Empyreans (Embers)

Empyreans are the faster-than-light vessels that serve the Empire. They were created from the Emberspore discovered by the teega, which is now defunct, meaning that the current generation of Empyreans is the last generation.

For the past fifty-five years, Empyreans have been disappearing, leaving the Empire with a shrinking fleet that is on its way to becoming completely incapable of supporting its existence. Because faster-than-light travel is still theoretically impossible according to current science, the fate of the Empire's existence rests with the Empyreans.

Physiology

Atrium

The atrium is the central living area on all Empyreans. It is a high open space of varying design, depending on the vessel's shape, arranged around a central communal area that usually serves as a combination mess hall and recreational area. Walkways that spiral up the walls of the atrium lead to the private accommodations for the crew and passengers.

Belfry

The belfry is the command deck of all Empyreans. Although they are conscious and sapient, the Empyreans still seem to require a pilot to function properly. The belfry is a spherical room completely lacking in gravity, found at the top of the atrium. Once inside, any intelligent life form can act as pilot, as they become connected to the Empyrean's mind and able to direct the vessel through act of will alone.

Cascade

The cascade is comprised of free-flowing transparent liquid that appears to be water, but is in fact a unique substance that acts as a power distribution network. Despite the vast quantities of energy that it carries, it is harmless to the touch, and can even be drunk without any ill effects. How it manages this is unknown and currently unexplainable by modern science. The cascade appears to be generated and controlled by the heart, operating on a "subconscious" level to apply power when and where it is needed.

Garden

The garden looks and acts much like its namesake, a green place within the vessel that somehow works as part of the life support systems, or possibly is the entirety of the life support systems. It is one of the larger areas on board any Empyrean, and each one has a different layout of lawns, undergrowth, trees, even streams and ponds. Ambient lighting rotates around a 24-hour standard day/night cycle, and even light breezes can be simulated. Some of the plants in the garden may produce food, but usually not enough to do more than supplement the crew's dietary needs. Actual food stores are a requisite.

Heart

The heart of an Empyrean is shrouded in mystery, an impenetrable reflective sphere that lies situated in the middle of the cascade. It is the seed around which all Empyreans grow, and contains what the vessels themselves refer to as a "seven-folded star". Theoretical physics suggests that it may be some kind of captive nuclear reaction, but the fact of the matter is that science is centuries, perhaps even millennia, away from understanding what the heart is, or what it is truly capable of. It seems to be the source of not just the Empyrean's faster-than-light travel, but also the artificial gravity on board, as well as all the electrical power that keeps the vessel functioning.

Terminal

The terminal is the hangar for the phaetons, small short-range runabouts that the crew use for the day-to-day activities. The terminal can hold up to ten phaetons in total, each of which is connected to the parent vessel by some sort of invisible link. A phaeton can only operate within a certain range of the Empyrean, like an extension of it. An Empyrean will not willingly abandon a phaeton by travelling out of the system, but if a phaeton is lost somehow, a new one will grow over the course of several months, put together by the ship's systems.

Psychology

Empyreans all have their own unique personalities and particular behaviours. At what stage in their creation they develop intelligence is unknown, but it is fully established by the time they are fully grown, including a basic knowledge of language, mathematics, physics and so forth. While they will voice their opinions when asked, for the most part they are content to let their crew make the decisions, although in situations of danger they may make an exception to this passivity.

They choose their own names, although from where they get their names is unknown, and all inquiries to date have met with the assent that they "just know" somehow, along with the origin of their grasp on basic knowledge. Since most of their physical composition is a mystery, perhaps it only makes sense that their mental composition remains a mystery as well.