Order of the Umbral Star

The Order of the Umbral Star is an organisation of Mauretarian adherents whom wander and study the Liminal Gap and the Labyrinths of Night.

## Description

The Order of the Umbral Star is the most prominent of the groups within the Liminal Gap, providing a great deal of information and assistance to those living or wandering through the region. The Order regularly distributes information in the form of survival guides and databases to any willing and reachable individual in the region, alongside beacons that would give their location should they be abducted by a Labyrinth. The Order's main headquarters is based within a Labyrinth that has since been converted into an immense violet star.

## History

The Order itself was founded under the name of Starlens some time after The Scattering on the edges of the Liminal Gap by an individual named Mur-Uot. Mur-Uot gathered some surviving bearers of Mauretar's Exaltation at a damaged Weave Node bordering the region in order to pool resources to look for their surviving family and friends within the Gap. The group began their search with localised survey runs, due to a lack of resources and manpower to undertake anything more than searching nearby realities. This began to change after the Weave Remnant was established, and the First Pathfinder War was launched.

Over time, the organisation grew as the Weave Remnant stabilised and consolidated its holdings; when more and more Transcends, Old Brethren and Shardbearers were able to gain a respite in the fight for survival, many wished to know the fates of family, friends and acquaintances separated from them during the Collapse and Scattering. Powerful individuals and parties on the edge of the Gap invested resources and expertise into the organisation, allowing the the order to greatly expand its capability. Mur-Uot decided that the time was right for an expansion of operations, and the first of many major exploratory expeditions into the Liminal Gap.

This first expedition happened across a mobile reality after several survey teams went missing. In the ensuing search for the missing personnel, their steps were traced to a specific reality from which they disappeared. As the expedition set up observation posts, multiple stations detected a universe moving away rapidly from their location. The expedition sent multiple security fleets in pursuit until they were surrounding the reality in the Void. These mobile realities would come to be known as the Labyrinths of Night; artificial universes abducting the isolated and unwary for unknown purposes before disappearing from the area.

Alerting the Weave Remnant on their discovery, the Remnant sent several expeditionary fleets into the Labyrinths. In unknown territory and with no prior intelligence, the exploration and clearing of the Labyrinth turns into a grinding slugfest where drones were sent in and lost by the octillion. Research teams accompanied the expeditionary forces as they further studied the different levels of the labyrinth, gathering a great deal of information. Upon reaching the hundred thousandth level, the expeditionary forces happen across a Mother-That-Was. The entity and its forces cut down large swathes of the drones sent to destroy them, forcing dozens of kill teams of Transcends, Old Brethren and Shardbearers to deploy to the level. What followed was a grueling battle, with multiple engagements as the teams cleared the way to the throne through constantly spawning enemies. The entity itself was killed by a Shardbearers choir, whom struck while the Mother-That-Was had its attention drawn to other forces.

With the clearing of the Labyrinth, Mur-Uot ordered the establishment of the Order's first permanent base within the Gap. Now with a secure and permanent base of operations, the forces of the Weave Remnant gathered and regrouped to launch smaller expeditions from the captured Labyrinth. These expeditions establish several new strongholds and bring several other Labyrinths back. After extensive study from the other captured labyrinths, the Order concluded that these realities were artificial constructs, and thus likely have a source within the Gap.

As the first expeditions were completed, the Order began searching the mapped areas for the source of the Labyrinths. After several centuries of searching and tracing the paths of Labyrinths, it had finally managed to locate the origin of the Labyrinths. Situated deep in the Gap at the epicentre of destroyed Weave Nodes was a sub-region designated as the Architect's Manse. This small Pool of Possibility was identified as the source of the Labyrinths, with exploration vessels sent in immediately. The vessels made attempts to communicate with the beings within, before being hailed via psychic means by an unknown entity.