Darian Ascendancy

Overview:

The Darian Ascendancy is a minor empire relatively new to Sector H.

Originally a group of roaming merchants, the Darians shared a common language, strict honor and moral codes and were prolific explorers and traders. Ranging independently across half the galaxy in trade vessels acting as their homes, the Darians established contact with any societies they came across, for the sole purpose of conducting business before moving on. Over the years some Traders established trading posts that would pack up and move every five to ten years to another location, usually on the distant frontiers local empires. This pattern continues to this day except in all but Sector H which has become home to a seemingly permanent settlement. Called Outpost Nero, it has been occupied for more than a hundred fifty years and is the hub of a commercial and industrial power, acting as the central authority for the other Darian Outposts in the sector.

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Index:

Q-dex / Technology / Magic
Size / Population / Climate & Geography / Flora & Fauna
History / Government / Foreign Policy / Domestic Policy
Society / Languages / Religions / Castes / Economy
Military / Sports & Leasure / Major Population Centers / Chronic Problems
Submitters

Q-dex:

T 749 M 612

The Q-dex in which Outpost Nero was established is a Matter/Energy zone Magic referent is classified as Life Bipolar

Technology:

Due to their total dependency on their trade ships when they wandered the stars, the modern Darian Ascendancy makes extensive use of technology and is always looking for new and better ways of doing things. Their primary areas of expertise lie in large star ships, information/TFP systems and particularly minerals/materials. To a lesser extent, they are skilled in medicine and closed environmental systems while they have minimal experience with small ships or large scale weapon systems.

Magic:

Magic is fairly new to the Ascendancy, although the Traders who founded Outpost Nero were well accustomed to it, having spent generations in the Sector H Q-dex where the Outpost was ultimately founded. Even so, magic is still not practiced extensively although those able to spend the time and effort can achieve impressive results. The focus of much of the magic in the Ascendancy involves an individual manipulating the natural mana flows by force of will.

Size:

The Darian Ascendancy in Sector H covers five systems with Nero the most heavily populated. The remaining four worlds have Outposts of varying age and size.

Population:

The population of the Ascendancy is difficult to determine due to the fluidity of their society. At present it is estimated that all five systems are populated by nearly 300 million Darians. In addition, the Ascendancy has a rather liberal policy regarding outsiders resulting in perhaps as many as 75 million non-Darian humans and non-humans who live on the various Outposts. To that is added a transient population of independent traders, representatives from other empires and tourists, and a population exceeding 400 million sentients results.

Climate and Geography:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Flora and Fauna:

[Information will be forth comming.]

History:

The history of the Darian Ascendancy divides into three clear phases. These consist of the Darian Explorers, Traders and the Modern Darian Ascendancy. The first phase of Ascendancy history consists of the Darian Explorers, described below in the document below.

OMNET, General Historical Background
Subject: Darian Ascendancy
Local Group Summary:

This report was compiled after extensive analysis by the Atis Libre of data compiled from dozens of civilizations in sectors G and H. From this analysis it was concluded that the Darian Ascendancy has been engaged in galactic travel since before the founding of the OMNET. In addition, the current Darian Traders common to these sectors are descendants of these original explorers.

Early Explorers:

There is little information available on the original people who founded the modern Darian Ascendancy. However, scattered reports, rare interviews with Darian Traders and examination of the limited archeological evidence, give a glimpse into their past. This shows a people with a much broader knowledge base than the modern Ascendancy displays. These people were clearly skilled in the use of many distinct technological and mystical theories and devices. In addition, the Darian Explorers, as they will be referred to in this document, were rugged interstellar travelers. They were out traversing multiple quantum zones well before travel to other Q-dexes became common with the founding of the OMNET.

