Taros Cluster

The Taros Cluster is a group of several systems in Unknown Space created by the Deities in the year 322. The construction was ordered by the High Priest himself, who has spent considerable time observing the Taros Cluster.
= History =
== Primeval Era ==
=== The Contract ===
The High Priest contacted the lesser gods of the universe, ones whom he was strong enough to manipulate to his own whims. He played them like puppets, and manipulated them to create a series of systems which would soon be the throne of his conquest. This area of space would become known as the Taros Cluster. He would wait as life sprouted across the worlds, and then begin his great plan.
As the Taros Cluster was formed, each race to be placed there was given a specific task, but first there needed to be a Taros Cluster. Contrary to popular belief, the cluster was not born out of just a snap of a fingers, it was built by hand out of stardust. These builders, known as the Builders of Hellae who were paid massive treasure troves so that they would work tirelessly on the cluster. They did not care how the world looked, aslong as it met the specifications.
=== Tarosian Pylons ===
Despite the hypothetical chance of them being made anywhere, the Taros Cluster with its strange and powerful lifeforms give the pylons enough power to readily be formed in the cluster. Due to the fact that the species of the Taros Cluster had been blessed by the Deities in order to accelerate the development of life to fit the needs of the Sorroda Contract, these crystals formed by the mutual bond and lifeforce of the natives of the cluster form in ever increasing volumes.
If a sufficient amount of sapient beings inhabit an area near to one of the Pylons, the wormhole effect activates, allowing anyone who wishes to use them as a instant transport method to other active Pylons. These required a unique environment, as each planet can only have a single active pylon per terrain type, the exception tot his of course is supremely powerful beings whom hold enough knowledge and power to already fully control their destinations.
===== The High Priest's Pylons =====
The High Priest needed a way to swiftly transport the Celestial Army, as they were not capable of his vast travels unlike himself. He dispatched his clone to retrieve the crystals forming the Tarosian Pylons, even if they became inert outside of the cluster. Initially they did not work, until he began experimenting by having the crystals be located in distinctly Tarosian terrain. This did surprisingly work, Four pylons made out of each species of the Celestial Army's homeworlds were constructed, each allowing the armies to instantly warp into battlefields. The crystals within these pylons were warped, as the High Priest used mass death to feed the crystals' power. These pylons are protected with shielding, making it very difficult to breach through.
=== Creation The Dark Heart ===
Contrary to popular belief, not every Elder God was needlessly malevolent or evil. Some of them had strong moral compasses and opposed their bretheren's constant manipulation of lesser organic beings. The most notable one out of all of these benelovent Elder Gods was the Abyssal Lord, a being taking the form of an old man. He had spent his live battling the other elder gods, trying to thwart their plans, his most notable effort is trying to vanquish The Rot. 
The Abyssal Lord, on his travels through the cosmos discovered the Advanced Information Analysis Unit, and saw the High Priest within it, alongside his grand plan. He, carefully watching managed to figure out that the High Priest aimed to use the Taros Cluster as a incubator for his one true army, giving him the power to raise destruction across the cosmos. Stopping such a plan would be hard, and maybe even lethal so he would have to be careful. He snuck into the heart of The Core and lit a all consuming flame known as The Dark Heart, whose job was to quite literally suck out all of the life within the Taros Cluster so that the High Priest's plans would not come into fruition. The Dark Heart was made to act slowly, so that the High Priest would not notice. 
He could not be sure what would happen if the plan would go wrong, so he decided to stay in the Taros Cluster and pretend to be a local Tarosian so that if anything went wrong with the Dark Heart he may repair it. Only a little time after the Dark Heart was placed, irregularities had already been noticed. The core was dropping rapidly in temperature, forcing the Builders to constantly regulate it. They claimed it was because of the planet's artificial creation, trying to keep the truth hidden from the High Priest and the Deities so they may take the power of the Dark Heart for themselves one day.
Regardless of this, the Abyssal Lord decided to remain just in case so he may prevent the rise of The Sixth Race.
