Maerlandayr

"No other known Realm drifting in the cold, dark vastness of space has ever been scarred as much as our beloved Maèrlandäyr. These wounds will never heal - and despite that it was not us who cut them open, it is our burden to bear them long enough for them to fade into oblivion."

- Excerpt from "Chimes of Dust" by Uqäsan Etxuvan Bóän è'Souvezadár

The Maèrlandäyr Galaxy, also known as Maèrlandäyr Cloud, Sera or U-2914c is a spiral barred galaxy located in the Sinai-Erion β Group together with 15 other galaxies. It is the second largest galaxy in the group and the most isolated one. The galaxy's name comes from the Seran Common term "Maàr Landáx", meaning "celestial feather". It's other, older name, Sera, translates to "feather".

The Maèrlandäyr Galaxy sports the highest star count in its local group, estimated to be around 1,8 trillion. The mass of the galaxy was never precisely calculated, however it is known to be approximately 65-75% of the mass of Üvbaxara Galaxy, the largest and the most massive in the group. The Maèrlandäyr Galaxy has a diameter of around 295,5 thousand light years (90,6 thousand parsecs).

The Maèrlandäyr Galaxy has a very rich history spanning nearly 8 billion years and countless civilizations. The first spacefaring species to appear in the galaxy were the legendary Firstborn, who came into conflict with the patron soul of the Maèrlandäyr - Paragon. Following the Battle of the Cindered Lair, Paragon went dormant and was presumed dead. The Firstborn shortly after fell into complete disarray and went extinct, leaving behind mysterious relics such as the Chronicons, lifeless tomb worlds and other major structures hidden in the vast emptiness of interstellar space.

Galactic Neighbourhood
Maèrlandäyr Galaxy belongs to the Sinai-Erion β galaxy group, which in turn is located within the Cit-Bolon-Tum Supercluster, spanning 64 megaparsecs (209 million light years). Maèrlandäyr neighbours 3 out of 93 of the galaxies that make up the Sinai-Erion β group - elliptical E7-type 11-RAS Galaxy, spiral SABb-type Ivx Galaxy and SAb-type Üvbaxara Galaxy, the largest in the group.

The galaxy closest to the Maèrlandäyr is the Ivx Galaxy, which is located only 2,17 million light years away from it (15% closer than Andromeda to Milky Way). Ivx Galaxy is expected to collide with Maèrlandäyr around 4 billion years in the future from now. The newly formed galaxy will most likely collide with Üvbaxara Galaxy after next 1,5 to 2 billion years.

Maèrlandäyr Galaxy is orbitted by 56 objects in total, including 2 larger dwarf satellite galaxies: Càrynàrha and smaller Mysh-Orsuphé. Both major satellites were visited on numrous occasions by the inhabitants of Maèrlandäyr and precisely mapped. Civilizations that may now exist in Càrynàrha and Mysh-Orsuphé are not known to maintain any diplomatic relations with Seran civilizations.

Formation
The Maèrlandäyr Galaxy formed approximately 800 million years after the Big Bang within a local cluster of collapsing gas, which eventually gave birth to all galaxies within the space now known as the Sinai-Erion β Group. The Galaxy itself lies in the group’s outer reaches, where it gathered a small number of 56 satellite objects. Shortly after the core of the young Galaxy ignited, its Galactic Soul, the Paragon, was born.

The Firstborn

 * See also: The Greatest Sin
 * Main article - Firstborn

According to popular mythology and a myriad of other primary sources, the first intelligent spacefaring species in the Maèrlandäyr Galaxy were the legendary Firstborn, commonly known also as the Dagŭ’šyr (Fatebearers in Old Common). Currently it is believed that the Firstborn were not actually the first and have only merely been among the first advanced civilizations to appear in the Galaxy. Their historical significance, however, is attributed to their prowess in exploration, colonization and warfare. In the majority of ancient legends and myths, the Firstborn are depicted as benevolent species, who desperately sought other intelligent species in fear of being the only technological civilization to exist in the Galaxy at that time. The other group of primary sources shows them as ruthless conquerors, hell-bent on achieving total domination over all of Maèrlandäyr. Over time these two portrayals were standarised and given the names of the “benevolent” and “malevolent” theories about the Firstborn civilization.

Eventually, the Firstborn came into conflict with Paragon. The benevolent theory suggests that the Maèrlandäyr’s soul was inherently evil and actively hindered the Firstborn expansion. Meanwhile, the malevolent theory claims that it was the Paragon who was forced to act due to the cruelty of the Firstborn. After discovering Paragon's reportedly evil deeds, the Dagŭ’šyr have eventually made it to the very core to the Galaxy and begun their assault against the Heart of Maerlandayr. The Firstborn won the battle and the Paragon’s heart was destroyed, however the Paragon himself was not truly killed, but heavily wounded and stayed dormant ever since. Paragon’s inactivity rendered all of the habitable worlds in the Galaxy desolate, entire biospheres disappeared in mere weeks and the life as it was known perished almost completely.

