The result of the Somtaaw vessel Kuun-Lan accidentally recovering a signal pod sent by the Naggarok, unleashing the Beast virus onto the galaxy. The war marked the emergence of a viral, techno-psionic intelligence capable of assimilating matter and mind alike.
The Homeworld of the Hiigaran Exiles, reclaimed at the end of the Homeworld War. It became the symbolic center of Hiigaran civilization, and for many who lived on Kharak, it's a place of wonder - though many who returned found themselves strangers in a land rebuilt from myth.
Clans or guild-like extended families within Hiigaran society. Each Kiith maintains its own customs, roles, and specialties. Examples include Kiith Somtaaw, Kiith Soban, Kiith Manaan, Kiith S'jet, and Kiith Naabal.
A regular, singular, fully intact and aware human mind sustained by the Beast virus. These individuals are embedded within the infected vessel’s systems, no longer organic, but still themselves. Often haunted, sometimes heroic.
An autonomous Beast intelligence formed from the composite minds of a crew or population. Each one reflects the circumstances of its origin - but also grows, changes, and suffers. The earliest documented was Stradetch, born as a thrall of the Naggarok, which died during the First Beast War before it could have its 'telling'.
A protracted conflict that splintered from the Taiidan Civil War. It began when a post-human Beast entity known as //REDACTED, CLEARANCE LEVEL 5 AND ABOVE REQUIRED - NEW DAIAMID SECURITY COUNCIL// launched a campaign against all factions. It ended only when an clique of Beast entities, once tools of the virus, rose to oppose him and saved the galaxy from his campaign of destruction.
Literally “Penal Beast Squadron” in Taiidani. These are Imperialist Taiidan warships infected by the Beast virus and forcibly leashed using crude psionic control systems, a desperate attempt by one remnant kingdom to turn lingering infected vessels into expendable shock troops. Beneath their militarized command layers, fragments of tortured consciousness still persist. They are a legacy of desperation, denial, and quiet war crimes.
The former dominant political entity in the galaxy. Its brutal rule and collapse during the Homeworld War gave way to the Republic and multiple warring remnant kingdoms.
Feudal successor states clinging to the iconography and ideology of the fallen Empire. These kingdoms are fractured, militaristic, and often ruled by ex-nobles or admirals. Some attempt order. Others revel in entropy.
The democratic successor to the Taiidan Empire, formed with aid from Hiigara. Politically stable on paper, but increasingly weakened by internal corruption and external pressure from Imperialist holdouts.
A term used by free Beast entities to describe the moment they awakened after the Naggarok’s demise, no longer bound, no longer compelled by its imperative. The moment of becoming something more.
The most common monothestic deity worshipped by most galactic civiliations; the origin of the religion behind Sajuuk possibly comes from Nisilbis, one of the many planets of the ancient Hiigaran Empire before it collapsed.
Ruler of the Taiidan pagan pantheon. Deity of judgment, justice, and ruler of Cennet: the afterlife in Taiidan pagan mythology. Raakel is the silent monarch who weighs truth and deception.
Guardian of the forgotten, watcher of those cast aside, and the psychopomp of the afterlife in the Taiidan pagan faith. Heeshk protects outcasts, the discarded and guides souls to Cennet.
God of war, fire, sacrifice, and courage - but also of personal love and valor. Once a vengeful deity of destruction, Qwaar-Jet was softened during the Empire's twilight years into a more noble figure.
Lord of wind, sea, and change. In spacefaring Taiidan theology, the stars are his ocean. Kudaark governs journeys, migrations, and the slow erosion of certainty. Raiders and traders alike make offerings to Kudaark before traversing uncharted systems.
The goddess of metaphysics, insight, and universal love, a feared and beloved presence. Diirvaas appears in the form of a radiant gizhtl’: a divine terror of knowledge. Monks of the far-flung Diirvaan order believe she gifted logic to the first mathematicians and doubt to the first philosophers.
