Antivesuvio was a true garden world. It was as if an army of landscapers had systematically combed the planet, levelling, steppeing, hillocking and in general artfully arranging things. Flowerbeds were arranged in patterns large enough to only be seen from orbit. Gently babbling rivers were pre-provided with shellike boats ( Read more... )

This time, when they arrived at the gate, they were not alone. Distantly visible were the glimmerings of other craft. Some where the elaborately jeweled and bronzed structures of Fay'lia craft (not to worry though: the Fay'lia merchants had pressured the legions to maintain a zone of official neutrality for two century* around the universal gate). ( Read more... )

The stars were a certainly pretty dramatic background for the proceedings. They were bright as nothing else, and the crystalline planet in the background added to the show, making welcome diversions for the senses if a speaker decided to go on too long ( Read more... )

Tonight, the video monitor in Serenity Lounge is showing something different from the usual incomprehensible comedies of manners and news broadcasts.

Tonight, in fact, it's a story of a young Fay'lia girl. She is the daughter of merchant parents, of the aurian'i class. She goes to the academy, is close in a detached way with her friends, pines ( Read more... )