Planetary Dossier

Local/Indigenous Designation: Curiosity

Official Union Planetary Designation: DS-X

Settlement History (unverified)

Shipboard Era: ~6000bu-3001u

• The Curiosity, a colony ship and one of The Ten departed Cradle before the Fall
• The ship missed its original destination due to an unrecognized non-critical engine failure (confirmed in an SOS transmission received upon reactivation of pre-Fall laser-based comm arrays in 1405u) and was adrift in space for several millennia.
• Roughly 600 years after launching, the crew/passengers recognized that the generation ship's systems would be unable to support a growing population indefinitely, leading them to enact strict population control and resource rationing.
• They devote the entire productive energies of the population to developing a form of cryogenic/stasis pods.
• Within four generations, the technology reached viability and was implemented, with roughly 75% of the shipboard population (now reduced to fewer than 5000 souls) entering hibernation.
• The remaining awake population consisted of three groups:
  • The Naval crew who ensured that the Curiosity remained functional and searched for viable landing/settlement sites
  • Engineers/researchers who continued advancing stasis technology (the smallest contingent)
  • Custodians/stewards who maintained the stasis systems, cared for the population in stasis, and oversaw the daily shipboard operations
• Over the next millennia, the hibernating population was rotated out of stasis to assist in the Curiosity's journey, and the entire population began rotating in and out of hibernation as they transitioned to newer and more advanced stasis technology. At times, the entire population would spend extended periods in hibernation, allowing the Curiosity's automated systems to take over.
• In this manner, the Curiosity kept its resource consumption to a level the ship's food production and waste management systems could sustain indefinitely, particularly as the Engineering caste began to improve the efficiency of said systems.

The Custodian Era: ~1000bu-1500u

• At some point around 1000bu, the Curiosity passed within .20 light-years of a star with several rocky planets and a large asteroid belt.
• The Curiosity was currently under the grip of Grandin Trellshire, a Custodial caste leader who had strong-armed his way into command through violence and intimidation.
• Against the advise of both the Naval and Engineering castes - who said the risks and energy demands of decelerating and re-accelerating would outweigh any resources harvested from the system - Trellshire ordered the Curiosity to establish a stellar orbit within the asteroid belt, with the Custodians effectively holding the ship hostage to ensure his orders were followed.
• Lifeboats and landing craft were retrofitted to serve as makeshift mining craft, intending to use materials harvested in the belt to facilitate an extended expedition deeper into the system to land on and mine one of the planets.
• Widespread coercion and force were employed against the population in order to crew these resource mining efforts, resulting in protests throughout the Curiosity and a high casualty rate among the poorly-trained mining crews.
• Despite this, and contrary to Naval and Engineering's fears, the mining venture proved wildly materially successful over the next 61 years, resulting in significant upgrades and expansions to the Curiosity and cementing the Custodial caste as Curiosity's de facto leaders and Grandin Trellshire as a cultural hero to his caste.
• After this, Naval (under the Custodians' dictates) began charting courses to planetary systems despite any lack of habitability, placing the majority of the population into stasis during transit and waking them upon arrival to serve as labor on mining expeditions.
  • A skeleton crew of the Naval caste was rotated in and out of hibernation as needed to ensure safe transit.
  • A three shift Engineering crew was also kept awake during portions of these trips to upgrade the Curiosity, undertaking extensive expansion projects.
  • The Custodians remained awake throughout the journey, conducting their own elections and maintaining an ascetic lifestyle despite a growing stockpile of raw materials and vastly improved ship's systems.
• Across multiple cycles of waking, forced labor, and re-hibernation with no tangible benefit to their lives, the population revolted against the Custodians, leading to a months long mutiny aboard the increasingly massive ship.
  • Direct fighting between Naval/Engineering and Custodian forces was fiercest on the lower decks, in maintenance/storage areas, and in other parts of the ship not intended for long term habitation.
    • During the initial stages, the mutineers suffered heavy losses in these engagements due to lack of access to weapons, which were controlled by the Custodians.
    • Victories by the Engineering caste in the upper decks later closed the gap in armaments.
  • Within the habitable regions of the ship, where infrastructure was more advanced and better maintained, physical violence was comparatively minimal, with most of the struggle occurring over control of the ships computer systems.
    • The Custodians sought to engage the ships emergency cutoff systems to isolate and depressurize mutineer controlled sections of the ship, a tactic that proved successful on a few occasions.
    • The Engineers eventually secured several significant victories against the Custodians, exploiting their deeper understanding of Curiosity's computer systems to outmaneuver and deny access to the Custodian's tech teams.
    • Engineering teams eventually isolated a large weapons cache, allowing mutineer forces to arm themselves comparably to the Custodians and ultimately turning the tide in favor of the insurrection.
  • In the aftermath, the vast majority of the Custodial caste was placed into indefinite suspended animation.
    • Engineering and Naval castes (the latter now referred to as the Navigators) took complete control of the Curiosity, assisted by a small contingent of "Neo-Custodians", who had either defected to the mutineers during the insurrection or assisted them as double agents within Custodian forces.
    • The new leadership began searching for viable systems in which to land and create a permanent colony.
    • Previous stasis practices were resumed, with the population rotating out of stasis for extended wakeful periods of mixed leisure and ship duties.
    • As the ship's journey continued, subsequent generations undertook attempts to rehabilitate hibernated Custodians and reintegrate them into society, to varying degrees of success. These Custodians were barred from holding any leadership positions and consigned to lower ranking duties, usually partnered with a trusted counterpart from the Neo-Custodians.
    • Data loss incurred during the mutiny's digital warfare has made exact dating of the Curiosity's history nearly impossible. Thus, the majority of Union's information is reliant on oral histories.

