Empress Wave Resources

[The Pakkrat]

To be relocated to a proper topic category as needed.

Viewers, as can be seen in other threads as well as the image captures in the gallery, I am tracking a story unfolding slowly out of Gvurrdon Sector, Knoellighz Sector and the Regency. However your Anchor-rat is sadly lacking in support canon to conduct further field correspondence as to the plot thickening there.

To help Net-7 News better cover this late breaking story, your Anchor-rat needs to know what resources best cover Library and Referee Data on the phenomenon named the Empress Wave in some sources and "Yonder Chilling Thought" in others. Net-7 News need to learn more about effects, protections, onset, and crossings of the Wave at any given position as it moves Rimward.

As can be calculated, the strange and expanding perimeter of this mental boundary reaches Knoellighz and Gvurrdon roughly around the time that Virus spreads outward from the shattered Third Imperium. The inhabitants of said Sectors must often deal with both calamities in proximity to each other. This does double damage to the interstellar societies therein.

You can help Net-7 News cover this unprecedented phenomenon and its influence on sophonts of Charted Space, especially topics like the Zhodani Exodus.

Do we have any spare correspondence out there? What books best cover this topic?

Via satellite, this is the Pakkrat.

 

[tjoneslo]

http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Empress_Wave

The table in this article has been updated and reviewed to be correct as to the latest canon. The sources list for the article has the other canon sources you may want to consult.

If you have a moot membership (and if not why not?), you can read Marc's expansion on the Empress Wave here:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=36417

 

[LeperColony]

Does 1248 cover the Empress Wave at all? I assume it must, but I don't have anything for that line.

 

[mike wightman]

Everything in print post TNE are 'other people's ideas' - some of which are canonical for that particular setting.

1248 explained it as a distress signal from a group of highly advanced humans transplanted to the galactic core region by the Ancients

MgT has altered the Empress wave to make it propagate ftl through jump space - something the original didn't do.

You can read up on the original intent behind the Empress Wave in the comprehensive interview with Dave Nilsen.

Marc has included hints of it in his AotI novel - as to what he has written behind the paywall of this website I can't say.

I have an IMTU explanation for it that uses a combination of Dave Nilsen's overview and the technology presented in T5, plus one 'little' tweak of my own.

 

[aramis]

Marc has included hints of it in his AotI novel - as to what he has written behind the paywall of this website I can't say.

Amongst other things, specific mechanics for it.

 

[Spartan159]

Amongst other things, specific mechanics for it.

I somehow seem to have missed that, what chapter was that? I'd like to go reread it.

 

[atpollard]

I somehow seem to have missed that, what chapter was that? I'd like to go reread it.

... Marc posted the mechanics in the Moot, not in the book.

 

[LeperColony]

... Marc posted the mechanics in the Moot, not in the book.

Which of course is fine, since adding value to the paywall portion is a good idea as a means of supporting the site.

But can you tell us if Marc's mechanics fundamentally changed the nature of the E.W., or is it still a psychic phenomenon?

 

[atpollard]

Which of course is fine, since adding value to the paywall portion is a good idea as a means of supporting the site.

But can you tell us if Marc's mechanics fundamentally changed the nature of the E.W., or is it still a psychic phenomenon?

I only skimmed it (proto-Traveller fan), but I think it didn't change anything significant like that.

It provided the exact speed of wave propagation (which is FTL but not exactly 1 parsec/yr) and stuff like x% of pop will go insane and y% will be permanent. Those sorts of nuts and bolts mechanics.

That's from memory, there was probably lots of other stuff of a descriptive chrome nature. I do remember Marc said this was a preview to spot errors and he would be releasing it to the public in the future ... but he didn't say when or how, so the MOOT just has a preview.

It's coming. [shrug]

 

[Whipsnade]

But can you tell us if Marc's mechanics fundamentally changed the nature of the E.W., or is it still a psychic phenomenon?

As AT explained, nothing was really changed and the Wave's (IMHO) fatal flaw was still not addressed.

Some additional details were presented concerning the Wave's effects. While we had already known those effects in general terms, Mr. Miller explained more specifically "What Happens?" along with tackling the "How Many Are Effected?" questions.

A speed or, perhaps more accurately, a range of speeds for the Wave was also presented. No longer a light speed phenomena, the Wave now moves at something around one parsec per year.

Sadly, the speed increase still doesn't answer the question of why FTL-using societies are seemingly caught flat footed by the Wave. In AotI, an IISS deep survey scout cruiser unknowingly "hops" over the Wave and contacts a EW-devastated world behind the wave front. That cruiser - or the report of what it found - is then able to return to the Imperium. Following that report, the LaGash's make the same trip decades later in their Tripod-crewed courier.

