I've ummed and ahhed over this setting/concept since 2007. I've struggled back and forth (mainly back) to get this to work. Now, after a hefty library session (a good place to write down ideas), I think, as far as a setting goes, we're on track (by we I mean me). To that end I present the first concept from that setting: Wu Engineers. This will be a character 'class' and so I invite criticism from people as to why they would or wouldn't (probably the latter) want to play this (other than because it's not their thing). The idea is presented out of the context of the whole, that doesn't really matter however a brief overview:

The galaxy of the 10,000 stars is the mortal universe that players will know. It comprises different cultures and communities, chiefly: The Cultured Worlds (oppressive legalist and isolationist) at the core protected by The Great Wall, the Hell Worlds (the realm of demons beyond the light of the 10,000 stars and accessible only in specific ways), and the Margins (the rest of the 10,000 stars - akin to the Jiang Hu ultimately, in traditional kung fu literature terms). There is also the Kingdom of Iron Dharma, sort of on the edges of the Margins, kind of like the Tau (one culture with client units within) but fiercely buddhist and right-minded.
The 10,000 stars used to be richer in power and ruled by a powerful advanced race known as the Tien.

Wu Engineers:
The Winds of Wu are the broadcast currents and long lost signals of the ancient super-race called the Tien that ruled when the universe was young and vital. Esoteric tech sorcerers called Wu Engineers exist to divine the secrets of the Tien through implant and machine.
The Tien ruled from the legendary planet, Xian, which served as the focal point for a network of info cores, Wu Nodes, that contained all their knowledge. Since their demise, this network has fragmented; each node has become isolated and lost. Some have become corrupted and dangerous. Using their technology, Wu Engineers can locate nodes through the Tech Gua interface and understand their Trigramatic cypher to decode Tien information (stored in so dense an alien a fashion as to be dangerous to undisciplined Engineers). Sometimes these nodes contain data avatars, Hsien, created by the Tien that must be tamed by the Engineer as the will of ancient Hsien can dominate even the most vigilant of Engineers.
With the aid of the Tech Gua interface and their own inner power, a Engineer can bend Hsien to their will and decode the ancient secrets of the Tsien science sorcerers. This all goes toward the pursuit and advancement of 'Wu Tech': the technology at the heart of Engineer practise, including the implants they themselves wear. The heart of Engineer belief is the union of the man and the machine to achieve enlightenment and, with it, immortality. However the balance is precious: too much of the former and the mind is weak, the body prone to material temptation, too much of the latter and the soul is destroyed. A major aspect of Engineer practise is the ability to fashion and understand Wu Tech; practitioners are taught to be independent and to learn and develop tech for themselves, later to be shared in the Diamond Garden.
All Wu Engineers have access to a shared and private encrypted network of their own devising wherein the Diamond Council - the elders of the cult known as Wu Shih - hold court. This space is known as the Diamond Garden and can be accessed internally using the same implant technology that allows Engineers to access Tien Wu Nodes. Here Engineers discuss and share what they have learned as well as matters of policy regarding affairs that affect them as a group. They can also enact rites of excommunication to those they feel have abused their laws. The Diamond Council is served by Hsien, tamed and taken from Wu Nodes as messengers and arbiters, and alone has the power to alter and shape the Diamond Garden as gods within that realm. Such Wu Shih are believed to be almost immortal. Indeed some are believed to only exist within the Garden, though this cannot be verified.
Some Engineers covet the power of Tien technology for their own ends, sacrificing their own spirit for cheap soulless machine immortality. These Necromeks perform dark magic using ancient and spoiled technology. Some worship corrupted or demon infused Hsien to which others still are enslaved. Necromeks are anathema to the Wu Engineers. They draw power not from internal energy/Chi, but from flesh, blood and even electricity - the death throes of machinery.
Necromek cults seek to use technology to live forever; in doing so, they hunger to replace and upgrade leads to acts of murder and destruction. Some cults are centred around worship of a Hsien/Demon (or just one or the other), or even a powerful member of their kind. This is the most common form that Necromeks exist in; most that become Necromek become largely mindless machine monsters and are prone to being dominated by those of their kind powerful enough to retain their faculties, making them more dangerous.
Necromeks lack the organisation beyond a localised cult structure with no analogue of the Diamond Garden, though many seek to infiltrate and corrupt the Diamond Council.

***

Necromek probably warrants a better word, especially for those that are the most powerful, sentient, examples thereof, but I can't think of one that fits.

Thanks for reading.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;441567Necromek probably warrants a better word, especially for those that are the most powerful, sentient, examples thereof, but I can't think of one that fits.

Ancestor? Immortal?

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;441567Thanks for reading.

I'm just glad you got rid of "Techa Cotta"

Eternals?

So they're combat engineers?

Necromeks are like Borg  - they have lost their independence to the technology. They are also corrupted by it (think demon borg). The most powerful of their kind, those that need a different name, retain some semblance of their free will and can control the lesser kind. They are the maser evil tech sorcerers.

Hrms Ying Ying xian (probably Yingxian, Shadow Immortals?)

Yong hen de? (Eternal/Everlasting?)

Mogui siwang (Death Demons)

No idea.


