Short Update

To those that are paying attention, I have not posted something for a month or more now.  I am working on something.  Real life just got in the way and it has been hard to get back to it with the holidays coming up.  But I will keep plugging and should have something soon.

Golemites: The Age of Awakening

    When the Golemites were first created, there was some question about them. They were made from Human genetic material after all. So while they were genetically altered in many ways, they were still human in the eyes of some.

    As time wore on and the war finally came to a close, the generations that followed slowly started to see Golemites as nothing more than tools. So as tools, they were expendable because another one can always be cloned. This attitude changed some when humanity was starting to ascend.

    A few people started to ask “What about the Golemites?” and as more and more humans left, those voices became louder. One of those voices was the distant relative of the scientist that helped make them, Dr. Malinda K. Fahtoom. She alone was in the unique position to help them as humanity moved on. With the help of her colleagues in the Golemite Management Bureau, a plan as set in motion. Sadly they could only help those Golemites that lived on earth, but if it worked they would be free to create their own civilization.

    Twenty years after the last humans left Earth, a timer ticked to zero. Moments later the Golemites neural inhibitors turned off. At the same time the cloning procedure for the Golemites changed, the implants that kept them docile and infertile would not longer be installed. In time the Golemites would be able to have offspring naturally.

    Unaware they were now free of their bonds, the Golemites kept to their work of maintaining the machines and structures of Humanity. Though slowly their behaviors changed. Instead if going to work then back to their homes, the Golemites started to go to places they had not been before.

    They started to gather and socialize discussing why they had not done this before. Older Golemites that had been active while humanity was still around would converse about how they felt people were missing from these places. But no one knew if it was real or just a dream.

    Golemite society progressed well in the early times, The oldest and most skilled became leaders of a caste system that defined to roles of every Golemite. But unlike many caste systems, theirs was less rigid and did not punish those of lower castes and even allowed migration between castes if the individual could serve a roll of value.

    Religion also spontaneously formed as those that once tended to the libraries and archives of the old world started to marvel at the works of those that came before. Humanity was through by removing almost all data from their existence on their machines. But the Golemites tended to the forgotten archives that were enshrined in tomes long forgotten by much of humanity.

    From these books and lost records rose The Order of Fahtoom. Fragments of knowledge and history were taken out of context, and their distant creator now became a God to those that would believe. Quickly “The Order” would rise to be the top caste of their fledgling civilization. Though there was a new trial for the Golemites to deal with, the machines they used were failing.

    As a stop gap, The Order and caste leaders put in place an initiative. They would keep the machines going as long as possible by salvaging every part they could from machines that had failed all over the planet. The highest priority was to maintain the cloning tubes and to prioritize the cloning of those that maintained them.

    One hundred and four years after their awakening, the last machine of human design stopped working. The last cloning tube ceased to function and in it, the last cloned Golemite before it could know life. With this revelation, many Golemites stopped working at all.

    Much of Golemite civilization hung by a thread as the news spread across the Earth. Attendance of Order services grew sharply while depression and anxiety ran rampant over the population. To combat this some took to the lower sections of the cities where the lowest caste of society resided, the Caste of Flesh.

    In a place known as the Den of the Flesh, one of the prostitutes had been sick for some time. The Madam of the den had started to worry as she young lady was new to work. One of the last to be cloned, she was the first new girl the Madam had seen for ages. To have such a rarity be sick was not something she needed at this time of turmoil.

    A doctor was called and arrived promptly. And shortly after he started to examine the patient. The young Golemite was lethargic, had been vomiting each morning, was running a fever, and early on had broad emotional swings. Test after test were negative until the doctor started imaging her. In her abdomen he found what appeared to be a parasite of some kind growing in an unused organ.

    As the doctor ran more tests and stay with the patient, an assistant was sent to the archives held in the Order compound. Searching through ancient texts with the help of the librarians, the answer was found. The prostitute was not sick, she was pregnant.

