So...I've had the beginnings of a potentially quite large story arc on the back burner for a while, and I've been realizing that it might fit in amazingly well to this universe (and in so doing, fix a bunch of problems I was having with getting the setting right, acheiving proper epic scope, ect.)
I need to know, though...how exactly do the Taiidani treat their psis? I know they enslave and slaughter them to power their tech, and subject them to all sorts of unpleasantries, but what does the average Taiidani on the street feel about them, and so forth? Also, do they have the Bene Gesserit? Is the Emperor married to a Bene Gesserit? Wouldn't that affect the whole torture and slaughter thing a bit?
Finally, what sorts of psigifts do the Taiidani get? I'd like to be able to include TK, clairvoyance, telepathy, empathy, teleportation, shielding, hyperspace entry, and a few other randoms, but if any of the above Just Wouldn't Fit, I can make do.
Thank you for your time
Fibula
You know, it's a little scary exactly how much information there is to explore in this world.
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...is ruled by Her Imperial Majesty, Lionstone XIV, the perfect and divine, the worshipped and adored.
The Iron Bitch.
At this point, she's -just- ascended to the throne following her father's untimely death. Anyone caught spreading 'lies' about her potential involvement in this has since caught a terminal case of plasma poisoning. She's in her early twenties right now, stands six two and is otherwise your standard example of Teutonic Womanhood (tm).
Well, except for the fact that she's a borderline psychopath.
She's sadistic, spoiled, paranoid and, unfortunately for everyone else, brilliant. She gives you an order, you do what she says, if you like your head attached to your shoulders. Eventually, there'll be a saying in the Empire - "Man proposes, and the Empress disposes."
Her Consort is the Lord High Dram, Warrior Prime of the Empire. Better known as the Widowmaker, but never to his face. He's a bloodthirsty megalomaniac in his own right, but she owns him heart and soul.
Espers are usually identified at birth, at which point they're taken from their parents and placed in a government run creche, whereapon they're raised, by teaching if possible and torture if not, into perfectly loyal slaves.
Under Taiidani law (and, for the most part, public opinion), espers, like clones, are property - chattel slaves.
They run the full range of gifts, but clairvoiance/ divination and telekinesis are by far the most common. Some things that seem to be particular to the Taiidani are the psistorm, which behaves like equal parts gravitonic disruption and tornado and the Siren gift, which essentially lets the possessor turn their voice into a deadly weapon and usually manifests in women.
Hyperspace entry by psi -is- possible, but it falls under pretty much the same heading as teleportation - very rare and usually too dangerous to be worth it. There's no risk of materializing in the wrong place or getting lost, but you're also dealing with even more energy, 'cause you have to bring your ship with you.
And an esper can't get -out- of hyperspace without assistance.
Bene Gesserit... HNBD. Do what you like.
Blessed be.
Nathan Baxter
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The point on the Bene Gesserit was that a) in this universe, parts of the wierding way would be a tapping into hyperspace thing, b) they were a distinct part of almost every incarnation of the Empires of Dune, particularly Dune itself (strong Fremen connection) and c) they were quite clearly not slaves. Thus, either they are part of the Taidan empire, and not as slaves (which would have somewhat dramatic effects on the aspects of it that were not originally from Dune) or they are not part of the empire (which would have somewhat dramatic effects on the parts that were from the Herbert books).
What does HNBD stand for?
I was thinking about making some of the Terribly Difficult Things a bit less so with multi-psion gestalts and amplifying biotech equipment. I'm figuring that that sort of thing would make it a bit easier.
I'm assuming that esper here is a catch-all for mage et al. Why is it not possible to get back into realspace? I could understand "difficult", "entirely unknown" and even "requiring significant mental inversion" but I don't really understand "impossible". How is it that hardtech can punch back through the wall and espers cannot?
Okay, I could understand that it's difficult to tap the neccessary energy to escape from the energies that are designed to not escape under their own power - but what if you tapped HyperII to do it?
Oh, and thanks for the blurb. :)
Fibula
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>The point on the Bene Gesserit was that a) in this universe, parts of the wierding way would be a tapping into hyperspace thing,
What I remember of the Wierding Way (which ain't much, as I never managed to read past Dune Messaiah) seems like it could come entirely from conditioning and concious generation of subliminal effects.
>b) they were a distinct part of almost every incarnation of the Empires of Dune, particularly Dune itself (strong Fremen connection) and c) they were quite clearly not slaves. Thus, either they are part of the Taidan empire, and not as slaves (which would have somewhat dramatic effects on the aspects of it that were not originally from Dune) or they are not part of the empire (which would have somewhat dramatic effects on the parts that were from the Herbert books).
Well, my observation has been that neither the Deathstalker books nor the Dune books were much concerned with the usual life of the common man - and Homeworld didn't touch it at all. So pretty much all of the lower levels of the Empire came out of Star Wars.
Given the BG's agenda, I can easily see them concerning themselves only with those families and persons capable of weilding power - that is, the nobility - and leave much of the rest of society going "Bene who?"
>What does HNBD stand for?
Has/Have Not Been Decided.
