The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [5]
Voth – biped mammal, long forearms, 75% body hair, cyborg implants common, fond of concealing garments, average height 1.4m
Piraseri – tripedal sophonts of aquatic descent, main body a tapering torso with a backswept head fringed by small tentacles, average height 1.6m
Roug – slender bipeds with thin limbs, possibly hairless, usually garbed head-to-toe in tightly-wound strips of dense material, averge height 1.9m
Naszbur – heavily armoured bipedal reptiloid, a chitin shell forms a hood over the head, aggressive traders, average height 1.5m
Hodralog – birdlike sophonts common in certain levels of hyperspace, frail physique, average height 0.8m
Keklir – short, muscular bipeds found in most of the upper tiers of hyperspace, have wide, tapering snouts with two mouthlike openings, average height 1m
Pozu – squat, brown-skinned species originating from high-gravity world, gloomy disposition, skilled plant technologists, average height 0.7m
The Clarified – former Sendrukans whose personal AI has gained full control of their body due to erasure of the original persona, usually by judicial sentence, occasionally by voluntary mind dissolution
Vor – a species of endosymbiotic parasite that rides inside a host’s brain, once upper intellect/persona functions have been removed. A very ancient race once thought extinct, it has reappeared, rejuvenated and aggressive
Shyntanil – also known as the Twiceborn, a race that employs drastic life-extension technologies requiring re-engineering of the respiratory and nervous systems, and a temporary cessation of brain functions. An ancient bipedal species that has returned from obscurity, working alongside former adversaries, the Vor
CIVILISATIONS
Earthsphere (157 star systems; 873 inhabited worlds and orbitals; population 5.3 trillion) – most numerous species are Henkayans, Vusark and Humans, although Humans have been politically dominant. Despite Sendrukan brutalities, Earthsphere has remained a committed if junior partner to the Hegemony.
Sendrukan Hegemony (112,000 star systems; 347,000 inhabited worlds and orbitals; population 815 trillion) – a vast and far-flung empire, the Hegemony maintains its cohesion through rigorous control of consensus, via doctrine and the omnipresent personal AIs. Many species come under its sway but the Sendruka are dominant.
Aranja Tesh (23,000 star systems; 88,000 inhabited worlds and orbitals; population 107 trillion) – a loose confederation of seventeen nations, including Buranj, Korjash, Gizeka and the Yamanon Domain, which was recently invaded by the Hegemony–Earthsphere coalition, thus toppling the tyrannical Dol-Das regime.
Indroma Solidarity (92,000 star systems, 482,000 inhabited worlds and orbitals; population 1,173 trillion) – six-limbed Bargalil are the Indroma’s most numerous sentient species. Their egalitarianism results in a suspicion of neighbouring civilisations, especially the Hegemony. They are reluctant to become involved in regional conflicts, but are perfectly capable of defending their territory.
Vox Humana (18 star systems; 27 inhabited worlds; population 7.9 billion) – breakaway Human colonies scattered along the Earthsphere–4th Modynel border; rebellion against Earthsphere control decades ago led to severe sanctions which are still in force.
Darien (population 3.25 million), Pyre (population 15,000), and Tygra (population 3.4 million) – the worlds settled 150 years ago by the colony ships Hyperion, Tenebrosa and Forrestal, respectively. Of the three, only Darien developed without external interference, resulting in a vibrant, heterogenous and at times fractious culture.
The Legion of Avatars (imprisoned survivors number approximately 1.1 million) – brutally expansionist, relentlessly authoritarian society focused on the doctrine of convergence, the merging of flesh and machine into a superior kind of sentience. Those who oppose convergence are to be erased.
PROLOGUE
Darien Institute Data Recovery Project: Colonyship Hyperion Abstract – Retrieval of data pertinent to the struggle