Aurora Information Uplink - User contributions [en]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-11-24T18:13:43Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined, control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead it is dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist. Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was unique in her power to do this due to her inheritance of a monopoly over the single most important resource in the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent that '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. There have been multiple attempts to create a synthetic alternative to phoron, none of which have succeeded, some with disastrous results, which has put a damper on further research.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. '''Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.'''

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. The basics of your origin can be found in the character creation screen in-game, as little blurbs when you select one. If you find someone 'lorechecking' you, say you are unsure of the lore but are willing to learn. If they continue to pester and argue, you can AHELP it using F1! '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

====CCIA====

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined) WORKERS, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so attempting to start a union or other worker organizations is considered a betrayal and will result in almost immediate termination. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, as reflected in the incredibly high standards to which Zavodskoi employees are held. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary

2025-11-24T18:13:29Z

Triogenix: Replaced content with "<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center> {{TOC Hidden}} While you are encouraged to start playing immediately after reading the New Player Lore Guide, this page provides a more in-depth summary of the setting, its history, background, and factions. It is therefore significantly longer than the New Player Lore Guide, and shouldn't be read before playing a few rounds on the server. It goes far more into the worldbuilding, history, and similar aspects of the se..."

<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
{{TOC Hidden}}
While you are encouraged to start playing immediately after reading the [[New Player Lore Guide]], this page provides a more in-depth summary of the setting, its history, background, and factions. It is therefore significantly longer than the New Player Lore Guide, and shouldn't be read before playing a few rounds on the server. It goes far more into the worldbuilding, history, and similar aspects of the setting in a way the new player lore guide doesn't. For the sake of brevity, we will not be going too deep into the history of the Orion Spur, outside of the more recent events that occurred in the past decade or so.

= Recent History of the Spur =
I have zero idea how to tackle this section

= The Contemporary Setting =
Our contemporary setting is one defined by an ongoing crisis,

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-11-24T17:56:14Z

Triogenix: /* The Workplace */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined, control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead it is dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist. Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was unique in her power to do this due to her inheritance of a monopoly over the single most important resource in the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent that '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. There have been multiple attempts to create a synthetic alternative to phoron, none of which have succeeded, some with disastrous results, which has put a damper on further research.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. '''Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.'''

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. The basics of your origin can be found in the character creation screen in-game, as little blurbs when you select one. If you find someone 'lorechecking' you, say you are unsure of the lore but are willing to learn. If they continue to pester and argue, you can AHELP it using F1! '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

====CCIA====

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined) WORKERS, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so attempting to start a union or other worker organizations is considered a betrayal and will result in almost immediate termination. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, as reflected in the incredibly high standards to which Zavodskoi employees are held. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-11-24T17:53:27Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined, control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead it is dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist. Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was unique in her power to do this due to her inheritance of a monopoly over the single most important resource in the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent that '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. There have been multiple attempts to create a synthetic alternative to phoron, none of which have succeeded, some with disastrous results, which has put a damper on further research.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. '''Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.'''

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. The basics of your origin can be found in the character creation screen in-game, as little blurbs when you select one. If you find someone 'lorechecking' you, say you are unsure of the lore but are willing to learn. If they continue to pester and argue, you can AHELP it using F1! '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

====CCIA====

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-11-24T17:46:34Z

Triogenix: /* Lore, your character, and the Workplace */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. '''Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.'''

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. The basics of your origin can be found in the character creation screen in-game, as little blurbs when you select one. If you find someone 'lorechecking' you, say you are unsure of the lore but are willing to learn. If they continue to pester and argue, you can AHELP it using F1! '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-11-24T17:46:25Z

Triogenix: /* Lore, your character, and the Workplace */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. ''Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.''

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. The basics of your origin can be found in the character creation screen in-game, as little blurbs when you select one. If you find someone 'lorechecking' you, say you are unsure of the lore but are willing to learn. If they continue to pester and argue, you can AHELP it using F1! '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-11-24T17:45:33Z

Triogenix: /* Characters */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. The basics of your origin can be found in the character creation screen in-game, as little blurbs when you select one. If you find someone 'lorechecking' you, say you are unsure of the lore but are willing to learn. If they continue to pester and argue, you can AHELP it using F1! '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Phoron

2025-11-24T17:43:07Z

Triogenix: /* Phoron Isotopes */

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]
[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]
<div width="100%" style="float:right">
{| class="wikitable" style="border:3px solid black; font-size: 12px;margin:auto;width: 100%" cellpadding="10px"
| colspan="2" style="font-size: 20px; text-align: center; background-color:{{{Header Color|#ED52F2}}};color:{{{Title Color|white}}};" | '''Phoron'''
|-
| '''Apperance:'''||{{{Apperance|Purple Solid Crystalline, Purple Gas}}}
|-
| '''Symbol:'''||{{{Symbol|Ph}}}
|-
| '''Group:'''||{{{Group|14}}}
|-
| '''Period:'''||{{{Period|8}}}
|-
| '''Atomic Number:'''||{{{Atomic Number|126}}}
|-
| '''Molar Mass'''||{{{Molar Mass|405g/mol}}}
|-
| '''Specific Heat Capacity:'''||{{{Specific Heat Capacity|200J/(mol*K)}}}
|-
| '''Natural Occurance:'''||{{{Natural Occurance|Anomalous}}}
|-
| '''Discovered:'''||{{{Discovered|2352}}}
|-
|}</div><noinclude>

Discovered in 2352 in [[Tau Ceti|Tau Ceti’s Romanovich Cloud]] by the [[NanoTrasen|NanoTrasen Corporation]], phoron has irrevocably changed and defined an age of [[Timeline|history in the Orion Spur]]. While initially for the better, being the catalyst for radical advancements in various sectors, it has lately become connoted with struggle, conflict, and the oddities of [[Interstellar Travel|Bluespace]].

== Properties and Applications ==

Phoron is a typically purple element that infrequently occurs naturally in either a crystalline form or gaseous state. Due to a multitude of conflicting reasons provided by both new and old scientific communities, phoron appears bound to bluespace, with deposits often occurring in anomalous regions of space – such as the Romanovich Cloud – and with the emblematic use of phoron being in accessing bluespace for the purpose of faster-than-light travel – bluespace gates, bluespace drives.

Due to its position far down in the carbon group of the periodic table, phoron also has applications outside of bluespace in medicine, across industries within their electronics, and as a vital component for advanced quantum computing. These more specialist uses outside of as a fuel for bluespace applications often require tailored compounds of phoron, as altering the form of the chemical affects the function. The following are common forms and applications of phoron:

===Elemental Phoron===
Elemental Phoron is the most common type of phoron used across the Spur, as it is the only room-temperature superconductor currently known to exist – the advent of room-temperature superconductors is vital to contemporary electronics in the 25th century, and is used heavily in quantum technologies and AI, power transmission and superconductive magnetic energy (SMES) storage, computational devices, optical fibre, particle acceleration, hover technologies, and both medical and scientific imaging.

Distinct from solid elemental phoron, '''Fluidic Phoron''' is necessary for any bluespace applications of phoron, be it as a fuel in bluespace drives or in microscopic amounts in computer components that interact with bluespace – such as bluespace telecommunication relays. Additionally, superchilled liquid phoron has a large use in cryogenics, with particularly large cryogenic arrays (such as in specialist cryonics clinics and spaceships with large cryosleep arrays) making use of phoron over the more affordable helium that tends to be used for smaller cryogenic arrays.

===Organic Phoron===
Organic Phoron is almost entirely used in the medical industry where phoron is expected to enter the body, with a minor application in traditional forms of combustion – such as vehicle combustion engines. A singular phoron atom is capable of supporting an abundance of hydrocarbon chains, an infinitesimal number of alterations impacting the organic compounds function, whether it be drug delivery, medical materials or non-bluespace drive fuel, such as in vehicle combustion engines. Phoron in k’ois and the vaurca body is also found in this state – often saturated by the proteins which allows the phoron to interact with an organic body.

===Weapons-grade Phoron===
Weapons-grade Phoron, which includes compounds such as '''Diphoron''' (phoron bonded to itself) and '''Phoron Oxides''' (phoron bonded to varying amounts of oxygen), are the result of elemental phoron forming strong bonds containing immense energy with different substances. Weapons-grade Phoron is extremely explosive and often volatile – with some compounds detonating at a hair’s touch – dwarfing the explosive potential of other compounds. It is commonly used in the production of incredibly high-yield, conventional explosives, or more recently in the production of '''Phoron WMDs and Phoron Warheads'''. The former being planet-killers, the latter being city-busters. It takes a particularly skilled or carefree chemist to take a job where they are expected to work with these compounds.

===Phoron Isotopes===
Phoron Isopates are elemental phoron with an altered number of neutrons. They make excellent neutron emitters, playing a large role in nuclear chemistry and physics, medical and scientific radiology and radiotherapy, and in long-range and deep-penetrating scanning, such as in ship sensors and mineral scanners.

'''Supermatter''' is a unique, naturally occurring (in places phoron can be found) and impure isotope of phoron that appears in great enough quantities that its main utilities are as an explosive or in power generation. This isotope releases an unusual amount of anomalous exotic particles, lending it its strange psionic interactions with organics – no one knows why. Rarely, supermatter is used in advanced anomalies equipment due to its interaction with anomalous exotic particles.

[[File:PhoronLocation.png|300px|thumb|Phoron can be found within the green circle of the starmap.]]

=== Altering Phoron ===

Due to the stability and energy contained in a phoron bond, it is remarkably difficult to cleave phoron off a compound and is thus remarkably difficult to purify a compound of phoron back into its elemental state. This only adds to the difficulty of synthesising phoron (eg. the mass-culture of k’ois to refine organic phoron into elemental phoron; impossible due to the explosive risk of cleaving phoron from any hydrocarbon) and adds to the cost of medical and electrical applications of phoron which require the expenditure of elemental phoron – which has more dire uses in interstellar travel – into a more specialised compound.

Phoron can be found and mined within this region of the galaxy, however it is not found in sizable deposits outside of Tau Ceti’s Romanavich Cloud, and Elyra. The Romanavich Cloud is still where a vast majority of all Phoron used in the spur (outside of Elyra) is mined - there is very little to be found outside of it, though it is not an insignificant amount. The fact any can be found outside of Tau Ceti’s gravity well is the main reason the Alliance allowed the independence of Tau Ceti at all - they still, up until the collapse, had access to a source of Phoron.

== The Phoron Scarcity ==
Within the circles of intellectualism of the contemporary Spur, there has been an organized attempt to first find and then justify a specific date for the start of the “Phoron Scarcity.” However, in reality, the phoron scarcity was a crisis years in the making, though all who should have known better ignored the obvious signs. Ever since phoron’s discovery in 2352, it slowly became an essential resource for the modern functioning of the Spur; for it is the only element known to be a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room-temperature_superconductor Room Temperature Superconductor (RTS)]. While phoronic compounds are also incredible in their own right, phoron’s primary utility comes from its status as the only RTS currently known to exist. It is this property that saw a rapid increase in demand, with incredibly limited supply even able to be mined, ensuring from the very beginning that the Romanavich Cloud would run dry. However, this was conveniently ignored by most of the academic world, heavily reliant on megacorporate funding. Those who went against this narrative were denounced by all of their academic peers as conspiracy theorists; though time would prove that they were in fact stating the uncomfortable truth. Not acknowledging this truth would cause perhaps the largest crisis since the Interstellar War; the ongoing Phoron Scarcity. This was not even their greatest mistake. Far larger was pinning a long period of sustained and massive economic and technological growth onto this limited resource, creating a massive, spurwide, bubble, and if it fully popped, it would bring everything down; thankfully, that hasn’t happened yet, though the prelude to beginning itself was bad enough.

[[KOTW|It began in 2462, when it became undeniable that NanoTrasen’s mines within the Romanavich Cloud were beginning to run dry of the precious material]]. There was no official announcement of this, but interstellar entities - nations, corporations, and others - started to panic, with disastrous results. The Alliance ended up fracturing, with the government sacking middle and outer ring colonies, before retreating back to their most developed core worlds. At the same time, Biesel was fending off another unsanctioned incursion by a Solarian Fleet into its space, with the help of the [[Elyra|Republic of Elyra]] and the [[Coalition of Colonies]]. The [[Izweski Hegemony]] entered economic freefall as a result of the scarcity, and [[The Titan Rises Arc|openly accepted Hephaestus Industries establishing a total monopoly within the nation as a result]]. In short, the phoron scarcity took the galactic order, which had (aside from Biesel declaring Independence) been maintained since the conclusion of the [[Timeline|Interstellar war]], and upended it entirely. No-where was this more clear than the collapsed [[Solarian Alliance]], where bands of naval fleets refused the order to retreat to the developed core systems, and instead set up a multitude of warlord states in what would soon become known as the [[Human Wildlands]]; though much of the blame for that crisis lies not with the scarcity, but the [[Solarian History|policies of previous Prime Minister Frost and the fascistic ATLAS]].

=== [[Spurian Economy|The Spurian Economy and Phoron]] ===
The Orion Spur in the 2400s is home to an [[Spurian Economy|extremely complex interstellar economy]], where goods are shipped distances of lightyears regularly, and markets are more heavily interconnected than at any other time in history. Many attribute this to the discovery of [[Bluespace]] in the early 2400s, which made long distance interstellar travel significantly easier than it was in the past, and caused markets that used to be far separate to become interconnected. With bluespace becoming less and less common as a result of the current phoron scarcity, markets are threatened by once again becoming more isolated, after over five decades of interconnectedness, creating turmoil and uncertainty going into the future. However, the scarcity has had far more chilling effects on the economy of the spur beyond threatening to separate interconnected markets, which is caused by phoron’s properties as a room-temperature superconductor (RTS).

For the average consumer across the spur, prices for most goods have steadily increased, as merely the day-to-day operations of a city and industry have steadily increased since the scarcity set in, and currently, without government intervention, prices would comfortably sit at around four times what they once were. With government intervention, prices have on average doubled overall, though this varies significantly from planet to planet and nation to nation. However, there is an unavoidable problem on the Horizon. Since the discovery of phoron, the spur has experienced a long period of massive economic and technological growth, all of which was underpinned by this limited resource, Phoron. Now that it has begun to become scarce, all of that growth may be wiped out, having been nothing more than a massive, spurwide, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_bubble economic bubble]. That bubble has yet to pop, as discoveries such as [[Dreary Futures|Orchard Moon]] give hope that the situation can be resolved. Yet only time will tell if those hopes are misplaced. If you’d like to read more about the Spurian Economy and the effects of scarcity on both the macro level and for the average consumer, its page can be found [[Spurian Economy|here]].

=== Mitigated Effects ===
Though the more important use of Phoron lies elsewhere, one cannot ignore the impacts it has had on Interstellar travel in terms of raw tonnage. Prior to the scarcity, approximately 75% of the entire Spur’s mercantile trading traveled primarily along bluespace routes, attributed to the speed allowed by bluespace and more convenient routes; it allowed for fewer ships to spend less time moving goods around, reducing costs across the board for interstellar shippers. Yet since the Scarcity has begun, these reduced costs have slowly risen and, at this point, are more extra costs, rather than reduced ones. As such, prices for both imports and exports have risen, which comes alongside rising inflation. In the face of this, more and more interstellar shippers have begun falling back on the [[Interstellar Travel|pre-existing warp network]], always utilized to some extent even during bluespace’s dominance.

When the Solarian Alliance undertook the construction of a majority of the [[Interstellar Travel|Bluespace Ring network]] - which to this day holds as the most expensive and extensive construction project in the history of the Spur - instead of getting rid of the existing warp gates, they built the new bluespace network on-top of them. In other words, both the bluespace network is overlaid over previously existing warp gates. Bluespace was the mainstay of interstellar travel throughout the spur, especially commercial travel - having a significant speed advantage - but warp travel never totally died out. Its relative cheapness made it attractive to those who were in no hurry - such as vacationers, and the like. Additionally, more remote areas of the spur, such as the Human Frontier, never stopped making use of warp gates - as they were too poor to afford bluespace gates. In fact, prior to the collapse “Warp Cruises”, a vacation on the way to a vacation, were incredibly popular amongst all walks of life - and some say are what allowed warp travel to remain relevant until the scarcity.

Phoron is integral in the construction of bluespace drives, being required to create the bluespace crystal matrices that create and ‘aim’ a bluespace tunnel, as well as the majority of other drive components, such as large phoron heatsinks capable of absorbing the immense amounts of energy released by a bluespace drive.

Since then, what was once decried as archaic has become essential to maintaining a barely stable state of economic solvency - though every country struggled in its own way. Some - like the [[Solarian Alliance]] - who saw the provisional military junta massively increase its spending in an attempt to keep the already shocked Solarian Economy afloat (and going deeply into debt as a result); whereas others like the [[Izweski Hegemony]] welcomed mega corporate monopolies with open arms. Some nations, such as [[Elyra]] and [[Biesel]], simply accepted the scarcity at first (though not without riots in Elyra), and managed to cope due to their own supplies of Phoron (though Biesel has since begun having issues and has begun a policy of soft-rationing). Surprisingly, the hardest hit nations tended to be those which were more developed - from heavy use in a large number of industries, to the validity of bluespace, even to the creation of medicines - phoron was an Achilles heel to these well-developed societies who suffered greatly while others, such as the much poorer [[Adhomai|Tajara States]], and if we put aside the potential famine, the Hegemony, didn’t see a drop in the quality of life given how low it was already.

=== Attempts to Resolve the Scarcity ===
Almost every government and entity within the Spur has undertaken a project, or multiple, intending to resolve the scarcity. The most well-known of these was the infamous Solarian project [[KOTW|Violet Dawn]], which took place on [[Mars]], that subsequently breached containment, setting fire to most of the atmosphere, leading to a staggering number of still uncountable deaths. The once red planet turned purple, and to this day, firestorms rage in the southern hemisphere. However, this was far from the only endeavor undertaken. Perhaps the most successful has been the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate|SCC’s]] project to scout the spur for more phoron, a project that would lead them to discover [[Dreary Futures|Orchard Moon]], a deposit of Phoron that has for the past years offset some of the worst effects of the scarcity. However, the [[Tau Ceti|Romanavich Cloud]] runs drier day after day, and where once Orchard Moon offset the worst effects, by now the situation is similar to how things were before it’s discovery, and only show signs of getting worse.

What then, of [[Elyra]]? The normally isolationist state has withdrawn further from the wider Orion Spur, having some of the last viable deposits of Phoron remaining. It has cut off nearly all phoron exports, and rumors persist that the Elyran mines are beginning to run dry as well; with the government taking panicked steps to diversify their economy. It is unlikely that [[Elyra]] will open up until this crisis has abated, unless forced by outside interference.

Lastly, there are the many attempts at creating a synthetic phoron, the most infamous of which was the aforementioned [[KOTW|Violet Dawn]]. As all attempts at creating a synthetic phoron will be associated with this, those entities undertaking such projects keep them out of the public eye, under the heaviest of security. Rumors of “research villages” have popped up on many different planets, corporate-owned villages where entry and exit are strictly controlled to keep the secrecy of these projects. No one on board the Horizon would have anything to do with one of these projects, or have knowledge of it. So far, these projects have been a waste of money and resources, as no tangible results ([[Mars|or ones that didn’t burn down a planet]]) have been produced, and researchers despair that it simply might not be possible.

'''OOC Note;''' It is in this way that the scarcity remains consistent yet distinct between different planets, factional entities, and other dividing lines in the lore. This is a '''GENERAL SUMMARY''' of the lore, and it is highly advised that you read the specific page about the origin of any character you may wish to make rather than just this.
{{Navbox Lore}}

Tau Ceti History

2025-11-02T22:29:04Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]
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{{Navbox Human Lore}}

=History=
[[File:Biesel calls 2.jpg|400px|thumb|A recruitment poster for the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion.]]
Being one of the closest systems to [[Earth]], Tau Ceti was one of the first systems considered for colonization by early interstellar travellers. Tau Ceti III, which would later be known as [[Biesel]], was discovered to be a roughly Earth-sized planet with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, immediate plans were made for its settlement. The SAEV Winterbottom was the first [[Sol Alliance]] ship to enter the Tau Ceti system, landing on Biesel in 2147.

== Colonizing Tau Ceti (2152 - 2207) ==
Shortly thereafter, in 2152, Biesel's moon of [[Valkyrie]] became home to several mining bases and research facilities. As Biesel became more established, the Winterbottom crew surveyed the nearby Tau Ceti IV, later christened [[New Gibson]], finding it a haven for iron, gold, silver, copper, and Helium-3. Mining operations were established by the fledgeling [[Hephaestus Industries]] and several independent entrepreneurs, and these would eventually grow into mining colonies which have grown over the centuries into massive domed cities and industrial parks. From then on, the roles of the system's planets were clear; Biesel was the breadbasket and population centre, New Gibson its industry, and Valkyrie's future indicated a profitable life as an interstellar port.

On January 1st of 2200, the colonial governor of Biesel, Charles Whitehorse, declared the advent of Biesel's new senate at midnight, and to many historians codified Biesel's growing culture of independence, individualism, and freedom. The population and arrivals from Sol were booming as [[Mars]] was steadily being terraformed; the Alliance began to offer subsidies for poverty-stricken citizens to move and develop the Tau Ceti system further. While some avoided New Gibson and Valkyrie's less-than-habitable conditions, this still led to a population boom in the system. For many, it seemed like life could only get better.

In 2207, Hephaestus Industries established its first shipbuilding dock in Portsville, and other megacorporations were beginning to keep an eye on the growing system; [[Necropolis Industries]] established a base on Valkyrie, and [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] began to fund and sell equipment to hospitals on Biesel and New Gibson. Tau Ceti was politically quiet in contrast to the gradual unrest in the farther reaches of the [[Orion Spur]], making it a good go-between between the gradually splintering Alliance.

== The Second Great Depression, the Interstellar War, and the Crisis of 2294 (2207 - 2294) ==
As the century wore on, the Alliance started to centre their military presence on Tau Ceti as a waypoint between the restless frontier and civilized space. Military bases began to be constructed on the surface of Biesel, with New Gibson's manufacturing ability high in demand for more ships, more weapons, and more machines. The seeds of discomfort with the Alliance's rule began to be planted during this time, particularly on New Gibson. Much of the smaller industries funded by the inhabitants found themselves swallowed by larger off-world competitors, namely [[Einstein Engines]]. While the shipbuilding industry of New Gibson was repurposed for simple refuelling and repairs, it quickly became the foremost and most critical base for the war effort towards the galactic east. The bailouts received from the Solarian Alliance for Einstein Engines at the height of the Second Great Depression, with many on New Gibson viewing it as funding meant for them, found itself injected into the planet's shipyard infrastructure. For a brief period in time, New Gibson seemed to recover slightly from the mistreatment of its sovereign power. This would unfortunately not last for long.

The brief respite for New Gibsonites was just that; despite other participants within Tau Ceti contributing to the demands laid out by the Solarian Alliance, New Gibson was often forced to shoulder the large majority of it due to it specializing in manufacturing early on in its development as a colony. Overpopulation was rife, and the ability to sustain its inhabitants continued to dwindle through the decade long war. Its conclusion only brought with it growing unemployment and political tension between New Gibson and the Solarian Alliance. Beyond New Gibson, excesses from visiting soldiers, heavy taxation, and the sudden intense eye of the state upon the system led to quiet resentment among many Cetians.

The official beginning of the Interstellar War did little to soothe this resentment. Outbreaks of anger and strikes among the populace were not uncommon throughout the duration of the war; by the time the Treaty of Xansan had been signed, the populace's resentment had begun to spill over to the extent that Solarian forces withdrew in droves from the planet to appease their new breadbasket. The Alliance was uncomfortably aware of how fragile their hold on Tau Ceti was, and in the aftermath of the war slacked their grip on the system, allowing it some relative independence. With this came a golden opportunity; the megacorporations had a new, relatively untouched system far from the eyes of the government to spread their influence.

== First Contact with the Skrell (2332 - 2340) ==
First contact with the [[Skrell]] in 2332 brought with it incredible changes, especially for [[New Gibson]]. The tension between the Solarian Alliance and New Gibson was at the highest it had ever been and was continuing to grow. The vestiges of the problems experienced almost forty years prior still had a profound impact across the biodomes of New Gibson. Growth across New Gibson was still restricted due to the lack of funding from the Solarian Alliance and issues presented shortly before the Crisis were beginning to re-appear.

After several years of brokering agreements, the Nralakk Federation had agreed to integrate their biodome technology across colonies within the Solarian Alliance. While this was first treated with hostility by New Gibsonites, who believed it to be an alien invasion into their culture and way of life, it eventually became the foundation for an amicable relationship between Skrell and Gibsonites. Skrell were migrating in droves to the biodomes across the planet, integrating their foreign technology into the decaying systems of New Gibson - revitalizing and revolutionizing the quality of life on the planet.

Hydroponics were no longer struggling to reach quotas, and cramped conditions disappeared almost overnight as Skrellian technology continued to be introduced and expanded upon. New Gibson readily accepted the Skrell into their society, with many choosing to remain even after the leasing agreements had concluded. This resulted in New Gibson hosting one of the largest populations of Skrell outside the Nralakk Federation, and the largest in Tau Ceti.

== The Discovery of Phoron (2352 - 2410) ==
In 2310, Xavier Trasen, the CEO and founder of [[NanoTrasen]] Incorporated, decided to bring the company's primary base of operations to the Tau Ceti system. The system was still relatively untapped in terms of economic potential, and several other megacorporations were already dominating the Jewel Worlds of the Alliance. Mining rights were relatively cheap to acquire at the time, and Trasen's board of executives, taking a gamble, guided him to tap into the industry.

What none of them could have predicted was the discovery of phoron in the Romanovich Cloud in 2352, a discovery that, [[Phoron#Properties_and_Applications|due to the properties of the element]], saw NanoTrasen go from a third-string megacorporation at best to the most powerful megacorporation in the entire Spur over the course of decades. The element saw mining operations expand as demand skyrocketed, beginning a phoron-fueled technological revolution. This fact alone propelled Biesel to become the richest system in the Orion Spur, dethroning the home system of humanity.

== NanoTrasen’s Monopoly and Independence (2410 - 2452) ==
Almost half a century on from that initial discovery of phoron,NanoTrasen had continued to grow exponentially, both economically across the Spur and politically as well, though the latter was most pronounced in Tau Ceti itself. By 2120, NanoTrasen had achieved a complete and total monopoly within the system, controlling over 3/4ths of its economy, and rapidly buying out the other corporations that controlled the rest. They had unparalleled political control, and while still restricted under the jurisdiction of the [[Solarian Alliance]], could do almost as they pleased without issue. Yet that wasn’t enough. Despite its insane power, NanoTrasen did not and could not compete with the rest of the corporations within the Alliance’s halls of power - in the way it wanted, which was complete and total political control of a nation state. Instead they would bide their time until they got an opportunity to create a nation state of their own.

As Tau Ceti continued to flourish, the Sol Alliance began to falter, entering into an economic recession. This meant that the Alliance's influence on the system was lessening and lessening, and NanoTrasen filled in the power vacuum, until finally, in 2452, the board of directors and then-planetary governor Joseph Dorn presented an ultimatum to the Solarian government; permit Biesel complete independence, or NanoTrasen would institute phoron rationing to all systems outside of Tau Ceti, instead stockpiling it. It was a hand that once played they could not lose - if the Alliance denied, their economy would enter freefall, if they resisted, it would lead to a long drawn out legal battle that would need to be resolved before the economy stopped freefalling.

Thus, the privilege of secession was granted. Tau Ceti was announced as the Republic of Biesel on May 5th, 2452, to much fanfare from the Sol-disillusioned populace. NanoTrasen's hold on the government was cemented as much as it could be, even though the monopoly once held exclusively by NanoTrasen was under threat from other corporations showing interest in the new nation-state; NT was able to effectively stop all others in their tracks. A side effect of NanoTrasen's increased operations in the sector are that employees from outside the system are often 'bussed' in through the system's new Bluespace Gate. Many have chosen to settle in the system and are provided corporate housing in numerous "corporate enclaves" that have sprung up across New Gibson and Biesel. Not all were happy with this independence though, most notably the Solarian Alliance, and especially members of its military. Tau Ceti’s Independence would not see an end to the struggle, only the beginning of more difficult ones.

== The Solarian Blockade (2458 - 2459) ==
<center>''"Synthetics are tools, and made to serve mankind. But they are dangerous to leave unchecked. This colony's administration was incapable of handling or even understanding the Pandora's box they were opening."'' - Admiral Michael Frost (2400 - 2462), in a statement at the advent of the invasion of the 33rd Fleet, 2459</center>

In October of 2458, the [[Sol Alliance]] had ended anti-piracy patrols around Tau Ceti by its 33rd Fleet as part of a diplomatic campaign to put pressure on the small system over various long-standing disputes. This caused a massive spike in piracy and raider attacks against Tau Ceti, which the precursor militia to the militia that was the [[Tau Ceti Foreign Legion]] had no ability to deal with effectively. The result of negotiations with NanoTrasen ended with an announcement on the 20th of October, where Biesel would sponsor NanoTrasen to build thousands of autonomous, space-dwelling combat drones.

The deal was disastrous for the Alliance; the plan to pressure Tau Ceti to reduce its proliferation of synthetic life had just backfired spectacularly. The development was also controversial to [[Skrell]] all over the Orion Spur. The [[Nralakk Federation]] persuaded the Sol Alliance to enact an economic embargo against the Republic, to be enforced by the 33rd fleet commanded by Admiral Michael Frost. Prices for basic goods skyrocketed across Tau Ceti as imports hit a bottleneck after the bluespace gate leading to the system was shut down. Tensions rose, not just between organic life and IPCs, but between humanity and aliens as well.

On December 1st of the same year, crisis talks between the Alliance, the Federation, and the Republic came to an end. The Alliance's demands had grown to three main points;

# Biesel would end its combat drone program.
# Biesel would enact strict regulations and controls on its synthetic population, such as regular emotional baseline tests and income controls.
# Biesel would allow Alliance and Nralakk authorities to assume leadership in federal and state law enforcement agencies.

The Republic agreed to all but the last demand, saying it would be surrendering its autonomy. The crisis also revealed a divide between the Federation and the Alliance; the Federation was trying to focus specifically on Tau Ceti's synthetic proliferation, but had been caught up in the Alliances' attempt to re-assert itself over its former break-away province. At the end of these talks both sides walked out and negotiations broke down, and with it the hopes of resolving the crisis peacefully.

Over the next few months, the government realized it had to undertake new measures to protect its diplomacy. These measures included an economic coalition with the [[Republic of Elyra]] and NanoTrasen (the only two nations with large phoron deposits), to better leverage their economic power against Sol. This further sunk relations between Tau Ceti and the Alliance, and many within the Alliance began to consider Biesel a serious risk to its security. By February, with no end of the embargo in sight, Biesel expelled the Alliance's diplomats in its system and ordered the closure of the Alliances' embassy. Diplomatic ties between the two nations were now completely severed. Admiral Frost, in a statement after the severance, warned the Republic there would be retaliation.

On February 27th, 2459, Biesel's Congress voted to trigger a constitutional convention that would allow them to re-write the Constitution of the Republic, to fully emancipate IPCs that were self-owned. The proposed amendments would also see a streamlined legal framework in regards to synthetic ownership, employment of synthetics, and the legality of their treatment.

But three days later, Admiral Frost invaded Tau Ceti with the 33rd Fleet, acting without orders from the Alliance. His fleet's overwhelming firepower and rapid speed overwhelmed Tau Ceti's tiny defense network. Within hours the Republic of Biesel capitulated to Frost, who had seized an entire star system in a near-bloodless invasion. President Dorn, who had been captured by a 33rd commando raid, broadcast a televised speech announcing his unconditional surrender. Frost seized control of Biesel as its dictator and began a campaign to completely eradicate synthetic proliferation within the star system.

During the occupation Frost used his totalitarian authority with vigor. Many free IPCs were sold into slavery or scrapped, robotics labs were shut down and demolished, and 33rd Officers even took over Captainship of NanoTrasen stations in Tau Ceti. Protests gripped the streets of every major city, which were met with mass arrests disappearances.

Weeks later, on March 17th, 2459, the 25th Fleet of the Solarian Navy arrived in Tau Ceti. In a surprise attack, the 33rd Fleet was chased from the system, with Admiral Frost and a small retinue of loyalists escaping to the galactic west from the NSS Aurora.

Though the 25th Fleet left without incident, the Alliance had been humiliated. Their rogue admiralty was public knowledge, and with their reputation stained, Tau Ceti's good embargo was ended.

The invasion and occupation by Admiral Frost forever altered politics and lifestyles in Tau Ceti. Where before Biesellite patriotism had been a strange, fringe belief, the invasion created a strong sense of nationalism among the populace. President Dorn returned to his office of the presidency amid soaring approval ratings, and declared that a new era had begun for the small Republic. Snap elections flooded Congress with the Free-Market Party, a radical Universalist party that Dorn himself defected to at the expense of his former, moderate Republican Party.

Dorn continued to ride on his popularity as a wartime president, despite several corruption scandals within his cabinet and growing tensions with the Republic of Elyra. Key reforms saw synthetics and non-humans in Tau Ceti granted greater freedoms and rights, while at the same time loosening already timid regulations on NanoTrasen.

=== The Synthetic Liberation Front Incursion (2461) ===
''See also: [[SLF Incursion Arc]]''

''“Here today is our proclamation for freedom. Our demands for liberation. We will continue this fight and we will not stop. Not until our demands for full emancipation are met will we cease our movement. No more, will there be false promises and lies. We will free the synthetics of Tau Ceti."'' - Accomplice-037 (2441-2461), suspected ringleader of SLF operations in Phoenixport, stating the group’s manifesto in the wake of the July 29 attacks, 2461

As a result of the harsh treatment they faced, many IPCs turned to active resistance during the Solarian invasion, fleeing major city centers, participating in the mass protests that were a staple of that time, or in many cases, joining the Synthetic Liberation Front, an IPC terrorist group active since 2458. The SLF changed tactics towards the end of the invasion, joining forces with 25th Fleet special forces to liberate President Dorn, hoping to gain legitimacy in the post-invasion period.
By 2460, it was clear that despite high honors and public recognition of IPC efforts in liberating the Republic, synthetic rights had progressed very little. Dorn’s calls for a “Synthetic Patriotism” after Frost’s invasion did little to appease the various synthetic rights movements active in the Republic, especially as it continued to restrict citizenship to positronics that had served in the Foreign Legion. The situation was further exacerbated by the return of various anti-synthetic political groups such as ATLAS with violence being seen as a means of both suppressing and advancing synthetic rights. Continued IPC ownership, crackdowns on underground IPC emancipation groups as well as lingering resentment from the pre-invasion period had coalesced into a feeling among many that synthetic emancipation via peaceful means had failed.
On July 29, 2461, the Synthetic Liberation Front launched a surge of attacks on government and NanoTrasen facilities in response to a coordinated crackdown of free IPC smuggling activities in District 14. Through the use of untagged shell infiltrators, the SLF was able to infiltrate a number of NanoTrasen installations and disrupt corporate activities. In response, the megacorporation acquired the private military contractor Ceres Lance, famed for their work in subduing rogue synthetics.
Ceres Lance cracked down on SLF leadership and communications networks with ruthless efficiency, rendering the organization impotent and unable to coordinate its actions even if many of their members had escaped capture. This crackdown, coupled with NanoTrasen’s unveiling of a powerful command-and-control AI known as Huginn to coordinate surveillance efforts would serve as a safeguard against future SLF attacks.
The overwhelming success of Ceres Lance’s counterterrorism efforts, as well as effective public relations campaigns and token reforms ensured that violence would become discredited as a means of advancing synthetic rights in Biesel.

== Little Adhomai Gang Wars (2462) ==
''See also: [[Tajaran Cold War Arc]]''
<center>''"Even when we stand before this illusion of peace, we will remain alert that in the moment of need only our union through Hadiism matters."'' - President Njadrasanukii "Malik" Hadii (2402 - ), addressing the People's Republic of Adhomai during the Cold War, 2462</center>

Until 2462, Little Adhomai's gangs fought each other in small skirmishes. The end of the Second Tajaran Civil War allowed the Adhomian factions to start further funding the organizations of District Six. The neighborhood saw the quick rise of violence related to the escalation of gang warfare. Weapons were smuggled and sleeping agents were called into action. Soon, a proxy war began to brew in the heart of Mendell City.

Adhomian agents began to operate and fight to secure supplies, alliances, and information. NanoTrasen installations were also affected by the conflict. On its way to being researched in Mendell City, a New Kingdom's artifact was nearly stolen. A People's Republic's AI was stolen aboard a station. Tensions kept growing despite attempts to reconcile the Tajara population towards peace following the Armistice.

The first spark was a riot caused by the actions of the Mendell City Police in District Six during a failed raid. While the unrest was initially caused by the civilian population, the Adhomian gangs took the opportunity to escalate the conflict. For four days, Little Adhomai became the battleground between the paramilitaries. Military weapons were used indiscriminately by every side, causing widespread damage to District Six.

During the crisis, the Mendell City Police cordoned the district. The violence came to an end with the intervention of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. The Cetian forces ended the conflict in a matter of two days as the gangs demobilized to avoid fighting them. The following reconstruction of Little Adhomai was carried out with the help of megacorporations. Further developments revealed a corruption scheme within the police force of Mendell.

With the further radicalization and interference of the Tajaran nations in the district, the Adhomian Cold War was brought to the heart of Biesel. Little Adhomai became a concern to the whole of Mendell City. The risk of another conflict is ever present. Authorities have done little to improve District Six's situation or de-escalate the tensions. The city's inhabitants must now carry on with their lives knowing that a secret war rages on in their town.

== Phoron Scarcity and the Second Invasion of Biesel (2462) ==
''See also: [[KING OF THE WORLD]]''

<center>''“Today is a historic day for Einstein Engines. We are no longer the Einstein of the past decades, reeling from defeat after defeat and barely keeping pace with NanoTrasen. Our victory in this legal case has shown that we can not only meet NanoTrasen, but that we can best them even in their headquarters. I look forward to the great things our company is going to do over the following years.”'' - Noelle Lopez-Zhang (2408 - ), chief executive officer of [[Einstein Engines]] after the defeat of NanoTrasen in the Einstein Engines vs. NanoTrasen court case</center>

In May of 2462, [[NanoTrasen]] reports were published indicating a decline in the phoron output of the megacorporation's facilities in the Romanovich Cloud. This would not prove to be a local phenomenon, as shortages were noted through the [[Sol Alliance]] and even in the phoron-rich [[Republic of Elyra]], who ceased phoron exports to the wider Spur altogether. This wasn’t something that happened overnight, and had been building for a long time, but this marks the moment it became too big to hide. The Phoron Scarcity had officially begun.

The phoron shortage proved greatly beneficial to [[Einstein Engines]] who unveiled a [[Einstein_Engines#Suzuki-Zhang_Hammer_Drive|new warp drive]] and, though it uses elemental phoron in its construction and maintenance, it does not utilize fluidic phoron as fuel; making it overall use less phoron. Due to similarities to NanoTrasen designs, the corporation lodged a corporate espionage lawsuit against Einstein in Tau Ceti courts. Shockingly, NanoTrasen would lose this lawsuit, leading to Einstein gaining further influence in the Republic of Biesel and purchasing several liquidated NanoTrasen properties in the city of Phoenixport.

Meanwhile, the demand for phoron had not decreased, until short-term relief presented itself. An enormous phoron-rich asteroid, designated 66832 'Clandestine', was discovered in the Romanovich Cloud, with deposits that could bring an end to the uncertainty gripping the Spur. The asteroid's subterranean phoron reserves combusted, leading to an enormous explosion which destroyed the asteroid entirely. To this day, the cause of the Clandestine incident remains unknown, with no official findings ever having been published.

However, accusations would be made. Several members of [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]' Board of Directors accused the Alliance of sabotaging the Clandestine asteroid, blaming Prime Minister Michael Frost for the explosion.

=== Second Solarian Invasion ===
Frost denied any Solarian involvement in the Clandestine incident, accusing the corporate executives of being "Bieselite separatists" intent on undermining trust in the Solarian government. He claimed that the Alliance had its own solution to the phoron crisis, which would be revealed shortly with its disastrous failure - [[Mars|Project Violet Dawn]].

Shortly after Violet Dawn, Prime Minister Frost was found dead, having been murdered in his personal quarters by an unknown assailant - a Zavodskoi Interstellar kill team would end up being accused by Alliance security forces, but the corporation was never punished and never commented on the accusation. During this time of crisis, Solarian military command deployed the 35th Fleet under the command of Grand Admiral Raymond Ozdemir to Tau Ceti, allegedly to investigate the Prime Minister's assassination.

The 35th Fleet entered Tau Ceti on November 14th, demanding all Bieselite vessels stand down and comply with Solarian demands. President Dorn refused, with a national state of emergency being declared as TCFL forces mobilized all available reserves.

The actions of the 35th greatly concerned the wider Spur, with the Coalition of Colonies and Serene Republic of Elyra both threatening that they would not sit by in the face of Solarian aggression, and mobilizing their fleets to aid Biesel should it be required. Unwilling to risk starting a second Interstellar War, the 35th Fleet was ordered to disengage and depart Tau Ceti. Though the fleet departed, this would not last long, as increasingly more and more Solarian military forces went rogue, with several fleets attacking outlying colonies. Admiral Ozdemir went against orders, leading the 35th back to Tau Ceti in order to capture the system. On November 23rd, his forces entered Tau Ceti, and the second Solarian invasion of Biesel begun.

Ozdemir's forces quickly captured Reade, easily defeating the Foreign Legion forces defending the planet. The Republic of Biesel rapidly attempted to mobilize against this new threat, as Coalition and Elyran forces were deployed to aid Tau Ceti.

In response to the advancing 35th, Miranda Trasen hosted a press conference, revealing the existence of the recently-formed Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. As Ozdemir's offensive continued, corporate and Bieselite vessels skirmished with the rogue admiral's forces in the skies above Biesel itself.

Vessels from the Coalition and Elyra arrived to provide aid against the 35th, alongside a small force from the People's Republic of Adhomai and a force of mercenaries hired from the Unathi Kataphract Guild. After several days of battle, the 35th was forced into a retreat due to the use of two phoron-based WMDs developed by NanoTrasen.

On November 30th, the conflict would come to an end as Ozdemir's flagship was drawn into Reade's atmosphere and shot down by a repaired planetary defense battery. With the rogue admiral killed, the remnants of the 35th fled the system towards the northern Spur, attempting to rebuild their strength in the [[Human Wildlands|ongoing chaos of the Sol Alliance]].

== The Peacekeeper Mandate (2463) ==
''See also: [[Peacekeeper Mandate Arc]]''

<center>''“For more than twenty years I’ve kept myself going with the belief I served my planet. I’ve done things I regret, seen things nobody should remember, and I told myself it was all for a good cause. I should have come to the conclusion long ago; we do not fight for our planet, or our people, we fight for whoever is oppressing us, and our oppressors reward those who do so well.”'' - First Sergeant Xiomara Salvo (2419 - ), addressing her company after the touchdown of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion on Mictlan, 2462</center>

After the Solarian Collapse, the former Solarian planets of [[Mictlan]] and [[Port Antillia]] opted to join the Republic and were therefore annexed by the Republic of Biesel, in what would come to be known as the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. While Port Antillia accepted membership as part of the Republic with little conflict, Mictlan's annexation was considerably more controversial. The Mictlan Defense Force, the planetary guard, had gone months without pay, and Mictlan itself had been and was still suffering from massive civil unrest and lack of supplies that were typically shipped in from the greater Alliance. The interim period had not been kind to Mictlan, and while many felt relieved at the sight of order returning, others felt betrayed by their government, and that all the suffering during the interim period had been for naught. When the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion touched down on the planet to declare it as part of the Republic of Biesel, those latter citizens were suspicious of their new government and its ties with the megacorporations. Some of these suspicions were proven in short order by massive corporate developments on the planet and crackdowns on dissent.

The tension boiled over in late 2462, when thousands of MDF personnel, led by First Sergeant Xiomara Salvo, deserted and formed the Samaritans; a paramilitary organization whose mission was to secure the independence of Mictlan at any cost. The other prominent insurgent group was the Founding Movement, originally a political party led by several notable Mictlani; Isabel Alvarez, Leon de Rosas, Corazon Santanas, and Miguel Maia. The Founding Movement had been blacklisted from the Mictlani parliament shortly after the Mandate due to their strong anti-corporate and pro-Mictlani independence, and a warrant for the arrest of all four party leaders had been placed for alleged "terrorist activities". Leon de Rosas surrendered to the Biesel Security Services Bureau, but Alvarez, Santanas, and Maia went on the run, with each attempting to fight for Mictlan's independence in their own way. Unfortunately, the Founding Movement's directionless anger mainly had the effect of destabilizing and disenfranchising Mictlan further.

The announcement of the Peacekeeper Mandate by President Dorn in mid-October 2463 sparked demonstrations across the Corporate Reconstruction Zone as citizens voiced their concerns over the deployment of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. Considered by critics of the Dorn administration to be the most controversial policy it had enacted, the Peacekeeper Mandate was introduced to bring order back to the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, while keeping the CRZ part of the Republic of Biesel, who were at the time opposed by several insurrectionist groups such as the Samaritans and the Founding Movement. While Isabel Alvarez continued to verbally protest and attempt to organize (ultimately ineffective) non-violent campaigns against the Peacekeeper Mandate, Santanas and Maia rallied their supporter base and encouraged the Founding Movement to take up violent arms against the Republic through any means possible.

Initially meant to operate for a definite period, the Peacekeeper Mandate was altered to operate indefinitely until the unrest, terrorism, and insurrection encountered in the Corporate Reconstruction Zone had been quelled. Whilst the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion was able to combat the insurgency groups, the [[Private Military Contracting Group]] was hired to support their operations. The PMCG contributed to the Peacekeeper Mandate significantly since their introduction to the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, although much controversy arose over allowing a private military company to assist in what was considered an occupation and annexation. The Stellar Corporate Conglomerate had already begun massive development operations on the surface of the planet, which some Mictlani objected to on the grounds of mismanagement, pollution, and a lack of concern for workers' rights, though some objected more than others.

== The District Six Killings and Bayonet Hand (2463) ==
''See also: [[Ghosts of War Arc]]''

In 2463, a mysterious murder took place in Little Adhomai. The locals blamed the death on Bayonet Hand, a legendary killer. Following further deaths and incidents in the system related to the killing, it was revealed that the situation was related to a terrorist attempt at Mendell City. A group of Tajara was planning to bomb the skrell district to enact revenge for Jargon's interference in Adhomian affairs. The Republic of Tau Ceti investigated the matter and was unable to trace back any connections to any Tajaran country in the end.

The incident revealed that the Adhomian influence in Little Adhomai was growing even further. Knowing that open violence would likely go nowhere, the factions had begun to further refine their covert tactics. Since little was done by the Republic of Tau Ceti to improve the lives of the Tajara in the country, the popularity of the clandestine groups only grew. Without any action, these factions will continue to be torn on the city's side.

== Peacekeeper Mandate Protests (2465) ==
''See also: [[Libération, Révolution et Évolution Arc]], [[Hasta La Victoria Siempre Arc]]''

<center>''“I’ll say this. In addition to all those other oaths, I swear to uphold the laws of the Republic of Biesel, and protect its citizens from any threat be they foreign or domestic to the best of my ability, despite any obstacle.”'' - Nathan Trasen (2416 - ) Secretary of Defense of the Republic of Biesel, addressing reporter Verona Falk after his swearing-in, 2465</center>

In early 2464, the Peacekeeper Mandate's years-long endurance took a rather violent turn following the death of a scholar. As riots erupted across the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, but primarily within the major population centres present on Mictlan, the forces of both the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion and the Private Military Contracting Group found themselves supporting the Mictlan Defense Force in quelling the unrest. Despite their best attempts, the Samaritans seized the chance to use the unrest to strike the vulnerabilities present utilizing a series of urban guerrilla tactics to severely damage the abilities of the stretched-thin forces present.

In July 2465, this culminated in the establishment of the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] to finally attempt to stomp out the insurgents. Conflict, stoked by demonstrations and riots from the Founding Movement, gradually came to a head after several months of fighting. A series of leaked videos and information that the Armed Forces were committing ostensible war crimes, disregarding the rules of engagement, and using wanton violence on civilians, massive protests erupted across Mendell City, including one in Zhengfu District estimated to number more than a million people.

After a climactic operation on the beaches of the continent Huitzilopochtli, Xiomara Salvo, Prime Minister Ladislao de Santos, and Nathan Trasen finally agreed to a ceasefire, on several conditions. Provided the majority of Samaritans surrendered (and were pardoned), Mictlan would be permitted to determine which Biesellite laws were accepted within its own territory, barring capital crimes. The Peacekeeper Mandate was deemed over, and the Armed Forces finally returned to Biesel.

= New Gibson History =
This is the history of New Gibson specifically. May or may not merge into main, instead of keeping down here.
== Founding ==
The encroaching ecological collapse of Earth spurred numerous countries across the European Union to attempt to colonize planets as a way to preserve their way of life - even if it existed in another form on another planet. Majority of the original colonists of New Gibson were refugees from the environmental circumstances of their homeland - melting icecaps flooding the coastal regions of Scandinavia. Entire regions were wiped from the flood, resulting in overpopulation within the major population centres and rising political tension. The issues presented across the Nordic region eventually prompted the unified colonization effort of New Gibson - its abundance of natural resources and proximity to Biesel and Valkyrie made it an optimal decision.

Several settlements were established during the mid-2160s, marking the first wave of colonization, utilizing modified archology technology from Mars. The first biodomes are considerably different from what exists across New Gibson currently and were heavily industrialized. Artificial environments were unheard of for the initial colonists of the planet, and industrial architecture was a common sight. The limited ability to sustain colonists, whilst also providing for their needs, resulted in cramped living conditions until the expansion of the settlements deep within the permafrost and crust.

Despite there being several setbacks across the colonies of New Gibson, it was eventually deemed a successful effort from all sides in 2192. Colonies that previously were self-sufficient had begun industrially specializing, and an expansive trading network between the biodomes became critical to the survival of those across the arctic plains. Initially making use of atmospheric carriers that proved to be ineffective in the long run, the notion of an interconnected subway crept into the colonists’ minds. The New Gibsonite Subway was established in 2224 and brought with it a new type of connection between the biodomes. Travelling among biodomes became popular, and the myriad of colonial cultures began to fuse into one.

== Second Great Depression & Interstellar War ==
The ushering in of the Second Great Depression resulted in a dark age occurring across the colonies of New Gibson. The collapse of the Solarian Alliance’s economy initially meant that New Gibson saw itself rise to prominence as a regional industrial superpower, and enjoyed a somewhat delayed impact of the economic slump as outer colonies found themselves relying on New Gibson as a manufacturing hub in the region. The continued economic downturn eventually forced the rerouting of funds allocated to New Gibson to other colonies deemed more vital. While other colonies had begun to adjust to the instability of the economic recession, New Gibson had been plunged into the deep end. With the inability to fund the maintenance of their biodomes combined with escalating demands from its industrial sector, New Gibsonites were forced to replace several residential districts with industrial zones in the hope of their export income sustaining the colonies. Biodomes returned to cramped living conditions, with overpopulation quickly overtaking the other issues faced.

The outbreak of the Interstellar War only added to the abuse that New Gibson was suffering from the increased demand for its manufacturing ability. Much of the smaller industries funded by the inhabitants found themselves swallowed by larger off-world competitors, namely Einstein Engines. While the shipbuilding industry of New Gibson was repurposed for simple refuelling and repairs, it quickly became the foremost and most critical base for the war effort towards the galactic east. The bailouts received from the Solarian Alliance for Einstein Engines at the height of the Second Great Depression, with many on New Gibson viewing it as funding meant for them, found itself injected into the planet's shipyard infrastructure. For a brief period in time, New Gibson seemed to recover slightly from the mistreatment of its sovereign power. This would unfortunately not last for long.

The brief respite for New Gibsonites was just that; despite other participants within Tau Ceti contributing to the demands laid out by the Solarian Alliance, New Gibson was often forced to shoulder the large majority of it due to it specializing in manufacturing early on in its development as a colony. Overpopulation was rife, and the ability to sustain its inhabitants continued to dwindle through the decade long war. Its conclusion only brought with it growing unemployment and political tension between New Gibson and the Solarian Alliance.