The Long Night: ~1500u-3000u

• For over a millennia, Engineering and Navigators alternated command of the Curiosity.
  • Whichever faction was currently in power elected a High Captain from a small cadre of individuals trained from childhood to fill the position. This was a lifetime appointment.
  • They also selected a youth from within their ranks to serve as Tyro Captain, apprenticing under the High Captain to learn the ship's systems and captain's duties.
  • When the High Captain position changed hands, the Tyro Captain returned to their caste and took the title of High Counselor, training the next generation of High Captains Elect from early childhood until the post returned to their faction.
• During this period, the Neo-Custodians voluntarily abstained from leadership positions, reportedly out of a cultural guilt over their ancestors' oppression of the ship's inhabitants.
  • It is unclear whether this abstention from leadership was officially enforced by the other two castes or purely volitional by the Neo-Custodians.
  • Regardless, regular intervals of extended hibernation ensured that the majority of Curiosity's population had firsthand recollection of life under Custodian oppression.
• The Curiosity continued on in this manner for over 1400 years, during which time they spotted no star systems within feasible travelling distances, leading it to be dubbed "The Long Night".
  • During this time, the ship's resource stockpiles slowly reduced due to laxening austerity measures secondary to the Custodians' loss of influence.
  • She also began showing the first signs of system malfunctions and component failures, as systems that had previously been maintained but not fully replaced began to fail due to age/prolonged use.
  • By the end of the third millenium u, circumstances aboard the Curiosity had deteriorated to critical levels.
  • In 2957u (date confirmed retroactively via subsequent events), with incidents of resource theft and hoarding becoming increasingly common, the Neo-Custodians staged something of a bloodless semi-coup, taking over all aspects of daily ship operations but stopping short of taking over the High Captain position.
  • The Neo-Custodian leadership declared an onboard state of emergency and forced the remaining population into stasis, save for the minimal crew required to maintain essential operations.
• In 2998u, Capt. Lyra Roy of the Navigators suddenly ordered a course change, the first in over six centuries.
  • When questioned, she would only say that a voice called to her from that heading.
  • The Curiosity continued on that course for nearly two years.
  • In 3000u, as the remaining waking crew prepared to declare the first vote of no confidence against a High Captain, the Curiosity encountered something in deep space, which they refer to as The Triagrammaton.
    • Contemporary Curiosity natives are reticent to discuss any details of The Triagrammaton or the events immediately following the Curiosity's encounter with it.
    • Union believes the most likely explanation to be that they encountered an as-yet-unidentified MONIST-class entity (most likely RA, who had recently disappeared from the Sol system, along with Deimos). It is believed that this entity transported the Curiosity through Blinkspace to the planet that now bears the ship's name.

Early Colonial Era: 3000u-3793u

• The Curiosity attempted to maintain orbit around the planet at which it now found itself, but degradation of the ships rarely used orbital engines resulted in an emergency landing somewhere on what is now the planet's eastern continent.
  • This occurred during one of the planet's relatively uncommon but severe winter super storms, forcing the ship's inhabitants to spend the first three years hunkered down the dying ship.
  • Without their previous shipboard role to serve, the Navigators organized and led expeditions to search for supplies and paths out through the ice.
  • In 3004u, the ice began to recede and returning Navigator expeditions told of routes further into the continent to zones which were at that time deeper into a temperate period. The Navigator expeditions gathered passengers into caravans to lead out of the storm.
  • The Engineers largely elected to stay with the ship in an attempt to repair or salvage some of its systems, many of which was severely damaged from age, atmospheric reentry, and crash landing.
  • The Navigators led the Custodians and passengers farther inland, traversing a significant portion of the planet's landmass in roughly 2 years.
• It is uncertain what role The Triagrammaton played during this time, though Union investigators believe it remained in-system and may have even been on-planet.
• Within the first century on planet, three major events occurred:
  • The Engineers left the Curiosity and ventured deeper inland, eventually settling in what is now the Purity Archipelago.
  • Due to the loss of the Curiosity and limited to what the Engineers could strip and carry with them, technology levels on the planet were relatively primitive for several hundred years, particularly among the Custodian- and Navigator-led groups.
    • The Engineers focused their efforts on preserving the means to access the ship's salvaged data storage to preserve the information on how to build the technologies the colony would need.
    • Other potentially useful tech was cannibalized for raw components that were stored and preserved to the best degree possible to serve as replacements for newly re-prioritized items, such as displays, personal data tablets (primitive versions of modern Comp/Cons), data storage, and projectors.
    • Digital records were transcribed into hard copy round the clock in anticipation of storage drive failures.
    • Despite the preservation of information, the means to extract raw materials and to machine and manufacture new equipment was severely compromised with the loss of the Curiosity. The colonists would spend the next several centuries slowly rebuilding these lost capabilities, though generations would live under technological levels not seen on Cradle in thousands of years.
  • At the end of the first century on the planet, an unknown event of great significance resulted in a split between the Custodians and Navigators.
    • The nature of the occurrence is unknown, but it carried great religious significance to the already monastically inclined Custodians.
    • Afterward, they began referring to themselves as "The Firstborn" and settled farther west, in the Malkut mountain range, on what is now the continent of Yasad, eventually spreading northward across the plains to the northern end of the continent.
• In the mid-second century, a cataclysmic geological event dramatically altered the topography of Curiosity, splitting the single super continent in two, forming the Raziel Strait and the Purity Archipelago.
  • The Curiosity was lost during this event and over subsequent centuries attained near mythical status, now referred to as "Firsthome".
  • Union geologists have theorized that both the winter super storm and a major geological disaster could be attributable to the sudden introduction and removal of an object of considerable mass near the planet's surface. This could be attributable to the Triagrammaton, assuming it possesses a physical form similar to Metat Aun or RA inhabiting DEIMOS.
• Following the continental split and resulting geographic isolation, the three castes fully diverged into the three major nations found on modern Curiosity (more detailed profiles on each nation are included in a dedicated section of this document):
  • The Unified Diocese of the Triagrammaton
  • The Purity Collective
  • The Sojourners

