Of the Universe, Gods,
and Mortals
-I-
Introduction
Across the Starry Seas of the universe…
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...Fire from the Gods shines upon the Mortal realms.
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The light gave rise to five peoples of mortal kind, to prosper in spite of primordial darkness and the encroaching Underworld.
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Carrying divine Flame and Amber, the children of Gaia built a great civilization:
Politismos, the totality of culture reaching out to distant worlds like points of a many-pronged star.
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However far they went, heroes of the Politismos found more worlds built by the Gods, foundations to new Poleis, and the ruins of long forgotten ancestors.
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The cosmos is alive with spirits, beasts, and the wilderness of capricious Gods. Dangerous, but full of promises, to those who seek Golden Apples and Ambrosia.
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Echoes of legend permeate the Starry Seas, retold and born again in this new heroic age.
The Universe
The known cosmos, its mythology, and civilization at large
The Illuminated
Cosmos
Shape of the
Politismos
The Politismos is a vast assembly of worlds set around stars across the illuminated cosmos. It is neither empire nor monolith, no union of rule. What binds the Politismos is the shared mythos of the reigning gods, a history told in legends that are alive and present in the current age of heroes.
Across millennia of history, empires have risen and fallen within the bounds of the Politismos, bonds were forged and broken, feuds sworn and forgotten, entire dynasties of peoples raised and driven to extinction. Through it all, the cults of the Gods endure.
The Four Universal Domains
The stars and constellations of the Politismos are divided into four domains distinguished by their apparent measure of wilderness and civilization.
These domains are universal. From the rustic hamlet to interstellar realms, places in the world can be understood by the domain to which they belong.
Patterns of the Four Universal Domains
At every order of magnitude, the Four Domains echo the same patterns of Gods, Peoples, Nature, Divinity, War and Power.
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Relative to the context and scale, these elements of the world will occur according to the respective domain. In this, there are no absolutes, but trends and patterns clear enough to establish this as an order to the cosmos.
High Civilization
The stable heart and origin, the core of civilization. Here, the Gods speak, take up residence, and are in close communion with mortals. It is the domain favored by the astra, despite their yearning for the stars. Divine forces and miracles are abundant and shape nature like a wondrous garden of the Gods.
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Wars here are matters of whisper and dagger, as is the great game for might and influence played in the shadows by the powers that be.
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Low Civilization
A playground for the Gods and their mythos, domain of heroes, epos, victorious heights and tragedies. Divine forces are much at work, Gods standing by the side of kings and leading hosts of war. This is the favored domain of Prometheans, whose history moves quickly, driven by expansion, growth, and upheaval. Myths come alive in these parts by divine will, but mortal minds and nature are just as willful and perhaps most influential here in all the cosmos.
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Nowhere are wars or their stakes greater than in this domain, for here, the shape of future High Civilization is decided. Here sail the fleets and march the hosts, fight the champions and reign war lords of such power as to shake the foundations of the earth.
Frontier
The frontier of civilization, subject to the reign of rustic spirits and wild nature. Here, the Gods tend to matters of their own, the high Olympians especially, leaving older and bucolic Gods more prominent. This is the favored domain of the Hadeans, who work of their own in halls far below the wind-swept barren worlds. Nature grows wild and dangerous in these parts, imbued with magics and remnant wonders the distant past.
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Wars and struggles for power are vicious on the frontier, ever turning with the tides of wilderness and what lies beyond.
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Wilderness
The deep, vast unknown, domain of primordial darkness and the Underworld. The Gods of Olympos rarely tread in these parts, for there are elder powers looming in the dark. This is the domain of the Nomoi and what remains of Cyclopeans. Divinity is distant, slow, and insurmountable.
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What wars there are in the High Wilderness are struggles among greater powers in which mortals have mere parts to play. The struggle for power is replaced with a struggle for continued existence.
