Astra - Universe Lore and Factions

Hello Patrons,

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! Today, we’ll be talking about some Astra world lore, technology lore, historical timelines and notable factions! This post will be important to review before reading the next planned post for characters since it’ll refer to things from here. So without any further delay, let’s get into it!

Astra takes place about 200 years into the future. Humanities biggest technological break was the warp drive which allowed us to traverse to new star systems. The expansion into space originates from Earth so you can think of our occupation of space  from Earth being the central point (or more importantly, our sun) and then other star systems around us being inhabited.

Due to this, the game takes place in a very, very, small section of our galaxy. I would say roughly around 250-300 star systems have been colonized. Spaceships have regular engines that can let them fly between planets and space stations within a given star system, however to go to another star system you must have a warp drive. Since the expansion is from earth, you only encounter humans… though the possibility of extraterrestrial life is not ruled out (given what tiny portion of the Milky Way humans have expanded to).

Next, we can take a look at some of the factions that emerged with the expansion into space!

Federation of Polaris (Polaris)

Polaris was the combined Earth faction as humans went into space exploration.

Leadership

Polaris follows a democratic political structure however votes are not equally distributed. ‘Core Planets’ of Polaris (this would be our sun/earth and the most neighboring star systems) have more vote power than let’s say a planet that was recently colonized on the edge of Polaris space territory. Because of this, the political party in charge hasn’t really changed because the party that has a bias for the ‘Core Planets’ stays in power.

Military

Polaris has the strongest military, they are all about holding law and order in their space territory. Since it is just under one umbrella, mobilization and support is much more streamlined and there isn’t bureaucracy slowing things down. There is very little illegal activity that goes on in Polaris space and pirates will rarely ever even think about attacking a planet under Polaris control.

Daily Life for People

The lifestyle is quite different depending on how far away you are from the sun/earth as a star system. There is an unequal distribution of wealth so the star systems closer have much more lavish lifestyles than the ones that are on the outskirts. It’s basically more on the extremes where this are really good or things are really struggling.

Interplanetary Union (The Union)

The Union was formed from star systems that no longer wanted to be under the rules of Polaris.

Leadership

Even though each has their own government and structure, star systems within The Union have some common rules that all of them must abide by, a shared military power, and other agreements with one another. Since there is so many different ideas, star system sizes, strengths, goals…etc, it takes longer for anything to change or get done on a Union level.

Level of Power

Since the Union is larger than just Polaris, they have the largest military size. On the other hand, the contribution of military, technology, tactics…etc are all not open shared between star systems in the Union so there is more variables to deal with. This level of bureaucracy also exists on a defensive basis. Planets that get attacked by pirates have to defend themselves and can request help from neighboring planets (with proper justification). Because of this, Union planets can sometimes be the target of hit and run tactics though there won’t be any massive attempt since the larger Union military would, eventually, come to aid.

Daily Life for People

The life of those in the Union vary from Star System to Star System, however the quality of life is more bell curved. Everyone lives moderately decently instead of dealing with extremes.

Freeworlds

These are planets and/or star systems that do not have a allegiance to anyone and are completely independent.

Leadership

Completely varied between planet to planet.

Level of Power

Completely varied between planet to planet.

Daily Life for People

Completely varied between planet to planet. (are you seeing a trend? :P)

So to summarize, freeworlds choose to go their own way. This either ends in one of two ways where the planets/star systems are super rich from natural resources or technology/trades with Polaris/Union or the alternative is more ‘lawless’ style planets where anything goes. More ‘middle class’ freeworld planets end up either joining The Union or Polaris since one or the others offering is usually to their benefit. Needless to say, freeworld planets (whether lawless or well off) are more targeted by pirates in general.

Faction Relationships

Polaris and The Union aren’t particularly happy with one another. Polaris sees The Union planets as defectors who left Polaris. The Union sees Polaris as a federation of unfair governance (since it’s usually non-core star systems that leave). There isn’t any open war however there is some trade embargos and stricter rules that they have for each other.

Polaris and The Union’s relationship with Freeworlds will vary. Usually if it’s a rich one, they will both deal and trade with them. On the same token, they will try to get them to join their respective factions. Lawless planets are rarely reached out by either faction since it’s more headache than it’s worth to try and convince them to join.

Phew, that is quite the wall of text! Hopefully you guys managed to read through that. :P We are spending a lot of time to make sure this universe makes sense and that it is a plausible setting. Immersion needs it to feel realistic so this has been one of our main places (lore) to focus on.

As always, please feel free to share your thoughts below. Thanks again for your continued support!

- Dishu