Hitchhiker's Guide to the Nolenithan
Future picture of Moru here :D
Hey there! I'm Moru. Stick close, and I'll run you through the basics of the Nolenithan Waystation. Tread carefully, though, there's so many nooks and crannies around here... People tend to go missing (by accident) quite a lot, and, ya know, the space-rodents have to eat too.
-Moru
What is the Nolenithan
WHO WE ARE
Roughly half a million folks call the Nolenithan home at any given time, and while many of them came here on purpose, even more ended up here by accident and ended up sticking around. This station and the people on it don't care where you hail from, what species you are, or what you're running from (within reason). If you're useful, or flush with galactic credits, there's a berth with your name on it, or there will be eventually. We're a popular spot, ya see. We've got residents here from every corner of Quadrant 1, and plenty more from further out.WHAT WE ARE
This is a massive city-scale orbital waystation positioned alongside one of the busiest FTL currents in the Core of Quad 1. We're a trade hub, a resupply point, a port of call, and a place to sleep off a long haul and get some much-needed R&R (and snacks). Fifty spinning tiers house everything from penthouse districts to engine rooms, governed by an elected council - one representative per set of residents per tier, so every level of the station has a voice proportional to its population. We're very forward-thinking.LIFE HERE
There's no sun in this stretch of space. Well, there's not much of anything out in this stretch of space. Which means there's no discernible day or night unless you make it up yourself based on your own schedule. The main waystation stays lit around the clock, but what you do within your own walls is your business. Establishments keep the hours they choose. Some never close, some run on awkward cycles, and, oddly, some never seem to be open but somehow pay their rent? Dodgy stuff there.The station requires constant maintenance, constant movement, and constant everything really.
Things are always happening here on the Nolenithan, too. After a while, you stop noticing, but in case you need a little pep in your step, there's always a show, a party, an exhibit, an event, or whatever drifts your ship. There's something here for everyone, all the time, always.
Politics & Neutral Territory
We sit in an awkward buffer zone between Commonwealth space and Brevathi Nuun territory. Both have tried to claim us in the past, but our council's answer was the same both times: Force our hand, and we'll destroy the station. No negotiation. No compromise. Only several centuries worth of infrastructure gone, and a very long stretch of empty space with no other resupply points for hundreds of light-years in any direction.They backed off (they always do), and despite the rising tensions between those two idiots, the Nolenithan sits strong and neutral and ready to party with whoever docks in for the night.
This place has been here so long, it's practically a landmark. (No, it really is a landmark.)
Getting Here
Getting here is quite straightforward, in theory, if you have the coordinates and are good at math. Most people drop out of our convenient and local FTL slipstream, but if you time your exit wrong, well, it might take you a lot longer to get here since those slipstreams are a one-way road. Once you do make it into our general orbit, you'll hail the Anchor Control station, and they'll arrange for your docking.How smoothly that goes depends entirely on who's on shift.
The Anchor sits in stationary orbit above our humble abode, connected to the stationary mesh that surrounds our spinning tiers and allows for your docking. Their job is to manage the ebb and flow of vessels in and out of the stationary docking arms descending around the entirety of the station itself. This mesh of arms wraps around the framework, creating a grid of berths and clams scaled for everything from one-person runners to mid-sized freighters. If you're ship is too big to dock on the mesh, you'll be assigned a holding position outside of our orbit and have to shuttle in. If you don't have a shuttle, well, those can be provided... For a fee of course. The credits always have to flow through here, it's just the way it is.
Docking fees are tiered (we love tiers here). Upper berths cost what you'd expect upper, fancy berths to cost. Mid-tiers are reasonable, and lower docks are cheap. But don't worry, if you're limping in on fumes with nothing left, you won't be left out to float in eternal nothingness and waste away. We're not monsters.
So park up, get yourself sorted, but there's a clock on your dock. After that you pay more, or move on or come back around and join the queue again.
Once that is handled, you'll go through the docking bays and into security. Loaded weapons aren't permitted past those checkpoints (just check them in, it's not that serious, jeez). You can pick them up when you leave. Everyone gets scanned on entry and your face goes into the record system.
