* -- # -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z

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A

• Absalom:  The first of five planets orbiting the white dwarf Gliese 35 (Van Maanen's Star).  Otherwise unremarkable, Absalom is noted for being home to the long extinct Angelics, a civilization that thrived some 9.3 billion years ago.  In modern times, there are no permanent colonies.
• Alpha Fleet:  The primary fleet division of the Corporation, which patrolled interplanetary space.
• Angelics: Borne of Time:  A landmark VRD, written, directed, and hosted by Lord Horace Benthic, detailing the world of Absalom, and the extinct but highly advanced Angelic race that once lived there.  Last update January 22, 2004
• Angelics, The:  An alien civilization that existed some 6.78 billion years ago, and known only through a world-wide labyrinth on a single planet. Last update January 15, 2004
• ArcBuilders, The:  The creators of the ArcWays, a mysterious species which colonized much of the Galaxy 100,000 years ago.
• Archon:  The highest rank one can achieve within the New Church Ascendancy, and roughly equivalent to the Catholic Church's Archbishops.
• ArcWay:  Gateways through which one can travel instantly between two points.  Last update June 21, 2003
• ArcWay Network:  All ArcWays within the Galaxy.  When they are all functioning, they create a network of travel that unites all star systems.

B

• Belt-CL Run:  The first established interplanetary trade route, stretching from the Asteroid Belt to the Earth-Moon system.  Although not an actual single path of travel per se, movement between these two points eventually became vital to the growth of interplanetary civilization because of the mineral wealth of the asteroids which was involved.
• Benthic, Lord Captain Horace:  ( 2716 - 2889)  Noted explorer and author during the Hegemony Era.  His work for the Explorations Society brought him great fame, but his career high point lay with the Absalom expeditions, which mapped out the Angelic labyrinths of Gliese 35 I, as well as the cataloguing of several hundred kilometers of passage hieroglyphics. Last update January 22, 2004
• Bramblett:  A computer system that, in 2209, began to show signs of self awareness.  Some controversy remains in place over this claim.

C

• Caprion:  An O'Neill-type space station constructed in Earth orbit.  It was one of the longest surviving such stations, and at its height boasted a population of hundreds of thousands.
• CisLunar Space:  The area of space which encompasses Earth, Luna, and the LaGrange Points.
• Commonwealth Congress:  The governing body of the Inner System Commonwealth.
• Commonwealth Era:  The period during which the Inner System Commonwealth prospered, roughly 2163 through 2315.
• Corporate War:  A war that began as a major rivalry between the Corporation and SPU, and which later spread to fracture and collapse the Commonwealth.  It was ended by the military rise of the New Church, and its subsequent founding of the Hegemony.
• Corp:  See "Corporation".
• Corporation:  A mega-corporation formed when several mining companies, operating primarily in the Asteroid Belt and on Mars, came together in a  merger to form a single entity.  Eventually, controlling the majority of the Solar System's wealth, the Corp became a very powerful political entity as well.

D

• DX Cancri:  An M6.5 Ve sun some 11.8 light years from Sol.  It is noted for the presence of the planet Pellucidar, which possesses a vast system of underground, artificial caverns.

E

• European Union:  A nation formed in the early 21st Century, and comprised of nearly all of western Europe.  It soon was to become one of the world's last superpowers.
• Exploration Society:  First founded in 2065, the Exploration Society was an organization based on the study of not only Earth, but the universe at large.  Many times it has been called the successor to the National Geographic Society, which had ceased to exist some decades before. Last update January 21, 2004
• Exploration Society Ascendant:  An award presented by the Exploration Society to members who are judged to have significantly contributed to any field of science, and its understanding by the general populace.  The prize is considered to be the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an individual in that Society. ^01-22-04

F

• Fatboy:  A code name given to the asteroid Lanier by those who sent it to impact the Earth, ending the Martian War.

G

• Gaian World:  In the Planetary Classification List, a Terrestrial Class world possessing environmental conditions largely favorable to Earth-based life.  These requirements include surface water, some form of geological cycle, and the presence of life in various forms of biomes.  However, even a Gaian world can be intrinsically uninhabitable by Humans, depending on a variety of more subtle conditions.
• Genetech:  Technology, usually utilizing nanotech, which involves changing, repairing, or otherwise modifying living things through the manipulation of their genetic makeup.
• Genetweaking:  The process of having one's genetic make-up altered, to any degree, for a predetermined purpose.
• Gliese 35:  The catalogue name of Van Maanen's Star.
• Great Experiments, The:  An unofficial title given to the Alpha Centauri Project, Humanity's first attempt to establish extrasolar colonies.

H

• Hegemony Era:  The period of time stretching from 2515 to 2942.  It was marked by the rise and domination of the New Church Hegemony as the sole government of Mankind, and at its height encompassed the entirety of the Solar System, and many other extrasolar worlds.
• Hephaestian World:  In the Planetary Classification List, a Terrestrial Class world with a highly active geology, so much so that large portions of the surface are molten.  Such activity is caused by a variety of factors ranging from gravitational distortion to age. ^01-22-04
• Homeworld:  Referring to Earth as the origin of all Humankind.

