BY LETTER
Deeper Covenant
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| The Yang Band, an important Deeper Covenant system near Sol | |
The Deeper Covenant - Data Panel | |
| Definition | Major Civilization |
|---|---|
| Symbol | No single agreed upon symbol, although a stylised representation of the fourteen (or sometimes twelve or sixteen) sephirotics is sometimes used |
| Capital System | Hightower |
| Ruling Toposophic: | None officially. Several quasi-caretaker-like S5 archailects represent the highest ai level, but they and all other transapient members or associates of the Deeper Covenant insist that they operate in a purely advisory capacity. |
| Origin | Terragen |
| Founded | Late Interplanetary Age |
| Population | Estimated 190 trillion embodied (primarily Cyborgs, tweaks and a few xenosophonts) with a fluctuating virtual population 2-4 orders of magnitude greater. |
| Predominant Sophont Categories | Ai, po, bionts, cyborgs, artificials, and virtuals all found. |
| Psyche, Art, Culture | Metapsychology: Pragmatic, empathic, independent, xenophilic, periodically isolationist Metaethics: Strong sentient rights approach; altruistic cooperative. Culture and Art: Varies by individual polity Languages: Highly derived variants of the anglic and other Old Earth terragen language families are the most wide-spoken among bionts. Other clades may use different languages. |
| Government and Administration | Individual Polities: A number of distinct Covenants, Alliances, and Trade Federations Government Type: Varies by individual polity, mostly cyberdemocracy or concensus mediated aiocracy. Constitution: Declaration of Covenant. Legal system: Varies by individual polity Citizenship: Includes members of all clades of sapient level and above. Sentients Rights: Good |
| Economics, Local Infrastructure | Political Economy: Varies greatly, post-scarcity allocation of basics universal Resource base: Mostly Brown dwarfs and M-type stars Megastructures: Vast network of beamrider-linked stations, lightways, some amat farms, large habitats. Stargate Nexus: None Beamrider Network: Very Extensive, the Deepers make up the largest Beamrider and Lightway Network in the terragen bubble. Some routes and beam stations are co-managed with Sephirotic worlds. Data Net: Local Nets only Military expenditure: Usually minimal (varies by individual polity). Trade and Good Relations with: Diamond Network, The Objectivist Commonwealth, The Perseus Princes Longrunning Interstellar Disputes: Solipsist Panvirtuality subversion and encouragement of local blights and perversities, Amalgamation remains a source of anxiety, Diamond Network appropriation of resources. |
| Sophont Travel | Hazard Rating: Usually 0.0 to 1.0, in some cases up to 5.0 (depending on clade, polity or world). Freedom of Movement for Outsiders: Varies by individual polity, usually high Environmental Requirements: Varies by individual polity. |
The Deeper Covenant is a loose, extremely distributed cyberdemocratic civilization living mostly on, in and around the brown dwarfs and interstellar rogue planets of the Terragen Sphere. The founders of the Deeper Covenant were descendants of the construction crew of the first beamrider who escaped the solar system and migrated to the brown dwarf Yin during the Technocalypse.
The Deepers, as they are generally called, have a strong social ethos of cooperation and service in general and of maintaining and extending the Beamrider and Lightway Network in particular. They are a relaxed, but hardworking culture. They consider themselves a part of modern civilization, but at one remove from it, unlike their very distant cousins the Backgrounders and Hiders who regard themselves as separate. Social stability is reinforced by the use of 'empathyware' neuromods. When in close proximity to another person using the e-ware a short range LAN is set up and transmits a low power sense of the emotional state of the person to everyone around them. This technology, although rejected by some, is credited for much of the peace and stability of Deeper culture. Given the vast time-distances between Covenant systems (up to thousands of years of travel) e-ware also facilitates rapid consensus of social etiquette. The e-ware og two deepers from distant cultures meeting will interface and negotiate an acceptable etiquette protocol based on their shared experiences, quickly installing the agreed upon model into either Deeper's exoself.
Deepers make use of the full range of modern technologies and have members of virtually every type of clade and species. It is not at all unusual for travellers on the Network to feel an affinity for these pleasant people and to decide to spend a few years or decades or centuries living and working as one of them. Nor is it uncommon for born Deepers to come to live in the hustle and hurry of the Wormhole Nexus for a time before eventually returning to their worlds. Being a Deeper, it is said, is more of a state of mind than a state of being.
