 100 planets and an uncountable number of moons, including Peladino, Chiron, Elysium, Hades and Charity.  Countless minor wars had been fought on each world, none with any notable significance.  A bewhildering array of cultures and subcultures had risen and fallen, with the only notable effects on human history being that by the end of the third century AE 90% of human kind spoke Dutch and the concept of Manifest Destiny had so firmly entrenched itself in mankind's psyche that when humans finally did encounter the Myriad, they waged a war of expansion against their nearest neighbors.
The War of Folly, 396 AE, was the result of man's desire to expand into the territories held by their nearest neighbors.  The mighty fleets of the Legion of Man barreled into Tau Orisian space, and were summarily crushed.  In the 11 days the war lasted, the forces of man were unable to destroy a single Tau Orisian craft.  Most historians agree that attacking one of the oldest and most powerful starfaring civilizations whose fleets outnumbered ours 1000 to 1 was one of the stupidest moves in history.  Man takes some small consolation in the fact that we were by no means the first or last young race to try.
Instead of blasting us into the stone age (as many Myriad races would have done), the Tau Orisians spared us, and made us a protectorate.  In the next 800 years, man would rise to a power in its own right among the fringe Myriad, although our power has never equaled that of the greater Core races.
By 1,179 AE, mankind had expanded to 200 star systems and an uncoutable number of worlds.  We had defended against incursions by two younger races, whom we had made our protectorates just as the Tau Orisians had done with us.  Our fleets were mighty, and our armies, comprised of Born and led by Hyperintellect generals, were nearly invincible.
And so it was that the Fell War came upon the galaxy.

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Project Promethius

In the ancient days, the Titans Prometheus and Epimetheus crafted life to populate the world at the behest of Cronos.  Epimetheus worked quickly and without care, forging many rough beings in a thousand shapes and forms. and to each of his creations he gave the gifts that Cronos had set for them.  Prometheus worked long and hard on one creature, which bore the shape of the gods, and it was named man.
But when it came time for Prometheus to endow his creation with the gifts of Cronos, he found that Epimetheus had already divided them among his creations, and so man was left weak and frail.
Here at Prometheus Labs, we have claimed the gifts that should have been ours to begin with, completing the work began by the Titan from whom we take our name.
- Jared Lavel, Head Reasercher, Promethius Labs, 329 AE

The sons of Prometheus are subtle and dangerous in their nature.  Made as assasins, they take to their tasks with glee.
- Tine Er Bin-Ducant, Scholar of the Known 'Verse

The Promethians were the product of the equivilent of thousands of years of guided evolution, accelearted to a few years time.  Promethians display qualities normally associated with Born gifts, however, their abilities do not spring from memetic qualities, instead being the product of Promethian physiology.
The Promethians were origionally produced in the 4th century AE at Promethius Labs on Acheron in the Olympus system.  In the first years of their existence, they spread widly throughout the dominion of Man, to mixed reactions from all.  Many Pure found them offensive, and an equal number idolized them.  The Abiters and most of the Born accepted them warily.  Within a decade, the Promethian population had risen to just over 1.3 billion.  Then, in an audit of the Promethius Labs, the startling truth of the Promethian's purpose was discovered.
Promethius Labs was owned by the Scions of Purity, an anti Born terrorist group that was well known for the assasination of several prominent Born and Arbiters.  While most of the Promethians were completely innocent, a core of the most promising had been trained as assasins for the Scions.  The public backlash was enormous.
Promethians became a hunted people.  Millions were captured and imprisioned, causing untold amounts of damage in property lose when they fought back.  Those Promethians who had been trained as assasins by the Scions activated, murdering countless Born.  This, in turn, enraged the Arbiters, who began a genocidal campaign against the Promethians.
What followed was a decade of bloodshed and brutality.  By the end of this time, the only Promethians to survive were those that had been incarcerated at the begining of the conflict.
Since that time, the Promethians have laid low, trying to aviod the attention of the Arbiters.  A few thousand remain in the current era.  Anti Promethian sentiment is still strong among all class of Born.

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The Fellwar

Man became aware of the Fellwar in 1,179 AE,  although modern historians postulate that it had been spreading for over a century before that.  We can only speculate as to the horrors inflicted on the races that inhabited the galactic core.
The war came to human attention when the vangaurd of the Fell broke against the Tau Orisians.  At first only rumors of a hostile race filtered through to the worlds of man.  In the early days of the Tau Orisian's war against the Fell, they faired well.  Then, suddenly, the Tau Orisians were gone, wipped out before they could even petition their neighboring races for aid.
The Fell began their invasion of human space in 1,182 AE, at the recently colonized Heirophant system.  Their forces invaded Charity, the system's capitol.
Four generations grew up at war with the Fell.  In the 250 years the war raged, 178 of humanitie's 204 colonized star systems were destroyed.  In the last years of the war, the exhausted fleets of man faced the Fell armadas at Heirophant time and again.  For reasons as yet unknown, the Fell focused more and more of their forces on that system, abandoning stratigically vital systems in an effort to control it.  In the end, it proved their undoing.  An army of Master Arbiters led by the High Arbiter destroyed the bulk of the Fell's forces there, crippling the Fell war machine.
In the war's aftermath, man found itself alone once more in the galaxy. For the last six generations, exploratory forces have searched for any other survivors of the Fell's attack.  All that has been discovered are the shattered world of a myriad of races.

