Aether Galaxy

NGC 2683 spiral galaxy, taken by NASA, 2012

Foundational Guidebook

An Open Framework for Mythic Space Opera

Created and written by Terrance Clark

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Contents

Attribution Guide

Release

Preface

Welcome to the Aetherverse

### The Aether and Related Concepts

Galactic Politics

Life in the Galaxy

  • Galactic Age and Scale

  • Economy and Trade

  • Language and Communication

  • Entertainment and Leisure

  • Snod

Intoxicants

  • Popular Cantina Drinks

  • Other intoxicants

Common Species

  • Birin

  • Delor

  • Harnak

  • Human

  • Ruqan

  • Tyssari

Non-Sapient Life

  • Dwall

  • Grick

  • Rim Dragon

  • Semro Hound

  • Vorp Beetle

  • Yatin

Exotic Materials

  • Clarminite

  • Fortiplas

  • Tungsteel

Technology Terms

Hyperdrive Grades

Galactic Regions

  • Core Space

  • Inner Rim

  • Middle Rim

  • Outer Rim

  • Unsettled Space

  • Uncharted Regions

Gazetteer

  • Core Space

  • Inner Rim

  • Middle Rim

  • Outer Rim

  • Unsettled Space

  • Uncharted Regions

Timekeeping

Appendix A: Relevant Public Domain Terminology

Appendix B: Creator’s Toolkit

Purpose

License Reference

Tone and Style Guidelines

Terminology Reference

Common reference terms

Creative Expansion Guidance

Acknowledgment and Invitation

Very Special Thanks to

Credits

License

Attribution Guide

This project, Aether Galaxy, is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). When reusing or adapting material, please credit as follows:

“Based on Aether Galaxy (CC BY 4.0) by Terrance Clark https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.”

You may remix, redistribute, or commercialize this work freely as long as you include that credit and indicate if changes were made.

Aether Galaxy is unaffiliated with any existing media franchise. Please refrain from using copyrighted or trademarked language, representations, or other content in Aether Galaxy media without the expressed written consent of the intellectual property holder.

Release

Aether Galaxy: Foundational Guidebook – r8

Preface

Aether Galaxy is an open mythic space-opera setting inspired by 20th-Century science fiction, especially the legendary story that American filmmaker and philanthropist George Lucas began in 1977, as well as its lineage in the work of Joseph Campbell. Other influences include the space opera tradition generally.

Space opera was once a shared language. It was a place where anyone could take part in the story. The early vision of the genre was built by many hands who believed they were adding their voices to a myth.

That world changed. The creative space that once surrounded the galaxy grew smaller. The stories turned inward and the audiences divided. The myth that once united dreamers began to fracture over vision, meaning, and even values.

Aether Galaxy is an attempt at renewal. It is a continuation of what began in that era. It is an invitation to remember what open creation feels like and to pass it forward. This project draws from the mythic studies of a noble tradition of authors and from the simple truth that stories grow stronger when they are shared.

Here you will find no locked doors or trademarked stars. This is a framework meant to be used and reshaped. You may keep what you create or share it freely. The choice is yours. Only credit and respect are required.

Aether Galaxy is a free cultural project. It belongs to everyone who adds to it, learns from it, or passes it forward. Because of this goal, Aether Galaxy follows the principle of “no canon, only coherence.” There is no single “true” timeline. This book offers only broad outlines of the past; all stories told within this setting, by this or any other author, are different interpretations of the same mythic world. In other words, Aether Galaxy is not a play; it is a playground.

You may build on this work, publish stories, make games, or adapt it in any form you choose. Freedom in this setting is meant to be simple and practical. There are no hidden terms and no complicated rules. Credit the source, respect the spirit, and make something worth sharing.

Stories help keep the galaxy alive. This story is yours now too.

Welcome to the Aetherverse

Aether Galaxy takes place ages ago, in a far-distant galaxy. It is home to many advanced space-faring species. Yet conflict is far from banished. Two great powers struggle to shape the destiny of civilization according to their vision.

The Galactic Commonwealth is a democratic republic of tens of thousands of ecologically prime inhabited worlds bound by representation, cooperation, trade, and mutual benefit.

Aligned with its ideals stand the Concord Knights, an ancient order of mystic wardens of peace and galactic mediators.

When diplomacy fails, the Concord must act. Its Knights, Masters, and Apprentices call upon the Aether, a living energy that grants telekinesis, telepathy, precognition, and other gifts and wield the elegant, radiant sunblade, an ancient weapon of focus and grace.

Opposing them is the Iron Dominion, a militaristic, authoritarian empire seeking to impose unity through conquest. Its economy, discipline, and colossal Life Burner capital ships make it a power feared across the stars. Its elite Assault Troopers are the gunmetal grey fist of its ambition.

If the Iron Dominion is the Commonwealth’s rival, the Dread are the Concord’s reflection in shadow, an ancient order preaching strength through passion. To the Dread, life’s purpose is domination: anger, hatred, and fear are the fuel of power, and mercy is a sickness to be purged.

It has been nine thousand years since the founding of the Commonwealth. Are these to be its final days? Will liberty and peace perish? Will the galaxy descend into another age of darkness?

One truth endures: without heroes, there can be no hope. Will you be among the next generation of such heroes?

The Aether is a living field, unseen, unbounded, and responsive to thought.

Its presence is fully felt only by the Aether-attuned. Its true nature remains a mystery, and different schools of thought dispute how to interpret its phenomena. Regardless, certain characteristics are agreed upon. Life and consciousness appear to have a fundamental link to the Aether, and vice versa.

The Aether manifests as both harmony and discord. Some choose to align philosophically with its harmonic aspect. Others choose to leverage its discordant aspect for their benefit. This duality manifests as the Radiant and Shadow paths, respectively. Devotees of Radiance see that path as expressive of the true nature of the Aether and Shadow as a temptation to be overcome. Adepts of Shadow instead see the Radiant path as a trick played by the Aether on the weak, one that sets the stage for their inevitable doom.

But the Aether is complex. Not all attuned to it think rigorously about the why underlying their actions. Many have been known to cross from one Aetheric philosophy to the other, to the annoyance and horror of those affected by their choices.

For most, attuning to the Aether is a difficult process that takes years. A rare few can do so in months or even weeks, but wisdom usually comes only with long experience. None are known to manifest Aetheric abilities beyond basic magnitude without training and careful practice of some kind.

Common abilities manifested by Aether-attuned sapients include precognition, telepathy, and telekinesis. Some abilities, such as electrokinesis or Aetheric healing, are more closely associated with certain philosophies and may be difficult for an opposing school to attain. Some other abilities are unconfirmed. Speculative powers include teleportation, materialization and dematerialization, and communication with the deceased, among many others. The rumors can seem endless.

Clarminite, an intriguing silvery-white mineral, appears to interact with both the Aether and hyperspace in unusual ways, unique among all known substances save for living organisms. The reasons for this baffle nearly all researchers, and even the few who claim understanding would not in honesty admit to perfect knowledge of the phenomenon.

The Concord - A monastic and diplomatic organization devoted to harmony within the Aether. It serves as the moral and spiritual counterbalance to galactic conflict, blending philosophy, mediation, and if necessary, defense of the innocent with a sunblade.

Concord Council - The governing body of the order, composed of senior Masters who interpret Radiant Side Aetheric principles and oversee the training and deployment of the Knights.

Concord Apprentice - Novice adherents studying the ways of the Aether through service, meditation, and mentorship under a Knight or Master.

Concord Knight - Experienced agents of the Concord who uphold justice and balance across the galaxy, often serving as diplomats, protectors, or investigators.

