Lore Archive
In Stars Without Number, a number of years ago galactic society was maintained by impressive psionic FTL technology that allowed instant jump across distance star systems. It all broke down when the Scream happened - an instant wave of psionic overload that destroyed all psi FTL transport, and set back many worlds by centuries if not millenia.
The Bythan Chronicles setting draws heavily on the "default" setting, but with several changes of its own. They will be detailed below.
The Bythan Chronicles setting draws heavily on the "default" setting, but with several changes of its own. They will be detailed below.
The Pre-FTL Era
Though very few records from this era subsist, it is known that the Kalimshari Empire finds its roots in the ancient Drow Motherland of Kalimshar. Most historians struggle with the events that set the Kalimshari Empire on its way to world domination, but most texts tell of an ancient war between two other superpowers, in a time where the proto-Empire was a small (though respectably armed) third way nation that attempted to mediate peace. What is mostly known is that both superpowers nearly destroyed their world in a war that left neither in a victorious position, enabling the Third Way nations to seize control of the world through tactical nukes and economy restoration plans.
The Space Race soon came into play, but as the Kalimshari had grasped a hold on their homeworld, there never was any chance for anyone to catch up. A fleet of prototype fighter ships soon brought every nation into the Kalimshari Federation, but it would be centuries before they cracked the secret of psionic FTL through a crystal called Quadrinix.
The Space Race soon came into play, but as the Kalimshari had grasped a hold on their homeworld, there never was any chance for anyone to catch up. A fleet of prototype fighter ships soon brought every nation into the Kalimshari Federation, but it would be centuries before they cracked the secret of psionic FTL through a crystal called Quadrinix.
The Ytarion was one of the Empire's finest research vessels, operating from 91 to 365, and headed by famous astrophysicist Polos'nadrom. It was mostly responsible for several first contacts, as well as uncovering secrets of former civilizations - secrets lost once more after the Scream.
The Seven Colonies (Year 0)
Under President Kalisha Hlalhu, an ambitious program, Settle the Stars, was enacted. What would become the Empire was then actually a Federation, which built seven colony ships, and sent them to seven previously scanned and scouted worlds, believed to be able to sustain at least some level of life. This event was retro-dated as the Year Zero : the year at which the first Drow settler set foot on the world of Delta Pavonis.
The ships were marvels of technology, most notably for their primitive Quadrinix Drive, invented by the HOME Corporation during the space age. The drive was the precursor of modern FTL drives, in that it pushed the ship into a bubble of lower dimension by compressing and decompiling space around it. However, it did not actually initially reach FTL speeds - simply solve the issues of energy, acceleration and time dilation around ultrarelativistic travel. The first truly metarelativistic drive was only assembled in the year 56.
There were seven fledgling colonies, each staffed with a mix of different nations in an effort to avoid resurgent nationalism in an era where space travel was the sole monopoly of the authoritarian state. They were :
The ships were marvels of technology, most notably for their primitive Quadrinix Drive, invented by the HOME Corporation during the space age. The drive was the precursor of modern FTL drives, in that it pushed the ship into a bubble of lower dimension by compressing and decompiling space around it. However, it did not actually initially reach FTL speeds - simply solve the issues of energy, acceleration and time dilation around ultrarelativistic travel. The first truly metarelativistic drive was only assembled in the year 56.
There were seven fledgling colonies, each staffed with a mix of different nations in an effort to avoid resurgent nationalism in an era where space travel was the sole monopoly of the authoritarian state. They were :
- Delta Pavonis
- New Abburth
- Gammayah
- Elysdrae's Folly
- Altaira
- Beta Hydri
- New Avalon
The Federation Splits (149-172)
In the year 149, the worlds of Delta Pavonis, Gammayah and Beta Hydri revolted. Soon they were joined by New Avalon and Elysdrae's Folly. Facing the prospect of military conflict, the Federation sent out the remainder of its fleet, but only maintained to regain control of Elysdrae's Folly. The war lasted 20 years; finally in the year 170, a peace treaty was signed.
Thus the Kalimshari Federation and the Drow's People Republic split, and it sent an aftershock to the core of both Drow sides that would lead to the acceptance of minor factions near- or completely autonomous in an arrangement both imperialistic and federated.
In the year 172, the Federation disbanded. The Empire of Kalimshari under Elysdrae was formed out of its ashes, made up of just the four initial worlds of Kalimshar, New Abburth, Elysdrae's Folly, and Altaira.
Thus the Kalimshari Federation and the Drow's People Republic split, and it sent an aftershock to the core of both Drow sides that would lead to the acceptance of minor factions near- or completely autonomous in an arrangement both imperialistic and federated.
In the year 172, the Federation disbanded. The Empire of Kalimshari under Elysdrae was formed out of its ashes, made up of just the four initial worlds of Kalimshar, New Abburth, Elysdrae's Folly, and Altaira.