Main Colony Era: 3794u-4899u

• The next 1100 years saw a steady progression towards the current status quo on Curiosity.
  • Technology levels progressed slowly for several hundred years until the Purity Collective re-established the necessary infrastructure for harvesting raw materials from the planet and constructed large scale manufacturing facilities, at which point technological progress accelerated rapidly.
  • Despite regaining the technical understanding and ability to achieve space flight, Curiosity has yet to attempt to leave the planet. Union understands this to be attributable to two factors
    • A cultural aversion to returning to space secondary to accounts of the original Curiosity's journey and the hardships suffered by the on board population
    • An inward focus of the current planetary population, which heavily emphasizes the populations place on and relationship to Curiosity and sees their existence there as preordained.
  • The Firstborn rose in prominence, becoming the most populous and the most politically active nation on Curiosity.
  • Having achieved a high level of technological development and making heavy use of automation within their harvesting and manufacturing infrastructure, the Purity Collective instituted a sweeping social welfare program, guaranteeing basic necessities and income. This resulted in a cultural renaissance and the development of the nation's artist culture.
• In 3937u, Wanderhome was sighted for the first time in the possession of the Sojourner clans, coinciding with the disappearance of two of the eight original clans.
  • Wanderhome's origin remains a mystery, as it was not built by the Purity Collective and rivals anything they had the capability to construct at that time. The Sojourners guard its origin jealously. Union has been unable to determine its origin, either from the Sojourners themselves or either of the other nations on Curiosity.
  • Similarly, the disappearance of two entire clans remains a mystery to Union investigators and the other residents of the planet. The fact that it presumably occurred in relatively close proximity to the appearance of Wanderhome suggests the two events are related.
• In 4553u, tension over longstanding Diocese efforts to proselytize the Sojourners and bring their culture in line with the Firstborn's came to a head.
  • During an Ironbound rotation as stewards of Wanterhome, a large contingent of Diocese missionaries was allowed to board Wanderhome, per Sojourner custom.
  • What transpired is unclear, though Ironbound accounts state that the leader of the missionaries became aggressive after an argument with an Ironbound leader and attempted to take control of Wanderhome and redirect it towards a large Diocese mission on Tiefer Nezac.
  • Regardless of the cause, fighting broke out between the Ironbound and the missionaries.
  • Due to their extensive survival training, the Diocese force proved surprisingly resilient, holding out within the main control room for nearly a full day and in other areas within Wanderhome for several more.
  • After regaining control of Wanderhome, the Ironborn maintained Wanderhome's course towards the Diocese outpost and used the mobile city's weapons systems to raze it to the ground, killing all Firstborn stationed there.
  • They then proclaimed a ban on any Firstborn or representatives of the United Diocese setting foot on Tiefer Nezac, charting a course to the next closest mission and sending outriders ahead with an ultimatum for the residents to leave or face the same fate as the previous mission.
  • By the time the other clans received word and caught up to Wanderhome, three more missions had been destroyed, though their personnel had evacuated prior to the Ironbound's arrival.
  • Though the other clans agree that they were justified in retaliating, the severity of the Ironbound response earned a formal reprimand from inter-clan leadership, with the following two Ironbound rotations aboard Wanderhome were forfeit. The judgment and sentence were handed down by Quinn Kenshi - then leader of the Pathbreakers - contributing to tension between the two clans that persists to present day.

First Contact to Latest Transmission (4899u-5014u)

