Long ago in the
Bastard Age the Obelisk Dreamers saw fit to reward their servitors for
excellence. For each gift there was a test. The impossible spear was given to
the best fighter and the staff of control was given to the most obedient. Most
gifts and trials were lost in the Bastard war or the chaos that followed. Only
one is still known, the Galactic Prix. It is a gift given to the fastest.
The qualifying races
happen all across the galaxy. They are announced by strange lights in the sky.
These apparitions are known as the Omens of Speed and they are projected into
our reality by something outside it. This being is known as the Patron. Little
about them is certain but there is much speculation and myth making. The Omens
mark out the race courses and it seems clear there is some guiding
intelligence. Omens appear in interesting areas like twisting ruins, giant
storms and sometimes active battlefronts. The Omens indicate starting
positions; once they're all filled, the race begins. The Omens change into
glowing hoops that indicate waypoints, and they're arranged in such a way to
test the skill of the pilots. The winner is given a psychic tattoo or brand
called a crown that appears as brilliant pattern on their aura. Crowns fade
over the course of years. When there are 13 sapients with at least 3 crowns
each in the entire galaxy, they are given visions of where the finale will be
held. The winner disappears across the finish line, having been transported to
a the Trophy Realm. Sometimes they return, wielding strange powers and
impossible insights. Often, they are never heard from again. Regardless, the
myth of the trophy realm and the gift of speed continues to drive sapients to
seek the Omens of Speed.
Even so, there have
been vast spans of Galactic history where the Galactic Prix was unclaimed.
Omens of speed appear across the galaxy at irregular intervals, and they only
last a few weeks before they vanish. Even if a racer finds one, they only
activate if there are 13 racers. Then the winner of the crown most find and win
two more races to be eligible. Even then, they need 12 other sapients to
complete the same feat. For millennium seekers of the prize wandered the galaxy
hoping to get lucky and find the omen before they disappeared in desperate,
lonely quests.
This is what lead to
the creation of the Grand Prix Alliance. The Alliance is three major polities
together with hundreds of small race teams that work together to find Omens of
Speed. The Alliance is technically one of the most widespread polities in the
galaxy; Omens can appear anywhere so they have to search everywhere. The
reality is they spend so much time zooming from one race to the next that they
are only a tangential power throughout the Galaxy. Still, Omens can appear
anywhere, which means the Alliance can suddenly become a huge part of local
affairs. Most polities aren't thrilled to see a bunch of speed junkies show up
and swarm over their planet. For their part, the Alliance needs to race and
they don't care how many toes they trample on. They'll try diplomacy, but
afterwards they will carry it on by other means.
Pertanguans are grub like sapients with
internal skeletons and soft bodies. Most Pertanguans get cybernetic
exoskeletons that allow them to curl into armored balls. The dominant cultural
force in their society is the cult of Velocity. Motion is the highest virtue and
stillness is sin and death. The Grand Prix must be won, not for the reward, but
because it is a sacred quest. Pertangauns have a higher than average incidence
of psychic power. The Cult is considered one of the strongest schools of
telekinetic technique in the Galaxy. They are served by several companies of
mercenary paladins. These military orders are loyal to the cult but take on
side contracts to keep in fighting shape. They specialize in dogfighting in
both atmosphere and in vacuum.
The Scaltor are marine arthropod sapients. They
are sessile, bonding to underwater surfaces for their entire lives. Those with
telekinetic powers can propel themselves through the water if they are bonded
to something free floating. They are split between a motionless peasant class
and a free moving knight class. They are ruled by the Monarch Groth, who
returned from the trophy realm hundreds of years ago. Rank in the knight class
is determined by racing; to the fastest go the spoils. Winning a crown is a
great honor, and the greatest honor is winning the Galactic Prix itself. There
is a small minority of anti-monarchist knights. Known as the fool knights, they
also race in order to gain clout for their cause.
The Axtr are avian sapients. They are a
psychically empowered race; most of them are either precognitive or telepathic
or both. They are a strict theocracy based around ancestor worship. They
recognize three hierarchical levels of ancestor. First are the dispersed. These
are Axtr who's consciousnesses were not persevered after death. The Axtr
believe that their minds have joined with the cosmic background radiation.
Above them are the crystal mummies, those Axtr who have had their minds
transferred to special crystal vessels. The priesthood uses them as libraries
and psionic focuses. The most honored "dead" are those that have made
it to the trophy realm (this is point of contention within the alliance, as the
other races don't view the trophy realm as an afterlife). They form the ruling
class of the Axtr from beyond reality, making their wishes known through
visions. Sometimes an Axtr will return from the trophy realm. These are the
most sacred beings in Axtr mythos, living martyrs.
The Alliance races
together sponsor a fleet of carrier ships, each with dozens of berths for
racing craft. There is a saying in the alliance, The Pertanguan push, The
Scaltor fly and the Axtr guide. At the heart of each carrier there is a power
plant where Pertanguan use telekinesis to generate incredible energy.
Traditionally the pilot of a carrier will be a Scaltor knight and Axtr oracles
scan the galaxy for Omens of Speed. While not at an Omen or in route to one the
race teams hold endless sub qualifiers. Each Omen race has 13 racers but a
typical carrier will have twice that number of teams. They compete to secure
their place when the time comes.
The Atomic Mantras
If you have a basic
understanding of nuclear physics and atomic level telekinesis, creating a
fusion reaction with your mind is easy enough. Surviving the process requires a
bit more theory and either protective shielding or distance. It is a generally recognized truth that
individuals capable of creating nuclear explosions with their minds are
existential threats so telekinetics are vigorously discouraged from studying
particle physics. Still, Psychically moderated fusion reactors are a great
source of energy so the Cult of Speed has found a workaround. Students are
taught the Atomic Mantras, a route series of frequency shifts. When combined
with specially designed reactor shell
the result is a nuclear reaction. The initiate does not understand the wider
picture and they are not capable of replicating the effect without the reactor.
The church keeps the mantras secret, but they aren't as careful as they could
be. If a third party had both the reactor and the mantra, they could replicate
it.
Crystal mummies
This technique is
used by the Axtr to preserve their conciseness beyond death. The key is a
specially forged crystal spike made out of salvaged computronium. The spike is
inserted into a still living brain, then metabolic function is slowly decreased
until death is achieved. If the procedure is successful the dying mind is
shunted into an artifical dreamscape. There the captured ego lives in a
solipsistic paradise. Priests know as death speakers manage collections of dead
minds. Technically after the procedure only the crystal spike contains the mind
but by Axtr tradition the body is persevered as well. When space is an issue,
like on a spacecraft, only the skull is kept. Crystal mummies are used in
religious rites where the laity is given a chance to visit with the deceased.
They can also be used as psychic focuses for any psychic discipline they knew
in life.
The Party line is
that crystal mummies are not immortal, that they still hear the call of death
and after thousands of years in dreams they all choose dreamless sleep
eventually. This is half true; most crystal mummies succumb to quietude and
self terminate. However, there are those that do not. Their egos are too strong
for their thanatotic urge to overcome and without an anchor to the physical
world their dream bodies begin to mutate. These deathless ones are a continued
threat to the crystal mummy collections. If left to grow too long they can
learn how to breach other dream realms to devour the inhabitants. The secret
order of the True End searches tirelessly for mummies beginning this dark
transformation. Those so pruned are listed as having chosen final death. Within
the order there is a rumor of a second, darker deception. They whisper of
mortal turncoats who willing serve the Deathless Ones. The truth of these
matters is open to speculation.
