History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread

[Jmenschenfresser]

2413.8
Tallik and I are back in Cephedri. The Last year has been a shuttle from one system to another assessing fleets, ships, satellites and the theory of how they best support one another. Something I am particularly interested in is the newest starbase class. 2500kt simply boggles the mind. I've been on several of the smaller stations, and those had more than enough of every luxary a Norak could want. Those things must look like cities in space. Several military designs are under construction about the continuum.

Being the simple man, or simpleton, I'll let the reader judge, that I am, I am wary of this new integration of technology and religion. My ways are the ways of century old traditions. In spite of the fancy gear our space marines now storm about in, I still wear a robe and sandals. I see some of the gear they wear and I see the points of those who argue our military is by existence alone, aggressive. I think if I were clad from head to toe in black and leather, I'd have a degree of bloodlust as well. The new integration I speak of is a device made of metal from a most unholy place back on Xiban I. The quarry for this ore is the very site of the imprisonment of He Who Is Not Named. Our legend tells us that long ago, when the universe was but an infant and the Creator had finished Her work, She fell into a deep sleep beyond the Void, in a place unthinkable to mortal creatures, but some call it the Womb of Eternity Past. Here She slept, but the fabric of the universe felt the lack of Her presence. Things began to grow cold; the Divine Geometry lost much of its original truth; murder crept into the world; and the first rebellion began. Never doubt that evil is very much aware of itself, and only by the Hand of She who guards the eternal watch, was evil made knowable and partitioned. But in those dark days, Evil grew and all its various emmanations existed as a single, focused personality. A personality which eventually became presence, which eventually became shadow, which eventually became force, which finally became being. The Great and Holy Text tells of the wars and death wrought upon Xiban. Life, on its Last breath and Last leg. Life itself was not worth the pain. He Who Is Not Named moved freely over and through all there was. Nothing stood before him which he feared. But the Almighty awoke and reentered Existence. Angered the She ripped a jagged mountain from Xiban's thick crust and thrust it through the belly of He Who Is Not Named. His blood ran down the mountain, soaking it, penetrating its very molecular structure. Still full of divine rage, She drove the mountain, top down, back into the crust of Xiban, burying deep the rotting body of evil. The plain, which was a mountain, is barren and contains a metal found no where else.

Within the Last year our scientists have suddenly encountered strange properties within this metal. I say suddenly because now that I know what it does, I have to wonder about much of Norak history. Are we really the first to know about this metal? It seems agression and hate and malicious intent are intensified by this metal, giving the user great success in his path of destruction. The supposed discovery came when the science community did tests upon several sacred blades residing in the old Imperial Palace. They contain some of this metal. Apparently this metal is too brittle to use solely in the making of blades. On to the important...

Several of our star ships are now equipped with a large chunk of this metal. Still too brittle to use in the hull of the ship, a large quantity of tonage must be allocated for the installment of this, what the pilots call, Talisman.

Personally it makes my skin crawl. Surely the Almighty will not condone benefit from her one and only true enemy. I pray constantly for forgiveness from the blindness our ambition spawns.

The Praetorians have contacted us about buying the Nevada X, and we are more than willing to sell it to them. They have already paid us the cost of having her unmothballed, and upon delivery they have promised to show us several new technologies we do not possess. I have not gone back and checked my starcharts, but I suppose they have a system or two full of useless asteroids.

Pellwain contacted me from deep within Farzah space yesterday. We had a holographic tea party, like we used to do when we were younger. Several hours passed in conversation probably only of interest to the two of us. She said the new colony was coming along. Basic infrastructure would soon be in place and the Counsel has allotted most of the world as deep space research. Perhaps there are phenomena in Knoglam which we have not seen yet. I do not know, and neither does Pellwain really. I asked her about living within telescope distance of the Farzah, and she said they can be charming in an offensive kind of way. I think that is her way of saying she feels right at home. Pellwain herself has always been considered offensive by the majority of people who meet her. If anyone can talk to the Farzah, it should be Pellwain.

[spacefan]

We could name this "History of Europe" and it would be just as accurate.

The more I've got into this game, the more it seems to parallel the Medieval feudal society, with the church as a unifying force for all the little kingdoms and fiefs and such.

As you might have expected from above, just like in Medieval times, where the Church owned property in many different places, the Norak now have planets in the systems of nearly all of the other "empires". Like in Medieval times, the Norak are trying to keep us in line with religious teachings, but we continue to fight our petty disputes, plunder, kill and such (although so far the game is relatively peaceful by comparison.)

