Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Approved Planet Ios

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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
  • Intent: To further develop the South Arm and import some related sci fi ideas into the region.
  • Image Credit: Lava World
  • Canon: /
  • Permissions: /
  • Links: /
GENERAL INFORMATION
  • Planet Name: Ios
  • Demonym: Iosian
  • Region: Outer Rim Territories
  • System Name: Ios System
  • System Features:
    • The Halo Fields: A large dense asteroid graveyard and all that remains of Ios' former neighbors. Evidence suggests that every other planet and moon in the system was destroyed and their debris gathered into one place over an immense period of time.
    • Libertalia: Infamous shadowport and the only sanctuary for humanoids in the system. Hidden within the Halo Fields, the asteroid station is shielded from the Iosian Covenant by radiation that fools their sensors. Constant antirad injections are required to survive. Most of Libertalia is populated by survivors of planets decimated by Iosian invasion.
    • The Jagged Sphere: Truly a species that plans far ahead, a massive dyson sphere surrounds one third of the Ios system's star. It will be hundreds of thousands of years at least before it is complete but the Iosians are apparently content to wait.
  • Location:
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  • Major Imports: Heavy Ores, Tibanna Gas, Slaves
  • Major Exports: Silicon, Electronic Components
  • Unexploited Resources: /
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
  • Gravity: Five Times Standard
  • Climate: High Surface Temperature, Magma Flows, Earthquakes, Extremely Dense Atmosphere with Carbon Dioxide and Sulfides
  • Primary Terrain: Mountains, Active Volcanoes, Craggy Plains
  • Atmosphere: Type IV
LOCATION INFORMATION
  • Capital City: The Underrock
  • Planetary Features: To an observer from orbit the surface of Ios would appear seemingly uninhabited and inhospitable. It is impossible to discern the billions of native Iosians in stasis all across each of the planet's three main continents. Much of the planet's artificial infrastructure is located beneath the surface, a complex weave of interconnected caverns spans for hundreds of the thousands of kilometers in every direction. Some ancient ruins can still be found on the surface, possibly indicative of the Iosian's more primal past. By far the most impressive feature of Ios is its equally labyrinthine network of orbital infrastructure that forms a series of rings completely circumventing the molten world's orbit.
  • Major Locations:
    • The Underrock: A vast network of subterranean tunnels and caverns that covers an entire continent of Ios. This is the beating heart of Iosian society where the psychic network that sustains them all is strongest.
    • Surface Ruins: Scattered evidence that the Iosians were once surface dwellers a long time ago in their primordial past. Now inhabited by a Shard colony which communes with the Latice in an exchange of thoughts and information between two of the galaxy's only enlightened species.
    • Lava Oceans: Ios is volcanically active and known for its immense oceans of fire visible from orbit.
    • Orbital Labyrinth: Like nothing else in the galaxy, a sprawling orbital complex over Ios covers the planet's orbit several times over and appears to be still under construction. Its purpose is unknown but experts theorize that whatever it is the Iosians carved out the rest of their system to build it.
  • Force Nexus:
    • Intent: A central focus for the Iosian's telepathic Lattice, and a basis for their spiritual movement's religious crusades across the spiral arm.
    • Nexus Name: The Index
    • Nexus Alignment: Neutral
    • Size: Planetary
    • Strength: Strong
    • Accessibility: A massive crystal latticework at the center of the Underrock which supposedly grounds their psychic field and serves as a central backup. It is the most heavily defended location on the planet and forbidden to all outsiders.
    • Effects: According to the Iosian's religion this artifact is what gives them their innate telepathic abilities. All that is known for certain about the nexus' actual effects on the Iosians is that it forms central repository for the species' genetic memory, and plays some role in assigning castes at birth across Ios. For other species the primary effect on a planetary scale is a constant audible vibration, an echo of the psychic mindlink which if studied can offer insight into the Iosian subconscious. Close proximity to the latticework itself can lead to incomprehensible visions and prolonged exposure might even begin to overwrite neural patterns so the alien begins to think more like an Iosian.
POPULATION
  • Native Species: Iosian
  • Immigrated Species: Shard
  • Population: Crowded
  • Demographics:
    • 90% Iosian
    • 5% Shard
    • 5% Artificial
  • Primary Languages: Iosian language
  • Culture: Iosians' unconventional evolutionary origins have resulted in a form of society that is impossible for most species to comprehend. The silicon based species have little innate mobility on their homeworld and spend most of their short physical lifespans immersed in the Lattice and a series of nested shared consciousnesses known as Castemoots. Were it not for their destructive religious beliefs the natives of Ios would be nothing more than a scientific curiosity. The Iosian Assembly believes that everywhere the Lattice touches their species is destined to rule. Every few years their psychic network will ebb and flow, causing their optimal territory to shift and requiring the Covenant to conquer new star systems by divine right. These planets are either subjugated or terraformed outright to support silicon based life.
GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY
  • Government: Theonomy
  • Affiliation: Independent
  • Wealth: Wealthy. The Iosian Assembly has no qualms about exploiting not only their homeworld's own natural energy harvesting potential but the resources of those worlds it conquers and subjugates in the name of preserving the Lattice.
  • Stability: Medium. Extremely stable so long as you are Iosian, the natives are not outright hostile to outsiders but remains extremely dangerous nonetheless. Iosian culture is abstract to the point of impossible for most humanoids to comprehend, and a single ill chosen word or gesture can result in summary execution.
  • Freedom & Oppression: Every aspect of Iosian society is dictated by the Ruling and Spiritual castes. Iosian leaders are born into their positions, just as it is for all of their species. From the military to politics to the sciences, each life is predetermined. The species' telepathic castemoots allow for some debate and discourse, but deviant thinking is strictly monitored for and dealt with harshly.
MILITARY & TECHNOLOGY
  • Military: Warfare is the domain of Ios' Warrior caste and the Iosian Covenant is considerable. Its ships are usually smaller and more agile but deceptively powerful. Iosians are not natural ground fighters and are vulnerable in combat on Type I atmosphere worlds for even minor damage to their environmental suits can be fatal. To make up for this they are masters of advanced tech in particular long range weapons.
  • Technology: Advanced Spacefaring. Iosian technology is often slightly more advanced than the galactic standard, and totally incompatible. The species relies on an different mathematical base system and often reproduce similar tech functions through divergent innovations.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The Iosian Assembly is ancient seeming to predate the original Galactic Republic by several thousand years. Whether due to their isolation or physiological incompatibility their small empire was unaffected by the Gulag Plague and continued their great works in near total isolation. Contact between Ios and the outside galaxy has been rare and unproductive. The Iosian mind is simply too incomprehensible for most humanoids to understand. In recent centuries small progress has been made using telepaths to interface with the Iosian's Castemoots but it is a learned skill and not very reliable for precise communication.

