Basic Paradis Campaign Premise
Paradis is a system that was chosen by the precursors to be 'seeded' with human life.There was no sentient life here to begin with (and so far in recorded history, 'first contact' has never been made). It was however an unusual star system, full of habitable or near-habitable planets, lots of resources and some unusual planetary phenomenon*. It seemed the perfectplace to set up a colony world, and thus the name ('Paradise').
After some time, a widespread plague, called the Lethe Virus or White Plague, led to something of a'dark age' or 'long night' period for the precursors. Contact was lost between the various homeworlds and colonies, technology was destroyed and the knowledge to build it and of history was forgotten. Within a relatively short period of time, the people of Paradis came to forget (for the most part) where they came from and how they got here, except in the misty tales of mythology. Religious or mythical beliefs contain some truths about the origin culture and interstellar travel, but it contains much that is untrue as well. The people of Paradis continued on in their own system, building a great and varied civilization all on their own for the next millennium or so.
Our campaign setting begins in the later stages of Paradis' development, when the worlds seem old to the inhabitants and the relations between the cramped nations and cultures of the system have become well established, if not a bit hostile. Although no open war has been fought for some time, small brushfires and covert "cold war" operations have served to keep things exciting in the system. The balance of power is often held by the possession of precursor artifacts, representations of technology levels that the current civilization cannot reproduce. Carefully held hands of cards have kept all the groups and governments of the Paradis system in a more or less static (if not altogether peaceful) relationship.
Now however, reasons are presenting themselves that would encourage the people of Paradis to leave and try to reach the stars again. A great and ancient ship has appeared in the system, apparently using some form of faster than light "hyperspace" style of travel. It was found and quickly hidden by the Paradis Homeworld government, hidden in a distant orbit around the sun while their scientists and technicians tried to uncover its secrets.
At around the same time, the White Plague breaks out again in the remote parts of the system and begins spreading. It is clear to everyone that all of Paradis is in danger of destruction. This fact, and the imminent threat of war from secondary worlds that have gained too many artifacts and too much power, has encouraged the Paradis government to decide to use the precursor ship as a generation ship, sending a significant body of colonists in the direction of the precursor homeworld (whose coordinates they learned from the ship itself). For whatever reason the FTL technology isn't functioning (damaged, no fuel, etc.) so the ship must travel at below light speed and take many centuries to reach its destination.
The campaign begins in earnest with the characters waking up from cryo-sleep after several centuries aboard this ship. Survival, exploration, and discovery are (so far) the main themes of the storyline.