Tesserites

Description

Tesserites are objects that drift close enough to a black hole to be significantly stretched by tidal forces, but not close enough to fall in.  The word tesserite is derived from tesseract, a term often used to describe black holes.

 Naturally occurring tesserites were brought back by explorers as souvenirs of their travels, and caught on as a popular curiosity. Various shops sell tesserites, and a number of entrepreneurs have been known to create tesserites out of natural or artificial objects by firing them (usually from a  rail-gun) on a trajectory close to a black hole, and then catching them on the other side.

In the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, some keep natural tesserites as tokens of good luck, and philosophers sometimes keep them as objects of contemplation.

Artificial tesserites are mainly popular in human-controlled space.

Shipboard Combat

In the space-fairing societies that consider themselves civilized, certain rules have developed for occasions when fighting takes place aboard a ship or space station.  These rules derive from the hard realities of life in space.  Spaceship hulls tend to be thin to conserve weight, and the survival of the crew depends on certain life-support systems working.  The Empire of 1,000,000 Suns developed essentially the same set of rules that developed in Human-controlled space for these very reasons.  These rules only apply to combat on board a ship or station, naval actions between ships have their own rules of engagement.

Combat aboard a ship or station is hand-to-hand.

A variety of exotic melee weapons may be employed, including plasma-swords,  nano-edge graphene blades, stun batons, etc.  Ranged weapons are actually illegal for shipboard use in most cultures because a stray shot could pierce the hull, or damage life support systems.  The same goes for explosives and gasses.

Deliberately damaging or targeting life support systems is forbidden.

In a boarding action this benefits both the attacker and the defender.  Whoever wins, at least the air supply won't run out.

Survivors on the losing side are to be returned to a habitable location.

Depriving the losers of a battle of life-support is not allowed.  Forcibly removing a sentient life-form out of an airlock is considered murder.  Survivors of a battle are to be returned to an inhabited station or planet, where authorities can deal with them.  Most ships include a brig, where prisoners can be kept.  

In extreme cases, the most dangerous captives are marooned in an escape pod, left to fend for themselves in the void of space with minimal supplies.  This exonerates the captor while ensuring the safety of the ship.

There are some entities that do not abide these rules, the Engine of Negation (the extremist branch of the Cult of Troniac bent on the elimination of organic life) is an example.  For this they are considered barbaric, and dishonorable, and typically not afforded the protections set forth in these rules.  

The Smiling Human

The iconic yellow smiley face, found in popular culture is known among many of the alien cultures of the galaxy as "The Smiling Human".  

Different cultures perceive it differently, but it is nearly always associated with humans.  In some cultures it is a symbol of restraint, because it shows the mouth drawn back in a smile, but without bared teeth.  Some see it as symbolic of a disingenuous attitude or sarcasm.  The most popular interpretation is to see it as emblematic of cleverness and good fortune, since humans are the most technically advanced species, and the face has to be smiling about something. 

It is widely recognized and popular enough that that there is a good bit of interstellar commerce attached to it.

"The Smiling Human"  was also the name of a popular saloon/casino on New Albuquerque that became a galaxy-wide chain during Era-2.

The Gorox Festival

 

Many civilized planets with a significant Gorox population celebrate the end of the hibernation cycle with a Gorox Festival.  This starts with a big feast, because the Gorox are always ravenously hungry after their hibernation.  After the feast, there is usually a presentation made to catch the Gorox up on the last twenty-five years of history.  Finally, no Gorox festival is complete without the presentation of old stories, and the questions of knowledge-seekers.  Since the Gorox live so long, they often represent the only living memory of many historical events.  Although they hibernate much of the time, they do get to meet the people of an era, and experience life for a period of roughly five years before hibernating again.  

Alcohol

Space-booze

The humans of the future (and quite a few different alien species as well) enjoy the consumption of this organic compound.  Since various locations in our galaxy  contain copious amounts of it, an industry of alcohol collection has sprung up.  In particular, the nebula G34.3 (which lies inside Planetary League territory during Era-1), is a prime location for space-booze.  Also, Sagittarius B2 is famous for its “Raspberry Rum”, but is close enough to the galactic core that only the foolhardy and the radiation-hardened go to collect it, making it a rare and expensive drink.   The planet Dionysus is home to many species of alcohol-bearing fruit trees.

Dogarri egg-beer

Dogarri egg-beer is made when the eggs of a Dorrik-braagh (a large, birdlike animal) are slow-fermented in a broth made from vort-grass. The results are remarkably similar to Earth-beer, plus you get a tasty alcohol-saturated egg to eat at the end. (This does not taste as bad as it sounds.)