However their empire spans multiple systems and their borders form a complex geometric pattern sensible only to native Iosians and which is constantly shifting along with their psychic network. This has led Ios to develop martial tools and other effective means of conquering neighboring systems all in the name of their religious crusade to control every world the Lattice touches and colonize them with its chosen people. Attempts to communicate or negotiate with Iosian ships often lead to violent misunderstandings but not always. Ios is not outright hostile towards humanoid life, they simply find us as confusing as we find them.

For the past three thousand years the Sharuka Empire and Iosian Assembly have been at war. Skirmishes between their warships in the depths of Wild Space are a rare sight but are known to occur.
 
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Atlas Drake Atlas Drake

I will running through this review and approval process with you. Hopefully it'll be smooth and painless and we can slap an approval on this in no time!

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Force Nexus:

Intent
: A central focus for the Iosian's telepathic Lattice, and a basis for their spiritual movement's religious crusades across the spiral arm.
  • Nexus Name: The Lattice
  • Nexus Alignment: Neutral
  • Size: Planetary
  • Strength: Strong
  • Accessibility: A massive crystal latticework at the center of the Underrock which supposedly grounds their psychic field and serves as a central backup. It is the most heavily defended location on the planet and forbidden to all outsiders.
  • Effects: Allows the species to communicate telepathically even across vast distances. While it does have limits, this Force phenomenon is how the Assembly has established dominance over Ios' immediate surroundings. Without the Lattice, Iosian Castemoots would no longer function.
If you could flesh this out a bit more, that would be greatly appreciated. In particular, if you could clarify what you specifically mean when you say "vast distances". Is this several km? Across continents? etc?

