Random Interstellar Empires/Star Kingdoms

[taalismn]

I believe there're from one of the Nightspawn books....Between the Shadows, I think....There's also some expansion in one of the Rifters. And frankly there's not a lot of hardcore information on them...sorta like alchemists in PFRPG.

They're essentially high-power spells that acquired sentience and human form and became self-sustaining.

[SolCannibal]

I believe there're from one of the Nightspawn books....Between the Shadows, I think....There's also some expansion in one of the Rifters. And frankly there's not a lot of hardcore information on them...sorta like alchemists in PFRPG.

They're essentially high-power spells that acquired sentience and human form and became self-sustaining.

That's interesting and should be fun to look into and compare on what do they differ or resemble a number of creatures with inherent magical powers/spell-like abilities. Not like one form fits all, or some ambitious magicians wouldn't experiment further, from singular spells to manuals or whole living grimoires of sorts...

[taalismn]

Until somebody tells me otherwise, I tend to treat Living Spells as a mixed bag of attributes, but with an orientation based around the spell they were built around...examples: A LS of Supernatural Strength would be heavily muscled and athletic, but perhaps not too intelligent, a Spinning Blades spell would have that spell as an ability, but would be an excellent knife fighter, swordsman, or skilled in blade lore, a Charismatic Aura LS would have a high MA and be able to radiate the ability to encompass people around them. etc. They have some resistances to magic and psionics, generally show up well to magic senses, don't suffer from a lot of mundane maladies, and may or may not age.

Something like longer-lived versions the Ludicrous Mage Create Carnies simulicra.

[taalismn]

The United Systems Alliance Joint Command Fleet---The Second Generation(Spacer Academies)
The severe young woman in the black, silver, and green jumpsuit and cadet pips of a USAJC Fleet midshipman saluted smartly. The Captain raised an eyebrow as she read the middie’s name-bar.
“Midshipman Murchison, correct? First assignment out of Hghguard school? You’re from Kendselson, yes?”
“Yessir, Newstart Landing, sir!”
“Second generation?”
“First actually, from Earth...Earth-Shute One. I was eight years old when my parents decided to flee the death clouds to the southlands rather than sit and die. Fortunately an angel patrol saw and picked us up before we got irradiated. I got a window seat on the evac shuttle up from Agasar, saw the Fleet in orbit and fell in love. First chance I got I applied for spacer school.”
“I’d have thought the Kendelsonians would be reluctant to let their young people go offworld while they’r still settling in. Want to build up their population and all.”
“I banked gene samples before I shipped off. And half my wages go back home. Wanted to be part of the Fleet and my parents couldn’t say no. I serve both homeworld and nation.”
“Welcome aboard, then. I look forward to watching your progress.”

“Some member worlds still regard space training as glamorous and adventurous, others approach it with near-religious zeal, while others casually treat it as equivalent to getting your automobile license. We get all types applying for academy training. Doesn’t matter where they come from, we treat them all the same. We strive to turn out the best damn spacers we can, and if we do our jobs right, with adequate preparation and a bit of luck, upon graduation they might just survive their first real missions.”

“So...where are we taking our senior cadets this year for their ‘Big Hike’? Trycos, Panmandu, Styx, Cenax, or someplace REALLY dangerous?”

“No, I don’t have any objections to any of our academy people doing a season or two as guest teachers with the United Systems. I expect them to learn as much as they teach.”
-Admiral Horace Shaw, CAF

While virtually all USA worlds with any sort of space presence have some sort of training programs(even if it’s an apprenticeship in the cockpit of a cargo shuttle), more formal and extensive programs are becoming available thanks to the United Systems University and the Alliance Joint Command. Currently the major centers of training are on worlds that already had the robust economies to support mercantile and space defense fleets, so expanded into more proactive operations, but the USA is looking into building new schools as its extent and activities increase. With the expansion of the Jint Command forces, the USA has to build up reserves of trained and experienced personnel held to a high standard of professionalism. A network of advanced raining academies is emerging on the Fringe-frontier to supply them.
Specific curricula vary from school to school, but in general, USA space academy training with a military career in mind covers both space and planetside training. Familiarization with zero-gravity activity, the basics of space navigation, primary spaceship systems, and both space and basic planetside survival are covered. Senior year training will include several offworld excursions to colonial worlds to ‘rough it’ under ‘wild’ conditions and to acclimate cadets to alien environments.
Spacecraft training will be aboard several different types of vessels, starting with civilian transports and culminating in extended operational training aboard a military vessel(typically an older demilitarized vessel with facilities for training in different specialties, such older Sangus, Javelins, and Blackjacks). Familiarization with spacestation operations will also be covered, and most serious training academies will have dedicated space platforms for this purpose.
Upon learning the basics, and proving their strength of will and character, graduates will proceed to advanced training in their Occupation Specializations, and be assigned to their first operational posting aboard a warship or space platform to start their carreers.
Naturally, not everybody makes the cut. Those who flunk out frequently go on into merchant marine services with lower standards, and a few of the very unsuitable are reprimanded to possible therapy(or law enforcement watch lists). Those who pass the USAJC standards, though, can arguably be counted among the better-trained military professionals in the Three Galaxies.

Notable Space Academies in the United Systems Alliance:
*Eugenia---Prior to the formation of the USA, Eugenia had the largest space militia and training programs, so it was a fairly simple matter to expand the programs and enrollment. Eugenia’s HighGuard Academy continues to be the best in the USA, with advanced combat training in nearby desert systems. (Optional: Graduates of the Eugenian academies get a +1 on Initiative in space combat, and a +1d6% to spacecraft piloting skills).

*Kai-Shem---Regarded as one of the physically-toughest training schools because most of the training was designed around the rugged minotaur physiologies of the locals. Grel-Sada, the ‘Grindstone’, is especially popular with heavy-gravity worlders able to tough out the rigorous and demanding phys-ed components of training. (Optional: Graduates of the Kai-Shem academies get a +1d4 to the P.S. and P.E. attributes).

*Gilbert----Space academy in Gilbert’s system is considered a ‘gentleman’s school’, complete with odd local traditions, but it produces a good share of excellent sailing masters. Though it borrows heavily from CAF training, it has also adapted USA MOS programs as well. (Optional: Graduates of the Gilbert academies get a +1d4 to the M.E, attribute, the extra skill of Social Etiquette(Galactic) at +5%, and a +1d6% to Tecnnical and Cultural skills. Or, conversely, graduates may choose a CAF OCC).

*Jorgmundson---- This industrial center also has some very dense asteroid belts that make for good training grounds, and the Jorgmundsonians are also very enthusiastic about live-fire exercises. Given the dangers of pirates and exolife around the Jorgmundson home system, training is hard and frequently dangerous, and many cadets graduate proudly bearing scars to prove it. (Optional: Graduates of the Jorgmundson academies get a +1 on Initiative in personal combat, and a +1d6% to spacecraft piloting skills).

*Lakye----A generation’s worth of nomadic wandering space in search of a home have taught the Tme a thing or two about training spacers, and their newly-established schools around their new homeworlds are sharing that expertise. The Tme have opened their schools to non-Tme to further cement close relations with their allies, and early graduating classes are proving the wisdom of that move. (Optional: Graduates of the Lakye academies a +10% to weapons systems and sensor operations skills).

*Tarkulaam/Thelheim----After the Central Party’s commissars and political toadies were cleared out, the military fleet academies of these former Cynoceran worlds saw top to bottom reforms, including the removal of most of the sadists who once excessively culled the cadet classes in favor of obedience and political reliability . Though there have been some protests from the Odina Federation about a restarting of military training schools by worlds of their former nemesis, the former Cynocerans in the breakaway worlds are actually looking forward to a coming era of increased galactic trade and exploration and intend to be ready for it. (Optional: Graduates of the former Cynoceran academies get a +1d6% to the Weapons Systems skill).

*Regoniss Tard-Rebla./Res’shel---The Rebliss maintain a very serious and comprehensive space training program, though it’s almost exclusively available only to the Rebliss, A few guest cadets have found the training psychologically trying, given Rebliss mental attitudes, and have concluded that space travel is as much a philosophical concept to the Rebliss as it is a physical practice. Others have described Rebliss training as ‘long tedious stretches of utter boredom, punctuated by random moments of terror’ with final exams being anxiety-inducing in anticipation of what the instructors are planning to pull on cadets. (Optional: Graduates of the Rebliss academies get a +1 on Initiative, and a +1d6 to the M.E. attribute).

Of Mention:
*Skensi---The Skenzians pretty much taught themselves space operations dealing with their pirate problems. Though small, their spacer academies train rigorously and with hard purpose, though overlaid with aristocratic traditions almost as pervasive as Gilbert’s. Military spacers are also expected to be proficient in at least one bladed weapon, especially swords, against possible boarding actions. (Optional: Graduates of the Skensian academies get an extra Ancient Weapons Proficiency skill and a +1 to strike/parry with it).

*Quishin---The Kamasaugh have recently begun accepting non-Kamasaugh applicants into their space academies, despite the distances involved. As the Kamasaugh regard space travel as a spiritual experience, the raining of spacers tends to be rather unconventional to say the least, and many cadets drop out early rather than effectively convert to the Kamasaugh religious/philosophical beliefs. Some have described Kamasaugh training regimens as being as trying as Rebliss schooling, but for those seeking familiarization with magic and spiritual aspects of space travel, the Kamasaugh schools are highly regarded. (Optional: Graduates of the Kamasaugh program can gain a +1d6 PPE, and a +1 to save vs Magic and Horror Factor).

