Glossary
Last updated May 5th, 2009
Anarchomeme, The
A memetic virus that has occasionally infested the information networks of the sentient species around Jupiter, devouring masses of information and corrupting what remains. Hated by software companies, they have sought to exterminate this memetic scourge, but it always seems to re-emerge. It has wiped out information on entire historical eras, and is believed to have been created by one of the Singularities.
Anonopods
A species of volant, intelligent onion pods that live in the Lapidapplesphere, one of the seven upper atmospheric zones of Jupiter. Here they swarm merrily in the warm currents, absorbing water droplets, and soaking up sunlight and Jovian heat. They are the main source of nutrition for the herbivore Furgleflies, their mortal enemies. Thanks to high concentrations of swifattle acids in the Anonopod's heated puffer, the onion-pod must be cut off cleanly without compression, or it will be inedible except for the hearty Furglefly. Anonopod culture, if they have one, is little understood due to their hysterical and xenophobic nature, and other than their well known call of 'Wuttoo-wuttoo-wuttoooophooloo', which means 'Keep going! Keep going! Outta my way!', nothing is known about them.
Ardo, Floating Coral Continent of
Ten thousand years ago Ardo was the largest coral continent over Jupiter. The Ardans used organic technology they genetically engineered to dominate nearby coral islands, and eventually created a planet spanning empire. Their rule was brutal; they allowed the states of the continents Ip and Os to remain nominally independent, primarily so they could wage ritual war against them and gain captives for mass sacrifice to Zoos. The Offering Wars were suspended when the Galilean satellites invaded Jove and overthrew the Ardan Empire. The capital city of Ixik was blasted in to ruin. It remains today as a monument to the former glory of the Ardans, and the Order of the Red Spot holds secret ceremonies here against the wishes of the ruling Europan Overlord.
Asteroid Dust Halo of Jupiter
The Halo is comprised of a mixture of asteroids and so-called 'space dust', which is in fact dessicated stellarbacteria and a source of food for grazing astromolluscs and cnidaria. Home to miners and farmers, as well as numerous pirate groups who prey on shipping in higher orbit, the halo is known for lawlessness and a frontier spirit. The infamous Trool Pirate Clan has several secret bases hidden in denser sections of it. They prey on the ancient coral continents and bubblecities of Jupiter, robbing them of their organic technology and pillaging their big bubblefarms. The halo is too large to effectively police, and lawlessness is the rule.
Bapple
A newer, higher tech version of spackle.
Battlestation Guardian VII
The primary defensive satellite of Io, this heavily armed bastion was built during an earlier era of warfare. Constructed out of millions of tons of diacrete, it houses shielded batteries of ray weapons and missile launchers. A gravitic tether beam to Io allows it to slingshot around the moon to face attackers from any direction. The garrison command is often given as a political award to a senior admiral seeking semi-retirement.
Callisto
Callisto's honeycomb crystal cities, which are grown and tended by the Crystal Gardener Guild, are highly industrialized and populated by corporate elites, who are fed by masses of rural workers who are kept in a state of ignorant servitude. Alien species are often brought in to manage projects that Callistans are not suitable for. The elite Triad of species of Callisto specialize in business and the upper classes do not value technical skills, which they regard as the province of lesser beings. They perfer to look at the big picture. Their great honeycomb crystal cities are admired throughout the solar system for their beauty and lavish decoration. Private property is sacred on Callisto, and backed by the Ownership Enforcers. The Chief Executive Officer of Callisto is currently Bola Diab, who rules from Serenia, the capital.
Callistan Ruins
Callisto is laced with tunnels built millions of years ago by the Listans, a species that eschewed stairs, and the surface at the poles dotted ith massive structures of similiar material. Occasionally a new one will emerge when the glaciers shift. Some of the structures are linked together with a hydraulic system that functions in conjunction with the shifting weight of the glaciers. The Calans, a species said to originate on one of the smaller moons, purchased land from the indigenous Listans for high tech baubles, and eventually forced them onto reservations, where they live in a state of semi-barbarism to this day.
Casinoid
A former asteroid which has been built up into the ultimate gambling casino satellite, it rivals the Pleasure Asteroid of Zur as a tourist destination for hedonists and gamblers. Rivalry between the two holiday destinations has led to acts of sabotage, murder, and worse. Casinoid is more closely tied to the criminal underground than with the corrupt dictators and warlords of the system, who tend to frequent Zur more often. There are those who believe that Casinoid created the Molok, or space mob, and those who claim that Molok founded Casinoid.
