Scion Imperium
"The Imperium and the Scion Defense force, Holding our world together."
"The revolt is gaining ground sir, permission deploy more troops?"
"Permission granted, Be sure to not damage infrastructure, or production centers, and terminate all the rebels."
"Civilians sir?"
"Expendable, and possible insurgents themselves."
-Dialogue between a general and his subordinate before the first enacting of an Omega Ten clearing of a revolt.
The Scion Imperium, home of the Desert Elves and in general a land of baking sun and hard living to most, with scattered farms near what water there is and a heavy military presence all around, the would is held with absolute authority by the Imperator or Imperatrix, Ruling from the capital city of Lathwin, with the Scion Defense Force as there right hand, and an unknown organization as there left, ensuring that the planet is not influenced by outside forces, or torn apart by internal ones.
Scion B0L
Planet and system
First off is how the planets are designated after there name. The system of Planet designations that are given by the Imperium, being for atmospheres, NA, DA, and B, No Atmosphere, Deadly atmosphere, and Breathable. The number given next is which in those categories it was discovered, 0 for first, and so on. L, UL, and C, stand for Lived on, Unlivable, and Colonizable respectively.
Scion B0L is the second planet orbiting a A-Class star, about .98 AU from it at its periapsis, and .99 AU at its apoapsis. In its past the planet had a dense system of jungles and forests, with few grasslands, and two large oceans separated by a single landmass. Post desertification, it is mostly desert, with most of the water having been trapped underground afterwards. Most of the water formed vast, underwater oceans, though some of it possesses high salinity due to the surrounding salt bearing rocks, and rock salt, after it was turned to steam via the nuclear exchange. The nuclear event left behind is an atmosphere of around 77% Nitrogen, 22% Oxygen, 0.68% Argon, 0.30% CO2, and 0.02% other gases.
Albedo of the planet is semi-high though, given the white sands that make up most or the larger stretches of desert, most of which are broken up by the occasional small inland sea, or oasis, around which, and the rivers that feed them, most people live, minus one clan that lives a nomadic life, though the reasons for this are shrouded in mystery. The average day time temperatures of the planet, are around 35C during the day, or -10C at night
The system itself is home to about five other worlds, Qunus NA0UL, the inner most, is about .40AU at all times, and has no atmosphere, with a surface similar to that of mercuary, if the planet is larger, at about the size of Venus. The next out is Scion, and next from that is Deslov DA0UL, at about 1.79 AU out, and was an posed as an idea for colonization before the Desert Elves got a closer look, finding the planet to have an atmosphere of 40% Chlorine, 30% Florine 25% Oxygen 4.5% CO2, and .5% other gases. Its surface is, mostly rocky, with a few seas of Bromine, and Mercury, and a large crater that is theorized to have been a sea of Francium at one point due to the trace amounts of it still there, and high amounts of Hydroxide metals there. The world has two moons, one that has a majority HI atmosphere, at 80% HI and 20% SIF, and one that is barren similar to Luna.
The fourth planet in the system, Vestilles B1C is in a current snowball state, making it impossible to inhabit despite its 76% Nitrogen, 23% Oxygen, .80% Xenon, .16% CO2, and .04% other gases atmosphere. The surface is mostly ice and snow, almost pure white minus a few pockets of blue near volcanic activity. Life has been confirmed on the world but in a mostly microbial state, with only a few thousand multi-cellular life forms on the world, most being plant like and doing photosynthesis. Colonization of the world is planned as soon as they can warm the planet to a livable state. The planet has one moon, similar to Earth's, but with a somewhat thick atmosphere of 60% SO4, and 40% CIF3, and a lack of craters due to the winds. in the system is a gas giant, with 92% hydrogen, and 7.9% Helium, with .1% other gases, making up its atmosphere. The planet also has thirteen, uninteresting moons, most barren, rocky, and pulverized by asteroids.
The fifth planet in the system is a gas dwarf, at about 13 earth masses, about 5AU out, with 92% hydrogen, and 7.9% Helium, with .1% other gases, making up its atmosphere. The planet also has thirteen, uninteresting moons, most barren, rocky, and pulverized by asteroids.
The sixth and final planet is a ice giant at 40AU out, with a standard composition for such a world, and no moons.
