The Pearl - Glossary

Alien(s): An ancient and mysterious race of beings. It is unknown whether they still exist. Various Alien artifacts have been found throughout the universe, but no reliable reports of human-Alien contact have been recorded in recent human history. Alien texts discovered by Emperor Willem Taran of Basra indicated a link between the Aliens and Shutaka.

Basra: The home planet of Emperor Willem Taran. Like many of the Outer Rim planets, Basra has a colourful history. Originally settled as colony world of Harkar, it was invaded by Mirradon in the confusion following the First Outer Rim Uprising. The Mirradon ancestors of Taran violently suppressed any resistance by the remaining Harkarian settlers, then set about building their new homeworld into a powerful empire, largely based on lucrative less-than-legal activities. Harkar attempted, on a number of occasions, to wrest their colony back, but Basra had grown too strong.

ComNet: The all-pervasive communications network that uses protocols able to be transmitted through null-space. It enables instant communication between all planets as well as spacecraft.

ComTerm: The ubiquitous communications terminal used throughout the Inner Rim and Outer Rim that allows access to ComNet.

Dione: The home planet of Leith Birro, located in the Inner Rim. Dione is a giant desert planet, now sparsely populated , but considered to be one of the two planets where the human race originated. Old Earth is the other. Dione is a popular destination for vacationing Inner Rim inhabitants seeking to mix with the native population.

doza: The term for a junior or trainee Shutaka warrior. A doza warrior will eventually be ka-paired with another doza warrior or a more experienced full warrior.

Earth: Along with Dione, Earth is considered to be where the human races originated before the great exodus to populate the Inner Rim planets. Old Earth is no longer habitable, having been incinerated when its sun went nova.

Federation of Inner Rim Planets: When it became apparent that there existed a distinction between the humans making up the Inner Rim and Outer Rim, the Inner Rim planets formed an alliance known as the Federation, originally to safeguard their trading rights, but subsequently to provide a unified military presence against any of the rougue Outer Rim planets. The governance of the Federation is enacted through a group of planetary representatives. Collectively, this group is know as the Council. Planetary representatives, called Ambassadors, are generally democratically elected on their home worlds, but this is not a requirement for Council membership.

FedFleet: The Federation navy, whose primary role is the protection of the Inner Rim planets. As such, they are better equipped and resourced that OREF.

ganz-tu: The term for the all encompassing Shutaka philosophy that focuses on the "what is" of existence. It is the acceptance of ganz-tu that allows the Shutaka to adapt effortlessly to rapidly changing events.

Guild of Black: The ancient organisation of spies and assassins. Once highly respected as honourable professionals, the Guild of Black is now only feared. They appear to have little interest in the fate of humanity other than what is required to meet the needs of the Guild. Although the Guild is not based on any specific planet, and members are drawn form many of the human races, it is the Sorarainian assassins who were responsible for much of the initial reputation of the Guild.

Harkar: The home planet of mercenary Il-yar-Bisen. Once one of the most powerful planets in the Outer Rim, its colonies have gradually been reduced through weak rule of its bloated aristocracy.

Hellbringer(s): Following the poor performance of their ground forces in the Second Outer Rim Uprising, OREF initiated a program to develop the ultimate foot soldiers. Using a small group of loyal volunteers, OREF scientists succeeded in creating a melded human-computer symbiotic organism that they thought would be unstoppable against the conventional armies of the Outer Rim planets. This proved all too true when the prototype Hellbringers turned against their masters. By the time the disaster had been halted, OREF's reputation with the Council was in tatters. The following purge by the Council of the OREF commanders responsible for the Hellbringer program ironically resulted in the depletion of OREF's military skill base, severely reducing the ability of OREF to carry out effective operations in the Outer Rim. The Hellbringer program also served to unite human races, both Inner and Outer Rim, in their condemnation of the experiment.

hirra-tel-barka: the Shutaka ceremony that initiates the young doza warriors as full warriors.

honare: The concept of justice employed by Shutaka to judge their actions and of others towards them. An honare debt takes many forms and can be discharged in many ways, from forfeit of life to exchange of material items of value.

Human(s): The generic term given to any inhabitant of the universe that can trace their genetic makeup back to Earth or Dione.

Inner Rim: The known universe is divided into two groupings of planets, the Inner Rim and the Outer Rim. The distinction is more historical than spatial - Inner Rim planets were settled prior to the development of the jump-drive. Outer Rim planets were, or are, those planets settled after the jump-drive was developed. Approximately one quarter of a million planets are considered to be included in the densely populated Inner Rim. The Inner Rim planets are governed as a democratic Federation, the Council being the collective body of representative from the member planets.

Jedmon: The Inner Rim home planet of mercenary Doran Mar and Ambassador Gisele Mar. Jedmon is one of the founding planets of the Federation.

jihar-ara: The Alien texts discovered by Emperor Taran described a force so powerful as to stagger the imagination; it was named jihar-ara. The Shutaka know of it as the Pearl.

