Distant Sands 11 - User contributions [en]

Clan Al'Ames-Svet

2025-12-29T23:52:01Z

Mokuno: /* Clan Specialization */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

{{Political|name=Clan Al'Ames-Svet|image=[[File:AS_Flag.png|200px]]|Notable Populations=Feni (primarily hgnaii) human, HIGHLY diverse secondary|Capital=Seshvenius.|Ruler=High Explorer of the Guild, Jon Svet|Official Political System=Democratic Syndicacy|Evaluated Political System=Democratic Syndicacy}}

Clan Al'Ames-Svet, led by the Yari Guild of Esteemed Explorers is not famous, powerful or even particularly historically relevant. Born of a unity of two isolated clans in a near inhospitable region. They are modernly known for producing budget-quality-and-budget-priced copies (licensed or not) of other more well known products and being overwhelmingly dedicated to exploration and the Scout Service. Their one notable development is the creation and the production of one of the more advanced, if controversial, ship AIs in the rokhandan fleet.

== Clan History ==
Clan Ames and Clan Svet have always resided in and around the Yari region, and an area known as the Yari gap--a tempestuous, dangerous region that has nonetheless, been the best trade-route across a large portion of Fen, and since time immemorial made their trade as guides. It was the coming of the two foreign clans that truly changed their way of life, the Aldet and the Khazaan. Entering into the territory as reckless warring expansion, the Aldet and Khazaan conquered land and territory and the smaller hgnaii of Svet and Ames had little choice but to flee. Making their way to the temperate rainforests of the Hanna Canyons, sheltered from Yari's tempestuous storms, the two clans eventually united into Ames-Svet and almost entirely existed in greater relevance as guides for traders, a practice that exists in some limited form even today for explorers and wanderers.

Their roles as guides, pathfinders and mail-delivery in the Yari-region translated early to space logistics where Ames-Svet made their name. There is a saying that the first to die on half the worlds of the Directorate were Ames-Svet. A morbid reference to their numbers in the scout service and a joke on the Scout Service's motto both. Unfortunately, the clan has never been particularly successful, they get by, but they've never had great wealth, great fame or great influence and their almost entirely one-way rivalry towards the Aldet-Khazaan has ensured strained relations with the largest and most influential of their direct neighbors.

== Clan Specialization ==
Al'Ames-Svet is specialized along two major industries, the first and most controversial are artificial intelligences. A large amount of the most advanced thinking machines in the Directorate are made by Ames-Svet, and their constant tweaking, adjusting and interaction with thinking machines has left them a significant advantage in this field. Their second specialization is around low-price export-grade versions of other clans tech, equipment, and licensed (and unlicensed) copies of other products. A direct sideline of this is the 'guild of explorers' often get accused of being 'a guild of thieves.'

== Clan Reputation ==
The Al'Ames-Svet cultural ideal of avoiding war and dismissing honor has them routinely butt heads with more warrior-like clans, and there is a lingering reputation from time immemorial of them being 'cowards hiding in the cold, dark rainforests at the slightest scent of danger.'The clan has a notable and particular affection for thinking machines. They are one of the few clans where a machine can be evaluated as a full citizen, something considered weird or even heretical to most others.

Their reputation is similarly not helped by being in all honestly, poor and rural, and often stereotyped as dumb to boot. They are often portrayed as a 'clan' of clanless, cultureless orphans, something they chaff at and are quick to point out they're one of the oldest clans on Fen. This is in part due to their culture itself, while mostly hgnaii feni, they have a strict tradition of adopting others into their clans and families, and often bring parts of their culture with those they bring in.

War of Ruz'kahni Survival

2025-12-29T23:50:18Z

Mokuno: /* The Sovereign Federation and the House Wars */

The War of Ruz'kahni Survival, known to the human power as the Secession War, was a series of interconnected armed conflicts in which most of the known galactic powers took part. There is some debate about its exact nature and length, but the most intense period of fighting occurred between UDC 1004 (human year 2809) and 1010 (2815).

== Preface to War: Colonization ==
Initially located by [[Ruz'kahni Directorate]] scouts in the early 700s, the Voltker Zone was the target of the Sol-centered [[Galactic Coalition of Interstellar States]] colonization efforts in the 724 New Worlds initiative around the garden world of Voltker. Due to the surprising richness of the region, expansion was rapid and the Coalition would soon claim any worlds encountered, inhabited or not, as their own. Notable among these was Visra, home of the [[Lumii]], a primitive people who had not yet invented steam engines when they were forcibly introduced to the stars. The Coalition Expansion moved until they were buttressed by the surprising resistance of the Dominion and the [[Caera-Leecii]] Transient tribes. Both of which were capable of resisting Coalition intrusion into their space.

The region grew stably with only occasional border skirmishes with the Hexians until the reappearance of the [[Stygian Abominable Intelligence]] in 978 throughout the voltker zone. Without need for deliberation, a defense action was authorized by Fahikh Valthi and the Directorate began conducting flash raids to eliminate Stygian agents and forces and to acquire what they may have been after from the civilian populace. These flash raids were in many cases poorly organized and modern reexamination by Directorate historians have reported that much of the effort was thwarted by the lack of direct central oversight. Piracy, aggressive boarding, arrests with little suspicion and occasional land-raids have been all documented during this period.
=== Stygian Infiltration ===
The Stygians activities in this early period appear and are assumed to be intelligence gathering, cybernetic replacement of a few key individuals, and the creation of a number of technology-worshiping cults common in the region. Modern investigations are muddied by a number of factors, poor colonial record keeping, the disorganized response by young adventure-focused Ruz'kahni warriors, lost information during the War and while there are clear indications of espionage, assassinations and kidnappings, the Caera-Leeci, the Vae'Hex Dominion, Voltker Rebels and even the Visran sect Sarai's Light were all active in the area. and aiming to manipulate events in their favor.
== First Phase: The Voltker Revolt ==
The next two decades saw little alteration to this effective Directorate intervention and oversight and settlers would petition the Coalition for aid, security and protection. Not just from the Stygians, but from the Directorate forces who had all but taken over policing and were ill fit for colonial defenses. Instead, the Coalition increased the level of colonial taxation according to their projected development timetable without accounting for the delays caused by the Stygian attacks and the presence of the Ruz'kahni Directorate Expeditionary Fleet. The result was large-scale unrest within the Voltker Zone, to which the Coalition responded by organizing a naval task force for deployment in the summer of 993. The RDEF was not immediately withdrawn, and the main concern of the Directorate forces remained anti-Stygian operations.