Desert Elves
The dominant race of the planet, the so called ‘Desert Elves’ are a human like race, standing on average six foot four, with pointed ears that average six inches long, with skin and hair colour that varies as much as it does among humans. The most common skin tone though, is a semi-dark colouration, almost brownish, though among the elites it tends to be lighter due to less time exposed to the star of the planet.
The race is also rather resistant to heat, with some claims that they are highly resistant to laser weaponry, though there eyes, being adapted to a constant stream of powerful light, are highly susceptible to flashes and other methods of photonic stunning. There bodies are however, able to retain water better then most as well, able to go around three days without consuming it, but they are easily chilled by colder temperatures, leading to there buildings being rather good at holding heat and warming.
The females, of the species, while rarely impregnated, to tend to go under a few changes after their first pregnancy. Namely, the hips widen, and the bust grows, making the figure of the elf appear more maternal. While the total change varies from clan to clan it is there, and is to accommodate the larger the normal for there size children they birth, at about ten or so pounds. The breasts of the females also grow to at-least a DD, but the normal average is about a C cup. Despite the usually lithe frames, most tend to be far stronger then they appear.
Males contrasting are either strong and burly, or somewhat feminine, depending on the clan, with the science clan males generally being considered 'traps' by most outsiders. Military clans by contrast tend to have large, powerful looking males. The average penis size however, does not vary as wildly, with the average between all clans being at six inches more or less. As a general rule though, they, like the females of the race, are far stronger then appearance can suggest, though are in general not much stronger then females of the same clan to to the selective breeding.
Government and Clans
The government of the planet, the Scion Imperium, is highly authoritarian, and fascist, where different tribes are identified by tattoos across their entirety of their bodies. The government deals with corruption via summary executions, and tightly restricts trade with outside powers in order to maintain their own control over the population. Jobs and procreation are usually assigned locally though, by either clan elders or appointed people sent by the government to ensure the maximum productivity of the people there, and to prevent mass starvation or lack of water, sanitation, healthcare, and a overstretched policing force. The Imperium is currently lead by Imperatrix Limah.
The regulations, and the fact that you can't turn off the urge for sexual interaction, has led to a wide acceptance of anal and oral between sexes and within ones own sex, with bi-sexuality and multiple partners common, in order to compensate for the lack of vaginal sex. Such things also lead to the vagina of females to be highly sensitive to touch and insertion, leading to some women to just use toys such as dildos for sexual relief, finding it far nicer then anal sex.
Said police force is also the military force of the planet, known as the Scion Defense Force, or SDF. It is mostly outfitted to hunt rebels and do desert patrols, with only around three cruisers and a few dozen fighters for a space force. Most of the equipment is designed with the idea of the desert conditions in mind, with the minimum of moving parts needed, and parts given enough space so that a few grains of sand won’t break it, leading to semi-large vehicles for the people in them. The weaponry of the state can vary based on clans and the funding they get, ranging in some areas from little better then bolt action rifles, to assault rifles, to laser weapons.
The Air force of the military is also on the same level of lack of newer equipment, some places using propeller driven planes still, though generally refitted to use lasers and modern bombs. Some of the larger areas have jets, and the few dozen space capable fighters guard the capital and other such important cities. Most of the planes though, are made either to be able to take sand getting into the engines, or able to fly high above the sands, avoiding the problem all together, with all jets capable of such high flying due to the dangers of sand in a jet engine, though all are capable of close air support.
Armoured vehicles, like tanks, AFVs, and APCs, also vary depending on where, ranging from close to second world war Earth in terms of capabilities, armour, and armament, to late cold war, early twenty first century Earth, to modern tanks, armed with high powered lasers and plasma cannons.
Such a lack of weaponry, though, limits as well what the small insurgency can do, and the activities of the insurgency are limited more by the government’s harsh response to a cell being in a village, usually be either leveling it with bombs, or sending in the military to detain every person and find out who is a rebel, and who is not. This leads to a rather poor reaction among most people when someone talks about open rebellion against the government. Most clans choose to exile the potential rebels however, both not wanting to kill their own, and wanting to help the rebellion in some small way.
Some clans, however, do not exile, and instead hand them over to the government. These loyalist clans however, are also the largest and most powerful, being granted more procreation and food grants by the government. Given the status and power of such clans, as well as the people in them, very few cases of wanting to rebel happen among them. Such clans also tend to have at least assault rifles among the military guarding them, though lack the oppressive near martial law state of most others given their loyalty.
