Starbound Lore

1. #1Apex

   Keys: Apex · Secondary: , Big Ape, Miniknog

   They were originally a much more human-like race until a mysterious water-borne pathogen of a supposedly unknown origin threatened their survival. The ruling government, known as the Miniknog, had developed a cure that countered the harmful effects of the pathogen, with the side effect of starting the VEP (Vestigi-Evo Process). This greatly increased their mental capabilities, with the tradeoff of 'devolving' their bodies to a more ape-like state. In truth, the Miniknog created this virus as an excuse to put all Apex through this process.

   It took less than 10 years for every member of the race to undergo the VEP. During this time, all records of Apex society's prior existence were destroyed, and the Miniknog's leader Big Ape took complete and total control over it. Apex leadership dictates jobs, the economy, fashion trends, food rations, and who is selected for experiments to advancement of Apex biological science (most notably experiments to reverse the physical devolution of their species). Due to the aforementioned destruction of Apex history, there is no certainty as to how long the Miniknog has actually been in charge.

   Apex society has also spawned a number of rebel groups, who have made efforts to combat the Miniknog's oppressive rule. These efforts have yielded limited success — while they have succeeded keeping small groups of Apex safely outside of Miniknog rule, the majority of settlements are still Miniknog-controlled.

2. #2Vestigi-Evo Process

   Keys: VEP · Secondary: , Vestigi-Evo Process

   The Vestigi-Evo Process was an inoculation program administered by the Miniknog upon their race that resulted in "irreversibly changing our entire race's biology" from the account of the Apex in Apex: An Identity Lost.

   It is possible that the Process was in fact derived from the Apex artifact, given its resemblance to a DNA helix.

3. #3Miniknog

   Keys: VEP, Miniknog, Apex · Secondary:

   The Miniknog is the oppressive government of the Apex, The Miniknog “leader”, Big Ape, is supposedly an all-powerful, godlike Apex-ish being who is constantly lionized by Miniknog propaganda. Despite what most Apex have been lead to belive all their lives, Big Ape is actually a fake. It is unknown to the player who is truly at the top of the Apex hierarchical pyramid, other than that it is (likely) an oligarchy, a ruling council.

4. #4Big Ape

   Keys: Big Ape, Miniknog, Apex

   Big Ape is the leader of the Miniknog and supreme glorious ruler of all Apex-kind... as far as the general public (and the Apex society in specific) are aware. An all-knowing and all-seeing uber-ape of incredible intelligence, resolve, and musical skill, whose elaborate surveillance network, ruthless police force and outright scary army of scientists are all there to keep the Apex safe and secure, trust us.

   In reality, "Big Ape" is a figurehead, a work of fiction created by the Miniknog to keep a psychological grip on the Apex citizenry. This idealized authoritarian leader can do no wrong and never appear weak, giving a strong voice to the aims of the mysterious Miniknog ruling council, whoever they are at any given time.[1]

   With the rise of rebel activity across all of Apex society, the Miniknog have created a lethal mechanical construct of Big Ape, a literal figurehead, which they have begun to sic on captured troublemakers and unlucky test subjects. The tales told by the few survivors of Big Ape's ferocity have helped cement fear of their "leader" in the Apex society and serve as a threat to any who might question Big Ape's rule.

5. #5Avians

   Keys: , Avians, Kluex

   A birdlike race of humanoids hailing from the planet Avos, their stone structures, simple clothing, deeply-religious nature and rather simplistic battle tactics (primarily consisting of "overwhelm the enemy with thousands of disposable soldiers") make them seem primitive at first glance. But the Avian are very intelligent, and anyone brave or foolish enough to venture into an Avian temple or tomb will find examples of advanced -and deadly- technology, powered by Avolite crystals. These enigmatic power sources are mined solely by the Stargazer priests on their homeworld, and power everything from simple lights to spaceships capable of interstellar travel.

   Avian culture is centered around the worship of Kluex, the "Winged God of the Aether". According to their religion, the Avian once existed outside the mortal plane alongside their god[1], but grew jealous of the mortals' pleasures. The Avians crossed into the material world, an act punished by stripping them of their ethereal wings, dooming them to be forever flightless.[2] An Avian can only be reunited with Kluex by shedding their mortal body while keeping the truest of faith in their hearts. Ceremonies to achieve this state of pure being include ritualistic sacrifices of captured enemies, and an elaborate procession that culminates in the most devout, chosen by the priests, climbing a tall tower and taking a leap of faith, their spirit breaking free of their mortal prison and flying into the Aether, as their now-discarded body plummets to the ground below.

   This bloody theology does not sit well with all Avians however, and a growing number have rejected the words of the Stargazers and the divinity of Kluex. Calling themselves "Grounded", they have taken to the stars and formed their own colonies. Some have crafted terrestrial flying ships and make their lives in piracy, and many others have joined multi-racial organizations like the Terrene Protectorate.