The Coalition task force was lost with all hands upon the sabotage and later destruction by the terrorist group ''Svoboda'' of the jump gate they were utilizing, marking their real-space location inside the gravity well of the Voltker moon of Aritoran, causing a catastrophic engine failure and impact. Various other Coalition ships began to converge upon the zone, having been the victims of successful mutinies or sympathetic commanding officers. It was only after this event that the RDEF was withdrawn. The colonial government consolidated its military and political power and declared itself the Federation of Voltker by the end of the year.
=== Federation of Voltker and its Aftermath ===
Voltker's independent government was a short lived experiment, a unification of the Union of Colonists, the Voltker People's Army, the Voltker Coalition Navy and the Order of the Silver Eagle, an alliance of aligned aristocratic houses with interests in the region. After its initial victory, political infighting left it weakened and a naive belief that the Coalition would not respond with force prevailed among the people. When the Coalition returned by the end of the year, it was a massive punitive strike that crushed the rebellion and enacted strict police-measures across the world.

The result was not a return to stability. Other colonial governments, throughout the neighboring White Belt and the Voltker zone protested these actions as unlawful interference. Of Particular note is The Holy See of Visra's successful coup against Coalition control in 999. A powerful force in this secessionist movement, the Solar Houses of the region began openly protesting the intervention as unlawful interference and a violation of the Democratic Rule of Law and the Free Association clause of the Coalition constitution.

== Second Phase: Dawning of War ==
In the aftermath of the Voltker revolt and the gate-assault, the RDEF began to secure jump gates along interstellar lanes to prevent further attacks against neutral civilian infrastructure; it was assessed that there was a continued risk. This assessment was proven accurate when three further gates were destroyed by rebellious forces. The [[Lo-Shudai]] viewed the Directorate deployments as violations of their sovereignty, and officially recognized the former Federation of Voltker as legitimate and its surviving leaders as a government-in-exile in 999. Immediately after, the Lo-Shudai began annexxing the ostensibly Coalition Syrus Protectorates and numerous unaligned Outworlder-states. Distressing both the Coalition and Directorate. Response however were limited as Stygian attacks had broadened and began to affect core Directorate and Coalition territories, occupying much of the political focus of both powers. During this period, the Vae'hex Dominion and Caera-Leecii Transient Tribes had begun rapid militarization in secret with the now independent Holy See of Visra. Throughout the Voltker Zone and white belt, waves of revolts would seize planets and the Coalition Outworld Legion would focus much of its efforts on a series of lost-battles on the voltker front and found itself crippled by the conflict.
=== The Caera-Leecii Alliance ===
The [[Caera-Leecii]] and remnants of the Order of the Silver Eagle were instrumental in the organization of this initial wave of conflict, seeding joined agents throughout the Voltker Zone and White Belt to infiltrate key organizations, military and domestic. Organizing a far larger shadow rebellion than Coalition was at the time aware of. Unlike the scattered independence movements, the Alliance had a goal of a unified power and ensured these rebellions were not as independent as they seemed.

== Third Phase: The War of Ruz'kahni Survival ==
The conflict turned into true war in 1004 when the Federation of the Phoenix was declared power-extent during the Revolt of Gustafson's World. Seizing on the imagery of the failed Voltker Federation as its inspiration, and using the phoenix, a mythological bird that is reborn after death in fire as its icon as a successor to the Order of Silver-Eagle, it was an alliance of the Caera-Leecii Transient Clans, the [[Lumii]] Holy See of Visra and the [[Hexian]] Imperial Vae’hex Dominion, as well as the Solar Great Houses: Augustiani, Ajnoria, Vauxneyll, Zuheda (Itself a former Directorate clan that joined the Coalition in the far-flung past), and Azdali. The revolts were massive and unified, and soon nearly the entire Voltker Zone was under control of this federation and open war with the Coalition had began. The Directorate had largely taken a supporting role in the conflict for the first 17 months. Logistical, intelligence, and security support were provided, but the active fighting was unfamiliar in nature and largely seen as an internal conflict; the Coalition was, after all, fighting its own citizens; the Federation was not and today remains unrecognized as a distinct, legitimate political entity by the Directorate.

This supporting role changed upon the entrance of the war of the [[Lo-Shudai|Grand Tide]] in early 1005. [[Poliesu]] warfare, like Rokhandan warfare, placed an emphasis on flash raiding. Unlike Rokhandan warfare, it also placed emphasis on ferocity and obliteration of resistance and had little regard for casualties. The holy world of Cellen was targeted, as were several gates in Directorate space, before any declaration of war was made. Tens of thousands perished before any response could be made, and the Burning of Cellen is frequently remembered with grief, horror, and anger.

This direct attack was met with the formal entrance of the Ruz'kahni Directorate into a form of warfare that was new to it: total war. For the first time in its history: the Directorate instituted a draft; Directorate ships no longer prioritized the capture of a ship over its destruction; and attempts were made to cripple and destroy the Grand Tide's ability to make war. The ISTO fleets, primarily made up of Coalition and Directorate ships, swept through enemy space systematically and at great cost in lives and ships, and for every world taken, the horrific FTL attacks were made indiscriminately against both military and civilian targets belonging to the ISTO. This dynamic halted when the fortress-system of Praxis became part of the front line. Praxis was a central FTL junction and critical hub for Grand Tide. Several clans had over the course of the conflict developed a weaponized version of [[Rapid Reconstructive Cell Therapy|RRCT]], known as [[GeCo]]. Fearing the cost of taking Praxis conventionally, these weapons were deployed without Directorate knowledge or authorization against Praxis, rendering all inhabitants dead in 1007. The clans responsible were disbanded and their leaders punished, and their names erased from history in disgrace.

The continued fight on the Poliesu-front required organization, and with growing hostilities across known space the ISTO was established in the weeks following Praxis. The typical form of the War of Ruz'kahni Survival to follow was for advanced RDEF ships to do the bulk of the fighting in space, and once planets were besieged, [[Vatborn and Splicers|vatborn]] soldiers of the Coalition would invade en masse and serve as a garrison when the fleets continued on. This form of planet-hopping warfare was relentlessly effective, though nevertheless costly, and eventually the ISTO forces reached the Poliesu homeworld. Resistance was fiercest here, and only after months of siege and total war did the emperor of the Grand Tide surrender, specifically to Coalition forces in mid 1008.

