Galactic History

# The History of the galaxy...

There is much that is unknown in the galaxy, especially the truth of the galaxy's origins.  However, much can be seen through the artifacts and remnants left behind by previous civilizations.

## Age of Genesis

Long ago, in an age long since lost to history, there were great and powerful wars that engulfed the galaxy in its entirety, leaving tens of millions of worlds lifeless, and trillions of lives lost in the cataclysmic battles.  These were the times of an age when titanic gods roamed the galaxy, an age known as the War of the Stars, an age known only in myth and legend.  Little is known of this long forgotten age, but the history of this period will be told here, pieced together painstakingly over the centuries by countless scholars from many worlds and races.

In the beginning, there was only the powers of light and darkness, forever intertwined with each other, for one could not survive without the other.  The Darkness could not grow without the Light, and the Light would stagnate without the Darkness.  This is a truth that has been passed down since time immemorial, representing the never ending conflict between the two.  Then came the Primordial Gods, both of Light and Darkness that understood the need for balance.  The Primordial Gods would toil for countless eons creating the universe from the fires of Creation itself, the ultimate source of power in the entire universe.  The Primordial Gods spread stars, planets and more into the vast expanse of the once empty universe, seeding ideal worlds with life of all shapes, sizes and abilities.  For a time, all was well as the Primordial Gods worked in harmony to create balance, but as in all things, at times, one side becomes greater than the other.

One of the Primordial Gods of Darkness discovered the powers of the opposite of Creation, the energies of Chaos.  Corrupted by these foul energies, the Primordial God began a war against his brethren, corrupting many of them in the process.  This Primordial God would come to be known as Sho'vothar the Destroyer, and it became his goal to destroy everything and bring about the Realm of Chaos, a realm of death and decay.  At first his attacks pushed back the Uncorrupted Primordials until the intervention of the Primordial Dragon Gods who had been given domain over the galaxies that would come to be known as the Somnium Drax and Milky Way galaxies.  With their arrival, the Uncorrupted became organized, and the war became even.

The war dragged on for countless more millenia until Sho'vothar was finally cornered with his few remaining followers in the Somnium Drax Galaxy.  The final climactic battle resulted in the deaths of most of the remaining Primordial Gods, both Uncorrupted and Corrupted.  Only the Dragon Gods and a few other Uncorrupted remained as Sho'vothar lay defeated before them, with only a few of his followers left.  The Dragon Gods and the remaining Uncorrupted took Sho'vothar to the heart of the Milky Way galaxy, and there, surrounded by the chaotic and lethal forces within the heart of the galaxy, Sho'vothar and his remaining followers were sealed away in a prison world, hopefully to never be released again, but as in all things, even the best laid plans could be undone.  Four of the Uncorrupted chose to stay and become the guardians of the prison world, becoming part of the seal binding Sho'vothar and the Uncorrupted itself, and as long as they lived, Sho'vothar would never be free.

The Dragon Gods retreated back to the Somnium Drax galaxy, and finished their work of seeding life on the worlds of their galaxy.  Then their energies exhausted from both their work and the war, they retreated to the heart of the Dragonstar galaxy to rest and recover their energies.  In time, they would eventually be forgotten by almost every world, except for a single world, but that is a story for another time, and so ends the Age of Genesis, and the Age of the War of the Stars begins.

## Age of the War of the Stars

The Primordial Gods had vanished into history, forgotten as new races emerged from their worlds, gaining new, younger gods formed from the collective consciousness of their followers as their minds influenced the flows of magic within the galaxy.  Many races rose to prominence during this time the most powerful of which were the Mir’runian Enclave and the Kran’raethi Empire.  Both these powerful races ruled their respective halves of the galaxy after centuries of expansion, absorbing lesser races into their respective empires, though there couldn’t be more differences between them.

The Mir’runian Enclave treated the younger races as equals, uplifting them when they were ready to join them among the stars.  Sharing knowledge, technology, and culture, the Mir’runian ruled worlds were centers of knowledge, learning and peace.  It was a golden age for the Mir’runians and their subjects, a time when there was harmony and peace among the races of their territories.  Unfortunately, these times of peace would not last, for war inevitably always follows peace in a never ending cycle.