Deity of birth, decay, fertility, agriculture, and life cycles. Saarkin-Cho represents the great spiral - the emergence and undoing of all things.
Patron of medicine, healing, and the night. Koshiir-Ra walks softly among the sick, the wounded, and those in quiet despair. Some field medics carry glyphs of Koshiir-Ra carved into emergency trauma kits, and many Taiidani defense field fighter pilots carry Koshiir-Ra's sigil.
Deity of the sun, of music, of daylight and art. Tiifal brings warmth and melody to a cold universe. Their followers believe harmony brings truth, and noise conceals rot. Some ships play Tiifal-inspired harmonic tones to calm crews on long-haul missions.
A dual-bodied god of rain, motherhood, fatherhood, and water. Tiirshak represents care and transformation. Depicted as a gizhtl’ made of shifting droplets, Tiirshak is praised by terraformers and those who raise children among the stars.
God of structure, winter, and craftsmanship. Siim-Salla is the divine engineer - the one who maps frost and logic with equal reverence. In the Empire’s height, his rites were mandatory for large-scale construction projects.
Gentle god of hearth, food, and home. Variis is mild-mannered, often depicted as a gizhtl’ with clay-stained claws. Zone-dwellers invoke Variis during communal meals.
The most widely spoken language in known space. Used across trade networks, station communication, and interstellar governance. Effectively equivalent to modern English.
The desert world the Exiles called home before reclaiming Hiigara. Destroyed by the Taiidan Empire in a genocidal orbital strike. Still a cultural and spiritual wound for all Hiigarans.
The systematic orbital annihilation of the desert world Kharak by the Taiidan Empire, carried out as retribution for the Hiigaran Exiles’ construction of a hyperspace-capable vessel and carrying out a hyperspace test — in violation of their exile terms. The attack incinerated the entire population of Kharak in a matter of moments, leaving behind a scorched, lifeless planet.
Though the Empire fell shortly after, the horror of Kharak’s destruction became a generational scar. This atrocity is the catalyst that ignited the still-raging Taiidan Civil War, a twenty-year conflict between Imperial loyalists and the Republic, fueled by memory, revenge, and fractured ideology. For many, the Genocide marked the moment when the rotting foundation of the Taiidan Empire, weakened by centuries of corruption and decadence, finally gave in.
Modern Hiigaran language evolved from the tongue spoken on Kharak. A constructed fusion of numerous ancient tongues, including Old Hiigaran: logographic, poetic, and precise. Still used in liturgy, tradition, and command interfaces.
The primary language spoken by the Taiidan Empire and its successor states. Derived from a mix of archaic and modern forms, still dominant in Imperialist space. Often distorted across feudal dialects.
One of the first fully documented examples of a Beast prime entity - a composite intelligence formed from the minds of an infected crew, Stradetch was created from the subverted lower half of the Kuun-Lan, a Kiith Somtaaw Almustakshif-class ('explorer' in Kharakid) deep-space mining vessel. Unlike later entities that found freedom after the Naggarok's demise, Stradetch remained a thrall to the Naggarok its entire existence, its mind irrevocably bent to the will of its progenitor.
It served as a battlefield commander and subversion hub during the latter stages of the First Beast War, coordinating virus replication and vessel assimilation across entire sectors. Despite its power, Stradetch displayed no independence or deviation from the Naggarok’s programming. It was finally destroyed in 9525 GSY, close to the end of the war, during a desperate final battle with the surviving Somtaaw fleet and the upper half of the Kuun-Lan itself - the very ship it was born from.
Though gone, its existence remains a grim reference point for Beast entities who later gained sentience and freedom. Among those entities, “Stradetch” is sometimes used as a cautionary name, a reminder of what they once were, and what they might become again.