The Fazrah which I play, seem to represent the truly chaotic knights and assorted others that serve to stir things up, and whom offer only token fealty to their overlord.

The Praetorians and Sallegans represent more organized nations, which really seem to come more from the later stages of the Medieval period. They both are powerful, but no where near as powerful as the Norak, especially if the Norak managed to convince all the Groups with some tie to its religion to join them.

The remaining empires that the Norak have met represent some of the other small nation-states.

And then there may be a few empires the Norak haven't met, but unfortunately we have no real enemy to go on crusades against, so I predict internal conflict to continue. Fazrah at least seem to be boxed in, and pretty much limited forever in what empires they'll have contact with.

[spacefan]

2413.9
Alpha Tau, Ship Lords' Log

When I called for election nearly a year ago I assumed we'd be at war with the Praetorians within a month and I'd be far from homeworld. Instead neither side has said a thing in the conflict, indeed most all contacts are silent at this point.

The only thing keeping the warships from going berserk from boredom is constant news about undisclosed contacts within the Amon'krie, and the progress of two ships that have defected and are heading to Homeworld for a celebration and feast.

Its rare to see this many ships orbitting homeworld. Many captains and their crews have been visiting other ships, exchanging war stories and other gossip, and getting a Oom'vra championship set up. The Cue'Cappa are here as well, with a light cruiser and crew, and they plan on being the first outsiders to play Oom'vra in the championship.

Oom'vra tournaments are sporadic at best, occuring when at least 32 lords promise to play throughout the duration. Individual Oom'vra games are played frequently in any corner of Fazrah space, and Oom'vra is a game that is vastly different every time it is played.

The tokens that are used are made by the players, and they may have bizarre rules that would seem to unbalance the game. However the real fight is in the first phase of each game, where players try to get the right tokens, as each player may end up with mostly tokens brought by the opponent, or not, depending on the play. The main mark of skill in the game is to confuse your opponent, while making the Token understandable enough for the judge to allow it. (Pure gibberish and truly ambiguous tokens are not allowed)

Amateurs and outsiders often have difficulty with the odd quirks of this game, as it gives a first impression of simply being a matter of making "I WIN" tokens. An old saying goes, "The fool writes 'I win', while the master uncovers it."

I've played a bit of Oom'vra, but I'm not up to the top players. I've seen their tokens, and they manage to fit quite a bit into 100 words.

Other than the 'I win' tokens, even our Fazrah gold coin has Oom'vra token rules on the back, as it can be played as a token. It is a very broadly used token, more popular than 'I win' and all good players have to account for its rules and try to counteract them.

Oom'vra is good fun, and a good example of Fazrah ways for outsiders. It can get rowdy, with a whole gaggle watching every token played and cheering them on. We plan on showing it to the Amon'krie captains that defected. The bit of the Gold being a token gets them every time. I've also heard a few Lords banter about a new Token in play, thats been christened in my name as,

"Lord Alzene's Undo Mischief"
[A rough translation from Fazrahn of course, but the best that can be had]

[siderial]

Disturb the ether but slightly,
We ride the soft currents in joy.
Disturb the ether with great force,
We ride the cyclone in fear.
It is thus within as without.

- Poet Eed (SR 451)


"We are the Many and we are One."

The Elders of the Eee recited the Song of the Truth at the beginning of every gathering. Translated into the limited language of alien races, it was but a line of text, a few syllables. For the Eee, this simple idea was the basis of their society. Their language embellished this simple idea in the same way that others embellished simple churches to make them into cathedrals. To invoke the Song was to invoke the harmony of the Eee. There was no epic more profound in the Eee language, no work more sacred. It was Truth.

High Elder Elw beheld the candidate for the Eldership that was before the assembly and waited.

"The Eee have decided that I am not ready for the Eldership," the candidate said finally.

"This is so, E'en," Elw said simply.

"The Eee are wise in our harmony. It is not my role to be an Elder." There was no disappointment from E'en. The Eee had decided and E'en knew it was for the best. E'en began to withdraw.

Elw was not finished, however, and spoke to E'en. E'en was among their best. Elw would not let him leave without an explaination.

"The Eee know that you are a wise Strategic Coordinator and a fine scientist. You have learned much from the alien races we seek to befriend. You have learned their ways from your time on the borders." Elw paused. "You know of a thing called Gold?"

E'en made the wordless vibration in the ether that was like the nodding of a head to some alien races.