*Vybrant----The Brising Spacer Academy was effectively a finishing school for elites in the Vybrant/Tolscant system. It is also out of date and was, until fairly recently, shot through with corruption. Since an incident that saw an entire cadet cruise-class abducted by slavers, and contact with the United Systems Alliance, the Brising Academy has come under intense scrutiny and long-overdue overhaul to root out its problems and bring it up to date. It may yet arise to be an important educational center again, but until then, a number of more open-minded Vybrantan -clan families have been enrolling their young people in outsystem USA schools.

[taalismn]

Random Roll Tables:(United Systems Alliance Character Origins)

Personal Origins:
01-40% Fringe Colony---You have your roots in the new frontier

41-55% Strandee from Another Dimension---You were sucked through a dimensional rift, or maybe extradimensional aliens abducted you from your homeland. The USA offered you sanctuary, safety, and maybe the best chance of getting back to your homeworld.

55-65% Refugee from an Extradimensional Shatterworld. Your homeworld turned into hell, but maybe you found an escape hatch to safety, or somebody reached across dimensions and gave you a way to escape extinction.

66-80% Metroworld---You hail from a developed coreworld or star system. Though metroworlds have been known to economically or environmentally fail, by and large they tend to be stable, command more resources and affluence than other worlds. They also tend to be rather static and hidebound in their ways in the worse of cases. You may be a child of privilege, or one of those in the lower classes. The United Systems Alliance offers adventure, a change of pace, or opportunities denied you back home.

81-95% Refugee from a Failed Colony---You come from a land of failed hopes, optimism that didn’t pan out, dreams that were crushed by cruel reality. The United Systems Alliance is a potential second chance.

96-00% Cosmic Nomad---You were born and raised on a starship wandering the stars, with no one fixed homeland. You could consider yourself a citizen of the cosmos or a social misfit isolated from mainstream society.

Reasons for Joining the United Systems Alliance Military

01-10% Escape-- You want off the mudball, suffocating society or festering hive of a homeworld you were born on to escape being dragged back down into it. You may be escaping legal trouble, or maybe a bad domestic situation, or some serious boredom, but the prospect of getting shot at on the galactic marches looks a lot more inviting than getting stuck back home.

11-20% Economic/Environmental Refugee----Your homeworld’s overcrowded, or in economic collapse, or resources or scant; joining the offworld military gets you off and out, gets you employed, and either allows you to seek greener pastures or acquire money and resources to help the folks back home.

21-30% Idealist---You believe in something greater than yourself. It might be spreading the word of your planet’s god(s) or it may be that you subscribe to the United Systems Alliance’s credos of helping others, unity in action, and freeing the enslaved. You’re going to carry the torch of enlightenment to the cosmos, spearhead the crusade, and herald the arrival of civilization.

31-35% Drafted---You really don’t want to leave your comfy homeworld, but your government/leadership sez otherwise. You signed a contract or made a deal and the other party exercised a clause or condition that allowed themto send you offworld. Maybe you’re already part of your homeland’s military, and you just got assigned to an offworld tour of duty with the Allies. Or maybe you’re doing penance or serving out a sentence for a crime that allowed you to pay the penalty in service. You’re hoping to serve your time unevent

[taalismn]

Yavuul(United Systems Alliance Protectorate)(Thundercloud Galaxy)
(aka ‘Ustin’s Starworld’, ‘Wurmworld’)
“Talk to the humans, but always respect the vurms.”

“I’ve seen Yavu-vurms that can exude acid from their skins that can burn through hull-metal, yet I’ve seen the local Yavuulans stark-naked snuggle up full skin contact to those same vurms and not be bothered by even a rash. ”

“Despite the fact that this place was lost for several centuries, it seems that almost as soon as we arrived in-system, other starships began to show up hot on our heels. We suspect that there’s leaks in the expedition system, though we weren’t exactly deep-secret, and there’s plenty of groups that are eager to follow on any possible system discoveries or contacts and be first in to stake claims, claim-jump, or strike up lucrative trade deals with the locals, be they new sophant species, or lost colonials. Problem is, some of these trailers, for various reasons, don’t wait for us to clear the planet for open landings, and try to make their own landfalls. They learn the hard way why slow and careful’s the way to proceed. Three private expeditions had to leave in a hurry with casualties, and two lost their ships altogether when the local virms burned through their landing gear. Fortunately the locals let us rescue the survivors and clean up the mess of the wreckage before they could become environmental crisises. But we’ve already got another half-dozen in orbit awaiting an opportunity to go down, with or without our permission. ”

“The whole time I spent interviewing the village elders, I was aware that I was being watched from all sides...not just by the human colonists, but by their native companions. Everywhere, especially out of the corner of my eyes, there was a sense of -slithering-....I could even feel vibrations in the sand underneath me. As friendly as the local humans acted, I was under no delusion that had they wished, they could have overwhelmed me in seconds, and well before I could warn my overwatch for help.”

Yavuul is a tropical, swampy, planet in the Thundercloud Galaxy. The Colvee system and its satellites contain a number of cosmic anomalies that would draw scientists to study it even if it did not have a terrestrial lifeworld in it to attract settlement. It is also a recently-declared United Systems Alliance Protectorate, to protect a Human Alliance Lost Colony.
Yavuul was first catalogued over five hundred years ago by the first wave of explorers from the Corkscrew Galaxy. During the First CCW/TGE War, a number of self-supporting colonization efforts set out to escape what some feared would be an apocalyptic galaxy-engulfing conflict. The Ustin Expedition set out for Yavuul, crossed the galactic void, made landfall in the Thundercloud, and sent a message torpedo back via roundabout route informing their backers that they had arrived at ‘Ustin’s Star’ and were beginning their colonization efforts.
That was the last anybody heard from the colonists. It was presumed that either the colonists, unaware of the Lanator Accords, were laying low...or that the colony had succumbed to some local hazard.
When finally somebody did get around to checking on old Great War-era colony expeditions, the first new arrivals(a United Systems University-sponsored expedition) to Ustin’s Star thought the latter aforementioned fate had befallen the Ustin Expedition. Though verdant, the planet that was the expedition’s destination was devoid of signs of techological civilization. The local ecology was dominated by a variety of large vermiforms, many of them hostile to the landing parties. The search seemed ill-fated until aerial reconnaisance sighted canoes out at sea and discovered humanoids gathering food along the coral-analogue reefs dotting the coastlines. After careful observation and the subsequent discovery of villages hidden in the planet’s dense jungles, tentative contact was made.
The humanoids, initially thought to be of elven lineage due to several anatomical features, were, upon clsoer examination, indeed the descendants of the lost Ustin Expedition. The human settlers seemed to have dramatically regressed technologically, though somewhere along the line, they had evidentally been genetically modified to adapt to the planet’s environment and in particular to communicate and coexist symbiotically with the local vermiforms. It is unknown whether this genetic modifcation was done by the colonists themselves using techniques they developed on their own or found, or whether some unknown second party was involved. The colonists either erased the records of their past and destroyed most of their technology, or this was done for/to them. Existing tribal histories only go back a couple hundred years.
The Yavuulans exhibit little interest in offworld affairs, including what happens in the rest of their solar system, but are very protective when it comes to Yavuul itself. The Yavuulans are intolerant of unauthorized landings and trespassers will eventually be attacked by the local life(and possibly the native humans as well, if any are near and in a position to mount offensive operations). Through careful approach and respectful negotiation(facilitated by magic and psionics), the USA has managed to gain landing rights in specific areas and establish a central base and several outposts, with even conduct a limited amout of trade. Several other expeditions, run by other organizations with less attention to caution, have fared less well upon landing, and part of the protectorate mandate declared by the USA is to control access to the planet, protecting both the natives and incautious offworlders.
Out of respect for the locals, the United Systems Alliance has promoted the use fo the natives’ name for their sun, -Colvee-, in place of the previously used designation of Ustin’s Star. Likewise, Yavuul has replaced in common usage the previously used Ustin-Two or Mathen.
Access to Yavuul is considered Restricted, enforced by the USA, though the USAJC has not yet established a comprehensive presence in the system as yet(so sneaking past the orbital patrols is still possible). The Alliance is assembling a Plymouth-class Outpost Station in orbit to service the scientfic presence and serve as part of the protectorate’s security garrison.

Solar System(Colvee/Ustin’s Star)
Number of Stars: 1
Types of Stars:
-Orange Dwarf
Number of Planets: 3
-Gas Giant(Dykel)----Large and possessing eight moons of note, Dykel(the Yavuulan name for the planet as observed from the second world) seems likely to be developed as the colonial-industrial hub of the system.
Three of the moons have been found to have substantial deposits of Livian Crystals(an opal-like mineral that has several medicinal qualities/applications), a concentration of bodies containing the same exotic mineral that have planetologists both baffled and intrigued. The discovery has come as very good news to the USA because the valuable deposits justify the establishment of a large presence in the Colvee system, and help defray the costs of that presence. As the Yavuulans have expressed little interest in what offworlders do in the rest of the star system, this has been seen as permission for the USA to develop the Dykelian satellites.

-Terrestrial(Yavuul)----System Lifeworld

-Exotic(Estav Moylah)---- Estav Moylah is a small nebula of cosmic gases orbiting on the outskirts of the Colvee system. It is not certain what caused the formation of the gas cloud that is some 15 million miles in diameter, but it is suspected that possibly a concentration of strange matter lost cohesion and flew apart, decaying into mundane matter that forms the greater portion of the nebula’s mass, and which interacts in luminescent fashion with the solar winds both from Colvee and other stars. Estav Moylah is readily visible from Yavuul and provides a spectacular sight, especially at night.

Planet(Yavuul)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 7,000 km
Gravity: 1.3 g
Temperature: Temperate, on the tropical side. Yavuul has only small ice caps which often disappear seasonally.
Unusual/Special Features:
-Craters----Yavuul is dotted with old impact craters, suggesting, in the absence of outer system ‘sweepers’ like gas giants, that the planet has been subjected in the past to substantial bombardments.