Clans that get the same weapons, but not the same freedom, are the ones that run the factories and mine, both of which are given large military detachments for the population, about a soldier for every five civilians. The standards of living are semi-comfortable to try to minimize dissent, but punishments for it are higher than in most areas, with the military often imprisoning or shooting people, based on what they did or what the cost would have been if it had gotten into rebel hands. Workers are required to test all things under military supervision to prevent sabotage or theft. Depending upon the ore being mined, though, this can vary. Uranium is under heavier guard than most, due to the nuclear threat, and rarity of it.
The uranium mined, though, goes solely to nuclear power plants, weapons being ineffective at stopping rebellion, and a threat to arable land. Nuclear weapons are banned by the government under threat of a painful, slow death and public example. Most of the planet's power is provided for by Uranium, the rest being from solar and wind, due to 99% of the planet's fossil fuels having been used earlier, prior to the rise of the Desert Elves.
The race, in general, has had to survive a lack of resources and scarcity of arable land, leading to a tight control of both now, the government's restriction of reproduction being highly rooted in it. The clans, are also, highly specialized in their craft, one doing fishing, another mining a certain mineral, and another making the minerals into metal. This leads to generations of experience being passed down, and being highly proficient at it as well, with the miners, even without equipment, able to turn out far more than humans would be able to, due to the eugenics in the clans as well, of choosing the best at it to reproduce.
Some jobs however don’t have the same clan wide specializations, mainly ones that require smaller numbers, such as news and weather broadcasts, are instead picked by the government from people who apply and show a large amount of proficiency with it. These people, due to the lack of ability to breed with their clan generally, rarely have offspring, so it's seen as something of a sacrifice to work in those fields.
Religion among the people though, is rather laxly controlled, each clan having there own god or gods, though if a radical sect starts speaking out against the government, or about hurting people, the government steps in and arrests people. Some clans worship the former sentients as either deities, or beings who died to give them life, and are some of the few groups allowed to access the artifacts of the race, though any working ones are purged of information about the people. Some groups have arisen to worship the clan in charge as deities, though they do nothing to either support, or dispel the groups, some making trips to talk about their values to the groups.
The nomadic clan, curiously, lacks a religion, and armaments, but has strict rules about conduct, to the point of disallowing sexual contact in order to both ensure they don’t break laws about inter clan mating, and to keep their own numbers low enough for the food they have. A strange quirk in their personal evolution though, led to them all being hermaphrodites, allowing the clan elders to just tell which two people to do procreation, while removing the risk of too many men or too many women.
Language among the elves varies from clan to clan, though a single trade language is spoken, similar to English in some ways such as sentence structure, though as can be expected, the words are far from the same. Clan languages vary from near musical, and musically structured things, to harsh, guttural shouting.
Economy
The Economy of the Imperium is, primarily, state controlled, though some private ventures are allowed. This, mostly leads to the needs of everyone being met, and prices rather low, along with the money of the system being tightly controlled in order to limit inflation. This tight control has lead to some criticisms from outsiders, though to the people of the world its just how things are and have been for the most part.
The few private ventures that exist are ones that produce luxury goods, though the need to buy materials from the government has led to them not producing enough for everyone to have, leading to items such as jewelry, designer clothes, and high end computers to be restricted to those with the money to afford them, generally those who work important jobs in the government. The lack of private ventures also limits external trade between them and entitys such as NanoTrasen.
The lack of trade, in the eyes of many, stunts the Imperium, and prevents it from reaching its full height. The Imperium counters saying that most goods produced by outsiders are not only a danger to the internal stability due to the rapid influx of new ideas, but also generally not able to weather the deserts of there home, and are expensive enough that they would still be limited to only the richest of the people.
The standard currency, the Scion Imperial Credit, or SIC, also does not have an equal exchange rate to the Thalar, with the SIC being worth about .25 Thalars each, limiting the desire internally for external trade, given the masses would, in general, be worse off economically if they had to but from the TSCs. Given the average wage of a person is about 25 credits an hour, a reasonable sum on the world, this is a valid concern, given they would make about 10 Thalars an hour, or in about two hours be able to buy food for a meal.
