Magdora

Magdora is the homeworld of it's namesake population, and of the Magdoran Conglomerate Empire, and it's predecessor, the Magdoran Conclave. It is a superearth class planet with an approximate radius of 8,625 kilometers, with two moons, Harais and Har'lamen. It orbits the K-class subgiant Venk, and is the fifth closest planet to it.

The Venk star system is located in an emission nebula known as the Titanborne's Roost.

Geography and Features
The planet has two main continents; Venkalans- The Land of the Sun,- and Hartalans- The Land of the Moon. In the modern day, Hartalans is a livable wasteland, that is constantly coated in a Ucrylium-tainted miasma, with large outcroppings of said material dotting the continent, while Venkalans is a lush and comfortable place, with even the most extreme mountains, and the sun-baked sand dunes of The Great Wastes being only harsh enough to kill the unprepared, and after long exposure to these environments.

Outside of these two, there are the northern and southern polar continental regions, a large sub-continent west of Venkalans, and a series of islands to the east of Hartalan's equatorial edge, known as The Crest, and the former is a largely uninhabited jungle, teeming with life and resources that have remained untapped for eons. The Crest however consists of a series of pointed islands, known for being the peaks of an otherwise underwater mountain range. To the immediate north-west of these is a larger island, likely produced by the same unusual interaction of tectonics and volcanic activity that produced the other spines. It, however, is still uninhabited- save for the occasional Hartalans studying forward base.

Venkalans
Venkalans is a generally tame continent, with the largest biomes being warm, with neither too much rain, wind, or difficult terrain. Near the equator, large rivers, jungles, marshes, and even swamps are frequent. To the north of these is the expected grasslands and hills, with taigas and tundras at the north-most parts of the continent, where it almost touches the north polar plate, and to the south of the jungles are a relatively small strip of further grasslands, extending down the west coastline, with the rest of the southern hemisphere dominated by The Great Wastes- a massive arid desert, where few things live, and only the Roving Clans truly control.

Most significantly, in the north-east of Venkalans, is the Simara Plateau, a massive, cliff-faced plateau, surrounded by "rivers" multiple kilometers wide, with the north-eastern quarter of the plateau opening out to the open ocean. This plateau has historically been particularly flat, abnormally rich in resources, and also a prime location for the harvesting of many plants native to the plains and hills, which made it a prime location for the centerpiece of the Titan occupation, and the eventual site of The Capital megacity, with only the outer half of it's radius being saved from urbanization- but still suspect to the construction of lengthy train lines, and highways, that would connect it to the rest of the modernized continent.

Close to Simara's coastline are the "Shatterspines," a fossil and mineral rich cluster of sharp rocks, that point hundreds of meters high, when they're not being cut down by the frequent storms. How they originally formed is unknown, as is how they are continuing to "grow" out of the volcanic cleft they are wedged in.

Early Days
Little is known of the earliest days of Magdoran history, but what is known is one thing: The Titans found them first.

These Titans were an otherwise unknown alien race, that appears to have spread across a large region of the galaxy, this territory including Venk, and it's orbiting bodies. At some stage, the Titans arrived on the planet, and found a proto-tribal Magdora- the multiple races scattering it's surface only having just discovered true language, farming, and the basics of calendars and timekeeping. While this knowledge allowed the Titans to teach the Magdoran peoples significantly more, it did not come without a price, as there currently exists very few records of anything at that time, let alone before it. A perfect example of this fact are the Enchidirion race, a race that lacks any evidence of having existed anywhere on Magdora prior to the arrival of the Titans.

Within approximately 50 Magdoran years,- which was then established as being roughly 382 days, with said days being 28 hours long,- this proto-tribal age was accelerated into an age with rudimentary printing presses, animal-drawn carriages, and ships that could cross from one side of the planet to the other.

The Titan Era
Once the Titans had established their presence on Magdora, and given the majority of all they would eventually give, so began the Titan Era. For centuries, the Titans kept a god-like rule over the planet, with the Enchidirion, and those who would become their "Praetors" acting as their eyes, ears, and judging hands when and where they were not able to be. For most people, this was a blissful time to live in; There were no wars,- or anyone to fight in the first place,- food and resources were plentiful,- as the Titans had intended, when choosing places for the city-states to be built,- and many avenues for art and expression to be explored, with the vast majority, and arguably the greatest, of all forms of art being made in this time.