Atmosphere:
Breathable terrestrial nitrox mix
Terrain:
Varied, but with Unusual Mineralogy. Impact craters are a common feature of the surface.
Substantial amounts of Corminium, a compound crystal of rare earths and useful in the manufacture of high-capacity energy storage systems, has been detected in Yavuul ‘s crust. The USA has not been allowed, as yet, to extract any of the mineral, but the natives have traded small amounts to the Usans, once they learned of the offworlders’ interest in the material. Though initially thought to be scavenged surface erosion findings, closer examination of the bartered crystals/nuggets show the signs of vurm teethmarks and acid burns, suggesting the natives may be actually mining the crystals with the assistance of their vurm partners.
Yavuul’s heavy gravity for its small size would also suggest an unusually dense core.
Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Gold/Silver
- Zinc
- Lead
- Tin
- Asbestos
- Nickel
- Thorium
- Calcite
- Corminium
Hydrosphere:
Moist: 75% of the planet’s surface is covered in open water.
It should be noted that many bodies of Yavuulan water(and soil) contain potentially toxic amounts of lead, asbestos, and thorium particles. Water filtration is a must for offworlders visiting Yavuul.
Biosphere:
Verdant---Yavuul has a rich ecology both on land and in the water. The dominant animal bodyform is vermiform and that has suggested to some xenobiologists that at some time in the past something catastrophic happened(possibly one of the planet’s ancient meteor bombardments) that killed off most other branches of life, leaving worms as the surviving line to colonize the planet.
Besides the ubiquitous vurms, other lifeforms of note include arborms, that resemble long-rooted mangrove trees, but are actually adapted marine worms grown gigantic, and which have adapted to live symbiotically with chlorophyll-rich algaes living in hteir upper arms. Massive geotines honeycomb coastal headlands with tunnels bored through the rock as the giant worms graze on various mineral strata. Schools of small parasitic remorms and hemoflukes make unprotected swimming in some waters hazardous.
Yavuul would be a bonanza for genetic engineers and biotechs looking for new material, but for the aggression of the native lifefoms endangering study and sampling efforts. It is hoped that negotiations with the Yavuulans may facilitate scientific enquiry by allowing research teams to work unmolested.
Civilization:
Settled---Yavuul is considered Settled by the previous Ustin Expedition. The planet is currently considered not open to further colonization.
Population:
4 million Human-Yavuulans
Technology:
Regressed---- The human colonists have dramatically reverted to a late stone age/early metal age level of technology. They know how to smelt some basic metals, and make metal tools, and their carpentry and holistic medical practices are quite sophisticated, but they eschew large-scale industry.
This dramatic new baselining and divergence puzzles offworld sociologists, as does the faiirly large population of the Yavuul colonists. given that they were only out of contact for several centuries. Some models of social/technological development and population growth say that the Ustin Expedition survivors, given a catastrophic collapse and loss of their technology soon after landing, could not have risen/recovered so quickly to their current levels. This has suggested to many that, together with the very obvious genetic engineering performed on the colonists, that someone or something helped them attain their current level of stability.
Economy:
Hunter-Gatherer with some farming
Wealth:
The Yavuulans do well enough, living simple lives.
Government:
T ribal; the human tribes are led by local headsmen/women(the gender ratio of male and female tribal heads is roughly equal).
Law Level:
Effectively Lawful among the Human-Yavuulan tribes. The virms sometimes exhibit territorial behavior between packs, but notably none of the Human-associated packs fight among ach other or involve their Humans in any hostilities with other virms.
Currently the USA scientific expeditions enjoy a tolerant, and sometimes amiable, relationship with the locals, as long as the former remain respectful and non-intrusive on the territories they are allowed in, but strangers and those disrepectful of local land and inhabitants(including unauthorized landings) are very likely subject to attack.
Popularity:
A few Yavuulans , however, feel a strong wanderlust and desire to see new sights, and have decided that that startravel offers them great new opportunities. Despite the difficulties involved(especially if they intend to travel with a vurm companion or several), these intrepid souls seek passage offworld.

Stability:
Stable. The Yavuulans seem to have attained a stable, perhaps symbiotic, relationship with the local lifeforms and each other.

Human-Yavuulans
Yavuulans are the descendants of human colonists of the lost Ustin Expedition.
They lost most of their technology, and now live at a simpler, more primitive state.
They have been modified via genetic engineering to adapt them to coexisting with the Yavuulan fauna. Yavuulan -Humans are distinguished most readily by pointed ears(which caused some initial confusion as to whether they were humans or a lost Star Elf colony) and by the pair of ear-like organs protruding from the top of their heads; these are really psionic receptors.,

Natural Abilities:
*Toxin Resistance----Yavuulan -Humans display a great resistance to the many poisons in their environment and local plants and animals; +8 save vs poisons.

*Resistance to Cold---Many Yavuulan -Humans eschew clothing for all but decorative or ceremonial purposes, because they are immune to normal cold and damp.

*Acid Resistance----Yavuulan -Humans produce a glandular mucus or oil from their skins that renders them effectively immune to the acid secretions of virms, as well as most other corosive agents. Even MD acids will only do SDC damage, and at HALF their normal rate.

*Physically Fit----- Yavuulan -Humans have the following bonuses: +1d6 P.E., +1d4 P.S., +1d4 P.B., +1d10 to Swimming speed.

Psionics:
YavHumans count as Minor Psychics: Base ISP is ME +3d6 +1d6 per level of experience.
*Four Sensitive Psionic powers of choice
-Comunicate with Vurms----Yavuulan -Humans can apparently commune with the local Vurms on a psionic frequency inaccessible to others. The range of this ability is unknown, but in some instances local humans have seemed to be able to call vurms from several miles away.


Yavuulan-Vurms(aka ‘Virms, ‘Vorms’,’Sehsa’, ‘Faiyu‘)
The apex lifeforms on Yavuul are multiple species of large worm-like creatures. Vermiforms are the dominant lifeform on Yavuul, ranging from tiny annelids to massive earth-moving monsters on a scale with the larger Worms of Taut(though they are of no relation). The species most commonly associated with the Human-Yavuulans, though, are several varieties of roughly man-sized serpent-forms that hunt in packs and exhibit great cunning. These have been tagged as ‘vurms’ by offworlders, though the human--Yavuulans know them by a variety of terms distinguishing various variant races, regional groups, and even specific individuals. ’Sehsa’ and ‘Faiyu‘ are the most common linguistic terms used to describe the vurms, but those are used far less often than the common name the humans use for them, but are telepathic in nature and cannot be accurately translated into vocal speech(even with Trade Two) or written language.
It is suspected that the vurms, and perhaps other lifeforms as well, are part of an actively networked Gaiaistic macroorganism or planetary consciousness. The Ustin Expedition colonists were added, by parties unknown, into the network, but outsiders will generally be attacked.
It is difficult to ascertain just how intelligent vurms really are; close study is discouraged by the aggressive mass attack response that seems inherent in the various species. Corpses for dissection are also hard to come by, as the virms tend to eat their dead and the few vurm bodies that have been recovered were either so badly deteriorated as to provide little substantial data, or else what was learned was contradicted by observed behavior of living examples.
Vurms are effectively blind, except for very rudimentary light sensing cells throughut their skins, but they have other very acute senses, including excellent senses of hearing/vibration detection, taste/smell, and extrasensory perception.


Alignments: Can be considered Anarchist or Evil(animal predator)
Lifespan: 90 years
Size: Roughly1-2 ft in dameter and about 15 ft long. Weight 400-800 lbs
Gender: Hermaphrodites producing eggs and sperm. Packs gather in shallow water to create mutual eggmasses, then contest outsider pack members approaching to attempt to fertilize the egg mass. The worthy that manage to break through the cordon fertilize the mass. Then the packs do it again with other packs in turn, attempting to run the gauntlet to gain fertilization rights.

Physical Attributes:
IQ: Generally believed to be a high Animal IQ of 8
ME: 2d6+10
MA: 2d4
PS: 2d6+10
PP: 2d6+13
PE: 3d6+12
PB: 1d6
SPD: 18 ( 13 MPH) crawling, 52( 36 MPH) swimming
(PPE): 4d4

MDC: 2d6x10
Horror Factor: 12
Natural Abilities:
*Gills----Virms can breath water indefinitely, given enough dissolved oxygen in the medium.
*Natural Swimmers---Fast swimmers
*Prowl 75% on land, 85% in water
*Track by Smell/Taste (in water) 80%
*Electromagnetic Sense----Virms can ‘smell’ electrical activity; 500 ft range.
*Sense Vibrations Underwater----Effective range of 1,000 ft.

*Resistant to Phsyical Damage----Flexible shock-absorbing bodies means that Virms take HALF damage from physical blows, concussions, and physical shock.

*Poisonous Bite-----Virm venom does 4d6 SDC or MD(depending on the physiology of the victim), plus adversely affects nerve tissue; the victim is -10 to strike. parry, dodge, and can move at only 10% of their normal speed for 2d6 hours. A successful save versus lethal poison HALVES damage and effects/ duration.

*Secrete Acid---This is apparently normally used to eat through the hard shells of the trap-worms and giant mollusks that make up a large part of the virm diet, but dispersed in water also acts to repel parasitic flukes. Virm acid does 2d6 SDC or MD(depending on the physiology of the victim), plus 1d6 per melee for 2d4 melees.

