E.S. Raye

The mining outpost/town and main setting of Gas Giant Gambit, Las Ráfagas, floats within the atmosphere of a gas giant called Aeolus (for the classics nerds, Aeolus controlled the winds that blew Odysseus off course). Aeolus is the only planet in its system, orbiting the red giant Hippotes (the father of Aeolus), and it has a single moon, named Deiopea (one of Juno’s nymphs, promised in marriage to Aeolus for shipwrecking the Trojan refugees).

Deiopea hangs low and large in the Aeolusian sky–so close, that on a clear night you can see the web-like cities of the moon’s inhabitants.

The Deiopeans–child-sized, anthropomorphic spiders–have unique, crystalline eyes which emit blasts of light they can control the hue and intensity of. Lacking vocal cords, they use these patterns of light to communicate. Moe, with his digital face, can communicate with them easily. Everyone else has to rely on a not-always-accurate translation device.

Deiopean Culture

Since GGG is a space-western, it’s probably not hard to guess that the Deiopeans are meant to be an allegory for the indigenous peoples of North America (in fact, all extraterrestrial cultures that will eventually appear in the sequels I have planned will be as well).

However, to avoid any impropriety or inadvertent use of stereotypes, Deiopean culture is not, nor ever was, based on any existing human culture.

That said, they do share one value with many indigenous human cultures: a reverence for the natural world, and the desire to work in balance with it. This ideal has impacted the speed with with their technology advances because they are not willing to leap forward at the expense of their natural resources.

The Deiopean aesthetic is dominated by the number eight. Architecture may be grouped in eights. Octagons abound.

Deiopean Tech

Compared to the human technology–even the old, obsolete stuff–featured throughout Gas Giant Gambit, the Deiopeans’ technology is fairly primitive and between two and three hundred years behind.

But it’s a technological level roughly analogous to the 1960s. In fact, before the arrival of humans and Las Ráfagas, the Deiopeans reached Aeolus via rockets and service modules not unlike the Apollo missions–and had been for decades if not centuries.

Once in Aeolus’s atmosphere, the Deiopeans use skiffs, propelled and held aloft by nearly silent rotor blades similar to modern drones. They use these skiff, as well as strange rifles designed to be held by four hands instead of two. Yet, despite the unusual design, these rifles function exactly as they have on Earth for hundreds of years.

Yet, some other aspects of their technology has diverged greatly from, and advanced far beyond, our own.

And what’s more, they have only ever been seen in their skiffs. No one knows where they go, where they sleep. Rumours persists of a village hidden deeper in the atmosphere, but no evidence of it has ever been found.

Human & Deiopean Relations

As you might expect if someone moved into your backyard and claimed it as their own, relations between the humans of Las Ráfagas and the Deiopeans are strained.

To make matters worse, Las Ráfagas is located in an area of great importance to the Deiopeans, and they are barred by the town charter from trading with the people on the outpost. They are barely tolerated even appearing in town.

Given the gap in technology between the two species, the Deiopeans have little choice but to accept the reality of the situation and handle it as best they can.

Yet, they have a functional–if not exactly warm–relationship with some of the outlying ranches. Some folks are even willing to sell food and goods to them despite the town charter.

And it is this relationship that eventually brings word that Deiopeans have apparently been going missing.

There is, of course, a lot more to all of this, but you’ll have to pick up Gas Giant Gambit on September 16th to find out!