Cnidaria Nebula
A nebula of plasma in orbit around Jupiter, it is both a feeding and breeding ground for over two dozen species of space jellies. Small asteroids serve both as fortresses and metal sources for their floating, cyclopean stone cities. Known to be unfriendly to outsiders, the Nebula is rarely travelled except by well armed fleets.
The Coral Continents
Dozens of ancient coral colonies, each with the surface area of a Terran continent, float in the atmosphere of Jupiter, devouring aeroplankton. Their undersides are jet black thanks to a thick coating of thermoalgaes which live off the heat generated by Jupiter, and sticky polyp strands up to one hundred miles long extend from stalactites. They sting and absorb unwary floaters, bacteria, bubbleplankton, and gliderclaws, and devour them for their protein. Flocks of nutrient rich fungi balloons, which the coral polyps find inedible, live amongst these wispy tentacles, hiding from their numerous predators; they also act as a lure to draw in gliderclaws.
The top side hosts a wild mixture of flora, including zooxanthel matts. The corals synthesize an anti-gravitic carbonate which forms the hard shell on which they live. Over millions of years, these shells have reached massive size. Sections often break off during the great atmospheric storms that occasionally sweep across Jupiter, and these become new, independent colonies.
Over the eons, the calciferous slabs have accumulated soil and space debris on the top side, and become home to dozens of types of flora and fauna (including the famed green algae forests), all living in a delicately balanced ecosystem. Thanks to their lighter than air properties, the coral shell is eaten by many flying and gliding organisms (which do not use gas sacs or heat) as a means of negating the heavy gravitational pull. Regularly ingesting the material is essential to prevent them from being pulled down into the depths and fried.
Anti-G coral paste is one of the most valuable exports of the so-called coral civilizations. Export is adamantly opposed by many of the species dependent on it for survival, and this industry has been the cause of numerous devastating conflicts.
Cosmic Clash
One of the most successful spacerock bands of all time, the Cosmic Clash revolutionized the space music industry, and have sold over 500 million discs.
Cybernetics
Many species that live in Jovorbit are cybernetically augmented to improve their chances of survival and to deal with the changing climate. Ecosystems can change abruptly thanks to the introduction of invasive species, forcing the indigenous inhabitants to adapt using any means they can. The Necroborg Nomads of the asteroid fields and the Ledans are at the cutting edge of cybernetic innovation. The Ledans typically pool a dozen brains into a single vat and mount it on a communal travel mek. Their greatest scientist is a communal being known as Morgor the Mad.
Cyclone Bombs
Designed for detonation in Jupiter's atmosphere, these weapons cause severe atmospheric disturbances, which make airspace impassable, disrupt/destroy air fleets, and even destablilize coral continents when deployed in large numbers and by an expert Cycloneer. Originally developed by Ganymedan Tyek Imp for use during the First Incursion War.
Dak
Traditionally, the leader of a war party. Also a rank in the Ion military equivalent to a captain.
Diacrete City Ziggurats
Dense urban centres built a billion years ago during a previous iteration of Jovian life. They never have stairs, only tubes and tunnels. They do not seem to pay much attention to which direction is up, and the surfaces are textured with millions of tiny holes. Apertures are roughly two meters across, allowing access by many neo-sentients. The only place where Diacrete Cites cannot be found is on the Coral Continents of Jove (presumably they did not exist at this time), Europa, and the inner asteroid belt of Jove (which seems to be a recent addition around Jupiter, and is likely the remains of a destroyed moon).
Fishlords
The ectothermic Fishlords rule most seas of the lunar moons of Jupiter, and some say they have more loyalty to each other than to their own moon. They often clash with the space molluscs, who seek to lay their eggs in the deep lunar oceans and never ask permission. Fishlords smell very much like fish, and as they prefer a liquid water environment, are difficult to invite to dinner as anything but the main dish.
Forbidden Space Wreck
The largest artificial structure in Jovorbit, no one knows when it first appeared or who built it. Visiting it is taboo, but that doesn't stop everyone. Few who do leave alive. Artifacts are occasionally recovered by mercenary archeologists. Said to be haunted, it emits undecipherable transmissions from time to time. The source of the transmission changes when attempts are made to locate it or analyze it.
