Varjon

The M-class planet Varjon drifts through the interstellar space of the Shackleton Expanse without a parent star. Despite its rogue status, Varjon sustains a surprisingly stable and vibrant ecosystem characterized by slow growth and perpetual dusk.

The planet is enveloped in a low-level psionic resonance field, which interacts directly with the neural substrate of most sapient species.

Origins and Ecosystem

Varjon’s origins remain unknown. Legends told by its inhabitants, the Varjokh, and its current trajectory hint that it may once have been part of a nearby solar system, but there is no clear evidence to sustain this assumption.

Life on Varjon has evolved to thrive without sunlight and instead draws energy from the planet's powerful geothermal activity and a dense, heat-trapping atmosphere. Consequently, most of the surface is predominantly covered by a bioluminescent, near-monotypic forest.

Generated by bioelectrical and neurochemical processes within those genetically closely related plants, the forest produced a psionic field that allows communication between its flora.

These signals merge into a coherent global field affecting not only plantlife, but sapient lifeforms across the planet. This effect envelops the whole planet, but its potency drops sharply in open, non-forested regions.

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The Varjokh

The Varjokh are a humanoid species native to Varjon, and in the infancy of interstellar travel and exploration. Their skin and hair follicles exhibit little to no pigmentation, though the use of plant-pigment to enhance appearance has long been a culturally accepted practice.  

In contrast to the coloration of their natural skin, their eyes are adapted to darkness with large, black corneas and pupils and a reflective layer behind the retina.

The proximity to the forests and effects of the psionic field have shaped Varjokh society.

The Varjokh are divided into a number of small, independent, nomadic tribes which, while on friendly terms, rarely interact directly with each other. The only permanent settlement - Yovra - is also the only hub for scientific advancement, trade, and research.

While the psionic field does not facilitate direct mind-to-mind communication, neural oscillatory coupling with it provides enhanced cognitive empathy, which allows individuals within the field to intuit emotional states and intentions without experiencing them directly.

This subtle augmentation of empathy compensates for limited social interactions between tribes, and promotes cooperative behaviour and societal cohesion.

The Dream

While the Varjokh are unable to fully explain the extent and effect of the psionic field, the forest is considered of immense importance in regards to their shared experience during sleep - like humans, the Varjokh undergo multiple sleep cycles. During REM sleep, the brain's suppression of conscious cognitive control renders the brain highly susceptible to subtle external modulation, including the low-intensity psionic or electromagnetic signals emitted by Varjon’s flora.

Otherwise-suppressed beta-wave activity permits direct interaction between the psionic field and the Varjokh’s subconscious, and allows dream content to be modulated by the field's oscillatory patterns. Even though weakly, the Varjokh brain feeds back into the network and enables dynamic interactions, resulting in an overlapping and synchronized collective dream experience.

Varjokh tribes honor this through nightly rituals, which often involve meditation or storytelling to influence these communal dream patterns.

Within the Dream, natural aptitude divides individuals into creators - those whose thoughts and ideas directly shape the dream experience - and residents - those who merely participate.

Creators often act subconsciously. Their emotional state and thoughts shape the dream’s overall tone and landscape. Multiple creators may unintentionally conflict, resulting in surreal or unstable dream sequences.

Residents retain control over themselves but cannot alter the shared environment or other’s actions.

The Dream can take any form or shape, and the laws of time and physics do not apply. While residents do not shape their surroundings and the general tone of the dream, they still have autonomy over their own appearance, skills, and how events occurring within the Dream affects them.

This, however, also means that interpersonal connections within the Dream remain there - it has proven almost impossible for two individuals to find each other in the waking world.

Encounters

These are optional ideas to kick off a story and can be adjusted.

• Away from the native Varjokh settlements, Starfleet scientists explore the nature of the psionic field within the forest. Is it indeed a naturally occurring phenomenon, or carefully curated?

• Starfleet’s presence inadvertently introduces a microbiological lifeform that attacks and weakens the local fauna, threatening the integrity of the psionic field. Starfleet must find a solution to remedy the situation.

• The Varjokh note increasing reports of individuals who do not wake, and remain in a sleep-like state. Rumors claim that these individuals have gotten ‘stuck’ within a specific dream setting, and Starfleet is asked to provide help in finding and rescuing them.

• After entering the Dream, one of the visiting Starfleet officers proves themselves unusually adept at altering it. This may have unforeseen consequences.

In Play

• While unused to outsiders, the Varjokh are no stranger to the idea of extraterrestrial life. Entering the psionic field allows newcomers and natives to quickly establish the nature of each other’s intentions.

• The field's effects vary by species and individual. Dense forest areas amply its influence, and prolonged exposure in outsiders can temporarily heighten emotional awareness or induce fatigue.

• Entering the communal dream upon entering REM sleep is entirely possible, and even outsiders may find themselves adept at creating dreamscapes or influencing existing ones.

• While the field envelops the whole planet, forested areas show increased potency that may cause adverse reactions in those venturing too far.