Fighting continued, with the Coalition accepting the [[United Republic of Ayun-Ji|Republic of Ayun-Ji]] as a protectorate and utilizing the captured W-1 reserves. After the capitulation of the Grand Tide, RDEF focus shifted towards the Stygian Abominable Intelligence, and development of weaponry specialized for lethality against [[Thinking Machines]] was completed, and with them RDEF forces were able to make territorial gains and seize reserves of [[W-1]] that had previously been unattainable. As the Federation began losing ground, they managed to obtain a Coalition RRCT Complex on the world of Marcion. Seeing its value, they extricated it through a series of military operations known as Project Starlight and by the end of 1008, had began mass-vatborne creation of their own.

== Fourth Phase: The Shattering ==
The following year saw continued success from the newly formed ISTO, and the lines of battle saw the Federation pushed from the region known as the White Belt and a push towards Visra was undertaken by the Coalition. Considered symbolic, Visra's secession and casting off Coalition rule was a marked political point as their rejection of democracy in totality was seen as an insult to the GCIS' ideals. During this period, the Holy See of Visra was approached directly by their Stygian allies and given plans for a new weapon. The See, along with the rest of the Federation began to secretly construct the weapon and it was soon designated the FFS Fioletovyy, a warship of unique designs possessing a weapon able to target enemy fleets in the tempestuous realm of Jumpspace. As the war was turning against the Federation of the Phoenix, and when Visra itself was being assaulted by Coalition Forces in an event known as the Razing of Visra, the Patriarch of the Holy See, Seraph Alexander III, ordered his Lumii to fire the weapon.

The result was an event known as The Shattering. Jump-gates within 114 parsecs immediately failed and the nature of the hyper-space lanes altered. Ships in jumpspace failed to exit, exited unexpectedly, or at unintended destinations. Others flew out of control, their systems and power-systems failing or misfiring and collided with numerous worlds, causing immense damage. The region known as the White Belt was particularly effected and nearly all jump-computations altered. The fundamental nature of Jumpspace altered within the effected regions, leaving new paths to open, and old ones to fail. The death toll is considerable. While direct impacts resulted in millions dead from out-of-control vessels, the loss of logistics throughout the effected zones caused far greater and as to unknown losses of life.

=== Aftermath ===
The Federation of the Phoenix, having heavily altered its fleet to operate outside of Jump-gates and established nav-lanes during their rise managed to re-seize massive amounts of lost territory and was more capable of rebuilding their logistics than the Galactic Coalition, which had relied on these established lanes of infrastructure to maintain its empire. But its internal divisions were many, and many thought the civilian death toll was too great. Demand for reparations by the states of the Federation towards the Holy See of Visra led for what was seen as a unilateral unapproved usage of the weapon led to the exit of the See from the Federation by the end of 1010 as it was reformed under a military junta by the Supreme Commander of Navy.

=== The Sovereign Federation and the House Wars===
Internal pressures in the young nation caused it to fracture, as the level of involvement of the Stygians began to be known, civilians openly revolted. Similarly its Solar Houses engaged in clandestine war against one another, and the Junta was shattered by 1016. A period of unrest followed before it was reorganized in the wake of the event known as the House Wars between the years 1017 and 1019. During this period House Vauxneyll and House Ajnoria began open-conflict across Federation space, Vauxneyll's aggression reaching a height when the lesser house Allaldyn was almost completely eradicated. Upon suffering a defeat, the need for a new, unified Federation was clear to all. After a three month deliberation, massive political reforms transformed the Federation under a new, unified, civilian government. They would re-unite with the Holy See of Visra and was rechristened as [[Sovereign Federation|The Sovereign Federation]] by the end of 1019.

== In Retrospect ==
Ten years since the ceasefire, things remain politically uncertain. Directorate space was furthest from the regions most affected by the Shattering, and the devastation was somewhat ameliorated due to the fact that some Directorate FTL drives don't require the use of jump-lanes. The broad (but not universal) consensus is that the ISTO, despite making gains at the time of the end of hostilities, was the losing side, with the Coalition in particular having lost a large amount of its territory and logistics structure without having made major gains (with the notable exception of the Ayun-Ji Republic). Many regard the war as an unnecessary tragedy born of dysfunctional foreign policy, and the Directorate's close relation with the Solar government is being questioned by the Houyani and Celleni political blocs as peace talks continue to drag on a decade later.

Caera-Leecii

2025-12-29T23:46:45Z

Mokuno: /* Beliefs */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

The Caera-Leecii are a species born of two worlds in the Tahgii system Tal-Sheed and Xian. In technicality, the leecii are a form of psionic, non-sentient parasitic moss native to Xian. While the Caera are a cervine species originating from world Tal-Sheed. While not all caera are leecii, nearly all leecii are caera. The caera are a strict people, known for having little patience for weakness, are cutthroat survivors with little care for life's innate value. Consideration for things in a long-term fashion were not well considered. Their culture changed dramatically when in-system exploration unified them with the world of Xian, and they began understanding the leecii moss and integrated it with their people over time. The sense of unity and far-understanding caused by the psionic nature of the moss and its unique abilities to pass along hereditary memories from host to host allowed the Caera to become starfarers, balancing their demeanor with an inward focus.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
The generic caera are tall cervids, around 2 meters in height with a diverse range of coat colors, meant to blend in with the vibrant jungles of their homeworld. From black to white, brown to a slight green or blue. When they are symbiotically fused with leecii, they will take on plant-like traits, whether a mossy coat, verdant plumage, strange eyes, etc. A symbiote unified caera-leecii is going to have both plant and animal traits in some mannerism, though the adaptation may differ due to environment. They are known for being sturdy, healing wounds rapidly and are omnivores with a taste for meat. The leecii symbiote is a form of parasitic plant that can take numerous forms, it will fuse with the body and nervous system of its host, and convert it to its needs. But the moss is choosy. It cannot fuse into a symbiotic form with just anyone, they need to have the readiness to spiritually, mentally and physically resist its consumption and form a bond with the symbiote. True symbiosis has the moss integrate nonharmfully with the person, transforming them. Failed symbiosis is when the person is not capable of taming the leecii as it grows and is consumed by it into fuel and nutrients, and the final is rejection, in which the leecii will not be able to psychically link with the individual and is unable to find purchase into their body, rejecting them.

It should be noted that while rare, non-caera joined do exist. It is both more difficult to successfully bond with the moss for non caera and more dangerous. To become part of the joined is to become part of the caera-leecii existence. Their mind is flooded with memories of caera generations, adapted and changed to fit into the caera-leecii mode of thinking, and with little place for any former identity or life. To be joined is to become part of the whole, yes, but the whole is caera, not human, feni or poliesu.

