Universal Communication

📡 Communication & The Info-Sphere

In the Age of Challenge, a starship may be the body of an empire, but its communication network is the nervous system. The speed at which a message travels can be the difference between a profitable trade deal and a corporate bankruptcy, or between a timely fleet deployment and a planetary catastrophe. The methods for conquering the silence between stars are as varied and philosophically divided as the factions themselves.

The Omni-Net (The Public Sphere)

  • Primary Users: The Syndicate of Mercane, Petrans, Wayfarers, and the general public.

  • The Technology: The Omni-Net is the galactic equivalent of the internet, a vast, chaotic web of information built and largely maintained by the Syndicate. It operates via a network of thousands of automated communication buoys anchored in the Penumbra. Messages are converted into data-spectres, bounced through the compressed shadow-space from buoy to buoy at incredible speeds, and then re-materialized at a receiver station.

  • The Reality: The Omni-Net is everywhere. It carries everything from public news feeds and stock market data to encrypted corporate intelligence and illicit black-market auctions. However, it is notoriously unreliable. "Ghostly interference" from the Penumbra can corrupt data packets, signals can be jammed, and skilled data-pirates (known as "spectre-jacks") can intercept messages at the relay points. For most people, it's a necessary risk of daily life and commerce.

🔐 The Faction Networks

The great powers maintain their own proprietary, secure communication methods, refusing to trust the chaotic Omni-Net for their most vital messages.

The Astral Telepathy Network (Imperial Method)

  • Users: The Stellar Imperium of Sol

  • The Technology: The ATN is a marvel of psionic and arcane engineering. At the heart of the network are the Astropaths—powerful psychics and divination mages cloistered in immense orbital relays. To send a message, an Astropath enters a deep trance, converts the message's content into a psychic concept, and projects it through the Astral Sea. It is received moments later by another Astropath, who then translates the concept back into words.

  • The Reality: The ATN is nearly instantaneous and impossible to intercept with conventional technology. However, it is not perfect. The message is filtered through two living minds, and its meaning can be subtly warped by the emotions or fatigue of the Astropaths. An angry Astropath might unintentionally imbue a diplomatic message with a hostile tone, a mistake that could have devastating consequences.

The Weblife (Concordance Method)

  • Users: The Veridian Concordance

  • The Technology: The Weblife is not a technology, but a biological phenomenon. The Concordance communicates across a galaxy-spanning, symbiotic network of telepathic flora and fauna—the very nervous system of the Great Bloom. A specially-trained Druid, known as a "Star-Whisperer," attunes themselves to a local node (like a sentient tree or a herd of cosmic megafauna) and "sings" a message into the Weblife. The message propagates organically across the network.

  • The Reality: A message sent via the Weblife is unhackable and unforgeable, as it carries the pure, empathic intent of the sender. It's impossible to lie on the Weblife. However, it is not instantaneous. A message can take hours or even days to ripple across the galaxy. It is a system built for wisdom and truth, not for the split-second decisions of a naval battle.

🗣️ Direct & Esoteric Communication

Magical & Divine Channels

Classic spells remain potent, their value increased by the limitations of technology.

  • Sending: The ultimate secure message. In a universe where FTL messages can be intercepted or take days to arrive, the ability to have a guaranteed, instantaneous 25-word conversation with anyone you know is a strategic, military-grade asset.

  • Scrying & Clairvoyance: These spells are incredibly difficult to use at an interstellar scale. The caster usually requires a significant part of the target or their location (e.g., a piece of their ship's hull, a vial of air from their homeworld) to even attempt to create a sensor across such a vast distance.

Ki Resonance (The Saiyan Method)

The Saiyans have little use for complex communication networks, preferring direct, face-to-face confrontation. However, their unique energy grants them a form of battlefield communication.

  • The Mechanism: A Saiyan's spirit is a burning fire. A powerful warrior can learn to sense the unique "flavour" of another Saiyan's Ki, allowing them to pinpoint a known comrade's location within a star system. In moments of extreme stress or focus, they can send a single, powerful empathic pulse along this connection—not words, but a pure concept like "DANGER," "VICTORY," or a raw feeling of rage. It is a warrior's tool, not a conversationalist's.

🙏 Transcendental Communication: Prayers & Pacts

Beyond the networks of technology and the rules of conventional magic, there are methods of communication that bridge the gap between the mortal and the transcendent. These are the channels of faith and the binding links of power, each unique to the nature of the bond.

The Divine Chorus: Prayers and Oaths

The gods of the Outer Planes do not browse the Omni-Net. They perceive the universe through the lens of their divine portfolio and the collective faith of their followers.

  • Ambient Prayer: A simple prayer from an individual is a whisper in the cosmic wind. It is not "heard" in a conversational sense, but it adds to the god's divine resonance, subtly strengthening their influence over their domain.

  • Focused Prayer (Clerics): A Cleric's holy symbol is not merely a token of faith; it is a sophisticated psychic amplifier and focusing lens. When a Cleric prays through their symbol, their message is focused into a coherent beam of thought that travels through the Astral Sea directly to their deity. The god's reply is rarely in words, but in the form of visions, sudden insights, or a wave of divine power.

  • The Oath's Conviction (Paladins): Paladins have a more direct, internal connection. Their Oath is a living, resonant concept within their soul. Communication is a matter of conviction. When they act in accordance with their Oath, they feel a powerful sense of affirmation. When they consider breaking it, they may be plagued by doubt and a feeling of cosmic dissonance, a warning from the principles they embody.

  • The Elder Gods' Revelations: The Elder Gods do not speak. To communicate with them is to perceive a fundamental truth of the universe. A mathematician who solves an impossible equation might be granted a sudden, terrifying understanding of the God of Fate's design. A wizard who perfects a new spell may feel the silent, conceptual "approval" of the God of Magic as the Cosmic Weave itself settles into a new, elegant pattern.

The Patron's Leash: Pacts and Whispers

A Warlock's communication with their patron is never a request; it is a summons or a symptom of their binding pact. The leash is always there, and the patron can pull on it at any time.

  • Infernal Summons (Archdevils): A pact with a devil is a contract that establishes a permanent psychic tether. The patron can communicate at will, often as an intrusive, commanding voice in the Warlock's mind or as a fleeting, fiery illusion only they can see. It is a direct, undeniable summons that cannot be ignored.

  • Abyssal Eruptions (Demon Lords): There is no subtlety with the Abyss. A Demon Lord's "communication" is a chaotic, painful eruption of raw emotion and violent imagery that floods the Warlock's consciousness. The Warlock must decipher their patron's desires from a maelstrom of rage, hunger, and alien thoughts—it is less a message and more a psychic seizure.

  • Saiyan Directives (The Crimson Fist): A Saiyan patron is direct and brooks no argument. Communication is typically a blunt, untraceable message sent to a personal communicator: "A worthy opponent has appeared at these coordinates. Defeat them and prove your worth." This can be punctuated by a flare of Ki Resonance, allowing the Warlock to feel their patron's approval or intense impatience from across a solar system.