Pre-Alignment History

The Alignment and its preceding events mark the destruction of a great deal of historical knowledge. What little was preserved did so through some scattered records, as well as the memories of those that survived. Even knowledge vaults, like those found on Sellannia and some Annular Strongholds, are not above scrutiny, as their stewardship has been spotty and the possibility of alteration is unavoidable. That being said, while most things have to speculated, some knowledge is more assured.

## Beginning of Life

The earliest known evidence of life is found on the First Moon of the Ur-Planet. A precise timescale of this process is difficult to pin down, as much of the evidence has been consumed by the competitive hyper-ecologies that now exist there. In the beginning, only single-celled organisms were able to thrive. Given the lack of a star or star-like energy source, it can be said with certainty that plants did not evolve at this time.

As the first lifeforms developed, so did disturbances across space and time. Somehow, beings from beyond the Void began to notice the developing microbes, and took an interest in them.

Before the existence of life, all that had existed were the four celestial bodies; the Ur-Planet, and its three moons. After life sprouted, however, something new began to develop. A lot of somethings, actually. Uncountable pinpricks of light showed in the Void; openings to other dimensions, other planes of existence. These "stars" allowed supernatural energies to flow into the world, subtly influencing the course of events.

Now that stars existed, light began to influence the life on the First Moon. Of course, light had existed before them, but this had been mostly in the form of volcanic activity, and wasn't nearly consistent enough to affect the developing microbes. These odd new lights did, though, and so plant life was able to evolve. It did not take long for photosynthesis to come about, and soon, plants were able to specialise further.

With increasingly complex niches and environments, multicellular life approximately five hundred million Standard Cycles before the Founding. Eukaryotic life emerged soon after.

## Development of Civilisation

Despite the fast pace of evolution, truly intelligent life only arrived a "mere" fifty million Cycles before the Founding. Various different species achieved sentience at this time, evolving at almost comically quick speeds. And this sapience didn't only evolve in the animal kingdom; plants, fungi and even some prokaryotes developed it. Among these species, only a handful would remain to see what became of the universe.

While most sentient species evolved far away from each other, most would eventually come into contact with one another. Technology and social systems became more complex, resulting in two things; first, it became possible to find other species; and second, their social systems often clashed, resulting in many conflicts.

Eventually, though, a somewhat peaceful stability arose. Nations sprouted and spread, until at some point, the entire First Moon was claimed by some country or another. Though war was never truly ruled out as a possibility, alliances became more abundant than rivalries, and most species were able to live besides each other just fine.