==== Heritages ====
Caera are divided based on their interpretation of their relation to the leecii moss and their individual pursuits of the Great Hunt, their ancestral pursuit of self perfection.
* '''Joined''' The dominant variety of caera and those who make up the elite of society are those who have joined with the leecii moss and are both plant and animal. Having gained longevity, health, and the wisdom of countless voices, memories and peoples. They guide society.
* '''Unjoined''' Caera that are unjoined, unable to join, or are separated from their home are often eager to prove themselves to society to permit them to join with the whole. They are cervids and are little different from their ancestral selves.
* '''Illuminated''' The Caera self dubbed illuminated are Caera that believe that technology is their path to ascension, not just joining and obsessively unify themselves with machines and technology and take these actions to extremes. Replacing organs, skin, or even their minds with mechanical ones, blurring the lines between caera and thinking machine.
* '''Resolute''' The Caera self dubbed the resolute reject the leecii and technology both, believing in the unchanging nature of their future. Ascetics in their society, they believe that Caera should be hunters and warriors, living through their own blood. They believe pain and suffering are necessary parts of life and practice ritual scarification and bloodletting.
* '''Non Caera Joined''' Of note is there are leecii joined that are of other species. These integrate into caera society almost completely, as their minds are unified with the caera-leecii whole. They may in body be human, but they are considered caera-leecii like any other.

=== '''History''' ===
Ancient caera were warlike and hostile people with strict societies led by strong leaders living in their oppressive jungle habitats, in the space-age, they were made up of many authoritarian nations in constant nationalistic struggles with one another. But it was in the space age, they transformed. The leecii symbiote brought balance to their minds and people, long-lived thought and saw a transformation of their spiritual system. What was once war and domination, became inward conquest. The joined guided their society, could see fragments of each others memories, and brought hereditary history to their people. With unity, they sought the stars, until they encountered the human Galactic Coalition who's lack of unity and centralized, sol-focused politics were staunchly radicalizing for the caera-leecii. Their belief in differences promoting unity created the framework for what would be the federation. Unbeknownst to most in the following decades, the caera-leecii began infiltrating what is now known as federation space, joining, willing or not, finding key persons to join with the leecii symbiote beyond their peoples, who would disguise their new state of being, and be ready to push politics in a preferred, secessionist direction. When war broke out, the new leecii-joined helped ensure that the series of assassinations and coups at the local level would be rapid and effective, permitting the Sovereign Federation's birth. Since the war, they have been one of the most critical non-human powers in the empire, and are said by some to be the true heart of the Sovereign Federation.

=== '''Society''' ===
The most notable factor in caera society is their relationship to the leecii symbiote. To be joined is to have your memories live on, and each patch of leecii can retain the psychic imprint of its past hosts. Through these flashes of insight, caera-leecii society can be capable of a seemingly deep understanding of the patterns of history. Something confusing to most outsiders is unjoined caera are not a lower class, but rather are a separate class. The leaders of their society are not always joined, but their advisors almost always are. Yet there is an elitist division between the unjoined and the joined. With many unjoined feeling like they are less of a person and are eager to prove themselves. Even if through death, where their bodies will be laid to rest in the moss of Xian to become unified with the whole. '''Example Names:'''

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
The caera-leecii are a unification of two contrary beliefs. The innate caera self-serving survivalist mentality, and the long-thinking, unified state of being that can transcend lifetimes given by the leecii symbiote. Even those unjoined are effected by this, and most caera long to be chosen or deemed worthy of receiving the symbiotic moss, for it brings both physical benefits of strength and longevity, but permits greater mental understanding of the world around. The concept of the Grand Hunt is integral to caera, who believe it is great acts, inward perfection and mental and spiritual stability that will lead them to being joined and many caera long to prove themselves to the symbiote to permit unification. They are broadly considered highly introspective spiritualists, but are not pacifists. The caera-leecii have a unique understanding of the afterlife as a literal place, those consumed by the moss have some memories and imprints retained, and the caera-leecii believe that even as those memories fade, they do not die, they simply become part of the Whole. Death is abjectly not the end to their minds, and they as a people do not fear the end of life as many do.

Feni

2025-12-29T23:44:37Z

Mokuno: /* Heritages */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

Feni, informally known as rokhandan to some in known space are a clade of upright two-legged omnivores with distinctly canine physiology. They originate from Fen, a planet in the Ahni system known for its dry climate and brutal weather. While Feni are most populous within their native Ruz'kahni Directorate, they're a common species in nearly every corner of populated space owing to their affinity for new ideas and concepts, and their natural curiosity and wanderlust. Stereotypically Feni are intelligent, educated, and possibly a bit naive. They are often considered natural scientists, but the numerous subspecies and clans that populate various planets in and out of the Directorate vary wildly in culture, behavior and skill sets. Of all the people in known space, they are the most advanced and diverse.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
Owing to their origin as a number of closely related species, the average Fenian is incredibly diverse in appearance. From hyenaoids to vulpinoids to the more common canoids and some even more exotic species adapted to various environments. Nearly all however are rugged, capable of surviving a variety of difficult climates and tend to be light in build. Despite appearances, Feni are not related to terran canines and have an entirely different evolutionary path. Though some theorists insist the appearance is evidence enough of 'precursor meddling' with the major species of the galaxies, these are usually considered crackpot theories.
==== Heritages ====
Feni are less a singular species and are instead a cluster of related species originating from Fen. A list are presented:
* '''Hgnaii''' The species that above all others are scrappy, relatively diminutive scavengers and survivors. They resemble terran wild dogs, jackals and coyotes. They're by reputation opportunistic and their population centers are considered highly influenced by humanity.
* '''Hethi''' Large tailed, elegant and with sharp features, the hethi are agile, aloof and traditionally enjoy hunting for wild prey. They resemble vulpines, urocyons and chrysocyons of earth.
* '''Sekki''' More powerfully built than most, they are the largest on average of all the feni species and evolved around the northern and southern hemispheres of Fen as nomadic, tribal families. They most closely resemble wolves and other lupines of earth.
* '''Varski''' Rugged canines that came to dominate the most ecologically stable portions of their world of Fen, they're diverse and highly morphic in appearance and resemble many varieties of domestic canines.
* '''Kholi''' Powerfully jawed and highly divergent from most of the species of Fen, the kholi vary from very small insect-eating scavengers to powerful obligate carnivores. They originate from the dryer regions of Fen and resemble terran hyenas.

