Triogenix

Unathi Pirates Publicly Executed by Hegemony Lord-Admiral after 4-hour Trial In a shocking development, after a mere six hours on the planet of Sankt Frederick the Hegemony’s appointed judge, one Lord-Admiral Yizarus has completed the trial and punishment of the three criminals the Hegemony was allowed to try. The trial itself only took four hours, and thirty minutes after completion the convicted Unathi were taken out of the consulate building to its front yard for their punishments. The SANN had a camera on the scene and captured the following video. Viewer discretion is advised. The speed and severity of the punishment handed down to the pirates has taken Sankt Frederick by storm, with videos of the executions and the thoughts of the population being re-chirped millions of times across the spur. When asked by a reporter who caught him at the starport leaving for the Hegemony about the executions, Lord-Admiral Yizarus simply said: The remainder of the pirates remain on Sankt Frederick and are expected to be brought before a Solarian Judge for their trials several months from now. The Hegemony has extended its full thanks to the Solarian Government as well as the leaders of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate, in particular Governor McPherson, for allowing them to “justly punish a criminal who has long evaded rightful authority.”

Church breaks its silence; Court Shaman Calls for Overlord to Rise to his Station Article 4 of the Sk'akh Reformation Arc Today the Church of Sk’akh has finally broken its silence, issuing its first statement since the demands of the shamans were made several weeks ago. The statement informed the shamans and the general public that due to the lack of a current High Priest and debates stalling between the Archpriests of the faith, that they can currently not give any answer to the shamans in response to their demands. After discussions with the Hegemon, a solution has been found. During a press conference earlier today, Archpriest Oklaal announced that the four current Archpriests will hold a vote in several weeks time to determine the course of action for the church, after all arguments are heard from representatives of the shamans. On the steps of the Third Scept, before a crowd of onlookers and bards, the Hegemon’s Archpriest proclaimed “Since the loss of our High Priest, my brothers and I have managed the best that we can - but the truth is that the Church is leaderless. We have discussed and debated at length the demands of the honorable Akhandi shamans - and while we have no answer yet, we shall soon. In two weeks’ time, the Archpriests will gather here in Skalamar, and vote on the matter of these reparations. It has been a long and hard road for all of us to walk - but I promise each of you, the Three Heads of Sk’akh watch over us. With faith and perseverance, and the Great Spirit’s guidance, our church can overcome any obstacle. Sk’akh bless us all.” The announcement has called a flurry of activity across the Hegemony, but no more than in the Tza Prairie, historic heartland of the Th’akh faith itself, with Overlord Hutay’zai’s court shaman, Roeruz publically calling for the Overlord to rise to his station and appoint an Archpriest for their brother faith. In response, Hutay’zai issued a public statement - starkly different to his usual calm and prepared speeches. In a televised broadcast from Kutah, the Overlord declared “Those who ask this of me, they understand nothing! I am Th’akh, my father and my mother Th’akh, my ancestors for ten thousand years Th’akh! You would ask me to stand here and bow, kissing the rings of those Archpriests in Skalamar, and grant my blessing to their grip on our nation? No! By mine and all of your spirits, no! My bones will be dust in the waste, my honor and my clan’s forgotten, before I acknowledge that pack of shriekers sitting in the Scept! Let them argue until the world ends, for all I care!” This outburst shocked the onlookers - and while the Church has yet to issue an official response to the Overlord’s words, many are calling for them to denounce him, or even for the Hegemon to act. While he has yet to issue an official statement on the matter, our sources inform us that the Hegemon has summoned Overlord Hutay’zai to the capital to speak with him in two days’ time. . We will keep our readers updated, as ever - and may the spirits guide our nation in these troubled times.

La Villa has been an incredibly good wiki maintainer, and I've spoken with them many times regarding lore, and the team. I think they'd be a great deputy for vaurca lore, so here's a +1. That being said, I have a couple of questions. 1) If you could retcon one Vaurca arc that has been run in the past, which would it be and why? If you wouldn't retcon any, why? 2) How would you feel about working on teamwide projects that aren't related to vaurca lore? 3) What do you think your responsibility is as a deputy, and would you cross species lines when it comes to writing lore? 4) What are your thoughts on the relationship between the Hegemon and the K'lax, specifically regarding K'laxan warriors essentially being a base of military might that keeps Not'zar on the throne and the Hegemony stable? From the wiki:

After further discussion and being medicated for my fever, I retract this previous statement.