Concord Master - Elders who have achieved profound attunement with the Aether, guiding both the Council and younger members through wisdom, vision, and restraint.

The Dread - The shadowed tradition that draws upon the Aether’s darker harmonics, seeking strength through domination, fear, and the bending of will. Its followers believe peace is an illusion sustained only by control.

Dread Lord - A master of the shadowed Aether who commands both armies and ideology. Each Lord shapes their domain through terror and absolute authority, claiming enlightenment through conquest.

Dread Apprentice - A student bound to a Dread Lord, trained through trial, conflict, and betrayal to harness passion as power. Few survive apprenticeship; fewer still remain sane.

Dread Inquisitor - Agents who hunt noncoformity within the ranks or root out resistance beyond them. They blend interrogation, prophecy, and execution into a single art.

Dread Warrior - Elite soldiers or enforcers devoted to the Dread Lords. Their armor is often Shadow-reactive, amplifying rage and pain into unstoppable momentum.

Old Dread Empire - The ancient regime that once ruled vast stretches of the galaxy through fear and obedience. Unlike the Iron Dominion, the Dread openly ruled it. Though long fallen, its ruins, relics, and ideologies still haunt the modern age.

Sunblade - A weapon of pure, contained plasma focused through a rare crystal. Revered as both tool and symbol, it serves the Concord as an extension of will and discipline.

Sunblade Crstal - A rare, luminous mineral that channels clarminite resonance into stable plasma. Each crystal carries a unique harmonic signature that bonds with its wielder.

Sunblade Style - A formalized discipline of sunblade combat emphasizing clarity, precision, and inner equilibrium. Every Concord Knight refines their technique through a chosen Sublade style, reflecting both philosophy and temperament.

Galactic Politics

The Galactic Commonwealth - A vast interstellar republic founded on cooperation, law, and the shared prosperity of its member worlds. It stands as the galaxy’s primary bastion of order and diplomacy, though bureaucracy and complacency often blunt its ideals.

The Galactic Assembly - The deliberative body of the Commonwealth, composed of Delegates from thousands of systems. It governs through debate and consensus, balancing planetary autonomy with collective security.

Assembly Delegate - Often simply “Delegate,” an appointed or elected representative serving in the Galactic Assembly of the Commonwealth. Each Delegate speaks for their homeworld or sector, carrying its interests into debate and legislation. Though bound by the ideals of unity and law, most balance personal conviction with political survival amid the Assembly’s endless negotiations and alliances.

The First Citizen - The elected executive of the Galactic Commonwealth, serving as both head of state and symbol of unity. Though formally accountable to the Assembly, the office wields immense influence over policy, defense, and diplomacy.

The Iron Dominion - A vast authoritarian state forged from conquest and obedience. It prizes strength, order, and devotion to its ruling hierarchy. Faith and warfare are intertwined; its citizens are taught that discipline is salvation and weakness a contagion.

The Archon - The supreme ruler of the Iron Dominion, regarded as both sovereign and demigod ruler. The Archon’s decrees are law, their will enforced through legions and liturgy alike.

Governor - Regional commander-administrators appointed by the Archon to oversee planetary systems. Each Governor wields civil and military power, maintaining loyalty through surveillance, propaganda, and fear.

Governor Council - convocation of the Dominion’s most powerful Governors, serving as both advisory body and rival court beneath the Archon. Their alliances and rivalries shape the Dominion’s internal politics as much as its wars.

Assault Troopers - The Dominion’s elite infantry, indoctrinated from youth and clad in storm-gray armor. They serve as both soldiers and symbols of Dominion authority, advancing wherever the Archon’s will demands submission.

Life in the Galaxy

Galactic Age and Scale

The Aetherverse galaxy, like most, is very old and measured in billions of years. While it is possible that some advanced precursor civilization once existed in its forgotten past, most scholars believe this to be the first era of truly galactic-scale civilization. Interstellar travel was first achieved by the Delor roughly ten thousand years ago, and the Galactic Commonwealth was founded almost exactly nine thousand years ago.

The invention of the hyperdrive transformed life for all sapient species, linking worlds that had once been alone in the dark. Even so, the pace and scale of civilization remain widely uneven.

Planets in the Core Region typically host at least tens of billions of sapients, with some worlds forming near-continuous planetwide cityscapes. Inner Rim planets rarely exceed the tens of billions, while Middle Rim worlds often mirror real world Earth in population, though some surpass it. Outer Rim planets are generally less dense, though notable exceptions include Tyssara, Ruqos, and Harnash, the latter rivaling a sparsely settled Core world in overall population.

Unsettled Space is mostly devoid of civilization or composed of systems cut off from the rest of the galaxy by broken hyperspace routes. The Uncharted Regions remain a true mystery. Systems here have either never been reached, or else whoever ventured there failed to return and update the galactic charts.

Scouting new hyperspace pathways is an exceedingly dangerous pursuit. The precise variables required by a starship’s astrogation computer are complex, and even minor errors can prove catastrophic. A serious misjump may leave a vessel lost, tens of light-years from the nearest star and far beyond any hope of refueling. In such conditions, even the Hypernet may be unreachable, the signal beacons simply too far to answer.

Economy and Trade

The galactic economy is vast but uneven. The Core and Inner Rim enjoy high automation, stable infrastructure, and efficient interplanetary trade networks. The Middle Rim forms the true engine of commerce, balancing industry and logistics. The Outer Rim remains irregular, dependent on independent merchants, local syndicates, and informal barter.

Most trade passes through the Hypernet’s registry channels, which track shipping manifests and provide navigation clearance between star systems. Authorized trade fleets, corporate convoys, and licensed free traders all rely on this infrastructure to avoid patrol disputes and tariff violations.

Commonwealth credits (Cr) remain the standard galactic currency, backed by the Commonwealth’s central reserve on Coropolis. Many regions supplement this with local or corporate bills, resource chits, or even commodity barter when Hypernet access is unreliable. While the Dominion issues its own credits (DCr) and various Outer Rim planets rely on any number of other currencies, Commonwealth credits remain the generally accepted reserve currency.

Clarminite, tungsteel, and fortiplas form the foundation of heavy industry and are among the most heavily traded resources in the galaxy. Agricultural products, fuel isotopes, and luxury goods follow close behind. Frontier systems often rely on salvaging, prospecting, or smuggling to supplement limited production.

Where commerce thrives, corruption follows. The Harnak Syndicates control a large share of unregistered shipping in the Outer Rim, and Dominion black markets funnel captured resources into the war economy. Officially, the Commonwealth condemns such activity. In practice, most sectors survive on a quiet tolerance of gray trade.

Language and Communication

A shared language known as Galactic Common, the official administrative tongue of the Commonwealth, facilitates interspecies understanding. Common is a fusion of ancient Human and Delor dialects, with traces of Harnese and Tyss. All ancient Human tongues appear to have gone extinct, with translation efforts still in progress.

Many species also speak their own native languages alongside Common. Depending on design and function, bots communicate either in binary or in a wide range of organic sapient languages. The most widespread tongues outside of Common are Harnese, Tyss, Spacer’s Pidgin, and Binary.

Entertainment and Leisure

Entertainment is an important aspect of life in the galaxy. In most heavily industrialized regions, total workweek hours are relatively short, and sapients often have an abundance of free time.

Many spend that time with family or friends. Holographic theaters are a common pastime, as is hyperball, a sport that originated in the Outer Rim. Speeder racing is a popular alternative. Cantinas are found almost everywhere, especially near starports, and often feature live performers. Novels and other forms of literature remain popular and are conveniently accessed through data tablets. Less typical hobbies include virtual reality gaming, Ruqan oil wrestling, blaster collecting, orbital skydiving, and the occasional dwall-tipping.