Technologically, Deepers are as advanced as the inhabitants of nearly any world in the Nexus. Although apparently they are not ruled or watched over by a high-level AI God they count a number of hyperturings, powers and even avatars of minor archai among their ranks. This allows them to employ all but the most powerful technologies. They often use advanced conversion fusion 'sunlines' to illuminate the equatorial space of their parent brown dwarf and terraform the extensive moon systems such objects usually possess (cf Apogee Maximal). Perhaps because of their dependence on the beamrider system they also make extensive use of active compression members and Lofstrom structures in their architecture, sometimes on a scale to rival even the MPA (though some citizens of the MPA will hotly contest this). Depending on the desires of their inhabitants the worlds and dwarfs of the Covenant may be extensively re-engineered or even disassembled to construct macrostructures for habitation or to tap the abundant magnetic and fusion fuel resources available.
 Image from Dieter Ludmann (copyright; used with permission) | |
| Space Station (image copyright Dieter Ludmann) | |
Links to the Wormhole Nexus
Although they make only minimal use of it, the Deepers do have access to the Known Net and the Wormhole Nexus. Their most developed systems can include a microguage communication link and a number of the Network's stellar boost stations are located in systems equipped with transport wormhole plexi. This permits the Covenant to both access the Known Net (although queries may take months or years to complete due to lightspeed lag between the sender and the nearest commgate) and to use the Nexus to expand into new areas from widely separated points without first travelling across all the distance between. Most recently a Deeper 'advance party' was seen travelling into the region of the Carina Rush. The group was spotted passing thru the Nexus some 25 years ago and then dropped out of sight. It is estimated that it will be another century at least before the results of their work become evident in the region.Overall, Deepers are a quiet but all pervasive part of modern society. Although hard numbers are almost impossible to acquire, it is estimated that they have a population of some 190 trillion embodied beings and hundreds of quadrillions of virtual sophonts spread across approx. a hundred million different locations. Population density varies greatly in Deeper systems as waves of travellers through the network come and go. In many cases Deeper systems may be completely abandoned for a time, left to be maintained by autonomous systems until the next arrival.
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| A Beamrider Projector Station | |
Articles
- Beamrider Network - Text by Todd Drashner
An interstellar mass beam propulsion network was first conceived in the mid first century AT (late 20th and early 21st centuries c.e.). Today there are more beamrider routes than wormholes in the galaxy as a whole. - Carina Cycler Union - Text by Liam Jones
A development/exploration based beamrider polity in the Carina Rush, commonly described as a combination of the Deeper Covenant and Cygexpa. - Covenant Data Layer Scale, The - Text by Thorbørn Steen
A scale used for the classification of virtual worlds. - Deep University, The - Text by Thorbørn Steen
The Deep University is a part of the Deeper Covenant, originally created by anti-transapient intellectuals to provide a place of learning isolated from the transapient powers. - Deeper Covenant Rights - Text by Todd Drashner
Subsection of Transport Policy of the Deeper Covenant and its Associated Beamrider Networks, Systems, Habitations and Facilities. - Gavit - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Resource-poor Outer Volumes system. - Hightower - Text by Todd Drashner
Primary world within the Deeper Covenant Realm. A gas-giant world with megascale dynamically supported towers. - Hoshanti's Star - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Solarian designation for Gavit. - Lightways, The - Text by Liam Jones
The network of laser-communication channels covering the Terragen Sphere, including the Known Net and the Engenerator network. - MyuvYin - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Early Inner Sphere colony, settled 892, overrun by psychophager ahuman replicator swarm of unknown origin in 1201. Recolonised and joined the Deeper Covenant. - Praxis and Gnosis - Text by Todd Drashner.
Epsilon Indi B Inner Sphere brown dwarfs, Deeper Covenant world and major relay node of the Deeper communications network. - Realm, The - Text by Todd Drashner
Major Deeper Covenant civilization cluster located about 750 light-years to rimward of Sol. The Realm constitutes one of the largest centers of Deeper civilization in the Civilized Galaxy. - Yang - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Brown dwarf near Solsys, site of one of the first beamrider colonies and stations. During the dark ages a number of clades settled or developed here. Currently a prosperous and diverse old core system and beamrider nexus.
Development Notes
Text by Todd Drashner
Initially published on 10 August 2002.
Initially published on 10 August 2002.
Additional Information
