Tag: corporations

#Lore24 – Entry #355 – Sci-Fi Month IV #20 – Musings on the Fate of the Dragons

Transcribed From the Personal Recording Implant of Andra Ganim, Chronicler of the Codex Infinitum

AG:  “Given the amount of time you’ve studied the dragons, you are likely the foremost expert on them in the galaxy.  Many researchers have previously attempted to access your research, and the one constant is the denial of access, which has fueled countless theories that you’ve made remarkable discoveries that you’ve used to get DSM and yourself to where you are now.  I suppose, since we’re moving onto the subject, that we should start at the beginning.  What started your admitted obsession with the dragons and their fate?”

RV:  “You’ll recall that I had always had an affinity for arcane magic.  Unlike others, I grasped the most complex concepts easily, and practically knew the draconic language used in arcana before I even studied it.  Most assumed I had simply been able to grasp the language easily, but no, I always knew the language.  I even gained mastery of High Draconic in the time it took normal arcanists to learn the basic form of the tongue.  Once I had gone to study the arcane, I quickly delved into what was known of dragon-kind, and quickly found it remarkably lacking and, somehow, instinctively, I knew much of it was wrong.  I always knew that I was different from my fellow elves, but I would begin to surmise that it was not simply the prodigy I had been named during this time.”

AG:  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you alluding to your very nature being different from other elves?”

RV:  “Yes.  My very nature is fundamentally different from that of normal elves, down to my very soul.  Taken at surface level, the traits which distinguish me most, my ambition, drive to gain power and wealth, mastery of the arcane, massive ego, my tendency to gain a remarkable loyalty from my lesser, even my lifespan.  Most elves tend to grow supremely bored and detached after a thousand years or so, perhaps two if they are particularly ambitious, and go off to die quietly somewhere.  I’ve never felt that urge, not even once, and I am just as spry as I was two, three, four thousand years and more ago.  Quite an anomaly, you would agree?”

AG:  “There are certainly no other known examples of elves as old as you.  Common belief is that you have preserved yourself through arcane methods, may in fact be a lich or making use of clones to extend your lifespan.”

RV:  “Lichdom is not for me, at least not for the foreseeable future, but there is precedent for it.  I have said previously that I mastered the arcane method of creating a clone.  That mastery has certainly been honed through practice when required.”

AG:  “So you have experienced death before.”

RV:  “Death of the body is trivial, my dear.  It is merely a vessel for the soul, which houses one’s true essence.  That is why I destroyed Halaxaes’ soul when he dared to cross me.  When the Hand of Mausolus was sent after me, I did not mean that I was lucky that he never caught me, rather that he did not slay my soul.  Had it been Korvalis Nightrunner who had come after me, then perhaps you and I would not be having this conversation.”

AG:  “Most would say that dealing in souls is a very terrible, dark art.”

RV:  “Most are beneath me and could not begin to understand how little I care about their opinions.”

AG:  “With all this talk of souls and your true nature, how does that tie into your draconic research?  Have you found a secret there as to the nature of souls themselves?  To our very existence, perhaps?”

RV:  “Not all souls, only a very small number of them, speaking strictly by the numbers.  But before I get into that, I should tell you the short version of what I have learned over these many centuries of study.  The proliferation of draconic ruins throughout the galaxy can be no accident, for their general construction and iconography are mostly identical throughout known space, with minor variations depending upon the tastes of the individual dragons who oversaw their construction.  As your order’s records indicate, there is a clear advancement in the age of the ruins through time; some ruins have been dated to be much older than those within the Andyllion core worlds, and others have been dated to be much younger, but the youngest of these is still thousands of years older than even I.  What most have not discerned, though, is the pattern of their construction, specifically a pattern which indicates an intentional and systematic expansion of dragon kind throughout space in a spiral progression following the spiral nature of the galaxy itself.”

AG:  “Are you referring to the draconic migration theory?”