This time period was the time in which Magdoran culture formed and matured, without the conflict that normally drives this. Because of this lack of conflict, Magdoran culture as a whole became largely pacifistic, egalitarian, and collectivist, though there are still some pockets, usually driven by the natural tendencies of the subrace,- such as with the Merracuda,- show traits outside of this pattern. These traits mean that a Magdoran would normally prefer to trade and assimilate with others, as opposed to fighting for and taking what they desire by force.

This time was not entirely peaceful, however. For reasons that are still largely unknown, a large number of the Enchidirion, and a smaller, though still significant number of more typical Magdorans, were quietly opposed to being ruled over by the Titans. This quiet opposition was enough to fuel the spread of underground networks of propaganda and resources, initially only used to circumnavigate the Titan's- often unfairly enforced- numerous rules, and avoid the eyes of the ever-loyal Praetors for all of it.

This eventually culminated in a full-blown rebellion, as one would expect. This rebellion had spent years stockpiling resources, weapons, and knowledge, to strike quickly and precisely against their perceived oppressors. Leading this charge was a woman, since heralded as a saviour, known as Derja-Vierre, who personally fought against, and defeated, the Titan Drellven, and destroyed a structure of unknown purpose, that now sits rotting away, deep in The Great Wastes.

Because of this death, the Titans promptly left Magdora, along with their Praetors, leaving no additional words or knowledge for the planet.

Though likely unrelated, there exists no evidence of any Titan activity after they left Magdora anywhere in the known galaxy. Artifacts from them, even on Magdora, are incredibly rare- with the only major sites found being almost completely non-functional, and usually lacking a power source.

Their departure came with one side-effect, that could not be controlled, however: The tainting of Hartalans.

Thanks to it's operators no longer being present, and no one being able to take their place, an unknown and powerful device in the centre of a massive volcano, in the heart of Hartalans, began to meltdown, and continued to do so until well after the Ascension. While the specific details of this device were unknown, even after being disabled, what is known is that it was drawing to it, and releasing, Ucrylium particles, from both the void of space, and the core of Magdora itself. Without someone to maintain it, it slowly sheared a hole through the planet's crust and lift the surrounding area off of the mantle, and released heavy amounts of semi-stable Ucrylium into the local soil and atmosphere- the latter thankfully limited by natural forces to only the continent, and not the rest of the planet. At the time of shutdown, it had managed to lift an area larger than the Simara Plateau- the region now also known as the Capital Subcontinental Mesa- off of the mantle, and turn the volcano it was originally housed in into a vaguely organized collection of rocky spines.

The destruction of Hartalans left countless dead, and many more scarred and injured, with the damage irreparably continuing for centuries to come. But without the Titans around, Magdora was free to forge it's own path...

Post-Titan Era
This otherwise unnamed period of time spans between the departure of the Titans, all the way up to the subsequent Ascension and Expansion eras. Unlike all other historical periods, this period of time is hallmarked by significant stagnancy, both technologically and culturally, though that's not to say nothing happened in this time period.

Immediately following the defeat of the Titans, the Enchidirion established themselves as the new leaders of Magdora, though without the same authoritative, and centralized, authority. Under their rule, the city-states were free to do as they pleased, within their own borders, and while each had their own spin on the matter, no one race or creed would automatically rule over another, though the Enchidirion did tend to naturally drift towards leadership positions.

Thanks to the cultural changes brought previously, this change did not result in the city-states fighting over resources they did not have- which was rare, in the first place,- or even doing so for the sake of personal reasons. There was, however, still two massive rifts that formed: That between the Merracuda, and the landborn city-states, and that between the established laws, and those who would go against them.