In the Kran’raethi Empire, things were the polar opposite as the Kran’raethi brutally slaughtered and subjugated the lesser races, incorporating them as slaves, fit only to serve the Kran’raethi war machine.  Unlike the Mir’runian controlled worlds, Kran’raethi worlds were dismal, dirty and heavily industrialized, but there was no stopping the fact that the Kran’raethi Empire was on the decline, unable to maintain its ravenous appetite with half the galaxy.   The Kran’raethi emperor and his closest advisors decided that it was time to add the Mir’runians to their empire.  Plans for war then began to take shape in the deepest depths of Kran’tera, the Kran’raethi homeworld.

The first blow against the Mir’runians came unannounced and unexpected on a small border world whose name has been lost to history.  the Mir’runian were startled at first but quickly organized and called to their own powerful war fleets, intent on defending their territory and protecting the younger races under their care.  Soon enough, the Mir’runians had pushed the Kran’raethi out of their territory, though both sides had suffered heavy casualties in the fighting.  It had turned into a stalemate as the Kran’raethi reeled from the unexpected resistance, and the Mir’runian mourned their dead and fortified their borders.  The War of the Stars had begun.

Millennia passed, and the War of the Stars continued as the Kran’raethi and the Mir’runian fought brutal battle after brutal battle.  In the wake of their battles countless worlds were left lifeless and barren of life.  Where there had once been graceful and beautiful spires and center’s of learning, only rubble and death remained.  The younger races had all but been wiped out in the fighting, too few to carry on their races as they waited for the end of the war, knowing that when the war ended, it would be thousands, possibly even hundreds of thousands of years before life returned to the galaxy.  Then the unexpected happened, and the war came to its final conclusion.

The Kran’raethi had finally gained the upper hand against the Mir’runians, and were closing in on their last stronghold intent on wiping the Mir’runians out.  The Mir’runians knew that their time was over, and accepted that they would die out.  They were unwilling to leave the galaxy in the hands of the Kran`raethi however, and so they activated a weapon that they had sealed away, one so great and terrible that they had hoped to never use it.  It used a mysterious energy force that permeated the entire galaxy, but was centered on the very heart of the galaxy, though no one had ever returned from that place.  In a shockwave that covered the entire galaxy, all life was wiped out, leaving the galaxy barren.  The Mir’runians had planned for this however, and had left repositories of their knowledge scattered throughout their half of the galaxy well before the start of the war.  They knew that one day, life would return to the galaxy, and their knowledge and ideals would be inherited by new races.  They couldn’t have known just how right they were as millions of years passed, their repositories destroyed by time through the passing millennia as natural events destroyed all but one of these repositories.  It was a world that had garnered little interest to either the Mir’runians or the Kran’raethi, despite its proximity to the heart of the galaxy.  The Mir’runians had placed a repository here with the hope that a race would be born of this world to inherit their will and ideals.

## Age of Dragons

Millions of years passed as the galaxy slowly recovered from the aftermath of the War of the Stars.  The war had been devastating, and there were worlds that would never fully recover, the effects of the war still visible on their surfaces.  In the heart of the galaxy, the Primordial Dragon Gods continued their sleep, unaware of the events that had taken place in the galaxy.  However, part of the Dragon Gods knew of what happened, and their sub-conscience drifted out into the galaxy.  Working slowly, the Dragon Gods physical forms started spreading life through the galaxy once again.  This time, magic would be a greater part of life, the very same energy used to create the weapon that destroyed all life in the galaxy.

Many years passed before the Dragon Gods physical forms began to see the fruits of their labor.  On countless worlds, barren and lifeless wastelands gave way to verdant and untamed forests, swamps, oceans and more.  Then emerged the first sentient life forms, taking shape after the very gods that created them, the first dragons had appeared.  Though sentient, they had yet to evolve to the point where one day they would be revered and even feared.  These proto-dragons set about helping their gods, coming in many shapes, forms, and abilities.  Over time, the proto-dragons became more defined, intelligent and powerful, soon taking on their final evolved form.  However, there was a growing rift between the dragons, where there had once been harmony.  This event would become the defining moment of the Age of Dragons.

