A galaxy rising from the ashes

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

World: Byrnica

 

A recently contacted world returning from an unintended exile that pre-dates the Fall by several centuries. Byrnica is a world of strange contrasts, maintaining high levels of technology in areas such as bio-engineering and electronics, but it does so amidst a barbaric social setting of balkanized city-states.

 

The founders of Byrnica believed that human women were flawed creatures filled with emotional instabilities, so their geneticists worked for decades to create the Byrnican version of the perfect woman. In their eyes, they succeeded, but what they created wasn't fully human either.

 

The initial colonies grew quickly in the first few decades, and those first city-states increased rapidly in population. But then something unexpected went wrong, a lethal disease apparently native to the planet attacked the colonists, one their genetic expertise could not counter. Within weeks, every human male on Byrnica was dead.

 

However, the disease did not affect the Byrnican women, their genetics enabling them to resist the disease. They buried the dead and mourned the loss of the men, but a strange belief emerged amidst them. Over time, the Byrnican women came to believe the loss of the men was somehow their fault, that they were not strong enough to deserve men in their midst. So they worked over the course of generations to make themselves strong enough to be worthy of having men among them again.

 

The city-states instituted a controlled form of war among themselves, and Byrnican women trained in unarmed combat and melee weaponry to fight each other. Those initial, tentative conflicts became serious rivalries over time. The data archives were searched, and the discovery of the Hellenistic Amazon culture helped redefine their society. The difference was that they did not despise men as the ancient Amazons did, they yearned for men to return. Hellenistic architecture, religion and philosophies infused their culture, and they became very much an Amazon society in many respects, but men were deified rather than hated.

 

When the first Federation exploration ship discovered Byrnica, the entire population cheered and welcomed the men with open arms and an almost worshipful awe. A planetwide peace was even declared, and the day of First Contact became a new holy day when no fighting would occur on the planet.

 

The crew of that exploration vessel was taken on a grand tour of each city-state, and after quickly realizing what was going on, the captain chose to limit his landing parties to male crew to avoid causing complications. Later visits did include human women, and after an initial period of surprise at seeing them, they were almost universally treated with disdain by the Byrnicans.

 

The modern Byrnican woman is tall, standing at an average of 5'10" and weighing 140 pounds, beautiful and well-endowed with an athletic and well-defined build. Where they differ from human women is that they have two catlike ears on their heads and slit-pupilled, catlike eyes. Hair colors run the range of human norms but additional colorations such as blue, green or violet are also possible. Eye colors tend to be silver or amber, but they can also run the gamut of normal human coloration.

 

Even though they are genetically different from baseline humanity, Byrnicans are able to mate with human males due to the bio-engineering done to their reproductive systems by their creators. The original Byrnican males had adjusted their own genetics to allow for only male births when mating with their creations, and new Byrnican women were only created in clone tanks, decanting as fully-grown adults and already educated in the basics of their roles by neural programming. It is this genetic adjustment that likely led to their deaths as normal humans appear immune to the disease.

 

The first Human-Byrnican crossbreeds have been either Human males or Byrnican females in appearance, a quirk of genetics that sex-links the traits.

[Christopher]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Having the PCs be the equivalent of Old West Marshals in deep space is a good way to put together a party. Having them be Postal Inspectors with guns and the authority to shoot people is an interesting concept.

"Nobody messes with the Federation Postal Service!"

"What is it? Kanowaian fanatics? Synth killer comando? Byrnican women and we are all human women?" "Worse. It's the FPS"

 

The original Byrnican males had adjusted their own genetics to allow for only male births when mating with their creations' date=' and new Byrnican women were only created in clone tanks, decanting as fully-grown adults and already educated in the basics of their roles by neural programming. It is this genetic adjustment that likely led to their deaths as normal humans appear immune to the disease.[/quote']

Consider making it "binary cloning". You basically take the DNA from two individums, mix their cromosoms and get a new set of DNA. This allows a system like "Family" during the period of isolation/manlessness and also creates a solid dna-mix (important for adaption, to avoid genetic degration and some other stuff).

I also see some questions: Perhaps a few women started to view the men (at least the Federation men) as weak so they need to be protected. A few others might think the Federtaion men are to weak in general ("Old Byrnican men were thousand times better") and continue with the cloning until the "real" men come.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

"Nobody messes with the Federation Postal Service!"

"What is it? Kanowaian fanatics? Synth killer comando? Byrnican women and we are all human women?" "Worse. It's the FPS"

 

 

Consider making it "binary cloning". You basically take the DNA from two individums, mix their cromosoms and get a new set of DNA. This allows a system like "Family" during the period of isolation/manlessness and also creates a solid dna-mix (important for adaption, to avoid genetic degration and some other stuff).

I also see some questions: Perhaps a few women started to view the men (at least the Federation men) as weak so they need to be protected. A few others might think the Federtaion men are to weak in general ("Old Byrnican men were thousand times better") and continue with the cloning until the "real" men come.

 

I like the idea of binary cloning to increase genetic diversity. There were several centuries that went by with Byrnica cut off, so it could be that the gene stocks of the different city-states diverged a bit, or were gene-selected at the direction of the queen of each city. It could also be that different city-states were originally set up to only be of a certain ethnic type, and so they didn't mix their gene banks with those of other city-states.

 

Yes, it is true that the different city-states hold different views on the return of men to their world. While they all have a basis in Hellenistic Amazon culture, each city-state has a different skew on interpreting it.

 

The women of the city-state of Athenia could view Federation men with some suspicion, wondering if this is all a sort of test by their matron goddess Athena. Federation men seem overly concerned with the feelings of the women they are with, as if a Byrnican woman was some weak and pathetic creature needing emotional reassurances and statements of love. The ancient Byrnican men were not that way. They were men of action who imposed their will on their chosen mates. And Human women are viewed with an even greater measure of scorn and derision, since so many of them lack the martial training and self-confidence of even an average Byrnican amazon.

 

Another city-state, Aphrodisia, fully embraced the idea of joining into romantic relationships with Federation men, following their version of the goddess Aphrodite. Love and sex with human males is a joyous, almost holy experience, and they see their role as a guide and protector to the men they choose. Human women are viewed as competition for the attentions of men, and competition rouses the Byrnican martial spirit. A human woman vying for the attention of a man chosen by a Byrnican amazon from this city-state should be prepared for a physical fight.

 

Other examples would fall between these two extemes.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

In regards to the names of city-states of Byrnica, is there a resource on names of cities in ancient Greece? Any suggestions on names or naming methods I could use would be appreciated.

[Lucius]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

World: Kanowa

 

Fundamentalism was an offshoot of Judeo-Christian teachings that had its closest similarity to the Quakers of Old Earth. The uses of technology were guided by the teachings of the Elders of the Church. The faith experienced a revival in interest after the Fall and achieved almost universal acceptance among the population.

 

You do realize that, in general, Quakers are very far from being Fundamentalist, and vice versa?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks a planet of Quakers sounds like a Friendly place

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

You do realize that, in general, Quakers are very far from being Fundamentalist, and vice versa?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks a planet of Quakers sounds like a Friendly place

 

I confess I didn't know that Quakers weren't part of Fundamentalist Christianity, but I was using the term Fundamentalism to conjure up the feeling of a "back to basics" sort of religion. They don't use a lot of high technology outside of farming.

 

Kanowa is a friendly planet. They are a genuinely nice people, but they are having issues with some of the imported ideas arriving with visitors.