The Four Domains
in the Politismos
Golden are the heartlands of civilization, where ancient worlds are ruled by hero-kings and demigods. There lie the Phaeacean Poleis of divine wonder, the greatest temples of the Twelve Olympians, and the Cradle Gaia of mortal kind. The Poleis, realms and souls of this domain are as immortal as could be without ambrosia, nectar of the Gods.
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Green are the colonial pastures where civilization reaches its new heights. Here, empires and their heroes are born, and legends are written for the new age. It is said, this is the playground of the Gods, where they like most to extend their favor and carry out their rivalries. Mortal kind thrives on the worlds, but not without the woes of fate and war.
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Deep Blue are the isles and shores of the civilized realms, the frontier where Poleis lie besieged by wilderness. Nomoi, followers of the rustic gods, and capricious spirits are plentiful there. It is the domain of ancient ruins, beasts and adventure. Here, the Politismos is only a distant power, and the Gods visit less frequently.
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Bright Blue are the arcadian vales, cyclopean remnants, and domains of gods. They are wild beyond all mortal reckoning, steeped in the myths of elder days. They are as alien as the primordial dark beyond, the only slivers of the true unknown counted towards the known cosmos still. Spirits and giants, strange kin and beasts roam freely here, making them inaccessible to all but the foremost chosen.
Polis Worlds
The chief entity of civilization is the Polis, a center of population, commerce, worship, and culture. Nearly all Poleis are set on worlds of layered shells, shaped by the gods and beset with cyclopean ruins. These are wellsprings of ancient lore and the Fire from the Gods which fuels all of civilization.
Every Polis is a nation, fundamentally unique and sovereign by the will of the Gods. It may be as small as a realm encompassing no more than a continent on its very planet, or as vast as an interstellar empire spanning multiple systems and commanding the fealty of lesser Poleis beyond.
While its position and influence may be shattered, while those empires may shatter or decline, the Polis itself always endures. It may be sacked or burned, but nothing short of a legend rivalling the Iliad would see a Polis razed and abandoned.
Mortal
Peoples and Kin
Peoples and Kin of the
Politismos
Five mortal peoples were born. Three joined as the progenitors of civilization. One turned to the darkness beyond. One still lingers monstrous in the primordial dark, where it was cast in the woes of the Titanomachy.
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Five peoples make up all mortal kind. They are distinguished, at their heart, by the way they carry the Fire from the Gods.
The divine flame is what gives the peoples sapience and allows them to bend the ways of the world by reaching out to the Gods and creating technology.
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Within each of the peoples exist multitudes of kin, whose features and traits, cultures and fates are distinct from one another. These five peoples merely paint in the broadest of strokes the directions of mortal kind.
Prometheans
Those who wield the Stolen Fire do so at the pleasure of the Gods. Every aspect of promethean life is imbued with the mythos - their master craftsmanship, their sprawling cities, their codes of honor and war – all are expressions of worship.
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They are a proud people, willful and strong, capable of earning many a God’s favor, but their ire just as easily. The rites of mystic cults and lineages of divine ancestry shape their kin.
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Prometheans dwell on the world’s solid earth, upon and within the shells of Poleis. They cannot venture far from the divine stolen flame, and so they ignite Bonfires on every ship, station, and Astropolis of their realms.
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Nomoi
Many are the rustic peoples that dwell outside the hearts of civilization. They know the divine flame, but call many other names. Some are estranged Prometheans; others firstborn clans so far removed they barely resemble any of Gaia’s children.
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All Nomoi are associated with the wilderness, often harboring strong apprehensions against the civilization the Politismos represents.
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Their traditions, gods, and technologies are strange and foreign to all other worlds.
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Nomoi are considered exotic, remote, and even dangerous, though some of their realms have reached such heights of wonder, that even scholars of the great Poleis sung their praises in chronicle and poetry.
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Hadeans
The Children of Lord Hades were created with divine fire in their hearts. The flame lets them create and craft wholly of their own volition, shaping the world and forging small wonders of their own making. They may even breathe life into their own kin, shaping synthetic flesh and machinery into countless new variations of their own kind.
