C
Cloudburst
Guest
Original poster
It began on November 6th, 2140.
That day- a day that would forever live in infamy- the planet Earth came under deliberate and sudden attack from alien invaders beyond the Solar System and the Milky Way.
Indeed, we were unawares of their presence for hundreds of years, and in one moment, we were attacked and all illusions of peace had been removed just like the lives of those men, women, and children caught in the line of fire, tooth, and claw.
This was called the Contact War of 2140, and it raged for eight long and terrible years, ending in the alien menace being quelled by their own devices, arrogance, and superiors. The war was a mistake, not just from a moral imperative, but also in the form of leadership. Our former enemy, the Milsar, assured us that their leaders were not responsible for the atrocities of the Contact War, and that the offenders will have a special place in their own version of Hell.
That assurance was not enough.
Earth lay in shambles, depleted not only by the Contact War, but by our own hands as humans, and we were given no other choice than to turn our eyes beyond Mars, Io, Europa, and Kaiper. We were to leave the Solar System and find a new home in the reaches of the Milky Way. For years, the Human Race wandered through the darkness of space.
One day, we found our new home. A world we named Persephone.
On that world we had learned again what it meant to be human, and had found that not only the Milsar called the depths of space home.
It began with a Janus Key, a small but powerful artifact that would pave the way to the future of Mankind. With this key, we gained access to its matched Janus Relay, and with that we had opened our eyes to another universe within our own.
The Umbra.
Two hundred years later, and Humanity had made a full recovery. Aliens were no longer seen as alien, but as other life-forms that inhabit the universe just as we do. Alliances were forged, lines were drawn, and the Umbra laid itself out to all that wished to tread it. Human industries such as Starlon plunged their fingers and agents into and beyond the Umbra to seek out the secrets and treasures of the universe. The aptly named Coalition of Alien Nations, C.A.N. for short, lorded over the Umbra and any space that it could get its influence into, and opposed the corporate empire that was Starlon.
And then there were people that stood in the middle. Adventurers, suicides, explorers, entrepreneurs- they were called many names, but only two really stuck.
Key Jumpers and Artificers.
Key Jumpers were the ones that wanted to find Janus Keys and sell them to the highest bidder. Artificers however sought to take the keys for themselves and see what they could unlock within their respective relays and parts of the Umbra. Both were seen as little more than people that had either too much optimism or too much of a death wish.
Either way, they certainly had some stories to tell.
One day, we found our new home. A world we named Persephone.
On that world we had learned again what it meant to be human, and had found that not only the Milsar called the depths of space home.
It began with a Janus Key, a small but powerful artifact that would pave the way to the future of Mankind. With this key, we gained access to its matched Janus Relay, and with that we had opened our eyes to another universe within our own.
The Umbra.
Two hundred years later, and Humanity had made a full recovery. Aliens were no longer seen as alien, but as other life-forms that inhabit the universe just as we do. Alliances were forged, lines were drawn, and the Umbra laid itself out to all that wished to tread it. Human industries such as Starlon plunged their fingers and agents into and beyond the Umbra to seek out the secrets and treasures of the universe. The aptly named Coalition of Alien Nations, C.A.N. for short, lorded over the Umbra and any space that it could get its influence into, and opposed the corporate empire that was Starlon.
And then there were people that stood in the middle. Adventurers, suicides, explorers, entrepreneurs- they were called many names, but only two really stuck.
Key Jumpers and Artificers.
Key Jumpers were the ones that wanted to find Janus Keys and sell them to the highest bidder. Artificers however sought to take the keys for themselves and see what they could unlock within their respective relays and parts of the Umbra. Both were seen as little more than people that had either too much optimism or too much of a death wish.
Either way, they certainly had some stories to tell.
Hello and welcome to the Beyond the Umbra mock OOC and interest check thread. Please pardon the above if it is too obtrusive. In summary of that: Humanity has discovered a plane of the universe known as the Umbra, and your player characters are tasked/are interested to explore it for the acquisition of a Janus Key. There are several species I have planned out to be playable, and I will allow a small clutch of player-made species to exist alongside those that already are canon. There is a rough story with breadcrumbs and plot points planned out, but it is also open for anyone to create small events as if they were in a sandbox roleplay- so in essence it can be seen as both GM guided and sandbox. As more interest is shewn, I will begin to dole out more information as to not waste time and energy on something that may or may not gather the crop that I desire.
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