SYSTEM INDEX

TIME

Pulse — 1 second

Crin — 1 minute

Hyrn — 1 hour

Cycle — 1 day

Loonth — 1 month

Dren — 1 year

DISTANCE

Arc — ≈ 1 meter

Lunarc — ≈ 1 kilometer

Light-dren — interstellar distance

DATA STORAGE

Quad — base unit

Kiloquad / Megaquad / Gigaquad / Teraquad / Petaquad — standard scaling

HEC — 1 petaquad per cube

POWER

Flux — power output

Therms — energy

MASS

Heft — ≈ 1 kilogram

TEMPERATURE

Rads — Heaten Scale

CURRENCY

Credits — Universal Credits (UC); standard traceable currency, moved via biometric palm transfer

Credit Chips — anonymous, pre-loaded currency chips; untraceable alternative to palm-transferred Credits

TIME PHRASES

This Cycle — today

Last Cycle — yesterday

Next Cycle — tomorrow

This Eve — tonight

Through Every Cycle — day and night, continuously

WEAPONS & COMBAT

Sear / Sears — standard sidearm, fires plasma bolts

Sear Cannon — heavy variant of the Sear

Sear Pistol — compact variant of the Sear

Plasma Bolt — standard ammunition fired by a Sear

The Eliminator — rare projectile-based sidearm, unusual in a galaxy built on plasma weaponry

Death Tether — a laser-whip weapon

Pill Blaster — fires solid projectile rounds ("pills") instead of energy

Galaxian Particle Cannon — large-scale, ship-mounted particle weapon

Shock-Prod / Plasma Prod — electrified restraint weapon used by Dominion forces

Neural Amplifiers — Dominion device that hijacks the nervous system, causing lasting damage

SHIPS & TRAVEL

Skip Drive / Higgs Skipper Drive — standard FTL propulsion system

Skip / Skip Jump — the act of engaging FTL travel

Surge Tubes — internal components feeding a ship's Skip Drive

Null Drive / SSH (Singularity Shell Hop) — experimental FTL system, largely dormant; power requirements remain unsolved

Phase Gate — interstellar transit system for passengers and cargo, not used for ship travel

Phase Crystal — single-use key that activates a phase gate, destroyed on use

Buff-Capture — short for "buffer capture," the process behind matter teleportation

Quantum Buffer — stores scanned matter as data for later reconstruction

Lancer Arm — mechanical boarding arm used to seize objects from a ship's exterior

Reaper — Dominion frigate-class vessel

Dyer Ryder Class — Dominion cruiser classification

Warhawk / Dragonhawk — CSC fighter and attack-ship classes

Railcar — interstellar passenger train, propelled through phase gate infrastructure along zero-friction rails

TransitTubes — external transparent transit tubes used aboard stations and capital ships

TECHNOLOGY

Vitality Vats — standard medical healing pods

Bio-Regenerative Vats — enhanced, custom-built healing pods

Holopad — tablet/screen device

Holo Chandeliers — decorative holographic lighting

Holos — general term for holograms

Wrist Comm — wearable communicator

Neural Interface Device — direct neural computing interface

Cyber Implant — cybernetic prosthetic, most commonly an eye

Mag-Lev Carts — magnetic levitation carts used for transport

Mag-Cuffs — magnetic restraints

Energy Coils — restraints designed to suppress physical strength

Gravity Lens Core — critical power core component

Capture Net — EMP-based net capable of disabling a ship's power

Plasma Blade — energy-based melee weapon

Crypto Vault — secured data and asset vault

Holobrace — wearable bracelet emitter that projects a holographic form

Quantum Entanglement Matrices — paired crystals enabling instantaneous communication across any distance

HPC Farm (Hyper Photonic Computing) — supercomputing array processing data via light pulses through luminescent fluid, powered by Hedron Star arrays

AI-Maton — general-purpose combat and labor robot; AI-led, non-sentient — distinct from the sentient Mechanoid race

Constabulary Guard — AI-led robot police unit (not sentient Mechanoids), designed for de-escalation first

Praetorian Guard — elite, individually constructed AI-led robot unit (not sentient Mechanoids), loyal to a single command authority

SCORE 12.5 — the Dominion's standard operating system, widely despised for its surveillance and throughput restrictions

Sandstalker — mining equipment, popular on Drenvar

Daxian — voice-command AI system used for targeting and display control

Snap Pad — camera/phone-equivalent device

Wren Hole Beam — device that opens stationary folded-space apertures, used as mirrors or decoys

Black Ferox — elite guard unit of the Ebon Dominion; not standard soldiers, operate above the normal military chain of command and answer directly to Dominion high command. Origin and nature classified

FOOD & CONSUMABLES

Dracut — in-universe equivalent of a cigarette

Synth Ale — synthetic alcohol

Rotgut — cheap, low-quality alcohol

Celerian Clam Flats — regional seafood dish

Hildaplump — unidentified animal, commonly invoked as an insult about smell

Grassle — a cow-equivalent creature

Grassle Milk — milk from a Grassle

Vay — coffee-equivalent hot drink, traditionally served in bulbs

Lavoka — distilled grain spirit, sharp and warming; broadly produced on grass/grain worlds, with premium tiers from Thagimasadas (cold-climate highland forests) and Donegal (coastal highland mist)

Reeb — brewed grain drink, lighter and less potent than Lavoka, made from the same base grain crop; the common, everyday drink with no premium tier

Carem — distilled spirit made from Solvane; produced on island worlds, with premium tiers from Tangaroa and Ayu thanks to Cormine aging barrels