6. #6Avolite

   Keys: Power source, Traps, Avolite, Avian

   Avolite is an enigmatic, blood red, mineral/gemstone utilized by the Avian race. It is exclusively found on Avos, the homeworld of the species and only the Stargazers appear to know how to extract and utilize it. Applications vary significantly, from being used in weaponry and as a power source for ships, to as a means to preserve books and even as a simple light source.

   Avolite's origins are virtually unknown, but there does appear to be some similarity between it and a blue crystal the Ancients have used in their own laser traps.

7. #7Stargazer Priests

   Keys: Stargazer, , Religion, Avian

   Stargazers are the high priests and rulers of the Avian society. The Stargazers have united different Avian factions and created a society dedicated to the worship of Kluex.

8. #8Kluex

   Keys: Faith, Avian, Religion, Kluex

   Kluex is the god worshipped in the (only organized) Avian religion, Kluexism. Avians believe that they were stripped of their wings as punishment for entering the mortal world and that they will only regain their wings in the afterlife, the Aether, if they achieve absolution through worship. This worship includes prayer, performing ritual sacrifices of defeated adversaries, and committing ritual suicide (in the belief that it grants instant absolution).

9. #9Florans

   Keys: Tribal, Green Finger, Floran, Hunter

   Plant-based humanoids, they are extremely violent carnivores with no central government or power structure, split into numerous tribes spread across the universe, each led by a Greenfinger. Though they are biologically a single-sex race[1], they may adapt sexually dimorphic physical traits and male/female identities if they so choose. Their speech is often simplistic, and they tend to hisss their sibilantsss. Their primary drives are hunting, acquiring trophies, fighting, eating meat, and more hunting. It is speculated that their general casual view towards killing and consuming other intelligent species stems from not viewing "meat" as "alive" in the same sense they are.[2] However, as the Floran spread throughout the galaxy, more and more individuals are recognizing a need to integrate, make friends, and maybe not stab anyone that slightly inconveniences them.

   A relatively young race, they have primitive technology but are incredibly adept at scavenging and—thanks to the Greenfingers' unique gifts—reverse-engineering other races' tech, much to the universe's chagrin.

   They have an ugly history with the Hylotl, as the Floran drove the Hylotl under the oceans during a major period of expansion akin to an invasion. While open hostilities have ceased and things have been peaceful for generations, the Hylotl have not forgotten this event and some still harbor disdain towards the Floran. For the Floran's part however they have largely moved on.

10. #10GreenFinger

    Keys: , Floran, GreenFinger, Culture

    Greenfinger is the title given to special Floran who serve as their tribe's leader. Only one Greenfinger is born to a tribe at any time.[1]

    Despite the Florans' brutal culture, Greenfingers are rarely the strongest hunters among the tribe. They are instead more intelligent (and patient) than the average Floran, and bear a unique gift: the ability to mentally manipulate and control plant life. Most importantly, they can do so in a manner that allows their plants to interact with higher technology, rendering machines as complex as teleporters usable and reproducible by the Floran.[2]

    Thanks to this gift, even young and inexperienced Greenfingers are revered by the rest of the tribe, and their commands are obeyed... though sometimes grudgingly, as Greenfingers tend to gently push the stubborn Floran towards being more civilized (or at least distract them away from their more violent tendencies), which doesn't always sit well with the impulsive plant-people.

11. #11Glitch

    Keys: Glitch, Knights, Castle

    Despite being incredibly advanced robots, Glitch society is quite literally medieval. Built by an unknown race eons ago to simulate organic life and society, something went wrong and the Glitch got caught in an unending loop where they would not advance past the "stone castles and agrarian villages" stage. Just how long the Glitch have been locked in this state is unknown; empires have risen and fallen, and the citizenry just keeps trundling on at their assigned tasks year after year, content in their work, and letting the universe pass them by.

    The Glitch themselves look like something constructed in the dark ages, their simplistic exteriors belying the stunningly enhanced programming that keeps them running. Glitch knights are not constructed any hardier than a mere automato farmer, so warriors don bulky steel armor and carry old-fashioned melee weapons, and sometimes simple bows. They have to eat to draw power, using the released methane from digestion as fuel rather than the actual foodstuffs themselves. Even their "medicine" is meant to simulate organic cures and healing, despite them not physically needing the processes to work this way. As their "faces" are not built to convey expression, Glitch preface their speech with a single-word statement of emotion or intent to make sure their meaning is clear. "Cordial. Happy to meet you!" "Enraged. I'll chop your head off!"

    Glitch do die and do procreate, though the latter is decidedly not the same process as it is with biological life-forms. The "parents" choose parts for their "offspring", then enter a trance-like state where the two assemble the new Glitch silently and with a speed and skill not shown in everyday Glitch activities. This process takes several building sessions over the course of weeks, and is performed in private.