Settling an Empire : The First Wave (175-390)
In the year 175, the first psionic FTL drive (the "warp drive") was invented. A marvelous invention from eminent Psyker, Molreth Duariel, the drive allowed the crossing of 1 Light-Year in just 1 week. She did not believe in letting just one nation use her drive, and so she withheld her trade secrets from the Empire, selling them on the open market instead.
Sadly the Empire did not look too keen on letting Duariel's invention be sold on the free market. An Inquisitorial squad hunted down the psyker across every world in the colonized bubble - yet they seemed unable to find her. They only knew of her fate one year later, as the Republican flagship displayed the new drive : she had sold her drive to the enemies of Empire, was branded a traitor, and her name was almost completely struck from the records.
The FTL drive spurred an outward growth - though many frontier worlds, at the time, were not under control of either superpower. Many stars were left unsettled; across the quadrant, only 25 habitable worlds were found (20 Imperial worlds, 5 Republican worlds) and naturally civilization developed around the trade routes between them.
In the year 182, first contact was made with a non-Elvaan race : the insect-like sun worshipping Khdarri. Their world was made a ward of the Empire and their race was uplifted, though Khdarri historiography insists that their race had been warp-capable far before their encounter with the Drow.
The Grand Shrine issued an edict welcoming any and all new life in the folds of Elysdrae. Several more minor races were discovered on the rim of Imperial space soon after, most of them in an early space age.
The institutions of the Empire crystallized at that time, and yet there was change : slavery was abolished in 384 and the Great Houses of old were reformed in 389, each given control upon a Province - a Helbau.
Sadly the Empire did not look too keen on letting Duariel's invention be sold on the free market. An Inquisitorial squad hunted down the psyker across every world in the colonized bubble - yet they seemed unable to find her. They only knew of her fate one year later, as the Republican flagship displayed the new drive : she had sold her drive to the enemies of Empire, was branded a traitor, and her name was almost completely struck from the records.
The FTL drive spurred an outward growth - though many frontier worlds, at the time, were not under control of either superpower. Many stars were left unsettled; across the quadrant, only 25 habitable worlds were found (20 Imperial worlds, 5 Republican worlds) and naturally civilization developed around the trade routes between them.
In the year 182, first contact was made with a non-Elvaan race : the insect-like sun worshipping Khdarri. Their world was made a ward of the Empire and their race was uplifted, though Khdarri historiography insists that their race had been warp-capable far before their encounter with the Drow.
The Grand Shrine issued an edict welcoming any and all new life in the folds of Elysdrae. Several more minor races were discovered on the rim of Imperial space soon after, most of them in an early space age.
The institutions of the Empire crystallized at that time, and yet there was change : slavery was abolished in 384 and the Great Houses of old were reformed in 389, each given control upon a Province - a Helbau.
Pulsars and black holes are known for their quadrinix flares, necessary to build the crystals that enable spike drives to drill in and out of FTL.
The First Exhalted Age (390-394)
Tensions ran high along the border between the two Elvaan supernations.
In the year 390, as the war drums announced open conflict, Empress Alahndra I summoned the First Age of Exaltation. Inspired by ancient Drow practice, exaltation was essentially a state of emergency that, amongst other things, merged the state and the Chantry and placed every Great House under direct orders from the Empress.
The push was needed, as Republicans and Imperials battled it out for four years over quadrinix rich worlds. Historians note the renewed focus of the Imperial populace in supporting the war effort. Early republican victories deep in Imperial space soon gave way to an Imperial counterattack, and world after world was lost as the Republican fleet retreated back into its territory.
In the year 394, Imperials seized the capital Republican world of Delta Pavonis and started an indiscriminate orbital bombardment campaign. Unable to effectively marshall its resources, the Republican defence was left with several glaring flaws. Unwilling to invade a fully urbanized world ,a task that would take years and tie down the Imperial fleet, Knight-Sergent Arissa hailed the enemy demanding the surrender of 80% of the claimed quadrinix worlds.
In response, a black ops Republican team sent an asteroid in the path of the planet Kalimshar. As the situation became critically tense, the Empire offered different terms of surrenders, mandating the creation of a "Neutral Zone" - an entire arc of the galaxy between both superpowers, to be equally exploited but also left unsettled.
Thus the war ended in 395 and the Exaltation was called off.
In the year 390, as the war drums announced open conflict, Empress Alahndra I summoned the First Age of Exaltation. Inspired by ancient Drow practice, exaltation was essentially a state of emergency that, amongst other things, merged the state and the Chantry and placed every Great House under direct orders from the Empress.
The push was needed, as Republicans and Imperials battled it out for four years over quadrinix rich worlds. Historians note the renewed focus of the Imperial populace in supporting the war effort. Early republican victories deep in Imperial space soon gave way to an Imperial counterattack, and world after world was lost as the Republican fleet retreated back into its territory.
In the year 394, Imperials seized the capital Republican world of Delta Pavonis and started an indiscriminate orbital bombardment campaign. Unable to effectively marshall its resources, the Republican defence was left with several glaring flaws. Unwilling to invade a fully urbanized world ,a task that would take years and tie down the Imperial fleet, Knight-Sergent Arissa hailed the enemy demanding the surrender of 80% of the claimed quadrinix worlds.