Also, if you could provide further clarification as to exactly what this "Lattice" is, that would be amazing. The way it is currently worded, almost seems as if it might be intended to be a tech sub, so if you could just clarify here, that would be great.

Technology: Advanced Spacefaring. Iosian technology is often slightly more advanced than the galactic standard, and totally incompatible. The species relies on an different mathematical base system and often reproduce similar tech functions through divergent innovations.
Can you clarify here what you mean by "divergent innovations"? It would be greatly appreciated. And is this mathematical base system similar to the process used by the Givin?

If you'd be kind enough to give me a bit of clarification here, we can continue through this and try to get you your planet approved
 
Luca Donskoi Luca Donskoi

I mean across star systems and sectors. I understand that this is unusually powerful, but it is only a plot vehicle for establishing the species' pseudo-hivemind which is not unknown in Star Wars canon.

The Lattice is a psychic repository of everything that for an example an insectoid species would pass on as genetic memory. Using terms like archive and index I'm not surprised you thought of factory but there is nothing technical going on here. It is merely an external source for basic information and concepts about Iosian life and behavior that they are tied into via the Force.

As far as Iosian technology, I mean that let's say for example they have deflector shields but they don't work off of the same principles as our deflector technology. Or power cells. They found an alternative scientific path to accomplish the same results. I'm not claiming Iosian tech is immune or particularly resilient against any common technology, it is in fact a restriction to keep PCs from submitting 'advanced' Iosian tech or adapting it to their own. None of it is compatible.

The Givin is a good example of what I mean by a different mathematical system. Human beings use a base 10 system so each integer has a value from 0 to 9. Its just what is easiest for us to conceptualize. I'm saying the Iosians do not use our maths, hence their technology being super un-adaptable.
 
Atlas Drake Atlas Drake

I think I understand what you're saying here, but we're still running into a snag here with the Nexus spanning entire star systems. Planetary is as big as is allowed short of a board event. With that said, I am going to need you to tone down the range of influence as described in the sub currently.

From what I'm reading here, I think the real confusion is deriving from the fact that we have two things at play here:
1. The 'Hive Mind'
2. The 'Lattice"

With how this sub reads reads currently, it seems as though the names are interchangeable with one another. By all means, though, if I'm just reading and understanding this wrong, please clarify further for me. I definitely want you to get the planet you want as you've put a lot of effort into this submission already. Just some kinks that need ironing out is all.
 
Luca Donskoi Luca Donskoi

I have modified the nexus so that its guidance of the interplanetary psychic network is merely what the Iosians believe. It is now responsible for planetary effects. I hope this is an acceptable compromise, any more drastic change would require significant rewrites at best and torpedo the species concept at worst.

Yes they are somewhat interchangeable. I considered naming the nexus something like 'the Index' instead to clear up any potential confusion there but I felt like having one name for it was cleaner in the end. The Lattice is a part of the 'hivemind' and contains much of the species' physiological memory. I think where we're getting confused here is that the species does not have a true hivemind but rather a pseudo-hivemind. Castemoots are nested psychic mindlinks essentially that are based on caste, location, status, etc. Castemoots are not 'one mind in many bodies' but rather many linked minds who are constantly forming a new consensus. Communication across castemoots is still psychic but more conventional.
 
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Atlas Drake Atlas Drake

I don't want you to have to torpedo your species you've created alongside this so let's move over to the species sub and get that set up and approved and move back to this.


However, I would suggest distinguishing the terms so that they are not so interchangeable. It just gets a bit confusing when the same terms are being used to describe different things. So if would could do this and further clarify in the actual sub itself, that would be amazing. Again, I don't want you to have to nuke what your wanting to make here so just bear with me and we'll get through this all the same.
 
Luca Donskoi Luca Donskoi

I apologize if my earlier post came off as confrontational, reading it back it seems a little snobbish. Was merely trying to highlight that we're digging into stuff at the heart of the submission. I have altered the name of the nexus to clear up any confusion.
 
Atlas Drake Atlas Drake

Effects: According to the Iosian's religion this artifact is what allows them to communicate telepathically even across vast distances. All that can be said for certain is that it plays some role as a repository for the species' genetic memory, and plays some role in assigning castes at birth across Ios.
Awesome work with this bit of clarification. What we'd like to see here in addition to the Iosian beliefs of the Nexus, is the cold, hard facts as to just what it is this Nexus can do as well.
 