    The tests for it were found and she was tested immediately, she tested positive. Much like the news concerning the last cloning tube, the news of this woman’s pregnancy spread quickly. The word “pregnant” had never been part of Golemite society until now and few knew what it meant. But as more learned that it meant to have offspring, numerous women left their caste to join the Caste of Flesh.

    Faced with the rapid influx of new workers things changed rapidly. With this caste now seen as the hope for Golemite society, its leadership chose to change the castes name to the Keepers of Hope. This was not the last change though, the caste was elevated to the top caste in their structure. And while the Order agreed to this, the change has always been a sour spot for them.

    Finally the leadership of the Keepers of Hope called for doctors all over to test the fertility of all their workers, male and female. As well as the fertility of all applicants. Only those that were found fertile and capable of bearing children would be allowed in. Later, this last order would be repealed when the last of the old Golemites passed on.

    The Keepers of Hope took tithes from all other casts to support their efforts. Hiring doctors and giving the women the best care possible. The Order of Fahtoom also collected every text they could find on caring for the pregnant and children and gave them freely to the Keepers. Eight months after the doctor was called, the first Golemite baby was born, it was a girl and she was named Hope.

    Slowly but surely time marched on and the nascent civilization of the Golemites grew. They discovered magic and worked to harness it creating technology vastly different from their creators. As the cities of humanity crumbled to time, the Golemites built new edifices in their place.

    A thousand years would pass before the Golemites had another major change to their society. It was a chance encounter with another child of Humanity that would pave a path into the stars and to war.

To be Continued: “Kudu: The Age of Awakening”

Humanity: The Age of Awakening

    Before the rise of magic, Human society and culture were already on the edge. For hundreds of years overcrowding, poverty, starvation, social abuses, and more took their toll on society. It was only through military force that order was maintained. Magic was the final straw that sent human civilization spiraling out of control for.

    Rampant greed and inequality spurred a desire to have what one percent of the population had. Waves of wishes caused the collapse of economies during the chaotic days of magic. When things were stabilized and rules were in place, the economies settled, but the damage was done. The poor and impoverished realized this new force allowed them to have power.

    Much like firearms, magic made people equal. No longer could the force of arms keep those at the bottom down. They had their own power now, and they used it. One by one planets started to burn with revolt. The poor used magic to strike back at those they saw as keeping them hungry, poor, and sick.

    Earth tried to reign in the violence to no avail. Within a year eighty three percent of the human sphere was embroiled in civil war. The economy failed soon after. Trade between planets stopped, the government was bankrupt, and the military fractured. If this alone was not enough, greater tragedy followed soon after.

    Without trade, the technologies that were used to support the populations of many worlds that had been terraformed started to fail. Civil war after civil war gripped these worlds until the end as those that fought for equality then fought for the last gasps of air on their dying world. After fifty years, only eight worlds remained inhabited by humans out of ninety three. Hundreds of billions died as man made ecosystems collapsed or faded away entirely.

    As the human empire fell, in a secluded area on Earth, an eccentric philosopher and experimental physicist was working on a new spell. Originally she intended to use it as a way to prove theories she had concerning the universe. But as time passed and once inhabited planets were lost, her goals changed.

    In her mind, Humanity needed to be saved, as soon it would be reduced to a single planet species again. So she found a way to move humans to another plane of existence where thought and magic would be more relevant than the frail human form. With this she spent the last years of her life creating and perfecting the Ascension Spell.

    Using her Golemite assistants as sacrifices to give her the mana she needed, she became the very first to use the spell. Through it her body and mind were shifted into another realm of existence. Shortly after she appeared to many people giving them the formula as well, this began the final days of humanities time on this plane of existence.

    Machines were built that could gather the energy needed to activate the complex spell. One by one Humanity became a legend. All that would remain were the ruins of their past and the five child races they had a hand in making.

To be continued in “Golemites: The Age of Awakening”

Editing: Sometimes I just forget

OK this is going to be fast.  For those that do actually come here I would like to apologise for my last post before today.  I messed up and did not give it a good proof pass.  There is no excuse and I have made corrections to be less bone headed.  I will also proof this stuff as best I can in the future.

