Beyond the Core Worlds and the political security of the Riadian Coalition and its neighbors lies the vast, dangerous expanse of the galactic rim. This territory is largely defined by the aggressive isolationism of major non-aligned powers and the endless chaos of uncharted space. Here, the rule of law is fractured, belonging either to the harsh military code of the Unbroken Chain, the ancient, unbending decrees of the Himinngar Dominion, or the completely unpredictable forces scattered throughout deep space. This is the realm of mercenaries, pirates, ancient ruins, and cosmic mysteries, where a ship is never far from either a fortune or its doom.
The Himinngar Dominion
The Himinngar Dominion is a vast, industrial, and deeply religious empire located far outside the Core Worlds. It is an elective theocratic autocracy, ruled by a Jarl-King chosen by the high priests in the name of their creator-god, Olim. Their culture is focused on the ideas of their pantheon and a devotion to striving for perfection in their crafts, driven by a fierce possessiveness over all they create or claim.
Territory & Key Worlds
The core of the Dominion lies within the Fjörnskýr, a vast, dark nebula shaped like a slowly spinning cosmic vortex. Their most critical, heavily industrialized Holds and mining operations are scattered throughout the rich molecular clouds of the nebula’s spiral arms. Their current homeworld, Smidloft, is a massive, fortified planet within the nebula, named in memory of their celestial ancestral home. The primary military headquarters and fortress colony, Börgfjell, is a crucial part of the outer defense network. Key systems include the colossal industrial hub Smydgar and the trade world Kauphim. The Dominion aggressively claims star systems far outside the visible nebula, an area known collectively as Utgar. The Dominion maintains a major trade presence in the Core Worlds, including the towering embassy, the Gungnir Spire, orbiting Riadus. Their strategic colonial outposts are known as Fjellvard.
People & Culture
Dwarves are stern, tenacious, and intensely loyal to their Guilds and gods. Their lives are focused on engineering, mining, and creating artifacts of unsurpassed quality. Wealth and craftsmanship are the ultimate measures of status, while their culture is driven by the devout belief that perfection in craft is the highest form of worship.
Government & Military
A theocratic autocracy where the Jarl-King’s authority is considered divine. The ruling religious body is The Synod, and rule is maintained through powerful Guilds (mining, banking, crafting) which manage the Dominion’s vast economy. The Dominion’s internal police and domestic security is handled by the Folkvakt (People’s Watch). The elite military that projects power across interstellar space is the Olimgard. Their most formidable division of soldiers, known throughout the Core Worlds for their unparalleled martial skill, is the Skyvardr.
Views on Magic & Technology
The Dwarves have a heavy preference for technology and industrialization, seeing them as the most reliable and efficient means to achieve their societal goals. While they utilize the divine magic of The Synod in all aspects of life, they tend to avoid other forms of magic. While these other magical practices are neither banned nor taboo, they are viewed as impractical, unreliable, or simply unnecessary.
Interstellar Relations
The Dominion is the major economic power outside the Core Worlds. They rarely welcome outsiders into their inner territories, maintaining an isolationist policy. They welcome the Chrysanthemum Fleet as the elves are ancient allies from their time on Riadus. They have a tenuous trade alliance with the Riadian Coalition, which is often strained by mistrust on both sides.
The Unbroken Chain
The Unbroken Chain is a collective of powerful, independent Orcish empires and kingdoms located far outside the Core Worlds. The orc population here maintains a society that is harsh, unforgiving, and deeply stratified. The territory is an empire of orcs ruling over a diverse collection of other ancestries native to the region; throughout the Chain, orcs are the unquestioned ruling class, and all other ancestries are second-class citizens at best, or expendable slaves at worst.
Territory & Key Worlds
The Chain consists of dozens of worlds and numerous smaller systems spread across several distinct empires. The current Supreme Chainlord resides on Zargul, the capital world of the Narzug Empire. The Chain’s most heavily industrialized zone is centered within the Thogrum Empire, which houses the critical Blood-Forges where the Chain’s arms and armor are manufactured. The most dangerous regions are found in the border zones of the Borba, which aggressively tests the border of the Xylan Stratocracy.
People & Culture
Orcs are a pragmatic, harsh people with a brutal class divide between the ruling elite and expendable workers. Their culture is built on martial prowess, survival, and physical strength. The politics of the Chain are dominated by six major empires that constantly maneuver for influence: The Narzug advocate for internal equality among orcs, striving to rule justly and honorably, though frequently neglect the needs of their non-orc citizens. This contrasts sharply with the Borba, which is fanatically devoted to the concept of tyrannical rule and expansion. The Chain’s economy relies heavily on the highly structured industrial state of the Thogrum and the pirate fleets of the Mogluk. The Grisha is a powerful mageocracy led by mystics whose warrior-priests are feared throughout the Chain and beyond for their unpredictable destructive power. The fiercely xenophobic Grendok maintains its wealth by exploiting its massive slave and worker populations.