• In 4889u, a malfunction in her nearlight drive caused the Mother Jones to overshoot her intended destination on a routine patrol of the Dawnline Shore. She completed deceleration less than .5 lightyears from the edge of the Curiosity system, which at that point was unidentified by Union or any of its constituent states.
  • Capt. Gloval ordered the ship to maintain a stellar orbit on the system's periphery and begin systematic scans of the star's five planets to catalog the system for addition to Union databases.
  • When an indigenous human population was discovered on the second planet, he ordered the ship to break orbit and make for Rao Co Station, the closest Blink Gate to the Dawnline Shore, where he transmitted an encrypted Omninet message to the Department of Justice and Human Rights (DoJ/HR).
  • Within a month, a DoJ/HR First Contact Mission (FCM) rendezvoused with the Mother Jones at Rao Co Station and deputized her and her crew to join their naval escort.
    • At that time, the Mother Jones was manned by a full human crew of seven, plus the captain. The ship NHP was a Magellan-class named Clearsight-3781. Upon joining the escort flotilla, Clearsight-3781 was requisitioned by the commodore aboard the command vessel. A recently-cloned and deployed Valkyrie-class NHP, designation Adelheid (ME!) was transferred to the Mother Jones. I apologize for the personal interjection, pilots. I just thought you may appreciate the anecdote. - Adelheid
• The FCM established contact with Stronghold and Purity en route into the system and a First Contact Ground Team made planetfall on October 10, 4890u (Cradle Standard Date).
  • The team consisted of an experienced Union Administrator specializing in FCMs, auditors from the DoJ/HR, a representative from General Massive Systems, a linguists/anthropology team, and a small security detail.
  • As the discoverer of the planet, Capt. Gloval was invited to join the ground team and serve as Union Naval liaison.
  • The FCM remained in-system through the following June.
    • Stronghold and Purity granted the crews of the Union ships permission to take shore leave within the boundaries of the respective cities, initiating early cultural exchange between Union and Curiosity.
    • The FCM combined the accounts of Union personnel returning from shore leave with their own observations, research, and information collected from interviews with the indigenous population to form partial cultural profiles for the planet.
      • These would be used to train the future permanent Union Administrator, who would be selected from an upcoming cohort on Cradle.
      • Despite the immediately good relations between Union and two of the planet's three major powers, these profiles were relatively scant by Union Administrative Department (UAD) standards, meaning that the future Administrator's depth of training and cultural assimilation would be reduced.
    • During the FCM, Capt. Gloval spent a significant amount of time with the Union Administrator and accompanied him on several trips into Tiefer Nezac to make contact with the Sojourners.
      • Their initial contact was with a small family band of Horizon Walkers who happened to be camping along their route.
      • The Walkers invited them to share their evening meal and stay the night at their campsite.
      • When the Union team woke up the following morning, the Walker band was gone.
      • Later that day, they were hailed by a party from the Chronologist clan, who had evidently been alerted to their presence by the Horizon Walkers.
      • They were soon joined by representatives from the Pathbreakers and Ironbound.
      • The three clans offered to lead the Union team deeper into the continent to Wanderhome, though the journey was deemed too hazardous for the seasoned Administrator to attempt. He returned to Stronghold with the majority of the Union team, while Capt. Gloval accompanied the Sojourner group to Wanderhome, establishing himself as the Sojourners' preferred Union contact.
  • The FCM ended on June 6, 4891u, with the majority of the FCM flotilla departing the Curiosity system, leaving the Administrator and a contingent of the linguistics/anthropology team.
    • Upon returning to Rao Co Station, Capt. Gloval submitted a formal request for assignment to the Dawnline Shore, which was granted based on his knowledge of the Curiosity system, eliminating the need to procure security clearance and training.
    • This resulted in the majority of the Mother Jones' crew requesting immediate transfer to other vessels, having lost nearly a decade of objective time to the FCM.
    • It was agreed that for the sake of information control around Curiosity's existence, the Mother Jones would continue with a reduced crew, with Adelheid assuming additional duties.
    • Over the next several years, standard Union Navy transfers resulted in the attrition of the rest of the Mother Jones' crew, leaving Capt. Gloval and Adelheid as the sole operators on board the ship.
• In 4935u, Administrator Milliard Dekun graduated from the UAD training facility on Cradle.
  • He was immediately dispatched to Curiosity, accompanied by his NHP companion Resonant Inquiry. They would spend the next 21 real time years en route through Union space (1.8 years subjective time).
  • At Yalaris Station, Admin. Dekun and Resonant inquiry boarded the USB Endeavor.
    • The Endeavor is one of the newest Ranger-class nearlight ships assigned to the Far-Field Team (FFT) under the command of Capt. Henri Chevalier.
    • Capt. Chevalier and his crew of "Rangers" would ferry Admin. Dekun the rest of the way to Curiosity and remain on station on the planet indefinitely, conducting scientific and anthropological research.
  • The Endeavor arrived at Curiosity on Jan. 1, 4957u, establishing a Halo Orbit between Curiosity and its star.
    • The majority of the crew accompanied Dekun to the surface, where they dispersed to pursue their individuals projects and assignments.
    • A small crew remained aboard the Endeavor to oversee daily ship operations, run long range scans and surveys, and maintain the ship's orbit.
  • Admin. Dekun has spent the last 50 years developing relationships across the planet and promoting the Utopian Pillars to leadership on planet.
    • One of his major achievements was negotiating of a formal treaty between the Unified Diocese of the Triagrammaton and the Sojourners, ending (at least in an official capacity) centuries of animosity and distrust between the two factions.
    • His efforts were greatly assisted by Capt. Chevalier and his crew, who had dispersed across the planet and immersed themselves in the local populations, with each Ranger utilizing their expertise in a particular field to assist their host population while completing their research or intel assignments.
    • During this time, the Mother Jones made frequent visits to Curiosity.
      • Capt. Gloval remained the primary point of contact between Union, Curiosity, and the planet's new contingent of inhabitants.
      • Gloval was often accompanied to the surface by Adelheid in a subaltern body.
      • As his visits became longer and more frequent, Capt. Gloval increasingly made use of nearlight travel to dilate time, shrinking both his travel time to/from other missions and reducing his and Adelheid's own subjective experiences of time during travel.
      • The Mother Jones' last time on station at Curiosity ended in late 5011u, when Capt. Gloval received orders to depart for DS-10/Crossland, a planet controlled by the Karrakin Trade Baronies (specifically the House of Remembrance).
        • He would rendezvous in orbit with a small contingent of the Albatross (actually, it was just Elias...) to help subdue a terrorist cell operating out of the planet's dense rain forests (believed to be backed by Harrison Armory).
        • Following the completion of this mission, the Mother Jones charted a course for Rao Co station to pick up a newly licensed Lancer for a post-commencement tour-of-duty in the Long Rim (I wonder who that could be...?).
• The last outbound transmission from Curiosity was a routine tight-beam data squirt sent to Rao Co Station in September of 5015u.
  • The message contained diplomatic progress reports from Admin. Dekun, the latest collections of Capt. Chevalier's logs for preservation in his personal vault on his homeworld of Argo Navis, the most recent data from the FFT's various planetary research, and personal messages. It contained no indication of anything out of the ordinary.
  • The message was received by Rao Co on the day we assaulted Hansen's Rough Riders on Carson's Folly. It was synced to the Mother Jones' logs when we briefly connected to the Omninet on route to Curiosity.
    • In the event of a pirate assault, Resonant Inquiry would immediately secure Admin. Dekun and evacuate him to a secure location, likely Stronghold as it is highly defensible.
    • The Ranger's are trained in survival and will either go to ground wherever they are currently embedded or attempt to rendezvous with other nearby members of the FFT, whichever is more feasible. The team's chief security officer, Mörk Borgson, will ensure Capt. Chevalier's safety.

