//A simplified lore document for new players that covers the vital lore of the server! /obj/item/book/manual/virgo_pamphlet name = "Welcome to Virgo pamphlet" icon_state = "pamphlet" author = "Rhiannon Pryce, Sapient Resources" title = "Welcome to Virgo" w_class = ITEMSIZE_TINY dat = {" Welcome to the Virgo-Erigone sytem newcomer! This handy pamphlet has been written to give a brief introduction to the local infastructure and culture, so that you know what is going on around you!
Here are some essential notes to get you started:

NanoTrasen uses the popular Sol dating system, this pamphlet was put into production in the year 2325.
Thaler is a currency popular on the periphery, and it's value is relative to the cost of bluespace travel. It's value is considerably lower in core worlds.
Understand that it is not essential to be an expert on all species, worlds and technology! This article is only intended to ensure you have the most vital information available to you.
A range of jobs are available to you in our facilities, though many are hired as interns with low levels of responsibility whilst they find their footing.
External threats to the facilities are considered to be very rare events, making our NanoTrasen a particularly safe workplace!

Local System
NanoTrasen Facilities
The Milky Way
Technology
Language
Species

Local System

Virgo-Erigone, or Virgo, is a star system in the "Coreward Periphery" portion of the Milky Way galaxy. It is home to 5 notable planets.

Virgo 1, I'thar, the planet closest to the star, is an unihabitable rock. Far too hot and dangerous to land on.
Virgo 2, Zehtir, is a mostly barren and hostile planet with an incredibly hot atmosphere. However, it can be landed on and mined for it's vast resources with properly protective gear. NanoTrasen has a science outpost on this planet.
Virgo 3, Geret Baht is a gas giant and can't be landed on directly. However, it is host to two notable moons:
Virgo 3b, Menkahr, is a small moon with an atmosphere and ground rich in phoron. This location is the primary interest of NanoTrasen and home to the Tether, and the Al'Qasbah colony.
Virgo 3c is a volcanic moon with some thriving inhabitable land, where NT have built a research outpost known as Rascal's Pass. Due to cycles of volcanic activity occasionally making it inhospitable, the zorren have not settled here.
Virgo 4, also known as Menhir or Virgo Prime, is the homeworld of the zorren. It has swaths of hostile land and glass deserts, alongside many more habitable biomes. NT have been permitted access to a beach for mining purposes. Beyond this beach, the Outsider City of Anur stands as the likeliest of places non-zorren will visit off-shift.
Virgo 5, Mahir, is a cold ice and snow filled planet far from the star, it is surrounded by a field of ancient debris referred to as Kessler Syndrome. NanoTrasen has a research outpost on the surface, but the atmosphere is heavily composed of carbon dioxide.

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NanoTrasen Facilities

NanoTrasen has a number of facilities set up and maintained across the Virgo-Erigone system, these are some of those you will most likely encounter in your time here:

The Tether, or NSB Adephagia, on V3b is a space elevator and mining facility owned by NanoTrasen for the primary purpose of mining phoron. Deals with the zorren have allowed them the rights to set this up.
The NRV Stellar Delight is an NT owned emergency response vessel that operates in the Virgo-Erigone system. It is capable of moving to other areas of the system rapidly when manned by a pilot and command crew.
The Al'Qasbah colony is a series of excavated tunnels and a surface dome that acts as a colony for non-zorren (and some zorren military) to reside in. This area is primarily controlled by the zorren and is home to NanoTrasen's local central command. Your character likely lives here.
Central Command is the location at the V3b colony that connects NanoTrasen's various facilities, either by landing pad or a tram network. Central command also controls general operations of these facilities from here, and it is where colonists return after their shift.
Rascal's Pass is an NT controlled ground base on V3c, where it conducts various research operations and mining expeditions. The atmosphere here is breathable and, aside from occasional dangerous ash storms, it is safe to walk around outside.
The beach is a small outpost on V4 where the zorren have allowed NT to set up. It is somewhat of a resort, but it is also host to dangerous caverns.
The science outpost is an aerostat in the clouds of V2, set up for NT to perform more dangerous experiments. It is linked to the Stellar Delight by quantum pad for the scientists to readily access.

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The Milky Way

The people that you encounter and work alongside come from all sorts of places in the Milky Way, here are some details on the more local clusters.

