Human History
The Human history is broken into chapters due to the length of the history:
Chapter 1: In the Beginning. Man's discovery of void travel.
Chapter 2: First Contact. Man's discovery of life on the Nexus.
Chapter 3: It's Magic. Man's discovery of the Fey and Magic.
Chapter 4: Another Opinion. Man's discovery of the Felinae.
Chapter 5: The War. Man's war with the Fey.
Chapter 6: Betrayal and Collapse. The betrayal of the Cyborgs and end of the Nexus War.
In the year 20,486AD, according to the Earth standard calendar, and the human race finally perfected a dimensional transmitter that allowed the short-term opening of gates between their home earth dimension and the Void. They were driven to this extreme technological advance by the lack of resources and pollution destroying their home worlds and the colonies they had pioneered on other planets. The human race had always been disappointed by the lack of intelligent life they had found in the universe, and the rather poor quality of worlds that were available for colonization. The resources it took to terraform a world into a livable space was vast and difficult. With the difficulty of reaching more worlds to colonize for resources, several corporations started to turn to old-fashioned physics for answers. Within the more esoteric theories lay dimensional travel, the key to the rest of the universe.
J. P. Freemont Ph.D., of the Stardust MultiCorporation, was the first scientist to patent a prototype Gate mechanism. This device was expensive to use, and complicated to build, but opened Pandora’s box. The first experimental Gates opened into the nether region between dimensions. This space was dubbed The Void.
The most startling aspect of the Void was that it supported life. Strange and exotic creatures, familiar to humans from nightmares, seemed to exist there in some sort of stasis. Theories abounded as to how this was possible. Some scientists claimed that the Void was a repository of fears and dreams of the human race that had come to life. Others, more cautions, suggested that the human race did not have the science to understand it, and it would take careful research and time.
Unfortunately, three additional multicorporations were attempting to exploit this technology, meaning that time was not a luxury Stardust Multipcoproration had. Especially when cold hard cash was at stake.
The KruppsHitachi Corp. was the first to make a Gate actually open beyond the Void. Cameras rolled and the media went into a frenzy as they recorded the lush green landscape through the Gate. It was as beautiful as all the pictures of Old Earth. Because of their monopoly on the gate technology, KruppsHitachi Corp. landed full military and government support from several Federations to explore. If the land proved stable and safe, it would be ripe for colonization.
As Sgt. Thomas Masterson led the small unit of soldiers and corporate researchers through the Gate for the first time, they were astounded at the purity and beauty of the land. Everywhere they looked, new and profitable organisms abounded. All information was recorded, to be returned to the home corporation for review on what was usable, or in need of preserving.
These Gate excursions became more frequent as other Corporations started to get their operations up and running. Fully five years of minor exploration by different corporations confirmed that they all had been opening Gates to the same world, or, more accurately, dimension, and it was dubbed the Nexus Realm. It was the theoretical nexus between dimensions, on the dimensional model put forth by Johan Stienmetz, who, at the time, was a leading researcher in Dimensional Technologies.
The Nexus Realm appeared stable despite occasional fluxes in it's dimensional boundaries, which permitted natural gates to open up into the Void. These openings were popularly thought, by the scientific community, to be a thinning area of time and space that created a vacuum that was the Void. There was considerable concern from some top physicists that the Nexus Realm was not a stable dimension, and could melt back into the Void at any time. But as the years turned into decades, the fears of the general population around this theory were forgotten.
During one of these excursions, a small group of Stardust Corporate researchers came across a campsite. It appeared to be a primitive hydraulic mining operation. There was a stream feeding water down some pipes and some short humanoids were washing the topsoil off into of a large metal catching mechanism. All of the techniques they used were extremely primitive compared to the current method of laser removal that humans used. The actual refining looked to be done in some stone buildings next to the site. The Stardust Corporate group set up watch, and discovered that the human race was not alone. PVT Kim Lee Davis was credited with this discovery.
For the next three weeks this new race was studied, and a panel of Stardust anthropologists headed a board for the preservation of this primitive species. They wanted to be very careful not to destroy a native race with Humanities vast numbers, and obvious advanced technology. The race was dubbed Dwarven in reference to old Earth mythology.
First contact occurred far less dramatically than any of the researchers would have wanted. The Dwarves shut down their mining operation early that day, and went into their buildings. Later they emerged dressed in armor and carrying weapons, such as axes, swords, and large hammers. Every bit of the armor and weapons was engraved with incredibly sophisticated runes, and the workmanship was far more intricate than anything similar in human history.
