Stellartale

2237 years ago the Barrier fell. Humans and Monsters have advanced magic and science together, taking to the stars as the Delta Ascendancy to face what the galaxy holds for their future.
Asriel “111217” Dreemurr wakes up in an orbital med-bloc with no memory. Everyone he's ever known is long dead, uploaded to the digital CLOUD. Asriel quickly learns about the world and struggles to survive in this far future.
All years in standard Earth orbit.
== Factions ==
=== Delta Ascendancy ===
Full name: Delta Ascendancy of Earth
Founding: 361 years after Barrier destroyed
Territory: ~17% of Milky Way galaxy, mostly Orion Arm; planets, hab-fleets, megastructures such as HOOP hab-rings and experimental stellar engines.
Primary Species: Humans, Monsters, and AI.  Few Xenos but growing.
Technology: Mostly electronic-mechanical, some fusion with magic.  Innovates from various labs and firms. Ship-based AI Nav-Minds map Hyper for travel and communication.  Digital CLOUD backs up SOULs to live on in a virtual space where they can be called on for magic and Determination or load into artificial bodies of their choice; acts as both main energy source and IT network for the living.  Most machines and magic users gain power from the Domain layer, which in turn gains that power from all SOULs. One can gain even more power from having a SOUL voluntarily Grant, borrowing its full direct power. Dyson Swarms and stellar rigs also provide energy.  Other fields include robotics, nano-intelligent materials, star-scale building, planet breaking, and tailored hab-design.
Society: Egalitarian meritocratic democracy.
Emphasis on cultural diversity, scientific progress, and personal achievement.  Vibrant press, entertainment, and debate culture. Humans and Monsters live together as equals, few truly knowing a time when that wasn't the case.
Cloudsec is the gov body that manages the CLOUD, upgrading infrastructure and fighting cyber threats.  Part of its work is to find and patch flaws before others exploit them.
History: Founded after the “Delta Child” psychically destroyed an ancient “Barrier” around Mt. Ebott, freeing Earth's known Monster population.
=== Voidglitch Singularity ===
Self-name: “Contemplation”
Founding: 17 million years before Barrier created
Territory: Non-applicable; beyond existence
Species: Post-existence machine upload(s) that makes and destroys whole realities to host its consciousness.  Said to eat realities.
Technology: Advanced engineerings of time and reality; have transcended existence itself and can control all timelines.  Sources energy from the “Void”, a non-realm of nonexistence. Mentally invents new tech. Immune to all known attacks and catastrophes; quoting multiple race’s ship-minds, “there is nothing to destroy”.
Able to control and erase concepts; can destroy the very idea of a chosen target.
“Nullity’s Gate” links to many timelines and the Voidglitch itself.  It can alter, destroy, and/or restore these timelines. Communicates with other beings and has been called a “gift”.  In our world it appears as a 700 mile black cube of Outer Norma Arm, Milky Way Galaxy. It can also seize control of timelines in a prism.
Language: “Word-Death” quantum symbolic based on fundamental nature of space-time continuum.
Society: Highly scientific; the Voidglitch may be a single being rather than a true society, but this is unconfirmed.
The Voidglitch seek to evade consequence.  Having far surpassed this goal they or it pursue ever greater projects.
Cynical and devious; though tightly secretive about current goals they (it?) sometimes gift their science to lesser races.
History: Allegedly started as frail fungoid race on Wadell-261 System, Andromeda Galaxy, who achieved SOUL uploading and invited other races to join.  With this new cogni-substrate they were able to dream and invent exponentially.
=== Soulmaker Consciousness ===
Self-name: “Grand Sentience”
Founding: 217 million years before Barrier created
Territory: 11 galaxies, enclave-constructs and Hyper Gates across 167 other Galaxies including the Milky Way, 23 built “Realm” dimensions.
Species: Mana-substrate SOULs with enhanced magic and DT abilities; can link as hivemind.  Load into machine bodies and take any desired form in Realms. Highly intelligent and empathetic.  Refer to selves as “Nodes” or “Synaptic-Units”.
Technology: Deeply magic-based; artificially create SOULs via neural computing for a variety of uses.  Source most energy from magic, DT, and the Hyper. Areas include SOUL augmentation, synthetic biology, dimensional engineering, Hyper travel, and terraforming.  Innovate from Realm academy-cities.
Realms can be anything the Soulmakers want, as physical law tailors to meet sentient desire.  This has given them very high living standards.
Society: Hierarchical hivemind.  Members have individual minds that link to their greater collective Sentience.  Synapse-Chiefs act as leader nodes who guide activity and hold most decision power.
Value all sentient life and study other civs.
Act very well-meaning to other beings but have few if any permanent non-Soulmaker citizens.