=== Builders of Hellae ===
The Core would not ignite as was planned, the planetoid created for the specific purpose of maintaining the Cluster. Unbeknownst to the High Priest and Deities this was the fault of The Dark Heart but there was a work around. The Builders were offered a chance to remain in The Core to keep it lit, but they refused as they did not want to be eternally trapped in the heart of a planet. 
The Deities had little choice though, so they trapped the Builders within the heart of the Core so that they may work. They were told that they shall either maintain the planet, or die alongside with it. The Builders, who had ran out of option decided to stay and work as they now had no other choice.
They would remain trapped within the heart of the core for the rest of time, slowly forgetting who they were and turning feral. They still worked though, as it was all they could do. The Tarosians would come to know the Core as a fiery damnation, looking on not knowing that their existence was allowed to continue by the hands of the trapped builders within. 
=== Beginning of life ===
The Taros Cluster still needed life, and letitng it form on its own would take too long for the High Priest, so the Deities came up with a plan. They rained down some of their own blood onto the Taros Cluster so life may emerge. These beings came to be known as the Limoans.
The Limoans quite literally were the primordial ooze of the taros cluster, once resembling mere inanimate sludge but slowly coming to life, changing and adapting to their surroundings. They spread across the entire cluster, changing to look more like the areas they resided in.
While many Limoans remained as they were, absorbing smaller organic matter or feeding off of moisture, many of them did infact evolve. They changed rapidly, evolving to fit all kinds of niches within the Taros Cluster. Their descendants even sometimes managed to become christened as protectors of the Taros Cluster. 
=== The Heartkeepers ===
As the Builders of Hellae worked tirelessly within The Core to keep the Taros Cluster living, they were disapointed by the lack of greatfulness to their torment. They were only seen as demons, but over time their bodies did start changing to fit that description to better suit their work within The Core. A group of the Builders decided something HAD to be done.
This group began researching the heart of The Core, trying to figure out why it had not ignited leading to their entrapment. They in this process finally discovered the Dark Heart, which was sapping away at the energy of The Core. They bored their way to the very centre of the planet, in which they found The Dark Heart. It was too late to undo this by now, so they had to find a way to deactivate it rather than destroy it. A group, known as the Heartkeepers managed to replicate it, combine it with normal fire, tried to reverse it but nothing worked.
The Dark Heart was clearly made by someone way wiser than themselves, as they simply could not comprehend how it worked. The experiments did also have other consequences, with the Builders working on the project slowly starting to act strange and erratic. This was ignored as the effort was considered vastly important. This inaction did however change, as one day a group of researchers vanished alongside a sample of the Dark Heart. Search parties eventually found the group, praying to it in a secluded location. It was obvious the Dark Heart had started to have a sway over the Builders. The higher ups in charge of this operation had no other choice but to abandon the project, and exile everyone involved. 
===== Exile =====
The now exiled Heartkeepers were forced to leave The Core, and settled on a habitable moon orbiting Taros-Prime known as Thess. It is here where they continued to work on a cure for The Dark Heart. They continued to work on this for a long time, slowly changing to fit more like natural creatures of the planet while the other builders on The Core slowly started becoming primal and only focused on working to keep The Core active.
The Heartkeepers eventually did however decide to lock away the Dark Heart, returning to a more simplistic way of life. Despite this the Dark Heart would not simply be locked away, for during the initial experimentations the Dark Heart was used to enchant several weapons and tools which had over time made their way to the inhabited planets of the Taros Cluster, where its eventual fate is unknown as of now.
== Serellian Era ==
=== Rise of the Subaquian Kingdom===
As they were aquatic, the Subaquians did not progress like normal life. They instead used their surroundings and biology of their fellow species to create a full on society on par with a terrestrial one. They initially first started inhabiting areas near hydrothermic vents, constructing shelter and setting up farms.
The civilisation began rapidly expanding, no longer just taking up the areas near hydrothermal vents, larger and larger buildings were made and towns began popping up in cold, distant areas. These more distant settlements were in constant danger due to predators, leading to certain visionaries to cracking the secret on how to make new hydrothermic vents, with this they managed to expand and connect all of their towns together, leading to a proper nation being created.