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Theirs are works of monuments and industry; machinery unsurpassed in scale and riches, though without the same divinity of those whose creations enjoy the God’s favor through worship or blessing.
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Hadeans dwell deep in the Earth, below the innermost shells that hold the burning hearts of Polis Worlds within. There, their work is unending, raising and creating ever new works in honor of the chthonic Gods.
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Astra
Aethereal and favored by the Gods, the Astra are almost spirits,. The divine fire gifted to them by the Nymphs and Aurae of their realms holds more power than any other wielded by mortal kind. But it is all the more rare and fickle, leaving the Astra most closely tied to the whims of Gods and Fates.
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Their kin keep their ephemeral forms only close by the flame of their patron spirits and often take on aspects of those they worship.
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The Astra are ever yearning for stars of the distant firmament. Many of their clans are journeying there on tall ships sailing the Starry Seas. Others migrate more slowly, but even the greatest of their realms will forever be diminishing, as more set out for the stars in each generation.
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Cyclopeans
Little is known of the Cyclopeans, safe for their inscrutable ruins looming large on every world known to mortal kind.
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It is said they still persist in some dark corners of the cosmos, and that some are even favored by the reigning gods.
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But they are no longer builders of great walls and paragons of civilization. What remains now are monsters, deep and unknowable, drawn to the Primordial dark.
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Gods, Pantheons, and
Divine Fire
On the Nature of the
Gods
Every aspect of the universe is embodied by a God: The forces and elements of nature, intangible concepts of metaphysics, all notions of the mind – all are inspirited by the divine.
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The Gods are no mere rulers over their domains who conjure powers above the laws of nature. Gods are what they represent in its totality, there is no distinction between the divine and their domain.
Beggars and Kings -
what Gods are to mortals
To mortals, Gods will appear always in disguise, be that a humble shepherd or transcendent king among the clouds. Neither disguise comes close to the true nature of the divine, which to mortals would be utterly impossible to behold without bursting into flame.
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This is the Gods first axiom: They are not Mortals, they never were. Though they may appear as individuals, as persons of mortal dimension, they are themselves divine forces beyond all notion of power, law, or morality. They cannot be challenged; they cannot be disregarded by any other than their own.
Pantheons –
of the highest orders of Gods
The Gods form a multitude of Pantheons according to their domains and virtue; however they are many-faced, and their different aspects tie them to different congregations.
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Thus, pantheons are not sharply distinguished or exclusive to one another. Their description is more important to mortal peoples and kin, who oft distinguish themselves by their adherence to a certain pantheon and what gods they consider part of it.
History
Divine and Mortal Ages
Primordial Gods of old birthed the cosmos
and all its worlds.
Titans and Giants shaped them,
and Cyclopean ruins still tell of the ages
when they ruled every star.
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At last, the works of all mighty fell,
and were inherited by the Olympians.
Theirs is the reigning pantheon,
and the mythos of this age.
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To reach for all the stars once born, to lift more worlds out of the primordial darkness
and into the light of Olympos, that is the principal
mandate of the Politismos.
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Across the Politismos, ages of the world are not measured by one central calendar. Instead, the peoples of the known cosmos hold two histories:
One divine and universal history concerning the mythos of the gods, and one of multitudes of local histories concerning the matters of mortals.
Divine Histories
The divine history chronicles the godly mythos, from its distant roots in creation to the progressing age of heroes. It is not, strictly, chronological, as legends and stories are repeated, both in ritualized retellings and recurring real events.
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From every milestone in real mortal history, a link to the divine mythos can emerge. Worlds and peoples may even try to actively guide events into a mythological retelling, to influence the outcome or foresee future.
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Mortal Histories
Mortal histories are, at their lowest, mere chronicles of factual events. But they often blossom into mythos, where mortals strive to find the stories of divine history in the mortal histories surrounding them.
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While the mortal histories of many a frontier world may reach only a few centuries into the past, the great Poleis of the Politismos maintain unbroken chronicles for thousands of years.