Psionics:
*Sense Auras (No ISP cost)
*Sixth Sense(No ISP cost)
*Presence Sense(No ISP cost)
*Telepathy(No ISP cost, bit only usable between other vurms and Yavuulan -Humans)
*Saves as a Minor Psychic on a roll of 12 or better.
Magic:-----
Combat: 6 attacks per melee
Initiative +1
Strike +3
Dodge +3 underwater
Damage:
Bite 2d6 +3 MD
Body Block/Ram 1d4 MD
Society:
Pack hunters, hunting/traveling in schools of 10-80 members. Larger groups are often associated with breeding activity or nearby human communities. Survivors of some of the failed modern landings reported being attacked by waves of ‘hundreds’ of vurms of various species.
Virms are cooperative with Yavuulan -Humans and have rarely ever ben observed to attack them. The nayve-colonists refer to the virms as their ‘earth-cousins’ and have been seen cooperatively hunting/fishing with them, or combining forces to bring down larger predators.

[taalismn]

The Lidian Access(aka The Androbar Pass)
“The Lidian Access and similar worm-ways explains UFO sightings for a number of world-lines and why they don’t see evidence of their visitors in local space; they aren’t traveling through interstellar space, they’re traveling through INTERDIMENSIONAL space.”

“The fact that the USA thinks enough of the Lidian Access worlds to be actively patrolling it should be of concern; if the Splugorth take renewed interest in it, it may bring the two powers into direct conflict with each other sooner than either would prefer. But there’s sufficient amounts of low-tier piracy and hints of other supernatural activity that the Alliance can use to justify their military presence in the Access.”

“Enough sociological work on the Lidian Access worlds to sponge up the output of several academic institutions. We got darknet spysats in orbit. We got several teams of on-site observers down among the locals performing studies. Of course, they’re also on the lookout for anything that might threaten the local environment and our trade routes, overseeing our local trade, and sometimes bootstrapping the locals with some introduced ideas and technology. Usually they can handle themselves, and the worlds are pretty quiet, but sometimes we got to intervene, and sometimes we capital-I Intervene. Like if hostile aliens invade, or an dinosaur killer asteroid shows up, or somebody unleashes a nasty bioweapon, or starts playing around with dark forces. Usually just a few agents are necessary, but once we had to deploy a battleship.”

“Continue developing the plans for the action on Androbar, but leave it open; we may have to expand our plans to include a larger and more permanent presence in the system if we don’t want somebody else to creep in and set up shop, taking up where the pirates we intend to oust left off.”

The Lidian Access is a region of weakened space/time that accesses several universes, including the Three Galaxies. It also has a local ‘nexus’ just outside the Androbar system, and any vessel with a correctly tuned gravitic FTL drive can use it to access a number of universes, though the nearest worlds to the gate-points are low-tech alternities.
The Lidian Access might attract more attention from those powers with extradimensional travel capabilities, but the Access’s location in near-interstellar space limits travel in general to those cultures with spacefaring abilities. The slaver-pirates of Androbar have used the Access as a means of reaching those low-tech worlds that they can raid with ease with their motley collection of low-galactic starships that would hardly constitute a threat to anybody else. The Splugorth know of the Lidian Access, but regard it as a backwater dimensional corridor, not yet worth exploiting more thoroughly(they see the pirates of Androbar as low-level dregs, though they occasionally do stop to trade with them for anything particularly interesting, as well as to put a scare into anybody hiding on the backwater). There is some archaeological evidence on Androbar to suggest that some of the ancient (and most likely extinct) cultures that inhabited the planet traveled the Lidian Access or originated through it.
The United Systems Alliance has somewhat greater interest in the Lidian Access, having discovered it fairly recently via other access means. They see it as a possibly more efficient way to access and network new potential worlds, bootstrap potential allies, and expand their territories. In addition, they are interested in eliminating the interdimensional slave trade of which Androbar is a (small, but still a) part of. As the Androbar Pass seems to be one of the primary termini of the Lidian Access, the USA speculates that if they were to take effective control of the Pass, they could theoretically control outside traffic entering the Access. This is making planning a police action against Androbar into a much more strategic action.

The worlds of the Lidian Access are generally low-tech enough that the USA can operate starships fairly close to their star systems without fear of being detected. Most inhabited planets lie within a light year’s distance of the hyperlanes charted between dimensional jump-points in the sequence. The USA has thus felt comfortable enough setting in place a series of navigational beacons to guide their ships.
Several of the Lidian Access worlds have high enough ambient magic to attract the attention of the USA. In order to secure their trade routes and keep an eye out for possible dimensional incursions off the hyperlanes, the USA pays special attention to these worlds. There is also some small covert low-level trade with the planets. The United Systems Alliance has often established small waystations(typically a PSS-SPH-2 Plymouth Multipurpose Space Platform/Habitat or colonized asteroid) nearby to assist travelers, respond to distressed starships, relay communications, monitor the inhabited planets in the neighborhood and support surveillance webs and study teams.

*From the Personal Journal of Doctor Nevias Ikkaku, Physician attached to the Livian Access Dimensional Studies Group(Lidia-Earth Eight-TeeAr):

I wanted work experience abroad, but didn’t want to join the military. Xenological medicine, even if it’s on alt-world humans, suited me just fine when Human Resources found me a slot with Planetary Expeditions and Dimensional Studies Group investigating one of the Lidian Access worlds. I could work by myself in the local medical establishment, while still part of the trade and monitor team buying tea and chocolate for transport to the waystation sitting unnoticed on the edge of this solar system. My job was to assess local medical capabilities for anything interesting and useful, but I also got to practice practical medicine.
There’s enough ambient magic on this world and random strangeness that my particular outworld and out-dimensional skillset and expertise don’t stand out. However, the local establishments cling to a set perception of reality that doesn’t publicaly acknowledge that strangeness when it crops up. My work with the cases involving the paranormal are glossed over as medical anomalies and recovery due to delayed responses to conventional treatment...or initial misdiagnosis. It keeps me out of the limelight and allows me to slip the occasional medical ‘miracle’ in unnoticed.
Still, my record with cases gets me assigned to enough ‘medical anomalies’ that I suspect somebody in hospital administration recognizes the differences.
That’s what got me assigned to the latest case.
Teenager, brought in with systemic organ failure. The kid’s dying of something that defies conventional medical analysis and treatment. One of the diagnosticians described it as the patient’s body forgetting to work. I got called in to consult. Took one look to recognize dark magic at work . SERIOUS dark magic. The sort as USA physicians we’re expected to report on as soon as possible. The poor kid’s got at best a day left, probably less as the damn curse eats her away. Family’s already gathering to say goodbye.
I had to act. As soon as I could I slipped away and hot-linked to the waystation. I needed Intervention.

*****

There, it’s done. I’ve wrecked my medical career here, and overturned the worldview of an entire planet in the process.
Bless the Meta-Judiciary and their rulings on dark magick. My report must have screamed up the chain of command because less than a hour later they’d thrown together a response team from what they had at the waystation and launched. The first I learned of it, they were already knocking the door on the atmosphere. Credit to the Alliance; they move fast when there’s supernatural evil involved and innocent lives at stake. Bless too that our version of the Prime Directive has lots of loop holes to allow the cavalry access.. The speed with which things progressed, I’d almost think they already knew about this in advance and were suited up just waiting...on second thought, given what I’ve heard about Usan precog and prognos intelligence spooks, it’s entirely possible they DID know about this and were just waiting for a sign like my call to go into action. But there’s still the fact that a dying teenager on an unaffiliated backwater dim-world triggered a top-level Alliance response.
Considering that an alien assault shuttle just broke the sound barrier(after what had to be an FTL jump to the edge of the atmosphere!) over one of the densest urban areas on the planet, landing adjacent to a metropolitan hospital, disgorged a squad of heavily armed and armored soldiers, some very obviously not humanoid, who invaded said hospital, then proceeded to (gently!)kidnap a terminally-ill local teenager from her deathbed, while stunning and abducting her family and several bystanders(including, conveniently, myself), before roaring back into the sky, to say we’ve made a splash is understating it. Hundreds, if not thousands, of cellphone cameras and webcams must have caught it on video.
The Cultural Observations section chief thinks rather optimistically that the local authorities will pass it off as a publicity stunt for a movie, while covering up the hospital raid. Of course, I imagine the military anthill’s been kicked over and they’re watching the skies now like nothing before.
But at least the kid’s going to live. Full life support down to the cellular level, magic circle protections down to the bone, stasis back-up, and every cursebreaker in the sector heading in to lend their expertise. Even have a Wayfinder merchant on stopover offering to do a soul transference if nothing else works. Justicars and Inquisitors are on the way too, I hear, to track down the source of the black magic. I still have to calm down an understandably very agitated family and some startled local colleagues who came along for the ride, but at least I can tell them there’s very real hope for this case.

“According to certain high-level sources, that little rescue effort out by Lidia-Earth Eight riled up some of the local deity-entities something bad. They’re supposed to be Hellenic Pantheon-linked.”
“If they really are, then they were encroaching on Japanese deity territory. No, those ‘Three Fates’ impressed me more as opportunistic alien intelligences playing cruel games. Did everybody a world of good to smack them around and break their toys.”
“That seems to be understating your actions, Captain Hibiki. One of your subordinates described you as a ‘primeval terror who promised to forcibly remove said Fates’ spleens or whatever passed for those organs through their eye sockets if you ever caught them playing with mortals’ lives ever again’, unquote.”
“That’s interesting coming from Sergeant Carstars, considering he was the one who threatened to murder them in their sleep if they ever tried coming after us.”
“In any event, scrying seems to indicate they’re currently cowering in their equivalent of a closet, unaware that they were being watched.”
“Good to know their security sucks so badly, if I have to pay a repeat visit to emphasize the message.”

[taalismn]

(BIG color post)
Food Production and United Systems Alliance Soft Power
“They’ll feed you when you’re down and while you’re eating, they’ll work to fix your world if they can.”