    Not all Glitch stay within their programming, however. It is not common, but sometimes a Glitch will break free of their coding "blind spots", and become truly self-aware. These individuals are pitied yet shunned, as this self-determination is considered a flaw, detrimental to the smooth operation of the Glitch way of life. These "Outcasts" still retain many of the same psychological quirks of their race despite this awareness, but their sudden yearning to be more than what they were leads them to travel the stars and find their own purpose.

    Though most Glitch stay in their villages and castles, a few Glitch splinter groups have formed and spread across the cosmos. The Rainbow Rogues don brilliantly-colored and sparkly capes and cowls, bringing blinding justice wherever they travel. Less virtuous are the battle-hungry All-Seeing Knights, who at least have a code of honor and will fight for those who offer them shelter... unlike the similarly-themed All-Seeing Crusaders, who patrol ruins in Eyepatches across the galaxy and attack anyone within sight.

12. #12Humans

    Keys: Human, Earth, Protectorate

    Humans hail from the planet Earth, and greatly resemble the Apex, only with much smaller brow-ridges and much less body hair; it is said that the Apex were likely much more Human-like before the VEP "inoculation" altered their physiology. Humans are generally an inventive, optimistic species with a drive to explore and learn, and are considered mostly harmless.

    Not much is known about Human history before their discovery of warp drive, though what is known is that it involved a series of wars and conflict over finite resources. The ability to travel quickly between the stars soon led to a peaceful post-scarcity society, using advanced technology in the goal of exploration and the advancement of learning.[1] Despite their voyages across the stars, large-scale colonization was actually uncommon, as, with exception to colonies on Mars, many Humans either chose to return to Earth or live a more nomadic existence. Though settlements are rare, Humans are a common sight in scientific outposts and spacelanes throughout the universe, including many installations run by the Hylotl-owned Letheia Corporation.

    During this time a few major groups came to prominence: the altruistic Terrene Protectorate, which sought to assist and welcome beings of any race for the betterment of all life in the universe, the Terrene Peacekeepers, who operated in allegiance to the Protectorate to safeguard it and Earth from criminal activity, and the profit-seeking and less-morally-upright Universal Space Corporate Military (aka the USCM), which aimed to promote Human colonization and "to spread the force and influence of humanity beyond Earth".[2] The USCM eventually collapsed after a long string of bad luck followed by a catastrophic bioweapon failure, with most of its remaining members taking up interstellar banditry.[3]

    Humanity would suffer a crippling blow with the destruction of Earth, as it was torn apart by The Ruin. Billions of lives were lost, as well as most of the Protectorate's membership which had gathered at the main headquarters. This catastrophe also saw the rise of the Occasus Cult, a hidden organization of ultra-xenophobic Humans who sought to wipe all other races from existence through the Ruin's power.

    Despite this, Humanity continues to survive, and perhaps one day may again thrive.

13. #13Terrene Protectorate

    Keys: Academy, Protectorate, Matter Manipulator

    The Terrene Protectorate is a multi-species (but Human founded) organization meant to train graduates to protect and lend aid across the known universe. All graduates are given a standard issue Matter Manipulator, allowing them to break down and place materials. The Protectorate is led by a Grand Protector.

14. #14Terrene Peacekeeper

    Keys: Peackeeper, , Bounty Hunter, Ignoble

    The Peacekeepers appear to be a kind of police force that operated alongside the Terrene Protectorate to deal with criminal threats to Earth. Due to the destruction of Earth, the remnants of the Peacekeepers, led by Captain Noble, have begun to operate throughout the galaxy, hiring bounty hunters to bolster their diminished ranks.

15. #15Universal Space Corporate Military

    Keys: Human, Military, Marines, USCM

    The Universal Space Corporate Military (USCM for short) was a Human organization intended to "spread the force and influence of humanity beyond Earth". In sharp contrast to the Terrene Protectorate, the USCM sought profit through weapons development and military acquisition of resources. Its ruthlessness led it to founding numerous penal colonies where insubordinate members would be stationed, with the threat of planetary imprisonment meant to keep the rest of their personnel in line. These Penal Colonies also appear to have been made to fulfill the USCM's desire to colonize the galaxy for Humanity's sake as well.

    After multiple years of financial losses, record numbers of insubordination incidents and defections, plus an understaffing issue with penal colony security forces, the USCM entered into a bioweapon development deal with the Miniknog (known as “Project Parasprite”) in the hopes this would turn their futures around. However, the Miniknog had determined the USCM to be both unstable and dangerous, and used the project to destroy the USCM from within.