Objectives

• Primary Objectives:
  • Neutralize any immediate pirate threat.
  • Locate and secure Admin. Dekun and evacuate him off-planet until it is confirmed no further danger is present.
  • Locate trafficked residents of Togo, Balto, and Gnome stations and escort them to a safe location.
• Secondary Objectives:
  • Locate and secure Capt. Chevalier.
  • Locate and secure the rest of the FFT.
• Tertiary and Open-Ended Objectives
  • Remain on station until Union reinforcements arrive.
  • Assist in the evacuation of civilians off-planet and assist in repatriation efforts.

Major Factions:

• The Unified Diocese of the Triagrammaton
  • Capital: Stronghold
  • Geography: Stronghold is located in the south of Curiosity's western continent of Yasad, seated atop Mount Keter, the tallest peak in the Malkut mountain range. Firstborn settlements span the entirety of Yasad, north of Stronghold.
  • Origins: Peopled predominantly by the former Custodians and the passengers who chose to follow them. They now refer to themselves as the Firstborn following an event as yet undisclosed to Union researchers. The descendants of the Custodians quickly established a stable, functioning government with a highly efficient bureaucracy that began to spread across the entirety of the planet's newly formed western continent.
  • Society/Culture: Highly religious, socioeconomically stratified society, with variations in religious rites signalling societal standing. More elevated levels of Firstborn society enjoy more privileged and celebrated roles in religious observances, often accompanied by a degree of formal recognition by the Diocese (resembling lay-clergy of pre-Fall Roman Catholicism on Cradle). Conversely, lower levels of Firstborn society are confined to menial and often self-effacing religious practices. In the last few centuries, the lower strata of Firstborn society have seen a decline in participation in the Triagrammaton religion, particularly in the capital city of Stronghold. This trend accelerated following first contact and subsequent cultural exchanges with Union, though the state religion is still practiced by the overwhelming majority of Firstborn.
  • Religion: Firstborn society is theocratic, with Triagrammaton Clerics occupying the vast majority of government and society positions. Each city is represented at the national level by an internally elected delegation sent to Stronghold to participate in quarterly congresses. Despite clerical control of nearly all aspects of society, the Diocese is tolerant of other religions and non-believers, though instances of both were exceedingly rare until relatively recently.
  • Foreign Relations:
    • Sojourners: The Firstborn consider themselves to be the Triagrammaton's chosen leaders on Curiosity. Over the centuries, the Sojourner's general apathy towards their proselytizing, edicts, and attempts to "civilize" them have soured relations with the Sojourners, who the Firstborn view with a sense of exasperated condescension.
    • Purity Collective: The Firstborn maintain a friendly trade and political relationship with the Purity Collective, who they view as second to them in their hierarchy of cultures on Curiosity. The Collective's national lack of overt piety/religiosity is a source of discomfort to the Firstborn, but the technological and material benefits afforded to them by trade with the Collective leads them to turn a blind eye and spare Purity the widespread evangelism and missionary work subjected upon the Sojourners in the past.
  • Noteworthy Features: Shortly after migrating to Yasad and establishing a settlement on Mount Keter, the Firstborn began construction of a reinforced wall to protect the city from the planet's extreme weather patterns and megafauna. This system became the norm for all Diocese population centers large enough to construct and maintain one. Union observers suspect these walls to contain a form of force field system which projects a protective dome over the top of the city, though the Firstborn refuse to comment on the existence of any such technology.
    • Cultural Quirks:
      • Ritual Hospitality: Firstborn will typically offer guests a specific sequence of three items (food, drink, cloth) representing the Triagrammaton's three aspects - refusing any part is deeply insulting.
      • Positional Prayer: Prayer posture indicates your place in the social hierarchy - clergy pray standing, higher classes kneel, laity prostrate themselves.
      • Name Days: Individuals earn additional names through religious accomplishments, with the most pious having five or more names they use in formal contexts.
      • Wall Touching: Citizens touch the city walls before leaving and upon returning, a gesture of protection and belonging.
      • Silence Hours: Specific times each day when unnecessary speech is forbidden to encourage contemplation.
    • Taboos:
      • Never question the Triagrammaton's will directly: even doubt must be phrased as "seeking deeper understanding".
      • Touching another's religious vestments or tokens without permission: this is considered spiritual violation.
      • Refusing to attend Quarterly Congress: (for those eligible) this is seen as betrayal of community.
      • Discussing the Custodian Era openly: the oppression is acknowledged but details are considered akin to shameful family history.
      • Wasteful consumption: echoes of the generation ship's austerity remain deeply embedded in the descendants of the Custodians.

The Purity Collective

• Capital: Purity

• Geography: The Purity Archipelago is located in the Raziel Strait, which divides the eastern continent of Tiefer Nezac from the western contenent of Yasad.