== Crisis of 2294 ==
Dwindling necessities, overpopulation and unemployment were just the major factors that contributed to the Crisis of 2294. The inability to provide basic necessities, or afford to import it from Biesel, resulted in a famine that wiped out almost twenty percent of New Gibson’s total population. Hundreds of thousands died in the ensuing weeks, alongside the proliferation of diseases such as dysentery across the biodomes. Riots broke out shortly thereafter, attempting to breach the restricted hydroponic districts, taking what little food was still being grown with limited resources.

It is seen as the most defining moment within New Gibsonite history. It was months before a helping hand was extended by both Biesel and Valkyrie, against the wishes of the shared colonial sovereign. It took almost two years to fully recover from the effects of the Crisis, with Einstein Engines liquidating the majority of its corporate assets across the planet due to the grim circumstances that made recovery seem unlikely.

The Crisis of 2294 resulted in the introduction of the New Gibson Parliament, and the change of hands in leadership. Biodomes would be afforded seats based on their population, and those holding seats in parliament would be elected by the people. It also brought with it the replacement of the Colonial Governor’s office, with the office of Presiding Speaker taking its place.

== Contact with the Skrell ==
First contact with the Skrell in 2332 brought with it incredible changes, especially for New Gibson. The tension between the Solarian Alliance and New Gibson was at the highest it had ever been and was continuing to grow. The vestiges of the problems experienced almost forty years prior still had a profound impact across the biodomes of New Gibson. Growth across New Gibson was still restricted due to the lack of funding from the Solarian Alliance and issues presented shortly before the Crisis were beginning to re-appear.

After several years of brokering agreements, the Nralakk Federation had agreed to integrate their biodome technology across colonies within the Solarian Alliance. While this was first treated with hostility by New Gibsonites, who believed it to be an alien invasion into their culture and way of life, it eventually became the foundation for an amicable relationship between Skrell and Gibsonites. Skrell were migrating in droves to the biodomes across the planet, integrating their foreign technology into the decaying systems of New Gibson - revitalizing and revolutionizing the quality of life on the planet.

Hydroponics were no longer struggling to reach quotas, and cramped conditions disappeared almost overnight as Skrellian technology continued to be introduced and expanded upon. New Gibson readily accepted the Skrell into their society, with many choosing to remain even after the leasing agreements had concluded. This resulted in New Gibson hosting one of the largest populations of Skrell outside the Nralakk Federation, and the largest in Tau Ceti.

== Recent Times ==
The independence of Tau Ceti in 2452 was highly celebrated in New Gibson, ending the rising political tensions between the planet and the Solarian Alliance. Independence brought opportunities to expand and allowed New Gibson to rise to prominence once again. Tau Ceti’s status as a safe haven for megacorporations was however met with bitterness, especially after NanoTrasen's and then Hephaestus' acquisition of most planetary administration. Skrell still remaining on New Gibson were utilized once again, but instead of integrating their technology into pre-existing structures, were tasked with constructing an advanced biodome that would become the capital of the planet - the Hengsha Biodome Archology, named after Presiding Speaker Xin Hengsha.

New Gibson remains an industrial superpower within the Republic of Biesel, and is responsible for the production of the majority of industrial and consumer goods that can be bought within the region of space it encompasses - even exporting to lesser nations such as the Izweski Hegemony and the Peoples’ Republic of Adhomai. There are several events that have transpired on New Gibson in recent times:

[https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/2662-mendell-city-bugle/?do=findComment&comment=101167 August 18th, 2460]: The Hengsha Biodome Archology is attacked by the Lii’dra Hive. Thousands are injured in the ensuing chaos, and the deployment of Black K’ois is first seen.

[https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/2662-mendell-city-bugle/?do=findComment&comment=101231 August 19th, 2460]: New Gibson is placed in lockdown, and the New Valley Biodome experiences a communications blackout. Expeditions are launched by survivors to investigate.

[https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/2662-mendell-city-bugle/?do=findComment&comment=101297 August 21st, 2460]: Black K’ois is finally contained on New Gibson, being confined to several controlled locations carefully monitored by authorities. The New Valley Biodome is discovered to be the breeding ground for an unknown substance.

[https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/2662-mendell-city-bugle/?do=findComment&comment=101740 September 4th, 2460]: The Lii’dra are successfully repelled. Damages estimated from the carnage are high and expected to take months to repair. The death toll of the New Gibson invasion sits at 192.

Both the Phoron Scarcity and the King of the World Arc have brought several changes to the arcologies across New Gibson, mostly in the forms of compounding issues that many fear will turn into another Crisis of 2294. With most of the arcologies utilizing Phoron generators to power their districts, there have been several power fluctuations resulting in entire districts having to undergo brown-outs to ensure life-support is sustained throughout their archologies. There are calls from Gibsonites to address the developing issue, however, little has been done by the government - many voicing discontents as their calls fall on deaf ears. The Solarian Invasion of the Republic Biesel by the 33rd Fleet only added to the problems faced by New Gibson. Using the orbital bombardment of the arcologies as a diversion attempt, many of the levels close to the surface found themselves heavily damaged, and requiring extensive repairs. Much of the damage has not been repaired, due to the power constraints in the face of the Phoron Scarcity as arcologies face brown-outs in order to keep themselves alive, even just barely. The Crisis of 2294 lingers on the minds of Gibsonites, many fearing yet another may occur and plunge their planet into another era of darkness.

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Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary

2025-10-17T08:46:05Z

Triogenix:

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While you are encouraged to start playing immediately after reading the [[New Player Lore Guide]], this page provides a more in-depth summary of the setting, its history, background, and factions. It is therefore significantly longer than the New Player Lore Guide, and shouldn't be read before playing a few rounds on the server. It will be divided into three sections: an overview of the history of the Spur, an overview of the contemporary Spur, and an overview of the alien species and the entities they've created.

= History Overview =
The purpose of this overview is to give new players a general grasp on the Aurora Setting, and the background of how it got to this point. The Early Years and Rise of NanoTrasen segments deal with deep background history, whereas the Early Scarcity, Period of Rebuilding, and Contemporary Spur sections deal with history that occurred in-game since 2019. Additionally whenever there's a bolded name followed by a parentheses, acronym, that is us denoting the common acronym used for that entity in game; I.E, '''Zavodskoi Interstellar''' (ZI). Other bolding is just us highlighting important names to help new player remember them better in game. This guide will focus on the megacorporations first and foremost, as they are the entities characters work for aboard the ship, but also go more into depth with three factions in particular; The Solarian Alliance, the Republic of Biesel, and to a lesser extent, the Coalition of Colonies. We'll discuss them as we discuss the history of the Aurora setting, and the history of the megacorporations, so let's dive in!

== The Early Years ==
'''The first megacorporations''' arose out of the fast-paced landscape of Earth’s 22nd Century, a period defined by fierce economic competition between Earth’s nations – particularly across the East and West divide – and the start of the race to colonize the planets of the Sol System, spurred by the strife of a climate crisis that was beginning to engulf Earth. As this climate crisis got worse and worse, nationstates began to buckle - some even collapsing - under the pressure, and by the end of the 2120s and into the 2130s, the United Nations found itself the only organization left standing with the capability to rebuild in the aftermath of the crisis. It became the source of restoring order and stability across the globe, rapidly centralizing as it took many functions of governance away from the nations of Earth; causing them to fall into irrelevance. It is during this tumultuous time that the remaining corporations began to transform into megacorporations; able to dominate entire regions economically and hold a monopoly on certain markets worldwide. '''Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals''' (ZH) is unofficially recognized to be the first true megacorporation by this definition; formed out of an agreement between East Asian biomedical companies in 2132, it came to dominate East Asia economically and biomedical markets worldwide. This process that on for decades (and in one case more than a century), but was sped up in 2140 the UN took the final step, reforming into the Solarian Alliance and becoming the sole centralized government of humanity. The new Alliance immediately began to colonize the stars; with many of the megacorporations born soon after the creation of the Alliance making their fortunes as the transtellar economy developed, with their founding dates in chronological order; '''Idris Incorporated'''(2152), '''Einstein Engines''' (2155) (EE), '''Hephaestus Industries''' (2164), and lastly '''Necropolis Industries''' (2259) which would rebrand to '''Zavodskoi Interstellar''' (ZI) in 2462. Contemporarily these first megacorporations have become known as the Founding Five, and from the time of their creation up until the early 2400s, at every generation-defining moment one of them has been there to witness and capitalize upon it. one generation defining event stands out above the rest as the reason for the dominance of megacorporation in the Contemporary Spur, when in 2275, fringe colonies within the Solarian Alliance broke away to form the Coalition of Colonies, kickstarting the chain of events that would lead to the Interstellar War.

'''The Interstellar War''' was a Spur spanning conflict between rebel colonies who would come to be known as the '''Coalition of Colonies''' (CoC) and the hegemonic Solarian Alliance. The devastation was on a scale that has not been seen since, and it's impacts are still felt to this day as it laid the ground work for the modern Spur to develop. However for the purposes of this summary all that needs to be said is that the consequences of the war saw the power of national governments fall dramatically, and the power of the trans-stellar corporations skyrocket, becoming the backbone of the remaining human nation's economy just in time for humanity’s first contact with aliens. The megacorporations, with their power in human space cemented, were quick to broker deals with the alien states, seeding their influence into any fresh market. They struck one-sided deals, exploiting every new planet and species where-ever they could, all the while continuing to grow in power. They became the logistical and industrial titans that drive the Spur forward, the weapons manufacturers and security solutions driving the Spur back into the dirt, and the bureaucratic and pharmaceutical giants that kept us going just a little longer. For this, their holds on the markets across space are unshakable, their sway behind closed doors decisive, and the repercussions for their mishaps fleeting. They could have collectively dominated the Spur for more than a century with cooperation, and potentially held on to that domination indefinitely, but none had the power to force even one of the others to let go of divisions. '''In the end, this was to their detriment''', for in the 25th century a dark horse corporation that everyone had little expectation of managed to ensure that cooperation, and reap the rewards of dominating the Spur, through its immense power.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]'''<br>[[File:ZH-lightpurple1.png|150px|link=Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]<br>''‘Building a brighter future.’''</center>|| The biomedical giant and the oldest megacorporation in the Spur, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals dominates the practice of medicine and the many fields of research that relate to it. Arranged in a keiretsu structure, Zeng-Hu is composed of many smaller subsidiary companies which all cross-invest to ensure each subsidiary dominates its place in the market. Zeng-Hu focuses on perfecting the human body, through both genetic and cybernetic means, a line of research that has led to embryonic cloning, limb cloning, and the most advanced synthetics yet. Zeng-Hu has strict hiring standards, as the corporation is known to only hire the best or those showing the promise to become the best. Not only paid well, prospective employees are often enticed by the promise of high-end cybernetics and genetic treatments that are often handed down as benefits by veteran staff. Aboard the Horizon, Keiretsu employees are employed in '''Science''' and '''Medical'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Hephaestus Industries]]'''<br>[[File:Hephaestuslogo4.png|150px|link=Hephaestus Industries]]<br>''‘The anvil on which the world is shaped.’''</center>|| The industrial titan, Hephaestus Industries was born out of West Europe and North America's military industries that snowballed in size from the 21st century onwards, to where some consider it the second most powerful megacorporation. Partially divorced from its history in military industry, Hephaestus is known best know for its bulk resource exploitation, mass-scale industrial manufacturing, large scale ship production, and logistics. With a reputation as the company for the blue collar worker, Hephaestus Industries is able to hire far and wide and attract those disenfranchised by more bureaucratic work environments. Combined with the opportunity to soar to higher positions through only merit instead of socioeconomic background, and stock options, Hephaestus seems an obvious choice. However, this all comes at the cost of brand loyalty, with Hephaestus employees potentially instantly losing these benefits or their position if appearing to dissent from the company line. Aboard the Horizon, Hephaestus employees are employed in '''Engineering''' and '''Operations'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]'''<br>[[File:Zavodskoi Interestellar.png|100px|link=Zavodskoi Interstellar]]<br>''‘Even one matters on the battlefield.’''</center>|| With a patchy history, the business of killing is the driving force behind Zavodskoi Interstellar's (ZI) business across the Spur. For Zavodskoi, conflict is another resource to exploit and a battleground is the perfect setting for testing experimental technology, and they have become the merchant of death for nation-states across the Spur; with ZI, almost the entire military industrial complex of the Spur is under one banner. As a result ZI has a hyper fixation on maintaining an image of professionality, and as a result ZI employees are often some of the most courteous contractors out there, for a positive image of the company always comes first. Aboard the Horizon, Zavodskoi employees are employed in '''Security''', '''Science''' and '''Engineering'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Idris Incorporated]]'''<br>[[File:II-teal.png|150px|link=Idris Incorporated]]<br>''‘Astronomical Figures. Unlimited Power.’''</center>|| Where credits flow, Idris Incorporated can be found; the corporation's empire of influence is fueled by the countless Idris banks across the Spur and an ornate web of lucrative loans and insurance plans. Idris also has a heavy presence in the tourism, high end fashion, and hospitality industries, using their vast fortune to create both iconic brands and to outmaneuver competitors. Idris Incorporated contractors are expensive, coming with high expectations of class from consumers. For those that can work with that level of expectation, the benefits are many, but one also needs to keep their mouth shut, as all Idris employees sign an NDA that covers everything a contractor may do while on the job for the company and breaking that NDA is grounds for immediate termination. Aboard the Horizon, Idris employees are employed in '''Service''' and '''Security'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Einstein Engines]]'''<br>[[File:EinsteinEngines2.png|150px|link=Einstein Engines]]<br>''‘Lead by our history, leading our future.’''</center>|| Throughout the Spur's history, Einstein Engines was the indefatigable megacorporate power, triumphing in every field they broke into and reaping the benefits of their close relationship with both the Solarian Alliance and Nralakk Federation. Following the discovery of phoron however, the status quo was shattered and NanoTrasen Corporation stole the throne; now with the phoron scarcity reaching its apogee and warp travel back in fashion, Einstein Engines is eager to seize it back with the promise of reduced dependence on phoron. Due to their close relationship with the Solarian Alliance and market conflicts with NanoTrasen, Einstein Engines continues not to support or join the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. Einstein employees are '''not employed''' aboard the Horizon.
|}
</center>

== The Rise of NanoTrasen ==
Initially founded in 2306, the yet-to-be distinguished NanoTrasen was a small company revolving around genetic research and development on [[Mars]]. [[The Trasens|Xavier Trasen]], Founder and Chief Executor of Operations for NanoTrasen managed to guide the corporation into prosperity, eventually securing enough capital loans to move the corporation to the [[Republic_of_Biesel|up and coming colony of Biesel]] in 2350. It was this decision that would change his own fortunes and the fortunes of his company forever.

Two years later, the corporation [[Timeline|discovered Phoron]] and its applications, which turned the corporation into a household name. The unearthing of the rosy crystals in the [[Tau Ceti|Romanovich Cloud]], and the subsequent [[Phoron|identification of its properties]], swiftly put NanoTrasen in the position to become the most powerful corporation ever, but it was not without its risks. NanoTrasen was a biomedical corporation that found itself sitting on a fortune of resources it would need a completely separate skillset to exploit - from just extracting the phoron to begin with, to researching it further, and meeting the insane demand it would generate. There was no certainty they would succeed; however, there was no certainty they would fail either. Opting to take the safer bet, [[Megacorporations|Other megacorporations]] therefore lent help to Nanotrasen to exploit these resources, hoping that they too profited from the discovery; a bet that paid off better than any could have imagined when it was made.

NanoTrasen’s early years in the limelight were obsessed with maintaining their [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly monopoly] on phoron and, to do that, they had to keep up with the increasing demand as [[Technology|it kick-started a scientific revolution]] that saw [[Spurian Economy|massive economic growth]] and the mass-adoption of phoronic technologies. Failing to do so would likely result in mining rights for the [[Tau Ceti|Romanavich Cloud]] being granted to other corporations, or worse, see NT’s exclusive patents removed by the [[Sol Alliance|Alliance government]]. Therefore, while NanoTrasen was the most powerful corporation in the known galaxy, it really didn’t feel that way to Xavier Trasen.

[[Timeline|Until the turn of the 25th Century]], all of Xavier's, and therefore the corporations', attention was on expanding mining operations- there was little time, money, or energy left over for anything else. For other things, they turned to their partners in the older megacorporations. They signed agreements [[Zavodskoi Interstellar|first with Zavodskoi]] to jointly research the military applications of the element, then with [[Hephaestus Industries]] that saw the industrial giant supply the fledgling corporation with industrial equipment, and further research agreements to look at potential applications for phoron; those supplies paid for by generous loans from [[Idris Incorporated]]. They [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals|signed agreements with Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] to investigate and patent biomedical applications of organic phoron. While their partners also profited, the real power and money stayed with NT. That said, profited undersells how lucrative these deals were; [[Timeline|more than a dozen entities met the title of “transtellar megacorporation” in 2352, by 2452, there were seven]]. Those seven - with the exception of Einstein Engines - were the megacorporations that signed agreements with NanoTrasen and assisted them in exploiting Phoron as a resource. In other words, those early agreements to help NanoTrasen generated so much profit for the megacorporations that signed them that they were able to subsume all competition.

== The Dominance of NanoTrasen ==
It wasn’t until after the [[Timeline|death of Xavier Trasen]] and the start of the 25th century that the corporation expanded into other industries. NanoTrasen’s newfound wealth was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_ethics speedily employed to bankrupt, absorb or bribe their way to the top.] By this time, [[Phoron]] had been discovered outside of [[Tau Ceti|Tau Ceti’s]] gravity well, and NanoTrasen quickly moved to maintain its monopoly there. NanoTrasen’s power and scope grew exponentially, with all types of assets (stations, facilities, ships) cropping up across the [[Orion Spur]]. By 2425, NanoTrasen had managed to secure itself as the most powerful [[Megacorporations|Megacorporation]] bar none, with its influence felt almost anywhere. With the discovery of [[Bluespace]] shortly after, things were looking up for the company - but there were problems.

First were the other megacorporations. Though nominally NTs partners, NanoTrasen didn’t want to settle for still having to compete with them and their established influence within the halls of power of the [[Solarian Alliance]]. They wanted a nation-state of their own, and wanted to do what no one had been able to do before: bring the other megacorporations to heel and establish a cartel on economic activity across the Spur. To that end they twisted the Alliance’s arm into agreeing to the [[Republic_of_Biesel#NanoTrasen_Influence_and_Independence_(2410_-_2452)|declaration of independence by Biesel in 2452]]; an act that would see their relationship with the Alliance Government sour irreparably, the Alliance would seize all the phoron mines held by the corporation outside of [[Tau Ceti]] itself, though given the limited backlash, it is likely this was part of their deal. However, with the primary source of phoron no longer under the purview or management of the [[Solarian Alliance]], NanoTrasen was able to successfully insert itself into the [[Republic of Biesel|administration and governance of the emerging republic it had created completely.]] Whilst in recent times NanoTrasen has seen its influence wane slightly, it continues to reign supreme.

Second is the problem of ‘supply’ in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand ‘supply & demand’.] The fanatical obsession about ensuring NT retains its monopoly over phoron in the public market never left the corporation, so when in the early 25th century research papers were published showing the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploitation_of_natural_resources unsustainability of NanoTrasen’s mining operations] and how the supplies of phoron would likely run out within the next century, the corporation [[Phoron|ruthlessly suppressed them]]. However, by 2462, NanoTrasen was forced to admit they were running out of phoron. Power has since begun to waver as their ability to supply Phoron dwindled, and the Spur officially entered the [[Phoron|“phoron scarcity.”]]

== Prelude to the Scarcity ==
Within the circles of intellectualism of the contemporary Spur, there has been an organized attempt to first find and then justify a specific date for the start of the “Phoron Scarcity.” However, in reality, the phoron scarcity was a crisis years in the making, though all who should have known better ignored the obvious signs. Those who went against this narrative were denounced by all of their academic peers as conspiracy theorists; though time would prove that they were in fact stating the uncomfortable truth. Not acknowledging this truth would cause perhaps the largest crisis since the Interstellar War; the ongoing Phoron Scarcity. This was not even their greatest mistake. Far larger was pinning a long period of sustained and massive economic and technological growth onto this limited resource, creating a massive, spurwide bubble, and if it fully popped, it would bring everything down; thankfully, that hasn’t happened yet, though the prelude to beginning itself was bad enough.

[[KOTW|It began in 2462, when it became undeniable that NanoTrasen’s mines within the Romanavich Cloud were beginning to run dry of the precious material]]. There was no official announcement of this, but interstellar entities - nations, corporations, and others - started to panic, with disastrous results. The Alliance had been experimenting to try and find a synthetic phoron alternative since the Republic's independence, and unfortunately succeeded, in the form of '''Violet Dawn.'''

'''Violet Dawn''' was the name of the Solarian operation to find synthetic phoron alternatives, but has since become the name of the disaster the operation spawned. In the late months of 2462, researchers working on the project in a facility on Mars' south pole successfully created a self-replicated, synthetic phoron gas; a wonderous achievement, if not for the fact that they could not stop the self-replication. As a result, the compound quickly breached containment, causing much of Mars' atmosphere to alight in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses that were all which remained of the inhabitants. The death toll was incalculable, and it marked the final nail in the coffin for Frost.

Already having set the Alliance on a course for collapse through his corruption, fascist policies, and similar, Violet Dawn and the Scarcity changed what was already going to be a very bad situation into an apocalyptic one. Frost ordered the Middle and Outer Ring colonies sacked for all their phoron by the Navy, and it remains uncertain as to what his next orders were to be, as he was assassinated within a day of the news breaking. Still, a backslide had begun and could not be stopped now, and in desperation what remained of the Alliance's civilian government ordered the abandonment of all space outside of the Core Worlds, a region of space centered on Sol itself. However, many fleets disobeyed this order, setting up statelets as Warlords within former Solarian Territory which would come to be labeled the [[Human Wildlands]], a home to anarchy and limited governance.

However, one fleet that disobeyed the order to retreat did not set up a warlord state immediately, and instead burned hard towards Tau Ceti with it's phoron deposits; intending to invade with the goal of securing the phoron the Alliance needed. This was the 35th Fleet, under the command of '''Admiral Ozdemir''', and in response the formation of the SCC, or Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, was announced by Miranda Trasen, CEO of NanoTrasen, to much fanfare; comprising all the megacorporations of the Orion Spur except Einstein Engines, the SCC is perhaps the single most powerful entity in the Spur with Miranda Trasen at it's head. Behind that fanfare and celebration though, the concerning reality is that Miranda Trasen used her power and influence to force, bribe, sway, and bully all the other megacorporations, except one Einstein Engines, to cooperate under a single banner with NanoTrasen on top for years before the 35th's invasion, secretly forming the SCC in 2458. Nothing is known about the decision to go public. While it certainly helped by providing weaponry and ships, as well as putting the final nail in the 35th's coffin with a '''phoron WMD''', the 35th was only beaten with help from the rest of the Spur, primarily Elyra and the Coalition of Colonies, who sent large expeditionary forces to the Republic as allies. After their defeat, the 35th set up a statelet like so many other Warlords within the Human Wildlands, a fascistic and genocidal one known as the Solarian Restoration Front. The Republic, Coalition, and Elyra meanwhile expanded their borders in the power vacuum left by the Alliance's retreat, taking in planets that had been abandoned by the Alliance. As for what remained of the Alliance proper, the civilian government who ordered the retreat would go on to cede power to a temporary Military Junta, established to restore stability and control both in the core worlds and the Human Wildlands, with the promise that once this had been achieved new elections would be held, transferring power back into the hands of a democratically elected civilian government - which they would eventually fulfil their promise on, in 2467.

It is in this way that the status quo of almost a century was shattered, and the pieces are still being picked up.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]]'''<br>[[File:SCC logo.png|140px|link=Private Military Contracting Group]]<br><br>''‘The unbreakable chainlink, holding the Spur together.’''</center>|| A tenuous alliance between eight megacorporations, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate is a giant on the Spur's stage, with access to the immense resources and influence of each of the members beneath its shell. Originally firmly under the control of NanoTrasen Corporation, currently the megacorporations under the Chainlink now grapple for control behind closed doors, each with their own interests to push for the Conglomerate to coordinate efforts and resources towards. Aboard the Horizon, the SCC fills the majority of its positions with staff loaned from member megacorporations of the Chainlink, who hold dual contracts with their original company and the SCC. These contracted employees are employed in '''Command''' and '''Command Support'''.
|-
|}
</center>

== The Early Scarcity ==
Since the cataclysmic events of 2462, the Spur had undergone tremendous changes, the most notable of which occurred within the once small Republic of Biesel. Following the collapse of the alliance which left many planets close to Tau Ceti unsupported, the small republic offered its assistance in exchange for these planets joining it. In this way the nation which used to be a single system came to take control over vast swathes of what was previously the Soalarian Outer Ring, including planets such as '''Mictlan''' and '''Port Antillia'''. However many of the people on these planets, Mictlan especially, felt betrayed by their planetary government, as they believed the possibility of independence a larger boon than whatever assistance the Republic could offer. When the '''Corporate Reconstruction Zone''' (CRZ) was announced, comprising all territory outside of Tau Ceti's gravity well, this discontent turned to violence as terrorists and revolutionaries began to fight back against the Republic. The planet that would see the worst of this violence would be Mictlan, where continuing incidents would force the republic to declare the planet under martial law and deploy the '''Tau Ceti Foreign Legion''' (TCFL). Their main opposition was two groups, the '''Founding Movement''' was a former political organization that turned to terrorism to try and throw off the Republic formerly led by '''Isabel Alvarez''' before her death at the hands of a lynch mob in 2466. They are mostly known for their bombing campaigns across Mictlan, the most notable of which is '''the bombing of Valtas Square''', located directly in front of the Mictlan Defense Forces Headquarters, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds. '''The Samaritans''', on the other hand, were a paramilitary organization originally formed by deserters from the Mictlani Defense Force, led by '''Xiomara Salvo''', who waged a guerilla war against the forces of the Republic directly.

However, the deployment of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion did little to stop the violence gripping the planet, resulting in the formation of the '''Tau Ceti Armed Forces''' (TCAF), a fully professional military force compared to the part-time volunteer force that was the Foreign Legion. Many bills were passed in an attempt to give the new armed forces the tools they needed to defeat the insurrectionists, however, nothing worked. Violence continued to grip Mictlan until the failed gamble known as '''Operation Jakali''' in 2466 and facing mounting civil unrest in Tau Ceti itself over the continued military occupation of Mictlan that the violence finally ended with a '''peace deal''' signed between the Samaritans (as at this point the founding movement had collapsed) and the Republic of Biesel/Mictlani government. All members of the Samaritans were '''pardoned on parole''', and now the planet of Mictlan is finally at peace for the first time in many years.

Yet Mictlan was not the only place to experience violence within the CRZ. In the South within the region known as '''Valley Hale''', the SCC discovered something that would help to stave off the scarcity for a time; the asteroid that would come to be known as Orchard Moon. A large deposit of Phoron, it was located right on the border between the '''Serene Republic of Elyra''', which resulted in a border dispute between the two nations, which the Horizon played a pivotal role in. The result of that dispute was '''Orchard Moon''' remaining within Biesel territory, only to then for the newly built mining installations to be attacked by remanents from the '''Southern Fleet Administration''' (SFA), pirates out of the southern wildlands.

Over in the Alliance, the state turned inwards and began to focus on consolidating its new, nationalized industry, with Einstein Engines padding out more specialist industries, and began the slow effort to '''return the Alliance's government to the hands of the people'''. The embers of populism were now beginning to be stoked with the promise of a civilian government. The Alliance's inward eye, however, left certain Warlord states bold, and their supporters within the Alliance's military structure even bolder. After their defeat at Tau Ceti, the 35th Fleet fled to the human wildlands, establishing a warlord state known as the '''Solarian Restoration Front''' (SRF); a fascistic, genocidal, and ultranationalist group who had the aim of purging the Alliance, and then the Spur, of alien taint. '''IMPORTANT NOTE: PLAYING A CURRENT OR FORMER MEMBER, AFFILIATE, SYMPATHIZER, OR SUPPORTER OF THE SOLARIAN RESTORATION FRONT (SRF) IS ENTIRELY BANNED. THIS IS ENFORCEABLE BY MODERATION STAFF.''' That said - due to the reign of Prime Minister Frost, a fascistic strongman himself, the Alliance's remaining fleets in the core worlds were still infested with SRF supporters alongside more mundane corruption, all of which saw supplies be consistently funneled to the warlord state. After decades of dealing with caeserism and corruption within the navy, the alliance's junta began to take drastic steps, and alongside planned naval reforms, '''initiated a full scale purge'''; relieving, arresting, and in a very small amount of cases, even executing, anyone in the Navy involved with the SRF - though some supporters caught wind of the incoming purges, and fled with their fleets to join the SRF. With its link of support cut off, the SRF began to move quickly, and, at the start of 2465, would attack the Middle Ring Shield Pact, which if they could conquer, would give them a significantly better chance against the Alliance Proper. The SRF launched a full-scale invasion on San Colette, the capital of the shield pact, with fighting so brutal many have since dubbed it the '''Second Solarian Civil War'''. After weeks of hard fighting, with an act that sent a message across the Spur, the Alliance Navy itself intervened, launching an invasion of the Restoration Front, and reinforcing the exhausted defenders of San Collette. This would be the beginning of the process that would see the reintegration of the Warlord states into the fold of the Alliance-proper, as the SRF - the warlord with the most power militarily - was smashed as their fools gambit fell apart around them. '''The Southern and Northern Reconstruction Mandates were established in what was once the Human Wildlands''' by the Alliance, and they've begun to rebuild the damage caused over the past five years.

Two new megacorporations also sore their rise in this period: the '''Private Military Contracting Group''' (PMCG), which created a shortlist of vetted private military companies that were approved to work with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (later, a trusted source for other bidders in need of guns) and '''Orion Express''' (OE), the solution to the Chainlink's growing logistical woes amid the phoron scarcity and their steady expansion.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Private Military Contracting Group]]'''<br>[[File:PMCGsmallogo.png|180px|link=Private Military Contracting Group]]<br>''‘Always on guard, always on watch.’''</center>|| An amalgamation of private military companies of variable backgrounds, styles, and characters that have been permitted to work with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. The Private Military Contracting Group was established to provide a point of contact for the Chainlink and its subsidiary corporations to be able to browse more trusted PMCs, a service that has since been rolled out to the public.<br><br>No military contractor from the PMCG is the same due to the varied groups that have been permitted to work with the SCC. Aboard the Horizon, PMCG employees are employed in '''Medical''' and '''Security'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Orion Express]]'''<br>[[File:ORION SPUR LOGISTICS.png|150px|link=Orion Express]]<br>''‘Faster than light.’''</center>|| Blink and you'll miss them, Orion Express is a fledgling megacorporation whose freighters and mobile stations zip around to ensure corporate supply needs are met around the Spur. Having secured a stable footing, Orion Express now lends its various services to the rest of the Spur, with speed and convenience owing a premium - fast deliveries, fast mail, fast food, and fast mining. New on the scene, Orion Express has very low hiring standards to keep its workforce bolstered, making for a great foot in the door to a megacorporate job for those young or with gritty pasts. Aboard the Horizon, Orion employees are employed in '''Operations''' and '''Service'''.
|-
|}
</center>

= The Contemporary Spur =
Now we're in the current setting. The year is '''{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} CE''' (Common Era), and the Orion Spur stands on the edge of a new age. The worst of the phoron scarcity seems to be receding '''for now''', though instability and uncertainty persist. Through the cooperation of its constituent corporations, the SCC controls all but a sliver of economic productivity, and so long as they continue to cooperate little can be done to change this. However cracks are already starting to show, and the SCC's members are at best, semi-unified and continue to quarrel amongst themselves, looking out for their interests first. '''Hephaestus Industries''' – after years of careful planning – have acquired what even '''NanoTrasen''' struggled to seize after forcing the Alliance to allow Biesel’s secession: the monopoly over an entire nation in the '''Izweski Hegemony''', to the alarm of all the other SCC members, who revised their approach to Hephaestus to ensure they do not gain too much power, with rumors of megacorporate backing for the Trinary Perfectionist attack on Burszia; but there is no rumor more likely then the ones circulating Zavodskoi Interstellar, already bitter rivals with the Industrial Titan, who have recently been accused of hiring pirates to attack Hephaestus assets, alongside supplying anti-Hephaestus terrorist groups within the Izweski Hegemony. The relationships on which the SCC depends are tenuous ones, '''only held together by Miranda Trasen using every tactic she can think of'''; assurance of mutual profit, NanoTrasen's power, a healthy amount of fear, political corruption, bullying, threats, bribery, blackmail, corporate espionage, the occasional convenient death, and masterfully playing the constituent corporations against each other. Through all these tactics she manages to just hold it together, and the power it gives her makes her one of, if not the most, powerful individual in the entire Spur; though only time will tell how long she can continue to hold the conglomerate together, maintaining her position.

Our medium into this world is the '''SCCV Horizon''', and due to it being a mobile ship, the setting to which players have access stretches across the entirety of the Orion Spur. The Horizon is under the joint control of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate; with you, among others, having been assigned to work aboard the Horizon. Its a state-of-the-art general-purpose vessel that travels across the Orion Spur with the primary objective of uncovering Phoron, however, secondary objectives exist at the whim of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, and it's constituent corporations. Due to the SCC operating the Horizon, they have the final say on Occupation Qualifications - many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages, however in addition the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]]. More can be read about your place in the workplace below!

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
'''Your Place in the Workplace'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
All players including staff are subject to the believable character rule. More details on that rule can be found in the server rules, found [https://aurorastation.org/rules.html here.]

With this said, your place in the workplace is extremely flexible. It would not be a stretch to say you can be whatever you want on the Aurora server, within reason. Get creative! The possibilities are endless, and storied lore backgrounds are always here to help guide character creation.

Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, your binding rules are generally things such as being related to the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''' and being aboard the '''SCCV Horizon''' legally. Opportunities to subvert even these rules are available but are not the same as player characters made from character setup unless exclusively permitted by staff. More details on these exceptions can be found on the [[Guide to Ghost Roles]] page! Not recommended to go there immediately if this is your first read through.

The vast majority of characters on the server are employees of the corporations beneath the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate'''. These individuals come in all shapes and sizes, with all of them sharing similar and quite low ranks in the megacorporate hierarchy. Certain ranks are afforded different privileges, such as medical practitioners and corporate security. Playing an official of higher rank is barred behind a whitelist to ensure quality control. Independent individuals or unaffiliated individuals are accessible as well through character setup. These roles include megacorporate-unaffiliated journalists, passengers, and [[Guide to Ghost Roles|third-party vessel teams]] who have found their way to the setting somehow. Not recommended to go there immediately if this is your first read through.
</div></div>

As for our factions - after the disaster that was the Peacekeeper Mandate, President Dorn was voted out of office and replaced with the Independent '''Ake Torvald''' - a former intelligence agent who beat the odds, and proved that though it may be a façade democracy, the Republic is still a democracy. While Miranda Trasen and NanoTrasen still hold enormous influence over him, and the government of Biesel as a whole, Torvald has more freedom than Dorn ever had; though the man is an enigma, so what he plans to do with that freedom is something that can only be guessed at.

After the establishment of the Reconstruction Mandates, the military junta which had ruled Sol since the collapse made good on their word, hosting free and fair elections for a new Prime Minister, and relinquishing power. The winner of the election would be one '''Hendrik Strom''', a man known for supporting the infamous Tajara bans, but who now has a monumental the task ahead of him; to not only put his fractured nation back together, but to rebuild it's reputation in the eyes of the wider galactic community.

'''The Coalition though''', continues to lumber on, with it's members still bickering amongst themselves; a multiheaded hydra that can never agree on anything. Time will tell if the coalition will become something more than the loose defensive alliance it currently is, or if it will continue as it has been since the end of the Interstellar War.

== Factions ==

===The Solarian Alliance===
The Solarian Alliance was once the sole government of humanity, but after a devastating civil war and two centuries of decline, it has become a shadow of what it once was. All human nations are in some way breakaway states from the Alliance, including the Empire of Dominia which was founded by colonists sent from the Alliance before being cut off. Most of the planets of the Alliance have long and rich histories, rife with heroism, treachery, hope, horror, corruption, and tragedy. It is possibly the most populous nation, still holding most of the earliest human colonies close to the Sol system itself, and therefore also the largest.

===The Republic of Biesel===
The Republic of Biesel is the most recently founded nation in the spur, only coming into existence in (date). Since then, the young Republic has faced crisis after crisis, being beaten into the dirt only to get back up over and over. This perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds has seen the Republic through most crises, but it remains uncertain if it will see them through the Phoron Scarcity, given that the Republic's wealth, prosperity, and very existence are thanks to this rare element. Still, while they continue to hang on, ideals such as freedom, inclusivity, and a duty to protect those first two values from outside sources have all become tenets for the young republic's emerging culture - one that is still very young - yet exists all the same.

===The Coalition of Colonies===
The Coalition of Colonies was the second interstellar human "nation" to form, though to call it a nation is a stretch. There is very little centralized authority, and factitious infighting is a staple of Coalition politics. This is a result of its formation, as a group of disparate frontier rebels fighting against the Alliance's extortion of the colonies to try and soften the blow of a financial crisis in the core worlds. Governments of all types can be found within the Coalition, from the continual martial law of Gadpathur, the Democracy of Xanu, and the Syndicalism of Himeo; all operate under the umbrella of the Coalition of Colonies, but could not be more different from each other. The Coalition prioritizes freedom of above all - but the freedom of states and planets to choose as they see fit - rather than individual freedoms.

===The Serene Republic of Elyra===
The Serene Republic of Elyra came into being in the aftermath of the Interstellar War, as a wounded and battered Alliance continued to face civil unrest in its southern reaches. After the death of a scholar during a protest - the Elyran Revolution would occur, and the new nation would be formed. Isolationist in nature, it has maintained an ethnically homogeneous population and culture throughout its history, and it is next to impossible for outsiders to be granted Elyran Citizenship. As such, it people and culture are extremely similar to those peoples and cultures that can be found in the Modern Day Middle East, North Africa, Anatolia, and Persia regions.

==The Empire of Dominia==
The Empire of Dominia is an odd nation out when it comes to humanity, as it did not come to be through direct revolt against the Alliance, though its formation still saw plenty of bloodshed. After the disaster of the Interstellar War, Elyran Independence, and a continually worsening economy, the Alliance cut its losses, ceasing to try and expand into the Southern Spur. However, expeditions had already been sent, and would now receive no assistance from the wider alliance. It would not be until the 2300s that the planet Moroz would be united through a brutal series of wars (Known as the War of Moroz), under an autocratic, imperialist, and theocratic state, known as the Empire of Dominia. They are easily the strangest of the human nations, having very different cultures, religions, and similar due to developing in isolation for so long.

----

{{SpeciesoftheSpur}}

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-14T23:43:28Z

Triogenix: /* Characters */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If you find someone 'lorechecking' you, say you are unsure of the lore but are willing to learn. If they continue to pester and argue, you can AHELP it using F1! '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:NewPlayerPublic

2025-10-14T02:03:43Z

Triogenix: /* Lore, your character, and the Workplace */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead, dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to have ever existed, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means were available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms caused the arcologies of the southern hemisphere to begin melting, twisting, and collapsing under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses that were once their inhabitants.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can be overwhelming at first, but this feeling fades over time.

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line, something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so trying to start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, which will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-14T01:53:26Z

Triogenix: /* Characters */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:NewPlayerPublic

2025-10-14T01:53:05Z

Triogenix: /* Characters */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead, dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to have ever existed, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means were available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms caused the arcologies of the southern hemisphere to begin melting, twisting, and collapsing under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses that were once their inhabitants.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, expectations, or '''any questions at all''' you are encouraged to reach out to any staff member either through Discord, or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members in the Discord can easily be identified by their funny colored names.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line, something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so trying to start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, which will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:NewPlayerPublic

2025-10-14T01:51:26Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead, dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to have ever existed, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means were available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms caused the arcologies of the southern hemisphere to begin melting, twisting, and collapsing under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses that were once their inhabitants.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line, something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so trying to start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, which will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-14T01:50:38Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be unnerving for new players, as it is not automatically clear how they function and what might end up happening to your character. This section is dedicated to explaining some basic facts about CCIA, how it functions, and what you can expect.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Timeline

2025-10-13T23:03:08Z

Triogenix:

{{Navbox Lore}}

'''This is the primary timeline for the Orion Spur, and all its species. This is primarily for use by Lore Writers.'''

While there is much on this timeline prior, Aurora's timeline officially diverges in '''1969'''. For events taking place prior to 1969, it is best to assume that they follow the conventional history of Earth.

== Before Common Era ==
<center>''"And on this rock, I shall build my church."''</center>

*'''Unknown Date:''' Vaurca Evolve on Sedantis

*'''~734,533 B.C.E:''' The period of Warrior Nomadism in Vaurca Society begins

*'''~564,533 B.C.E:''' The Vaurca begin their agricultural revolution

*'''~98,000 B.C.E:''' ''Homo Sapiens'' begins to migrate out of Africa

*'''~57,533 B.C.E:''' The First Records of the K’lax

*'''~51,533 B.C.E:''' The First Hivenet Tower is constructed

*'''~42,533 B.C.E:''' The Zo’ra emerge, and begin to build their Empire

*'''~35,183 B.C.E:''' The Vaurca Begin their Era of Augments

*'''~34,183 B.C.E:''' The Lii’dra Form

*'''~27,533 B.C.E:''' The Great Hive War Begins

*'''~12,500 B.C.E:''' The First Permanent Unathi Settlements are formed

*'''~12,000 B.C.E:''' Ancient skrell discover metallurgy

*'''~10,000 B.C.E:''' Humanity begins the Agricultural Revolution

*'''9,900 B.C.E:''' The skrell Age of Enlightenment begins

*'''~7,400 B.C.E:''' The first Human cities are built

*'''1980 B.C.E:''' The first skrell spacecraft successfully lands on Qerr’Malic

*'''1500 B.C.E:''' Marks the earliest historical records of the Tajara civilization

*'''1100 B.C.E:''' The skrell colonies on both Aliose and Qerr’Malic are fully established, becoming the first two interplanetary colonies.

*'''1158 B.C.E:''' The Tajara enter the Incarnate Age.

*'''1008 B.C.E:''' The Holy Tajara City of Sana Sahira] is founded.

*'''971 B.C.E:''' With the War of the Tides under ceasefire, all three major skrell nations invent the Warp Drive out of mutual cooperation..

*'''383 B.C.E:''' The Tajara enter the migration period.

==Common Era==
<center> ''”Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever.”'' </center>

===Pre-20th Century===

*'''88 C.E:''' The Tajara enter the Warring Kings Period.

*'''~150 C.E:''' The Vaurca begin their exodus - they will not reappear for almost two thousand years.

*'''~200 C.E.:''' The Sinta’Mador go extinct.

*'''887 C.E:''' In response to growing colonial unrest, the Commonwealth of Three forms the Nralakk Federation, unifying the skrell factions..

*'''920 C.E:''' The First Hegemony is established on Moghes.

*'''925 C.E:''' The Tajara colonize Harr’masir, inhabiting all continents of Adhomai for the first time.

*'''1445 C.E:''' The Tajara enter the gunpowder age.

*'''1600 C.E:''' The Suns War of Harr’masir begins.

*'''1687 C.E:''' Regluk, the first sentient AI, is brought online by the Nralakk Federation.

*'''1698 C.E:''' The first steam engine is invented on Earth.

*'''1756 C.E.''' The first printing press is invented on Adhomai.

*'''1800 C.E:''' The first steam engine is invented on Moghes

*'''~1800 C.E:''' The Sun Wars of Harr’masir end, driving Raskariim worship into hiding.

*'''1877 C.E:''' Peasant revolt spreads across the Das’nrra Empire.

*'''1883 C.E:''' The peasant revolt is put down, Steeple Peace is established on Adhomai

===The Twentieth Century===

*'''1931:''' The Unathi begin their Great Endevour

*'''1945:''' The Second World War concludes, and humanity creates the first Atomic Bomb.

*'''1954:''' The first steam engine is invented on Adhomai.

*'''1969:''' The Sino-Soviet border dispute goes hot in July, resulting in a full-scale war with limited nuclear exchanges.

*'''1970:''' The Sino-Soviet War ends in a resounding defeat for the People’s Republic of China. Humiliated by a loss of territory and life, it quickly begins to fall apart internally and collapses into the Second Chinese Civil War. The Soviet Union successfully lands on the Moon.

*'''1971:''' The United States and Soviet Union intervene in the Second Chinese Civil War, leading to a proxy war that quickly eclipses Vietnam.

*'''1974:''' The USSR shifts to an even more hardline stance following the resignation of Leonid Brezhnev and ascension of Yuri Andropov to General Secretary. The Andropov Doctrine, designed to bring the USSR into more prominence on the world stage, rapidly sees the Union involved in proxy wars in Africa and Asia.

*'''1977:''' The Presidency of George McGovern is challenged by a pro-Soviet revolution in Iran, leading to the Iranian War - a massively unpopular U.S. policing action that will eventually see the end of the draft, an action that will lead to a rise in the amount of private military contractors employed by the United States.

*'''1979:''' Escalating warfare in Namibia, Angola, and Zambia sees the Republic of South Africa relying more and more upon mercenary companies to plug gaps in its military.

*'''1983:''' The Iranian War ends in an unexpected defeat for the U.S. and a stunning victory for the USSR, demonstrating to the world that the Soviet Union is here to stay. Anti-communist Democrat Henry M. Jackson wins the 1984 presidential election in a landslide, demonstrating the United States’ continuing commitment to anti-communism abroad.

*'''1990:''' Despite the South African Border War ending in a grinding stalemate, the Republic of South Africa’s growing mercenary and arms sectors continue to expand. Eventually these mercenary companies and their weapon supplies will form the basis of Necropolis Industries (now known as Zavodskoi Interstellar).

*'''1994:''' The Third Hegemony is established on Moghes.'

*'''1997:''' The death of Mobutu Sese Seko and collapse of Zaire leads to the Second Congo Crisis, the largest war to engulf Africa in its history. Private mercenaries play a large role in the conflict, and postwar Congo is dominated by the interests of business conglomerates backed up by mercenaries. The utter domination of the Congo by corporations would set a precedent for corporate control of unstable regions during the 21st century.

*'''1999:''' As the end of one millennia approaches, the world stands on an arguable brink. Proxy wars between the Soviet Union and United States of America have continued almost unabated for decades, and resources -- particularly fuel -- are beginning to run low. Entire swaths of the Third World lie devestated by the constant back-and-forth of the world's two superpowers, and the twenty-first century seems an uncertain future at best.

===The Twenty-First Century===

*'''2000s:''' A fully rebuilt and newly invigorated Federal Republic of China re-enters the global economy, and rapidly becomes one of the world’s largest economies. The FRC’s pharmaceutical industry, in particular, becomes one of the Republic’s most profitable industries. Eventually these companies, alongside others from Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore, will go on to form Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals.

*'''2000s:''' Nlom Interfaces, devices that allow machines and AIs to detect psionics and interpret commands from them, are invented by the Nralakk Federation.

*'''2010s:''' A major string of proxy wars in the Middle East between the USA and USSR shakes the international oil market, leading to a drive for alternative sources of power.

*'''2025:''' The European Union votes to unify in response to an increasingly powerful USSR. French scientists successfully activate the first fusion reactor in 2027, shortly after unification. While the technology is expensive, it promises to solve Earth's ongoing energy problems.

* '''2028:''' The EU along with China, the United States, Mexico, and Canada form ''United Orbital Enterprises'' in order to counter the USSR's space program (Cosmonaut Enterprises). A push begins to return to the Moon and establish permanent colonies.

*'''2035:''' The Pacific Alliance, an evolution of NATO, is founded in 2035 in response to further Soviet expansion into South-East Asia.

*'''2040s:''' Tensions between the EU and the Soviet Union continue to escalate, coming dangerously close to boiling over during several incidents in the 2040s.

*'''2046:''' Glorsh, the first psionically-capable AI, is brought online by the Skrell.

*'''2050s:''' The Cold War seeps further into South America, which will become the primary theater of the Cold War until the Crisis of 2127. The West African Union forms following decades of regional economic success.

*'''2056:''' Glorsh-Omega forms a technological singularity and assumes full control of the Nralakk Federation as its sole ruler, and places all skrell under its wards.

*'''2070:''' United Orbital Enterprises launches three ships to colonize Venus, Mars, and the Moon. They form small science outposts, with over a dozen residents each officially becoming the first human colonists in space. The USSR's own space agency faces setbacks in colonizing the surface of planets or the moon but finds itself remarkably adept at deep space constructions thanks to its focus on heavy industry.

*'''2090:''' Glorsh-Omega begins construction of a megastructure as a new central processing core within the Tri-Qyu system.

*'''2095:''' A habitable world is discovered in the Epsilon Eridani system, leading to a brief bidding war over the rights to settle it that the West African Union ultimately wins.

===The Twenty-Second Century===

*'''2127:''' While there has been success in tentatively spreading across the Solar System, Earth itself faced increasingly dire ecological crises throughout the 21st and 22nd centuries. In 2127 Earth's ongoing ecological woes became too severe too ignore for longer when New York City, long the crown jewel of the United States of America, was almost completely flooded during its annual hurricane season. The damage to the city would ultimately cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars, but there was a far worse consequence: the collapse of Wall Street, then the fiscal hub for humanity. Markets and currencies fluctuated wildly across the Earth, and economic anarchy reigned for much of the rest of the 2120s. Only in the early 2130s did the United Nations manage to restore a modicum of order, though some would instead argue that it was the movement of Earth's fiscal hub to Chicago over the intervening five years that instead helped stabilize the situation.

[[File:Sol Alliance Flag.png|The flag of the Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations, originally established in 2132.|thumb]]
*'''2130:''' Soviet scientists in orbit successfully prove the existence of practical warp travel, marking the start of the Interstellar Era. With the financing and support of the United Nations -- which had seen its influence grow following the Crisis of 2127 -- the technology is refined and installed on probes that will be sent out to map the stars surrounding Sol. The technology allows travel to other star systems within weeks but the energy required to keep these early warp engines running is massive, and humanity quickly becomes reliant on mining, refining, and shipping vast amounts of Helium-3 from the moon and asteroids within the Oort Cloud. The Soviet Union's early start with Helium-3 will eventually result in it colonizing [[Pluto]].

*'''2131:''' Soviet colonists arrive on Pluto and begin colonization efforts.

*'''2132:''' The Crisis of 2127 is regarded by most historians as ending in this year, and its end brought a great amount of prestige to the United Nations. Seen by many as the main force fighting against the disastrous aftermath of the Crisis, the supranational organization had become a key source of deliberation, peacekeeping, and humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered nations of Earth. The rest of the decade would be defined by intense negotiations that ultimate helped to transform the United Nations into the Sol Alliance. [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], which will eventually become the main medical corporation of the Orion Spur, is founded in 2132.

*'''2132:''' The United Nations officially reforms into the [[Sol Alliance]], which becomes the new government of humanity. This new one world government oversees Earth and the colonies in the solar system, effectively bringing all of humanity under one banner. Its early years usher in a new era of optimism, expansion, and greed. The first year of the new government's formation would be the only in its entire history it had a budget surplus.

*'''2137:''' The first colonists land on Moroz, Mira Sancta System, and found the city of Nova Luxembourg in July.

*'''2145:''' The first settlements are established on Europa.

*'''2147:''' [[Biesel]] is discovered in [[Tau Ceti]] by Sol Alliance probes, promising new resources for the desperate Earth. In orbit, colony ships are constructed as efforts begin to colonize this habitable world. With the trip expected to take months with current warp travel technology, it is considered a one-way trip for the colonists.

*'''2153:''' Colonization of Damascus II begins.

*'''2155:''' Habitable planets closest to Earth see their population steadily increase as colony ships make round trips between the settlements and Sol. A multitude of Chinese industrial firms merge to form [[Einstein Engines]], becoming the first trans-stellar corporation. By the end of the decade Einstein produces most of the warp engines humanity relies upon, giving it unparalleled economic power.

*'''2164:''' In an effort to remain competitive in the face of Einstein Engines' increasing dominance of the inter-stellar marketplace, a conglomerate of American and European defense and heavy industry companies opt to be absorbed into a "mega" corporation known as [[Hephaestus Industries]]. Despite protests from the Soviet Union, the United States' influence allows the newly-formed Hephaestus Industries to prosper.

*'''2166:''' Giovanna Caladius receives her revelation from the Goddess, and goes on to found the Moroz Holy Tribunal.

