The universe

2538. The Freeholds, on the rim of human space.

Humanity survived first contact and four more incursions over five centuries. The peace since the last one feels like held breath. The game happens on an independent chain of worlds that everyone is suddenly arriving at.

FictionThis page is public-safe canon only. The story's secrets are not here.

Mahuika at dawn, a wild world with a live lava flow at the hero frame.In-game capture, Build 0.1.0, on foot

01 // The premise

Gratitude has expired

It is 2538. Humanity survived first contact with the Kraal in 2042, when most of the species died in a generation and Earth was occupied, and it survived four more incursions over five centuries. The last ended at Thalos in 2501. Veterans in their fifties still wake to phantom klaxons, and everyone agrees the Kraal will return. Human space spans about 800 light-years, split among seven powers, each shaped by a different answer to near-extinction. Sol itself was abandoned about a century ago.

The Freeholds are an archipelago of stations, moons and hollowed rocks on the Empire's rimward seam. They were protected by gratitude: they fought the Kraal beside everyone else. That gratitude has expired with the generation that felt it. Six outside powers are arriving at once, with concessions, survey rights, protection treaties and extremely reasonable offers, while the Pirate King conquers Freehold worlds from inside. Behind the Freeholds is space the Kraal held for centuries and no human has surveyed. For now, you can go and look.

02 // Five centuries

From first contact to the present

Timelinepublic-safe rows only

Timeline
Year	Event
2042	First contact: a Kraal scouting party. Earth is garrisoned, and 82 percent of humanity dies within a generation.
2077	The Kraal leave Earth.
2079	The first human interstellar expedition, on captured Kraal drives. The crew of the Defiant Hope die in transit.
2103	Nova Terra is founded at 40 Eridani A, a real star in the catalogue.
2148	Settlers name the HD 23514 system Acca Larentia; its fourth planet is Perenna.
2178	The Larentian worlds win independence by force. The Terran Galactic Empire is founded, its capital on Perenna.
2183 to 2287	The Third Kraal Incursion.
2407 to 2501	The Fourth Incursion: Kepler's Gate, where forty thousand die in six hours; Operation Tecton Shield abandons thirteen frontier systems and sixteen billion people; the Siege of Thalos ends it.
2520s	The Empire renames itself Imperium Larentia. The Pirate King rises in the Freeholds.
2538	The present.

Two of these stars are real and in the catalogue: 40 Eridani A (HD 26965) and HD 23514. The lore and the sky meet there.

03 // The human powers

Seven answers to near-extinction

Imperium Larentia

Eighty-six worlds and no Emperor for two centuries; the throne on Perenna is draped in black. Roman pageantry in the Core, pragmatism on the Frontier. It expands without deciding to: a customs office, then a garrison.

Navy in white, Marines in olive, green-grey kit with an eagle.

Avalon Compact

Seven post-scarcity worlds of art, ethics and symposia, quietly drowning in Helion debt. It arrives as a mediator, with a concession attached.

An orange fleet and crystal universities.

Helion Accord

Merchant Houses for whom credits are ammunition. The fastest arrival: it buys concessions and owns the ledger.

Gold filigree, black ceramic, House crests.

Laconian Ascendancy

Eleven militarist worlds on a Spartan model. It wants a treaty and a permanent garrison.

Gunmetal with bronze trim, a lambda.

Fifth Path

Ecological preservationists building biocities. Pacifists with a navy. Their survey camps are sincere and welcoming.

A green spiral on a pale horizon.

The Freeholds

Dozens of independent worlds, no senate, no fleet, and Articles of Mutual Aid renewed each cycle. Home ground.

Mismatched, visibly repaired, rust-black.

The Blackwardens

Interdictors who quarantine kilonova scars and ancient sites. A couple of hulls, recently arrived. Write them as rumour.

None given.

04 // The others

Around human space

The Kraal: Humanity's defining enemy: bio-mechanical ritual warriors, dormant since 2501. No one jokes about them.
The Merenai: Aquatic allies, reduced to remnants after humanity abandoned their worlds in the Fourth Incursion. They never forgave it.
The Vohrak: Insectoid mathematicians who speak in probabilities and honour any properly written contract.
The Trilari: An ancient species guarding billion-year-old ruins. A brief war over a tomb world ended in a permanent diplomatic freeze.
The Velkarai: Feline hunters near Sol. Their predation drove the last humans out of the Sol system about a century ago.

05 // Places

Where the game goes

The Calliope and her crew of seven start at Erebus Station. This is where the story goes.

Erebus Station: Where the game starts: three welded hulls and 1,286 residents, the Last Light bar and its memorial wall. Three hulls, one heart.
Port Hallow: An asteroid bazaar at a fifth of a gravity.
Veil's Edge: A shipyard under the ice.
Cinderhold: The Dust Consortium's volcanic company world, kept by the Obsidian Guard. Safety is prosperity.
Perenna: The Imperial capital, in the Acca Larentia system.
Perseus Station: 2.3 million people on the seam between the Core and the Freeholds.
Thorne's Landing: The Quiet World: 1.8 million people, and nobody has spoken aloud since 2493.
The Kuutar String: A cosmic-string shortcut. Crossing it brings string sickness.
The Ilmatar Cluster: Merging black holes that, the navigators say, sing.

The wiki carries each of these, marked as fiction, with the discussion beside it. The game page says what of the fiction is in the build today: the territories, the faction markets and crews, and every name.