Most societies place emphasis on colors to represent some greater emotion or societal event. The color red represents good luck and happiness to the Chinese, but in South Africa, it’s a color of mourning. Yellow is a color that can symbolize both cowardice and courage, depending on where you land.

And that’s just for one world!

Imagine the Ingressa, then: a widespread net of human cultures that have spread to multiple planets, then mingled and evolved — not to mention the host of other sapient species, each with their own symbolism varying within their own disparate societies. These cultures meet with each other and take something of the other away after the encounter, no matter how fervently some individuals might deny it.

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It is said that Lihua’s Golden Rose, which thrives on most of the Inner Worlds of the Ingressa, was first planted by a pergressor of the same name. Lihua, who during the course of her career was considered both hardworking and withdrawn, was always more comfortable with her beloved plants than her fellow humans. The rose in question is a unique deep gold color, very nearly the same warm color as the metal itself; in most lights, it even has a similar shimmer to the petals. Tea brewed from its hips is said to be particularly potent relief against headaches.

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What makes a faction–one of the six groups almost universally held to be the most powerful in the Ingresa–a faction? Why are the Derinam considered a faction while the United States, China, or the Mayan Empires are not? The short answer is, unhelpfully, “It’s complicated.” Five longer, more helpful, answers follow.
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I am cheating.

-Sean

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Colonization is never without consequence. Sometimes, even the smallest of changes can set in motion events that transform a world.

The agricultural settlements that surround the city of Shimidorinohano have long attracted colonists from across the Wàiguó Líanméng with the promise of free land for honest work. While success is not guaranteed, the richness of the soil and the abundance of native crops offer farmers a better chance at a life of prosperity than can be had on many of the worlds of the union. Those who make their livelihood from the land, however, must be mindful that they do not disrupt Engaul’s ecosystem.
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The thing about the Inner Worlds is that they are all just one Step apart. Anyone with money to spare can go home, wherever home is, for a long weekend or a holiday, provided they are living on and going to one of the Inner Worlds.

Well, mostly.

I mean, is anything in life ever that simple? In theory, I could get in an airplane tomorrow and go back to my hometown for the holidays, but undoubtedly someone back home is fighting with someone else back home and I don’t quite want to be involved in whatever feud I’d missed by living on the far side of the country.

Now think about doing that if either place you might call home is Palatia.
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Please Note: Today’s Grandmother Tale is rated R for violence and disturbing themes.

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Welcome to Inner Worlds week here at Royal Archivist! I’m going to start things off with Palatia, the so-called “War Planet.” (You know the nations of your planet are a little too much into something when outsiders give it an epithet like that!) As Palatia’s latest world war (generally referred to the Fourth War of the Plains, in reference to the vast plains connecting Gaatrrm and Rrotaa) enters its second year, here is a look at five of the stories emerging from it.
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As the homeworld of human beings and birthplace of two of the major factions, Earth obviously played a major role in the creation of the Ingressa. While its influence within the greater metasociety seems to wane a little more with each generation, it does occasionally produce an event that shakes up the Ingressa and alters life for billions of people–many of whom don’t even live on it. Here are just five examples…
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Couple dozen standard years since I’ve been back here, give or take. It’s hard to keep track when you hop from world to world as much as I do. Sure, I’ll tell you how it goes. You’d probably be better off listening to the songs, though. That’s where most my words end up.

You put out an album, start a tour on the Inner Worlds to support it. ‘Round the time you’ve hit all the spots your agent wants you to play, you find out the music made it out of the inner ring, it’s flittin’ around some of the wilder places, in spots where the technology isn’t quite so thick on the ground.

So you keep touring, just… out there. Write songs as you go, because you haven’t stopped writing songs since you can’t remember when. The songs keep changing, but that’s normal. Maybe they change a little quicker these days, but that’s just trying to keep up with the scenery.

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