In response, a black ops Republican team sent an asteroid in the path of the planet Kalimshar. As the situation became critically tense, the Empire offered different terms of surrenders, mandating the creation of a "Neutral Zone" - an entire arc of the galaxy between both superpowers, to be equally exploited but also left unsettled.
Thus the war ended in 395 and the Exaltation was called off.
The Houses Dissent (591)
In 445, a crusade was called against the few remaining followers of the Spurned Goddess, Lolth, after the oxygen supply of several ships was sabotaged and at least one Senator killed. Distrust between the Great Houses led to daily drama and border skirmishes within the Empire, and the Empress' authority seemed to erode over time.
A second Exalted Age came in 541, when following open dissent by several Imperial Helbau, Dahre Savas, governor of the Io Helbau, refused to send his contigent of ships to protect border sectors and rival Helbau against Lolthian incursion by minor powers that had banded on the fringes of the system. Great Houses took sides and war loomed; the senator was persuaded somehow to relent (historians assume bribery, though there is no definite proof); thus the Lolthian invasion was repealed and the Empire set its eyes on securing the border worlds it did not yet own, setting the Second Age into place.
A second Exalted Age came in 541, when following open dissent by several Imperial Helbau, Dahre Savas, governor of the Io Helbau, refused to send his contigent of ships to protect border sectors and rival Helbau against Lolthian incursion by minor powers that had banded on the fringes of the system. Great Houses took sides and war loomed; the senator was persuaded somehow to relent (historians assume bribery, though there is no definite proof); thus the Lolthian invasion was repealed and the Empire set its eyes on securing the border worlds it did not yet own, setting the Second Age into place.
A Lifeless Quadrant (540-800)
With two sides blocked off by the Neutral Zone, the Empire sought to seek more habitable worlds further out, into the rim of the Beta Quadrant (25% of the Galaxy), avoiding the many bickering species of the core.
Something that quickly shocked scientists and explorers alike was the complete absence of life or planets able to support life. Many deep-space habitats were set up, including the famed Rings of Zeal - a ringshaped megastructure surrounding a small protostar, which took an Age of Exaltation to complete.
In 650, the science of terraforming had somewhat advanced and a handful of candidate worlds started the long process of habitability. Another technology that made (literal) leaps forward was that of Profession Arduriel's spike drive. Ditching psionics entirely, the spike drive compressed dimensional space in front of it and unravelled it behind it - in effect dimensionally phasing in the middle. Like the earlier warp drive, the spike drive was quickly a staple of all and every Drow ship in the galaxy.
In the year 900, the Empire, then trillions strong, has expanded threefold and a line of deep-space outposts and proto-habitable worlds stretched more than halfway across the Beta Quadrant with no single new first contact.
Something that quickly shocked scientists and explorers alike was the complete absence of life or planets able to support life. Many deep-space habitats were set up, including the famed Rings of Zeal - a ringshaped megastructure surrounding a small protostar, which took an Age of Exaltation to complete.
In 650, the science of terraforming had somewhat advanced and a handful of candidate worlds started the long process of habitability. Another technology that made (literal) leaps forward was that of Profession Arduriel's spike drive. Ditching psionics entirely, the spike drive compressed dimensional space in front of it and unravelled it behind it - in effect dimensionally phasing in the middle. Like the earlier warp drive, the spike drive was quickly a staple of all and every Drow ship in the galaxy.
In the year 900, the Empire, then trillions strong, has expanded threefold and a line of deep-space outposts and proto-habitable worlds stretched more than halfway across the Beta Quadrant with no single new first contact.
A Heirless Empire (920-1000)
In the year 920, Empress Cemies III died with no clear line of inheritance. The Great Houses started to plot and fight each other, and it looked like a civil war was brewing. High Summoner Llariel looked into the Ancient Texts, and decreed a Fourth Age of Exaltation to force the fighting to stop, as well as to merge the Imperial Throne and her own position and create a new dynasty. Surprisingly enough, most Great Houses accepted, and those that did not lost their Imperial Charter to more loyal minor houses.
In the year 942, the line of Second Wave expansion blazing and spreading across the Beta Quadrant finally met a new civilization : the Ophoni, soon as much known for their nomadic ways as their brilliant science. Llariel I welcomed them as friends, and the Ophoni suggested a free association status that insulted the more jingoistic Great Houses, but which was reciprocated nonetheless.
In 954, the Exploration Edict separates exploration from military duties, and formalizes the role of each Great House and Helbau province..
Open dissent resumed in 1106 and Traditionalist Great Houses attacked Reformer Great Houses. Llariel I died, and to make things worse, her only heirs were sons - once more, the Empire was without a clear line of succession and this time, the Chantry was also leaderless.