The lack of valuable exports also dampens the value of trade, with the lack of luxury goods, and mostly production of essential goods or standard goods, not drawing any external attention to them in terms of trade, and the lack of mineral resources or valuable foods also not drawing investors in trade. A few have brought up the idea of bringing in foreign crops to take root and be grown but, due to concerns about environmental damage to a fragile ecosystem, along with a base where citizens can see and greet aliens, these have been denied.
Views on WMDs
The Scion Imperium, being something of an outlier here, has totally banned nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, executing those who attempt to construct them, usually very publicly and after a show trial. The reasons behind the ban are due to the fragile ecosystem of the desert world, where one nuclear weapon might utterly decastate a large swath of land due to crippling an animal or plants population and ability to breed.
Chemical and biological weapons, due to there lack of control and easy ability to cover large areas or populations, are likewise banned, with the samples of the chemicals or viruses or bacteria being ejected into space on a collision course with Qunus' acidic moon, usually with the creator on board. The large public disapproval of the weapons, thankfully, keeps such occurrences incredibly rare, limited to only the most radical of insurgent groups.
History
Far Past
The planet was, in the past, nearly glassed by nuclear warfare by a prior sentient race. Access to the ruins of the race is strictly controlled, and unauthorized possession of the artifacts, or displaying of the artifacts, is dealt with by swift capital punishment, sometimes on the spot. Said race was roughly at the equivalent of twenty-first century Earth, though with highly fractured nation states fighting over Ideologies, such as fascism, capitalism, communism, and monarchism. Most artifacts that survive tend to be of sturdier equipment, such as rifles, handguns, tanks, and military equipment made to weather a nuclear exchange.
However there is the rare find of a bunker, or even semi-preserved city and small residential area, that holds artifacts of the common populace, and what they appeared to be. The former race was reptilian and tauric, though most weapons were made for two hands, so that they can be used in close quarters, instead of needing the entire tauric body to turn. Artifacts in homes, though, vary from sparse collections of cheap, poorly preserved household items, to expensive, and semi-functional tools, electronics, and mechanisms, most likely from either a noble, powerful politician, or wealthy elite's home.
Given the possibility of such artifacts, to make people realize even more how oppressed they are, the reasons for the tight control of them becomes rather obvious, and the ability to gain weapons, even if they don’t work, but can be either fixed up, or jury rigged, even if the ammo for the weapons is long since destroyed and rendered inoperable by time.
In that race’s time of control, though, they used up most of the planet’s oil, coal, and natural gas, leading to the highly elevated levels of CO2 today. This, along with the removal and burning of the former forests and jungles did a lot to terraform the planet into a desert. Thankfully the high albedo of the sands keeps the planet from getting to hot.
Early History
Desert Elf civilization first started around a few lakes, being farming civilizations similar to that of Earth's Mesopotamia, though trade between groups started quickly once animals suitable for the task were domesticated, the most commonly traded items being those of metals, shells of animals, and occasionally food stuffs that could keep for the long distances. This trade led to the first wars, when city states would fight over who has the right to tax how much from anthers trade caravans, and eventually to capture the other city.
This, along side the need to produce more food, caused the invention of the first bronze tools, the oldest of which is a plough, though was soon followed by weapons, chisels, and various body armours and civilian tools alike, including parts to the axel of chariots, which were soon put into use as a military tool. The way it was used was either as a quick transport for leadership, or to charge through enemy lines, with blades attached to the axle, or just as a mobile platform for archers to use. The use of the chariot continued, up until the first pike like weapons were invented in there iron age.
Said iron age was started unlike the first one, by purely military needs, the proto Imperium equiping its men with mass produced iron gear, instead of rare, expensive to make bronze, quickly leading to a race between nations and city states to see who could make the best iron, quickly leading to the production of early steels on the world, vastly increasing agricultural output as more land could be irrigated and farmed, and better fishing equipment could be constructed as better nails and woodworking tools allowed larger ships to fish the oceans.
Said increase in output quickly lead to an increase in population and culture, as more and more people could be supported by the increased food supply. Such an amount of people also lead to the rapid creation of the first police forces, with the Proto-Imperium using its military to do so, while most other states made there own separate departments for them. The increase in population also led to more exploration, leading to the discovery of the first ruins of the previous race.
