Lore Starter Guide

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This page is a general summary of Paradise Station's most essential lore, hand-picked for new players.

All lore within is considered common knowledge to the world at large, and should be freely used in constructing your character and performing general roleplay.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact the Lore Team directly on the Paradise Discord.

Welcome to Paradise Lore!

Hello and welcome, dear viewer! As a constantly-expanding lore project worked upon by dozens of talented individuals, Paradise's ever-deepening supply of lore can be somewhat intimidating to newer players. As such, this guide is designed to ease our newcomers into the wonderful world of Paradise via easily-digestible summaries and snapshots of our major factions, species, and events. By the end of this guide, you should have a general understanding of the setting, its main players, and how your character fits into it all. (And if we've done our jobs correctly, a desire to know more!)

Setting Overview

Life aboard the Station

Welcome to Nanotrasen

Nanotrasen is an advanced research and development conglomerate. Originally founded as Trasen-Knox Computing in 1963, it began as a producer of scientific computers for academia and quickly gained a reputation for quality and reliability. Over the decades, the company has expanded far beyond its original scope, venturing into gaming, industrial equipment manufacturing, chemical production, and consumer goods, among other areas. Today, Nanotrasen is a behemoth inside the galactic community, large enough to establish its own settlements outside the Sol system and maintain its own interstellar expeditionary corps.

Epsilon Eridani

As an employee of Nanotrasen, you've been assigned to the Epsilon Eridani system. Several large-scale mining and research facilities hovers above a world of lava and hostile alien lifeforms. The location of the stations and their rather valuable possessions have made them a target of many groups in the sector, ranging from the Syndicate, the Wizard Federation, and various other antagonistic factions that Nanotrasen has angered thanks to their history of cutthroat practices, corporate buyouts, and undeterrable pursuit of power and influence.

Shift experience and character knowledge

During your shifts, you'll become part of a lively and dynamic environment. Given the Station hasn't been nuked or destroyed, you may carry over certain non-destructive events and relationships with other characters from one shift to another. This can include mundane occurrences, friendly rivalries, or alliances formed during your service aboard the station. Your characters should be able to grow both in mechanical knowledge and your interpersonal relations with your coworkers!

Knowledge regarding potential Antagonists on the ship is unrestricted. It is assumed that Nanotrasen, in its duty to maintain the safety and efficiency of its operations, briefs all crew members about the potential threats they might face. This list includes all any and all Antagonists our server has to offer, with an exception to Syndicate Strike Teams and Nanotrasen Deathsquads, whose secrecy is administratively enforced.

Character backstories

There are mostly no restrictions on character backstories, allowing for a wide range of individuality and creativity. However, your backstory must align with the server rules - claiming to be a high-ranking government or Nanotrasen official is not allowed.

While crafting your backstory, strive for compatibility with the universe and other characters on the station. Extreme or unbelievable backstories may detract from the overall role-playing experience and could be met with skepticism by other characters and administrators. It's essential to remember that your character was competent enough to secure employment aboard a high-tech research station. Your backstory should align with this premise, reflecting a character capable of functioning within this advanced and often challenging environment.

The Company

What is Nanotrasen?

The company you have come to find yourself working for is the corporate superpower known as Nanotrasen, often abbreviated to “NT”. Starting as a small company operating solely in the heart of human space but has rapidly grown to operate across the Orion Arm. In particular, Nanotrasen operations are becoming more and more centered in the Epsilon Eridani system, which is entirely owned by NT and serves as a buffer between the USSP and Trans-Solar Federation.

Despite the powerful position they are in now, Nanotrasen started as a smaller company, however upon the discovery of plasma they were quick to heavily invest in the research and excavation of it, leading to them becoming a major player in the rapidly growing plasma industry. Overtime Nanotrasen established a stranglehold on the plasma industry, owed largely in part to their cut-throat business practices allowing them to buy out or bankrupt any would-be competitors, and their lucrative partnership with the Plasmamen. As NT's power grew, so too has their tendency to engage in blood-thirsty corporate sabotage. This attitude has netted the company numerous enemies, however, and it remains to be seen if Nanotrasen can weather the rapidly-approaching storm of its own making.

