! FAQ

This page serves as a quick reference page and an FAQ page in one. For more information on topics discussed here, questions link back to the corresponding Information category articles for in-depth explanations.

LORE FAQ

"What are spheres? How are they different from planets?"

Spheres are planets that have been transformed by the Great Empty. They exhibit fantastical or unrealistic elements that can't be easily explained with science. Spheres exist within pockets of the Great Empty. Spheres also notably are free floating, and are able to collide with one another as they drift.

"What is the Great Empty?"

Also called an 'energy field' or 'anomaly field', pockets of the Great Empty are shifting pockets of space that are comprised of wild magical energy. Traveling through them is somewhat dangerous. The Great Empty appeared following the Convergence.

"What was the Convergence?"

The Convergence is the name given to the cosmic event where the Nullstar emerged, the Great Empty appeared, magic flooded the universe, the Heart Below collapsed, and Aurelion was fragmented. All of these things happened simultaneously.

"What is the Nullstar?"

The Nullstar is a cosmic entity that we lack understanding of. It plays a key role in the universe, being the source of the order in the entropy that is magic. The Nullstar's influence is what keeps spheres from being torn apart in the Great Empty, and allows individuals to harness magic for utility. Without it, anything consumed by the Empty would be destroyed, and magic would be too volatile to harness.

"What is the Heart Below?"

The Heart Below was an entity held at the center of Aurelion, and served as an arcane energy source that allowed humanity to progress quickly into a golden age of magical and scientific advancement. It is notable for being a source of arcane energy prior to the Convergence. It collapsed during the Convergence and there have been no sightings of it since, leading to much speculation about its nature.

"What was Aurelion?"

Aurelion is NOT EARTH. AURELION IS NOT EARTH. Aurelion as a planet was the former home of humanity, with the Heart Below in its core. Aurelion was fragmented during the Convergence and currently exists in a dangerous pocket of the Great Empty that renders it near-impossible to study.

"Is Earth real?"

No. Aurelion is a fictional, fantasy planet separate from Earth, not a renamed version of Earth.

“Is [real-life historical event or pop culture reference] canon?”

No. The only exception are pop culture references reskinned to fit the universe. For example, The Godfather is not a real movie in the world of Meridian, but The Codfather could easily be a hit Thalassan piece of media...

“Are all species descended from humans?”

No, only the Aurelium Exculta. All other species are just humanoid aliens.

"What are humans in this universe?"

Bipedal creatures we know only basic information about, but historians tell us they were quite similar to their modern-day descendants, the Aurelians.

"What is magic?"

Magic functions like another force of nature in this universe. The ability to manipulate its energy is spellcasting.

"What are souls?"

Tied in with magic, a soul makes up the fundamentals of a person. The magical version of a person's DNA.

"What is the Pathfinding Initiative/What are Pathfinders?"

The Pathfinding Initiative is a large-scale expedition comprised of volunteers from all over the known universe. Players in Solstice: Meridian are Pathfinders. The mission was organized by the High Stellar Council.

"What is the High Stellar Council?"

The High Stellar Council is an interstellar governing body formed of representatives from each of the populated homeworlds it governs. The HSC comes together to handle matters of a cosmic scale, and rarely ever intervene to settle matters that only concern a few worlds. The HSC is especially interested in Locus Astra, and finds it a significant enough matter to pay attention to it.

"What are Homeworlds?"

Homeworlds are the term given to any populated planet or sphere that houses a species. This term is used to avoid confusion between the term 'planet' or 'sphere'.

"What is the Anchor?"

The Anchor is the name of our hub town here on Locus Astra, and our first landing site. The HSC graciously sent ahead a construction crew to put some prefabricated buildings for us.

"Why is Locus Astra special?"

In order to travel to a sphere, you have to traverse the pocket of the Great Empty the sphere exists within. Spheres, when passing near one another, can form connections to each other (think of it as interactions between magnetic fields). Locus Astra's unique property is that it forms connections to passing spheres spontaneously, from further apart, and with an unprecedented degree of stability, which is perfect for traversing the Great Empty to further explore other spheres. The HSC is interested in learning why this is, to judge if Locus Astra can become a future travel hub for the universe.

"What is the Wayfarer's Guild?"

The Wayfarer's Guild was a group of adventurers led by Captain Dr. Maya Sherazi, and at its peak had around ten members. The Guild's purpose was to travel the universe and provide aid to those who need it, especially in the wake of fighting, disasters, or disease. They were held in high regard by most, and treated with skepticism by others. The Wayfarers were the ones to discover Locus Astra eight years prior to the present, but were ultimately destroyed by unknown forces on the return trip. Dr. Sherazi survived, as did their newest recruit, Henry Solaris. No other survivors are recorded, and the Guild has since ceased to operate.

"Do we have FTL (faster than light) travel? Is that what a Warp Gate does?"

No. Warp Gates do not speed up the movement of the ship, but instead work by shortening the distance the ship needs to cover. An easy analogy is using nether portals to travel large distances in the Overworld.

"Do any species have conflicts with each other?"

Some do, yes, but as of the start of the campaign none are at war with the rest. However, interspecies tensions may play a role. It is advisable to read your species' page in order to understand some idea of how your species' society tends to see some others.

"Is crime legal on Locus Astra?"

No. Interstellar law still applies to you. Murder is not legal and consequences will happen if you fail to cover your tracks.

"Are there gods?"

Not that you know of.

"Okay, but what is causing Locus Astra's unique behavior?"

You're just gonna have to wait and see.

"What killed the Wayfarers?"

You're just gonna have to wait and see.

"Will we ever see the Nullstar?"