The items found there soon sparked plenty of expeditions, the Imperium doing so for military reasons as they soon started trying to figure out the compounds in the bullets, making the first black powder about one thousand five hundred years ago, around the same time it was made on earth in large quantitys. Its discovery soon leaked however, though production was slow due to the lack of wood and coal deposits. By this point the Proto-Imperium controlled around 30% of the population, and had declared itself the Scion Imperium, already starting its system of clan specialization, leading to a great increase in production and inventions, as entire populations were moved to work on them.
Modern History
This led to, despite the lack of coal, in the year 1950, the invention of the first solar powered devices, leading to a vast increase in the rate of advancement and production as the race finally had its industrial revolution, leading to an increase in warfare over resources and land, as the population continued to grow, the Imperium seeing the writing on the wall, instituted its program of limited reproduction, leading to its population to fall behind the other nations, though they started to have internal issues due to overpopulation and consumption, as more factorys produced more objects for consumption. Despite this, the Scion Imperium continued to expand, even as the Machine gun and smokeless powder were invented.
The following wars led to increased depopulation in other nations, as they started relying on attrition tactics to beat down the enemy, and the first truly world war in 2084 as nations either sided with, or against the Imperium as it swelled to having 45% of the population of the world. The conflict, playing out in a similar way to earths, was a bloody march of trench warfare, with the invention of better warplanes, and armoured tanks, the Imperium being the first to adopt them to avoid attrition tactics with its population, unable to use conscription on around 90% of its population due to eugenics. The aftermath of the war though, saw a large increase in Imperial lands, and the Imperium expanding its military population so that almost 30% of the population was a member of the military.
The ratio would continue to grow as more conflicts happened, and the world settled into a cold war state. During this, the Imperium would occasionally absorb a smaller state, and started mounting space expeditions, the first space probe being in orbit at around 2130. Soon after plans were made to send said probes to the other worlds, with plans on colonizing Qunus already. Said plans were put on halt however when they discovered the actual state of the planet, with Vestilles taking its place as the prime candidate.
In 2180 they built there first space station, and realized that they soon needed to invent artificial gravity, and breed a clan whos job it was to man space platforms. In about 2300 the breakthrough in artificial gravity came, leading to them setting up larger stations, as the space clan became more accustomed to space life, and started living in cities above the planet, near self sufficient as well as they soon started servicing the first interplanetary craft, and eventually military ones, as they were slowly built.
By 2400 the Imperium had total control of the race and its planet.
Current day
In 2510 the Imperium, finally discovered the secrets of FTL travel, leading to there first timid steps outside there system, slowly exploring the worlds around them, but always avoiding what appears to be alien signals due to fears of there weak space navy being destroyed. In 2560, finally having three cruiser sized vessels completed, they made contact with humanity.
Things on the homeworld are mostly the same though, Most modern people just living there day to day lives rather peacefully, barring the bit of military action here or there. They generally have a comfortable living standard, not that different from most people in the galaxy, though some poorer towns only have planetary internet, not the one used by the galaxy. All information in either one though, is tightly controlled by the government, to prevent dissenting ideas.
Most people though, have some form of transport, either a car, or public transport like electric trains or planes. All of these however, are closely watched by the government, due to the possible use to ferry insurgents, with all roads leading out of, or into a town having a checkpoint. Current military power has also led to more enacting of the Omega Ten protocol, where an entire town is wiped out in order to stamp out the sparks of an insurgency that has taken control of the town. Said town is usually quickly filled with new people of the same clan, who are given breeding permits in order to reproduce to replace the lost population.
Playing one
If you want to play a desert elf the first thing you have to keep in mind is that they are generally only skilled in one job, and there full body tattoo and its colour is related. The naming convention is similar, but not identical to that of the Anglo-Saxons, but since its not identical you are free to make up names and say its a clan name. Also to keep in mind that while sex itself is not frowned upon, vaginal sex, and unbirthing by extension are, due to the laws against them. This means that playing one you would have to be somewhat into anal sex and the like, or have your char HIGHLY against vaginal if it might result in a noticeable change in there bodies, AKA pregnancy.
Clan markings And a Blurb about there culture
Military: In general the clan culture of these groups is one of existing to serve, and die, for the Imperium, accepting death when it comes and not pulling back unless ordered, with most members of it drilled to never route the battlefield.