• Origins: The Collective is composed primarily by the descendants of the Engineering caste who survived the initial winter within the crashed Curiosity and the sundering of the super continent literally around them. Because relatively few passengers of the ship chose to weather the super storm with the Engineering caste, the Purity Collective remains the least populous of the three nations on Curiosity.

• Society/Culture: As previously stated, Purity is the least populous nation on Curiosity. However, because the founding population consisted almost entirely of engineers and scientists from the original Curiosity's Engineering caste, the state they founded has maintained a commitment to rationality, reason, and the realization of their interpretation of the optimal human society. The cities of the Purity collective boast the highest concentration of artists per capita on the planet, made possible by the high degree of automation their society employs, as well as their adoption of a universal basic income (UBI). In many ways, the standard of living within the collective is comparable to some Union core worlds.

• Religion: The Collective is the least overtly religious of the three nations. Though they acknowledge the existence of the Triagrammaton, no cult centered around it ever formed, nor do they appear to ascribe any perception of divinity to it. The primary reason behind this is their society's commitment to rationalism and scientific inquiry.

• Foreign Relations: The Collective maintains good relations with both the Diocese and the Sojourners, often serving as mediator when tension escalate between the other two factions.
  - Sojourners: The Collective does not outwardly any of the negative views towards the Sojourners that are held by the Firstborn. They are frequent trade partners, supplying the Sojourners with hover vehicles, weapons, and survival gear that are required for the clans to survive in the wilds of the eastern continent. It is believed that Collective engineers are responsible for maintenance on Wanderhome, but it is unclear whether they are permanently stationed in the Sojourner capital, or if they must track down its present location every time their services are required.
  - Firstborn: Purity supplies the Diocese with much of the more advanced technology seen in their larger cities. Though they possess no voting power, representatives from the Collective are present at all Diocesan congresses. Similarly, it is not uncommon to see tourists, professionals, and officials from the Collective on the streets of Stronghold.

• Noteworthy Features: The Purity Collective is particularly known for their construction of vehicles, notably aquatic ships and hovercraft. The train system spanning the North/South length of Yasad is among their greatest feats of construction. The capital city of Purity is similarly impressive, resembling in many ways a Union core world capital.

  • Cultural Quirks:
    • Signatures: Citizens sign all creative works, even casual sketches or music, as a mark of individual contribution to culture.
    • Debates Quorums: Public forums where citizens debate philosophical or practical questions. Attending regularly is socially expected.
    • Gift Economy: There is a robust culture of trading handmade items as status symbols.
    • Aesthetic Maintenance: Public spaces are communally maintained and decorated. Neglecting this duty is socially censured.
    • Name Simplification: Citizens of Purity deliberately choose short, simple names in contrast to Diocese complexity
  • Taboos:
    • Superstitious behavior: Even harmless superstitions are gently mocked; attributing events to supernatural causes rather than investigating them the actual cause is socially embarrassing
    • Hoarding or artificial scarcity: Creating shortage where abundance exists is deeply offensive.
    • Enforced labor: The Collective's society is built around voluntary participation. The memory of Custodian coercion means even suggesting someone "should" work is inappropriate.
    • Plagiarism: Far worse than in other cultures. Derivative work must be extensively credited.
    • Willful ignorance: Refusing to learn or engage with evidence is seen as moral failure.

The Sojourners

• Capital: Wanderhome

• Geography: Sojourner migration patterns encompass the entire eastern continent of Tiefer Nezac, with clans or smaller bands occasionally venturing into Yasad for trade or other purposes.

• Origins: The Sojourners are led by descendants of the Navigator caste and organized based on the eight Navigator-led expeditions out of the crashed Curiosity during the first years on planet. The six contemporary Sojourner clans are each descended from one of those original expeditions, including the navigator leadership and the passengers and crew that later joined them during the final migration from Curiosity into Tiefer Nezac. Though there were eight expeditions and eight founding clans, two clans were lost during the intervening 2000 years. The remaining clans are unwilling to discuss the two lost clans, leading Union researchers to suspect their loss to be a point of significant cultural trauma for the Sojourners.

• Society/Culture: Though the Sojourner clans share an origin and many similarities, fundamental differences and the intervening 2000 years have resulted in distinct cultural identities among the six remaining clans (discussed below). Individual clans spend the majority of the time travelling via hover vehicles along shifting migration routes. These routes are determined through a combination of means to avoid weather patterns, megafauna, and the Tempest Wastes. They rarely venture into the small northern ice cap, as temperatures, storms, and hostile wildlife make any period of stay in the region untenable, even by Sojourner standards. All of the clans except for the Horizon Walkers rotate through yearly shifts manning Wanderhome, the Sojourners' mobile capital city. Wanderhome is built on and in a massive hexapod mech, resembling a crab nearly 1 km in circumference. All clans have a limited presence aboard Wanderhome at any given time, with two notable exceptions. First, the Horizon Walkers seldom spend extended time at the capital. Second, the Ironbound have a large detachment permanently stationed on Wanderhome to serve as a defense force. For the rest of the clans, during their respective rotation they will relocate their entire population onto Wanderhome for one local year. Transition periods aboard Wanderhome can be tense, largely due to course changes as the incoming clan redirects the walking city from their predecessor 's migration routes to their own.