I

• IAA:  See "International Astronomical Agency".
• Inner System:  Referring to the part of the Solar System that lies within the Asteroid Belt, and inward to the Sun.
• Inner System Commonwealth:  Formed in 2163 with the help of the New Church Ascendancy, the Commonwealth united the inhabited Inner Solar System, and remained a stabilizing form of government for over 150 years.  In the end it fell under the stresses of the Corporate War.
• International Astronomical Agency:  Begun as an international effort to keep various space programs alive, this organization soon became the sole provider of space travel.  Over time, it evolved into a much powerful international entity, eventually replacing the United Nations.  It ceased to exist at the end of the Martian War.

J

K

L

• Lanier:  An asteroid sent into an impacting course with the Earth by a group of Belt miners, in a successful and devastating bid to end the Martian War.
• Lazarus Ceiling:  An apparent limit to the length of time that a person can live, some 255 years at the maximum, even with various genetic and nanotechnological aids.
• Long Winter of 2135:  Actually stretching through the year 2138, this was a period of time when the Earth was wrapped in the sun-dampening cloud thrown up by the impact of asteroid Lanier.  The Long Winter abruptly ended in 2138 when massive Antarctic deposits of methane hydrates, destabilized by the asteroid impact, suddenly ruptured and released huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere, causing a massive greenhouse effect.
• Lost Civilization:  A term coined for the civilization that was responsible for leaving behind artifacts throughout the Solar System, dating back some 12,000 years.  The true nature of this civilization, however, would not be understood until the discovery of the ArcWays and Lost Colonies.
• Lost Colony:  A human colony established on an extrasolar world some 12,000 years ago, with the aid of the Sivata, and through the use of the ArcWays.  With the disappearance of the Sivata and the crashing of the ArcWay Network, these colonies were left to survive on their own, almost all of them reverting to a low level of technology, and having to climb the long ladder of civilization once more.  Many more such colonies did not survive.
• Lunar Colonial Republic:  The union of several Lunar colonies, largely abandoned by Earth after the Lanier impact.  In time, this would become an important Inner System government.
• Lunars:  Term given to citizens of the Lunar Colonial Republic, and later any inhabitant of the Moon.

M

• Martian War:  A conflict involving the Mars, the Corporation, and the IAA's blockade of Mars in 2128, which eventually had the effect of initiating hostilities between the PPF and Martians.  While the pirates that had been harassing the Asteroid Belt had been pursued here and eventually died out, a newly resentful and belligerent Mars did not allow for the end of the war until a group of Miners sent as asteroid crashing into the Earth, crippling the interplanetary community.  The ability to make war with Mars simply fizzled out.
• Martians, The:  An organization dedicated to keeping Mars pristine, as it was before the arrival of Humans.  By 2209, this group was classified as a terrorist organization due to their increasingly radical efforts to preserve Martian microbial life.
• Mesa:  The mainframe computer system that showed the first definite indications of self-awareness.  However, its functionability always remained unreliable.
• M-GAP:  See "Microgravity Genetic Adaptation Program".
• Microgravity Genetic Adaptation Program:  A program of genetic adaptation, initiated in 2170, for those who lived off of Earth.  The changes were quite sweeping, and most of the new traits bred true, leading to the rise of at least one new subspecies of Human over time.

N

• Nanotech:  A technology utilizing machines capable of operating at the cellular level or smaller.  They literally construct or repair things atom by atom.
• Natural Selection:  A neo-Luddite group, active in the late 2100's, which advocated a return to a Pleistocene-pristine world, with any form of genetweaking unacceptable and subject to an appropriate, usually violent, response.
• Neoprotestant:  The Neoprotestant movement began as a rebellion of sorts against the established Protestant churches in the late 2150's, based on their shifting ideologies of conservatism and strict adherence to religious doctrine.  While the initial splinter Neoprotestants were very much freeform gatherings, within twenty years they had become scientifically liberal, even going as far as to claim that all of God's miracles were achieved through his workings and manipulations of the natural world.  The Neoprotestants were among the first of the newer religious groups to be endorsed and accepted by the New Church Ascendancy. ^01-22-04
• New Church Ascendant Hegemony:  The first all inclusive government formed by Humans, encompassing all of the inhabited Solar System.  For hundreds of years it saw the advancement of humankind in form and faculty.
• New Church of Ascendancy:  First appearing in 2144, the New Church arose from the ashes of the Lanier asteroid impact, and quickly became a major religious, and later political, entity.  Eventually the New Church rose to supreme power and became the controlling government of the entire inhabited Solar System after establishing the New Church Ascendant Hegemony.  After centuries of power, however, the Hegemony fell into corruption, and the Church itself eventually collapsed into a small religious organization, often times shunned by an unforgiving Humanity.
• New Doctrine of Sol:  The defining constitution of the New Church Ascendant Hegemony.  One of the most remarkable documents in history.
• Northwest Rocky Mountain University:  Founded in 2063 in the town of Post Falls, Idaho, United States, the NRMU swiftly rose to become a leading science and nature institution.  It has remained intact, although in 2746 it was redesignated a post-graduate institution. ^01-22-04
• NRMU:  See "Northwest Rocky Mountain University". ^01-22-04