The Dwarves marched in two rigid columns to the base of the research camp. Although the camp should have been invisible, the Dwarven contingent stopped at the camp's boundaries. They then called out in clear English for the leader of the encampment to come out and treat with them. English may have evolved as the dominantly spoken language for Humanity, but to hear it spoken by an alien race was shocking.
The Dwarves, headed by Balthazar Steelbright, then demanded to know the researchers' intent on their land, and pointed out several stone boundaries that the research camp was in violation of. They stated that this was Athric Ironbeard's land, and that they were not about to allow a military build up, and coup on their claim. It was at this point that the Stardust Corporate anthropologist was forced to pack up and move her camp outside the Dwarven boundaries, and completely reassess whether these people were indeed a ‘primitive’ race in need of stewardship.
Over the next several years, researchers found that the reason Dwarves could speak English was that, as the Dwarves explained it, all languages became one on the Nexus. The Dwarves explained that it took much effort to learn separate languages and dialects. Parts of languages would still exist with separate vocabulary, but on the whole languages tended to sound the same after a while. They explained it as ‘magic’ inherent to this plane. They used the term ‘magic’ to describe any process they seemed unwilling or unable to explain. Beyond that, the Dwarves were very tight lipped on explanations.
The Human research teams discovered that this theory was indeed correct, but could not define a reason for it. They speculated that maybe the Biblical reference of the tower of Babel was indeed factual, and possibly marked a time when Earth had had some connection to the Nexus Realm. This theory claimed that the separation in the languages in that story may have marked when the Human inhabited dimension separated from the Nexus into its own autonomous space.
The Dwarves stated they were the ONLY indigenous race on this plane, and that other races came and went in small quantities through the constant opening and closing of Gates. The Nexus Realm had random fluxes in the dimensional walls that enclosed it, which allowed access from the Void. Though usually benign, on occasion the creatures previously in the Void would come through and rampage. These Gates only appeared on the surface of the world, so the Dwarves had carved out rather large collection of underground caves to live in. They could not be induced for any reason to show the researchers these caves. The researchers assumed natural caves formed the entrances to their underground cities, in order to provide speedy exit when monsters appeared.
Dwarves had several smithing techniques. When the products of Dwarven labor were examined, it became apparent that it was an entirely unknown technique. The Dwarves could not be induced to share any information about it. On the whole, Dwarves seemed to be very tight lipped. They did not share much about their culture, or information about the Nexus unless though trade agreements.
If the Human race was surprised to find it wasn’t alone, then they were doubly surprised to find that they weren’t the only large organized race with access to the Nexus, from a separate dimensional gate. Fifteen years since the first Human Gate was opened on the Nexus Realm, a large alien Gate was opened just outside the doors to a Dwarven cave. The Gate was huge in its dimensions, and could be described as a flowing organic display of bright light. Out of this Gate stepped a large procession of humanoids of various sorts. Some were willowy and tall with beauty to spare, and others had bright wings, and seemed to roam on the sides in manic disarray. For all intents and purposes, it appeared to the Humans that the world of storybook elves and fairies had opened up to the Nexus.
Timothy Ramirez had been in charge of a research team to study the Dwarves. They had been using the cover of a trade team, otherwise the Dwarves would not cooperate. These new arrivals required more study, and more teams.
This new cluster of races were dubbed Fey for the human legends. There appeared to be several subspecies of Fey within the whole. There were the frenetic Fairies, who appeared to be humanish in height, with wings, and a childlike demeanor. The race in charge was called Elven, and they were beautiful humanoids with pointed ears. There were also others that didn't have enough members to be a full race. This last group was called Commoners, which is what the Fey themselves called them.
The first problem in the studying of these newcomers was that the winged ‘Fairies’ version didn’t wait to be studied, but came right into camp and proceeded to get into everything. They were more than amenable to being tested, and explained in great detail their history and culture, most of which was later proved to be false when elves were contacted. Eventually, there had to be established a ‘No Fairy’ zone around camps enforced with bribery, specifically candy, toys, and other small gadgets.
Attempts to meet diplomatically with any Fey, besides the Fairy, was met with resistance. Researchers were told to wait until word was sent back from the Fey's home dimension. The Fey had set up a semi-permanent camp, and proceeded to trade with the Dwarves for weapons and armor. The Elves were very taken aback by Human impatience. Finally, in no uncertain terms Ramirez was told that he would be summoned when it was time.
During the long wait, the Dwarves did brisk trade with both the Fey and the Humans. They would not answer questions, or intercede, on behalf of either race. The Dwarves said repeatedly that it was bad for trade.
Unfortunately for Ramirez, he had long since retired by the time the Fey eventually granted humans access to their camps. Longer-lived than humans, they failed to take the comparatively shorter humans lifespan into account.