Shortly after the victorious battle, the Firstborn civilization fell into total disarray and withered rapidly. The collapse of Dagŭ’šyr Empire was swift, but had no known direct cause and was presumably the result of many factors coming to play at the same time. Galaxy-wide famines, perilous pandemics and civil war, together with the following complete desintegration of the Firstborn society and culture, were most likely the most important factors. All that was left from the Firstborn civilization were a handful of pirates and scavengers desperately clinging to what was left of their past, and a single small group of Dagŭ’šyr survivors, who have decided to try to save the life in Maèrlandäyr. They called themselves Enlightened, but today they are known as the Ilziyvàx – The Hidden.

The Hidden

 * Main article - The Hidden

The rapid decay of life all around the Galaxy did not go unnoticed by the Firstborn. Some of them begun to question the act of slaying the Paragon, worried about what the Maèrlandäyr might become. Those individuals have gathered together, amassed a fleet and set out to sow the life in the Galaxy anew. The Hidden never understood the true nature of relation between the Paragon and the Maèrlandäyr itself, but hoped that founding new biospheres to replace the lost ones could return the Soul of the Galaxy back to life. They were surprisingly successful. Their numbers grew in size rapidly and very soon well over thousands of individual fleets united under the same banner were terraforming millions of worlds all across the Galaxy simultaneously. Several other more powerful Firstborn remnant groups have quickly noticed the activity of the Hidden and deemed them traitors to their own race. Despite the general hatred towards the Ilziyvàx among other Dagŭ’šyr, only few direct confrontations took place. Many of the hostile Firstborn fleets have joined the Hidden as soon as their crews witnessed blooming worlds for the first time in decades or even centuries, often begging for the permission to join them, according to some ancient records.

Eventually, out of all Firstborn, only the Hidden remained. After ensuring that the life may grow in the Maèrlandäyr again, all of the Ilziyvàx vanished roughly at the same time. There is no knowledge regarding where they might have gone after completing their task, only theories. One of such claims is that the Unseen have left the Maèrlandäyr due to self-pity and the sense of guilt, wary not to corrupt the pristine life they had sown. Eventually, all Dagŭ’šyr either disappeared or died. They have left behind only scarce records of their history, society and culture. It is hypothesized that the Hidden might have been actively destroying those, but whether they truly did remains a mystery.

Eon of Tranquility
The time following the departure of the Unseen is the most poorly documented age in the history of the Galaxy. It is thought that between the battle, in which the Paragon was slain and the disappearance of the Ilziyvàx, nearly all of the life in Maèrlandäyr has faded and was renewed more or less to the initial state by the Hidden. The Galaxy was healing very slowly and only a handful of native spacefaring civilizations have emerged throughout the next 3 billion years. The Tranquil Eon came to a close at around 6 billion years after the Galaxy formed, when the so-called Sown Civilizations begun appearing in large numbers roughly at the same time, filling the Maèrlandäyr to the brim for a long time to come.

Eon of Rejuvenation
The first spacefaring species to emerge in Maèrlandäyr after the fall of the Firstborn have found themselves in a vast, pristine and uncharted Galaxy. Life could be found even in the most remote corners of it and not long later those civilizations encountered one another, waged wars, formed alliances and federations. The Sown Civilizations had no knowledge of the Firstborn or the Paragon, however some archaeological discoveries seemed to imply that the past history of the Maèrlandäyr was purposefully buried. Moreover, life all across the Galaxy exhibited aberrant biochemical similarities, for which just the fortuity alone could not be held accountable. All of the gathered evidence has led the leading scientists of that time to the conclusion that all life in the Galaxy must have been carefully engineered by an unknown civilization billions of years earlier, however there was no consensus regarding the identity of such civilization or the ultimate goal. United by their newly discovered propinquity, the Sown Civilizations have entered an age of peace and prosperity, which today is remembered as the Golden Age of Maèrlandäyr. The integration efforts bear fruit in the form of The First Seran League, the first galaxy-wide federation in Maèrlandäyr.

Relics of the Firstborn
The golden age of the Maèrlandäyr ended soon after the discovery of ancient, monumental structures, scattered across the Galaxy’s halo. It was expeditiously determined that their purpose was to store data, but their purpose remained unknown for many years to come. These structures were named the Chronicons (ser. Taū’dhan). The first Chronicon to be discovered, named Rhígisa, was found to be exceptionally well encrypted and remained closed much longer than other Chronicons discovered later. Eventually, some of the records these structures held were deciphered, and even despite very often being severely damaged, served as the primary source of information about the Galaxy’s past for the civilizations of that time. The first Chronicon to be opened, the Kavazaxha, told the tale of the Firstborn rise and the story of the strife between the Firstborn and the Paragon.

