Glossary & Core Info

Old Sapiens: refers to Homo sapiens sapiens, the pre-Apoch-Freeze Last Universal Common Ancestor of all species of modern hominids. Revered by many as having achieved a scientific understanding of the Glitch, among other great intellectual and technological accomplishments. Much of the nearly 500,000 Tanno of lost history between the ARMA wars preceding the Apoch-Freeze and the Era of the First Gate was spent rediscovering and rebuilding what was lost in repeated Apocalypses.

Apocalypticon: A compendium of all apocalypse-level events and their respective histories, phenomenology, and associated archetypes, thema, and other assorted details. This catalog of events is an essential document kept by the ArQive of the Anomalous to track the manifestation of new Words of Power in the Mythic Lexicon.

Apocalypticon: Apoch Freeze

Apoch-Freeze: A catastrophic and complete ecological collapse following the end of the ARMA Wars of the 26th Century, CE. Marked by ice-age conditions following artificially induced eruptions of the Yellowstone, Toba, and Aira supervolcanoes coupled with preexisting conditions from an intense, full-scale, world war. The Apoch-Freeze Era lasted approximately 136,000 Tanno, with the Ice-Age/Snowball Earth (aka Big Freeze) conditions easing by around 45,000 AF.

Big Freeze: The first major arc of the Apoch-Freeze, which saw humanity reduced to around 120,000 individuals, the majority of whom (~55,000) resided in a military fort-complex built around the Rock of Gibraltar and controlled by a strain of Super-AI known as Overseer.AI. The remaining human populations were scattered between various populations in the extreme North and South, who would, in this period, either by environmental pressures or intentional bioengineering, diverge significantly from the Stronghold populations.

Stronghold Era: The era of proliferations of Stronghold Settlements. Under the Stronghold Plan created by the Architects of Stronghold: Gibraltar, as the continental glaciers receded following the Long Winter Epoch of the Apoch-Freeze, further Strongholds were established to the East and West of Gibraltar using the remains and ruins of similar fort complexes. Through use of seedbanks, gene vaults, and other technologies, Terra was 'reseeded'. Technologies, protocols, and techniques used in this era formed the foundational principles of The Engineers' Terraforming Methodologies. 

Dark Lands: The remains of Alaska and parts of Canada's Northwest Territories following the Denali National Laboratories' ExPLORE Lab Hawking Incident. Corrupted by intense GQF radiation from a cluster of metastable brane tears (aka TDE Artefacts or TDEs), by the end of the Big Freeze Epoch, the Dark Lands had split off of the North American continent and drifted into the Pacific Ocean. The Dark Lands, as referred to by Strongholders and Coldbloods alike, formed a pocket infinity with an internal surface area equivalent to that of the rest of Terra's, sparking numerous wars for its conquest and domination.

136k-AF TDE Collapse: A cataclysmic event caused by the transitioning of the Dark Lands TDE Cluster from false-vacuum to ground state. This event resulted in mass proliferation of the Glitch across Terra. The Dark Lands were expelled, becoming a sister satellite dubbed "Dark Sister" by the survivors of the subsequent climatological chaos. The 136k-AF TDE Collapse also marked the birth of both courts of Mythics and the beginning of widespread glitch-empowered individuals, previously a phenomena limited to a handful of Reliquarian Super_users who rose out of the residual aftermath of various experimental projects similar to the DNL ExPLORE Labs. Many of these first Reliquarians persist to the present.

Apocalypticon: Pitch Dark Age

Pitch Dark Age: A period of roughly 420,000 Tanno following the 136k AF TDE Collapse for which very little recorded history or archaeological evidence remains. Separated into six distinct Ages, the Pitch Dark Age saw multiple civlisational resurgences, only for one cataclysm or another to force another hard reset.

Age of the Forgotten: The period immediately following the 136k AF TDE Collapse. Ensemble Storms, climate chaos, tectonic hyperactivity, and GQF Background disabling all advanced technology reduced the Strongholds to ruins and returned humanity to hunter-gatherers, sedentary, agrarian lifestyles being made impossible due to unpredictable, rapid, and violent changes in climate. The spawning of Mythica populations occurs during this period and the annals of the Firstborn of Graces exist as the only reliable records of this period.

Age of the Third Wind: Following the stabilisation of the climate and the end of Ensemble Storms, Humanity is able to reform sedentary, agrarian civilisations. Technological progress is stunted and slowed due to equal parts the inhibiting influence of The Glitch on developing computers, as well as the corruption of data storage devices containing the knowledge and technology of both the Strongholds as well as the Old Sapiens.

Age of the Mythic Wars: A 5,000 Tanno period of conflicts between humanity against Dreamborn Mythica, ultimately ending with the 3rd destruction of human society and a period of subjugation known as the Age of Mythos.