“When the call went out about the solar flare-caused famine looming on Tessburghen. it was hardly a week before the first usan relief ships arrived unannounced from their nearest worlds, their hulls packed to the rivets with foodstuffs and agro-gear. Furthermore, they weren’t afraid of the rioting that had begun on the surface; they brought their own security to protect their people and equipment while they landed the supplies and secured the distribution centers. We found out that a lot of the usan crews were from shatterworlds that had suffered their own problems and they knew what going hungry was like from personal experience.”

“Pirates on the Rim are now just as likely to try going after usan crop-worlds and food transports as more traditionally valuable cargoes. Even with the stepped-up usan anti-piracy campaigns hunting them, the bandits are twigging to the real value of the increasing agro-business shipping. They used to pass on hitting grain transports, warehouses and canneries, but somebody realized that to a lot of people calories and proteins are worth more than gold.
That having been said, there’s no shame in riding security escort on a larder-ship or harvest convoy, because more than likely you’re going to see action and earn combat-pay at some point.”

“I don’t know if it’s forgetfulness on their part or a subtle psychological campaign, but I note that in a number of the USA’s relief aide programs, their aid parcels give credit to the Dynasty, though I know that in many of the efforts, our participation has been only very indirect. So either it’s a series of misprints, a dig at us, or members of the Dynasty have been writing checks on the side and not reporting them to the Financier Grandee. Regardless, the PR feedback has been most positive for us.”
----Tralv Maldan, Deputy Manager of the Financier Grandee, Altess Dynasty.

“It’s understandable why many Usan worlds are obsessed with food production; many have been only one or two meals away from anarchy in the past and want to secure their food supplies by various means. Once they did that, though, and built up comfortable surpluses, they began supplying their neighbors with exports and feeding others, in part to secure alliances and making sure their trade wasn’t interfered with. It seems to have worked out well for them so far.”

“Admittedly, a steady diet of the same-pattern magically-conjured meat and vegetables can get rather monotonous after a while, but it beats the alternative. The usans could sell their magic insta-food spud buckets, rock-meat convertors, bread-makers and salad-balls for a LOT more than they typically ask and they’d still get the money. They HAVE to know what the black market gouges in sales of second-hand wiztech food-makers.”

Between their opening up new colony settlements, their biotech, and their food synthesis technologies and magic, the USA has considerable food production resources at their disposal. Originally intended to give their members food security, storable reserves against future need, and leave a little for offworld trade, their food production programs have since blossomed into powerful political tools. The USA emergency relief projects and food shipments to distressed worlds have given them great clout with the mainstream galactic community. Regularly-scheduled ‘larder ships’ travel between the various member worlds and colonies, transporting foodstuffs for sale, encouraging trade and economic development, familiarizing USA citizens with what their neighbors are producing and eating, and setting aside some of the surplus for leaner times and emergencies. The USA maintains a number of such warehouse caches of foodstuffs and equipment against food crisis contingencies.
Besides warehousing agricultural surplus, the USA also stockpiles TW food-producing gear, terraforming/bioremediation equipment, and ready-to-go agricultural modules that can be set up to ‘hot box’ crops, such as forced-growth hydroponics.
The USA is also promoting ‘food tourism’, inviting outsiders to visit their worlds to sample unique foodstuffs and regional cuisines. Surprisingly, the Altess have done much to promote USA-produced ‘luxury’ foodstuffs, often through conspicuous consumption of them(though some of the promotionals have been decidedly cheesy in execution, as with the much-parodied ‘Altess Rim-Yummy!’ ads seen in many sectors, while other ad-spots have bordered on outright food-snobbery). But people have taken notice of what’s being served at Altess social functions and of the heavily-escorted ‘special delivery’ freighters making runs between the Altess homeworlds and the Rim.
The result has been that the USA has enjoyed considerable diplomatic goodwill for its humanitarian efforts, and respect for being both self-sustaining and self-assertive(especially when the USA runs blockades in the many fringe rim-wars to deliver much-needed food supplies to beleaguered populations). One CCW official called it ‘sandwich diplomacy’, referring to both the giving away of food and analogizing food relief as a ‘ soft nutritional filling between two slabs of armor’.


Agrobots----
“The GNE KNOWS by now that many of its robots are being hack-possessed by psionic entities, but as long as the things don’t pose a danger to organics, the geeners don’t mind them. Why? Turns out the possessed robots are actually MORE efficient, even with sleep breaks, at taking care of the crops and increasing their yields. So they let the ‘bots take their naps and their contemplation breaks, let the poetry flow from the fields, and watch the bumper harvests come in at the end of the grow-season. ”

The USA is also a big producer of agrobots of various types which are sold, often at cur-rate prices, to developing worlds along the Rim. Just as the USAJC uses robots and drones as ‘force multipliers’ for its forces, the USA’s agrobot programs effectively increase the labor pool for starter colonies and terraforming efforts. Worlds like Kendelson, New Styx, Cenax and Kaxxion make use of large number s of ‘bots to expand their croplands and food production.

‘AgroBob’---Agricultural Labor Robot(s)

‘AgroBob’ is just another of the United Systems Alliance’s growing stable of agricultural robots, ranging from drone farm tractors to giant walking nomadic agrarian forestry platforms.
‘AgroBob’ specifically is a farm-adapted Paladin Steel PS-Rb-02 ‘Magnus’-frame humanoid robot skinned in stain-resistant, dirt-shedding plasteel, fitted with various environmental sensors, and programmed for crop or livestock management. Agrobobs are counted among the smarter agrobots, and cannot only directly tend crops, but can also supervise other drones, such as crop-scanner fliers and robo-plows, to specific fields and farm areas. They are also humanoid enough to drive/pilot most agricultural vehicles such as plows, tractors, and harvesters.

Other robot types may be used for wrangling larger livestock and protecting croplands from various local pests.

Typical Stock Agrobot Conversions:
- PS-HULR-02b Busbee Light Bipedal Utility Rbot Drone
-PS-R-DWB-01 ‘Dweeb’ Domestic Work Robot, Light
-PS-R-10 ‘DanBot’ Humanoid Utility Drone
-PS-Rb-02 Magnus Semi-Autonomous Humanoid Utility Robot
-PS-R-15 Semi-Autonomous Utility Robot (Fully robotic version of the Maczek Full Conversion Cyborg)
-PS-TAA02 ‘CyberSpinne’ Semi-Autonomous Android, Cybernetic Intelligence Life Assistant(typically assigned to running greenhouses and maintaining farm equipment)
-PS-HLUR-03 ‘Atlas’ Heavy Labor Utility Robot
-PS-ROVAR-02 ‘Rovar’ Ground Exploration Robot, (Remote Observation Vehicular Autonomous Robot)
-PS/ASI-R-BS5-0 Semi-Autonomous Police Security Drone(Interior prisoner cage replaced with a small animal cage, sprayer tank, planter rack or harvest bucket)

-A number of FALSTAFF, CILA and MARI androids have also been programmed with farmwork in mind, often as supervisors and administrative assistants on farms.

Typical Modification Upgrades:
*Environmental Sensors---- Soil chemistry probes, molecular analyzer, IR optics. humidity sensors, weather gauges. Livestock-wrangler ‘bots may be fitted with medical scanners for examining animals. Can include cell-sample biopsy probes.
*Stain/Dirt-Resistant Skin---Sheds dirt, sap, and agricultural chemicals.
*Soft Earth Footpads---For those ‘bots with feet or treads, wider foot-soles or tread-’grousers’ allow the drones to cross soft soil and mud more easily.
*Water/Chemical Sprayer-----For spot irrigation or dispensing of fertilizers and pesticides.

Typical Programming Packages:
(Agriculture)
*Farming and Gardening 85%
*Identify Plants & Fruits 92%
*Botany 84%
*General Repair and Maintenance 90%
*Carpentry 85%
*Hydrology or Landscaping 84%

(Livestock)
*Herding Livestock 80%
*Biology 84%
*Tracking(Animals) 88%
*Animal Husbandry 65%
*Lore: Cattle & Animals 92%
*General Repair and Maintenance 90%


Agricultural ‘Farmworlds’ of the United Systems Alliance:
“A lot of soldiers in the AJC speak of ‘buying the farm’ when their tours end ...it’s not a euphemism, it’s a reality; a lot of ex-service personnel get preferential treatment for land grants and agro-startup funding when they muster out. A surprising number of them actually do go ahead and go into farming and ranching, though they also remain in the Reserves, so the USA’s farmworlds are rather well-defended. More than a few would-be invaders have ended up fertilizing the fields when they tried knocking off the ‘helpless’ dirt-tillers.”

“You should know this; usan worlds may not be hives like the metroworlds, but if you decide to attack them, you’re more than likely going to discover that the militias are surprisingly well-armed, the civilians are surprisingly well-armed, the farm animals will likely attack you, and if you’re REALLY unlucky, the crops and the soil will attack you. I kid you not on that last one; I watched my brother’s dropship landing right as a chasm opened up under it, then swallowed it up, no survivors. Meanwhile, I was too busy fighting a patch of very aggressive jungle that wasn’t there a minute ago. Never did get revenge, which in retrospect was probably a good idea...my brother would have kicked my ass in hell for getting myself killed not learning from his death, and the lesson is this; don’t #### with Usan farmworlds.”

The following are worlds where agriculture and biotech account for 50% or more of their offworld revenue and which have an Economic Rating on the Kauffin Scale of 4+ or better(Mestos is listed because of a currently surging rise in prosperity).

