THE OBSCURUM
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To create a unique and interesting location near Sith space for future roleplays.
Image Credit: Yann Souetre I | Yann Souetre II | Sea Dawn Surprise
Canon: N/A
Permissions: N/A
Links: Factory Submission - The Obscurum
SETTING INFORMATION
Space Station Name: The Obscurum
Station Model: The Obscurum
Classification: Floating Library/Merchant Station/Archive
Location: Currently moored just outside the Braxant Sector, just beyond the borders of Sith Empire space.
Affiliation: The Sith Empire | Neridah Marr
Population: Sparse: While attracting a steady clientele, the occupants of the station are transient in nature, and permanent and semi-permanent residents are restricted only to a small skeleton crew dedicated to upkeep. At any one time, the station may house as few as 300 people, or, when busiest, several thousand.
Demographics: Generally mixed. Due to the nature and purpose of the station, few people stay longer than a few days, so the population is constantly in flux, with no species particularly favoured. Examples include: Bothan, Epicanthix, Human, Iktochi, Keshiri, Mirialan, Neimoidian, Rodian, Twi’lek, Zabrak, and Zeltron.
Accessibility:
Physically, The Obscurum is not difficult to reach, docked only a short jump off the Braxant Run. However, the existence and coordinates of the station aren’t widely known. Typically, only those who’re actively seeking it will find The Obscurum.
However, should they learn of it and seek it out, a traveller would find The Obscurum an open and welcoming place, with markets dotted around the structure, as well as places to exchange secrets and gather information. All are welcome, provided they bring something to trade, pay the tolls, and keep to the public-access sections of the structure.
The station is largely unguarded from the outside, with its patrons generally trusted to provide their own security and protection. Servitors roam the inner halls performing upkeep and deterring trespassers, but provide little protection to the average visiting trader.
Traffic: Moderate: The Obscurum does not actively advertise its services, but word-of-mouth ensures a fairly steady flow of traders. Many of those who visit the station are attracted by the prospect of trading information for material goods.
Description: The Obscurum is a large, imposing station with a 1 kilometre diameter. Outwardly, it appears to be a quiet merchant station, with several markets adjacent to its various hangar bays. For visitors, it is a place where information can be bought and sold, as visitors can trade information to brokers, or pay to peruse the station’s libraries, the annals of which stretch far back into Galactic history, and are constantly evolving. Beyond the markets, at the heart of the station lies an ancient and complex Force-imbued mechanism, seemingly designed to collect and store secrets. To access the station, visitors must first contribute to The Obscurum’s mechanism by contributing a suitable secret of their own. If accepted, they are then free to enter, trade amongst the station’s patrons and read from the library. The original reason for The Obscurum’s construction has been lost to history, as has the grander purpose of its mechanisms. Nevertheless, it continues to grow and change, slowly amassing more and more secrets, expanding its library, and filling its vast, ancient reserves of knowledge.
POINTS OF INTEREST
[Outer Section]
- Hangar Bays: There are three hangars aboard The Obscurum: The Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary bays. The Primary bay is the largest, and can house corvette-sized vessels. The other two bays cannot take a ship of that size, and instead see the majority of smaller merchant ships instead. All of the hangar-bays are well-trafficked, and are the station’s only points of entry and egress
- The Markets: There are several markets dotted around the wider outer hallways of The Obscurum, and they shift their position and size depending on the station’s population. Most markets offer your typical range of material goods and services, but all also have prominent information brokers, offering all things from locations of known fugitives, to little-known remedies and crafts in exchange for equivalent information or products.
- Galley: A general name for the sprawling system of kitchens and stalls that feeds both visitors and the small permanent population each day. The Galley is located by the Main Hangar Bay, and is one of the first locations a new-arrival would see upon being accepted.