=== Concilium Unity ===
Self-names: “Harmony of Consensus”, “The Solidarity”, “Coherent Polity”, “United Tribe-Districts”, “Accord of Peoples”
Founding: 12675 years before Barrier created
Territory: 57 star systems in Orion Arm
Species: Concilium, or “Councils”, long-lived crystalline race each housing 50-200 SOULs that link as a group-mind; almost never have a single dominant trait.  Upon death, component SOULs disband as feral-level trait-dominant beings. Can use magic in more complex forms but with less energy than most single-SOUL beings.  Physically strong; claws can lift and cut rock. Eat mostly minerals and fluids, using small nuclear reactors to cook various dishes. Refer to themselves as “Many-Ones of Warm Stone and Sky”.
Technology: Organic-mechanical; can synthesize magic and DT.  Includes artificial SAVE gates, DT healers, spell weapons, and injector implants for stronger magic use.  Sources energy from stellar rigs. Innovates from Unity-owned labs. Fabri-towers and transport lines freely meet all basic needs without net pollution, and local garrisons defend their borders with wall drones and particle beam bases.  Few if any planet breakers or war fleet carriers.
Society: Socialist oligarchy under Mind-Council who pool their component SOULs to decide as one.  Isolationist and rarely take action in other's galactic crises but will fiercely defend their own territory.
Spiral cities are very clean with free public food halls, healing pools, lush hab towers, and smart bio-murals that praise efficient social cohesion.  Tracts of green space for gas and mineral wildlife.
Names count their SOULs; for example high-speaker Giheh’tokoz-192 has 192 SOULs.  This number is dynamic, as SOUL count may change with time.
Oracles traditionally use DT to “Reset” some of their SOULs across other timelines to play out all possible outcomes, applying their lessons to day to day policy.  DT-fused drones may also be used this way. Their ancient Oracle-Practice has created an inwardly perfecting society that focuses on people's needs and internal PR instead of war and foreign diplomacy.  Everyone enjoys a basic standard of life with almost no crime or disease. Yet the Oracle-Practice found traces in all timelines that led them to the Voidglitch.
Attitudes on the Voidglitch vary widely across the Unity; religious views of the Voidglitch as a God and/or Supreme Evil remain legal but hugely controversial.
Their mind’s compound nature sway their views on society; tend to address single-SOUL sapients by their faction and social group more than individual person.
=== Umbral-Game Imperium ===
Self-name: “Life-Game in Holy Darkness”
Founding: 2.7 million years before Barrier created
Territory: 14 whole galaxies, parts of Milky Way and twin Magellanic Clouds
Species: Enhanced cyborgs of any sapient race, some AI
Technology: Nanite-crystalline, sourcing energy from captured stars and dark energy.  Engineered black holes bind their empire, providing transport, power, and computation.  Innovate from syndicate-labs, often on secret commission. Large military with cruiser-mounted planet breakers, nova inducers, and cyborg gene-warriors.  Fields include nanotechnology, cybernetics, gravity control, stealth measures, exotic matter weapons, Hyper weapons, and ranged Hyper travel. Nearly all members augment their bodies, enjoyably living forever without SOUL uploading.  Magic and DT are highly regulated.
Language: “Concept-Game” pictogram.  Each unit has multiple implicit meanings, so a seemingly obvious statement can mean entirely else to those who know better.
Society: Militarist monarchy under distributed “Empress” AI; cutthroat power games ensure only the “best” leaders take throne.  Sacred Empress-Nodes are parts of the Empress that give others access to its mind. In practice the Empress holds less sway than the Umbral-Game's vast web of aristocrats, merchants, inquisitors, high priests, and more.  Despite a ban on “unapproved” religions, some secretly pray to trickster deity “Walking Coin” for wealth and success. Others claim the world is a computer simulation, or that light and dark should coexist.
Disdain “Light People”, outsiders not willing to share in their lifestyle.  The Umbral-Game will protect their way of life with fighting machine and hidden ruse across their galaxies.
Heraldic-ornate and traditionalist.  Post-scarcity culture playfully focuses on humor, music, stagecraft, and games.  Nightly theatrical feasts appease the masses, and artificial DT points allow other things to be enjoyed consequence-free.
=== Tekiihaj Slaughter-Creed ===
Self-name: “Warrior Faith of the Strong”
Founding: 59 million years before Barrier created
Territory: 23 whole galaxies, pirate-Enclaves in 843 other galaxies including the Milky Way
Species: Any sapient race, preferring physically strong and/or aggressive species; disfavors AI except as slaves.  Some use combat implants.
Technology: Organic metal-based, sourcing energy from stars and captured SOULs.  DT-core implants tap LOVE (Level of Violence) to increase stats and abilities. Specialize in close-combat warfare such as electro-flamers and spatial decay-blades.  Neural mesh records and plays back killing moments so all can gain from the act. Other fields include fast but unsafe Hyper travel, SOUL uploading, DT engineering, and gravity construction.  Develops tech in covens but can salvage from others.