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Olympus System
System: Binary, Red Giant primary, yellow medium secondary
Worlds: Ares (3.2 billion), Chiron (1.2 billion), Hades (536 million), Herculanium (522 million), Posidon (7.3 billion), Zeus (6.2 billion)
Features: 3 asteriod belts, 38 moons
Population: 18.9 billion planetary, 11 billion offplanet.
Major Powers: The Olympus Block (AriesTech, Hephestus Shipyards, Hades Mining Consortium), the Arbiters, the Nexus

The Olympus system was one of the first systems man colonized after Acenssion.  The harsh conditions created by the binary stars almost made the system too difficult to be worth colonizing.  Only the rich mineral deposites found in the thre asteriod belts made the project worth completing.
In the present day, the Olympus comercial block is one of the most prolific ship producing forces in the 'Verse.  The AreisTech shipbuilding facilities dominate the first and second asteriod rings and produce more starcrafts than even the Astar Shipyards of Helania, while the Hephestus Shipyards R&D facilities located in the 3rd asteriod belt and the moons of Posidon and Zeus constantly produce new and more amazing designs.  Fueling both is the Hades Mining Consortium.
The Olympus System, like Helania, is primarily a Dutch descendant system culturally, with heavy NuEgyptian influences.  A persistant NuGreek cultural underground caracterizes the major cities

The Olympus Block: One of the most powerful economic blocks in the 'Verse, the Olympus Block controls almost all industry in the Olympus System and is firmly entrenched in the Sol sector.  96% of the population of the Olympus system is employed by the Block.  Making up the Block are AriesTech, Hephestus Shipping and the Hades Mining Consortium.  Two other companies once belonged to the Block, namingly the Hermes Shipping Company and the Promethius Labs.
The Hermes Shipping Company was driven out of business by the Nexus, while Promthius Labs were absorbed by the Hephestus Shipyards R&D division after the Promethian Debacle.

AriesTech: AriesTech is one of the most prolific shipping technology companies in the 'Verse.  Geared primarly towards the mass production of comercial starcrafts, AriesTech works closely with the Hephestus Shipyards and the Hades Mining Consortium.

Hephestus Shipyards:  Hephestus Shipyards produces both luxury vessels for the rich and powerful and military vessels for the various milititas and planetary governments of the 'Verse.  However, their greatest asset is their R&D division, which works closely with ArieTech to advance starcraft design and production.  The Hephestus Shipyards R&D department has produced some of the greatest advancements to military and civilian shipping methodes in the history of the 'Verse.  Some of the greatest Hyperintellects in man's history have been employed by Hephestus Shipyards, including Derivan Idavo himself.

Hades Mining Consortium: While each of the six inhabited worlds of the Olympuss System claim their own planetary governments, the Hades Mining Consortium holds all the real power.  Over 86% of the planetary population of the Olympuss System is employed by the Consortium.
The Consortium mines and refines the rich mineral wealth of the Olympus System.  The refined materials are then sold throughout the 'Verse, but especially to AriesTech and the Hephestus Shipyards, both of whom recieve large discounts.

The Arbiters: The Arbiters' presence in the Olympus System is extensive.  Based on Posidon, the Arbiters keep close tabs on the Hephestus Shipyards, and are generally the Olympus Block's strongest customer base.

The Nexus: The Nexus has dug in deep in the Olympus System, and handles all of the Block's transportation.  Origionally, the Block attempted to maintain its absolute monopoly on all Olympus System industries with the Hermes Shipping Company.  However, the Nexus's vast resources allowed them to easily undercut Hermes Shipping from the start, and since then there has been no competition to speek of.

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Cultural Trends: Cultural trends in the 'Verse tend to mix and blurr.  Traditional subcultures such as ravers, rockers, chavs, ect are still around.  Below are some of the more common cultural trends of the 'Verse.  These trends are not set and dry, and they often merge with each other and existing cultural trends.

Dutch Descent: Perhapse the most common cultural trend throughout the 'Verse.  Characterized by primarily dutch derived languages and a passion for Football (soccer).  Some modern pop culture aspects of a Dutch Descent civilization include synthwood clogs and other, overly steroytipical articles of "traditional" dutch attire.  For some strange reason, bagpipe music (bagpipe techno, electric bagpipe, traditional bagpipe, ect.) is popular in most Dutch Descent cultures.