- Testing Chambers (AKA The Tolls): The Testing Chambers are a series of rooms situated between the hangers and the interior of The Obscurum, and between the Outer and Inner Sections. They are designed to contribute to The Obscurum’s central mechanism by collecting secrets. To pass through a Testing Chamber to the other side, an individual must pass on a secret important to them. If the Force-imbued devices inside the Chamber accept the secret, the way opens. If not, it remains barred until an acceptable secret is passed along. A network of automated cameras connected to a rudimentary AI keeps track of those who have ‘paid the Toll,’ so that those who have already contributed are allowed access for a time.
[Inner Section]
- The Library: The Library is a collection of knowledge housed in the Inner Section, towards the top of the structure. It consists of a number of server rooms and terminals which adjoin a central circular chamber from which information can be browsed. Though there are noticeable gaps in its records, especially during the 400-Year Darkness, its annals stretch far back into Galactic History. Notable items in the collection include: ancient rituals and spells, texts on the Force, combat tutorials, technological blueprints, media, and holovids.
- The Laboratory: A somewhat barren and unfurnished set of long rooms dedicated to the study of the sciences, the testing of theories, and the construction of projects. However, the Lab has not received the same love and attention as the other sections of the station, and sits largely vacant and empty of equipment or people.
- The Redoubt: A large, polygonal room located near the bottom of The Obscurum. The Redoubt is a location that rarely sees any life forms at all, as it is restricted to only but the stations most senior crew, merely a handful of people. It houses numerous jumbled and interdependent machines that work together to control The Obscurum’s Servitor droids, and to control the numerous defence systems of the Inner Section. The Redoubt is also where the station’s ancient, rudimentary artificial intelligence is based.
- The Heart: Located deep at the station’s very core, the Heart is the core of The Obscurum’s mechanism. It is a round, tall room, with entrances on two sides, and the station’s main reactors occupying the rest of the space. Pipes, gears, levers and dials crowd the walls, competing for room, and the air is filled with the thrum of moving machinery and the ever-present sound of the reactors. A large receptacle sits in the centre, but whatever it was designed to house is not known.
- The Mechanism: Technically encompassing the entire station, The Mechanism is the name for the various machines, systems, servitor droids and rudimentary intelligences that administer, tend to, and expand The Obscurum. Each follows a set of ancient orders, and their archaic designs and programming are simple, but combine to create a machine that is complex and difficult to understand.
SECURITY
Maximum: Outwardly, the security of The Obscurum is what would be expected for a station of its size and purpose. The station lacks significant armaments to ward off an attack from the outside, and its outermost halls are generally left open to any and all travellers, However, the innermost sections of The Obscurum are jealousy and fiercely guarded. Servitor droids roam the halls, ready to spring on intruders, and the most secure locations are protected by an array of defence systems, reinforced bulkheads, and ray shields. The station is barely staffed, with droids and automated systems providing the majority of the security features. These measures are used as a last resort, and most people who wander into the restricted zones are merely gently steered away.
Security Features:
- Internal turrets
- Ray shields
- Reinforced bulkheads
- Security servitor droids
- Security cameras
The Obscurum is a wholly unique station, and the exact circumstances and motivations behind its construction have been lost to time. However, what is known that the original structure was built in approximately 300 ABY by a sect of Dark-Side Force practitioners. The uneven designs and stylistic differences indicate that the station took shape over the course of several generations, with progress seeming to halt entirely over the course of the Four Hundred Year Darkness. It is likely during this time that the Dark-Side cult disappeared, along with records of their motivations and intentions towards the station.
In 851, visited upon by frequent and vivid visions, Neridah Marr learned of The Obscurum and visited the ancient station with a small group of followers. Over the course of the following years, she slowly worked to revive the station for almost a decade, activating its ancient droids and machines, making slow repairs and revitalising its central Mechanism.
Seeking aid in expanding the station, Marr sought help from The Sith Empire, joining The Sith Order to secure supplies, labour, and construction materials for the station, which she knew would be a boon to the Empire when completed. In 860, the station became fully operational as a trade hub and a location to exchange information.
The station’s Mechanism was also restored, and while it is still not fully understood, it ostensibly works as a sort of toll system, accepting closely-guarded secrets from visitors that are added to a massive central archive, in exchange for access to The Obscurum and its libraries.
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