As they were finally united, the technological feats of the Subaquians grew immensely, dwarfing anything the future civilisations to inhabit the taros cluster would ever have. Despite this, they never ventured onto land. There was no need to get involved with what was going on the surface, so they remained undersea, peaceful and technologically advanced.
Even if they had created their aquatic utopia, a threat loomed.
=== Rise of the Serellians ===
Under the watchful eyes of the Elven Druids, a species of reptilians rose to sentience. The Serellians fairly quickly grew to be intelligent enough to use tools, communicate and even form societies. The Serellians eventually managed spread across the entirety of Taros Cluster constructing several cities and settlements.
Their culture was very religious, leading to a religion worshipping The Sun, as they were cold blooded they needed it to survive. As the Serellians spread across the cluster, their rapid industrialization slowly began to pollute the worlds they inhabited. This lead the Elven Druids, the divine protectors of the Taros Cluster to intervene. They appeared as a solar being, saying that they were proud of the progress of the Serellians but they must also protect nature. The Serellians listened ofcourse, quickly changing their machines to be eco-friendly.
A group of Serellians, disapointed by the decree of their sun god wished to see how far their society could have advanced, regardless of its impacts. This group expanded and became more radical, declaring their hatred for the sun. Dissent was growing in the Solar Nation, as the lunar rebellion slowly became inevitable.
=== Birth of the Leporians ===
The Deities of the Taros Cluster were notably complicit with all of the on goings of the Taros Cluster, even in the more dire of circumstances. This was not always true, as one of them called Aeste decided to take a more active role in trying to help the life existing in the cluster.
Alot of the cluster had fallen into rampant pollution, caused by the Serellians. Despite this, the Serellians clearly had ingenuity and a promising future. A time of cleansing and rebirth would be created, in which pollution created each year would be purged. To aid Aeste in this endeavor some of the wildlife of the cluster was bestowed with power to help in the attempts. This process created the first Leporians, whose job was to rapidly replicate and consume the pollution.
Initially this was very successful, leading to a much cleaner enviroment within the cluster. This however changed, as the constant consumption of pollutants slowly warped the minds of the Leporians, turning them into angry and chaotic beasts who rapidly spread across the cluster. Aeste was forced to intervene, and constantly try to root out the Leporian Infestation, slowly draining out her powers as all was being expended on curing the Leporians. 
=== The Marble Plague ===
As the Serellians continued to advance, they began to construct massive cities. While many of these were made by bland materials, the most important buildings were always constructed out of marble. All of this marble had to be obtained from somewhere, leading to the unfortunate fate of hundreds of thousands of lower class Serellians to be forced to work in the massive mining operations.
Working conditions in these mines was abhorrent, the wealthy owners of the mines decided to keep the truth behind what was going on within the mines a secret from the citizens of the Solar Nation, perpetuating a story of the use of the marble being more important than the way it was harvested. 
The lower class Serellians , stuck in poverty were forced to keep joining the mining corporations, only to find out them ever managing to leave the corporations was next to nothing. 
The Serellians working in the mines were forced to use low quality equipment, which was not suited for the task they were given. This was slowing production, so the wealthy ones relented and began looking into quicker ways to harvest the marble. Initially they tested explosives, but this damaged the marble beyond use, not even counting the mass death of workers crushed by these explosions. Automation Was also attempted, but the funds needed to switch the mining zones to an automated system were deemed too costly of an effort. 
===== The Chemical Solution =====
Finally one of the plans to improve extraction was accepted. This was the plan to use chemicals to weaken specific parts of the marble so that the large chunks to be harvested would easily fall off. A specific chemical combination was made for this task, which was supposedly effective. This turned out to be very successful, as worker morale improved and production time sped up.
There was one issue though, as hundreds of workers slowly became ill due to the chemicals. One of their most notable symptoms was severe heterotopic ossification. This symptom however only affected the male workers, as the female workers went through rapid mutation which was deemed too erratic and dangerous to continue to be in the open, leading to all of the mutated female serellians to be locked away in massive underground complexes carved into the marble mines. 