The former rift was one born out of the hierarchical, and often violent, nature of the Merracudan leaders. While landborn people tended to drift towards being with a group, and supporting said group as much as they possibly could, the Merracuda would frequently fight, physically or otherwise, to forcefully claim control of a group, which would largely be subservient to the leader's whims. Politically, this meant that their leaders were always the best at a given subject, instead of the most appealing or convincing, but were nonetheless effective leaders. Ultimately, this gap means that finding any form of cooperation between states became more difficult than it was often worth putting up with, even between neighboring seaborn states. This rift continued up until well after the beginning of the Expansion era, most recognizably in the fact that very few seaborn states joined the Conclave, while it was present as such.

The second rift was a matter of policing; Without the threat of godlike beings constantly looming over the population, there was a drastic spike in criminal activity, of all forms. The initial response was simple, increase the available police force, which had remained relatively small, during the Titan era. While this did work for mundane crimes and criminals, the more cunning, and dangerous criminals managed to constantly evade the reach of the law. In response, the leaders of what would become our Capital, at the center of the Simara Plateau, devised a more effective solution: Their Arbiters.

These Arbiters were much like the Titan's Praetors, in function- Already exceptional individuals were gifted with abilities, thanks to what they called "The blood of the false gods", which would later be found to be a mix of liquefied Ucrylium, and a yet-unknown fuel, harvested from the structure left in The Great Wastes, and devices they jury-rigged using fragmented Titan artefacts, and then set upon the world. These Arbiters were extremely effective, quickly establishing themselves as nigh-divine heroes, even when they ultimately separated from their initial creators.

Once separated, these Arbiters created their own code, their own structure, and even their own bases of operation, in order to best fulfill the one goal they were given: Bring peace to all Magdorans, with as few sacrifices as possible.

To that end, the leaders of the Arbiters were chosen for their ability to represent, and argue for, given philosophies and approach methods. This worked well for them, and the people they protected, and was largely responsible for the development of Magdora's methodical and unbiased legal system, which has since resulted in few unforeseen outcomes.

It was not meant to last, however.

The Enchidirion, for reasons still unknown, saw a massive drop in population over the following millennium, reaching their modern state where it would be rare for even 5 members of the species to exist in any given city-state at a time, and similarly, the collective of the Arbiters dropped in population, once the existing police bodies managed to catch up to them, in both overall skill, and methods. For the latter, they would become "extinct" within only a few centuries of being formed, with their most publicly-known bases being raided, and numerous artefacts of both art and writing being destroyed, as a result of negligent looters.

To date, discussion, debate, and theorizing exists about both of these events, their causes, and whether anything more was left behind, that remains undiscovered.

Ascension Era - Early Years and Beginning
Roughly 1,500 years had passed since the departure of the Titans, and much progress had been made; Magdora was now connected by networks of roads, power lines, cargo ships, aircraft, and computers that could access one another nigh instantly, all without the assistance of past gods- though not without inspiration from them. Magdora as a whole was thriving, though without the true struggles that would inspire innovation.

Some mysteries still remained, however...

The first to be "solved" was the Beacon: An obsidian obelisk, detailed with largely unknown runes, glyphs, and text, all of it laid in with a mix of metallic and crystalline Ucrylium, placed at the center of what would become the Capital, when the Titans first arrived. The mystery of it's true nature was uncovered by Kia Dorvinia, an affluent Enchidirion woman, and CEO of the massive consumer electronics company Aurora Tech., who revealed it's function as a form of mapping device, in the middle of a press event that had been marketed as "The beginning of a new age for Magdora." Notably, this event put her adopted son, and the R&D department he worked with, at the front and center. Their relationship to this event would remain largely unknown for some time, however.

Using this new map, it was possible for numerous, previously undiscovered Titan artefacts to be located, extracted, and eventually exploited, directly leading to rapid improvements in computers, material manipulation, power production, even mass transportation- all even without the Ucrylium-based designs that they were taken from.

But there was one discovery that holds itself above all others found in those first few years: Mining, refining, and ultimately exploiting Ucrylium as a whole. Normally, Ucrylium found in it's most common state, as an ore, is incredibly volatile, to the point where any attempt to mine it in the first place is nigh worthless, and then attempts to melt it down into a useful product usually destroy the sample, because of it's volatility, and the slow rate at which the sample is heated. In dealing with Titan artefacts, it was discovered that already refined Ucrylium was vulnerable to exposure to molten metals, that were also conducting a significant electrical charge. Ucrylium is weak to neither of those things on their own, however, as their usefulness in electronics, and resistance to heat, proves. Regardless, it wasn't much of a stretch to attempt applying this to a known ore deposit, and once the magnetohydrodynamic cannon that was built for the task didn't end up a smoking wreck, it was official- Ucrylium could finally be exploited.