Member Worlds:
Abelon(Member)--Biotech. ER: 5+
Anduv(Member)--Livestock/Foodstuffs, Vehicles. ER: 6
Balsar(Member)--Livestock/Foodstuffs. ER: 6+
Gevadan(Member)--Livestock/Foodstuffs. ER: 7+
Gremar(Member)--Agriculture ER: 5+
Gwyer/Api-NorDwyri (Member) --Biotech. ER: 8+
Jovenis(Probationary Member) --Agriculture(Cave Crabs, Steak Mushrooms). ER: 8+
Kellest(Member)--Agriculture/Aquaculture/Foodstuffs. ER: 5+
Kestra(Member)---Agriculture. ER: 6+
Manticus(Member)--Biotech. ER: 6+ )
Mestos(Member)--Agriculture/Foodstuffs(Moho fruit, Unity Ales). ER: 4+
Mynu(Member)--Agriculture ER: 7+
Paloii(Member)---Agriculture(Glennriver Vingreen wines). ER: 8+
Repti: (Member)---Agriculture. ER: 5+
Quin’esh(Member)---Agriculture. ER: 6+
Silkra(Member)-- Agriculture/Foodstuffs. ER: 6+
Skensi(Member)--Livestock/Foodstuffs. ER: 6+
Vanderlund(Member)-- Foodstuffs, Tourism. ER: 7
Venhest IV(Member)-- Agriculture/Foodstuffs. ER: 8+

Felson(Colony)--- Seafood. ER: 7+
Gerundi(Colony)--- Seafood. ER: 8+
Kampadow(Colony)---Agriculture, Manufacturing(military vehicles). ER: 6+
Metha----Agricultural Colony. Agriculture/Aquaculture/Foodstuffs. ER: 4+
Nuegarten(Colony)---Agriculture. ER: 5+

Davasgar(Protectorate) --Seafood. ER: 5
New Vita---Colonial Protectorate--Livestock, timber. ER: 6+
Styx(Protectorate)--Agriculture/Aquaculture/Foodstuffs(Styxian Tea). ER: 5+

-GNE territories(by extension USA-affiliated)

Atium---Agricultural Colony--Agriculture/Aquaculture/Foodstuffs. ER: 6+
Giland---Agricultural Colony(Extradimensionally located)--Foodstuffs. ER: 7+
Kaxion Station----Transit Colony(Extradimensionally located)--Agriculture. ER: 6+
Tennison---Agricultural Colony. ER: 5+

Some Notable USA-sourced Foodstuffs/Products:
Gremar:
*Brye-root tea,--- A thin tea with medicinal qualities.
*Cinba-grain --- Striking in its prismatic colors, cinba-grain is also highly nutritious.
*Liago-dyes --- Natural dye-stuffs that create a prismatic effect in fabrics they are impregnated into.
* Darva-extract --- A taste-enhancer, described as having a flavor akin to pepper-infused chocolate or mocha. Often added to sauces.

Kamasaugh:
*Vrilsah, a potent alcoholic drink brewed from a cranberry-like fruit grown only in the KSC.
*Tsaokola is another beverage that has caught Galactic attention; the mead-like, but non-alcoholic, drink being commended for its refreshing taste and mild stimulant properties.

Kaxion:
*Kaxil(or Kaxilian Ginger)----A ginger-like root, natve to Kaxion, that is quite tasty and has some uniquely beneficial phytochemicals.

Mestos:
*Moho Fruit---A ground-growing tuber-like fruit native to Mestos, and the planet’s primary export/cash crop. Moho fruit is nutritious, fast growing, easily digestible and utterly without redeeming taste. However, agronomists in the United Systems Alliance have discovered that fermenting moho with a secret blend of other ingredients(though it’s rumored that Skenzian hops are involved) yields the fine Syngy(or Synergy as it is sometimes known) Ale.
Heavily processed and flavored, moho-paste also serves as the base of a number of nutrition supplements and famine-relief rations.

*Gimro-Tails----Cattail-like marsh weed with a large seed-head that can be roasted and eaten.

Silkra:
*Melvec Caviar(sand-newt roe)------Actually the marble-sized eggs of a local newt-like amphibian native to Silkra, Melvec Caviar is acquiring a following, especially on Altess tables(which explains why the Altess have invested in efforts to commercially raise and cultivate the Melveca sand-newts).

*SpiceFern----A local Silkran plant that produces large edible spores, prized for their zesty taste. SpiceFern is still harvested wild, but there are some beginner efforts to cultivate the plant commercially.

*Krartree----Krartree is a thin, reddish and lightly carbonated liquor from Silkra. Again, universal metabolic compatibility make it a pan-USA distributable commodity, sociable intoxication levels, and side effects that include creative fugues and an ‘aura effect’ that increases the drinkers’ charisma to others(+1d6 to MA, +1d4 to PB, for 2d4x10 minutes). Considered the ‘artist’s drink’ by many on Silkra who drink it to boost their creative energies, it has the unfortunate side effects of being mildly toxic and inducing painful hangovers(regarded as the ‘price one pays for prompting the inner muses’). Still, Krartree is gaining its share of imbibers across the United Systems Alliance and beyond, similar to Terran absinthe.

Tennison:
*Tannim Moss----A thick nutrient-rich moss that dries well into a stable form and is compatible with a number of physiologies.

*Agrain Spagna---A lichen that grows prolifically on rock slopes. It has been shown to be a rich source of anti-bacterial chemicals.

*Tema Vella---A thick lichen that forms peat-like layers. Though slower-growing than Tannim Moss, Tema Vella is just as nutritious and viable as a food crop.

Paloii:
*Glennriver Vingreen Wines---Fine alcoholic drinks from Paloii

-TemsenSkoya:
*Beetle Fur--- A non-allergenic fluff shed by the insect life on TemsenSkoya. It can be chemically stabilized and made into light fluffy water-resistant fabric.


-Kalipsis:
*Kalipsian Kotton-----Brought by the refugees from now-destroyed Memphis-Sudar, the seeds of this plant have thrived in Kalipsis’s soil. The fiber is considered exceptionally silky yet strong, and is beginning to command good prices in offworld markets.

*Thoughtstone----A clay-like material, laced with granulated psylite, thoughtstone can be reshaped with thought. Though too soft to make tools from, thoughtstone is currently sold as a novelty item, though some researchers are exploring the possibilities of creating regenerating stonework or amorphic golems from the material.

*Aeroroc----Pumice-like stone that attracts and traps airborne contaminants. Raw aeroroc is sold as air fresheners, while processed sheets of it are part of air filtration systems.

*Ril-Stones---Ril-stones are billardball-sized spheres of polished stone that have proven useful as meditation aides for Earth Elemental Warlocks and Earth-oriented Elemental-Fusionists. Holding one in hand while meditating gives a +1d4 PPE per hour(yes, holding two will give a +2d4 per hour, but holding a third in your lap will not add additional PPE recovery). Ril-stones will also begin quivering in the presence of Earth Elemental magic within a 500 ft radius.


-Pikta:
*Thermaskin---Leather from a native Piktan herbivore; it is completely impervious to normal fire, and takes only HALF damage from magic heat and fire.

*Sternofruit---Natural wax candle. Lighting the stem of this apple-like fruit, it can be used like a candle or small heat source, an average sternofruit burning for 1d4 hours.

*Oxoo---A bamboo-like plant saturated with oxygen-rich compounds. If ignited, it actually gives off breathable oxygen, seemingly in reverse of normal combustion chemistry. An average foot-long piece of oxoo can burn for 30 minutes and produce enough oxygen to supply a small room.

*Cindeye Drops---The extract from a native plant; when squeezed into the eyes, the drops protect the eyes from the irritant effects of smoke and chemical agents such as acid vapors ad tear gas. Effects last for 45+4d6 minutes.

*Scorklaw---Talon or claw from a native predator. When infused with 2 PPE or 4 ISP, the claw glows white hot, doing 4d6 SDC touch damage. Effect lasts 3 minutes before the claw cools down.

*Piktan Blue Ginger----A locally harvested spice-root that causes consumers’ breath to sparkle. In high enough concentrations, it can also cause Blinding Flash breath, though this has the unfortunate side effect of also blinding the consumer(unless they’re prepared, by shutting their eyes or donning eye protection beforehand) and temporarily knocking out their tastebuds for 2d4 hours. The active ingredient in the recently-introduced Pikta-Plazi Sparkla Na-Ale soft drink.

*Doslor Joss-Sticks---Made from the dust of aromatic Piktan woods, these incense-sticks are growing in popularity as meditation aides with Fire Warlocks and Fire-Elemental Fusionists(they gain an extra +1d6 PPE per hour of meditation with these burning around them), and they seem to have a calming effect on Fire Elementals(GM’s prerogative as to the extent of the effect; maybe the Fire Elemental only does HALF damage to whoever is blowing joss-stick smoke at them, or may ignore them completely). Altess claim the smoke adds a tangible sense of ‘zing’ to negotiations or other social activities, and others are following their lead in buying these things.

*Gantina Fire-Blossom Rum----A beverage made from the fermented sap of a plant found on the Gantina sub-continent of Pikta. Said to contain life-tapped essence of the Elemental Plane of Fire, Gantina Fire-Rum is available in several grades of ‘fire’, from sweet and warm, to ghost-pepper hot and spicy. The highly potent (even the Splugorth have reportedly developed a taste for the high-grade stuff) and flammable drink tends to explode in its undiluted state if not handled gently and with care....Careless sap-jug handling is the leading cause of death and instant cremation among Gantineze harvest-hands....

*Piktan Flare-Silk---A fabric derived from a Piktan plant, properly-woven flare-silk exudes an energy field that resembles dancing flames that are warm to the touch, but are harmless and have the benefit of keeping the wearer warm even in a raging cold gale(normal cold/exposure does NO damage). However, the effect is readily visible to PPE-sensitives and the spectral glow-flames can be distracting and are impossible to conceal. Flare-silk is sold as a luxury textile, with a yard of the cloth going for 300 credits to start.

Jovenis:
*Jovenian mushroom-steak----A popular Jovenian dish made of large fungi found on the roots of Jovenian mangrove analogues.