Fuel Scoop Station
An ancient space fuel station that extends a long tube down into the oceans of Jupiter, it has been providing premium starship fuel for eons. Who first built it has been lost in the mists of time. It now incorporates technology from over 100 different civilizations spread out over at least twenty thousand years. Ownership is the source of ongoing litigation; some claim that these lawsuits alone have sustained the Lawlords for over a thousand years.
Gamma Rayguns
Used primarily for cooking organic life while leaving buidlings and ships (mostly) unharmed.
Great Steel Anemone Brain
An obscenely huge anemone that lives on the floor of the metalized hydrogen sea of Jupiter, it is composed of thousands of polyps, each of which acts as an axon/dendrite for a greater communal brain. The polyps themselves are believed to be a form of living metal and are able to withstand incredible pressures. Unable to move, the Great Steel Anemone Brain casts about the psi-ether with its psychic feelers, searching for open, undefended minds to possess. It then directs them to the Casinoid, where it forces them to gamble until all their funds are gone. It then releases the penniless being and moves on, searching for another, preferably well-to-do, mind to control. It has refused all offers of counselling for gambling addiction.
Graviball
The most popular sport in the Jovian Subsystem.
Hopping Robofish Guard
Elite monopedal robot guards given to Emperor Zoz by the Fishlords, they serve as one of the Ion Emperor's many personal guard units. The hopping robofish, highly sophisticated military robots created originally by the Fishlords of Europa, are part of every Fishlord army in the solar system. Popular but expensive to produce, they are one of the few reliable underwater robots that don't short out when exposed to liquids.
Hub of Generals
The High Command of the Ion Space Forces.
Io
Third largest of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, Io is inhabited by at least 50 indigenous sentient species. Divided into warring kingdoms for tens of thousands of years, they were finally united under the Iok dynasty. It orbits in an ionized torus of radioactive sulphur, produced by Io's volcanoes, and as a result, the inhabitants are highly resistant to radiation. They also sprout atavisms on occasion. Io is a major exporter of jubjub roots, sulphur, and bottled lightning plasma.
Ion Imperial Rock
A strain of music played by adolescents of the Ionian Imperial Class, fusing Terran rock with Martian Mod and Titan Thrash. Not to be confused with Ionian Industrial, which tends to be much harsher. Not taken seriously in most of the solar system.
Iopolis
Capital of the Lunar Empire of Io, Iopolis currently has a population of 10 million beings. Well known for producing cooling coils and sparkles.
Iok, Lord Ix
First Lord of the Northern Empire of Io, he led the legendary revolt against the Gongles of the Central Calderas, where his people had been enslaved to Dripple the Fonds of Bloor for millennia by the evil Overlords of Gongledop. When Pifflegorg VIII ascended the throne of the Gongles, he imposed crushing new restrictions on Fips of all types, spandling the dottledroop and lowering drogo levels substantially. This led directly to The Millebud Revolt. This is where Lord Ix Iok came into his own: first he led the revolution with the brakletic Spak-El, who was killed during the fighting, and later he would lead millions of freed slags on a long pilgrimage to the Far Forth, where the tropic loving Gongles could not travel or survive.
After founding Iopolis on the slorping Foom glacier in 52,346 IE, Iok married Princess Xoo of the Parlpeldidians, noble Groolkoids from the finkled stink swamps of Gul-Dop-Diddle. She bore him twenty sons, who, upon Ioks death, murdered each other until only one, Pix Iok II, was left.
Lord Ix Iok is also known for creating the Dyspeptid-Iokean Legal Code and for assembling the largest collection of porcelain salt shakers in the solar system. These wolo-wolo artipaks are now on pepoog display in The Imperial Art Museum of Iopolis.
Jubjub Root
A mild intoxicant when chewed, this root native to the black steam jungles of Io is a major cash crop. Like all native plants of Io, it has black leaves to better absorb sunlight and Jovian radiation. It has been banned on both Callisto and Ganymede, and the continued production of the root on Io remains a point of friction between the three empires. The Hub of Generals frowns upon it the high it provides is a very mellow one.
Kroop Works
Space shipyard that has been slowly expanding since it was founded over a thousand years ago by a coalition of Ion Warlords in conjunction with The Great Kroo, a powerful industrialist hive being that had carved out its own independent fiefdom on Io. Flush with cash and well armed against attack by rival powers, Kroo eventually declared independence and became an independent contractor, selling vessels to all the major and minor powers in Jovorbit.
