Shai Merchant Clans
| Shai Merchant Clans | |
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| Founding Date | 2020 |
| Member Count | 1 |
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The Shai Merchant Clans are a collective of mercantile families originating from The Shai Line, which is a series of systems claimed by their inhabitants to be an ancient trade line of precursor empires. Originally famed for their shrewd trading roots, the merchant collective has since expanded into an ever complex web of clan based alliances and business contracts that unify The Shai Races under the dominion of The Psyarch Council.
History
Pre-Warp Age
The Shai's founding and titular race is an amphibious grouping of psychically aligned beings that evolved upon The Planet of Shaidan. The Shai's birth world was originally located perpendicular to The Shai Line, and was at one time the home of many precursor remnant artifacts that have since been lost during the planet's destruction via asteroid impact. Ancient families of The Shai proclaim that the species was uplifted from a bronze age lifestyle by The Precursors to act as a ship service planet for vessels traveling along The Shai Line. Following the disappearance of their benefactors, The Species uplifted itself further by studying the low level maintenance ships that they were allotted, which lacked warp technology in any form. Data archives detailing plans to grant The Shai basic wormhole technologies were found upon a biological study dome on The Moon of Shaidan, showing evidence that The Shai were at one time in position to ascend as a true member state of The Precursor Alliance.
Following the discovery of wormhole technology, early clan vessels expanded into the galaxy along the trail of precursor remnants towards The Shai Line. During this time a many few formerly fledgling merchant clans ascended to power after investing wisely in the ventures of hazardous planet colonization and remnant study. As these clans grew in power, the home world struggled to unify under a central authority, and soon found itself becoming gridlocked in determining which ideologies and systems would serve the race moving forward. This ended rather abruptly as an asteroid collision was set to decimate the planet sometime in the middle of the pre-warp era, causing a mass exodus from the planetary body. As the native planet was destroyed, the race had near entirely taken residence within the colonies of the merchant clans, and countless people had signed on debt contracts for immediate immigration to the hazardous planets. Any semblance of traditional governing structures had been cast away with the destruction of Shaidan, as various mercantile cartels now held more power than any other authority in The Shai.
The Pre-Warp Age neared conclusion after the discovery of a precursor ring located at the ending tail of The Shai Line. This place was regarded as holy and sanctified evidence of The precursors by The Shai, and studied relentlessly by The Clans in pursuit of knowledge on their benefactors. It was here that the first member race was discovered living among the lands of the ring. The nameless race was crustacean in nature, and entirely primitive to an early stone age level of understanding. They reproduced quickly, and were relatively hardy creatures that could survive in the harshest of environments. Following in the traditions of their own benefactors, this race was uplifted and scattered about the remnants of The Shai Line to act as primarily laborers for the ever expanding cartels. They were named The Dregs by popular Shai media for their low class lifestyle and their crime of trespassing on a holy ring without being an inheritor race of The Precursors. They would not achieve official member status in The Clans until later decree by The Psyarchs in The Post-Warp Age.
Upon colonization of The Ring it was discovered that exposure to its magnificence would begin to alter the mental and psychic capabilities of an extreme minority of Shai. The First Psyarch, High Dake Yodish ascended to prevalence near the end of the pre-warp era, as after a period of isolated meditation The Psyarch discovered The Precursor Flux-Null Space and went about a path of personal enlightenment to master its properties. Warp technologies became viable soon after The First Psyarch was settled into a psychic energy amplifying machine that would create a beacon of light in The Flux-Null space that could be used to orient a ship in hyperdrive. Being vital to the use of warp drives, Dake Yodish was able to leverage The Shai as a mix of prophet of The Precursors and nigh irreplaceable object of stellar progress. All the merchant families kow towed to The Psyarch Authority, and a central power for The Shai Clans had finally been achieved.
Theory and Explanations
Flux-Null Space
Precursor warp travel remained a secret to The Shai for generations, and it was theorized at one time that wormhole technology could be the extent of FTL travel. This was proven wrong with the first ascension of The Psyarchs however, as they proclaimed that there existed an alternative state of being that could be accessed with the use of antiflux particle engines, where the laws of reality grow loose. Warp engines are separated into degrees based on how much their flux frequencies can align with Flux-Null space, warp one up to ten percent, warp two up to twenty percent, and so on. As vessels grow more aligned, the laws of reality loosen, allowing feats such as FTL travel. While aligned with the null space there is no true observing of reality, one must find nodes of reference so they may chart their position outside of null space, and in The Shai Clans this takes the form of the psychic beacon that is constantly put off by The Psyarch Machine.
Where are The Precursors
Shai myth states that The Precursors were an assortment of various races that had ascended to a state of psychic perfection. Every precursor was similar to and also greater than that of The Psyarchs in power, containing psychic abilities so strong that they were able to awaken psychic potential in lesser races by merely existing near them for a few generations. The sudden disappearance of The Precursors is usually explained by the theory that they had finally achieved warp ten technologies, and could break away from reality entirely to enter Null-Flux Space. There, they shed their mortal bodies to become sapient psychic identities where they live forever as gods beyond the limitations of scientific laws. Higher level psychics with great personal alignment to the null space have claimed to have visions of precursors living in self crafted paradises beyond most mortal interests.
Ringworlds
The leading theory in Shai Lands on ringworlds is that they are giant seeding devices that were used to sow carbon based life through the galaxy. Life is abundant in the universe, and the idea that the whole of it is coincidental in nature is beyond the belief of many Shai scholars. Instead it's believed that long ago the races of The Precursor Alliance devised The Ringwords as artificial habitats that would facilitate the creation of specialty-adapted life, and proceed to scatter it among the cosmos to take root on viable planets at every possible star. This in turn would create worlds with consistent carbon based life that could be occupied as living space for the vast number of precursor peoples. The transforming process came to an end as The Precursors ascended, and they now remain in dormancy waiting for reactivation by its former occupants. It's The Shai's estimate that reactivation is not currently possible, as the controls of such high value technology may be locked behind genetic keys, and may only activate in the presence of precursor species.
What is a Psychic
Psychic activity is in its barest form the relationship between objects and The Null-Flux Space. Each individual hosts their own warp signature called a Sub-One Warp Presence which can range from anywhere from warp zero to near warp one. Once a creature achieves a warp one presence they vanish from observable reality if not connected to some form of anti-flux anchor such as The Psyarch Machine or a warp capable vessel. An event such as this is rare however, as the default warp presence of even psyarch tier creatures rests at about warp 0.8, while most sapient species rest supposedly somewhere along warp 0.05 under a detectable range. Psychic phenomena occurs at an alignment of warp 0.2 and higher, making 0.2 the minimal standard for potential hyperpsychic mutation. It's not uncommon that races with a high base alignment may have consistent, naturally occurring powers that are otherwise inexplicable before the discovery of null space. With intense mental conditioning, psychic presence may be doubled or even tripped in value, but genetic alignment remains the most decisive factor of a creature's potential power