The first recorded encounters with Darian Explorers begin c.1550, over two hundred years prior to the founding of the OMNET. At this time, a number of vessels of clearly alien origin were recorded near the intersection of sectors B, G and H in about a half dozen societies. These vessels, thousands of meters in length, were characterized by long flowing lines interspersed with bulbous protrusions, much like the modern Ascendancy. One such account of these early encounters came from the records of a now defunct astronomers guild located on a planet once called Rikan in sector G. For a period of about ten years a series of bright lights were observed in the same region of the sky and appeared to be orbiting their sun. This was originally just thought to be a new locus for their particular magical Q-dex, but once the Rikans developed the proper tools they observed the following:

"We trained our new sights upon Y'larin, the new fires first located a scant nine taran ago. To our amazement we did not set our eyes upon the flowing mana source we envisioned. Rather a veritable city was present, with lights of all kinds present on a multitude of small moonlets surrounding a large pillar. This object dominated the scene, easily ten thousand kildares in length it had an oblong shape with many smooth bulbous protrusions. Around this object our sights barely managed to resolve the many small lights moving about between the moons and the pillar. We continued to observe this phenomena for another eight taran during which time the moons slowly disappeared, leaving the column larger than before with several new protrusions. Then on 12 Forsan, Y'larin vanished from our sights" [OMNET CI-SG-112.114f].

This account was recorded c.1600 and was later discovered and translated in 1942 by Lights scientists examining the Rikan system.

Sources such as this allow a brief history to be developed. Sometime prior to 1550, a group of travelers left their home quantum zone, and embarked on the slow process that constituted galactic travel at the time. This involved proceeding in jumps, easily crossing some Q-dexes, while others might need decades of study to develop the proper techniques.
The technique recorded at Rikan, with the ships presumably observing the target zone from a distance, was common to most Explorers. There the theoretical concepts of the new zone were developed and the proper equipment constructed to operate in the new environment. However, the methods by which the data was gathered is unknown, although most agree that it probably involved advanced manipulation and use of the quantum fronts themselves.

Using the above method, the Darian Explorers managed to cross two full sectors over a period of two hundred years. Reports near sector E point to the farthest known advance of these explorers and is within the realm of possibility. However c.1750 all evidence of the Darian Explorers abruptly vanishes. Prior to 1750, there is sufficient data to trace the rough paths of perhaps twenty five Explorer ships. Following 1750 reports of all twenty five ships stop. The reasons for this are unclear. Plausible theories have them settling in systems along their path or being destroyed in encounters with hostile civilizations. However the chances of this happening simultaneously to all twenty five ships, scattered across a quarter of the galactic disk is rather small. In any event fate of these ships is unknown and today our only link to them are the Darian Traders and subsequent Darian Ascendancy.

The Darian Explorers were clearly a remarkable people, braving the wilds of galactic travel when many civilizations were still trying to explore their own Q-dexes. In addition they were unique with each ship seemingly completely independent, researching and constructing equipment as needed. Although this may have been inefficient, it worked and shows a cunning and tenacity that carries through to the modern Darian Ascendancy. Areas for future study should focus on when, and how many Explorers started these journeys, how far they traveled and why they suddenly vanished.

Government:

The Darian Ascendancy is ruled by an elected council of Trader Captains headed by an Outpost Captain. This group is concerned with maintaining the reputation of the Ascendancy and also works to maintain a stable business environment on all of the Outposts while maintaining a consistent foreign policy through its network of Trader Captains/Ambassadors. In general the Council and Captain do not intrude into the private lives of their citizens, but dishonorable and inappropriate actions are punished with a well equipped police force maintaining the peace.

Foreign Policy:

The Darian Ascendancy generally is neutral in galactic affairs. They welcome Trade delegations from anyone, but will not permit foreign military vessels to approach their Outposts without prior arrangements being made. In addition, the Ascendancy maintains a fleet of Trader Vessels who are constantly plying the space lanes looking to open new business opportunities and acting as full ambassadors for the Darian Ascendancy.

Domestic Policy:

[See above, for description of Darian Domestic Policy.]

Society:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Languages:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Religion:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Castes:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Economy:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Military:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Sports and Leisure:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Major Population Centers:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Chronic Problems:

[Information will be forth comming.]

Submission Information:

Submitter's Name: David P. Hudyma Jr.
Submitter's Email: dphudyma@engin.umich.edu

Sifter: Tom Schruefer