The Black

The year is 2576 GKW. What does that stand for? God knows what. No, literally. The number had some sorta meaning back in the days of the Imperium, but that info was lost during the Black. Folks these days kept the number, forgot what it was countin’. Huh? What’s the Black? You really don’t know? Well, depends who you ask, and in what context.   The Black is a point. An event. Y’see, early on in the days of space travel, all them folks from Earth came under the banner of the United Republic. Then, a few centuries down the line, ol’ Marcus Serafin overthrows the Republic and declares himself the first Emperor of the new Galactic Imperium. Still, life went on as it did. Then the Black happened. Nobody knows for sure what caused it; science-y types say it had something to do with the stretching of dark matter or some shit, religious types say it was punishment from God or whatever. Whatever caused it, the result was obvious. Intergalactic travel technology went wonky, making FTL jumps as dangerous as walking barefoot into hell. Terraforming equipment stopped working, turning habitable planets into barren wastelands - if they were lucky. Small laser generators went kaput, forcing us to start using old-fashioned kinetic guns and weapons again. Oh yeah, and a buncha stars went supernova all of a sudden, including the goddamn solar system.   The Black is a period. See, with the Imperial capital of the solar system now a fine stardust, along with everything else getting fried, lotsa regions and systems stopped caring about the cohesion of the Imperium, and started to care more about their own survival. Since Imperial handouts could no longer be counted on, certain ambitious individuals started corporations that took the place of what once was provided by the Imperium - for a fee, of course. Not a small one either. Buncha new states grew out of it, too. The Vespianan Republic thought that the ol’ Imperial way of doing things was shit, and instead looked to the previous United Republic’s system of governance - Liberty, Egality, and Fraternity. ‘Course, that motto’s gettin’ harder to justify with them constantly elbowin’ in on free systems, tryin’ to take them under their wing by force. Opposite to them, in both location and demeanor, is the Reiyashiman Empire. Their Empress, June Enya, supposedly claims descent from the ol’ Serafin Imperial line, and they believe themselves to be the rightful successors to the Galactic Imperium - which means that they think everyone else should be under their thumb. Outside of them is the noocratic Zacharias Society, the theocratic state of Joziah, and about a few hundred more than I can count on my two hands.   The Black is a place. Since the fall of the Imperium, them science-y types have recalculated the maths you need to open up a wormhole without tearing your ship - and yourself - apart and spittin’ you across space and time. There’s lotsa of places that the Imperium controlled that have had no contact with the other states that rose from its ashes. Most guesses as to why is either that they all died in the Black, forgot how to sail the stars, or plain just don’t want anything to do with us. So it’s time to head out there. See what resources you can exploit. What people you can meet. What organizations you can found. Bring the word of Jesus, Buddha, Shiva, Mohammed, or one of the other faiths that sprouted up during humanity’s time among the stars, or just bring a really fuckin’ big gun. The frontier’s yours - it’s time to claim it.   The Black is a Space Western-inspired setting designed by Hedgy primarily for the Orbital Blues RPG system.