=== '''History''' ===
Prior to space travel, the Feni were simply numerous competing tribes across Fen. On the eve of interstellar travel, however, they formed an organization meant to offer a united voice of the people of Ahni to anything they might encounter, and so the first colonization attempts were conducted by the Directorate of Interstellar Affairs. This body initially colonized two worlds in two systems after over a hundred years of near-light speed travel. The trials of both colonies shaped their future philosophy of slow careful expansion, with the near total loss of indigenous life on Jesoba, the first of the two worlds barely having its intelligent life preserved via the cryo-stasis systems in the hope treatments would be developed. The second, while struggling in its alien environment, discovered W-1, and soon after, managed to break the code of FTL. Within the decade, the Directorate had gained enough political support to exert itself over the clans and reformed simply as the Ruz'kahni Directorate, named for the home system of the Feni. Although the clans themselves remain independent polities, the Directorate is the union that binds them into the greatest force for peace and progress yet created or discovered. The native Jesobans were revived and treated, and they formally joined the Directorate in the years that followed. Other species were encountered, and many elected to form their own clans to give themselves political representation. The first true trial for the Directorate was in the deadly war against the Styx AI, a thinking machine of great evil created by humankind. More recently, the War of Ruz'kahni Survival has depopulated worlds and forced a war economy that is still in the process of returning to its former state.

=== '''Society''' ===
Fenian culture is curious, adaptive and prone to fascination with other peoples. Originating out of nomadic clans and tribes, each clan differed from the next, and the tribes they made up similarly differed from other tribes, sharing different language, cultures or traditions. These ethnicities and various subspecies are visible today in the diverse appearance of the Feni people, as well as their diverse and integrated cultural centers. The most important aspect of Feni social life is the clan, essentially the nation within the Directorate that the person is part of. These are more than social familial structures or simple allegiances but determine cultural and historical identity for the Feni and changing from one clan to another is often a serious process that means leaving your family, nation, history, etc. for another. Sometimes this is done for work, but more commonly for marriage, and sometimes out of abduction or coercion in times of clan wars. Feni names are in the format of Name | Family Name | Clan Name. There are no specific formats for given names and Feni have a tendency to have given names from other cultures.

==== Cuisine ====
Of particular note is the Feni palate. As Fen is somewhat but not extremely dry by the standards of many life-supporting worlds, the chemical compounds of native plant life tend to be less diluted by water, or in other words more concentrated. This includes compounds that cause flavor. As a result, the average Feni palate has evolved with this plant life to be somewhat dulled by galactic standards, and foods that are extremely flavorful to most sophonts (eg. Earth's capsaicin, Charum's emberpetal, etc) are considered somewhat average or bland by most Feni. Feni cuisine is therefore somewhat divisive among other species, with some embracing the overwhelming sensations and some finding the intensity intolerable.

'''Example Names''' Lira, Hidari, Syrius, Hakim, Jack, Caroline

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
Feni tend to believe strongly in the significance of their culture, history and importance of their clan, and their clan traditions often are the basis of their personal belief systems. Exact beliefs can vary dramatically from clan to clan, as well as individual religiosity; however, nearly all clans have a tendency for adaptation of others beliefs into their own. This has led to a plethora of micro-cultures and micro-religions throughout the directorate. The mystical traditions of the Abrahamic faiths of earth saw particular adaptation and influence within the Directorate’s religious landscape. The native Feni faiths, while diverse, heavily leaned towards monotheistic or pseudo-monotheistic systems with a deeply mystical bent and the faiths found numerous reasons to consider a shared truth between them.

Feni

2025-12-29T23:44:04Z

Mokuno: /* Heritages */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

Feni, informally known as rokhandan to some in known space are a clade of upright two-legged omnivores with distinctly canine physiology. They originate from Fen, a planet in the Ahni system known for its dry climate and brutal weather. While Feni are most populous within their native Ruz'kahni Directorate, they're a common species in nearly every corner of populated space owing to their affinity for new ideas and concepts, and their natural curiosity and wanderlust. Stereotypically Feni are intelligent, educated, and possibly a bit naive. They are often considered natural scientists, but the numerous subspecies and clans that populate various planets in and out of the Directorate vary wildly in culture, behavior and skill sets. Of all the people in known space, they are the most advanced and diverse.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
Owing to their origin as a number of closely related species, the average Fenian is incredibly diverse in appearance. From hyenaoids to vulpinoids to the more common canoids and some even more exotic species adapted to various environments. Nearly all however are rugged, capable of surviving a variety of difficult climates and tend to be light in build. Despite appearances, Feni are not related to terran canines and have an entirely different evolutionary path. Though some theorists insist the appearance is evidence enough of 'precursor meddling' with the major species of the galaxies, these are usually considered crackpot theories.
==== Heritages ====
Feni are less a singular species and are instead a cluster of related species originating from Fen. A list are presented:
* '''Hgnaii''' The species that above all others are scrappy, relatively diminutive scavengers and survivors. They resemble terran wild dogs, jackals and coyotes. They're by reputation opportunistic and their population centers are considered highly influenced by humanity.
* '''Hethi''' Large tailed, elegant and with sharp features, the hethi are agile, aloof and traditionally enjoy hunting for wild prey. They resemble vulpines, urocyons and chrysocyons of earth.
* '''Sekki''' More powerfully built that most, they are the largest on average of all the feni species and evolved around the northern and southern hemispheres of Fen as nomadic, tribal families. They most closely resemble wolves and other lupines of earth.
* '''Varski''' Rugged canines that came to dominate the most ecologically stable portions of their world of Fen, they're diverse and highly morphic in appearance and resemble many varieties of domestic canines.
* '''Kholi''' Powerfully jawed and highly divergent from most of the species of Fen, the kholi vary from very small insect-eating scavengers to powerful obligate carnivores. They originate from the dryer regions of Fen and resemble terran hyenas.

