General Lore

Glossary of Terms

Ensouled - A term for all sentient and sapient species of the cosmos. 

The Expanse - What the Ensouled call space since the largest ocean on Terra Essentia used to be called that and space seems to stretch out forever. Also sometimes used to refer to the cosmos as a whole. 

Dust - The remnants of destroyed planes that turned to fine magical dust and are the last form of magical energy in the cosmos. Dust is what gives Awakened their powers and can be sometimes harnessed manually for alchemical means such as power generation. 

Awakened - A group of powered individuals infused with dust from the shard that are almost always from a ruling class. 

Shard - What the Ensouled call the island planets spread throughout the cosmos since they are all shrapnel of other planes. 

Scores - Sheet music left over from the previous Age that are used by Riffrunners to power the SynthWave Drives on Wayfarers to traverse the cosmos. Scores not only power the ships, but also give them direction to a specific Shard and cannot be used to do general exploration of The Expanse except through use of multiple Scores to change direction mid travel.

Q-Bits (Bits of Quintessence)- The primary currency of the Expanse stored in digital or hardlight coins

Wayfarers

Wayfarer - Masted ships of various size and shape that are used to do deep dust runs. A Wayfarer is powered by a musical space engine called an SD, or Synthwave Drive, that is fueled by a Riffrunner. In times past when these engines were first created, people were still able to play their own music, but now since the ability to create music of any kind on one’s own is gone, RiffRunners are musicians that can only play Scores while actively reading the sheet music. Without a Score, there is no way to generate the musical energy required to power the ship. 

Riffrunners - The crew of a private Wayfarer, so any ship other than that of the Expanse Vanguard.

A Wayfarer can be manually sailed with stored Dust without the use of a RiffRunner as long as the changes are small, which is how ships get out of a harbor. However, after getting out into the Expanse, any significant changes or speed of any note will require music to draw in more Dust. Additionally, the single most important use of a Driftweaver is to get the Wayfarer up to the appropriate speed and provide coordinates to engage the Drift Globe and enter The Drift. The Drift is a parallel state of existence that acts as a freeway that connects the Shards and makes travel possible in a manageable amount of time. It also has its own ecosystem that defies the laws of protoexpansive physics. The Drift Globe is a bulblike sphere that grows on the branches of Drift Trees, which are grown into the frame of a Wayfarer, and is modified with mechanical apparatuses to facilitate controlled travel through the Drift. When the Drift Globe is activated on a Wayfarer by a Driftweaver’s music, if you put your ear to the Drift Tree, you can actually hear it humming in harmony. 

Ship Roles

Sweeper 

In charge of harvesting the Dust to keep the sails clean while also using the dust to construct and power devices such as mines, special ammunition, and engine booster injectors.

Driftweaver 

In charge of powering the speed and direction of the wayfarer and opening up The Drift as well as defensive shielding.

Rhythmbreaker

The primary gunner on a Wayfarer in charge of the main cannons that are powered by dust and use a variety of kinds of projectiles to do damage to other vessels. Most notably, they specialize in Monkey Balls, which are spheres filled with tiny mechanical monkeys armed with musical instruments that they play as loudly and poorly as possible to disrupt the direction, speed, the Drift capabilities of an enemy vessel.

Trailblazer 

In charge of chronicling the journey of the Wayfarer, plotting its course, and being able to recognize and adapt to the many dangers of The Expanse and The Drift. Most notably specializes in surviving all of the other the elements that want to kill you that aren’t alive, especially the many, many different kind of Dust Storms.

Voidcaller 

The endless void called out and you called back. In charge of all internal communications within the Wayfarer and all external communications with other ships and ports. Most importantly, however, they are also tasked with using Dissonance Frequencies to disrupt enemy communications and with having extreme language proficiencies to communicate with all forms of sentient life, even within The Drift. Many a Wayfarer crew has underestimated a skilled Voidcaller and ended up with Shadow Sharks chewing off their faces or had Nebula Sprites boring holes through their hull.

Drift Tunneling

Drift Tunneling has been the subject of obsessive—if inconsistently rigorous—study for centuries. Ever since the mysterious disappearance of the original Pioneers, who closely guarded its secrets, the brightest minds across the Expanse have worked tirelessly (and often fruitlessly) to reconstruct the science behind Drift travel.