In the year 942, the line of Second Wave expansion blazing and spreading across the Beta Quadrant finally met a new civilization : the Ophoni, soon as much known for their nomadic ways as their brilliant science. Llariel I welcomed them as friends, and the Ophoni suggested a free association status that insulted the more jingoistic Great Houses, but which was reciprocated nonetheless.
In 954, the Exploration Edict separates exploration from military duties, and formalizes the role of each Great House and Helbau province..
Open dissent resumed in 1106 and Traditionalist Great Houses attacked Reformer Great Houses. Llariel I died, and to make things worse, her only heirs were sons - once more, the Empire was without a clear line of succession and this time, the Chantry was also leaderless.
The Void Maw black hole was often used as a pilgrimage site, not just to the Void but also as the first black hole ever encountered by Elvaans, and the Empire's main producer of Quadrinix. In 1107, an orbital shrine was built in its accretion disk.
The Imperial Civil War (1106-1115)
Kaariel I took control of the Empire in 1106 and swore before the Senate, but as a male, many Great Houses simply did not accept him. When the Reformer Great Houses, who did accept him, refused his call to back off from the beginnings of a civil war, he found himself fairly isolated and in control of only the Core Helbau. The Reformers and the Traditionalists had great fleets and each enlisted local and fringe minor races and factions to help them. The war came to a standstill, with several worlds flipping between both parties.
In the year 1113, Kaariel I struck a secret deal with the Republic. He would share his advanced technology of terraforming, further enhanced by the Ophoni, in exchange for securing their entry into the war - eliminating the Traditonalists as well. The Republic initially refused, but a mysterious incursion by Traditionalist ships in Republic territory forced them to declare war on the Empire in 1114 (a move that also gave the Emperor newfound international legitimacy, and forced the Reformers on his side). This allowed the Emperor to call for yet another Exaltation - and he announced that he would resign at the end of it and focus on religious duties, a tradition that was followed in all exaltations ever since.
They soon besieged several Traditionalist worlds. When Darius Prime - capital of the Io Helgau - was attacked by the Republic, the Traditionalists accepted defeat - but some of their Great Houses were spared in the Emperor's wise mercy and the constitution was amended to allow males to inherit the throne.
With this Empire thus restored and the Republic now on the Imperial side, the Emperor declared the Exaltation over and resigned, leaving power to his younger brother, Kaariel II.
In the year 1113, Kaariel I struck a secret deal with the Republic. He would share his advanced technology of terraforming, further enhanced by the Ophoni, in exchange for securing their entry into the war - eliminating the Traditonalists as well. The Republic initially refused, but a mysterious incursion by Traditionalist ships in Republic territory forced them to declare war on the Empire in 1114 (a move that also gave the Emperor newfound international legitimacy, and forced the Reformers on his side). This allowed the Emperor to call for yet another Exaltation - and he announced that he would resign at the end of it and focus on religious duties, a tradition that was followed in all exaltations ever since.
They soon besieged several Traditionalist worlds. When Darius Prime - capital of the Io Helgau - was attacked by the Republic, the Traditionalists accepted defeat - but some of their Great Houses were spared in the Emperor's wise mercy and the constitution was amended to allow males to inherit the throne.
With this Empire thus restored and the Republic now on the Imperial side, the Emperor declared the Exaltation over and resigned, leaving power to his younger brother, Kaariel II.
Galactic Total War (1121-1168)
The Ophoni had become steadfast allies of the Kalimshari Empire, but not all was well. On the other side of the galaxy, a powerful hegemony made up of warlike avian clans - the H'ssho - had started their own bid for galactic domination, seizing several of the myriad of small empires bordering it. Soon the Ophoni were under attack, and they petitionned the Empire for help.
In 1121, both parties formed an alliance known as the Covenant and the Imperial fleets, barely recovered from their civil war, entered into a war that soon dragged almost every important race and star empire known in the Galaxy. The Republic pledged support, though they also sought to undermine border systems they had some interest in.
Kaariel II declared the Sixth Exalted Age and Imperial Fleets massed to the warzone. For the first time, naval domination might not suffice and entire alien worlds might need to be invaded - a dreaded task to most war planners, and even a single planetary occuption could take years to fulfill.
34 Infantry Knight Chapters were rolled out : there were at least two per Great House, and several more independent Chapters, each with their own quirks, and each genetically engineered to be supersoldiers able to withstand the harshest of conditions.
The war lasted for 47 years, during which science made great leaps forward, and ended with the Ophoni home world devastated, the Rings of Zeals destroyed, but also with the defeat of the combined H'ssho fleets at the Battle of Alpha-89. When the war ended, the Empire was victorious, and Elvaan/Drow as a whole were now the single biggest species in the whole Galaxy - and a force to be reckoned with.
In 1121, both parties formed an alliance known as the Covenant and the Imperial fleets, barely recovered from their civil war, entered into a war that soon dragged almost every important race and star empire known in the Galaxy. The Republic pledged support, though they also sought to undermine border systems they had some interest in.
