Universes Under Construction - Endless Space 2.
We will see the heretic drown in his blasphemies, he will not break our will and bring ruin on our church. Only then can we shed our mortal cloth and rise. Endless.
The Gray Owl - Introductions:
My name is-- No. My name is unimportant in this tale. It is not even my tale to tell for it belongs to another race, an avian race, the like of which I have never seen on this planet. The words will be my words, but the story will be their story.
At the time of writing this, I am not quite fully acquainted with the universe and all it has to offer. But I have versed myself in enough content to fully grasp even the smallest of concepts that this universe is trying to portray.
The reality of social issues and the cultures that get lost in time and the importance of recording such lost history by any means necessary. As far as it goes, that's exactly what my mind has garnered from all this. And, of course, I wanted to shed some light on this universe for everyone.
And I also thought that a nice intermediary post that wasn't about Halo before I carry on with my Filling in the Blanks series as part 2 of A War That Affected Us All nears completion would be a good way to get a bit of variety into everything.
As well as the fact that I have been wanting to talk about this universe for quite some time now, even before I started with the underlying series of Filling in the Blanks. I wanted to showcase the incredible universe that Amplitude has managed to create with simplistic concepts for an RTS game.
From culture, factions, story, even free comics that they have been releasing in their own hosted wikia site and a short novel that comes with the game's files called The Last Flight of The Grey Owl written by author and Narrative Director as well as Lead Writer at Amplitude Studios; Jeff Spock.
However, let's not waste anymore time with talk, let's get on with analyzing this universe and uncovering some of it's lore.
Cultural Expedition - A look at the Species:
Now, I will showcase some bits and pieces of comics of their respective Factions, so spoilers ahead. If you want to read them on your own I would go here and return when you've had. Or just stay and read them later, it's all the same really!
I will show them in two categories, those who are playable and those who are not.
Playable:
United Empire:
If you can ever compare the United Empire to anything, it'd be the Soviet Union. It's a shady faction riddled with inequality and hardship, those who aren't fortunate enough to be born to big military figures are worked to the bone. All in the name of the Empire.
Among those things cleaners are included to get rid of those whom have started to doubt the Empire and the Emperor Zelevas. These cleaners work for the Empire without question and oftentimes have honour in them. But not all the time it would seem as Zelevas' own ruthlessness is employed, their names also gradually change once their job is done; moving on to the next.
The United Empire developed from a fleet of Mezari settlers on a temperate, resource-rich world. For decades commercial and industrial effort went into the conquest and development of the planet. Once the planet was largely colonized and controlled, a more or less inevitable event occurred: The Great Continental War. This planet-wide military conflict occurred at a technological level that might have led to total extermination of life, and the rulers were wise enough to pull back from the brink of this collective suicide. The dominant force at the end of the war, known as the Alliance of Nations, imposed its will across the entirety of the planet through a mixture of rebuilding loans, military threats, and moral persuasion.
Advanced space technologies have thus been developed under a single body that put a great deal of effort into it, and space exploration occurred at a rapid rate. The Mezari–now calling themselves Raians–launched manned probes to distant bodies within their solar system, and as technology advanced, the next steps back to the stars were inevitable.
The Riftborn
Hailing from an alternate dimension orthogonal to the Endless universe, the Riftborn would've happily led out their abstract, timeless existences entirely ignorant of galactic strife, were it not for a breach that precipitated a disaster of unimaginable proportions.
Like a poisoned blade slashed deep into clean flesh, the rift acted as a source of terrible disorder in the Riftborn's pristine, geometrical universe. Desperate, unable to halt the disease's advance no matter what they tried, the Riftborn took the last available course of action that might lead to their survival: Together with their strange time-shifting abilities, they stepped into the Endless universe.
Vodyani
Victims of a classic cycle of over-industrialization, the Vodyani were saved by technology culled from ruins of the Virtual Endless. These precursors quickly gained an aura of divinity in the eyes of the Vodyani, and are now worshiped as gods.
Clothed in their great black suits of borrowed technology that they refer to as their holy "Cloth", Vodyani leaders pilot their great arks across the star lanes. The Vodyani seek other peoples to convert, control, and consume, as they survive through the simple expedience of draining other peoples of their life forces.
While many view this as a grotesque, the Vodyani see themselves as "chosen" by the Endless and deserving of their stature. They are simply higher on the food chain than all other races, and that is that.