Seedier pursuits such as gambling vary in legality across districts due to the decentralized nature of Commonwealth law and the inconsistent governance of the Outer Rim.

Snod

Snod is a fast, low-deck card game played on a holomat. Players frequently take bets and win or lose everything but their boots. Each player tries to “lock” a run before the next holo pulse flips the field. It’s as much timing as it is bluff and superstition. Winning hands are called “bright snods”; total losses, “dead snods.” Some stations broadcast high-stakes snod tournaments over the Hypernet, though official odds are often as rigged as the holo fields.

Intoxicants

In a civilization of trillions, intoxication is both an industry and a policy challenge. The Commonwealth regulates trade in euphorics, stimulants, and harmonics but leaves cultural use to planetary law. The Dominion is usually more hands-on, often strictly regulating but rarely outright banning these substances. Clarbrew, Harnak Rum, Ironshot, and of course Otenno Stout remain staples of cantinas across known space. Blisscoil, Hardline, and Slipleaf circulate in more obscure corners. Their trade fuels half the Commercial Sector’s underworld and more than a few wars.

Clarbrew
Base: Diluted clarminite filtrate mixed with distilled algae spirits.
Color: Bright teal, faintly luminescent. Effect: Mild euphoria and clarity; drinkers describe “hearing” background harmonics of the Aether.
Cultural Note: Originated as a Delor recipe and later mass-produced in the Commercial Sector. Popular among scholars and mystics.

Harnak Rum
Base: Distilled from sea-bloom kelp native to Harnak water-worlds, aged in coral casks under high pressure.
Color: Deep violet-black with shifting green highlights when swirled. Effect: Mild euphoria, warmth, and an empathic “glow” caused by trace bioluminescent proteins.
Cultural Note: The Harnak call it “the sea’s revenge on sobriety.” Exported from Outer Rim bars to Core clubs.

Ironshot
Base: Fortified grain liquor aged in tungsteel flasks.
Color: Metallic bronze.
Effect: Sharp stimulant kick; burns hot and clean.
Cultural Note: Dominion officers toast promotions with it, while Commonwealth veterans drink it when they want to forget them.

Otenno Stout
Base: Dark grain malt grown in Otenno hydrofarms.
Color: Deep brown with a faint red sheen.
Effect: Mild relaxation and warmth. Legal everywhere, tolerated even on duty as a “meal adjunct.”
Cultural Note: Known as “the spacer’s lunch.” Sold in plain bottles and poured in honest pubs where pay comes by the day, not the month.
Slogan: “Steady hands, steady ship.”

Other intoxicants

Blisscoil
Source: Tyssari fungus extract.
Use: small dissolving spirals placed under the tongue.
Effect: floods the brain with endorphins and euphoria; wipes short-term memory.
Street myth: addicts “merge with the Aether.”
Status: Frequently illegal, but still common in pleasure stations around Harnak Space.

Hardline
Source: synthetic neurotransmitter enhancer originally designed for fighter pilots.
Use: injected or absorbed through the skin.
Effect: hyper-focus and slowed perception of time; severe burnout afterward.
Slang: “Riding the Line.”
Status: restricted military compound; massive black-market trade through the Commercial Sector.

Slipleaf
Source: Dried leaves of a marsh-growing plant native to the Outer Rim.
Use: Smoked in small rolls or pipes; occasionally steeped into vapor incense… Effect: Mild time dilation and body-lightness. Users describe sensations of “slipping a few seconds out of step” or floating just behind their own thoughts. Excessive use can cause disorientation, memory gaps, or emotional flattening.
Cultural Note: Popular among spacers and laborers for its calming, detached clarity during long shifts. Outer Rim mystics use it for meditation, while the Concord discourages its practice as a “false stillness.”
Status: Legal on most Rim worlds; restricted in the Core; banned aboard Commonwealth ships.

Common Species

By far the galaxy’s most common sapient species are Humans, the Harnak, the Tyssari, the Ruqan, the Delor, and the Birin. Humans make up roughly half of the galaxy’s sapient population. Each of the aforementioned aliens account for somewhere between five and ten percent, depending on region and census method. All other spacefaring species together share a little under ten percent, scattered across frontier systems and isolated polities. Standard Common language usage since the founding of the Commonwealth refers to all alien species in plural form without an added ending. The rule is simple but often ignored.

Birin

Pronunciation: BEER-in
Average Height: About 1.4 meters
Physiology: Small, agile mammalians that resemble upright foxes. They have narrow muzzles, large forward-facing eyes, and fur ranging from deep red to pale gold. Their ears swivel independently, and their long tails aid in balance and expression. Movements are fast, graceful, and unpredictable.
Homeworld: Biri
Environment: Temperate forests and misty high valleys. The terrain is dense and shifting, filled with narrow trails and sudden drops, encouraging quick thinking and adaptability.
Cultural Focus: Adaptability, cunning, and survival through wit. The Birin celebrate cleverness as both virtue and necessity. Their culture values independence and improvisation over rigid hierarchy.
Reputation: Known as couriers, smugglers, and information brokers. They are skilled navigators who can find their way through almost any situation. Others find them charming but difficult to trust completely.
Aetheric Attunement: Rare and subtle. When it appears, it often manifests as intuition, lucky timing, or heightened situational awareness rather than overt power. Most Birin who try formal Aether training struggle to maintain the patience required for mastery.
Philosophy: Radiant Birin emphasize humor, perspective, and compassion as shields against despair. Shadow Birin claim that deception is simply another form of wisdom and that survival justifies any trick.
Adventure Ideas:

  • A Birin courier needs protection while carrying a sealed memory crystal that sings in its sleep.
  • A rumor spreads that a lost Birin colony ship still transmits coordinates once every seven years.
  • A smuggler clan on Biri claims to have trapped a “living shadow” in an energy cage.

Design Notes: Expressive faces and lively gestures, quick to smile or mock. Their voices are bright and fast-paced, often layered with teasing humor. Clothing is light, functional, and easy to shed or disguise. They move as if every step could turn into a sprint.

Delor

Pronunciation: DAY-lor
Average Height: About 1.6 meters
Physiology: Slender, hairless humanoids with smooth gray skin and large black eyes that reflect light like glass. Their fingers are long and narrow, and their heads slightly elongated, giving them a calm and contemplative appearance. Though physically delicate, they can endure long periods of stillness and low-gravity environments with ease.
Homeworld: Delos
Environment: A temperate world of silver plains, slow rivers, and pale skies. The landscape feels serene and unhurried, fostering a culture of reflection and quiet thought. Cities blend seamlessly with nature, built around observatories and soft-lit plazas.
Cultural Focus: Knowledge, exploration, and introspection. The Delor treat discovery as a dialogue rather than a conquest. They believe understanding the universe begins with understanding the self.
Reputation: Revered as scientists, navigators, and philosophers. Their advice carries great weight in the Commonwealth, though their reserve and precision can come across as cold. Many see them as the moral and intellectual compass of the Core Worlds.
Aetheric Attunement: Fairly common. Delor disciplines blur the line between science and mysticism, treating the Aether as both energy field and awareness state. Their attunement often expresses itself through telepathy, remote observation, and harmonizing technology with intent.
Philosophy: Radiant Delor pursue unity through comprehension and restraint. Shadow Delor believe knowledge itself transcends morality and that enlightenment comes from breaking boundaries, not preserving them.
Adventure Ideas:

  • A Delor research station near the Uncharted edge transmits one final message: “Observation complete.”
  • A revered philosopher renounces the Radiant path after glimpsing something alive within the Aether.
  • A prototype hyperdrive built by Delor engineers begins predicting its own failures with eerie accuracy.

