An individual possessing mental facilities sufficient enough to directly affect the physical world by force of will alone.
Contrary to popular belief, true invasive telepathy, what some might consider to be the most basic of psychic abilities, is in fact one of the rarest. Discrete abilities vary widely, though, and can be enhanced with training, enabling the psychic to perform fantastic or otherwise impossible feats like controlling local gravity, flash-freezing objects, complete mental domination, etc. This makes them natural candidates for receiving the Emperor's Artifacts and becoming Shades.
A psychic's potential is indicated by his or her Raw Mental Power, a figure from which real world comparisons can made, regardless of the disparity between abilities.
writing and other stuff
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Locsard Psychic Academy
Founded by Velt Locsard in the year 526 to educate young psychics and train them to develop their innate abilities.
Initially, the Academy was housed in the Root Palace, always moving with the Empire's frontier, but later a permanent location was established on Planet 517 to accommodate growth and allow for further expansion. Over the course of its long history, many Shades--both before and after retirement--have acted as professors at the Academy.
In the year 10,500 the Academy was destroyed by the renegade Shade-turned-terrorist, Geiss Sinzer. Miraculously, only 17 students were unaccounted for following the destruction. The Academy was reestablished on Planet 1051, with only a small, 1-year break in academic service.
Though the Empire continues to expand, the number of students remains fairly constant at about a thousand, plus or minus one or two hundred for any given year.
Initially, the Academy was housed in the Root Palace, always moving with the Empire's frontier, but later a permanent location was established on Planet 517 to accommodate growth and allow for further expansion. Over the course of its long history, many Shades--both before and after retirement--have acted as professors at the Academy.
In the year 10,500 the Academy was destroyed by the renegade Shade-turned-terrorist, Geiss Sinzer. Miraculously, only 17 students were unaccounted for following the destruction. The Academy was reestablished on Planet 1051, with only a small, 1-year break in academic service.
Though the Empire continues to expand, the number of students remains fairly constant at about a thousand, plus or minus one or two hundred for any given year.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Jump Ship
Vessels capable of flight on their own power, but primarily used for long-range jump deck to jump deck transportation.
Initially, these ships were meant to lessen the danger posed by the instabilities often encountered during the early days of jump deck travel. Because of this, jump ships are designed to operate in any environment, and, so, are heavily armored and equipped with sophisticated electromagnetic shields that make them nearly invulnerable. In addition to standard navigation capabilities, jump ships are, of course, equipped to access and control jump deck protocols.
All jump ships follow the same basic design archetype--stacked triangular or pyramidal shapes--with minor variations to account for size, speed, or other custom requirements. The overlapping edges of these pyramid shapes vibrate at a particular frequency and interact with the engines, producing the phenomenon known as resonant lift. With virtually no power, these ships can remain aloft almost indefinitely.
Initially, these ships were meant to lessen the danger posed by the instabilities often encountered during the early days of jump deck travel. Because of this, jump ships are designed to operate in any environment, and, so, are heavily armored and equipped with sophisticated electromagnetic shields that make them nearly invulnerable. In addition to standard navigation capabilities, jump ships are, of course, equipped to access and control jump deck protocols.
All jump ships follow the same basic design archetype--stacked triangular or pyramidal shapes--with minor variations to account for size, speed, or other custom requirements. The overlapping edges of these pyramid shapes vibrate at a particular frequency and interact with the engines, producing the phenomenon known as resonant lift. With virtually no power, these ships can remain aloft almost indefinitely.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Jump Deck
An artificial routing terminal powered by the fixed warp fields created by the Viscain Tree's Stitch Drive.
Belss Okos, the man first credited with successfully incorporating Vine ganglia into conventional technology, was responsible for designing a series of relays to control and distort the warp fields, making near-instantaneous travel between any two relay points within the Empire possible.
In the beginning the system was used only for extremely long-range jumps and was rather unstable, resulting in a fair number of injuries and one particularly tragic event, costing 23 lives. Over the years refinements were made, but, ultimately, Gilf Scanlan, as Director of Military Hardware, stabilized and perfected the system.
Belss Okos, the man first credited with successfully incorporating Vine ganglia into conventional technology, was responsible for designing a series of relays to control and distort the warp fields, making near-instantaneous travel between any two relay points within the Empire possible.
In the beginning the system was used only for extremely long-range jumps and was rather unstable, resulting in a fair number of injuries and one particularly tragic event, costing 23 lives. Over the years refinements were made, but, ultimately, Gilf Scanlan, as Director of Military Hardware, stabilized and perfected the system.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Gravity Trainer
or Gravity Block.
Large blocks of composite material similar to concrete, housing an artificial gravity generator for the purpose of training and developing F-Gene fighters.