Kaariel II declared the Sixth Exalted Age and Imperial Fleets massed to the warzone. For the first time, naval domination might not suffice and entire alien worlds might need to be invaded - a dreaded task to most war planners, and even a single planetary occuption could take years to fulfill.
34 Infantry Knight Chapters were rolled out : there were at least two per Great House, and several more independent Chapters, each with their own quirks, and each genetically engineered to be supersoldiers able to withstand the harshest of conditions.
The war lasted for 47 years, during which science made great leaps forward, and ended with the Ophoni home world devastated, the Rings of Zeals destroyed, but also with the defeat of the combined H'ssho fleets at the Battle of Alpha-89. When the war ended, the Empire was victorious, and Elvaan/Drow as a whole were now the single biggest species in the whole Galaxy - and a force to be reckoned with.
The PSI Jump Drive (1168)
In 1120, an Imperial scientist, Kelloth, made a significant breakthrough. Combining warp and spike drive technology, he invented the Psionic Jump Drive. That engine allowed near instant travel across vast swathes of the galaxy, by "punching holes" through the Void. There were a few drawbacks; a psionic Navigator needed to be "plugged" into the navigation controls, and rather than just use the resonating properties of transdimensional Quadrinix, each jump outright used it up.
Yet the cost in money and minds was worth the near-instant jumps across dozens of light-years. It took twenty jumps - a couple of hours, most of it in realspace preparing for the next jump - to cross the entire Empire, whereas it used to take weeks if not months.
Spike drives, unfathomably slow and inferior, were relegated to intra-system travel and were phased out alltogether, as Jump Drives were combined with conventional drives.
Like the other drives before it, it wasn't long before the galaxy as a whole got their hands on the new technology. Hundreds of new worlds were either discovered or terraformed in just a few decades' time, including Bytha.
Yet the cost in money and minds was worth the near-instant jumps across dozens of light-years. It took twenty jumps - a couple of hours, most of it in realspace preparing for the next jump - to cross the entire Empire, whereas it used to take weeks if not months.
Spike drives, unfathomably slow and inferior, were relegated to intra-system travel and were phased out alltogether, as Jump Drives were combined with conventional drives.
Like the other drives before it, it wasn't long before the galaxy as a whole got their hands on the new technology. Hundreds of new worlds were either discovered or terraformed in just a few decades' time, including Bytha.
Kazon-II, a habitable world in the Neutral Zone left unsettled because of its pre-warp civilization. The heated debate on whether to uplift the local species into the Empire and use its agrarian potential was brought to a sharp end when the natives launched a world war and nuked themselves into oblivion.
The Gilded Age of Elvenkind (1168-1225)
he psi jump drive heralded the golden age of Elvenkind. Never before had the galaxy been so bound together, and although warfare still happened, notably endless skirmishes with the H'ssho and a few resentful and threatened minor species, it was a peaceful age. Most Drow still remembered the horrors of the previous age and of the Galactic War, and many decided to focus on renewed religious fervour and scientific progress. The Kalimshari, for all their nationalistic flaunting of wealth and focus on honour, were a melting pot of several species and discovery after discovery never ceased to amaze the minds of an entire galaxy.
Certainly the Empire had some skeletons in its closet - failed eugenics programs, sinister research labs, not to mention the husks of countless Navigators who lived a life as thrilling as it was short. On top of that, many Elvaan born on spaceships seemed to develop acute psionic sensibility, or "artificial" psionic ability : the MES Syndrome, caused by exposure of an unborn fetus to the latent energy of PSI drives.
Certainly the Empire had some skeletons in its closet - failed eugenics programs, sinister research labs, not to mention the husks of countless Navigators who lived a life as thrilling as it was short. On top of that, many Elvaan born on spaceships seemed to develop acute psionic sensibility, or "artificial" psionic ability : the MES Syndrome, caused by exposure of an unborn fetus to the latent energy of PSI drives.
Settling the Frontier : The Neutral Zone
For hundreds of years the Neutral Zone had been, by mutual agreement, policed but not settled by either major superpower. In this new age of friendship, there was little need for a separation zone and thus the Neutral Zone was opened to settling. Many of the military stations and listening posts that dotted an area of space the size of the Empire itself were converted to market holds, where the nomadic who had lived in the Zone in breach of all agreements could gather and settle down, and hardy settlers could terraform any world they wanted into a home.
This diaspora betrayed a fact that the Empire and the Republic were both hard-pressed to accept. Already locally split into thousands of factions, with the PSI drive pushing the frontiers of reachable space ever so far the old superpowers were hulks, unable to project their power beyond their holdings. The Neutral Zone proved to be an outlet for destabilizing elements, better kept under relative watch in a designated area rather than left to their own devices in the unchartable immensity of space.