While there are many sprawling departments and executives within the Church of the Virtual Saints to handle the functions of running a starfaring civilization, there is only one ultimate authority - the Hierarch. This person, drawn from one of the powerful organizations that make up Vodyani society, is the ultimate authority for both religious and secular affairs.
The current hierarch is Isyara St Shaiad, famous for her rigor and intensity. She is also famous for her brother - the heretic Isyander St Shaiad, who nearly destroyed the society when he led a revolt against his own people.
The Unfallen:
The Unfallen have only ever known their homeworld of Koyasil, preferring to peaceably study what is near rather than discover what is far. They were content with this slow development that they refer to as the "Long Sleep"—the period from their rise to sentience to the modern era. The modern era was rudely thrust upon them by a galactic skirmish in the skies above, and the debris it rained upon their planet.
Seeing fire fall from the skies, and viewing the violence of other races firsthand changed their image of their role in the galaxy. Having an intimate relationship with fire as both Fire-That-Destroys and Fire-That-Renews, they view themselves as guardians of peace and harmony in a galaxy that seems to be badly in need of both.
They are also interesting in the way that they are entirely community created.
Horatio:
An exceedingly rich and exceedingly eccentric trillionaire who was exceedingly tired of everything, Horatio left the Mezari empire on a solo voyage. Crossing the galaxy in suspended animation, Horatio was awakened by the ship when it arrived at a habitable planet–of which he immediately declared himself Emperor.
Horatio used information culled from Endless ruins on the planet and its two moons to gain unnatural extension to his own life. In-system exploration led to other discoveries and eventually, through advanced medicines and biological adaptation, he evolved his own body into his vision of physical perfection.
Boredom set in after a few years, however, until Horatio had the brilliant idea of filling the planet–and why not the galaxy?–with the brightest and most beautiful sentient creature ever to exist: Horatio. After a few decades of experimentation his cloning program achieved something between perfection and success... An army of equally gorgeous clones are now ready, and the hordes of Horatios are prepared to follow their glorious leader and give the galaxy a proper make-over.
Lumeris:
The Italian Mafia, Al Capone, Irish Mafia, Russian Thugs. All of these you could fully make the comparison to the Lumeris. They're also clever and ruled by the four families. Omokar, Meos, Lancellum and the Arrakyo.
Their current leader being Jenestra Omalfi'Meos. Voted in by the four families of the Lumeris.
The Lumeris are very much a society that revolves around trade, economic deals, economic growth, and doing business. Expansion and acquisition are the bywords of their culture, and as an amphibious people they are prepared to make money in any environment. Their society is organized around a series of families that have traditionally run different parts of their economy, and the balance of power and negotiations between the families is what drives progress - or blocks it.
Cravers:
Created by the Endless from an insectoid life form, the Cravers are in the purest sense hunter-gatherers who would never have independently evolved the systems and infrastructure needed to raise crops or domesticate animals.
Their life cycle is based on consumption, and as such they are capable of digesting any form of plant or animal matter. As their home world is close to being consumed, they must leave in search of further nourishment.
For if they do not continue to expand, discover, and exploit new worlds, their society will eat itself to death. Feeding the hive is their all-consuming purpose; the notions of 'treaty', 'trade', and 'peace' do not exist.
Sophons:
Curious, analytical, and inquisitive, the Sophons are a people who pride knowledge above all else.
No theory – or machine – is so perfect that it couldn't be improved with a bit of tinkering; advances come both in great leaps and in tiny increments. And, occasionally, violent explosions.
The Sophons travel the galaxy driven by their thirst to discover and understand. As such, they view war as nothing more than a distraction from the important things in life. However, with their advanced technologies, they can become a surprisingly dangerous foe.
Perfecta Academia:
Here I want to list my favourite heroes from the game, those who I find truly interesting and I hope they get expanded upon further, that being through free comics, novels, etc.
Enav St Lyeaor:
While the Vodyani are encouraged to seek and explore the truths of the Church, some adventurous types take this a step further and delve into the mysteries of the stars themselves. Enav was a simple believer seduced by the bright light of the stars, and became a well-known scout and explorer of the unknown voids between the lights. On his third expedition, however, he found a gas giant planet locked within a minor Dyson sphere - and still inhabited by living Endless souls. One of them, Lyeaor, is said to have made a bargain with Enav. Corroboration is difficult, however, as the Church has lost control of Enav's Cloth and of Enav himself. Though Enav continues to seek, explore, and follow orders, the lack of direct control over his suit has made the Hierarchs unsure as to whether he should be punished. Others argue that he has been touched by the gods, and it is no longer the role of the Church to question his actions. Others yet wonder whether Enav is still in there, and whether the being called "Enav St Lyeaor" should rather simply be called "Lyeaor"...
