Introduction to The Reach
A Glimpse into the Known Galaxy
There’s a name for the part of space where the maps thin out and governance loses its grip... Where trade routes run quiet and the stars burn a little colder. They call it The Reach.
But don’t mistake that for the whole picture. The Reach isn’t a galaxy of ruin. It’s not a lawless wasteland from end to end. This universe—your universe—is vast, varied, and teeming with contradiction. There are planets with orbital cities, hyperlight trade, and councils that hold the weight of hundreds of species in a single vote. And there are places that have none of that. Fringe colonies abandoned by their creators. Derelict war machines drifting in the dark. Entire systems cut off from the core and left to govern - or devour -themselves.
The Reach is only one part of a sprawling galaxy where advancement and decay coexist in the same breath.
Across the known galaxy, you’ll find:
- Technologically sophisticated nations with their own militaries, bureaucracies, and homeworld councils.
- Terraforming projects gone right... And wrong.
- Trade stations that thrive on diplomacy and negotiation.
- Piracy rings, black-market exchanges, and bio-labs operating just out of monitored space.
- Across the stars, you'll find species shaped by inherited memory, biological symbiosis, senses that operate well beyond human understanding, and more.
Every planet tells its own story. Every ship carries its own doctrine. And every law has its loophole.
This setting spans a galaxy, not one corner or a single quadrant.
From terraformed worlds under Terran jurisdiction to drifting fleets, settled moons, and contested planets clawed over by rival factions, this is a universe of survival, ambition, ruin, reinvention, and memory. It holds empires, alliances, heretics, and dreamers.
The Reach, in particular, is what the galaxy becomes when no one’s watching too closely.
About the Story
Set primarily in the Reach but spanning far beyond it, The Ashen Starlight Series is a dark, character-driven space opera told through multiple first-person perspectives.
The story follows Rusti Woods, a blind, voiceless shapeshifter and former special forces operative, abducted from Earth and trapped in a brutal system of offworld combat and control.
Rusti isn’t free. She’s not part of a resistance movement. She’s not a chosen one. What she is, at least at the beginning, is property. Her body, her voice, and her agency are all under lock, and the galaxy she’s been dragged into has no interest in giving them back.
But survival doesn’t always look like escape. And resistance doesn’t always come with a flag.
The series focuses on survival under occupation, forced performance, psychological violence, connection under pressure, and the long, slow struggle to reclaim identity,.. Sometimes from others, sometimes from yourself.
⚠️ Content Warnings ⚠️
This setting and story deal with heavy themes. While not every article and chapter includes all of the following, readers should be aware that the wider story explores:
- Psychological and systemic abuse
- Sexual coercion and body autonomy violations
- Survival-based violence
- Complex trauma, memory loss, and manipulation
- Grief, isolation, and fractured identity
- Blood and battle violence
This world is still under construction.
I'm building it slowly.
Blood, sweat, tears, and story before polish.
Most of what you’ll find here is early draft material, expanding alongside the first novel.
If you're curious about the process or want to see how the pieces fit together, early chapters and behind-the-scenes notes are available over on Patreon.