Controversies and criticism

Although they deny it, NT has been known to conduct black ops where mercenaries, pirates and sometimes elite NT commandos raid and sabotage competitors. These operations are overseen by NT's small but elite private navy, tasked with maintaining control over Epsilon Eridani, organizing all sorts of corporate sabotage, and arranging "unfortunate accidents" for those who would get in their way. Their mercilessness in battle is only matched by their mercilessness in the boardroom. However, their monopoly over the plasma industry and brutal business practices have led to them forming many enemies, from governments, other corporations, terrorist groups, and criminal organizations, all of them seeking to dethrone NT, and the perfect opportunity has begun to present itself.

Objectives and future

Just as oil replaced coal, and plasma replaced oil, Bluespace now threatens to replace plasma. Desperate to maintain their relevance, NT has begun to refocus their research into bluespace technology in an effort to form a monopoly around it much like they previously did with plasma. However this time, despite the efforts of their navy, NT is facing significant difficulties in the sabotage from its competitors, as they have begun to work together to keep NT busy and spread thin defending their home front. The future of NT is uncertain, but what is certain, is that they will do whatever it takes to stay in power.

Major Factions

Important factions, governments, groups, corporations, and other organized entities that inhabit the Orion Arm.

Governments

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Trans-Solar Federation

A mighty, yet ailing giant, bearing a burden far too large for its own good.

The oldest of the human-majority interstellar nations, the Trans-Solar Federation is the sector's de-facto superpower and largest single nation. Ruling from the jewel world of Earth, the Federation is a militaristic federal democracy in which only those who have performed a requisite term of national service may vote or hold office. Long engaged in an on-and-off cold war with the USSP, the Federation has recently begun to turn inward in response to internal issues and unrest.

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Union of Soviet Socialist Planets

An oft-bickering alliance of largely socialist planets seeking a brighter future for all.

Forged in the fires of the Cygni rebellion and the ensuing chaos, the USSP is a broadly-socialist supranational alliance led by the faction's originator, Cygni. Each planet is largely independent, with matters affecting the whole alliance being handled by the Union of Planets. As their centuries long on-and-off cold war with the TSF draws to a close, the Union seeks to capitalize on this opportunity to expand its influence abroad.

Megacorporations

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Nanotrasen

A domineering corporate colossus beset from all sides. A textbook case of "too big to fail", and your employer.

The largest corporation in human history, Nanotrasen is a name known by nearly every inhabitant of the Orion Arm. Possessing a stranglehold on the refining and supply of Plasma, Nanotrasen dominates the interstellar fuel and energy markets, and has used the extraordinary wealth acquired from such ventures to develop footholds in numerous other consumer fields.

Species of the Orion Arm

With the advent of efficient plasma-based engines which allowed for expedient long-range space travel, humanity quickly discovered that they weren't as alone as they had once thought. they charted planetary systems after systems, uncovering sentient life that had previously existed only within the realms of their science fiction.

With the known and charted space growing every year, new alien species are still being uncovered from time to time by surveyors and exploration teams. Summarized below are the main sapient races of the greater Orion Sector.

