SAMPLE 1

The introduction to Tetrev Kain, my character for a campaign of Star Wars: Edge of the Empire

“[THIS MESSAGE IS SET TO REPEAT]”

“--you get this thing working? Hello? Is this thing on yet?”

*There’s a loud beeping in the background.*

“Oh, for the love of--what now?”

*There’s a sound of clammorring with buttons and switches before the beeping stops, followed by a sigh and a pause.*

“Wait, what’s that?...Aw, shi--Was this thing recordin’ the whole time?”

*The elderly(?) man clears his throat.*

“Uh...mayday, I guess? My ship’s dead in the water out here. Or, well, space, I guess. I got hit by a freak meteor storm that tore my ship apart. The wings are blown off, the engine’s shot, all the fuel’s leaked out, my R2 unit’s head is in a hundred pieces. Life support systems are still functionin’, but I don’t know for how long. Navigation’s dead, so I don’t got a clue where I am now. I have about a week’s worth of rations, might mast me a little longer since I’m sitting here doin’ nothin’. If you’re listenin’, and you gave me a rescue, I’d mighty appreciate it. In case this message stops broadcasting in the middle of you tracking my location, I’ll attach my last known coordinates to this message, so you can get a sense of where I’m headed. Again, I don’t know how much longer I’ve got out here, and I sure could use a rescue. Signing off.”

*There’s the sound of a button clicking followed by a sigh and a pause.*

“Wait, is this thing still recordin’? Argh, where’s the darn off switch?”

*More buttons and switches, followed by a louder, more frantic beeping than before.*

“Ah son of a bi--”

“[THIS MESSAGE IS SET TO REPEAT]”

SAMPLE 2

The Red Storm of N’rol K’thar; part of my personal fantasy setting

A large desert in the far western reaches on the continent of Aithos, avoided by both the Dragon Clans of Kelestrav and the Quan-Lo Draconic Dynasty. The redness of the sands should not be a surprise, given the presence of the World Cage: a rich layer of iron that sits below much of the planet's surface, said to have been created by the gods to imprison calamitous beings within the world's center. However, given the depth of the World Cage below the surface, the rust-red hue of the desert is most likely the result of the Red Storm's sinister origins.

During the Age of Decay, the God of Death, known by many names to many cultures but whose true name has been lost to time, gifted his most powerful disciples with blessings of undeath, causing a war to rage between the living and the living dead. The other gods used their combined powers to cast down this rogue deity, stripping him of his divinity and erasing all knowledge of his true name, so no mortal could speak it and give him power ever again.

Meanwhile, on the mortal plane, many Lords of the Dead rose to prominence. Some were benevolent rulers, but most were bloody tyrants. One such tyrant, the lich N'rol K'thar, began to resurrect long-dead soldiers of Kelestrav and Quan-Lo, amassing for himself a grand army. At the heart of the desert, he had his undying servants construct a great Iron Pyramid, hewing away the Cage far below the sands for materials. He also commanded his armies to sack the two rival countries, to bring him fresh corpses to expand his forces. His ultimate goal was to use the Iron Pyramid as a focus, to channel into himself even more power and launch a conquest of the entire world.

It was not long before his actions drew the ire of his neighbors. Feeling threatened by K’thar’s growing power and understandably upset at the desecration of their hallowed dead, the two kingdoms temporarily set aside their long rivalry* and launched a campaign to destroy N’rol K’thar, his army, and the Iron Pyramid. Their combined massive army of berserker warriors, shamans, imperial guardsmen, and battlemages, all led by the ancient dragons of both states, was enough to penetrate deep into the desert and assault the Iron Pyramid directly.

However, N’rol K’thar’s power had grown, and he had prepared a contingency in case of an early counterattack. He used the power gathered in the Iron Pyramid to create a massive sandstorm. As it formed, it blew faster and faster, eventually being strong enough to not only blind those trapped inside, but also to tear through flesh, and soon the army of the living was desperately trying to escape. The magically-attuned used powerful spells to shield their forces from the raging storm, but those unfortunate enough to be caught outside their protection had the flesh ripped from their bodies, their blood scattering in the wind and their bones being buried beneath the sand. Almost all the dragons were able to easily fly out of the storm, but a few were caught as the sand ripped holes in their wings and they shared the same fate as their foot soldiers.

Now, ages later, the redness of the Red Storm is rumored to be two things. The most logical explanation is attributed to the sand constantly blasting the Iron Pyramid, carrying fragments of iron with the sand which fills the air with rust. Some who promote this idea also speculate that the Iron Cage itself is also subject to the Storm. The other, more sinister explanation is that the sand still carries with it the blood of all its victims, forever cursed to contribute to the Storm’s aura of blasting death.

The Storm is a double-edged sword: none can penetrate it without being killed by it (unless they have the right magical protection), and N’rol K’thar is trapped at the heart of it, though it’s unclear whether he is unable to reverse the spell or if he has simply chosen not to, knowing that to dispel the Red Storm would mean another invasion and his permanent downfall. In either case, the lich has had a very long time to prepare another great scheme.