Article #8 of the Libération, Révolution et Évolution Arc ORACLE SPECIAL: INTERVIEWS FROM THE FRONT The Oracle is pleased to present a special news article that has been in the works for several weeks. Enterprising journalists of the Oracle went out to Mictlan itself to interview members of the Minutemen and Auxiliary Corporate Forces currently stationed on the planet as part of the new armed forces mission to shine the light of liberty on the planet that has gone through so much in recent years. Interviews can be found attached to this article, and we at the Oracle that each and every member of the Armed Forces for their service to the Republic. Interview 1: Decurion Akio Nakao - 2nd Division, 3rd Legion - Fort Ilhuicatl, Mictlan Interview 2: Prefect Za’Akiax’Yikuz Zo’ra - 2nd Division, 7th Legion - Fort Ilhuicatl, Mictlan Interview 3: SLgn. Malik Inaya- 2nd Division, 5th Air Legion “The Firestarters” - Fort Ilhuicatl, Mictlan

This will need to be changed to a in-lore education center. Beyond that, I think on the whole while this does a good job on expanding the backgrounds of the CEOs, I feel that it doesn't really expand on their personalities. I admit that it's difficult to write personalities well from an OOC perspective, but I think you could do with some expansion on it. As an example with Hsiao-Li, explaining how her politeness affects her dealings with others, maybe giving an example, would go a long way in my eyes.

Finally getting to this, will be discussed and handled quickly.

Hegemon Accepts Southern Provisional Governments terms for extradition, Lord-Admiral Yizarus leaves for Sankt Frederick Over the past few days since the announcement by the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate, the Charge-de-affairs of the Solarian embassy has been seen entering and leaving the Izweski Citadel, sometimes multiple times a day. It has been believed that the Hegemon is negotiating with the Solarian Government for better conditions regarding the extradition of the Guwan Sitraz and other pirate scum captured by one of their reconstruction mandates so recently. Today, our speculation came to an end, however, as High Speaker Seleta Sarnac called a press conference in the evening. Our reporters were there and captured her opening statement. Very few questions of any substance were asked by the members of the press attendant, due to the skillful delivery of the High Speaker. Our journalists held off on asking further questions. We pray the spirits are with Lord Admiral Yizarus on his journey, and that he may extract the Hegemon’s justice by word of mouth and strength of claw.

Not’zar Announces Workers Reform; a new dawn for the Peasantry? Article 2 of the Titan Rises Epilogue Translated into Tau Ceti Basic Following the sweeping changes of the past week, Hegemon Not’zar announced that there were more to come. Very little information was given, only that it would involve work reform in the aftermath of Hephaestus’s acquisitions. After hours of anxious waiting for a press conference, High Speaker Seleta Sarnac ascended to the podium within the Izweski Citadel, and once the room was quiet enough, began to speak. “Hello. As you all know, the past month has been a tumultuous time for our nation. We barely averted disaster thanks to the help of our friends, a second time in as many years. We are forever grateful to the Hephaestus Guild, and look forward to this new dawn in our relationship.” She pauses for a brief moment. “However, change begets change. Our systems were proven to be weak, and we must adapt fully in order to become strong again. With that said, the Hegemon is introducing a new set of laws to reform the guild system, and how it interacts with Guildsmen. Firstly, all guildsmen will have dedicated paid sick leave, should they require it, with a usable amount of 7 days per year. Additionally, Guildsmen will only be required to work 6 days of the week, rather than 7, without extra pay. Lastly, the Guilds are responsible for all injuries that occur while a guildsmen is working for the guild.” The announcement was greeted with applause, before the High Speaker stated she would not be taking questions, and exited. It has been pointed out by many, but Sinta Articles is proud to announce that these new laws are almost exactly the same as those used by Hephaestus Industries for its own workplace conduct! Truly the Hegemon is intelligent for using a proven model.

Governor MacPherson announces negotiations underway for the extradition of Unathi Pirates to Hegemony Earlier today, standing beside Minister of Defense Lucien Courtois on Sankt Frederick, Governor MacPherson announced the recently captured Unathi Pirates, now in custody on the planet, may be extradited to the Hegemony. The SANN was on the ground to record the announcement and has attached it to this article. This announcement has baffled interstellar relations experts, who were incredibly surprised to find the Alliance open to negotiations in any form, instead expecting a quick military trial of the pirates. Legal experts have also given their input into the strange nature of the agreement, commenting on the allocation of land to the Hegemony for a fixed period, and the precedent it sets. One interviewee from Callisto was quoted saying “If we start giving all our land to [EXPLETIVE] alien governments to do what they please, what’s the point of the alliance?” The SANN also reached out to Fleet Admiral Myo Yunso to ask for a comment, but her public relations officer declined to give a statement. It was the same when SANN reporters reached out to Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai’s office. We currently know that Minister of Defense Courtois visited both admiral’s flagships before appearing with the governor for his statement, though not what was discussed. Now we expectantly wait for the response of the Hegemony with bated breath, stay tuned!

This sums up my thoughts pretty simply as well. Remove it from the secret rotation for now, and if people want it still used, they can code a rework for it.

