Codex Gondwana

Spacecraft can be distinguished by a number of different measures. The Terran Imperial Classification offers a comprehensive system based on function and capability. Vessels are classified by Kind, according to their spacefaring prowess; by Order, indicating their spacefaring mode; and by Type or Epithet, according to their specialization. [full resolution image on DeviantArt] From these and the given name, the vessel’s full title is constructed: The Noble Starship Valiant He

Welcome aboard the Midnight Minute, a free trader fission monocraft of imperial heritage, handed down three generations of starfaring fortune chevaliers. Built ninety-six years ago at the Glintstar guilder freehold of Misadin, the Midnight Minute began her travels in the wake of Gondwana’s cosmic winter, entering service at a time of receding glaciers, re-emerging worlds, and opening frontiers. The new dawning age belongs to those daring and adventurous, and the ship was buil

https://youtu.be/61oMohPw7iE Our trusted steed running fast, fast into the breach of the Stricken March for adventure, glory, and profit. Onto the frontier wild and free, the first worlds of spring at the end of winter, where tempers run hot and hungry for imperial crowns. There are fortunes to be made!

(full resolution on DeviantArt) Voidward warfare falls into two distinct domains: The deep range battle In open space, battles are fought across astronomical distances over long periods of silent maneuvering punctuated by moments of vicious devastation. Maneuvers lasting hours, even days, are performed in long burns by vessels, missile fleets and projectiles, all vying for superior positioning. At such ranges, battlespaces are shaped by celestial bodies and orbital mechanics,

Since the end of Gondwana's cosmic winter, the Clades of Cambria are united in their renewed march to the stars. There are worlds to be reclaimed, relics to be recovered, and great works to be resumed in the name of the transient Demiurge. In a myriad of lesser wars, local resistances are swept away, subject to the greater purpose only the Clades can perceive. And yet, the unity of Cambria's clades is not total. In a far-flung system rich in ancient ruins, lesser clades of th

*** Log Excerpts*** 03.16.2135 Carpadan Outer System Authority (C.O.S.A.) dispatches multiple Rapid Response Reconnaissance Skiffs to Outer Systems Sectors near the binary ice-giants Ipsu and Kan. The ad-hoc operation aims to redirect assets for further observation of the cascade emission phenomenon. This includes the re-alignment of sensors, recovery of data and preparations for a dedicated crewed mission at a later date. 05.16.2135 Recon Skiff No201 is the first reach its d

24.15.2135, from the Chancellors’ introduction at the reformation council, reaffirming the mandate of the United Planets of Carpadan (UPC): One hundred years ago, on this day, the skies were opened above our world Carpadan. For the first time in centuries, our fathers saw the stars of old, saw the constellations of our myths and remembered them. They saw the cosmos of the ancient days, when we ruled worlds beyond our own, and our forefathers held the might of stars in the pal

Eleven centuries ago, blue fire from the Hallowed Crown brought the coming of a cosmic winter. A frozen vestige of the Witchspace Prophets was set loose upon the worlds of Gondwana, the titan's binding chains torn asunder somewhere deep beyond the veil. From the blue fire ignited, a fell storm raged from beyond the horizon of reality and brought forth ice and darkness swallowing the stars. Fleets and nations were swept away, the dreamers saw no omens in their sleep and the or

Religion in Gondwana It is possible to chart the faiths and practices of humankind in Gondwana according to their basis and relation. The result is not a comprehensive list of all sects and denominations, as one would be impossible to compile for all their multitudes and constant change. But such a chart offers insight into the foundations held by all permutations of religion that there are. High Resolution Image Light of an Orderly Cosmos Rather than a religion, this highest

The twin civilizations exist in the equilibrium between two divine entities aspired by humanity. Each represents the final culmination of one path towards ascension, shaping the faith and goals and actions of the great powers following them. Egregor The Transcendent God of the Terran Empire is the Egregor, one singular all-mind arising from the confluence of all human spirits by way of Psionic Providence, one eternal consciusness transcending and imposing cosmic law. In the e

of the Arts and Works of Humankind Three Spheres broadly encompass the collective works of humankind, each pertaining to a different realm of masteries over nature, mind, and technology. High Resolution Image First and oldest is the Biosphere, the totality of all biological life and natural systems, shaping organisms and the worlds they live upon. Second is the Cognisphere, of all sapience and human spirit upon which culture and society are built. Third is the emergent Techno