Years had passed and new young races had finally begun to emerge, the first of the younger races to emerge were the eladrin elves of Caledon III, and the delriki elves of Umbra.   The eladrin steadily built an empire that would last for thousands of years, even as the dwarves, nord, and other young races appeared.  They were largely unaware of the growing rift between the dragons as the young races continued to develop, bringing new cultural ideas and experiences with them.  The dragons had noticed these aspects of the younger races, but were unable to agree on whether to rule them, or guide them.  It was an issue that would lead to the current state of the dragons.

There were three factions that had risen among the dragons, though their appearance and abilities varied from world to world, their colors remained largely the same.  The Metallic dragons wanted to guide and protect the younger races, while the Chromatic wanted to rule the younger races, considering them to be inferior to dragons, but the third faction was more neutral and simply wanted to observe the younger races, only intervening if there was a dire threat to all races.  In the end, the Gem dragons as they were called won in the end, though the Metallic’s would be able to interact with the younger races as they desired.  The Chromatics were allowed to rule the younger races only if in their territory.  This agreement became known as the Assembly of Dragons, and since that time, the strongest and wisest of dragons meet in secret locations on their worlds to ensure that war does not happen between dragons, though fights between single dragons were not forbidden.

It was during the disagreements between the dragons that events occurred on their respective worlds, especially the worlds of Caledon III, Umbra, and Akkadia, homeworlds of many of the races that would one day become galactic powers.  On Caledon III, the eladrin kingdom of Silverin had fractured and dissolved as the eladrin split into different sub-races until the eladrin themselves were gone.  The delriki of Umbra had conquered and subjugated the other native races of their world and made them slaves to their will.  On Akkadia, plague and disease was devastating the population, causing hysteria, panic, and paranoia as the dragons struggled to hold back the plague.

On Caledon III, the dragons were helping a young hero defeat a dark warlord who had been corrupted by the corrupting power of a mysterious shard that would become known as a Shard of Darkness, though it was in truth a shard of Sho`vothar.  On Intai'sei, the dragons were under attack by the young Intai'sei, who had been blinded by religious zealotry preached by a mad man who seemed wise to the people at the time, in the end, the Intai'sei dragons were forced to flee, taking refuge with their Caledonian kin who willingly took them in. On Umbra, the dragons tried to curb the growing power of the delriki, but in the end, most fell to the delriki, their bodies displayed as trophies, and the rest of the dragons went into hiding, as the delriki hunted every color dragon for their scales and bones.

The akkadian dragons eventually managed to find the cure for the plague with the aid of a young paladin with extrodinary power. Once the plague was dealt with, the dragons helped the young paladin unite his devastated people, eventually founding the Ashriven Empire, which would eventually become the Imperium of Akkadia. The young paladin became the first God-Emperor, Dalazar the Enlightened, and as thanks to the dragons, had a great hall built in the deep mountains known as the Hall of Dragons, where the dragons could live and monitor their world.

On Caledon Prime, the Dark Warlord was defeated, though the young hero fell in battle, taking the Dark Warlord with him, ending the war that had been started. The following years of rebuilding were hard for the Caledonian races, with many of the nations that had once sprad across the planet now in ruins or destroyed completely. The few remaining nations burdened with refugees turned to the newly formed Adventurer's Guild, whose headquarters was located in Northkeep, the capital of the Northwind Kingdom for help. With financial incentives from the few remaining countries, the Adventurer's began traveling the continent, and clearing out the dangers. Eventually, the kingdoms that had been ruined or destroyed began to reappear, the Caledonians moving into their Iron Age.

## Age of Ascension

At the beginning of what is known as the Age of Ascension, which is also the current era, the races of the major powers began to explore the stars. The first to reach beyond their home star system were the Akkadians, being the first to establish their first extra-solar colony in the nearest star system. Then came the Caledonians, and the Umbrans. Each began their first expansions into the stars peacefully, unaware of each other. This would soon change in a few years.

### Akkadian-Caledonian War(First Great War)

The Imperium of Akkad, or the Akkadian Imperium as known by the conquered populations that had come under the Akkadian banner. They swiftly expanded their influence, encountering and assimilating those they encountered with impunity. They encountered and conquered the Solarasi Tribes that inhabited the planet of Solaras, though the Solarasi would stubbornly  hold onto their culture and beliefs despite Imperium attempts to force them to assimilate. While the Akkadians were expanding, there was growing unrest in the God-Emperor's court, powerful factions began  to emerge, though all were loyal to the God-Emperor and his descendants. These powerful factions began to vie for favor from the emperor, claiming large areas of the Imperium as their factions territories. For three thousand years, this continued, the High Nobles waging private wars with each other that the Emperor enjoyed, but the common peoples abhorred.