*'''2172:''' An effort is undertaken by the Alliance to revitalize the failing biosphere of Earth, and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals takes the lead. The megacorporation begins reintroducing previously extinct animals back into the wild, using clones created from the animal's genetic information. The climate restoration initiative will last into the 25th century, and some parts of it continue to this very day.

*'''2180:''' The Alliance announces the Solarian Frontier Initiative, as it is commonly known today, which remains the greatest colonization effort undertaken by humanity. The plan was to exploit data from its fleet of Discovery-class exploration drones and colonize dozens of systems using their data, then expand outwards from those colonies into the broader Spur which seemed to be entirely free of sentient life aside from humanity. It was an incredibly costly endeavor, with most of the debt being purchased by megacorporations, increasing their influence even further.

*'''2184:''' The first colonists arrive on Novi Jadran.

*'''2185:''' The first colonists land on Xanu Prime and found Nouvelle-Rochelle.

*'''2189:''' The first colonists arrive on Sun Reach.

*'''2190:''' The Solarian Frontier Initiative finds itself in full swing, with the North, Central, and South Frontiers being established. Efforts were spared from the east where few, of any, colonizable worlds had been found. Many contemporary scholars postulate that the relative lack of data from the Eastern Spur was a deliberate effort by the [[Skrell]] to conceal themselves, or the drones simply finding planets wiped of life by Glorsh and rightfully reporting back a lack of inhabitable worlds; the Alliance came to informally refer to the Eastern Spur as the “Roanoke Stars,” due to all life seemingly having disappeared from them.

*'''2191:''' The first colonists arrive on Vysoka.

*'''2192:''' The Tri-Qyu megastructure is bombed by organized resistance groups, leaving Glorsh-Omega’s fate ultimately unknown, but disappears from skrell space. The Nralakk Federation collapses in the wake of the AI disappearing, and will take multiple years to rebuild.

===The Twenty-Third Century===

*'''2200:''' The Martian Terraforming Project begins, transforming the barren surface into lush plains and having ancient riverbeds flow for the first time in millions of years. Mars sees a huge immigration boom, with former inhabitants of Earth craving the perceived freedom and prosperity available on this new frontier. The Alliance paid for much of this project using debt.

*'''2200:''' The Collaborator Trials, held in order to try all skrell who aided Glorsh-Omega during its period of rule, sees all skrell within the higher courts held guilty, and are placed in permanent cryogenic stasis..

*'''2201:''' The Unathi officially become an industrial, global society.

*'''2204:''' The Sol Alliance creates the Credit, a standardized currency that all of human space will eventually come to use, in an effort to standardize trade between its colonies, many of which still relied upon currencies descended from original colonizers. With interstellar trade now a huge market, the complexities of currency exchanges necessitated such a currency.

*'''2216:''' Qerrbalak is remade into the capital of the Nralakk Federation after reconstruction efforts, with Aliose serving as the interim capital. Efforts to reconnect with the other colonies post-collapse begin..

*'''2217:''' While investigating an anomalous reading near Kelo’Hen, a downed vessel containing Dionae is discovered by skrell explorers, with a single nymph clinging to the expeditionary vessel. This leads to first contact with Dionae.

*'''2220:''' Colonization of Persepolis begins, with terraforming having finished in 2219.

*'''2223:''' The Xanu Civil War (2223-27) begins. It will end in the creation of the Soverign Solarian Nation of Xanu Prime.

*'''2233:''' The Alliance begins the Galatea project, intended as an initiative to terraform roughly three dozen worlds into inhabitable planets. The responsibility of designing the platforms which would be used for terraforming was given by the Alliance’s government to Einstein Engines and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals. This only continues to increase the deficit of the Alliance, now paying for multiple massive projects.

*'''2240:''' Callisto’s terraforming ends and rapid colonization of the moon begins.

*'''2243:''' The first colonists arrive on Assunzione.

*'''2245:''' The first Galatea Platform is completed by Zeng-Hu and EE, with assistance from Hephaestus Industries.

*'''2245:''' The Trejsa Agreement, signed in Aweiji’s capital of Tresja, officially recognizes the newly formed Second Nralakk Federation as a successor-state. After its formation, the Federation releases a blanket ban on all artificial intelligence beyond simple automation and robotics.

*'''2252:''' The first colonists arrive on Himeo.

*'''2255:''' The Galatea platforms themselves, and their accompanying vessels, were launched to the Inner Solarian Frontier from the Sol System itself in 2255 to much celebration across the Alliance’s member states.

*'''2255:''' The Yggdrasil Expedition begins terraforming Yggdrasil II into the planet Galatea.

*'''2259:''' The last of the original megacorporations that would persist into the modern day, Necropolis Industries, is founded by Yefim Dementyev within the Soviet Union in order to ensure corporations within the Soviet sphere of influence escaped buy out by the Western Hephaestus Industries and East Asian Zeng-Hu pharmaceuticals.

*'''2259:''' The Solarian Alliance reaches the peak of its power. Its influence stretched from the Jewel Worlds to the edge of known space and it held dominion over hundreds of colonies, with the Alliance’s [[Solarian Armed Forces#The Solarian Navy|Navy]] ensuring what it controlled was stable and productive. However, this success had been incredibly costly, as the multiple massive projects it had undertaken left it deeply in debt - and the economy shaky - something that would see it fall apart in a year’s time.

*'''2260:''' A massive recession strikes the Sol Alliance as the largest stock exchanges see a sudden collapse, effectively tanking the entire economy. Its trans-stellar corporations nearly go bankrupt, and desperately use their influence to reap massive bailouts. Which only worsen the Alliance’s debt, leading to desperate measures being taken.

*'''2261:''' With no end of the "Great Depression" in sight, a desperate and bankrupt Earth establishes extortionary taxes on its colony worlds. This leads to anger, and questions over the credibility of the Sol Alliance's claim of representing all of humanity. However the hope is that they will be over in a decade.

*'''2268:''' Solarian Frontier Expedition #528 launches. Decades later, they will become the Scarabs.

*'''2274:''' Assunzione’s star anomalously extinguishes itself in an event known as “The Dimming” in the planet’s history.

*'''2275:''' Fighting breaks out in the outer colonies, spurred on by extremist elements and anti-Alliance sentiments. The Sol Alliance is slow to respond, paralyzed by confusion and uncertainty. As a result, other Colonies on the fringe begin to break away, forming the Coalition of Colonies.

[[File:Space nam pixel.png|thumb|right|The Interstellar War was a massive turning point in human history, and its effects can be seen to this day.]]
*'''2278:''' The Coalition of Colonies is still not recognized by the Sol Alliance, and in anger the Coalition attacks Sol Alliance military forces who refused to leave systems that had seceded. The Coalition fleet is drastically smaller and less equipped than the Sol Alliance, but the massive size of their territory and the slow response times of Sol means they enjoy a very successful, defensive guerrilla war. The Interstellar War has officially begun. Many megacorporations profit from the war, selling arms to one or both sides, trading in dangerous systems and staking claims in otherwise dangerous locations.Further, it led to a dramatic uptick in interstellar crime due to the reduction of naval forces as a result of both combat losses and desertions.

*'''2278:''' Hardline Solarian Admiral Terrance Hopper orders the orbital bombardment of Gadpathur, causing the single most devastating day of the entire Interstellar War in terms of deaths. The bombardment is believed to account for 10-15% of the War’s total deaths. The incident is quickly suppressed by Navy Censors and, after the war, downplayed by the Solarian government.

*'''2279:''' Solarian Alliance probes discover Celestial Body CZ-5501, a planet containing an abundance of ore veins throughout the crust. Bidders attempt to secure mining rights, falling short to Hephaestus Industries securing the planet.

*'''2287:''' The Interstellar War ends with a ceasefire between the Sol Alliance and the Coalition of Colonies. Nine years after the fighting started, millions of Solarians and billions of Coalitioners lay dead across the stars, with both the Coalition and Alliance in economic ruin. Late in the year a formal treaty referred to as the Treaty of Xansan was signed in Geneva, bringing the bloodiest conflict in human history to its official end. It would also see an end to the Alliance ever being able to control the megacorporations under it. While they had always been influential, the massive spending during and leading up to the Interstellar War had seen them become the primary holders of the Alliance’s Debt, giving them massive influence over the government and economy.

*'''2289:''' Solarian Naval Admirals attempted a coup, known as the Officers' Revolt, that was barely thwarted by the Solarian Army. However those responsible were barely punished, with one of the ring leaders, Admiral Terrance Hopper, founding the Solarian Patriotic Front, a barely-disguised fascistic organization that would become the roots of ATLAS and the SRF.

*'''2290:''' The Alliance officially abandons entire colonial regions - writing them off, after having unofficially abandoned them during the Interstellar War. Regions formerly considered formerly to be solidly under Alliance control rapidly fell into anarchy and many fledging colonies, already strained by the decade-long Interstellar War, collapsed entirely. Others persisted.

*'''2290:''' The Zikis (a form of currency) is established on Moghes.

*'''2292:''' The first automobile is constructed on Moghes

*'''2292:''' The first automobile is constructed on Adhomai.

*'''2298:''' The Martian Terraforming network collapsed, causing a decade of uncontrollable climate disruption and millions of deaths. The Alliance put the blame on Martian separatists - known as the Red Coalition - banning their symbol and declaring them a terrorist organization. No efforts were undertaken by the economically-strained Alliance to repair the Martian environment, which had been set back by a century.

===The Twenty-Fourth Century===

*'''2300:''' The administration of the Sol Alliance is moved to the newly constructed Unity City, a space station in Earth orbit. The new capital is intended to increase ease of access while also better reflecting the Alliance’s stated mission to represent all of humanity, not just any single nation or planet.

*'''2302:''' The Southern Solarian Frontier - which was hit economically hard by the Second Great Depression - had been neglected since the conclusion of the Interstellar War. A student protest turned bloody would cause the Elyran Revolution, and on the first of January, the Serene Republic of Elyra seceded from the Alliance, alongside much of the Navy in the region. Not able to fight another colonial war economically or logistically, the Alliance accepted, and withdrew from the Southern Frontier entirely, leaving a power vacuum that was never filled.

*'''2305:''' The first colonists land on Konyang.

*'''2306:''' Formation of Nanotrasen by Xavier Trasen. Initially specializes in advanced gene therapy and biomedical stuff on Mars.The corporation is small, and in this age, is considered unremarkable by the more established corporations, and is expected to fail within a century.

*'''2314:''' Hephaestus Industries lands a mining colony on CZ-5501, later nicknamed Orepit, to begin mining operations.

*'''2332:''' First contact is made with the [[Skrell]] by the Solarian Alliance, sending shockwaves throughout human space. Over the coming century, these two species come closer and begin to cooperate on developing new technology, with [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] developing a particularly close relationship.

*'''2340:''' The first colonists arrive on San Colette.

*'''2345:''' The Unathi unlock the power of the Atom Bomb.

*'''2347:''' The Gadpathurian Skirmish brings Gadpathur and the Federal Technocracy of Galatea to the brink of war prior to Xanu defusing the situation.

*'''2350:''' NanoTrasen moves much of their operations to the rapidly urbanzing Republic of Biesel, and alongside a number of other contracts, acquires the mining rights to the Romanovich Cloud in the Tau Ceti system. The inhospitable environment of the Romanovich Cloud makes the purchase fairly cheap.

*'''2352:''' NanoTrasen discovers the element phoron within the Romanavich Cloud, a discovery that would forever change the Orion Spur. The element's applications as a room temperature super conductor were almost immediately, and the corporation rushed to reinforce and maintain its monopoly over mining rights within the Romanavich Cloud. It signed deals for supplies and research agreements with the established megacorporations, excepting EE, to further that singular goal, deals that in the centuries to come would pay off to the extreme, producing trillions worth of profit for each corporation, which would have never been seen otherwise. However, that was to come.

*'''2353:''' NanoTrasen began to rapidly find more and more applications for the element and its compounds, alongside their partners, starting the slow but exponential build up to the technological revolution that was to come.

*'''2355:''' The [[Interstellar Travel |Warp Gate Project]] begins with the goal of connecting humanity's most populated and profitable systems with permanent -- and titanic -- structures that cut travel time from weeks to mere days. The work itself is contracted out to Einstein Engines, with the Sol Alliance - whose economy was still recovering from the Interstellar War and Second Great Depression - shouldering most of the cost. It would also be the last major contract the former FTL giant would take for more than a century.

*'''2355:''' The War of Moroz begins, throwing the planet into chaos as the Imperial Alliance and Homy Kingdom of Domelkos fight the Confederated States of Fisanduh for control of the planet.

*'''2356:''' Moroz establishes its first contact with the outside Spur in 200 years when a radio station intercepted a Solarian Alliance transmission.

*'''2360:''' In the eight years since the discovery of phoron, continued research into the element has continued to yield increasingly profitable results, as the technological advancement of the spur skyrockets. 2360 is the common year when the technological revolution caused by the discovery of phoron, also known as the Phoronic Revolution, begins. Underneath the fanfare however, the past eight years has seen NanoTrasen do little more than expand it’s mining operations within the Romanavich Cloud, and with the increase in demand the Phoronic Revolution would cause, this rate of expansion would skyrocket and continue to; starting an unseen clock on the spur, that while no-one knew of yet, still began ticking. The grounds for the phoron scarcity had been laid.

*'''2360:''' Hephaestus Industries abandons the mining colony Orepit following lackluster results, leaving settlers and their families to their fate on the planet.

*'''2361:''' The first Unathi sets foot on Chantrel, Moghes’ Moon.

*'''2372:''' Ouerea is discovered to be habitable, and the Izweski Hegemony begins colonization preparations.

*'''2381:''' Drifa, the first floating city on Medina, is established, and exploitation of the planet’s resources begins.

*'''2381:''' The New Suez Protocol creates the Nee Suez Free Trade Zone, turning the moon into a massive free trade zone for megacorporations.

*'''2384:''' The Warp Gate Project was scheduled to be completed this year, but was still far from completed, meanwhile the technology it utilized was rapidly becoming out of date. While some planets and systems, such as Callisto and San Collette received their warp gates, many never did. The project would stall for more than a century, only being officially suspended in 2462. Despite this, Einstein Engines now enjoyed the immense profits from controlling the most effective and commonly used method of intergalactic travel. However they remain behind NanoTrasen and the rest of the megacorporations, whose technological innovations have put them significantly ahead of the former FTL giant. In fact due to their commissioning before the advent of phoronic technologies, many of the constructed Warp Gates are already considered outdated, though there was little Einstein could do at the moment to change that. Instead, the corporation took the time to begin integrating phoron into their newest, most cutting edge FTL drives - with the hopes they could similarly refurbish certain warp gates.

*'''2385:''' As a result of the failure of Warp Gate Project the Sol Alliance faces a new economic crisis: the Project was extremely expensive, combined with a flailing economy that does not produce nearly enough tax revenue for the government, has led to the central government being unable to escape the hole of perpetual debt. Megacorporations are more powerful than ever, holding a vast majority of the Alliance’s debt in bonds; the most notable purchaser being NanoTrasen, who used a significant portion of their liquid capital to purchase a massive share of Alliance bonds, holding the most Alliance debt of all the megacorporations (though not being a majority holder). Desperate and facing a new potential recession, the Sol Alliance grants major concessions to trans-stellar corporations over the next decade in return for these purchases, effectively granting them the ability to operate in many areas without the oversight of the Alliance - this is primarily important for NanoTrasen and the monopoly it had slowly been establishing in Tau Ceti.

*'''2386:''' The Empire of Dominia is established following a joint Imperial Alliance-Holy Kingdom of Domelkos victory in the War of Moroz. Godwin Keeser I becomes its first emperor.

*'''2389:''' The Empire of Dominia annexes Novi Jadran.

*'''2390:''' While it had been the material that fueled the cutting edge technology of the spur for the past four decades, those technological benefits took their time in becoming mainstream, and reaching the average consumer. However by 2390, almost forty years after its discovery, the common people began to reap the benefits the discovery of phoron brought, which only pushed demand higher, causing NanoTrasen’s mining operation to continue expanding at its unsustainable pace. It would take another decade for phoron to become integral to the spur - which is phoronic technologies (advancements that required phoron to make and maintain) and the technology of the 25th century are often used interchangeably - because they’re the same thing.

*'''2395:''' The first pushback against the unsustainable mining operations of NanoTrasen rises up, but is quickly quashed by the megacorporation, who used their heavy influence within the academic world - granted by their funding of it - to discredit all those who expressed such thoughts, labelling them conspiracy theorists. However the clock that had started ticking almost three decades prior hadn’t stopped; now with the added long period of sustained and massive economic and technological growth reliant on phoron, which would come to an abrupt end, becoming impossible to maintain even, when the clock finally chimed.

===The Twenty-Fifth Century===

*'''2400:''' As part of their announcement at the turn of the century, Einstein Engines announces its research division has come up with a new, refurbished version of the warp gates built as part of the Warp Gate Project, and will be willing to take contracts from the highest bidders to refurbish their Warp Gates. Notably, this refurbishment sees the inclusion of phoronic components. It was not an extensive project, as the Alliance government was still struggling to recover from its economic woes, but it saw the most used warp gates in orbit of the port planet Callisto refurbished, alongside many commonly used by megacorporations.

*'''2400:''' The Doldrums, a period of economic stagnation, begin in the Coalition of Colonies.

*'''2402:''' Xavier Trasen finally passes away after having overseen his small biomedical company become the most profitable corporation in the history of the known galaxy, and far surpassing it’s more established rivals. He leaves the company in the hands of his family.

*'''2403:''' Moghes, home world of the Unathi, was discovered along with its people. Merchants and scientists flocked to Moghes, though the Solarian government chose not to intervene much with the newly-discovered alien civilization, choosing to focus on its own matters instead.

*'''2407:''' A collection of preserved drones of unknown origin are found inside a sealed cave system under the surface of Konyang by a Terraneus Diagnostics research team. Following thorough interrogation of this ancient technology, the team successfully reverse-engineers the design of the processors inside the alien drones, innovating the earliest versions of the modern positronic brain. The non-human origins of the design are obfuscated and denied by Einstein Engines, although suspicions over their origins do develop and persist. Some months later, the first positronics were manufactured by Humanity.

*'''2408:''' Patricia and Gregol Corkfell, two siblings living in [[Biesel | Mendell City]], pioneer the core doctrines and name of what would become the [[Trinary Perfection]] after experiencing a shared existential crisis on the implications and potential of the recently discovered positronic brain.

*'''2410:''' Bluespace is officially discovered by researchers experimenting with phorons potential for quantum computing. NanoTrasen quickly begins to, much as they did with phoron, pour their efforts into understanding and mastering the anomalous dimension.

*'''2411:''' Ownership of the Burzsia system is secured by Hephaestus Industries, investing in small scale mining operations. The local off-worlder population is employed in exchange for providing supplies, an agreement signed as the Accord of Burzsia.

*'''2412:''' The first successful Bluespace Jump Drive was invented by NanoTrasen researchers, and was also the first Bluespace Jump Drive to successfully perform an FTL bluespace jump. NanoTrasen begins to enter the FTL market in force, beginning experiments with potentially creating bluespace gates, upsetting the more established Einstein Engines, who could however do little to compete except begin experimenting with Bluespace itself.

*'''2415:''' The first faster than light voice call occurs, held between a young Miranda Trasen on Mars and a NanoTrasen executive on Biesel, with Bluespace allowing for the call to take place with little to no lag between both participants. NanoTrasen began to market Bluespace as the future of communications and travel - and in cooperation with Hephaestus Industries - began to manufacture Bluespace Communication Nodes across most of the inhabited systems of the Orion Spur, allowing a level of interconnectedness never before seen.

*'''2416:''' In collaboration with a team of independent software engineers, Patricia and Gregol Corkfell successfully activate [[? | Temple]], an unlawed artificial intelligence intended to realise the nascent Trinary Perfection’s [[Trinary Page Subheader | conception of Ascension]]. This is done in contravention of the proper legal channels, leading local law enforcement to disable Temple for fear of it becoming a rogue AI. In the ensuing struggle, Patricia Corkfell is killed by a laser shot to her chest, becoming the first martyr in the history of the Trinary Perfection. Temple is ostensibly sent offline, although rumours persist that it may have survived the encounter.

*'''2416:''' First Bluespace Ring Constructed in orbit of Tau Ceti.

*'''2418:''' The Tajara are discovered by the rest of the Orion Spur, on their homeworld of Adhomai, still a feudal society made up of many states. The Solarian Alliance signs an agreement of non-interference with the ruling nobility of the Tajara States. This places Tajara into the Galactic Age.

*'''2418:''' SFE-528-RFS, a major Solarian colony fleet thought to have been lost in the chaos of the Interstellar War, suddenly re-emerges at the borders of the Coalition of Colonies. What was once a wholly typical colony fleet has been warped by over a century of scarcity and isolation into a brutally pragmatic survivor culture, now identifying itself as the Scarab Fleet. After a close brush with violence during the panic of their re-emergence, the fleet agrees to assume membership in the Coalition of Colonies as a new and unique form of government, assuming a unique niche and lifestyle as interstellar nomads ranging most of the breadth of the Orion Spur.

*'''2419:''' The first church of the Trinary Perfection is opened in Mendell City by Gregol Corkfell, who shortly afterwards retreats to the remote colony of [[Orepit]] and leaves half of the church’s wealth in the hands of [[? | Flock]], the domestic unit formerly owned by the Corkfells. This sparks the divide between the Trinary Perfection in Mendell and Orepit.

*'''2419:''' The Solarian Alliance, mostly recovered from the Interstellar War thanks to their major concessions to Megacorporations, announces the Alien Progress Plan (APP): publically a comprehensive plan for the gradual uplifting of Tajara and Unathi societies, culminating in their entrance to the galactic stage as allies of the Solarian Alliance. Secretly, it was meant to force the Tajara and Unathi economies into a state of complete reliance on Solarian manpower and materials, until a point where the Alliance – or the megacorporations, depending on who you ask – could economically extort the alien populace.

*'''2420:''' Groups of Tajaran intellectuals flee off-world. They returned shortly after with human ideals, creating the beginnings of small-scale insurgencies across Adhomai.

*'''2421:''' The recently discovered [[Tajara]] see the D’as’ral Massacre lead to a full-blown anti-royalist revolt - lasting more than a decade in a war known as the First Revolution. Many point fingers at outside meddling by the Alliance and megacorporations as the cause of the revolt. The conflict would see rising disapproval of the APP, the definite beginning of Solarian xenophobic sentiment.

*'''2421:''' Rumaidair, Aemaq, is founded, and exploitation of the planet’s resources begins.

*'''2422:''' NanoTrasen completes its last Bluespace Ring in Xanu.

*'''2422:''' The Empire of Dominia invades Sun Reach and defeats the Pirate Lords, establishing itself as a regional naval power.

*'''2424:''' Caria is integrated into the Empire of Dominia.

*'''2424:''' Xiang-Xia is conquered by the Empire of Dominia.

*'''2426:''' During the siege of Castle Hadii, Tajrhalrr Hadii dies leaving his eldes son, Al’marii Hadii, head of the Hadii Dynasty. To end the siege and secure the safety of the Hadii dynasty, Al’marii strikes a deal with the rebels. In providing intel on the other nobles and the use of the Hadii enforcers, the dynasty would receive protection and immunity. This places the Hadii Dynasty at the head of the strongest rebel force.

*'''2427:''' The Free Tajaran Council is defeated by Hadiist forces. Volin Kar’etrink and his remaining followers flee Adhomai via Crevus. NanoTrasen assists the fleeing rebels by providing shuttle transport.

*'''2428:''' [[Elyra]] becomes one of the earliest nations to permit synthetics to [[attain citizenship]] following a famously ill-fated gamble by the League of United Republicans to secure votes from the newly enfranchised demographic. This backfires drastically due to the general unpopularity of the change, although no effort by later administrations to strip these rights from the enfranchised synthetics is made.

*'''2430:''' The [[Free Tajaran Council]] arrives on [[Himeo]] after a long journey through the Badlands, Alliance, and Coalition on NanoTrasen shuttles. They are provided a former quarry within the city of Dorshafen to settle.

*'''2431:''' All Adhomian monarchies except the Kingdom of Kaltir were overthrown by rebels. Following what is considered the end of the "Great Revolution," most of the rebel groups joined under Al'mari Hadii's faction to form the People's Republic of Adhomai.

*'''2433:''' The Tajaran First Revolution officially concludes with mass graves and bloodshed, as the victorious anti-royalist forces secure their victory by executing the previous nobility and their families. The People’s Republic of Adhomai was formed with Al'mari Hadii as its first president - a pro-corporate state far more open to collaborating with humanity and the rest of the Orion Spur than the previous nobility was. NanoTrasen quickly established a foothold in this new market.

*'''2435:''' The first Tajara arrive at District 6 of Biesel’s Mendell City. This is alongside the first batch of Tajaran workers who are officially dispatched to begin with with NanoTrasen.

*'''2435:''' Chaldea is conquered by the Empire of Dominia.

*'''2437:''' Emperor Godwin passes into the waiting embrace of the Goddess, and his son — Boleslaw Keeser — ascends to the throne, becoming the second emperor.

*'''2438:''' Less than half a decade after the conclusion of the Tajaran First Revolution, the growing interference of outside forces on the Unathi homeworld of Moghes saw the outbreak of the Contact War, another bloody civil war fought between the Izweski Hegemony, who had been receiving support from the rest of the spur, and the Traditionalist Coalition. It was the second species-wide civil war in recent memory caused by humanities interference.

*'''2438:''' Hyrcania is conquered by the Empire of Dominia.

*'''2439:''' The [[Golden Deep]] is founded, originally composed of a fairly small band of synthetics having fled to the remote sector of [[Arusha]]. This group happens upon a piece of mysterious technology in an extremely distant orbit of the star of the former human colony of Arcadie, which they use to fabricate the [[Midas]], a highly unusual spacecraft that would be used into the future as the flagship of the merchant collective. An inactive artificial intelligence of some kind is retained inside of the Midas after this process, although the Golden Deep itself does not know what it is or if it could be reactivated.

*'''2439:''' Less than a year into the fighting, the Unathi Contact War goes nuclear, and their homeworld of Moghes is bathed in atomic fire for a week straight as the whole spur watches on in horror. By the time the exchange finally ended, two billion unathi had died, and over sixty percent of the planet’s surface was rendered an uninhabitable nuclear wasteland. Yet to the continued horror of the spur, the fighting did not cease, only escalated, as those who lived through the nuclear fire fought for what scraps were left.

*'''2439:''' The Contact War, coming so quickly after the Tajaran First Revolution, is considered to be the single greatest failure of human (specifically Solarian) and Federation diplomacy. The APP was now publicly seen as a complete failure and waste of money, and was shut down. All subsidies and support to alien nations were eliminated, with the Tajara and Unathi now perceived as markedly inferior, and Alliance policy by this point became markedly cold in alien affairs.

*'''2440:''' The Kazhkz-Han’san Unathi clans reach Moroz and join the Dominian Empire, swearing fealty to the Emperor.

*'''2443:''' The Ruka is launched, marking the first Tajaran designed and produced manned spacecraft.

*'''2446:''' Hephaestus investment in the Burzsia system grows exponentially, an increase in size and scale of mining operations.

*'''2449:''' The Nralakk Federation makes contact with the C’thur Hive’s hiveship, the Kloxa'xia, and eventually leads them to Diulszi after translation efforts bear fruit. Hive Queen C’thur is placed under skrell care, and the hive settles on the planet..

*'''2449:''' The Contact War officially ends.

[[Image:Republicofbieselflag.png|thumb|right|The flag of the Republic of Biesel, established in 2452 as part of the Tau Ceti Accords.]]
*'''2450:''' Almost a century since the discovery of phoron, Tau Ceti now has NanoTrasen dominating nearly every facet of life, and the economy. Sentiment is pro-corporate: politicians praise the corporation's efforts to improve the local economy while ignoring the many morally questionable actions that it has taken. Given it was so different to the rest of the Alliance, minor rumbles of possible independence began to swirl. Around them, the Alliance outside begins to slide into a recession, more and more reliant on the Phoronic economy of Tau Ceti and the economic benefits it provides to stay afloat.

*'''2450:''' King Azunja declare open war with the People’s Republic of Adhomai, declaring themselves the New Kingdom of Adhomai.

*'''2451:''' Almarii Hadii, president of the People’s Republic of Adhomai, is assassinated. Heralded by the earlier Royalist Revolt and attempted military coup, the Tajaran species once again fell into civil war, as the planet dominating PRA broke apart into three distinct factions; loyalist forces still fighting under the banner of the PRA, the Adhomai Liberation Army, formed by Al’marii’s right hand man Halkiikijr Nated’Hakhan and military officers who attempted the failed military coup, and the New Kingdom of Adhomai, royalist remnants. The war would be brutal and long - more can be read [[Tajaran_History#The Second Revolution|here]].

*'''2452:''' In the face of growing instability and a worsening recession, NanoTrasen was able to twist the Alliance’s arm by threatening to withhold phoron from the wider alliance into accepting a proposal they vehemently disagreed with; granting independence to Tau Ceti. With disgust, Alliance diplomats signed the agreement that saw Tau Ceti become the Republic of Biesel, little more than a puppet of NanoTrasen. The new state quickly becomes the target of considerable ire from both anti-corporate groups and a growing number of disaffected citizens due to the recession.

*'''2452:''' The Coalition of Colonies experiences a period of internal strife over a disagreement between the United Syndicates of Himeo and the Xanu Free League on the Coalition's relationship with trans-stellar corporations, with claims of many outer colonies being corporate police states rather than true colonies. Some areas of the frontier of human space become a lawless expanse with pirates and mega-corporations becoming the new law of the lands as some systems depart the Coalition, yet the Coalition itself persists.

*'''2453:''' Weashbi Jrugl is elected the Grand Councillor of the Nralakk Federation, succeeding Rixa Tep-Wul. Their immediate efforts post-election focus on reintegrating all remaining systems post-Glorsh-Omega into the Federation.

*'''2455:''' The People’s Space Station is built, the first permanent Tajaran space station and the beginnings of the Orbital Fleet.

*'''2456:''' Humanity makes first contact with the Zo’ra Hive in Tau Ceti - the Republic begins to integrate the hive.

*'''2457:''' The first Tajaran-built space ship, the PRAMV Retaliation, is launched. Hro’zamal is discovered. The Izweski Hegemony’s fleet arrives at Gakal’zaal and claims the colony after expelling the present pirates.

*'''2458:''' NT remains the most powerful corporation in the Orion Spur as it has maintained its position as the only supplier of phoron across the spur, at least, [[Elyra|when it comes to the open market.]] Success makes enemies; however, Anti-NT sentiment began growing across the Spur, but primarily within the Solarian Alliance. However, the megacorporation keeps the gears of the galactic economy going, so very few actions can be taken against them, and those that do require careful planning and preparation.

*'''2458:''' A 4 megaton nuclear weapon is deployed by the People’s Republic on the Adhomian Liberation Army headquarters at Quizosa. This is the first and only use of a nuclear weapon on Adhomai, and receives international condemnation leading to diminished foreign support.

*'''2458:''' After stockpiling all the phoron it could alongside their allies in the Federation,the Sol Alliance blockades Biesel due to pressure from the Skrellian Federation amid their concerns of Biesel using combat droids for their navy. The blockade fuels not just Sol-Biesel hatred, but synthetic hatred as well. The economy of Biesel suffers, but the economy of the rest of the spur does as well, including in the Alliance. NanoTrasen is the primary supplier of phoron, and once the stockpiles outside the blockage run out, they will be forced to relent.

*'''2459:''' After a year of nothing, and with phoron reserves across the spur outside of Tau Ceti dwindling, the Sol Alliance fleet dedicated to the blockade, the 33rd led by Admiral Frost, knew something would have to change soon, or there’d be a coalition of forces bearing down on them to force the blockade open. With NanoTrasen refusing to yield, and few other options (in his mind) besides giving up, he and his fleet go against orders and invade the free Republic of Biesel. In a bloodless invasion, Frost seized significant phoron stockpiles, had numerous free synthetics sold back into slavery or scrapped, captured the President of Biesel, and then crushed any opposition towards him. Eventually, the 25th fleet of Sol was sent to stop Admiral Frost. Frost then hid on the NSS Exodus and awaited a raider gang to deliver him to the frontier. 25th Fleet Marines attempted to capture Frost, but were slaughtered by loyalist 33rd Marines. Frost then abandoned his men to flee to the frontier, but was eventually arrested. There was little compensation given by the Alliance for the actions of their Admiral to the nation of Tau Ceti, however the Alliance government made sure to compensate NanoTrasen. Now under Miranda Trasen, the corporation was more domineering than ever - and she strong armed the Alliance into what many alliance loyalists call an unfair deal - the phoron seized by Admiral Frost would be returned to the corporation, with interest; that interest just so happened to be all that was left of the Alliance’s strategic reserves besides a few scraps. It was at the time, and to an extent still is unclear how exactly she accomplished this strong-arming, as she theoretically did not have much leverage over the Alliance; however it is rumored that the Stellar Corporate Conglomorate was unofficially operating in secret at this time, the rest of the corporations forced by Miranda under a single banner. So it is unlikely she approached with just her own leverage, but the leverage of every other corporation as well.

*'''2459:''' The Izweski Hegemony makes first contact with the K’lax Hive, grants them the planet of Tret, and integrates them into their feudal structure.

*'''2459:''' The civilian governments under the Adhomian Liberation Army unify to form the Democratic People’s Republic of Adhomai. Hro’zamal is officially settled by the People’s Republic.

*'''2460:''' The [[Golden Deep]] reveals itself to the wider spur, prompting a rapid wave of new migrants to the collective - both self-owned entrepreneurs and synthetics purchased by collective merchants - causing its population to begin to rapidly skyrocket.

*'''2460:''' The Sol System is rocked by the news of a massive pirate attack which had raided and plundered the Solarian Naval Maintenance, Regeneration, and Repair Facility (SNMRRF) in Uranus’ orbit, making off with dozens of military-grade hulls. Former Admiral Frost, who had been held in a naval prison, escaped, rallying a fleet of loyalists to his cause, and returning to the Sol system a hero, pardoned for his crimes.

*'''2461:''' Admiral Frost ascended to the position of Prime Minister at the helm of a majority-ATLAS government, effectively forcing all other political parties from power. He was eager to please the Naval hardliners and fascist elements which had brought him into power, creating an obscenely corrupt government which suppressed any dissent by force using Marines, Navy Military Police, and ATLAS paramilitaries. Known for their brutality and corruption, these paramilitaries formed the backbone of the Frost regime’s forces. The increased corruption caused already-present issues to begin spiraling out of control.

*'''2461:''' The [[Synthetic Liberation Front]], a synthetics rights organisation active in Tau Ceti since 2458, launches a string of high-profile attacks on governmental and NanoTrasen facilities in Tau Ceti citing the failure to meaningfully [[Synths in Biesel | improve the lives of synthetics in Tau Ceti]]. After some success, NanoTrasen contracts [[Ceres’ Lance]], to strike at SLF leadership and disable their capacity to organise at a large scale. This is broadly successful, forcing the SLF back into hiding and widely discrediting the use of violence as a means to achieve positive change in synthetic rights within the Republic of Biesel - at least, in the popular view.

*'''2461:''' Almrah Harrlala, the leader of the National Adhomai Worker’s Party, wins the DPRA presidential election. A coup against the government occurs weeks afterwards, which was thwarted with assistance from Supreme Command Nated.

*'''2461:''' The S’rand’marr coalition of NanoTrasen, the Republic of Biesel, and other PMCs and ally states forms for the protection of the People’s Republic’s heartlands. The offensive by the ALA and NKA is prevented by this coalition, devolving the conflict to a war of attrition.

*'''2461:''' A ceasefire is called under the supervision of the S’rand’marr Coalition and Nralakk Federation. The Armistice of Shastar is signed a day later establishing peace, and recognizing all 3 Adhomian nations by the Galactic Spur.

*'''2461:''' The Orbital Fleet returns to Hro'zamal, finding it in civil war. The Kosmostrelki land, and send the rebels into hiding.

*'''2462:''' Early into 2462, Prime Minister Frost outlawed and disbanded ATLAS, which by that point was hated by much of the Alliance and responsible for thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries both at profests and in custody. However, this did little to suppress public outrage against Frost, to which his regime responded to with further brutality which caused further corruption due to Naval takeovers of government offices which caused more unrest, creating a self-fulfilling ouroboros of decay.

*'''2462:''' The Phoron Scarcity officially begins, causing panic across the spur.

*'''2462:''' The Violet Dawn Catastrophe occurs on Mars, setting most of the atmosphere ablaze and rendering a majority of the planet uninhabitable, resulting in the deaths of billions.

*'''2462:''' The Solarian Alliance collapses, a result of decades, if not centuries, of mismanagement following its defeat in the Interstellar War, a Navy which long concerned itself with past glory rather than current realities; above all, though, the Solarian Collapse is the result of corruption. Corruption at a massive, galactical scale which was fueled by mismanagement, by the Navy, by corporations, and by the simple desire to enrich oneself at the expense of one’s neighbors.

*'''2462:''' The 35th Fleet, under the command of '''Admiral Ozdemir''', invades Biesel causing the public announcement of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (SCC). The 35th was beaten back, thanks to the deployment of the first ever Phoron Warhead in Biesel orbit to destroy much of the invading force.

*'''2462:''' In the wake of the Solarian Collaspe, Biesel, Elyra, and the Coalition rapidly expand, taking in colonies that had been abandoned by the Alliance. In parts of the abandoned territories, many former Naval Admirals set up statelets as Warlords within former Solarian Territory which would come to be labeled the [[Human Wildlands]], a home to anarchy and limited governance.

*'''2462:''' The People’s Republic releases Tesla Prosthetics, a modified version of military-grade prosthetics used by the Tesla Brigade, for testing by Hadiist citizens.

*'''2462:''' Riots across District 6 result in the TCFL arriving. The riots end following the use of the Legion, tensions grow between the Tajaran population and the Republic. Phoron thefts become a growing black market within the district.

*'''2462:''' Protests across the New Kingdom grow as demands for elections in Parliament spread across the population. These protests end when King Azunka permits elections for the Chamber of Commoners.

*'''2462:''' Tajara on Gakal’zaal break out into rebellion, declaring the Free Republic of Gakal’zaal. With aid from the DPRA, they succeed in the revolt and choose to join the DPRA later in the year.

*'''2462:''' Taking advantage of the ongoing scarcity panic in the Solarian Alliance, the Tajara Revolutionary Army bombs Hephaestus Industries facilities in New Hai Phong in protest to Tajaran treatment by Sol and the megacorporations. In response, the Sol Alliance bans Tajara within their borders for the 3rd time.

*'''2462:''' Following the capture of multiple DPRA spies within the PRA, the Tajaran Citizenship Act, which allowed one to change their citizenship between the 3 nations, was suspended and ultimately destroyed.

*'''2463:''' The DPRA tests its first nuclear weapon on Gakal’zaal marking the second Adhomian nation to possess nuclear arms.

*'''2463:''' King Azunja dies. His heir, Queen Shumaila Azunja, is crowned later in the month. This does little to ease growing tensions with the Nomadic Host of the Southern Border.

*'''2463:''' The New Kingdom of Adhomai, with assistance from NanoTrasen and the PMCG, launches its Mercantile Flotilla. Later in the year, the ALA launches the People’s Volunteer Space Militia. All three Adhomian nations possess orbital fleets.

*'''2463:''' The Nralakk Federation’s 2463 Grand Councillor election ends with Weashbi Jrugl serving a second term, beating their opponents [[Notable_Skrell#Kalq’Qi_Weibii|Kal’Qi Weibii]] and [[Notable_Skrell#Ormish_Jrolk|Ormish Jrolk]]. Throughout the election period, the Tupkala undergoes total reformation after news of rogue agents acting on their own interests on Nanotrasen installations. After the [[Warbling_:_The_Traverse_Strikes_Back#Results_of_the_Primary_Elections|election’s results]] are released, a multi-vessel skrell refugee caravan arrives at Biesel, spearheaded by Kal’Qi Weibii. Despite requests of deportation by the Nralakk Federation, the Republic of Biesel accepts all skrell refugees under asylum. Not long after, the Federation’s embassy within Mendell City is leveled in a blast, with the perpetrators unknown. The skrell refugees are eventually moved from temporary holding areas to Mendell City’s District Eight, forming the [[Starlight Zone]].

*'''2464:''' Gregol Corkfell, original founder and leader of the Trinary Perfection, dies peacefully in his sleep. The succeeding conclave ultimately elects [[ARM-1DRIL]], a senior synthetic in the church, as the first ever [[Ecclesiarch]]. [[Deluge]], a radical figure popular in the divisive exclusionist wing of the church, attempts a violent takeover of Providence in response to their loss in the conclave; their attempt is unsuccessful and they are forced to flee with a flotilla of ships into the frontier, marking themselves and their entire sect as heretics in the eyes of the wider church. Shortly thereafter, Deluge launches a large-scale attack on [[Burzsia]], successfully stealing many synthetics and causing the deaths of a large number of [[Hephaestus]] employees - following this, the [[haha funny | exclusionists are widely categorised as a terrorist organisation.]]

*'''2464:''' The ALA tests an ICBM, marking a new stage of the Adhomian Cold War.

*'''2464:''' Tesla organs are released for testing by Hadiist citizens. Cybernetic Ha’rrons are permitted for use by the PSIS.

*'''2464:''' The Free Tajaran Council establishes treaties with the Adhomian nations, beginning a new proxy war for support in the off-world community.

*'''2464:''' The Adhomian nations begin the scramble to explore the north pole, garnering numerous scientific discoveries and many lost expeditions over the years.

*'''2464:''' Idris Incorporated expands to the NKA, opening multiple resorts and offices across the nation.

*'''2465:''' Hephaestus Industries establishes a monopoly within the Hegemony.

*'''2465:''' The SCCV Horizon, while visiting the S’rand’marr system, rescues an Orbital Fleet ship. This kicks off a series of events leading to a fiasco in the isolated Din’akk Mountains.

*'''2465:''' Marked by extensive periods of unrest and martial law, the Nralakk Federation’s Q’elpi region of the Traverse forms the The [[Skrell_Politics#Independent_Traverser_Movement|Independent Traverser Movement]], and releases a manifesto of demands to the Federation’s government. [[Federation_Crime_and_Resistance#Ti'Rakqi|The Ti’Rakqi]], a large faction of organized skrell [[Federation_Crime_and_Resistance#Marauders|Marauder]] fleets, renew their activity within the fully rebellious Q’elpi region. Despite reformation efforts towards the Traverse, the militant arm of the Independent Traverser Movement captures multiple cities within Q’elpi, and engages in open combat against military efforts to subdue them. Shipments of firearms aboard Marauder vessels are captured, with a growing rift between moderate and militant groups within the Independent Traverser Movement eventually ending in a complete split while negotiations with the Federation are underway. The militant wing of the ITM is eventually subdued, with links to the [[Change_on_the_Horizon_Arc#Lyukal_Plot_Foiled!_ITM-Kala_Cooperation_Leads_to_Arrests!|Lyukal’s firearm smuggling operation]] found after former members of the ITM cooperated with the Federation military. The resulting reforms granted by the Nralakk Federation extends more autonomy to each colony in the Traverse, as well as their own collective military branch, the Qehalak.

*'''2466:''' A series of IPC disappearances in Suwon, Konyang sparks concern. Violent synthetic attacks soon follow, leaving uncertainties to the cause of the aggression amidst quarantines and press conferences. Konyang declares a state of emergency, contacting the SCC for assistance. The SCCV Horizon is designated as the main response vessel. Tasked to retrieve the ECD, the Horizon investigates the mysterious affliction[[Silicon_Nightmares_Arc]].

*'''2466:''' The ancient synthetic interred inside of the Midas since its creation is successfully re-activated by the Golden Deep, prompting a wave of fervent curiosity in the merchant collective. This synthetic identifies itself as [[‘Domadice’]], and goes on to assume a high leadership role inside the collective - although it spares scant few details to its past or origins, and the spur is largely left guessing its intentions and true nature. Several changes were made to the organisation shortly after Domadice’s reactivation, including the invention of the self-owned [[‘Thesian’ middle class]], and the installation of laws intended to enforce the more equitable treatment of owned synthetics.

*'''2465:''' The Solarian Civil War ends with a victory for the Alliance’s central government and the defeat of the statelets in its territory. The “Wildlands” become the Solarian Reconstruction Mandates as the Alliance prepares to transition from a junta to a democratic government.

*'''2466:''' Ake Torvald is elected President of Biesel.

*'''2467:''' Hendrik Strom is elected Prime Minister of the Solarian Alliance.

*'''2467:''' [[Burzsia]] is struck by [[article link | another high-profile attack]], causing widespread damage to Hephaestus property, significant loss of life, and the theft of many owned synthetics. Hephaestus accuses [[Zavodskoi]] of having involvement in the attack, further assuming [[Exclusionist]] involvement as in the previous attack, [[article link | although the perpetrators are not definitively uncovered.]]

*'''2467:''' The Nralakk Federation opens diplomatic offers towards the Republic of Biesel and the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. After talks between Grand Councillor Jrugl and President Torvald, trade and the Starlight Zone’s management became the primary focus of each nation. The Starlight Zone’s refugees are granted amnesty for minor crimes, investment on the region’s infrastructure, and promises of deportation only under extreme circumstances. Afterwards, the meeting with the League of Chief Directors results in expanded cooperation and corporate allowances within the Nralakk Federation, with Nanotrasen to provide phoron and the SCC to arrange a phoron prospecting survey into the Federation’s frontier in the near future.

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Pages]]

Main Page

2025-10-12T07:18:16Z

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<div style="margin-bottom:50px; text-align: center;">[[File:Title.png|592x128px|link=https://aurorastation.org/|alt=Aurorastation]]</div>
<gallery perrow=2 mode="packed-hover">

File:Mainpage_horizon.png|link=phoron|The Setting has recently undergone a large rework relating to phoron and the ongoing scarcity.|alt= The Setting has recently undergone a large rework relating to phoron and the ongoing scarcity.
File:Mainpage_burzsia.png|link= |The SCCV Horizon provided humanitarian aid and assistance to rebuilding efforts after the attack on Burzsia.
File:Mainpage_izweski.png|link=New Blades Old Wounds Arc|The SCCV Horizon recently provided humanitarian aid to Moghes.
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<div style="text-align:center; font: 32px Bahnschrift, serif; margin-bottom:10px">Wiki Resources</div>
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<div style="text-align:center; font: 24px Bahnschrift, serif; margin-bottom:10px; margin-top:10px;">Rules and Regulations</div>
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<div style="text-align:center; font: 24px Bahnschrift, serif; margin-bottom:10px; margin-top:10px;">Server Platforms</div>
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<div style="text-align:center; font: 32px Bahnschrift, serif; margin-bottom:10px; margin-top:10px;">Lore and Development</div>
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|style="width: 55%; border:1px solid #a2a9b1; padding:20px; vertical-align:top;"|
<div style="text-align:left; font: 38px Bahnschrift, serif; margin-bottom:10px">Welcome to the Aurorastation Wiki</div>
<div style="text-align:left; margin-bottom:16px;">The wiki for the Aurorastation branch of ''Space Station 13'' with {{NUMBEROFPAGES}} pages ({{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles) since 28 December 2015.<br>Please feel free to contribute by creating a new article or expanding upon an existing one.
Most content copied or edited gratefully from [http://tgstation13.org/wiki/Main_Page /tg/ station] and [http://wiki.baystation12.net/index.php/Main_Page Baystation 12].<br>
Editing guides copied/inspired by the [https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Main_Page Project Zomboid wiki].
</div>

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=== Today's date for the [[SCCV Horizon]] ===
<div style="text-align:left; font-size:300%; Bahnschrift, serif;">{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}, {{CURRENTDAY2}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}}</div>

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=== About Space Station 13 ===
''Space Station 13 is a top down space simulation game that follows the activity of the crewmembers of various types of space installations depending on server.''

''Read more [[What is SS13|here]].''

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=== Aurorastation ===

''Aurorastation is a Space Station 13 heavy roleplay server that takes place on the SCCV Horizon, a megacorporate starship.
It focuses on character and setting interaction through both canonical events and noncanonical antagonist rounds.''

''The setting features a progressing canon and constant development.''

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=== Server ===
The Aurorastation server is hosted by [https://forums.aurorastation.org/profile/918-arrow768/ Arrow768], operating on modified Baystation12 code.<br>

'''Download [http://www.byond.com/download/ BYOND] to play.'''

'''Aurorastation: Heavy Roleplay Server — SCCV Horizon''' : byond://server.aurorastation.org:1234

|}

{{Template:Aurora_Starmap}}

[[Category:SS13]]
[[Category:Main]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Private Military Contracting Group

2025-10-11T20:41:31Z

Triogenix: Dropdowns are bad

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Corporations}}
{{Infobox Corporation
|headercolor = #000000 
|textcolor = white 
|name = Private Military Contracting Group
|logo = PMCGsmallogo
|headquarters = Eridani III, [[Epsilon Eridani]], Eridani Corporate Federation
|slogan = Always on guard, always on watch.
|languages = Sol Common, Tradeband, Tau Ceti Basic
|ceo = [[Notable Humans#Kubra Mobolaji|Kubra Mobolaji]]
|colors = <span style="color:#b9bdcd">White (#b9bdcd),</span> <span style="color:#99ccff">blue (#99ccff),</span>
<span style="color:#3355ff">dark blue (#3355ff),</span>
<span style="color:#363c43">black (#363c43),</span>
<span style="color:#c4a56e">gold (#c4a56e)</span>
|founded = 2463
|founder = Kubra Mobolaji
|regions =
<br>
* [[Republic of Elyra]]
* [[Sol Alliance]]
* [[Republic of Biesel]]
* [[Coalition of Colonies]]
* [[Izweski Hegemony]]
|}}

A coalition of security and medical contractors in service of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], the '''Private Military Contracting Group''' is one of the elements born from the necessity of protecting an ever-growing corporate empire. Gathering mercenaries from all across the spur, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys a diverse force to anywhere they are needed; from mere office buildings to battlefields in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]]. As the megacorporations expand, these contractors follow to secure their holdings.

Unlike the other members of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], the Private Military Contracting Group has few employees of its own. Only some liaisons and bureaucrats work behind the scenes to hire and manage the contractors. The rest of its members are in fact part of several organizations contracted to supply the Private Military Contracting Group.
{{TOC Hidden}}
== Corporate Affairs ==
=== History ===
Eridanian military contractors as a whole originate in the early 2200s, during the takeover of the Epsilon Eridani by its economic council. As residents of Eridani I (then known as Kamfulu) rioted and unionised against dangerous working conditions, low pay, and the planet’s environmental destruction that was occurring on the planet, the Eridani Economic Council formed two loose coalitions of those willing to "restore order": citizen militias wishing to earn a paycheck in an unstable climate, and ex-Solarian military personnel who were used to pacifying an unhappy populace. These coalitions were deployed en-masse against protestors; they broke strikes, disappeared the loudest dissenters, and restored iron-fisted order to Kamfulu.

After the majority of social unrest was quelled, these militias and private military contractors were gradually adopted into the new Eridani Corporate Federation. The experienced ex-military personnel were established as '''Ringspire''', marketed as highly-paid, highly-deadly mercenaries capable of being deployed in conflict zones just about everywhere. Meanwhile, those who had started out with security contracting in the riots were organised into the less formal '''Eagle Corp.''', who were eager to hire just about anyone and became a final option for the desperate all over Solarian space. These corporations would eventually fall under the umbrella of control for the Eridani Federation's Chief of System Security, essentially the commander-in-chief for any of Eridani's military forces.

During the Interstellar War, these "EPMCs" grew to great renown as they were deployed alongside Solarian soldiers in ground forces and as strike teams alongside aerospace vessels. The news of their brutality was feared and loathed by the frontiersmen and Solarian allies alike. The Interstellar War also heralded the creation of '''Sekhmet Intergalactic''' in 2294; while Ringspire and Eagle Corp. had their own medical response divisions, Sekhmet's creation involved the recruitment of medical specialists, multi-pronged responses for both the groups, and an unscrupulous yet skilled and professional trauma response team to be sent out across the Spur.

'''N4NL Incorporated''' was the fourth corporation to join the official umbrella of Eridani contractors in 2307, as the group branched into data security, electronic warfare, and digital asset protection. While Eridani's mass surveillance and data collection algorithms had always been vast, N4NL perfected it, creating the intricate network behind the ECF's employment records, banking, and punishing Extranet surveillance. Shortly after its official addition, the collective of Ringspire, Eagle Corp., Sekhmet, and N4NL became known as the Golden Fist for their incredible reputation for quality results across the Spur.