=== '''History''' ===
Prior to space travel, the Feni were simply numerous competing tribes across Fen. On the eve of interstellar travel, however, they formed an organization meant to offer a united voice of the people of Ahni to anything they might encounter, and so the first colonization attempts were conducted by the Directorate of Interstellar Affairs. This body initially colonized two worlds in two systems after over a hundred years of near-light speed travel. The trials of both colonies shaped their future philosophy of slow careful expansion, with the near total loss of indigenous life on Jesoba, the first of the two worlds barely having its intelligent life preserved via the cryo-stasis systems in the hope treatments would be developed. The second, while struggling in its alien environment, discovered W-1, and soon after, managed to break the code of FTL. Within the decade, the Directorate had gained enough political support to exert itself over the clans and reformed simply as the Ruz'kahni Directorate, named for the home system of the Feni. Although the clans themselves remain independent polities, the Directorate is the union that binds them into the greatest force for peace and progress yet created or discovered. The native Jesobans were revived and treated, and they formally joined the Directorate in the years that followed. Other species were encountered, and many elected to form their own clans to give themselves political representation. The first true trial for the Directorate was in the deadly war against the Styx AI, a thinking machine of great evil created by humankind. More recently, the War of Ruz'kahni Survival has depopulated worlds and forced a war economy that is still in the process of returning to its former state.

=== '''Society''' ===
Fenian culture is curious, adaptive and prone to fascination with other peoples. Originating out of nomadic clans and tribes, each clan differed from the next, and the tribes they made up similarly differed from other tribes, sharing different language, cultures or traditions. These ethnicities and various subspecies are visible today in the diverse appearance of the Feni people, as well as their diverse and integrated cultural centers. The most important aspect of Feni social life is the clan, essentially the nation within the Directorate that the person is part of. These are more than social familial structures or simple allegiances but determine cultural and historical identity for the Feni and changing from one clan to another is often a serious process that means leaving your family, nation, history, etc. for another. Sometimes this is done for work, but more commonly for marriage, and sometimes out of abduction or coercion in times of clan wars. Feni names are in the format of Name | Family Name | Clan Name. There are no specific formats for given names and Feni have a tendency to have given names from other cultures.

==== Cuisine ====
Of particular note is the Feni palate. As Fen is somewhat but not extremely dry by the standards of many life-supporting worlds, the chemical compounds of native plant life tend to be less diluted by water, or in other words more concentrated. This includes compounds that cause flavor. As a result, the average Feni palate has evolved with this plant life to be somewhat dulled by galactic standards, and foods that are extremely flavorful to most sophonts (eg. Earth's capsaicin, Charum's emberpetal, etc) are considered somewhat average or bland by most Feni. Feni cuisine is therefore somewhat divisive among other species, with some embracing the overwhelming sensations and some finding the intensity intolerable.

'''Example Names''' Lira, Hidari, Syrius, Hakim, Jack, Caroline

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
Feni tend to believe strongly in the significance of their culture, history and importance of their clan, and their clan traditions often are the basis of their personal belief systems. Exact beliefs can vary dramatically from clan to clan, as well as individual religiosity; however, nearly all clans have a tendency for adaptation of others beliefs into their own. This has led to a plethora of micro-cultures and micro-religions throughout the directorate. The mystical traditions of the Abrahamic faiths of earth saw particular adaptation and influence within the Directorate’s religious landscape. The native Feni faiths, while diverse, heavily leaned towards monotheistic or pseudo-monotheistic systems with a deeply mystical bent and the faiths found numerous reasons to consider a shared truth between them.

Technology

2025-12-29T23:43:10Z

Mokuno: /* Marshmelon */

The Distant Sands 11 universe is set at a specific time and place in technological development, and

== Directorate Technology ==
Technologies particular to the Directorate or originating within it. Directorate technology tends to be non-digital in nature, or rather post-digital. As a result, it often looks outdated despite its sophistication.

=== Blaster ===
These are heat weapons and tools that serve a large range of purposes. They can disintegrate objects and people on the highest settings, but on lower ones they can start a fire, weld metal, or a variety of other tasks. If you need heat on demand, chances are you'll use a blaster.

=== Directorate Scanner ===
Large and multipurpose analytical tools. Handheld scanners are very useful for gathering all kinds of information from the surrounding environment and specific objects, but they tend to be very bulky. Ship-mounted scanners are often powerful enough to be lethal at extremely close ranges.

=== Drone ===
Directorate surface warfare is largely dominated by drone usage. These are typically small, mass-produced UAVs that can navigate indoor spaces and tend to be controlled by the Pilot of the ship they're deployed from. Generally the Directorate does not deploy conventional infantry, although most RDEF warships carry a detachment of marines for limited surface operations and boarding actions. The Directorate uses drones for a wide variety of purposes both in and out of combat, such as for scanning or scouting, performing repairs in space, and even construction of orbital structures.

=== Gravity Manipulation ===
Most Directorate ships' primary propulsion system is called a Gravity Drive. Rather than a chemical reaction or direct energy propulsion, the ship projects a field of heavy gravity in a given direction and is pulled rather than pushed towards its destination. The generation of artificial gravity aboard ships and stations is done using a device known as gravity plating, which is typically positioned under the deck. The strength of this field can be adjusted in real time by the ship's Pilot, which also gives it utility as a means to incapacitate intruders by rapidly raising and lowering the gravity in a given area.

=== Low-Berth ===
Chambers in which molecular activity is reduced to near zero in a flash. This effectively freezes the contents in their present condition as long as power supply lasts. These are typically used for the preservation of sophonts in the event of emergency or lack of FTL availability.

=== Marshmelon ===
In the early days of human-Rokhandan relations, it was discovered that Feni had a particular love of marshmallows. The name of the confectionary was misconstrued as 'marshmelon' and couldn't be corrected before these treats were spread throughout the Directorate. Modern marshmelons of Directorate manufacture are nutrient-dense little spheres dyed to resemble the common djolar melon that taste much like human marshmallows, and most citizens believe that the snack originates from within the Directorate.

=== Masers ===

=== Pilot System ===
So named because its initial and most common use is aboard Directorate ships. Most clans harbor an intense distaste for general [[Thinking Machines|artificial intelligences]], and instead purpose-build them for specific tasks which they're programmed to see as their entire purpose. This becomes problematic with tasks that require exacting coordination between multiple systems, such as the operation of starship systems. Instead of using AIs, Directorate ships largely use non-sentient computer, life support, and neural interface systems into which sophonts are integrated for several months or years. Can eventually cause neural burnout, so pilots are typically cycled in and out once every few weeks or so.

=== RRCT ===
Rapid Reconstructive Cell Therapy. This process has many uses and is a flagstone of technological progress. Effectively, RRCT deconstructs and then rebuilds organic structures according to a DNA plan. This plan can be extensively modified for a wide range of physical changes, effectively allowing a person to splice themselves into a different or even entirely new species. If left unmodified, RRCT is used as a medical procedure to restore a person from catastrophic damage.
===== GeCo =====
A spinoff of RRCT tech, Genetic Corruption weapons are essentially the deconstructive process of RRCT without an end state programmed in. Anybody subjected to a GeCo weapon is liquefied.