• Religion: The Sojourners have also developed a form of religion around the Triagrammaton, though individual clan interpretations differ from each other and from the state religion of the Diocese (a constant source of friction between the two nations). The Sojourner religion as a whole is more of a worldview or belief system and does not feature any worship practices as seen among the Firstborn. The unifying throughline of every clan's philosophy is the belief that the Triagrammaton led the Curiosity to the planet in order to test them and prepare them for something greater. The focus of the testing differs between clans and will be discussed below.

• Foreign Relations:

  • Purity Collective: Sojourners have a generally friendly and productive relationship with the Purity Collective. The Makers are particularly close relationship with them, frequently sending young technicians to apprenticeships in Purity and collaborating with the former Engineering caste to develop new technology and systems requested by the clans for their migrations.
  • Firstborn: The Sojourners have a historically tense relationship with the Firstborn that has at times broken out into violence. This largely stems from philosophical/religious disagreements, with the Diocese viewing the Sojourners as kin who have fallen into a state somewhere between apostasy and blasphemy. Recognizing a shared focus of both their belief systems, the Diocese has invested considerable effort in outreach and proselytizing the Sojourners. Various clans have responded differently to these efforts, with the Ironbound violently driving the Firstborn missionaries from their bands. The Pathbreakers have the most productive relationship with the Diocese, sending emissaries to Stronghold and receiving and then debating Firstborn missionaries.

• Cultural Quirks:

  • Trial Marking: To commemorate overcoming significant challenges, individuals mark themselves with temporary body art that fades over a period of weeks.
  • Hospitality: Clans compete to provide the most generous welcome to strangers. Refusing aid brings collective shame to one's clan.
  • Weather Reading: Everyone learns to read atmospheric signs. Asking about weather rather than reading it yourself is for the ignorant or outsiders.
  • Vehicle Naming: Every hover vehicle has a name and is treated almost as a clan member.
  • Feasts at Rotation Changes: Elaborate ceremonies when clans exchange positions on Wanderhome, featuring gift exchanges, competitions, and storytelling.

• Universal Taboos:

  • Abandoning someone in need: The Navigators guided the Curiosity through space and led the passengers out of the wreck and the storm, onto the planet. Dishonoring this legacy is considered the ultimate failure of the Triagrammaton's test.
  • Destroying or defacing pre-Fall equipment: These are considered sacred artifacts.
  • Speaking ill of the Long Night: Their forebears' perseverance in the face of suffering is honored, not complained about
  • Turning away from Wanderhome: Even when angry or exiled, one must keep sight of Wanderhome until it is over the horizon. Never turn your back on the capital.

• Sojourner Clans:

  • The Pathbreakers: Descendants of the first expedition out of the wreck of the Curiosity, which was led by Capt. Lyra Roy, the Pathbreaker clan are known and often derided as a group of spiritual mystics and seers. Of their sister clans, they claim the strongest connection to the Triagrammaton, who they believe speaks through visions and personal intuition. This often puts them at odds with the Firstborn, whose theology is based on tradition, orthodoxy, and group demonstrations/expressions of piety. The Pathbreakers believe the Triagrammaton's test is about spiritual enlightenment, not just survival. As a clan, they specialize in navigation and cartography, chart Wanderhome's course, and maintain maps of the continent's shifting biomes. They are rumored to be capable of prophecy, producing so called "wayfinders" who can sense environmental changes before they occur.

    • Quirks:
      • Keep dream journals that are considered semi-public records.
      • Navigate by stars even during the day, calculating stellar positioning from memory until they become visible again.
      • Children are taught meditation from an extremely early age.
    • Taboos:
      • Ignoring a vision or prophetic dream, even if it seems nonsensical.
      • Traveling without proper spiritual preparation rituals.
      • Making major decisions without consulting the clan's complex astrological charts.

  • The Ironbound: The Ironborn descended from the second expedition out of the Curiosity. This expedition was led by Col. Ibrahim Fedmahn, commander of the Curiosity's security force. Under his influence and possessing the largest contingent of combat-trained personnel, the Ironbound developed into a warrior culture, serving as the Sojourners' primary combat and defense force and occasionally called upon to enforce inter-clan agreements. The clan's culture centers around martial traditions, including combat trials for leadership. Ironbound technicians are responsible for maintaining Wanderhome's weapon systems. They believe the Triagrammaton's test is one of strength and honor, and that weakness invites destruction.

    • Quirks:
      • Scars are displayed proudly and usually given names, with the bearer knowing the story of each.
      • Weapons are inherited and carry generations-old names.
      • Disputes can be settled with ritualized, non-lethal duels.
    • Taboos:
      • Refusing a challenge to honor combat.
      • Using an unnamed weapon. This shows lack of respect to both the weapon and the opponent.
      • Showing weakness in front of children. which breaks the teaching cycle and reduces their potential as warriors.

  • The Provision: This clan descended from the third expedition, led by Master Chief Petty Officer (MCPO) Julian Skye, the Curiosity's quartermaster. His expedition was among the most diverse, containing a large Custodian contingent. It also included several xenobiologists and xenobotanists, one of the rare examples of a group of Engineers electing to leave the Curiosity prior to the end of the storm. The clan now serves something of a conservationist role in Sojourner culture, with a deep ecological knowledge of the planet, specializing in resource management, maintaining his stores, hunting and gathering, and sustainable harvesting in Tiefer Nezac's often hostile conditions. They track Curiosity's megafauna, and conducting coming-of-age hunts. They believe the Triagrammaton's test is about stewardship - taking only what's needed and respecting the planet to which it has delivered them.