Lt. Aneki Hirobumi was appointed the Fey liaison officer by the newly formed United Nexus Coalition. During the years, KruppsHitachi Corp. had made the acquisition of several other corporate entities. Lt. Hirobumi was an excellent arbitrator that had classical training as an anthropologist before entering the Stardust Corporate military, and then continued on after a merger created the United Nexus Coalition.
Lt. Hirobumi, and his handpicked number of diplomatically trained individuals, were escorted inside the Fey enclave to meet with the Elven ambassador Janus Sorellin, on behalf of Emperor D’Lleyewin. Ambassador Sorellin was sent to assess whether or not the Human race was advanced enough to be considered a full race, and not just another primitive Void culture.
Even the most basic technological devices dazzled the Fey. They often referred to them as ‘magic’ and sought to understand what ‘spells’ or ‘incantations’ made the devices possible. In return for gifts of small technical trinkets, like flashlights and communicators, they gave Lt. Hirobumi small ‘magical’ devices to study.
In these first decades, the two races were completely fascinated with one another. Both the Fey, and the Humans kept their camps on the Nexus. The Dwarves did good business between them both.
Magic turned out to be everything that human childrens' stories said it was. Rather than develop labor saving devices through technology and physical labor, the Fey had developed some sort of magic.
Theoretical physicist Mark Jeffries devoted his entire research team to trying to unlock the science behind these gifts. His entire life’s work was devoted to it, but he did not make any headway. No matter what scientific theories they applied, they still couldn't come up with a cohesive theory as to why it worked. They were still missing a key piece. It was assumed that this was related to Fey genetics, and no human could learn it.
The Fey were capable of great feats of magic, healing and killing with ease. All Fey seemed capable of learning these amazing abilities, to some degree or another.
Humans found the Fey difficult to deal with for even the quickest decisions could take years in the making. As the Fey deemed the humans to be a low priority, these directives from the Ruling House could take decades. The United Nexus Coalition dealt with these delays by founding the Department of Fey Relations that meticulously recorded every official interaction with the Fey for review before a new Liaison officer was sent out.
In all, humans learned that the Elves were the easiest Fey to deal with. They were consistent and seemed to be the race in charge of politics. Fairy were little more than dangerous children, unable to be trusted alone for any length of time with equipment. The rest of the Fey races seemed to vary between this.
Shortly after the Fey experience began, human explorers were sent out to get mineral content readings deeper into the vast Nexus Realm. It was here, in the wilder lands, that the Humans saw traces of a more primitive culture. Evidence of small encampments and small traveling units were seen on the horizon. These signs were more evident the farther away from Dwarven and Fey influence the Humans got.
Then small camp items started disappearing, and camera reports were amazing. Lanky humanoids, covered completely in fur, were raiding odds and ends around camp. They had a curious, mischievous attitude. They appeared to be feline humanoids, and seemed to possess a natural grace that belied nature--at least the nature that human beings were used to. They were nicknamed Felinae, and it stuck.
Research teams were set up, but they had no luck contacting this new race. It seemed that only young adults would approach the camps, and it was almost a mark of bravery to get in as close as possible. Any attempts to seek them out were complete failures.
The mineralogist Joseph Marks was in the Nexus with two assistants at a small campsite when he was approached by some of these cat people, and once again language was easy between the two races. They came to his camp and offered some sort of meat in trade for tools. They were a pair of young adults, one male, and one female. Both had rather primitive bows, and spears, and didn’t evidence any iron or metalworking of any sort. The male was tall and lanky, and appeared to be covered in leopard spots. The female was tiger striped and much shorter, but no less armed.
The male introduced himself as Agni, and the female as Sati. They wore very little, a few bracelets and a necklace each. They wanted to trade some meat for a pair of knives. Marks was savvy enough to pay their prices without argument. He then asked them if they would want to show him the land for more goods, such as metal cook pots, or hardware. They took up his request out of interest in the human race probably more than the goods offered, initially.
Marks learned that the Felinae traveled in small family bands, and held loyal to these bands more than to themselves as a whole race. Different bands fought for goods, hunting lands, and mates. Some were easier to deal with than others. He found his guides made it easier to move through some Felinae territories, but made him an instant target in other lands that they had enemies in. The Felinae did, however, turn out to be excellent scouts. After Joseph Marks, more camps in Felinae territory began to be approached by different bands. Apparently human goods were much in demand.