Species	Description	Species	Description
Humans	Humans are soft-skinned mammals originating from the planet Earth. They are broadly categorized under three groups: the powerful and expansionistic Trans-Solar Federation, the firebrand USSP, and the many systems independent of either. Humans have positive relations with many species in the galaxy and the Trans-Solar Federation remains the backbone of the largest military alliance in the galaxy—the Solar-Central Compact.	Grey	A species known for their psychic abilities and intelligence, the Grey originated from beyond the Milky Way, and are mostly found within the Technocracy, a small but highly advanced nation. Their government consists of an appointed panel of scientists who dictate policies and priorities, and has focused on further technological development for all of recent memory. Xenophobic and condescending towards outsiders, Technocracy-aligned Grey are rarely seen outside Technate space, with most Grey in the greater sector having left the stuffy and controlling regime for greener pastures.
Tajaran	A species of mammals closely resembling felines, the Tajaran hail from the mineral-rich arctic moon of Ahdomai. While once oppressed under the tyrannical rule of the Overseers, Ahdomai today is governed by a loose alliance of clans known as the Confederation of S'randarr. The teachings of S'randarr and solar iconography dominate their religious practices. Tajaran often speak in the third person due to the lack of first-person references in their native tongue.	Diona	The Diona are plant-like creatures made up of a gestalt of smaller Nymphs. Dionae lack any form of centralized government or homeworld, with most eschewing the politics and affairs of the wider galaxy, preferring instead to focus on the accumulation of knowledge and the spread of their species. Much to the chagrin of their kind, the Nymphs that constitute their form are considered a delicacy by the Kidan.
Unathi	Unathi are a scaled species of reptilian beings from the desert world of Moghes. Organizing themselves in highly competitive feudal kingdoms, Unathi lack any sort of wide-scale unification. While having a long martial tradition, the Unathi as a whole lack a significant Sector presence due to their infighting.	Integrated Positronic Chassis	IPCs are machine intelligences which were originally manufactured to serve as expendable workers. Unlike cyborgs and station AIs, they are fully sentient and unrestrained by lawsets, allowing them to be more creative and flexible than their synthetic brethren. Frustrated with their status as slave labourers, many IPCs fled to the world of New Canaan while others held a massive worker's strike in 2525. After establishing a colony on New Canaan, IPCs struck up several diplomatic treaties and are now considered a minor player in galactic affairs.
Skrell	Skrell are aquatic, fleshy beings from the tropical world of Jargon 4. As one of the first species to achieve FTL capabilities, modern Skrell enjoy a relatively opulent lifestyle. Reincarnation and transcendence are central tenets of the Skrellian religion, a fact that has spurred on a burgeoning industry of 'new-life' gurus. While classically preferring diplomacy, the Skrell participate in the largest military power in the galaxy—the Solar-Central Compact.	Kidan	The Kidan are insectoid beings possessing a hardened exoskeleton and a limited innate psychic ability. Once enslaved to the Empress, a being of incredible psychic strength, the mighty Kidan Empire is today nothing more than an anarchic collection of warlord states following its first utter collapse following the Battle of Aurum and the Empress's demise, and the second following the sound defeat of the Imperial Restoration Government. Aurum itself was utterly devastated by an SCC nuclear bombardment, leaving it a lifeless marble world to this day.
Slime People	Slime People are a race of gelatinous humanoids hailing from the tropical world of Xarxis IV. While resembling baseline humans in stature, Slime Person biology is notable for their highly unusual organ structure and highly modular asexual form of reproduction. Relative newcomers to Sector affairs, the Slime People were first discovered by a Trans-Solar Federation scout ship in the mid 2400s, and a peaceful first contact quickly blossomed into Federation Associate status for the newly declared Xarxis Republic.	Plasmamen	Plasmamen are the remnants of a species that was either exiled to or crashed upon, the plasma-rich world of Boron. Believed to have initially served as indentured labourers, Plasmamen are the result of chronic plasma exposure throughout several hundred generations. Their leaders must ritually self-immolate and are only allowed to hold office for as long as they remain on fire.
Vox	Vox are a space-faring avian-like species hailing from large stations known as arkships - Most Vox seen within Nanotrasen vessels are bioengineered and breathe pure nitrogen, thus requiring both specialized masks and nitrogen tanks in order to survive. Vox are unique in their physiologically based caste system and their adherence to a set of tenets called "The Inviolate". Vox commonly form raiding parties and appropriate resources when needed—a tradition which causes friction with other Sector entities. Due to their insular nature, Vox have little to no large role in galactic affairs.	Vulpkanin	Vulpkanin are bipedal canid-like beings from the Vazzend binary system, having been forced from their homeworld by a cataclysmic event. While Vulpkanin are chiefly led by planetary governments, they also serve under a loose federation known as The Assembly. Their religious systems traditionally pay tribute to an all-infusing universal will called 'Racht'. A minor player in galactic affairs, Vulpkanin are largely concerned with the restoration of their homeworld.
Drask	Drask are cold-bodied humanoids from the ice world of Hoorlm. Operating in enclaves run by contiguous groups of elders, Drasks are biologically immortal and place great societal value in the virtues of patience and long-term strategy. While Drask traditionally pay homage to their planet as their birth deity, many modern Drask have come to view space travel in and of itself as their patron saint. While Drasks wield little influence on the galaxy in a traditional sense, they are quite well known for their successful galactic entertainment industry.	Nian	Hailing from an unknown homeworld, Nians are large bipedal invertebrates with a marked resemblance to Terran moths. Known for spendthrift behavior and predilection for luxury and flair as well as artisan crafts, the Nian civilization has been pressed to the fore of developed space in an effort to resolve material shortages in homeworld sectors. Unlike most species in the galactic fold, Nian do not recognize the authority of the Trans-Solar Federation: having instead established close diplomatic relationships with their splinter faction, the USSP.