Solarian Ambassador on Moghes meets with Hegemon, Lord-Admiral Yizarus; extradition discussed Today the Hegemon, together with his wife Spymaster Razi and Lord-Admiral Yizarus attended a small function stated to be with other nobles of the Hegemony, to discuss the current affairs of the realm in a relaxed setting. However, reporters working on behalf of the Keeper’s outside the Izweski Citadel where it was to be held noticed that very few official vehicles and noble retinues arrived at the gate but took notice when a diplomatic car from the Solarian Embassy entered the Citadel. While the windows were tinted, reporters believe the occupant of the car was the charge-de-affairs of the Solarian embassy, the highest-ranking Solarian diplomat left within the Hegemony after a general recall due to the collapse of their government about three years ago. A source close to the Hegemon has stated that the real purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of extraditing several Unathi Pirates who were captured by the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate, a Solarian designated mandate within the human wildlands some days ago. Among the pirates is rumored to be Guwan Sitraz, a former member of our navy who fled the Hegemony after dishonoring the Izweski clan by murdering unarmed combatants and civilians attempting to surrender to his men. His location has been unknown since 2458 when after being ordered by the Hegemon to return to Moghes to face judgment, he fled into the frontier. He has since been suspected to be behind several pirate organizations within the Sparring Sea and Badlands but has never been positively located by any organization. It now appears that due to the work of the Solarian Interstellar Intelligence Bureau and other Solarian intelligence clans, he may finally face the Hegemon's justice. While we hope that Sitraz and the other pirates can be brought back to Moghes to face the Hegemon’s justice, it is unclear how extradition may work. As a mandate, now totally under the control of Sol, the SSRM may wish to try the criminals themselves or return them to the interim Solarian Government for trial. We presume that this was the center of the conversation with the Citadel, as the diplomat and Hegemon spoke for at least several hours. We will keep our readers appraised as this story develops.

I've talked about it in previous responses, but having the corporations take more of an active role in events of the spur, and having their cultures be more fleshed out is something I'd like to see more of. Beyond that, just, more cross species stuff is always cool, even if it's an inter-species arc. I disagree with it. I don't feel our setting is a dystopia, except for maybe small parts of it(such as Northern Rassnrr in Tajara lore), but on the whole, it isn't dystopian. At the end of the day, whether an arc is dangerous or not is up to the writer who is willing to put in the effort to make the events happen. If a writer wants an arc to be dangerous, that's fine in my eyes, same with a writer that wants an arc to be more chill. However we should strive to have a balance of both if possible, so should I get this position I'd look more at proposed arcs(if there's ever more than 1 at a time), and try to make sure the next one run is different from the last.

I really like article-based arcs personally, as they allow for IC lore development that doesn't require the even larger-scale planning that events do. Multiple species can also run article-based arcs congruently, which can't be done with events, which are restricted essentially to one event arc/location at a time. I think once a species' foundations are written, these types of arcs should be done more frequently, not to an outrageous extent but to where people can expect a semi-constant amount of IC development in lore. I think the length of an arc should depend not only on its importance but also on its digestibility by readers. By nature the more something is written about, the harder it will be for readers to digest properly, and in my experience, being concise is important, whenever possible. That said, I don't think there's a real limit on how long an arc can or should be, as long as it remains understandable for the average reader, who might not have read every single article. In my opinion, Amor Patraie did an amazing job of this, and I would use it as an example in the future, as despite its length and the number of articles written about it, as someone who didn't read every article I still felt I could follow along the different acts relatively well. As I mentioned in my response to canon: There will always be a necessity for new additions to lore, such as expanding paragraph planets, even if we as an entire team switch over to only attempting to write IC arcs. There are a lot of different things that make arcs personally appealing to me, but I'd say the two main things I look for in an arc are how it showcases a certain aspect/part of lore, and how it develops the setting as a whole. Arcs don't always have to massively develop the setting IMO, though those that do tend to be my favorite and every arc should develop the setting at least slightly, but instead can be appealing by just showcasing some lore that hasn't been utilized much. Yes, this is something I'd like to see, both on a large scale and on a small scale. Giving an international, spur-spanning entity such as the megacorporations a good comprehensive culture is something that will always be difficult to accomplish, as understandably characters will always lean towards presenting their local culture more than whatever culture a corporation may have. By intertwining local cultures and the culture of corporations, this "issue", if you could call it that, is negated, allowing the culture of corporations to be more seamlessly included in character backstories. That said, I think a line would have to be drawn within a corporation's culture should we start having it be more influenced by location. In my eyes, there'd be a ton of smaller corporate cultures specific to locations within the spur, such as Hephaestus in the Hegemony vs Hephaestus in Biesel, and then a larger "dominating culture" so to speak that the corporate executives and others who actually run the corporation follow, that "dominating culture" driving their actions and decisions in lore. Doing this would accomplish not only the above but still keep the higher levels of the corporation culturally open, allowing for it to be a spur-spanning entity, and not basically a cultural transplant of one faction.

Hello! So, this was discussed among the team, and we've decided that we like it, and we'll be accepting it into the lore. However, it will be with a few tweaks, mostly regarding regional differences, and FBPs and whatnot. Minor stuff all in all. We'll try and get it up on the wiki ASAP, however, that might not be for a few days, apologies if it takes that long.

