Cultivating Cultivation (Space Xianxia Settlement Quest)

Planets are the lifeblood of civilisation, this cannot be denied. The unique characteristic that allows a world to develop an Essence Core ensures this. Even when civilisation becomes space-borne, capable of casual intergalactic travel, they remain the most vital resource.

The ability to generate Essence, the most essential building block of Cultivation itself, can't be overcome. It ties civilisation to these rare, impossibly valuable worlds even when their magical development progresses to the point that a space based existence is easily viable.

A world with an Essence Core naturally generates Rifts, where brave cultivators can challenge themselves, earning powerful resources and compressed Essence, allowing them to grow stronger. Even for those who choose a more peaceful path, ambient Essence can allow a mortal to slowly attain longer life and reach immortality.

Yes, Planets are the bedrock of civilisation, but a planet with an Essence Core is one in a trillion if not rarer.

It should come to no surprise that such valuable resources are fought over, with untold riches expended in the search for ever more and more. Across Galaxies, across Universes, the powerful seek to expand their reach ever further.

Now a new world has been found by explorers braving the wilderness of Chaotic Space, risking their lives to brave the unknown wilds of that tempestuous realm. A strange world, maybe even a unique one...

Such a prize it would be.




Who has found this new world? Pick [One]

[ ] The Sophron Empire: A highly expansionist Empire held in the iron grip of its domineering Emperor. Able to freely peer into the past and foresee the future, the current ruler is investing heavily in bringing nobles under his complete control and expanding Imperial powers. This has resulted in political instability.

[ ] The Unification of Clans: This great power is the home of the Dwarfs, a unique existence in the Realm, for their impossible constitution. A minority in their own nation, the Dwarfs constrict all political power to their own species, keeping a stranglehold on their territory that is fiercely guarded. Despite this elitist attitude, they are stable and wealthy, something their human subjects greatly enjoy.

[ ] The Everlasting Republic: Perpetrator of the Great Masquerade, the Republic keeps it's mortals ignorant of cultivation. Only a select few, those lucky enough or strong enough to push through the play act of normalcy are allowed to step onto the path of immortality. A thousand generations of mortals live and die without political change in the stagnant halls of power. The largest Great Power by far, their potential is constrained by the the comparative trickle of immortals they produce.

[ ] The Union of Sects: Ruthless and merciless, the only things that matters within the Sects is power. Brutal competition is the norm, thousands of worlds that echo ceaselessly with the combat they enforce. Mortals, the so called 'farm-born' are little more than insects beneath the uncaring boot of their masters. The Sects mono-focus has left their economy thin and shallow, undeveloped and brittle. All is cast to the wayside in search of ever greater power, the only resource they hold in abundance.

[ ] The Conglomerate of Guilds: A faction that broke from the Sects in the distant past, the Guilds seek to tone down the bloodshed of their ancestors, while retaining the power such relentless competition builds. They are culturally combative and competitive, leading to a fluid economic, political and military scene.

[ ] The Alliance of Corporations. Everything has a price. Planets. Armies. Power. Dignity. The Corporations know this to be true and embrace the concept without reservation. All Cultivation is sourced on resources, everyone needs something and the Corporations will provide. The Capitalistic machine will not pause, cannot pause and MUST not pause. Progress is not a suggestion.

[ ] The Federation. A mere shadow of their former selves, the Federation is a Great Power in decline. Once the strongest power in the Realm, they were turned on by all and torn in two. They are not content to go quietly into the night, they will not allow themselves to be destroyed, no matter how many foes they face. No matter how impossible their circumstances, they will avenge themselves and regain their lost status. No matter the cost. All castes march in lock-step towards their promised future.

[X] The Monster Collective. An entity formed from the greater half of the Federation, the Collective is the new homeland of the Awakened Beasts. Once subjugated and enslaved, now they are the masters of their own fate. Humanity can never again be allowed to grow powerful enough to suppress them. The Collective must grow stronger to become the dominate power in the Realm, ensuring their freedom and security far into the distant future.

Placeholder for stuff to come.

Placeholder for stuff to come.

Director Kali'Vern, regional head of exploration. A Tier 42 Ibex. He's rather excited about his joke can be rather scatterbrained and occasionaly caustic to those he dislikes.

