Interest Check: Charioteers Guild

[7achary]

I lost a good amount of writing yesterday so this will be the first of many posts in this thread dealing with the Charioteers Guild. First off, shout out to Faded Suns, Card, Asimov, and Warren Ellis. I even took the term Charioteers from Faded Suns and I think Card might have invented, if not, popularized the term Hegemony.

Two perspectives I feel we could easily fill are Knights and Navigators. Knights are fighter pilots. From the grizzled squadron leader to the hotshot rookie. Navigators are ships' captains. In this role play I was thinking of keeping the ship size limited to Corvette. Think Millenium Falcon, Outlaw Star, Serenity, what have you. Needs at least a pilot and a co pilot (or mechanic) just to fly. Most corvettes fit two gunners. Some lose cargo space and get four. This is usually only done by military vessels and pirates.That ups needed crew from four to six and less cargo means they're probably not far from a home port.

Riding the solar waves is a dangerous, no-error business. Whether you are a part of a crew or squadron nobody traverses space alone except in the yachts of the uber wealthy.

Alright, tonight I will post more. One thing to keep in mind with this particular role play is that we are members of a space faring guild and that entails responsibilities to the guild. More on duties and jobs when I get home from work.

Be excellent to each other
7

[7achary]

In this role play I want to use an old back drop of mine. The Hegemony is a predominantly human galactic civilization comprised of many thousands of systems connected via Einstein-Rosen Bridges, or Bridges. The Hegemon himself is a political non-entity. A benevolent figure head, he tours the hubs and garners media coverage. The Hegemony does not concern itself with human rights in every system. Instead it is a merchant empire, only enforcing a trade system and the major politics of the Hubs. Hubs are systems that connect resources that effect multiple systems and, in turn, billions and billions of people. If you aren't connected to a Hub then you're backwater.

Very few backwater Charioteers exist. There have been famous ones like the Hexian Mercenaries, literal iron age barbarians that somehow captured a scientific research vessel and managed to convince the ship's AI to pilot them to battle. Eventually they would lead great warships and command a fleet. While many Hexians became great Knights and Navigators in their own right, Yogmaw the Destroyer still commands their capital ship. He is one of 17 billion AI or prosthetic sentients granted citizenship in the Hegemony.

While many 'droids are more than sentient, few adventurers human or otherwise register on anything other than a warrant of trade as a Charioteer. It's better than a Hegemony Citizenship.

Speaking of ships, I feel I should explain why we can't have great big cargo haulers and giant a** war ships. A ship of that size has so much going on that the scope of the story changes.

[SkullsandSlippers]

I am, of course interested. I believe I have a navigator I can use....

[Butterfly Effect]

so they basicly use stargate like things to travel?

[7achary]

Yes. Kind of.

Interstellar Space Travel- This is done by the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, which creates a “bridge” between stable wormholes. The area and time between wormholes is referred to as the Gap. Wormholes that see a lot of traffic are monitored by the Hegemon's Admiralty. While worm holes that are less important to the Hegemony, but important to a single system may be monitored by that planet's authority.

In System Space Travel- Travel within a single system is done by ion sails, which allow ships to ride the solar winds. Fuel propulsion technology is still proliferous, especially among the Gir, but is expensive and less reliable. Most ships maintain a fuel propulsion engine in case of sail tears or other catastrophe.

Note: Most human ships have both (magnetic, ion, solar) sails and then fuel propulsion for combat maneuvers, docking, and emergencies.

[7achary]

And yes, Skulls, you may use Deirde. Whether to make a new profile, edit, or just port over the old one is up to you. This is taking place far from Rud'bul so you have plenty of latitude chronologically.

The great forge hub of Arrude holds a bi-annual ship festival across five planets. Arrude I, II, IV, VII, and IX. From races to gladiatorial combat, whether you're looking to spectate or adventure there is something here for you.

Arrude I is the gateway to the biggest ship producing system for the next dozen bridges in any direction. Perkins Arrude made a small fortune when he designed a magnetic silk composite hull from the milk of cloned Terran arachnigoats. He then bought and established the Arrude system as a mecca of astronautical engineering and production, staying on the cutting edge of technology in this sector for over five centuries now.

II is the market, a planetary bazaar with many orbiting bodies hawking goods to passing ships and each other. You need a flux capacitor for a Corvette that's been out of production for centuries? Find or commission one here. Need a slew of cruisers to bomb your neighbor? A million cargo haulers with your company name emblazoned on the side? Sign here.

IV is a pure production planet. It's secrets are heavily guarded by Arrudian Corporate. Those chosen few given tours of the production lines and facilities are never exposed to more than a glimpse of what goes on here.

Those looking to make a quick fortune near VII, largest of the habitable Arrudes, should seek one of its hundreds of moons that hold casinos, pubs, and havens of depravity where one can find anything. This is where one can find the black market and a black out good time all in one.

On IX, just on the edge of the Veridian Belt, so named for it's copper heavy asteroids, lays the most complex space lanes this side of the galaxy. The race ways here will garner the most intergalactic attention and media coverage over the course of the festival.

Docks are closed system wide except for official use. Massive orbiting hangars equipped with space elevators are available for non-Arrudians and those not participating in events.

[SkullsandSlippers]

Fantastic. I will wait and take a look to see what needs to be changed if anything.