I haven't ever got the chance to personally speak with you sadly, but from what I've heard from everyone else it seems like you'd make a good fit for the deputy lore writer position. Now for the questions. 1) What are your thoughts on the K'lax, and their relationship with the Hegemony? If you could change one thing about it, what would you change? 2) If you could retcon one Vaurca arc that has been run in the past, which would it be and why? If you wouldn't retcon any, why?

I have a few thoughts, though bear in mind I'm not a human lore dev and don't speak for them. From my understanding, by the time the Industrial Reclamation Act was passed, the Solarian Senate wasn't in control anymore, instead the act was passed by a provisional military council, one that was rabidly anti-biesellite and anti-corporate. So there wouldn't have been much opposition, since such senators probably wouldn't be sitting on the council(IIRC, the only two civilians were Trang and Strom). I dislike this, a big part of the Alliance is its bloated bureaucracy and undertones of corruption that are finally beginning to be rooted out. I'd much rather that it be answerable to Solarian Politicians(at least now, maybe only to the prov. government at first), so that part of the alliance remains. Also, cause, in theory it might heavily favor EE, which is stepping in to consolidate its presence within the Alliance after most of the rest of the corps got kicked out. I also don't really like this, since it feels like too much of a "there is no going against the will of this organization." Having a super influential anti-corporate entity goes against one of the foundations of the setting, and that is the influence of the megacorporations. Instead, I think I'd rather the SCA's powers and oversight be limited to what was in the original act + some changes after Hephaestus's negotiation. They can be found here: considering Hephaestus openly said "Fuck you, we aren't obeying this as is" and brought the Alliance to the negotiating table in regards to NHP, I don't see them really supporting the SCA. I'd personally like to see some more stuff about corruption in this section, such as members of the SCA taking a bit off the top, giving out control to their friends, and the like. In addition, I think it'd be worth it to dive into what exactly happened with the nationalized assets. Even if the SCA controls 10% of the alliance economy, that still leaves a massive amount of room for things like auctioning off assets, transferring control to smaller, local Solarian Corporations, etc. Personally it's an angle I've been wanting to see for a long time, and this feels like it could be the place for it.

Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate Captures Unathi Pirates! Earlier this week several Unathi pirates who had been raiding the shipping lanes passing the southern wildlands were captured by the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate in a lightning raid by members of the Sixth Middle Ring battlegroup. Intelligence officers who had been working closely with the SIIB since early this year managed to pinpoint the main base of operations for these pirates by triangulating known attacks and comparing their locations and times. This would lead investigators back to a small asteroid base, originally used for mining but abandoned after the collapse, within the former territory of the Southern Fleet Administration. Marines then used several older generation destroyers which still had their original warp drives to jump into the system and assault the base. The pirates were no match for the destroyers and marines; before long the system was once again under Solarian control and many of the pirates were captured. In a press conference on Sankt Frederick, Fleet Admiral Myo Yunso, one of the naval flag officers assigned to the SSRM answered questions about the raid and what will happen to the captured pirates. She stated that the captured pirates would be subject to a military tribunal, and if found guilty, executed by firing squad. When asked about the possibility of bias within the tribunal due to the defendants being non-human, she responded that piracy is piracy for anyone, it does not matter if the defendants are human or not. In opposition however, Governor MacPherson has put out a statement informing citizens that he has instructed the planetary justice department to prepare to try the pirates in a court of law, with the maximum sentence being execution. Of course, upon hearing of each other's statements and ideas for the handling of the situation, the Governor and Fleet Admiral immediately fell into the back-and-forth bickering that Sankt Frederick has become known for. The Fleet-Admiral slammed the slow process of the court system, saying that due to the pirates not being Solarian citizens they should be subject to military justice as pirates. The Governor responded by pointing out there was no military government in control of the territory where the pirates were captured and referenced a previous decision by Solarian courts to try resident non-citizen Tajara the same way as Solarian citizens. Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai originally sided with her fellow Fleet Admiral, but has since withdrawn that statement, instead suggesting that the Solarian Department of Justice be consulted on the issue. While this back-and-forth is still ongoing, it is unlikely any decision will be made shortly. Whatever will happen though, it is expected that these pirates will be justly punished for their crimes.