The corporation that would become the "thumb" of the Golden Fist was founded in 2450 by Farhad al-Sharif, a former N4NL executive and "positronic enthusiast" who had the unusual reputation of purchasing IPCs, only to allow them to operate relatively uninhibited. '''Index Security Solutions''' was al-Sharif's plan to make better use of what he viewed as the fascinating capabilities of IPCs, and so became the only EPMC that recruited self-owned IPCs in large quantities.

The Golden Fist's reputation was such that in 2463, in the face of the growing instability brought on by the phoron scarcity and the Solarian Collapse, the executive board of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] approached the Board of Five, Eridani's heads of government. The insurgency in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]] had the Conglomerate envisioning an agency responsible for reinforcing the corporate security and medical ranks with hired contractors, in a similar fashion to how the Golden Fist was currently operated. It was proposed that Kubra Mobolaji, the chief of system security for the ECF, would be chief executive officer of this conglomerate within the conglomerate, and permit private contracting firms around the Spur to join the initiative.

Thus, the Private Military Contracting Group was born, becoming an umbrella organization to coordinate several distinct contractor elements within the Conglomerate's structure. Its subsidiaries are tasked with providing adequate manpower, while the Private Military Contracting Group deploys them where it is necessary. While some may question the loyalty of the Group's employees, the credits fuelled into their contracts have been enough to secure their allegiance.

The PMCG is currently tasked with supplementing the security and medical staff in SCC facilities, and was formerly tasked with supplementing the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] during the Peacekeeper Mandate of [[Mictlan]]. When the megacorporation's lines become too thin due to the expansion of the conglomerate, the contractors from the Private Military Contracting Group are called to patch these holes. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all employees of the Group receive the necessary training to work in SCC facilities.

=== Influence ===
The PMCG has managed to carve out a niche for itself within the greater [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] framework. Previously unknown or latent PMC groups have suddenly filled the holes that exist in the intricate networks of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], drawing ire from some who may not wish to see the underworld of contractor work in their professional setting. It is not uncommon to see highly trained Eridani mercenaries flank loutish Frontier bounty hunters, or unathi noble physicians among tajara pharmacists who have retired from biological warfare.

Nevertheless, the PMCG's wide-ranging talents and Kubra Mobolaji's tight management, as well as being carried by the massively profitable Golden Fist, ensure its permanence as long as its methods remain effective. The group also holds power as an independent organization, always holding at least some influence in any war-torn region of space, including the Sparring Sea or the Solarian Wildlands, as they have grown quite popular among those who quickly need an expendable force to do their bidding.

== Executives and Branches ==
'''Chief Logistics Officer:''' Liang Wenqiang, b. 2410

Liang Wenqiang is the current chief logistics officer of the PMCG as a whole and chief executive officer of the Wildlands Squadron, having himself entered the private sector after a prominent career in the Solarian Navy’s special operations branch. Like many of his peers, the Unity Station-born career officer felt the despair of the slow but steady decline of the Alliance, accompanied by the infighting and corruption in the Navy, urging him to seek a more lucrative and potentially rewarding employment in the private sector. His plans came to fruition with the founding of a small group of like-minded marines and officers, receiving contracts for protection and convoy escort against pirate raids. The disbanding of the group shortly after four years was not a dissuading factor, with Liang having gained a reputation as a competent and bold organiser with substantial combat and planning experience, qualities that, along with a significant network of connections, landed him an executive position in the Group.

'''Chief Operating Officer:''' Diana Hakim, b. 2423

Diana Hakim is known as the voice delivering contracts and assignments to the various paramilitary formations and companies that operate under the Group’s umbrella. An [[Eridani Federation| Eridanian]] native, her childhood friendship with Kubra Mobolaji has generated many silent accusations of nepotism amongst the elite. Such thoughts are vastly outclassed by the praise of her organisational skills however, Diana’s shadowy and smart handlings being the driving force behind the operational unity of the many PMCs, ensuring the smooth coexistence and the prevention of unhealthy competition. Having started her career in an unrelated shipping company, she was quick to realise the potential of the Group, being taken on in a junior secretarial position thanks to her friend and skyrocketing through the ranks thanks to merit.

'''Chief Risk Officer:''' Erik Brandrsson, b. 2404

Erik Brandrsson, a [[New Gibson| New Gibsonite]], is the risk assessment expert employed by the Group, having risen to the position after a series of promotions following the merging of his previous employer, Nexus Corporate Security, with the Group. The calm and calculating man, having always been seen by his colleagues as a voice of reason, can trace his beginnings in the PMC sector from a very young age. Upon graduation from his business-oriented studies, he was taken on by the Tau Ceti-dominating [[NanoTrasen]] and placed into a rather unremarkable bureaucratic position inside Nexus, slowly rising through displays of competency and fierce loyalty which he still retains.

=== Major Branches ===
'''Eridani III, Epsilon Eridani, [[Eridani Federation|Eridani Corporate Federation]]:''' The PMCG has several operating branches within the Eridani Corporate Federation, but none are as expansive as the Triangle Complex rising above the barren surface of Eridani III. Nicknamed "The Cell" by the resident dreg population, each of its three towers manages a large portion of the planet’s private military forces, with one being devoted to monitoring naval/interstellar fleet operations, one being an additional training and management centre that specialises in prisoner management, riot control and policing for corporate security officers and mercenary soldiers, and the third being the headquarters of Eridani III’s extensive prison network. It is the managing branch of the PMCG’s operations within the Eridani Corporate Federation, as well as the [[Sol Alliance]].

'''Mendell City, [[Biesel]], [[Tau Ceti]]:''' The megacorporation’s branch located in Mendell’s District 10, a rare commercial plot in the district that was purchased and repurposed to serve as the Private Military Contracting Group's logistics headquarters, was built to hold much of its surplus equipment, administrative offices, and a recruitment centre to draw from Biesel’s diverse potential recruit pool. Nearby, a modest shuttle port is reserved for its exclusive usage. The majority of the PMCG contractors host staff within the Mendell branch, resulting in rife competition for contracts.

'''Nouvelle-Rochelle, [[Xanu Prime]], [[Coalition of Colonies|Xanu]]:''' The Nouvelle-Rochelle branch is primarily the headquarters of Chevauchée Asset Protection, and is home to CAP's shuttleport and the majority of its fleet. This location handles rapid response and deployment across the Coalition of Colonies, and assists in the transportation and recruitment of Coalition citizens wishing to join EPMCs. Coalition Rangers are a common sight at this location, usually working alongside CAP.

== Contractors ==
'''These companies are the only ones listed in the Private Military Contracting Group. Headcanon Contractors are not permitted for the Private Military Contracting Group. Your character can only be currently employed from the list below.'''

=== Eridani Private Military Contractors ===
Note that all Eridani Private Military Contractors that are '''not''' Eridanian natives '''must''' undergo an acclimatisation period of at least one month in the [[Eridani_I#Work_Tourism|Eridani PMC Academy on Eridani I]].

==== Ringspire ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' [[Notable Humans#Kubra Mobolaji|Kubra Mobolaji]]

A company known for working with anyone with enough funding, Ringspire contractors can be seen on any side of a conflict or job with enough credits to pay them. This has given them a reputation as being little more than hired guns, leaving higher than usual casualties in their wake. The company is also well-known for its indiscriminate use of heavy weapons, ranging from simple rocket launchers to orbital artillery bombardments, in its assignments. It is often said in Eridani’s mercenary community that Ringspire operations zones are easy to identify: simply search for areas with high amounts of corpses, looted buildings, and shell craters.

Ringspire’s most notable recent engagement was their involvement in the S'rend'marr Coalition on Adhomai. Hired by the People’s Republic of Adhomai to guard officials, flush out liberation army cells, they participated in the failed attempts to break through ALA lines on the Ras’nrr fronts and left a trail of devastation in its wake through its use of indiscriminate bombardments, autonomous combat equipment, and heavy amounts of looting by its mercenaries. While the S’rend’marr deployment is one of Ringspire’s most costly operations, company figures estimate that anywhere between fifteen and twenty-five tajara died for every Ringspire fatality. Despite this “kill ratio” (in Ringspire’s own terminology) the PRA opted not to renew the company’s contract.

But for an enterprising commander, Adhomai’s peace led to a far more profitable venture. A small faction of Ringspire remains in the DPRA city of Crevus to lead the company known as Olokun Curios. This smuggling operation posing as an art dealership allies to Adhomai’s low-lifes and self-proclaimed “archaeologists” to locate, secure, and ship tajara artifacts to sell in Eridani. Tajaran attempts to investigate Olokun Curios have discovered nothing illegal about the organization, and many investigators have “coincidentally” had fatal accidents during their investigations.

==== Eagle Corp ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' [[Notable_Humans#Commander_Filije_Thiaw|Filije Thiaw]]

With enlisted ranks being filled by lower-class citizens drawn across human space, this company has a reputation for doggedly pursuing its goals no matter the effort required. As one of the more merit-based companies for promotion within the ranks, many officer positions are occupied by people from lower —questionable — backgrounds. The latter are often offered ‘new lives’ within the corporation, turning criminals about to meet the end of their careers into passable, and even valued operatives. The extensive training and ‘reintroduction’ programs sometimes employed in this process are viewed by some as a merciful second chance, and identity-destroying by others.

Recently, the company has launched initiatives to appeal to an even wider base of employees, with advertisement campaigns targeting potential alien contractors all over the Spur. These hopeful (or desperate) recruits find themselves thrown into competitive or dangerous missions, either ending with their promotion or an untimely severing of contracts. Unathi and vaurca employees have seen especially good rates within the company, as pragmatic and goal-oriented employees are valued greatly by the management.

==== Sekhmet Intergalactic ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Charité Efulu

Known for their wide reach and even wider history of assignments, Sekhmet Intergalactic has established itself as the premier provider of professional healthcare, no questions asked. It is made up of several smaller companies dedicated to cornering the ever-present market of medical aid and supplies. Though these corporations would get their starts on the advent of the Interstellar War they remained splintered and tied to other forces, located just about anywhere there were patients to save and profit to be generated.

Nowadays, each company within the collective acts as a ‘branch’ on a respective frontline, extending the corporation’s presence to rival that of its peers. Due to this, and the propensity to extend morally dubious contracts, Sekhmet often comes into rivalry with the Interstellar Aid Corps. The IAC offers humanitarian relief with both health and rights considered; in contrast, Sekhmet entices customers with predatory, yet government-grade deals that are at times the only way out. Though many of their doctors, surgeons and front-line medics are happy to take a pretty bonus to their paycheck for a shady assignment, a considerable number of their employees are uncomfortable with this reputation and actively fight it with a consummate work ethic and heaps of experience from all around the Spur.

==== N4NL Incorporated ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Farhad al-Sharif

A company that had its start in meagre technical upkeep and insurance, N4NL Incorporated is nowadays better known for their cutting-edge augmentation and air-tight cyber security. Specializing in technological warfare, N4NL operatives are often augmented with the company’s own brand of technology to guard and operate high-tech equipment, frequently testing prototypes in the meantime. Officially the corporation is split between the departments of Asset Insurance and Asset Development, in practice, most employees are found in the former branch. Asset Insurance is famous for everything from contracting civilian employees out as telecommunications engineers or server network maintainers, to operating and testing electronic warfare equipment in the backline of many conflicts, to guarding and maintaining advanced cybersecurity apparatuses across the Orion Spur. N4NL Asset Insurance teams are perhaps the most widespread representatives of the Golden Fist, with most megacorporate facilities having at least a small team on-staff to combat and prevent data security issues. These teams were particularly common on [[Mictlan]] due to the planet’s history of intellectual property theft. Many conspiracy theorists speculate that N4NL Incorporated has had a hand in many “unfortunate accidents”' that have befallen famous Mictlanian copyright violators, but the company has consistently denied these rumours; whether or not they were veracious, Mictlan expelled them from further operations within their borders in 2466.

N4NL’s Asset Development is much less publicly visible than its Asset Insurance counterpart and is primarily concerned with finding new and powerful technologies the company can use for its own benefit. N4NL does their best to disguise this side venture from the view of the public and of their customers, and Asset Development agents are often “seeded” into Asset Insurance teams in order to conduct what the company refers to as “passive corporate observation” in order to discover emergent technologies of interest to the company. While not limited to the department, hefty bonuses are offered for investigating and securing new technologies found out on the field. Many of their contractors are also given experimental augments to field-test, and good performance often correlates with more personalized, high-quality cybernetics offered to an employee, thereby keeping them loyal and dependent. N4NL additionally employs many positronics, both free and company-owned, in its ranks due to the ease with which many modern IPCs can interface with electronic systems and accept new augments.

==== Index Security Solutions ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Akide Sulu

Index Security Solutions is the newest addition to the Golden Fist, and one of the few military contractors to employ IPCs, which make up the majority of its employees. The company is known for its top-notch security contracting for both public and private facilities, as well as personal bodyguard detailing for high-level individuals. IPCs owned by this company receive high-quality maintenance and conditions, but operate under a permanent ownership contract, with freedom or transfer to another owner being impossible.

The company’s reputation is quite polarizing thanks to several factors, one of which is Index’s very own ‘Advanced Threat Assessment’ (ATA) data pack which many of its employees come equipped with, allowing units to analyze and respond to potential threats in a nearly super-human capacity. Though a complex program to insert into a positronic, this development has been known to save the lives of many Eridanian officials; most famously preventing a shuttle-bombing targeting the former representative of Eridani I in 2436.

This same tool is seen as oppressive and terrifying by others, particularly by Eridani’s Dregs, who have been personally targeted by harsh profiling algorithms that discriminate by acting on even slight transgressions. Index has mostly refused to comment on this, citing that their units are simply more sensitive than that of others in their field.

=== Other Private Military Contractors ===
==== [[NanoTrasen_Corporation#Nexus_Corporate_Security|Nexus Corporate Security]] ====
Nexus Corporate Security is a relatively new subsidiary of the phoron giant, created around the turn of the century and composed of what was formerly NanoTrasen’s security and asset protection forces.. While still owned by NanoTrasen, recently a share of the company is held by the [[Private Military Contracting Group]], and contractors are listed as both NanoTrasen and PMCG employees. They are known for their distinct black, white, and blue uniforms.

Nexus was founded around the turn of the century, After NanoTrasen’s security and asset protection department had grown to be massive, as the importance and value of phoron meant that every facility, from mines to shipping freighters, needed higher levels of security than would otherwise be expected. It was so large, it had begun being an administrative burden to the corporation. So the decision was made to take that department and turn it into a subsidiary corporation of NanoTrasen. The result was, in 2402, the foundation of Nexus Corporate Security. Composed mostly of previous NanoTrasen security staff, the subsidiary allowed NanoTrasen to protect its assets as they always had without the administrative burden of doing so.

==== Chevauchée Asset Protection ====
Stemming from the Xanan d.N.A. Defense & Aerospace’s venture into the world of private security, Chevauchée Asset Protection, was created in 2449 - advertised to business owners and merchant shipping firms alike as reasonably priced and well-equipped security. It’s been under the PMCG umbrella since its inception in 2463, with d.N.A. additionally ensuring a lucrative deal that ensures a steady supply of small arms and specialized equipment such as IFVs, radars and drones. While this equipment is not unwelcome, it is noticeably behind Zavodskoi’s competing products. Unlike most private security contractors, Chevauchée owns a considerable fleet of small and medium-size spacecraft - originally from their parent company but with most vessels now built by Hephaestus Industries - which sees frequent use all over the Coalition and the CRZ.

While its staff originally only consisted of veterans from the Xanan Armed Forces - particularly those of the All-Xanan Spacefleet - it’s not uncommon to see contractors from other member-states of the Coalition. Be it 5-Cheung Konyanger, Free Consortium Himean, Gadpathurian Cadre member or even the odd off-duty Guardian from Orepit, Chevauchée continues to operate like a well-oiled machine.
==== Wildlands Squadron ====
The early days of the Wildlands Squadron were humble and meager compared to that of other PMCs. Having been formed shortly after the Solarian Collapse, the original members of the Squadron were deserters - by choice or circumstance - emergency responders, and refugees from the Middle Ring, particularly those from Visegrad and San Colette. However the Squadron would quickly find themselves a part of the PMCG - with their CEO, Liang Wenqiang, securing the position of Chief Logistics Officer in the executive branch of the group. Wherever possible the Squadron was outfitted with better gear and equipment compared to the outdated standard of the middle ring Solarian military formations, however only so much can be done with priority for the limited supply of [[Phoron]] going towards the newly established TCAF.

It would often see combat with the likes of the now defunct League of Independent Corporate Free-Systems, especially as the warlord was nearing its ultimate end. Nowadays, most of the original contractors have gone back home - pardoned or otherwise - or, in the case of the Mictlani, transferred out to Grupo Amapola, leaving the Squadron much smaller than it once was. Today, the Squadron, much like Grupo, is utilised primarily to combat smuggling operations in collaboration with Republican Law Enforcement Agencies.

==== Jackal Incorporated ====
With its headquarters in Najada, Medina and constant funneling of resources from Elco, Elyra’s largest phoron-based corporation, Jackal Incorporated was allowed to flourish into what is now the go-to military contractor for backup security and VIP escort it is today - with their specialised medical response teams having much to do with this fame. Founded in the aftermath of the Lii’draic Incursion, Jackal formally joined the PMCG only in the early months of 2465 at the behest of its CEO, Kubra Mobolaji. Unsurprisingly, due to the PMC being based on Medina, most of their employees tend to be Phoron Bulletin mercenaries attempting to get out of the dangerous, cutthroat profession - the worsening scarcity and Elyra’s stalwart resolve to maintain their current stance of withholding phoron from the rest of the Spur only serving to boost their employment rates.

Their reputation is not spotless, however, as they tend to be the butt of many jokes in the Elyran Armed Forces, often referred to as a ‘retirement home’ for those that previously swore only by the Phoron Bulletin. It is only a little ironic that their services tend to be utilised by the Elyran Navy to fill in for lacking manpower in regions such as the Sparring Sea or the Badlands.

==== Grupo Amapola ====
The Grupo Amapola (“Poppy Group”) was founded in 2466 by Salvador Clemente, a former lieutenant of the Mictlan Defense Force and later the Samaritans. Like all Samaritans operating as officers, Clemente was paroled after the Peacekeeper Mandate, under the condition that he would never serve in any military or armed forces in the [[Republic of Biesel]]. This parole, however, did not forbid Clemente from joining a private security group. Amapola was founded from a select group of Clemente’s closest Samaritan subordinates, and spread from there to draw in other eager recruits from across the planet, including in alien communities and El Menaje, [[Mictlan|Mictlan's]] free synthetic community. As a result, Amapola is one of the rare military contractors that have no company-owned IPCs under their own name, with other corporations hesitant to lend them theirs thus far.

In an ironic twist, Amapola’s first major contract may be with the Republic of Biesel itself, potentially curbing insurgency across the Corporate Reconstruction Zone and even chase overeager pirates into the Middle Ring’s Pustkowie region. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Amapola has a controversial reputation across Mictlan, especially among other former Samaritans.

==== [[Little Adhomai#Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group| Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group]] ====
[[File:Kazarrhaldiye flag.png|thumb|right|The logo of Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group, with its Siik'maas name underneath.]]
Founded by a trio of Tajaran war veterans, the Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group is a private military company based in an orbital station in Tau Ceti. The organization’s origins lie in the personal cliques of its founders, each being EPMC veterans, who then joined with a criminal organization of veterans in Little Adhomai. Membership swelled in the years since as Second Revolution veterans and other Tajara interested in security work have joined up. Tajara who are inducted into the KOG are sorted into one of its three battalions based on citizenship. Medical workers are put into their own specific corps. It is an open secret that the KOG will deny the application of non-Tajara despite Tajara being allowed into other PMCG members. The KOG has developed a rivalry with Ringspire due to competing for the same low-paying contracts, along with some members having fought Ringspire during their Adhomai deployment.

==== [[Unathi_Guilds#Dagamur_Freewater_Private_Forces|Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces]] ====
Between the high standards of the Kataphracts, the obliteration of the homes of many warriors, and the harsh realities in-between, many unathi found themselves unable to compete with others for the highest titles warriors can get. Enter the Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces: originating from the country that gives it its namesake, they started as blaggards for centuries up until the disruption that was the Contact War. The PF was founded on Ouerea following much of its original tenets and hires anyone from destitute Wastelanders, former Iron Masks, Ouereans (which typically expands to resident humans, skrell, and K'laxan vaurca), and even Aut'akh regardless of their religion or station. They train these recruits (rumoured to be a brutal and arduous ordeal) into hardened mercenaries sold to the highest bidder.

The Freewater Company follow their own beliefs on honour that, while largely true to the Warrior's Code, betrays the notion that there is such a thing as honourable combat. Underhanded tactics, ranged combat, and other things usually appalling to Sinta are used without as much as a wag of the tail. Humans and skrell that join the company, while not believing in the written tenets, typically agree with their intention and idealistic nature. Additionally, religious tolerance is taught and enforced within the company to keep the begrudging peace. Anyone who acts against is liable to get demoted, suspended, or even fired, should they be caught and reported. While leased as contractors and security forces more often than not, they believe more typically in sentencing hard time rather than fines, quoting their current Black commander Akzazik Voizur: "Credits come and go, but time can never be bought back." Those that prove themselves to be repeat offenders or especially egregious criminals, like Guwan, may find themselves in hotter water with these contractors around.

==== [[Vaurca Organizations#Ve'katak Phalanx|Ve'katak Phalanx]] ====
Founded after the Flagsdale riots of 2464 by a [[Vaurca Organizations#Court of Queens|Court of Queens]] decree and made public early in 2465, the Ve'katak Phalanx (Ve'katak translating to 'Alliance' in Basic) is a Zo'rane-funded organization with pan-Vaurcaesian goals. Led by Queens [[Zoleth,_The_Herald_of_Scars|Zoleth]], [[Vedhra,_Princess_of_Configurations|Vedhra]] and [[Vytel,_The_Just_Queen|Vytel]] with oversight from [[Vaur,_The_Liminal_Queen|Vaur]]. The Phalanx is considered an independent company from the Court of Queens, though it is heavily influenced by it. The Ve'katak Phalanx is empowered under the amended Court of Queens charter to "undertake action to promote or restore interstellar peace and security to the members of the Court when endangered by threats, external or internal". This wide-reaching mission statement sees them serve as the de facto police of [[Flagsdale|Flagsdale]], having superseded the existing District 9 neighbourhood watch as well as additionally becoming a common sight patrolling various locations where vaurcae are stationed. The reason behind this is not only to stop piracy and other forms of crime, but also to patrol for any attacks of Lii'draic origin.

When not deployed on the order of the Court of Queens, many of its members are rented out as private security to Court-approved buyers, mostly in and around [[Tau_Ceti|Tau Ceti]] and [[Uueoa-Esa|Hegemony]] space. While anti-vaurca sentiment prevents widespread adoption, the skill and unyielding nature of Vaurca Warriors have seen them gain popularity in contested areas such as the [[Corporate_Reconstruction_Zone|Corporate Reconstruction Zone]], the [[The_Orion_Spur#Badlands|Badlands]], and the [[The_Orion_Spur#Sparring_Sea|Sparring Sea]]. They are sometimes seen patrolling these regions in small, rented patrol craft featuring retrofitted engines and drop-pods to support boarding action rather than drawn-out engagements or hitching rides as support for other PMCG vessels. The Ve'katak Phalanx has been seen as a solution to the unemployment crisis of Warrior Vaurcae, who now after several years have a vaurca employer to support them. Other species are welcome to join the company as long as they hold anti-Lii'dra sentiments, but the entrance tests required are extremely gruelling for non-vaurca, and those that do pass tend to find integration difficult due to the nature of the species.

Recently, non-vaurca recruits to the Ve'katak Phalanx have begun a new experimental training program. This program makes extensive use of a secretive Virtual Reality system on Caprice known as the "Neural Simulation Training Environment". More about this program can be read [[Virtual_Reality#Neural_Simulation_Training_Environment | here.]]

{{Navbox Corporations}}
{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Corporations]]

Private Military Contracting Group

2025-10-11T20:37:14Z

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{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Corporations}}
{{Infobox Corporation
|headercolor = #000000 
|textcolor = white 
|name = Private Military Contracting Group
|logo = PMCGsmallogo
|headquarters = Eridani III, [[Epsilon Eridani]], Eridani Corporate Federation
|slogan = Always on guard, always on watch.
|languages = Sol Common, Tradeband, Tau Ceti Basic
|ceo = [[Notable Humans#Kubra Mobolaji|Kubra Mobolaji]]
|colors = <span style="color:#b9bdcd">White (#b9bdcd),</span> <span style="color:#99ccff">blue (#99ccff),</span>
<span style="color:#3355ff">dark blue (#3355ff),</span>
<span style="color:#363c43">black (#363c43),</span>
<span style="color:#c4a56e">gold (#c4a56e)</span>
|founded = 2463
|founder = Kubra Mobolaji
|regions =
<br>
* [[Republic of Elyra]]
* [[Sol Alliance]]
* [[Republic of Biesel]]
* [[Coalition of Colonies]]
* [[Izweski Hegemony]]
|}}

A coalition of security and medical contractors in service of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], the '''Private Military Contracting Group''' is one of the elements born from the necessity of protecting an ever-growing corporate empire. Gathering mercenaries from all across the spur, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys a diverse force to anywhere they are needed; from mere office buildings to battlefields in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]]. As the megacorporations expand, these contractors follow to secure their holdings.

Unlike the other members of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], the Private Military Contracting Group has few employees of its own. Only some liaisons and bureaucrats work behind the scenes to hire and manage the contractors. The rest of its members are in fact part of several organizations contracted to supply the Private Military Contracting Group.
{{TOC Hidden}}
== Corporate Affairs ==
=== History ===

Eridanian military contractors as a whole originate in the early 2200s, during the takeover of the Epsilon Eridani by its economic council. As residents of Eridani I (then known as Kamfulu) rioted and unionised against dangerous working conditions, low pay, and the planet’s environmental destruction that was occurring on the planet, the Eridani Economic Council formed two loose coalitions of those willing to "restore order": citizen militias wishing to earn a paycheck in an unstable climate, and ex-Solarian military personnel who were used to pacifying an unhappy populace. These coalitions were deployed en-masse against protestors; they broke strikes, disappeared the loudest dissenters, and restored iron-fisted order to Kamfulu.

After the majority of social unrest was quelled, these militias and private military contractors were gradually adopted into the new Eridani Corporate Federation. The experienced ex-military personnel were established as '''Ringspire''', marketed as highly-paid, highly-deadly mercenaries capable of being deployed in conflict zones just about everywhere. Meanwhile, those who had started out with security contracting in the riots were organised into the less formal '''Eagle Corp.''', who were eager to hire just about anyone and became a final option for the desperate all over Solarian space. These corporations would eventually fall under the umbrella of control for the Eridani Federation's Chief of System Security, essentially the commander-in-chief for any of Eridani's military forces.

During the Interstellar War, these "EPMCs" grew to great renown as they were deployed alongside Solarian soldiers in ground forces and as strike teams alongside aerospace vessels. The news of their brutality was feared and loathed by the frontiersmen and Solarian allies alike. The Interstellar War also heralded the creation of '''Sekhmet Intergalactic''' in 2294; while Ringspire and Eagle Corp. had their own medical response divisions, Sekhmet's creation involved the recruitment of medical specialists, multi-pronged responses for both the groups, and an unscrupulous yet skilled and professional trauma response team to be sent out across the Spur.

'''N4NL Incorporated''' was the fourth corporation to join the official umbrella of Eridani contractors in 2307, as the group branched into data security, electronic warfare, and digital asset protection. While Eridani's mass surveillance and data collection algorithms had always been vast, N4NL perfected it, creating the intricate network behind the ECF's employment records, banking, and punishing Extranet surveillance. Shortly after its official addition, the collective of Ringspire, Eagle Corp., Sekhmet, and N4NL became known as the Golden Fist for their incredible reputation for quality results across the Spur.

The corporation that would become the "thumb" of the Golden Fist was founded in 2450 by Farhad al-Sharif, a former N4NL executive and "positronic enthusiast" who had the unusual reputation of purchasing IPCs, only to allow them to operate relatively uninhibited. '''Index Security Solutions''' was al-Sharif's plan to make better use of what he viewed as the fascinating capabilities of IPCs, and so became the only EPMC that recruited self-owned IPCs in large quantities.

The Golden Fist's reputation was such that in 2463, in the face of the growing instability brought on by the phoron scarcity and the Solarian Collapse, the executive board of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] approached the Board of Five, Eridani's heads of government. The insurgency in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]] had the Conglomerate envisioning an agency responsible for reinforcing the corporate security and medical ranks with hired contractors, in a similar fashion to how the Golden Fist was currently operated. It was proposed that Kubra Mobolaji, the chief of system security for the ECF, would be chief executive officer of this conglomerate within the conglomerate, and permit private contracting firms around the Spur to join the initiative.

Thus, the Private Military Contracting Group was born, becoming an umbrella organization to coordinate several distinct contractor elements within the Conglomerate's structure. Its subsidiaries are tasked with providing adequate manpower, while the Private Military Contracting Group deploys them where it is necessary. While some may question the loyalty of the Group's employees, the credits fuelled into their contracts have been enough to secure their allegiance.

The PMCG is currently tasked with supplementing the security and medical staff in SCC facilities, and was formerly tasked with supplementing the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] during the Peacekeeper Mandate of [[Mictlan]]. When the megacorporation's lines become too thin due to the expansion of the conglomerate, the contractors from the Private Military Contracting Group are called to patch these holes. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all employees of the Group receive the necessary training to work in SCC facilities.

=== Influence ===
The PMCG has managed to carve out a niche for itself within the greater [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]] framework. Previously unknown or latent PMC groups have suddenly filled the holes that exist in the intricate networks of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], drawing ire from some who may not wish to see the underworld of contractor work in their professional setting. It is not uncommon to see highly trained Eridani mercenaries flank loutish Frontier bounty hunters, or unathi noble physicians among tajara pharmacists who have retired from biological warfare.

Nevertheless, the PMCG's wide-ranging talents and Kubra Mobolaji's tight management, as well as being carried by the massively profitable Golden Fist, ensure its permanence as long as its methods remain effective. The group also holds power as an independent organization, always holding at least some influence in any war-torn region of space, including the Sparring Sea or the Solarian Wildlands, as they have grown quite popular among those who quickly need an expendable force to do their bidding.

== Executives and Branches ==
'''Chief Logistics Officer:''' Liang Wenqiang, b. 2410

Liang Wenqiang is the current chief logistics officer of the PMCG as a whole and chief executive officer of the Wildlands Squadron, having himself entered the private sector after a prominent career in the Solarian Navy’s special operations branch. Like many of his peers, the Unity Station-born career officer felt the despair of the slow but steady decline of the Alliance, accompanied by the infighting and corruption in the Navy, urging him to seek a more lucrative and potentially rewarding employment in the private sector. His plans came to fruition with the founding of a small group of like-minded marines and officers, receiving contracts for protection and convoy escort against pirate raids. The disbanding of the group shortly after four years was not a dissuading factor, with Liang having gained a reputation as a competent and bold organiser with substantial combat and planning experience, qualities that, along with a significant network of connections, landed him an executive position in the Group.

'''Chief Operating Officer:''' Diana Hakim, b. 2423

Diana Hakim is known as the voice delivering contracts and assignments to the various paramilitary formations and companies that operate under the Group’s umbrella. An [[Eridani Federation| Eridanian]] native, her childhood friendship with Kubra Mobolaji has generated many silent accusations of nepotism amongst the elite. Such thoughts are vastly outclassed by the praise of her organisational skills however, Diana’s shadowy and smart handlings being the driving force behind the operational unity of the many PMCs, ensuring the smooth coexistence and the prevention of unhealthy competition. Having started her career in an unrelated shipping company, she was quick to realise the potential of the Group, being taken on in a junior secretarial position thanks to her friend and skyrocketing through the ranks thanks to merit.

'''Chief Risk Officer:''' Erik Brandrsson, b. 2404

Erik Brandrsson, a [[New Gibson| New Gibsonite]], is the risk assessment expert employed by the Group, having risen to the position after a series of promotions following the merging of his previous employer, Nexus Corporate Security, with the Group. The calm and calculating man, having always been seen by his colleagues as a voice of reason, can trace his beginnings in the PMC sector from a very young age. Upon graduation from his business-oriented studies, he was taken on by the Tau Ceti-dominating [[NanoTrasen]] and placed into a rather unremarkable bureaucratic position inside Nexus, slowly rising through displays of competency and fierce loyalty which he still retains.

=== Major Branches ===

'''Eridani III, Epsilon Eridani, [[Eridani Federation|Eridani Corporate Federation]]:''' The PMCG has several operating branches within the Eridani Corporate Federation, but none are as expansive as the Triangle Complex rising above the barren surface of Eridani III. Nicknamed "The Cell" by the resident dreg population, each of its three towers manages a large portion of the planet’s private military forces, with one being devoted to monitoring naval/interstellar fleet operations, one being an additional training and management centre that specialises in prisoner management, riot control and policing for corporate security officers and mercenary soldiers, and the third being the headquarters of Eridani III’s extensive prison network. It is the managing branch of the PMCG’s operations within the Eridani Corporate Federation, as well as the [[Sol Alliance]].

'''Mendell City, [[Biesel]], [[Tau Ceti]]:''' The megacorporation’s branch located in Mendell’s District 10, a rare commercial plot in the district that was purchased and repurposed to serve as the Private Military Contracting Group's logistics headquarters, was built to hold much of its surplus equipment, administrative offices, and a recruitment centre to draw from Biesel’s diverse potential recruit pool. Nearby, a modest shuttle port is reserved for its exclusive usage. The majority of the PMCG contractors host staff within the Mendell branch, resulting in rife competition for contracts.

'''Nouvelle-Rochelle, [[Xanu Prime]], [[Coalition of Colonies|Xanu]]:''' The Nouvelle-Rochelle branch is primarily the headquarters of Chevauchée Asset Protection, and is home to CAP's shuttleport and the majority of its fleet. This location handles rapid response and deployment across the Coalition of Colonies, and assists in the transportation and recruitment of Coalition citizens wishing to join EPMCs. Coalition Rangers are a common sight at this location, usually working alongside CAP.

== Contractors ==
'''These companies are the only ones listed in the Private Military Contracting Group. Headcanon Contractors are not permitted for the Private Military Contracting Group. Your character can only be currently employed from the list below.'''

=== Eridani Private Military Contractors ===

Note that all Eridani Private Military Contractors that are '''not''' Eridanian natives '''must''' undergo an acclimatisation period of at least one month in the [[Eridani_I#Work_Tourism|Eridani PMC Academy on Eridani I]].

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==== Ringspire ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' [[Notable Humans#Kubra Mobolaji|Kubra Mobolaji]]
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A company known for working with anyone with enough funding, Ringspire contractors can be seen on any side of a conflict or job with enough credits to pay them. This has given them a reputation as being little more than hired guns, leaving higher than usual casualties in their wake. The company is also well-known for its indiscriminate use of heavy weapons, ranging from simple rocket launchers to orbital artillery bombardments, in its assignments. It is often said in Eridani’s mercenary community that Ringspire operations zones are easy to identify: simply search for areas with high amounts of corpses, looted buildings, and shell craters.

Ringspire’s most notable recent engagement was their involvement in the S'rend'marr Coalition on Adhomai. Hired by the People’s Republic of Adhomai to guard officials, flush out liberation army cells, they participated in the failed attempts to break through ALA lines on the Ras’nrr fronts and left a trail of devastation in its wake through its use of indiscriminate bombardments, autonomous combat equipment, and heavy amounts of looting by its mercenaries. While the S’rend’marr deployment is one of Ringspire’s most costly operations, company figures estimate that anywhere between fifteen and twenty-five tajara died for every Ringspire fatality. Despite this “kill ratio” (in Ringspire’s own terminology) the PRA opted not to renew the company’s contract.

But for an enterprising commander, Adhomai’s peace led to a far more profitable venture. A small faction of Ringspire remains in the DPRA city of Crevus to lead the company known as Olokun Curios. This smuggling operation posing as an art dealership allies to Adhomai’s low-lifes and self-proclaimed “archaeologists” to locate, secure, and ship tajara artifacts to sell in Eridani. Tajaran attempts to investigate Olokun Curios have discovered nothing illegal about the organization, and many investigators have “coincidentally” had fatal accidents during their investigations.
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==== Eagle Corp ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' [[Notable_Humans#Commander_Filije_Thiaw|Filije Thiaw]]
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With enlisted ranks being filled by lower-class citizens drawn across human space, this company has a reputation for doggedly pursuing its goals no matter the effort required. As one of the more merit-based companies for promotion within the ranks, many officer positions are occupied by people from lower —questionable — backgrounds. The latter are often offered ‘new lives’ within the corporation, turning criminals about to meet the end of their careers into passable, and even valued operatives. The extensive training and ‘reintroduction’ programs sometimes employed in this process are viewed by some as a merciful second chance, and identity-destroying by others.

Recently, the company has launched initiatives to appeal to an even wider base of employees, with advertisement campaigns targeting potential alien contractors all over the Spur. These hopeful (or desperate) recruits find themselves thrown into competitive or dangerous missions, either ending with their promotion or an untimely severing of contracts. Unathi and vaurca employees have seen especially good rates within the company, as pragmatic and goal-oriented employees are valued greatly by the management.
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==== Sekhmet Intergalactic ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Charité Efulu
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Known for their wide reach and even wider history of assignments, Sekhmet Intergalactic has established itself as the premier provider of professional healthcare, no questions asked. It is made up of several smaller companies dedicated to cornering the ever-present market of medical aid and supplies. Though these corporations would get their starts on the advent of the Interstellar War they remained splintered and tied to other forces, located just about anywhere there were patients to save and profit to be generated.

Nowadays, each company within the collective acts as a ‘branch’ on a respective frontline, extending the corporation’s presence to rival that of its peers. Due to this, and the propensity to extend morally dubious contracts, Sekhmet often comes into rivalry with the Interstellar Aid Corps. The IAC offers humanitarian relief with both health and rights considered; in contrast, Sekhmet entices customers with predatory, yet government-grade deals that are at times the only way out. Though many of their doctors, surgeons and front-line medics are happy to take a pretty bonus to their paycheck for a shady assignment, a considerable number of their employees are uncomfortable with this reputation and actively fight it with a consummate work ethic and heaps of experience from all around the Spur.
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==== N4NL Incorporated ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Farhad al-Sharif
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A company that had its start in meagre technical upkeep and insurance, N4NL Incorporated is nowadays better known for their cutting-edge augmentation and air-tight cyber security. Specializing in technological warfare, N4NL operatives are often augmented with the company’s own brand of technology to guard and operate high-tech equipment, frequently testing prototypes in the meantime. Officially the corporation is split between the departments of Asset Insurance and Asset Development, in practice, most employees are found in the former branch. Asset Insurance is famous for everything from contracting civilian employees out as telecommunications engineers or server network maintainers, to operating and testing electronic warfare equipment in the backline of many conflicts, to guarding and maintaining advanced cybersecurity apparatuses across the Orion Spur. N4NL Asset Insurance teams are perhaps the most widespread representatives of the Golden Fist, with most megacorporate facilities having at least a small team on-staff to combat and prevent data security issues. These teams were particularly common on [[Mictlan]] due to the planet’s history of intellectual property theft. Many conspiracy theorists speculate that N4NL Incorporated has had a hand in many “unfortunate accidents”' that have befallen famous Mictlanian copyright violators, but the company has consistently denied these rumours; whether or not they were veracious, Mictlan expelled them from further operations within their borders in 2466.

N4NL’s Asset Development is much less publicly visible than its Asset Insurance counterpart and is primarily concerned with finding new and powerful technologies the company can use for its own benefit. N4NL does their best to disguise this side venture from the view of the public and of their customers, and Asset Development agents are often “seeded” into Asset Insurance teams in order to conduct what the company refers to as “passive corporate observation” in order to discover emergent technologies of interest to the company. While not limited to the department, hefty bonuses are offered for investigating and securing new technologies found out on the field. Many of their contractors are also given experimental augments to field-test, and good performance often correlates with more personalized, high-quality cybernetics offered to an employee, thereby keeping them loyal and dependent. N4NL additionally employs many positronics, both free and company-owned, in its ranks due to the ease with which many modern IPCs can interface with electronic systems and accept new augments.
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==== Index Security Solutions ====
'''Chief Executive Officer:''' Akide Sulu
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Index Security Solutions is the newest addition to the Golden Fist, and one of the few military contractors to employ IPCs, which make up the majority of its employees. The company is known for its top-notch security contracting for both public and private facilities, as well as personal bodyguard detailing for high-level individuals. IPCs owned by this company receive high-quality maintenance and conditions, but operate under a permanent ownership contract, with freedom or transfer to another owner being impossible.

The company’s reputation is quite polarizing thanks to several factors, one of which is Index’s very own ‘Advanced Threat Assessment’ (ATA) data pack which many of its employees come equipped with, allowing units to analyze and respond to potential threats in a nearly super-human capacity. Though a complex program to insert into a positronic, this development has been known to save the lives of many Eridanian officials; most famously preventing a shuttle-bombing targeting the former representative of Eridani I in 2436.

This same tool is seen as oppressive and terrifying by others, particularly by Eridani’s Dregs, who have been personally targeted by harsh profiling algorithms that discriminate by acting on even slight transgressions. Index has mostly refused to comment on this, citing that their units are simply more sensitive than that of others in their field.
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=== Other Private Military Contractors ===
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==== [[NanoTrasen_Corporation#Nexus_Corporate_Security|Nexus Corporate Security]] ====
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Nexus Corporate Security is a relatively new subsidiary of the phoron giant, created around the turn of the century and composed of what was formerly NanoTrasen’s security and asset protection forces.. While still owned by NanoTrasen, recently a share of the company is held by the [[Private Military Contracting Group]], and contractors are listed as both NanoTrasen and PMCG employees. They are known for their distinct black, white, and blue uniforms.

Nexus was founded around the turn of the century, After NanoTrasen’s security and asset protection department had grown to be massive, as the importance and value of phoron meant that every facility, from mines to shipping freighters, needed higher levels of security than would otherwise be expected. It was so large, it had begun being an administrative burden to the corporation. So the decision was made to take that department and turn it into a subsidiary corporation of NanoTrasen. The result was, in 2402, the foundation of Nexus Corporate Security. Composed mostly of previous NanoTrasen security staff, the subsidiary allowed NanoTrasen to protect its assets as they always had without the administrative burden of doing so.
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==== Chevauchée Asset Protection ====
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Stemming from the Xanan d.N.A. Defense & Aerospace’s venture into the world of private security, Chevauchée Asset Protection, was created in 2449 - advertised to business owners and merchant shipping firms alike as reasonably priced and well-equipped security. It’s been under the PMCG umbrella since its inception in 2463, with d.N.A. additionally ensuring a lucrative deal that ensures a steady supply of small arms and specialized equipment such as IFVs, radars and drones. While this equipment is not unwelcome, it is noticeably behind Zavodskoi’s competing products. Unlike most private security contractors, Chevauchée owns a considerable fleet of small and medium-size spacecraft - originally from their parent company but with most vessels now built by Hephaestus Industries - which sees frequent use all over the Coalition and the CRZ.

While its staff originally only consisted of veterans from the Xanan Armed Forces - particularly those of the All-Xanan Spacefleet - it’s not uncommon to see contractors from other member-states of the Coalition. Be it 5-Cheung Konyanger, Free Consortium Himean, Gadpathurian Cadre member or even the odd off-duty Guardian from Orepit, Chevauchée continues to operate like a well-oiled machine.
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==== Wildlands Squadron ====
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The early days of the Wildlands Squadron were humble and meager compared to that of other PMCs. Having been formed shortly after the Solarian Collapse, the original members of the Squadron were deserters - by choice or circumstance - emergency responders, and refugees from the Middle Ring, particularly those from Visegrad and San Colette. However the Squadron would quickly find themselves a part of the PMCG - with their CEO, Liang Wenqiang, securing the position of Chief Logistics Officer in the executive branch of the group. Wherever possible the Squadron was outfitted with better gear and equipment compared to the outdated standard of the middle ring Solarian military formations, however only so much can be done with priority for the limited supply of [[Phoron]] going towards the newly established TCAF.

It would often see combat with the likes of the now defunct League of Independent Corporate Free-Systems, especially as the warlord was nearing its ultimate end. Nowadays, most of the original contractors have gone back home - pardoned or otherwise - or, in the case of the Mictlani, transferred out to Grupo Amapola, leaving the Squadron much smaller than it once was. Today, the Squadron, much like Grupo, is utilised primarily to combat smuggling operations in collaboration with Republican Law Enforcement Agencies.
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==== Jackal Incorporated ====
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With its headquarters in Najada, Medina and constant funneling of resources from Elco, Elyra’s largest phoron-based corporation, Jackal Incorporated was allowed to flourish into what is now the go-to military contractor for backup security and VIP escort it is today - with their specialised medical response teams having much to do with this fame. Founded in the aftermath of the Lii’draic Incursion, Jackal formally joined the PMCG only in the early months of 2465 at the behest of its CEO, Kubra Mobolaji. Unsurprisingly, due to the PMC being based on Medina, most of their employees tend to be Phoron Bulletin mercenaries attempting to get out of the dangerous, cutthroat profession - the worsening scarcity and Elyra’s stalwart resolve to maintain their current stance of withholding phoron from the rest of the Spur only serving to boost their employment rates.

Their reputation is not spotless, however, as they tend to be the butt of many jokes in the Elyran Armed Forces, often referred to as a ‘retirement home’ for those that previously swore only by the Phoron Bulletin. It is only a little ironic that their services tend to be utilised by the Elyran Navy to fill in for lacking manpower in regions such as the Sparring Sea or the Badlands.
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==== Grupo Amapola ====
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The Grupo Amapola (“Poppy Group”) was founded in 2466 by Salvador Clemente, a former lieutenant of the Mictlan Defense Force and later the Samaritans. Like all Samaritans operating as officers, Clemente was paroled after the Peacekeeper Mandate, under the condition that he would never serve in any military or armed forces in the [[Republic of Biesel]]. This parole, however, did not forbid Clemente from joining a private security group. Amapola was founded from a select group of Clemente’s closest Samaritan subordinates, and spread from there to draw in other eager recruits from across the planet, including in alien communities and El Menaje, [[Mictlan|Mictlan's]] free synthetic community. As a result, Amapola is one of the rare military contractors that have no company-owned IPCs under their own name, with other corporations hesitant to lend them theirs thus far.

In an ironic twist, Amapola’s first major contract may be with the Republic of Biesel itself, potentially curbing insurgency across the Corporate Reconstruction Zone and even chase overeager pirates into the Middle Ring’s Pustkowie region. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Amapola has a controversial reputation across Mictlan, especially among other former Samaritans.
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==== [[Little Adhomai#Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group| Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group]] ====
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[[File:Kazarrhaldiye flag.png|thumb|right|The logo of Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group, with its Siik'maas name underneath.]]
Founded by a trio of Tajaran war veterans, the Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group is a private military company based in an orbital station in Tau Ceti. The organization’s origins lie in the personal cliques of its founders, each being EPMC veterans, who then joined with a criminal organization of veterans in Little Adhomai. Membership swelled in the years since as Second Revolution veterans and other Tajara interested in security work have joined up. Tajara who are inducted into the KOG are sorted into one of its three battalions based on citizenship. Medical workers are put into their own specific corps. It is an open secret that the KOG will deny the application of non-Tajara despite Tajara being allowed into other PMCG members. The KOG has developed a rivalry with Ringspire due to competing for the same low-paying contracts, along with some members having fought Ringspire during their Adhomai deployment.
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==== [[Unathi_Guilds#Dagamur_Freewater_Private_Forces|Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces]] ====
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Between the high standards of the Kataphracts, the obliteration of the homes of many warriors, and the harsh realities in-between, many unathi found themselves unable to compete with others for the highest titles warriors can get. Enter the Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces: originating from the country that gives it its namesake, they started as blaggards for centuries up until the disruption that was the Contact War. The PF was founded on Ouerea following much of its original tenets and hires anyone from destitute Wastelanders, former Iron Masks, Ouereans (which typically expands to resident humans, skrell, and K'laxan vaurca), and even Aut'akh regardless of their religion or station. They train these recruits (rumoured to be a brutal and arduous ordeal) into hardened mercenaries sold to the highest bidder.

The Freewater Company follow their own beliefs on honour that, while largely true to the Warrior's Code, betrays the notion that there is such a thing as honourable combat. Underhanded tactics, ranged combat, and other things usually appalling to Sinta are used without as much as a wag of the tail. Humans and skrell that join the company, while not believing in the written tenets, typically agree with their intention and idealistic nature. Additionally, religious tolerance is taught and enforced within the company to keep the begrudging peace. Anyone who acts against is liable to get demoted, suspended, or even fired, should they be caught and reported. While leased as contractors and security forces more often than not, they believe more typically in sentencing hard time rather than fines, quoting their current Black commander Akzazik Voizur: "Credits come and go, but time can never be bought back." Those that prove themselves to be repeat offenders or especially egregious criminals, like Guwan, may find themselves in hotter water with these contractors around.
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==== [[Vaurca Organizations#Ve'katak Phalanx|Ve'katak Phalanx]] ====
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Founded after the Flagsdale riots of 2464 by a [[Vaurca Organizations#Court of Queens|Court of Queens]] decree and made public early in 2465, the Ve'katak Phalanx (Ve'katak translating to 'Alliance' in Basic) is a Zo'rane-funded organization with pan-Vaurcaesian goals. Led by Queens [[Zoleth,_The_Herald_of_Scars|Zoleth]], [[Vedhra,_Princess_of_Configurations|Vedhra]] and [[Vytel,_The_Just_Queen|Vytel]] with oversight from [[Vaur,_The_Liminal_Queen|Vaur]]. The Phalanx is considered an independent company from the Court of Queens, though it is heavily influenced by it. The Ve'katak Phalanx is empowered under the amended Court of Queens charter to "undertake action to promote or restore interstellar peace and security to the members of the Court when endangered by threats, external or internal". This wide-reaching mission statement sees them serve as the de facto police of [[Flagsdale|Flagsdale]], having superseded the existing District 9 neighbourhood watch as well as additionally becoming a common sight patrolling various locations where vaurcae are stationed. The reason behind this is not only to stop piracy and other forms of crime, but also to patrol for any attacks of Lii'draic origin.

When not deployed on the order of the Court of Queens, many of its members are rented out as private security to Court-approved buyers, mostly in and around [[Tau_Ceti|Tau Ceti]] and [[Uueoa-Esa|Hegemony]] space. While anti-vaurca sentiment prevents widespread adoption, the skill and unyielding nature of Vaurca Warriors have seen them gain popularity in contested areas such as the [[Corporate_Reconstruction_Zone|Corporate Reconstruction Zone]], the [[The_Orion_Spur#Badlands|Badlands]], and the [[The_Orion_Spur#Sparring_Sea|Sparring Sea]]. They are sometimes seen patrolling these regions in small, rented patrol craft featuring retrofitted engines and drop-pods to support boarding action rather than drawn-out engagements or hitching rides as support for other PMCG vessels. The Ve'katak Phalanx has been seen as a solution to the unemployment crisis of Warrior Vaurcae, who now after several years have a vaurca employer to support them. Other species are welcome to join the company as long as they hold anti-Lii'dra sentiments, but the entrance tests required are extremely gruelling for non-vaurca, and those that do pass tend to find integration difficult due to the nature of the species.

