(On the Hunt) Chapter 15

Pride: On the Hunt

Chapter 15

Reroute to Remain

(On the Hunt) Chapter 14

Pride: On the Hunt

Chapter 14

Serpent

(On the Hunt) Chapter 13

Pride: On the Hunt

Chapter 13

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Alliance Language

The official language of the Alliance bureaucracy and military is Common English, a dialect derived from Standard Interstellar English (which itself can be traced back to roots in Aviation English). Within the Alliance and especially the Five Sectors, where multiple dialects of English exist, it is most often referred to as Common; among non-Alliance civilizations it is almost uniformly known as English. Common English is considered one of the three essential diplomatic languages of the Orion Spur, together with Drakure (the diplomatic language of the Drule Supremacy) and Ak-Kila (the official language of the Vex-Cha Confederacy and its satellites), resulting in its dissemination far beyond the Alliance's boundaries. It is by far the most widespread of the three, largely due to two diplomatic initiatives: the Rosetta Repository and the Parikullax Accord.

The Rosetta Repository Project was established in 2209 under the theory that ease of communication, even with enemies, would be the most critical first step towards peace. The Repository itself is a linguistic database designed for ease of understanding and distribution. Alliance diplomats and scouting units offer it to any civilization they encounter, whether establishing official contact or not.

The Parikullax Accord is a treaty signed in 2268 with a race of merchant-missionaries known as the Bataxi, whose sphere of influence began to overlap with the Alliance in the late 2250s. Due to this overlap, Bataxi found their spaceport temples trafficked in large pluralities by Alliance races. The Accord signaled their official addition of Common English to their standard port signage, which had the side effect of spreading the language to worlds the Alliance had not yet visited.

Outside of official institutions, the languages of the Alliance are as widely varied as one might expect, with all member races retaining their own languages for domestic purposes. Dozens of human languages are considered widespread (defined as over 500 million native speakers) throughout the Five Sectors; many Glis languages are also widely spoken in the Atlantis and Pacifica sectors.

Bii, the language of the Biboh, is an unusual case: few species have sharp enough hearing to distinguish its subtle pitch differentiations, and fewer still have the vocal precision to replicate them. Biboh themselves, though able to rapidly learn and understand new languages, are incapable of producing other sounds. But the same strict uniformity that makes Bii so difficult for other races to speak or understand makes it quite easy for a computer to decipher. Most comm screens and datapads produced by Alliance members have Bii translation suites built in. This, in turn, leads to Bii's use as a common language in many civilian interactions, second only to Common English itself.

Tech Notes: Datapads

The formation of the Galaxy Alliance, though primarily a military endeavor, led to countless Earthling companies rushing to take advantage of the influx of new science and technology. This only intensified after the end of Operation Entente, as the Alliance's Integration Task Force began issuing lucrative contracts to encourage technological sharing, adaptation, and discovery. These contracts were also strategically awarded to kickstart the new Alliance's economy, giving larger companies more generalized mandates and offering smaller ones new unique niches. The ITF in fact instituted a policy against granting more than two contracts to any single company, no matter how large or influential.

Alphasoft, a juggernaut that had been one of the prime players in the original Alliance of Galactic Exploration, was issued one of the broadest of these mandates. Four Biboh clans and two Glis research bureaus, as well as individual Hydran, Kolaliri, and Quasnot scientists, were attached to the company. Their primary task was to develop an integrated operating system for the GA's use. Though the resulting system was and remains classified, a civilian version known as Streamline-8 was derived from it soon after.

The first device to be produced with the Streamline-8 OS was the Alphasoft DataPad, released in 2161. Advertised as both the most advanced tablet computer on the market and an invaluable resource for cultural understanding, the DataPad featured a holographic keyboard and accessibility suite, remarkable processing power, and preloaded cultural and linguistic databases for every race in the Alliance.