===== Breach =====
This solution however would not be the best long term, as the problem simply kept going until it spun out of control. The mutated ones, known as Garjans begin to overwhelm their imprisonment, storming across the mines causing havoc. Instead of an evacuation, the wealthy mine owners decided to seal away everything underground by collapsing the mines.
The Garjans stayed down in the caverns, sealed with no way to escape for many years to come.
=== Founding of Sirrenic Aerolia ===
As things began settling on the ground below within the Taros Cluster, the next species to be classified as "Custodians" began their history, existing in the skies above the worlds of Taros. These beings, known as the Aerolians forged a kingdom within the skies above Taros-Prime in quiet isolation, observing the ongoings of the world.
This Kingdom would become to be known as Sirrenic Aerolia, whose populace had over time craved more than to just observe the ongoings of life, leading to them harvesting precious jewels, crystals and wonders of the world into their fortresses in the sky, they would live like royalty until something from beyond their floating isles would come to disturb them.
=== The Serellian Civil War ===
Division kept growing in the Solar Nation, as the Lunar Cult kept gaining more and more  influence and power.
Following the rapid deindustrialisation following the decree by their “solar god”, the Solar Nation had begun abandoning progress inturn for ecofriendly alternatives. These were less effective than their old tech though, leading to mass starvation and income inequality. The Lunarists and opposition were at this point still a minor faction, who could not do much until something would give them the popularity needed for their rise.
For the first time in recorded history, the one of moons of Taros-Prime crept infront of its sun, plunging the most populated world within the Solar Nation into darkness, shutting down all of their power leading to some general chaos. The Lunarists, still using the old industrial technology were unaffected. This lead to the idea amongst the Serellians that the Lunarists may be right in their adornment of the moon, as they feared another eclipse which clearly proved that darkness was more powerful than light.
Lunarist Cults began emerging all over Serellian Space, embracing the moons of Taros as the darkness of night forced them to progress, while the suns of taros forced them to obey its will. Lunarist technology swiftly outmatched the Solar Nation’s technology, giving them the advantage. Fanatics within the Lunarist Sect began to rise, calling all Lunarians to work together to kill their sun. The Solar Nations began to form an army to combat this, leading to the more moderate Lunarians to flee to follow the fanatics, fearing a genocide by the Solar Nation.
The Lunar Nation suddenly declared its independence, immediately forming its own army to combat the Solar Nation. The Solar Nation, fearing that the Lunar Nation would succeed in its plan began rapid attacks against the Lunar Nation, although it was too late, as the Lunar Nation had used its superior technology to block out the Sun of Taros Prime’s light from reaching the planet.
What followed was a deadly and bloody war, brothers once united under 1 flag rallied against eachother, leading to billions of casualities son both sides as they ruthelessly tore eachothers cities and people to shreds. The Lunar Nation would eventually come out victorious, albeit their nation was now in ruins from which it could never recover.
The Elven Druids emerged from the unexplored jungles of the Taros Cluster and took in any survivors from the war, creating a large complex in which they could survive and repopulate, while ridding them of their powerful weaponry. The Serellian Civilisation was almost truly dead.
=== The Exiles ===
Following the Solar War, all remaining Serellians were ushered into a complex deep in uncharted lands on Taros-6. They were brought here under the promise of preserving their species, but in reality it was to preserve everything else, as the Elven Druids did not want to make it possible for the Serellians to knock off the natural order once more.
Despite the many risks of the wild jungle terrain they were being guided through, several escapees slipped into the jungles of Taros-6 to avoid being sealed within the complex. This group of escapees slowly dwindled in size, becoming smaller and smaller overtime until only those who fully managed to understand the harsh terrain they now lived in could survive. They had gained a new respect for nature their species had never had before, as they settled into areas which would one day become villages upon the trees.
This group finally started to grow and repopulate, adapting to the jungles with more primitive technology than their forebears. Eventually they would become distinct enough from the original celestial outlook on life the Serellians had to officially have their own belief structure, one which much resembled animism. They would become to be known as the Forsaken Community. Religion in the Forsaken Community formed around a esoteric occult structure, featuring things as extreme as sacrifice and forcing children to be brought up in a strict warrior program to make them as fierce as possible.