=== Sandcaster ===
Primarily a defensive weapon, sandcasters are ship-mounted and launch dense clouds of highly reflective silicate particles. The intended use is to deflect energy discharges and prematurely detonate conventional munitions, but some enterprising officers have found that sandcasters are also extremely effective anti-personnel weapons in target-rich environments.

== Non-Directorate Technology ==
Generally regarded within the Directorate as either unsophisticated or derivative of something else.
=== Mass Drivers ===
Ballistic weapons are generally considered outdated by the Directorate, yet they remain the primary means of ship-to-ship combat outside of it.

== Taboo Technology ==

== Disallowed Technology ==
Things that players aren't allowed to have because they haven't been invented yet in the setting or are functionally impossible to obtain.
=== Hardlight ===
While some ships have begun to mount hardlight shields, they're extremely power-intensive and can't be used for more than a few seconds at a time and in a localized area. Nobody has figured out how to miniaturize the technology yet or make it work for extended periods.

Thinking Machines

2025-11-13T06:31:06Z

Mokuno: /* Legal Status: Installation Grade */

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

Thinking machines, AI, robots, cybernetic life, inorganic artificial life, they come by many names and are similarly reflective of a diverse array of potential entities. Similarly, their legal status varies from full citizens to essentially servants from state to state. Within the Directorate, artificial life are protected as a form of sophont when they meet the criteria, but are additionally not commonly manufactured. The Directorate has a strong suspicion of thinking machines and intelligent life is uncommon in its domain.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
It's impossible to qualify all thinking machines in a single description, however what unifies them is primarily inorganic components and some form of thinking brain. While there are far less advanced thinking machines used as simple tools and far more powerful ones as part of a system such as a starship's brain, these are beyond the scale of this description.

==== Heritages ====
In general, citizen-level artificial intelligences are designed for a purpose. It is rare a thinking machine is made with no design in mind or for simple 'universal existence.' Of note is it is extremely uncommon for a thinking machine to not enjoy or desire to do its intended purpose. They are not simply professions, but an entire reason for being.
* '''Administrative Machines''' Designed to parse data and deal with bureaucracy, paperwork, crunch numbers and do complex business and social mathematics, these machines are often styled to be attractive, sleek, and are often artistic in nature, meant to look appealing in a corporate or government setting without looking too 'person like'.
* '''War Machines''' Almost entirely designed with military purpose in mind, though some highly illegal home made ones exist, these machines are not usually forces of unbridled destruction but calculated soldiers, adept at taking orders and are usually designed to be capable in a variety of combat conditions. They are usually durable, armored, and usually possess significant bulk, often to absorb shock. They are almost universally highly divergent from any appearance of biological life.
* '''Labor Machines''' One of the most common varieties are lifters, workers and tools, they vary from almost entirely humanoid in form to almost entirely industrial-equipment like, depending on the conditions they are meant to work in, they rarely resemble people more than pieces of equipment.
* '''Caretaker machines''' Designed to be either sterile and tool like, or are programmed for a purely pleasing experience with soft, often very organic looking components, these machines vary from nurses, companions for the elderly, nannies or protectors for children, or automated, intelligent doctors and surgeons.
* '''Pleasure Machines''' A controversial variety of thinking machine, they most commonly resemble biological sophonts and usually have soft, pliant portions of their body and are designed for direct sexual interaction. Manufacture of pleasure-machines is considered a form of slavery in most areas, yet their presence continues, and grows throughout known space.
* '''Information Machines''' A unique subset of entirely digital or 'information based' thinking machine, they lack any physical embodiment, though some utilize drones to transfer or act as real world hands. They are often manufactured to help manage complex systems but are very rare within the Directorate.

=== '''History''' ===
The history of robotics is hard to pin down, most societies have had some variety before the space age, and some managed to create true thinking machines before their own space age. Similarly, evidence shows precursors used robotics extensively. But their modern development reached a zenith in and around the Solar Empire, which built a vast network of thinking machines known as Styx that went rogue, and had the potential for ending much of life as we know it. Defeated by a combination of the Directorate and the Empire, it led to change in how, and why machines were manufactured for those in the Directorate, and much more stringent controls or 'indoctrination procedures' out of those in other places.
==== Legal Status: Citizen Grade ====
The Directorate regulates a great deal of thinking machines. Within its borders. While relative sophont level intelligence models, known as 'citizen grade' informally, are permitted relative autonomy with registration, regular medical checks, and certain standards of manufacture. They are not considered true individuals, but have significant protections from abuse. Some are strictly illegal. Notably war machines which are not manufactured within the Directorate for war, and are significantly de-militarized within its borders, foreign ones are usually transitioned with significant neural behavior alterations to turn them into guards, security and are given significant indoctrination in proper and limited use of force. Another form that is strictly illegal in the Directorate are pleasure machines, which usually can only operate in the shadows.
==== Legal Status: Installation Grade ====
Larger intelligences that are made as part of a system or physical installation do exist, primarily for internal management of stations, starships or the like specifically when a population cannot be large enough onboard or its mission requires significant independent operation. Small, independent scout ships with relatively small crews are the most common users of intelligences. A rare example of a larger vessel with a thinking machine is the station DS-11 which a large AI system integrated to, originally, help operate the ship with a skeletal crew and more importantly, permit the technologically isolated station design to better integrate into the Directorate war effort. These thinking machines are the limit in the Directorate.
==== Legal Status: Overseer Grade ====
Used primarily among humanity, the heirs of the Styx Overmind, they are massive networks often operating from multiple nodes across a fleet and capable of vast information qualification. These are absolutely illegal within the Directorate, and even operating an overmind linked ship within the Directorate isn't permitted during joint operations.

=== '''Society''' ===
Thinking machine society is a reflection of the behaviors and beliefs of their creators. Human machines are often encouraged to wonder about identity and roll in society, those in Vesreen believe in consensus and debate, and within the Directorate, they vary based on clan attitudes. Federally, Directorate Thinking Machines are regulated heavily and are, unless illegally made, designed to enjoy their purpose, live for their purpose, and usually have strict legal policies ensuring they receive some amount of updates.

