Imperium Offtopicum: The Great Abyss [Sign-ups and OOC]

[Kinich-Ahau]

Our Emblem:

Represents the Chief Deity of Hyrhh, in case anyone wanted to know.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

I should say that if your civilization has any kind of insignia now's a good time to post it.

Hmm, the Hlur-Baiheen emblem is a sound, rather than a picture- I'll see if I can come up with a picture that approximates the gist of what their sound means.

 

[Patchy]

Wharu Emblem:

 

[Amesjay]

Species Name:
Illdiran (Illdiran Empire)

Species Description:

Spoiler :

The Illdiran is a species that is composed of many different ‘kiths’ (which are like breeds) who are quite distinct from each other. An Illdiran’s kith is also like their caste and dictates their life in Illdiran society. There are many different kiths ranging from the noble kith, soldier kith to the swimmer kith and the scalie kith. Thus, the appearance of Illdirans can seem drastically different between individuals though all usually live for extended periods of time (highest ages around 200). Mixed breeds are reasonably common within Illdiran society (even encouraged), though certain kiths have never breeded with each other successfully. Illdiran names are of the form givenname’Kithletter eg. Cyr’h. The Illdiran also possess something akin to a hive mind which they call the ‘thism’ (explained below). Their society is a monarchy with the leader being a pure noble known as the Mage-Imperator. He controls the entire civilisation, though he works through his sons who are called designates. Their economy is socialist, though certain members of society (Mage-Imperators, designates) utilise more wealth simply because the rest of society desires that they do.

Thism:
Each Illdiran has a ‘thread’ which are bound to the Mage-Imperator, through his designates. The thism is like a safety net, allowing each Illdiran to sense other Illdirans around them, though most kiths do not have very much more than that. The designates have the strongest bond with the Mage-Imperator and can sense ideas or thoughts from the Mage-Imperator and vice versa. When an Illdiran ventures too far from all the other Illdirans, they will lose the connection to the thism. This causes them to feel untold loneliness and depression and only the strongest wills have experienced this without dying.

Mage-Imperator:
The Mage-Imperator is the leader of the Illdiran Empire. He is usually quite tall like the other members of the noble kith (around 2m). Before he becomes the Mage-Imperator, he is the Prime designate and his entire job is to impregnate as many different Illdiran women as he can. Once the previous Mage-Imperator dies, he undergoes ritual castration and is able to see the entire thism. He gains insight into the knowledge of previous Mage-Imperators and becomes ruler over the entire empire. The death of an Mage-Imperator is felt by every member of the Illdiran Empire. Likewise, the death of a large number of Illdirans or a single designate can cause the Mage-Imperator to feel grief.

Nobles:
Usually around 2m they are of a greyish complexion and virtually hairless. Their kith designation is ‘h.

Soldiers:
Members of the soldier kith are extremely large and muscular. They are usually around 2.3m in height and show untold loyalty for the designates and the Mage-Imperator. They are quite hairy and also possess sharp teeth and claws. Their kith designation is ‘n.

Rememberers:
Rememberers are the historians and storytellers of the Illdiran Empire. They record their race’s history in the ‘Saga of the Seven Suns’. Rememberers are roughly 1.6m in height and their most notable feature is that their faces show different colours based on an emotion they are trying to display. Rememberers have virtually perfect memories, they spend many years memorising the saga. Then they either become teachers, advisors or they record more history in the saga. Their kith designation is ‘sh.

Homeworld Details:

Spoiler :

Their homeworld is called Illdira and most notably it never experiences night as it receives light from seven different suns. It orbits a white star but receives light from the Durris trinary star system which is composed of an orange and whist star orbited by a red dwarf, the Qronha binary system and a solitary red giant.

Illdira has quite a thick atmosphere which keeps the planet cooler than one would expect. The planet is composed of roughly 40% land and 60% water, the planet is reasonably hot with most of the land being covered in rainforest, plains, savannahs and deserts.