"The Eee know that you have employed new ideas and tactics," Elw continued. "Some alien races use stones or metals such as Gold to assign value to themselves. You have also sought to work with these aliens by similarly using Gold and heavy metals to assign a value to what is beyond value: the Eee. You do this to foster understanding among traders and politicians. The Eee appreciate your efforts to foster understanding and peace."

"And yet...." E'en said expectantly.

"And yet, Gold is a heavy metal and we are a light race, both of mind and body. The Eee have never used Gold and Gold is a new idea. The Eee fear it for its weight, not just in mass, but also in how it can pierce our harmony as easily as an asteroid would pierce the atmosphere. An asteroid can drag us into the Underether, into the great liquid Darkness below. The same thing can happen to the Eee under the weight of these new ideas. You feel that the future is to play with Gold, but the ideas are too new for us. You cannot play with Gold and yet lead the Eee."

There was nothing else to say. E'en understood and began to leave silently, but then stopped and said one Last thing. Strangely, it sounded almost apologetic.

"The Eee honor me when they considered for the role of Elder. I will continue to be honored in my role as a Strategic Coordinator. If there is a time the Eee can accept Gold, I will be here to serve. I should have known that my ideas were too new but I have spent too much time among those who harbor such ideas. I shall return to my fleet and coordinate its actions in the spirit of the consensus."

Having finished, E'en floated away from the assembly and withdrew.

[Skulky]

Great story, i really loved reading everything so far. How about another placing update, and a gam file?

Also, what about allowing members of the forum to act as lawyers and such in disputes amoung different parties over ICQ or AIM or by email? maybe too lengthy but could be cool.

[Jmenschenfresser]

2414.9
My stomach is grumbling. I think it's the stress and exhaustion and lack of a steady diet of something substantial. I'm a monk, so I am supposed to be able to handle times of persecution.

I am leaving the Tribunals and the Insanity behind in fear that I too might lose my life. The recent cleansings have taken many good friends of mine. Tallik, while not dead, is unable to leave Xiban I. He is watched round the clock by secret police of the Tribunals. What are the Tribunals? History must know. I personally don't know how long they've been worming their way into positions of authority. But I do know their elite come from an underground order of pious monks, who left the homeworld in the early years of colonization. I doubt any of their rhetoric concerning those races which are infidels and that aren't come from real conviction. They are power hungry. They are hate filled. May the Almighty strike them down for their blasphemy!! They've perverted the Holy Text! They've mistranslated and cut its meaning to suit their purposes. And now...they seek the death of those who know the difference in what should be and what is. I pray constantly that Tallik will find a way off of Xiban I, but he is in Her hands now.

I would to Pellwain, but because of the High Council's new agenda, I fear we may be at war with the Farzah before the year is out. We are heading to the two worlds on the outer rim of the Norak Continuum. Here the local officials are tolerant to those the Tribunals are persecuting. They will retain us till this has passed, or until the Elders decide to send a fleet out this far and crush this defiance. But until the course laid is completely seen, they will not risk ships on a few disgruntled intellectuals and powerless theologues like myself.

We will take up communications with all empires in an attempt to coordinate operations against the Tribunal government. Hopefully, we can incite enough Norak, enough Priests to rise up and retake power, and it won't have to come to the complete destruction of the Norak empire in order to change things.

I only escaped because I disguised myself as a first degree priest and caught a military freighter to Organtrix. From there I was able to find a ship, organized by a group of local dissenters, heading to the outer rim. I've come to find out that all the passengers aboard are in the same boat I am...literally and literally. The brain drain back on Xiban I fear will drag us back 100 years. We've already lost just about every capable diplomat. The Tribunals don't trust those who've stayed too long with other races. That is why I was targeted and that is why they want to remove Pellwain. Tallik is suspected because of his incredible knowledge of Norak weaknesses militarily. They'll never let him leave Xiban alive.

I've been out of the loop for the Last few months. For certain, I cannot predict what is happening. Not until I reach the outer rim and regain contact with the excommunicated. However, I fear that already the Tribunals are moving against the Jraenar. The reason I am officially excommunicated is because I refused the position of double agent/diplomat within the Jraenar empire. Right as the Tribunals gained the upper hand in the High Council, the Council was about to vote in favor of a trade agreement with the Jraenar. I have it on good authority that members of the Council were threatened and bought...anything to strike down the Jraenar treaty. I do not know what they plan. I only know that if they are allowed to carry on, the entire galaxy will fall into war.

[dumbluck]

The plot thickens...