The Manukean Chronicles

The Universe of the Manukean Chronicles is at a stage in history where new cultures are busy rising from the ashes of the old. As such, there is a lot of suspicion, competition, and ambitious rivalry. Each cultural group (or political foundation) needs to achieve two things in order to survive as a group - control of resources, and development/recovery of technologies. A power that has no resources to draw on or use does not stay a power (or player) for very long. One that relies on primitive technologies is going to be savagely exploited by those that don’t. There is, therefore, a continual dance in the celestial game as each power vies to gain control of untapped resources, hang on to those it has, and benefit from discovery, re-discovery, and new invention. Tech, whether understood and reproducible, or recovered and magical, is valuable, and each culture protects their knowledge base with as much fervour as they do their territories and possession. Because of this, star maps, Nuan gate codes, and the details of what may be found at any location are fiercely protected, and unauthorised trespass is sternly dealt with. Spies work to uncover these secrets; Relic hunters seek to obtain those that have been lost; and explorers and scientists work to discover new ones. The relics of the Old Empire are much in demand, although often misunderstood, and Alessandria and the Aston are part of a subtle, determined dance that is also conflict and rivalry. The ‘great game’ of this universe is finding (and keeping) the secrets that give your own people power and position among the rest. Entire Navies have been built to protect those secrets, and there are labyrinthine rules and bureaucracies built around them that manage and control who does what, and who gets access to what, while enabling the various powers to interact, trade, and cooperate without relationships deteriorating into hostility - or worse, war. War is expensive, always drawn out, and never really benefits anyone. Everybody knows it, but that never prevents bad blood from boiling over, and, on occasions, the big guns being brought to bear. It’s also a desperate gamble, since its very rare that any one power can be confident of exactly what a rival may possess - there are always rumours about mega warships and other legendary relics of the Fall being found. Even the smallest voidrider would overwhelm most battle fleets, and nobody wants to see a planet killer in use. Not even the owner of a planet killer, if such a thing exists! So diplomacy, intelligence, counter intelligence, political maneuvering, and constant jockeying for advantage are constants in the game. Trade alliances are vital, allies are always suspect, and points can be scored over the most trivial of things.   Valuable assets include:   Systems with resources - star systems that provide rare minerals, and/or valuable organics (spices, materials, exotic foods stuffs, or the farming of staples.)   Systems with colonisable worlds. (Living room, which can become resource rich over time.) Systems with ruins/remains. Sometimes exploited in secret, although discoveries tend to get out, and there can be benefit in controlling a system and licensing others to assist in exploration. The places on the Grand tour bring in revenue and serve to strengthen alliances, and have usually been ‘opened out’ following an initial exploitation period.   Systems (or in-between systems) where there is a Drift. A drift is usually the location of an ancient battlefield, although some have been built up around ancient platforms, trading stations, and other Empire works. They can vary from a small cluster of wreckage hidden in an asteroid field, to vast swathes of detritus and wrecks such as the Drift ring that surrounds the Crimson Sun in the Ergean system, or the sprawl of ancient platforms, building frameworks, and abandoned vessels that make up the Bi-Restian complexes. The groups that exploit a drift range from Drift miners, who work to recover minerals, metals and other raw materials from the detritus of a drift, mappers, explorers, and relic hunters, through to the Drift engineers, who work to repair, recover, and rebuild the relics that may have been found there. There are also mercenaries and marines - soldiers that protect the workers and guard the drift from poachers. There can be many dangers in a drift, from unknown tech, to predatory dragons.   Systems with non-uplifted civilisations: old worlds with remnants of empire often come with inhabitants ranging from low-tech primitives, to well established but not yet space capable cultures. Some may know themselves to be the descendants of empire, some may have been slave worlds now unmastered, some may have descended into total barbarism and are only now recovering, and some may even be home worlds for previously unknown races. Attitudes and actions towards such systems will vary from power to power - some may be exploited, some conquered, some recruited as soldiers or mercenaries, others invited and assisted to become part of a power’s citizens - and some may be left alone, observed and overseen from a distance.   An explorer’s greatest discovery will always be a new Nuan melody, since that may lead to one of these assets - and even the smallest drift holds the promise of great wealth.