The Nolenithan may be neutral territory, but it takes its security seriously, and follows the same security systems as most orbital stations around the galaxy: movement is logged, and records are shared. If you don't like it, well, sneak into the lower tiers or go find somewhere else to resupply. Good luck.
Getting Around
The tiers don't line up. Each disk spins independently to maintain its own gravity, which means you can't just walk between them. The central column is your best option — it runs the full height of the station and connects every tier via a series of lifts. Fast, reliable, and busy enough that you'll be sharing one with someone you'd rather not.You're moving around on foot around each individual disk, but there are little cart systems on some of the fancier ones if you're feeling lazy and have plenty of credits to pay.
There are other ways to move around the Nolenithan, but I'm not going to tell you what they are.
The Tiers
The fifty spinning disks aren't just floors in a building; they're each a whole society, one stacked on top of the other, each spinning in different directions.Where you live, where you stay, where you dock, where you eat, and what you eat all depend on how up you can afford to be. The class differentiation isn't a secret, or even that subtle, and nobody around here pretends its entirely fair, even when it sometimes is.
That said, unlike a lot of places in this galaxy, nobody's gonna stop you from moving up, or down, depending on whether you've made it, or lost it. Good luck, we're all rootin' for ya.
The Upper Tier
The Middle Tier
The Lower Tier
The top levels are for people with money and the audacity to display it. Penthouse residences, high-end restaurants, casinos, and entertainment venues that don't post their prices at the door, if you know what I mean. Rich merchants, casino owners, people who enjoy living in the middle of nowhere, and a fair number of wealthy people who are very motivated to be somewhere nobody is looking for them.
You can visit if you're presentable.
Clean clothes, clean face, confident walk, you know the vibe. They won't stop you at the door, but they'll boot you on your ass if you don't fit the picture.
You can visit if you're presentable.
Clean clothes, clean face, confident walk, you know the vibe. They won't stop you at the door, but they'll boot you on your ass if you don't fit the picture.
This is where most people actually live (the interesting ones at least). Here you'll find the main commercial districts, the bulk of the permanent population, and the majority of docking for standard vessels.
It's busy, functional, and about as glamorous as it needs to be. If you're passing through and you need something done, something to buy, or something to sell, this is where you'll find a place to do it.
Plus the higher up you go, the more real the food is. Synthetic is really how it goes this far out in space.
It's busy, functional, and about as glamorous as it needs to be. If you're passing through and you need something done, something to buy, or something to sell, this is where you'll find a place to do it.
Plus the higher up you go, the more real the food is. Synthetic is really how it goes this far out in space.
Here you'll find the engine rooms, heavy docking, and rough trade initiation. This is where you'll find the kind of work that keeps the station running. Cheaper to live, cheaper to eat, but much harder in ways that don't need explaining. The top level of the lower tier sits right beneath middle class — which makes it the most practical address on the station if you're selling something both crowds want (like me).
Click a tier above to explore the Nolenithan.
A Final Word
Look, there aren't a lot of options out here in this stretch of space. The slipway runs right on by, the Anchor waves you in, and the Nolenithan opens its doors regardless of where you came from or what you're hauling. It's loud, it's busy, it never really sleeps, and honestly? There are worse places to be stuck for a night. Or a decade.Come through. We'll be here.
A Second Final Word
Oh, and one more thing. If you're docking in the lower tiers — or honestly anywhere on this station — and you're tired of synthetic protein or whatever passed for food on your last haul, there's a little place on the top level of the lower tier. Good food. Real food, for reasonable prices, that's run by two very hardworking and completely legitimate businesswomen who have never done anything worth investigating. It's called Galactic Delicacies.You should stop by. I may be biased.
The Nolenthian is mentioned in:
A short survival horror adventure I'm working on:This setting started as a backdrop to my Ashen Starlight books - still in progress.
It's now grown beyond that and has turned into a transmedia project (adhd). Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work while I grow this project little by little.
You can find me on Bluesky and Instagram, or support me on Patreon . Every dollar goes to coffee, content, and new books to read.
This is a great article. I love the way its laid out, the colors and the information. I think what I love the most though is how its described. I really can get a visual of this station without any image needed. It is so clear in the wording and I personally enjoy the overall tone. Its a really great article!