It wasn't long after that this method could be used, in combination with massive centrifuges, to refine the now mineable ore into something to further increase the rapid pace of technological progress. This, however, was also the time when Kia would come back into the limelight. While she approved of everyone being able to access and use the new discoveries she was ultimately responsible for, she still sought to control the spread, to exploit it for what she deemed the greater good. To that end, she kept every critical discovery she had the rights to- like Ucrylium mining and refining- under lock and key, until the city-states that wanted access to them agreed to band together in a new alliance, of her design. She called this design the "Magdoran Conclave," a government based around as many people having a voice as possible, while the different sectors- industry, agriculture, the general population, and so on- manage their own affairs as much as possible. To most, it seemed no different than what they already had, but to the few who paid attention to the details, it featured some unusual details. Details that, ultimately, didn't result in anything truly harmful, let alone turn away the keen-eyed. It did, however, turn away the Merracuda, given that the proposed Conclave would be too sudden, and too massive, of a change for anyone in power to agree to it.

While she gained power here, and in the continuously increasing value of Aurora, she lost power elsewhere- Not only did another quickly growing company form, to compete with hers- The Amars-Velus Conglomerate, an ironic collective of otherwise meaningless companies, of various distinctions, that as a whole became known for being quick and effective at what they do, but messy and innefficient,- but a second had formed too, this one as a result of disagreements between her and her adopted son. According to publicly-available reports, this disagreement was founded in his belief that she was mishandling the power she was granted, by being able to exploit the precious resource that is Ucrylium, which as it turns out was only the latest thing developed by him and his team. Ultimately, this disagreement led to him severing himself from her, and her company, taking a quarter of it with him, and forming the third of Magdora's eventual megacorporations; Hawk Industrial Solutions, the name being based on the division name for the team her son- Now using the surname Dolphus, as opposed to hers- led, which in turn was taken from a Titan moniker for the scientists of their time. This group took with it everything that could have allowed Kia to continue extracting her precious new resource, and provided it without the same strings she attached. It was, however, too late- Every city-state on Venkalans had joined the Conclave, and everyone else was either seaborn, isolationist, or too small to be even considered a state, by most people's standards.

Despite all this, it would be almost a decade before anything uniquely significant happened, beside the decision to adopt a new calendar era, this one being based on the "Ascension," as it was coined, with the year the Beacon was activated being zero, and the restructuring of Simara's city-states into "The Capital". The first uniquely significant event, was the proposal, approval, and the beginning of construction of "Arcology ARK-0N", or more simply, the Arkon Tower- A truly gargantuan structure, designed and proposed by Mako Dolphus and his team, that would- in theory- be within line of sight at even the very edges of the Simara Plateau, once it's peak was finished. By then, it would house as many people as the city center of The Capital entirely on it's own, and countless floors, complexes, and rings of space could be used by many others, for even the most complex, and mundane tasks.

While it wouldn't be even halfway finished in the next 40 years, it would nonetheless become a seat of power, for both Hawk Industrial Solutions, and the Conclave itself. While the latter would use it as a comfortable space to discuss taxes and laws, the former would use it as the heart of their plans for progress- Even the militarization Magdora would soon sorely need.

Ascension Era - Middle Years
Initially, the only threat to the Conclave and it's states were the Merracudan- given their increasing aggressiveness to the perceived threat that was the Conclave itself, with it's ever-absorbing nature, and how it's rule would remove many of their ways of life.

No one was willing to outright attack the other, however, and instead both sides were willing to establish both military doctrine and outposts, in limited amounts. For the Conclave, this largely meant giving the existing police force more power and authority, with no purely military organizations being developed for some time, and the establishment of a network of sensor stations, and a limited number of artillery bases.