Witchspace is the name given to space beyond space, a layer of reality not distinct but one dimension removed from the observable universe. Through it, Humankind walks among the stars, bypassing the bounds of space and time. Starships enter witchspace like labyrinthine catacombs below the shallow fabric of known space. In the natural universe, there are thinning seams and tears that allow for the transition. In many systems, relays and gates are built to open fixed witchspace

Ascendant Federation of Exoworlds Populations: Vulpecula Heartlands: Enchanted Paradises Common Polities: Federal Administries ​ The Vulpecula are an Archon-clade creation, an artificial state endowed with unparalleled psionic technologies and imperial authority sanctified by Hallowed Calhall. They were made as peacemakers, keepers of the balance between Trantor and Cambria. This purpose seems to guide their Federation still, though no one knows all that moves the powers that

Old Demarchist Kin of Gondwana Populations: Demarch Heartlands: Precursor Monument Worlds Common Polities: Vetkarati Demarchies ​ Where most precursor’s works fell to ruin, the Vetkarat Demarchy is a living relic of ages before the union and empire. This is the Old Kin, the last sovereign vestige of a lineage dating back to the Cambrian Ringbuilders. Their worlds are monuments to uncounted millennia of persistence, carved from their planet’s glowing mantles. Their people whol

The Innermost House of Trantor Populations: Ortus and Demarch Heartlands: Inner Babylonian Shells of Trantor Common Polities: Vadunite Dominions ​ Far down Trantor’s Babylonian shells, Vadun lies in command of the Deep. Where there is neither light nor heat but the planet’s beating heart, the innermost house delves for libraries of untold knowledge, for resources and works of forgotten ages, and even peoples long abandoned to reclaim. Vadun does not venture beyond the inner

Eternal Empire of the Ursu Firstborn Symbiotes Part of the Peripheral Realms Populations: Ursu Symbionts Heartlands: Eternal Fortressworlds Common Polities: Sublime Courts ​ The remnant realms of the Eternal Empire are long diminished, driven from Gondwana's heartlands onto the Marred Frontier. But untold worlds remain where the Ursu symbiotes reign as Gods unbroken, false idols worshipped as heirs to the Ringbuilders. Their strongholds are truly ancient. Stagnant as though

Inevitable Vanguard of the great Northern Threat Populations: Umstrands Heartlands: Entrenched Fortressworlds Common Polities: Hegemon States and Warbands ​ Like a warped mirror to the Twin Civilizations, the Hegemony is a conglomeration of a myriad peoples, a culture steeped in influences from the galactic abyss, driven by a false light they call the Ummon-Ur. Its thrust south cleaved through the Eternal Empire and unleashed upon Gondwana the unbound war. The Hegemony’s ine

Ruins of the Lighthouse War Populations: Varied Strands Heartlands: Fractured Worlds and Systems Common Polities: Warlords, Lesser Houses, Clade Domains, and Wilderlands ​ Ravaged by the Lighthouse War and wrestled from the fold of their former patrons, many worlds began anew before the coming of Gondwana’s winter. Remnant hosts of Trantor and errant Clades left by the Union were left to settle them, when the storms began and cut-off of interstellar travel. Unique combination

Collective Cambrian Clades of the Spirit Crucibles Populations: Substrand Collectives Heartlands: Shuttered Hiveworlds Common Polities: Gestalt States ​ Fierce are the realms of Sanctacaris, clades of the spirit crucibles, builders of grand hives and collectives. In their pursuit of the Demiurge, the manifold collectives meld the minds and knowledge of their populations, creating mental prisms governing every aspect of their rule. Throughout the Union’s northern stars, Sanc

Verdant Clades of the Cambrian Geneweavers Populations: Bioroida Heartlands: Verdant Brambleworlds Common Polities: Primacari Cladelodges ​ The Geneweavers are creators and shapers of life, delighting in the complexity of organic systems, intricate tapestries of growth and decay. Their clades dedicate themselves to every aspect of biology, molding ecologies and organisms for their every pursuit. They are old, the first to leave the Ringworld Cambria and settle along the banks