Design Notes: Their posture is upright but unassuming, and their manner of speaking is slow, deliberate, and softly inflected. Clothing tends toward minimalist robes in neutral tones, often trimmed with exotic thread. Their presence radiates quiet focus rather than power.

Harnak

Pronunciation: HAR-nak
Height: About 1.8 meters
Physiology: Amphibious humanoids with smooth scaled skin in shades of blue, green, or gray. Wide eyes adapted to dim light and gill slits along the neck allow them to breathe both air and water. Their movements are slow and deliberate, as if following a rhythm that others can’t hear.
Homeworld: Harnash
Environment: A humid archipelago of coral towers and ink-dark lagoons, covered by warm seas and bioluminescent shallows. Most Harnak cities are partially submerged, linked by subaquatic transit tunnels.
Cultural Focus: Trade, negotiation, and logistics. The Harnak see commerce as the natural current of civilization and believe balance is maintained through fair but strategic exchange.
Reputation: Known throughout the galaxy as patient and calculating merchants. They dominate much of the Outer Rim’s shipping and syndicate activity. Others respect their reliability but distrust their motives.
Aetheric Attunement: Uncommon but subtle when it manifests. Typical abilities include empathy, persuasion, and limited foresight. Their philosophy treats the Aether as a current that rewards balance and punishes greed.
Philosophy: Radiant Harnak emphasize harmony and equitable flow; Shadow Harnak exploit imbalance, claiming power lies in mastering the tides of desire and debt.
Adventure Ideas:

  • A Harnak broker vanishes mid-negotiation, leaving a fortune locked behind empathic encryption.
  • A syndicate on Harnash hires outsiders to stop pirates who somehow predict convoys’ every jump.
  • A Radiant adept seeks aid purifying clarminite “tainted” by corporate greed.

Design Notes: Amphibian grace, layered trade robes, jewelry that glows faintly with shimmering. Their speech carries a slow, measured cadence, with pauses that feel like tides between thoughts.

Human

Average Height: Around 1.7 meters
Physiology: Versatile bipedal mammals with wide genetic variation shaped by thousands of years of interstellar migration. Adapted strains differ subtly from system to system, some bred for low gravity with elongated frames, others for dense atmospheres or high-radiation environments. Average lifespans exceed 120 Galactic Standard Years, with regenerative medicine and partial cybernetic augmentation common even outside the Core.
Homeworld: Huma
Environment: A variable climate world of oceans and fertile continents, located deep in the Core region. It serves as an industrial and cultural heart of the Commonwealth rather than an ancestral origin myth. Most citizens see it as a place of bureaucracy, commerce, and heritage, not a sacred homeworld.
Cultural Focus: Expansion, innovation, and adaptation. Humans build where others hesitate, turning barren moons into ports and refineries. They treat change as opportunity, valuing ambition more than tradition. Their culture prizes progress and narrative. Every Human wants to be part of a story bigger than themselves.
Reputation: The most numerous and politically dominant species in the Commonwealth. Admired for ingenuity and endurance, distrusted for ambition and inconsistency. To the Harnak, they are reckless traders; to the Tyssari, emotionally blunt; to the Delor, fascinatingly chaotic. Yet no civilization functions without them.
Aetheric Attunement: Moderate but uneven. Some Humans display immense talent for Aetheric focus, while others show none at all. They lack a unified tradition, instead drawing from countless philosophies and martial schools. Their strength lies in flexibility rather than purity of doctrine.
Philosophy: Radiant Humans tend to express the Aether through empathy and service, framing it as the voice of conscience. Shadow Humans view it pragmatically, as a source of leverage, another system to master. Most live somewhere between, guided less by ideology than by circumstance.
Distinct Traits: Humanity’s identity is generally galactic, not planetary. Few even know which sun Huma circles. Their myths speak not of origins but of continuity; humans have always been where the light of civilization burns brightest. They are generalists in an age of specialists, equally at home on a pleasure world, a mining outpost, or a warship’s bridge.
Adventure Ideas:

  • A Human engineer claims to have found proof that the Commonwealth itself has become Aether-reactive.
  • A popular Human holo-preacher begins converting entire sectors with sermons broadcast through the Hypernet.
  • A group of colonists vanish after attempting to terraform a world that “refused to remember” their genetic code.

Design Notes: Practical, expressive, and endlessly improvisational. Their style varies wildly. Core citizens favor sleek uniforms and luminous fabrics, while Outer Rim settlers mix scavenged armor and local craftwork. Humans thrive in transition; they are the galaxy’s constant motion made flesh.

Ruqan

Pronunciation: ROO-kan
Average Height: About 2.1 meters
Physiology: Tall, lean reptilian bipeds with skin that ranges from deep green to muted bronze, patterned with faint ridges that shift tone with temperature. Large, forward-set eyes grant excellent depth perception even in dim light. Small cranial spines act as sensory antennae for vibration and pressure changes. Hands have three long fingers and a strong opposing thumb built for grip and precision.
Homeworld: Ruqos
Environment: Mist-shrouded swamps and jungles of heavy humidity and dim light. The terrain is treacherous, filled with predators and shifting marshlands. Ruqan settlements are elevated on massive roots or stone pillars, connected by rope bridges and walkways.
Cultural Focus: Skill, discipline, and personal honor. The Ruqan trace their heritage to hunting guilds and mercenary traditions that prize patience, accuracy, and focus. They believe mastery of one’s craft is a moral duty.
Reputation: Respected as scouts, trackers, and sharpshooters. Known for calm professionalism and long memories, both virtues and warnings. Employers value their reliability; enemies fear their persistence.
Aetheric Attunement: Rare. When it appears, it sharpens their senses or grants limited precognition, allowing them to track movement through energy traces or “see” hidden targets. Radiant Ruqan teach the clarity of the hunt, striking only with purpose. Shadow Ruqan embrace predation as truth, claiming the strong have the right to claim the weak.
Adventure Ideas:

  • A Ruqan pathfinder offers to lead you through Unsettled Space for a price no one else is willing to name.
  • A sniper duel between two old comrades threatens to reignite a planetary war.
  • A guild relic has been stolen: a single arrow that hums with mystical resonance.

Design Notes: Quiet, efficient movements; deliberate speech; attire adapted to concealment and mobility. Their gear is functional, worn, and meticulously maintained. When they move, the air seems to pause.

Tyssari

Pronunciation: Tiss-AHR-ee
Average Height: Around 1.7 meters
Physiology: Near-human humanoids with smooth pastel or iridescent skin tones that can subtly shift with mood or environment. Eyes are large and reflective, adapted to low light, and teeth are narrow and sharp. Hair is fine and often carries metallic or bioluminescent tints. Many wear it long as a sign of vitality or social standing.
Homeworld: Tyssara
Environment: A warm, rain-fed world of luminescent forests and towering fungal structures that glow like cathedrals. Cities blend seamlessly into the natural landscape, using bioluminescent architecture and living materials.
Cultural Focus: Empathy, art, and persuasion. Conversation is an art form, and understanding another’s emotions is considered a mark of respect. The Tyssari place immense value on connection and emotional clarity.
Reputation: Known across the galaxy as diplomats, mediators, and negotiators. Their ability to read emotional cues makes them excellent leaders but occasionally untrustworthy in the eyes of those who dislike being seen through.
Aetheric Attunement: Relatively common. Most Tyssari manifest empathic or emotional influence abilities—soothing, suggestion, and perception of intent. They often view these powers as natural extensions of empathy.
Philosophy: Radiant Tyssari seek serenity through understanding and believe empathy brings unity. Shadow Tyssari embrace passion and emotional manipulation as expressions of honesty and strength.
Adventure Ideas:

  • A Tyssari diplomat is accused of starting a war with a single misunderstood expression.
  • A Shadow adept’s mood-altering broadcasts threaten to destabilize a peace summit.
  • A Radiant empath asks for help quieting a telepathic chorus that won’t stop weeping.