Sandra Rolmander, Claw leader of a new and promising exploration team. Tier 30 Fire Slug.
Yennifer Rolmander, Lead Seeker under her wife. Tier 30 Human with a powerful guidance and waypoint Talent.
Polantus Rolmander, Tier 30 Zeebra.
Calimus Rolmander, Tier 30 Human.

Placeholder. You may now vote.

Director Kali'Vern tapped his claws on his sturdy desk, counting down the seconds until his next meeting began. He was eager to hear the results of successful scouting mission. Although it would be far easier to simply send the data through the Planet Net directly to his AI, that left security vulnerabilities in place. More than one valuable planet had been snatched out from right under the Collective's nose, settled and claimed suspiciously quickly by foreign actors.

The growing pains of a relatively new nation, one who had to play catchup to the more established powers. Where their rivals had millions of years to perfect their processes, eliminating waste and unsafe practices, they were stuck playing catchup.

No. Far better to just endure the slight inconvenience and wasted time. They where immortal after all, there was little reason to rush. The Ibex accessed his [Computational Assistant] and pulled up the files of the scouting team, leaning back in his chair.

Sandra Rolmander, the Claw Leader of the exploration team. A rather unremarkable fourth generation Fire Slug with no prior successes under her belt. Given the priority alert Kali'Vern had received, she appeared to have climbed the mountain on her first try. Not even two hundred years in the business and less than a dozen expeditions under her belt...

How envious.

Yennifer Rolmander, Lead seeker and one of Sandra's spouses. A human woman with a rather interesting interesting Talent, capable of leaving so called 'beacons' in place and always knowing the easiest route back to them.

Ah.

That explained their success rather nicely, doesn't it?

Chaotic Space was an ever shifting mirror dimension that twisted and morphed, carrying currents and eddies and sudden storms. It was all too possible to just be... blown off course, away from the established route of settled worlds. An unlucky or too daring individual or vessel that pushed too far might be lost forever, unable to find their way back to civilisation.

When getting lost wasn't a primary concern, Kali'Vern surmised that blindly thrusting forward into the unknown became a rather viable option. He hummed thoughtfully, idly spreading his spirit outwards across the world, keeping it diffuse so as to not startle anybody. Quickly he located the team of Tier 30's speeding his way.

Good. That priority Teleport chain had gotten them on world fast enough, despite the hole such an expense no doubt burned into his budget. The trouble with exploring into the unknown rather necessitated heading out to the frontiers of the Collective, which was rather far away indeed.

Kali'Vern messaged his secretary to head out and meet them at the doors to the regional exploration headquarters, which would let the man usher them in through security.

The rest of the Claw was... oh, their husbands? A family affair then, how nice. It must make the decades of exploration pass by in a pleasant manner. Hmm, none of them were that interesting. His attention turned to other matters.

So much to do, so much to do.

The Ibex allowed his full Cultivation to emerge and the world around him slowed to a crawl. His spiritual sense, still extended caught sight of the mortals all but frozen in place, their beating hearts all but paused in time to his perception.

With the full force of his Tier 42 Cultivation Kali'Vern sped through his paperwork for the day, completing thousands of forms within that moment within moments, his [Computational Assistant] whirling and slowly sipping mana from his vast reserves. Applications were approved, denied, adjusted and corrected. Tens of thousands of messages went out, replies and inquiries and in one case, a thousand page report filled with vicious insults and mocking insinuations.

Once the drudge work was completed, the prep work began.

How many low tier planets did they have allocated to form a teleport bridge this century? Twelve. Hmm, how many Chaotic Space stabilisers did they have? Ah, only five. Hmm, how many Chaotic Space Teleporters? Seven?

Kali'Vern scratched his horns at such mismatched numbers and filled a report with the central office to backfill the equipment. The message queued up with other government documents, ready to head outwards with the next local Teleport offworld.

With everything complete and perfect he suppressed his powers and the world resumed, lurching into motion. He allowed his spirit to recede back into his immediate surroundings, withdrawing his inspection of the planet, before Rastistic took offence at his prolonged voyeurism of her world. That old Monkey had such a stick continually shoved right up her-

"Come in, come in!" Kali'Vern said when his assistant tapped on the door. The heavy Tier 20 oak swung inwards, allowing the exploration team to shuffle inside. "Welcome, welcome! Take a seat, please."