O

P

• Planetary Protection Force:  A military-police force chartered by the IAA in 2118 to combat piracy in and around the Asteroid Belt.  The PPF eventually became the major tool of the IAA, until the end of the Martian War when the fleet was briefly divided among the new nations.  With the rise of the Commonwealth, the PPF became an integrated unit, but would again fracture during the Corporate War.
• Pellucidar:  A Hephaestian world orbiting the star DX Cancri.  It is noted for the vast array of subsurface caverns, some on a scale of tens of kilometers, which stretch across the entire world.  Each cavern is capable of being sealed off from the others, and it is hypothesized that they served as independent environments for whatever intelligence that created them.
• PPF:  See "Planetary Protection Force".
• Primocogitarius sapiens:  The scientific name for the Angelics, a sapient race that thrived 9.3 billion years ago.

Q

R

• Red Planet:  Referring to Mars, and typically used by natives of that world in the 2100's and beyond.
• Red Fleet:  That portion of the PPF that was assigned to Mars to protect them from a pirate resurgence in 2236.  After utterly defeating the pirates, the ships had their hulls painted a Martian rust-red, and became an icon of Martian identity.

S

• Sagan Project:  Funded by the Exploration Society, the Sagan Project consisted of dozens of probes, sent out to some of the more promises extrasolar planetary systems, where Earthlike (Gaian) planets were suspected to be. Last update January 22, 2004
• Seven Colonies, The:  The second wave of extrasolar colonization, initiated during the Commonwealth Era, beginning in 2257.
• Silver Fleet:  The portion of the Corporation space fleet which operated within the Asteroid Belt.
• Sisyphean Cycle:  Most commonly used in regards to some types of Arean worlds which experience a long term swing between relatively warm and wet periods, to cold and frozen ones.  Mars was proven to be locked in a Sisyphean Cycle in 2174 through research done by the Martian colonies.
• Sivata:  An alien race that learned to use the ArcWay Network after it had been abandoned by the ArcBuilders for some time.  They eventually reached the Sol System, and colonized it.
• Sky Power Unlimited:  A mega-corporation which began as a series of orbital power satellites, and which eventually moved out onto Mercury and became, for a time, the Solar System's sole provider of antimatter energy.  Because of this, during the  Hegemony Era, SPU became a very powerful political entity.
• SPU:  See "Sky Power Unlimited".
• Stygian World:  In the Planetary Classification List, a Terrestrial Class world that has survived the red giant phase of its sun, and currently exists as an airless, barren, literally partially melted world.  Some amount of planetary mass may actually be loss during the red giant phase, leaving the world shrunken as well.
• Superior Father:  The traditional head of the New Church of Ascendancy, and later of the New Church Ascendant Hegemony.

T

• Tweaking:  See "Genetweaking".

U

• United Republic of Congo:  An African nation that was the first on Earth to successfully build an orbital tower.  The Zaire Tower, as it was later named, paved the way for the URC to become a world economic superpower, whose influence helped shape the future of the planet.
• URC:  See "United Republic of Congo".

V

• Van Maanen's Star:  A white dwarf star (spectral type DZ7) located some 14.4 light years from Sol, at galactic coordinates -4.014, 6.457, -11.91.  Luminosity is 0.000182, its mass is 0.7, and a diameter of 7,800 kilometers.  It is estimated to be over 10 billion years old.  The Stygian planet Absalom is located here, and is the site of one-kilometer deep labyrinths which stretch across the entire planet, and whose walls are covered with an incredibly varied myriad of carven hieroglyphics.  These caverns and carvings are attributed to the Angelics, an intelligent species that may have thrived around 9.3 billion years ago.
• Virch:  A virtual reality "magazine"; that is, virches are small data disks which connect a virch-reader to a publisher's database, allowing the customer to experience the latest editions in a virtual reality setting. ^01-22-04

W

X

Y

• Ya'N Engine:  An engine assembly designed and created by the Tsevorde scientist Alexander Dwrenwan.  Using massively energetic controlled reactions between antimatter and Ya'Nennis, this engine compresses the space in front of a space vessel while expanding it behind the vessel, much like a rubber sheet.  The result is that, while the vessel itself is being thrust forward by conventional fusion engines at an STL speed, the space behind it is expanding faster than light, something not prohibited by the laws of physics.  The Ya'N Engine essentially opened up and somewhat united the local galaxy. --Page Added September 18, 2002

Z

• Zaire Tower:  The first orbital tower constructed on Earth.  Based in the nation of URC, it was the first step in opening up space as a platform for commercial development.

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ArcBuilder Universe concept © John M. and Margo L. Dollan 2002-2004
This Page first uploaded September 18, 2002
Most recent update for this page January 22, 2004