Part 2: The Sorrows
Continuing the Vassal Approved history of the Cyrissian galaxy we have reached the Second Age. The first Age, the Founding, only covered 60 years (Years being a measure of time humanity brought with them from Caen despite being contextless in the Hyperuranion). The Sorrows are a 450 year Dark Age after the early explosion into the galaxy which leads to another 450 years of war. Imagine the trajectory of humanity if the energy behind The Foundation could have been maintained!
Again, I will attempt to let the chronology speak for itself and only allow myself to interject for context.
The Sorrows begins with the 400 year expansion of humanity beyond Deacaene. The reason that this is included as part of The Sorrow rather than as the Founding is that the Sorrow is the first instance where humanity begins to cut itself off from other parts of itself. Information begins to be hoarded instead of shared.
But The Sorrows starts with (Editors note: Sorry) a bang as a star in the sky of Deacaene (completely unknown to humanity) expired and went into a supernova, bathing the planet in bright light which destroyed the Void Gate network there. Every entrance to Deacaene suddenly shut down and humanity was cut off from its earliest footsteps into the hyperuranion. The gates self-repaired slowly and began to reform. Some were back open in a few months. The largest, though, didn’t awaken for years.
Humanity was often moving food, water, and other resources to their colonies on new planets from Deacaene. Many thousands starved and died having been cut off from humanity’s homeworld. This painful price provided a lesson, however. The gates were, unless utterly annihilated, eternal and a lack of knowledge of their opening and shut routines or sudden damage can isolate any settlement for years.
In the wake of The Cataclysm (as it came to be known), the first human organisation, known as the Morrowan League, formed as a traditionalist movement to old gods and power structures. The now more independent settlements mostly declined to join this union. But despite this, peace was still the norm.
But independent colonies unified in opposition to a growing Morrowan League, often resorted to piracy which led to a militaristic build up to protect their gains. Such is the way of things. As these organisations build up from securities to militaries the inevitable happened. The independent nations joined and declared war on the Morrowan League on behalf of the new Orellian Republic. Despite this, the Morrowan League destroyed their rival and subsumed its territories. The Morrowan league owned an empire the likes of which are only known by the Iron Star Alliance of these modern times.
(Editors note: While this is of some navel gazing importance to the grander narrative I have here, the first reference to the Aeternus Continuum was penned around this time. Our organisation truly is ancient in the context of galactic history).
The Morrowan league, fat off its victory, was suddenly struck by an alien pathogen known as Whispering Death. It is ironic that had the Morrowan League not been so successful at uniting the trade pathways and destroying its enemies more of humanity may have been spared sickness. Eventually movement and unnecessary trade ceased in response. The disease would seem to recede until humanity began to travel and trade again. Multiple waves tore through the population until it finally burned itself out, centuries after it began. The Morrowan League had been dealt a deathblow, and it was clear to all that the time of plague revealed the sickness of humanities largest empire.
Sensing weakness, several Orellian Republic resurgence groups coalesced and struck at the seat of power of the Morrowan League, Deacaene. The raid was successful, breaking the centre of the League and leaving it in ruins, although the Sacking of Deacaene also purged humanity of much of its hard-won intelligence and lore. It pains me to say that much of the Pre-Founding history was destroyed, cutting humanity off from its heritage and much of its scientific discoveries were lost as well. (Editors note: This is a personal grudge, but the sacking of Deacaene and the destruction of humanities history is one of the greatest acts of vandalism humanity has perpetrated on itself.)
The core of humanity burned out and we were once again plunged into darkness. The Sorrow truly upholds its namesake.
While other members of the clergy question whether this is a distinct era on its own or merely a part of the Sorrows the Conflagration is traditionally seen as its own Era, although one with a distinct lack of grand historical analysis. The Conflagration is a 450 year period where exploration and science were bent to the will of military. Powers rose and fell and border wars were the norm. In such unrest no large powers could arise.
Humanity was fighting itself, naked in the dark, building ever larger armies for the appropriation of resources, training stronger warcasters and making better weapons of destruction. This state of things continued until humanity finally reached the end of The Conflagration and reached The Concordance.
That will have to wait, though. 2 Eras is quite enough for one night and I have to say my catechisms before my slumber. Times of darkness is a time for sleep. I always hope to wake in a better dawn tomorrow.