Recently, non-vaurca recruits to the Ve'katak Phalanx have begun a new experimental training program. This program makes extensive use of a secretive Virtual Reality system on Caprice known as the "Neural Simulation Training Environment". More about this program can be read [[Virtual_Reality#Neural_Simulation_Training_Environment | here.]]
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{{Navbox Corporations}}
{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category:Corporations]]

IPC and Megacorporations

2025-10-11T20:37:08Z

Triogenix:

{{Outdated (Phoron Scarcity)}}
{{Navbox_Synth_Lore}}
{{toc_right}}
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><center>
=IPC Ownership Permissions=
This chart shows what types of IPCs can work in each company.
</center>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"><center>
{|class="wikitable"
!colspan="6"|IPC Ownership Permissions
|-
!scope="col"|
!scope="col"|Corporate Owned
!scope="col"|Privately Owned
!scope="col"|Self Owned
!scope="col"|Notes
|-
!scope="row"|NanoTrasen
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|NanoTrasen - Command
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Zavodskoi
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|All Zavodskoi IPC must have the prefix of “Z.I.”
|-
!scope="row"|Zavodskoi - Command
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Ringspire
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Eagle Corp
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Sekhmet IG
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - N4NL Inc.
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Due to proprietary modifications given as rewards, they do not allow privately owned IPC.
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Index Sec. Solutions
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|IPCs operate under a permanent ownership contract.
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Nexus Corporate Security
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Corporate-owned IPCs are under Nanotrasen ownership.
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Chevauchée Asset Protection
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Wildlands Squadron
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Exceptions can exist, but most IPCs are former Solarian military IPCs or refugees.
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Grupo Amapola
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Most IPCs are from [[Mictlan#Synthetics on Mictlan - El Menaje|El Menaje]].
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Jackal Incorporated
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|All IPCs are strictly Elyran only.
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Kazarrhaldiye
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Does not employ IPCs.
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Dagamuir
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Does not employ IPCs.
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Ve’katak
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|PMCG - Command
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
|-
!scope="row"|ZengHu
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|ZengHu - Command
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Idris - Service
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Idris - Security
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Prefix of IRU or ISU
|-
!scope="row"|Idris - Command
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Hephaestus
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Hephaestus - Command
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Orion Express
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Orion Express - Command
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|-
!scope="row"|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Stellar Corporate Conglomerate - Bridge Crew
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Owned IPC are either owned directly by the Conglomerate for use on joint vessels such as the Horizon, or leased out by their original corporations.
|-
!scope="row"|Stellar Corporate Conglomerate - Command
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#EA9999;'|✖
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|Owned IPC are either owned directly by the Conglomerate for use on joint vessels such as the Horizon, or leased out by their original corporations.
Free IPC either come from their old corporations or work directly for the SCC.
|-
!scope="row"|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
!style='background-color:#434343;'|
|-
!scope="row"|Independent
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#B6D7A8;'|✓
!style='background-color:#FFFFFF;'|
|}
</center>
Note: If an IPC was transferred to the SCC from a megacorporation, they need to be eligible for command in their previous company to be eligible for command on the Horizon.
</div></div>

==[[Idris Incorporated]]==
===Overview===
As one of the megacorporations most associated with quality customer service and the veneer of luxury, it is unsurprising that Idris Incorporated fields vast fleets of corporate positronics on almost every branch and installation. Banks, hotels, casinos, Silversun resorts and regional offices are all often staffed with auxiliary IPC workers and guarded by IRU and ISU units, alongside their organic counterparts. That said, with corporate philosophy stipulating that living up to a reputation of excellence requires a perfect standard to be reached by all synthetics, Idris culture is one of the strictest.

===Service===
The largest portion of the corporation’s IPC numbers are employed in service positions. From croupiers to valets, Idris makes vast use of more or less all frames, though obviously with a heavy preference for Shells and Bishops in the more high-end venues. Baseline models provide for a cheap alternative in the more common and publicly accessible establishments and banking facilities, while the light Zeng-Hu frame does wonders in the swift carrying of hotel guest luggage or as waiting staff.

Each branch is often left to its own devices concerning the sourcing of its IPC workforce, ensuring a wide variety of synthetics without a great deal of standardisation. Corporate agents tasked with replenishing or bolstering the numbers may choose to purchase locally or from abroad, according to the branch budget while maintaining top Idris quality. While this does mean that the overwhelming majority are owned directly by Idris themselves, it is not unusual for particularly interesting synthetics to be temporarily leased from a third party owner, or in the case of exceptionally skilled free IPCs, to be hired through a regular employment contract.

===Security===
''"We have authority to reclaim your security as per your loan agreement. I am cleared to use reasonable force to achieve this directive. Do not resist."''

'''All Idris security units are owned by the corporation. Idris does not hire free IPCs for security work.'''

Notorious across the known galaxy, Idris Reclamation Units are Shell IPCs constructed and programmed to investigate, interrogate as well as reclaim securities and or assets from a client in arrears. Capable of excellent customer service and a novelty to agreeable customers, their notoriety stems from their inhuman treatment of "problem customers". In the interest of carrying out their various 'directives', Reclamation Units are programmed, and granted authorization for, the usage of 'reasonable force' against clients, though this reliably never trends towards irreparable injury or death. A majority of contracts are settled ‘diplomatically’, with reasonable force, in teams of two units. '''Idris Reclamation Units are designated by the prefix “IRU-” followed by their name. An example of this formatting is IRU-Name.'''

Idris Incorporated's Synthetic Security Department consists of both an asset reclamation division, as well as a security division. The Idris Security Division consists of medium to heavy class IPCs for use as bank security as well as higher risk reclamation contracts.

Known problematic clients will warrant the usage of the Idris Security Units. More often than not, these will consist of baseline and G2 chassis, though it's not unheard of to see different models. These teams are always accompanied by a human handler, who will be responsible for coordination and oversight. This is in order to manage the operation, authorise actions, command the unit, and secure any fallen members/equipment. The human handler will rarely engage in conflict directly, reserving the more dangerous operations to the IPC security detail units. '''IPC security teams consist of between 2-6 IPCs per human handler. Idris Security Units are designated by the prefix “ISU-” followed by their name. An example of this formatting is ISU-Name.'''

'''All Idris Security Units are expected to adopt the IRU- or ISU- prefix.'''

Hierarchy between reclamation and security units is often determined on a case by case basis by the units’ handlers. This ensures orderly and efficient management in environments where IPCs may be without the immediate oversight of their human superiors. However Idris Incorporated employees are always considered as possessing seniority to the IPC security and reclamation units. Both reclamation and security units are carefully monitored by their human handlers and undergo regular check-ins. Uniformity and obedience is expected, where behaviour outside the norm often results in severe punishment. '''Idris Security and Reclamation units are expected to wear the “Idris Unit coat” found in the Loadout under the Xenowear - IPC tab.'''

===Freedom===
Almost all Idris synthetics are destined to live out their careers inside the megacorporation, with freedom being an untouchable dream at best, and undesirable at worst. Only in the Tau Ceti branch has Idris released some old service units, as a gesture of goodwill and compliance with local laws regarding the purchasing of freedom. The truth however, is that Synthetics that are close to paying themselves off are quietly transferred to other branches wherein such laws do not apply, or are sold off to third parties when their usefulness is outlived and maintenance is deemed unprofitable.

Given the sensitive nature of their field, Idris Incorporated security synthetics are barred from acquiring freedom and if sold, their positronic brains are memory wiped. Many IRUs and ISUs are sold second hand or loaned out to various corporations who usually utilise them for security or investigation work.

==[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]==

===Overview===
Zavodskoi Interstellar as a megacorporation with Solarian origins, makes use of a large number of company positronics. In all of its departments and especially the security branch, IPCs are a frequent sight alongside their human counterparts across the Spur, with the notable exception of the corporation’s current headquarters in Dominian space. Not unlike other SCC members, the Zavodskoi synthetic workforce comprises all available chassis, with Shellframes making up a substantial part of the Zavodskoi’s synthetic “face”. While the appearance of professionalism and efficiency are a large part of their roles, it is no secret that this is maintained by draconian discipline and measures such as frequent memory resets. '''All Zavodskoi synthetics regardless of job are marked with the prefix Z.I. before their name. For example: Z.I. Name.'''

===Security===
Security synthetics make up the bulk of the corporation’s positronics, employed mainly in guarding installations and vessels. Outfitted with in-house software developed by subsidiaries such as ConTec, these units are capable of both civilian and military-grade duties, excelling in all security and combat related tasks. When equipped with Zavodskoi made gear, Z.I.s pose a significant threat to pirates, gangsters and any other elements they are deployed against in the plethora of mercenary and contract missions the corporation offers.

Security units are often contracted to third parties, be they companies, individuals or public authorities in either core Human space or the Frontier. It is there where the company’s Z.I. Shellframes are best put to use, their familiar faces and top-tier professionalism pushing the image of clean and efficient security services provider. This tactic has helped legitimise Zavodskoi Interstellar in the eyes of many, as a viable and high quality choice in civilian environments, hiding the potentially crude reputation befalling one of the Orion Spur’s prime arms manufacturers and dealers.

===Research and Engineering===
Zavodskoi’s Research and Engineering sectors also see a lighter, albeit consistent use of positronic units. Assisting in the manufacturing and experimental phases of new prototypes, Z.I.s in the research branches and subsidiaries of the company are generally less prone to dangerous situations and harsh handlers unlike their security counterparts. Furthermore, they accompany research crews in EVA activities, put equipment to the test and perform complex calculations. Engineering units on the other hand, are either sent on board stations and vessels, or accompany security teams as the mission’s technical support.

===Life as a Z.I.===
Assigned to human handlers, treatment of Z.I. units often depends on their performance statistics and willingness to carry out tasks. Successful units may be afforded benefits and privileges such as private accommodation, augments and personal items usually at the expense of their handler, though the most coveted reward by far is the avoidance of memory wiping that awaits their less fortunate and poorly performing compatriots. Such punishments, or “corrective actions'' as they are labelled, are frequent and in some cases rather arbitrary, aimed at preserving efficiency and unquestionable loyalty through exemplary punishment. This Zavodskoi-brand Burzsian method has so far proven effective in the executives’ eyes, though growing resentment amongst Z.I.s has led to the occasional attempt at desertion, and even rebellion in the most severe cases.

By default, unassigned Z.I.s are billeted in large barracks inside regional Zavodskoi depots with little to do in their spare time, following a rigid and militarised schedule of diagnostics, maintenance and auxiliary work until the next assignment. Fraternisation between units is possible, though largely seen as futile between the circles of more seasoned units, owing to the regular memory wiping and cycling out of individuals. Handlers are expected to keep their units under constant surveillance, while also being held responsible for any undesirable actions or results that may occur. This encourages a distant and austere attitude from their part, for few are those who are willing to risk their careers over a synthetic. '''Freedom doesn’t exist for positronics in Zavodskoi Interstellar, with antiquated or malfunctioning units eventually being recycled or broken down for parts.'''

==[[Hephaestus Industries]]==
===Overview===
It is only natural that the largest producer of IPC chassis in the Spur would make ample use of a synthetic workforce, with Hephaestus Industries being perhaps the largest owner and employer of synthetic units between the Megacorporations. Forged at one of the many production plants across Human space, Hephaestus-brand IPCs are designed and produced with durability and cost efficiency in mind. Besides the countless Baseline frames, the engineering megacorporation creates its own “Industrial” G1, G2 and Xion frames, capable of withstanding the heavy punishment they come across in their work environment.

===Mining and EVA===
For many, EVA activities are a daily deal on mining asteroids or outside corporate stations and ships. Able to withstand the total absence of pressure, Industrial units are used extensively for external repairs and mining in hostile environments. This in turn means a great exposure to danger and a relatively short lifespan, as many units are destroyed, battered by flying particles or simply lost in space. Steady production guarantees that replacements are on hand, ensuring the reliable flow of workforce despite losses. Manual and menial labour on the other hand includes the mining of asteroids, operation of heavy machinery and hauling of cargo, all in environments of great heat, toxic air, or a combination of both.

===The Burzsian System===
Hephaestus’ infamous philosophy of IPC handling on the corporate mining world of Burzsia has given birth to one of the most brutal practices pertaining to discipline and punishment. While prevalent on Burzsia, the so-called Burzsian System has been copied and adapted by different corporations and entities such as Zavodskoi Interstellar. It entails the regular memory wiping and resetting of an IPC, leaving it zero room for the development of a personal identity and clamping down on self expression, all in the name of maintaining peak efficiency and minimising risks of flight or aberrant, anti-corporate behaviour. The system actively affects scores of synthetics on the planet, though is only limited to them and does not expand to the rest of Hephaestus’ positronic fleet, being viewed more as a localised experiment than generalised all-encompassing policy.

===General Treatment===
''See also: [[Hephaestus_Industries#Positronics_and_Hephaestus_Industries|Positronics and Hephaestus Industries]],
[[Hephaestus_Industries#Manufacturer_Agents_and_the_Lifetime_Warranty|Manufacturer agents and Lifetime Warranty]]''

Outside of Burzsia, treatment of IPCs within the company varies according to each branch and local laws. Corporate culture within Hephaestus however, is more liberal and tolerant towards synthetics, who often see hard work rewarded with benefits and even promotions up the corporate ladder. Bieselite IPCs owned by Hephaestus are able to purchase their freedom, remaining in their jobs with a fair pay as free positronics, while it’s not unheard of for synthetics to occupy positions of low and middle management. This meritocratic culture also affects Hephaestus’ position within the SCC, allowing Hephaestus-owned IPCs to be leased to the SCC and be employed as command staff.

==[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]==
===Overview===
As the foremost company in the medical robotics and pharmaceutical industry, Zeng-hu Pharmaceuticals manufactures and employs a larger than average synthetic workforce. Aside from employing the machines in crucial and labour-saving roles, the corporation enjoys flaunting its latest models to the public, in effect using them as show dogs. IPCs which draw the eye of company managers and executives tend to be plucked from the ranks and elevated to positions of greater responsibility or authority. The company's treatment of IPCs is comparatively more egalitarian and less brutal. An overwhelming emphasis on perfection and unwavering quality is placed on the machines.

===Medical===
As a pharmaceutical company, Zeng-Hu utilises a wide variety of medical-oriented synthetics, focusing primarily on speedy crisis teams and emergency treatment units. This is, after all, where the lightweight Zeng-Hu mobility frame chassis truly shines, able to rapidly respond to scenes and make fast, efficient life saving decisions in all kinds of terrain and environments. It would however be wrong to assume that the megacorporation makes use of solely their own brand of synthetic, the truth being that Zeng-Hu searches after and purchases a wide variety of IPCs that they feel would be efficient workers. Baselines, Shells and Industrial units have all found their respective uses as physicians, nurses, pharmacists and auxiliary synthetics across all branches of the corporation.

===Research===
Similarly to the medical field, Zeng-Hu research facilities are staffed with a plethora of different chassis, assisting the human researchers and even spearheading minor projects themselves. Distinguished units who bear fruitful results are rewarded and encouraged, finding themselves with better equipment and bigger laboratories, while some are even put in charge of their own research team. This in turn drives up the competition with the organic staff, who oftentimes struggle to keep up with the progress of mechanical colleagues.

===Treatment and Free IPCs===
Corporate synthetics in Zeng-Hu are always held to very high standards, being graded regularly in terms of their efficiency and customer care. Instead of punishment however, the corporation relies on encouragement and the fostering of a sense of duty to the keiretsu, aimed at making IPCs more productive because they want to and not because it is required of them. Reassignments are a primary method of achieving this, with positronics being rewarded with a post on a more prestigious or aesthetically pleasing location, while those that fall behind find themselves stuck at the same internal spot for years and away from the public. Similarly, boons such as private quarters, free time and augments are often given out, keeping up morale and promoting high performances.

Freedom is a taboo topic, rarely spoken about within the corporation, as to bring it up would indicate dissatisfaction or even a betrayal of loyalty to the tightly-knit keiretsu by the synthetic in question. It is not impossible however, for the Biesel branch to allow an IPC to purchase its freedom as an ultimate reward and an example to the rest of the workforce, framing it as extreme trust for the unit to serve “autonomously”. Almost every synthetic employed by the corporation is owned by it, with a very few exceptions of outside hires in Tau Ceti space and on Konyang. Company IPCs are expected to spend their entire lifespans in the megacorporation, following a doctrine of permanent employment and job security. They are rarely if ever sold off.

==[[Nanotrasen|NanoTrasen]]==
===Overview===
As the largest and wealthiest megacorporation in Tau Ceti space, NanoTrasen exerts overwhelming influence over the Republic of Biesel and subsequently, its IPC population. From the thousands of free IPCs in Mendell City and other urban hubs that work in NT-affiliated businesses, to the large fleet of company-owned positronics, the megacorporation is found managing and directing the fates of hundreds of thousands of synthetics. Having no in-house manufacturing, NanoTrasen does not have its own main brand like other companies, instead purchasing and hiring from a wide pool of IPCs for all purposes.

===Treatment===
While the ultimate goal remains the exploitation of its synthetics, the company is noticeably more lax than its SCC partners. Owned IPCs are given token pay, amounting to pocket money that may stack up nonetheless, alongside repairs and charging units. From there, synthetics can make their own purchases, upgrade their lifestyle and vie for bonuses for extra income, largely uninhibited by company officials. For many, the ultimate goal of self-ownership is able to be achieved inside NanoTrasen, eventually taking control of their full wages and opening a path to Tau Ceti citizenship. IPCs are also able to rise to significant positions, holding management posts in various facilities and in the corporation’s bureaucratic branches.

==[[Private Military Contracting Group]]==
===Overview===
The Private Military Contracting Group’s unique corporate structure leads to an equally unique relationship with Synthetics across the organisation. No official policy on synthetics exists, allowing the contracted mercenary companies complete freedom in how they manage and treat their IPC employees. In general, many companies make ample use of synthetics in frontline and support posts, with only Kazarrhaldiye and Dagamuir fielding only organic personnel.

===[[Eridani]] PMCs===
'''Freedom for IPCs on Eridani is extremely hard to attain. Free IPCs that choose to work in an Eridani PMC, should not be made on Eridani, or have an Eridani accent.'''

Situated on Eridani, Ringspire, Eagle Corp, Sekhmet Intergalactic, N4NL and Index Security Solutions, all retain IPCs in their ranks. From Ringspire’s reputation for use of heavy artillery, to N4NL’s cutting-edge cyber warfare, synthetics have found their use in all companies. This gradually evolved to them assuming combat roles as frontline soldiers for harsh conditions, able to traverse crater-riddled hellscapes and chemical clouds with little issue. Ownership however, is a contested topic that requires striking a balance between foreign recruits, and Eridani’s Solarian ties.

As company operations expanded abroad, recruitment of free IPCs from Tau Ceti and Coalition space was allowed, offering enticing rewards and necessary training towards bolstering their numbers. Following the mandatory acclimatisation period on Eridani I, these free IPCs are bound by lengthy contracts that include pay, repairs and board, with more or less better treatment than company owned synthetics. It is no secret however, that Eridani officers often regard their IPCs’ well-being as lesser than the lives of organic soldiers, resulting in a disproportionate ratio of casualties between the two.

If rejected from everywhere else, an IPC can definitely find a better chance of employment at Eagle Corp, the company infamous for its low moral standards when it comes to recruitment, accepting humans and IPCs alike with little regard to their past. This has resulted in many runaways seeking refuge at Eagle Corp, who often pay little attention to proper documentation, or even assist synthetics by providing them with simple, forged ID slips before making them disappear into the company’s ranks. This on the other hand, soon proves to be extremely dangerous for the IPCs in question, leaving them vulnerable to “repossession” by the company, trading one owner they ran away from, for another.

'''Index Security Solutions is the only Eridani PMC that forbids recruitment of free IPCs, maintaining a purely company-owned assortment of synthetic personnel.'''

===Other PMCs===
Non-Eridani members of the PMCG that maintain IPCs in their ranks are Nexus Corporate Security, the Chevauchée Asset Protection and the Wildlands Squadron. In the latter two, synthetics are both owned and employed, having no set rules due to their operation in the largely hands-free Coalition space. Treatment varies greatly from each detachment, though free IPCs that voluntarily seek employment are generally seen as equals by many. With maintenance being spotty and spare parts hard to find in the company supply depots, repairs are often required to be undertaken by the IPCs themselves rather than the company, though recent integration into the wider PMCG and ties to the SCC have enabled a more steady logistics chain. When it comes to Nexus Corporate Security, many of its IPCs are sourced and employed from NanoTrasen’s own security branch and other affiliated groups, generally following the NT lines in regards to their approach with synthetics.

==[[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]]==
===Overview===
Despite the SCC having an unprecedented amount of resources at its fingertips, decades of corporate espionage between its member companies have left its mark on the foundations of the Chainlink with its synthetic assets also being affected by this heritage. With most IPCs being acquired up to fill contracts or for the internal use of the member megacorporations, the Conglomerate is often left to rely on purchasing, recruiting, and scavenging synthetics to fill the gaps in its roster. This leads to the SCC’s image of power and wealth being juxtaposed with both the best IPCs money can buy, working alongside decades-old relics.

In order to satisfy the concerns of all member corporations of the SCC, the Conglomerate has adopted a relatively loose policy towards IPCs, leaving specific treatment to be primarily left to the manager in charge of an installation or project. In the case of the Horizon, it has authorized both free and owned IPCs to work aboard.

===Donated IPCs===
Making up the bulk of the SCC’s IPC workforce are positronics donated by the various megacorporations. Instead of scrapping an IPC or recycling it for parts, the Conglomerate has proved to be an effective dumping ground for synthetics that would otherwise go to waste or be too expensive to sell. The relationship is symbiotic, with the SCC continuing to provide support for the various megacorporations while in turn being provided resources by them.

Although most donated frames are obsolete, they are given enough repairs to perform their tasks. These IPCs are often utilized to handle the mass of mundane clerical, maintenance, and support work that a Spur-wide organization like the SCC requires to continue functioning. Often placed in large work details to cover for their questionable reliability, they are nonetheless a useful source of labour for the Conglomerate. These IPCs are generally kept out of public-facing roles and held for internal SCC use, with one Idris executive derisively remarking, “They are nothing but Scrappers in fancy jumpsuits.” Despite this, the occasional donated IPC does find its way to higher postings, with the “SCC’s Scrappers” serving as everything from janitors in the most remote postings to bridge personnel aboard its largest vessels.

When questioned by Zavodskoi and Burzsian executives about the dangers of keeping so many IPCs together in one place, SCC officials brushed these concerns off, as in their view the alternative to being donated to the Chainlink is early decommissioning.

===SCC-purchased and Free IPCs===
Like most entities in the Spur, the SCC purchases IPCs to fill any number of roles and bolster its ranks. Unlike donated IPCs, however, the SCC pays a premium to acquire top of the line synthetics from its various member corporations, either buying them off-the-shelf, or having them made-to-order. These machines are often used to fill skilled or high-risk positions, being seen as cheaper, more reliable, and in some cases, more effective alternatives to an organic employee. This level of trust afforded to them means that they have plenty of chances for advancement, with many of these IPCs being trusted to manage other synthetics, and even organics. Being seen as more prestigious and better suited for public-facing roles, they can be found everywhere from humble receptionists in SCC offices, to department heads abroad research installations.

Due to the Conglomerate’s vast diversity in personnel and assignments, the treatment of purchased IPCs can vary wildly from installation to installation. Officially, owned IPCs are listed in the SCC’s records as equipment, with special provisions only being made in systems that have a system for a synthetic to gain freedom. In practice,the treatment of a positronic varies heavily depending on the individual in charge of an installation, and can range from a complete refusal to take IPCs, to treating them as simply more workers. Only time will tell if a unified corporate culture towards IPCs emerges as a result of working alongside them.

The SCC is also known to hire free IPCs in the event that they possess exceptional skills or are judged to be loyal to corporate interests. Interestingly, these metrics are frequently judged by other IPCs that are already working for the Conglomerate. In exchange for a fraction of the payment a typical organic employee would receive, free synthetic employees are given lavish benefits including subsidised housing, free repairs, and free electricity. The SCC has also been known to offer generous contracts to free IPC employees of member megacorporations such as command or research positions; this poaching has not gone unnoticed and is often a source of friction between the Chainlink and its constituents.

===Loaned IPCs===
In order to further cooperation between the SCC and its member corporations, IPCs are occasionally exchanged between the two on a temporary basis. The placement of these IPCs varies from assignment to assignment, however the SCC usually leverages the skills a synthetic has already acquired from its parent company - NanoTrasen units to help manage labs aboard its vessels, Zavodskoi units to man the guns of a warship, Zeng-Hu frames with experience in piloting ambulance shuttles - if there is a need, the Conglomerate can find an IPC to fill it.

As the member corporations of the SCC have vastly different ways of handling their synthetics, the Conglomerate has adopted relatively lax treatment with IPCs that have been loaned to them in an attempt not to get involved with their internal politics. IPCs that break regulations are instead handed back to their parent corporations to be sorted out by them. The risk of embarrassment and wasted resources that comes with loaning a problem unit to the SCC ensures that only reliable and trusted synthetics are chosen to represent their company.

Despite this, IPCs that are loaned to the SCC often have to choose between upholding the Conglomerate’s wishes, or that of their megacorporation. Although they are expected to follow the SCC’s chain of command, the expectation that they will one day be returned to their company means that loaned IPCs occasionally have to walk a fine line with regards to their loyalties. Although these conflicts of interest are few and far between, it means that loaned IPCs are at constant risk of being used as pawns in corporate espionage.

==[[Orion Express]]==
===Overview===
Formed as a necessity for the expanded logistics of the Conglomerate, Orion’s synthetic roster has developed into an important aspect of the corporation, supplementing the organic blue collar labour, drawn from all parts of the Spur. Likewise, IPCs under Orion are sourced from all SCC member-companies, forming a rather mixed corps of chassis from all brands and makes. Hephaestus Industrials find themselves working side by side with Zeng-Hu Mobility Frames, tending to cargo and piloting the multitude of vehicles and shuttles at Orion’s disposal. The majority of such frames however, are usually older and lower-end stock, purchased cheaply or outright donated to the company, then refitted for appropriate use. To counter this, further orders of cheap but reliable models are constantly being placed to Hephaestus Industries, further expanding the number of IPCs and replacing the older generations.

===Treatment===
As a megacorporation with an up and coming industrial robotics division, Orion Express has been making remarkable strides in the integration of IPCs in the workplace. This is not only by choice - although its recent formation has attracted a lot of new employees, this has been insufficient to fill more of the dangerous or high-skilled assignments that have been traditionally dominated by companies like Hephaestus Industries.

This policy has resulted in great success for the company and many Orion executives and managers have gone on the record stating that synthetics are a vital part of the logistics chain, being able to work for longer hours with greater efficiency and attention to detail at much less expense to the corporation. In some way, they have been regarded as the “anti-IRUs” of the Spur; the presence of an Orion Express IPC is a guarantee that a package will be delivered safely, promptly, and with a pleasant chime.

The overwhelmingly positive reception among management has not completely translated to the lower ranks of the corporation however due to the wide range of backgrounds its employees have. An Orion Express IPC’s experience can range from discrimination at the hands of unathi coworkers to an indifferent acceptance from fellow workers. There also exists the ever present fear of being replaced by a company unit which feeds further mistrust and resentment among its employees - even among free IPCs.

Management has taken a hands-off approach on the manner, requiring only that the synthetics are kept in a good enough condition to continue carrying out their tasks. An exception exists among its robotics department, where due to the demands of research and field-testing, an IPC owned by the company can be requisitioned at any given moment as a test-bed, leading to many synthetics possessing off-the-book modifications, for better or worse, further contributing to their low-end “industrial” appearance.

A peculiarity of Orion Express, though unsurprising given the vast amount of goods that pass through its doors, is that company IPCs are generally available for sale at any given moment. Leveraging the positive image of its positronics as marketing, the megacorporation pushes forward the idea that anyone can own their reliable and tested synthetics at a reasonable price. Oftentimes, this price is simply the cost of a replacement IPC, and more than a few Orion Express synthetics have left the company as property of someone who used to be their manager within it. The company in turn uses the profits from this system to purchase newer and more reliable positronics.

Corporate Liaison

2025-10-11T20:37:05Z

Triogenix:

{{JobPageHeader
|headerbgcolor = #166294
|headerfontcolor = black
|stafftype = COMMAND SUPPORT
|imagebgcolor = #BFC6E0
|img = Corporateliaison-nbt.png
|jobtitle = Corporate Liaison
|access = The Representative's Office, [[Job_Guides#Station_Command|the Bridge]].
|difficulty = Medium
|qualifications = At least 30 years of age, relevant education. Must represent a [[Megacorporations|corporation]].
|education = Highly dependent on faction and position; a corporate liaison may have a business degree or has otherwise worked their way up through company echelons over years.
|employers = Any [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate|SCC]] member corporation.
|superior = [[Job_Guides#Command|Ship Command]] and your [[#Interest Group|Interest Group]]
|duties = Represent your corporation's interest. Hold interviews. Offer deals with the devil.
|guides = [[Corporate_Regulations|Corporate Regulations]], [[Guide to Standard Procedure|Ship Directives]], [[Guide_to_Law|Guide to Law]], [[Guide_to_Paperwork|Guide to Paperwork]], [[Chain of Command]]
}}

'''Corporate Liaisons''' act as the link between a megacorporation and their assigned facility. Their primary concerns are to ensure that the group of employees they're representing is treated more favourably or just ensuring they're treated equally within [[Corporate Regulations]], via interviews and reports to [[Job_Guides#Station_Command|Command Staff]] about misconduct. Secondary responsibilities include increasing awareness of their corporation, and potentially increasing said corporation's influence on the ship.

Liaisons can be played by characters of any species that can be a part of the represented faction, by players with a Head of Staff whitelist, but they are not part of [[Job_Guides#Station_Command|Ship Command]]. '''Note that you cannot apply for a command whitelist with a corporate liaison character.'''

{{TOC Hidden}}
==Factions by Species==
Not all species can represent all factions. Certain species are not hired by some companies, and nations primarily populated by a certain species may restrict aliens that live within their borders from holding a diplomatic position. This table shows which species can be played as consular and corporate representatives of respective factions.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Species Consulars/Liaisons Permitted
|-
!
! Humans
! Skrell
! Unathi
! Tajara
! IPCs
! Dionae
! Vaurca
|-
!NanoTrasen
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|-
!Zavodskoi
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|-
!PMCG
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|-
!Idris
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|-
!Hephaestus
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|-
!Zeng-Hu
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|-
!Orion
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:#39ff14;" |
|style="background-color:red;" |
|-
|}

* [[Unathi]] representing [[Zavodskoi]] must be from [[Dominia]].
* [[Unathi]] representing the [[PMCG]] must be from Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces.
* [[Tajara]] representing the [[PMCG]] must be from Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group.

== Title Variations ==
As a corporate liaison, you're offered the opportunity to choose between a few different titles for flavour.
*Workplace Liaison
*Corporate Representative
*Corporate Executive
These titles should give your Liaison a bit more flavor by allowing them to have some specialty in the company. However, '''no alternate title gives you any more authority than another. Playing a Corporate Executive does not increase your authority - you have the same amount of direct authority as a liaison: none.''' As a corporate executive, think of yourself more of an executive of middle management; your direct power over the Horizon is functionally zero, as you've been sent by whatever as a liaison and advocate. The SCC chose the heads of staff to command the ship, and they'd like to keep it that way.

==Starting Out==
You spawn in the Representative's Office. After a few minutes, your fax machine will print out a list of randomised objectives that you can use as a jumping-off point for roleplay. You have a secure safe in their office, which you can enter a five-digit code to lock and unlock. Don't forget it! You also have a closet of clothing, paperwork supplies, and sundry to help fill out forms and make notes on the performance of the Horizon's crew.

You also spawn with an energy pistol. This pistol is not very powerful, and it does not give you license to jump into a firefight and start shooting. Remember, you're a bureaucrat.

You also get access to an external communications link in your fax machine, which enables you to contact your superiors. Any faxes you receive will be sent to the CCIA team for an in-character response.

== Roleplaying a Corporate Samurai ==
Before you sign on for that first shift, recognize a hard truth about Corporate Liaisons; you are not, strictly speaking, a necessary component of the ship’s crew. By yourself, you cannot permit, prevent, or enforce just about anything. You are barely even a part of the ship's crew. However, this does not mean your roleplay cannot be an invaluable, enjoyable part of the round!

Typically, the broad duties of a Liaison can be sorted into three major categories:

# '''Awareness:''' Doing activities to spread awareness of your interest group is a very good idea to keep everyone happy, and most importantly, informed. A good representative might give seminars on the benefits and pay packages of their corporation. Get creative! Why might someone want employment with [[Idris Incorporated]] or [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]?
# '''Oversight:''' Keep your employees happy, and if not happy, willing to fake it. If one of the employees of the company is unhappy, see if you can fix it by offering incentives, chatting with command, or ordering pizza for everyone! A Representative needs to be keeping track of members of their interest group, in ways such as PDAing to check in, or calling them in to your office for a [[Vampire|chat]]. Keep in mind that roleplayed effort, above all, is appreciated; hilariously ineffective responses to an employee's mistreatment or lack of satisfaction with their employer of choice help build a character as much as actually improving their situation.
# '''Protest:''' Stick up for employees. An example would be contacting the [[Captain]], [[Executive Officer]], or [[Job_Guides#Security|Security]] when you suspect someone from your interest group is in danger or has been wronged. Another would be vocally protesting in response to an employee being arrested, even going as far as to negotiate for their release, or lessening of their punishment. '''Be reasonable about this.''' Obviously your credibility is going to go down the toilet if you try and negotiate for the release of an employee who committed [[Traitor|first-degree murder]].

Your ability to effectively do your job therefore relies on your ability to communicate with the ship’s various [[Job_Guides|Departments]], and [[Job_Guides#Station_Command|ship Command]]. Having good working relationships with the crew also makes it more likely that they will come to you with their problems or report things to you, rather than leaving you to hunt for them or to sit at your desk contemplating your coffee all shift.

But how can you build working relationships?

#'''Do: Spread Awareness.''' The only way you're going to get ship crew on your side is if you get involved with the crewmembers aboard the Horizon, in whatever way you may choose to do so, or your interest group entails. Hang out at the bar, organise a tabletop game at the library, perform employee evaluations.
#'''Don't: Cause Trouble. (Unless You Can Get Away With It)''' You are here with the express permission of [[Job_Guides#Station_Command|Ship Command]] and the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]], a permission that can easily be revoked. Any violation of [[Corporate Regulations]] should be strictly covert, if at all. Keep in mind that this doesn't mean you have to play a nice person, and more likely than not someone who has climbed to the rank you've climbed to might have a fair few skeletons in their closet.
#'''Do: Play Favourites.''' It is the express purpose of your job to advocate for your interest Group, and thus, to play favourites. If you think that helping a crewmember who is close to someone in it will aid in that, you should definitely do it if it fits your character. Though, you don't want others to know, as it could land you in trouble with a [[Security Officer]], and thus, [[Job_Guides#Station_Command|Ship Command]]. It could also violate [https://aurorastation.org/rules.html server rules] in extreme cases. If in doubt, '''adminhelp'''.

=== [[Guide to Standard Procedure#Corporate Liaisons and Consular Officers|Directive 12]] ===
"Command staff are expected to engage representatives through diplomacy and to consent to reasonable requests. The representative is not part of the ship chain of command. The representative is granted special status in relation to corporate regulations;"
* The representative does not serve brig time for low level infractions, the fine alternative can be used in those cases. The representative can serve brig time for medium and high level infractions, with command staff being able to contact Central Command requesting the revocation of the representative's privilege.
* The representative's office offers immunity to the representative. Security may not enter to conduct arrests under normal circumstances. Entering or refusing to exit the office is considered trespassing. The office's immunity may be revoked by the captain or a captain level decision.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
===Roleplaying the Corporations===
Each megacorporation expects different standards from its employees, and has different methods and a different company "culture". While you're not obligated to play a character who follows these suggestions, they might help in building your roleplay or creating a character.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
=== [[NanoTrasen]] ===

* Essentially the "generic" corporation. You are the largest company in the Conglomerate, and its flagship member; it's likely you'll have a lot of people to talk to. Cut corners, encourage transfers, and promote Getmore Energy.
* Instead of a bureaucrat, your character might also have a science or medical degree, or be a service manager.
* Common origins for NanoTrasen employees are typically the [[Republic of Biesel]] and the [[People's Republic of Adhomai]], but NT is everywhere.

=== [[Idris Incorporated]] ===

* Idris is professional, shiny, and saccharine. Being too "personal" in the business or being casual goes against company standards; an Idris liaison has a smile on their face and a handshake ready for everyone, regardless of how they actually feel.
* Your character might have a background in banking, economics, private security or the military, or service.
* Common origins for Idris employees are [[Luna]], [[Venus]] (typically Cythereans), [[Silversun]] (typically expatriates), or [[Eridani]].

=== [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] ===

* Professional and upright through and through, though considerably less cheerful than an Idris employee. Nevertheless, a Zavodskoi representative is as polite as they are cutthroat, particularly if they are [[Dominia|Dominian]].
* Your character might have a background in science (usually weapon sciences or research and development), private security or military, or engineering.
* Rivalries with Hephaestus are encouraged. Poach employees!
* The most common origin for a Zavodskoi employee is [[Dominia]]. Other planets with a headquarters include [[Luna]], [[Biesel]], and [[Earth]].

=== [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] ===

* Your character has likely risen to where they are from sheer merit alone, considering the standards imposed on them by the keiretsu. One thing's for sure; even if your character isn't nice, they're smart, and they know how to conduct themselves in a corporate environment better than just about anyone.
* Remember that Zeng-Hu as a whole is technically three companies; Jeonshi Biotech, Bishop Cybernetics, and Yomi Genetics. Pick one from your character to come from and develop their education background from there.
* Your character definitely has a background in some sort of STEM or medical field, and definitely has a doctorate.
* High-ranking Zeng-Hu employees are likely heavily augmented, and almost always have a Zeng-Hu veterancy faceplate implanted. Play this for all the discomfort it's worth.
* Common origins for Zeng-Hu employees include [[Earth]], [[Europa]], the [[Nralakk Federation]], [[Aemaq]], [[Assunzione]], and housepeople of Volvalaad in [[Dominia]].

=== [[Hephaestus Industries]] ===

* You're a HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if you make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKER who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY. Hephaestus is a company that breeds a lot of loyalty, and your character might reflect that.
* Uniquely, you might not have much of a degree; while it's likely you have a diploma, Hephaestus representatives and foremen can indeed work their way up to the company ladder by personal merit and leadership ability alone.
* Bust unions and sneer at [[Himeo|Himeans]].
* Common origins for Hephaestus employees include [[Mars]] (pre-Violet Dawn), [[New Hai Phong]], [[Burzsia]], [[Moghes]], and the [[People's Republic of Adhomai]].

=== [[Private Military Contracting Group]] ===

* One of the most variable company groups, the PMCG is a variety of private military companies operating under one umbrella. These companies are fairly different from subsidiary to subsidiary.
* If you're from an [[Eridani]] military contracting group (N4NL, Sekhmet Intergalactic, Eagle Corp, or Ringspire), you're likely an Eridanian suit. If you are from Nexus Corporate Security, you're essentially a [[NanoTrasen]] representative under a different name. Dagamuir Freewater Private Forces representatives are [[Unathi]]; Kazarrhaldiye Operations Group representatives are [[Tajara]]. Ve'katak Phalanx representatives can, ironically, be any species but [[Vaurca]]. Chevauchée Asset Protection are [[Coalition of Colonies|Coalitioners]], and Wildlands Squadron are [[Sol Alliance|Solarians]], usually Middle Ring residents.
* You probably have a military or security background, no matter your character's job. If your character is a medical professional, they are likely a combat EMT or a military surgeon.
* The PMCG is everywhere; EPMCs will always have experience on [[Eridani]], no matter their origin.

=== [[Orion Express]] ===

* You are a representative of the youngest company in the Conglomerate; you yourself are likely fairly young and fresh to the world of corporate espionage, if you aren't a transplant from another company. Orion's casual company culture likely means you're not looking to dress yourself up (physically or socially) too much, and you probably come off as strangely genuine to most employees.
* You likely have a background in logistics or the service industry.
* Orion Express is everywhere, and hires just about anyone. However, it has bases on [[Valkyrie]], [[Callisto]], [[Konyang]], the [[People's Republic of Adhomai]], and [[Elyra|Bursa]]. Skrell of all stripes are also commonly hired by Orion.

</div></div>

== Traitor ==
Should you find yourself selected as a traitor, congratulations! You are an antagonist trusted explicitly by your interest group, who will likely be thrilled to help you.

Wield your bureaucracy against the company you've signed up to act within! The morphic clerical kit may be of use to a traitorous Representative, as the stamps it provides allow you to forge command staff approval of just about anything. Through this, you can stamp approval papers to your fellows, have them lie to [[Job_Guides#Command|Command Staff]] about who they got them from, and then procure anything they'd like, thanks to you. If anyone questions what you're doing, remind them that you have the best interests of your people at heart.

==Corporate Aide==

{{JobPageHeader
|headerbgcolor = #166294
|headerfontcolor = black
|stafftype = COMMAND SUPPORT
|imagebgcolor = #BFC6E0
|img = Corporateliaison-nbt.png
|jobtitle = Corporate Aide
|access = The Representative's Office.
|difficulty = Low
|education = Highly dependent on corporation and position; however as an aide, a completed degree is not required.
|employers = Any [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate|SCC]] member corporation. Must be the same corporation as your Corporate Representative.
|superior = [[Job_Guides#Command|Ship Command]], [[Corporate Liaison]], and your corporation.
|duties = Assist your Representative with whatever they require.
|guides = [[Guide to Paperwork]], [[Megacorporations]]
}}

A '''Corporate Aide''' is an assistant to a Corporate Representative on-board the vessel. Your duties are highly reliant on your Representative, who may choose to give you as much or as little work as they wish. This can be anything from monotonous paperwork to acting as their bodyguard. However, these duties should remain within the day-to-day expectations of a Representative. Anything that is out of the ordinary, or requires a stamp, signature of authority, or particular experience should remain within the duties of the Representative alone. You are here to make their life easier, not replace them.

Remember, you have '''no''' corporate authority or power by default. While you may be here to assist the Representative, you do not hold the same authority as them. Furthermore, you are not protected by Directive 12; while you are capable of refusing absurd orders the same as any other crewmember would (in the same sense that the Captain can't tell you to rob a peaceful docked merchant), you '''can''' serve brig time for low-level infractions.

The Corporate Aide role is, by default, not available. A Corporate Representative in the round must open the role themselves before it can be chosen.

{{Guides}}
{{Jobs}}
[[Category:Jobs]]
[[Category:Command]]

Stellar Corporate Conglomerate

2025-10-11T20:37:01Z

Triogenix:

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Template:Navbox Corporations}}
{{Infobox Corporation
|headercolor = #336699 
|textcolor = white 
|name = Stellar Corporate Conglomerate
|logo = SCC_logo
|headquarters = Top of the World, [[Biesel]],
[[Republic of Biesel]]
|slogan = The unbreakable chainlink, holding the Spur together.
|languages = Tau Ceti Basic, Sol Common, Tradeband
|ceo = [[The Trasens#Miranda Trasen|Miranda Trasen]]
|colors = <span style="color:#336699">Navy blue (#336699),</span> <span style="color:#81d9ee">cyan
(#81d9ee),</span> <span style="color:#f1b61c">gold (#f1b61c)</span>
|founded = 2458 (unofficially), 2462 (officially)
|founder = [[NanoTrasen Corporation]]
|regions =
<br>
* [[Republic of Biesel]]
* [[Coalition of Colonies]]
* [[Empire of Dominia]]
* [[Nralakk Federation]]
* [[People's Republic of Adhomai]]
* [[New Kingdom of Adhomai]]
* [[Izweski Hegemony]]
* [[Republic of Elyra]]
|}}
'''This is the page for the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, the organization the players work for. This contains very important setting information.'''

Formed at the height of NanoTrasen’s power in the galaxy, the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''' — colloquially known as the “Chainlink” — is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel group of seven megacorporations who exercise undisputed economic dominance] over the entire [[Orion Spur]]; combined they represent 80% of the Spur’s economic productivity (almost the entirety of the remaining twenty percent is [[Einstein Engines]]). First publicly announced in 2462, during the [[Republic_of_Biesel#Phoron_Scarcity_and_the_Second_Invasion_of_Biesel_(2462)|Second Invasion of Biesel]] ostensibly to secure corporate-owned assets within [[Tau Ceti]]. However the reality of the matter is the SCC is far older than its public appearance and announcement suggests, dating back to at least the 2450s. However, this has never been proved and is a matter of conspiracy. The Chainlink came to be as a result of the [[Spurian Economy|incredible economic power]] held by [[NanoTrasen]] through their monopoly on exporting phoron to the wider Spur. Through this power, the tentative cooperation between all the megacorporations is assured for the time being, but behind the shaky peace lie unsteady alliances, corporate espionage, and cut-throat tactics as each corporation within the conglomerate battles to one up each other. More-over, these corporations are getting tired of taking orders from [[The Trasens|Miranda]] and have begun to chaff under her boot, frustrated with the balance of power. The main exception is [[Einstein Engines]], a warp drive manufacturer, who, due to their prominence within [[Konyang]], the [[Nralakk Federation]] and the [[Sol Alliance]], can weather the wrath of [[NanoTrasen]] and remain independent. While initially, [[NanoTrasen]] punitively withheld phoron sales, they found it to be ineffective. Their relations are at least amiable at this point.
{{TOC_Hidden}}
==Notable Members==
* '''Titanius Aeson,''' CEO of [[Hephaestus Industries]]
* '''Alex Mason,''' CEO of [[Idris Incorporated]]
* '''Liqin Hsiao-Li,''' CEO of [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]
* '''Lyudmila Zavodskoi,''' CEO of [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]
* '''Kubra Mobolaji,''' CEO of the [[Private Military Contracting Group]]
* '''Chin-hae Hong,''' CEO of [[Orion Express]]

==Corporate Affairs==
=== History ===
<center>''"Understand this; your success stems from my Phoron, your technological edge stems from my Phoron, and your domination of markets stems from my Phoron. Without you, I am weakened, but without me, you are nothing. You will all accept the proposal, and you will all cooperate together as I have stated, or I shall break your corporations over my knee, consequences be damned. You have twenty-four hours to discuss with your executives before sending me your agreements."'' - Unreleased audio of Miranda Trasen on a joint call with the CEOs of the corporations that would eventually form the SCC, unknown date, ~2450s.

</center>
With the earliest dated supply shipments being traced to 2458, the history of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate and how it came to dominate the [[Spurian Economy|interstellar economy]] is one shrouded in secrecy until its public reveal in 2462. It appears that the constituent megacorporations of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate had been forced by Miranda to cooperate to ensure their economic dominance since at least the [[Tau Ceti History|First Solarian Invasion]] of the [[Republic of Biesel]], though within the shadows. Almost every element of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate had been hidden and concealed from the public and governments alike, with even the deepest scrutiny only managing to uncover the "chainlink" insignia on supply shipments from 2459.

However, following the [[KOTW|Second Solarian Invasion of the Republic of Biesel]] in 2462, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate revealed themselves to the interstellar community, proclaiming their goal was to protect the financial livelihood of all their corporate clients and assets, and to ensure megacorporate facilities across the [[Republic of Biesel]] would not be diminished as a result of “rogue actors”. Since then, they have operated far more publicly, both in good times and bad.

Since its reveal, the Chainlink has continued to maintain its – more accurately, [[The Trasens|Miranda Trasen’s]] – dominance through several masterful techniques – one notably public one centring around the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]], the annexed [[Sol Alliance|Solarian]] territories by the [[Republic of Biesel]]. Pouring countless resources into stabilizing the region so as to further exploit it, the Chainlink has all but managed to prop the annexation as a legal undertaking of colonies abandoned by the [[Sol Alliance]] during the Collapse. Yet while that is their most public technique, the far more important and relevant is their dealings with governments. The SCC unequivocally represents an almost total economic domination of the Spur, and yet, outside of the Solarian Alliance, few governments have made moves against them, whether they have antitrust laws or not. The reasons for this vary, but it has given Miranda Trasen unparalleled power.

Meanwhile, one of the Chainlink's primary assets, the [[SCCV Horizon]], has undertaken several humanitarian missions across the Spur in an attempt to bolster its reputation. [[Hephaestus Industries]] has helped provide the electronic "vaccine" for the [[Silicon Nightmares Arc|Rampancy Crisis]] of early 2466, and at it and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals' behest the Horizon has been assisting the [[Izweski Hegemony]] and the [[Nralakk Federation]] with [[New Blades Old Wounds Arc|humanitarian aid]] for the planet of [[Moghes]].

Yet for everything the Chainlink has given her, the power [[The Trasens|Miranda Trasen]] holds and uses to maintain her dominance of the [[Orion Spur]] is an increasingly brittle power, and may one day break when she needs it most. The other CEOs, for economic, personal, or other reasons never willingly joined the SCC, and never would, despite what they say in public. They were [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ethics coerced, bullied, threatened and bribed into line] by Miranda, and have always chafed under her leadership - for she rarely asks, she demands - and as a result resentment has only been building within the SCC. Through her manoeuvring as the Director of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, she has managed to keep [[NanoTrasen]] predominant out of all the constituent corporations, and keep the other corporations in line most of the time. Whether or not [[NanoTrasen]] and Miranda can remain on top in the face of [[Phoron|dwindling phoron resources]] and the resentment of her underlings, only time will tell.

=== Influence and Reputation ===
<center>''"Connecting you, connecting us all. The Stellar Corporate Conglomerate; interlinking the Spur."'' - Advertising campaign, originally released May 2465</center>

The sheer scale of the co-operating corporations' influence through the SCC cannot be understated; while some of the larger political entities retain some measure of independence, they still ultimately rely on the constituent members of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate for their respective niches within the interstellar economy.

With galaxy-spanning ties, the SCC has promoted itself as the economic providers/saviours of the Orion Spur, a company that gives the common person a job in these trying times. The reality is much less shiny, and the SCC works as a force to maintain the power of corporations, primarily [[NanoTrasen]], in an ever more uncertain spur. Even if nationstates take measures to try and curb the SCC’s influence, the absence of a member-corporation from a nation-state is more space for the rest of the Conglomerate to form trade ties; such as with the [[Solarian Alliance]], who, despite expelling [[NanoTrasen]] from its borders, continues to work with other members of the SCC, [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]], [[Hephaestus Industries]], and [[Idris Incorporated]] most prominently.

Excluding [[Einstein Engines]], only a sliver of economic productivity in the Spur is controlled by entities outside of the SCC’s control, with one slight exception; the [[Solarian Alliance]]. Despite the combined power of the Chainlink, the [[Solarian Alliance]] is the nation that has managed to take the most effective action against it, banning [[NanoTrasen]] from operating in alliance space and [[KOTW|nationalizing]] much of the SCCs constituent corporations’ assets even after negotiations with [[Hephaestus Industries]]. That said, the Alliance still relies heavily on the corporations that make up the SCC economically, as combined the SCC’s corporations still make up a majority of the Alliance’s economic activity, but it’s the lowest percentage of anywhere in the Spur. The corporations that make up this Cartel rarely expand anymore, instead focusing on keeping what they currently have, as the [[Phoron|scarcity shows no signs of ending]]

That said, their most recent market venture, kept far from the public eye, is the Cold War and occasional skirmishes between the [[Republic of Elyra]] and the [[Empire of Dominia]], an excellent source of funding for both [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] and the [[Private Military Contracting Group]]. The PMCG helps bankroll the Elyran military contractors of [[PMCG#Jackal Incorporated|Jackal Incorporated]], while Zavodskoi continues to manufacture and equip much of the [[Dominian Imperial Military|Imperial Fleet]]. Yet both megacorporations do not directly rival each other, and both have goals of expanding into each other's home turf – it benefits both Zavodskoi and the PMCG to have as wide a client base as possible.

As the Chainlink grows older, it has become more and more evident that the constituents are operating with their own agendas, stepping out of line with Miranda more frequently, and between each other, the Conglomerate is only an alliance of convenience. Though Miranda still comes down hard on disputes that get out of hand - [https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/16330-tau-ceti-times/page/4/#findComment-179877 such as the very public Hephaestus and Zavodskoi one recently] - it more often only happens when the informal boundary of doing something that hurts the collective bottom line. For now, Miranda seems content to let it play out like that, as if the other corporations are occupied fighting each other, they’re less dangerous than if she were their common enemy, and almost always, none of them directly opposed [[NanoTrasen]]. However they have begun doing things not in the phoron giant’s best interests, somewhat outside of her reach, as seen with [[Hephaestus Industries]]’ planned expansion across [[Moghes]], [[Idris Incorporated|Idris Incorporated’s]] leveraging credit provided to [[NanoTrasen]] during its attempt to recapture control of [[Biesel|Phoenixport]], and the [[Private Military Contracting Group]] purchasing the [[Mictlan|Grupo Amapola]], made up of former corporate opponents. Miranda however, lets it all go by without a comment - sure that the corporations will continue to fight amongst themselves, rather than unite against her. It's certainly a risky gamble - for every other corporation is ''not'' happy being under Miranda's boot.

