This is the OOC and sign-up thread for the FT RP "Give Them Enough Rope", set in an anarchic frontier system that is ripe for all sorts of adventure and opportunity. The aim is that quests and plot-lines will develop organically and there is no real overarching mission or main plot other than those that your characters make. I'll be acting as GM to make things as interesting for you all as possible.
You can RP a character, or two or three depending on space considerations, player role-playing confidence and experience, and some other factors. Please TG me about your interest in the RP before posting, complete with an application of your characters. The application should ideally consist of a small biography of your character; their affiliations, species and appearance (height, body shape, skin/eye/hair colour if applicable etc), history, skills and other bits and bobs. You also need to tell me what you generally aim to do with your characters. Once I give the go-ahead, feel free to post the applications on the OOC thread.
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Little over a handful of decades past, the Bacchanal System was home to a proud, free race of insectoids who hailed from the moon of Felicity. Then marauding conquistadors from the Ecumene swept through, intent on subjugation and conquest. They faced fierce resistance from the Felicites and for a moment they stumbled and were humbled. The jubilation of the denizens of the system was short-lived when reinforcements arrived in overwhelming power and the Ecumene crushed them beneath its heel. No respite was to be given, not even in slavery, and as an example to all who would resist and all who might rebel, an eradication was enacted where not even their home planet itself was spared: the moon that birthed their race was destroyed and shattered.
The system was ignored by the victorious power for years after, though independent adventurers and entrepreneurs were drawn to the system to pick through the remnants of the alien civilisation. A happy circumstance was that the cracking of Felicity opened up the planetoid's rich innards for easy mining whilst on the surface and elsewhere in the system there were artefacts to sift through the ashen rubble of cities. Word of opportunity spread and soon there on the dismembered corpse of the world was a ramshackle outpost of miners. The adventurers and miners were followed by others who hoped to prosper servicing their needs, attracted by the freedom and prospect of wealth. Criminals travelled with them and like and grew fat and large with no law to pry them off.
Over two decades the initial outpost has festered into an accumulation of colonies, bases and camps strewn about the wreckage of Felicity; settlements on the broken world, space-stations above and around it and homesteads made from hollowed-out asteroids. The only thing uniting them all is the singular desire for riches and the rejection of law and order. Bacchanal's boom-towns are flavoured by anarchic seediness, where sin roams free and fills every nook and cranny of these neon-lit hells. Clubs and restaurants more often than not come paired with drug dens, malls and markets are incomplete without at least one brothel and nobody could tell you where a gangland begins or ends—it's safer to assume you're always in one, and a contested one at that. Most places are more shanty slums than proper towns, cramped with the dejected and downtrodden, punctuated by the monolithic fortresses of corporations and criminal enterprises (the line between the two is virtually non-existent).
Places of Interest
Felicity Prime: Like a barnacle, this settlement grew on the underside of the biggest piece of Felicity, drilling right into where the core used to be. What was the first mining camp ballooned into an overgrown cluster of a city, choked by factories and slums and refineries. It is the largest settlement in the system, home to the regional headquarters of numerous corporations as well as a great many gangs and syndicates.
The Web: A conglomeration of linked and tethered stations and asteroid bases, this is notable for acting as a flexible base for dividing plunder and ill-gotten gains by pirates and criminals, and a meeting place for individuals and groups to organise activities and trade stories, advice and secrets. Bits of the Web break off and come and go as need be, and it is ever fluctuating.
The Bloat: A huge station re-purposed and heavily modified by its owner, Raelon Cassus. The "town" can house many thousands of people and is used as a haven for his pirate band and their associates.
Bacchanal Centrum: Orbiting the gas giant Bacchanal Minor, this large palatial station is home to the "governor" of the system, Exarch Alexiel Accaedia, nominally rules the system on behalf of the Ecumene. In reality, his authority doesn't extend beyond the station and his concerns with the system are only in collecting the allotted tithes to the central government, and other kickbacks he can skim off the top. As long as the necessary portion of cash flows towards the state (and towards him) and relative calm is kept (anything below actual civil war), he gets to keep his job and the Bacchanal locals get to not have an Ecumene legion camped over Felicity.