Vermora — low, thick-leaved plant with deep red-black waxy foliage, native to Drenvar's volcanic terrain; source plant for Vermora Vay, fuller and more vividly red near the planet's geothermal-fed regions

Vermora Vay / Vee-Vay — premium tier of Vay, drawn from the Vermora plant on Drenvar's geothermal-fed regions; natural and terroir-grown, above the everyday Vay served galaxy-wide

MAGNIFICO VAY / MagVay — the Society of the Exalted Ones' engineered, mass-produced answer to Vermora Vay; boasted as superior by the four royal houses, but a manufactured luxury good rather than a naturally-grown one

Solvane — sweet stalked crop grown on island worlds; base ingredient for Carem

Cormine — aromatic hardwood tree native to Anahit; exported to Tangaroa and Ayu for aging barrels — the real source of premium Carem quality, not the recipe itself

Dray — in-universe equivalent of a cigar; two varietals — jungle-canopy (premium grade) and coastal (standard grade)

Dracin — marsh-grown source plant behind Dracut cigarettes (Fumifolia palustris); grown on wetland/river-delta worlds

Draycin — source plant behind Dray cigars, in two regional varietals — jungle-canopy (Combustifolia umbrosa, premium) and coastal (Cinerfolia tropica, standard)

SPECIES & CULTURES

Neglotarian — species known for bookmaking and gambling

Xandari — species/culture whose monks practice mental compartmentalization

Krell — species known for orchestral music

Fluxpup — Drenvar's rodent-equivalent species

Chromar — sophont species with a naturally metallic-sheened complexion, ranging from dull pewter to polished silver; homeworld Chromara

Sisnean — sophont species of Raze, crime boss of the Crimson Marauders; no further physical or cultural detail on file yet

Nurl — compact, round-bodied companion creature with a plush dust-brown coat; curls into a defensive ball known as "Pebble Mode" when threatened

Taami — sturdy, athletic companion creature with mottled brown/tan/charcoal fur; built for endurance over rough terrain

Burrow Chuff — cold-highland fauna species native to Eisrath's glacial expanse and Thagimasadas's cold highland forests; round, low-slung burrower with a dense double coat (white, shifting to mottled grey-brown seasonally); burrows rather than flees when startled; lives in small family groups called warrens, communicates via chuffing and foot-drumming

Canic Stelio / Canics — tough wild lizard species native to Drenvar's volcanic terrain; feeds on Vermora, making it a pest to legitimate Vermora Vay growers. Traffickers run decoy Vermora fields to lure and farm Canics for a black-market secretion drug/aphrodisiac — sharing the same name, Canic. Not a mount or domesticated companion; name from "Canic" (volcanic) + "Stelio" (Latin for lizard)

Ga'roa — oceanic-island sophont species native to Tangaroa's deep coastal waters; bioluminescent scale line and naturally grown nacre-like body adornment

Brontar — massive, horned sophont species with cracked pale stone-grey skin and amber-orange eyes; built for raw physical force, associated with arena and Dominion combat circuits

Helolorian — sophont species native to Irontal, with hardened grey-green scaled skin; closely tied to Irontal's mining and industrial trades

Hildaplump — large, thick-coated companion creature native to Chayton's open prairie; calm, affectionate temperament and a low rumbling contentment sound

SOCIAL & MEDIA

Chirp — the in-universe social media platform

Chirp Me — slang for "tag me"

Chirp the Stars — slang for "post it everywhere"

MECHANOID CULTURE

Forge-Kin — the Mechanoid equivalent of clan or family; those born of the same furnace

The Great Forge War — ancient, Mechanoid-only galactic civil war, ultimately ended by collective choice rather than military victory

ABYSSAL & PREDAXIAN LORE

Abyssal Power — a destructive discipline and power source, said to communicate in absolutes

Predaxian Runes — ancient script, etched and glowing during deep meditation

Predaxian Wrath — a discipline built around amplifying rage rather than calming it

Predaxus — founder of the Predaxian Wrath, said to have channeled something vast and terrible into himself

MISC IN-UNIVERSE TERMS

Spluge — affectionate nickname used between close friends, reserved for serious moments

Scale-Rat — Dominion-coined slur targeting Zytharans

Street Rat — general slang for a homeless or orphaned youth

Waste Hauler — slang for a garbage-hauling vessel

Schlop — affectionate insult exchanged between close friends

MATERIALS & RESOURCES

Leashmetal-9 — configurable metal, adjustable to maximum hardness and density; used for kinetic bombardment rods and hull plating

GRAND MAGNIFICO & THE EXALTED ONES

Society of the Exalted Ones — ruling faction of Grand Magnifico; one of the four major factions in the galaxy

Grand Magnifico — homeworld of the Society of the Exalted Ones; divided into four continents, one per royal house

Pequeño I–IX — the nine subjugated worlds supplying the Society's leashmetal-9 monopoly

House Charisma Ta — one of the four royal houses of Grand Magnifico; ruled by Matriarch Hipnola Ta and Prince Consort Dracious Ta

House Aster Vingus — one of the four royal houses of Grand Magnifico; ruled by King Aster Vingus and Queen Lydilda Vingus

House Schlott — one of the four royal houses of Grand Magnifico; ruled jointly by King Hemrick Schlott and Queen Gertaneeya Schlott

House Treen — one of the four royal houses of Grand Magnifico; ruled jointly by King Cawlador Treen and Queen Biltilda Treen

The Bed Queen — title held by whoever currently shares King Aster Vingus's bed; not fixed by marriage, passes when the King's bedmate changes. Currently held by Lydilda Vingus