Age of Mythos: A 15,000 Tanno period of subjugation by the Dreamborn Mythica following humanity's defeat at the end of the Mythic Wars and the signing of the First Mythic Treaty.

Age of the Long March: A 100,000 Tanno period of cooperation, unification, and rebuilding. The Age of the Long March saw Humanity leave Earth for the first time since the ARMA Wars with the completion of The First Gate—a sustained wormhole drive bridging Earth and its long dead colonies on Mars—allowing humanity to rapidly accelerate its technological capabilities, no longer inhibited by the Sisterian GQF. Humanity quickly recolonised the Solar System, ultimately leaving the Solar System after engineering Homo asteri—a species of humans engineered to be more robust and resilient to the conditions of interstellar space. This age ends with the establishment of extrasolar colonies in Alpha Centauri, marking the beginning of the Ages of Asterion.

Apocalypticon: The Incursion

CORE CONCEPTS & LORE DUMP

Humanity:

Humanity, as it exists in The Way, is much removed from what is called the Old Sapiens. Primarily, the universe is populated by the descendants of Homo asterion—a species of humans genetically engineered to be more resilient to the harsh conditions of interstellar travel. Alongside H. asterion are three other families of human:

Coldbloods: human species who survived the ecological apocalypse of the Apoch-Freeze north or south of 40 degrees. H. s. scandi (Scandians), H. s. yakui (Ya Kui), H. s. faroth (Faarøþi), H. s. alinu (Alyu/Inu), H. s. qeche (Soto/Qece), H. s. samtan (Saamten), H. s. shaia ($â:a)

Darklings: Darklings are various tribes of altered Old Sapiens endemic to Dark Sister. Among their tribes are the Pillars of August; the Ciþwa, the Kho, the Ñujj, the Hi Akiji, and the Aeon. Pillars of August possess anomalous abilities and cannot interbreed outside of their tribe.

Factions:

CORR/The CORR: Confederation of Rimworlds, Republic. Formerly a series of colonial outposts of The River, declared independence in the 4th Age of Asterion and formed a loose defensive confederation that later became a republic of two dozen systems. The CORR possesses the richest deposits of strategic resources in The Way as well as a highly strategic, centralised position. Frequent raids and conquering forces from larger and more powerful factions resulted in The CORR creating the most powerful military force in The Way; the AFR. The AFR has never been defeated. Abbreviation: CORR/CuX

Imperium Kaidan: The largest and most populous galactic superpower. Marked by stagnation, bureaucracy, and an antipathy towards innovation and progress, Imperium Kaidan still remains a primary engine of galactic discovery with an ever-expanding DZ pushing farther into the Galactic centre, but crippled by colonial rebellions and internal conflicts. Outside of exploration, Kaidan’s manufacturing sector is the largest and most productive engine of basic materials while also being the dirtiest. Kaidan society is also noteworthy for being repressive, oppressive, and increasingly dystopian depending on world tier. Abbreviation: KI

Herbalists: A faction of secretive transhuman creatures transformed by a plant-based, glitched, collective-consciousness known as the Goddess. Herbalists possess numerous wellspring abilities across their four factions—known as Branches. The Four Branches are subdivided into Upper and Lower Branches. The Lower Branches are the Knotworx—anomalous telepaths integral to interstellar communication—and the Foresters—mysterious Plant-Zodians whose purpose and duties are not known. All Converted Herbalists are reborn into the Lower Branches. The Upper Branches have been called “the Goddess’ Chosen” and take on “the Goddess Aspect” (details below) Added to the Mythic Treaty after the First Seed was recongised by the Council of Three Graces during the 3rd Age of Asterion. Abbreviation: Hrb

The River: An empire established at the end of the 1st Age of Asterion by the Starforged Dark Evergreen Collective. The River lasted until the Incursion during the 5th Age of Asterion when hostile xenos forces and internal conflicts fractured the empire, leaving only its Crown World, New Rio, standing. The founders of The River believed themselves to be the true torchbearers of the Old Sapiens’ legacy and were increasingly obsessed with this idea, going so far as to increasingly make use of nonsensical amalgamations of fragmentary texts and records of the Old Sapiens for everything from architecture to naming conventions. Abbreviation: NRdO

New Rio: Pseudoanarchical failed state forming the last remnant of The River. Once accounting for 65% of all humanity, The River was ravaged during the Incursion and fully collapsed during the Vosto-Cybros Civil Uprising. New Rio, The River’s Crown World and only holding, has existed since the 7th Age of Asterion as a dystopian world of mega-cities called “hives”.

