Sandbox-Scarcity:Newplayerguide

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Character Starters		Getting Started · New Player Lore Guide · Character Creation · Jobs
Alien Whitelist Starters		Skrell · Synthetics · Tajara · Dionae · Unathi · Vaurca

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

It is 2467 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

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. 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.

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 the current Loremaster - currently Triogenix - with any questions, concerns, or things you'd like clarified/just want to talk about; but please keep it specific to lore.

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 - IDK what else to put here

Other thing

Other thing

The Workplace

Our wokrplace (the Horizon) is dominated by the Megacorporations. This goes over their departments and general barebones descriptions.

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.

Recommended Starter Planets

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.

General Setting Info Dump cause I haven't figured out a title

Andddddd that's basically all you need to know before hopping into a round! It is encouraged that you start by learning through playing rather than reading - doing the latter immediately tends to overwhelm folks. Aurora Lore is the combined work of dozens of people over the course of over a decade, which means it cannot truly be defined in any one category - it is comprised of dozens of themes, narratives, and writing styles - if you can think of an origin that fits within the wide sandbox outlined above, it probably exists somewhere. That said, here are the primary human factions of the spur.

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.

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Alien Species of Aurora

These are the non-human species of our setting, and all require a specific species whitelist to play. Species whitelists can be applied for here. Given that these species are behind a whitelist, for the purposes of this summary we will not be going into depth with them.

Skrell

An amphibian race hailing from Nralakk IV, Qerrbalak.

An amphibious species whose passion mostly lays in the field of the combined sciences, the Skrell are the second oldest and first most advanced known species present on the galactic stage. The Skrell evolved on a planet covered in vast swamps and freshwater seas, also being one of the only species in the Orion Spur to naturally develop psionics. Their history is defined by Glorsh-Omega, a singularity level intelligence that enslaved the Skrell, before eventually being destroyed. As a result, almost all skrell deeply distrust synthetic lifeforms, for unlike humans, skrell live incredibly longer; you may encounter a skrell aboard the Horizon who was born before the terror of Glorsh-Omega, over five centuries ago. Their primary faction is the Nrallak Federation.

Unathi

A reptilian race hailing from Moghes.

The cold-blooded Unathi are a race of tall humanoid reptiles from their war-torn homeworld of Moghes. The planet’s history can be summarized as being dominated by various Clans of Unathi, with the strongest being the Hegemon of Moghes. Following first contact with Skrell and Humanity, there was a violent outbreak of nuclear war that formed a vast, almost world-dominating desert called the Wasteland. Currently the dominate clan is the Izweski Clan, under Hegemon Not'zar. Grandiose and Space-Operatic, the themes behind Unathi follow the struggle of religion, spirituality, honor, and rigid gender roles. Their primary faction is the Izweski Hegemony.

Tajara

A feline-like race hailing from Adhomai.

The Tajaran race is a species of feline-like bipeds hailing from the planet of Adhomai in the S'rand'marr system. They have been brought up into the space age by the Humans and Skrell, who alledgedly influenced their eventual revolution that overthrew their ancient monarchies to become a totalitarian - and NanoTrasen friendly - republic. Adhomai is currently under a cold war between three factions in the aftermath of a global conflict, and many Tajara are fleeing their homeworld to seek safety and employment in human space. Their three primary factions are the People's Republic of Adhomai, the Democractic People's Republic of Adhomai, and the New Kingdom of Adhomai.

Vaurca (Vaurcae)

An insectoid race hailing from Sedantis I.

The mostly bipedal, insectoid creatures hailing from the moon known as Sedantis I, Vaurca (Vaurca singular and Vaurcae multiple), were discovered after the first Hiveship contact in human space, 2456. They once had access to great technology, however they had to flee their doomed homeworld. They have a complex caste system based on three types, and use something known as the Hivenet to communicate in thoughts and feelings near instantly between themselves, and enter a paradisiacal virtual reality. They require phoron to respirate, as well as requiring a unique and dangerous fungus, the k’ois spore, to sustain them. Although barely tolerated in the known galaxy, many have found homes in the more unkempt areas of their host’s society. There are four known Hives, which also act as the races primary factions - Zo’ra, K’lax, C’thur, and Lii’dra. The largest, and most common hive in Tau Ceti is the Zo'ra hive. The Lii’dra, unique in that they are a true hivemind, are known as a powerful and secretive force and are hostile to most other entities known - including the other Hives.

Dionae

A mysterious fungus-like race hailing from the depths of space.

Dionae (D. Primis) are a rather strange, cryptic species in comparison to the rest found in the Orion Spur. They have various forms comprised of cat-sized caterpillar-like creatures with a curious, childlike disposition - called Dionae Nymphs. Enigmatic witnesses to various events through the centuries, the Dionae are an inquisitive species with a pacifistic disposition after gaining sentience. Their origins, behaviour and functions are never alike - with each being as unique as the next. The Dionae are capable of great intellectual, biological and physical feats going above and beyond what was considered possible for millennia. Dionae are a type of fungus, however, they primarily survive off of the electromagnetic spectrum coinciding with a diet of biological matter to supplement their growth. Their inability to adapt to survive without lack of radiation can lead to death, if not exposed to at least efficient lighting. Dionae have been seen across the Orion Spur, each with a unique history and personality. Their primary faction is The Commonwealth of Hieroaetheria.

IPC|Integrated Positronic Chassis (IPC)

Robotic entities making use of Positronic brains to match sentience, to a degree.

An Integrated Positronic Chassis, or IPC, is an artificial intelligence inside of a bipedal, humanoid frame. IPCs are primarily characterized by their autonomy, not being bound to a master AI or set of laws. Often built to carry out a single, career-related purpose, they come in many different chassis, with varying degrees of intelligence. Within known space, their existence is a contentious topic with IPCs being seen as property or second-class citizens, undeserving of the rights other species possess. Due to the nature of how they came into existence, IPCs don't really have a primary faction(s); however in recent times, the closest is the nation of Pactolus,

Synthetics, more generally

Robots in the galaxy, endlessly diverse.

The term “synthetic” refers to a broad range of autonomous machinery. Dabbled with, first by the ancient skrell, and now humanity, synthetics can be classified primarily by the method of their intelligence. Onboard the Horizon, most synthetics that are not IPCs - with the exception of the AI - are run off of an MMI. MMI's were created in the late twenty-second century, a way to accomplish full body prosthesis and originally used as a method of punishment for hard criminals. Labelled “Cyborgification” in a corporate environment, the act of full body prosthesis is generally avoided by NT with exceptions of the previously mentioned hard criminals. It is not in good practice to borgify someone simply because they lack a Do Not Borgify in their records, and such could be considered neglect of duty and malpractice. Cyborgification is by no means revival - the majority of cultures see it as destroying what little identity an individual may have had in death, turning their brain merely into processing power. As such, the act is heavily frowned upon outside of dire circumstances - such as those in the crew found guilty of extreme crimes such as terrorism, murder, and mutiny.