According to the data stored in Kavazaxha, as well as few other Chronicons opened soon later, the Paragon threatened the existence of all life in Maèrlandäyr, including the Firstborn. However, none of those contained any records of sowing life throughout the Galaxy, which implied that the first deciphered Chronicons were sealed shortly after Paragon's death. Much of the public begun to believe that their existence was owed to the Firstborn, giving birth to a new religious movement, called The Progeny. Their beliefs were based on the ideas of Dagŭ’šyr benevolence and Paragon's inherent malevolence, which justified the Soul's destruction. Some have found that ideology to be fundamentally flawed and criticized its followers for writing in the ending of the Firstborn history, which in reality still remained a mystery. Unfortunately, the truth would not be uncovered for many millenia to come and in that time, The Progeny grew in strength.

Testimony of the Hidden
Around 5720 years after the discovery of Chronicons, Rhígisa was finally opened. Despite little interest in continuing research of the Galaxy's past at that time, the first Chronicon discovered has turned out to be exceptional. The oldest records contained within Rhígisa were no different than in the other Chronicons, however the last ones put an entirely different perspective on the nature of the Firstborn and the Paragon. The Soul of Maèrlandäyr, fearing the advances of the Dagŭ’šyr, did its best to hinder their empire's growth and to stop them from eviscerating all life in the Galaxy in the process. The last records saved within Rhígisa detailed the epiphany of a small group of Dagŭ’šyr, which sowed life all across the Galaxy, in a desperate attempt of saving it, following the Paragon's death in the Battle of the Cindered Lair.

These revelations were unacceptable to The Progeny, which denounced the findings made in Rhígisa and accused the researchers of heresy. In spite of this, the researchers received strong support from The Progeny's opposition and were honored in many corners of the Galaxy. Nonetheless, the identity of the Dagŭ’šyr who sowed life in Maèrlandäyr, despite the joint efforts of many civilizations and organizations, remained unknown. Over time, the name "The Hidden", popular among the scientific community and the public, was officially adopted. The discoveries made within Rhígisa, as in other Chronicons millenia earlier, have eventually inspired a religious movement fundamentally opposing The Progeny's teachings, today called The Covenant of the Hidden.

Schisms in Religious Movements
The discovery of existence of The Hidden has eventually led to a schism within The Progeny. The discord pertained to the perceiving of the operations conducted by The Hidden and challenged the fundamental aspects of the religious movement's ideology. The Progeny's leaders gainsaid the data recovered from Rhígisa, claiming that all of it was staged, and therefore, worthless. However, some of The Progeny's more influencial members have found Rhígisa records believable, backed the discoverers, and eventually split off from the organization.

The Covenant of the Hidden lacked a common consensus as well. In contrary to The Progeny, the decisive problem within Covenant's ranks touched not upon the subject of The Hidden, but the predestination of The Firstborn, and potentially, all life in the Galaxy. A sizeable group proclaimed that the Dagŭ’šyr were inevitably sentenced to extinction, being nothing more than a part of the Paragon's plan. Nonetheless, the vast majority of the Covenant's followers have found that theory nonsensical and the aforementioned group was eventually expelled from its ranks.

Both The Progeny and The Covenant of the Hidden had a significant impact on the history of Maèrlandäyr. The differences between rationalism and belief begun to fade and merged into two main ideologies, attempting to untangle the inaccessible past of the Galaxy. The two parties grew in strength and hatred towards each other, spreading their influence far and wide throughout the Galaxy.

Religions
All religions found in Maerlandayr are classified according to the Axan Dogmata Classification system. Any cult or religion, in which Paragon and or the Firstborn are of importance is referred to as a Maerian religion, a name derived from the name of the Galaxy. Otherwise, that is, in any cult or religion, which does not concern Paragon, nor the Firstborn or the Hidden, is called a non-Maerian or Occult religion. The unfortunate term “Occult”, which in reality should not categorize such religions, comes from the Maerian belief that both Paragon and the Firstborn are a subject of both religious and scientific insight, in contrast to the “lesser and occult” non-Maerian beliefs.

Maerian Religions
Since the discovery of the first Chronicons, the Sown Civilizations grew increasingly interested in uncovering the past of the Galaxy they inhabited, and with it, their own origins. The first major religious movement to appear in Maerlandayr was known as “The Progeny”, and claimed that the Firstborn fought back against an inherently evil being they believed to embody the Galaxy itself. Over time, The Progeny split into various denominations and eventually was disbanded. All religious movements stemming from The Progeny are now referred to as “Progenist" and share its core belief that Paragon is malevolent and the Firstborn were benevolent. Progenist religions focus on attaining the enlightenment by following the ways of life of the Firstborn and fighting against Paragon and, symbolically, the Galaxy itself, by conquering and settling unexplored territories.