Star Sector Nebra
Frontier of the Politismos and focus of this chronicle
Frontier of the Politismos
Nebra lies on the fringe of the Illuminated Cosmos, beyond the barren Nebra Marginals separating the Politismos from the wild frontier. Travel to this remote region has remained long and arduous in ages past. Until, two centuries ago, emissaries of the greater Polis Appollonia reached these remote worlds and their rustic kingdoms.
Nebra encompasses one of the few navigable routes crossing between the Thirassian and Garathrond nebulae. As such, the region is destined for an important role in future history, as the expansion of civilization pushes further and further out.
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The sector abounds with so-called Century Worlds, far-flung colonies aspiring to Ascension – recognition by and connection with the Politismos.
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From their ambitious efforts and bitter rivalries arose several promising powers intent on founding the next ascendant realm.
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First among them, the world of Amad Tir harbors imperial ambition, seeking to strengthen ties across the Nebra Marginals, and to expand its influence throughout the sector.
But Nebra is not a region easily tamed. Its cosmic territories are governed by the Gorge, a primordial singularity consuming the encroaching nebulae. From this maw onto the Underworld, strange forces and phenomena permeate all of Nebra and its stars.
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Many worlds surrounding them bear marks of older histories. Cyclopean colonies and pilgrim journeys led the mortal peoples to this place for millennia. Their legacies are forsaken crypts and ruins, and a few surviving worlds re-telling legends half-forgotten.
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The Realms of Inner Nebra
Inner Nebra encompasses the inner third of the sector. Here lie the rival imperial Realms of Sianid and Amad Tir, the most recent World Ascendant, and the strands of Lower Garathrond. It is a bustling frontier of mortal domains, growing rapidly in influence and population. Yet the legacy of ages past remains strong in these regions as well, steeping much of Inner Nebra in legends of the old mythos.
The Imperial Realm of Amad Tir
Merchant guilds and young nobility of the Politismos are now crossing the Nebra Marginals more frequently, slowly building a bridge across that vast abyss to link Nebra more closely to Appollonia and the Inner Worlds. They follow the path of the old Pilgrim’s Way, where the Nomoi Exodus left countless seeded worlds and systems, ruins, and runestones in its wake.
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Imperial estates and heroic orders, new and old kingdoms, and the ancient colonies of the Sianid Vale are all united in the Imperial Realm of Amad Tir, whose rising star has culminated in being pronounced a World Ascendant half a century ago.
Realm of the Hadean
Garathrond Ammonn
Little is known about the links between Sianid and the Hadean Realm of Garathrond Ammonn. It is a collection of wild worlds, with no ties to the Politismos or known Promethean settlers, reaching far beyond the known boundaries of the cosmos.
Dark Astra Clans and Hadean Worldsmiths, ancient cults, and fallen kingdoms sleep in the constellation shrouded in Garathrond’s snow.
The First-Chosen
Realm of Sianid
That glory was hard-won against the First-Chosen Realm of Sianid which lies close to the falls of Garathrond.
That old power still remains defiant, however, and has not yet given up on the reconquest of Ozom.
Aside from distant olympian allies, the power of Sianid rests on some of the more mysterious cyclopean and cthonic relics that are shrouded in Garathond’s nebula.
The Verdant Astra
Realm Minarii
No less mysterious is the Verdant Realm of the Astra further up the Pilgrims Way. Guarded by living moons and thickets grown around their stars, the nymphen queens and their colonies have long remained beyond the reach of promethean settlers.
In recent decades, some relationships of trade and diplomacy have grown, but it is still wise to be cautious when venturing far beyond Lasser.
The Nomoi Nuzirrim
In between the greater Realms remain ever-defiant Nuzirrim Nomoi Clans. Those wild chiefdoms and clans of Nomoi still rule much of Outer Nebra, but some of their strongest reside in Nuzir, as harbingers of their kin.
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On the edges of the realms, they remain, and where they are gathered by a warrior king of enough strength, their raiding campaigns push deep into even the strong Realm of Amad Tir.
