more setting info for Out to the Black

pages/cypher/black/index.md

@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ the initial settlement of the system still drift in orbit, latent.
 * Characters: "mercs fighting the good fight"?
     * Think about if any of you is going to need piloting skills.
 
+## Characters
+
+* Alex Frege, a mechanical explorer who loves the void
+* Jared Paul Ware, a sharp-eyed explorer (technology flavor) who builds robots
+* Taxion, a vicious warrior (skills and knowledge flavor) who fuses flesh and steel
+
 ### The Xi Tauri System
 
 A separate page organizes the emerging detail of [the Xi Tauri system](xi-tauri).

pages/cypher/black/xi-tauri.md

@@ -17,39 +17,63 @@ The Xi Tauri star system consists of four stars in a hierarchy system.
   despite being more uncharted than anything else.
 * **Xi Tauri C:** A F-type star orbiting the other three stars, the worlds of the *rim worlds* are more likely to support
   natural life with less terraforming effort, and are generally held to contain more exploitable resources than the core
-  worlds. The Ring is best positioned to forcefully export these resources, despite their minimal involvement in
+  worlds. the Ring is best positioned to forcefully export these resources, despite their minimal involvement in
   governing this far out to the black.
 
-# Persons and Government
+## Habitation
 
-## The Ring
+Most worlds are, at a minimum level, partially terraformed. A handful of planets throughout the system are roughly
+Terra-like, and have only been lightly influenced by humanity, though just as many are only inhabited in specific areas.
+The majority have been majorly shaped by humanity to support life, and many still are controlled-environment enclosures
+similar to space stations.
 
-Forming from a variety of surviving corporations, The Ring is the dominant government and culture in the core worlds.
-Their dominance of resources, media, and infrastructure has guaranteed them financial and political monopolies,
-despite the core worlds (and whole of Xi Tauri) nominally being a democratic republic. The core worlds move to the tune
-of the Ring.
+## Persons and Government
 
-## Rimworlders
+### The Ring
 
-# Known Worlds
+Forming from a variety of surviving corporations, the Ring is the dominant government and culture in the core worlds.
+Their comprehensive control of resources, media, and infrastructure has guaranteed them financial and political
+monopolies, despite the core worlds (and whole of Xi Tauri) nominally being a democratic republic. The core worlds move
+to the tune of the Ring.
 
-# Lost History
+### Rimworlders
 
-## The Arks
+The common name for those who live on the outer reaches of the star system, rimworlders are a mix of outcasts, rebels,
+subsistence farmers, traders, and the like --- generally, those outside of the cosmopolitan way of life of those living
+under the Ring's dominance. Rimworlders with an independent streak tend to look upon those in the core worlds with a
+slight amount of disdain, which is sometimes reciprocated. More animosity is reserved for the Ring itself.
+
+### Government
+
+The many planets of the Xi Tauri system make up the Federated Worlds of Xi Tauri. Membership is guaranteed and mandatory
+for planets, including dwarf planets. Uninhabited worlds are represented by the Special Representative to the
+Federation. Moons, planetary stations, and the like are usually aligned to their parent planet, though some have
+successfully (or unsuccessfully) lobbied for direct representation in the federation. Minor planets may maintain their
+own government, but generally are not considered for Federation membership.
+
+Largely subject to the machinations of the Ring, the core worlds tend towards financial control and stability at the
+expense of free expression, though some uniquely-administered worlds still exist within the corporatocracy. Other worlds
+enjoy far more organizational freedom, stemming from far less attention from the Ring and the Federation itself.
+
+## Known Worlds
+
+## Lost History
+
+### The Arks
 
 Were it not for cryosleep, humanity would have never survived the unknown thousands, if not tens of thousands, years
 necessary to reach Xi Tauri.
 
-## Marauders
+### Marauders
 
 It's not known from where those who were men came, but their appearance between worlds heralds nothing but ravage.
 
-## Old Cultures of Earth
+### Old Cultures of Earth
 
 When Earth collapsed, its states scattered ships throughout the cosmos. Others may have survived long enough to find a
 new home among the stars. The details of Earth's failure, or those who escaped it, have been largely lost.
 
-## Intelligence Beyond
+### Intelligence Beyond
 
 Worlds that support life had nevertheless produced only bacterial life before humanity arrived to the system. Genetic
 mutation and biosequencing has introduced forms of life familiar to us on those worlds, though many believe (or fear)