NuEgyptian: A fairly common cultural trend.  Characterized by muslim derivate religions and heavy NAF influences towards pragmatisism.
NuEgyptian cultural trends often include OldEgyptians, a subculture label comperable to 21st century Goths.  And we're talking the really insane goths here, the ones who are the source of the popular goth sterotypes.  Fake beards, ahnks, tattoos of Egyptian heiroglyphs, you name it.

NuGreek: A reletivly new cultural trend that started in the Olympus System and has been spreading throughout the Sol Sector for the last decade or so.  Definately still a subcultral trend, similar in some respects to the Goths of the 21st century.  Electric Lyra and Tabour, revamped Greek tragedies, slang terms taken from greek derivate languages (not that there are many), ect.  Laurels as headgear and toga-esque clothing also common, although generally viewed the same way someone in a skort with tri-colored hair and a half-mohawk would be in the early 21st century.

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AI Military Technology

AIs in the 'Verse are sophisticated enough that, on a tactical level, humans cannot compete with them.  Since even fighter combat usually takes place at .5c velocities and 100,000 kilometer ranges, humans simply do not have the nessisary reflexes and decission making capabilities to function, let alone compete with AIs.  The same goes for capitol engagments, where thousands of tactical descisions must be made per second.
However, in strategic scenarios, AIs are inferior to human.  AIs make easily predictable strategic decisions, which makes them vulnerable to an intelligent and creative human.
On the ground, AI troops are roughly equal to humans.  Although the smaller and slower scale of ground engagments allows humans to outsmart AIs, AI troops have greater coordination and all around power than human troops can muster.  Plus, they're alot cheaper.
The rules of ground combat change drastically when Born troops are brought into the equation.  A Born soldier is always preferable to an AI soldier.

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The Bull's Rebutal

Many regard the speach given by Dorian Exbridge-Ath-Hep-Tyr on Pyre IV in the year 2,102 AE, known as the Bull's Rebutal to be one of the clearest and most compelling declarations of the beliefs of  the Church of the Unification.  The speach was made in responce the Earth Vatican's official decree that Born were to be considered Abommination in the eyes of God and that the teachings of the Church of Unification were heresy of the highest order.

Today, my words are heresy, and I and all my kin are Abommination.  I am a monster and my words are poison, leading the riteous from the path of God to the path of sin, as are all the words I have ever spoken.
 So I shall utter a new heresy, perhapse my boldest heresy.  I say I am no heretic!  I am no abommination!  I am the chosen of God as are all living things!
 I have contradicted the cannon of the Church of Earth in the past.  I have contradicted many of their age old teachings.  Why should I not?  Is the universe not made to change?  Did God not set the stars in motion?  Did He not make the galaxies wheel and turn through the void?
 We humans rose up from the simplest of things.  Both Pure and Born have an ancient history stretching back far beyond any recorded time of evolution and change.  We Born have grown further still.  Ideas grow and change.  Was not the world once flat?  Did not the heavens not wheel around it?  And now the world is round, and it wheels around the Sun, which in turn wheels through the outer rim of the galaxy.  Once the universe was comprised of fire, water, earth and air.  Then there was phlogstine, which allowed substances to burn.  Now there are elements and subatomic particles, and further and further subdivisions till we find the Meme and the Base.
 So why should doctrine be any different.  Just as we grow and learn about the universe, so to must our understanding of God grow and change.  The Bible, which now says I am a heretic and an Abomination, is not the true book of God.  The Bible was written by man.  The universe is the book of God, for it was God that orchestrated the universe.  To believe that what is written by man on paper hold truth over what was written by god in stars and galaxies is folly.  Evolution is the pen of God, and to ignore its words is to ignore the will of God.
 Life is the holiest of things, for it is the clearest of God's works.  All life evolves towards perfection.  Once, man was an animal, indistinguishable from an ape.  Now man walks between the stars.  Once man knew nothing and contemplated only when they would next eat and mate.  Now man commands vast sciences and contemplates the mysteries of the universe.
Why should God have made our understanding of His will any different?  If, by God's will, life grows towards perfection, why should the Born, whose gifts set them above the Pure in so many aspects, be Abomination?  We are the next stage in God's plan.
 Our search for the unification of the forces led us to the discovery of two fundamental aspects of the universe.  The Base and the Meme.  Matter and the Soul.  The Born are a step from the Base to the Meme, from Matter to the Soul.  Our powers come from our connection to the Memetic, the Divine.  How is it then that we are Abomination?  How is it that man can declare God's will heresy?  I find my truths in the mysteries of the universe, not in some book written thousands of years ago.  What supernatural insight did these ancient, primitive people have that we must bow to their words?  The Church of Earth has itself, on many occasions, rewritten the laws laid down in that book.  If they refuse to bow to those words, what gives them the right to declare me Abomination and heretic?

