HistoryThe Gold Age / The Ruin / The Dark Age / The Silver AgeRecorded time really only begins about two and a half thousand years ago, with the formation of the Silver Republic and the beginning of the Silver Age. The further we dig back in time, the murkier things become. About three thousand years ago a catastrophic event occurred now referred to as The Ruin. No one today knows what it was that caused so much devastation across many worlds that were light years apart, just that within a quite short period of time untold billions of humans were wiped out, technology and once great cities left to crumble.
The Gold Age is now the setting for many of today’s myths and legends. It was period spanning tens of millennia when Human civilization first evolved and spread out from its homeworld, spreading out amongst the stars. Silver Age astronomers have spotted what they believe to be some of the very first vessels to set out into space; generational ships moving at sub-light speeds, still after thousands of years making crawling through deep space toward the farthest corners of The Galaxy. Unfortunately relativistic issues make it almost impossible to intercept them and discover what secrets they hold. Later in the Gold Age, Faster Than Light drives were created. Humanity reached its highest ever peak in terms of science and technology. Medicine and genetic engineering allowed lifespans of hundreds, even thousands of years. Synthetic biology was mastered; life created from scratch in a laboratory that could be shaped into any form. Whole new worlds were created, and destroyed. Humankind had achieved power rivalling the Gods themselves. And yet very little now is known about the society, culture and history of this time. Very few records survive; it would seem that at some point the written word was abandoned and all information stored on electronic devices. These were almost all wiped out during The Ruin. Three thousand years ago, a catastrophic event brought an abrupt end to the civilization of The Gold Age. Since no written records survive no one is really sure what the nature of that event was; theories range from pulsars and supernovae, some experiment gone disastrously wrong, and even Alien invasion. What is known is that very quickly (possibly over a period of several decades), many billions of Humans who had spread across The Galaxy were wiped out. Electronic devices were destroyed and all the information on them erased. Once great cities lay empty and forces of nature went to work reclaiming and burying them. By the end, almost nothing was left of the greatest civilization to have ever existed. But little pockets of Humanity did survive. It was a struggle to rebuild, with tribes forming and fighting to recover what scraps they could from the old world. Mercenaries would go into the ruins left from the Gold Age, recovering what technology they could find and selling it to the highest bidders. Eventually, new cities were built and new civilizations emerged. As they started to come into contact with each other again, there was inevitably trade, new alliances formed, and of course conflict.
Although no world was unaffected by The Ruin, the planet Epis weathered the storm better than most. Those who survived there were able to reconstruct many of the machines and technology from The Gold Age, including the faster than light Star Engines. During The Dark Age the people of Epis had split into many factions who vied and warred with each other. But by the end of it, one group had emerged able to dominate the entire planet and unite it under their new banner; The Silver Republic. Epis however was short on many resources, most crucially food and water. And so it was that The Republic’s leaders despatched Star Engines to nearby star systems, making first contact with humans on other worlds who had survived The Ruin. They began to trade; Republic technology in exchange for food, water and whatever other resources were needed. At first it was just trade, but The Republics presence and influence grew on these new worlds as well as the needs of its own people on Epis whose entire surface was fast becoming covered in factories belching smog and other toxic materials into its atmosphere. In order to ensure the stability of the other worlds, and ensure a steady supply of resources and labour back to Epis, The Republic decided it needed to manage the other worlds itself, thus becoming an Empire which is still growing to this day. But with so much about the past still unknown, and most of The Galaxy still unexplored, the future of Humanity is by no means certain... © 2009 John Coutelier
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