Lemuria: The capital city-state of the Regency, the seat of its power and where most of its agents hail from. It's the size of a very large country and largely industrial.
Doine: A minority race of people from the lower rungs of Lemurian society, their customs are considered strange and foreign within the capital, with difficult to understand or pronounce language and spelling. For example, Mhir and Mhaic are patronyms, not first names, but many find this confusing and use the terms incorrectly. It's generally rare someone who isn't Doine knows how to pronounce or spell Doine words correctly.
Kechran: The native majority race, most high ranking individuals choose to have their family lines bred in genetically engineered vats rather than leaving their family future to the random fate of genetics.
Pugnate: A common insult denoting a violent nature, antithetical to the Peace of the Regency.
Tranquil Empire: The official name of the Regency, founded by Kuon the Divine, and watched over by his line of direct descendants until the latest, Prince Sanaliel, appointed his military commander Tal Viero as perpetual regent.
Crosslands: A formerly disputed territory on the outlands surrounding Lemuria, the Crosslands were little more than a warzone for several kalpa. The people from that area were often refugees with few prospects in the highly regimented and socially tiered world of the Tranquil Empire. Tal Viero 'raised' the Crosslands, defeating both the armies warring over it, and giving the natives of the area official status as sub-citizens of the Regency, making the Crosslands the first official colony to be annexed under his rule. This was the beginning of an expansionary policy that, while not unheard of from the Tranquil Empire, was unprecedented in its scope and speed. Many, though not all, Doine are from the crosslands.
Zygote Classification: Genetic processing in pre-birth, meant to keep family lines free of genetic defects and engineer the best results from previous genetic data. Most Kechran families have their zygotes classified. Due to laws made by Tal Viero, it is now legal for anyone to have their family lines processed in such a way; in the past, it was only legal for the nobility. This is seen as a high honor, and most are proud to have been born in such a way. However, the process is expensive, and if one's family isn't naturally wealthy, the best way to secure such a thing is through service to the government, wherein the honor is granted to a family line not unlike a knighthood in Ancient England. Most Doine do not come from classified zygotes; those who are will be happy to tell you all about it.
Timekeeping
Kalpa: Officially meaning 'an eternity', the amount of time a kalpa covers can vary depending on the speaker and the context of its use. While different cultures ascribe different exact weights to the length of a kalpa, it generally means either the length time contained within the beginning and end of creation, a millennia, the entire existence of one (usually old and very important) thing, the entire existence of one small and unimportant thing (when used ironically), or just generally 'a very long time'. Thus, all the following phrases are technically accurate: "the universe was created within this kalpa," ; "Kuon founded the Tranquil Empire a kalpa ago," ; "Yeah, this hamster is really a kalpa old," ; "I've been waiting here for two kalpa."
Chronon: Another term meant to make timekeeping easier in the event of time travel, a chronon is the amount of time one has spent time traveling, non-linearly and non-consecutively. For example, "My chronon is five years."
Saeculum: The amount of time one has experienced in their lived life, regardless of time travel. For example, "While my chronon is five years, I'm clocking fifty on my saeculum."
Winhoek Accord: A legal precedent meant to keep time travel safe and legal. The Regency ascribes to it very strongly, and this is a point of pride for their agents, as COST does not. Its main tenets are as follows:
No time-traveler shall reveal themselves to natives of that time period or change the flow of history unless doing so is deemed necessary or beneficial by the Imperial High Courts of Lemuria.
No time-traveler shall interfere or apprehend other time travelers unless their actions are deemed necessary or beneficial by the Imperial High Courts of Lemuria.
No time-traveler shall kill another time-traveler unless doing so is deemed necessary or beneficial by the Imperial High Courts of Lemuria.
No time-traveler shall kill any natives of the time period unless doing so is deemed necessary or beneficial by the Imperial High Courts of Lemuria.
CULTURAL FILE: LEMURIA.