Fimbul Industries (Original)¶

"Fimbul builds ships for the people, that's all." — Ben Y, founding charter

"I will be thrice damned if I go back on the old man's resolve." — Virtin, on reunification demands from his uncles

Fimbul Industries was founded by Ben Y, a legendary MUD craftsman, as one of the first civilian companies not associated with any faction. His vision was simple and radical: build ships that were cheap, high-quality, and allowed people to do whatever they wanted — free from faction politics. This wasn't merely a business strategy. It was a manifesto: in a galaxy where every hull riveted belonged to someone's fleet, Ben Y believed that ordinary people deserved ships of their own.

What started as a workshop on Smids grew into the MRZ's most significant independent manufacturer. After Ben Y's death, the company split among his three sons, each with a radically different vision. Today, Virtin — Ben Y's grandson — leads the original Fimbul, carrying on the founding charter against mounting pressure from his uncles' splinter companies. He is a big, blond mechanic who still works the forge — a man who owns the most valuable shipyard in the MRZ and spends his mornings elbow-deep in coolant.

History¶

The Founder — Ben Y (~2471)¶

Ben Y was a MUD ship designer who grew disillusioned with military contracts and faction politics. When the MRZ was still being carved out of post-war chaos, he packed his tools and settled on Smids — a rocky, unremarkable world in the Free Harbors with exactly one advantage: nobody important wanted it.

His first product was the Fimbul Lowbie — an affordable, modular utility vessel designed for independent captains. The Lowbie was not elegant. It was not fast. What it was: cheap, repairable with standard parts, and built to survive the MRZ's unforgiving conditions. It became ubiquitous. By the time Ben Y was fifty, "Fimbul" was the generic name for any small utility ship in the MRZ, like "jeep" or "taxi."

The Everstorm Discovery (~2487—2513)¶

Fimbul's transformation from local workshop to galactic manufacturer came from an accidental discovery. Fimbul engineers, testing hull plating in extreme conditions, ventured into the Everstorm — a region of perpetual energy storms that most navigators avoided. They discovered that the storms contained virtually unlimited, harvestable energy.

The problem: no known shield could withstand the storms long enough to extract it.

Ben Y committed Fimbul's entire R&D budget to solving this problem. In ~2504, after seventeen years of research, Fimbul engineers achieved the Ionic Shield breakthrough — a regenerative shielding system that could withstand Everstorm conditions indefinitely. By ~2509, they had built the first Nimbus Sphere — a city-scale energy harvesting platform suspended within the storm itself.

By ~2513, nine Nimbus Spheres were operational across the Everstorm, producing more than enough energy to power Fimbul's operations and export surplus as Energy Cells — portable power units that became essential infrastructure across the MRZ. This single innovation made Fimbul Industries the most important energy supplier in the medium-risk zone.

The Schism — Ben Y's Sons¶

Ben Y died proud but worried. His three sons had each developed fundamentally different interpretations of his charter, and he knew the company would not survive intact.

The split was not clean. Harkon took the military engineering talent and married into ECOS aristocracy. Torben took the mass-production facilities and removed all ethical restrictions on clientele. Virtin's father — and later Virtin himself — kept the original forge on Smids and the Nimbus Sphere network.

Both uncles periodically pressure Virtin to reunify the company. Virtin refuses.

The Secret Collaboration¶

Despite the family schism, one area of cooperation persists: Nimbus Sphere technology. Virtin and Brenneth Y — Harkon's daughter — secretly collaborate on next-generation energy harvesting systems. This collaboration is known to very few people, and if either uncle discovered it, the consequences would be severe. Brenneth's involvement represents the one thread of unity in a fractured family.

Products¶

Smids — The Forge World¶

Planet Smids is unremarkable in every way except one: it houses the single most important independent shipyard in the galaxy. The world is flat, rocky, and perpetually windy — ideal for testing hull plating in adverse conditions.

Key locations:

• The Old Forge: Ben Y's original workshop, preserved as-is. Virtin works here most mornings
• Span Yards: The primary construction facility — modular, expandable, capable of producing dozens of Lowbies simultaneously
• The Nimbus Gate: Orbital station that coordinates Everstorm energy shipments
• Port Smids: The commercial spaceport — heavily defended by a private security fleet

Trade Policy¶

Fimbul sells to anyone who isn't building weapons of mass destruction or involved in slavery. This broad policy means Fimbul ships end up in the hands of merchants, explorers, colonists, refugees, and occasionally criminals. Virtin's position: "I build ships. What you do with them is your conscience, not mine."

Notable Members¶

Relations¶

Galactic Indices¶