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Glossary

Culture

Bicetearamn: A sinfin word assuming connotations of social worker, chaplain, and courtesan; related to the concept of the Hetaera.

Enzipi: Shorthand for enzyme pills which allow interplanetary travelers to digest the subtly different proteins that are found in different solar systems. These are typically sold in formulas specific to individual species and are relatively cheap; individual-specific formulas are also available, but generally more expensive. It is generally recommended to bring some wherever you go, but one must also always be careful about what they eat, as these may not protect against general poisons.

Familiar: A personal biological assistant in the form of a small animal grown or implanted with a psionic communication node, for long distance communication.

VEGA: The most popular bioelectronic game console on the market at the moment. The graphics cortex features 16 colors, eight hardware sprites per scanline, scrolling capabilities, and two bitmap graphics modes. The standard text mode features 40 columns.

Racial Slang: Various terms that may refer to the listed species; not all of these are nice. In fact, most are rather rude.
Bofin: Clopper, Cow-tart, Dizzy, Hornhead
Ceresian: Bot, Mop-face, Mopper, Floater, Squid
Dracion: Lizard, Lizzy, Peg-leg, Scaley
Engel: Hoof-tapper, Feather-ass
Koshk: Ceiling Scraper, Claw, Door-breaker, Puma, Stomper
Lielum: Ape, Flatfoot, Monkey, Tail-less
Niflum: Ear-chain, Elf, Knife-ear, Hot-head, Neptard, Neppy, Sword-arm
Pittlishk: Forktail, Gobbo, Goblin, Kobold, Mini, Pygmy
Sinfin: Dog, Pup, Puppy, Space-red, Square-eye, Square, Wagger
Usajin: Buck, Bucky, Bugs, Carrot-muncher, Long-ear, Salad
In addition to the other names, the small races are often called "Goblins" or "Kobolds" (depending on language) in a demeaning way. This usually excludes Usajin and Neschirishk, though not always.

Space-Time

Crystalline antimatter: Specially formulated antimatter that interacts only with certain types of matter. It is held in a crystalline ceramic lattice that allows (relatively) safe transport. The most common form of spaceship fuel for any non-tesseract drive, though it is generally forbidden from making planetfall, and instead one pays a disposal fee for any fuel still within the ship at a docking station above orbit, then rides a shuttle to the planet proper. In cases where a planet has no orbital dock, antimatter ports are kept a safe distance from any populated areas. Due to disposal of fuel being mandatory, combined with the cost of "Xine-AM", most ships that use it as a fuel are rarely "filled up" on fuel.

Cycles, or Limyart, are the common Sinfin calender mark, equivalent to about 1.9 Lielum solar years (59,719,680 seconds per cycle).

Dimension Zero: In viewing the universe as a system of layers, Dimension Zero (or D0) is the layer below the one normal physics operate on, and is considerably smaller. Devices capable of punching a hole into D0 are used for ship drives, in addition to mundane rockets or antimatter drives, to traverse incredible distances in far less time than they would with just rockets alone. The exit point is somewhat blind, however, so it isn't fully reliable for the complete trip, and normal space-piloting is still required for the parts where you don't wind up exactly where you intend (which is essentially never).

Patched conics: A very slow method to transfer inert cargo between planets, it has the advantage of being extremely hard to detect. The space equivalent of a "dead drop" contraband deal.

Standard Gravity Units: One sgu is roughly equal to 0.1465 meters per second per second (m/s²), and refers to the rate at which an object accelerates in freefall in a particular area. This is the unit used by the Sinfin, and was thus forced as the standard for everyone else.

Tesseract Drive: A form of magical drive that operates by folding or ignoring empty space, making it exceedingly useful the further from a star or planet one gets and almost useless within an atmosphere. This is the primary drive used by the Sinfin, who keep the secret of its workings well guarded (there are rumors that the Sinfin also actively sabotage any attempts to recreate it as well, though many seem to disregard that idea due to the guileless nature of the race). As such, Sinfin hold an effective monopoly on interstellar travel, creating an experience similar to riding on a train for most.

Voile: In context of space travel, Voile is a curious force that one can "tune" into with specialized devices, causing space to work slightly different by introducing friction and various other effects. Instead of being a contiguous secondary layer, however, Voile extends throughout space in several dimensions, forming "clouds" within normal, operational space. In tuning into Voile, the vacuum of space functions more like water, though less viscous and with far less pressure. There is also a noticeable increase in speed with magical drives, as well as far more accuracy with D0 when within a cloud of Voile that extends between both dimensions in the direction one wishes to go.

Supernatural

Voile: A unique layer of reality, Voile intersperses through the other layers, while existing separately on its own. It shifts about, sometimes moving things or creatures with it, and is thought to be responsible for some of the odd transpermia that is hypothesized to have occurred throughout the universe in making life. Voile seems to be concentrated most strongly around where life springs, though this isn't known if it's cause, effect, or mere coincidence.
Voile Storms: Violent tears in reality caused by Voile moving suddenly and roughly. Though few have dared to wander within these rifts, those that have speak of a strange place where physics is not quite the same, and death seems impossible; psychics are quite sensitive to these rifts, and seem to have increased power within, as well. However, Voile storms are typically quite brief and are classified as too dangerous for most research as of this time.