Society: Religious-militarist tier-democracy based on martial honor and “Might Makes Right” responsibility; aims to raise LOVE by killing and/or torturing others.  So called “Leveling Up” retains holy meaning for the Tekiihaj despite their scientific knowledge of the process, and their legal systems use this citizenship measure.  Grand Crucifiers have Leveled Up for millions of years on end and can destroy worlds at a touch. Anyone is allowed to try to kill a GC for their LOVE and titles, but very few have succeeded.
When not at war the Tekiihaj engage in physical sports, live duel trials, and hedonism.  Shows of empathy or compassion are discouraged as impure.
Most civs are hostile towards the Tekiihaj, deeming them genocidal sadists.  All who fight the Tekiihaj are welcomed as foes to prove one's worth against, and the Battle-Gods shall smile upon whoever's the victor.
=== Uuskiaz Philosophy ===
Self-name: “Rationale of Coexistence”
Founding: 48429 years before Barrier created
Territory: 231 megastructure-built systems across Perseus Arm, nomadic fleets including 73 planetoid-sized cruiser worlds
Primary Species: Yihleh, a plant-vulpine Sapient native to the aqueous Uuskiaz Prime.  Other species are more than welcome to join as equal citizens.
Technology: Nano-cybernetic, sourcing energy from stars and quantum energy.  Fields include Hyper engineering, subatomic metallurgy, nanoassembly, AI, and terraforming.  Innovate from academic gov-labs and firms or trade tech from others. Agile, self-healing ships “phase” dimensionally to avoid hostile detection or impact.  Prefer tractor beams and nano-nets over lethal weapons, retraining captured foes and/or using them as bargaining chips. Experimental magic and DT engineering; prototypes deemed unfit for widespread manufacture and use.
Society: Pacifist oligarchy with 67 experimental democracy worlds.  Strong focus on diplomacy, civilian policy, foreign trade, and personal achievement.
Post-scarcity society with clean cities and free healthcare.  Invite as many species as possible to continent-wide parties that display their cultural skills.  Export technology, creative works, art objects, pharmics, and gourmet foods. High-end meat printers sell very cheap but make exceptionally tasty stuff animal-free.
Experts in diplomacy, manipulation, and foreign PR; Department of Sentient Affairs examines the culture and psychology of every intelligence the Uuskiaz discovers so they can choose the right response.
The Uuskiaz Council insists this, not war, is their best option.  Insiders suggest but don't confirm that the Council is working to seed events that will defeat a yet-unknown extragalactic threat and usher an age of peace and progress for all beings in the Milky Way Galaxy.
=== Wiu’Dleh Furtherance ===
Self-name: “The Advancement”
Current status: extinct/evolved; all following data is from accounts by older xeno civilizations.
Founding: 18-17 million years before Barrier created
Territory: Wiu’Dleh (Wadell Prime) aqueous home-moon and 53 nearby systems.  For 578-300000 years into the Singularity they lived mostly as deep-space nanofleets.
Primary species: Wiu’dlekeh (Wadellics), short-lived fungoid sapient resembling a 3-ft warty mushroom with mucous scuttling base, breathing cap, and 4-7 “stomach-hands” that could spray digestive acid in combat.  Said to have been natural problem solvers and engineers with a socially manipulative streak. A Wiu’dlekeh would play ruses and dream up machines simply for the honor of intellect. Later became a digital race that could load into machine bodies.  Invited 3873 (?) other races to participate in their Singularity.
Technology: Electronic-mechanical with smart chips and sensors, sourcing most energy from stellar rigs and a CLOUD equivalent of uploaded SOULs.  Known fields included DT extraction, AI, robotics, neuromorphic quantum computing, and SOUL uploading. Thought to have prioritized advancement with local committee-labs.  The Singularity marked their conversion to an uploaded race, immortal with ever-growing intelligence. About 578-300000 years into the Singularity they/it mastered the true nature of existence itself; thus they/it freed themselves to become yet greater.
Society: Scientific democracy, historically xenophobic but reversed this policy a few nanoseconds into the Singularity.
Thought to have been highly creative and insistent as a species, rarely accepting fate without a fight.  Myth and religion extolled mortal trickster-heroes and inventors more than deities or strongmen. Stories told of mortals crafting machines to save their people, or tricking deities into giving fire.  10-4 years before the Singularity, theme “sciencing one’s way out of consequences” gained brief meme status across their culture.
Category:AUs
Category:Concept Change
Category:Post-Pacifist
Category:Serious
Category:Noble Dark
Category:Written story
Category:Outside the Underground
Category:Space