Species History:

Spoiler :

The Illdiran have always kept impeccable records of their history, originally through rememberers memorising stories by wrote till they finally began writing them down. As far back as the Saga goes there has always been an Mage-Imperator. There has been little conflict between Illdirans, with only one recorded case of a designate becoming rogue and fighting against the Mage-Imperator.
Illdirans were not the only sentient race upon Illdira, there were also the avian Arani. Though they believed in different things and valued different qualities, there was generally peace between the two races, though eventually border disputes, competition over natural resources became too much and conflict flared up. The war had been relatively even between the two races as the Arani had the physical advantage over the Illdirans (as they could fly), though the Illdirans had great leadership and organisation. I was the invention of the first projectile weapon by the engineer kith that saw the Illdirans begin to dominate the conflict. Soon the Arani had fallen back to their last enclaves. The Illdirans offered peace, though the Arani were honour-bound to fight to the death. Though by this time they were outnumbered and outgunned, the Arani nearly went extinct. The few that hadn’t fought went into hiding and eventually over time the entire race died out.

From then on the Illdirans began to experience a golden age, where they began to prosper. With the additional land and new technology, the Illdirans flourished. Increased and more diverse breeding produced slowly produced new kiths such as the technician kith, whom all seemed to have great ideas and a natural aptitude towards producing new ideas and machinery. The Mage-Imperator had the foresight to realise that soon the land on Illdira would run out, he intended to remedy that situation before it came about. He urged his people to strive towards the stars and the other planets so that they could spread their race’s glory.
Finally, the scientist kith along with the engineer kith and the technician kith were able to produce what the Mage-Imperator had desired. They produced a vessel capable of taking a splinter colony (group of Illdirans large enough to maintain the thism) to the other relatively habitable planet within their system (Hyrillka). After that achievement the entire universe opened up for the Illdirans, with them settling two planets in the nearby Qronha system (Dobro and Maratha) and another planet in the Durris system (Crenna) and others even further out.

Technology:

Spoiler :

The Illdirans almost worship light (will explain later) and thus their technology and architecture reflect this. They greatly value aesthetics, to the point where sometimes they have superfluous additions to ships and buildings. Their buildings are generally produced from a crystalline material which has dazzling effects under the light of their suns. The Illdirans mainly utilise lasers and energy based weaponry upon their ships and for their soldiers use. That being said, they still have projectile based weapons which they use when the situation requires it, but generally they will not. This emphasis upon energy based weapons has also produced ‘shielding’ technology which they have mainly applied to ships (with improvements being made in personal shielding). The Illdirans are primarily use hydrogen based fuels, acquiring the gas from the Qronha 3 (gas giant in the Qronha system) via skymines.

Warliner:
The Warliner is the largest ship of the Illdiran Solar Navy and also its pride. These ships boast hanger bays capable of housing many cutters as well as many of the Illdirans best weapons.

Cutter:
The smallest ship in the Illdiran Solar Navy, it is manned by a single pilot.

Skymine:
A large ship that is capable of housing a splinter colony and providing the facilities to mine and process gases acquired from a large gas giant.

Location and Color:

Spoiler :

O6,K7

Starting Situation:

Spoiler :

The Illdiran Empire is reasonably large, spreading over quite a number of worlds. Recently the Mage-Imperator has been directing the Empire’s efforts towards faster travel through space and greater exploration abilities, with a desire to seek out other space faring or simply intelligent life and to colonise other more distant worlds.

Tell me if there is anything you would like me to change or simply flesh out.

 

[spaceman98]

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/802/jfdf.png This is the map of my homeworld. Arrows indicate directions of current flow, black circles are large cities (small settlements cover most of the coast and most islands, while the deep ocean floor (abyssal plain) and the continents are completely empty for now). Green indicates areas where algae and seaweed prosper, while pink indicates "reefs" (though coral isn't the primary organism which builds them). Brown is land, and Grey indicates undersea volcanic mountains. The land and deep ocean floor are featureless because they are unexplored, and will be filled in as time goes by.

 

[NinjaCow64]

My flag is in my signup.

 

[KaiserElectric]

I plan on submitting my race soon, brace your bums.

 

[NinjaCow64]

I was thinking to help you out, Tyo, was for me to try and explain how the Ascendency's economy works within the framework you have provided.

The best two/three word description of their economy would probably be "Mostly State Planned". You could describe it as a "Mixed Market Economy", but the amount of wealth produced by the public sector (The Ascended/Artificial) far outweighs the amount created by the private sector (The Organics). As such, I would put the amount of government ownership of the economy as 85%, with 10% being the private sector in the Ascended and the entire economy of the Organics producing 5%. Virtually everyone is employed by the government amongst the Ascended/Artificial, with the last few doing much more work trading with the Organics with varied success.