Outside of this militarization, however, progress continued as one would expect; Transportation networks were brought to levels previously thought impossible, or too costly, to obtain. Robotics and computer technology leaped centuries ahead, to the point it was possible to produce, in limited numbers, fully independent bipedal units, gigantic quadrupedal walkers, and even allow for the first generations of "smart" AI to appear. For average citizen, both of these were benefits enough, but they also saw improvements in the more mundane parts of their life, between the massive increase in available foodstuffs,- both in quantity, and variety,- increased access to communications and information, in smaller packages, and decreased cost for efficient, effective, and clean utilities, be it personal transport, food preparation, or even water and power. In short, everyone's lives were improving more and more with each passing year.

Despite the continuously looming threat of a Merracudan offensive, or vice versa, the continuing cultural and technological expansion progressed to the point where a large community had formed around the idea of attempting to return to space- an idea that had remained dormant for years, thanks to the difficulty and costs behind the previous expeditionary attempts, which had managed to place Magdorans on both of Magdora's moons, for a short time. This group, in a short period of time, got their wish, and plans were set in motion. This eventually culminated in a joint project, spearheaded by the three megacorporations, called "The Skytether"- a multi-phase plan wherein a massive underground "printer" facility would be built on Magdora's rotational equator, which would first be responsible for the production of a series of rockets, that would go up into orbit, and build a space station directly above the facility, which would then drop a massive cable down to said facility, which could be used as the framework for a "space elevator".

This project was a boon for everyone involved, even by simply being near it- workers, materials, and local facilities were needed en masse to see it completed, and they were all provided in great enough amounts that Kia had only barely reached her 70s, by the time she gave her red tape speech about the project. This speech would mark the beginning of the first real war in centuries, and not between the parties everyone was expecting.

Ascension Conflicts
This war was between the Conclave, and an extremist group known as "The New Derja", using the image and name of the culturally renowned Derja-Vierre as part of their belief that Enchidirions- especially Kia Dorvinia- were, in secret at least, controlling the world in the same way the Titans were. While this belief was ultimately flawed, they still garnered enough underground attention to become a large organization, with the resources to contend with local Conclave forces, at the time.

This war started with a bomb, of all things: One placed with the intention of destroying the command centre in which the aforementioned speech happened, killing not only Kia, but a number of bystanders too, and injuring many more. The bomb also set back the project for some time, both in the fact that this critical part of the facility was rendered inoperable, and in the sense of the security and precautions needed to prevent future incidents.

Nonetheless, whether they wanted it or not, the Conclave was forced into a war with these terrorists. In response, a number of the more extreme militarization pushes made over the years prior were accepted, now that the added security and fighting capability was needed. For most citizens, this changed little, beyond the occasional sighting of military patrol vehicles, and an increase in the number, and strength, of enforcement officers. For those near New Derja bases, and in areas of interest to said organization, this meant that skirmishes were semi-frequent, each one threatening to cause significant harm to anyone caught in the crossfire.

In secret, however, another contender entered the field: The "Bulwark Project". While this organization would be revealed to the public on the tail end of this war, most people would remain completely oblivious to it's existence, and it's actions. This organization was operated directly by Hawk Industrial Solutions, or more specifically, a figure known as The Arbiter- a figure that had made themselves known in the public eye as a vigilante superhero of sorts, with an undeniable connection to HIS,- and made up of various veterans of fields that would prove useful to it's goals, most significantly being police and security officers, who had previously separated from those roles, for reasons generally deemed "insignificant to their new roles." As an organization, Bulwark acted as a purely offensive ally to the existing Conclave defense forces, striking at New Derja bases and operations before they could become too big to handle, and before they could do irreparable damage. In that effect, Bulwark was extremely successful, managing to foil countless plots, both minor and major, take down leaders of the New Derja, and eliminate entire supply chains and bases.