Jump Drive: Named after its creator, L'las Windsor. Before the development of the Windsor Jump Drive, interplanetary travel was only possible by using standard faster-than-light drives, with their associated time distortion effects. Use of FTL drives was considered to be the cause of much of the initial fragmentation of human knowledge and history. The jump drive enabled the space-time continuum to be folded upon itself, effectively resulting in a ship using the drive being in two places at the same time.

ka: The Shutaka multi-layered term for the bond that exists between two people who have aligned their spiritual existences. In its simplest form, ka manifests itself as a confidence and trust between the two individuals. When fully developed, the Shutaka believe that ka becomes an entity of itself, or rather that the two people and the ka become one codependent organism. Even among Shutaka, it is rare for ka to ever develop to this extent.

null-space: A mathematical construct that describes the nonexistent region between the origin and destination of a ship employing the Windsor Jump drive. It has no dimensions and exists for no time. Ye Tran, a colleague of the creator of the Jump Drive, developed a communication protocol (NSP) that traveled through null space, allowing instantaneous communication throughout the universe.

mnan-gar: The name the Shutaka call their offworld Strategist-Tacticians (literally: god-like-leader). While the Shutaka rarely rely on anything outside their culture, they have always made an exception for the leaders they choose to command their mercenary clans. Invariably male, mnan-gar are recruited by the Shutaka using a technique that call ksar-larning - harvesting lost souls. No mnan-gar approached in this way has ever refused, although they can rarely articulate their reasons for joining the Shutaka.

Outer Rim: By definition, the known universe less those planets making up the Inner Rim. The Outer Rim currently consists of over ten million settled planets and countless more charted potentially habitable planets. The Outer Rim is, however, is sparsely populated with many planets having less than one hundred thousand inhabitants. While, in theory, the Federation of Inner Rim Planets has governance over the Outer Rim, the second Outer Rim uprising highlighted the underlying tensions between the Federation and the various governments of the Outer Rim who resist the concept of a centralised authority.

OREF: The Outer Rim Expeditionary Force. The military force empowered by the Federation to maintain order among the Outer Rim planets. While it gains its authority from the Federation, it is allowed significant autonomy. OREF undertook to quell the Second Outer Rim uprising and, following that, to initiate the Hellbringer program.

parna-ka: A ceremonial bestowing of ka upon a person by all Shutaka. It is not ka in the true sense, as this can only exist between two people, but rather a symbolic expression of great admiration and respect for a non-Shutaka. It surpasses honare debt in magnitude of importance among Shutaka.

Second Outer Rim Uprising: The first uprising, which occurred long before the second, was little more than a handful of mining planets disputing the amount of taxation levied by the Federation. The second, more significant, rebellion followed the provocative declaration of independence by Tzar Augustas of Plican IV. An alliance of Outer Rim planets then joined military forces to resist OREF. Boosted by various mercenary ground armies, the Outer Rim forces fought a series of battles on over two hundred planets. While the OREF forces failed to gain the upper hand during the surface fighting, they eventually succeeded in destroying the Outer Rim navies in a decisive battle in the Khriction Sector, which effectively brought resistance to a halt. In this battle, Leith Birro, at that time serving in OREF, received a field promotion to Lieutenant-Commander.

Shutaka-NA: The Shutaka tell stories of ancient ones - the original Shutaka, who they call Shutaka-NA. The Shutaka-NA were reputed to be an enormously powerful race, yet gentle, harmonious and spiritual.

Sorarain: The home planet of Belle Morninglight-on-Brook. The location of the planet was lost to knowledge for much time. When it was rediscovered, it was found that the human inhabitants had undergone considerable adaptation to their environment. The adaptation was so extreme, it called into question whether Sorarainians could still be considered human. The Council subsequently resolved that the term "human" defined any inhabitant of the universe that could trace their genetic makeup back to Earth or Dione. While Sorarainians easily met this requirement, there are some human races that still refuse to accept the definition.

tri-tak-ka: The Shutaka name for an ancient spirit god of creation. Literally translated, it means "and three become one". What the story of the tri-tak-ka is based upon is unknown, but it has been kept alive as a fairy tale told to children. According to the story, before the dawn of time, there existed chaos. From this chaos coalesced ethereal beings possessed of great power, but having no purpose. By chance, three of these beings met among the limitless void and a miraculous bond developed between the three, a co-dependence of spirit that merged and resulted in a new entity - a tri-tak-ka. This first tri-tak-ka was known as Tala-Rus and she was possessed of great strength, intelligence and integrity. A second tri-tak-ka also came into being; he was known as Buri-Nar and was possessed of great wisdom, power and compassion. Together, these two tri-tak-ka became the mother and father of creation, their child is the universe as we know it. Tala-Rus and Buri-Nar then disappeared; it is said they sleep quietly between the folds of time, occasionally waking to check on their precious offspring, before returning again to their slumber.

Willa: The home planet of the Shutaka. It is located on the boundary of the Inner and Outer Rim. It's history, like that of the Shutaka themselves is poorly recorded in mainstream human literature.

Nova Earth: The current host planet for the Council of the Federation of Inner Rim Planets. Named Nova Earth because of its supposed similarity to old Earth.