Amad Tir
The Imperial Realm
Amad Tir and the Sianid Vale
Between the barren Marginals and the volatile territories of the devouring Gorge, the Sianid Vale was always a region of precious calm and arable worlds. The Nomoi of the Latter Exodus rested here on their mystic journey ever outward bound, and settlers in ancient times founded early colonies across the more inviting systems.
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Amad Tir emerged as one of Sector Nebra's most successful Century Worlds, passing the trial of Ascension less than half a century ago. Most stars of the Sianid Vale have long been claimed by its new realm and are now rapidly developing under the influx of settlers, trade, and technology from the Politismos.
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As of the fiftieth year since Ascension, the Imperial Realm of Amad Tir is considered the foremost power of the Inner Nebra Sector. Having been granted the title of World Ascendant, Amad Tir leverages its recognition by Appollonia and the Politismos to advance mercantile and political interests among the worlds of its realm and beyond.
The favor of the Politismos holds the promise of wealth and protection, and to stay in the graces of the Inner Worlds are favored by the Olympians. The fates are on the side of Amad Tir, it seems.
But a true presence of the Politismos may take centuries yet to fully manifest. Until that time, the dominant position of Amad Tir will not stay unchallenged.
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For all its potential, the realm of Amad is more vulnerable now than ever, still locked in a smoldering conflict with the rival Century World Sianid and besieged on multiple fronts by the ferocious clans and hordes of the Nomoi. It is now up to the lords of the realm to guide their worlds through the uncertainty, and towards the dawn of a new heroic age on this, Nebra’s innermost frontier.
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Perhaps, so say the oracles, the ascension will give rise to a new hero king. Across the realm, the wise and noble are searching for the one that may be a blessed ruler in the making.
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History of Amad Tir
A Century of Trial
Amad Tir’s recent history has been shaped by nothing as much as by the Century of Trial and the tasks presented to the ambitious world if it were ever to join the Politismos.
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Though no Appollonian dignitary has held any position of authority directly, the Inner Worlds of the Politismos have guided Amad Tir through their influence. Their Gods have set their eyes on the young realm, and brought victory in the long war against Ozom.
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Amad Tir remains very much a world in charge of its own destiny. And the tides of history seem to have been in its favor. Yet the strong position the Imperial Realm finds itself in was by no means guaranteed, as it is constantly challenged by worthy adversaries.
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By choosing the path of Ascension, Amad Tir commits itself to the Politismos.
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The path can lead to unparalleled riches and influence,but only through the support and protection of the Politismos and Olympians.
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Much depends on discovering which legend of the mythos Amad Tir is set to echo most. Oracles and chroniclers eagerly searching for signs of which divine myth is made manifest in the realm’s ongoing history.
Many agree that the Long War against Sianid must be Nebra’s incarnation of the glorious war against Troy.
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If that is so, the fate of Sianid is sealed. Yet, the fates are ever treacherous, and prophecies are never easily deciphered.
Amad Tir treads lightly on its path of the Mythos – confident, but ever cautious not to test the thread from which the current fate of victory was woven.
Fleets of Amad Tir
United Dominion Fleets
In their allegiance to the Imperial Crown, the United Dominion Fleets of Amad Tir stand as the world’s proudest achievement during the Century of Trial.
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To raise a true imperial armada, shipwrights and yards from many worlds had to be unified, a comprehensive reform of dozens of fleets in accordance with a new doctrine. The result is the single largest interstellar force of Inner Nebra, priding itself on exceptional discipline and shipbuilding excellence.
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Modelled after Apollonian doctrine, the United Dominion Fleets specialize in large scale and combined fleet operations. Battle lines centered around massive capital ships make up the bulk of the interstellar force and its fighting strength. By wielding overwhelming firepower, such formations seek to project the ascendant power across the Imperial Realm. In an active conflict, the fleet’s first and foremost goal is to initiate a decisive battle under favorable circumstance, crippling the enemy’s strength in one crushing blow.