RV:  “Yes and no.  The theory itself is flawed, you see.  The dragons did not simply advance from one world to the next as they grew bored or were vanquished by the lesser races or succumbed to some disease or calamity, to conquer the lesser races on a whim as is surmised.  No, the dragons themselves were responsible for seeding the worlds they visited, taking their loyal followers with them as they traveled, creating entirely new civilizations as they advanced, trying something new and different each time, studying how these civilizations flourished or died, then moving on to the next once they had satisfied themselves.  The shortsighted and self-absorbed nature of the various races throughout known space could never allow them to open their minds to the possibility that they or their gods were not responsible for their coming to their home worlds or perhaps even their creation. 

I can see that you’re going to need a few moments to process this and formulate your next question.  I can already guess what that question will be.  How does my version of events relating to the draconic seeding of worlds relate to the gods, to the various creation myths and commonly held beliefs that the gods were responsible for the creation of their ‘children’?  It’s really not a difficult leap in logic, my dear.  Think about it for a moment, have some fresh tea.  You’ll get there, I’m certain.”

#Lore24 – Entry #354 – Sci-Fi Month IV #19 – The Growth of the Corporate Empires, Power in the New Paradigm

Transcribed From the Personal Recording Implant of Andra Ganim, Chronicler of the Codex Infinitum

AG:  “So, Miss Volcarri, following your victory over Emperor Halaxaes and the dissolution of the Elvish Dominion, did you immediately return to your studies of draconic history, or did you immediately move towards forming DSM?”

RV:  “Now that my name was again on the stage, I was forced to involve myself with the political machine.  There were a multitude of obstacles to overcome relating to the former Imperium and specifically the Great Houses and the animosity many systems and countless peoples felt toward them.  My name had already been forgotten by most of the shorter-lived races save perhaps those who were chroniclers, but I changed it to its current form then, and pushed forward with an effort to rebuild, reform, and reemerge.  It helped that I had been witnessed to have slain Halaxaes by Lila Darius herself, for her word carried some weight, and though I couldn’t stand the woman, I am capable of putting my hatred of her aside for a time when there are larger concerns.  It was rather unfortunate that this particular incarnation would have a shorter life than some, so damaged by Halaxaes’ final assault was she.  I very much would have liked to have studied her; it may have advanced my research some centuries if I had the opportunity.

But, duty called, and I answered.  I began a push for reformation of the Great Houses into what would evolve into their current form, focusing each upon a different aspect of what would necessarily have to become the new paradigm in the galaxy if some semblance of stability and control were to be maintained.  Many of the systems which we had civilized and advanced were reluctant to become entangled with a centralized power, but still required some amount of support from other worlds for information and the supplies they could not provide for themselves. 

So, being the forward thinker I am, I first directed the Great Houses to offer reasonable reparations to some worlds that had been most severely affected by the Imperium’s actions, and, as a show of our willingness to participate on an equal level, oversaw the dismantling of the space citadels and disarming of most of the Imperium’s remaining warships.  Most would need to be refitted and repaired before they would be fully functional as vessels of war anyway, so it was little effort to convince the galaxy at large to allow us to keep a token defensive force while the bulk of the ships were recycled. 

It would take nearly two centuries, but with the good works I had directed the elves toward, and the heavy amount of propaganda I saw spread throughout the civilized worlds to regain some semblance of trust, about as much as most were willing to give my kind before the Imperium, anyway, I could once again return to something of my original plans.  I originally formed DSM as a transportation business, for interstellar trade was indeed booming during this period, but rapidly grew the company in a handful of decades to encompass multiple other companies that we had either formed through the Great Houses or had engineered to be taken over.  And thus you have what would become the DSM of today.”

AG:  “Did you meet with any resistance to the initial growth of DSM and the takeover of so many smaller companies?”

RV:  “About as much then as we have now.  When you’re the largest company out there, there is little that stands in the way of you getting what you want.  Once we had been firmly established, and others had started to follow our model, the members of the Big Four for example, and some others who have become institutions outside of the Andyllion Core, everything seemed to be moving exactly as I had wished it to.  There were bumps in the road, so to say, but they were relatively minor and dealt with via decisive action.”

