Delphic Bloodline
The Delphic Bloodline is a familial bloodline rumored to go back thousands of years, tracing their lineage back to an individual designated as PHIA Prime, who was believed to have lived during the early 21st century when virtual reality became an emerging technology. It is sometimes known as the PHIA bloodline due to how often women of the lineage are named "PHIA". Last names are also highly variable due to differing marriage customs on whose surname gets adopted which can make it very difficult to keep track.
At some point during the golden age of the Valerian Empire, a woman named Minerva somehow gained the ability to see into the memories of her ancestors. With thousands of years of knowledge on hand, she used her wisdom and influence to eventually become the empress. She named her firstborn daughter after the furthest ancestor she was able to reach out to: PHIA Prime, a woman from ancient Earth. Minerva recorded this encounter along with many others onto data crystals which she kept in a great library.
The bloodline would continue, even after the fall of the Minerva Dynasty, spreading to the blood of nobles and commoners alike. What propogated its spread even further was cloning technology that replicated Minerva's powers resulting in people unrelated to her to acquire the powers. Over the generations, it inspired many different sects and other cultures on the best way to use the powers of the ancestors. Some sought to rule others in a position of power. Others focused on contribution to the knowledge of humanity and some opted for simple lives as monks.
Knowledge of the origins of the bloodline became lost with the Blackout and in some parts of the galaxy, a reversion to a preindustrial age. Some societies saw members of the Delphic Bloodline as witches that served the devil. Others had a more positive outlook, relying on them as seers to share their wisdom.
The data crystals that Minerva created would eventually fall in the hands of various other parties - from museums to private collectors to pirates trading it on the black market.
Powers
The exact science behind the memory-inheriting capabilities of the Delphic Bloodline are not well understood, but it is believed to be tied to the person's DNA somehow in combination with some form of quantum entanglement through time. That is, these powers allow for a rudimentary form of projection-based time travel. As such, the powers are hereditary, passing on from generation to generation. However, with each new generation, older memories become more difficult to access leading some members of the bloodline to opt to record their memories in virtual reality format to better preserve them for the future. In addition, memories tend to be much clearer for ancestors who were also of the Delphic Bloodline.
While memory inheriting happens at a gradual level through dreams and mind wanderings as an individual ages, through intense focus and mental training, a person could hone in on specific memories and learn not just the events their ancestors witnessed but also gather sensory information and impulses. This allows for someone to be able to quickly pick up on the skills their ancestors had studied in the past.
After picking up multiple skills and various knowledge, an individual of the Delphic Bloodline could then enter a trance-like state to amass all their past knowledge to allow them to see into the future. This is considered one of the most difficult skills to master.
History
Starting with the Minerva Dynasty of the Valerian Empire, extensive technologies were derived from it as well as studies of how the memory-inheriting power could be extrapolated in different ways. For example, the genes that controlled the memory inheritance could be transplanted into other people through cloning, although a clone would start its own branch of shared memories separate from the original Delphic Bloodline. During her lifetime, Empress Minerva chose to have as many offspring as possible to preserve this power as best she could, even going as far as to use surrogate mothers for her children. Though the powers started off as exclusive to the royal bloodline for many generations, eventually, it began to spread to commoners to the point where at least 0.5% of Valerians had these abilities.
After at least a few hundred years since the start of the Minerva Dynasty, there were enough members of the Delphic Bloodline where the memory inheriting knowledge could really be put to use at a massive scale. A project to breed the perfect individuals of the bloodline was undertaken, eventually resulting in the creation of the Phates, three immortal women who became advisors to the emperor.
As the Valerian Empire grew however, it became difficult to keep track of the different colonies as the Phates had difficulty keeping their knowledge up to date. Because of this, the empire had commissioned Servall Corporation to create the Oracle, an artificial intelligence designed to predict human behavior at a galactic scale. Members of the Delphic Bloodline had their memories used as training data for the Oracle, as their ability to inherit memories from humans of the past made them an efficient choice. This meant that Oracle could be developed at a much faster rate than if humans outside of the bloodline were used.
The Delphic Bloodline had contributed their data on human behavior, but in doing so, they were made obsolete. With the Oracle able to supposedly make more accurate predictions based on past memories, the Delphic Bloodline was effectively sidelined in terms of importance to the empire. What sealed the fate of the Phates however was that they made a prediction that the Valerian Empire was doomed to fall as the Oracle was going to betray them. The emperor at the time ignored their warnings, exiling them as he regarded their words as treason. However, their prediction would come to pass, and the empire would indeed fall.
In the present day, the Delphic Bloodline is relatively unknown, and many still regard their powers as superstition. Yet, it is slowly reemerging with indiviuals.
Known members
Minerva Family
The Minerva Family was active during the Valerian Empire's golden age.
Bunny Family
Delphi Family
Taranis Family
The Taranis family are distant cousins of the Delphi family.
The Phates
The Phates were a trio of witches who used their past knowledge to make predictions of the future. They were the immortal advisors to the emperor before they were superseded by the Oracle. Their whereabouts are unknown, but they are believed to still be alive somewhere. It is thought that they were created through generations of careful curation of the Minerva bloodline, but they gave up their position to rule the empire in favor of focusing their talents on their predicitive abilities.
- Clotho
- Lachesis
- Atropos