Hephaestus makes stunning acquisitions: a new dawn for the Hegemony The camera pans upwards as the jingle plays, showing two men sitting behind a news desk. One is recognizable as the anchor of the Tau Ceti Daily news reports, named Tim Mcvain. The second, is not as easily recognized. Tim: “Hello and welcome to our six o’clock news report. I’m Tim Mcvain and I’m here with Ronald O’Hair, an independent economic analyst currently contracting with Idris Incorporated. Ronald, welcome to the show.” Ronald: “Thanks for having me Tim.” Tim: “Well, we sure have alot to talk about tonight. I mean, wow. Hephaestus just shocked everyone with that play they made in the Badlands didn’t they?” Ronald: “Definitely. There’s been a bit of turmoil in the stock markets today as the shockwaves from the news resonates. Hephaestus’s stocked jumped almost 6% in a single day, which is a massive amount, before falling a percentage point as doubt set in.” Tim: “Well what doubt is there about this move?” Ronald: “No-one saw it coming. Normally, you have situations like we had in Biesel with NanoTrasen, it’s not completely obvious what might occur but when it does end up happening it doesn’t seem crazy. I mean, NanoTrasen was pretty much the sole powerhouse here for years before they helped us gain our independence, in the Hegemony, Hephaestus was competing with so many others; not to mention their poor track record for the first few years in the market. Then, they come out of left field and not only save the nation’s entire economy, but reorganize all the national companies, guilds called there, under themselves as subsidiaries. Like – everyone pulled out of the Hegemony because they thought it was a lost cause. Hephaestus didn’t, but no one had any idea they had this planned.” Tim: “Planned? So you think this wasn’t just them taking advantage of a crisis?” Ronald shakes his head: “Tim, what you have to understand is that it’s pretty easy to see when a crisis is taken advantage of. Look at Biesel and our independence from Sol, it wasn’t elegant, there wasn’t really a plan. In the middle of a bad situation one day we just woke up and NanoTrasen had demanded the Alliance let us be free, or face the music. So the Alliance let us go, and we kind of made it up from there. Here it isn’t the same. There’s no demands, no change of leadership, no posturing, there’s just a clear choice, one with only one true option, that Hephaestus offered the Guilds of the Hegemony. A choice, not a demand, in a situation that was not even a fraction as bad as the recession we got our independence in. The amount of maneuvering, planning, and patience required to ensure that all of the Guilds only had that one option is astounding. Hell, the Hegemonic economy is even already bouncing back, it’s guilds already planning for expansions within the next year. And that doesn’t even begin to mention the speed which Hephaestus achieved. From the Merchant’s guild declaring bankruptcy and threatening the Hegemonic economy, to their takeover, it took less than what, a week? No-one moves that fast unless there was a plan already in place.” Tim: “Wow – well, I can’t really say I understand economics that well, but that’s why you’re here. What do you think the fallout will be in the stock market and for the rest of the spur?” Ronald: “That’s kind of hard to predict, we’re all still reeling from the news, getting used to it. But for my personal opinion, not financial advice, I think we’re going to see Hephaestus’s stock skyrocket as people bet on the future, and bet big. Hephaestus now has near total control of a whole nation state's economy, including being the only company with export rights, while having a massive resource base already present, which it can use to continuously use for year over year growth for the foreseeable future. Even with the doubt cast by this new Unathi Guildmaster, who most of us have never heard of, I can’t see its stock going anywhere but up.” Tim smiles: “So that’s the advice you’ll be giving Idris?” Ronald chuckles: “Idris pays me for specifics, as do all my clients. I’ll be looking closely at which options have the best potential for growth, and go from there, that was just general. But alongside that, I’d advise Idris and the rest of the Megacorporations on one thing.” Ronald becomes serious, and looks directly into the Camera: “Hephaestus just played a hand that was straight aces, no matter what else was happening at the table. It could have been now, or in a year. They achieved something no other megacorporation has since NanoTrasen here in Biesel; as total a monopoly as you can get over an entire nationstates economy. They’re pushing competition to a new level. To you, and others, it might look like they just took advantage of a run of bad luck from the Hegemony; but the truth is, the game was rigged from the start.” The camera fades to black.

