Slavers

Mythical entities that supposedly inhabit the empty sectors lying far to spinward of the Distant Fringe. The name Slaver derives from the concept that these aliens can take control of an individual’s mind, forcing them to do their bidding. Whilst belief in Slavers has always been seen as within the realm of the lunatic fringe, the events of Slaver Year have caused a number of academics to reevaluate the evidence. The University of Selasia in particular has an entire department devoted to the subject.

Abductions

All across the Distant Fringe, going back for thousands of years, there have been stories of individuals being abducted. These fanciful tales are most common among the spinward worlds of Halcyon Sector. These abduction experiences seem to occur in cycles, reaching a peak around once a century and generating all manner of speculation and hype before interest finally dies out.

Most abductees have only a limited conscious recall of the experience, though most report persistent nightmares. Suppressed memories are often revealed by abductees who undergo psychological treatment, and these memories suggest a consistent theme to the abduction stories. Most individuals who suffer a supposed abduction are in some way mentally scarred by their experiences and an unfortunate few suffer permanent psychological damage, spending their days undergoing psychiatric care or within institutions.

Abductees frequently describe being “taken” in a remote spot, usually by bright lights from the sky. The event is poorly recalled at best and involves variously the loss of the individual’s free will and physical paralysis. Abductees lose all sense of time and at some point have all of their clothing and equipment removed, or at least become aware that it has gone. They may suffer an invasive surgical process or be compelled to carry out a complex task. At some point they are returned to a location close to where they were first abducted – sometimes naked but more frequently dressed but dishevelled – and in a state of confusion. Hours, days or weeks can have passed.

The Slavers themselves, when they are seen, are most often described as short grey humanoid creatures with thin limbs and no pronounced features except for large dark eyes. They are silent and emotionless, carrying out their tasks with no regard for the victim. They are frequently referred to as Greys.

Phenomena

Strange phenomena throughout the Distant Fringe is attributed to the Slavers. Most of these events are easily explained but some are more difficult to dismiss.

• “Slaver Lights” are regularly reported, most commonly in the sky but sometimes underwater or on the surface of a moon or satellite. Most are simply the distant glow of thruster plates or natural events such as geologically generated “earth lights”, but occasionally the appearance of these Slaver Lights corresponds with “fuzzy” areas of people’s memory, unexplained equipment problems, analogous gaps in computer data, and missing segments of sensor information.

• There are records of ships of unknown origin and unfamiliar design, and capable of remarkable agility and speed – often they are described as brightly illuminated or glowing. However, definitive sensor information has never been provided and images are always grainy. The majority of this sort of data is easily dismissed as natural phenomena, false signals, faulty equipment, clandestine activities, or simple misidentification.

• Ruins of indeterminate age can be on many worlds. The exact nature of these ruins is not clear. Sometimes called Voyagers' Bones, they appear to be made of an extremely hard rock and resemble ribcages clustered together. Some have been buried by geological processes that allow them to be dated: they are definitely not more than 500,000 years old, but are almost certainly more than 250,000 years old.

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