*Jovenian Cave-Crab--A Jovenian crustacean, large and blind, found dwelling in the ‘spongey’ limestone cave networks underlying the globe-spanning mangrove-analogue swamps of the planet. Cave-Crabs live off other small animals in the cave complexes, and off the rotting roots of trees on the surface above. Cave-crab meat is considered a delicacy, reaching, it is rumored, as far as Altess Dynasty tables.

Anduv:
*Fering root extract---A peppery distillate said to have medicinal properties, at last for elves.
*Marsh-figs----Actually a plant/fungus symbiote that produces large tasty fruiting bodies similar to truffles.
*Swampig-----A largish amphibian with succulent flesh.

*Febosh---A softwood native to Anduv. It has a fibrous bark that can be harvested to yield a strong, but soft and flexible hemp-like fiber that can be braided into rope. Febosh has a (non-allergenic) scent like cedar, and its wood and fibers release aromatic oils that drive off native insects, but have a mild euphoric effect on humans through both skin contact and inhalation. Once the fetishists learned of it, febosh fiber became VERY popular, especially in the Paradise Federation.
The theocratic Seljuk of Anduv are frankly bemused that a ‘trash wood’ has turned out to be a lucractive cash crop that caters to human sexual rituals.

Atium:
*Atuna---A genetically-modified fish raised in quantity on Atium. Its flesh is considered quite succulent(the Altess import a good quantity of it, and by association this is leading to other metroworlds taking an interest in Atium’s exports).

Harrisar:
*Harrisar Scarlet Tuna ---A foodstock fish native to Harrisar. Global overfishing and oceanic pollution devastated its numbers until the only examples left were a few degenerately-inbred aquarium specimens and some preserved DNA in museum drawers. The USA has launched, in parallel with efforts to restore Harrisar’s ocean ecologies, a program to clone back the Harrisar Scarlet Tuna, with the ultimate goal of reintroducing them into the wild when Harrisar’s oceans are clean again. A population of the fish exists on Manticus’s genetic engineering moons, and the species, or genetically-tweaked variants thereof, have been introduced to several other terraformed worlds. Cloned or offworld-farmed Harrisar Scarlet Tuna is gaining a following among seafood lovers.

Repti:
*Krag-melon, a round, tough cactus-like pod whose moist and nutritious contents are very stable and long shelf-lived stored at room temperature (Qoulkarg traditionally use their forearm spines to break open the pods).

*Sanhawg, a large fat worm-like animal that is easily digestible, especially after cooking.

Vivasanda:
*Johaghem Pearls--Though not a mineral resource as such, native Vivasandans were discovered to wear strings of these pearls harvested from their home’s waters. The prismatic pearls have caused a sensation amongst merchants who have examined them, and not just for their beauty; the pearls radiate an energy field that fights infections and accelerates healing(the strength and power of the healing apparently related to the size, gestation period of the pearl, and the age of the pseudo-oyster). The harvest and sale of these pearls, if well-managed by a smart fishery, would net whoever holds Vivisanda a very nice profit. While PS/ASI and their Sapphian allies have become aware of them(the Vivisandans have offered some in payment for weapons, not realizing just how potentially valuable they are), the Golgans have just recently become aware of something about the pearls, and so may be even less inclined to give up their claim.

Panmandu:
*dahooz---A potent liquor distilled from a Panmanduan cactus. It is rarely available off Panmandu.

Klavia:
* Thesleen-----A drink produced on Klavia from a combination of fermented fruits flavored with corol secretions. It is best served chilled in glass. It is reddish in color, beer-watery in consistency, is lightly carbonated, tastes fairly good, and has a tremendous alcoholic kick, while being utterly nontoxic, It also causes humans to have psychedelic artistic fugues, On Klavia it costs 10 credits a bottle, while offworld it can bring 50 credits or more a bottle, especially from artists.

Malatrax:
*Gargan, a thick dark high-calorie yeasty beer-like drink. It has begun to be exported, and is acquiring a following among ogres, orcs, Kai-Shem minotaurs and Haranasya Vadyra.
* Shalbec, a fatty bratwurst-style sausage made from a mix of Shellback and local sauroid meats.

Styx:
*Styxian Black Tea--- A potent stimulant drink derived from a coastal marsh plant native to the Styx colony, and growing in popularity in the USA and beyond.

Tavaza:
*Brovta----A fermented beverage from the Tavaza protectorate. It is a mix of various berry squeezings, but ideally is served heated like sake.

*Amazon Moonshine---Another fermented and distilled whisky-like drink from Tavaza.

*G-Force Coffee---Nobody knows how it’s made, but since it doesn’t show necromantic properties(like being the squeezed-out lifeforce of babies), nobody cares to inquire too deeply as long as it’s proven safe to drink. It’s pretty much the official working beverage of the GNE, USAJC, and USA government functionaries and has begun acquiring a following outside the Alliance as well. Tankers of GFC concentrate sail regularly from the USA to foreign ports, and port workers have been specially trained to handle the loading and unloading safely.

*Rockwheat---A genetically-engineered grain developed by Cambridge Jungle biotechs, rockwheat is a symbiotic hybrid of grass and lichens that can take hold on and subsist on rocky soils, breaking them down to leach out the nutrients the plant subsists on. Extremely hardy, it can even survive percholate-laced soils, arid conditions, and cold weather. Yields tend to be modest, the grain nutritionally weak, but rockwheat is a mainstay of terraforming programs, because it takes hold on undeveloped ground and still produces edible crops on what other plants would consider barren, even toxic, soil. The plant breaks down stony soils and its own stalks and chaff prepare the ground for later crops. Rockwheat produces a coarse flour and can be made into pumpernickel-like bread(variously called ‘Colonial biscuit’, ‘hard-crop hardtack’, and ‘rock--bread’), but it is also used as the feedstock for distillation into grain alcohol, and the basis of a variety of colonial intoxicant beverages.

Agrotechture---Growing Living Buildings and Structures
(aka ‘Botanotechture’)
“We’re literally growing new homes out here. The future is looking really green.”

“A lot of asteroids in Usan space are turning green and fuzzy with exogrowth. A lot of spacers I’m familiar with look at that with suspicion, but a lot more like the idea of more places to get fresh food and water that doesn’t taste chemically reprocessed a hundred or more times.”

“Ideally we set up self-contained structures on normally inhospitable worlds, with the agrotech able to thrive off the reducing or otherwise toxic atmosphere, and able to live off the geology, growing and expanding, while producing potable water, air, power and food as byproducts usable to the inhabitants.”

“The symbol most often associated with Greater New England is a spreading tree...it seems they decided to make that a more literal part of their culture.”

Agrotechture is the latest craze in the United Systems Alliance, and it is largely the result of the collision of the Streleg gene-smiths of Manticus and Greater New England’s Splicer tribes of the Cambridge Jungle. Agrotechture can be broadly described as the process of using genetically-engineered plant life to create building structures and infrastructure, utilizing local materials to ‘grow’ them on site. Magic and psionic enhancement of the growth process came later in yet another synergistic effect. Agrotechture has encompassed such structures as colonial buildings on terraforming worlds, ‘green’ space stations and asteroid colonies, and self-repairing arcology communities.
Though many critics fear the vulnerability of biotech to various environmental hazards and deliberate sabotage, the gene-techs of the USA have tended to choose hardy extremophiles as the basis of their agrotechture toolkits. This has included plants such as the Manticean span-trees, massive skyscraping trees that have thrived in Manticus’s staggering gravity field(over four times Earth’s), though this required permission from the Streleg religious authorities to use span-tree DNA. Exolife and extremophile organisms provide additional inspiration and base genetic material for the creations of agrotechture genengineers.
Agrotechture typically uses macro-organisms to lay down megadamage support structures using material synthesized from the local ground. These structure are then sealed in using more conventional construction materials and methods, along with electrical wiring, plumbing, and accessories. Additional biotech is then layered on that, providing additional resilience and redundancy. Other processes simply use tailored organisms to lay down layers of composite materials in various shapes, before the layering organisms die off, leaving behind coral-like ‘skeletons’ to be outfitted for occupancy.
Though initial growth can be tightly controlled by nutrient feed and inhibitors, agrotechture is best used when one doesn’t mind a bit of randomness in a structure. Test-growths on worlds like Saveoresc showed excellent results when the macro-growths could spread freely(one Altess investor in an agrotechture venture described a new building complex ‘bubbling out of wasteland sands’). The science(some describe it as an art) is (literally)spreading, as more venues for experimentation and implementation are approved.
Agrotechture is proving useful on borderline shatterworlds where ‘green’ structures are proving useful in reducing airborne pollutants and lowering energy demands for keeping habitable indoor environments maintained. Worlds like Harrisar and Khaldar have seen greentech factor in their planetary recovery, and it is hoped that similar success will be achieved with worlds like Tenlen.


Biotech and the United Systems Alliance
“It was bad enough when it was just those Earthers who were getting ‘juiced-up; now they’ve expanded the candidate pool, the Rim is seeing a lot more of their supersoldier types and meta-talent operatives in the field.”

Though originally regarded as a Human(and in particular Rifts Earth Greater New England Humans), biotech augmentation is becoming more prevalent on the United Systems Alliance and more available to non-(baseline) humans and other species.

Together with the Agrotechture Revolution, bio-modding is gaining more and more acceptance among USA members and affiliates. Not everybody, but an increasing number.

-Kellestans(Human variant)---Already marked by an ancient plague, the Kellestans are of an ambivalent mind when it comes to genetic modification, though individuals are free to make the choice to be bio-modded.

-Besorans(Human variant)---Survivors of the aftermath of a nearby supernova that left their genepool heavily damaged, the Besorana are enthusiastically all over any genetic medicine that can repair their chromosomes, restore fertility to their people, and reduce infant mortality.