Yes, I think lore for species will sometimes need to be curtailed or altered to be more consistent with Aurora Lore as a whole. I can't think of anything currently canon off the top of my head that comes to mind, but an example in the past would have been the now-retconned Cataclysm Arc. It was Unathi Lore but made no sense within the broader setting of Aurora Lore, therefore had to be heavily altered in order to fit into the setting properly. I think I'll be able to stand my ground because, in the end, the times I'll have to stand my ground will hopefully be few and far between. I think I tend to be a pretty easygoing person, and the list of things I'd outright block is small, in addition to being someone who is open to being wrong and able to be swayed by reasonable arguments in favor of something. In my experience on the team, members are rarely single-minded and are willing to change/adapt what they wish to add at the request of the lore masters, and are willing to work within the framework of being on the team and therefore being subject to the decision of Loremasters/other members without making a massive issue about it. However, should it come to a massive issue for whatever reason, beyond that writer's ability to work within the framework of the team coming into question, I don't really see myself capitulating if I believe I am justified in whatever decision I make and no reasonable arguments are presented to sway my view. Generally, having been a species maintainer myself for the past half year and pushing several retcons/rewrites in the past 2 years, I think the biggest thing I would look at when handling major retcons a species writer may want to make is their reasoning behind them. Taking the Cataclysm arc for instance, the reason behind that retcon/rewrite was to make it fit better into Aurora Lore and to have the arc actually make sense given the setting. Should a species maintainer have a reason similar to this, approving a major retcon would be my course of action. Yet, should the reason be flimsy, or a simple "I want to massively change the direction of this species for no other reason than I think it's interesting", I'd be more reserved in giving out my approval, and would handle such a situation differently, requiring much more(I can't think of a better way to put this) reasoned arguments in the rewriters favor. An example of a rewrite that fits this description would be the Glorsh rewrite about 2 years back, where the history of skrell was massively changed, for what I see as very little reason beyond a writer's personal desire, and nothing else. When it comes to the sense that lore might be "done", I take that as meaning the very foundations of whatever species or faction are complete, and there are very few rewrites continuing. In this sense, I think we're beginning to near that point, the Tajara team especially, with all the other teams catching up. However, I feel that in order to focus on arcs of any kind, which species and writers should do, OOC additions such as planets, new cities, etc, will always be required. Arcs need specificity for a location/area already present in the setting, even if it is not fully written yet. As an example, before starting the Amor Patrie arc, the human team added San Collette as a planet, deepening its lore, and expanded on the Wildland factions, in order to give the arc a more specific setting in which to be run. These arcs may make use of the same specifics of lore, without needing further additions, but as teams change future writers might wish to branch out, necessitating the creation of new settings for new arcs to be run in. Put simply, I feel that while it is true the focus on arcs will be strengthened as time goes on, the logical progression of writing requires that OOC additions such as planets, cities, and specific settings will always be required in order to accommodate them. Lore accessibility is a difficult topic because by making parts of the lore more accessible/easier to get into, you are required to water it down somewhat. I think the "new player" section of the wiki(which includes the background summary) we already have is pretty decent at making at least the basics of lore easily available to newer players but could do with an overhaul that simplifies it further, highlighting locations, important parts of the setting, specific planets, and backgrounds that a new player can just pick up in a 30 minute read before hopping into the game. Right now my biggest gripe with the background summary is that it is either far too vague or far too specific in its information, not imparting the key points of lore unless a new player has a lot of time to dive into other wiki pages. Changing this would be the main way I'd try to make lore more accessible for new players. I can't really think of anything off the top of my head for this, the current practices of the lore team feel solid to me, and there's nothing that really has to stop. One minor thing though is writers commenting on lore subject to interpretation based on character as though their interpretation is canon. In my eyes, if something isn't on the wiki or in articles it's not canon, and shouldn't be treated as such. I see this a lot, a common example being Biesel, often referred to as a corporate dystopia where the will of the corporations is absolute and no effective dissent is allowed, despite the fact there are canonical protests that have succeeded in their goals. Though, this applies to a lot of the general themes of factions. I wouldn't say this has to stop per say, as our interpretations of lore govern how we write it, but I'd like it if it was made clear that characters, and players themselves, are free to interpret the lore as they see fit, using canon events/wiki pages to build their perception of a faction. I don't like it, and if possible, it should just be removed as it rarely makes sense or contributes anything significant to lore. Honestly, it's probably the PRA. The sort of, forced cultural reformation/consolidation attempted on an entire species that forms the foundation of Hadiism is really interesting to me, and I like exploring the thoughts of those loyal to it, as well as the thoughts of those who reject it. It allows for a lot of interesting backgrounds and character conflicts, which doesn't even get into how the Tajara as a species are sort of stuck between two time periods, those being the hyper-advanced spur and more of a 20th/21st century period, having technology from both.

Hegemon meets with Archpriests of the Sk’akh Church Article 3 of the Sk'akh Reformation Arc Translated into Tau Ceti Basic From Skamander today, it was announced by High Speaker Seleta Sarnac that the Hegemon met with the four Archpriests of the Sk’akh church today at the Izweski keep, once besieged by the former highpriest of the church, the heretic Unzi. While no details have been released as for the purpose of the meeting, or what ended up being discussed, it has been reported that the Archpriests left the Izweski Keep looking pleased, and discussing amongst themselves - a far cry from last week’s arguments. Perhaps Hegemon Not’zar, in his wisdom, has managed to get the priests to agree on the matter. One of our reporters on the scene attempted to reach the Archpriests for comment, but was denied. Nominally there should be six arch-priests of the Hegemony, one for each Overlord and one for the Hegemon himself - but due to Overlord Hutay’zai’s Th’akh faith, and the Overlord of Tret being a Vaurca Queen, there are currently only four. While the nature of the meeting is unknown, speculation abounds, with some believing that the Hegemon may have finally approved the elevation of a new High Priest. The entire nation and Sinta beyond have been watching with tension over the past few weeks as the Church struggles to respond to the demands of surviving shamans from the Akhandi Temples, who demanded reparations for their destruction from the church several weeks ago. Since then the church has still yet to make an official statement, or even publicly acknowledge the existence of the demands. As the scarcity rages and the Spur falls deeper into decline, all eyes are still on Moghes, watching this procession with an air of tension. Some believe that acquiescing to the shamans’ demands will be the first step in mending the often bloody history between the Sk’akh Church and the Th’akh faithful - while others believe that this is nothing more than an attempt at undermining the already weakened church to line the shamans’ pockets in far-off Biesel. Since the banishment of Unzi, these Archpriests have been the highest-ranking members of the church, making small decisions by consensus between them in his absence. This fact is reportedly severely limiting to the church, with decisions taking weeks or sometimes months to be made as theological debates rage between the Archpriests over the smallest things. Unzi’s status has also been in dispute, with some of the church still viewing him as the current High Priest despite his exile, as his title was never officially stripped. Others are adamant that due to his exile Unzi cannot be the High Priest of the Church of Sk’akh, and another must be appointed so that the church does not fall inwards on itself. The Hegemon’s position still remains unclear, but we expect official announcements to come in the following weeks. As always, we will keep our readers updated on this story as it develops. Remember, for news that you can trust, no other compares to Sinta Articles.

