Banner Post

The vast distances involved made interstellar exploration, settlement, and communication a laborious process for those cultures who fled the cradle of earth until the discovery of the Singing Deep; a strange and little-understood space that interacts strangely with our own reality. The Singing Deep does not map directly onto real space, allowing for travel over incredible distances at speeds much faster than light as specialized vehicles shortcut through the Deep. This process is perilous - as evidenced by the vanishing of the Star Opal, one of the earliest melody-ships - but demand for goods and messages is a fact of galactic life.

Enter the Banner Post, an organization essentially founded as a nonpartisan courier service, delivering anything through the Deep for the right price. Banner Post explorers first cataloged many of the worlds across the galaxy, and proved instrumental in the early days of countless colonial efforts; also praiseworthy are their efforts to map the impossible and shifting confines of the Singing Deep itself, as well as driving innovation on vessels to traverse it.

As their purpose crystallized, a certain ethos of liberty took root among the couriers, many of whom had directly worked with the hard-working people of frontier regions to build and support their homes only to answer to distant masters. It's a simple thing to deliver secrets and supplies to those working against tyranny when you already bear the official news and the legitimate goods, and so many Banner Post field officers essentially act to coordinate resistance efforts - a tactic that's something of an open secret, but none can afford to lose access to their services.

The Banner Post is headquartered on the planet of Fugue, sometimes known in other records as Superposition; due to some strange quirk of the Singing Deep, Fugue appears in many solar systems at once, a principle that allows the Post to use it as an incredibly efficient distribution hub. Fugue's surface is one of roiling seas and storm-wracked islands, with thick clouds that shroud the sky; sophisticated instruments allow Post vessels to leave its gravity in the presence of the nearest desired moon, while outsiders who attempt to leave are hopelessly lost.