"Hyperion" redirects here. For other uses, see Hyperion (disambiguation).
Hyperion is an Outback planet, notable as one of the nine labyrinthine worlds and location of the Time Tombs. It is a member of the Protectorate and can be reached by spinships with Hawking drives with 3 years time debt from the Web. The population was 50,000 at the time of the first Shrike murders.[1]
Physical characteristics[]
Hyperion's sun appears smaller but brighter than Earth's. It has one small moon.[2] Small meteors are a common sight at night. The planet has a weak magnetic field, making conventional EMVs useless there, but it is strong enough to keep a Hawking mat in the air. A local year was 280 days.[3]
Geography[]
Hyperion has three continents, named after animals: Equus, Aquila and Ursus (Latin for horse, eagle and bear).
| Continent | Namesake | Major Cities | Other Notable Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equus | Horse | Keats |
Location of the Consulate Keats Interstellar |
| Aquila | Eagle | Port Romance | Raul Endymion is raised in the remote regions of Aquila
Toschahi Bay Kans River |
| Ursus | Bear | Claw Iceshelf
Ursus Uprising |
The largest city is Keats (located on Equus), which has the only spaceport on the planet. Keats also houses the offices of the Hegemony consulate and later the offices of the Governor General. Keats had a population of 500,000 thousand before the Ouster threat, but after plans were made for evacuation, almost the entire population moved to Keats, so that the city housed 3 million people by the time of the attacks. Keats has a famous inn called Horatio's, where the former Consul spent his days drinking. The city is situated near the river Hoolie, where ships are available for transport. The old part of the city is called Jacktown.
Other cities of Hyperion are Endymion on the South Continent, or the City of Poets, founded by Sad King Billy.
Ecology[]
"The Great Grass Sea " by sabin-boykinov on Deviantart.jpg
The Sea of Grass is a great plain covered by two meter high grass, inhabited by serpents.
The Flame Forests of Hyperion are incredible biome of plants that evolved to generate and/or survive great discharges of electricity and fire. They are dominated by the Tesla trees. These trees are capable of storing static charge and igniting everything flammable within range when they discharge. Many native flora have adapted to cope with or even take advantage of the frequent forest fires, such as the bifurcated bestos plants (that looked like "the rotten cocks of dead buried giants"), prometheus trees, phoenix shrubs, firewhip, and amber lambents.
Near the Chronos Keep lived the black birds called harbingers, which have obscenely human faces.
Other lifeforms includes:
- Chalma Trees
- Arboreals
- Fire Mantis
- Radiant Gossamers
- Rock Eels
Government[]
Hyperion is ruled by a Home Rule Council, led by a Governor-General.[4] The Governor General of Hyperion during the Final Shrike Pilgrimage was Theo Lane.
History[]
Chronos Keep on Hyperion.
Pre-Hegira[]
Hyperion is one of the nine Labyrinthine Worlds, each of which contains a mysterious complex of tunnels beneath the surface created more than three quarters of a million years prior to any human contact.[5]
First Colonization[]
At least four centuries prior to the Final Shrike Pilgrimage, the initial colonists of the planet arrived from Hyperion, the moon of Saturn, where they had previously maintained a small independent settlement. The colonists elected to relocate to the Outback after the loss of Old Earth in the Big Mistake since they had been entirely dependent on the homeworld for resupply. They resettled on Hyperion - then an unnamed survey planet - and named it after their original home.[6]
Recolonization[]
Approximately two standard centuries prior to the Final Shrike Pilgrimage, a new wave of colonists led by Sad King Billy arrive at Hyperion from Asquith and begin a new wave of colonization.
The Bikura[]
During the first waves of Hyperion's colonization, a dropship carrying settlers crashed on the planet's surface, with the survivors of the accident settling in a mountainous region of the world. These settlers eventually discovered cross-shaped parasites living within the planet's labyrinths, and subsequently their miraculous powers of resurrection: after attaching themselves to human hosts, they store their DNA and their memory patterns, and will resurrect the host in the event of their death. However, this resurrection comes with a price: not only must the host stay near the parasite's initial location, but with each successive resurrection the host loses mental capacity and, eventually, their ability to reproduce. After centuries of repeated revivals, the settlers degenerated into a tribe of neutered, mentally and physically stunted humanoids called the Bikura.
Centuries later, father Paul Duré discovered the Bikura during his exile on Hyperion. The Bikura killed Duré's guide but spared him after discovering the crucifix necklace he wore. Afterwards they tolerated his presence and allowed him to stay with the tribe. Eventually they came to realize that despite his necklace, he lacked a cruciform parasite and was an outsider. Rather than killing him, they elected to implant a parasite on his chest. Finally, Duré realized the true nature of the tribe and the parasite, and, unable to remove the parasite, crucified himself on a Tesla tree.
Years later, with the help of father Lenar Hoyt an expedition force came for Duré, and, recognizing what happened with the Bikura and the priest, destroyed the tribe completely.
The Time Tombs[]
"The Time Tombs of Hyperion" by EofAlien on Deviantart.
The unknown origin and the surrounding anti-entropic fields made the Time Tombs a popular place amongst scientists and cultists. The more mysterious creature of the Time Tombs, the Shrike, called "The Lord of Pain" by the members of the Church of the Final Atonement, was believed to have godlike abilities. The so-called Shrike Pilgrimages attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the planet. Even the three years' time debt to the planet couldn't prevent believers coming to the planet.
As the Time Tombs opened and the Ousters prepared for an invasion of Hyperion. People began to abandon the nearby cities and attempted to leave the planet.