The Lore Primer
Welcome to DISTANT SANDS 11, also known as Selaa Hohr. Set on the opposite side of the Orion Arm and Rokhandan Directorate from the events of New Frontiers, Distant Sands 11 is a mobile space station owned by the Selaa Malaa, matriarch of the Selaa Dynasty which runs the station. The Selaa Dynasty is one of the many families that make up the Kemzali Families.
The station has been freshly occupied by the Rokhandan Directorate due to the ongoing refugee crisis caused by border skirmishes with the Alganna Eternity, a new empire that we’ll be exploring as the sim develops. So what does life on DS11 look like?
- The station is being used as a staging point for incoming and outgoing refugees from the border conflicts. While the Directorate on paper is committed to the quality of life of these refugees, in reality, many live in squalor in the lower levels of the station.
- The Directorate is failing to maintain law and order on the Station and in surrounding space due to infighting, politics, and a lack of appetite for escalating the conflict with the Eternity.
- This has allowed crime networks, specifically the Syndicate, to flourish.
- The Selaa are growing increasingly frustrated with the station being used as a makeshift refugee camp, and are beginning to actively undermine the Directorate’s authority in hopes they cut their losses on the sector. This has led to them cooperating, under the table of course, with the Syndicate.
Meet the Factions
Directorate Forces
Directorate Leadership:
Obama
Taggart
The Directorate Forces encompass all branches of the Directorate on Distant Sands 11. Encompassing the scouts of the Scout Service, security experts of the Expeditionary Fleet, and even scientists of the Institute of Science, the Directorate presence on the station is over-stretched, over-worked, and under-staffed. Most of the Directorate presence on the service remains the Scout Service, ill-equipped and unwilling to handle policing a restless population.
Selaa Dynasty
Dynasty Leadership:
Werescrib
Station Divisions Leadership:
Tatara Ling (Medical)
Coleslaw (Operations)
Vacant (Science)
Taggart (Security)
The Selaa Dynasty are the builders and owners of Distant Sands 11, formerly known as Selaa Hohr, or Selaa’s Wrath. They are not all that pleased that their station has been commandeered (at least in their eyes) by the central government. Their goal is to reduce the power and influence of the Directorate, and increase their own, while pretending to be entirely compliant.
The Syndicate
Syndicate Leadership:
AbelShift
Fjann
Avii
As ever, some see opportunity in turbulent times, and with the Directorate Forces strained, the underside of the station thrives. Thieves, smugglers, racketeers, spies, and con-men are organized under the Syndicate with the unspoken blessing of the Dynasty. It’s not clear at first glance just how extensive it is, how long they’ve been here, or who might be playing an unknowing part in their conspiracy, but they’re not going away.
Station Divisions
Though administratively “under” the Selaa Dynasty as the owners of the station, the Station Divisions are aimed at being influenceable by all three factions. Anyone can join the divisions (Medical, Operations, Science and Security) regardless of faction affiliation, and can even use these “neutral” groups to try and influence the direction of the station and roleplay.
Example: Security backed by the Directorate arrests some Syndicate smugglers; the Dynasty applies political pressure to release the smugglers over a technicality.
Example: the Syndicate infiltrates station operations to try and engineer lapses in communications/sensors to make smuggling easier.
Seedy underbelly
The build team has been hard at work adding a shantytown in the lower decks of the station. Designed to blur the lines of organic and inorganic, fitting the station’s construction, this area will be a hive for the Syndicate and other seedy characters.
This’ll also help us more accurately represent what we want for the station from a lore perspective; A over-crowded powderkeg full of people running from, or running towards, war and profit.
Staff additions and dice system
We are pleased to add Vryena to our game master and core development team. Vry has real-world TTRPG developer experience and is already hard at work on a dice system for us that balances interesting, fun PVP and PVE with the lessons learned from past roleplay sims that bogged down combat. We still aim for a speedy, engaging system that will complement roleplay, not override it.
Lions, tigers, custom species, oh my!
We’re sticking to using a lot of New Frontiers species and lore, but some changes have been made. You’ll start seeing:
- Kemzali and Kobari, mainly linked to the Selaa Dynasty.
- We have merged Caera and Leecii into the same “host” and “parasite” species, Caera-Leecii.
- Kimovinhi and Kimmigani are new bovine/deer-like sister species associated with the Algaana Eternity and Directorate.
- Outworlders will likely require a special application for custom species. One-off “I don’t fit any other species” characters are encouraged to use Vatborn/Splicer.
Looking to help?
We still need the following:
- Faction co-leads for Directorate and Selaa Dynasty
- Head for the Science Division
- Gamemasters, lore people, and graphics design people.
- Got another specific skill you think we need? Doesn’t hurt to ask!
We aim to put out a new dev update every week or two until “official” release. Thank you all for your cotninued support!
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