    The USCM lives on after a fashion: most of its penal colonies still stand, now run by the inmates, and derelicts of their ships litter the spacelanes. It is said that many of the Human Bandits found throughout the universe are former USCM soldiers as well, using old ships and scavenged tech to take an even more direct route to personal profit than the USCM did.

16. #16Hylotl

    Keys: Aquatic, , Hylotl, Ocean

    The Hylotl are a semi-aquatic race with trinocular vision, highly-adaptable genetics and a relatively short lifespan, which over the generations has led them from being a strictly land-based species to one that can live comfortably in aquatic environments, though they still lack the ability to breathe underwater.

    They have a long and rich history of art, science, and philosophy, with reverence for tradition and meditation. Despite their highly-advanced technological level, most of their structures are still made of wood bedecked with ornate carvings. This leads to an interesting clash of Hylotl cultures in their massive underwater cities, with hand-painted calligraphy next to bright neon signs advertising the latest fashions, and quiet paper-walled garden rooms not far from the heavy bass thumping of a "bubbstep" dance club. The Hylotl-owned Letheia Corporation is one of the largest companies in the galaxy, providing everything from entertainment to space stations and starship fuel to people across the stars.

    Hylotl pride themselves on seeking peaceful solutions to problems, though they recognize that sometimes their side of a philosophical debate on the merits of not dying carries a little more weight when backed up with a sharp enough blade. Thus, the ability to use weapons with skill and proficiency is similarly a fine-honed art passed down through the generations.

    Some find the Hylotl to be stuffy, arrogant, and passive-aggressive, which the Hylotl deny and figure you'll see the error of your ways once you've become a bit more enlightened like they have.

    The Hylotl have an ugly history with the Floran. Though the "why" and "how" has been lost to history, as a massive Floran invasion of their homeworld forced the Hylotl to settle under the oceans. Though open hostilities have been over for a long time, there is still some animosity between the two races (largely from the Hylotl), though the average Hylotl will claim there isn't any anymore and they've totally forgiven the Floran for being a bunch of bloodthirsty murderous brain-dead savages.

17. #17Novakid

    Keys: , Western, Energy Being, Cowboy, Novakid

    Easily one of the most enigmatic known races, the Novakid are sapient energy beings in a humanoid shape, with metallic "brands" where their faces would be. A generally carefree and capricious people with notoriously short memories and attention spans, they live in the moment, wandering the stars in search of adventure or whatever, with little reflection on the past. So unconcerned are they with what happened before now, they have forgotten their own origins, having never bothered to catalog their history. Thus where they came from and how they were formed may forever be a mystery.

    Compounding the oddity of their existence is their culture, which greatly resembles that of the "Wild West" era of Earth. Their technology is heavily steam-based, with great linked-train starships, and they favor slug-throwing pistols over melee weapons. Whether this is how they've always been or if it's a recent thing is, of course, unknown, as the Novakid sure don't remember.

    As they have largely kept themselves out of interstellar affairs, Novakid are something of a rare sight in the universe.

18. #18The Ruin

    Keys: , Earth, Destruction, Ruin

    The Ruin is a hateful being of destruction that tried to wipe out the entire universe millennia ago. It would have succeeded, but the Cultivator fought the Ruin, sacrificing itself to seal the ruin in the Monolith Gate that was constructed in the Ark. The Ruin's attempt to escape its interdimensional prison leads to the destruction of Earth.

    According to research done on it by the Occasus, the ruin is in fact a centralized hivemind, with its spawn serving as remote limbs and eyes for the main body itself, it is also capable of cross-dimensional travel, presumably a means of Faster than Light travel while it was unimpeded.

19. #19The Neki

    Keys: , Neko, Catfolk, Neki

    Opinions vary, but it is most widely believed that the Neki were the brainchild of a renowned and eccentric, if somewhat deranged, entrepreneur of old. Their virtually limitless resources allowed for an extensive research programme which employed the brightest scientific minds of a generation and went on well beyond their own lifetime; its findings, however, remained largely unpublished. The project would later be abruptly overtaken by the U.S.C.M, vanishing from the public eye practically overnight - with evidence of corporate espionage by the Miniknog, with regards to the data, surfacing not long after.

    A while later, the Neki would start appearing on Earth, their existence invoking a wide range of reactions - from outright repugnance to passionate attraction. Despite appearances, they have proven themselves to be remarkably sapient, crafty and more resourceful than many of their human counterparts - which earned them a great deal of resentment by many.

    The Neki have a playful and often pesky demeanor, always looking for stuff to eat, places to sleep and things to play with. They stand out among humans for having large ears, powerful (and sometimes fluffy) tails, fur in a variety of colors covering their bodies and a lush mane that stretches from their heads down to their tails.

Showing 19 of 19

1 file

• .jsonjson_lorebookrebuilt

  33.5 KBfirst seen Apr 2, 2025b360d0593099bb9e

  Download