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Supported by extensive supply convoys, Amad Tir’s fighting fleets have huge operational ranges and can remain active away from port for months on end. However, they cannot embark on prolonged campaigns on a whim and rely on the preparation and support by their realm’s infrastructure. Beyond the borders of Amad Tir’s realm, specialized escort vessels and tenders are indispensable.
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Consequently, the United Dominion Fleets are a force
best suited to protect the claims of Amad Tir to all
regions of the Imperial Realm, consolidating authority and projecting power from the shores of the homeworld to the far edges of the Crown’s dominions. Offensive campaigns with the goal of conquest are slow-going and methodical, such as the most recent pushes against the enemies at Ozom.
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​Starships of the United Dominion Fleets are considered resilient and reliable by shipwrights and starfarers alike. Strong defenses and time-proven designs ensure the high survivability of these vessels. The most advanced systems are often found in command-and-control ships, specializing in coordinating large formations to achieve their full potential.
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Nuzir and Mazar
The Nomoi Realm
The Nuzirrim Clans
and Mazar Kingdom
In 3268 IC, the Nomoi Realm of the Nuzirrim stands at a crossroads before its final days of glory. Large portions of the Old Kingdom Mazar have begun their journey to the primordial deep, venturing far beyond the bounds of known space, and the grasp of the Politismos.
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Those who remain are gathering strength for the last war of their realm and are counted by the lords of Amad Tir among the imperial realms foremost adversaries.
The legacy of the Nomoi who once founded this realm holds great power now over the Nuzirrim. In ancient times they were sworn never to submit to the Poleis of the Olympians, to retain sovereignty and wilderness for the glory of their old and rustic Gods.
Pan and his Satyrs sing loud, and elder, primordial gods by different names. They set the task of the Nuzirrim forebearers:
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To strike at the Politismos, and humble the followers of Olymp. To this end, the remaining Nuzirrim turn to a martial culture, and cut most ties to Inner Nebra that remain.
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This war of the last days is not one the Nuzirrim will win, not in the sense of holding or expanding territory. After the initial plunder, it will be a fighting retreat. Such a fate goes not unquestioned. While the vast majority of all Nuzirrim follow this destiny, there remain millions questioning the fight and the journey. A scant few colonies will embrace the Politismos. But around them, nothing but the scorched waste left by the Nomoi will remain.
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Today, the Nomoi Realm is still thriving with wonder. It will burn, once more, bright, before the flame of the Nuzirrim is carried far into the primordial night.
History of Nuzir and Mazar
Victory and Armageddon
The chronicles of the Nuzirrim carry a vast legacy.
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It is written the Nuzirrim coalesced from the peoples first to follow in the footsteps of the Pilgrims, whose mad chase for after the primordial gods had led them on a path across the Nebra Sector. Those first peoples of Nuzir where not of the same realm, but many were Nomoi emerging from the Gulf between Nebra and the wider Politismos.
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They roamed the constellations for a long time, before the first worlds were settled. They culled the beasts and cleared the growths seeded by the Pilgrims, and they inherited the worlds reformed by the Titans and Olympain Gods. From this legacy grew the Realm of Nuzir, united under the Kingdom of Mazar. It stood long alongside Amad Tir and Ozom and would have never been eclipsed if not for the arrival of the Politismos.
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Living history for the Nuzirrim unfolds on two paths, a beginning and an end.
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The Nuzirrim Kingdom of Mazar stands on the precipice of a dying age, dwindling every season of every year in the shadow of Amad Tir’s ascension. The Nuzirrim as Nomoi Kin have seen the signs and are preparing for the new era awaiting them in the Primordial Dark beyond all known worlds.
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This crossroads of history is a time of triumph and victory as much as exodus and decay. The two paths of their kin continue diverging, until they’ll finally sever. At that time, one will be at an end, and the other beyond all reach of Politismos chroniclers. Either way, this is the final chapter for the Nuzirrim as they are now. Perhaps, in another cycle of expansion, they will be encountered again, though they and their ways will then be likely changed beyond all recognition. This is the way of the Nomoi nomads.
