Before the loss of the Mars Beacon, which ended galaxy spanning travel for over a century, the Convention Authority was an association of societies that celebrated and preserved speculative popular culture of the 20th and 21st centuries: fantasy, science fiction, and gaming. In the first age of galactic travel, it was a popular tourist destination, and it boasted some of the most skilled terraforming engineers in the galaxy.
During the Great Silence, the Convention Authority was able to maintain local interstellar travel, due in to a large and varied fleet of replica early interstellar craft.
In the modern era, the Convention Authority is the most significant political actor in the revealed galaxy both because it has the only shipyard capable of creating new vessels with origami drives, and because of the curious and cosmopolitan nature of its people who have been steeped in stories of exploration and discovery for generations.
Optimistic Indie Roleplaying 