THE GALAXY///

The Galaxy is an ancient place, one that now finds itself in turmoil. After centuries of (relatively) peaceful rule by the Parliament Galactica, political pressure has mounted between some of the strongest empires, including the Pilgrim State, the Trader Conglomerate, and the Raider Union. Now, war-drums sound out across the spacelanes, and rumors of pestilence and famine have gripped countless planets in fear.

‘SALVE’ is set in a Type SA spiral galaxy. Geography is divided two ways; by Arms, and by Bands.

The Galaxy is composed of four arms, stretching from the active galactic nucleus to the edges of the system; The Porco Arm, home to the insular Pilgrims, the Ghez Arm, territory of the Raider Union, the Ozel Arm, nomadic travel-grounds of the Trader Conglomerate, and lastly, the Bok Arm, a mysterious and underexplored territory where the Host is endemic.

Bandwise, the Galaxy is laid out based on proximity from the center. At the heart is the Galactic Core, home to dozens of ancient species that make up the Parliament Galactica. The Midward Band is next furthest, and is the home of many great and powerful alien empires. Following that is the Outer Reaches, which many consider to be the ‘frontier’ of the Galaxy and a region of intense development. Lastly, the Hinterlands encircles the other Bands, and is the most under-explored and unknown region of the Galaxy, rarely seeing visitors or explorers.

THE FACTIONS///

THE PILGRIM STATE///

The Pilgrim people are a guarded and insular alien species with significant territory within the Porco Arm. Resembling tall, lithe humanoid jackals with blue-gray fur, they are best known within the galaxy for their ascetic religious culture, as well as their xenophobic hostility towards other cultures, having once been subjugated by the long-lost Magicians.

THE RAIDER
UNION///

The Raider Union is a freedom-loving multi-species polity within the Ghez Arm, one which coordinates the political affairs of dozens of member cultures. Most of its constituents were at one time under the boot-heel of the cruel and capitalistic Trader Conglomerate, before finally uniting together and casting off their shackles during the pivotal Five-States Rebellion.

TRADER CON-GLOMERATE///

One of the most prominent political bodies is the Trader Conglomerate, a wide-reaching capitalistic entity which once claimed nearly half the Galaxy through manipulative contracts and mergers. These bulky, bearlike insectoids are savvy merchants, but many distrust the Traders for their unsavory dealings and their constant desire for greater economic power.

THE HOST COLLECTIVE///

The Host fungus is an evolutionary terror, a ghost story told to greenhorn crewmates as they cross the empty expanse of space. A hivemind of flesh, with the ability to absorb the bodies and intelligence of living beings and add them to its collective consciousness. Few believe the tales, but some savvy scientists and archaeologists point to records going back many eons.

CHARACTERS///

While much of the visual focus in ‘SALVE’ will be dedicated to starships and stellar environments, it will also feature a wide cast of characters to accompany a robust single-player campaign, breathing life into a quartet of nail-biting campaigns. Accompanying each mission will be dialogue, voice lines, and character portraits displaying each individual alien in all their furry, gooey glory.

The Pilgrims, led by Commodore Kopanya, follows the directive of their leader, the Matriarch, who demands the cleansing and reclamation of dozens of Jewel Worlds, wresting them from the hands of ‘unclean’ aliens. The problem? The Raider Union claims much of this space, which has dug its claws into these prized planets.

The Raiders, led by Commander Jochi, learn of a Trader plot to develop superweapons of titanic scale and devastation in the mad hope of reclaiming their past glory. Now in a race against time, Jochi and the Raider fleet must find the weapon and disarm it before their fragile ceasefire is completely shattered.

The Traders, led by Prospector Himilco, are in turn forced to deal with another Trader superweapon, a biological agent run amok. With an interstellar plague now spreading unchecked throughout the Galaxy, Himilco now has no choice but to learn about this disease and find a way to stop it from growing out of control.

The Host, newly-born and barely-aware, does exactly what it has always done whenever it gains sapience: Expand. Awakened into a Galaxy in turmoil and rich with organic intelligence, the Host uses its psionic spores and unfeeling brutality to absorb any sentient lifeforms it can, so as to finally achieve Transcendence.

And of course, we can’t forget our secondary characters from a variety of factions, including the Robber Baronies, the Mercenary Junta, and the Cultist Sect, each of which seeks their own goals and agendas in the greater picture.