************************************************

*Both Quan-Lo and Kelestrav are ruled by dragons. The Kelestravian dragons have a disorganized confederation, and occasionally feud over territory with one another. The Quan-Loese dragons rule an empire with a rigid hierarchy. Each side disagrees with the other’s style of government, and have their own reasons why they rightfully deserve their neighbor’s territory.

SAMPLE 3

Denizens of the Frontier: part of a semester-long assignment for a Worldbuilding class in college

The Frontier, being the common ground/no-man’s land between the four territories, is populated by all four races--the colonizing humans, the nomadic Saalamites, the religious Cyborax, and the imperial Vyrmarians. The Frontier is an area where these four societies intersect, and either blend together or clash with one another. The main society that has developed in the frontier is the libertarian capitalist society developed by encroaching humans living outside the Federation’s influence, and generally allows for a two-way street of cultural influence.

Humans and Saalamites have similar enough physical forms (bipedal, two arms, torso, neck w/ head) that their fashion often intersects. In places of commerce, it’s not uncommon to see humans wearing the light garments used by the desert-faring nomads, or a Saalamite wearing a t-shirt made from cotton/polymer blends. While non-sentient worker robots almost always wear no clothing, local Cyborax will sometimes wear clothing to distinguish themselves as free, or accessories/jewelry associated with their religion. Based on their attitude towards foreigners, Vyrmarians may or may not wear clothing. Vyrmarians with strong national pride, especially those stationed in military locations, refuse to wear garments of any kind. Other Vyrmarians that are more receptive to outside influence will wear clothing in order to fit in with their neighbors. Enterprising salesmen manufacture and market clothing for Vyrmarians, but the worm-like people will often have to get their clothes tailor-made.

Cyborax and Vyrmarians are often able to use their own non-verbal languages when amongst their own people. However, given the human-majority population, spoken language is necessary for most communication. The Cyborax are able to synthesize language fairly easily, and the Saalamites already use spoken language. The Vyrmarians, however, must use artificial speech synthesizers or a form of sign language to communicate with other races, given their significantly different biology.

Because of the intersectional nature of the Frontier, languages often bleed into one another, most commonly those spoken by the Humans and Saalamites. Bastardized/latinized words from Saalamite speech are used in English (the standard Federation language), some human idioms are used by Salaamites (though not often translated, as the phrases lose their meaning in doing so), and the slickest salesmen are able to speak both languages, often in the same sentence. Cyborax are able to communicate in any language using their built-in voice synthesizers, though the anomalies that have found their way into human and Saalamite communication are not present in the robotic pragmatism among Cyborax speech.

Based on the mixing of binary gender identity used by the humans and Saalamites, the non-binary gender identity used by Cyborax and Vyrmarians, and how much the spectrum of gender identity has evolved among human society, the amount of self-identification is almost comically varied and scattered to the point where it’s irrelevant.

The level of technology available in the Frontier is equivalent to that of the Confederation. However, access to advanced technology is limited by economic standing. The rich elite have access to the same fine luxuries available in the Confederation core worlds, while those living in poor economic sectors are often forced to scrape by using decades-old (sometimes even century-old) machinery. Reused tech more comparable to that used in modern industry finds its way into the hands of the less fortunate via trade, or even just thievery. The Vyrmarians try their best to keep their advanced bioscience away from outsiders, but some tech still finds its way into the hands of the humans living in the Frontier.

The more diverse parts of the Frontier, near the center, are home to Saalamite nomads and refugees, Cyborax preachers and pilgrims, Vyrmarian defectors and ex-patriots, and human settlers and employees. The people living in these places try to be removed as possible from the conflicts happening between the four other civilizations. As one travels further from the Frontier’s core and towards one of the four territories, one is more likely to encounter more aggressive members of the other species. The Vyrmarians have established military outposts as they attempt to repel humanity’s invasion of the world they see as rightfully belonging to the Vyrmarian Empire. The Confederacy has troops present to reclaim territory usurped by other humans, who they view as citizens of the Confederacy in spite of their attempts to break off from the galactic government. Some Cyborax view organic life as lesser beings and in need of stewardship, and certain extremist groups extend that belief to the conquest and domination of the organic species. Even some Saalamites forego trading and take up the lives of bandits in order to acquire technology, weaponry, and wealth, all of which they can use to protect their people from encroachment, enslavement, or extermination.

As has been previously stated, the Frontier is the crucible where the cultures of all four races meet and either clash with one another or synthesize. The Vyrmarians’ pragmatism and technological ingenuity, the Cyboraxs’ search for meaning, the Saalamites’ emphasis on freedom and free trade, and the humans’ values of diversity and industry all complement each other well in the right circumstances. Unfortunately, conflict often arises due to a combination of greed, powerlust, and xenophobia present in all four races.