Design Notes: Graceful posture, soft-spoken cadence, and color-shifting garments that complement their skin tones. Their voices are musical, and their presence tends to disarm tension—or amplify it, if they choose.

Non-Sapient Life

Dwall

Large agricultural bovine used for both food and work, occasionally as a draft mount.

Description: Stocky and resilient, dwalls are bred for strength and endurance rather than speed. Their temperament is calm, though males can be dangerously territorial during the heat season.
Mass: 700–900 kg.
Example Planets: Yertil, Otenno.

Grick

Medium-sized carnivorous reptilian quadruped that hunts in small pods and breeds rapidly.

Description: Gricks are opportunistic pack predators resembling scaled hyenas, notorious for their eerie chittering “laughter.” They scavenge refuse and corpses as readily as they hunt, thriving anywhere civilization leaves waste or ruin. Their rapid reproduction makes them a persistent menace to frontier settlements.
Mass: 60–100 kg.
Example Planets: Qas Almeidi, Ruqos.

Rim Dragon

Massive, fire-breathing reptilian predator originally native to Lyntessa but now mostly found in the Outer Rim.

Description: Once known as Lyntessan dragons, these colossal carnivores use methane endogenesis and ferrous dentition to ignite flammable gas when exhaling, producing true flame. Though incapable of flight, they dominate any environment they inhabit. A few are illegally bred or acquired by the wealthy as living status symbols, while others are hunted by only the most daring big-game enthusiasts. Near extinction on their homeworld, they have adapted to harsher Rim ecologies with disturbing success.
Size/Mass: ~20 m length, approximately 9,000 kg.
Example Planets: Harnash, Ruqos.

Semro Hound

Omnivorous domesticated canid species common across the Core and Inner Rim.

Description: Usually blue or indigo in coloration, Semro hounds are intelligent, loyal, and highly adaptable. They thrive in both urban habitats and shipboard life, making them a favored companion among spacers and families alike. Selective breeding has produced countless regional variants, from small lap-dwellers to muscular working types used in customs patrols and rescue services.
Mass: 10–50 kg.
Example Planets: Huma, Drak.

Vorp Beetle

Omnivorous arthropod pest notorious for infesting ships and outposts.

Description: Though physically harmless and generally timid, vorp beetles are despised across the galaxy for their ability to chew through storage seals and devour nearly any organic matter. Their presence can ruin a freighter’s entire food supply in days. Spacers report that the faint, rhythmic clicking of an unseen beetle in a cargo bay is among the most unnerving sounds in deep space.
Mass: ~0.5 kg.
Example Planets: Biri, Val Kos.

Yatin

Large, swift, domesticated herbivorous rodent commonly used as a riding animal.
Description: Social and intelligent, yatins thrive in herds and form strong bonds with both their own kind and their handlers. Their calm temperament and endurance make them ideal mounts on agrarian or frontier worlds where mechanized transport is limited. Though considered rustic by Core standards, they remain symbols of freedom and companionship throughout the Outer Rim. Mass: 400–600 kg.
Example Planets: Tyssara, Yertil.

“You think vorp beetles are bad? I was stranded on Qas Almeidi in a village surrounded by gricks for a week.”

Exotic Materials

Clarminite - a translucent silvery-white mineral that seems half solid matter, half light. Its crystalline lattice hums in subtle sympathy with the Aether, allowing it to carry both energy and intent. Clarminite cores form the hearts of hyperdrives and hyper-reactors, where raw power must be tuned like music. When pure, it resonates with a soft, steady glow; when corrupted, it fractures into dull shards that leak a ghostly static engineers occasionally call the “howl of the Aether.”

Fortiplas - a high-tech composite of polymer layers and microcrystal fibers. Flexible under strain and rigid at rest, Fortiplas is ubiquitous in ship interiors, habitation domes, and personal armor. Light, durable, and cheap, it’s the galaxy’s workhorse material.

Tungsteel - dense, triple-bond alloy forged in stellar crucibles from three reactive metals. Its atomic lattice is extremely durable, granting it unmatched resilience against both kinetic and thermal stress. Used in starship hulls, armor, and fortress plating, Lighter than steel, tougher than tungsten, it is the physical backbone of modern civilization.

“Clarminite for energy, fortiplas for utility and tungsteel for strength. Together with the hyperdrive they built the modern galaxy.”

Technology Terms

Access Probe - Portable interface device used to connect bots, technicians, or rogues to ship and facility systems for diagnostics, commands, or exploitation.

Amber Stasis - Suspension technology that preserves living tissue in solidified energy fields.

Atomic Torpedo - Extremely rapid-moving heavy ordnance using compact nuclear or fusion warheads for ship-to-ship combat.

Attractor Beam - Gravitic projector used to draw or immobilize vessels at close range.

Blaster - High-energy directed weapon that fires charged plasma in a coherent, accelerated bolt.

Bot - General slang for any autonomous mechanical worker or unit.

Bot, Social - Synthetics designed for interpersonal interaction, diplomacy, or companionship.

Bot, Starship - Bots that perform mechanical, calculation, or other duties on spacecraft.

Comm - Transceiver for short- or long-range voice and data transmission. Short for “communicator.”

Cyanomed - Advanced medical compound for rapid healing and stabilization.

Datatab - General-purpose compact portable computer. Most double as personal communicators, though such is not universal for either device. Sometimes called “data tablets” instead.

Electro Cannon - Weapon that delivers concentrated electrical discharges to disable targets.

Energy Shield - Defensive field that disperses kinetic and plasma impacts through controlled energy harmonics.

Holocodex - High fidelity archive storing holographic and conventional data

Hoverlift - Antigravity propulsion array generating low-altitude lift through oscillating fields of force.

Hydrosocket - Universal fluid-energy coupling used to connect hydraulic, coolant, or hyperdrive conduits in starships and stations.

Hyperdrive Catalyst - Clarminite-based component that initiates stable resonance for faster-than-light transit.

Hypernet - Galactic communication lattice facilitated by hyperspace signal buoys.

Life Burner - A class of Dominion capital ship designed for planetary denial and fleet dominance. Life Burners are strategic flagships capable of projecting overwhelming firepower and enforcing Dominion will across whole systems.

Speeders - General-purpose hover or repulsor craft used for short-distance transport. Groundspeeders are surface-level vehicles that glide above terrain using lift fields. Atmospeeders are high-speed atmospheric flyers capable of near-orbital flight.

Sunblade - Weapon of pure, contained plasma focused through a rare crystal. Revered as both tool and symbol, it serves the Concord as an extension of will and discipline.

Sunblade Crystal - Rare, luminous mineral that channels clarminite resonance into stable plasma. Each crystal carries a unique harmonic signature that bonds with its wielder.

Thermonade - Compact and powerful explosive grenade releasing a brief thermic pulse.

Vapor Condenser - Device that extracts and condenses moisture from ambient atmosphere for storage and use.

Walker - Multi-legged ground vehicle; designations vary by size and function (e.g., Scout, Assault, Siege).

Hyperdrive Grades

Hyperdrive grades define safe hyperspace resonance thresholds. Adopted by Commonwealth Astronavigation Bureau after the hyperdrive grade standardization reforms of GSY 7903.
ly/day = velocity in light-years per Galactic Standard day

Grade 1 - 50 ly/day · Antique pre-Commonwealth drives; short-range traders, museum relics, and budget secondary drive units.

Grade 2 - 100 ly/day · Frontier haulers, survey craft, independent merchants, and modern secondary drives.