But even the Neutral Zone had grown too big, too fast to effectively control and if both superpowers were to keep pace with technological progress, they were to turn inward and bring their factions to order. And while the core worlds marvelled at tech wonders never seen before and started to experiment with unbraked AI, many frontier worlds were left behind in the dust and had to build their colonies from the ground up. Soon many worlds were settled, some even terraformed outside of either the Zone or the inner and outer cores of the Empire and the Republic - a different frontier that the Empire had long repressed and swallowed up but which, by now, was able to thrive in plain sight of the many stellar lords and regional administrators. And the Frontier pushed back.
This diaspora betrayed a fact that the Empire and the Republic were both hard-pressed to accept. Already locally split into thousands of factions, with the PSI drive pushing the frontiers of reachable space ever so far the old superpowers were hulks, unable to project their power beyond their holdings. The Neutral Zone proved to be an outlet for destabilizing elements, better kept under relative watch in a designated area rather than left to their own devices in the unchartable immensity of space.
But even the Neutral Zone had grown too big, too fast to effectively control and if both superpowers were to keep pace with technological progress, they were to turn inward and bring their factions to order. And while the core worlds marvelled at tech wonders never seen before and started to experiment with unbraked AI, many frontier worlds were left behind in the dust and had to build their colonies from the ground up. Soon many worlds were settled, some even terraformed outside of either the Zone or the inner and outer cores of the Empire and the Republic - a different frontier that the Empire had long repressed and swallowed up but which, by now, was able to thrive in plain sight of the many stellar lords and regional administrators. And the Frontier pushed back.
Main superpowers in 1220, at the onset of the Unbidden Scourge. The "1250s Psi Drive" has just been introduced
The Unbidden Scourge (1225-1245)
At first it was minor sightings. blips on long-range sensors. In the euphoric rush of the Gilded Age, nobody thought much of them.
In the year 1221, the faraway Kingdom of Yohra - a minor Drow realm specifically built on one of the galaxy's furthest stars, collapsed with no warning.
A research team stumbled upon the doomed system in the year 1225, and discovered an extradimentional portal - and a small armada of spectral ships. The discovery was kept secret for a while, though the Chantry privately believed a Lolthian plot to be underway.
In 1226, the spectral ships started an attack on minor realms in their vicinity. Dubbed the "Unbidden", the ethereal spider ships made short work of the lordlings that dared to oppose them.
When word did reach the Empire, there was some unrest, which only grew bigger when the trickle of refugees from the galactic East became a flood. Many attempts to make contact were undertaken, but they were all met with silence and matter disintegrators.
Worlds they consumed were drained of psionic energy. A military massup and temporary alliance with the Republic was formed to combat the threat. In 1229, panic seized the Empire when Unbidden ships were spotted in the Neutral Zone.
By 1331, 15% of the galaxy's colonized systems had been taken over by the Scourge. So far it had only been minor realms, but a sense of ominous despair started to take hold across the Empire despite exhortations by the authorities to keep calm. Even though it had not yet been hit, the flow of refugees had become more than could be bearable.
Worse news - when the Unbidden started to attack the Kalimshari frontier fleets, even the most armed and shielded of vessels and formations could not hold their ground against the extradimensional invaders. The Fifth Fleet was lost, and soon, so was the Eighth.
In 1332, Republican space started to be attacked and despite a valiant counterattack and several technological upgrades, in 1337, Delta Pavonis itself was lost. Refugees flocked into the Neutral Zone, and into the Empire, far more than local authorities could cope with. Many systems were put on lockdown.
A reprieve was reached when, instead of marching onto Kalimshari, the invaders focused their attention on the core of the galaxy. In 1341, the Unbidden returned; several Second Wave worlds were lost to the attack, and the Empire was in need of a miracle now more than ever.
In 1243, several important Imperial worlds are laid to waste in a coordinated Unbidden attack. Desperate for a miracle, the last Empress, Elysael IV, summoned the Final Age of Exaltation. Riots and civil unrest overtake the Empire, which starts to collapse as the casualties start to mount in the millions. Remote worlds were not always targeted and served as shelters, unless they were on lockdown, but their days, too, were numbered.
It started to feel like the end of the world.
In the year 1221, the faraway Kingdom of Yohra - a minor Drow realm specifically built on one of the galaxy's furthest stars, collapsed with no warning.
A research team stumbled upon the doomed system in the year 1225, and discovered an extradimentional portal - and a small armada of spectral ships. The discovery was kept secret for a while, though the Chantry privately believed a Lolthian plot to be underway.
In 1226, the spectral ships started an attack on minor realms in their vicinity. Dubbed the "Unbidden", the ethereal spider ships made short work of the lordlings that dared to oppose them.
When word did reach the Empire, there was some unrest, which only grew bigger when the trickle of refugees from the galactic East became a flood. Many attempts to make contact were undertaken, but they were all met with silence and matter disintegrators.
Worlds they consumed were drained of psionic energy. A military massup and temporary alliance with the Republic was formed to combat the threat. In 1229, panic seized the Empire when Unbidden ships were spotted in the Neutral Zone.