Regular issue gravity trainers are limited to producing 25 standard gravities. Pressures beyond 25 gravities are possible, but begin to affect the mechanism itself so that the generator would crush itself or, at the very least, render itself inoperable. Custom rigs are available, but they are difficult to produce and expensive to maintain.
F-Gene fighters practice their various martial styles upon gravity trainers under ever-increasing pressure, building up a cumulative tolerance until they are able to operate freely--which is to say, until the increased gravity offers no more resistance than one standard gravity would.
An individual's gravity rank is the highest number of standard gravities he or she has achieved on the gravity trainer.
Large blocks of composite material similar to concrete, housing an artificial gravity generator for the purpose of training and developing F-Gene fighters.
Regular issue gravity trainers are limited to producing 25 standard gravities. Pressures beyond 25 gravities are possible, but begin to affect the mechanism itself so that the generator would crush itself or, at the very least, render itself inoperable. Custom rigs are available, but they are difficult to produce and expensive to maintain.
F-Gene fighters practice their various martial styles upon gravity trainers under ever-increasing pressure, building up a cumulative tolerance until they are able to operate freely--which is to say, until the increased gravity offers no more resistance than one standard gravity would.
An individual's gravity rank is the highest number of standard gravities he or she has achieved on the gravity trainer.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
F-Gene (Fighter)
The Farsenkals Gene. The F-Gene is named for Professor Jango Farsenkals, who, before the establishment of the Viscain Empire, identified the piece of the genetic puzzle responsible for producing the fantastic potential exploited by F-Gene fighters.
F-Gene fighters respond to severe stimulation, either in a controlled environment or through natural circumstance, by overcoming it. This conditions first the body then the mind, and enables the F-Gene fighter to perform superhuman feats, making them excellent candidates for receiving the Emperor's Artifacts and becoming Shades.
Let us compare a normal human to a glass of water, where the glass is the potential and the amount of water is the potential that's been met.
An individual with the F-Gene might be compared to a barrel. If the individual is not pushed, the amount of water in the barrel may never exceed that in the glass of the normal human. But, through increasingly intense physical exertion, always pushing the limits of possibility, the F-Gene fighter will steadily fill the barrel until it's full.
Of course, the size of the vessel, or capacity for development, varies with F-Gene fighters, and in some rare cases, individuals have shown such a rapid and consistent response to stimulation as to set them apart from the rest. Those who fit this pattern are said to possess Superior Grade F-Genes.
Because of mechanical limitations, most gravity trainers are only able to produce 25 Gs. Some special issue trainers exceed this limit, but few F-Gene fighters, even those considered to be Superior Grade, have surpassed the 25 G mark.
Besides the obvious physical feats, F-Gene fighters have also demonstrated a marked capacity for mental expansion, most often as it relates to their martial training. In this way, F-Gene fighters are sometimes able to produce effects comparable to top psychics. Approaching Infinity techniques and the meditative 9 Order Fist are but two examples.
A number of methods have been devised for identifying and encouraging the F-Gene, but the frequency remains at about 5-10% of any given population sample. Research continues, but has shown no significant increase in results since the early years of the Empire, when interest in Professor Farsenkals's work peaked.
F-Gene fighters respond to severe stimulation, either in a controlled environment or through natural circumstance, by overcoming it. This conditions first the body then the mind, and enables the F-Gene fighter to perform superhuman feats, making them excellent candidates for receiving the Emperor's Artifacts and becoming Shades.
Let us compare a normal human to a glass of water, where the glass is the potential and the amount of water is the potential that's been met.
An individual with the F-Gene might be compared to a barrel. If the individual is not pushed, the amount of water in the barrel may never exceed that in the glass of the normal human. But, through increasingly intense physical exertion, always pushing the limits of possibility, the F-Gene fighter will steadily fill the barrel until it's full.
Of course, the size of the vessel, or capacity for development, varies with F-Gene fighters, and in some rare cases, individuals have shown such a rapid and consistent response to stimulation as to set them apart from the rest. Those who fit this pattern are said to possess Superior Grade F-Genes.
Because of mechanical limitations, most gravity trainers are only able to produce 25 Gs. Some special issue trainers exceed this limit, but few F-Gene fighters, even those considered to be Superior Grade, have surpassed the 25 G mark.
Besides the obvious physical feats, F-Gene fighters have also demonstrated a marked capacity for mental expansion, most often as it relates to their martial training. In this way, F-Gene fighters are sometimes able to produce effects comparable to top psychics. Approaching Infinity techniques and the meditative 9 Order Fist are but two examples.
A number of methods have been devised for identifying and encouraging the F-Gene, but the frequency remains at about 5-10% of any given population sample. Research continues, but has shown no significant increase in results since the early years of the Empire, when interest in Professor Farsenkals's work peaked.
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