Grade 3 - 200 ly/day · Common freighters and passenger liners.

Grade 4 - 400 ly/day · Typical modern civilian and patrol ships; baseline for most navigation charts. Fastest available drives 4000 years ago in GSY 5000.

Grade 5 - 800 ly/day · Fast couriers, security escorts, high-end corporate fleets.

Grade 6 - 1600 ly/day · Military-grade interceptors and long-range reconnaissance vessels.

Grade 7 - 3,200 ly/day · Strategic Concord and Dominion craft; near-instant within most regions.

Grade 8 - 6,400 ly/day · Experimental plasma clarminite-core drives; fastest stable resonance currently publicly known, rumored to brush the limits of hyperspace cohesion.

Galactic Regions

Core Space

The ancient heart of galactic civilization: trillions under a single lattice of light. Worlds gleam beneath orbital rings, their skies threaded with traffic lanes that never sleep. Law, commerce, and tradition are woven so tightly here that rebellion feels like bad manners. The Aether hums softly, domesticated, tuned to sustain equilibrium rather than wonder.

Inner Rim

The engine of the modern galaxy: loyal to the Commonwealth, wealthy, and restless. Its citizens dream of the Core’s refinement yet eye the horizons for fresh profit. Industrial moons, shipyards, and garden worlds alternate in perfect rotation, producing both the goods and the ambitions that keep the Core alive.

Middle Rim

The crossroads of the known galaxy. A thousand trade routes converge here, each carrying freight, faith, and rumor. Empires meet and mingle in the same orbit, and so do their spies. The Middle Rim has seen every war and every peace; its people learn to smile while keeping one hand near the comm switch.

Outer Rim

The wild frontier, glittering and law-thin. Here, the beacons of the Commonwealth fade and the Dominion’s grip weakens. Planets trade allegiance as easily as cargo; smugglers and settlers share the same starports. To some, it’s a promise. To others, an exile. To everyone, it’s freedom if they can hold it.

Unsettled Space

Dust, drift, and dead stars. Fleets vanish here without echo. Mining guilds stake claims that dissolve with their first distress signal. The Aether feels heavy in this region, as if memory itself resists intrusion. Those who return from it speak in quiet tones about lights that pulse like heartbeats and voices that answer navigation pings.

Uncharted Regions

The edge beyond edges. Instruments falter, charts blur, and reason loses calibration. Worlds of impossible geometry hang in veils of radiation and song. Some say it’s where the Aether dreams new realities; others call it the graveyard of civilizations too proud to remain mapped. Either way, no one comes back unchanged.

Gazetteer

Hundreds of thousands of inhabited worlds dot the galaxy. But what follows is a selection of notable ones, varying in class and region.

Core Space

Coropolis

Pronunciation: Kor-AHP-oh-liss
Affiliation: Galactic Commonwealth
Climate: Temperate
Economy: Enormous, mixed

The neutral heart of the Galactic Commonwealth and keeper of Galactic Standard Time. Chosen as the meeting ground between the early Delor and Human founders, it became the symbol of unity and the measure of all law. Its orbital belts glitter with defensive stations and signal buoys, ensuring that the capital remains secure even under Dominion threat. Beneath its shining towers, a quieter trade of secrets and indulgence thrives, a reminder that even the brightest centers cast long shadows

Huma

Pronunciation: HYOO-ma
Affiliation: Galactic Commonwealth Climate: Variable
Economy: Huge, manufacturing

The ancestral home of humanity, and the world from which their name derives. Some claim the word once meant home in a forgotten dialect; others say it recalls the ancient “hum” of the Aether first sensed by human minds. Its climate ranges from temperate continents to wide ocean basins, a planet once scarred by overuse and war but now largely restored through centuries of regeneration. Vast shipyards operated by Huma Heavy Industrial ring its upper atmosphere, building the affordable vessels that carry the Commonwealth’s legacy to the stars.

Lyntessa

Pronunciation: Lin-TESS-a
Affiliation: Galactic Commonwealth
Climate: Artificial, comfortable
Economy: Large, service

The Commonwealth’s garden of ease, where climate, tide, and temperament are all precisely tuned. Once a world of living storms, it was reshaped into a temperate haven favored by retired officials and highborn investors. Its cost of living is astronomical, but its streets are free of crime and its skies of worry. Native draconids, once dominant across the highlands, now survive only in two high-security preserves, tended by fire-proof maintenance bots that never sleep and never burn.

Inner Rim

Delos

Pronunciation: DAY-lohss
Affiliation: Galactic Commonwealth
Climate: Cool, semi-arid
Economy: Huge, research and service

A calm world of silver plains and slow rivers, where horizon and sky seem to meet in endless thought. It is the cradle of the Delor, a tall, pale, and contemplative species whose wide eyes are built for starlight and whose voices seldom rise above a whisper. Native life is sparse and gentle, a quiet that drove the Delor outward to seek the noise of the universe. Today, its equatorial universities and observatories form the Commonwealth’s intellectual heart, where every theory, star chart, and expedition still traces its lineage back to the glass domes of Delos.

Drak

Pronunciation: Drak, rhymes with “flak”
Affiliation: Iron Dominion
Climate: Cool, stormy
Economy: Huge, mixed

The storm-bound capital of the Iron Dominion, a world where thunder never ceases and lightning crowns its black citadels. Towering spires of metal and stone rise above churning cloud seas, each housing fleets, forges, or the faithful. The Dominion proclaims the storms as proof of strength, yet whispers say the Dread guide its rulers from behind sealed temples deep within the ion-veiled surface. Officially denied, their influence is visible in every shadowed hall and every prayer carved into armor. The planet’s orbital yards host one of the largest battle fleets in the galaxy, a reminder that judgment can fall from the sky as easily as the rain.

Gultz

Pronunciation: Gults, rhymes with “gulch”
Affiliation: Iron Dominion
Climate: Warm, arid
Economy: Huge, military manufacturing

A wind-swept, ochre planet whose surface is carved by dry storms and endless machine yards. Here, Dominion forges and assembly lines run day and night, birthing the legions of warbots that fill its fleets and garrisons. The planet’s air tastes of iron dust and ozone, and its cities echo with the clang of unfinished automata. Laborers are easily replaced, and many never finish their contracts, yet the state calls their sacrifice honor in motion.

Kurix

Pronunciation: Kuricks, both vowels short
Affiliation: Iron Dominion
Climate: Temperate
Economy: Medium to Large, service

A warm world of marble spires and bronze statues, its sunlit hills heavy with history and fear. Every plaza and tower commemorates victory, sacrifice, or obedience; the past is curated here like a sacred machine. Surveillance is total, and the law absolute: trials are swift, judgment delivered by a triad of magistrates. Even dissent is ritualized, public for rebels, private for citizens who should have known better.

Otenno

Pronunciation: oh-TEHN-oh
Affiliation: Galactic Commonwealth
Climate: Temperate
Economy: Medium to Large, manufacturing

A temperate, carefully seeded Commonwealth world whose blue continents and calm seas echo the design of distant Huma. With no native biosphere of its own, its ecosystems were imported wholesale and now thrive under quiet stewardship. It serves as a middle-income hub where industry meets opportunity, a place where young citizens earn their first contracts and refugees from border wars find new beginnings. Neither rich nor poor, Otenno endures, a reminder that civilization’s strength lies as much in ordinary lives as in empires.

Middle Rim

Biri

Pronunciation: BEER-ee Affiliation: Galactic Commonwealth
Climate: Temperate, wet
Economy: Large, service

A world of red-leaved forests, silver rivers, and too many secrets to count. The quick-footed Birin call it home, a fox-like people whose curiosity and cunning made them indispensable traders and infuriating smugglers. Officially a member of the Commonwealth, Biri is one of its most prolific violators of trade and information laws. If you need something moved quietly or someone who can vanish between ports, there are far worse places to start than here.