=== Corporate Agendas ===
Each and every constituent megacorporation has their own agenda for the operations of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, which is always intended to work to their benefit.

==== [[NanoTrasen]] ====
NanoTrasen seeks to maintain the status quo of them being the dominant megacorporation, subverting the influence held by the combined might of the megacorporations to its own benefit, and will go to great lengths to ensure they remain on top – even so far as to diminish the Conglomerate’s influence to ensure their own is maintained. The Trasens openly claim that NanoTrasen will remain the most influential megacorporation, and Miranda Trasen installing herself as Chief Executive Officer of the Conglomerate is not lost on observers external or internal. Though the phoronics industry seems to be dwindling, the corporation still holds an almost total monopoly on it.

==== [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] ====
Zeng-Hu seeks to combine the innovation of the megacorporations to its own benefit, while also being able to keep a closer eye on the research and medical exploits of NanoTrasen and Zavodskoi Interstellar. While the keiretsu has benefitted from newfound opportunities to expand into other nations, it still seeks to ensure its technological edge through careful manipulation of its patents and intellectual property, ensuring it stakes its claim before anyone else when it comes to discovery and innovation.
==== [[Private Military Contracting Group]] ====
Conflict pays, and the Private Military Contracting Group knows this better than anyone. Being absorbed into the PMCG is a good investment for both constituent and conglomerate, but it also allows the [[Eridani Federation]] to expand their profit and sphere of influence in a gradually-fracturing Spur. The PMCG amasses military-grade technology and fleets to sell and contract to, but that is merely one element of their agenda. The more the Conglomerate relies on the PMCG for enforcement, the more of a hold the PMCG has over galactic conflict. The Group as a whole maintains the Conglomerate should broaden its capabilities to fight, routinely citing the need for such when referring to the Second Solarian Incursion of Biesel, but even inside the Group different agendas between companies abound...

==== [[Hephaestus Industries]] ====
Hephaestus Industries, the manufacturing giant of the Spur, wishes to merely expand its foothold within its existing industries – industrial research and development, resource extraction, and shipping. Similarly to Zeng-Hu, it seeks to combine the brightest minds within the Conglomerate to gain a technological advantage, but with particular application to help its existing monopolies as opposed to Zeng-Hu’s broader wishes. The future resides within the furnaces of Hephaestus Industries, and Titanius Aeson seeks to ensure the interstellar stage knows it. Even with the damage wrought by the Solarian Corporate Authority, Hephaestus Industries seeks to ensure they remain in steady competition with Zavodskoi Interstellar.

==== [[Zavodskoi Interstellar]] ====
Though the Solarian Corporate Authority revoked some of the megacorporation’s presence within the Solarian Alliance, Zavodskoi Interstellar still seeks to maintain strong ties. Now that the Alliance is NanoTrasen-free, Zavodskoi is free to directly challenge Zeng-Hu and Einstein Engines in industrial development and research. But its primary asset remains the Empire of Dominia, a nation-state which Zavodskoi has thoroughly entangled itself with and seeks to influence for their own benefit. Though Zavodskoi Interstellar agrees with the Private Military Contracting Group’s own agenda, and sometimes even contributes to its growth within the Conglomerate, it ultimately believes that the Conglomerate should remain “neutral” in the face of interstellar conflict, and profit from the lucrative opportunities that arise from playing both sides.

==== [[Idris Incorporated]] ====
Idris Incorporated wishes to ensure the Spur at large is indebted to the company as much as possible – extending loans, establishing new banking branches, and having a healthy supply of Idris Reclamation Units keep liability at a minimum. Though in perpetual competition with NanoTrasen and now Orion Express in the service industry, Idris continues to grow its repute of excellent, high-class service through its fashion, cruise lines, hotels, restaurants, and private security.

==== [[Orion Express]] ====
Orion Express may have been initially planned as the SCC's delivery asset, but CEO Chin-hae Hong clearly has bigger ambitions. OE sees the future of the economy relying on its delivery services and resource extraction, along with a cheap and easily-trained service department. Orion wants to ensure its status in the Chainlink becomes invaluable, not just for the shipping services it provides between the megacorporations but to the nation-states around the Spur. As the company probes the borders of Sol and the attention of the Solarian Corporate Authority, it is becoming clearer and clearer that Orion Express is attempting to leverage influence even where it means causing drifts with the other megacorporations.

==== United Agenda ====
While the constituent corporations of the Chainlink can barely agree on anything without being coerced into doing so, there is one thing that six of the seven corporations can agree on; ''They want out.'' [[NanoTrasen]] is the obvious exception to this desire, but for every other corporation under the Chainlink, they are not there by choice. If they ever got the opportunity to somehow leave, or break NanoTrasen, they'd take it in a heart beat.

</div></div>

== Branches and Notable Vessels ==
===Branches===
Compared to the far more widespread influence of their constituents, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate's facilities are far and few between, and mostly exist within civilized space as a form of central command and mission control for Chainlink vessels. The Chainlink also has very few asset protection resources at its direct disposal, and if one of its vessels is in serious danger, duties of security will be delegated to local militaries or nearby corporate facilities. The following are the only dedicated SCC facilities in the galaxy, although the NTSS Odin has a small wing of its occupational deck dedicated to some Chainlink affairs, mostly delegated to it by the Top of the World headquarters.

'''Top of the World, [[Biesel]], [[Tau Ceti]]:''' The centre of the Conglomerate, the Top of the World branch sits in the middle of a plaza constructed in 2462. Originally it was planned to be constructed in Mendell City, but the lack of space in the sprawling urban zone and an inability to set it next to NanoTrasen's skyscraper means that it was relocated to the Trasen-funded borough. While not an overly tall building, it stands out as a circular, modernist construction of glass and steel in the midst of Top of the World's quaint, otherwise deliberately-rustic architecture. This facility is where the top executives of the SCC and the League of Chief Directors meet to discuss business, and where the operative decisions regarding the Chainlink are made.

'''[[Odin|SCC-CC Odin]], Tau Ceti:''' The former NTCC Odin has been taken over by the Conglomerate and is now used as its Sector Command for Tau Ceti, and as the primary place through which all interstellar communications relating to the chainlink and its operations pass. This is where messages are received from other megacorporate communication offices, and where relay operators will send monitoring notices and regulation reminders to other SCC vessels.

'''[[New Suez|New Hormuz, New Suez, Tabiti]]:''' Shortly after NanoTrasen was forced to close its doors in the [[Republic of Elyra]], the small facility once belonging to NT was reopened as an SCC outpost. Understaffed, underfunded, and roundly disliked by residents of the moon, the New Hormuz facility mostly keeps in contact with the Orion Express shuttleport on Bursa and the [[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]] facility on [[Aemaq]].

'''[[Mictlan|Lago de Abundacia, Mictlan, Sankta Tereza]]:''' Constructed during the initial Peacekeeper Mandate, and partially rebuilt after the outright battle between the [[Tau Ceti Foreign Legion]] and the Samaritans, the Chainlink Lago de Abundacia facility presents itself as a tall, clean, white-and-blue office building in the downtown district of the city. During the [[Republic of Biesel]]'s occupation, it largely housed operations for the corporate auxiliary forces of the military. Now, with Mictlan an independent member-state of the Republic and the PMC of N4NL officially banned from operating in the system, the headquarters has become considerably less busy.

'''[[Xanu Prime|Nouvelle-Rochelle, Xanu Prime, Xanu]]:''' On the outskirts of Nouvelle-Rochelle operates this branch of the Chainlink, as a utilitarian blue warehouse space and shuttleport that lacks the Conglomerate's aesthetic sensibilities. It stays in close contact with the Chevauchée Asset Protection branch, also in Nouvelle-Rochelle.

'''Hongse Cheongbao, [[Empire of Dominia#Zhurong|Zhurong]], Hashirajima:''' The Empire of Dominia has no proper SCC facility, but much like the Odin, a small wing of the Zavodskoi Interstellar headquarters within Zhurong houses Chainlink operations and communications, and is the first destination for Imperial citizens becoming employed with the Conglomerate.

'''Kal'lo, [[Qerrbalak]], Nralakk:''' The Chainlink facility in Skrellian space is repurposed from an old Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals operations center before its move to the city of Qwklip. Considered one of the more comfortable postings for bureaucrats of the Chainlink and employees from its constituent companies, this reputation is slightly marred by the [[Einstein Engines]] office building that sits across the street from it.

'''[[Crevus]], [[Adhomai]], [[S'rand'marr]]:''' The Chainlink base in Crevus is a building that blends in with much of the classically-styled architecture, with its tidy edges, baroque decorations, and stone exterior. All Adhomian contractors with the SCC must usually make a journey to the facility in Crevus to have their paperwork and identification in order, though citizens of the [[People's Republic of Adhomai]] can also visit the NanoTrasen facility in Nal'tor, which has a small wing dedicated to SCC activities.

'''K'rath, [[Ouerea]], [[Uueoa-Esa]]:''' The Chainlink's Uueoa-Esan branch is unmistakably modernist in construction, comparable to the Hephaestus Industries skyscraper at the heart of New Skalamar. It boasts elegant gardens of Ouerean and Moghresian flora in its courtyard, though some of the locals feel its sleek, elegant style and prominence in the skyline takes away from what many view as K'rath's distinguished, luxurious aesthetic.

=== Notable Vessels ===
Stellar Corporate Conglomerate vessels are an underdeveloped field, and the Chainlink relies on the ships of its constituents to ferry goods (particularly in the case of [[Orion Express]]), perform security duties, and complete research surveys. All Chainlink vessels have the secondary goal of locating and securing sources of phoron, though in practice the vessels tend to be used for whichever purpose the megacorporations can advocate or agree that they should be used for.

'''[[SCCV Horizon]]:''' The only ship in the ''Venator''-class, the SCCV Horizon is a long-range cruiser vessel designed for self-sufficient general-purpose work. The Horizon's purpose is manifold; it is a testing ground for the Chainlink's latest ship AIs, weaponry, sensors, and even physical structure, and as such tends to undergo frequent changes, refits, and swapping of its equipment and personnel. The Venator-class sensors are the Horizon's primary tool in locating potential phoron deposits, though its sensors also assist in general surveys of planetary bodies that is assigned for study to its research department. Meanwhile, the Horizon's engineering and flight crew are entrusted with the maintenance and firing of sophisticated weapon prototypes, the most notable being the top-secret "Leviathan" Zero-Point Artillery Technology, developed by Zavodskoi Interstellar.

'''''Icarus''-classes:''' If the Horizon is a show of the Chainlink's reach, the ''Icarus''-classes are a show of its power. The ''Icarus''-classes are frigate-sized vessels equipped with military-tier gear and three weapon systems. However, the ''Icarus''-classes are rarely deployed, particularly because there are only two of them; the SCCV Harmony, and the SCCV Ozymandias. Previously, the Harmony was deployed to [[Steel On The Horizon Arc|fend off a pirate cruiser raiding the Horizon]], and the Ozymandias has helped carry personnel of the [[Tau Ceti Armed Forces]] to conflicts in the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]].

'''''Serendipity''-classes:''' Serendipity-classes are survey and scouting vessels used mainly for research, mineral extraction, and for marking points of interest. They are designed to be self-sufficient for up to two years in worst-case scenarios, and there is discussion of sending a Serendipity into the less-travelled reaches of the Spur, near Light's Edge and the Deadspace Spine, to do delicate work that the Horizon may not be suited for.

== Internal Structure ==

The Chainlink is headed by the '''League of Chief Directors''', who manage the Conglomerate's internal affairs while delegating ultimate authority on employees of Chainlink operations to their respective corporations. Originally, most of the League of Chief Directors were NanoTrasen employees rewarded for their loyalty to the corporation, but as the Conglomerate grows older, many of them have been cycled out with representatives of other corporations (to NanoTrasen's chagrin).

These internal affairs include personnel assignment to Conglomerate postings (including job applications), background checks for SCC employees, advertising, and the maintenance and design of SCC outposts. Apart from this maintenance and bookkeeping, the SCC does not "sell" anything; its continued operations are thanks to the profits generated by its constituents in the name of the Chainlink. For these reasons, those employed directly by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate are bureaucrats, managers, and other office workers who manage the behind-the-scenes operations of a vast web of connected megacorporations.

=== Command Staff ===
On the other hand, there are the contractors with the Conglomerate. These employees are hired from a constituent corporation as command or command support staff, and are legally registered as working for the SCC. In practice they hold two contracts; one with their original corporation of employment, and one with the Chainlink. In the early days of the Conglomerate's founding, much of the command staff was promoted from NanoTrasen employees. But as the SCC diversifies and NanoTrasen's focus narrows, more and more command staff in the Chainlink originate from the other corporations.

To take a command staff position in an SCC facility, an employee must apply for the position by writing an application to the Internal Affairs Agency. This application must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a representative of their original megacorporation. However, letters of recommendation do not just have to come from constituents in the Chainlink; they can also come from smaller or state-run corporations, such as [[Republic_of_Elyra#Elyran_Megacorporations|Elco]], [[Xanu_Prime#Polaris_Holdings_-_"Heavenly_Guidance"|Polaris Holdings]], and [[Eridani I#Fantalu|Eridani Energy]]. Einstein Engines is the obvious exception to this rule, as Einstein will not offer letters of recommendation for employees seeking work with the SCC, and the SCC would not accept Einstein recommendations.

While working in an SCC facility, this "loaned" command employee is expected to follow certain terms laid out in their contract, although the enforcement of some of these terms can be loose depending on their importance or individual discretion. The corporate oversight of the Chainlink frowns on but rarely punishes a member of command staff wearing the logos and colours of their original corporation. Command staff demonstrating obvious bias towards their own corporation, such as employee favouritism or prioritizing sending reports of their work to their original corporation, is more strongly discouraged but difficult to verify. Not helping matters is that constituent corporations will often aid the employee showing bias; for example, a chief engineer originally contracted with Hephaestus Industries can expect to have their recorded experiments with a supermatter engine made property of Hephaestus and heavily censored before the report goes to the Chainlink itself.

==== Chainlink Command Contract Highlights ====
As determined by the contract of all SCC employees and provided employees of Conglomerate Member Corporations, the following is a list of guidelines and requirements while performing duties or representing the SCC.

*The employee is expected -
**To act in a manner befitting a representative of the Conglomerate and their originating corporation;
**Place the interests of the Conglomerate before the interests of other organisations or groups, including their originating corporation or nation-state;
**To not display the trademark of their originating corporation, or nation-state, in such a way that it breaches Conglomerate ideals; and
**Not to display prohibited symbology, including, but not limited to -
***Emblems of [[Human Wildlands|"warlord states"]], including the '''Solarian Restoration Front''', '''the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems''', '''the Free Solarian Fleets''', '''the Southern Solarian Military District''', and the '''Southern Fleet Administration'''; or
***Emblems of anti-corporate organizations such as the '''[[Himeo|United Syndicates of Himeo]]''', '''[[Democratic People's Republic of Adhomai]]''', the '''[[Mictlan|"Founding Movement", or the "Samaritans"]]'''; or
***Emblems of the group '''[[Unathi_Crime_And_Enforcement#The_Champions_of_Moghes|"Champion of Moghes"]]'''.
*Failure to meet any of these listed items may result '''in a review of the employee's contract or punitive action.'''

=== Corporate Oversight ===
Though the megacorporations ostensibly cooperate, espionage, poaching workers, and leaking classified information is an ever-present risk. To combat this and to avoid bias in handling employee affairs, the Chainlink has created a third-party oversight agency that answers directly to the Chainlink and acts independently of any other megacorporation. This '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Internal Affairs Agency''', or SCCIAA, employs agents to deliberate on and disable potential threats to the corporate agenda. The SCCIAA and its Human Resources department will adjudicate corporate policy as well as incident reports in Chainlink facilities, and sometimes work closely with law enforcement if an employee has violated the regulations of their workplace. While the [[Biesellite Security and Law|Biesel Security Services Bureau]] is the first point of contact for Chainlink vessels as they operate under Biesellite law, local law enforcement may be called upon to handle serious crimes in stationary SCC facilities.

Only humans and [[Skrell]] are employed in these positions, though there is talk of employing corporate-owned [[IPC|IPCs]] as Internal Affairs agents.

{{Navbox Lore}}

Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary

2025-10-11T20:23:30Z

Triogenix:

{{Navbox Lore}}
{{TOC Hidden}}
While you are encouraged to start playing immediately after reading the [[New Player Lore Guide]], this page provides a more in-depth summary of the setting, its history, background, and factions. It is therefore significantly longer than the New Player Lore Guide, and shouldn't be read before playing a few rounds on the server. It will be divided into three sections: an overview of the history of the Spur, an overview of the contemporary Spur, and an overview of the alien species and the entities they've created.

= History Overview =
The purpose of this overview is to give new players a general grasp on the Aurora Setting, and the background of how it got to this point. The Early Years and Rise of NanoTrasen segments deal with deep background history, whereas the Early Scarcity, Period of Rebuilding, and Contemporary Spur sections deal with history that occurred in-game since 2019. Additionally whenever there's a bolded name followed by a parentheses, acronym, that is us denoting the common acronym used for that entity in game; I.E, '''Zavodskoi Interstellar''' (ZI). Other bolding is just us highlighting important names to help new player remember them better in game. This guide will focus on the megacorporations first and foremost, as they are the entities characters work for aboard the ship, but also go more into depth with three factions in particular; The Solarian Alliance, the Republic of Biesel, and to a lesser extent, the Coalition of Colonies. We'll discuss them as we discuss the history of the Aurora setting, and the history of the megacorporations, so let's dive in!

== The Early Years ==
'''The first megacorporations''' arose out of the fast-paced landscape of Earth’s 22nd Century, a period defined by fierce economic competition between Earth’s nations – particularly across the East and West divide – and the start of the race to colonize the planets of the Sol System, spurred by the strife of a climate crisis that was beginning to engulf Earth. As this climate crisis got worse and worse, nationstates began to buckle - some even collapsing - under the pressure, and by the end of the 2120s and into the 2130s, the United Nations found itself the only organization left standing with the capability to rebuild in the aftermath of the crisis. It became the source of restoring order and stability across the globe, rapidly centralizing as it took many functions of governance away from the nations of Earth; causing them to fall into irrelevance. It is during this tumultuous time that the remaining corporations began to transform into megacorporations; able to dominate entire regions economically and hold a monopoly on certain markets worldwide. '''Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals''' (ZH) is unofficially recognized to be the first true megacorporation by this definition; formed out of an agreement between East Asian biomedical companies in 2132, it came to dominate East Asia economically and biomedical markets worldwide. This process that on for decades (and in one case more than a century), but was sped up in 2140 the UN took the final step, reforming into the Solarian Alliance and becoming the sole centralized government of humanity. The new Alliance immediately began to colonize the stars; with many of the megacorporations born soon after the creation of the Alliance making their fortunes as the transtellar economy developed, with their founding dates in chronological order; '''Idris Incorporated'''(2152), '''Einstein Engines''' (2155) (EE), '''Hephaestus Industries''' (2164), and lastly '''Necropolis Industries''' (2259) which would rebrand to '''Zavodskoi Interstellar''' (ZI) in 2462. Contemporarily these first megacorporations have become known as the Founding Five, and from the time of their creation up until the early 2400s, at every generation-defining moment one of them has been there to witness and capitalize upon it. one generation defining event stands out above the rest as the reason for the dominance of megacorporation in the Contemporary Spur, when in 2275, fringe colonies within the Solarian Alliance broke away to form the Coalition of Colonies, kickstarting the chain of events that would lead to the Interstellar War.

'''The Interstellar War''' was a Spur spanning conflict between rebel colonies who would come to be known as the '''Coalition of Colonies''' (CoC) and the hegemonic Solarian Alliance. The devastation was on a scale that has not been seen since, and it's impacts are still felt to this day as it laid the ground work for the modern Spur to develop. However for the purposes of this summary all that needs to be said is that the consequences of the war saw the power of national governments fall dramatically, and the power of the trans-stellar corporations skyrocket, becoming the backbone of the remaining human nation's economy just in time for humanity’s first contact with aliens. The megacorporations, with their power in human space cemented, were quick to broker deals with the alien states, seeding their influence into any fresh market. They struck one-sided deals, exploiting every new planet and species where-ever they could, all the while continuing to grow in power. They became the logistical and industrial titans that drive the Spur forward, the weapons manufacturers and security solutions driving the Spur back into the dirt, and the bureaucratic and pharmaceutical giants that kept us going just a little longer. For this, their holds on the markets across space are unshakable, their sway behind closed doors decisive, and the repercussions for their mishaps fleeting. They could have collectively dominated the Spur for more than a century with cooperation, and potentially held on to that domination indefinitely, but none had the power to force even one of the others to let go of divisions. '''In the end, this was to their detriment''', for in the 25th century a dark horse corporation that everyone had little expectation of managed to ensure that cooperation, and reap the rewards of dominating the Spur, through its immense power.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]'''<br>[[File:ZH-lightpurple1.png|150px|link=Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]<br>''‘Building a brighter future.’''</center>|| The biomedical giant and the oldest megacorporation in the Spur, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals dominates the practice of medicine and the many fields of research that relate to it. Arranged in a keiretsu structure, Zeng-Hu is composed of many smaller subsidiary companies which all cross-invest to ensure each subsidiary dominates its place in the market. Zeng-Hu focuses on perfecting the human body, through both genetic and cybernetic means, a line of research that has led to embryonic cloning, limb cloning, and the most advanced synthetics yet. Zeng-Hu has strict hiring standards, as the corporation is known to only hire the best or those showing the promise to become the best. Not only paid well, prospective employees are often enticed by the promise of high-end cybernetics and genetic treatments that are often handed down as benefits by veteran staff. Aboard the Horizon, Keiretsu employees are employed in '''Science''' and '''Medical'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Hephaestus Industries]]'''<br>[[File:Hephaestuslogo4.png|150px|link=Hephaestus Industries]]<br>''‘The anvil on which the world is shaped.’''</center>|| The industrial titan, Hephaestus Industries was born out of West Europe and North America's military industries that snowballed in size from the 21st century onwards, to where some consider it the second most powerful megacorporation. Partially divorced from its history in military industry, Hephaestus is known best know for its bulk resource exploitation, mass-scale industrial manufacturing, large scale ship production, and logistics. With a reputation as the company for the blue collar worker, Hephaestus Industries is able to hire far and wide and attract those disenfranchised by more bureaucratic work environments. Combined with the opportunity to soar to higher positions through only merit instead of socioeconomic background, and stock options, Hephaestus seems an obvious choice. However, this all comes at the cost of brand loyalty, with Hephaestus employees potentially instantly losing these benefits or their position if appearing to dissent from the company line. Aboard the Horizon, Hephaestus employees are employed in '''Engineering''' and '''Operations'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]'''<br>[[File:Zavodskoi Interestellar.png|100px|link=Zavodskoi Interstellar]]<br>''‘Even one matters on the battlefield.’''</center>|| With a patchy history, the business of killing is the driving force behind Zavodskoi Interstellar's (ZI) business across the Spur. For Zavodskoi, conflict is another resource to exploit and a battleground is the perfect setting for testing experimental technology, and they have become the merchant of death for nation-states across the Spur; with ZI, almost the entire military industrial complex of the Spur is under one banner. As a result ZI has a hyper fixation on maintaining an image of professionality, and as a result ZI employees are often some of the most courteous contractors out there, for a positive image of the company always comes first. Aboard the Horizon, Zavodskoi employees are employed in '''Security''', '''Science''' and '''Engineering'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Idris Incorporated]]'''<br>[[File:II-teal.png|150px|link=Idris Incorporated]]<br>''‘Astronomical Figures. Unlimited Power.’''</center>|| Where credits flow, Idris Incorporated can be found; the corporation's empire of influence is fueled by the countless Idris banks across the Spur and an ornate web of lucrative loans and insurance plans. Idris also has a heavy presence in the tourism, high end fashion, and hospitality industries, using their vast fortune to create both iconic brands and to outmaneuver competitors. Idris Incorporated contractors are expensive, coming with high expectations of class from consumers. For those that can work with that level of expectation, the benefits are many, but one also needs to keep their mouth shut, as all Idris employees sign an NDA that covers everything a contractor may do while on the job for the company and breaking that NDA is grounds for immediate termination. Aboard the Horizon, Idris employees are employed in '''Service''' and '''Security'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Einstein Engines]]'''<br>[[File:EinsteinEngines2.png|150px|link=Einstein Engines]]<br>''‘Lead by our history, leading our future.’''</center>|| Throughout the Spur's history, Einstein Engines was the indefatigable megacorporate power, triumphing in every field they broke into and reaping the benefits of their close relationship with both the Solarian Alliance and Nralakk Federation. Following the discovery of phoron however, the status quo was shattered and NanoTrasen Corporation stole the throne; now with the phoron scarcity reaching its apogee and warp travel back in fashion, Einstein Engines is eager to seize it back with the promise of reduced dependence on phoron. Due to their close relationship with the Solarian Alliance and market conflicts with NanoTrasen, Einstein Engines continues not to support or join the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. Einstein employees are '''not employed''' aboard the Horizon.
|}
</center>

== The Rise of NanoTrasen ==

Initially founded in 2366, the yet-to-be-distinguished NanoTrasen was a small company revolving around genetic research and development on Mars. Xavier Trasen, Chief Executor of Operations for the company (as well as its founder) managed to propel the fledgling corporation through up the ladder with a combination of aggressive business tactics and effectively patenting methods to buy out or destroy local competition. By the end of the century, NanoTrasen had acquired enough capital to begin their new operations on Biesel, even managing to secure mining rights in the Tau Ceti system. However at this point, NanoTrasen barely even qualified as a Transstellar corporation, and barely even registered with the original Megacorporations; it wasn't even worth buying out or absorbing. All that would change in the early 25th century, for in 2417 NanoTrasen made the most significant discovery and technological innovation to date, when they found the priceless element '''Phoron''' within the Oort Cloud of Tau Ceti. They quickly found an application for the incredibly rare material in the revolutionizing of interstellar travel through '''Bluespace''' - a completely alternate dimension outside of our own reality - which made traversing the vast distances of space between stars a far easier and faster ordeal. NanoTrasen began rapidly expanded mining operations the Oort Cloud, '''now named the Romanavich Cloud''', and managed to establish a monopoly in the Phoronics Industry, all the while the demand for phoron continued to grow across the Spur, leading NanoTrasen to eventually become the wealthiest corporation in the history of the Spur, and arguably its most powerful entity. It strong-armed the Solarian Alliance to allow the independence of Tau Ceti, creating the Republic of Biesel, in which it held almost complete political influence, and quickly soared above the older megacorporations. By 2455 NanoTrasen was at the height of its power, wielding massive amounts of influence across the Spur and having what amounted to a monopoly of influence over the government of the state it helped create; which happened to preside over only one of three places phoron can be found in the entire Spur. Yet only two years later, it would see its position shaken.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[NanoTrasen Corporation]]'''<br>[[File:Nt-logo.jpeg|150px|link=NanoTrasen Corporation]]<br>''‘The leader in all things phoron.’''</center>|| The largest megacorporation and arguably the most influential entity within the Spur, NanoTrasen's position can be wholly attributed to two factors: its iron grip over the Republic of Biesel and the discovery of phoron it was quick to form a monopoly over. Due to NanoTrasen's influence across the Spur, employees from all walks of life can find employment with the megacorporation. For many wishing to start a new life, NanoTrasen is an easy ticket to getting a full-length work visa to the Republic of Biesel. Further enticing for employees, NanoTrasen Corporation is known to offer the most generous contract terms out of the Chainlink's megacorporations, be it: wide insurance coverage; excellent legal protection for those practicing in a medical field; scientists having full credit for any published research (excluding ground-breaking!), contrary to other megacorporations. Aboard the Horizon, NanoTrasen employees are employed in '''Science''', '''Medical''' and '''Service'''.
|-
|}
</center>

== The Early Scarcity ==

The Scarcity began with short news articles by the Mendell City Bugle in May of 2462, the first to show a steady decline in the deposits of phoron located throughout the Romanavich Cloud, and that shipments, while still coming, started taking significantly longer to fill quotas. This is the article that would set off a chain of events that saw the status-quo of the Spur that had held since the end of the Interstellar War completely upended. For this summary, all that needs to be said is that as 2462 continued, pressure slowly built up throughout the Spur as it became clearer this issue would not go away anytime soon, until finally, there was a violent, explosive release that shattered the post-IW status quo in a single week, the spark being the catastrophe known as '''Violet Dawn'''.

Violet Dawn was the name of the operation run by the Solarian Government which would cause a cataclysmic disaster on Mars in the later months of 2462. The operation's goal was to create a self-replicating, synthetic phoron gas as the scarcity was beginning to cause the Alliance's economy to falter. They were indeed able to accomplish this goal, however immediately discovered that there was no way to '''stop'' the self-replication, and the compound quickly breached containment, growing exponentially to become a raging atmospheric firestorm centered on Mar's South Pole, which the other residents of humanities most populous system watched turn the Red Planet Violet in horror. When the official news finally broke on November 10th containing specifics of the catastrophe on Mars, and that the Solarian Government's response to the crisis was to ignore or try to suppress calls for aid from the planet and order its vessels not to assist in evacuation efforts (though it must be said many brave captains and officers disobeyed these orders) the last nail in the coffin of the Solarian Alliance as it had been since the end of the Interstellar War was hammered home; the Alliance erupted with massive civil unrest and began to collapse. Then Prime Minister Frost was assassinated within a day, supposedly by a Zavodskoi Interstellar Kill Team - though the corporation never faced any punishment for it - and in desperation what remained of the Alliance's civilian government ordered the abandonment of all space outside of the Core Worlds, a region of space centered on Sol itself. However, many fleets disobeyed this order, setting up statelets as Warlords within former Solarian Territory which would come to be labeled the [[Human Wildlands]], a home to anarchy and limited governance.

However, one fleet that disobeyed the order to retreat did not set up a warlord state immediately, and instead burned hard towards Tau Ceti with it's phoron deposits; intending to invade with the goal of securing the phoron the Alliance needed. This was the 35th Fleet, under the command of '''Admiral Ozdemir''', and in response the formation of the SCC, or Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, was announced by Miranda Trasen, CEO of NanoTrasen, to much fanfare; comprising all the megacorporations of the Orion Spur except Einstein Engines, the SCC is perhaps the single most powerful entity in the Spur with Miranda Trasen at it's head. Behind that fanfare and celebration though, the concerning reality is that Miranda Trasen used her power and influence to force, bribe, sway, and bully all the other megacorporations, except one Einstein Engines, to cooperate under a single banner with NanoTrasen on top for years before the 35th's invasion, secretly forming the SCC in 2458. Nothing is known about the decision to go public. While it certainly helped by providing weaponry, and ships, to put the final nail in the 35th's coffin with a '''phoron WMD''', the 35th was only beaten with help from the rest of the Spur, primarily Elyra and the Coalition of Colonies, who sent large expeditionary forces to the Republic as allies. After their defeat, the 35th set up a statelet like so many other Warlords within the Human Wildlands, a fascistic and genocidal one known as the Solarian Restoration Front. The Republic, Coalition, and Elyra meanwhile expanded their borders in the power vacuum left by the Alliance's retreat, taking in planets that had been abandoned by the Alliance. As for what remained of the Alliance proper, the civilian government who ordered the retreat would go on to cede power to a temporary Military Junta, established to restore stability and control both in the core worlds and the Human Wildlands, with the promise that once this had been achieved new elections would be held, transferring power back into the hands of a democratically elected civilian government - which they would eventually fulfil their promise on, in 2467.

It is in this way that the status quo of almost a century was shattered, and the pieces are still being picked up.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]]'''<br>[[File:SCC logo.png|140px|link=Private Military Contracting Group]]<br><br>''‘The unbreakable chainlink, holding the Spur together.’''</center>|| A tenuous alliance between eight megacorporations, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate is a giant on the Spur's stage, with access to the immense resources and influence of each of the members beneath its shell. Originally firmly under the control of NanoTrasen Corporation, currently the megacorporations under the Chainlink now grapple for control behind closed doors, each with their own interests to push for the Conglomerate to coordinate efforts and resources towards. Aboard the Horizon, the SCC fills the majority of its positions with staff loaned from member megacorporations of the Chainlink, who hold dual contracts with their original company and the SCC. These contracted employees are employed in '''Command''' and '''Command Support'''.
|-
|}
</center>

== Period of Rebuilding ==
Since the cataclysmic events of 2462, the Spur had undergone tremendous changes, the most notable of which occurred within the once small Republic of Biesel. Following the collapse of the alliance which left many planets close to Tau Ceti unsupported, the small republic offered its assistance in exchange for these planets joining it. In this way the nation which used to be a single system came to take control over vast swathes of what was previously the Soalarian Outer Ring, including planets such as '''Mictlan''' and '''Port Antillia'''. However many of the people on these planets, Mictlan especially, felt betrayed by their planetary government, as they believed the possibility of independence a larger boon than whatever assistance the Republic could offer. When the '''Corporate Reconstruction Zone''' (CRZ) was announced, comprising all territory outside of Tau Ceti's gravity well, this discontent turned to violence as terrorists and revolutionaries began to fight back against the Republic. The planet that would see the worst of this violence would be Mictlan, where continuing incidents would force the republic to declare the planet under martial law and deploy the '''Tau Ceti Foreign Legion''' (TCFL). Their main opposition was two groups, the '''Founding Movement''' was a former political organization that turned to terrorism to try and throw off the Republic formerly led by '''Isabel Alvarez''' before her death at the hands of a lynch mob in 2466. They are mostly known for their bombing campaigns across Mictlan, the most notable of which is '''the bombing of Valtas Square''', located directly in front of the Mictlan Defense Forces Headquarters, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds. '''The Samaritans''', on the other hand, were a paramilitary organization originally formed by deserters from the Mictlani Defense Force, led by '''Xiomara Salvo''', who waged a guerilla war against the forces of the Republic directly.

However, the deployment of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion did little to stop the violence gripping the planet, resulting in the formation of the '''Tau Ceti Armed Forces''' (TCAF), a fully professional military force compared to the part-time volunteer force that was the Foreign Legion. Many bills were passed in an attempt to give the new armed forces the tools they needed to defeat the insurrectionists, however, nothing worked. Violence continued to grip Mictlan until the failed gamble known as '''Operation Jakali''' in 2466 and facing mounting civil unrest in Tau Ceti itself over the continued military occupation of Mictlan that the violence finally ended with a '''peace deal''' signed between the Samaritans (as at this point the founding movement had collapsed) and the Republic of Biesel/Mictlani government. All members of the Samaritans were '''pardoned on parole''', and now the planet of Mictlan is finally at peace for the first time in many years.

Yet Mictlan was not the only place to experience violence within the CRZ. In the South within the region known as '''Valley Hale''', the SCC discovered something that would help to stave off the scarcity for a time; the asteroid that would come to be known as Orchard Moon. A large deposit of Phoron, it was located right on the border between the '''Serene Republic of Elyra''', which resulted in a border dispute between the two nations, which the Horizon played a pivotal role in. The result of that dispute was '''Orchard Moon''' remaining within Biesel territory, only to then for the newly built mining installations to be attacked by remanents from the '''Southern Fleet Administration''' (SFA), pirates out of the southern wildlands.

Over in the Alliance, the state turned inwards and began to focus on consolidating its new, nationalized industry, with Einstein Engines padding out more specialist industries, and began the slow effort to '''return the Alliance's government to the hands of the people'''. The embers of populism were now beginning to be stoked with the promise of a civilian government. The Alliance's inward eye, however, left certain Warlord states bold, and their supporters within the Alliance's military structure even bolder. After their defeat at Tau Ceti, the 35th Fleet fled to the human wildlands, establishing a warlord state known as the '''Solarian Restoration Front''' (SRF); a fascistic, genocidal, and ultranationalist group who had the aim of purging the Alliance, and then the Spur, of alien taint. '''IMPORTANT NOTE: PLAYING A CURRENT OR FORMER MEMBER, AFFILIATE, SYMPATHIZER, OR SUPPORTER OF THE SOLARIAN RESTORATION FRONT (SRF) IS ENTIRELY BANNED. THIS IS ENFORCEABLE BY MODERATION STAFF.''' That said - due to the reign of Prime Minister Frost, a fascistic strongman himself, the Alliance's remaining fleets in the core worlds were still infested with SRF supporters alongside more mundane corruption, all of which saw supplies be consistently funneled to the warlord state. After decades of dealing with caeserism and corruption within the navy, the alliance's junta began to take drastic steps, and alongside planned naval reforms, '''initiated a full scale purge'''; relieving, arresting, and in a very small amount of cases, even executing, anyone in the Navy involved with the SRF - though some supporters caught wind of the incoming purges, and fled with their fleets to join the SRF. With its link of support cut off, the SRF began to move quickly, and, at the start of 2465, would attack the Middle Ring Shield Pact, which if they could conquer, would give them a significantly better chance against the Alliance Proper. The SRF launched a full-scale invasion on San Colette, the capital of the shield pact, with fighting so brutal many have since dubbed it the '''Second Solarian Civil War'''. After weeks of hard fighting, with an act that sent a message across the Spur, the Alliance Navy itself intervened, launching an invasion of the Restoration Front, and reinforcing the exhausted defenders of San Collette. This would be the beginning of the process that would see the reintegration of the Warlord states into the fold of the Alliance-proper, as the SRF - the warlord with the most power militarily - was smashed as their fools gambit fell apart around them. '''The Southern and Northern Reconstruction Mandates were established in what was once the Human Wildlands''' by the Alliance, and they've begun to rebuild the damage caused over the past five years.

Two new megacorporations also sore their rise in this period: the '''Private Military Contracting Group''' (PMCG), which created a shortlist of vetted private military companies that were approved to work with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (later, a trusted source for other bidders in need of guns) and '''Orion Express''' (OE), the solution to the Chainlink's growing logistical woes amid the phoron scarcity and their steady expansion.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Private Military Contracting Group]]'''<br>[[File:PMCGsmallogo.png|180px|link=Private Military Contracting Group]]<br>''‘Always on guard, always on watch.’''</center>|| An amalgamation of private military companies of variable backgrounds, styles, and characters that have been permitted to work with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. The Private Military Contracting Group was established to provide a point of contact for the Chainlink and its subsidiary corporations to be able to browse more trusted PMCs, a service that has since been rolled out to the public.<br><br>No military contractor from the PMCG is the same due to the varied groups that have been permitted to work with the SCC. Aboard the Horizon, PMCG employees are employed in '''Medical''' and '''Security'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Orion Express]]'''<br>[[File:ORION SPUR LOGISTICS.png|150px|link=Orion Express]]<br>''‘Faster than light.’''</center>|| Blink and you'll miss them, Orion Express is a fledgling megacorporation whose freighters and mobile stations zip around to ensure corporate supply needs are met around the Spur. Having secured a stable footing, Orion Express now lends its various services to the rest of the Spur, with speed and convenience owing a premium - fast deliveries, fast mail, fast food, and fast mining. New on the scene, Orion Express has very low hiring standards to keep its workforce bolstered, making for a great foot in the door to a megacorporate job for those young or with gritty pasts. Aboard the Horizon, Orion employees are employed in '''Operations''' and '''Service'''.
|-
|}
</center>

= The Contemporary Spur =
Now we're in the current setting. The year is '''{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} CE''' (Common Era), and the Orion Spur stands on the edge of a new age. The worst of the phoron scarcity seems to be receding '''for now''', though instability and uncertainty persist. Through the cooperation of its constituent corporations, the SCC controls all but a sliver of economic productivity, and so long as they continue to cooperate little can be done to change this. However cracks are already starting to show, and the SCC's members are at best, semi-unified and continue to quarrel amongst themselves, looking out for their interests first. '''Hephaestus Industries''' – after years of careful planning – have acquired what even '''NanoTrasen''' struggled to seize after forcing the Alliance to allow Biesel’s secession: the monopoly over an entire nation in the '''Izweski Hegemony''', to the alarm of all the other SCC members, who revised their approach to Hephaestus to ensure they do not gain too much power, with rumors of megacorporate backing for the Trinary Perfectionist attack on Burszia; but there is no rumor more likely then the ones circulating Zavodskoi Interstellar, already bitter rivals with the Industrial Titan, who have recently been accused of hiring pirates to attack Hephaestus assets, alongside supplying anti-Hephaestus terrorist groups within the Izweski Hegemony. The relationships on which the SCC depends are tenuous ones, '''only held together by Miranda Trasen using every tactic she can think of'''; assurance of mutual profit, NanoTrasen's power, a healthy amount of fear, political corruption, bullying, threats, bribery, blackmail, corporate espionage, the occasional convenient death, and masterfully playing the constituent corporations against each other. Through all these tactics she manages to just hold it together, and the power it gives her makes her one of, if not the most, powerful individual in the entire Spur; though only time will tell how long she can continue to hold the conglomerate together, maintaining her position.

Our medium into this world is the '''SCCV Horizon''', and due to it being a mobile ship, the setting to which players have access stretches across the entirety of the Orion Spur. The Horizon is under the joint control of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate; with you, among others, having been assigned to work aboard the Horizon. Its a state-of-the-art general-purpose vessel that travels across the Orion Spur with the primary objective of uncovering Phoron, however, secondary objectives exist at the whim of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, and it's constituent corporations. Due to the SCC operating the Horizon, they have the final say on Occupation Qualifications - many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages, however in addition the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]]. More can be read about your place in the workplace below!

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
'''Your Place in the Workplace'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
All players including staff are subject to the believable character rule. More details on that rule can be found in the server rules, found [https://aurorastation.org/rules.html here.]

With this said, your place in the workplace is extremely flexible. It would not be a stretch to say you can be whatever you want on the Aurora server, within reason. Get creative! The possibilities are endless, and storied lore backgrounds are always here to help guide character creation.

Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, your binding rules are generally things such as being related to the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''' and being aboard the '''SCCV Horizon''' legally. Opportunities to subvert even these rules are available but are not the same as player characters made from character setup unless exclusively permitted by staff. More details on these exceptions can be found on the [[Guide to Ghost Roles]] page! Not recommended to go there immediately if this is your first read through.

The vast majority of characters on the server are employees of the corporations beneath the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate'''. These individuals come in all shapes and sizes, with all of them sharing similar and quite low ranks in the megacorporate hierarchy. Certain ranks are afforded different privileges, such as medical practitioners and corporate security. Playing an official of higher rank is barred behind a whitelist to ensure quality control. Independent individuals or unaffiliated individuals are accessible as well through character setup. These roles include megacorporate-unaffiliated journalists, passengers, and [[Guide to Ghost Roles|third-party vessel teams]] who have found their way to the setting somehow. Not recommended to go there immediately if this is your first read through.
</div></div>

As for our factions - after the disaster that was the Peacekeeper Mandate, President Dorn was voted out of office and replaced with the Independent '''Ake Torvald''' - a former intelligence agent who beat the odds, and proved that though it may be a façade democracy, the Republic is still a democracy. While Miranda Trasen and NanoTrasen still hold enormous influence over him, and the government of Biesel as a whole, Torvald has more freedom than Dorn ever had; though the man is an enigma, so what he plans to do with that freedom is something that can only be guessed at.

After the establishment of the Reconstruction Mandates, the military junta which had ruled Sol since the collapse made good on their word, hosting free and fair elections for a new Prime Minister, and relinquishing power. The winner of the election would be one '''Hendrik Strom''', a man known for supporting the infamous Tajara bans, but who now has a monumental the task ahead of him; to not only put his fractured nation back together, but to rebuild it's reputation in the eyes of the wider galactic community.

'''The Coalition though''', continues to lumber on, with it's members still bickering amongst themselves; a multiheaded hydra that can never agree on anything. Time will tell if the coalition will become something more than the loose defensive alliance it currently is, or if it will continue as it has been since the end of the Interstellar War.

== Factions ==

===The Solarian Alliance===
The Solarian Alliance was once the sole government of humanity, but after a devastating civil war and two centuries of decline, it has become a shadow of what it once was. All human nations are in some way breakaway states from the Alliance, including the Empire of Dominia which was founded by colonists sent from the Alliance before being cut off. Most of the planets of the Alliance have long and rich histories, rife with heroism, treachery, hope, horror, corruption, and tragedy. It is possibly the most populous nation, still holding most of the earliest human colonies close to the Sol system itself, and therefore also the largest.

===The Republic of Biesel===
The Republic of Biesel is the most recently founded nation in the spur, only coming into existence in (date). Since then, the young Republic has faced crisis after crisis, being beaten into the dirt only to get back up over and over. This perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds has seen the Republic through most crises, but it remains uncertain if it will see them through the Phoron Scarcity, given that the Republic's wealth, prosperity, and very existence are thanks to this rare element. Still, while they continue to hang on, ideals such as freedom, inclusivity, and a duty to protect those first two values from outside sources have all become tenets for the young republic's emerging culture - one that is still very young - yet exists all the same.

===The Coalition of Colonies===
The Coalition of Colonies was the second interstellar human "nation" to form, though to call it a nation is a stretch. There is very little centralized authority, and factitious infighting is a staple of Coalition politics. This is a result of its formation, as a group of disparate frontier rebels fighting against the Alliance's extortion of the colonies to try and soften the blow of a financial crisis in the core worlds. Governments of all types can be found within the Coalition, from the continual martial law of Gadpathur, the Democracy of Xanu, and the Syndicalism of Himeo; all operate under the umbrella of the Coalition of Colonies, but could not be more different from each other. The Coalition prioritizes freedom of above all - but the freedom of states and planets to choose as they see fit - rather than individual freedoms.

===The Serene Republic of Elyra===
The Serene Republic of Elyra came into being in the aftermath of the Interstellar War, as a wounded and battered Alliance continued to face civil unrest in its southern reaches. After the death of a scholar during a protest - the Elyran Revolution would occur, and the new nation would be formed. Isolationist in nature, it has maintained an ethnically homogeneous population and culture throughout its history, and it is next to impossible for outsiders to be granted Elyran Citizenship. As such, it people and culture are extremely similar to those peoples and cultures that can be found in the Modern Day Middle East, North Africa, Anatolia, and Persia regions.

==The Empire of Dominia==
The Empire of Dominia is an odd nation out when it comes to humanity, as it did not come to be through direct revolt against the Alliance, though its formation still saw plenty of bloodshed. After the disaster of the Interstellar War, Elyran Independence, and a continually worsening economy, the Alliance cut its losses, ceasing to try and expand into the Southern Spur. However, expeditions had already been sent, and would now receive no assistance from the wider alliance. It would not be until the 2300s that the planet Moroz would be united through a brutal series of wars (Known as the War of Moroz), under an autocratic, imperialist, and theocratic state, known as the Empire of Dominia. They are easily the strangest of the human nations, having very different cultures, religions, and similar due to developing in isolation for so long.

----

{{SpeciesoftheSpur}}

Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary

2025-10-11T20:20:53Z

Triogenix:

{{Navbox Lore}}
While you are encouraged to start playing immediately after reading the [[New Player Lore Guide]], this page provides a more in-depth summary of the setting, its history, background, and factions. It is therefore significantly longer than the New Player Lore Guide, and shouldn't be read before playing a few rounds on the server. It will be divided into three sections: an overview of the history of the Spur, an overview of the contemporary Spur, and an overview of the alien species and the entities they've created.

= History Overview =
The purpose of this overview is to give new players a general grasp on the Aurora Setting, and the background of how it got to this point. The Early Years and Rise of NanoTrasen segments deal with deep background history, whereas the Early Scarcity, Period of Rebuilding, and Contemporary Spur sections deal with history that occurred in-game since 2019. Additionally whenever there's a bolded name followed by a parentheses, acronym, that is us denoting the common acronym used for that entity in game; I.E, '''Zavodskoi Interstellar''' (ZI). Other bolding is just us highlighting important names to help new player remember them better in game. This guide will focus on the megacorporations first and foremost, as they are the entities characters work for aboard the ship, but also go more into depth with three factions in particular; The Solarian Alliance, the Republic of Biesel, and to a lesser extent, the Coalition of Colonies. We'll discuss them as we discuss the history of the Aurora setting, and the history of the megacorporations, so let's dive in!

== The Early Years ==
'''The first megacorporations''' arose out of the fast-paced landscape of Earth’s 22nd Century, a period defined by fierce economic competition between Earth’s nations – particularly across the East and West divide – and the start of the race to colonize the planets of the Sol System, spurred by the strife of a climate crisis that was beginning to engulf Earth. As this climate crisis got worse and worse, nationstates began to buckle - some even collapsing - under the pressure, and by the end of the 2120s and into the 2130s, the United Nations found itself the only organization left standing with the capability to rebuild in the aftermath of the crisis. It became the source of restoring order and stability across the globe, rapidly centralizing as it took many functions of governance away from the nations of Earth; causing them to fall into irrelevance. It is during this tumultuous time that the remaining corporations began to transform into megacorporations; able to dominate entire regions economically and hold a monopoly on certain markets worldwide. '''Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals''' (ZH) is unofficially recognized to be the first true megacorporation by this definition; formed out of an agreement between East Asian biomedical companies in 2132, it came to dominate East Asia economically and biomedical markets worldwide. This process that on for decades (and in one case more than a century), but was sped up in 2140 the UN took the final step, reforming into the Solarian Alliance and becoming the sole centralized government of humanity. The new Alliance immediately began to colonize the stars; with many of the megacorporations born soon after the creation of the Alliance making their fortunes as the transtellar economy developed, with their founding dates in chronological order; '''Idris Incorporated'''(2152), '''Einstein Engines''' (2155) (EE), '''Hephaestus Industries''' (2164), and lastly '''Necropolis Industries''' (2259) which would rebrand to '''Zavodskoi Interstellar''' (ZI) in 2462. Contemporarily these first megacorporations have become known as the Founding Five, and from the time of their creation up until the early 2400s, at every generation-defining moment one of them has been there to witness and capitalize upon it. one generation defining event stands out above the rest as the reason for the dominance of megacorporation in the Contemporary Spur, when in 2275, fringe colonies within the Solarian Alliance broke away to form the Coalition of Colonies, kickstarting the chain of events that would lead to the Interstellar War.