It didn't take long for the DataPad to become ubiquitous among the civilian population. Its basic computing functions surpassed anything any GA member had ever developed alone. The holographic accessibility systems ensured it was perfectly crafted for the physical convenience of each member race, and the proprietary databases—using information straight from the ITF—were by far the most comprehensive and well-organized available. While other tech giants, most notably Applezon and Niko-Centauri, rushed to catch up, the DataPad and its later models would completely dominate the market for a decade.

This market dominance did come with a certain price. By the time Niko-Centauri released the Ixion Pro-Tab, the DataPad's first true competitor, 'datapad' had become the standard term for any tablet computer of any sort. Alphasoft and Niko-Centauri both fought the genericizing of the trademark, to no avail, and the term datapad remains synonymous with tablet to this day.

Overview: Drule Gods

The Star of Andrynir: symbol of the Drule pantheon

What information the Alliance possesses on Drule religion comes almost entirely from diplomats on the Seventh Kingdom capital of Raltara. The Hydrans also retain some records, though they abandoned the Drule religion after developing shamanism. Each kingdom is known to handle religion quite differently, so any conclusions from these sources should be taken with a certain amount of caution.

The Drule pantheon consists of sixteen primary gods, each of which rules over a Vala'uk, or Domain, of related lesser gods. The number of lesser gods in these Domains vary wildly, though this seems to have no impact on the primary god's prestige. Each kingdom acknowledges every god, though in practice, each favors somewhere between three to six as their main benefactors.

Organized religion is uncommon among most kingdoms of the Supremacy. The Sixth and Eighth Kingdoms are the exceptions; both are considered theocracies, though they seem to implement this in very different ways. Among the other kingdoms, most organization exists among the two religious orders: priests and witches. Priests represent the 'public' face of religion, maintaining places of worship and hearing the prayers of civilians. Though educated in occult science, this is not their primary duty. Witches are more solitary scholars of religion and occult science, rarely venturing out into society. Witches found working in the public sphere are almost always an expression of favor by their patron god towards the population they serve.

Drule places of worship are called velo'kru, best translated as sacellums, which house representations of each god and offer space for prayer and reflection. The design of the sacellums is one of the few areas where Drule religion, or indeed Drule anything, is explicitly uniform across the Supremacy: though implementation varies wildly, every sacellum is a circular chamber lit in a spectrum of colors, with the location of both the colors and each god's representation being set. This configuration was apparently decreed not by the gods themselves, but by the first Drule prophet.

Prophets are those who practice the arts of both witches and priests. They are exceedingly rare, as to pursue both paths voluntarily is sacrilege of the highest order. A prophet must be charged as such by their god, and it is not an easy matter to convince their peers they have been so charged. The first Drule prophet was Andrynir the Heretic, a prophet of Xi'turi. He was a contemporary of Zarvarith the Unifier, who united the ten warring Drule kingdoms into the Supremacy; the fact that he is honored in the modern Supremacy implies he must have been allied with her, but details are scarce.

Among the Drule deities, there are both beasts and gods. Beasts represent the most ancient and primordial of forces, while gods and goddesses usually rule over more 'civilized' realms. This applies to lesser deities as well: there are beasts in the Domains of the primary gods and goddesses, representing their oldest or most unfathomable aspects.

This report lists the deities in the order they are found in the sacellums. There is, without doubt, a logic to this arrangement; Alliance analysts are simply unsure what it is. Likewise, the reader should keep in mind that all information on the Drule pantheon is fragmented and incomplete. In particular, it is almost certain we lack an exhaustive list of any Domains.

Starmap - Points of Interest, On the Hunt

Mission notes, Explorer Team 686:
The planet designation 9-XRL is according to the Vex-Cha Confederacy's stellar databases; the Alliance has no designation for this planet.
Based on the unit's research, the planet Altea is strongly believed to be somewhere within the Interior Expanse. It is most likely not in the rimward or anti-spinward border regions; no further information is known.

(On the Hunt) Chapter 12

Pride: On the Hunt

Chapter 12

By the Sword