Tragedy of Daysahren

Document

((This is an OOC summary of a much longer document.))

This is a Top Secret document of the Tanyth Aramont Imperial Grand Navy.

Vice-Admiral Ralientha Bixalim wrote the preface. She describes the story of UON-432 B as a tragedy. She recommends that all flag officers be ordered to study this document. "It teaches the final end to which every Path leads, if we let religious zeal overwhelm reason and polity."

The document is the final report of Commander Eliona Gilven, the Chief Science Officer of the Navy exploration vessel Melody of Thorns, on her ship's scientific mission.

Commander Gilven describes the Navy's discovery of the UON-432 system. U = Unoccupied, O = Once Occupied, N = No Strategic Value. The N is an official lie.

The system has a stable yellow dwarf star, three rocky planets, and a one modest gas giant. One of the rocky planets, UON-432 B, is the planet of interest. It's in the Goldilocks Zone with a stable, breathable atmosphere and an Earth-like biosphere.

A spirit-probe originally catalogued UON-432. It noted that UON-432 B has a light orbital debris cloud characteristic of a proto-space-faring civilization. Melody of Thorns was dispatched with a team from the Imperial Society of Sciences to investigate. The team included an archaeology AI named Braid.

Here are highlights of the document.

Founding

UON-432 B was colonized by dwarves. They were survivors of the Illithid Empire. They called themselves the Day'sahi. They were slaves on a factory ship working in uncharted space, drawing raw material from UON-432 D (the gas giant). Centuries ago, during the dissolution of the Illithid Empire, the dwarves rebelled and seized the ship. They crash-landed on the planet and named it Day'sahren.

In the first years after founding, the Day'sahi were united. However, over time they splintered into two religious factions, the Agon'tah and the Ko'tah.

Agon'tah

Agon'tah is the Path of Taking. Its adherents, the Agon'tahi, revered Laduguer, a duergar god. They swore loyalty and gratitude for his aid in overthrowing their illithid masters. They held fast to the Path of Taking, "for Ladugeur taught us not to fear the dark, but to command it. Laduguer bargained with a great and wise divinity for great power, and he shared this secret with us. Power is ours to command." The Agon'tahi saw the biosphere and the spirit realms as theirs to exploit.

Ko'tah

Ko'tah is the Path of Giving. Its adherents, the Ko'tahi, turned their reverence to the Generous One. She taught them to salvage the wreckage of the factory ship. She taught them to live in sustainable harmony with the biosphere of Day'sahren.

A Ko'tah text says this: "There is only one true good: the Path of Giving. It is the Path of generosity, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance. There is only one true evil: the Path of Taking. It is the Path of greed, cruelty, fear, hatred, and judgment."

Bond Magic

The secret Laduguer taught involved summoning magic. The Day'sahi called it "bond magic." Commander Gilven extrapolates that Laduguer learned bond magic from Asmodeus.

Bond magic gave the Day'sahi substantial control over spirits, especially elementals and undead. Bond magic became the central magitec of Day'sahren. The Day'sahi reached the equivalent of mid-20th Century Earth tech, using bound spirits. This included mass production, transcontinental travel, mass communication, power grids, early computers, and early spaceflight.

Strain

However, bond magic exacted a price on the Weave of Day'sahren. Commander Gilven extrapolates it caused a form of Strain similar to adintech's side effects. Extreme weather, ecological calamities (e.g., pestilence), and geological effects (e.g., earthquakes) increased in number and magnitude.

The Agon'tahi and Ko'tahi disagreed on an appropriate response. The latter wanted to gradually decrease the use of bond magic and let the Weave heal. The Agon'tahi wanted to move to a new world. They compromised by starting the Ark Project.

The Ark Project

The Day'sahi began an unprecedented project to build a series of massive spaceships. The first was named the Invictus. The factions agreed to prioritize its construction. But they had different visions for its eventual use and who would primarily fill out the crew.

The Agon'tahi envisioned a war ship. The Invictus would be used to conquer a new world, in the name of Laduguer. "We can't trust other worlds to be welcoming and generous, so we must meet them from a place of strength!"

The Ko'tahi envisioned a colony ship. The Invictus would be used to meet and trade with other worlds, and perhaps find and settle a New Day'sahren, leaving bond magic behind. Within the first few years of the Ark Project, the Ko'tahi argued that bond magic was evil and should not be spread. A Ko'tahi statesman, Bonjamin Ironbelly, wrote, "Any dwarf who would trade any being's essential Freedom in exchange for a fleeting Respite from Fear is not worthy of such Freedom themselves or such Respite."

Civil War & The Great Poisoning

The heart of the Invictus is the Cradle of Reason: the most powerful magitec computer the Day'sahi ever built. In the early years of the Ark Project the factions cooperated on the broad design of the Invictus. But when it came time to decide the fundamental purpose and design of the Cradle of Reason, the factions' visions were incompatible. The Strain effects and the cost of the Ark Project had created great tension, fear, and scarcity in Day'sahi society. Civil war erupted. The fighting covered the planet and the incomplete Invictus.

The Ko'tahi might have prevailed. But Laduguer taught the Agon'tahi a new secret, called the Exquisite Knife. The Agon'tahi set out to spread a magitec virus that was supposed to target only Ko'tahi bond magic. The bound spirits would be unleashed. This would do immediate harm to the Ko'tahi themselves, while also collapsing the Ko'tahi tech base and economy.

Ko'tahi heroes intervened and tried to stop the virus. Agon'tahi heroes fought them. (Commander Gilven extrapolates that both sides had Unbound among their champions.) The Exquisite Knife came to target all bond magic, in what the Day'sahi called the Great Poisoning.

In the context of a world already under Strain, the unraveling of the bond magic became an extinction level event. Elementals and undead were released everywhere. They killed millions of Day'sahi. Millions more died in the collapse of society, through disease, starvation, and violence. The surface became effectively unlivable.

Aftermath

Some Ko'tahi and Agon'tahi may have retreated beneath the surface. The Melody of Thorns made only a limited study of the surface. Commander Gilven counseled that the damage done to UON-432 B was beyond mortal means to manage or remediate.

"With the end of bond magic, the Weave should slowly heal itself. As their vengeance fades, the spirits will move on. The weather, the ecosphere, and the planet itself should stabilize. I'm recommending that the Society of Sciences issue a decree. This world should be left to heal, and quarantined for 99 years."

The SoS followed that recommendation, in December of 1918.

The Invictus

The Invictus was meant to be the flagship of a Day'sahi fleet. It's almost 2400 feet long. It's key features include a matrix of launch tubes and two rotating habitat wheels. The Agon'tahi planned the tubes to carry a fleet of fighter craft. The Ko'tahi planned the tubes to carry modular habitats for dwarves, animals, and plants. Neither vision came to pass. The ship can be traversed via corridors and Jefferies tubes. It also has a multi-axial transit sphere system.

The Melody of Thorns teams made limited explorations of the Invictus. They encountered hostile elementals and undead.

The report continues with more details on the 'Invictus.