This field, dubbed Driftology, straddles the blurry border between science and pseudoscience. Conclusions are, at best, 80% reliable—and even that estimate fluctuates depending on the Drift’s mood. Still, a few basic principles have emerged from the chaos:

Known Principles of Drift Tunneling:

• The Globe and the Corridor
  Activating the Globe on a Drift Tree opens a perpendicularity—a rupture in both space and time—creating a tunnel that links one Shard to another. This tunnel is known as The Corridor.
  
  

• Navigating the Drift via Score Resonance
  The only reliable way to reach a specific destination is by playing a Score previously attuned to the unique resonance of the target Shard. The origin of these Scores remains a mystery. Theories range from the One Giant Rat Hypothesis to the apocalyptic Music of the Gods Catachysm.
  
  

• Temporal Anchoring
  Corridors stabilize a small region of otherwise volatile Drift space, creating a rare fixed point in both space and time. This allows navigation—but only temporarily.
  
  

• You Can’t Follow a Closed Corridor
  Because the Drift constantly reshapes itself, no two Corridors are ever identical. You cannot follow someone into the Drift unless you pass through their exact entry point before it closes.
  
  

• Untethered Drift Space
  Survivability in untethered Drift space is theoretically indefinite. However, “indefinite” loses meaning in the Drift, where time functions more like a bizarre soup than a straight line. A person adrift may be unaware of being rescued into a Corridor, depending on how fractured their perception has become.
  
  

• Drift Hoppers
  Some individuals—known as Drift Hoppers—move intentionally between Corridors and untethered space. No one understands how they do it. According to one Hopper:
  “It’s like being cranked through a pasta maker while snorting glitter.”
  
  

• Drift Measures and Temporal Translation
  A Corridor remains open for exactly three Drift Measures—a temporal unit only comprehensible to beings created or born in the Drift. Drift Trees help translate this alien concept into something brains not soaked in entropy can process.
  
  

• The Tidy Universe Theorem
  While non-sentient Drift-made materials can leave, sentient entities born in the Drift are inexorably pulled back into untethered space if they try to escape. The prevailing theory, known as the Tidy Universe Theorem, suggests that the laws of reality instinctively prevent ensouled chaos-born beings from contaminating the rest of the multiverse.
  In short: the universe likes things neat.

Codex of Dustology

There are 9 known forms of dust as per the Codex of Dustology with their corresponding Sweeper shorthand in brackets:

Aethrokinetics [Zoom]

Dust of Motion, Thrust, and Passage
End Use: Propulsion, maneuvering, Drift travel stabilization

Fulgaristics [Kachow]

Dust of Detonation, Release, and Rupture
End Use: Explosives, mining charges, breach tools

Thanergy [Rot]

Dust of Decay, Poison, and Quiet Death
End Use: Toxins, corrosives, biological disruption

Vitalurgy [Juice]

Dust of Power, Sustenance, and Continuance
End Use: Power generation, life support, bodily augmentation

Gravimancy [Hold]

Dust of Weight, Anchor, and Pressure
End Use: Stabilization, containment, gravity control

Phasmology [Slip]

Dust of Veils, Echoes, and Uncertainty
End Use: Stealth, cloaking, sensor disruption

Sonaturgy [Res]

Dust of Resonance, Signal, and Song
End Use: Communication, harmonics, control systems

Morphoturgy [Shift]

Dust of Form, Adaptation, and Rewriting
End Use: Fabrication, transformation, adaptive materials

Entroponics [Null]

Dust of Drain, Silence, and Unmaking
End Use: Power suppression, nullification, harmonic dampening
 

Karami Anima

The Tome of Karami Anima: A History of the Cursed Shard of Zol

In the annals of the Expanse, few Shards are as enigmatic and feared as Zol, a desolate and dark land renowned for its black sandy shores and spiritual phenomena. It is here that the Karami Anima, biomechanical constructs imbued with ancient animal souls, first emerged following the catastrophic Shattering of the Worlds.