By 1331, 15% of the galaxy's colonized systems had been taken over by the Scourge. So far it had only been minor realms, but a sense of ominous despair started to take hold across the Empire despite exhortations by the authorities to keep calm. Even though it had not yet been hit, the flow of refugees had become more than could be bearable.
Worse news - when the Unbidden started to attack the Kalimshari frontier fleets, even the most armed and shielded of vessels and formations could not hold their ground against the extradimensional invaders. The Fifth Fleet was lost, and soon, so was the Eighth.
In 1332, Republican space started to be attacked and despite a valiant counterattack and several technological upgrades, in 1337, Delta Pavonis itself was lost. Refugees flocked into the Neutral Zone, and into the Empire, far more than local authorities could cope with. Many systems were put on lockdown.
A reprieve was reached when, instead of marching onto Kalimshari, the invaders focused their attention on the core of the galaxy. In 1341, the Unbidden returned; several Second Wave worlds were lost to the attack, and the Empire was in need of a miracle now more than ever.
In 1243, several important Imperial worlds are laid to waste in a coordinated Unbidden attack. Desperate for a miracle, the last Empress, Elysael IV, summoned the Final Age of Exaltation. Riots and civil unrest overtake the Empire, which starts to collapse as the casualties start to mount in the millions. Remote worlds were not always targeted and served as shelters, unless they were on lockdown, but their days, too, were numbered.
It started to feel like the end of the world.
Last stand : the Imperial Third Fleet faces off the Unbidden in the Neutral Zone.
The Scream (1245)
In 1245, a blinding, almost instant shock-wave of psionic energy that, against all logic and science, spread across the Galaxy in the blink of an eye. Every piece of psionic equipment collapsed, exploded, or was rendered inoperable. Almost every psychic, and many more elves, was either killed or maddened. And in a single day, the entire Galaxy was left in ruins and chaos.
No one truly knows what happened to the Empire, or the Unbidden, or any of the other factions after this. Distances that used to take days now take years. Many of the surviving worlds (and very few survived) no longer follow Imperial protocol, and many more have become tomb worlds or regressed into barbarism, unable to sustain themselves and for the most part deprived of food, rare metals, fuel or even FTL at all; the few isolated Imperial Cults that still exist seem more interested in worshipping the idols of the past than project any form of government.
It has been 600 years since the Scream - years of the Great Silence across a galaxy that is waiting to bloom again.
No one truly knows what happened to the Empire, or the Unbidden, or any of the other factions after this. Distances that used to take days now take years. Many of the surviving worlds (and very few survived) no longer follow Imperial protocol, and many more have become tomb worlds or regressed into barbarism, unable to sustain themselves and for the most part deprived of food, rare metals, fuel or even FTL at all; the few isolated Imperial Cults that still exist seem more interested in worshipping the idols of the past than project any form of government.
It has been 600 years since the Scream - years of the Great Silence across a galaxy that is waiting to bloom again.
An Empire in Ruins
A significant fraction of the galactic population was killed very early on - at the hands of the Unbidden or as a result of the Scream. The Scream caused most PSI drives to outright explode, which further caused a lot of destruction.
The loss of the PSI drives meant that the only ships that could still cross the stars were these old non-hybrid Spike Drive ships. They could carry far less cargo and, more critically, they sailed the stars far slower.
In the blink of an eye, the core and industrial worlds of the galaxy were cut off from each other.
There are tales of Spike ships making it through. Some were planetary elites fleeing their doomed worlds on the handful of Spike ships still available, under the pretense of "looking for help"; others, traders or refugee ships, simply were forced to take off before frenzied mobs seized them. They told tales of horror, starvation and warfare over shipyard, orbital factories, and agricultural worlds. The few remaining navies set upon each other in futile desperation. Soon dwindling fleets of pirates and scavengers were stripping everything they could find. even as billions died of starvation on worlds never designed to fully sustain their populations.
There is hope that some inner core worlds survived, as they would be within Spike Drive range of each other - that is, if local governments had the foresight to retain entire fleets instead of upgrading, scrapping or fleeing with them. Yet it is therefore believed that most core worlds did perish - cripplingly overspecialized, stranded with no or very few ships left, over-reliant on external trade that could no longer be sustained.
On the frontier, things were not necessarily easier, but at least there, there were worlds without end, newly terraformed and lightly inhabited. The loss of PSI drives still took their toll on these isolated, scattered remnants and many of them were knocked down to lower technology levels and forced into subsistence farming - when they weren't setting their Spike ships on each other.
Yet many worlds simply were left stranded with no ships, and even these survivor vessels eventually broke down and degraded. Even if a world retained the science to build new ships, many of them still lacked rarer materials and facilities that were not found in every system. With the loss of specialized experts, galactic-wide comms, psykers and manpower, and diseases soon piling upon the survivors, even the better surviving worlds soon needed to focus on survival before reaching for the stars.