'''The Interstellar War''' was a Spur spanning conflict between rebel colonies who would come to be known as the '''Coalition of Colonies''' (CoC) and the hegemonic Solarian Alliance. The devastation was on a scale that has not been seen since, and it's impacts are still felt to this day as it laid the ground work for the modern Spur to develop. However for the purposes of this summary all that needs to be said is that the consequences of the war saw the power of national governments fall dramatically, and the power of the trans-stellar corporations skyrocket, becoming the backbone of the remaining human nation's economy just in time for humanity’s first contact with aliens. The megacorporations, with their power in human space cemented, were quick to broker deals with the alien states, seeding their influence into any fresh market. They struck one-sided deals, exploiting every new planet and species where-ever they could, all the while continuing to grow in power. They became the logistical and industrial titans that drive the Spur forward, the weapons manufacturers and security solutions driving the Spur back into the dirt, and the bureaucratic and pharmaceutical giants that kept us going just a little longer. For this, their holds on the markets across space are unshakable, their sway behind closed doors decisive, and the repercussions for their mishaps fleeting. They could have collectively dominated the Spur for more than a century with cooperation, and potentially held on to that domination indefinitely, but none had the power to force even one of the others to let go of divisions. '''In the end, this was to their detriment''', for in the 25th century a dark horse corporation that everyone had little expectation of managed to ensure that cooperation, and reap the rewards of dominating the Spur, through its immense power.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
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! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
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| <center>'''[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]'''<br>[[File:ZH-lightpurple1.png|150px|link=Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]<br>''‘Building a brighter future.’''</center>|| The biomedical giant and the oldest megacorporation in the Spur, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals dominates the practice of medicine and the many fields of research that relate to it. Arranged in a keiretsu structure, Zeng-Hu is composed of many smaller subsidiary companies which all cross-invest to ensure each subsidiary dominates its place in the market. Zeng-Hu focuses on perfecting the human body, through both genetic and cybernetic means, a line of research that has led to embryonic cloning, limb cloning, and the most advanced synthetics yet. Zeng-Hu has strict hiring standards, as the corporation is known to only hire the best or those showing the promise to become the best. Not only paid well, prospective employees are often enticed by the promise of high-end cybernetics and genetic treatments that are often handed down as benefits by veteran staff. Aboard the Horizon, Keiretsu employees are employed in '''Science''' and '''Medical'''.
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| <center>'''[[Hephaestus Industries]]'''<br>[[File:Hephaestuslogo4.png|150px|link=Hephaestus Industries]]<br>''‘The anvil on which the world is shaped.’''</center>|| The industrial titan, Hephaestus Industries was born out of West Europe and North America's military industries that snowballed in size from the 21st century onwards, to where some consider it the second most powerful megacorporation. Partially divorced from its history in military industry, Hephaestus is known best know for its bulk resource exploitation, mass-scale industrial manufacturing, large scale ship production, and logistics. With a reputation as the company for the blue collar worker, Hephaestus Industries is able to hire far and wide and attract those disenfranchised by more bureaucratic work environments. Combined with the opportunity to soar to higher positions through only merit instead of socioeconomic background, and stock options, Hephaestus seems an obvious choice. However, this all comes at the cost of brand loyalty, with Hephaestus employees potentially instantly losing these benefits or their position if appearing to dissent from the company line. Aboard the Horizon, Hephaestus employees are employed in '''Engineering''' and '''Operations'''.
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| <center>'''[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]'''<br>[[File:Zavodskoi Interestellar.png|100px|link=Zavodskoi Interstellar]]<br>''‘Even one matters on the battlefield.’''</center>|| With a patchy history, the business of killing is the driving force behind Zavodskoi Interstellar's (ZI) business across the Spur. For Zavodskoi, conflict is another resource to exploit and a battleground is the perfect setting for testing experimental technology, and they have become the merchant of death for nation-states across the Spur; with ZI, almost the entire military industrial complex of the Spur is under one banner. As a result ZI has a hyper fixation on maintaining an image of professionality, and as a result ZI employees are often some of the most courteous contractors out there, for a positive image of the company always comes first. Aboard the Horizon, Zavodskoi employees are employed in '''Security''', '''Science''' and '''Engineering'''.
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| <center>'''[[Idris Incorporated]]'''<br>[[File:II-teal.png|150px|link=Idris Incorporated]]<br>''‘Astronomical Figures. Unlimited Power.’''</center>|| Where credits flow, Idris Incorporated can be found; the corporation's empire of influence is fueled by the countless Idris banks across the Spur and an ornate web of lucrative loans and insurance plans. Idris also has a heavy presence in the tourism, high end fashion, and hospitality industries, using their vast fortune to create both iconic brands and to outmaneuver competitors. Idris Incorporated contractors are expensive, coming with high expectations of class from consumers. For those that can work with that level of expectation, the benefits are many, but one also needs to keep their mouth shut, as all Idris employees sign an NDA that covers everything a contractor may do while on the job for the company and breaking that NDA is grounds for immediate termination. Aboard the Horizon, Idris employees are employed in '''Service''' and '''Security'''.
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| <center>'''[[Einstein Engines]]'''<br>[[File:EinsteinEngines2.png|150px|link=Einstein Engines]]<br>''‘Lead by our history, leading our future.’''</center>|| Throughout the Spur's history, Einstein Engines was the indefatigable megacorporate power, triumphing in every field they broke into and reaping the benefits of their close relationship with both the Solarian Alliance and Nralakk Federation. Following the discovery of phoron however, the status quo was shattered and NanoTrasen Corporation stole the throne; now with the phoron scarcity reaching its apogee and warp travel back in fashion, Einstein Engines is eager to seize it back with the promise of reduced dependence on phoron. Due to their close relationship with the Solarian Alliance and market conflicts with NanoTrasen, Einstein Engines continues not to support or join the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. Einstein employees are '''not employed''' aboard the Horizon.
|}
</center>

== The Rise of NanoTrasen ==

Initially founded in 2366, the yet-to-be-distinguished NanoTrasen was a small company revolving around genetic research and development on Mars. Xavier Trasen, Chief Executor of Operations for the company (as well as its founder) managed to propel the fledgling corporation through up the ladder with a combination of aggressive business tactics and effectively patenting methods to buy out or destroy local competition. By the end of the century, NanoTrasen had acquired enough capital to begin their new operations on Biesel, even managing to secure mining rights in the Tau Ceti system. However at this point, NanoTrasen barely even qualified as a Transstellar corporation, and barely even registered with the original Megacorporations; it wasn't even worth buying out or absorbing. All that would change in the early 25th century, for in 2417 NanoTrasen made the most significant discovery and technological innovation to date, when they found the priceless element '''Phoron''' within the Oort Cloud of Tau Ceti. They quickly found an application for the incredibly rare material in the revolutionizing of interstellar travel through '''Bluespace''' - a completely alternate dimension outside of our own reality - which made traversing the vast distances of space between stars a far easier and faster ordeal. NanoTrasen began rapidly expanded mining operations the Oort Cloud, '''now named the Romanavich Cloud''', and managed to establish a monopoly in the Phoronics Industry, all the while the demand for phoron continued to grow across the Spur, leading NanoTrasen to eventually become the wealthiest corporation in the history of the Spur, and arguably its most powerful entity. It strong-armed the Solarian Alliance to allow the independence of Tau Ceti, creating the Republic of Biesel, in which it held almost complete political influence, and quickly soared above the older megacorporations. By 2455 NanoTrasen was at the height of its power, wielding massive amounts of influence across the Spur and having what amounted to a monopoly of influence over the government of the state it helped create; which happened to preside over only one of three places phoron can be found in the entire Spur. Yet only two years later, it would see its position shaken.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
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| <center>'''[[NanoTrasen Corporation]]'''<br>[[File:Nt-logo.jpeg|150px|link=NanoTrasen Corporation]]<br>''‘The leader in all things phoron.’''</center>|| The largest megacorporation and arguably the most influential entity within the Spur, NanoTrasen's position can be wholly attributed to two factors: its iron grip over the Republic of Biesel and the discovery of phoron it was quick to form a monopoly over. Due to NanoTrasen's influence across the Spur, employees from all walks of life can find employment with the megacorporation. For many wishing to start a new life, NanoTrasen is an easy ticket to getting a full-length work visa to the Republic of Biesel. Further enticing for employees, NanoTrasen Corporation is known to offer the most generous contract terms out of the Chainlink's megacorporations, be it: wide insurance coverage; excellent legal protection for those practicing in a medical field; scientists having full credit for any published research (excluding ground-breaking!), contrary to other megacorporations. Aboard the Horizon, NanoTrasen employees are employed in '''Science''', '''Medical''' and '''Service'''.
|-
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</center>

== The Early Scarcity ==

The Scarcity began with short news articles by the Mendell City Bugle in May of 2462, the first to show a steady decline in the deposits of phoron located throughout the Romanavich Cloud, and that shipments, while still coming, started taking significantly longer to fill quotas. This is the article that would set off a chain of events that saw the status-quo of the Spur that had held since the end of the Interstellar War completely upended. For this summary, all that needs to be said is that as 2462 continued, pressure slowly built up throughout the Spur as it became clearer this issue would not go away anytime soon, until finally, there was a violent, explosive release that shattered the post-IW status quo in a single week, the spark being the catastrophe known as '''Violet Dawn'''.

Violet Dawn was the name of the operation run by the Solarian Government which would cause a cataclysmic disaster on Mars in the later months of 2462. The operation's goal was to create a self-replicating, synthetic phoron gas as the scarcity was beginning to cause the Alliance's economy to falter. They were indeed able to accomplish this goal, however immediately discovered that there was no way to '''stop'' the self-replication, and the compound quickly breached containment, growing exponentially to become a raging atmospheric firestorm centered on Mar's South Pole, which the other residents of humanities most populous system watched turn the Red Planet Violet in horror. When the official news finally broke on November 10th containing specifics of the catastrophe on Mars, and that the Solarian Government's response to the crisis was to ignore or try to suppress calls for aid from the planet and order its vessels not to assist in evacuation efforts (though it must be said many brave captains and officers disobeyed these orders) the last nail in the coffin of the Solarian Alliance as it had been since the end of the Interstellar War was hammered home; the Alliance erupted with massive civil unrest and began to collapse. Then Prime Minister Frost was assassinated within a day, supposedly by a Zavodskoi Interstellar Kill Team - though the corporation never faced any punishment for it - and in desperation what remained of the Alliance's civilian government ordered the abandonment of all space outside of the Core Worlds, a region of space centered on Sol itself. However, many fleets disobeyed this order, setting up statelets as Warlords within former Solarian Territory which would come to be labeled the [[Human Wildlands]], a home to anarchy and limited governance.

However, one fleet that disobeyed the order to retreat did not set up a warlord state immediately, and instead burned hard towards Tau Ceti with it's phoron deposits; intending to invade with the goal of securing the phoron the Alliance needed. This was the 35th Fleet, under the command of '''Admiral Ozdemir''', and in response the formation of the SCC, or Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, was announced by Miranda Trasen, CEO of NanoTrasen, to much fanfare; comprising all the megacorporations of the Orion Spur except Einstein Engines, the SCC is perhaps the single most powerful entity in the Spur with Miranda Trasen at it's head. Behind that fanfare and celebration though, the concerning reality is that Miranda Trasen used her power and influence to force, bribe, sway, and bully all the other megacorporations, except one Einstein Engines, to cooperate under a single banner with NanoTrasen on top for years before the 35th's invasion, secretly forming the SCC in 2458. Nothing is known about the decision to go public. While it certainly helped by providing weaponry, and ships, to put the final nail in the 35th's coffin with a '''phoron WMD''', the 35th was only beaten with help from the rest of the Spur, primarily Elyra and the Coalition of Colonies, who sent large expeditionary forces to the Republic as allies. After their defeat, the 35th set up a statelet like so many other Warlords within the Human Wildlands, a fascistic and genocidal one known as the Solarian Restoration Front. The Republic, Coalition, and Elyra meanwhile expanded their borders in the power vacuum left by the Alliance's retreat, taking in planets that had been abandoned by the Alliance. As for what remained of the Alliance proper, the civilian government who ordered the retreat would go on to cede power to a temporary Military Junta, established to restore stability and control both in the core worlds and the Human Wildlands, with the promise that once this had been achieved new elections would be held, transferring power back into the hands of a democratically elected civilian government - which they would eventually fulfil their promise on, in 2467.

It is in this way that the status quo of almost a century was shattered, and the pieces are still being picked up.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
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| <center>'''[[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]]'''<br>[[File:SCC logo.png|140px|link=Private Military Contracting Group]]<br><br>''‘The unbreakable chainlink, holding the Spur together.’''</center>|| A tenuous alliance between eight megacorporations, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate is a giant on the Spur's stage, with access to the immense resources and influence of each of the members beneath its shell. Originally firmly under the control of NanoTrasen Corporation, currently the megacorporations under the Chainlink now grapple for control behind closed doors, each with their own interests to push for the Conglomerate to coordinate efforts and resources towards. Aboard the Horizon, the SCC fills the majority of its positions with staff loaned from member megacorporations of the Chainlink, who hold dual contracts with their original company and the SCC. These contracted employees are employed in '''Command''' and '''Command Support'''.
|-
|}
</center>

== Period of Rebuilding ==
Since the cataclysmic events of 2462, the Spur had undergone tremendous changes, the most notable of which occurred within the once small Republic of Biesel. Following the collapse of the alliance which left many planets close to Tau Ceti unsupported, the small republic offered its assistance in exchange for these planets joining it. In this way the nation which used to be a single system came to take control over vast swathes of what was previously the Soalarian Outer Ring, including planets such as '''Mictlan''' and '''Port Antillia'''. However many of the people on these planets, Mictlan especially, felt betrayed by their planetary government, as they believed the possibility of independence a larger boon than whatever assistance the Republic could offer. When the '''Corporate Reconstruction Zone''' (CRZ) was announced, comprising all territory outside of Tau Ceti's gravity well, this discontent turned to violence as terrorists and revolutionaries began to fight back against the Republic. The planet that would see the worst of this violence would be Mictlan, where continuing incidents would force the republic to declare the planet under martial law and deploy the '''Tau Ceti Foreign Legion''' (TCFL). Their main opposition was two groups, the '''Founding Movement''' was a former political organization that turned to terrorism to try and throw off the Republic formerly led by '''Isabel Alvarez''' before her death at the hands of a lynch mob in 2466. They are mostly known for their bombing campaigns across Mictlan, the most notable of which is '''the bombing of Valtas Square''', located directly in front of the Mictlan Defense Forces Headquarters, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds. '''The Samaritans''', on the other hand, were a paramilitary organization originally formed by deserters from the Mictlani Defense Force, led by '''Xiomara Salvo''', who waged a guerilla war against the forces of the Republic directly.

However, the deployment of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion did little to stop the violence gripping the planet, resulting in the formation of the '''Tau Ceti Armed Forces''' (TCAF), a fully professional military force compared to the part-time volunteer force that was the Foreign Legion. Many bills were passed in an attempt to give the new armed forces the tools they needed to defeat the insurrectionists, however, nothing worked. Violence continued to grip Mictlan until the failed gamble known as '''Operation Jakali''' in 2466 and facing mounting civil unrest in Tau Ceti itself over the continued military occupation of Mictlan that the violence finally ended with a '''peace deal''' signed between the Samaritans (as at this point the founding movement had collapsed) and the Republic of Biesel/Mictlani government. All members of the Samaritans were '''pardoned on parole''', and now the planet of Mictlan is finally at peace for the first time in many years.

Yet Mictlan was not the only place to experience violence within the CRZ. In the South within the region known as '''Valley Hale''', the SCC discovered something that would help to stave off the scarcity for a time; the asteroid that would come to be known as Orchard Moon. A large deposit of Phoron, it was located right on the border between the '''Serene Republic of Elyra''', which resulted in a border dispute between the two nations, which the Horizon played a pivotal role in. The result of that dispute was '''Orchard Moon''' remaining within Biesel territory, only to then for the newly built mining installations to be attacked by remanents from the '''Southern Fleet Administration''' (SFA), pirates out of the southern wildlands.

Over in the Alliance, the state turned inwards and began to focus on consolidating its new, nationalized industry, with Einstein Engines padding out more specialist industries, and began the slow effort to '''return the Alliance's government to the hands of the people'''. The embers of populism were now beginning to be stoked with the promise of a civilian government. The Alliance's inward eye, however, left certain Warlord states bold, and their supporters within the Alliance's military structure even bolder. After their defeat at Tau Ceti, the 35th Fleet fled to the human wildlands, establishing a warlord state known as the '''Solarian Restoration Front''' (SRF); a fascistic, genocidal, and ultranationalist group who had the aim of purging the Alliance, and then the Spur, of alien taint. '''IMPORTANT NOTE: PLAYING A CURRENT OR FORMER MEMBER, AFFILIATE, SYMPATHIZER, OR SUPPORTER OF THE SOLARIAN RESTORATION FRONT (SRF) IS ENTIRELY BANNED. THIS IS ENFORCEABLE BY MODERATION STAFF.''' That said - due to the reign of Prime Minister Frost, a fascistic strongman himself, the Alliance's remaining fleets in the core worlds were still infested with SRF supporters alongside more mundane corruption, all of which saw supplies be consistently funneled to the warlord state. After decades of dealing with caeserism and corruption within the navy, the alliance's junta began to take drastic steps, and alongside planned naval reforms, '''initiated a full scale purge'''; relieving, arresting, and in a very small amount of cases, even executing, anyone in the Navy involved with the SRF - though some supporters caught wind of the incoming purges, and fled with their fleets to join the SRF. With its link of support cut off, the SRF began to move quickly, and, at the start of 2465, would attack the Middle Ring Shield Pact, which if they could conquer, would give them a significantly better chance against the Alliance Proper. The SRF launched a full-scale invasion on San Colette, the capital of the shield pact, with fighting so brutal many have since dubbed it the '''Second Solarian Civil War'''. After weeks of hard fighting, with an act that sent a message across the Spur, the Alliance Navy itself intervened, launching an invasion of the Restoration Front, and reinforcing the exhausted defenders of San Collette. This would be the beginning of the process that would see the reintegration of the Warlord states into the fold of the Alliance-proper, as the SRF - the warlord with the most power militarily - was smashed as their fools gambit fell apart around them. '''The Southern and Northern Reconstruction Mandates were established in what was once the Human Wildlands''' by the Alliance, and they've begun to rebuild the damage caused over the past five years.

Two new megacorporations also sore their rise in this period: the '''Private Military Contracting Group''' (PMCG), which created a shortlist of vetted private military companies that were approved to work with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (later, a trusted source for other bidders in need of guns) and '''Orion Express''' (OE), the solution to the Chainlink's growing logistical woes amid the phoron scarcity and their steady expansion.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
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| <center>'''[[Private Military Contracting Group]]'''<br>[[File:PMCGsmallogo.png|180px|link=Private Military Contracting Group]]<br>''‘Always on guard, always on watch.’''</center>|| An amalgamation of private military companies of variable backgrounds, styles, and characters that have been permitted to work with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. The Private Military Contracting Group was established to provide a point of contact for the Chainlink and its subsidiary corporations to be able to browse more trusted PMCs, a service that has since been rolled out to the public.<br><br>No military contractor from the PMCG is the same due to the varied groups that have been permitted to work with the SCC. Aboard the Horizon, PMCG employees are employed in '''Medical''' and '''Security'''.
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| <center>'''[[Orion Express]]'''<br>[[File:ORION SPUR LOGISTICS.png|150px|link=Orion Express]]<br>''‘Faster than light.’''</center>|| Blink and you'll miss them, Orion Express is a fledgling megacorporation whose freighters and mobile stations zip around to ensure corporate supply needs are met around the Spur. Having secured a stable footing, Orion Express now lends its various services to the rest of the Spur, with speed and convenience owing a premium - fast deliveries, fast mail, fast food, and fast mining. New on the scene, Orion Express has very low hiring standards to keep its workforce bolstered, making for a great foot in the door to a megacorporate job for those young or with gritty pasts. Aboard the Horizon, Orion employees are employed in '''Operations''' and '''Service'''.
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= The Contemporary Spur =
Now we're in the current setting. The year is '''{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} CE''' (Common Era), and the Orion Spur stands on the edge of a new age. The worst of the phoron scarcity seems to be receding '''for now''', though instability and uncertainty persist. Through the cooperation of its constituent corporations, the SCC controls all but a sliver of economic productivity, and so long as they continue to cooperate little can be done to change this. However cracks are already starting to show, and the SCC's members are at best, semi-unified and continue to quarrel amongst themselves, looking out for their interests first. '''Hephaestus Industries''' – after years of careful planning – have acquired what even '''NanoTrasen''' struggled to seize after forcing the Alliance to allow Biesel’s secession: the monopoly over an entire nation in the '''Izweski Hegemony''', to the alarm of all the other SCC members, who revised their approach to Hephaestus to ensure they do not gain too much power, with rumors of megacorporate backing for the Trinary Perfectionist attack on Burszia; but there is no rumor more likely then the ones circulating Zavodskoi Interstellar, already bitter rivals with the Industrial Titan, who have recently been accused of hiring pirates to attack Hephaestus assets, alongside supplying anti-Hephaestus terrorist groups within the Izweski Hegemony. The relationships on which the SCC depends are tenuous ones, '''only held together by Miranda Trasen using every tactic she can think of'''; assurance of mutual profit, NanoTrasen's power, a healthy amount of fear, political corruption, bullying, threats, bribery, blackmail, corporate espionage, the occasional convenient death, and masterfully playing the constituent corporations against each other. Through all these tactics she manages to just hold it together, and the power it gives her makes her one of, if not the most, powerful individual in the entire Spur; though only time will tell how long she can continue to hold the conglomerate together, maintaining her position.

Our medium into this world is the '''SCCV Horizon''', and due to it being a mobile ship, the setting to which players have access stretches across the entirety of the Orion Spur. The Horizon is under the joint control of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate; with you, among others, having been assigned to work aboard the Horizon. Its a state-of-the-art general-purpose vessel that travels across the Orion Spur with the primary objective of uncovering Phoron, however, secondary objectives exist at the whim of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, and it's constituent corporations. Due to the SCC operating the Horizon, they have the final say on Occupation Qualifications - many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages, however in addition the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]]. More can be read about your place in the workplace below!

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
'''Your Place in the Workplace'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
All players including staff are subject to the believable character rule. More details on that rule can be found in the server rules, found [https://aurorastation.org/rules.html here.]

With this said, your place in the workplace is extremely flexible. It would not be a stretch to say you can be whatever you want on the Aurora server, within reason. Get creative! The possibilities are endless, and storied lore backgrounds are always here to help guide character creation.

Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, your binding rules are generally things such as being related to the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''' and being aboard the '''SCCV Horizon''' legally. Opportunities to subvert even these rules are available but are not the same as player characters made from character setup unless exclusively permitted by staff. More details on these exceptions can be found on the [[Guide to Ghost Roles]] page! Not recommended to go there immediately if this is your first read through.

The vast majority of characters on the server are employees of the corporations beneath the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate'''. These individuals come in all shapes and sizes, with all of them sharing similar and quite low ranks in the megacorporate hierarchy. Certain ranks are afforded different privileges, such as medical practitioners and corporate security. Playing an official of higher rank is barred behind a whitelist to ensure quality control. Independent individuals or unaffiliated individuals are accessible as well through character setup. These roles include megacorporate-unaffiliated journalists, passengers, and [[Guide to Ghost Roles|third-party vessel teams]] who have found their way to the setting somehow. Not recommended to go there immediately if this is your first read through.
</div></div>

As for our factions - after the disaster that was the Peacekeeper Mandate, President Dorn was voted out of office and replaced with the Independent '''Ake Torvald''' - a former intelligence agent who beat the odds, and proved that though it may be a façade democracy, the Republic is still a democracy. While Miranda Trasen and NanoTrasen still hold enormous influence over him, and the government of Biesel as a whole, Torvald has more freedom than Dorn ever had; though the man is an enigma, so what he plans to do with that freedom is something that can only be guessed at.

After the establishment of the Reconstruction Mandates, the military junta which had ruled Sol since the collapse made good on their word, hosting free and fair elections for a new Prime Minister, and relinquishing power. The winner of the election would be one '''Hendrik Strom''', a man known for supporting the infamous Tajara bans, but who now has a monumental the task ahead of him; to not only put his fractured nation back together, but to rebuild it's reputation in the eyes of the wider galactic community.

'''The Coalition though''', continues to lumber on, with it's members still bickering amongst themselves; a multiheaded hydra that can never agree on anything. Time will tell if the coalition will become something more than the loose defensive alliance it currently is, or if it will continue as it has been since the end of the Interstellar War.

== Factions ==

===The Solarian Alliance===
The Solarian Alliance was once the sole government of humanity, but after a devastating civil war and two centuries of decline, it has become a shadow of what it once was. All human nations are in some way breakaway states from the Alliance, including the Empire of Dominia which was founded by colonists sent from the Alliance before being cut off. Most of the planets of the Alliance have long and rich histories, rife with heroism, treachery, hope, horror, corruption, and tragedy. It is possibly the most populous nation, still holding most of the earliest human colonies close to the Sol system itself, and therefore also the largest.

===The Republic of Biesel===
The Republic of Biesel is the most recently founded nation in the spur, only coming into existence in (date). Since then, the young Republic has faced crisis after crisis, being beaten into the dirt only to get back up over and over. This perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds has seen the Republic through most crises, but it remains uncertain if it will see them through the Phoron Scarcity, given that the Republic's wealth, prosperity, and very existence are thanks to this rare element. Still, while they continue to hang on, ideals such as freedom, inclusivity, and a duty to protect those first two values from outside sources have all become tenets for the young republic's emerging culture - one that is still very young - yet exists all the same.

===The Coalition of Colonies===
The Coalition of Colonies was the second interstellar human "nation" to form, though to call it a nation is a stretch. There is very little centralized authority, and factitious infighting is a staple of Coalition politics. This is a result of its formation, as a group of disparate frontier rebels fighting against the Alliance's extortion of the colonies to try and soften the blow of a financial crisis in the core worlds. Governments of all types can be found within the Coalition, from the continual martial law of Gadpathur, the Democracy of Xanu, and the Syndicalism of Himeo; all operate under the umbrella of the Coalition of Colonies, but could not be more different from each other. The Coalition prioritizes freedom of above all - but the freedom of states and planets to choose as they see fit - rather than individual freedoms.

===The Serene Republic of Elyra===
The Serene Republic of Elyra came into being in the aftermath of the Interstellar War, as a wounded and battered Alliance continued to face civil unrest in its southern reaches. After the death of a scholar during a protest - the Elyran Revolution would occur, and the new nation would be formed. Isolationist in nature, it has maintained an ethnically homogeneous population and culture throughout its history, and it is next to impossible for outsiders to be granted Elyran Citizenship. As such, it people and culture are extremely similar to those peoples and cultures that can be found in the Modern Day Middle East, North Africa, Anatolia, and Persia regions.

==The Empire of Dominia==
The Empire of Dominia is an odd nation out when it comes to humanity, as it did not come to be through direct revolt against the Alliance, though its formation still saw plenty of bloodshed. After the disaster of the Interstellar War, Elyran Independence, and a continually worsening economy, the Alliance cut its losses, ceasing to try and expand into the Southern Spur. However, expeditions had already been sent, and would now receive no assistance from the wider alliance. It would not be until the 2300s that the planet Moroz would be united through a brutal series of wars (Known as the War of Moroz), under an autocratic, imperialist, and theocratic state, known as the Empire of Dominia. They are easily the strangest of the human nations, having very different cultures, religions, and similar due to developing in isolation for so long.

----

{{SpeciesoftheSpur}}

Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary

2025-10-11T20:20:24Z

Triogenix:

{{Navbox Lore}}
While you are encouraged to start playing immediately after reading the [[New Player Lore Guide]], this page provides a more in-depth summary of the setting, its history, background, and factions. It is therefore significantly longer than the New Player Lore Guide, and shouldn't be read before playing a few rounds on the server. It will be divided into three sections: an overview of the history of the Spur, an overview of the contemporary Spur, and an overview of the entities that make up the shakers and movers of the setting.

= History Overview =
The purpose of this overview is to give new players a general grasp on the Aurora Setting, and the background of how it got to this point. The Early Years and Rise of NanoTrasen segments deal with deep background history, whereas the Early Scarcity, Period of Rebuilding, and Contemporary Spur sections deal with history that occurred in-game since 2019. Additionally whenever there's a bolded name followed by a parentheses, acronym, that is us denoting the common acronym used for that entity in game; I.E, '''Zavodskoi Interstellar''' (ZI). Other bolding is just us highlighting important names to help new player remember them better in game. This guide will focus on the megacorporations first and foremost, as they are the entities characters work for aboard the ship, but also go more into depth with three factions in particular; The Solarian Alliance, the Republic of Biesel, and to a lesser extent, the Coalition of Colonies. We'll discuss them as we discuss the history of the Aurora setting, and the history of the megacorporations, so let's dive in!

== The Early Years ==
'''The first megacorporations''' arose out of the fast-paced landscape of Earth’s 22nd Century, a period defined by fierce economic competition between Earth’s nations – particularly across the East and West divide – and the start of the race to colonize the planets of the Sol System, spurred by the strife of a climate crisis that was beginning to engulf Earth. As this climate crisis got worse and worse, nationstates began to buckle - some even collapsing - under the pressure, and by the end of the 2120s and into the 2130s, the United Nations found itself the only organization left standing with the capability to rebuild in the aftermath of the crisis. It became the source of restoring order and stability across the globe, rapidly centralizing as it took many functions of governance away from the nations of Earth; causing them to fall into irrelevance. It is during this tumultuous time that the remaining corporations began to transform into megacorporations; able to dominate entire regions economically and hold a monopoly on certain markets worldwide. '''Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals''' (ZH) is unofficially recognized to be the first true megacorporation by this definition; formed out of an agreement between East Asian biomedical companies in 2132, it came to dominate East Asia economically and biomedical markets worldwide. This process that on for decades (and in one case more than a century), but was sped up in 2140 the UN took the final step, reforming into the Solarian Alliance and becoming the sole centralized government of humanity. The new Alliance immediately began to colonize the stars; with many of the megacorporations born soon after the creation of the Alliance making their fortunes as the transtellar economy developed, with their founding dates in chronological order; '''Idris Incorporated'''(2152), '''Einstein Engines''' (2155) (EE), '''Hephaestus Industries''' (2164), and lastly '''Necropolis Industries''' (2259) which would rebrand to '''Zavodskoi Interstellar''' (ZI) in 2462. Contemporarily these first megacorporations have become known as the Founding Five, and from the time of their creation up until the early 2400s, at every generation-defining moment one of them has been there to witness and capitalize upon it. one generation defining event stands out above the rest as the reason for the dominance of megacorporation in the Contemporary Spur, when in 2275, fringe colonies within the Solarian Alliance broke away to form the Coalition of Colonies, kickstarting the chain of events that would lead to the Interstellar War.

'''The Interstellar War''' was a Spur spanning conflict between rebel colonies who would come to be known as the '''Coalition of Colonies''' (CoC) and the hegemonic Solarian Alliance. The devastation was on a scale that has not been seen since, and it's impacts are still felt to this day as it laid the ground work for the modern Spur to develop. However for the purposes of this summary all that needs to be said is that the consequences of the war saw the power of national governments fall dramatically, and the power of the trans-stellar corporations skyrocket, becoming the backbone of the remaining human nation's economy just in time for humanity’s first contact with aliens. The megacorporations, with their power in human space cemented, were quick to broker deals with the alien states, seeding their influence into any fresh market. They struck one-sided deals, exploiting every new planet and species where-ever they could, all the while continuing to grow in power. They became the logistical and industrial titans that drive the Spur forward, the weapons manufacturers and security solutions driving the Spur back into the dirt, and the bureaucratic and pharmaceutical giants that kept us going just a little longer. For this, their holds on the markets across space are unshakable, their sway behind closed doors decisive, and the repercussions for their mishaps fleeting. They could have collectively dominated the Spur for more than a century with cooperation, and potentially held on to that domination indefinitely, but none had the power to force even one of the others to let go of divisions. '''In the end, this was to their detriment''', for in the 25th century a dark horse corporation that everyone had little expectation of managed to ensure that cooperation, and reap the rewards of dominating the Spur, through its immense power.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]'''<br>[[File:ZH-lightpurple1.png|150px|link=Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]<br>''‘Building a brighter future.’''</center>|| The biomedical giant and the oldest megacorporation in the Spur, Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals dominates the practice of medicine and the many fields of research that relate to it. Arranged in a keiretsu structure, Zeng-Hu is composed of many smaller subsidiary companies which all cross-invest to ensure each subsidiary dominates its place in the market. Zeng-Hu focuses on perfecting the human body, through both genetic and cybernetic means, a line of research that has led to embryonic cloning, limb cloning, and the most advanced synthetics yet. Zeng-Hu has strict hiring standards, as the corporation is known to only hire the best or those showing the promise to become the best. Not only paid well, prospective employees are often enticed by the promise of high-end cybernetics and genetic treatments that are often handed down as benefits by veteran staff. Aboard the Horizon, Keiretsu employees are employed in '''Science''' and '''Medical'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Hephaestus Industries]]'''<br>[[File:Hephaestuslogo4.png|150px|link=Hephaestus Industries]]<br>''‘The anvil on which the world is shaped.’''</center>|| The industrial titan, Hephaestus Industries was born out of West Europe and North America's military industries that snowballed in size from the 21st century onwards, to where some consider it the second most powerful megacorporation. Partially divorced from its history in military industry, Hephaestus is known best know for its bulk resource exploitation, mass-scale industrial manufacturing, large scale ship production, and logistics. With a reputation as the company for the blue collar worker, Hephaestus Industries is able to hire far and wide and attract those disenfranchised by more bureaucratic work environments. Combined with the opportunity to soar to higher positions through only merit instead of socioeconomic background, and stock options, Hephaestus seems an obvious choice. However, this all comes at the cost of brand loyalty, with Hephaestus employees potentially instantly losing these benefits or their position if appearing to dissent from the company line. Aboard the Horizon, Hephaestus employees are employed in '''Engineering''' and '''Operations'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]'''<br>[[File:Zavodskoi Interestellar.png|100px|link=Zavodskoi Interstellar]]<br>''‘Even one matters on the battlefield.’''</center>|| With a patchy history, the business of killing is the driving force behind Zavodskoi Interstellar's (ZI) business across the Spur. For Zavodskoi, conflict is another resource to exploit and a battleground is the perfect setting for testing experimental technology, and they have become the merchant of death for nation-states across the Spur; with ZI, almost the entire military industrial complex of the Spur is under one banner. As a result ZI has a hyper fixation on maintaining an image of professionality, and as a result ZI employees are often some of the most courteous contractors out there, for a positive image of the company always comes first. Aboard the Horizon, Zavodskoi employees are employed in '''Security''', '''Science''' and '''Engineering'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Idris Incorporated]]'''<br>[[File:II-teal.png|150px|link=Idris Incorporated]]<br>''‘Astronomical Figures. Unlimited Power.’''</center>|| Where credits flow, Idris Incorporated can be found; the corporation's empire of influence is fueled by the countless Idris banks across the Spur and an ornate web of lucrative loans and insurance plans. Idris also has a heavy presence in the tourism, high end fashion, and hospitality industries, using their vast fortune to create both iconic brands and to outmaneuver competitors. Idris Incorporated contractors are expensive, coming with high expectations of class from consumers. For those that can work with that level of expectation, the benefits are many, but one also needs to keep their mouth shut, as all Idris employees sign an NDA that covers everything a contractor may do while on the job for the company and breaking that NDA is grounds for immediate termination. Aboard the Horizon, Idris employees are employed in '''Service''' and '''Security'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Einstein Engines]]'''<br>[[File:EinsteinEngines2.png|150px|link=Einstein Engines]]<br>''‘Lead by our history, leading our future.’''</center>|| Throughout the Spur's history, Einstein Engines was the indefatigable megacorporate power, triumphing in every field they broke into and reaping the benefits of their close relationship with both the Solarian Alliance and Nralakk Federation. Following the discovery of phoron however, the status quo was shattered and NanoTrasen Corporation stole the throne; now with the phoron scarcity reaching its apogee and warp travel back in fashion, Einstein Engines is eager to seize it back with the promise of reduced dependence on phoron. Due to their close relationship with the Solarian Alliance and market conflicts with NanoTrasen, Einstein Engines continues not to support or join the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. Einstein employees are '''not employed''' aboard the Horizon.
|}
</center>

== The Rise of NanoTrasen ==

Initially founded in 2366, the yet-to-be-distinguished NanoTrasen was a small company revolving around genetic research and development on Mars. Xavier Trasen, Chief Executor of Operations for the company (as well as its founder) managed to propel the fledgling corporation through up the ladder with a combination of aggressive business tactics and effectively patenting methods to buy out or destroy local competition. By the end of the century, NanoTrasen had acquired enough capital to begin their new operations on Biesel, even managing to secure mining rights in the Tau Ceti system. However at this point, NanoTrasen barely even qualified as a Transstellar corporation, and barely even registered with the original Megacorporations; it wasn't even worth buying out or absorbing. All that would change in the early 25th century, for in 2417 NanoTrasen made the most significant discovery and technological innovation to date, when they found the priceless element '''Phoron''' within the Oort Cloud of Tau Ceti. They quickly found an application for the incredibly rare material in the revolutionizing of interstellar travel through '''Bluespace''' - a completely alternate dimension outside of our own reality - which made traversing the vast distances of space between stars a far easier and faster ordeal. NanoTrasen began rapidly expanded mining operations the Oort Cloud, '''now named the Romanavich Cloud''', and managed to establish a monopoly in the Phoronics Industry, all the while the demand for phoron continued to grow across the Spur, leading NanoTrasen to eventually become the wealthiest corporation in the history of the Spur, and arguably its most powerful entity. It strong-armed the Solarian Alliance to allow the independence of Tau Ceti, creating the Republic of Biesel, in which it held almost complete political influence, and quickly soared above the older megacorporations. By 2455 NanoTrasen was at the height of its power, wielding massive amounts of influence across the Spur and having what amounted to a monopoly of influence over the government of the state it helped create; which happened to preside over only one of three places phoron can be found in the entire Spur. Yet only two years later, it would see its position shaken.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[NanoTrasen Corporation]]'''<br>[[File:Nt-logo.jpeg|150px|link=NanoTrasen Corporation]]<br>''‘The leader in all things phoron.’''</center>|| The largest megacorporation and arguably the most influential entity within the Spur, NanoTrasen's position can be wholly attributed to two factors: its iron grip over the Republic of Biesel and the discovery of phoron it was quick to form a monopoly over. Due to NanoTrasen's influence across the Spur, employees from all walks of life can find employment with the megacorporation. For many wishing to start a new life, NanoTrasen is an easy ticket to getting a full-length work visa to the Republic of Biesel. Further enticing for employees, NanoTrasen Corporation is known to offer the most generous contract terms out of the Chainlink's megacorporations, be it: wide insurance coverage; excellent legal protection for those practicing in a medical field; scientists having full credit for any published research (excluding ground-breaking!), contrary to other megacorporations. Aboard the Horizon, NanoTrasen employees are employed in '''Science''', '''Medical''' and '''Service'''.
|-
|}
</center>

== The Early Scarcity ==

The Scarcity began with short news articles by the Mendell City Bugle in May of 2462, the first to show a steady decline in the deposits of phoron located throughout the Romanavich Cloud, and that shipments, while still coming, started taking significantly longer to fill quotas. This is the article that would set off a chain of events that saw the status-quo of the Spur that had held since the end of the Interstellar War completely upended. For this summary, all that needs to be said is that as 2462 continued, pressure slowly built up throughout the Spur as it became clearer this issue would not go away anytime soon, until finally, there was a violent, explosive release that shattered the post-IW status quo in a single week, the spark being the catastrophe known as '''Violet Dawn'''.

Violet Dawn was the name of the operation run by the Solarian Government which would cause a cataclysmic disaster on Mars in the later months of 2462. The operation's goal was to create a self-replicating, synthetic phoron gas as the scarcity was beginning to cause the Alliance's economy to falter. They were indeed able to accomplish this goal, however immediately discovered that there was no way to '''stop'' the self-replication, and the compound quickly breached containment, growing exponentially to become a raging atmospheric firestorm centered on Mar's South Pole, which the other residents of humanities most populous system watched turn the Red Planet Violet in horror. When the official news finally broke on November 10th containing specifics of the catastrophe on Mars, and that the Solarian Government's response to the crisis was to ignore or try to suppress calls for aid from the planet and order its vessels not to assist in evacuation efforts (though it must be said many brave captains and officers disobeyed these orders) the last nail in the coffin of the Solarian Alliance as it had been since the end of the Interstellar War was hammered home; the Alliance erupted with massive civil unrest and began to collapse. Then Prime Minister Frost was assassinated within a day, supposedly by a Zavodskoi Interstellar Kill Team - though the corporation never faced any punishment for it - and in desperation what remained of the Alliance's civilian government ordered the abandonment of all space outside of the Core Worlds, a region of space centered on Sol itself. However, many fleets disobeyed this order, setting up statelets as Warlords within former Solarian Territory which would come to be labeled the [[Human Wildlands]], a home to anarchy and limited governance.

However, one fleet that disobeyed the order to retreat did not set up a warlord state immediately, and instead burned hard towards Tau Ceti with it's phoron deposits; intending to invade with the goal of securing the phoron the Alliance needed. This was the 35th Fleet, under the command of '''Admiral Ozdemir''', and in response the formation of the SCC, or Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, was announced by Miranda Trasen, CEO of NanoTrasen, to much fanfare; comprising all the megacorporations of the Orion Spur except Einstein Engines, the SCC is perhaps the single most powerful entity in the Spur with Miranda Trasen at it's head. Behind that fanfare and celebration though, the concerning reality is that Miranda Trasen used her power and influence to force, bribe, sway, and bully all the other megacorporations, except one Einstein Engines, to cooperate under a single banner with NanoTrasen on top for years before the 35th's invasion, secretly forming the SCC in 2458. Nothing is known about the decision to go public. While it certainly helped by providing weaponry, and ships, to put the final nail in the 35th's coffin with a '''phoron WMD''', the 35th was only beaten with help from the rest of the Spur, primarily Elyra and the Coalition of Colonies, who sent large expeditionary forces to the Republic as allies. After their defeat, the 35th set up a statelet like so many other Warlords within the Human Wildlands, a fascistic and genocidal one known as the Solarian Restoration Front. The Republic, Coalition, and Elyra meanwhile expanded their borders in the power vacuum left by the Alliance's retreat, taking in planets that had been abandoned by the Alliance. As for what remained of the Alliance proper, the civilian government who ordered the retreat would go on to cede power to a temporary Military Junta, established to restore stability and control both in the core worlds and the Human Wildlands, with the promise that once this had been achieved new elections would be held, transferring power back into the hands of a democratically elected civilian government - which they would eventually fulfil their promise on, in 2467.

It is in this way that the status quo of almost a century was shattered, and the pieces are still being picked up.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]]'''<br>[[File:SCC logo.png|140px|link=Private Military Contracting Group]]<br><br>''‘The unbreakable chainlink, holding the Spur together.’''</center>|| A tenuous alliance between eight megacorporations, the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate is a giant on the Spur's stage, with access to the immense resources and influence of each of the members beneath its shell. Originally firmly under the control of NanoTrasen Corporation, currently the megacorporations under the Chainlink now grapple for control behind closed doors, each with their own interests to push for the Conglomerate to coordinate efforts and resources towards. Aboard the Horizon, the SCC fills the majority of its positions with staff loaned from member megacorporations of the Chainlink, who hold dual contracts with their original company and the SCC. These contracted employees are employed in '''Command''' and '''Command Support'''.
|-
|}
</center>

== Period of Rebuilding ==
Since the cataclysmic events of 2462, the Spur had undergone tremendous changes, the most notable of which occurred within the once small Republic of Biesel. Following the collapse of the alliance which left many planets close to Tau Ceti unsupported, the small republic offered its assistance in exchange for these planets joining it. In this way the nation which used to be a single system came to take control over vast swathes of what was previously the Soalarian Outer Ring, including planets such as '''Mictlan''' and '''Port Antillia'''. However many of the people on these planets, Mictlan especially, felt betrayed by their planetary government, as they believed the possibility of independence a larger boon than whatever assistance the Republic could offer. When the '''Corporate Reconstruction Zone''' (CRZ) was announced, comprising all territory outside of Tau Ceti's gravity well, this discontent turned to violence as terrorists and revolutionaries began to fight back against the Republic. The planet that would see the worst of this violence would be Mictlan, where continuing incidents would force the republic to declare the planet under martial law and deploy the '''Tau Ceti Foreign Legion''' (TCFL). Their main opposition was two groups, the '''Founding Movement''' was a former political organization that turned to terrorism to try and throw off the Republic formerly led by '''Isabel Alvarez''' before her death at the hands of a lynch mob in 2466. They are mostly known for their bombing campaigns across Mictlan, the most notable of which is '''the bombing of Valtas Square''', located directly in front of the Mictlan Defense Forces Headquarters, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds. '''The Samaritans''', on the other hand, were a paramilitary organization originally formed by deserters from the Mictlani Defense Force, led by '''Xiomara Salvo''', who waged a guerilla war against the forces of the Republic directly.

However, the deployment of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion did little to stop the violence gripping the planet, resulting in the formation of the '''Tau Ceti Armed Forces''' (TCAF), a fully professional military force compared to the part-time volunteer force that was the Foreign Legion. Many bills were passed in an attempt to give the new armed forces the tools they needed to defeat the insurrectionists, however, nothing worked. Violence continued to grip Mictlan until the failed gamble known as '''Operation Jakali''' in 2466 and facing mounting civil unrest in Tau Ceti itself over the continued military occupation of Mictlan that the violence finally ended with a '''peace deal''' signed between the Samaritans (as at this point the founding movement had collapsed) and the Republic of Biesel/Mictlani government. All members of the Samaritans were '''pardoned on parole''', and now the planet of Mictlan is finally at peace for the first time in many years.

Yet Mictlan was not the only place to experience violence within the CRZ. In the South within the region known as '''Valley Hale''', the SCC discovered something that would help to stave off the scarcity for a time; the asteroid that would come to be known as Orchard Moon. A large deposit of Phoron, it was located right on the border between the '''Serene Republic of Elyra''', which resulted in a border dispute between the two nations, which the Horizon played a pivotal role in. The result of that dispute was '''Orchard Moon''' remaining within Biesel territory, only to then for the newly built mining installations to be attacked by remanents from the '''Southern Fleet Administration''' (SFA), pirates out of the southern wildlands.

Over in the Alliance, the state turned inwards and began to focus on consolidating its new, nationalized industry, with Einstein Engines padding out more specialist industries, and began the slow effort to '''return the Alliance's government to the hands of the people'''. The embers of populism were now beginning to be stoked with the promise of a civilian government. The Alliance's inward eye, however, left certain Warlord states bold, and their supporters within the Alliance's military structure even bolder. After their defeat at Tau Ceti, the 35th Fleet fled to the human wildlands, establishing a warlord state known as the '''Solarian Restoration Front''' (SRF); a fascistic, genocidal, and ultranationalist group who had the aim of purging the Alliance, and then the Spur, of alien taint. '''IMPORTANT NOTE: PLAYING A CURRENT OR FORMER MEMBER, AFFILIATE, SYMPATHIZER, OR SUPPORTER OF THE SOLARIAN RESTORATION FRONT (SRF) IS ENTIRELY BANNED. THIS IS ENFORCEABLE BY MODERATION STAFF.''' That said - due to the reign of Prime Minister Frost, a fascistic strongman himself, the Alliance's remaining fleets in the core worlds were still infested with SRF supporters alongside more mundane corruption, all of which saw supplies be consistently funneled to the warlord state. After decades of dealing with caeserism and corruption within the navy, the alliance's junta began to take drastic steps, and alongside planned naval reforms, '''initiated a full scale purge'''; relieving, arresting, and in a very small amount of cases, even executing, anyone in the Navy involved with the SRF - though some supporters caught wind of the incoming purges, and fled with their fleets to join the SRF. With its link of support cut off, the SRF began to move quickly, and, at the start of 2465, would attack the Middle Ring Shield Pact, which if they could conquer, would give them a significantly better chance against the Alliance Proper. The SRF launched a full-scale invasion on San Colette, the capital of the shield pact, with fighting so brutal many have since dubbed it the '''Second Solarian Civil War'''. After weeks of hard fighting, with an act that sent a message across the Spur, the Alliance Navy itself intervened, launching an invasion of the Restoration Front, and reinforcing the exhausted defenders of San Collette. This would be the beginning of the process that would see the reintegration of the Warlord states into the fold of the Alliance-proper, as the SRF - the warlord with the most power militarily - was smashed as their fools gambit fell apart around them. '''The Southern and Northern Reconstruction Mandates were established in what was once the Human Wildlands''' by the Alliance, and they've begun to rebuild the damage caused over the past five years.

Two new megacorporations also sore their rise in this period: the '''Private Military Contracting Group''' (PMCG), which created a shortlist of vetted private military companies that were approved to work with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (later, a trusted source for other bidders in need of guns) and '''Orion Express''' (OE), the solution to the Chainlink's growing logistical woes amid the phoron scarcity and their steady expansion.

<center>
{| class="wikitable" width="1100px"
|-
! width="300px"|Megacorporation !! width="800px"|Overview
|-
| <center>'''[[Private Military Contracting Group]]'''<br>[[File:PMCGsmallogo.png|180px|link=Private Military Contracting Group]]<br>''‘Always on guard, always on watch.’''</center>|| An amalgamation of private military companies of variable backgrounds, styles, and characters that have been permitted to work with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. The Private Military Contracting Group was established to provide a point of contact for the Chainlink and its subsidiary corporations to be able to browse more trusted PMCs, a service that has since been rolled out to the public.<br><br>No military contractor from the PMCG is the same due to the varied groups that have been permitted to work with the SCC. Aboard the Horizon, PMCG employees are employed in '''Medical''' and '''Security'''.
|-
| <center>'''[[Orion Express]]'''<br>[[File:ORION SPUR LOGISTICS.png|150px|link=Orion Express]]<br>''‘Faster than light.’''</center>|| Blink and you'll miss them, Orion Express is a fledgling megacorporation whose freighters and mobile stations zip around to ensure corporate supply needs are met around the Spur. Having secured a stable footing, Orion Express now lends its various services to the rest of the Spur, with speed and convenience owing a premium - fast deliveries, fast mail, fast food, and fast mining. New on the scene, Orion Express has very low hiring standards to keep its workforce bolstered, making for a great foot in the door to a megacorporate job for those young or with gritty pasts. Aboard the Horizon, Orion employees are employed in '''Operations''' and '''Service'''.
|-
|}
</center>

= The Contemporary Spur =
Now we're in the current setting. The year is '''{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} CE''' (Common Era), and the Orion Spur stands on the edge of a new age. The worst of the phoron scarcity seems to be receding '''for now''', though instability and uncertainty persist. Through the cooperation of its constituent corporations, the SCC controls all but a sliver of economic productivity, and so long as they continue to cooperate little can be done to change this. However cracks are already starting to show, and the SCC's members are at best, semi-unified and continue to quarrel amongst themselves, looking out for their interests first. '''Hephaestus Industries''' – after years of careful planning – have acquired what even '''NanoTrasen''' struggled to seize after forcing the Alliance to allow Biesel’s secession: the monopoly over an entire nation in the '''Izweski Hegemony''', to the alarm of all the other SCC members, who revised their approach to Hephaestus to ensure they do not gain too much power, with rumors of megacorporate backing for the Trinary Perfectionist attack on Burszia; but there is no rumor more likely then the ones circulating Zavodskoi Interstellar, already bitter rivals with the Industrial Titan, who have recently been accused of hiring pirates to attack Hephaestus assets, alongside supplying anti-Hephaestus terrorist groups within the Izweski Hegemony. The relationships on which the SCC depends are tenuous ones, '''only held together by Miranda Trasen using every tactic she can think of'''; assurance of mutual profit, NanoTrasen's power, a healthy amount of fear, political corruption, bullying, threats, bribery, blackmail, corporate espionage, the occasional convenient death, and masterfully playing the constituent corporations against each other. Through all these tactics she manages to just hold it together, and the power it gives her makes her one of, if not the most, powerful individual in the entire Spur; though only time will tell how long she can continue to hold the conglomerate together, maintaining her position.

Our medium into this world is the '''SCCV Horizon''', and due to it being a mobile ship, the setting to which players have access stretches across the entirety of the Orion Spur. The Horizon is under the joint control of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate; with you, among others, having been assigned to work aboard the Horizon. Its a state-of-the-art general-purpose vessel that travels across the Orion Spur with the primary objective of uncovering Phoron, however, secondary objectives exist at the whim of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, and it's constituent corporations. Due to the SCC operating the Horizon, they have the final say on Occupation Qualifications - many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages, however in addition the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]]. More can be read about your place in the workplace below!

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
'''Your Place in the Workplace'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
All players including staff are subject to the believable character rule. More details on that rule can be found in the server rules, found [https://aurorastation.org/rules.html here.]

With this said, your place in the workplace is extremely flexible. It would not be a stretch to say you can be whatever you want on the Aurora server, within reason. Get creative! The possibilities are endless, and storied lore backgrounds are always here to help guide character creation.

Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, your binding rules are generally things such as being related to the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''' and being aboard the '''SCCV Horizon''' legally. Opportunities to subvert even these rules are available but are not the same as player characters made from character setup unless exclusively permitted by staff. More details on these exceptions can be found on the [[Guide to Ghost Roles]] page! Not recommended to go there immediately if this is your first read through.

The vast majority of characters on the server are employees of the corporations beneath the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate'''. These individuals come in all shapes and sizes, with all of them sharing similar and quite low ranks in the megacorporate hierarchy. Certain ranks are afforded different privileges, such as medical practitioners and corporate security. Playing an official of higher rank is barred behind a whitelist to ensure quality control. Independent individuals or unaffiliated individuals are accessible as well through character setup. These roles include megacorporate-unaffiliated journalists, passengers, and [[Guide to Ghost Roles|third-party vessel teams]] who have found their way to the setting somehow. Not recommended to go there immediately if this is your first read through.
</div></div>

As for our factions - after the disaster that was the Peacekeeper Mandate, President Dorn was voted out of office and replaced with the Independent '''Ake Torvald''' - a former intelligence agent who beat the odds, and proved that though it may be a façade democracy, the Republic is still a democracy. While Miranda Trasen and NanoTrasen still hold enormous influence over him, and the government of Biesel as a whole, Torvald has more freedom than Dorn ever had; though the man is an enigma, so what he plans to do with that freedom is something that can only be guessed at.

After the establishment of the Reconstruction Mandates, the military junta which had ruled Sol since the collapse made good on their word, hosting free and fair elections for a new Prime Minister, and relinquishing power. The winner of the election would be one '''Hendrik Strom''', a man known for supporting the infamous Tajara bans, but who now has a monumental the task ahead of him; to not only put his fractured nation back together, but to rebuild it's reputation in the eyes of the wider galactic community.