Origins of the Karami Anima

The Shattering brought devastation to countless species, annihilating nearly all land and sky-dwelling creatures. The souls of these lost beings drifted aimlessly through the Expanse until they encountered Shards imbued with powerful, cursed energy—foremost among them, Zol. Acting as a spiritual magnet, Zol attracted these wayward souls to its shores, where they became bound to biomechanical frames.

The term "Karami Anima" translates from the old Zolian tongue as "spiritual machine of animal." These creatures are created through the mystical craft of Soulshaping, a practice perfected by the Soulshapers of Zol. By binding the soul of a lost animal to a mechanical frame, the Soulshapers bring forth a new life, permanently fusing the soul to its vessel. Upon destruction, the soul is released from the frame and has never been observed to return. Speculation abounds as to whether these souls are drawn back to another Cursed Shard to continue the cycle, or if they transcend to a higher plane. Yet no definitive answer has ever been uncovered.

Nature and Behavior of the Karami Anima

Upon their creation, Karami Anima are wild by nature. However, they possess spiritual encoding that allows them to bond with a designated master. While they retain free will, they are instinctively loyal to their bonded master. An enduring mystery surrounds these creatures: despite numerous attempts, no Karami Anima has ever taken the form of a duck or goose. The reason behind this phenomenon remains unknown.

The Trapped Souls of Zol

Zol’s spiritual magnetism extends beyond animals. The souls of deceased Zolian individuals are similarly ensnared, destined to wander the Shard for precisely 6,666 days before departing. Occasionally, even the souls of non-Zolians are drawn to Zol’s shores and become similarly trapped. This binding of human souls, though temporary, is a grim testament to the dark energies suffusing Zol.

Through the same art of Soulshaping, the Soulshapers of Zol can bind human souls to inanimate objects. Such bonding is fleeting unless performed by a rare class of Soulshapers known as Soulflayers. This practice, considered the highest form of spiritual torture, involves the long-term imprisonment of a soul. The existence of Soulflayers is the primary reason why the Inter-Expanse Order of Unity has declared Zol a "Cursed Shard." The Order has imposed severe restrictions on Zol’s inhabitants, forbidding them from leaving their Shard under penalty of death by the Expanse Vanguard.

Suppression of Soulshaping Knowledge

Over the ages, the practice of Soulshaping has become increasingly rare. All known records and teachings detailing the methods of Soulflayers have been systematically eradicated by the Inter-Expanse Order of Unity to prevent the spread of this dark art. Today, the secrets of Soulshaping are closely guarded, and few beyond Zol’s borders possess any knowledge of its intricacies.

Conclusion

The tale of the Karami Anima and the cursed Shard of Zol stands as a solemn reminder of the Expanse's turbulent past. It is a story of spiritual resilience, forbidden arts, and the delicate balance between life and death—a testament to the enduring mysteries that lie within the darkest corners of the cosmos.

KeyFrame Systems 

A KeyFrame is a computing device that processes information through electromagnetic harmonic systems. Rather than conventional code, a KeyFrame interprets and generates data through precise sequences of audio tones, converting them into readable text and executable command strings through a process called tonal parsing.

The standard KeyFrame interface is a 108-note piano keyboard, each key producing a specific electromagnetic frequency that the device reads and processes. Compact models, built for limited field use, use a reduced 25-note keyboard and are capable of only basic functions by comparison.

Processed information can be stored by etching tonal sequences directly into Velyssar Tone Discs, commonly just called Discs. These thick, dense discs are physically grooved by the electromagnetic frequencies produced during tonal parsing, with each groove corresponding to a precise sequence of audio data. A compatible KeyFrame reads a Disc by tracing these grooves and translating the physical impressions back into command strings or text. Because the data is literally carved into the material, Discs are exceptionally durable and do not degrade the way purely electromagnetic storage might. They serve as the primary method of transporting data between devices and form the backbone of long-term information storage across the Expanse.

For active display, KeyFrames output to SeaGlass, commonly shortened to just Glass. A panel of SeaGlass contains a living colony of microscopic bioluminescent sea creatures (lovingly called Wiggles) suspended in a thin layer of liquid. These creatures respond to audio waveforms produced by the KeyFrame, shifting in color and position to render text, geometric shapes, and basic imagery. The result is a softly glowing, gently shifting display that reads almost like something alive, because in a small way, it is.