Hey there! Fae back again with another Void Dreaming crosspost from before the Itch page went live!

Last time we got to go over the crew of the Void Dreamer and the star (ship) of the show herself. I figured that this would be a good time to go and lay down some worldbuilding on you, so that you have a better idea of the setting in which this story is going to take place!

A quick note on that, first! If you’ve followed my work for a long time, you might know that I wrote long, long, long ago, another furry sci-fi series. Despite some similarities, I’d like to point out quite clearly right now that this is a whole different setting. Sol, Carla, Michael and the rest aren’t going to show up in this story, so if you were hoping for a Void Dreaming/Chronicles of Sol crossover, let me dash your hopes now and let you down gentle, heh heh.

So for now, let us begin with the beginning.

Genesis

Void Dreaming is set in a version of our galaxy far into the future. The Sol system is lost. Humanity, having spread out from their homeworld and to countless stars across the galaxy, grew and changed and evolved over the centuries. And yet, despite all of this, the only intelligent life that they encountered turned out to be themselves. Humanity, and all of its various forms and offshoots and bastardisations, were alone in the galaxy.

New technologies developed, new forms of existence were discovered, and for all intents and purposes, a golden age dawned on they who became known as the First Ones. Though little remains of human history at this point in time, it is known that they were masters of technology in its various forms, were dedicated to the cultivation of life across the galaxy, and eventually reached the pinnacle of evolution and development: sublimation.

It’s not known how the Terran Sublimation came about, or how such a diverse and splintered species came to be in absolute agreement that it was the way forward. All that is known is that at some point, a discovery was made that signalled the end of the human era. What little data survived the eons to come speaks only of the great discovery that allowed them to sublimate beyond all constrains of physicality and mortality, and to transcend space and time altogether. All of humanity joined in their new evolution.

But not all at once. And not without leaving the galaxy something in return.

This project was very well documented indeed, because the records of it have been found on each and every planet that inherited the legacy of humanity: The Seeds of Terra. These great machines were placed upon hundreds upon hundreds of worlds, terraformed and geoengineered into havens for Terran life. These machines maintained the biospheres of the planets they were seeded to, and programmed the evolutionary development of those that would come next.

Rise of the Planet(s) of the Furries

Their forms were ordained by the pre-sublimation humans, to represent a fusion of themselves and the life of their homeworld. History and mythology had depicted since time immemorial such a combination of features, and this was the template for the seeded species of the galaxy. These children of Terra would evolve and mature much more quickly than humanity had done so naturally on their homeworld, guided by the Seeds.

They did this because I’m a furry and like furries, and fuck you that’s why.

This guidance manifested in multiple ways, but chief among them was a signal that came to be known as the Imperative. It was this signal, transmitted through all the peoples of a given Seeded world, that helped to guide their evolution slowly and steadily through untold stretches of time. The Imperative guided evolution, developing traits that would ensure that the Seed’s charges would rise to planetary dominance. It sparked ideas in those brilliant enough to understand them. It was the unseen human hand, ushering in culture and language and development. Through the Imperative, the children of humanity would evolve far faster, and without many of the stumbling blocks, that their creators had to endure. Whether this was right or if their meddling in such an extreme manner is morally salvageable is a debate that has raged since the Ascension.

The Seeds were not perfect. Not every child of Terra would develop to a point where they could discover the others all around them. Development for some species took longer than others. Some developed quicker than even the Seeds were prepared for. Some discovered the silent hand that guided them and thought it divine… or demonic. Some Seeds guided their charges to the brink of reaching the stars, only for them to crash and burn through some method before they could rise. Some choked out their own biosphere. Some were wiped out by stellar phenomena that neither the Seed nor humanity could have foreseen. Some took the brilliant technology offered by the Seeds and used them to build terrible weapons of war, and annihilated themselves.

But for every Seed that failed, a hundred more succeeded by the grace of the Imperative. The children of Terra developed intelligence and technology, and facilitated it to reach an ordained point: ascension. That moment when a Seed would know that its charges had climbed beyond the confines of their primary, and left their homeworld behind for interstellar space. It’s this moment when the Seeds offered their deepest technological secrets, before they shut down and allowed their children true independence, that has led the peoples of the galaxy to refer to themselves as the Ascended; those raised from raw genetic material from Earth, guided to sapience by the Seed of their forebears and their all-guiding Imperative, and ushered up and amongst the stars.

Reports vary on the first Ascended. The otters are universally regarded as among the first, along with the coyotes and the rats. Most every species claims to be the first, of course, and it is considered to be the oldest and most pointless question in the whole galaxy. It’s often joked that the only way they could be sure is if a human returned from whatever great beyond they now inhabit to inform them.

Humanity however is silent, be they long gone, or long out of contact. They cannot be reached, and cannot — or will not — reach out in turn for their children. There are many theories. There are fewer answers. The Terran Sublimation remains a subject of heated discussion and debate, as to whether or not the purpose of those seeded by humanity is to follow them. What have humanity become? Where have they gone? Did they truly sublimate, or were they destroyed by some unseen force? And if they were, what does that mean for those who have followed them?

Many organizations and people work to uncover those mysteries, but more than that by far are simply willing to enjoy their lives. Existence, they would say, has been granted to them. They have been fortunate enough to be born in a time where they might live to see the next great ascension of the peoples of the galaxy, but such things are beyond their scope. It doesn’t matter to the layperson if sublimation is just around the corner. What matters is powering the replicator, getting that roof (or bulkhead) over your head, and finding what makes you happy. And a fistful of creds wouldn’t hurt, either.

So there you have it! A quick look into the state of the galaxy long before Rael or any of the rest of the crew were born! I hope you’ve enjoyed it; depending on how you play through the story, you may or may not have the chance to learn a little more about the history of the galaxy Rael inhabits. If that’s the sort of thing your Rael is into, of course!

Next time we’re going to continue discussing the setting of Void Dreaming, this time diving into the events that followed the ascension process and the chaos that ensued, culminating in the establishment of the Galactic Authority. If you’re a lore- or worldbuilding buff, you won’t wanna miss it!

Until then, stars guide you.

 - Faora