Game Background and Notes
Life in the Egg System
Although there are no habitable planets in the Egg system – and no living person has ever been on one – the habitats offer close to a kilometer of open space for each inhabitant. The habitats are generally paired cylinders 20 to 30km long and 5-8km in diameter. They slowly rotate to provide gravity for the residents. The interiors are open, with forests, streams and a variety of animals. The largest animals are deer, foxes, horses and cattle. There are many smaller animals (foxes, squirrels, dogs, cats), birds, fish and aquatic animals like dolphins and seals. [Player notes: There are no large land animals like elephants, or large predators like tigers or wolves. There are also no sharks or whales, or large marine animals. No one even knows what these creatures are, aside from literary references.]
The habitats offer a variety of environments; some cycle through seasons, while others do not. Some are colder, with snow in certain seasons, and there are some that are desert-like, all with the flora and fauna to match. Others are nearly completely covered in water, and small boats crisscross the lakes. With over a thousand habitats to choose from, there is something to fit nearly everyone’s tastes.
Gravitics is a new science, having been developed a decade ago. Their use is restricted to facilities that cannot be spun for gravity, such as installations on moons. There is one new habitat under construction that will use grav plates, and a few transport ships have them in place of spun hab sections. The technology is too mass and power-intensive for spacecraft under 1000dt.
Egg’s government is a representative democracy, with a strong central government. The political climate is fairly benign, with no real radical groups. There are a half-dozen political parties in existence, but there are few fundamental differences among them. Personal freedom is valued, but there is also a strong ethic to respect others, as one might expect from a society living in artificial environments. A mistake or rash act could have disastrous consequences, so one must follow rules for everyone’s safety.
Personal choices, such as marriage and religion, are left to the individual to decide. Having children is a serious matter, and there are few families with more than two offspring. The rate of population growth is small, as a result. The humans here are descended from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, but one’s ethnicity is nothing more than a scientific curiosity to Egg’s inhabitants.
Egg’s historical records are spotty, with large gaps in the histories of other star systems. There is a fairly large body of literature from the Third Imperium, a smattering of material from a planet called Earth, and some histories from the Hivers. Other races, such as the Zhodani, Hivers, Ithklur, Vargr and Aslans, are known from this literature. Save for a single living Hiver who calls itself Scientist, there are no races other than humans left in the Egg system.
Fusion power is steadily supplanting older systems, and HEPlaR thrusters are coming into general production, although there are a large number of fusion engines still in use, especially in freighters. The one item that cannot be produced from in-system resources is the jump drive. When the starport was destroyed, certain technical literature and the stores of necessary rare elements were lost, and efforts to build one without them have been unsuccessful.