Oh, and the species type should be listed as "Humanoid/Cyborg/Robotic". Cheers.

 

[Tyo]

that helps significantly

 

[spaceman98]

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/20/0he8.png The emblem of the technocracy, more to come soon.

Description:

The emblem consists of several primary parts. The blue on the bottom represents the ocean world of the Sklak. The motto on the bottom reads: Unity (Aznuld), Science (Kh!tk (the ! is equivalent to a "click" sound), Ml'unn (progress) (' is equivalent to rolling your tong as you speak the previous letter). Obviously, all of these words are transcribed into letters and symbols we can read from the original language which uses a different scheme.

The red on the top is a constant reminder of the threat of drought and destruction that lies over the world due to the slow death of its star, if the people stray from the technocracy's program. The Brown triangle represents volcanic mounds, while the green object is a type of seaweed that symbolizes the coast (the seaweed grows from the bottom on long stalks. Once it reaches the surface, it spreads its leaves and branches, forming a massive structure like a Sargasso seaweed or a lily pad
. It plays a role akin to our worlds kelp, forming sparse forests, and being very important to the culture of many costal groups).


The yellow star-like structure is a fluorescent lamp. These lamps are glass cylinders filled with bioluminescent bacteria that provide cheap continuous lighting, and have become a universally recognized symbol of progress (wheras other things like the volcano forges remind many of the imperialism that characterized the last few centuries, and the inequality that still does.).

 

[spaceman98]

With a few exceptions, most of the governments which the technocracy had come to replace had been strongly centrally planned. Whether theocratic, aristocratic or communist, these were the ones that arose on volcanic mounds, and hence these were the ones that had most of the weaponry and most of the forges. Democracy and free market both arose only in areas where costal tribes struggled to unite against technologically advanced invaders, and so had to accept that differences of opinion would exist amongst their leaders, and that previously powerful individuals in the tribe would stay powerful (in other words, these tribal confederacies didn't have time to carry out the consolidation necessary to form stable authoritarianism. Most of these democratic tribal confederacies were destroyed, though a few had survived to become major powers and claim their own forges.

Thus, when the technocracy rose to power, it continued the tradition of central planning regarding most forms of heavy industry, such as submarine vehicles and construction, resources (oil, coal, methane hydrates http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8925cbb4-7157-11e3-8f92-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2qnSaFNHt) and large scale infrastructure. Institutions which had governed these industries were kept intact, but made much more meritocratic. Old ideas of divine right, aristocratic heritage or position within "the party" were replaced by promotion based on skill and education (in theory. In practice this system is vulnerable to corruption). In placed that were democratic, where private groups had such institutions, the technocracy generally bought them from their private owners and centralized them anyways. They had the money to do so, because they now had at their disposal all of the money which various nations had formerly been spending on arms races and the military. As a result, despite its increased size and bureaucratic inefficiency, the new united technocracy had much more cash and resources to use for civilian needs.

However, because the technocracy was now too large to micromanage every aspect of the global economy efficiently, it did allow private control of the production of minor household goods and of many electronics amongst other things. Overall, percent-wise, the economy is 70% government owned/centralized, and 30% privately owned.

(following in the footsteps of NinjaCow. Is this good?)

 

[Tyo]

That looks fine. For future reference, I'd like all information on one post so I don't have to go looking for stuff. I realize that it's right next to your other post, but just for future reference.


Now, status report:
I haven't made a ton of progress. I woke up not feeling my best and was in bed for the majority of the day. To kick it all off, I have mideterms for the entirety of next week.

But I'm not abandoning this. It's just gotta be on hold for longer than anticipated. Really sorry for the long, long wait. I hope it'll be worth it for everyone.

 

[spaceman98]

That looks fine. For future reference, I'd like all information on one post so I don't have to go looking for stuff. I realize that it's right next to your other post, but just for future reference.


Now, status report:
I haven't made a ton of progress. I woke up not feeling my best and was in bed for the majority of the day. To kick it all off, I have mideterms for the entirety of next week.

But I'm not abandoning this. It's just gotta be on hold for longer than anticipated. Really sorry for the long, long wait. I hope it'll be worth it for everyone.

Oh, sorry. There's actually a very easy way to find all the stuff one person has posted. Go to the top of the thread, in the top right there is a button "search this thread". Click it, and in the drop-down menu that comes up, click "advanced search". It will give you the option to search by user name, and just write in the username of the person whose stuff you are trying to find. You will get a list of all of their various posts

 

[NinjaCow64]

Is this dead? Please don't be dead.