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But the end and fading of the Nuzirrim do not happen quickly, nor quietly. The Kingdom of Mazar experiences its last century in triumph, at a height of power not attained in centuries. It is transformed, emboldened by the exodus, to launch one final campaign against the Politismos, a chance for the great clans to make their names known before they vanish from chronicled history.
Fleets of the Nuzirrim
Roaming Clans
Across the Nomoi realm, the vast clans fleets of the Nuzirrim follow either a path of war, or the path of the coming exodus. Either path, once chosen, entails a transformation. It reshapes the fleets, their scale and composition, the starships and roaming structures, and the societies within.
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The fleets, for all their multitudes, are bound now for only a few destinations. From all corners of the fading Realm they arise, the wandering spirit of the Nomoi awoken.
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On the path of the roaming exodus, the grand fleets of Nuzir prepare for a journey to unknown and distant stars. They coalesce from countless kindred clans, dismantling their estates and worlds, or leaving them behind. Devoted to the future, and the journey through the Starry Seas, those clans and their ships devote themselves to that monumental task.
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Within the span of a generation, these fleets have grown to unparalleled size, the migration of entire kin led by the vast starfaring archs they create. In the wake of those titanic vessels
they will leave the illuminated cosmos soon, traveling beyond the bounds of Inner Nebra, and into the abyss.
Along the coreward edge of the Nomoi Realm, Mazarite Hosts follow the path of war instead. They retrace the old trading ways with fire and steel, accumulating wealth, and victories until they are ready to turn away. All old scores are settled, all allegiances held, and oaths fulfilled. The Nuzirrim strive to go into the new ages unburdened. To join the hosts of Mazar absolves many. For the old kingdom of Mazar, they build a legacy, and triumphs worthy of song for the future of the Nomoi.
Regardless of their path, all fleets of the Nuzirrim share one aspect in their nature: Every starship is of one familial lineage, owned and crewed for generations by its clan, a unit onto its own. From the fields of war to the processions of exodus, these bonds are carried forward by the Nuzirrim, and are one thing that will survive without doubt beyond the age and realm of Mazar.
The Nuzirrim War
First War of the Imperial Realm – Last War of the Nuzirrim Kingdom
Foretold and inevitable
A fated Feud
From the beginning of Amad Tir’s road towards Ascension, the realms of Inner Nebra were set on a path of war.
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It is impossible to overcome the Century of Trial and earn Ascension to the Politismos without imperial ambition. Thus, from the disparate dominions of Amad Tir, a young empire was born, one whose fate rests on the favor and patronage of the Politismos and its pantheon.
For this, Amad Tir must fight and survive, now that every other realm will be eager to lay claim to the crown.
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No empire persists without expansion, and the Politismos ever grows. Thus, the Nuzirrim set in motion the fated changing of their kin, becoming warriors and nomads once more as their ancestors of old.
The Nuzzirim cannot remain, but they will humble the frontier empire before their departure and a new beginning far across the Starry Seas. For each victory will ensure more time, before the Politismos expands yet again, and the cycle will begin anew.
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After the Century of Trial, both realms are committed wholly to their path, their fates entwined yet irreconcilable. One cannot abide the chosen destiny of the other.
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Neither history nor prophecies have shown another way. To the wise and diviners, the war was long foretold. To both realms, it is a crucial test on their paths, and its coming marks the confirmation, that it is the will of the Gods.
the Foritification
of Amad Tir
In the wake of its ascension, the now imperial Realm of Amad Tir quickly fortified its Nuzirrim frontier. On the day this world was chosen by the emissaries, the course of history for the border regions was decided. They would become the first line of defense in a coming war. This century or the next, it hardly mattered, as bulwarks and bastions were raised upon the wall.
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Mighty fortresses were built or carved from worlds of iron and stone. Their high spires and tall walls adorned with countless battlements, turrets, and gunnery batteries. Fleets would break against these fortifications, should they dare try conquering them. But these fortresses alone would be powerless, without a way to project their might.