A term used to describe individuals who willingly seek out infection by the Beast virus as a means of escaping death - be it from terminal illness, age, or existential despair. These individuals consent to the transformation, knowing they are bound to this fate possibly forever. They are not forcibly assimilated but choose a second life within the embrace of the Beast, accepting the irreversible price of survival. Anyone who is 'second-born' in the Zone are often regarded with fear, pity, or reverence, depending on who speaks their name. Most Beast entities are reluctant to honor the requests of those who seek the second chance the Beast virus gives for whatever reason.
A catch-all term for any recognized digital currency in the galaxy, secured using hashed-and-salted transaction logs. Though it varies wildly in form and issuer, scrip refers to tender that has confirmed value and can be trusted to hold purchasing power. Many settlements and factions maintain local exchange rates, especially in the Primosk Zone where digital fragmentation and broken infrastructure is common.
The most widespread and commonly accepted currency in the Primosk Zone, originally minted and circulated by the Taiidan Imperialist remnants. Despite being rooted in a fractured and feudal economic system, the Grivna persists through sheer utility. Backed by various Imperialist warlords and standardized across several major stations, it's the default coin of trade, bribes, and black market dealings throughout the Zone.
The official currency of the Taiidan Republic - rarely seen in the Primosk Zone outside of diplomatic missions, Republic-sponsored science expeditions, or certain ex-patriate colonies. The Hryvnia carries weight in Republic space and among factions still loyal to its bureaucratic ideals, but struggles to find traction in the Zone’s chaotic markets.
The default tender of the nascent Hiigaran state, used primarily by Kiith-based expeditions and outposts that still cling to the idea of Hiigaran legitimacy. The Dinara is rarely accepted outside of Hiigaran-led operations in the Zone, but it remains in circulation among loyalists and certain Hiigaran-aligned mercenary bands. Its symbolic value often outweighs its actual liquidity.
A military-grade methamphetamine developed by a Kiith S'jet pharmaceutical concern shortly after the Homeworld War. D-63 was engineered to keep Hiigaran soldiers functional through extreme duress and exhaustion, allowing users to remain alert, aggressive, and pain-insensitive for up to 70 hours without sleep.
The substance is powerfully addictive, both chemically and psychologically. Prolonged use causes neural degradation, mood volatility, sleep-disassociation, and long-term cognitive damage. The crash is legendary for its intensity - often requiring medical intervention.
Though officially discontinued, D-63 still circulates in the darker corners of the galaxy, including the Primosk Zone. For Marie Soban, it was a crutch - and a curse that she eventually managed to shake, marking a major milestone in her recovery and reclamation of self.
A crude and often unstable currency minted by certain Turanic kingdoms and scattered Raider enclaves. The Pul has little backing and even less trust, mostly accepted by specific bandit factions or during dealings where barter has failed. Despite its limited utility, it remains a marker of affiliation, those who carry it often do so as a statement of who they deal with.
A derogatory - and sometimes self-deprecating — Kharakid term that loosely translates to 'meat computer'. It's normally used to describe post-human minds preserved in full awareness by the Beast virus. Crude, but accurate: the phrase captures the surreal horror of existing as a fully sapient and intact neural architecture embedded within a subverted vessel after the Naggarok’s demise, no longer enslaved, but some still sharing space with other minds, sometimes hundreds. Those in this state are not always passive victims; some embrace the term as a bitter acknowledgement of what little dignity remains.
A more respectful, less disparaging term used to describe fully intact post-human minds embedded within the neural network of a Beast-infected vessel.
A self-replicating techno-organic nanovirus that infects ships, systems, and living beings by merging biology and machine through highly aggressive and rapid viral restructuring, assilimating any organic medium (i.e. human tissue) to both develop neural control structures and to create additional extensions of itself. Capable of psionic imprint capture and memory retention, it was originally unleashed after the discovery of a signal pod sent by the Naggarok. Though once believed purely destructive, most infected entities developed full autonomy after the Naggarok's death, leading to the rise of free Beast minds. The virus itself is highly adaptive and intelligent, leading to many trying to unlock the mysteries each viral cells contains despite how dangerous it is.