 

[Tyo]

Of course not. Like I said, this game is a pretty long term development and as of late, it's been really slow which I can say is very much my own fault. This will happen, but right now I have no telling exactly when. Excel is hard to make functional and nice to look at at the same time.

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

Oh thank God, I still have time.

Might even get those pictures done that I originally promised...

 

[Tani Coyote]

While we wait, the Chua have given an exposition on how they handle pest control in their vast, glorious empire.

 

[GreekAnalyzer]

I2, P2

The Changeling Republic:
Common Name: Changeling Scientific Name: Mutator Alienis

Claiming: I2, P2

Biology: Christened by the first alien (to them) species they encountered, the name is apt as they can change their appearance at will. This makes them masters of stealth, concealment and deception. In their default form, they are humanoid, smaller than most humans, with green skin and 6 fingers on each hand. They aren't very strong physically, however they can run like the wind.

History: On their original world of Te-Moak, they waged a war against another species, the pauciuni. This war waged for millennia, inhibiting scientific progress, when finally a Changeling magistrate (the Changelings have always valued republicanism) proposed they try to win the war through science rather than brute force. While his name has been lost to history, the Unknown Magistrate is a hero among the Changelings. Around 2 millennia later, the first nuclear weapon was detonated in the main city of the pauciuni. This broke their resistance, and soon the pauciuni were extinct, a total and complete genocide. The Changelings then focused on science, leaping and bounding into space travel. Soon, the Te-Moak system was colonized, and the Changelings expanded into deep space (for them), soon meeting humanity and many other cities.

Culture: As mentioned, the Changelings value republicanism and representative government. However, their society is divided into a caste system, so it's not a perfect system. However, it's not organized like a normal caste system, as everyone is born into the lowest caste and they work their way up to the highest level. They have 3 levels:

Alterior: The highest level, they're aristocrats. They have 5 votes worth in elections. Entry fee into this caste is 1 million kandra (The currency of the Changeling Republic)
Freundling: The middle level, they have 3 votes in elections. Entry fee into this caste is 500,000 kandra
Slonding: The lowest and default level, they have one vote in elections.
A somewhat militaristic society, they also value scientific inquiry.

Military: The Republic has a large standing army, with significant spacefaring forces divided into various classes based on use, weaponry and defensive capabilities:

Kopis-class: Small fighters piloted by individual Changelings. Main weaponry is a directed energy beam, powered by a cold fusion reactor. Also includes homing missiles that can lock to a variety of things, such as heat and radiation.

Meson-class: The workhorse of the Changeling Republic Navy (CRN) They hold 24 Kopis-class fighters along with more powerful versions of the directed energy beam cannons. They have a small shielding capability. Armor plating is thick (about a meter), made of a alloy the recipe of which is a closely guarded state secret.

Carip-class: The capital ships of the CRN. They hold 128 Kopis-class fighters. Armor plating is thick (about 2 meters) They also have powerful shields. However there are only 2 in existence due to their prohibitive cost.

Army:
The ground forces use a combination of mass conscripts and professional soldiers. Every soldier has a standard uniform made of Kevlar, a basic ballistic launcher, and a small direct energy beam launcher (Think like a RPG) They also make extensive use of ground vehicles (Air dropped from ships) ranging from APCs to the Behemoths; massive machinations that crush anything in their path. Changelings are divided into basic units of 16 called Gyhks. Each Gyhk has an APC that the Gyhk rides in while on the move. The APC has a ballistic launcher that shoots a wide variety of ammo, from non-lethal and tranquilizing to ones filled with lethal poison or explosives.

Territory: There are 6 planets in their solar system, Te-Moak (mostly industrial with some nature preserves) and the rest ice balls or volcanic rocks. These are: Freag, Joiyk, Grag, Ewtda, and Kwug. Each of them have some research stations and massive mining colonies. They supply the CRN with all the metal needed for their ships. They have sent some probes outside their system to find more areas for expansion

Advantages: Masters of Espionage, organized society, lots of willing recruits

Disadvantages: Weak individually, relatively small military (quality over quantity) small land (not expanded past their solar system)

 

[Mosher]

I'm going to be forced to drop this. I only have sixteen days before basic training and I can't really participate in any games anymore.

 

[spaceman98]

Is this alive?