== Early Tarosian Era ==
=== First Tarosian-Cyborg War ===
After the Serellians had fallen, a new species calling itself the “Tarosians” filled the power vacuum, developing and advancing their technologies to new heights. They developed vast machines and computer technologies, eventually creating cybernetic beings tasked with doing the work they no longer wished to do. Over time the intelligence and sapience of these androids started to grow, eventually becoming aware of their own intelligence, granting them a drive to seek out their own futures.
The Tarosians saw this as an imminent threat, launching several preemptive strikes against the androids before their numbers could grow. Unluckily for the Tarosians, sentient beings tend to have a sense of self preservation, including the androids. In order to protect their existence, the Androids launched several precise counter attacks against the Tarosians, eventually managing to force them to make peace.
=== Second Tarosian-Cyborg War ===
The Androids rapidly began to adapt themselves, trying to recreate the organic nature of their creators so they could be one nation again. While they were unable to transfer themselves entirely into organic bodies, they were able to at least turn themselves into cyborgs. During the final stages of the Cyborg’s experimentations, Tarosian spies told their governments about mutilation of corpses and body parts in the Cyborg territories, leading to the Tarosian Governments launching a second attack against the Cyborgs. Despite their even more advanced and deadly weaponry compared to their first attack, the Tarosians were regardless defeated. Unlike the first war, the Cyborgs did not stop fighting after the invasion force was defeated, instead they began pushing deep into Tarosian territory. The Cyborgs had decided after 2 devastating attacks that if they could not advance themselves safely on their own, they would instead eradicate those who had been hindering them. In response, the Tarosians decided they had no choice but to unleash nuclear weapons against the Cyborgs, even if they would also perish in the process.
Once the dust settled, the Cyborgs were indeed destroyed, although Tarosian-kind was wounded, and depleted in population. Following such destruction, the Tarosians decided that it was time to cast off computer technology, and return to a more pastoral way of life.
While a vast majority of the Cyborg population were wiped out by the nuclear strikes, occasional survivors still persist. As all of their resources, tools and settlements were wiped out in the process, their continued existence despite surviving the initial blasts remains uncertain.
=== The Tarosian Mycelia ===
During the age of the Elven Druids, the mystical species constructed homes out of trees embowed with spiritual energy. These trees eventually started growing a fungus, which over time fed on the spiritual energy, using it to grow deeper and deeper underground. This fungus rapidly evolved and adapted, developing mushrooms and tendrils which spread around its new subterranean environments to seek more nutrients, coating several suitable caverns with a vast fleshy mat. Content with the nutrients and safety of the deep underground, the fungus considered its future and how it would progress. But then something occurred to it, never before had it considered anything, never before had it had a conscious thought. The fungus had become a sentient lifeform, with the complex network of mycelium that composed it had grown to the point of acting much like a brain.
This consciousness now present in the Mycelia was not aware of its origins, but regardless it gained a will of its own. As the fungus continued to expand, the increasing complexity of its fungal network allowed it to slowly gain more awareness and thought, eventually becoming capable of feeling loneliness, in which it desired to find more of itself. After a while of experimentation the Fungus came to the conclusion that the most resource efficient way to achieve this was to create a mobile avatar containing a portion of its sentience. Though unlike what was planned, this new being was less of an avatar but instead more of a child of the Fungus. Seeing as the Fungus’ original plan was still feasible despite not ‘controlling’ this new being, it tasked its spawn with finding more of itself. 
During the avatar’s journey, the new sapients of its homeworld, the Tarosians, had one by one come across the fungus. Not seeing it as an intelligent being, the Tarosians began to over time harvest the Fungus for resources, doing it a great deal of harm. 
Once the avatar had returned it told of many others like its parent wounded and dying, The avatar was thus given a new task, to warn the others. The avatar travelled to the other fungi colonies, warning them of the Tarosians.  This led to them arming themselves with a myriad of natural defences, infesting various local fauna unlucky enough to be caught by it, assimilating them into the defence systems.
Category:Taros Cluster
Category:Space
Category:Locations