    • Quirks:
      • Thank prey animals by name before and after hunts.
      • Can identify hundreds of plants by taste and/or scent alone.
      • Wear trophies from their first solo hunt their entire lives.
    • Taboos:
      • Killing pregnant or juvenile animals. Only mature, healthy animals are viable quarries.
      • Taking more than the clan can use.
      • Wasting any part of a harvested creature.
      • Hunting during specific migration periods, for both the Sojourner and the prey animals.

  • The Makers: The fourth expedition contained many of the Navigator caste's technicians, mechanics, and maintenance crews. As descendants of this expedition, the Makers have become the Sojourners' engineers and craftspeople, maintaining the closest ties to the Purity Collective of all the clans. They are responsible for maintaining the Sojourners' various hovercraft, repairing equipment, and improvising modifications to Collective tech to weatherproof it for harsh conditions. Their culture is built around apprenticeship systems and preserving technology, some of which may be pre-Fall treasures from the original Curiosity. They believe the Triagrammaton's test is about adaptation and inventory in the face of adversity.

    • Quirks:
      • Tools are passed down and modified by each generation.
      • Maintain detailed technical journals in a clan-specific shorthand, called Manpa.
      • Apprentices aren't considered adults until they've invented something novel.
    • Taboos:
      • Using Collective technology without understanding how it works.
      • Creating something purely decorative. The Makers value function and efficiency over beauty.
      • Breaking an apprentice's first creation, even if flawed.
      • Letting equipment fail through poor maintenance.

  • The Chronologists: The fifth expedition was led by Kazuo Perez, the Navigator's ancient High Counselor who had trained Lyra Roy. It included Roy's cohort of potential Captains Elect and many of the more seasoned Navigator caste. Their descendants, the Chronologists are the historians, storytellers, and record-keepers of the Sojourner people. They are the keepers of oral traditions, written histories, and clan genealogies, and the mediators of clan disputes. Encounters with Chronologist bands are an exciting event for any Sojourner, as the Chronologist tradition of competitive storytelling is considered both a cultural treasure and the height of entertainment. The Chronologists hold that the key to passing the Triagrammaton's test is understanding the lessons of the past. By examining who they were and where they came from, they will realize who they must become.

    • Quirks:
      • Chronologists peak in a slightly archaic dialect preserved from the ship era.
      • They use advanced memory techniques to memorize clan genealogies going back seven generations, at a minimum. Some Chronologist elders can recite the genealogies of multiple clans back to the original colonists departing Cradle (then still referred to as Earth).
      • Host "story circles" where events are debated and consensus version are established.
      • Children are named after original colonists on the Curiosity's passenger and crew manifests, never original names.
    • Taboos:
      • Telling a story incorrectly. Accuracy is sacred.
      • Forgetting your own genealogy.
      • Creating false records or histories.

  • The Horizon Walkers: The descendants of the last Navigator expedition to leave the wreck of the Curiosity, the founders of clan Horizon Walker inadvertently wandered into the Tempest Wastes and were presumed lost for decades. When they finally emerged over 40 years later, generations had lived and died in the chaotically dilating and truncating time storms of the Wastes. None of the survivors had ever known anything other than the distorted time fields, chromatic lightning, and punishing winds found within. Their experiences within the Wastes had changed them to such a degree that many found their presence strangely unsettling and the Horizon Walkers themselves found it difficult to live in the developing Sojourner society. The smallest of the clans instead opted to live solitary lives as long-range scouts and explorers, pushing ahead of Wanderhome or the vanguard of other clans, taking the brunt of Curiosity's unpredictable, often violent fluctuations and relating warnings back to those following behind them. They are the surviving clan about whom Union knows the least, as they are seldom seen and do not participate in rotations aboard Wanderhome as the other clans do. They are enigmatic and reclusive to the degree that all of the information in this report was obtained secondhand from other clans. They report that the Horizon Walkers view the other clans' attempts to understand and pass the Triagrammaton's test as folly, believing that the test has no end and can neither be passed nor even understood, merely endured and resisted for as long as one can.

    • Quirks:
      • Horizon Walkers collect small tokens from everywhere they travel.
      • They have elaborate farewell and return ceremonies.
      • Navigate using landmarks they identify and name themselves.
    • Taboos:
      • Remaining in one place "too long" (the definition varies by individual but never more than a few weeks).
      • Refusing to share knowledge of new discoveries.
      • Falsely claiming new discoveries.
      • Failing to accurately record the noteworthy events and findings of one's expedition.

• Inter-clan relations:

  • Over the last several centuries, a rivalry has developed between the Pathbreakers and the Ironbound. As the de facto spiritual leaders of the Sojourners, the Pathbreakers have traditionally taken a leadership role in clan society and are thus understandably viewed by the Collective and Diocese as the unspoken "first clan". However, centuries of harsh and dangerous migration in the wilds of Tiefer Nezac have caused the Ironbound to rise in importance within clan culture. The warrior clan has made the case that the Sojourners' way of life is more suited to a militaristic, physically capable leadership rather than an esoteric and spiritually focused one.

  • Another noteworthy inter-clan tension exists between the Provision and Makers clans. The former's philosophy and role within Sojourner society prioritizes stewardship, preservation, frugal resource management, and traditional means of obtaining said resources. The Makers' culture is built around adaptation, innovation, and technological solutions, creating a dichotomy between tradition and progress.

  • On a more subtle level, the Chroniclers are known to harbor a degree of frustration with the Horizon Walkers. The Walkers - whether through introducing new information cleaned from their forays into rarely trodden territory or their continual bucking of societal norms - continually disrupt the Sojourner narrative the Chronicles would like to control. It is believed that the Horizon Walkers are completely unaware of the Chroniclers frustration.