Soon the last remannts of the old superpowers, and their technological wonders, were blotted out alltogether. The Chantry collapsed, though many worlds retained at least some measure of faith in their gods and in the Void. Those few groups or worlds still possessing pretech capacity would hide themselves away to ride out the apocalypse, even if here or there, a rising hegemon would seize the chaos of the Scream as an opportunity to acquire more power. Very few such worlds ever succeeded and only left embittered systems in their wake.
Elvenkind has slowly begin to heal the wounds of the Scream. Agro worlds recovered well enough (though Bytha owed its survival to a very early quarantine that still saw 84% of its population die). Others were forever altered, but most Third Wave planets, on the frontier in the Neutral Zone, fared rather better than their core counterparts and these hardy planets are becoming the lynchpins of stellar nations and mini empires.
Trade routes have revived over time, albeit much slower and with far less capacity. A few expeditions have even managed to reach the outer core, and come back to the Neutral Zone with tales of tomb worlds and broken pretech. Great sacrifice has revived some sciences, including psionics, but many secrets of the Empire and Republic remain untold, lost forever to time or the lucky salvager. No world dares rely on psionic forces anymore, however, and many openly revile them. The cults of Lolth fester as they glean souls hopping from world to world, spreading their terrible apocalyptic cult in their wake.
Ancient navigation charts are well out of date. Though many alien species were also affected by the same reliance on psionics that destroyed the Empire, a few have started to settle in the space left out by the Drow. Warlords and tyrants scheme to expand their stellar domains, lost secrets yearn to be recovered. Those worlds that best recovered, like Bytha, still tether on a precarious edge and should be wary of feeling confident about their odds.
The year is now 1567. Stars without number await you.
The loss of the PSI drives meant that the only ships that could still cross the stars were these old non-hybrid Spike Drive ships. They could carry far less cargo and, more critically, they sailed the stars far slower.
In the blink of an eye, the core and industrial worlds of the galaxy were cut off from each other.
There are tales of Spike ships making it through. Some were planetary elites fleeing their doomed worlds on the handful of Spike ships still available, under the pretense of "looking for help"; others, traders or refugee ships, simply were forced to take off before frenzied mobs seized them. They told tales of horror, starvation and warfare over shipyard, orbital factories, and agricultural worlds. The few remaining navies set upon each other in futile desperation. Soon dwindling fleets of pirates and scavengers were stripping everything they could find. even as billions died of starvation on worlds never designed to fully sustain their populations.
There is hope that some inner core worlds survived, as they would be within Spike Drive range of each other - that is, if local governments had the foresight to retain entire fleets instead of upgrading, scrapping or fleeing with them. Yet it is therefore believed that most core worlds did perish - cripplingly overspecialized, stranded with no or very few ships left, over-reliant on external trade that could no longer be sustained.
On the frontier, things were not necessarily easier, but at least there, there were worlds without end, newly terraformed and lightly inhabited. The loss of PSI drives still took their toll on these isolated, scattered remnants and many of them were knocked down to lower technology levels and forced into subsistence farming - when they weren't setting their Spike ships on each other.
Yet many worlds simply were left stranded with no ships, and even these survivor vessels eventually broke down and degraded. Even if a world retained the science to build new ships, many of them still lacked rarer materials and facilities that were not found in every system. With the loss of specialized experts, galactic-wide comms, psykers and manpower, and diseases soon piling upon the survivors, even the better surviving worlds soon needed to focus on survival before reaching for the stars.
Soon the last remannts of the old superpowers, and their technological wonders, were blotted out alltogether. The Chantry collapsed, though many worlds retained at least some measure of faith in their gods and in the Void. Those few groups or worlds still possessing pretech capacity would hide themselves away to ride out the apocalypse, even if here or there, a rising hegemon would seize the chaos of the Scream as an opportunity to acquire more power. Very few such worlds ever succeeded and only left embittered systems in their wake.
Elvenkind has slowly begin to heal the wounds of the Scream. Agro worlds recovered well enough (though Bytha owed its survival to a very early quarantine that still saw 84% of its population die). Others were forever altered, but most Third Wave planets, on the frontier in the Neutral Zone, fared rather better than their core counterparts and these hardy planets are becoming the lynchpins of stellar nations and mini empires.
Trade routes have revived over time, albeit much slower and with far less capacity. A few expeditions have even managed to reach the outer core, and come back to the Neutral Zone with tales of tomb worlds and broken pretech. Great sacrifice has revived some sciences, including psionics, but many secrets of the Empire and Republic remain untold, lost forever to time or the lucky salvager. No world dares rely on psionic forces anymore, however, and many openly revile them. The cults of Lolth fester as they glean souls hopping from world to world, spreading their terrible apocalyptic cult in their wake.
Ancient navigation charts are well out of date. Though many alien species were also affected by the same reliance on psionics that destroyed the Empire, a few have started to settle in the space left out by the Drow. Warlords and tyrants scheme to expand their stellar domains, lost secrets yearn to be recovered. Those worlds that best recovered, like Bytha, still tether on a precarious edge and should be wary of feeling confident about their odds.
The year is now 1567. Stars without number await you.