Luca Donskoi Luca Donskoi

I have made edits to the nexus passage so that it sounds less like speculation. I have also modified the 'vast distances' line so that it is clear super long range telepathy is no longer a part of the submission. Thank you for taking the time to help me refine my efforts, I know this project is ambitious. You have been very fair and professional even when I got moody with you.
 
Atlas Drake Atlas Drake

I have made edits to the nexus passage so that it sounds less like speculation. I have also modified the 'vast distances' line so that it is clear super long range telepathy is no longer a part of the submission.
I feel like we might have a slight miscommunication here. You are more than welcome to keep what the Iosians believe of the Nexus as you had it before; we just needed you to add to it what it actually did. In fact, I would encourage such a thing as it adds a little more depth. I apologize if what I wrote before was poorly worded as to lead you to think what you had previously could not be there. I just wanted you to give me a little more in addition to what the Iosians speculate of the Nexus.

Again, sorry if I had poorly worded that previously to make you believe otherwise.

Let me know what you want to do here and I'll give this thing another look over just to reassure myself that there's nothing else popping out at me with this.
 
Luca Donskoi Luca Donskoi

I understand the edit was not requested, but felt it was better for the submission since a myth about long range telepathy doesn't make much sense if they can't actually do it. In this instance I believe the vague wording was on my part, as the second component of the paragraph is what you are asking for. "The nexus is a central repository for the species' genetic memory, and plays some role in assigning castes at birth across Ios." However this follows the sentence about myth so I understand now why it did not seem that way and have attempted to make the distinction clearer.
 
Atlas Drake Atlas Drake | Luca Donskoi Luca Donskoi

This is a pretty interesting concept! I always find myself wondering, which to read first, species or planet - But it seems that these are fairly well intertwined. The Libertalia requiring antirad injections for survival is a really nice touch.

Just a few tiny things:

1.) Under Out Of Character Information, you're actually missing the "Canon" section.
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The entire template must be used in your submission. The template's base fields are not to be changed/removed/altered with the exception of a Force Nexus. If a Planet does not have one this can be removed. Otherwise, If the field does not apply simply state "N/A". Additional information and fields may be added if desired.

2.) Force Nexus - I know that it states it is forbidden to outsiders, however, what could someone expect if they did find themselves exposed to it? I only ask because it a strong Planetary Nexus. Protected or not it would be impossible to avoid.

That's all - Tag me when ready.
 
Atlas Drake Atlas Drake | Luca Donskoi Luca Donskoi

Don't worry - We're all slammed these days. No stress!

Effects
: According to the Iosian's religion this artifact is what gives them their innate telepathic abilities. All that is known for certain about the nexus' actual effects on the Iosians is that it forms central repository for the species' genetic memory, and plays some role in assigning castes at birth across Ios. For other species the primary effect on a planetary scale is a constant audible vibration, mindlink runoff which if studied can offer insight into the Iosian castemoots and social culture. Close proximity to the latticework itself leads to incomprehensible visions and prolonged exposure begins to overwrite neural patterns so the alien begins to think more like an Iosian.

What is a mindlink runoff? Otherwise, this is a great explanation, though, you will have to tone down the language a little to provide wiggle room.

For Example:

"Close proximity to the latticework itself leads to incomprehensible visions and prolonged exposure begins to overwrite neural patterns so the alien begins to think more like an Iosian."

Versus

"Close proximity to the latticework itself may lead to incomprehensible visions and prolonged exposure can begin to overwrite neural patterns so the alien begins to think more like an Iosian. "

Tag me when it's updated and I'll get you on your way.
 
Srina Talon Srina Talon

Just flowery language. My notion was that the Iosians' psychic communication is so omnipresent that the nexus forms almost like an echo. But since Iosians don't really think or communicate like most species it is very difficult to 'translate' unless you invest some significant time in studying them. Perhaps a good comparison would be that its like an accessible subconscious for offworld Force sensitives.

Made appropriate edits to the nexus effects.
 
Atlas Drake Atlas Drake

Flowery language is my bread and butter, but, we need to make sure that all this information is explained in the submission itself. Members won't necessarily read the comment string. Just the sub itself. Anything that I've asked for clarification on please be sure to elaborate as needed. If you're confident in the details, tag me back, and I'll take one more pass. Otherwise-It's good to go.
 
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