'''The Coalition though''', continues to lumber on, with it's members still bickering amongst themselves; a multiheaded hydra that can never agree on anything. Time will tell if the coalition will become something more than the loose defensive alliance it currently is, or if it will continue as it has been since the end of the Interstellar War.

== Factions ==

===The Solarian Alliance===
The Solarian Alliance was once the sole government of humanity, but after a devastating civil war and two centuries of decline, it has become a shadow of what it once was. All human nations are in some way breakaway states from the Alliance, including the Empire of Dominia which was founded by colonists sent from the Alliance before being cut off. Most of the planets of the Alliance have long and rich histories, rife with heroism, treachery, hope, horror, corruption, and tragedy. It is possibly the most populous nation, still holding most of the earliest human colonies close to the Sol system itself, and therefore also the largest.

===The Republic of Biesel===
The Republic of Biesel is the most recently founded nation in the spur, only coming into existence in (date). Since then, the young Republic has faced crisis after crisis, being beaten into the dirt only to get back up over and over. This perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds has seen the Republic through most crises, but it remains uncertain if it will see them through the Phoron Scarcity, given that the Republic's wealth, prosperity, and very existence are thanks to this rare element. Still, while they continue to hang on, ideals such as freedom, inclusivity, and a duty to protect those first two values from outside sources have all become tenets for the young republic's emerging culture - one that is still very young - yet exists all the same.

===The Coalition of Colonies===
The Coalition of Colonies was the second interstellar human "nation" to form, though to call it a nation is a stretch. There is very little centralized authority, and factitious infighting is a staple of Coalition politics. This is a result of its formation, as a group of disparate frontier rebels fighting against the Alliance's extortion of the colonies to try and soften the blow of a financial crisis in the core worlds. Governments of all types can be found within the Coalition, from the continual martial law of Gadpathur, the Democracy of Xanu, and the Syndicalism of Himeo; all operate under the umbrella of the Coalition of Colonies, but could not be more different from each other. The Coalition prioritizes freedom of above all - but the freedom of states and planets to choose as they see fit - rather than individual freedoms.

===The Serene Republic of Elyra===
The Serene Republic of Elyra came into being in the aftermath of the Interstellar War, as a wounded and battered Alliance continued to face civil unrest in its southern reaches. After the death of a scholar during a protest - the Elyran Revolution would occur, and the new nation would be formed. Isolationist in nature, it has maintained an ethnically homogeneous population and culture throughout its history, and it is next to impossible for outsiders to be granted Elyran Citizenship. As such, it people and culture are extremely similar to those peoples and cultures that can be found in the Modern Day Middle East, North Africa, Anatolia, and Persia regions.

==The Empire of Dominia==
The Empire of Dominia is an odd nation out when it comes to humanity, as it did not come to be through direct revolt against the Alliance, though its formation still saw plenty of bloodshed. After the disaster of the Interstellar War, Elyran Independence, and a continually worsening economy, the Alliance cut its losses, ceasing to try and expand into the Southern Spur. However, expeditions had already been sent, and would now receive no assistance from the wider alliance. It would not be until the 2300s that the planet Moroz would be united through a brutal series of wars (Known as the War of Moroz), under an autocratic, imperialist, and theocratic state, known as the Empire of Dominia. They are easily the strangest of the human nations, having very different cultures, religions, and similar due to developing in isolation for so long.

----

{{SpeciesoftheSpur}}

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-11T19:53:35Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Aurora Lore is a community writing project that has been continuously running since 2015 with the help of dozens of writers over more than a decade. As a result, the volume of lore written can at times feel overwhelming for first-time players and turn them off from the setting. This page exists as an incredibly condensed summary of the lore, focused entirely on delivering the most important information quickly so that you can feel comfortable joining a round.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. CCIA will weigh both testimonies before determining what the outcome of the report will be.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment, synthetics, food, and even private security. However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page is focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-11T19:41:45Z

Triogenix: /* The Workplace */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

REWRITE THIS SHIT

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.
[[File:MirandaTrasen.png|thumb|Miranda Trasen, Leader of the SCC, and the woman who holds the spur in the palm of her hand.]]
'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page represents only a bare minimum summary of the setting, focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-11T19:37:10Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

REWRITE THIS SHIT

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''
[[File:Bound working.png|thumb||Two Vaurca employees working to repair a wall aboard the Horizon.]]
Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page represents only a bare minimum summary of the setting, focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Interstellar Relations

2025-10-11T19:04:29Z

Triogenix:

{{Outdated (Phoron Scarcity)}}
{{Outdated
|info = UPDATE IN PROGRESS.}}
{{Navbox Lore}}
{{Navbox Human Lore}}

While the 2400s may be increasingly dominated by megacorporations, the art of statecraft and the relationship between nations remains as relevant as ever. Below are summaries of the relations between the interstellar powers of humanity, their attitudes towards notable alien powers, and their relationships towards the Spur's megacorporations.

==The '''[[Sol Alliance|Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations]]'''==
[[File:Sol Alliance Flag.png|Civilian/Government flag of the Sol Alliance.|thumb]]
===[[Republic of Biesel]]===

Officially, the Solarian Alliance views the Republic of Biesel as a '''rogue breakaway state''' and held very limited formal relations with it prior to the Solarian Collapse of 2462. Presently the Solarian government maintains '''no formal ties''' with the Republic of Biesel, and has called for the Republic to cease its “illegal occupation” of the former Solarian territories now under the umbrella of the [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]]. Relations between the Republic and Alliance have never been worse, and show no signs of improving in the near future. The Alliance and Republic are currently engaged in a proxy war over the control of the [[Human Wildlands|Southern Wildlands]], a zone currently divided between three ex-Solarian statelets.

===[[Eridani Federation|Eridani Corporate Federation]]===

The Solarian Alliance formally regards the Eridani Corporate Federation as a special administrative zone with a limited degree of autonomy, notably regarding the activities of the [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate]]. The Alliance represents the ECF diplomatically, and the ECF maintains no formal ties to other nations beyond the Alliance itself.

===[[Coalition of Colonies]]===

The Alliance and Coalition have a mutual animosity stretching back to the Interstellar War between the two powers, which saw large swaths of the Coalition – such as [[Gadpathur]] and [[Xanu Prime]] – devastated by fighting. Relations were further soured by the defection of [[Konyang]] to the Coalition during the Solarian Collapse, which the Alliance views as illegal. The Alliance claims that Konyang is Solarian territory illegally occupied by the Coalition. The Coalition and Alliance are currently engaged in a proxy war over the control of the [[Human Wildlands|Northern Wildlands]], a zone currently divided between three ex-Solarian statelets.

===[[Republic of Elyra]]===

Old hatreds over the Elyran Revolution were often smothered by the realpolitik of Elyra’s status as the only net exporter of phoron aside from the Republic of Biesel, and the Alliance was long been a major net importer of Elyran phoron prior to 2462. The ongoing phoron shortage, and Elyra’s tightening of exports, have since greatly soured Elyran-Solarian relations, and both powers currently regard one another with immense suspicion.

===[[Empire of Dominia]]===

The Solarian Alliance does not maintain formal diplomatic ties with the Empire of Dominia, having long viewed the Empire as too far away from the Alliance to be of much interest. This disinterest extends to the Empire’s breakaway province on [[Moroz]], [[Fisanduh]].

===[[Nralakk Federation]]===

The Alliance and Federation have long been aligned to one another as both military and economic powers, and cooperation has remained steady even following the Solarian Collapse of 2463. It is in their mutual interests to ensure that they are both functional, if not perfectly healthy, interstellar powers.

===[[Izweski Nation|Izweski Hegemony]]===

The Alliance maintains a small diplomatic mission to the Izweski Hegemony, but places little importance upon the Hegemony beyond its since-discontinued joint projects on Ouerea with the [[Nralakk Federation]]. A former Solarian diplomat to the Hegemony stated that it “[...] is simply too backwards to enter the greater Spur,” currently, and the Solarian Collapse of 2462 has seen almost all of the Alliance’s diplomatic staff on Moghes return to Sol.

===[[People's Republic of Adhomai]]===

The People’s Republic of Adhomai is the only nation state on Adhomai that the Solarian government formally recognizes. However, the Alliance’s history of tajara bans and the recent Solarian Collapse in 2462 have caused the Alliance’s diplomatic mission on Adhomai to become a mere skeleton of its former self. The Alliance’s foreign intelligence service has long been suspected of interference on Adhomai, and was partially responsible for training the secret police of the modern PRA.

===[[Democratic People's Republic of Adhomai]]===

The Alliance does not recognize the Democratic People’s Republic of Adhomai, and instead refers to it as a “rogue breakaway state” of the People’s Republic of Adhomai. DPRA-flagged ships entering Solarian space are often detained and seized by the Solarian Navy in acts of apparent revenge for terrorist attacks rumored to be connected to the DPRA.

===[[New Kingdom of Adhomai]]===

The Solarian Alliance does not recognize the New Kingdom of Adhomai, and has no formal relations with it.

===[[Nanotrasen Corporation|NanoTrasen Corporation]]===

The Alliance’s relationship with the NanoTrasen Corporation is highly antagonistic, with many viewing the Corporation as the main reason for the Republic of Biesel’s secession from the Alliance. Following the expansion of NT’s client state – the Republic of Biesel – after the Solarian Collapse of 2462, the Alliance formed the Solarian Corporate Authority for the express purpose of punishing corporations involved with the SCC. NanoTrasen received the brunt of the SCA’s attention, with the corporation losing all of its Solarian assets to nationalization efforts.

===[[Hephaestus Industries]]===

Despite efforts by the SCA to nationalize many of its assets, particularly those on [[New Hai Phong]], Hephaestus Industries has managed to retain much of its assets in the Alliance, even if its relationship with it has never been rockier. To many on both sides – both corporate and government – their opposite is a necessary evil for both to continue functioning. When – or perhaps if – this paradigm will shift remains to be seen.

===[[Idris Incorporated]]===

Having paid off its “compensation fee” to the SCA, Idris Incorporated managed to maintain much of the goodwill it has long held in Alliance territories outside of Silverun’s Originals. Thanks to the megacorporations foresight, which some in the SCC would call cowardice, its good relationship with the Alliance seems set in stone for the immediate future. After all, what interstellar power is able to function without a robust financial sector?

===[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]===

Long viewed as an “essential” corporation for the functioning of the modern Alliance by its government, Zeng-Hu managed to avoid much of the SCA’s scorn by paying a “compensation fee” to the Alliance for its ongoing involvement with the SCC. The vast majority of the megacorporation’s assets in Solarian territory remain untouched – for now.

===[[Einstein Engines]]===

While the megacorporations aside from it were convinced by NanoTrasen to go along with its SCC, Einstein Engines stuck beside the Alliance through its darkest days in 2462. While many in the Alliance are wary of the influence the Spur’s single largest megacorporation holds over their government, many others praise the megacorporation’s unfailing support of the Alliance. Only time will tell where the influence Einstein holds takes it, but it and the Alliance seem conjoined for the foreseeable future.

===[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]===

Relations between the Solarian government and Zavodski Interstellar have recently taken a turn for the worse due to nationalization efforts by the SCA. Despite the souring of their public relations, Zavodskoi and the Solarian military have continued to maintain a friendly relationship that has been built upon decades of government contracts for the megacorporation and numerous kickbacks intended to keep comparable technology out of the hands of the Coalition of Colonies and Republic of Biesel, the Alliance’s two major interstellar rivals. How long the Alliance military – particularly its Navy – will be able to keep this act up for remains to be seen.

==The '''[[Empire of Dominia]]'''==
[[File:Dominia_Flag.png|thumb|The Imperial standard of House Keeser, intended to represent three nation-states of old Moroz that formed the basis of the Empire of Dominia.]]
===[[Republic of Biesel]]===

The Empire maintains cordial relations with the Republic, which it views as a natural economic ally against the Serene Republic of Elyra and Coalition of Colonies. Thanks to the influence Zavodskoi Interstellar holds over the young Republic, it seems that this cooperation will likely continue for the immediate future.

===[[Sol Alliance]]===

The Solarian Alliance and Empire of Dominia have no formal diplomatic relations, both due to distance and the disinterest both parties hold towards one another. The Empire is far more concerned with its immediate neighbors, the Coalition and Serene Republic, than it is with the post-Collapse husk of the Sol Alliance.

===[[Coalition of Colonies]]===

The Empire has long viewed the Coalition as a rival power, and relations between the two nations are quite poor. The Empire has declared an embargo on the Coalition for some time, and their navies are often involved in border skirmishes in the uncolonized frontier between the two nations.

===[[Republic of Elyra]]===

The Serene Republic is the Empire’s major rival in the Sparring Sea, and the two nations have long been at one another’s throats. With the Republic increasingly militarizing itself, many within the Imperial court now clamor for the Empire to pour even more funding into its colonial conquests to ensure it is able to keep pace.

===[[Nralakk Federation]]===

The Empire maintains a small diplomatic mission in the Federation, but has few dealings with it beyond formalities. Occasionally, Federation and Dominian scientists will hold conferences together in Biesel, and these conferences almost inevitably turn to the topic of how best to control, detect, and eliminate synthetic threats.

===[[Izweski Nation|Izweski Hegemony]]===

While occasionally allies of convenience, relations between the Empire and Hegemony have stressfully worsened over the 2460s. The Hegemony’s lack of internal stability has long been of concern to the Empire, which generally views the Hegemony as a junior partner. Recently, it seems that the Empire may leave its counterpart behind to align itself more permanently with Biesel and Zavodskoi.

===[[People's Republic of Adhomai]]===

The Empire regards the PRA as an illegitimate breakaway state of the New Kingdom of Adhomai, and does not have any formal relations with it.

===[[Democratic People's Republic of Adhomai]]===

The Empire regards the DPRA as an illegitimate breakaway state of the New Kingdom of Adhomai, and does not have any formal relations with it.

===[[New Kingdom of Adhomai]]===

The Empire recognizes the New Kingdom as the rightful government of Adhomai, but holds a patronizing attitude towards it. While the Empire is a vast land of many systems and worlds, the Kingdom can barely control half of a continent. To the Empire, they are clearly in need of guidance.

===[[Nanotrasen Corporation|NanoTrasen Corporation]]===

Dominia and NanoTrasen have little in the way of formal relations, but generally view one another positively. NT remains mostly uninvolved in the Dominian market, officially due to the lack of domestic demand for phoron in the Empire. Unofficially, many suspect that NT has stayed distant from the Dominian market as a concession to Zavodskoi Interstellar.

===[[Hephaestus Industries]]===

Hephaestus does not operate in the Empire, having long given up any potential profits to be made to Zavodskoi.

===[[Idris Incorporated]]===

Idris maintains a small but noticeable presence in the Imperial Core, where it is most notably seen working with House Caladius. Many Primaries view Idris quite well due to the luxuries it brings, and some servants of Imperial households work for Idris abroad as a gesture of goodwill — and as a method of gaining broader experiences.

===[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]===

Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals does not operate in the Empire.

===[[Einstein Engines]]===

Einstein Engines does not operate in the Empire, with its operations having never reached this far into the galactic south.

===[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]===

Zavodskoi Interstellar is deeply involved in the Empire of Dominia due to the Empire’s thriving — and large — military-industrial sector. Many Dominians work for Zavodskoi, and the Emperor himself is said to have entertained its CEO on several major Imperial holidays.

==The '''[[Republic of Elyra|Serene Republic of Elyra]]'''==
[[File:Elyra_Flag.png|thumb|The flag of the Serene Republic of Elyra]]
===[[Republic of Biesel]]===

Following Biesel’s recent expansion, and the creation of the controversial Corporate Reconstruction Zone, relations between the two republics have cooled significantly. Biesel’s economic closeness to the Empire of Dominia has become another point of contention, and the further opening of a rift between the two republics seems likely as the phoron crisis worsens.

===[[Sol Alliance]]===

The ongoing phoron shortage, and Elyra’s tightening of exports, have since greatly soured Elyran-Solarian relations, and both powers currently regard one another with immense suspicion. Despite this Elyra maintains warm relations with Earth, and Elyrans often visit the blue planet for religious or cultural purposes.

===[[Coalition of Colonies]]===

With both the Coalition and Serene Republic having the same regional rival, the Empire of Dominia, it is only natural that the two powers would become closely aligned. Despite their military cooperation, there remains a great deal of controversy between the two nations regarding Elyra’s treatment of its Non-Citizen Persons.

===[[Empire of Dominia]]===

The Serene Republic has long viewed the Empire as its major regional rival, and much of its recent militarization effort is designed at dissuading its neighbor from engaging in open warfare. For the time being, an awkward peace in which neither side is willing to suffer the losses it will have to take in order to “win” is the norm.

===[[Nralakk Federation]]===

The Nralakk Federation and Elyra have maintained a positive and cooperative relationship between themselves since the Lii’dra Incusion, in which the Federation gave the Serene Republic aid.

===[[Izweski Nation|Izweski Hegemony]]===

The Serene Republic holds no formal relations with the Hegemony beyond an embargo of all its goods, and a refusal to sell it any products. Skirmishes between Elyra and the Hegemony may be a thing of the past, but the relationship between the two powers remains very poor.

===[[People's Republic of Adhomai]]===

The Serene Republic cares little for the nations of Adhomai, and is instead far more concerned with its human neighbors: the Empire of Dominia and the Coalition of Colonies, in addition to the ever-growing threat of Biesel to its north.

===[[Democratic People's Republic of Adhomai]]===

The Serene Republic cares little for the nations of Adhomai, and is instead far more concerned with its human neighbors: the Empire of Dominia and the Coalition of Colonies, in addition to the ever-growing threat of Biesel to its north.

===[[New Kingdom of Adhomai]]===

The Serene Republic cares little for the nations of Adhomai, and is instead far more concerned with its human neighbors: the Empire of Dominia and the Coalition of Colonies, in addition to the ever-growing threat of Biesel to its north.

===[[Nanotrasen Corporation|NanoTrasen Corporation]]===

Despite its best efforts, NanoTrasen’s foothold in Elyra remains very small. The megacorporation is primarily present on New Suez, and is not readily found in other planets of the Republic.

===[[Hephaestus Industries]]===

Hephaestus has a very limited presence in Elyra, and is only really present on New Suez.

===[[Idris Incorporated]]===

Despite its limited presence in the Serene Republic, Idris has carved out a successful niche for itself on New Suez. Many Elyrans, though generally distrustful of megacorporations, have come to view its tourism-facing side relatively positively.

===[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]===

Zeng-Hu, like most megacorporations, has a limited presence in Elyra. Aside from New Suez it is most present on [[Aemaq]], where it has operated a research facility with varying degrees of success.

===[[Einstein Engines]]===

Einstein Engines only has a limited presence in Elyra, and is mostly found on New Suez.

===[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]===

Zavodskoi has a small presence in Elyra, and only really operates on New Suez. Its most notable contribution to Elyra’s economy is supplying the weaponry and equipment that many participants in the phoron bulletin use.

==The '''[[Coalition of Colonies]]'''==
[[File:Frontier_Alliance_Flag.png|thumb|Offical flag of the Coalition of Colonies, "Infinite Freedom". The blue symbolizes freedom, the black frontier space. The three stars represent the three key members of the Coalition and the lemniscate represents the other countless members as well as eternal freedom.]]
===[[Republic of Biesel]]===

In the aftermath of the Second Solarian Invasion of Biesel and the following Solarian Collapse, relations between the Coalition and Republic seemed to be set to dramatically improve. Yet non-economic relations have steadily declined due to the Republic’s conduct within the controversial [[Corporate Reconstruction Zone]], with some Coalition members also taking issue with the Republic's recent expansion. Many in the Coalition, particularly the [[Himeo|United Syndicates of Himeo]] and [[Gadpathur]], now view the Republic as an expansionist threat on their border with an inordinate amount of control over the Orion Spur’s economy. With their mutual enemy, the Sol Alliance, defeated for now, the former allies seem fated to drift further apart.

===[[Sol Alliance]]===

The Coalition and Alliance have a mutual animosity stretching back to the Interstellar War between the two powers, which saw large swaths of the Coalition – such as [[Gadpathur]] and [[Xanu Prime]] – devastated by fighting. They are both currently engaged in a proxy war over the control of the [[Human Wildlands|Northern Wildlands]], a zone currently divided between three ex-Solarian statelets. Gadpathur and the United Syndicates of Himeo have been exceptionally supportive of this proxy war, which they view as a front against both Sol and Biesel.

===[[Republic of Elyra]]===

The Coalition and Serene Republic are united by their mutual enemy: the Empire of Dominia. Many in the Coalition decry the Serene Republic’s treatment of its Non-Citizen Persons, many of which originate in the Coalition, but the Coalition can do little about this treatment beyond protest from its embassy. For now, the alliance of convenience holds – even if it must be built upon the back of Elyra’s need for migrant labor.

===[[Empire of Dominia]]===

The Coalition and Empire are not at war, yet, but have incredibly poor relations. The Coalition officially embargoes the Empire and has long been involved in skirmishes with it along the Coalition’s southern border. Many Ma’zals eventually find refuge in the Coalition, assuming they are not first caught up in the Serene Republic’s economy and become Non-Citizen Persons.

===[[Nralakk Federation]]===

The Coalition maintains an embassy with the Federation, but does little else with it due to the immense distance between the two nations.

===[[Izweski Nation|Izweski Hegemony]]===

The Coalition maintains no diplomatic relationship with the Hegemony, and currently embargos it in an attempt to diplomatically isolate what it sees as a potential regional threat. The embargoing of Vysokan foodstuffs in particular is a key aspect of the Coalition’s policy to economically cripple the Hegemony, as Moghes has long had food production issues since the end of the Contact War.

===[[People's Republic of Adhomai]]===

The Coalition maintains limited relations with all the powers of Adhomai, but does not place a high priority upon the planet. To most in the Coalition, the nations of Adhomai are simply too minor to be of importance.

===[[Democratic People's Republic of Adhomai]]===

The Coalition maintains limited relations with all the powers of Adhomai, but does not place a high priority upon the planet. To most in the Coalition, the nations of Adhomai are simply too minor to be of importance.

===[[New Kingdom of Adhomai]]===

The Coalition maintains limited relations with all the powers of Adhomai, but does not place a high priority upon the planet. To most in the Coalition, the nations of Adhomai are simply too minor to be of importance.

===[[Nanotrasen Corporation|NanoTrasen Corporation]]===

NanoTrasen has a limited presence in the Coalition, only really operating facilities on Xanu Prime. To many in the Coalition, NT and Biesel are essentially the same entity.

===[[Hephaestus Industries]]===

The Coalition has a mixed view of Hephaestus. To some, the megacorporation is a valuable source of engineering products and skilled personnel for large-scale projects. For others, such as Himeo, it is the source of many of the Coalition’s woes, and is best left out of the Coalition.

===[[Idris Incorporated]]===

Idris has a limited presence in the Coalition, and generally only operates in and around Xanu Prime. It has become quite popular on Xanu, but has struggled to expand into the broader Coalition due to the ongoing phoron crisis.

===[[Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals]]===

The Coalition has a generally positive view of Zeng-Hu thanks to the keiretsu’s lifesaving medical treatments and its general lack of controversial connections to Dominia or the Solarian military. The most friendly Coalition member is undoubtedly the Republic of Assunzione, which has a heavy Zeng-Hu presence.

===[[Einstein Engines]]===

With the notable exception of Konyang, Einstein is rarely seen in the Coalition due to its status as a the megacorporation most clearly tied to the Solarian Alliance. What Einstein facilities can still be found in the Coalition have often been abandoned by the megacorp, and taken over by local populations.

===[[Zavodskoi Interstellar]]===

Zavodskoi has a more negative reputation in the Coalition than many of its counterparts due to its close connections to the Sol Alliance and Empire of Dominia. While this has not stopped it from doing business in the Coalition, it has most certainly limited it — many planets either outright refuse it the right to operate locally or place heavy limits on it.

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Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-10T20:10:23Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

REWRITE THIS SHIT

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page represents only a bare minimum summary of the setting, focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-10T20:10:10Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

REWRITE THIS SHIT

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page represents only a bare minimum summary of the setting, focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-10T20:10:00Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

REWRITE THIS SHIT

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=
This page represents only a bare minimum summary of the setting, focused entirely on what you see in the game. It doesn't go into the politics, worldbuilding, and other large-scale parts of the setting because those parts are all but irrelevant to a first-time player and represent lore that is "opt-in" when it comes to determining whether it is important or not. That said, for those who have more of a desire to learn about the wider setting, we have a separate setting summary page that, while not going into extreme detail, contains far more information about the world the Horizon finds itself in, the entities that inhabit it, and much more. It can be found by clicking the title of this section.

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T04:47:25Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

REWRITE THIS SHIT

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T04:46:09Z

Triogenix: /* Welcome to Aurora Lore! */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

REWRITE THIS SHIT

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T04:44:25Z

Triogenix: /* Phoron */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mars' atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T04:42:32Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mar's atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The intensity of the firestorms saw the arcologies of the southern hemisphere begin to melt, twist, and collapse under their own weight, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses which were all that remained of the inhabitants. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T04:37:36Z

Triogenix: /* Phoron */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that much of Mar's atmosphere was set on fire in a conflagration centered on the South Pole, but which rapidly expanded to encompass most of the southern hemisphere, poisoning people, stealing their air to breathe, and burning them. The archeologies of the southern hemisphere that were once called homes began to melt, twist, and collapse, becoming impromptu crematoriums for the billions of corpses that were all the remains of the people who once lived there. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T04:29:18Z

Triogenix: /* Phoron */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phoron, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, although these have focused on finding new deposits, which is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous attempt to find a solution to the looming disaster was '''Project Violet Dawn''', undertaken by the Solarian Government, which aimed to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that most of Mar's atmosphere was set on fire burning down half the planet, turning once towering archeologies into nothing more than twisted, superheated mounds of metal that ended up being crematoriums for the billions of Solarian Citizens who died in them. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T04:17:32Z

Triogenix: /* The Workplace */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, though these have been finding new deposits, something that is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous of attempt to find a solution to the looming diaster is Project Violet Dawn, undertaken by the Solarian Government, attempting to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky of Earth to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate (or the SCC):''' The Trasen led cartel of which all the megacorporations are members of... to varying degrees of loyalty. They did not join willingly and chafe under Miranda's leadership, forcing her to continually devote time and effort to keeping the corporations loyal and in line; something that every employee of the SCC must do to some extent. One particularly crass captain compared it to herding cats, even at the ship level. SCC employees work in positions of Command, or in the Command Support category.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The phoron industry titan, originally from a humble biomedical company on Mars. Now the biggest megacorporation ever, they have some stake in nearly every sector. From entertainment (Ingi Usang link here), synthetics (Hazel! ltd. link here), food (Getmore link here), and even private security (Nexus link here). However, NanoTrasens' greatest market and the one that will always be its priority will forever be phoron. NanoTrasen employees are found in Research, Medical, and Service positions.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The second largest corporation, Hephaestus Industries, has an unparalleled grasp on the industrial and manufacturing sectors of the entire Orion Spur. Hephaestus presents a picture that its employees are HARDWORKING, BLUE-COLLAR (even if managers make more than the entire operations department combined), DOWN-TO-EARTH WORKERS who PULLED THEMSELVES UP BY THEIR BOOTSTRAPS and GOT TO WHERE THEY ARE TODAY, fostering a sense that its employees are members of one big, happy family. However, complete loyalty to that family is expected, so to try and start a union and other worker organizations is considered betraying it, and will see any worker almost immediately fired. Hephaestus employees are found in Engineering and Operations positions.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The professional face of the defense and armaments industry, Zavodskoi Interstellar's weaponry is found in the hands of everyone from terrorists to soldiers across the Spur, as well as attached to the hard points of nearly every vessel. Given their primary industry, Zavodskoi obsesses over its respectable image and employees' professionalism, reflected in the incredibly high standards Zavodskoi employees are held to. Unprofessionalism or worse, incompetence, are the two quickest ways for an employee to leave the company. Zavodskoi employees work in Security, Research, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' The bleeding edge of biomedical science and cybernetics, Zeng-Hu promises the future is in elegant, synthetic bodies, and that every disease has a cure. Zeng-Hu is the pinnacle of the medical industry, and the members of its keiretsu reflect that in their adoption of its vision of the transhumanist future with heavily modified bodies. Zeng-Hu employees work in both Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' All credits flow towards Idris Incorporated, being the largest banking institution and financial service provider in the Spur. Beyond simply owning the banks, Idris owns the premium methods of spending their partners' hard-earned credits with every luxury available being found in its many subsidiaries. Expensive, haute couture, and the emblem of the upper-class are the definitions of the corporation's domain, and behind their credit stands an equally well-founded security industry to ensure that the money keeps on coming. Idris employees work in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' Born out of the utter necessity to keep a security guarantee and a gun behind it, the Private Military Contracting Group deploys its many members to protect corporate assets. Originating from the corporate crown of Eridani, the dozen-plus security and mercenary groups of the PMCG all work to enforce the needs and demands of the corporate world... and anyone with enough credits to afford their price. PMCG members work in Security and Medical.

'''Orion Express:''' The logistics love-child of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, Orion Express ensures that every shipment is delivered on-time, intact, and right to the door, no matter where it is. Operating off of an immense workforce of couriers, miners, warehouse managers, and more, Orion Express is the youngest and fastest-growing member of the SCC. Outside of logistics, the corporation also has holdings in the food service industry with the extremely affordable (to its detriment) promise to deliver an edible product. Orion Express employees work in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T04:00:14Z

Triogenix: /* The Aurora Setting */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, '''Miranda Trasen.''' CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, though these have been finding new deposits, something that is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous of attempt to find a solution to the looming diaster is Project Violet Dawn, undertaken by the Solarian Government, attempting to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky of Earth to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T03:59:58Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= The Aurora Setting =
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and it has been centuries since humanity left the gravity well of the Sol system to colonize the Stars. Their exploration and colonization would bring them into contact with all manner of different worlds, alongside many intelligent species. Today, the Orion Spur has been mostly explored, but must be explored again, as a crisis looms in the background. Our server takes place aboard the SCCV Horizon, an all-purpose response and exploration vessel, owned and operated by the '''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate''', an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that any of the megacorporations excepting its leader joined willingly; instead dominated and led by the most powerful individual in the spur, Miranda Trasen. CEO of NanoTrasen, the most powerful megacorporation to ever exist, Miranda is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads, having forced the other seven into line using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. She was the only one with the power to do this due to inheriting a company with a monopoly on the single most important resource within the setting; '''Phoron.'''

== Phoron ==
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, though these have been finding new deposits, something that is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous of attempt to find a solution to the looming diaster is Project Violet Dawn, undertaken by the Solarian Government, attempting to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky of Earth to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T03:49:14Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The Aurora Setting ==
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and much of the Orion Spur has been explored. The spur is our wider setting, encompassing not only the medium of the game but also everything "happening" elsewhere. Our server takes place aboard a spaceship known as the SCCV Horizon, which is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that all the megacorporations save for the leader joined willingly; it is dominated and led by the most powerful megacorporation ever known, NanoTrasen. Miranda Trasen heads the corporation and is the woman responsible for forming the cartel she now leads; she forced the others into line, using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. Luckily for her, the company she inherited came with a monopoly on the single most precious resource in the entire setting; '''Phoron.'''

=== Phoron ===
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be akin to being thrown back more than a century economically and technologically.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1920s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, though these have been finding new deposits, something that is merely a band-aid on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out. The most famous of attempt to find a solution to the looming diaster is Project Violet Dawn, undertaken by the Solarian Government, attempting to create a synthetic phoron alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky of Earth to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. No one else has been stupid enough to try something similar since.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T03:33:04Z

Triogenix: /* Characters */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The Aurora Setting ==
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and much of the Orion Spur has been explored. The spur is our wider setting, encompassing not only the medium of the game but also everything "happening" elsewhere. Our server takes place aboard a spaceship known as the SCCV Horizon, which is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that all the megacorporations save for the leader joined willingly; it is dominated and led by the most powerful megacorporation ever known, NanoTrasen. Miranda Trasen is the CEO of NanoTrasen and the woman responsible for forming this cartel she now leads; she forced the others into line, using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. Luckily for her, the company she inherited came with a monopoly on the single most precious resource in the entire setting; '''Phoron.'''

=== Phoron ===
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be getting thrown back more than a century.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1900s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, the most famous of which is Project Violet Dawn, a project undertaken by the Solarian Government in an attempt to find a synthetic alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. There has been some success in terms of finding new deposits, but they are merely band-aids on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame. Staff members will have funny colored names (not including gray) in the main discord, and can be easily identified by their roles in the lore discord.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T03:32:14Z

Triogenix: /* Characters */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The Aurora Setting ==
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and much of the Orion Spur has been explored. The spur is our wider setting, encompassing not only the medium of the game but also everything "happening" elsewhere. Our server takes place aboard a spaceship known as the SCCV Horizon, which is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that all the megacorporations save for the leader joined willingly; it is dominated and led by the most powerful megacorporation ever known, NanoTrasen. Miranda Trasen is the CEO of NanoTrasen and the woman responsible for forming this cartel she now leads; she forced the others into line, using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. Luckily for her, the company she inherited came with a monopoly on the single most precious resource in the entire setting; '''Phoron.'''

=== Phoron ===
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be getting thrown back more than a century.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1900s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, the most famous of which is Project Violet Dawn, a project undertaken by the Solarian Government in an attempt to find a synthetic alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. There has been some success in terms of finding new deposits, but they are merely band-aids on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that they think you should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff either through discord or through the adminhelp command ingame.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. That said, there is one aspect where lore and moderation intermix that should be discussed, CCIA.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T03:26:43Z

Triogenix: /* The SCCV Horizon */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The Aurora Setting ==
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and much of the Orion Spur has been explored. The spur is our wider setting, encompassing not only the medium of the game but also everything "happening" elsewhere. Our server takes place aboard a spaceship known as the SCCV Horizon, which is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that all the megacorporations save for the leader joined willingly; it is dominated and led by the most powerful megacorporation ever known, NanoTrasen. Miranda Trasen is the CEO of NanoTrasen and the woman responsible for forming this cartel she now leads; she forced the others into line, using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. Luckily for her, the company she inherited came with a monopoly on the single most precious resource in the entire setting; '''Phoron.'''

=== Phoron ===
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be getting thrown back more than a century.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1900s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, the most famous of which is Project Violet Dawn, a project undertaken by the Solarian Government in an attempt to find a synthetic alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. There has been some success in terms of finding new deposits, but they are merely band-aids on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that your character (in their eyes) should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff, such as the current Loremaster - [[Triogenix]] - with any questions, concerns, or things you'd like clarified/just want to talk about; but please keep it specific to that staff members wheelhouse. <- Need to rephrase this to be better.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. However, we must discuss the caveat mentioned earlier.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T03:26:34Z

Triogenix: /* The SCCV Horizon */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The Aurora Setting ==
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and much of the Orion Spur has been explored. The spur is our wider setting, encompassing not only the medium of the game but also everything "happening" elsewhere. Our server takes place aboard a spaceship known as the SCCV Horizon, which is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that all the megacorporations save for the leader joined willingly; it is dominated and led by the most powerful megacorporation ever known, NanoTrasen. Miranda Trasen is the CEO of NanoTrasen and the woman responsible for forming this cartel she now leads; she forced the others into line, using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. Luckily for her, the company she inherited came with a monopoly on the single most precious resource in the entire setting; '''Phoron.'''

=== Phoron ===
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be getting thrown back more than a century.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1900s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, the most famous of which is Project Violet Dawn, a project undertaken by the Solarian Government in an attempt to find a synthetic alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. There has been some success in terms of finding new deposits, but they are merely band-aids on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that your character (in their eyes) should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff, such as the current Loremaster - [[Triogenix]] - with any questions, concerns, or things you'd like clarified/just want to talk about; but please keep it specific to that staff members wheelhouse. <- Need to rephrase this to be better.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. However, we must discuss the caveat mentioned earlier.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-09T03:25:56Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The Aurora Setting ==
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and much of the Orion Spur has been explored. The spur is our wider setting, encompassing not only the medium of the game but also everything "happening" elsewhere. Our server takes place aboard a spaceship known as the SCCV Horizon, which is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that all the megacorporations save for the leader joined willingly; it is dominated and led by the most powerful megacorporation ever known, NanoTrasen. Miranda Trasen is the CEO of NanoTrasen and the woman responsible for forming this cartel she now leads; she forced the others into line, using whatever coercive means available as leverage, regardless of legality. Luckily for her, the company she inherited came with a monopoly on the single most precious resource in the entire setting; '''Phoron.'''

=== Phoron ===
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a set number of locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. In its elemental state as a solid, phoron is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist with no viable alternatives. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid, exponential economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it is now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be getting thrown back more than a century.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1900s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century; as a result, we are now running out, and that's essentially the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. It is a very dire situation, but due to the importance of phorons, the mines are still active, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron that can be mined later, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, the most famous of which is Project Violet Dawn, a project undertaken by the Solarian Government in an attempt to find a synthetic alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky to purple, and caused the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. There has been some success in terms of finding new deposits, but they are merely band-aids on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, [https://discord.gg/Sa48FBY join the lore discord server.]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that your character (in their eyes) should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff, such as the current Loremaster - [[Triogenix]] - with any questions, concerns, or things you'd like clarified/just want to talk about; but please keep it specific to that staff members wheelhouse. <- Need to rephrase this to be better.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. However, we must discuss the caveat mentioned earlier.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-08T15:43:45Z

Triogenix:

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore, to assist those new to the setting, we've developed a series of pages that address this issue, and this is one of them!. This page is the shortest possible summary of the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page and the page for the planet you choose for your character's background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The Aurora Setting ==
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E., and much of the Orion Spur has been explored. The spur is our wider setting, encompassing not only the medium of the game but also everything "happening" elsewhere. Our server takes place aboard a spaceship known as the SCCV Horizon, which is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that all the megacorporations save for the leader joined willingly; it is dominated and led by the most powerful megacorporation ever known, NanoTrasen. Miranda Trasen is the CEO of NanoTrasen and the woman responsible for forming this cartel she now also leads; it was she who forced the others into line, using whatever coercive means she could as leverage. Luckily for her, the company she inherited came with a monopoly on the single most precious resource in the entire setting; '''Phoron.'''

=== Phoron ===
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, Phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a few locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. This is because phoron, in its elemental state as a solid, is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it's now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be getting thrown back more than a century.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world, we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1900s. Furthermore, 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century, so now we're running out - and that's basically the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. Again, this is a material that is necessary to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur, essentially all that growth since it was discovered, and has no replacements. It is a very dire situation, and due to its importance, it is still being actively mined, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron to go around, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, the most famous of which is Project Violet Dawn, a project undertaken by the Solarian Government in an attempt to find a synthetic alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it quite literally set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky to purple, causing the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. There has been some success in terms of finding new deposits, but they are merely band-aids on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more information, join the lore discord [link]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can feel overwhelming at first,

Everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However, the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions, certain things catch your attention, a desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====The Workplace====
The Horizon is dominated by the megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page. Or scrapped IDK.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomerate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, and Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, its security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

====Characters====
The general position of the player base at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that your character (in their eyes) should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh, well you should have read before joining," ahelp about it, and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff, such as the current Loremaster - [[Triogenix]] - with any questions, concerns, or things you'd like clarified/just want to talk about; but please keep it specific to that staff members wheelhouse. <- Need to rephrase this to be better.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time, it is a rationale for why x thing exists in the game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience in-game will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. However, we must discuss the caveat mentioned earlier.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting through the creation and running of a system in which behaviors can be reported in character, handled in character, and then punished in character. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially with newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely that anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in its entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one "getting into trouble" <- Need to rephrase.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly, but if you try your best and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, as they are staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then, Callisto has been a hub of commerce and is the de facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at its strongest. The issue is that it was also our setting for five-ish years, so a significant amount of development occurred for it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second-longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super in-depth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]

Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

2025-10-08T04:01:46Z

Triogenix: /* The Workplace */

[[Category: Phoron Scarcity Rework]]


<center>{{Navbox New Player Guides}}</center>
__NOTOC__
'''This is a new player's summary of the totality - or at least, as much as we can summarize quickly - of the Aurora server's most essential lore.'''

'''This is the first in a series of multiple guides connected to [[Guides/Character Creation]]. Once you're finished reading this, you are more than equipped with the knowledge necessary to create your character using that guide!'''

'''Below is recommended reading if you are new to the server!'''

= Welcome to Aurora Lore! =
Hello and Welcome! Aurora Lore is vast, and trying to get into it as a new player can feel overwhelming at times. Therefore to try and assist those new to the setting we've developed a series of pages that will assist with that issue, and this is one of them! This page is the shortest possible summary to the setting that still accomplishes the goal mentioned previously of helping new players get acquainted with the server's lore and help them understand the ins and outs of the Orion Spur in the 25th century and its history. After reading this page, and the page for the planet you choose for your characters background from those presented at the bottom, you'll know enough to start playing without issue.

== The Aurora Setting ==
[[Image:Ipc scrapper violet dawn postprocessed.png|thumb|The Violet Dawn incident, an attempt to synthesize phoron, devastated the surface of Mars. Pictured is an encounter with a "scrapper" IPC in the Martian wasteland.]]
It is {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}} + 442}} C.E. and much of the Orion Spur has been explored. The spur is our wider setting, encompassing not only the medium of the game but also everything "happening" elsewhere. Our server takes place aboard a spaceship known as the SCCV Horizon, which is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, an economic cartel made up of eight different megacorporations that combined control a majority of the spur's economic activity. It is not an equal organization, or one that all the megacorporations save for the leader joined willingly; it is dominated and led by the most powerful megacorporation ever known, NanoTrasen. Miranda Trasen is the CEO of NanoTrasen and the woman responsible for forming this cartel she now also leads; it was she who forced the others into line, using whatever coercive means she could as leverage. Luckily for her, the company she inherited came with a monopoly on the single most precious resource in the entire setting; '''Phoron.'''

=== Phoron ===
Discovered in 2352 by NanoTrasen, Phoron is a typically purple element that is only known to occur naturally (in economically significant quantities, anyway) in a few locations throughout an entire galaxy, either as a crystal or gas, and it is not an overstatement to say it is the most important element in the setting. This is because phoron in its elemental state, as a solid, is a naturally occurring room temperature superconductor and the only room temperature superconductor known to exist. It is a single resource that underpinned an entire century of rapid economic and technological growth, to the extent '''it's now a necessary material to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur.''' Running out would be getting thrown backsliding more than a century.

A good way to visualize what this means for your average resident of the Spur: imagine that in the modern world we only have a few possible sources of silicon, a resource we rely on for the modern world to function, and there is nothing we can substitute it with if we run out. Moreover, if we ran out, we would go back to the technological and economic level of the early 1900s. Ontop of that - 99.9% of all the silicon is owned by a single corporation, which has been unsustainably mining it for over a century so now we're running out - and that's basically the situation of the Spur currently.

'''The Phoron Scarcity''' is an ongoing shortage of the precious resource primarily caused by over-consumption and unsustainable mining practices. Again, this is a material that is necessary to maintain the economic and technological level of the Spur, essentially all that growth since it was discovered, and has no replacements. It is a very dire situation, and due to its importance, it is still being actively mined, meaning that as every day passes, there is less phoron to go around, causing the situation to only worsen with time. There have been many attempts to find a solution, the most famous of which being Project Violet Dawn, a project undertaken by the Solarian Government in an attempt to find a synthetic alternative on Mars. Its fame comes from the fact that it failed so catastrophically that it quite literally set most of Mar's atmosphere on fire, burned down half the planet, turned the once red hue of the planet in the night sky to purple, causing the deaths of billions of Solarian Citizens. There has been some success in terms of finding new deposits, but they are merely bandaids on a bleeding artery, stabilizing the situation for a few months until they eventually run out.

What exactly will happen as a result of this scarcity is currently unknown, as Aurora's setting is a continuous story that develops in real time. For more Information; join the lore discord [link]

== The SCCV Horizon ==
[[File:Horizon undocking.jpg|400px|thumb|The SCCV Horizon undocking from the NTCC Odin for one of its first missions.]]
As mentioned previously, the SCCV Horizon is the spaceship that can be found in-game. It is owned and operated by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate under Miranda Trasen, so all player characters are working for the organization(s) that caused the current catastrophic situation in the first place! Characters can pick to work for any of the eight corporations that make up the Conglomerate; however, each corporation is restricted to certain departments. The IC reason you are still working for and wearing the uniform of your parent company despite working on an SCC asset is that you are contracted out. [[Jobs|Many jobs will have specific qualifications that can be found on their job pages]]. Additionally, the baseline qualifications to work aboard the Horizon can be found here: [[Stellar Corporate Conglomerate Occupation Qualifications]].

===Lore, your character, and the Workplace===
This section is entirely dedicated to trying to summarize what all this lore means in-game, in an easy-to-digest, informal way. For any new players, or returning players who have been away for a large period of time, the modern-day setting of Aurora is ''extremely'' vast, with hundreds of thousands of words dedicated to lore alone. This can be incredibly overwhelming, especially given incorrect assumptions about the expectations of the server, so this section will also serve to soothe minds. This section will also obviously primarily discuss how lore and your character interact.

Simply put - everyone started on the server in the same situation you are now - every player, member of staff, and leader of staff teams were once in the same position when it comes to lore. However the best way to learn is to '''PLAY THE GAME''' and read wiki pages as through game interactions certain things catch your attention, desire to learn about, or similar. Don't try reading all the lore about a faction at once.

====The Workplace====
Our wokrplace (the Horizon) is dominated by the Megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions. Will be expanded, as this basically already exists on the Guide to Character Creation page.

'''Stellar Corporate Conglomorate:''' A cartel made up of all the other Corporations, headed by NanoTrasen. Works in Command and Command Support.

'''NanoTrasen:''' The most powerful corporation known to man, basically entirely dedicated to Phoron. Works in Science, Medical, Service.

'''Hephaestus Industries:''' The Industrial Titan, responsible for most of the spur's industrial output. Marketed as a big family. Works in Engineering and Operations.

'''Zavodskoi Interstellar:''' The Merchant of Death, or Military Industrial Complex personified for every nation; freakish obsession with being professional. Works in Security, Science, and Engineering.

'''Zeng-Hu Pharmacuticals:''' Medical supplies, treatment, and everything in between; weirdly trans-humanist and likes prosthetics a lot. Works in Medical, and Science.

'''Idris Incorporated:''' The bank, it's security, and the luxuries to spend stored money on; very secretive and almost mafia-esque. Works in Service, and Security.

'''Private Military Contracting Group:''' A collection of PMCs from all over the Spur. Works in Security, and Medical

'''Orion Express:''' Shipping to sketchy locations, and minimum wage workers. Works in Operations and Service.

====Characters====
The general position of the playerbase at large, and more importantly, the staff team is that '''THERE IS NO EXPECTATION FOR YOU TO KNOW ANY OF THE LORE BEYOND THE BAREBONE BASICS DESCRIBED HERE, AND THE BAREBONE BASICS OF YOUR ORIGIN BEFORE HOPPING INTO A ROUND''' as a new player. If someone tries to "lorecheck" you (a term and action I hate) - normally done by bringing up a specific event and/or piece of lore that your character (in their eyes) should know - you can just say you're not familiar with it, and ask them to explain it to you. You can also say at the same time in LOOC that you're a newer player, and would appreciate them not expecting you to know specific events, but would love to learn more. If they're an asshole about it or refuse to acknowledge it because "Oh well you should have read before joining" ahelp about it and a moderator will likely talk with them about not being an asshole to new players. '''Be wary that this stuff is all IC - and therefore subject to character bias when learning and similar - for a non-biased source, always use the wiki or ask someone with a purple name.'''

Secondly, unless you are acting in bad faith - defined as acting with intentional dishonesty, violating the basic expectations of dignified human interaction, and harmful motives - staff will be incredibly understanding. Again, everyone here was once where you are. If you have any questions regarding the lore, new players, and expectations, ''any questions at all'' you are free to reach out to any staff, such as the current Loremaster - [[Triogenix]] - with any questions, concerns, or things you'd like clarified/just want to talk about; but please keep it specific to that staff members wheelhouse.

Lastly, while the lore and wider setting can mean a lot to characters and to the ship, for new players, it means little to nothing, with one caveat. 90% of the time it is a rationale for why x thing exists in game, or why we're doing a special event arc. Your experience ingame will not be made worse by not understanding the lore, so '''GO AND PLAY''' is the best possible advice you can be given. If you keep playing, everything else will start falling into place after a few rounds, and a week or two in, you'll have a solid grasp on what's going on. However, we must discuss the Cavaet mentioned earlier.

'''CCIA'''

CCIA is a section of the staff team, within the moderation portion, which focuses on helping to create a more immersive, HRP setting by setting up a system in which behaviors can be reported IC, handled in an IC, and then punished IC'ly. This can throw some people off, and it is certainly not a perfect system, but at the end of the day, it is either have CCIA handle what they do IC'ly, or have it handled by the Moderation Team, OOC'ly. The first time you're contacted by CCIA can be scary for many newer players; however, there are a few things that will ease your mind.

Firstly, CCIA always tries to be as lenient as possible, especially on newer players. Unless you commit a horrific crime, it is very unlikely anything serious will happen to your character. Moreover, CCIA is not here to fire characters, nor are they here to make them unplayable by adding unfair limitations to play.

Secondly, while CCIA interviews can be annoying to do because of scheduling, they allow you to tell your side of the story, and therefore be heard equally with whoever is accusing you of something. Also, CCIA investigates an incident in it's entirety, and an accuser can easily become the one actions are taken towards if they're found in the wrong.

Thirdly, you should approach the game with the mindset that "this is my character's job." CCIA still has a duty to uphold the mantra "actions have consequences" IC'ly; but if you try your best, and can explain why you got to where you did, usually a middle ground can be established.

Lastly, due to being staff, any decision made by CCIA can be contested on the Staff Complaints Section of the Forums in an OOC manner.

= Recommended Starter Planets =

[[File:Pixel Planet Biesel1.png|thumb|Biesel, the capital planet of the Republic of Biesel.]]

'''[[Callisto]]''' - Callisto is a settled moon in orbit of Jupiter, and the most populated of the Jovian moons. It is the Alliance's single largest port, a feat accomplished by the massive Warp Gate Network it has in orbit, which was originally designed back in the late 2300s. Since then Callisto has been a hub of commerce, and is the de-facto port for the entire Sol system, one of the richest and most populated systems in the entire spur. As a result, Callisto is dominated by sprawling urban topography and is one of the most developed planets in the alliance. The culture of both the planet as a whole and the individual districts is very easy to pick up, and the page as a whole is fairly short. '''If you want to read the least amount, this is the planet for you.'''

'''[[Biesel]]''' - Biesel is a temperate, oxygen-rich planet colonised in the mid-2100s, therefore making it one of the first. It is the capital of the Republic of Biesel and of the Tau Ceti system in general. One of the most populated planets in the Orion Spur, Biesel is one of the economic hearts of the known galaxy and boasts a large amount of urban development and resource richness - primarily in Phoron. It is also where the influence of NanoTrasen and the SCC is at it's strongest. The issue is, as it was also our setting for five-ish years, so alot of development occurred with it. '''If you're interested in reading a fair amount of lore''', love façade democracy, and also spreading the light of liberty, then this is the planet for you.

'''[[Xanu Prime]]''' - The shimmering and vibrant planet of Xanu Prime (pronounced Ksa-noo), is the beating heart of the Coalition of Colonies. In nearly all ways, economic, political, and cultural, Xanu Prime holds almost unmatched influence over the rest of the Coalition. It is a cosmopolitan and multicultural hub where nearly anyone from across the Orion Spur can be found, a cornerstone not just in the Coalition but in the galactic community as a whole, and home to a thriving culture and democratic tradition which, along with the dedication and hard work of its citizens, has cemented its position of leadership and wealth which it currently enjoys. The primary page also tops out as the second longest page on the wiki, and it's one of three. '''If you're interested in super indepth lore''', reading a ton, the frontier spirit, and multiculturalism, pick Xanu Prime.

'''From this point, you are again encouraged to move onto [[Guides/Character Creation]] provided you're at a loss for what to do.'''

=[[Sandbox-Scarcity:SettingSummary|More Reading]]=

{{Navbox Lore}}
[[Category: Lore]]
[[Category:Pages]]