trope-a-day
Huge Holographic Head: Mostly averted, because while a perfectly trivial piece of image manipulation, even the usual suspects have long since figured out that itâs really hard to be taken seriously by people youâve invited to stare right up your Huge Holographic Nostrils.
chrune
chrune (n.): A type of galactic politician named after Sen Melk Chrune (6012-6319), the League of Meridian Senateâs unsurpassed master of peculation and bribery. Often accused but never indicted despite the sheer flagrancy of his behavior, Chrune died in office1 at the age of 307. â A Star Travelerâs
Mersenta (Cherith Beacons)
WANTED: Bids for mercenary contract: stealth raid on fortified drift, extraction of corpsicle or verifiable proof-of-death, transport provided from Mersenta (Cherith Beacons). Will pay five points over top exval, plus expenses. Details on request. Contact <nym>. âHey, how about this ââ âNo.â âBut â why not? A sneak-and-snatch on an
worldbuilding
Just realized I never did answer these: First, are you familiar with Stars in Shadow, yet? If so, what do you think the Empire of the Star would make of the Phidi and the Phidi Combine? Caveat: I havenât played it myself; for various and sundry reasons, I try
trope-a-day
House Fey: While obviously not true in a literal sense, given the prevalence of AI house brains capable of self-development, houses tend to develop a fair bit of personality over time. And so, talking to the intelligence of a smart house with a few centuries or millennia of run-time under
Silversteel Horde
âIf it bleeds, we can kill it.â â Decurion mor-Durbaz Ivinek, speech before the battle of Sagia Luz âIf it doesnât bleed⌠turns out we can kill that, too.â â Battlemaster mor-Durbaz Ivinek, interview following the final suppression of the Silversteel Horde
trope-a-day
Hologram Projection Imperfection: As mentioned under the Hologram trope, their glamor failure is deliberate; trigraphic projections are splendidly perfect and accurate, and even can dynamically correct for lighting differences when used sender to receiver â so, unless otherwise called for, theyâre deliberately tuned to slight transparency to clue people in
Imperial State Security
âProspect 33/1, getaway driver⌠getaway driver?â âMm-hm.â âI understand why weâre reviewing these⌠work histories, but why are we interested in a getaway driver?â The senior ironmonger steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair; the other rolled his eyes. âConsider, my dear Sulcis, just what is
Ministry of State and Outlands
Overheard in the Ministry of State and Outlands: âSo, what does âserious leaderâ mean over there?â ââWilling to kill people he doesnât like, ergo respectable. Or at least safer to respect in public.'â âAh. The usual, then.â
trope-a-day
NOTE: These are TROPES and or Fantasy Counterpart Culture ANALOGIES. No real cultures were harmed in the making of this fiction. Hobos: Some individually-wandering members of the Traveling Houses (for more on which see Romani); while generally better off and by no means living a wealth-free life, even back in
worldbuilding
So, saw an addition to the verseâ trope page today: Libertarians In Space: Examined. The central setting, the Empire of the Star, is portrayed as a libertarian Utopia, where respect for liberty and personal choice is balanced by an admirably cheerful general attitude of voluntary civic-mindedness. On the other hand,
trope-a-day
High Times Future:Â As long as youâre competent to do what you have to do, when you have to do it, your neurological state and how you got there is your own business. Download all the drugs you like! (Well, except those falling under the category of Coercive Substances,