The Coreward Periphery is home to our Virgo-Erigone, and is a large frontier of space that is not controlled by a single large faction. Note that NanoTrasen facilities operate under commonwealth law.
The Commonwealth of Sol-Procyon is the most significant human majority faction that controls a large area of space near the coreward periphery. NanoTrasen originates from this faction and follows it's laws and regulations.
The Elysian Colonies are a group of colonies that do not exist under a single government and have a variety of different codes of ethics. Slavery and eugenics is rampant in this region, but the area is considered heavily xenophilic.
The Ares Confederation is seperated from the commonwealth by the periphery, and exist as an entirely seperate entity. They have a primarily communist government which rebelled and seperated from the commonwealth.
Tajaran Diaspora includes a variety of different groups and governments, with a range of cultures. They were notably not uplifted by humanity in this setting.
The Unathi Hegemony is a very old and large government that consists of a number of different smaller governments under one banner. The majority species in this region are the Unathi, but many others do exist.
The Skrell Consensus is another ancient empire ruled by the skrell. The Skrell enjoy the Elysian colonies as a buffer from the Commonwealth.
Vulpkanin, like humanity and the tajaran diaspora, exist as multiple factions: the Federation of Vazzendei Worlds - social individualists considered decadent, fractured and wasteful by some, and the Corporate Confederation of the Persean Trail whose first contact with the Commonwealth and corporate-ruled way of life has them perceived as far more respectable. The two don't get along.
Nomadic factions are numerous in the 24th century. Most significant in Virgo-Erigone are the Kosaky Fleets, who maintain small space stations across commonwealth territory for weary travellers to rest. Their ways are mired in superstition and legend. Few spacers dare steal from their dinky way-stops, knowing the Void itself will punish the greedy and selfish.
The Altevian Hegemony consists of a massive fleet of a few dozen colony-ships, each surrounded by tens of thousands of smaller craft to protect and handle day to day business. They are entirely nomadic and they keep their colony–ships out of populated systems unless invited, or ask the local authority to enter.
Minor Orion Spur civilizations often are the source of exotic crew, sapient and peaceful enough to be hired by NanoTrasen. These are a common source of characters that have a custom species and do not fit within the predefined factions.
Earth-like planets are a rarity. Most settled words are the result of terraforming, or have various infrastructure to support life on the hostile surface.
There are countless religions in the galaxy, none are considered to be any more the correct religion than any other by NanoTrasen.

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Technology

Whilst the people who work in our facilities come from all manner of backgrounds, there are a number of technologies that we consider an essential part of our operations.

Bluespace technology is prevalent. It is the primary means through which long distance space travel is performed. For space faring distances, this is typical by not-quite-lightspeed ship travel.
The use of Bluespace gates cuts down travel to Earth from months to two to three weeks for those able to afford it. These are resource intensive wormholes that are few in number, none are available near Virgo-Erigone.
Bluespace technology often uses phoron as a catalyst for it's functions, making phoron particularly valuable. It is also used for technology such as teleportation and creating containers that are larger on the inside.
Resleeving is a technology that allows a backed up mind to be implanted into a cloned body, allowing the revival of deceased people when their body can not be recovered. It is considered a fact that the newly resleeved person is the same person as the one who died. Access to resleeving technology relies on phoron, and is not readily available on all worlds.
Prosthetics offer a cheap way to replace lost limbs. NanoTrasen, being a medical company, also offers opportunities for its employees to graft cloned limbs to great results.
The most prevelent cybernetic enhancement for employees of the local branch are Nanite Implant Frameworks (NIF). These are computers attached to the brainstem, capable of many useful and cosmetic abilities using nanomachines.
The Redgate is a portal that leads to a stable pocket dimension, which is selected from a pool of known safe locations for crew to freely access every shift. This is available as part of an ongoing redspace research project of NanoTrasen.

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Language

You will likely hear a number of different languages whilst you are working in our facilities, here are a couple that you may encounter.

Galatic Common, or Gal-com, is the primary language spoken on the periphery, and all NanoTrasen staff are expected to be able to use it to communicate. It is built around the concept of cross-species communication.
Terminus is a particularly difficult to learn and speak group of languages spoken by the Zorren.
Note that whilst languages such as Sol-com and Gal-com have a basis in old Earth languages such as English, they are entirely separate languages.

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Species

We are proud to state that our facilities are not just a melting pot of cultures, but of species too.

Humans originate from the Sol system and have expanded out to other local star systems rapidly over the past 300 years. They have a variety of cultures and factions amongst these star systems, the most prominent of which is the Commonwealth of Sol-Procyon.
Zorren originate from Virgo-Erigone, on the planet Menhir, and are generally tolerate the presence of outside species in their system but are wary of them. They own the Virgone-Erigone system, and rights to work there are granted through deals with their governments.
Vulpkanin are close relatives of the Zorren, hailing from a shared ancestor. Regardless of faction, Vulpkanin are considered iconoclast and heretical of the Zorren. They culturally embrace genetic modification in pursuit of self-expression, and are considered to be well-versed in habitat construction and simple robotics due to their independent nature making living together on one planet too difficult to bear for many.
Tajara like humanity is a young and ambitious species. Due to their pride and turbulent history, there are many tajaran cultures within their diaspora - united by their refusal to accept the yoke of others, and renowned for their terraforming talents.
Akula live as nomads amongst the Kosaky Fleets after being uplifted from their amphibian iron age. Specieist stereotypes see them as highly fierce and aggressive, but this is largely considered offensive.
Altevians are nomadic rodents that traverse the bubble and further beyond. Most just call them rats, and fewer, mice.
Synthetics is a broad term that descibes a number of different types of being, and generally those with sapiency are considered to be their own people with equivalent rights.
Cyborgs, or silicon staff, on the station also fall into this category. Whilst their chassis' may be bound to AI laws, they are no less people and should not be treated as lesser than others.
Often people using full body prosthetics whilst retaining their original brain are also called cyborgs, this is distinct to the silicon staff role and they are not bound by AI laws.
Splicers/Demi-humans are humans who have undergone thorough genetic alteration, either before or after birth. The range of possibilities is nearly endless, with demon/angel look-alikes to various animalistic traits. They are most prominient in Elysian colonies and the periphery.
Teshari are a short-statured raptor-like people relatively new to the galactic community. They are known for their communal nature, colourful appearances, and rapid leaps and bounds in technological advancement.
This list is anything but exhastive, there are hundreds, or even thousands of other species that work and visit our facilities.

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