Daro St Taiage:
Daro was known as "The Burning Brand" for her eager and relentless proselytization of minor peoples. Ever eager to bring additional souls into the fold and to free spirits from their physical prisons, the Fount upon her Ark never lacked for sacrifices. Her worldview changed one day, however, while rounding up recalcitrant Kalgeros who were hiding in an Endless temple. Touched by the presence of the Virtual Endless who called itself Taiage, Daro came face-to-face and soul-to-soul with one of her gods. The reality of this knowledge shocked and altered her profoundly. Still driven to serve a god, and yet sharing her Cloth with its presence, Daro now alternates between burning with faith and aggression and fearing what ultimate sacrifice her symbiotic Saint may require of her. What is the recompense for sacrifice? What is the ultimate act of fidelity? It is one thing to act as if believing your god follows your every movement and thought; it is quite another thing to live that way.
Immah Naratya
Most generals send soldiers to their death by ordering them to the battlefield. Immah Naratya has cultivated a different reputation. As the United Empire's most efficient logistics officer she acquired the reputation of mastering brutally efficient supply lines, working men and women to the bone to make sure factories, shipping lines, and dockworkers kept the Imperial Navy afloat and functioning.
But someone had other plans for her. While touring one of the Empire's factories, a messenger delivered a mysterious package that upon unsealing exploded with pure Dust. Suddenly her view of the workers toiling to their deaths changed drastically.
Most exposed to pure Dust gain depth in logic, wisdom, and understanding, but Naratya gained the whole emotional spectrum that had been suppressed for so many years. She knows not if she can trust the Academy, for she suspects they were behind the Dust attack, but every day she finds her loyalty to her Emperor fading just a little. All she knows is she must make amends for the lives she ruined with her work. She seeks a balance between the intellectual firepower she was born with, and the newfound compassion granted to her by fate.
Fusha Keencrest:
Already as a youth on Uchi, Keencrest was known as a “warrior's warrior”. Dedication, selflessness, and a relentless drive made him a terror in competition and set an impossible example as an officer. Running security for a team investigating Endless wreckage in the planetary rings of a gas giant, Keencrest came face-to-face with an automated defense android. Outmatched and facing death, he managed to incapacitate it with a single, desperate riposte. He quoted himself in explaining this attack: “Even if defeat seems certain, retaliate.” Dust liberated by his android opponent infused his body, and Keencrest rose from being a warrior's warrior to being a warrior's deity. No longer capable of finding worthy opponents, he continues to hone his ever-increasing range of skills as a Hero.
Dominik Havanen:
In the press, Dominik Havanen might have been one of the most celebrated business leaders of the Empire, but among its corporate leaders, he was hated and reviled. Clinging on to a fortune whose origins trickle far back into the history of the United Empire, Havanen built his name by picking a sector of the Imperial economy at random and snapping up stock ownership in various corporations.
He acted with such impulsiveness that none could predict his next financial move–he tore his allies apart and swallowed their businesses into his own, then threw grand parties for his enemies and invited them into the fold. Havanen is a man so unpredictable, he once secured a supply of pure Dust to see what would happen when he exposed himself to its effects.
The results were so frightening even the Academy didn't appreciate his presence. Havanen seems interested in only one goal now: pure galactic instability. Though for the right price, he may be willing to bend that chaos to another's cause.
Author's Notes:
And that culminates this article that I have been pretty much planning to do for quite a while now, at the time of writing this section I am about to go out, so I will make this one brief and to the point!
I hope you enjoyed this one, it's only a taste of everything you can learn playing Endless Space 2 or even visiting their wikia site at https://wiki.endless-space.com/
You can also obtain the game right here http://store.steampowered.com/app/392110/Endless_Space_2/
Also, feel free to go by the 343iCommunity and Halo Archive Forums! Tell them I said hi!
And one last thing! Feel free to donate to this rat at his patreon! It'll help me feed my rat family.