Thanks to the Core Expeditions, the Zhodani should have known about the Wave for thousands of years yet their response to the Wave's threat involves little more than cramming their collective heads up their collective rectums for the same period of time.

So, while we know more about what the Wave does, we still don't know why everyone is surprised by it.

 

[MJD]

I took a look at the new explanation and it's completely different to the one in 1248.

My version of the wave was a lightspeed psychic phenomenon followed by a much slower heavy-particle wavefront that was dissipating with distance from the core. Charted Space would not have been much harmed by that, though the psychic effects were disturbing to many psionics - notably causing all the happiness adjustment of the Zhodani to unravel.

My version of the wave was intended to downplay it - worlds close to the core are in big trouble but the psychic component will not cause all that much harm outside psionic society. It'd stir things up a bit but not fundamentally change the game setting.

The new version moves at a much much higher speed and is (metaphorically speaking) an apocalyptic steamroller. That's an interesting editorial decision.

This change does essentially invalidate chunks of the 1248 setting, which was approved and published as canon and is still listed as canonical on the wiki - so maybe that needs to be changed. With the Wave altered, the the Star Vikings Redemption (Great Rescue) story arc is also impossible.

I'm not sure what other effects this change has on the 1248 setting but given that the Wave will be halfway through Imperial space in 1248, with all that implies, the 1248 setting as written seems to be completely impossible.

Ironically, one of my goals in writing 1248 was to downplay the Virus and the Wave, which I always felt were plot devices taken to an extreme, without altering the game's published canon. Turns out that far from being extreme, the effects of the Wave as written in 1200 TNE were positively mild.

Oh well.

Looks like the 1248 setting as written by me - and just to be clear it was accepted and published as canon - cannot possibly exist in this new Traveller universe.

So... I do occasionally get asked if there will be any more 1248 material. I did have some pieces outlined that might eventually get written up, but I can't see that happening now.

 

[mike wightman]

It's coming. [shrug]

So's the wave...

More seriously - here is what Dave Nilsen had to say:

What the Empress Wave was going to do when it arrived at a place was to open sentient beings up to a few different results.

Non-psions: no change
Non-psions: development of psionic powers
Non-psions: development of psionic powers with communication with supraspace intellect
Psions: no change
Psions: development of expanded or new psionic powers, initially difficult to understand or control
Psions: psionic powers damaged or burne
Psions: Various of above plus “possession” by supraspace intellect d out by “power surge”
Psions: killed outright by “power surge”

As to what it is:

The wave is the physical manifestation in Nspace of an upheaval in Jspace/supraspace starting at or near the galactic core, or more specifically, the interface or “membrane” between Nspace and Jspace/supraspace. I had been thinking that it could be a variety of things from a gravity wave (if anyone ever decides the things actually exist) to simply an inferred wave because of the fact that the psionic events take place along a moving front. But I see that I described it as an EMS phenomenon. To the best of my knowledge, what I meant by that is that it is moving at the speed of light like an EMS (or gravity) wave. I don’t recall if the final answer would be that the wave would represent a one-time surge of energy that would expose access to new psionic possibilities, or that behind the wave would be a changed environment in which the membrane between Nspace and supraspace would be somewhat more permeable, evidenced by the presence of more psionic possibilities. Jspace physics would not be changed, but to the extent that Jspace and psionic supraspace were related, that supraspace would be “closer” to Nspace. (“I am Ozymandias, King of kings, look upon my works, ye mighty and despair…”)

The Nspace phenomenon was manifested as a surge of psionic energy whose result varied from individual to individual. It was maybe triggered by the Zhodani finally getting to the end of that Ancient gadget corridor they were exploring, or a natural periodic event that happens every few million years, or something, again, I don’t remember which way I was leaning.

 

[Whipsnade]

Nilsen's musing about the possibility that "... behind the wave would be a changed environment in which the membrane between Nspace and supraspace would be somewhat more permeable..." was something I quickly pounced on and imported into MTU.

(It also helped that jump IMTU had long featured an "interface" or "membrane" between the normal space held in the jump bubble and the jump dimension being traversed.)

IMTU the Wave leaves in it's wake a zone in which jump not only is impossible biut also remains impossible for decades or centuries it takes for the "interface" or "membrane" to return to it's pre-Wave state.

IMTU, there is no FTL travel in the Wave's wake.

 

[mike wightman]

IMTU I had grandfather invent the original jump membrane that allows for access to jumpspace by non-psionic means.

My rational was that the first starfarers (of MT sidebar fame) never invented FTL ships, but they did discover psionics. They seeded space with psionic potential and one of Grandfathers earliest experiments was to detonate a device to make jump space accessible.
The first empress wave device if you like.

IMTU the empress wave is the result of another advanced species somewhere either detonating their own device or deliberately trying to undo Grandfather's.

