My first project begins!

March 11, 2016

Here I will talk a bit about some early concepts - I hope it is interesting! As my first project (for this site) I decided to create a world (start big! ;-) ) which I named after the machine which will enable space travel. I will talk a bit more about it in the second paragraph. In the third I will describe Umbrator, a shady but not evil (if a tad amoral) organization that mostly cares about knowledge. The last paragraph will show some (very early) ideas for other groups within the universe.

Umbrators masterpiece, the Via Incognitam, has three components. An energy-source - crystal-like superbatteries- a computer that controls the energy-flow and lastly the transport chamber. The first problem the scientists encountered was that the transportation needs a high burst of energy to start the transportation and then a more steady flow of energy for the actual transportation. The first time the machine was started, it caused a regional power-outage which nearly caused the discovery of Umbrator. After some experiments with some novel batteries they also found out that it seems impossible to stop the machine from draining energy (trying to literally cut the wires resulted in an explosion that destroeyed the first prototype of the VI) and so more resources were put in the development of a specialized battery-system.
Compaired to that problem the second one encountered was almost trivial: Since the VI always leads into space you would need a vessel in space, which in turn needs simply more room than a smal underground cabin. This problem was solved by turning a hangar into the transporter. The increased energy needed for the transport was no problem since a battery-cluster of the new batteries seemed to be more efficient than the same amount of single batteries.
The last problem was recognized during early test-transportations: since the slightest fluctuation in the energy-level of the VI (coupled with the exact position of the earth..) changed drastically the place a object would leave the Via Incognitam at, it seemed impossible to find anything send out ever again, but luckily some scientist have an idea for some sort of beacon-technology...

According to their own legends, Umbrator was founded during the last days of the western roman empire, by a group of philosophers who hoped to preserve the knowledge of the romans even in the face of the barbarian invasion. No one knows for sure if it is the truth or just a legend -and many don't even care. There are three kinds of members: First there are the scientists, they build the foundation of the group and are teached to be completly obsessed with knowledge and progress. The second group are the bureaucrats, usually relatives of the scientists, but not talented enough in the fields of study. These people ensure the survival of Umbrator and work as guards, financial administrators or control organizations that work as a legal front. The last group consists of "indebted servants" who have to take care of the manual labor that has to be done. The organization is split into three global regions (Europe&America, Asia and Africa&Oceania) which are led by a Council. These councils consist of the most important people, of which one is voted as a chairman who leads the discussions and acts as a representative for the region. At the very top of Umbrator is the High Council, which consists ten people: Three bureaucrats, three scientists, the three recional chairman and a chancelor who is (in theory) just a mediator during the discussions in the High Council.

I also have an idea for some other factions:
The Empire of Mechanos: Humans living on a planet that should be inhabitable since it is too close to its systems sun and thus has neither water nor any wildlife, they seem to know and despise Umbrator.
The World Sylara: Smaller than earth but a higher percentage of water, this worlds inhabitans seem to have barely reached the early iron-age (but have also the technology to build medieval ships). Red skin, a bit stronger than humans, but less flexible. Maybe other races as well?
Terra2: A world eerily similiar to earth, they seem to be in the middle of the 19th century at the time of discovery
Aside from these three, the ideas are even less developed, but my current focus is on expanding on Umbrator. Thanks for reading this wall of text! ^^'