Factions
Ecumene Clans
The bio-engineered transhuman Praetorians of the Ecumene are bound by genetic, cultural, historic and familial legacies called clans. These clans hold an important place in the lives and loyalties of many of the citizens of the Ecumene. The competition between clans is fierce and sometimes violent, all in the name of political power and influence in the Senate. Grudges between clans extend across light-years and Bacchanal is no exception.
Clan Naga: Often stereotyped as ruthless, amoral murderers, this view has merit as in their ancient history the clan found its start as a settlement of assassins and spies for hire and is still immensely proud of their legacy. Now they've moved on to politics, but still haven't quite shaken off old traditions. In the Bacchanal System, the local branch have achieved status as the stellar neighbourhood's pre-eminent slave-traders, using the system's prime frontier location to act as the prime market for the region's slave-hunting expeditions to space outside of Ecumene control. Interestingly, the branch's head has apparently freed one of his slaves and married them, and to much scandal.
Clan Chimaera: They say there is no greater enemy than an old friend, and in ages past Chimaera and Naga were the oldest, firmest friends. Then an uncertain incident led to a bitter, deadly feud that has lasted for centuries. Now they compete across space to one-up and humiliate each other, dreaming to bring their rival to its knees. They set up shop in Bacchanal mostly because Naga had, and they too deal with slaves, though with the mind of quality and specialisation over quantity. In an effort to compete with Naga, they step into the sinister; selling certain individuals (human and alien) to scientific experimentation and implementing the mass harvesting of organs and chemicals. True to their own clan customs, they also engage in experiments themselves, and modify their slaves' biology and bodies.
Clan Wolf: Famed in the Ecumene for their down-to-earth straight-forwardness and their hardiness, fortitude and courage, Clan Wolf has established a mercenary battalion in the region with Bacchanal as their base of operations. Though small, it is considered elite, and often is contracted by the Ecumene for regional missions beyond its pale. On their down-time, they manage a settlement that is as close to lawful peace and order in the system as can be.
Clan Cerberus: This clan is coterminous with Plutonys Industries and is huge in the metal mining and production sector. Its late entry into Bacchanal was met with unparalleled opposition (violent and non-violent both) from both the small mining groups and the greater corporations. The clan members usually stay in their ships and fortress-like bases, as walking into the towns with the three-headed dog sigil is a virtual death sentence.
Corporations
Bacchanal Banking Guild: The sole bank in the system by virtue of its own ruthless quashing of rivals and the charter of monopoly given to it by the Exarch. It is the chief financier and investor of the region and is exceptionally powerful as a result of this. It was birthed in the miners' camps of Felicity and is owned and managed chiefly of the first Bacchanal settlers, with a close partnership with the Mining Guild, though this has been strained by the bank's financial contributions to extrasolar mining corporations.
Bacchanal Mining Guild: Initially the first miners in the system were independent, and staunchly so, but when larger corporations started to encroach on Felicity they found it necessary to band together to fight back. They were bound hip-to-hip with the nascent Banking Guild, but that relationship has been strained as the ambitious bank has effectively outgrown its roots and has established connections with the same corporations the Mining Guild despises. Still, it and the bank are the major source of regional identity, though the bank would like to see more government while the miners would like to see less.
PolyCore Mining: A rising star in the Ecumene mining industry, this interstellar corporation fought tooth and nail to enter the system and achieve dominance in mining after a campaign of politics and menacing sabre-rattling by the locals. Even after, its operations faced sabotage and violent attacks, though this has lessened after it beefed up security and when Clan Cerberus entered the fray, which drew even more ire than the corporation's activities ever could. Currently it has an unofficial alliance of military cooperation and price-fixing with Pan-Felicity Industries, aimed primarily at thwarting Cerberus.
Pan-Felicity Industries: When the mining is done, people ship their goods off to the factories of Pan-Felicity Industries, the home-grown refinement and metal production corporation. While the system's banking and mining guilds are hotbeds of regional identity and pride, PFI has no such inclination and is quite happy to prioritise richer, larger extrasolar businesses. However, with its supremacy in the local refining sector threatened by Clan Cerberus, it formed an alliance with PolyCore and has recently invested heavily in espionage and sabotage.
