Szandite Collective

Szandite Collective

(Nation)

Region

Near Space

Alignment

Lawful good

Government

Federation

Adjective

Collective

Source: Near Space, pg(s). 104

The Szandite Collective is a political alliance of seven planets located in four different solar systems. Despite their disparate physical locations, all of the Collective's member planets are linked by szandite crystals, which act as magical communication devices, allowing people's speech and mental images to flow from one planet to another.

Holdings

The Szandite Collective's current seven member planets are: Zulphan, Lazel, Czelle (in the Elaz system), Rodnarth, Dorjo (in Jonid's Star system), Xofirth (in the Oukrux Major system) and Kuxor (in the Oukrux Minor system). It once had an eighth member, Krethiskar, which fell silent some time interstellar travel became possible.

All planets in the Szandite Collective are connected by szandite crystals, which transfer the speech and mental images of an individual touching a crystal to flow into all other crystals. Receiving a message involves simply touching a crystal and concentrating. The crystals also record all communication that passed through them, and opening one's mind allows one to access these records.

Vatrigax, in Jonid's Star system, is the only planet that underwent szandite meteor showers but has no intelligent life. The Collective had long been debating whether these crystals should be harvested or left alone, until the sudden discovery of dormant lifeforms beneath its surface.

Government

The Szandite Collective is a military and cultural alliance that fosters learning, the exchange of ideas, and scientific and technological advancement for all. They largely avoid contact with other peoples, but have realised that their lack of military power leaves them vulnerable, and have started generously providing technology and information to other species in exchange for allies. The Collective refuses to sell szandite crystals, which are meticulously tracked down and guarded at all costs, since the records contained within them as well as the crystal itself can provide answers to the Collective's questions, even though their importance as communication devices has lessened.

History

Millennia ago, the planets that would become the Szandite Collective were regularly peppered by meteor showers that lasted months each. For some reason, the meteors only hit these specific planets, ignoring others in the same system. The most significant ones left behind magic crystals, formed from minerals found nowhere else, whose size ranged from a few feet to nearly a mile. The various species who lived on these planets all independently began to excavate and conduct research into the crystals.

After the crystals were discovered to be communication devices, they were meticulously gathered and catalogued. After several decades involving much translation, cooordination and compromise, the planets made rudimentary contact, determined their relative locations, and settled on calling the crystals szandite, a combination of various species' native names for it, as a symbol of their friendship. Shortly after, the Szandite Collective was formed.

After the Gap, the Collective's massive network of shared information proved to be a distnct boon. Combined with their population of experts, they made great advances in societal and governmental system and almost eliminated armed conflict.

Recently, Collective researchers have discovered a plea for help encrypted in messages from Krethiskar, their long-lost eighth member, dating from the Collective's foundation. The reason for these messages and their cessation is unknown, putting the entire Collective on edge.

People

The Szandite Collective's starships are designed to be modular and accommodate multiple physiologies, and their function and configuration can be adjusted as necessary without the need of a dock. The Collective recognises that its pacifism and lack of experience with weapons can leave its ships weak, and tend to emphasise deensive systems and scanners.