Some lore pages regarding lost precursor species such as the Ancients may have incomplete information. Such pages or sections of these pages will have a by their headers, indicating that the 'compendium' is incomplete when hovered over. So what is a compendium, and how are they filled with new information?
A Knowledge Fragment is a piece of information that can be discovered through exploration or IC research of the topic. When a knowledge fragment is discovered, the information it contains is added to the lore page of its subject. Knowledge fragments are considered to be abstract representations of information; ICly, a knowledge fragment could be something like a book or journal, or something even more abstract such as somebody's notes about their own research.
Each knowledge fragment has a specific rarity that determines how valuable its information is or how much information it contains.
Rarity | Description |
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Common | Small pieces of trivia or fact. |
Uncommon | More important information or several pieces of minor facts. |
Rare | Rare information or several pieces of other information |
Legendary | Vital information or a large piece of information constituting a good portion of a compendium. |
Essential | Knowledge fragments essential to the story that divulge some important information. The knowledge they contain is usually prewritten and may be actual text that can be read. |
A knowledge fragment can have a subject, which is a single broad topic about a species the knowledge fragment covers. The subject of the knowledge fragment typically depends on where the fragment was found; for example, a knowledge fragment in an Ancient cloning facility would probably cover the Biology subject, whereas one in a public meeting place might have a knowledge fragment that covers Culture. Beyond a knowledge fragment's main subject, a knowledge fragment could also be about a specific compendium such as a specific world or person.
Subject | Description |
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Technology | Technology knowledge fragments tend to be rarer and contain information about precursor technology or artifacts. Knowledge from technology compendiums typically cannot be used to completely recreate precursor technology, but it could be used to help modify it or understand it. |
History | History knowledge fragments contain information about major historical events and time periods. |
Biology | Biology knowledge fragments contain information about the biology of a species and ecosystems or other organisms. |
Culture | Culture knowledge fragments contain information about a species or group’s culture. |
Worlds | Worlds knowledge fragments contain information about a species or group’s worlds and colonies. |
People | People knowledge fragments contain information about a species or group’s important people and historical figures. |
Politics | Politics knowledge fragments contain information about a species’ factions and other political organizations and structure. |
When somebody discovers a knowledge fragment and the information it contains gets added to its compendium's lore page, that information will be attributed to the individual or group that discovered it. Attributions in lore pages show up as book icons, which can be hovered over Like this..