-Zolann(Human variant)---The Zolann are already heavily altered enough by their environment that they don’t contemplate anything more than mild augmentation(and that for medical reasons).

-Tavazan Amazons(Human variant)--- Those courageous enough to go offworld in search of employment and adventure are often open-minded enough to accept bio-modding. Of course, what many of the Tavazan Amazon tribes want is a means of restoring their people to the physiological prime of the Amazons of Atlantean yore, even if it means breeding with others to acquire that state of what they regard as blood-power.

-Casserine(Human variant)---An engineered ‘servant’-class liberated(in part) and adopted by the USA, Casserines refuse cybernetics and bionics for anything other than medical reasons. They also refuse bio-modding for ‘power-ups’, though travel-oriented and work-assistance mods such as FROST DOZE, DUST ANGLER, MANILA ADJUTANT and CORAL SNOW are increasingly common, and those on the waterworld of Atium have taken to mild bio-modding and aquatic adaptation packages such as TURQUOISE ECHELON and AQUA PHOTON

-Elves---Elves generally do not go for augmentation, even bio-modding, unless there is a mystic element involved. ZINC FAHRENHEIT, OBLIQUE NARCISSUS, CEDAR PROPHET, WHITE PLUTO and HUMBLE STAR are among the more popular bio-mod packages among those elves who make the jump.

-Ogres---These close relatives of humanity are easily bio-modded and many see no problem with the procedures.

-Dwarves----Dwarves prefer cybernetic and bionic augmentation, but a few are warming to bio-modding, especially those that involve a heavy technologically-oriented component, such as GRIZZLY HURRICANE, CELESTE DYNE, COBALT EPIC, BLUE RIOT, PEARL LIGHTNING and NEON GLACIER.

-Orcs---Orcs, even the arguably more reasonable ones in the USA, are game for just about any form of power-up. Those in United Systems Alliance service see it as a way to keep up with their comrades.

-Minotaurs---The USA encompasses several Minotaur cultures. While their cultures as a whole frown on augmentation, they leave the ultimate decision to individuals. Most take up cybernetics and bionics to replace lost limbs and rehabilitate injured bodies, while bio-modding is generally of the environmentally-adaptive or protective variety.

-Chai-Chuks---- The GNE already had come up with compatible biotech body-mods to power up the descendants of these high-grav worlders on Rifts Earth that the idea caught on with their rootstock when the GNE made contact with the Chai-Chuk homeworld.

-Smallkin---The GNE already had a number of bio-mod packages for ther Smallkin citizens, the mere mention of which sends shivers of terror through the rest of the Three Galaxies’ espionage co mmunities.

-Wynaro----The GNE has begun to develop a few bio-augs, such as subcutaneous bio-armor) for their Wynaro citizenry, but most Wynaro balk at anything radical.

-Pinarii---Pinarii will only accept regenerative biotech to heal what their already impressive regenerative abilities cannot fix, and they do not accept more radical bio-mods that would interfere with their natural abilities. Likewise, they reject cybernetic and bionic enhancements.

-Wolfen-----The Wolfen generally distrust bio-modding(despite the GNE having proven they CAN adapt their bio-mod packages to Wolfen/canine physiologies) , but have no problems with cybernetic and bionic enhancements.

-Coyle----- The positions of the Tme in relation to the great galactic powers means that more than a few Tmelain are willing to undergo bio-modding, with the joke being that the coyle are benefitting from what the wolfen passed up.

-Klia----Generally dismissive of or unable to accept most bio-modding, except for the MAGMA DEVA heat-tolerance package.

-Squilb---The Squilb are more accepting of Bio-Mods than of cybernetics and bionics, as long as the process doesn’t interfere with their natural abilities. If they can, they will go for bio-packages that allow them to more effectively fight supernatural forces and other great threats.

-Vintex----The Vintex are open to cybernetics and bionics and are simply agog about biomodding, due to the sheer audacity, creativity and expertise shown in it. The few bio-mods that have so far been made available to the Vintex have proven immensely popular with this warrior people.

Other USA-member or affiliated species either have refused bio-modding, cannot accept it for various physical reasons, or else have not had enough research done on adapting the technology to them that it is an issue.

[taalismn]

Ex-Slave Species in the United Systems Alliance
“The Servitors? They’re not so much conscientious objectors as subconsciously-engineered pacifists. Sometime in their ancestry somebody else diddled their genes so these folks’ descendants couldn’t rise up against abusive masters. Sometimes they can’t even conceive of the idea of personal freedom, which makes liberating them all that much harder. But when they do, chances are, most of them will gravitate towards settling around military bases or service communities where they work to keep supplies flowing, equipment repaired, the families of service personnel in good shape. They may never pick up a weapon, but...how does the saying about amateurs studying tactics and professionals studying logistics go?....these people are weapons in themselves.”

“I’m not saying that you’re going to see Sensuans in the general officers’ corps of the Usan Joint Command leading charges on the front, but some of the ones raised in Usan space seem to take their civic responsibilities a lot more seriously than the bedhoppers and lap-riders you see in the Paradise pleasure-pits. Some of them have even signed up to join planetary militias and the community guards, I hear. Of course, it may be because the Usan Sensuans find that taking up a laser rifle while wearing nothing but a mono-film bikini g-string ensemble is a real turn-on for some people, but I suspect there’s more to it than that.”

“The Freedbeings Bureau of the Usa is one of the busier civil organizations they have, When it comes to rescued slaves or emancipated post-capture generation slave slaves, the Consortium typically tries to send them back to their homeworlds, relatives, or divvies them up by species and tries to get them assimilated into their species’ main culture. That doesn’t always work out right. But the folk of the Fringe, and the Usans in particular, are generally so whacked out...they have COMBAT PSYCHIATRISTS for yorgah’s sake!.... they’re a lot more accepting and ready-equipped to handle emancipatees with lingering issues. They welcome the opportunity to establish new colonies and create new cultures from scratch it seems, so a lot of refugees head to them for help getting resettled.”

“Casserines? A gentle and easy-going folk. They do what they’re told and they take direction well,. Most of the time all you have to do is show them once how to do something and they pick up on it in no time. The ones on Atium learned how to aquadome-farm and fish-herd right quick enough to even impress the Vivisandans we brought in to teach. Most everybody in the USPPC agree that the Casserines have earned title to Atium as a homeworld.”

Interestingly, the United Systems Alliance’s population has some of the highest concentrations of ex-slaves and members of engineered ‘servitor’ species(not including AI ‘free-bots’) such as Casserines, Vinobes, Klia, Calians, and Sensuans. Most of these are liberated ex-slaves and refugees seeking sanctuary in the territories of those who rescued them. Though not contributing force of arms to the militaries of the USA, these passive peoples instead have found their own ways to assist their hosts, neighbors, and protectors in support roles.
Both the Free Beings’ Bureau and the GNE’s Human Resources work together in overtime to place refugees and ex-slaves in appropriately accepting communities with host families and employers. Sometimes, as in the cases of Atium and Masumi Station, this has resulted in new ethnic communes dominated by particular servitor species or groups.

The Vinobes are establishing themselves strongly in the United Systems Alliance, with the Cult of Hathor proving especially prominent in healthcare and domestics. Vinobe-owned ‘Hathor’s Hearth’ bakeshops are becoming a popular and spreading franchise in the Fringe. Enclaves of Vinobes are popping up around the USA, but the medical colony of Cybolyte seems to attract them where they are a common sight among the nursing staff of the medical establishments there.

The Klia are a slave species from another universe, were originally part of an invasion force intent on conquering the ‘warm’ before defecting to the material plane, and most have given up most of their cryo-elemental powers to assume more mundane existences. They are less passive than other servitor species, so the USA employs a good number of them in military operations in cold environments and in developing colonies on ice worlds. Already second-generation offspring born of the union of Klia and Warm-humanoids have begun entering society and adding their talents to the workforce.

Though very passive in nature, Casserines are another growing presence, making their contribution as support personnel where they can. Their refuge ‘homeworld’ of Atium is developing as a surprisingly exuberant culture under the waves of the waterworld.

Though generally regarded with disdain or dismay by most Elves, Calians have found acceptance in the USA. They often assist in magic enterprises and businesses. The gentle and generally guileless elven Calians require some special handling with regards to privacy and security issues, but treated well, the Calians show great loyalty to their employers.

Sensuans, a human variant sept, are generally regarded as self-absorbed, oversexed, hedonistic dilettantes. Those that live in the United Systems Alliance typically find employment in the entertainment sector where they continue lives in pursuit of sexual gratification and personal pleasure, but it’s been noted that that second-generation Sensuans born and raised in the USA show a more serious side than their parents. Circulating cheesecake and beefcake videos of Sensuans carrying weaponry in the USA have caused no small amount of titillated discussion in some circles.

The Myatel, a species of humanoid AI, have also found refuge in the USA, especially since they often face refusal elsewhere.

Cenax and Masumi Station seem destined to be big draws for ex-slave resettlement, with Masumi Station already hosting the bio-modified victims of an unnamed alien species encountered by the EShemarrians.
Kaxxion Junction has become a similar refuge for mind-enslaved and body-altered victims of particularly nasty organized crime cartels found on an alternate Earth accessable from the Junction.
Many bio-borged victims of the Splugorth find life much more comfortable in the USA than many other places. Usan biotech can often reverse or remove most, if not all, of the implants and alterations done to the unwilling, or provide bionic conversion alternatives. Even when cures are not possible, or are refused for various reasons, ex-slave bioborgs and cyborgs find usan society much more accepting of their altered nature.

There are also growing numbers of Squilb and Vintex cropping up in the USA, following the call to adventure(or, in the case of the Squilb, Righteousness) and lending muscle to the Alliance.