Chapter 1: History
Galactic history in known space begins with the first radio contact between Corellia and Coruscant, the two most significant human worlds. However, before that time was a lost era stretching back to the dawn of sentience within the galaxy.
Millennia Ago:
Remnants of this era, the so-called "Larval Age," are scattered all across the galaxy. Circling extinguished suns are long-dead cities ringed with broken columns and enormous tumbled statues. In the impenetrable Core and the uncharted places beyond the known stars are alien empires that still remember those lost centuries, decaying slowly into quiescence and oblivion.
To current inhabitants of the galaxy, the most important event during the Larval Age was the first reign of Xim the Despot, a mighty warlord whose terrible war droids allowed him to conquer countless worlds before an enigmatic species called the Hutts destroyed his armies and cast him from their corner of the cosmos. He has since reestablished himself, inaugurating the second reign of Xim the Despot with ruthless attacks against Corellia.
Three Thousand Years Ago:
Though Xim is a distant threat and thus a vague note in the dark days before history, most members of known space count the history of their civilization from the first radio contact between Coruscant and Corellia. These two electric-age civilizations used primitive radios to speak to one-another across the vast interstellar distances, and in time, they contacted other civilizations: Alderaan, Duro, Seekath, Bindar, and Gembaroon.
These human and alien civilizations formed the Lightspeed League to exchange knowledge, and the Lightspeed Age begins. When Bindar and Corellian engineers perfect sustainable spaceflight technology, the first spaceships appear, and as researchers refine the technology, generation ships appear, traveling from world to world in the League. Where once the League only exchanged information, the first Immortals—merchants whose vast journeys allow them to live many generations from the perspective of the planet-bound—begin a slow but profitable exchange of goods.
Two Thousand Years Ago:
Around this time the first evidence appears of that energy field that will one day be called The Force. Rumors spread of beings called the Starfallen, able to travel from one world to another without a ship. Mystic philosophers called the Ankalans outline their philosophy of Universal Mind; they and other groups delve into theology, metaphysics, mysticism, and psychic powers, attempting to explain what they have encountered.
One Thousand Years Ago:
The idyllic peace of the early Lightspeed Age (so often romanticized in fiction and poetry) is shattered by the discovery of the Mandelorians, a civilization of warlike near-humans from an archipelago-world. They plunder the Corellian traders that greet them and steal their technology. Over the next few centuries the Mandelorians build great warships and spread slowly but relentlessly across the Lightspeed League, conquering all that they find, until they attempt to invade Coruscant. Coruscanti warships destroy the Mandelorian fleet, and the warrior-people are slowly beaten back.
During the First Mandelorian War (which, without the power of the hyper-drive, takes centuries from beginning to end), contact with the Starfallen and evidence of strange mental powers become too common to deny. Numerous masters of "The Force" arise as warlords and god-kings of unparalleled cruelty and malice, though more peaceful orders arise during this time, including the Jedi Bendu and the Telsus Spinners.
Five Hundred Years Ago:
The Corellians, though relatively quiet in matters of studying the Force, then unveil what they have been doing with their studies: they unveil the theories of hyper-space, and launch the first hyper-capable starship. How the Corellians discovered hyper-space, whether through applied philosophy or analysis of ancient artifacts or peculiar studies of the Force, is unknown, and though most imagine that the Corellians gained their technology from external (perhaps even extra-galactic) sources, the fact of the matter is plain: the Corellians now have access to an extraordinary technology.
It is soon learned that those in tune with the mysterious "Force" are best capable of traversing the winds of hyper-space. However, hyper-space causes terrible psychic damage to all exposed to the flensing winds. The Corellians, unfazed, begin construction of a great hyper-space fleet with which to trade with the rest of the galaxy.
For many years the Corellian hyper-space fleet rule the space lanes, even as their Force-sensitive servants grew ever more degenerate. To extend the lifespan of the hyper-space pilots, the Corellians exploit cybernetic technology pioneered on Bindar. Discovering that (unlike flesh) artificial material was unaffected by the flensing winds of hyper-space, they replaced the living flesh of their pilots with metal and plastic.
One Hundred Years Ago:
But a greater power soon appears than even the Corellians: Xim the Despot, banished for countless millennia, appears at the edge of known space, drawn by rumors of extraordinary mental powers. An expeditionary force begins an invasion of the human worlds, aimed at Corellia. As the fleet approaches that trading world, the pilots turn against their homeworld. They declare themselves the Machine Thralls and retreat to the planet Taspio.
Only by bartering hyper-space secrets to Coruscant, Mandelore, and other worlds does Corellia save itself: a powerful fleet and Mandelorian warriors help repel Xim’s battle-fleet, though none know if or when he will return.
Thirty Years Ago:
With hyper-space technology spreading across known space, engineers quickly design shields to counter-act the hyper-space winds, allowing nearly anyone to travel aboard starships in relative safety. However, the Mandelorians build yet another fleet, this one hyper-capable, and so begins the Second Mandelorian War. The ruthless warriors battle all the way to Coruscant, where the Jedi Bendu take up weapons and buy enough time for Coruscanti warriors to fight them off. The Mandelorians are finally beaten back by a concerted effort among the allied planets, though they still claim many worlds as their own.
Present Day:
It is currently a time of transition for the inhabitants of known space. The Mandelorians wait for yet another chance to plunder the civilized worlds, and they have been joined by ruthless barbarians who have claimed from larger culture only the weapons and ships of war.
Somewhere past known space lurks Xim the Despot and his terrible droid armies, determined to restore himself to his full power. A relic of the Larval Age, Xim’s empire is but one of many ancient alien civilizations in the twilight of their glory, dreaming of past conquest and ancient splendor.
Students and masters of the mysterious Force have scattered across the many worlds. Some belong to meditative and peaceful organizations, like the Telsus Spinners and the Ankalans. Others belong to brutal cults and evil orders, like the Machine Thralls of Taspio and the Hyper-space Lords who are said by their followers to be gods made flesh. Though orders and temples govern many students of the Force, many more are unique students of the hidden world: those that follow the Light Side are mendicants, wandering healers, and prophets; those that serve the Dark Side are self-proclaimed gods, brutal sorcerers, and walking incarnations of death.
As students of the Force move toward a unified understanding, so too do the known worlds move toward unity. Even the most fiercely independent world fears conquest by Mandelore, or Xim, or some dying alien empire, and the appeal of a new League grows. But none know what form the new league will take. Will it include many species or just one? Will it be another empire, or a loose confederation? What role will wondrous new technologies like droids and hyper-drive play? And what role will the Force and its servants play in that new civilization?