AG:  “DSM is known to be the leading developer of arcane technology, and has been said to be responsible for the fact that arcane magic has survived to the modern day due to the efforts of your Arcane Research & Development department.  I take it the loyalty of the arcanists you bolstered during your and Ruvaen’s coup against Halaxaes remained?”

RV:  “Yes, that’s quite right.  Though it seems that many peoples are trying to push themselves to be rid of magic altogether, its never going away.  The underlying power that fuels sorcerous magic is literally everywhere, and has recovered greatly with its diminished use over time, and denying it is to our detriment as civilized peoples.  One doesn’t deny the power of the gods, so why deny the power of the arcane?”

AG:  “Some would say the power of the gods have diminished as well, for much of what once required their blessing to perform can be performed by science now.”

RV:  “True, their has certainly been a decrease in the faithful over the centuries, but that too is an inevitability.  They will simply have to seek out more uncivilized worlds in other regions of the galaxy that we’ve yet to claim if they want to cling to the old ways.  I’m sure they’re well aware of just how many of these worlds are out there.”

AG:  “Was a driving force in your creation and expansion of the AR&D division your interest in the draconic histories?”

RV:  “That’s accurate, yes.  I had much to decipher yet, and found myself a few centuries behind, so delegating some of my research was the next logical step.  I could not always trust those beneath me to do things as I wished, and when failures happened, those responsible were dealt with swiftly, but overall, I must say that bringing them into the fold was a marked improvement.  And with our prevalence throughout space, we could study even more sites and uncover more relics of the past.  I suppose we should move on to the meat of this conversation, my personal obsession with dragons and what remains of them.  I’m sure that’s what you’re really after, isn’t it?  Well, out of respect for the Goldeneyed Librarian, I will certainly indulge you.”

LORE24 ENTRY #28 – 1st Annual Aphelion Station Grand Ball

Category – Event

A year after the massively successful creation of Aphelion Station on the far side of the Demon Barrier, the alliance of corporations that funded and created the ever-expanding station, led by Veylani Transport, held a massive gala event to celebrate the occasion, showing that they were not worried in the least about the rumors of poor planning, dangerous working conditions, and sabotage that swirled about the entire operation.  Veylani Transport’s head, Releana Veylani, was widely known to be attending the event herself to further bolster confidence in the operation that she had so vehemently pursued.

The Grand Ball itself was open by invitation only, and these were extended mostly to representatives of corporations, governments, and other powerful groups, with a healthy mix of celebrities and entertainers.  Perhaps in honor of the wild frontier that had been opened, the event was a costume party with an animal theme, and as one might expect of the rich and powerful, there was plenty of alcohol-fueled debauchery to be found, with many of the attendees showing up in racy, fetish-heavy costume designs with plenty of leather and latex to be seen amidst this highly BDSM-themed event, which supposedly had the blessing of Yurisaya herself.

The event did not go off without unplanned excitement, though.  The famous orc artist, known only as Rhoghor, and known for his appropriately kinky masterpiece paintings, had been brought in to reveal his most recent collection that he had created, known as the “Visages of the Starway Maiden”.  According to him, he had been inspired the moment Lila Darius had penetrated the Demon Barrier and laid open the Demon Sector, and had spent the previous year working on his masterpieces.  When the paintings were revealed, they showed a beautiful blond human woman, either nude or scantly clad, in various states of restraint, but always with her back visible, for upon her back was a brilliant tattoo of a copper-scaled dragon, its eyes seemingly glowing with an unnatural intensity as they followed the viewer, the dragon’s body seeming to move of its own accord.  The reaction of the crowd was immediately positive, though for whatever reason, the representative from DSM, one Saida Entoris of the Arcane Research and Development group, caused a stir following the reveal as she and her bodyguard attempted to detain Rhoghor, though further chaos seemed to erupt at this very moment, leading to a wild finish for the event.

Still, by all accounts, the ball was mostly a success, and those involved are looking forward to the next one, already making plans for something that will be even more memorable.