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The Church of Earth

Few things are so poorly named as the Church of Earth.  Of all the worlds it has influence on, it is least represented on Earth.  Only 2% of Earth's population belongs to the Church of Earth.
 The Church of Earth grew from a fundamentalist, anti-Born Catholic sect. Since the dark age that followed the Third World War, the Church of Earth has grown in power.  In recent times, it has become one of the most influencial Pure religions due to its long association with the P.o.t.P..
 Always opposed to the Born, the Curch of Earth has historically kept reletivly quite about their animosity.  However, in light of the growing influence of the Church of Unification and the Unification Movement, the Church of Earth has become more and more outspoken against Born in general in the Unification in particular.

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Randa System
System: Single Star, Yellow Medium
Worlds: Atrus (11.6 billion), New Avalon (3.3 billion)
Features: 1 asteroid belt, 4 moons
Population: 14.9 billion planetary, 1.1 trillion offplanet
Major Powers: The Nexus, the Ring Project, the Arbiters

Randa lies near the boundries between the Sol, Helania and Oris sectors.  It has only recently been recolonized after it was burned in the Fellwars.  Aside from its importance as a trade hub between the three largest sectors of inhabited space, Randa is home to the Ring Project.
Randa is almost entirely Dutch descent culturally.

The Ring Project: At a radius of .8 AUs from the system's primary is the partially complete scaffold of the Ring.  Stretching nearly a fourth of the circumfrence of its orbit, the Ring has already consumed the two entire planetary bodies in its construction and an entire gas giant in fuel.
Made of a hypertensile tungstenmeme dikavnium alloys, the Ring is a webwork of cables and struts supporting billowing solar collectors.  The Ring Project is planned to first encompase its entire orbit, and then expand until it surrounds the primary as the human race's first Dyson Sphere.
The project already supports the living space needed for the 1.1 trillion who are constructing it.
Despite the fact that the Ring is only partially complete, it has already begun to show a profit.  Litterally thousands of patents have been awarded to the companies involved in its creation for the radical techniques involved.  The immense amounts of energy gathered by the Ring's solar collectors exceed even the vast amounts of power the project demands, and the surplus is already being sold throughout the galaxy.

The Nexus: The enormous resources needed for the construction of the Ring must be transported from refineries throughout human space, and the only organization capable of transporting them is the Nexus.  Holding an exclusive contract with the Ring project's financers, the Nexus has seen record profits in the years since the project's inception.

The Arbiters: The massive populations involved in the Ring project has attracted a great deal of attention from the Arbiters.  The Ring Project employs a vast number of Born, and a great number of Arbiters have been dispatched to maintain order.

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Neutralizer
The neutralizer is the favorite weapon of the lower ranks of the Arbiters.
A neutralizer appears is a simple metalic baton with a thick rubber grip at one end and a loop that goes around the wrist.
A neutralizer is a simple melee weapon that deals 1d4 nonlethal bludgeoning damage and weighs 1 lb.
A fully charged neutralizer has 600 charges.  As part of an attack action, the neutralizer's user can expend up to 30 charges.
For every charge expended, the neutralizer deals an additional 1d6 nonlethal electrical damage.
For every 6 charges expended, the neutralizer deals 1d2 dexterity damage.
For ever 15 charges expended, the neutralizer deals 1 point of dexterity drain.
A non Arbiter caught carrying a neutralizer is subject to a minimum sentence of six years imprisonment..  A non Arbiter caught using a neutralizer is subject to a minimum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.
Neutralizers have a black market purchase DC of 30.

[KeshFerrar]

There's a lot to digest here. I feel I have to keep going back over it.

I see super heroes, well not the four colored type but still supers mixed with sci-fi. Plus other things I've read. What would you say your inspirations are for this setting?

What are you looking for with this setting? Aspirations? With all the information, where could we best help?

The basic questions aside, I like the various conflicts the setting brings together.

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Inspiration: reading JLA comics while watching Firefly.
For some reason I started thinking about possible futures of the DC universe.  The idea was that when heroes start breeding, each successive generation of heroes grows stronger and stronger, while heroes like Batman and similar start taking apprentices from the hero community.  Eventually you end up with a group of immensely powerful, skilled individuals.
However, such a powerful force leaves little room for villains.  After all, when the police begin to employ telepaths and precogs, as well as bulletproof, speedster master detectives, it becomes a bit difficult to earn a dishonest buck.
And it just sort of evolved from there.

As for where you can help best: I'm not very good with mechanics (more of a fluff man), so any ideas there would be great.  As it stands, I'm not too sure how I'd actually run a game in this setting.

If you have any ideas for bloodlines, worlds, personalities, anything really, I'd like to hear them.