Celestial Garden

once more, with other universes in addition to the Revised Unified Sphere.

Most of the universes are, essentially, the single planet (or in the case of Sigeki, the single solar system). This might actually be the way they are in the overall universe, or it could be me not wanting to have to write up entire universes proper… Sigeki in particular seems to have other areas implied to exist, but it may wind up being not actually possible due to the author GM Fiating the rest of the unwieldy mess away somehow, leaving only its effects on the focus area available. That, or travel between solar systems is experimental and/or impossible.

To sum up the previous paragraph: I have no sense of scale and often willfully ignore realistic space on any level above planetary, but at least I don’t have Single Biome Planet Towns for the most part. That and it’s a superheroic-style universe governed by the rule of cool as its main physical law, really…

These are rather abbreviated summaries, which I may well expand on later (some of these universes really do seem to be developing character-like tendencies). Knowing me, they will still end up being ridiculously long despite my intentions.

- Sigeki: (GURPS TL9-10) The first world created for the new-KMV, and thus the recipient of a lot of Lost Technology / Black Boxen, the most notable of which is probably the ability-enhancing artifact termed the Red Hare (… and don’t ask me why it would be called that in-universe). Consists of an entire solar system with about five (?) extant planets and a sizeable asteroid cluster, most of which were somehow terraformed into submission (even, apparently, where keeping them so would break climate laws) and several of which have inhabited moons; travel between planets takes a number of days, in some cases a week or more, and is somewhat similar in aesthetic to ocean liner/long-distance train travel. Some form of instant teleporter exists, but it’s mostly reserved for military or high-class corporate use and has heavy limits on range (from around low space station orbit to planetary surface as of Apocynthion-07). There is, for some reason, also Space Friction; it is furthermore not exempt from a number of the tropes brought on by space being an ocean, and for that matter might go so far as to qualify as Refuge In Audacity in that the author has done a lot of the research, but throws it out the window because it’s vastly more entertaining for her this way…

Although the other planets occasionally recieve vague references, the main focus of the universe remains on Oran, which I believe is second in planetary order and slightly further away from the Sun than Venus. (Its climate pre-terraforming was probably quite similar.) After that effort, which is at least seventy years in the past as of any story of note, it wound up being fairly Earthlike in climate due mostly to the influence of Most Writers Being Human*, although there are some marginally larger patches of desert than that would generally indicate**. Most travel is done on the ground or on the water; actual jetliner-style commercial air travel doesn’t seem to have caught on as well as it has here, most likely due to some adverse atmospheric condition, although in the event of really rapid travel being needed it has occasionally shown up. There appear to be some hover cars, but considering the specific type of The Future! it often lapses into in terms of aesthetics they are only to be expected.

Theoretically Oran is overseen by a government known as the Central Administration, along with one other planet in the system; in reality pretty much no actual territory on Oran is under its direct control apart from a number of the larger cities packed fairly close together and the space between them. The lion’s share of the active governing efforts are definitely invested in the other (as-yet-unnamed) planet, and it says something about the CA that despite having plotted about four stories/arcs set mostly on Oran that not even the author knows whether or not it’s imperial or federation-like or a republic or an oligarchy or what.

Oran is supposedly split into a number of different substates under the control of the CA city group; in reality most of the substates are effectively countries of their own (although most do seem to give the CA and its representatives some credit, certainly more than you’d expect considering Oran’s metafictional origin, but I digress randomly). Recently, active deposits of Lost Technology have begun resurfacing rather more often than before; these deposits are often found by actually loyal CA-based/funded expeditions, and as such the Administration’s foothold on and interest in Oran seems to be increasing.

The Bureau of Interdimensional Communications and Research also exists. So does the ordinary realspace Red Mountain, but considering it exists (or at the very least can exist) practically everywhere that isn’t as important.

Really, Sigeki is where the majority of characters ultimately come from… and within it the majority are from either Oran itself or the other Administration planet which still refuses to get a name. (The majority of the rest are from the Sphere, with a number of outliers from the O Fortuna ‘verse or the Hope Diamond group.)

* Pretty much all KMVians (well, I doubt there are any exceptions, but this precludes retcon by being vague) are technically Ridiculously Human Aliens; the Sphere and the O Fortuna ‘verse have no apparent other planets (although they do have night skies, regardless) and Sigeki is A Long Time Ago In A Solar System Far Far Away, so no Earth there. Regardless of the universe, all known inhabitants share the same general species template, which usually includes superpower options (even if they’re commented out, or inactive until certain conditions are met).

** The author really took to space western aesthetics, okay? See also: Galzburg, pretty much the entire country of, and Conjunction’s Backstory Arc, pretty much the entire style of.