Kra-Dak
Traditionally, a war chief. Also a rank in the Ion military equivalent to a general.
Kra-Ken
War god. Said to be a gigantic mollusc the size of a planet that lives in deep space, and ventures into inhabited systems only to feed on fauna once every thousand years. Believed to currently be heading for Alpha Centauri, although no verifiable scientific evidence of this has been produced. The Cult of Kra-Ken has a strong following among members of the warrior class throughout the solar system. The Grand Kra-Phont advocates perpetual warfare as a religious duty; all blood shed in war is said to honour The Great One. Not to be confused with Wayne Gretzky.
Lupdops
A plant resembling a Nawortletop fig, but with spangles.
Megaclite
An outer moon of Jupiter dominated by a species that calls itself the Megak. Avaricious and aggressive, their economy is powered by slave labour, often collected from vulnerable colonies in the asteroid fields, isolated coral islands over Jupiter, or small, non-aligned moons. Mildly telepathic, they are able to inflict pain on others using mental power, and use this ability to motivate their workers. They are prized as managers of retail pods and as employee motivators, but result in high staff turnover. As a result, they are best used when there is a high unemployment rate. The abrasive and proud Clines, sentient astrohogs that live in corporate herds on the plains of Megaclite, despise the Megak, and have staged several revolts against them, but internecine warfare between companies sabotages their liberation efforts. The Mega, a species of bulb headed plant people work with the Megak, handling their finances. The brain of the Mega is composed of thousands of spores, and the Mega becomes steadily more intelligent as these mulitply, until the brain pod explodes, seeding the area with new Mega, each endowed with the memory of their predecessor. Germination can be delayed through the use of containment rods.
Moot Rah, Last Emperor of Jupiter, Stormking of Jove
The last Ardan Emperor of Jove, he now lives under Europan guard on the coral continent of Gur, in a majestic palace. Once he commanded air fleets that could fill the sky, but is now little more than a Europan puppet, and is forced to issue proclamations justifying their resource exploitation of Jupiter. He still communes with the Mighty Floating Boog, a powerful floating jelly over a hundred kilometers across, but the Boog can do nothing to assist Moot Rah while he is held by the Europan Overlord of Gur. Admired and even worshipped by many Jovians, Moot Rah has slipped into a state of depression and spends many days never emerging from his luxurious sleep bubble.
Nawortletop
A tree with figs that resemble Lupdops, except without the spangles.
Nutromat
The standard brand food machine that is used throughout Jovorbit. Doubles as a recycler for efficency sake. Slowly being replaced by Terran Food Stations. Nutromats are built on Kale, a bioparadise kept lush and fertile through the use of a huge magnetoweather controller and massive nutrient imports. Their park system and methane falls are legendary and attract naturalists from as far away as Terra.
Octorats
Cephalopod rat hybrids that live in the sewers, disposal pits, and abandoned undercities of the Jovian moon cities. Aggressive scavengers that breed like octomice but have the attitude of angry Morgolliak Gurk Logs. Hunt in swarms and have been known to worship shiny totems.
Pain Ray
Makes skin feel like it's burning, causing excruciating pain, but doesn't work in rain, or water.
Pleasure Domes of Zur
The famed pleasure domes on the asteroid of Zur are a playground for the rich and powerful. Founded by 298 IE by Kas Nova, the early Ion holohero.
Nawortletop
A tree with figs that resemble Lupdops, except without the spangles.
Popclick
A type of insect music that creates a pleasurable hypnotic trance state in many insect species.
Positronium bomb
An antimatter bomb. held in vaccuum with a magnetic field. One gram yields a fifty megaton explosion of gamma rays. Leaves no fallout.
Psi-Anemones
Great fields of psi-anemones grow along the bottom of the oceans of Europa. Their interlocking psychic fields create a kind of mass mind and they will dominate the mind of all organic sentients who come near, unless they are heavily psi-shielded or stupidly stubborn. Individually, anemones are much less dangerous. They latch on to sentient beings and tie into their nervous system. For eons they were used to telepathically enable those with no mental powers. The weak willed are sometimes taken over by the anemones and used to help them spread.