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Substellar fleets and system armadas are the key to any system’s defense. Operating from countless fortified ports, these forces can coalesce at any time and anywhere their strength may be needed.
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Thanks to the astronomers, the trajectory of attackers will be usually known. Thus, the defender enjoys a considerable advantage.
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In this, as in all interstellar wars known to the Politismos, any offensive action will carry considerable risk. Fortified frontiers tend to stagnate for decades to come, hardening over time with layers and layers of rigid defenses.
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And so, for as much as the Nuzirrim’s strike was anticipated, it would only be worth to the Imperial Realm to hold out and weather the storm, rather than trying to act and strike preemptively.
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The Deeping Path
of War
The remaining fleets of the Nuzirrim are set onto a path toward the last war of Old Mazar. In one campaign for plunder and glory, the kingdom will fall. In its end, it will bestow all riches to be gained from the Imperial Realm of Amad Tir to the heirs of the kingdom who venture into the Primordial Deep beyond the illuminated cosmos.
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One last claim on history, one last charge into the fray, that is the promise these warriors made, one to shape their destiny.
This final push of the kingdom will not be a war for territory or influence, nor annihilation or survival. It will be a spear thrust into the side of the Politismos, to see how much it bleeds.
At the heart of its warriors burns a duty re-awakened, the path of the Nomoi they chose more than a century ago. The rivalry on the frontier between the Known Worlds and the Stars Beyond will once more be fulfilled. To this end, the prophecy knows no price too high.
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For the Nuzirrim and Amad Tir alike, a new era will begin. Forged in the fires this war ignited, the imperial realm will see the new dawn in either defeat or victory. Old Mazar seeks to shape the path of history. One way or another, it will be remembered as the catalyst of great change.
The ongoing War
Three theatres emerged during the first months of war, each a vast front beset by multiple fleets and armies, dozens of outposts and bastions besieged. As of the first year of fighting, no major holdings fell on either side. But the uneasy balance of this conflict may soon be broken.
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Crossing of the Deeping Mere
Great Clanfleets of the Nuzirrim undertook the perilous journey past Limnaee and Appia into the deep gulfs of the void. Ravaged by storms and ice from Garathrond, their path was costly and dire. But after crossing the Hollow Strand, their vast flocks of many hundred ships roamed freely in the Deeping Mere and conducted raids as far as Baltenfir.
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These are the clans sworn to war above all else, with no intention of returning to the Gates of their People without imperial plunder. Their presence binds a multitude of Amad Tir’s forces, and sows unease among the Harvest Lords of Risonande.
Heartland Way Sieges
Any forces bound by the raids of the Deeping Mere cannot partake in the massive battles along the Kuston Wall and Burg Billetae. Rogue Squadrons of the Old Kingdom Mazar advanced on the fortificiations of Amad Tir with great fervor, supported by assaults of Clan Unashar and the Crucible Horde. Fanatic raider-warriors took watchtowers all along the way, and hold great many prisoners still.
Their attack will not break through the great wall soon, but the pressure they build sets the stage for a larger invasion.
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Drive for Hanhir
From the beginning, forces of the newly imperial realm were desperate to gain some initiative in this war. Their greatest success in that continues to be the Drive for Hanhir. Spearheaded by the Colonial Fleets of Adwhan, expeditionary forces have broken through the Deeping lines, circumventing Unashar and setting beachheads far into Nuzirrim territory.
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Moving in fast and unpredictable intervals, the joint fleets managed to avoid a direct confrontation and are harassing now lines along the Deeping rear. Their arks and tenders hold supplies enough for a campaign of months to come, enough perhaps to assault the towering lights of Hanhir, which might become a first imperial foothold among the Clans.
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A matter of time
On both sides, any advances onto enemy territory are extremely volatile. Before long, one side will collapse and be put on the defensive definitively. It all depends now on which great fort will be the first to fall.