I'm tempted by T5's reality manipulation achievements at superadvanced TLs, and a thought recently struck me that in the wake of the current Empress Wave, when everything settles, the higher jump dimentsions of the hop drive may now be accessible.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

This change does essentially invalidate chunks of the 1248 setting, which was approved and published as canon and is still listed as canonical on the wiki - so maybe that needs to be changed...

Everything on the wiki is non-canon by design. It's primarily a fan resource. Official canon comes from FFE and Marc.

As long as Marc says 1248 is canon, it is. Doesn't really matter if the story is internally consistent.

Neat piece of work, by the way.

The wiki is mostly fan research in public form. So to speak.

With the Wave altered, the the Star Vikings Redemption (Great Rescue) story arc is also impossible.

I'm not sure what other effects this change has on the 1248 setting but given that the Wave will be halfway through Imperial space in 1248, with all that implies, the 1248 setting as written seems to be completely impossible.

Ironically, one of my goals in writing 1248 was to downplay the Virus and the Wave, which I always felt were plot devices taken to an extreme, without altering the game's published canon. Turns out that far from being extreme, the effects of the Wave as written in 1200 TNE were positively mild.

Oh well.

Looks like the 1248 setting as written by me - and just to be clear it was accepted and published as canon - cannot possibly exist in this new Traveller universe.

So... I do occasionally get asked if there will be any more 1248 material. I did have some pieces outlined that might eventually get written up, but I can't see that happening now.

Interesting postulation. Thanks for sharing it.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[MJD]

The wiki is presumably correct on whether a book is canon or not.

I'm not talking about information about traveller on the wiki, just the book listings.

 

[Kilgs]

(It also helped that jump IMTU had long featured an "interface" or "membrane" between the normal space held in the jump bubble and the jump dimension being traversed.)

IMTU the Wave leaves in it's wake a zone in which jump not only is impossible biut also remains impossible for decades or centuries it takes for the "interface" or "membrane" to return to it's pre-Wave state.

IMTU, there is no FTL travel in the Wave's wake.

I find this idea intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

The decades or centuries thing is kinda Traveller-killing... but the idea does also create the opportunity for "eddies" or "aftershocks" to rumble through Known Space and create Dead Zones for days, week, years at a time... maybe predictable, maybe unpredictable.

Can you imagine a cluster of stars where it's predicted that J-space will be inaccessible in a month and last for an unknown period of time? Talk about mass exodus, panic, instability of trade (leading to economic crash). Not to mention the departure of most Imperials (who don't want to get isolated from the rest of the Imperium), Imperial Naval/Scout/Army/Marines, megacorporations, tramp traders and so on.

In a blink, an entire star system or cluster of systems is left alone and isolated in the middle of an ocean of civilization... and then it turns out to just be a month or so. Or not, as your story requires.

Some interesting ideas there.

 

[Condottiere]

Eddies in the space-time continuum.

 

[Whipsnade]

I find this idea intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

A newsletter would require dedication and effort on my part whereas I am a lazy old fat man in love with the sound of his own voice.

The decades or centuries thing is kinda Traveller-killing...

Yes, and deliberately so.

When I first began mulling over a No-Jump "wake" for the Wave, the idea was to prevent direct knowledge of the Wave and it's effects from reaching the Wave's future victims. That meant the Wave's wake needed to be wide enough to preclude anyone jumping over it.

When you think about it, you'll realize that width needs to be 36+ parsecs and not 6+ parsecs. The time it takes the wake to pass a given point will depend on the speed of the Wave and I've always believed the Wave should - must - be a FTL phenomena.

Of course, the lack of news is news itself. When scheduled shipping and couriers fail to appear and when ships sent to investigate that failure don't return, even someone as dim as I will begin to suspect that Something Is Happening even if they don't know anything about what that something is.

After a few years, I felt that - personally - a slate wiper was preferable, something that would rid Traveller of the 3I/OTU and return it to the spirit of the First Three LBBs. Accordingly, I expanded the width of the Wave's wake. Think of it as a proto-Traveller reset.

... but the idea does also create the opportunity for "eddies" or "aftershocks" to rumble through Known Space and create Dead Zones for days, week, years at a time... maybe predictable, maybe unpredictable.

Exactly. I've often described "my" Wave's "wavefront" as being fractal.

Can you imagine a cluster of stars where it's predicted that J-space will be inaccessible in a month and last for an unknown period of time?

And that's why I described the wavefront as such!

 

[maksimsmelchak]

The wiki is presumably correct on whether a book is canon or not.

I'm not talking about information about traveller on the wiki, just the book listings.

Bad presumption.

It is very off and a number of books have never been reviewed, let alone had a canon disposition determined. It's really just a best guess.

And it's missing many books. Probably about 3% to 5% of the total canon.

Shalom,
M.