Then came the news that their glorious military was not only pushed back from a system selected for conquest, but that there was another civilization on par with theirs, with a military that was evenly matched to theirs. They had encountered ships from the Caledonian Kingdom, and the Akkadians had attempted to conquer one of their colonies. When reports came that this event had happened along a long front, the God-Emperor, the High Nobles, and both the Lord of Admirals & Lord of Generals were stunned as details emerged. Then they quickly organized and began a campaign to squash what was thought to be a fledgling empire that had gotten lucky. Soon they realized that the Caledonians held a territory as large as theirs, with a culture and kingdom just as prosperous and stable as their own. The battles grew more heated and more brutal as time went on.

The war continued for a hundred years before both sides grew tired of the fighting and sued for peace, with a DMZ between the two being agreed upon by both sides. While the Akkadians felt that it was their right to rule the galaxy, they had grown to respect the fighting capability and bravery of the Caledonians, especially the nords that ruled the Caledonian Kingdom.

### Akkadian-Caledonian War(Second Great War)

The peace between the two super-powers lasted only two hundred years, in which time, the new God-Emperor of the Glorious Imperium of Akkad ascended to the throne after the death of his father, Emperor Justinius III, taking the name Emperor Justinius IV. The new emperor, while young, was an ambitious and brilliant young man who sought to solidify his power, eliminating anyone that could challenge his power. He had members of his own family executed to prevent attempts to take power from him. During this time, he became known as Barbarosa the Red-Handed for this, and eliminated nearly all of his family except for a young princess and her husband, who fled Akkad before they could be arrested. Knowing that they would not be safe in the Imperium, the two fled to the one place where they would be safe, hoping that there would be asylum there. They crossed the border into the Caledonian Kingdom a few months later, as travel was limited to the speed of FTL drives.

Upon entering the kingdom, they were quickly apprehended by the Caledonian border patrols, and upon learning their identities, got them onto a high-speed transport to Caledon III to meet with the Caledonian High-King, Ulfrik High-Wind. Once meeting with the high-king, the couple were relieved to learn that they were being granted asylum, since the news of the familial purges had reached even the Caledonians despite Akkadian efforts to suppress the news. The Caledonians were well aware that harboring the princess and her husband might invite war, but a poll taken amongst the citizens revealed that most were prepared for the consequences, with only a vocal minority demanding that the couple be deported back to Imperium Space. The Caledonians made preparations and fortified their border defenses in preparation for what was to come when the Akkadians learned that the princess, the last member of the God-Emperor's family, was in Caledonian Space and being granted asylum.

It did not take long for the new God-Emperor to learn of where his cousin and her husband were located, and though ambitious, he was reluctant to start a war with the Caledonians due to his rule still being so new. Instead he took the unprecedented step of approaching the Caledonians diplomatically, ignoring the protests of those in his court that wanted him to conquer the Caledonians. He knew that conquering the Caledonians would not be easy, and would be costly as well.

While the Caledonians were willing to talk, it quickly became obvious to the diplomats sent to Caledon III that the High-King would not accede to their demands to return the princess and her husband. The diplomats were sent back empty handed, the shackles and restraints provided to them empty as the Caledonians had refused the demands to return the princess and her husband. The report was sent back to the God-Emperor as soon as the diplomats reached Akkadian space. It was not long before Justinius declared war on the Caledonians, driven by his ambition and desire to be the only one to sit on the throne. The Caledonians had been prepared for this, and stood their ground as Akkadian forces poured over the border.

The Second Great War lasted for a hundred and fifty years before it ended, with neither the caledonians and akkadians gaining ground on the other. The fighting had been brutal, with countless casualties on both sides. When peace was at last secured between the two, there was not another DMZ, as the last had failed.

### Caledonian-Akkadian War(Third Great War) & Solarasi/Intai'sei Independence

It was four hundred years before the next war started, but this war would lead to new events unlike any that had come before.