Infantry: Khaki flowing lines. Has a culture strongly focused on teamwork and group efforts, with single ambition being somewhat frowned upon. Culture also promotes closeness with you and your comrades.
Armoured Divisions: Steel flowing lines. Has a culture of steadfast determination and refusal to surrender, with refusing to bail from there tanks if the thing can still move or fire, preferring instead to fire until destruction or ram the enemy.
Air Force: Blue flowing lines. Has a culture of individual action being promoted, and the love of personal ambition, and to a degree, sexual prowess.
Military Police: Red flowing lines. As can be expected they have a culture of promotion of order and the like, with rules being followed to the letter and strict schedules being kept.
Space force: Black flowing lines, though clan culture puts a large white dot on the forehead. Has a culture similar to the Armoured Divisions, in that they refuse to give up unless there ship is blowing up around them, to the point of not installing escape pods and shunning those who go planet side due to cowardice for abandoning ship. Those at stations aswell, generally live there entire lives there.
Research: In general these clans are based highly around the act of discovery and the advancement of science.
Robotics: Black Clockwork. In general a culture of eccentric tinkers, with individual discovery praised highly, as is individual invention, with statues of the inventors of major steps in robotics existing in most town squares of there planets.
Xenobotany: Green Clockwork. A culture based around both self discovery, and the protection of others due to the dangers some flora can pose.
XenoBiology: Magenta Clockwork. A culture of group effort when it comes to controlling and messing with animals and the like, with the groups of major discoverys getting a near religious following.
Phoron research: Purple Clockwork. Generally, the biggest mad scientists of the bunch, with those who make it burn the hottest or make the biggest explosion being celebrated similar to demi-gods.
RnD: Pink Clockwork. Easily the most singular of the groups, with cooperation only done when absolutely needed, and most keeping to themselves and a few close friends.
Xenoarcheology: Brown Clockwork. The culture is based on cooperation and group effort similar to the Xenobiologists, with the group swearing an oath of silence around artifacts.
Medical: In general these clans are about the preservation of life and attempting to cause as little pain as possible.
General Doctors: Red bandage like. As can be expected this culture is about the preservation of life, but they take as many steps as possible to ensure the greatest comfort for patients aswell.
Virologist: Green bandage like. Contrary to how some would think, this group is not about making super bugs, but rather has a love for curing them, with the using them as a weapon seen as a massive tabboo and social suicide.
Surgeon: White bandage like. A culture efficent and to the point, with no excess time spent talking or messing around, instead focusing on improving there craft.
Paramedic: Blue bandage like. A culture of fitness and speediness, with races being well loved, as are weight lifting competitions, but generally love the act of saving or helping others over all things.
Pyschiatrist: Biege bandage like.A culture of improving others and making sure they are okay, even at the cost of ones self, with all efforts being done to help others mentally.
Chemist: Orange winding lines. A rather unstable group about mixing what they can to find new, and healthy mixtures, but often test on themselves.
Engineering: As can be expected there clan cultures generally revolve around making things work and such.
General Engineer: Orange Flames. All about improving efficent working, with all of them working to find how little sleep and leisure time they can take to be with the machines they love.
Atmosphereic Tech: Blue flames. All about the preservation of life and protection of others due to there stations.
Engine Tech: Purple flames. There culture is about making the engines they work on the most efficent, and powerful they can, with some accidents happening when they push one to far.
Electrical Engineer: Yellow flames. Similar to the wires they mess with, they are rather to the point and about straightness of words and actions, not liking deception.
Maintenance Tech: Steel flames. Generally about making things both resistant to wear, and work efficently.
Service and Food: This is where things really vary due to the huge differences in tasks.
Fishing: Blue waves. Obsessed with water and the life in it, often living most of there lives on floating cities on there seas.
Farming: Green vines. Love the land and the animals in it, often keeping a favored farm animal around like a pet.
Cooking: Red vines. A love of show and display, with colours and the like being carefully chosen for clothing when possible, and food often taking eccentric forms in order to better showcase it.
Cargo: Small yellow linked trams. A love of speed dominates this culture, with those who have moved the fastest being revered highly, and all attempts made to make there vehicles go faster.
Knowledge Keeping: Black Scion Alphabet. Easily one of the oldest of the clans, given they were formed prior to books, but the have a love of knowledge and its storing. They generally work as librarians and such, or authors of there own written material.