This was only the beginning. While the war against the New Derja raged, another group made itself known to Bulwark: The Firstborn Temple. Normally, they were a mundane, entirely average religious organization, still clinging to the idea that the Titans were in fact gods, and that the Magdoran peoples were their "firstborn," and hence the rightful bearers of their remaining artefacts, despite the rebellion that took place against them. Previously, this organization was, at best, questionable in their practices- which included their members willingly taking part in secret rituals, and their own attempts at Ucrylium experimentation, in attempts to capture some part of the Titan's power, but at some point following the Ascension, they pushed their practices into overdrive, even going so far as stealing resources and information, and kidnapping people they deemed suitable for their rituals and experiments. They had managed to keep from being detected prior to this point, but it eventually became obvious enough for Bulwark to be pushed towards investigating, and fighting them. Surprisingly, they managed to contend with them almost as much as the New Derja did.

Both organizations, despite being nuisances, did however provide a benefit to Bulwark's parent organization, in the form of recovered artefacts and knowledge, that otherwise may not have been discovered, for any number of reasons. Most of these ended up being minor,- hence not being found first,- and largely only served as starting points for various theories and ideas, but there were still some that proved to be major discoveries, when assembled and used properly.

First and foremost of these discoveries were a series of Titan computer archives, and the storage devices they were contained in, which were largely similar in design to a modern smart AI's neural banks. This alone was enough to allow the information to be accessed, though it would take significant time to make anything useful out of them, beyond the design of the devices themselves. Other artefacts included "The Catalyzer,"- a form of molecular printer, that had been used by the New Derja to manufacture the "blood" used by ancient Enchidirions, among other things- it was unfortunately destroyed in efforts to seize it, however. Attempts to recover the technology behind it have continued regardless, with slow progress. Unlike that, however, the artefacts known as "The Pearl," and "The Gate," were not destroyed in recovery, and both would serve a great purpose in Magdora's future.

Ascension Era - Reclamation of Hartalans
Only a year after the destruction of the primary New Derja base, and the Firstborn Temple returning to a relatively hidden state, the Arbiter- who had effectively vanished for the duration of this war, barring some unconfirmed sightings,- returned to the spotlight to make a very surprising "announcement", one declaring that they would lead what they called the Reclamation of Hartalans, and bring it's deadly wilds into the reach of the public. They specifically stated that they would be doing this regardless of who else joined them, but, given the effectiveness of Bulwark in the prior conflicts- still under the Arbiter's control,- and the reveal shortly thereafter of the Titan-class Megalith, appropriately named "Reclaimer", that would serve as the mobile base for expeditionary forces, many were quick to offer their service to the cause.

This is not to say that there was an abundance of manpower being offered, however. Many of those who offered themselves to the cause were either rejected, or ultimately provided little in terms of direct strength- taking roles in the supply lines, and providing resources directly to the cause. Those who did prove to be directly helpful would bolster the defensive lines established as expeditionary forces pushed further into the continent, or served as front-line scientific, cartographic, and transport officers.

As one would expect, this endeavor was a slow and arduous one, taking months to establish the initial safe zone in which future operations would be staged from, even with the relatively extreme military might of the Reclaimer. These few months did bring to light some things that people had about Hartalans, well before the campaign began. First and foremost was the innately toxic environment the continent presented. Air purification methods would be quickly implemented, if only for personal use, and use on sealed structures and vehicles, initially, however it was also found that the soil, plantlife, and local fauna were all similarly toxic, in a number of ways- though primarily through high concentrations of Ucrylium, but also through extreme mutations, bringing most life present to be highly hostile to most other forms of life on the continent.

Given the technology presented by H.I.S. in support of the campaign, however, a good deal of this natural threat was alleviated, though Bulwark's recent experience in dealing with threats of largely unknown capability greatly helped reduce this further, at least as far as they were concerned.

In roughly a decade, the "invasion" of Hartalans would eventually reach its peak, with Bulwark eventually reaching a massive Titan facility among what had eventually become known as The Scar. Initially, what the facility had once done was unclear, but eventually it would be determined that the facility was responsible for the creation of The Scar, with technology similar to that of the previously discovered Gate and Pearl serving to create a gravitic shear beneath the crust of the planet, presumably either in an attempt to terraform the planet in an extreme manner, or in an attempt to make use of the mantle of Magdora, by some means. In either case, efforts were quickly made to shut the still-operating device down, to prevent further damage to the planet, despite the facility's defenses also remaining operational, with the extreme damage it had received over the years.