I personally disagree, but not because I think you're wrong in these statements, but because I don't think it's what really makes a good or bad new player planet. In my eyes, what makes a good or bad new player planet is how easy it is to create backstories from those planets, and in this, I think Biesel, and the whole of Tau Ceti(the system), excels. Biesel allows for incredibly simple backstories, such as "I grew up in a megacorporate-dominated system, so starting working for a megacorporation, and that's it.", compared to nearly every other nation/planet, which has vastly more in-depth culture and conflict that define it. Characters that try and replicate these simple backstories with other backgrounds usually fall flat and are generally considered stupid(sol warrior trope and the like), because those nations have much more complex foundational conflicts/cultures that aren't present in Biesel, which has very little in the way of complex foundational conflicts/culture. Biesel does this, while still being connected to the greater spur as well, some would say integral to it, also showing newer players how aspects of Aurora lore will constantly evolve, whether it be through articles or events. As for not being isolated from the rest of the spur, personally I see that as a bonus for a new player planet. While yes, it does create issues in justification for a character to be asking a lot of the different nations/aliens of the spur, it encourages people to branch out in their reading of lore beyond humans to understand more about those aliens their characters share a planet with. This is an anecdote, but I discovered Tajara lore through D6, and it ended up becoming my first WL because I liked it so much. It's not perfect but I think it's workable, and there can be enough justification made up to allow new characters to ask incessant questions about nations and aliens. Either way, I wouldn't be opposed to the creation of a dedicated new player planet with the characteristics you mentioned, but I don't think it's worth the effort to create it and then maintain it, when Biesel, while it has drawbacks, is generally a solid new player planet in my eyes. Or we could just re-add the Biesel ATLAS and kick the aliens out

While the arc itself is not totally over, the finale has been revealed, and I think now is a good time to start collecting feedback on the arc itself. This arc is the end result of years of work and has been worked on by numerous people. As much as I'd like to, I alone cannot claim credit for it, for I just merely seeing it through. So, therefore, this topic is a space for people to give their feedback, thoughts, or anything they want to say about the arc. Just remember to obey forum rules and remain respectful.

Hephaestus grows; bails out Hegemonic Guilds and reorganizes them under itself Article 2 of the Titan Rises Finale Translated into Tau Ceti Basic “And to survive, one must adapt, for change is the only assurance of life.” - Lord Tuscacun, Commander of Izweski Military Forces at the beginning of the Contact War. Sinta Articles is proud to publish our first article as a Hephaestus Subsidiary Corporation! Following the ascension of Yukal T’zakal to Guildmaster of Hephaestus, the corporation quickly moved to ensure the survival of all other Hegemonic guilds, by paying off any debts and ensuring transportation - before reorganizing them under itself in order to ensure long-term economic stability. Now, all guildsmen of the Hegemony can call themselves Hephaestus employees, directly or indirectly, as the Guilds have become subsidiary corporations of Hephaestus. Many of us have not seen such a thing ever, so we at Sinta Articles have taken it upon ourselves to explain the situation. The main thing to note is that all of the guilds will not become a firm part of Hephaestus Industries directly. Individual Guild Charters will remain in force, as per the laws of the Hegemon. In the rest of the spur, there are things such as subsidiary companies, which essentially operate as our nobles and Hegemon do. The Parent Company(Hephaestus), may rule over many smaller companies, subsidiary companies, like how the Hegemon rules over his nobles. Hephaestus will allow the Guilds to run themselves in a similar way to how they did before, just now under a bigger umbrella. What this means for the guilds is that Hephaestus will look after them, ensuring that they are held up to Hephaestus standards in all regards, working side by side towards their own goals, and the goals of the parent corporation. Guilds will therefore still be free to pursue their own goals under their own leadership, instead of being fully absorbed as part of Hephaestus. However, guildsmen will be reaping the full benefits of being a Hephaestus Employee if they are not already employed by another megacorporation under contract from their guild, including healthcare plans, pensions, time off, and paid vacation time. Still, as part of this expansion, some reorganization is required. Guildmaster T’zakal has announced a period of rebuilding in the coming months, as the Guilds adapt to their new positions and work with each other to ensure economic stability for all. Guildsmen will be introduced to their new rights and privileges, as well as the culture of Hephaestus Industries, in order to bring about a more unified economy that will be able to withstand any potential future shocks the like of the phoron scarcity. The Guildmasters will as well be undergoing new training, and changing the structure of their guilds to better suit a modern Spur, rather than a single-nation economy. Guildmaster T’zakal is reported to be excited about this new incorporation, as he states: “This will allow the Hegemony and all Unathi to ascend to riches only ever dreamed of before. We shall cement ourselves as one of the great nation-states of the spur, and a cornerstone of its economy.” This change, to some, appears to be a vindication for Overlord Hutay’zai’s claims of the Hegemony being sold out to aliens - even following Hephaestus Industries’ efforts to avoid this by placing an Unathi in an executive position - a first for any of the human corporations. The protests in the Southlands continue still, with Overlord Miazso having pledged to take whatever measures necessary to restore order. The Overlord himself has yet to comment on this occurrence. The office of the Hegemon, too, has remained silent, with High Speaker Sarnac unavailable for comment when our correspondent attempted to reach her. As the Keepers of Heirlooms are integrated as a Hephaestus subsidiary, many of our loyal readers may be concerned about what this means for the future of Sinta Articles. Rest assured that our core values have not changed - providing our readers with timely, informative, and accurate news. Thanks to the efforts of Guildmaster T’zakal, and to all of our hard-working guildsmen, we will continue to keep our readers updated on Sinta news, Spur-wide.