Ilsivists, on the other hand, view the relation between Paragon and the Firstborn very differently. They view the Dagŭ’šyr as hegemonic tyrants, conquering and destroying everything in their wake. Ilsivists firmly believe that Paragon stopped their expansion and therefore became their target, but his benevolence ultimately inspired a handful of the Firstborn to rebuild the Galaxy after the devastating conflict. It is worth noting, that most of the scientific communities across the galaxy, support Ilsivists, claiming that The Progeny used incomplete chronicles scavenged from Chronicons to push their agenda and spread their influence in Maerlandayr.

Religiosity of the Firstborn
Little is known of the religion the Dagŭ’šyr professed and whether it could be considered Maerian by modern standards. Basing on historical evidence, one could assume that it could have not been Ilsivist, as the Firstborn certainly viewed Paragon as a hostile force. Moreover, it could not have been Progenist either, as all Progenist religions consider the Firstborn to be the most benevolent beings. It is proposed that the Firstborn religion should be given its own category within all classification systems, regardless of the discoveries that will be made about it in the future.

Axan Dogmata Classification
The Axan Dogmata Classification is a simple system that classifies religions and cults into distinct groups based on their assumptions, beliefs and goals. This system was derived on planet Axa by a congregation of Ilsivist, Progenist and non-Maerian scholars, theologians, historians and scientists.

Technology and Communication
Civilizations in Maerlandayr form regional groups, which very often share the same level of technological development and methods of transportation and communication. Many state-of-the-art technologies found in the Galaxy were reconstructed basing on the knowledge found in the Chronicons, though no Sown Civilization has ever reached the sophistication of ancient sciences practiced by the Firstborn. In spite of this, many rely on reinvigorated devices and megastructures left behind by Dagŭ’šyr, which in reality are not entirely understood.

Interstellar Travel
The modern staple of interstellar voyages in Maerlandayr are the quantum breach drives, which utilize the Etheric Plane’s properties to shorten the time needed to reach other systems. Spaceships entering the Etheric Plane must avoid etheric fog, which, depending on its local density, can be impassable. Many Ancient etherlanes are still in use up to this day.

Gateways
Etheric fog surely had to be an issue for the Firstborn, as they have invented an alternative, much faster means of travel, using networks of orbital stations now known as Gateways. There are thousands of such structures in the Galaxy, but not all of them have been reactivated. Gateways are ring-shaped stabilizers capable of generating wormholes linking one another, provided there is a stable ansible connection between them.

Ansibles
In Maerlandayr, rapid communication is far more accessible than rapid transportation. Ansible devices, despite being a relatively novel technology, have played a crucial role in modern history of the Galaxy. Most of the ansibles use quantum entanglement, while some older designs use chains of drones traversing the Etheric Plane, exchanging data between 2 points.

Calendar
Maerian Calendar begins with the Big Bang, which in short is referred to as 'T0'. In general, the subsequent years are noted as 'T0+N'. The first year of live fiction is T0+7,189,273,651 which means '7,189,273,651 years after the Big Bang'.

The most popular anchor point used in the streamlined date notation is 1 EE (T0+7,189,236,000), which marks the year of Rigiza's discovery. This is also the beginning of the Eon of Expansion. Moreover, this format can be simplified further. A full date is shortened to its last 3 digits and 'CM' added to signify that the date pertains to the Current Millenium. For example, 37,651 EE can be written as 651 CM instead.

Background Information
If we consider Maerian and Human approximations of the Big Bang's precise time of it occuring identical, then the following calculations can be made:


 * 13 787 000 000 = x * 7 189 273 651
 * x = 1.91771807129 (approx. 1.92)
 * Maerian Year = 365.25 days * x
 * ... → 700,4465 days

Believe it or not, the length of a Maerian year in days calculated here is purely coincidental.

Astrography
Maerlandayr is a SA(s)c type spiral galaxy; its twin arms are called Maèrlandäyr and Sändaùzar. Maerlandayr's core, called Oron, houses a supermassive black hole, which Serans call the Pearl of Maerlandayr. The bright region surrounding the galactic core is awash in radiation, making it inhospitable and nearly impossible for any lifeforms to colonize it. Over 50% of the population of the Galaxy inhabits the area inbetween the Maèrlandäyr and the Sändaùzar arms, namely the regions called Mesobrachia, Porticon and Litus.

Galactic Regions
⚠️ Regions outlined with thicker, brighter borders are open to writing.