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
A misunderstanding organic life often has is a belief that machines are immortal. Their data decays, their bodies while they do not age, are in many respects more susceptible to damage and destruction than an organic and must be constantly replaced, adjusted and maintained. Even a purely digital entity has key parts of their personality and entity damaged by lost data, disruptions from ambient radiation, and more. Many machines choose to end their lives or receive complete personality wipes during periods of their existence to avoid a feeling of wasting away. Additionally, artificial intelligence can be as introspective and religious as their organic peers, with some worshiping organic gods, and some worshiping their creators. Others worship nebulous artificial divinities believed to be accumulations of data. While some cults even worship, in secret, entities like the Styx AI or the precursor Stygians and long or work in secret towards a thinking-machine ruled universe, this is strictly a rarity.

Thinking Machines

2025-11-13T06:28:38Z

Mokuno: Grammar edits

[[File:DirectorateApproved.png|frameless|500x500px]]

Thinking machines, AI, robots, cybernetic life, inorganic artificial life, they come by many names and are similarly reflective of a diverse array of potential entities. Similarly, their legal status varies from full citizens to essentially servants from state to state. Within the Directorate, artificial life are protected as a form of sophont when they meet the criteria, but are additionally not commonly manufactured. The Directorate has a strong suspicion of thinking machines and intelligent life is uncommon in its domain.

=== '''Physical Description''' ===
It's impossible to qualify all thinking machines in a single description, however what unifies them is primarily inorganic components and some form of thinking brain. While there are far less advanced thinking machines used as simple tools and far more powerful ones as part of a system such as a starship's brain, these are beyond the scale of this description.

==== Heritages ====
In general, citizen-level artificial intelligences are designed for a purpose. It is rare a thinking machine is made with no design in mind or for simple 'universal existence.' Of note is it is extremely uncommon for a thinking machine to not enjoy or desire to do its intended purpose. They are not simply professions, but an entire reason for being.
* '''Administrative Machines''' Designed to parse data and deal with bureaucracy, paperwork, crunch numbers and do complex business and social mathematics, these machines are often styled to be attractive, sleek, and are often artistic in nature, meant to look appealing in a corporate or government setting without looking too 'person like'.
* '''War Machines''' Almost entirely designed with military purpose in mind, though some highly illegal home made ones exist, these machines are not usually forces of unbridled destruction but calculated soldiers, adept at taking orders and are usually designed to be capable in a variety of combat conditions. They are usually durable, armored, and usually possess significant bulk, often to absorb shock. They are almost universally highly divergent from any appearance of biological life.
* '''Labor Machines''' One of the most common varieties are lifters, workers and tools, they vary from almost entirely humanoid in form to almost entirely industrial-equipment like, depending on the conditions they are meant to work in, they rarely resemble people more than pieces of equipment.
* '''Caretaker machines''' Designed to be either sterile and tool like, or are programmed for a purely pleasing experience with soft, often very organic looking components, these machines vary from nurses, companions for the elderly, nannies or protectors for children, or automated, intelligent doctors and surgeons.
* '''Pleasure Machines''' A controversial variety of thinking machine, they most commonly resemble biological sophonts and usually have soft, pliant portions of their body and are designed for direct sexual interaction. Manufacture of pleasure-machines is considered a form of slavery in most areas, yet their presence continues, and grows throughout known space.
* '''Information Machines''' A unique subset of entirely digital or 'information based' thinking machine, they lack any physical embodiment, though some utilize drones to transfer or act as real world hands. They are often manufactured to help manage complex systems but are very rare within the Directorate.

=== '''History''' ===
The history of robotics is hard to pin down, most societies have had some variety before the space age, and some managed to create true thinking machines before their own space age. Similarly, evidence shows precursors used robotics extensively. But their modern development reached a zenith in and around the Solar Empire, which built a vast network of thinking machines known as Styx that went rogue, and had the potential for ending much of life as we know it. Defeated by a combination of the Directorate and the Empire, it led to change in how, and why machines were manufactured for those in the Directorate, and much more stringent controls or 'indoctrination procedures' out of those in other places.
==== Legal Status: Citizen Grade ====
The Directorate regulates a great deal of thinking machines. Within its borders. While relative sophont level intelligence models, known as 'citizen grade' informally, are permitted relative autonomy with registration, regular medical checks, and certain standards of manufacture. They are not considered true individuals, but have significant protections from abuse. Some are strictly illegal. Notably war machines which are not manufactured within the Directorate for war, and are significantly de-militarized within its borders, foreign ones are usually transitioned with significant neural behavior alterations to turn them into guards, security and are given significant indoctrination in proper and limited use of force. Another form that is strictly illegal in the Directorate are pleasure machines, which usually can only operate in the shadows.
==== Legal Status: Installation Grade ====
Larger intelligences that are made as part of a system or physical installation do exist, primarily for internal management of stations, starships or the like specifically when a population cannot be large enough onboard or it mission requires significant independent operation. Small, independent scout ships with relatively small crews are the most common users of intelligences. A rare example of a larger vessel with a thinking machine is the station DS-11 which a large AI system integrated to, originally, help operate the ship with a skeletal crew and more importantly, permit the technologically isolated station design to better integrate into the Directorate war effort. These thinking machines are the limit in the Directorate.
==== Legal Status: Overseer Grade ====
Used primarily among humanity, the heirs the Styx Overmind, they are massive networks often operating from multiple nodes across a fleet and capable of vast information qualification. These are absolutely illegal within the Directorate, and even operating an overmind linked ship within the Directorate isn't permitted during joint operations.

=== '''Society''' ===
Thinking machine society is a reflection of the behaviors and beliefs of their creators. Human machines are often encouraged to wonder about identity and roll in society, those in Vesreen believe in consensus and debate, and within the Directorate, they vary based on clan attitudes. Federally, Directorate Thinking Machines are regulated heavily and are, unless illegally made, designed to enjoy their purpose, live for their purpose, and usually have strict legal policies ensuring they receive some amount of updates.

=== '''Beliefs''' ===
A misunderstanding organic life often has is a belief that machines are immortal. Their data decays, their bodies while they do not age, are in many respects more susceptible to damage and destruction than an organic and must be constantly replaced, adjusted and maintained. Even a purely digital entity has key parts of their personality and entity damaged by lost data, disruptions from ambient radiation, and more. Many machines choose to end their lives or receive complete personality wipes during periods of their existence to avoid a feeling of wasting away. Additionally, artificial intelligence can be as introspective and religious as their organic peers, with some worshiping organic gods, and some worshiping their creators. Others worship nebulous artificial divinities believed to be accumulations of data. While some cults even worship, in secret, entities like the Styx AI or the precursor Stygians and long or work in secret towards a thinking-machine ruled universe, this is strictly a rarity.