I'm not sure you want to. But as always, you're just gonna have to wait and see--

OOC/PLAYER FAQ

This is mostly for ooc questions pertaining to the minecraft server, not to be confused with the Discord FAQ which is on the Discord server itself.

“Who do I go to for help/questions?”

Lore questions are handled by the 5.5 Horsemen, in our “ask the horsemen” channel in Discord. Worldbuilding questions relating to specific species are handled by those species writers in addition to the horsemen.

In-game help, such as changing your in-game nickname, restoring inventories, and other assistance that requires a staff member, is delegated to Nikki’s Imps! Message any of them in-game for assistance.

In-server help regarding the discord is handled by Mika’s Little Guys. This includes pinning messages, getting new roles set up, and other Discord-related tasks. Open a ticket for help!

“Do I need to be 18+ to be here/can I invite a friend?”

You must be an adult to be in the Discord, and you must be in the Discord to be whitelisted. If you leave the Discord server, you will no longer be whitelisted on the server for security reasons (plus the Discord is how we facilitate events and ticket interactions).

“How frequent are events/what time is lore/when are events?”

Bigger, gm-run events will be held likely once or twice a week, with ample warning (at minimum a couple of days). These events will tend to be Friday nights, and will likely not extend very late into the evening. Events will likely be multiple days, so if you miss one day of an event, you still get a chance to participate. Not all of these events will be severely plot-relevant either.

Character lore, player-run events, occur at frequency dictated by the people running those events.

“What is the tone of the story?”

The story will have highs and lows, but the world won’t end every week, if you get what I mean. We are intending to write a story that has space for filler so players are not constantly stressed. There will be serious stakes especially as conflict ramps up, but there will be breaks.

"What is an NPC?"

An NPC is a non-player character played by either a Horseman or by a volunteer. Not all NPCs are important to the plot. NPCs will have personality boundaries and guidelines for playing them, and volunteers need to abide by these guidelines when playing them.

"Can NPCs be killed?"

Yes. We advise you to be nice about this, to remember the power level of the NPC you might be challenging, and to understand that immediately murdering an NPC may hurt the experience for your fellow players. This being said, NPC death is handled much less forgiving than the death of a player character.

"Can I be an NPC?"

Pick up the "NPC Cast Volunteer" role in our reaction roles channel-- we will call upon ye once we require an NPC for casting. Horsemen have final say on who plays what NPC.

"Can I make an NPC/another character other than my own?"

We advise you to focus more on your main player character. However, if you have an idea for an NPC for an event, mention it in your ticket and we'll evaluate.

"Can I [insert character question]"

Please ask in your ticket.

"Why are androids limited?"

Android characters tend to follow the same formulaic character growth path and we are looking for unique characters in that regard. As such, we are very picky about what android characters we approve. This also prevents threats from being 'boring', as non-biological characters will be relatively immune to biological threats, and we want to avoid characters being used as 'deus ex machina' types. We don't want any one species being considered the 'chosen ones' for any arc.

“Can I play a hybrid?”

Yes, but like androids, hybrids are a limited species and require thorough backstory in order to be approved. Hybrids between such a diverse range of species tend to not be genetically viable, and so surviving hybrids likely are saddled with negative effects as a result of their hybrid nature (for example, a Carcid/Lepteran hybrid may struggle with armored plates growing in, when their largely Lepteran body is not designed to handle that). Hybrid players still must select a dominant side of their species when choosing an Origin, as no custom-made Origins will be provided for hybrids.

"How is character death being handled? Do we have canon lives? Is this hardcore?"

Character injury and death is taken with a degree of severity, but that only applies to lore deaths. Gameplay deaths, such as being downed when fighting a boss, are generally not counted as a full death. Sacrificing yourself during a boss fight is a full death. Repeated injury will also have gameplay consequences. This is to discourage constant death or injury plotlines for angst farming, and to let medical characters (sigh) actually get some time to play the game.

"Can characters be revived?"

Yes. Revival rituals can be researched and discovered on Locus Astra, and there will be options to come back. If you truly don't want to kill off your character, we likely won't permanently kill them. This is not an excuse to play stupid games. You will win stupid prizes worse than death.

Revival rituals function by permanently sacrificing hearts to revive someone. Sacrificing one heart will revive the person with one heart, for example. This burden can be shared among several people. So if five people sacrifice two hearts each, the person will revive with ten hearts. Note that android characters, since androids have artificial souls, will have special rules for revival that we will handle as it comes. Androids are not immune to death.

"I have a species question, where do I go?"

Ask in the "ask a horsemen" channel in our discord! Every species page has their writers listed, and only those writers and horsemen are answering these questions.

"Can we have [insert mod here]?"

Mod discussions channel is currently not taking further suggestions as the pack is mostly built. If something you find is truly incredible, you can mention it. However, please do not expect requests to be added to the pack.

"Can I have [item] as a lore item?"

If the item can be used to advance progression, no. If it is cosmetic or otherwise doesn't advance progression, then maybe yes. Ask in your ticket.

"Can we steal?"

Theft of lore-important items is the only kind of theft that is allowed, and must be approved in a ticket ahead of time. The victim will be provided clues to help them deduce who and how the item was stolen. Theft of raw materials or items for gameplay purposes is considered griefing.

"Are we able to leave Locus Astra?"

Yes and no. Nobody is trapped on Locus Astra, but it may take some time for a ship to arrive to take you back to where you want to go. Leaving is not impossible (for now) but also not easy to do. It is advisable to only pursue leaving Locus Astra if you are stepping away from the game for some length of time, or want to swap your old character for a new one and want an alternative to simply killing them off.