Welcome to the Adalpheiri Universe

The beginning of the Requiem series, years in the making.

I’m Theo Sterling, and I’m here to do what I do best: write. These words will introduce a story series I’ve spent more years on than I care to admit.

Check your posture, hook up the coffee IV, and remember to drink water.

Let’s start with why I’m here.

1. Why This World Exists

When Star Wars: Episode I released in theaters, I obsessed over it. The scope of that universe pulled me in, but it was my brother’s comics that showed me worlds could be built from nothing. Watching him draw characters and stitch them into stories made me want to create my own.

I couldn’t draw the way I hoped, but I sketched ideas that stuck with me.

By high school I realized words could do what my pencil couldn’t. I wrote my first manuscript in tenth grade. It wasn’t good, but it taught me what storytelling felt like. It

Later, life pulled me away from writing, though the characters and ideas never left.

Over the years I traveled, joined NaNoWriMo, met authors, and learned the craft piece by piece. Eventually I returned to my project with a different mindset: no more chasing perfection, no more shelving drafts. This universe has grown through every failure and restart.

Now I’m committed to finishing it, and sharing the process. That’s why I’m here.

Let’s look at the actual universe.

2. The Building Blocks

I’m working on a book in the Requiem series. It takes place in the Adalpheiri universe, futuristic, but grim. There’s wilderness to wander, nanotech in the shadows, fleets of ships, and Alcubierre drives pushing beyond the stars.

The world pulls from things I love: Hunter x Hunter’s power systems, Star Wars’ scale, World of Warcraft’s cultures, Halo’s technology, and ideas of my own.

2A. Planets

Humanity left Earth (Terra to outsiders) and scattered across seven Settlements in two galaxies.

The leap came in 2132, when faster-than-light travel broke the barrier. Alcubierre drives carried ships beyond the reach of old nations.

Terraforming should’ve taken centuries. It didn’t. Technology combined with HESTEKs turned barren rocks into habitable worlds in years. A rare few could grow entire biospheres in moments.

Separated by light years, each Settlement hardened into its own culture and its own rule.

2B. Cultures & Government

Every Settlement has a government. Only one matters, Reivscere.

It began as an asteroid farming company on Earth. Wealth piled higher than nations. Power followed. When the Grand Exit came, they led the rebellion, carrying millions of Earth’s chosen to a new home in the Andromeda Galaxy: Clarum.

Since then, the Chairman, the Board, and ten Directorates have run the planet. Efficient. Profitable. Unquestioned. They also minted the Reiv, a digital currency so stable it spread across every Settlement.

Ask the Clarish, and you’ll hear the same refrain: the law is just. The streets are safe. Culture thrives. Life is good.

But you know who isn’t thriving.

3. The Extraordinary

Not all humans carry the Adalpheiri gene. But those who do, and survive its activation, have a new label.

HESTEKs.

Activation triggers Atrothein, a cellular shift that halts aging completely. Time moves, but their bodies don’t.

Each HESTEK gains one or more Pheiri. Some bend lightning. Some rewrite biology. Some control glucose. Not all abilities are impressive.

They perceive Ko’koro, an aura unique to those with the gene. It can be seen, felt, even smelled. And it always tells you what a HESTEK can do.

People worship them. Or fear them. Some call them gods. Others call them monsters. Either way, most HESTEKs don’t stick around long enough to correct anyone.

How do these HESTEKs, and normal people (Normies) get around?

4. Technology & Travel

Some machines carry intelligence so dangerous they can’t be trusted near civilization. Others, like Chiron-Class shuttles, ferry passengers between Settlements on Alcubierre drives.

What even is an Alcubierre drive? It’s a faster-than-light system that bends space itself.

Here’s a great video I found that explains it:

Medicine can now cure almost every disease. Don’t worry about big pharma, their revenue comes from prevention and cosmetic work.

That leads us to nanotechnology. I can’t talk about that.

Here’s what I can discuss.

5. Themes

I watch Brian Johnson’s videos about immortality and ask myself, “What would that actually do to someone?” That’s what we’ll explore.

Would grief pile up until the mind breaks? Would boredom sink in until nothing matters? And if so, what would that boredom drive a person to do?

People change under that weight. Some grow harder, some more reckless. Darkness doesn’t come all at once. It creeps in. One may kill to protect. Another may commit acts called “evil” yet still carry love. Affection survives even where morality frays.

Now…

What’s Next?

I write.

I’ll update here with progress and share pieces of the world as I go.

On social media I’ll post personal updates, occasional art, and smaller tidbits. YouTube will cover whatever interests me that month, not always book-related.

When possible I’ll commission artists to bring key moments and characters to life. Those reveals will appear first for email subscribers and folks on Patreon.

For readers who want the deepest look at the universe, the mailing list is the place to be. That’s where I’ll share lore, background, and behind-the-scenes notes.