DW-11

Pronunciation: n/a
Affiliation: Iron Dominion
Climate: Warm, arid
Economy: Unknown

Rumored to be short for Detention World Eleven, the planet does not appear in Dominion records, and no request for clarification has ever received a reply. A heavy fleet presence patrols the system, intercepting all unauthorized vessels; most that enter do not return. From orbit, long-range scans suggest a barren, dusty desert world ringed by thin atmosphere and faint energy signatures. What happens on the surface is unknown, though rumor holds that those who vanish there are neither seen nor spoken of again.

Soresh

Pronunciation: sor-ESH
Affiliation: Contested
Climate: Variable
Economy: Medium, full wartime

A shattered world of red dust and broken cities, where war has become the weather. Its people have fought for years against mercenary armies quietly funded by Dominion interests, holding the line more through will than resources. The Commonwealth debates its admission endlessly, each committee passing the matter upward while the shells keep falling. For now, Soresh endures, simply because it refuses to disappear.

Val Kos

Pronunciation: Val-Kohs
Affiliation: Iron Dominion
Climate: Variable
Economy: Medium to large, mixed

A somewhat rare Dominion world where order feels almost comfortable. Its garrison cities hum with patrol craft and orbital interdiction grids, but most of the troops are too busy chasing pirates, smugglers, and refugee flotillas to bother civilians. Life here is stable, prosperous, and closely watched. The locals have learned that compliance buys safety and that silence is the best kind of freedom.

Weros

Pronunciation: WEAR-ohss
Affiliation: Independent
Climate: Temperate, alpine
Economy: Large, manufacturing

A world whose people believe peace endures only through readiness. Every citizen serves; every home keeps arms; every border bristles with deterrence. Its arms industry rivals that of most Commonwealth sectors, and Dominion analysts quietly advise against invasions as simulations label the planet too expensive to pacify. Politically neutral and economically shrewd, Weros trades weapons and expertise to all sides, ensuring that whoever wins, Weros prospers.

Outer Rim

Harnash

Pronunciation: Rhymes with “ash.”
Affiliation: Harnak Space
Climate: Variable warm, wet
Economy: Huge, criminal

A humid archipelago of coral towers and ink-dark lagoons, cradle of the amphibious Harnak and the galaxy’s most notorious market for contraband and favors. Crime here is an industry and a language: what’s illegal depends on who you offend, whether you’re caught, and how useful you might be once you’re in debt. The island-bazaars glow at night with blisscoil, rare trinkets, and exotic weaponry; the dancehouses and shadow-docks sell both entertainment and favors. If you want a rare blaster or a rumor, someone on Harnash will trade it for the right price.

Qas Almeidi

Pronunciation: Kahss Ahl-MAY-dee
Affiliation: Independent
Climate: Hot, arid
Economy: Small, mixed

A heat-scoured refueling colony where dust storms eat sensors and justice depends on who’s buying supplies today. Beasts of both burden and transportation are common, with hoverlift transport only usually available in the capital of Almeidi City, and even there is hard to come by.

Ruqos

Pronunciation: ROO-kohs
Affiliation: Independent
Climate: Variable warm, wet
Economy: Large, service, manufacturing

A vast world of swamps, steaming jungles, and endless mist, where the Ruqan hatch their young beneath the glow of bioluminescent canopies. Tall, reptilian, and wide-eyed, the Ruqans are hunters by instinct and mercenaries by trade. Their sharp vision and calm precision make them sought after across the galaxy as scouts, bounty hunters, and marksmen. A few turn to engineering, adapting their predator’s focus to machines, though serious apprenticeships often take them off-world. Ruqos itself thrives on the export of its warriors and the quiet pride of a people born to see in every shadow.

Trusok

Pronunciation: varying
Affiliation: Harnak Space (loose)
Climate: Hot, wet
Economy: Medium, piracy, criminal

A sweltering world of tangled jungles and biting insects, where every port hides a flag of convenience. Once a forgotten colony, it became the galaxy’s original pirate haven long before the Commonwealth or Dominion admitted such things existed. Today, its shanty-cities and hidden bays serve smugglers, raiders, and mercenary fleets under a patchwork of shifting allegiances. The Harnak Syndicates quietly bankroll much of the chaos, buying protection through bribes and backroom favors. Some whisper that Trusok’s raiders have pushed into Unsettled Space itself though no one who’s followed them that far has come back to confirm it.

Tyssara

Pronunciation: Tiss-AHR-a
Affiliation: Independent
Climate: Temperate, wet
Economy: Large, service

A world where forests of towering mushrooms rise like cathedrals of color. The Tyssari, graceful and empathic humanoids, reflect that same palette in their varied skin tones and moods. Their society prizes understanding above all else: disputes are sung away, and seduction is considered a form of negotiation. The best of them are the galaxy’s most gifted diplomats and mediators; the worst, its most beautiful idlers. On Tyssara, pleasure and peace are both arts and neither is ever in short supply.

Yertil

Pronunciation: YUR-til, short “u” vowel
Affiliation: Independent
Climate: Temperate, semi-arid
Economy: Small, agriculture

An open world of endless grasslands and low skies, dotted with small farmsteads and wind towers. The settlers raise Dwall cattle, grow hardy grains, and live far from the reach of any major faction. There’s little crime, less excitement, and only one real city: a modest spaceport town of twenty thousand where the bars stay full of young locals dreaming of passage to somewhere louder. Yertil exports food, hides, and the restless hope of a generation waiting to leave.

Unsettled Space

Quapilon

Pronunciation: KWA-pil-ahn
Affiliation: Independent
Climate: Arctic, tundra
Economy: Minimal activity

A pale, wind-scoured world of frozen seas and endless tundra. Life here clings to geothermal vents and scattered valleys, leaving most of the planet silent beneath drifting snow. It’s an easy place to disappear, and many do: fugitives, deserters, or those simply weary of being found. Ancient myths claim a precursor civilization once settled here, their ruins buried beneath the ice. No expedition has ever proven it; most archaeologists dismiss the idea, or perhaps just dislike the cold.

Uncharted Regions

Since the Uncharted Regions are defined by their lack of entry in galactic astronomical records, they truly are a blank space on the map. They remain unknown and ripe for adventure, but only for the bravest of starship captains.

Timekeeping

Commonwealth’s clock consists of a day of twenty-four hours, a year of three-hundred-sixty-five days, with a leap day every fourth year. Coropolis keeps the time, and the Hypernet carries it; ships and stations fall into step when the beacons catch them. Worlds keep their own daylight as they please, but law, trade, and history are written in GST. When dates disagree, the galaxy believes the clock that speaks from Coropolis.

The Galactic Standard timekeeping records time by descending order of scale year, day, hour; every archive reads the same from the Core to the Rim:

This may be variously written. Examples include GSY 9000-127-08:17, 9000-127, among some other local variants.

Appendix B: Relevant Public Domain Terminology and Technologies

The following terms represent genre-relevant concepts that are in the public domain and may be freely referenced, adapted, or expanded upon within the Aether Galaxy setting. They are included here to provide a shared foundation for worldbuilders and contributors seeking language that evokes the mythic and exploratory tone of classic space opera while remaining fully IP-safe.