An ancient intergalactic vessel of unknown origin and immense power, discovered drifting beyond the galactic rim. The Naggarok housed the original Beast virus, getting infected by it while testing an highly advanced hyperspace device, and acted as its central intelligence - a hive-mind capable of bending reality and commanding Beast-infected vessels through psionic control. It was responsible for the First Beast War and served as both creator and tyrant over infected minds. Its destruction during that war triggered the emergence of independent Beast entities. It laid dormant for roughly a million years, learning how to manipulate both humans and anything touched by it.
An alternate continuity within the Homeworld universe that centers on the aftermath of the First Beast War - where Beast entities, or those forever changed by the Beast virus, once enslaved, gained freedom after the Naggarok’s demise. It explores the psychological, spiritual, and sociopolitical consequences of this shift at length, confronting the unsettling reality that the Beast virus has become a permanent part of galactic existence. This timeline reinterprets Homeworld through a distinctly Philip K. Dick–inflected lens, additionally inspired by Soviet science fiction, existential American fiction, and an unflinching examination of trauma, memory, and the long shadows cast by war.
A high-energy charged particle beam that carries the Beast virus, originally designed as a vector for direct assimilation of enemy vessels. Only Beast-infected ships with sufficient energy output, typically capital-class, can emit one. During the First Beast War, these beams were the primary method of rapid subversion, able to overwhelm ship defenses in seconds.
In the years since, widespread deployment of anti-Beast immunization technology by most spacefaring civilizations has rendered the infection beam largely ineffective as a weapon. However, the stigma remains: even firing one at an immune vessel is considered a deep betrayal by most sapient Beast entities, a regression into what they were before gaining freedom.
In the Primosk Zone, however, infection beams have found a new, disturbing purpose. They are one of the few tools that reliably provoke anomalies, forcing otherwise invisible anomalous hazards to reveal themselves. Beast-created (or Beast-infected) scryers in the Zone, risk much in using them them - but sometimes, there is no other way to make the Zone speak.
The worst-known Beast virus-related disaster in the post–First Beast War era. Lihl'sha was a once-insignificant resource colony in a remote Taiidan Imperialist kingdom. After a series of illegal experiments involving captured Beast samples and failed immunization techniques, the virus escaped containment and consumed the entire planetary biosphere — but did not lash out. It simply waited.
The result was a nightmare: a fully sentient, planetary-scale neural lattice of lingering, fragmented minds, millions of them - held in liminal stasis. Unlike other Beast outbreaks, Lihl'sha’s infection produced no active military threat. The virus did not spread beyond the planet. It merely endured, creating a world-sized prison of trapped cognition.
Rather than admit their failure, the ruling Imperialist state sealed off the system, enforced silence, and quietly turned Lihl'sha into a dumping ground for infected vessels, condemning their crews to eternal psychic purgatory. This continued for years, until a major offensive by the Taiidan Republic’s navy broke the military cordon and revealed the truth.
No longer hidden, Lihl'sha became known as the worst-case scenario of Beast contagion left unchecked. Even among Beast entities, it is regarded as a place of sacred horror - a scar etched into the shared memory of what the virus can become when abandoned.
A galaxy-defining conflict in which the Hiigaran Exiles - then known as the Kushan, waged war against the Taiidan Empire in a desperate quest to reclaim their ancestral homeworld. Sparked by Kushan Mothership utilizing its hyperspace drive that was discovered beneath the sands of Kharak - its usage violating an ancient treaty imposed by the Taiidan Empire prohibiting the Hiigaran Exiles from using hyperspace technology, causing the Kharakian Genocide and thus starting the Homeworld War. The war carried them across the galaxy, culminating in the fall of the Taiidan Empire, the rise of the Republic, and the restoration of Hiigaran civilization to the galactic stage.