Government & Military
The Unbroken Chain is governed by a cyclical hegemony, a unique political system where the warlord of a single empire temporarily becomes the Supreme Chainlord over all orc-kind; currently, this is Supreme Chainlord Thrakk of the Narzug. The official military is the Chain-Bound Legion, often called the Seventh Link, which is a unified, permanent fighting force whose sole allegiance is to the Chainlord and the stability of the system. Its ranks are drawn from all empires via volunteers, exiled penal soldiers, compulsory donated units, and direct conscription of orc and non-orc personnel. By tradition, every Legionary must ritually forsake all previous imperial loyalty, ensuring the Legion’s soldiers act as a neutral political force to maintain the rotation of power.
Views on Magic & Technology
The Chain values both magic and technology solely for their utility in all aspects of society, though use cobat remains a major focus. Their technology is often more brutal than refined, favoring raw power over elegance. Magic is something rare, respected, and feared among orcs, and is channeled primarily by highly influential shamans and warrior-priests who almost always hold positions of power or influence within the tribal hierarchies.
Interstellar Relations
The Chain is generally isolationist, though orcs are commonly encountered as mercenaries, bodyguards, and pirates throughout the Core Worlds. The Riadian Coalition maintains a strong non-aggression treaty with the Chain, which is holding mainly due to the current priorities of the Narzug Clans. In contrast, the Chain is currently in a cold war with the Xylan Stratocracy, which is in a brief non-violent era, but tensions remain high and a conflict could erupt at any time.
Anomalous Phenomena and Hidden Dangers
The space outside the Core Worlds is vast, chaotic, and largely uncharted, making it a repository for incredible ruins, impossible technology, and phenomena that defy the known laws of physics. These regions are often the goal of ambitious explorers, treasure hunters, and those seeking power far removed from the watchful eyes of the major galactic powers.
Terra Prime
Terra Prime is the near-mythical homeworld of the Systems, its location lost and forgotten through their many iterations. The Systems themselves show little interest in locating the planet, due to uncomfortable memories or the belief it’s a dead world. Despite the Systems’ official dismissal, persistent rumors claim that if Terra Prime could be found, its ruins would contain highly advanced technology and vast natural resources ripe for plundering by those brave (or foolish) enough to seek it out.
The Therean Legacy
The powerful and technologically advanced Therean civilization was completely eradicated long before the great Expansion, but their relics and ruins can still be found, seemingly randomly, throughout the galaxy. Their artifacts defy modern science and magic: ancient objects capable of performing miracles, sections of living architecture that grow and repair themselves, interstellar teleportation gates, and other artifacts capable of amazing and impossible feats. These relics are fiercely sought after, as they hold the key to unimaginable power.
Temporal Maelstroms
These are unpredictable pockets of spacetime that function like invisible, raging storms, warping the flow of time within their boundaries. Temporal Maelstroms can be found anywhere in Realspace, but the territory surrounding the Mnemosyne Entity seems to have an unusually high concentration of them, which the Mnemosyne appear able to navigate with ease. They are an existential danger to travelers, capable of skipping a ship forward or backward in time, usually by hours or days, or trapping travelers in frustratingly short time loops. Tales of ships being thrown decades or centuries through time are common “spacer’s tales,” though verifiable evidence is scarce.
The Dread Gyre
Lying in the chaotic neutral zone between the Coalition, the Spectrum, and the Unbroken Chain, the Dread Gyre is a vast region famous for consuming starships without trace. Its existence fuels endless speculation across the galaxy, with some blaming sophisticated pirate syndicates who use advanced stealth technology to lure and dismantle vessels, while others whisper of an unknown alien intelligence that simply consumes any vessel that strays into its path. The most terrifying legends, however, speak of colossal, undetectable Void Predators that snatch ships right out of Wildspace.
The Cerulean Deeps
Located beyond the Spectrum Nebula, the Cerulean Deeps is a celestial paradox. By all appearances, the area of space is perfectly normal, with visible stars, planets, and nebulae. However, travel using Wildspace is completely impossible and catastrophically fails upon reaching the boundary. Normal space flight is possible but lengthy, and astronomical evidence has yet to detect any signs of life or civilization. For a traveler, a miscalculation in navigation that results in exit from Wildspace into the Deep is often a death sentence, as it would take lifetimes to travel back out.
Stellar Leviathans
Sightings of massive lifeforms referred to as Stellar Leviathans have been recorded drifting alongside starships as they travel through Wildspace. The existence of these enormous, whale-like creatures is profoundly enigmatic, as it is completely unknown how they survive in Wildspace or why they are never observed in Realspace. They are simply documented as existing, though sightings are rare. Though usually benign, leviathans have been known to attack starships, forcing travelers to dangerously exit Wildspace prematurely.
The Living Planet
One of the most profound mysteries of deep space is an entity that presents itself as a world—a planet-sized entity with an atmosphere, and ecosystems suitable to most sentient life in the galaxy—but is confirmed by astronomers to move under its own power. The Living Planet has been described in contradictory ways, leading to theories that it is either a gigantic, highly automated ancient megastructure or a single, sentient creature of colossal size. Legends describe it as an impossibly large space turtle, a slumbering celestial dragon, or a colossal egg that travels between star systems by either gliding through Wildspace or spontaneously teleporting.