Texsar: A hypercapitalist superpower obsessed with technology and cybernetic alterations. Only splicers—those with cybernetic alterations—can attain citizenship in Texsar. Unspliced Texsarians are segregated as second-class non-citizens. Texsar has few terrestrial settlements, preferring space stations and other artificial megastructures. Terrestrial settlements exist only to procure raw resources and are exclusively inhabited by unspliced members of the Church of Cybros. Abbreviation: TXR

Specific Archetypes

Ciþwa: August Pillar of Memory, the Galaxy’s archivists. Different Ciþwa clans are known for having eidetic-genetic memories of specific types of information. They are The Way’s greatest archivists, records keepers, and librarians and are highly sought after by the powerful and elite. Large diaspora communities exist in the CORR, Winters Cloak, MTN Collective, and as honoured guests on the Herbalist shrine world of Asoth. Abbreviation: CÞ

Orkideans: The Herbalist’s 1st Branch. Orkideans are extremely difficult to classify. Like all Herbalists, Orkideans do not age, though after an unknown number of years, an Orkidean will become an Elder Orkidean and take on a slightly different appearance. Of all the Herbalists, Orkideans are the most robust and can sustain lethal injuries and revive, though the mechanisms and limitations of this are unknown. Like Shift, they are exclusively feminine in form and are suspected as parthenogenic. Orkideans eschew garments of any kind and have brightly coloured hair that is kept no shorter than the thighs. All Orkideans possess a bag of unidentifiable material in which they keep sacred objects of unknown description. Orkideans have most often been described as the Herbalist’s priestesses, though they notably reject this title. On extremely rare occasions, a Converted Orkidean may be reborn. All Orkideans, whether Converted or Native, are considered Daughters of the First Seed.

Shift: The Herbalist’s 2nd Branch, Shift are shapeshifters and are highly trained, extremely dangerous, and almost impossible to kill. They are capable of rapidly healing and regenerating from injuries fatal to a normal human. Shift are also the only branch of the Herbalists capable of conscious and wilful acts of violence. Most Shift are able to transform into a variety of different creatures, with the limits of how long they are able to do so based on the size thereof. When exhausted, a Shift will revert back to their “base” form. All Shift are considered Daughters of the First Seed. There are no known Converted Shift or Shift with male aspects.

Foresters: The Herbalist's 3rd Branch, and upper of the Lower Branches, Foresters are an integral part of the operations and mission of any Herbalist Grove. Foresters possess anomalous powers as well as insight into ecosystems, and often form out the largest portion of any Grove or Orkidean's entourage. They are capable of manifesting entire habitats from a handful of seeds as well as sustaining them in conditions otherwise inhospitable to life. Foresters are avid gardeners and peerless agriculturalists, bioscientists, and caretakers of all living things. Foresters are split in their populations between The Converted and Daughters of the First Seed, and represent the entire spectrum of human sexual dimorphism.

Knotworx: The Herbalist's 4th Branch, and lower of the Lower Branches, Knotworx are the most numerous of the Herbalist's due to their integral function in the efficient transmission of information across The Way. Collectively, Knotworx create an anomalous neural linkage that allows for instantaneous communication between any Herbalist. The establishment, maintenance, proliferation, and open access to this network—called The Knotworx—was a foundational tenet of the bargain the First Seeds struck with The Goddess. Their population grows to accommodate the need for them, bolstered both by The Converted and by Daughters of the First Seed, eclipsing a hundredfold the combined populations of the other Three Branches by the 10th Age. Due to their role as communications conduits, Knotworx work in closest proximity to, and have the most interactions with, the rest of humanity. Like Foresters, they are full-spectrum dimorphic.

Kitsune/Huli Jing/Fox: Dreamborn empowered with minor SDS and PSus empowerments. Able to transform into any member of the long-extinct vulpid genus, Foxes are primarily information gatherers and seductresses, with a strong relationship and protective alliance with the Valkyries. Like their Sphinx counterparts, Foxes will barter with outsiders for information, though for Things of Value rather than Champion's Triumphs. Bound in an entangled relationship with the Valkyries and Minotauri. Foxes are the primary thinkers, diplomats, lorekeeprs, and intelligence gatherers of the VKM Trifecta.

Valkyrie: A predominantly humanoid female dreamborn species with anomalous combat skill. Valkyries possess two to four wings capable of powered flight through some unknown PSus empowerment. Like their Angelic counterparts, Valkyries serve a protective function, though of the wider Mythic population rather than specific chosen individuals. Bound in an entangled relationship with Kitsune and Minotauri. Valkyries are the primary military force of all Mythica, and are the warriors, builders, healers, and engineers of the VKM Trifecta. (See MTT Section 12-102.29 | Valkyries)

Valkyrian Captain/Valkyrie Captain/Captain: One of the few males among Valkyries, Captains are exceptionally skilled warriors bound by an entangled relationship with the Foxes. Any one warrior who defeats a Captain in single combat will receive nine anomalous markings from the Foxes (known as The Nine Tales) that empower the Champion with Glitched abilities. Since the 136k-AF TDE Collapse, only five Captains have fallen in combat.