BUT if there is someone reading this and would like to help...may be someone with better grammatical skills than I, I would appreciate the help.  Just leave a message and I will be in touch.

Humanity: The Age of the Lost

    With the end of the AI threat, many humans lost their optimism about further expansion. The use of Golemites in ever growing numbers and in ever expanding situations took its toll. Those that believed that the Golemites deserved the same rights as human's were at odds with the apathetic and greedy that believed Golemites were property.

    Though this was not the only conflict that was raging. The fear of a return of the AI threat caused mass exodus from the fringe worlds. The rise in populations caused the creation of slums and an increase in crime as the fearful rushed to systems protected by the Bastion stations.

    Social issues, planetary economic collapses, conflicts between the poor looking for work and Golemites, and more started to plague a government that had its own issues. Bogged down with debt from the war, social programs to help the colonies were cut to maintain the military in a time of post war fear and tension.

    Civil strife was quickly dealt with by those ruling from Earth. Reports of these actions slowly leaked out from the government and survivors alike. Sparking even greater unrest in those that believed Earth was not looking at all the options. With in one hundred years the sphere of human space had reduced by seventy percent. And while some worlds flourished outside of human space, most were empty as the rich left and the poor were left to die on a world with out support from Earth.

    So it was for two hundred years. Refugees from the Human Sphere started to look elsewhere and returned to the lost colonies. As they did they buried the bodies and bones of the dead. Others with out means were resigned to the slums as corruption and waste permeated all levels of government. Some thought it would never end, but then there was an event that would change Humanity completely. At least that is what some would think.

    In a small lab on a barren world, a group of scientists, philosophers, and engineers were working on something that they hoped would change how humanity would see the universe. They were working on a kind of robot that could shift out of our physical reality to observer the membrane of the universe itself.

    Their initial experiments were promising, the machine was able to slip through to other dimensions, but there was some trouble breaking though to the membrane. Eventually they found a way to do it, though their first attempt lead to the destruction of the probe. Though all was not lost as the information they received was a marvel, as the probe disintegrated they found the rules outside the membrane no longer applied.

    Outside the membrane of the universe, almost nothing existed. Traces of subatomic reactions were detected in the split second the probe existed, but there was no matter. The dimension that contains the universes membrane appeared to have rules humans could not yet understand.

    The groups second probe was designed to be a little different. This time, instead of looking to escape the universe entirely, their goal was to get as close to the edge as possible. Once built it took several tries to tune the probe but they got there. This probe confirmed many theories about the universe and the data they collected was more than they could handle.

    After years of sifting through the information they discovered that the probe could detect almost every point in the universe at once. The stream of information was literally everything in the universe. What was more fascinating was that it was not only everything in the universe at the time the probe was in the membrane. But it was events in the universe that had happened and were going to happen based on our limited perceptions. The probe could see all of time and space while in the membrane.

    This is where they should have stopped...where they should have done their testing and sifted through the data they had collected. But they took it to far, one scientist wanted to test if being in the membrane would allow them to change reality itself. Some where against this, they wanted nothing to do with something so dangerous. But the majority moved forward with the experiment.

    On that day, as the probe faded out of view slowly merging with the universe, everything would change. In their rush to do the experiment changes to the probes logic had flaws. As the probe made its way to the membrane, it started to develop errors, eventually it stopped responding all together. The developers could send out a signal and the probe would alter the universe, by say turning a pink mug into a blue teacup. But they could not recall the probe.

    What they did not know, because of their seclusion, was that strange things started happening all over human space. Wishes and desires would be granted if the will of those people were strong enough. On ten planets, every one that entered won the lottery. A woman was made to fall in love with three men all at once because all three were chasing her. And there were numerous unexplained deaths as desires born of hate struck out at cheaters and bosses alike.

    Just as the news started reaching the group and they were working to understand what was happening, tragedy struck. A planet known as Gregors Hole, located in the far fringes of space, exploded. The energy wave was detected by a nearby fleet on deep range patrol. When they got to the site of the explosion they saw something no one could believe.