Waterstone Commodity Resources: While remarkably peaceable and civilised by Bacchanal standards, Waterstone has nonetheless been forced to build up and impressive military presence to combat the jealousies of smaller gemstone interests. There are factions within that call for more proactive methods in protecting its interests and enforcing its supremacy in the sector.
Gangs
Though slavery and numerous drugs and many other things are legal in the Ecumene, and the lack of law in Bacchanal makes labelling illegal activities pointless, there are syndicates and groups unaffiliated with clans or corporations that would be considered unorthodox and criminal by civilised galactic standards. There are too many gangs and illicitly-inclined groups in Bacchanal to count, but there are several major ones who are dominant across the system and beyond.
The Chandelier: A chain of upmarket casinos across Bacchanal who guard their status as the destination for the system's well-to-do jealously. They also employ a sizeable armed group to intimidate and extort its more unlucky customers and victims.
Conthus's Crew: The eponymous Conthus plays a dangerous game of manufacturing slo-mo, a drug monopolised by Clan Scorpio, who enforce their drug monopolies with brutal violence. This makes him paranoid and swift to react against any perceived threat or slight.
The Beauties: "Lady" Beatrix owns the most of the brothels on the Web, including the largest called "Beauties", whose whores are also her footsoldiers. She is vain and proud of her status as one of the Web's movers and shakers. She is currently keen to make a chain of her establishment, and several other "Beauties" and affiliated brothels are opening across the system, though the local pimps are making the expansion difficult, even as they end up dead in a gutter with their genitals stuffed down their throats.
The Knights: A group of mercenaries specialising in sabotage and extortion led by a man known only as Chivalry, head-quartered on the Web. Rumour is that he is completely insane but utterly convinced of the need to be a perfect civilised gentleman (even if what that exactly is to him is fairly warped). They operate under a byzantine code of honour and ethics that makes them a good deal reliable when it comes to mercenary contracts as far as criminals go. Chivalry is rumoured to be Beatrix's lover.
The Initiates: One of the more violent and powerful gangs, with a headquarters in Felicity Prime. To be initiated means you have killed a person and have the gang logo and your rank carved into your chest. They hold massive influence in the city's industrial slums, where they draw most of their manpower from. They are highly brutal and ruthless within their ranks and without, and undergo many secret ceremonies that are as violent their initiation.
The Brave Brotherhood: They consider themselves an organisation of great prestige and honour. To become a full member of the Brotherhood a Brave must face trials of survival out in the wilderness of Felicity, including spelunking into the exposed mantle and core. The more daring and courageous, the higher the prestige and honour of the Brave, and the higher their rank. They have a fierce, bloody rivalry with the Initiates that is as much ideological as it is over turf and wealth.
The Chthonic Society: The oldest of the gangs, headed by the first settlers and fed by those miners who went bankrupt or were driven out of business, especially after the corporations came in. They focus their activities against those who benefit from the corporations and those who are seen as enemies of miners. They have ties to the Bacchanal Mining Guild and are some of the more politically and ideologically bent criminals.
Raelon's Rascals: A pirate band consisting of a small fleet of ships, they patrol the system and the greater region beyond in search of booty and slaves to take back to the Bloat. They also engage in a very profitable protection racket and are very amenable to the growing corporate rivalry and trade wars.
Other Groups
The Sacred Band of the Phoenix: A shady organisation dedicated to some sort of fundamental change of Ecumene society, though they aren't clear about what that is. They are known to have loyalty to an "Emperor" of some kind, though there is no emperor in the Ecumene. A cell is known to be active in Bacchanal, though to what purpose is a mystery.
All-Mother's Hand: A cult endemic to the Ecumene, established a shrine on one of the worlds of the system a decade ago and has been quiet since. However, recently organic life has flourished on the shrine world, seemingly out of nowhere.
Pillar of the Night: Another major cult, much more violent and prone to terrorism than the others. It has garnered a great following among the recent batch of slaves taken into the pens; enough to worry the overseers and segregate them to fresh complexes entirely.
Felicite Remnant: Not all of the original inhabitants of the system died. Many survive and eke out a living in burrows in their dead homeworld, or hiding out in asteroids and the dark corners of the system. They are armed and hostile, but their raids are mostly for gathering resources and seldom to actually try and drive out the colonists.
