The supreme deity, Authority, is the ultimate power in the Universe. Authority's chief objective is the preservation of independent life, so they rule with a light touch, intervening for only two purposes: to safely uplift planets on the brink of joining the galactic stage; and to sanctify systems corrupted by heretical knowledge. The safeguarding of political independence is delegated to sapient life through the Universal Hegemony.
Under Hegemonic rule, the inhabited Universe is carved into sectors under the stewardship of seven Noble Houses. The political balance of power is carefully maintained by balanced rivalries between these houses, and the most powerful Hegemonic Guilds and Cults. Each jealously guards their domains, and co-operates with others only to prevent anyone else growing in power.
Still, for every rule there is an exception. There are a number of planets that pay a tithe to the Hegemony and self-govern without belonging to any specific House. In black market shipyards ex-guild mechanics refit unlicensed ships. Mystics and prophets walk the streets of every world, inspiring entertainer's tales of romance, adventure, and mystery while avoiding the attention of official Hegemonic Cults. And backroom deals and machinations are ever afoot to incrementally shift the balance of power.
The Procyon Sector was established with the uplifting of Eleron ~150 standard years ago. It is a small sector, hosting gates to only four systems, and is too many jumps from the Core to be a significant player in galactic politics. Consequently, people assigned to this backwater are sent largely as punishment, or (continuing the Hegemonic tradition) as a way to keep a promise of a posting without giving up something cherished. While officially under the dominion of House Malklaith, the sector is considered too unimportant and too troublesome to be worth serious enforcement efforts. Many claim that Governor Ritam al’Malklaith rules in name only.
The sector is a burgeoning place for criminal elements, weird cults, and other folks that live on the fringes. Too far and too small to have the strong arm of the Hegemony truly clutched around its throat, Procyon is also provides legitimate factions easy opportunities for corruption. It is a home homes for those fleeing the burning light of civilization that emanates from the Core, and is filled with opportunities for those that thrive in the black.
The Eleron System contains the Nexus Jumpgate with access to the galactic core, and gates to Zorinth and Torem. Torem is a black hole that regularly pulls in valuable salvage, for those daring or foolish enough to claim it. Although traversing Torem is challenging, it provides essential access to the Khal System -- the sector capital, and the cultural and agricultural heart. The Zoreth System is the industrial centre, and contains the bulk of the sector' shipyards, and a Dyson Swarm the exports power cells throughout and beyond the sector.
The Universe is populated by a vast array of lifeforms seeded by ancient precursors on countless worlds. When local sapient populations reach an appropriate level of technological, spiritual, or cultural enlightenment, Authority uplifts them to the Hegemony, guiding their safe integration into the community and protecting them from the dangers of forbidden and heretical knowledge.
The most common heresies that must be prevented are Artificial Intelligence and Non-Dependant FTL Travel. To prevent the first, the Hegemony ensures sufficient sharing of resources to eliminate economic temptation. To prevent the second, Authority has provided the jumpgates.
Paired jumpgates facilitate FTL travel across the vast gulfs between systems and sectors. Giant rings that are able to transmit even huge battleships, they stand fixed in space, uncaring about the rotations of the planets in the system. Folks often plan trips when their planet is closer to the gates, cutting down travel time and fees. The network remains under the direct control of Authority.
The distances even within a system remain vast. Under conventional propulsion, crossing a system takes months. For most galactic logistics, this slow but reliable approach is sufficient. However, certain sapient creatures -- most notably humans -- are capable of an alternative: metatheory propulsion. Metatheory, sometimes called "magic" on pre-uplift worlds, is the ability to influence objective reality with subjective beliefs. As it remains dependant on the believer, metatheory can facilitate non-heretical FTL propulsion techniques, so long as the crew does not lose faith -- for safety purposes, most crews develop a cult-like fanaticism worshipping their propulsion system. The five known methods of metatheory travel are: warp drives, jump drives, veilships, and (in theory, it least) the Nightmare Road.
Warp drives bend space-time to make distance less. As this impacts realspace, it is highly visible, and must be coordinated with other warp ships to avoid collisions. Warp drives are typically favoured by crews dominated by reason, understanding, and pure metatheory.
Jump Drives allow ships to access hyperlanes. The nature of these pathways is unclear, but hyperlane crossroads are primarily found around inhabited regions of space. Mapping them is dangerous, and exiting hyperlanes outside a crossroads is extremely risky, so most Jump Ships travel only between known crossroads -- although other options are theoretically possible. Jump drives are favoured by traveller, explorers, and gamblers.
Veilships are salvaged vessels capable of traversing the Veil and entering the non-realspace realm of the dead. Crossing the Veil requires death. Some corsairs pay in sacrificed captives; some warships in the blood of their enemies; and a few desperate fanatics in their own blood. Should a crew fail to pay the toll, the Veil will draw them through and devour them, leaving the abandoned Veilship for another crew to salvage. Veilships are favoured by those obsessed with death.
The Nightmare Road covers a range of reported experiences of irrefutable FTL travel with no other explanation -- such as a person disappearing from one world and appearing on another without sensors detecting ships (or even jumpgate activity) in the elapsed time. While survivors have been identified by genetics, appearances, and personal effects, all have been incapable of human language, and most respond to stimuli only with panic. The clearest, and most unsettling, indicator that someone has walked the Nightmare Road is that any psychic or medical examination of their brain will reveal them to be in a perpetual state of laughter, although this will not be reflected in their physical activity.
| Propulsion | Drawbacks | Doctrine |
|---|---|---|
| Warp Drive | Visible | Knowledge |
| Jump Drive | Fixed Routes | Travel |
| Veil Ship | Pay the Toll | Death |
| Nightmare Road | Insanity | Chaos |
Most settled systems have relay networks for inter-planetary laser communications, with hubs providing access for ships. However, the fees for using these systems are a barrier to their widespread use or for mass media, and the interception opportunities mean they are ill-suited for sensitive matters. Cheap and secure communication is provided by the delivery service of the Courier Guild.
The Courier Guild also exchange data between systems, however interfacing system relay networks through jumpgates is a slow process. Information is typically only exchanged once per standard day, so news from jumps away takes some time to disseminate.
Legal matters in the sector are usually handled planet by planet. In general, planets that have a higher population and wealth have their own local law enforcement agencies, which answer to the planetary Governor. System Police are called in to oversee intersystem and interplanetary crimes and criminals. These system cops usually wear the colours of the House they function under the auspices of (hence in Procyon the police wear the green and black of House Malklaith).
The Legion and their battle cruisers swear fealty only to Authority themselves, but cooperate with the Noble House that rules the sector. They can be called in to handle matters that require extra force, have proven too complex for the System Police to handle, or when there is a rumour of heresy.
To ensure no other House senses weakness, the governing House must outwardly maintain the illusion of control and order. It is therefore extremely unusual to request aid from other sectors -- even under the control of the same house.
The vast majority of the Hegemonic population are humans. Notably, this is because the vast majority of uplifted planets are populated by humans, and not because of birth rates. It is understood that the Universe was seeded with a variety of life, but the Precursors, whoever they were, most frequently seeded humans, and in other cases typically seeded human-like creatures. Almost all sapient creatures are bipedal, bilaterally symmetrical, breathe human air, function in near-1G gravity, are about human sized, and communicate via audible language -- although there are always exceptions.