Minotauri: a predominantly humanoid male dreamborn species with large horns growing from either side of the skull. Despite being anomalously strong and hardy, Minotauri are fairly docile, not easily swayed to great exertions or violence. Minotauri are the chief crafstmen, artisans, agrarians, and makers of things in the VKM Trifecta. Bound in an entangled relationship with the Kistune and Valkyries.

Three Graces/Council of Three Graces/Nymphae: Anomalous dreamborn spirits intrinsically entangled to the biospheres of whatever worlds they inhabit. Their numbers and overall health and wellbeing are a measure of the planet’s habitability. Three Graces take on what some have likened to the “nymph” aspect, and the name “Three Graces” refers to the three primary taxa: Asterids, Naiads, and Anthousai. The origins of these names are not known to them. Unlike Shift and Orkideans, Nymphae are not parthenogenic, but reproduce only to “restore” a world. This process is mysterious, but associated phenomena include rapid ecological regeneration, significant sociopolitical shifts and population-level behavioral changes, and the mass disappearance of planetary “titans”. As a result, worlds with Nymphae populations are classified as “Graced Worlds” and subject to strict monitoring and enforcement of Mythic Treaty ecological standards.   

Asterids: One of the Three Graces, Astrerids take on the “angelic” form, being bipedal humanoid females capable of manifesting various forms of wings for flight, depending on levels of “pollution”. Asterids are the Graces of the Sky.

Naiad: One of the Three Graces, Naiads take on the “mer” form, being bipedal humanoid females capable of manifesting various forms of fish-tails for swimming, depending on levels of “pollution.” Naiads are the Graces of the Water.

Anthousai: One of the Three Graces, Anthousai take on the “fawn” form, being bipedal humanoid females capable of shifting their form into that of a deer of various descriptions, depending on levels of “pollution”. Anthousai are the Graces of the Land.

Stellari: a dreamborn species of cephalopod-like form. Each stellari can have between 10 and 15 arms connected to a wide, flat, disc-shaped body with a central bulge containing a glitched object known as a "sol eye". Stellari are highly aggressive and capable of emitting lethal doses of ionising radiation from their sol eye. Questionable origin: Ya Kui Apoch-Freeze mythos or accident from the Old Sapiens lab responsible for the $a:a.

Etaheli/Titan Drake: Sisterian creature marked by a long, serpentine body with various long, curved spines with webbing in the shape of a feather. An adult Etaheli can reach lengths of up to 20km and have primary flight spines up to 1km tall. Adult Etaheli use gasses stored in large reservoirs along their belly to create anomalous jets of fire at the expense of flight speed and altitude. Etaheli are considered sacred to Darklings, especially the Ciþwa.

Human Dominion

Trans-State Factions

• Herbalists

• Mythics

• Soulstar Enclave/Midwinter Sanctuary

Superpowers

• Collective of Independent Systems

  • A'xongi Llokh (Riverine)

  • Chained Worlds (Riverine)

  • Inglenook (Silven)

  • Rust Belt

  • The Vael/Shrouded Vael

  • Twin Primes

  • Other Minor States

• Collective of Rimworlds, Republic | CORR | Cìfārw umʘadi ʘadiłeŋ

• Imperium Kaidan | Imperium Galacticum Kàé Tan

• Texsar

• The Grey

• Winters Cloak

Major Powers

• Colharbour Compact

  • Alyu-Inu Collective

  • Bjorhet

  • New Scandia

  • Ostro

  • Queensriik

  • Saamteu

  • Somjo

  • The Pale Lake

  • Ya Kui Nation

  • Other Minor States

• Riverine States

  • Cult of the Shattered God

  • June River Reach

  • Ma To Nga

  • Neo Ionia

  • Neo Sparta

  • Seven Nations Combinate

  • Walloch

  • Other Minor States

• TCT Combine

  • Cloud-Forest

  • Five Insulae of Färøþ

  • Torrance

  • Triiva

• Terra Prima Concordate

  • Earth/Terra Prima

  • Jovian-Giants

  • Mars

  • Nine Gates

  • Proximal Colonies

• The Engineers

Minor Powers

• Ævid Sanctum

• A'xoc Ja

• Glitch City

• Płäñisyó

• The River

• Tria'qq

• Unity of Five

• Xhifuu

Lunean Dominion