The younger Cultivators came inside, bowing in deference. Kali'Vern bleated in satisfaction and once his secretary shut the door, engaged the security enchantments. The walls hummed to life as mana was fed into the intricate arrays. To bolster their efforts, the Ibex director allowed his spirit to fill the room, warding off unwanted attention.

Sandra, the Claw Leader momentarily froze when his spirit washed over them before jerkily taking a seat, followed by her spouses. "We have the initial exploration report, Director Vern."

"Excellent, excellent." Kali'Vern breathed, taking a seat as Sandra placed her hand on the isolated system built into the conference table. Ancient arrays whirled to life and projected an illusion above the table, display dense data streams.

"As you can see, our primary subject is-"





Voting will be by plan. You have 10 Special Points to spend. Any you choose to NOT spend will roll over into the rest of the star system, and will net you future goodies. Waste here will not be wasted, although you will have little choice in the result.


Planetary Tier

[ ] Tier 30. 0 Special Points and the default option.
[ ] Tier 29. +1 Special Point.
[ ] Tier 28. +3 Special Points.
[ ] Tier 27. +6 Special Points.
[ ] Tier 26. +10 Special Points.
[ ] Tier 25. +15 Special Points.
[ ] Tier 31. -1 Special Point.
[ ] Tier 32. -3 Special Points.
[ ] Tier 33. -6 Special Points.
[ ] Tier 34. -10 Special Points.



Aspect. In extremely rare instances, a planet may take on a unique Aspect and produce mana and Essence tilted to this Aspect. One in ten thousand, these worlds are highly sought after for the unique environment and resources they produce.

[ ] Water. -2 Special Points.
[ ] Fire. -2 Special Points.
[ ] Earth. -2 Special Points.
[ ] Wind. -2 Special Points.
[ ] Light. -3 Special Points.
[ ] Shadow. -3 Special Points.
[ ] Crystal. - 4 Special Points.
[ ] Healing. - 4 Special Points.
[ ] Lava. - 4 Special Points.
[ ] Metal. -4 Special Points.
[ ] Sand. - 4 Special Points.
[ ] Mud. - 4 Special Points.
[ ] Steam. - 4 Special Points.
[ ] Wood. -4 Special Points.
[ ] Death. -7 Special Points.
[ ] Gravity. -7 Special Points.
[ ] Life. -7 Special Points.
[ ] Thought. -7 Special Points.
[ ] Ocean. -7 Special Points.
[ ] Space. -12 Special Points.
[ ] Time. -12 Special Points.
[ ] Armageddon. -12 Special Points.



Moon System

[ ] One Tier 5 moon. - 1 Special Point.
[ ] Four Tier 5 moons. - 2 Special Points.
[ ] One Tier 10 Moon, Three Tier 5 moons. -3 Special Points.
[ ] One Tier 15 Moon, Two Tier 10 Moons, Three Tier 5 Moons. - 5 Special Points.
-[ ] If an aspect is chosen, you may aspect moons for double the Special Points as well.



Points of interest.

[ ] New Blood: During the Initial flyby, signs of primitive civilisation were found. A new rift species has achieved sentience! You must bring them into the fold. - 3 Special Points.

[ ] Ruin-nation. The surface is littered with hundreds if not thousands of Ruins, whose mindless denizens seem to be waging an eternal war against each other. Untold riches are ready and waiting to be claimed. - 3 Special Points.

[ ] Old Secrets. An starship of gargantuan size had crashed into the surface in ages past, outputting vast amounts of mana to this very day. How, the scouts do not know. A mighty prize if its secrets can be uncovered. - 3 Special Points.

[ ] Good Feeling. The other Seekers all seem thrilled about the rifts on this world. An auspicious sign in indeed. Perhaps something... unique, can be found when they are studied in detail. -3 Special Points.



Size

[ ] Super-Planet. The discovered world has a far greater mass than usual, resulting in a far greater Essence Core. This planet can sustain a vastly greater rift count and thus generate extreme wealth. However, mortals cannot live in such an environment. - 2 Special Points.

[ ] Mega-Planet. The absurd has happened. Already rare in nature, this world has somehow formed an Essence Core of tremendous power, as befitting it's astronomical dimensions. Empowered by it's Essence, even weaker Cultivators cannot venture onto such a world. Inhabitants will have to be at least within 5 Tiers as the planet. - 5 Special Points.



[ ] Let it ride: [Write in] Special Points. As said GM will allocate excess points around the rest of the star system, generating goodies.