The Tale of Elysria
Discoveries
Many centuries ago, our world Elysria was full of life. It bounded from the hills, leaped from the mountains, swam in rivers and oceans, and paraded across the plains and forests. But long before our people had any notion of a rocket or space stations, some of these forests and rivers started to behave strangely. Our ancestors noticed animals suddenly unable to migrate, or plants withering away in the sun- and while at the time they struggled to quantify why these things happened, the most scientific among them set out with determination to catalog and preserve their home.
As our world’s industrial revolution began, science started to keep meticulous records of temperature, moisture, and sunlight. In time we would learn of radiation and electromagnetism, and the data from these too were poured over with great care. It would inevitably be learned, and agreed on, that the very star that gave our world life and warmth was in itself the culprit of its new strings of death and desolation. Azal, that shining star that had been with us since our very evolution, was dying. For most stars, we now know, death takes thousands or tens of thousands of years, but Azal was not like most stars. It was bigger than usual, and our planet farther away from it than normal, and its death was much more rapid. Starting before we could even tell, our old planet only had centuries before it fell to the star’s decline.
The Spirit of Unity
In unprecedented unity, the people of Elysria banded together as evidence and understanding of this dire event grew. We used to be people of many nations or geographies, but all that fell away in the face of destruction. Crops died, rivers dried, and the mountains stopped seeing snow. As we realized we could bring ourselves into space and move beyond the confines of our doomed world, that unity became determination and drive. Even as our world succumbed to the heat and scorching rays of Azal, we saved the animals and the plants and preserved the future of the ones we couldn’t. We found ways to have people sleep for as long as they needed in cryostasis, and to safeguard the legacies of evolution in sequencing and capturing genetic and embryonic samples of millions of species. We did all we could to seek a new home in the stars around us, but the nature of the cosmos and light made any such success a fleeting probability.
We learned new ways to live, encased in domes and protected by technology to avert the deadly rays of our former protector. The seas receded, the rocks cracked, but our people did not waver. They farmed what they had to, mined what we needed, and science accelerated in vast amounts as global emphasis was on exodus. We eventually came to live in space in some ways, building stations and dockyards and testing ships and technologies to leave our world behind.
Eventually one such technology, the inflation drive, was engineered with the successful application of unique particles that could facilitate crossing vast distances of space. Jump fuel was expensive and complicated, and our world’s resources were largely depleted to make enough for our crowning hope in these times, the great ship Nascent Dawn. It was designed to hold and rescue hundreds of thousands of people and millions of samples, and our entire culture and history. It had everything we could ever need, but a home had yet to be found.
Reaching ever Further
With the new drive, our explorers could finally break free of our home system and survey worlds unknown and distant planets for anywhere that could save us. Our technology could not terraform, and at the scale needed, not just any planet would work. Many years passed before a habitable world was found, and it even had its own plant and animal life- and developed inhabitants that were, to our great shame, not discovered initially. So it was that the great ship Nascent Dawn was loaded with people and supplies, the last unified effort of Elysria and its children to live on. In a flash, it vanished from above our old home and re-appeared here, at Coress-1.
We had not known that indigenous peoples already lived here, and thus could not disturb their lives, nor that the shock of the jump and the mass of our vessel would drag a nearby moon into a sharper sub-orbital trajectory, putting its inevitable fall on the order of centuries- a familiar and all too frustrating problem of a few hundred years before total calamity. Temporal displacement of the inflation drive meant that the ship and its people had shifted over a century ahead, and a scout sent back home found only molten rock and a swollen star. An investigation into the failure to notice the already developed inhabitants was performed. For years, moods were sour, and to this day, there is a blanket of an uncertain future over the Dawn and all our stations and outposts.
After some time it was evident that the command structure of a vessel would not be able to handle all the needs of a fledgling space station; versus the temporary transport it was supposed to be. Many of those in charge agreed to resign in place of democratic government, a newly formed coalition of four departments: Technology, Administration, Industry, and Logistics, colloquially known as TAIL. Each would handle the great task before us of keeping the Dawn functional and its payload safe. Through research, management, engineering, and the flow of material, we could survive well into the future. For their part, many who were in charge of the mission launch would continue on in a new leadership rule. Some of their families would inherit the trust of the crew through the years.
Now, as systems continue to fail and the ship continues to degrade from its extended, century long stay in space, people feel truly lost. They traded a certain end for an uncertain one. Fuel production was established and scout ships can seek out wonders nearby, but is this ephemeral life worth living? There’s talk of finally entering the dangerous nebula that is a neighbor to our strange home, as its concentration of rare gasses could be used for energy generation at the very least. Who knows what else hides in the hot, radioactive clouds of matter?
Meet the Departments
Technology
Is your thirst for knowledge unquenchable? Do you strive to push the limits of science? Have you ever wanted to operate a machine whose name you could never pronounce? Then Technology may be the place for you! Our state of the art research labs and think tanks are constantly attempting to improve and create technology for the good of everyone on board the Dawn. Xenoscience studies ranging from urban to agrarian await! Stannis, the Head of Technology, welcomes you with a warm smile and the knowledge that he always has your back. You’ll see him constantly flitting to and fro, from lab to lab, ensuring everyone is wearing their PPE and being efficient both! He is always willing to answer any question at any time, you can rely on his presence and his wisdom.
Administration
Do task lists and organizing spreadsheets call to you? Or perhaps you have always wanted to keep everyone safe? Does fixing a routing error in COC problems sound exciting? The Administration department may be your home in TAIL. Whether it’s ensuring all crew members are accounted for, creating duty rosters for the security team, or approving requests and requisitions in an adequate time frame, all administrative and bureaucratic processes are handled here. Just remember to stamp five times! Onyx, our unerringly cheery Head, will make you bubble with pride about your work keeping the Dawn running on time. She always has laughs to share, and can make any impending deadline seem a mile away.
Industry
Do you like to work with your paws? Or maybe you solve the intricate puzzles that are the interiors of machinery or just figure out how stuff works? Prefer a soldering iron and grease over pen and paper? Maybe you push for that last bit of optimization in a design about variable displacement rates of fluids in a tapering pipe? Then we welcome you to the Industry department. All manner of engineering, materials, chemicals, piping, wiring, and just about every physical matter on the Dawn needs maintenance, supply, and the watchful eye of an Industry professional to keep working properly. This work is vital to the stability of our place in the stars. We need to make, shape, fix, break, bend, and patch all manner of things. Our illustrious Head, Akton, is a doggo of energy and optimism that guarantees we will get it done. Whether it’s early or late, he tackles the dire responsibilities and crushing weight of being in charge of all the Dawn’s operating systems with a tireless abandon.
Logistics
Do you like to hoard stuff? Or carry things around for other people that hoard? Have you wanted to drift through the endless expanse of stars and chart your own path in the twinkling twilight? Do you like gridlock puzzles? If any or all of these answers is yes, then a career in Logistics is the right place for you! Logistics handles every aspect of the movement of goods and materials across the Dawn and its many secondary stations, ships, and outposts. Flying through the void with a freighter full of crates and then unloading them at the destination is an experience few dare to succeed at. Our Head, Apoma, will ensure that you do succeed, with a razor sharp wit, the ability to solve any challenge, and an even sharper tongue, you’ll do your best or earn her ire. She spares no effort in making sure you have everything you need and that no one but you gets in your way- even if its the other departments that are knocking. Start star hauling in Logistics today!