Shiplords of Sinope
Once the centre of a powerful space going empire, Sinope's small population and the slow reproductive rate of its population led to its eventual decline as a major power. Their excellence in ship building skills, however, remained, and their ships are said to be the finest designs of any species of this iteration of Jovian life. It is rumoured that an ancient shipyard of a lost species, millions of years old, is at the centre of their moon (and that it is indeed artificial), which they have been retroengineering for generations. Sinopans are prized all over the solar system for their ship engineering skills and engine designs, although their weapon systems are said to be lacking. Highly resistant to G-forces, Sinopan ships must be retrofitted with more powerful inertial dampeners.
Spacenet
The solar system wide equivalent of the internet. Made up of three components: Infranet, Visinet, and Ultranet. Infranet is for beings that perceive low wavelength light, Visinet for those that perceive visible light, and Ultranet for those who see in the ultraviolet spectrum. Mneme, which has massive media industry, specializes in converting entertainment programming from one spectrum to another.
Spaceweed
An unpleasantly disposed form of plant life that can live in extreme conditions, barbed spaceweed is both hard to kill and put up with, as it is given to rude catcalls and surly remarks. Although known to make the occasional zinger, it is not known if spaceweed is actually sentient, as they do not have any individual identity and do not reason beyond insults. Developed by a disgruntled geneticist gardener.
Taygete
Jungle moon of wild beasts. The sentient species live in tree bulbs high above the planet's surface, away from the enormous roving carnivores. A popular destination for hunters, it supports a large fur trapping industry, and exports high quality meats. Rich in minerals, mining operations have proven economically unfeasible thanks to the hostile wildlife at the surface.
Terror, The I.E.S.
Capital ship in the Ion Space Fleet, the Caldera Class vessel Terror served as the flagship of Emperor Zoz from 2842 until 2853. Built in 2351 by Soogle engineers, it was the very definition of High Space Deco Starship Design at the time, and won numerous awards for its sleek lines. Some argue that the sleek outline was obtained by cutting equipment and sections deemed superfluous. Unfortunately this included cutting the number of lavatories aboard by half, and this has hampered the ships combat performance. Damaged in the Battle of Dorpo, it was refurbished in 2839 with brand new fropple hubs, a deuterium/tritium plasma drive, and a fresh photovoltaic coat of paint. Interest from Starship collectors in the vessel recently has been intense, but Emperor Zoz has refused to sell his beloved former flagship at any price.
Thebe
Dominated for generations by a defeated and exiled Warlord faction from Io, they overthrew their alien masters and reasserted Theban culture and values. Large sections of the equatorial region are still highly radioactive, particularly the abandoned cities, although their diacrete frameworks remain mostly intact. Some have been settled by Ion pirates and criminal groups, who are highly radiation resistant, to the great annoyance of Theban authorities.
Thelxinoe, The Closed Moon
Once a thriving economic hub, Thelxinoe closed its ports to trade during The Golden Age of Piracy. Since then the xenophobic Thel dynasty of Shlakt has risen to power, and shut down all contact with the rest of Jovorbit. The Thels constructed an enormous magnetron to disable approaching ships, and built a network of subspace noise cavatators to keep space molluscs at bay. Heavily militarized and now deeply paranoid, the planet has become impoverished supporting its massive military industrial complex. The current Doomlord is Vol Wroth. He is said to be completely insane.
Thermal Core Cyclotrons
Built by the Magman silicites of Metis, these massive, cyclopean machines take millenia to build. They are used to stimulate the iron core of Jovian moons to generate heat. The primary reason is to keep the moons habitable in a cooling environment and enable plate tectonics. The prohibitive cost means that they are often paid for in installments over a period of several generations. As Magmen are silicon based life and effectively immortal, they tend to have a different view of time and are very much into long term investments. Magmen are also frequently found as actuaries and geologists, areas where all other species defer to their expertise. Once a Thermal Core Cyclotron is completed, a Metan-Magman colony is installed at the core, where it performs maintenance duties. Several moons have objected to this practice and view the Metan colony as a security threat and invasive, but the colony is a non-negotiable. Magamen build their cities out of their own silicon excretions.
Ultraradio
Music and news net for beings that hear between 60,000 Hertz and 150,000 Hertz. Their radios often include sonoscupltor projectors, which are illegal on many moons.
Xor, Emperor of Callisto
Overthrown in 3132 by Emperor Zoz and Lord Akwat Ik the Fishlord.
Zoos Leviablob
A gigantic space mollusc that lives in the deep ocean of Jupiter, it is rumoured to be 200,000,000 km long. This is, of course, impossible.