Aeson and Not’zar announce: Hephaestus alien no longer, name Yukal T’zakal Hephaestus Guildmaster Article 1 of the Titan Rises Finale Translated into Tau Ceti Basic Following the announcement mere hours ago by Overlord Hutay’zai, there has been very little interest coming from either the Izweski or the Hutay’zai, despite the avid interests of bards and reporters from across the planet, and even across the spur. However now, all of that has changed. Guildmaster Titanius Aeson and Hegemon Not’zar stood on the steps of the Izweski citadel today to give a momentous announcement. Yukal T’zakal, long time sector administrator for the Hegemony within Hephaestus Industries will be assuming the role of Guildmaster, working alongside Aeson himself to manage Hephaestus’s operations. In a public press conference, Titanius Aeson explained the changes, and the reasoning behind them. Video footage of this conference is available on our Extranet page. Guildmaster Aeson emerged, alongside Yukal T’zakal, declaring that “Since our two species met, Hephaestus Industries has found kindred spirits in the Sinta’Unathi people. A people who embody our corporation’s commitment to the value of hard work. To doing what you have to do, and doing it right - and I think it is for those reasons that we have worked so well together over the years. Where others saw this planet and its people as nothing more than cheap labor, Hephaestus saw a people who share our values - our values of diligence, of hard work, of being the anvil on which the world is shaped. In truth, in many ways - the Hegemony has become as much of a home to Hephaestus as any human world out there. But, people are still scared. They still see us as aliens, and I can’t say I don’t get it. If Hephaestus is here to stay - and rest assured, we are - we can’t be that any more. The Unathi people have been a bedrock to Hephaestus through these recent years, and if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that a bond like this always goes two ways. You’ve changed for us, since we arrived here - now it’s time that we change for you. That’s why, effective immediately, I will be resigning my position as Guildmaster of Hephaestus Industries.” The crowd was shocked to hear this, but quickly paused to listen as Aeson raised a hand, indicating more to say. “I will be staying on as CEO, and helping to steer the company that I love into the future - but the position of Guildmaster is separate from that. It always has been, since our charter was first granted by your Hegemon to us all those years ago. A separate position of equal authority and responsibility to myself, above the board of directors - responsible for managing operations here, in the Hegemony has always existed. In the past I have merely held both titles. We’re a hybrid, Hephaestus - both a human corporation and an Unathi guild - and we need both points of view, in equal balance. And there is no better man I can think of to take this role than my dear friend, Yukal T’zakal. Look around you! Everything Hephaestus has built in the Hegemony, this man’s work was at the heart of it. I may be stepping back from my management here, but rest assured - I look forward to guiding Hephaestus into the future, as I have done - now standing at the side of my dear friend. There’s more to come, of course - but that can wait. For now, thank you all, from the bottom of my heart - and goodnight.” The announcement has been met with shock and celebration across Moghes, as our people celebrate the achievements of one of our own in the spur. A Hephaestus advertising campaign titled “Alien no longer” has been launched across the Hegemony, a picture of T’zakal in his new guildmaster uniform, standing above a crowd of Unathi and Vaurca Hephaestus workers. The campaign has been met with stunning support, even from those who are traditionally opposed to Hephaestus, such as Overlord Hutay’zai’s who has endorsed this move, somewhat delayed, for unclear reasons. Many are speculating that the Overlord is still unhappy with this solution, though sees it as necessary to save the Hegemonic Economy. Though, even he cannot deny what a proud achievement this is for our species. We await with eager anticipation to see what was meant by more being to come.