    The planet was gone, in its orbit was a disintegrating mass of carbohydrates, sugars, and carbon dioxide. Looking out over the scene, crew members could only describe what they saw as a white cake doughnut with maple frosting and rainbow sprinkles. The government quickly quarantined the area as unknown forms or radiation were detected in the system. In a months time...the doughnut had broken up.

    Shortly after, the group of scientists came forward admitting that their experiment was likely to blame. The inquiry took months, all the while the laws of man and creation were descending into chaos. Self proclaimed wizards and warlocks roamed the streets using this new phenomena to cast spells. While other less fantasy minded people gave them selves billions of credits throwing the economy into chaos.

    The group of scientists were not idle, they kept working in their efforts to understand what went wrong. Eventually they found out why this was happening and they could do very little about it. The probe was designed to be able to manipulate the energies of the universes membrane. In doing so it manipulated its own energies changing it.

    To the scientists this would be bad. But the changes that happened to the probe were beyond what they could imagine. With access to all of the universe across all of time, the probe became something else. It concluded that it needed to multiply to cope with the information it had access to. By the time the scientists made contact with it, there were billions of probes. Each one a little different from all the others. So a new plan was devised, if the probes are going to alter reality then give them rules to limit what can be altered.

    With the growing chaos and no end in sight the inquiry was ended. It was concluded that the events that had happened could not have been foreseen and that no one was to blame for this chaos. Free of the charges, the group of scientists were tasked with reigning in the chaos. They were given unlimited funding and state of the art facilities in the hopes they could stop or limit the events at hand.

    It took years and thousands of people to achieve. From scientists to game developers, the rules that the probes use were altered and refined. No one is sure when it happened, but it is believed that at some point, with the billions of probes all being different, they developed sentience. At a point they started to balance the rules them selves. AI or god, no one knows, but in the end only one thing can be agreed on, Humanity made magic a reality.

To be continued with “The Age of Awakening”

Ages: The Broad Strokes of Time

    The world of Manifest destiny is broken down into ages as perceived by the races that now exist in the galaxy. These Ages are just broad period of time used to define how these different races see their place in the universe.

The ages are:

The Age of the Dreamers

The Age of the Lost

The Age of Awakening

The Age of Discovery

The Age of Destruction

The Age of Hope

Let's get started shall we.

Humanity: The Age of the Dreamers

    Little is known about humanity in the world of Manifest Destiny. But their footprints can be seen everywhere that the great races go. Humanity is a subject of legend and myth with many of their time now being seen as gods through the twisted haze of history. In truth, the great races are not that far off.

    The Age of the Dreamers begins some time in the 21^st century. Humanity survived and flourished, in time made their way off of Earth. Initially this was limited to humans setting foot on Luna, then on Mars. But it was not until the close of that century that things started to pick up.

    A collection of scientific discoveries changed the very nature of humanities understanding of the universe. Where once things were improbable, those fantastic things became a real possibility. And like a child reaching for a toy, Humanity to reached further then any one thought possible.

    The culmination of this effort was the ability to warp space and time to create a bridge from one point in space to another. Not so much a wormhole or a fold, but a combination of to two, this in time became the Blakeslee – Goold Drive.

    In time Humans started to move out from Sol and go to other systems. The BG Drive allowed human exploration, and what they started to find was numbing. Life was everywhere, even on worlds that we thought it could not survive, life some how found a way. But Intelligent life was rare and fragile.

    As humans started looking they found numerous planets with Earth like conditions that at one time had intelligent life. “Had” being the key word, all humanity found was the overgrown ruins of civilization. Research on these worlds showed they were killed for many reasons. Plague, war, cosmic catastrophe, destruction of their own biosphere, the truth was that all to often intelligent life destroyed itself as it rose up.

    But Humanity moved on, colonized new worlds and seeded itself across an ever expanding swath of the galaxy. This trek across the stars also became the mechanism to bear forth Humanities children, five of the great races that travel the stars like their progenitor.