>I was thinking about making some of the Terribly Difficult Things a bit less so with multi-psion gestalts and amplifying biotech equipment. I'm figuring that that sort of thing would make it a bit easier.
Yup. But gestalts are pretty hard in their own right, and can be dicey for reasons of their own, depending on the personalities and methodologies of the various parts.
>I'm assuming that esper here is a catch-all for mage et al.
Whether a person turns in a mage, psionic, or whatever depends to a great extent on the cultural, um, paradigm, that they grow up in. Juraiians, and a lot of Toward Star and Rim cultures, default to the magical, while others, Haven, Humanx, and Taiidani, tend to end up as psis. There are also places where the two 'traditions' tend to occur at about the same rate, like the Centauri Republic and the Inner Sphere.
"Esper" isn't a technical or universal term, it's just the standard Taiidani usage - what they say instead of psi or teep or teek or what-have-you.
>Why is it not possible to get back into realspace? I could understand "difficult", "entirely unknown" and even "requiring significant mental inversion" but I don't really understand "impossible". How is it that hardtech can punch back through the wall and espers cannot?
Getting into hyperspace is pretty much a matter of one sharp effort and then downhill from there - first you override the strict rules of normal space and then it gets easier.
Going the other way, though, is a constant, gradually increasing uphill effort. It requires intense effort and incredible concentration for a subjective eternity, even if the objective time is only a second or so.
And either way, to goof is to die.
Or, put it this way. Getting out of hyper by means of magic or psi is impossible the way surviving a fall out of a fiftieth story window is impossible. Some people -have-, yes, but only by means of freak chance.
>Okay, I could understand that it's difficult to tap the neccessary energy to escape from the energies that are designed to not escape under their own power - but what if you tapped HyperII to do it?
You lose 2D4 x 10 SAN.
>Oh, and thanks for the blurb. :)
Paraphased from Mr. Green, so I can't take all the credit. The "perfect and divine, worshipped and adored" bit is all his, along with the nicknames and the little saying.
Blessed be.
Nathan Baxter
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Given that we're likely to be discussing this sort of thing a fair bit, and, from the outside, the psi/magic divide isn't any larger than, say, that between any two radically different schools of magic, we really oughht to have a generic name for people with supernatural powers based on hyperspace sensing/manipulation.
(no there's an awfully long sentence.)
So basically, the advantage that mechanical means have over organics is computational patience? I suppose that makes sense.
It's clear that some hyperspace manipulation can be done mechanically - we have both hyperdrives themselves and (uber-secret) mechanical teleport. Do we have any basic ideas on how this is done, or what it requires?
> You lose 2D4 x 10 SAN.
Ha! I have a POW of 17, a pet psychotherapist, and a prepaid ticket to the Bahamas! Bring it!
Feeling a tch punchy.
Fibula
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How do the Jedi/Sith fit into this? You can't have the Rebels/Empire without the Force. Also, on a cross-ref to your most story teaser, why aren't the rebels involved in the assault on Golgotha?
Of course, if the whole organized rebellion/the Force thing is falling by the wayside (like, say, if there was no Old Republic to breed crotchety jedi, whiny force prodigies, and spunky senator's daughters) then I suppose both questions are answered pretty thoroughly.
That is all
Fibula
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The Taiidani Empire has been around, if anything, -longer- than the Juraiian. Before the Iron Bitch, though, it was a pretty loose, laid back, slow moving place. So, while there wasn't -technically- a Republic, the change between the Empire of old and Lionstone's reign is similar in type and scope to the fall of the Republic and the rise of Palpatine's Empire.
The Jedi may be thought of as being equal parts Chivalric order and mage guild. Their training amplifies and channels the native talents of their Padawan.
The difference between an esper and a hyperspace machine, of whatever type, may be thought of as that between a marine mammal and a nuclear submarine. One makes good use of the medium, but is ultimately anchored to someplace else (normal space, to break the metaphor a bit). The other has no need of air, feels no fatigue, and operates with an order of magnitude more power... and an order of magnitude less efficiency. A telaporter or hypergater would be a blue whale - far more powerful than anything else in their class, but....
The Rebellion isn't really capable of putting up a fleet action. Their space forces are almost entirely in fighters and the smaller weight classes. What heavy metal they do have is mostly busy trying to relieve pressure being placed on all the smaller planetary rebellions by those parts of the Imperial Starfleet that aren't either busy with the Cylons or pulled back into Golgotha's defenses.
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- the Rebellion may not be able to contribute much of anything in terms of raw firepower, but the usefullness of a few large-picture strategic jedi should not be underestimated - and those probably would volunteer, if they were out there and knew of it.
benefits of a high-quality strategic jedi
-- instantaneous, flawless knowledge of current state of battle, at least enough to know how many ships are where doing what - and likelihood of detecting ambushes before they occur.
-- occasional flashes of brilliance/precog
-- Instantaneous, undetectable communication with other available strategic jedi
-- (potentially) large-scale mindbending (this is not the dreadnaught you are looking for. You feel scared and alone. You sympathize with your foes.)
All of these effects are subtle, and might not be recognized for what they are, but they would indeed have a profound impact on the course of battle - and it just seems a bit wrong to take down the Empire wihtout letting the rebels get in a couple of licks.
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