Although Wu means "Martial/combat"

Wu also means spirit, which is the context i borrow from. Wu Engineer comes from Wu Shaman where Engineer is a more appropriate term than Shaman.

A Wu Engineer, as a character, is equippped with 'Wu Tech' cyberware and can command digital servants - programs, effectively, culled, initially, from ancient sources - called Hsien. They serve their elders through a cyberspace meeting place known as the Diamond Garden and work to uncover the secrets of ancient technology. In this they are opposed by those that are corrupted by tainted and equally ancient tech/programs; such beings often become slaves to their cyborg selves that have taken over. They grow to develop a hunger for both flesh and machine parts to fuel their being. Some retain a sense of will and become powerful.

I wonder if 'necromek' is overly death-focused in connotation - I mean, these are guys who are beyond death, y'know?  Maybe something to do with transcendence (like the 'ascendant' suggested).  Hmm.  Will ponder on this.

Liking the concepts so far, though!  Is the Great Wall something physical?

They are more Borg like I suppose than anything else. It is a death focussed word but that's not inappropriate ideologically.

The Great Wall was initially something physical in concept, though I imagine a better barrier would be some sort of rift. Now it's likely to be a computer barrier or firewall.

EDIT: and Tech Gua has now been replaced with Dantien Drive.

Character concept number two: Dragon Shamans. Essentially sorcerers, though given the nature of the setting as SF there will be some conceptual conflict with Wu Engineers (tech-sorcerers). This is best ignored I think. This is cut and pasted irect from my notes so I hope it makes sense. The Heavenfield is the ancient Tien computer network whose nodes are sought by Wu Engineers as repositories of super-tech. They house the computer programs and avatars known as Hsien.

The Great Tao was built during the last great period of Tien culture by the Golden Emperor's Sublime Technicians; the Tien's most powerful cultural figure in their war against Feng Du. The Great Tao was an effort to focus the power of Chi to the Jade Throne upon which the Emperor sat. With this power his rule would be eternal and the power would be his to destroy the Hell Worlds forever. Unfortunately the planet Xian was destroyed (or so the legends say) and with it the then thousand year reign of the Tien came to an end. Unfortunately for the Hell Worlds, Feng Du's body was destroyed as was the route that joined the Hell Worlds to the 10,000 stars, creating the River of Ghosts.
The Great Tao is a network of sentient machines, Celestial Dragons as they are called, that focus the universal lifeforce optimally to one place: Xian. In return the Golden Emperor, in his time, ruled justly. This relationship allowed the Chi of the 10,000 stars to flourish (as the people responded well to their role in the empire and the love of their emperor), which in turn bolstered the Emperor's power. This relationship became known as the Celestial Mandate and was codified during the early stages of the Golden Emperor's reign so that he would never forget his eternal duty and obligation to his people, while they of course grew and aged normally. Since the demise of the ten thousand year Tien Empire, the planet Xian has vanished from history presumed destroyed, taking with it the Jade Throne.
After the collapse of the Tien Empire, with the demise of the Golden Emperor and his ten thousand year reign, the Dragons became 'wild'; no longer tamed by the force that created them. Where previously stationed on planets many broke free and took to the stars, wreaking great havoc and destruction in their wake. Some theorise that the greatest of these was the Jade Throne itself and in its 'awakening' the Tien homeworld was destroyed.
The lifeforce of these creatures comes from the Chi they ingest naturally which fuels their Living Jade core; this powerful substance was found only on Xian. If a Dragon ever loses its Living Jade core, or it becomes damaged (unlikely) then it will start dying. Otherwise these sentient machines are immortal.
In the culture of the Tien Dragon Shamans were those that served to maintain the Great Tao as an elite cult of the Golden Emperor. They learned powerful arts of Chi, some of which exist today. With the demise of the Jade Throne and the Golden Emperor the Great Tao is fragmented and the flow of Chi is wild; modern Dragon Shamans look to the remains of the Tao to predict its movement. To that end they have created the Sum of Changes. With the sacred Chi Equations within they hope to tame the now-wild Dragons that still exist (and some must lie within the borders of the Cultured Worlds).
In the culture of the Tien the Celestial Dragons were served by a cult of Shamans that maintained the Great Tao. This they did by following the wisdom of the Dragons in predicting the mercurial nature of Chi. In so doing they learned great arts of Chi know as the Arts of Dragon Breath. In the modern age Dragon Shamans are those descended from the lore of the Tien that attain to these arts with a view to bringing harmony and maintaining order in the cosmos.
Modern Shamans are connected to one of the surviving and now untamed Celestial Dragons. The cults that exist today do so because of the aegis afforded them by the Dragons their ancestors discovered (following the wisdom of the Tien of old). All however share one thing in common: they believe the Dragons (specifically those they 'serve') know the route to the realm of pure Jade - paradise - that the Tien supposedly migrated to following the demise of their empire. There is a single, theorised, entrance to this equally unknown realm, and that is the mythical Heaven Gate. None have yet found it. The realm of pure Jade is synonymous with the ultimate transcendent state that Iron Dharma believes the universe will evolve into - if only everyone applied the laws of Iron Dharma to their own lives.

I has edited the Dragon Shaman concept.