Appendix B: Relevant Public Domain Terminology and Technologies

The following terms represent genre-relevant concepts that are in the public domain and may be freely referenced, adapted, or expanded upon within the Aether Galaxy setting.
They are included here to provide a shared foundation for worldbuilders and contributors seeking language that evokes the mythic and exploratory tone of classic space opera while remaining fully IP-safe. Absence from the list does not imply a term is necessarily copyrigted; additional research regarding omitted terms is recommended.
This appendix also serves as a public-domain awareness notice, clarifying which genre terms can be used without restriction when developing derivative or compatible works.

Spacecraft and Travel

  • Corvette
  • Cruiser
  • Destroyer
  • Frigate
  • Starfighter
  • Ship
  • Shuttle
  • Transport
  • Freighter
  • Fleet
  • Space station
  • Battle station
  • Warp
  • Hyperdrive
  • Lightspeed
  • Jump
  • Docking bay
  • Cargo hold
  • Star map
  • Nav beacon
  • Escape pod
  • Maintenance bay
  • Hangar
  • Thruster
  • Impulse engine
  • Warp core
  • Flux conduit
  • Auxiliary reactor
  • Life support
  • Navigation computer
  • Auto-pilot
  • Command deck / bridge
  • Engineering deck
  • Hull plating
  • Deflector shield

Governance and Hierarchy

  • Admiral
  • Captain
  • Commander
  • Master
  • Apprentice
  • Emperor / Empress
  • Council
  • Alliance
  • Republic
  • Empire
  • Rebellion / Rebels
  • Fleet Command
  • Tribunal
  • Academy
  • Archive
  • Guild
  • Order
  • Confederation
  • Coalition
  • Consortium
  • Syndicate

Locations and Regions

  • Core Worlds
  • Outer Rim
  • Moon
  • Planet
  • Star system
  • Spaceport
  • Temple
  • Cantina
  • Nebula
  • Asteroid belt
  • Gas giant
  • Binary star
  • Outpost
  • Colony
  • Station quarter / ring city

People and Roles

  • Bounty hunter
  • Smuggler
  • Pilot
  • Mechanic
  • Trooper
  • Storm trooper (with space)
  • Clone
  • Merchant
  • Spacer (slang for starfarer)
  • Archivist
  • Envoy
  • Ambassador

Technology and Weapons

  • Automaton
  • Robot
  • Drone
  • Blaster
  • Blaster bolt
  • Plasma bolt
  • Force field
  • Power converter
  • Power coupling
  • Hologram
  • Holoprojector
  • Reactor
  • Fusion drive
  • Ion engine
  • Shield generator
  • Gravity well
  • Sensor array
  • Transmitter / Communicator
  • Energy shield
  • Defensive grid
  • Orbital bombardment
  • Siege platform
  • Planetary defense
  • Armory
  • Tactical console
  • Power cell
  • Energy core
  • Fusion reactor
  • Antimatter containment
  • Graviton drive
  • Matter synthesizer
  • Nanite
  • Cryo chamber
  • Terraformer
  • Atmospheric processor
  • Hydroponic bay
  • Quantum array

Communication and Sensors

  • Comms relay
  • Beacon
  • Signal array
  • Scanner
  • Long-range sensor
  • Data core
  • Encrypted channel
  • Transponder code
  • Subspace transmission

Celestial and Environmental

  • Orbit
  • Exoplanet
  • Star cluster
  • Quasar
  • Black hole
  • Singularity
  • Wormhole
  • Event horizon
  • Radiation belt
  • Solar flare
  • Ion storm
  • Magnetic field
  • Cryovolcano

Warfare and Defense

  • Assault craft
  • Interceptor
  • Gunship
  • Carrier
  • Torpedo
  • Missile bay
  • Energy shield
  • Defensive grid
  • Orbital bombardment
  • Siege platform
  • Planetary defense
  • Armory
  • Tactical console

Concepts and Events

  • Galaxy
  • Space battle
  • Storm
  • Sector
  • Quadrant
  • Timeline
  • Cycle (as a calendar unit)
  • Protocol
  • Directive
  • Edict
  • Doctrine
  • Manifest
  • Expedition
  • Mission log
  • Chronicle

Appendix B: Creator’s Toolkit

Purpose

The Aether Galaxy Creator’s Toolkit exists to help others create in the same shared galaxy. It explains how to use the setting’s content, how to credit it properly, and how to stay consistent with its tone. Anyone may build on this work. The goal is to make it easy for writers, artists, and game designers to create new stories and worlds within the Aetherverse.

License Reference

The Aether Galaxy setting is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). You may adapt, redistribute, or commercialize this work as long as you include proper credit.

For full attribution wording and details, see the “Attribution Guide” section near the beginning of this document.

Tone and Style Guidelines

Aether Galaxy is mythic science fiction. If you would like your artistic work based on it to reflect that genre, here are some tips: Aether Galaxy blends wonder, mystery, and lived-in realism. Stories in this setting should feel grounded but never ordinary. Technology is operational instead of theoretical. Ships fly, blasters fire, and clarminite hums. The details matter only as far as they serve story and atmosphere. Characters should face moral and emotional choices that reflect their beliefs about the Aether and the balance between harmony and discord. The galaxy is vast, but personal conviction shapes its fate. Language should be clear, direct, and accessible. Avoid unnecessary complexity. Focus on what is seen, heard, or felt rather than how it works. The goal is coherence instead of canon. Every creator adds a new light to the same sky.

Terminology Reference

The full descriptions of these terms appear in the main text of this guidebook. This list exists only for quick reference when creating derivative works. Creators may use, adapt, or expand on these concepts as long as their basic meaning remains intact.

Common reference terms: The Aether • Radiant • Shadow • Clarminite • The Galactic Commonwealth • The Iron Dominion • The Concord • The Dread • Sunblade • Hypernet • Hyperdrive Grades • GSY (Galactic Standard Year)

Creators may freely coin new terms if they fit the established tone and remain consistent with existing ones.

Creative Expansion Guidance

The Aether Galaxy setting is open for expansion. Anyone may create new stories, games, art, or worlds within the Aetherverse. The following notes exist to help creators keep their work compatible with the source material.

Additions such as new planets, species, technologies, or organizations are welcome. Keep their tone consistent with the broader galaxy and give them a sense of history and purpose. When describing them, focus on how they fit into the existing world rather than how they replace it.

Alternate timelines or interpretations are allowed. If your work changes major details or assumptions, mark it clearly as an alternate version or chronicle. The goal is to maintain clarity rather than uniformity.

Creators should avoid redefining key terms or rewriting established events in the Foundational Guidebook. If something does not fit, it is better to branch off than to overwrite.

When possible, include notes on how your new material connects to the existing Commonwealth era (GSY 9000). This helps keep the galaxy coherent even as it grows. There are no fixed boundaries. The Aetherverse expands through curiosity, respect, and imagination.

Acknowledgment and Invitation

The Aetherverse belongs to everyone who wishes to imagine within it. Every story, world, or song adds to its light. No single voice defines it, and no version closes it. If you create something within this setting, share it freely, and let others build upon it as you have built upon this work. The Aether Galaxy exist so that imagination can travel farther than any one creator. May your stories carry that light forward.

Very Special Thanks to:

George Walton Lucas Jr.

Gary Kurtz

John Williams

Alan Dean Foster

Timothy Zahn

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Philip Francis Nowlan

Gustav Holst

Eric Eldred

Lawrence Lessig

Richard Stallman

Linus Torvalds

Joseph Campbell

Credits

Setting developed by Terrance Clark with editorial and research assistance from ChatGPT (GPT-5, OpenAI). Every section was planned, reviewed, and rewritten by the human author.

Cover image is in the public domain, NGC 2683 spiral galaxy, taken by NASA, 2012

License

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

You may share, adapt, and redistribute this work freely with proper credit.

Full license text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

No canon; only coherence.

@ Aether Galaxy. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.