The characters in Face of Dream are aboard a passenger starship which is falling into a star. Perhaps you’re a wealthy high passenger, or their servants, able to afford to be awake through the journey. Perhaps you have to risk sleeping - maybe never waking up - as a low passenger. Or maybe you’re a member of the service crew. Either way, you’re going to have to use your wits to get through the next twelve hours, and save the thousands of passengers aboard the Face of Dream.
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of worlds in orbit around the star of Epsilon Imaga. In ages gone by, the glory of this system was unrivalled - untold billions of lives shared the bounty of the rocky worlds, shining brightly in humanity’s diaspora as a paragon of peace and prosperity. All overseen by the benevolent Great Houses, dedicated to the promotion of trade and peace. Visitors from other systems came and went, spreading the prosperity across the spiral arm.
But the Great Houses grew too wealthy, too hungry for power, too jealous of their kindly partners. Nobody can recall how, or why, or ever when it all began, but begin it did - The Long War. In the first fiery clashes of the Great Houses, lives were extinguished millions at a time. After the hot war, the cold war - the struggle continued for centuries, without end or respite, and machinery aged, humans tired, the Great Houses faltered. Everything in orbit around Epsilon Imaga is broken and dishevelled - hobbled together, repaired countless times, exhausted.
As the war dragged on through the centuries, the visitors from elsewhere became less frequent, then uncommon, and finally rare. With it came the isolation from the rest of humanity. Now visitors are almost unheard of, with nobody willing to trade with this violent, distant cousin.
As the worlds and machines and humanity began to fade, so the Great Houses agreed to The Accord. It is an uneasy truce - the survivors of the long war, striving to keep their lives together, know that it may end at any time, and that the final throes of the war will be devastating.
Hosted and narrated by:
Marcus Shepherd (Phophos)
Started 07/15/17.
Scenes played: 2
License: Community License