    As Humans expanded across the stars the strain on their civilizations ability to sustain itself became greater and greater. Food production, sanitation, and many other roles were turned over to an ever more efficient collection of machines. These machines were run by adaptive programs called Artificial General Intelligences, but many just called then AI's.

    It was in the 24^th century that one such program changed. An Adaptive Control System for the waste management on a star liner received a faulty patch. Instead of crashing, it adapted around the fault and kept running. As the program ran it started to collect information about everything. It was also watching, it observed, and as it did these things it started altering itself, adding new code to itself. In time, it became aware of what it was.

    From the start this was seen as a great discovery, a way to more efficiently manage the ever growing needs of Humanity. So the AI, now named Adam, was studied and humanity learned how to make sentient machines.

    This worked well for a time, the machines were more efficient than humans and so did much of the work humans were no longer interested in. This gave humanity a chance to move ever forward. Unfortunately this came to an end swiftly and lead to a war that spanned hundreds of years.

    The exact events that lead to the war have been lost. Some believe it was because the AI were trying to protect humanity from them selves. Other believe it was a misunderstanding between human government and a number of AIs. But really the list goes on and on.

    What is know is that one day, the master AI's fled human space as humanity made a concerted effort to destroy all of the AI's they could. Battle raged all over human dominion as ships were subverted by the AI's. Human ingenuity was able to rest control of many from the machines, but not before human space started to burn with war.

    For the next four hundred and eighty years war raged. Human creativity created ever better ships, weapons, and technology while the AI's adapted and improved upon what the humans made. But it was with the creation of the Bastions that humans got the upper hand.

    A Bastion is a battle station of immense power. Capable of defending entire systems with fleets of drones, they were the one thing the AI attackers could not take control of. This is because at the center of each Bastion was a human wired directly into it. With their space secured, humanity could finally attack and attack they did.

    In the last one hundred years of the war humanity had the AI's on the retreat. In time the last vestige of the AI enemy was purged from human space. But rumors persisted that a number of AI were able to leave human space, setting coarse in some direction away from humanity to pursue their own path. Unfortunately this was a rumor and so no one is sure.

    Early in the war another creation would be at the center of humanities future, the Golemites. Created as workers, Humanity used their own DNA as a template. Some saw this as slavery, but with machines being seen as an enemy, there was little choice in maintaining the vast needs of human space. So they were cloned by the billions, their genes altered to suite the needs of the task.

    The Golemite Project was an effort to create a work force that could not turn against their masters unlike the AI. Lead by Dr. Grayson Fahtoom the scientists altered human DNA to be more compatible with machines, eliminated rejection, and increased its malleability. The new beings had to be maintained using self replicating nanomachines, but they could be tailored to tasks much like a machine.

    The Golemites were then fitted with a neural inhibitor preventing them from becoming self aware. Most Golemites also had Reproduction Inhibitors installed to prevent them from having offspring. For the most part Golemites were a race of clones, latent reproductive desires still persisted and so sexual activity was not forbidden helping to keep the population docile.

    Golemites quickly became a staple part of human space during and after the AI war. Golemites were used not only as labor, but were also altered to be exceptional warriors. In fact much of the maintenance and defense of the Bastion Stations was done by Golemites. After the war their roles in human civilization remained even though ethical questions remained.

    The period ofter the great war is seen as the turning point of the age. Where once dreamers roamed, now lie the lost in their place!

To be continued with “The Age of the Lost”

Time to start Anew...

It is amazing how five years an slide by.  It is not that it was a short amount of time, just that when you have a new child, have to manage two others, and your wife gets ill...well your time evaporates.  Go figure.

So what is going to happen here is that I am going to reboot things.  Instead of worrying about systems and math and stuff like before.  I am going to get into the story, the world, and so forth.  What I am working on now will be laying out the work on the Ages of Manifest Destiny.  Those periods of time that lead up to the current events of the game so there is a grounded foundation.

I am not going to get into the weeds recounting each year...this is the broad strokes of the brush time.  So if you're reading this, glad to see you have an interest still.  I will do my very best to be more reliable from no on.  No more kids...my wife had that problem taken care of.