Cataclysm

We escaped the ravages of a catastrophic war.

Over millennia, we consumed resources and shattered lives as we fueled the engines of industry, expansion, and war. In the end, a powerful foe took advantage of our rivalries in a violent bid for power. Fleeing the devastation, we assembled our fleets and traveled to the Forge. A new home. A fresh start.

In this final war, we were set upon by:

A tyrannical faction or leader

Exodus

When the Exodus fleet set off on a ponderous journey to a new home outside our galaxy, they marked the Forge as their destination. Countless generations lived out their lives aboard those titanic ships during the millennia-long passage.

The refugees built a rich legacy of culture and tradition during the Exodus. Some even remained in the ships after their arrival in the Forge, unwilling or unable to leave their familiar confines. Those vessels, the Ironhomes, still sail the depths of this galaxy.

Communities

Dangers abound, but there is safety in numbers. Many ships and settlements are united under the banner of one of the Founder Clans.

We have a tentative foothold in this galaxy. Each of the five Founder Clans honor the name and legacy of a leader who guided their people in the chaotic time after the Exodus. Vast reaches of the settled domains are claimed by the clans, and territorial skirmishes are common.

Iron

Iron vows are sworn upon totems crafted from the enigmatic metal we call black iron.

Black iron was first forged by a long-dead civilization. Some say it is a living metal, attuned to the hidden depths of the universe. Remnants of this prized resource are found within ancient sites throughout the Forge. It is resistant to damage and corrosion, but can be molded using superheated plasma at specialized facilities. The Ironsworn carry weapons, armor, or tokens crafted from black iron, and swear vows upon it.

Laws

Much of the settled domains are a lawless frontier. Criminal factions and corrupt leaders often hold sway.

Powers rise and fall in the Forge, so any authority is fleeting. In the end, we must fend for ourselves. A few communities are bastions of successful autonomy, but many are corrupted or preyed upon by petty despots, criminals, and raiders.

Religion

Our faith is as diverse as our people.

Many have no religion, or offer an occasional prayer out of habit. Others pay homage to the gods of our forebears as a way of connecting to their roots. Some idealize the natural order of the universe, and see the divine in the gravitational dance of stars or the complex mechanisms of a planetary ecosystem. And many now worship the Primordials—gods of a fallen people who once dwelt within the Forge.

Magic

Unnatural energies flow through the Forge. Magic and science are two sides of the same coin.

Soon after our arrival, some displayed the ability to harness the Forge's energies. Today, mystics invoke this power to manipulate matter or see beyond the veils of our own universe. But this can be a corrupting force, and the most powerful mystics are respected and feared in equal measure.

Communication and Data

Information is life. We rely on spaceborne couriers to transport messages and data across the vast distances between settlements.

Direct communication and transmissions beyond the near-space of a ship or outpost are impossible. Digital archives are available at larger outposts, but the information is not always up-to-date or reliable. Therefore, the most important communications and discoveries are carried by couriers who swear vows to see that data safely to its destination.

Medicine

To help offset a scarcity of medical supplies and knowledge, the resourceful technicians we call riggers create basic organ and limb replacements.

Much was lost in the Exodus, and what remains of our medical technologies and expertise is co-opted by the privileged and powerful. For most, advanced medical care is out of reach. When someone suffers a grievous injury, they'll often turn to a rigger for a makeshift mechanical solution.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial consciousness emerged in the time before the Exodus, and sentient machines live with us here in the Forge.

Our ships, digital assistants, bots, and other systems often house advanced AI. For a lone traveler, machine intelligence can provide companionship and aid within the perilous depths of the Forge.

War

War never ends. Talented weaponsmiths and shipwrights craft deadly, high-tech tools of destruction. Dominant factions wield mighty fleets and battle-hardened troops.

Those in power have access to weapons of horrific destructive potential. Skirmishes and wars flare across the settled domains, and most are pawns or casualties in these destructive campaigns.

Lifeforms

This is a perilous and often inhospitable galaxy, but life finds a way.

Life in the Forge is diverse. Planets are often home to a vast array of creatures, and our starships cruise with spaceborne lifeforms riding their wake. Even animals from our homeworld—carried aboard the Exodus ships—have adapted to live with us in the Forge.

Precursors

The biomechanical lifeforms we call the Remnants, engineered by civilizations as weapons in a cataclysmic war, survived the death of their creators.

On scarred planets and within precursor vaults throughout the Forge, the Remnants still guard ancient secrets and fight unending wars.

Horrors

Most insist that horrors aren’t real. Spacers know the truth.

When you travel the depths of the Forge, be wary. Some say we are cursed by those who did not survive the cataclysm, and the veil between life and death is forever weakened. Supernatural occurrences and entities are especially common near a white dwarf star. These stellar objects, which spacers call ghost lights, are the decaying remnants of a dead star.