They refuted the Dwarven assertion that Dwarves were the only indigenous race in the Nexus Realm. The Felinae's creation myths spoke rather explicitly of being from there. Unlike the Dwarves, they had no refuge from the constant flux of Gates, and although they developed rich cultural advances, had not been able to advance scientifically. So metalworking was not a native art form to them, but their herbal lore of the native plants was beyond description. They very much wanted the steel weapons that the Dwarves made, but the Dwarves rarely thought that they had anything of worth to trade for. Only large amounts of gold, silver, or iron were acceptable to them in trade, and the Felinae did not have the resources to procure these, except by accident. The Dwarves had written off the entire Felinae race.
It was said an older experienced Felinae could ‘feel’ when a Gate was going to open. Marks did not necessarily disbelieve this, as the Felinae seemed to have such a faster reaction time than most humans. They would often play at letting their human companions swing at them, and then step out of the way.
They did not have much experience with the Fey, but did have stories handed down from their storytellers about them. Felinae live to be an average of 100 years, barring accidents, and simply did not live long enough for anyone to remember the last time the Fey had been to the Nexus. The Fey only came to the Nexus every several Felinae generations to trade with the Dwarves. They felt that the Fey were here longer than usual this time because of the Humans they encountered, but couldn't be sure. Most Felinae avoided the Fey. Fairies were difficult, and couldn’t be counted on to react in any given way, and Elves treated the Felinae with disdain.
Approximately 200 years after the first Human Gate was opened on the Nexus, Humans had an established set of colonies, mines, and agricultural outposts. The Human population on the Nexus ballooned from only a handful of Corporate-backed researchers and military guardians to over a million individuals. Not since the first worlds were colonized was there so much clamor to set up shop so far away from all things known and familiar.
All that is truly known about the first skirmishes on the Nexus was that fully one half of the Human population was killed, and another quarter injured. As survivors trickled back through the Gates with stories of brutality and magical carnage at the hands of the Fey, the Human Realm as a whole screamed for revenge.
The military nature of the United Nexus Coalition gave in to that hysteria. It was the largest mass scale military event in Human history. Separate ruling Federations and Corporations with no history of cooperation were suddenly allies. The war effort was a madness that swept all of human kind. With that many dead and injured, there was little resistance to war.
Three months after what came to be known as the Nexus Massacre, a human force entered the Nexus and wiped out every last Fey that resisted them. The Humans forced the captured to reopen gates to the Fey homelands, and forced the Fey off the Nexus. The Human's overwhelming advantage was helped along by the Felinae. Small units of Humans were led by Felinae scouts to take advantage to the sometimes-shifting terrain of the Nexus. Some of these first Felinae allies were given equipment and weapons, and made part of the human units in full.
The Dwarves sent observers to the surface to watch the proceedings and make notes about the violence. Belax Smithstrong, a Dwarven artisan, is recorded in Dwarven histories as marveling over the human military technology that was brought to bear on the Fey. He traded several of his fine swords for equipment manuals. He also remarked that he had no idea that the Human race had so many individuals. Apparently the Dwarves had thought that the vast majority of the Human race had already come to the Nexus, leaving their own realm practically empty. They had never taken seriously the talk of the massive numbers the Humans talked of ‘back home’.
The Humans secured the Nexus during the next year from the Fey forces. Not a word was heard from the Fey. Their intelligence, via Dwarven sources, told them that Fey were slow to act but would assuredly mount their own retaliatory force.
On the one-year anniversary of Human retaliatory strike, the Humans were not disappointed. At dusk, forty seven Gates opened simultaneously near Human settlements all over the Nexus, and groups of Fey stepped out fighting. This was the start of one the Gate Wars' most intense periods. Human resources had underestimated the Fey. They were fully as capable as the Human race, and as numerous.
It became apparent within six months of the Fey rebuttal that they could learn to use the most complex Human weapons and equipment with ease. This came as a shock to the Human forces. Not only did the Human race have to face a maelstrom of magical damage they could not counter, but also have their own captured equipment fired at them as well.
A solution was needed, and Josephine Warner created it. She had been researching biogenetic locking mechanisms for Ford & Morgan’s Interplanetary Antitheft Dept. She had created a mechanism that allowed a lock to only recognize a certain type of genetics, so engines could be keyed to start only by pilots that were recognized, thus reducing hijacking. Her biogenetic locks were manufactured on all equipment entering the Nexus during the rest of the war. All items that could be used against Human troops were keyed to Human-only genetics.
This simple lock add-on gave the Humans the ability to be evenly matched with the Fey. Human researchers had to come up with additional military tech to try to swing the War to their advantage.
This would be the longest war in Human history, and they later found, the only war for the Fey. In the beginning decades, it was apparent that the Fey had no military experience. They fought as individuals side by side, rather than as any cohesive units. The most dangerous Fey troops were the Fairy in that they would harm their own troops with as little regard as they did humans. The Fey took stock of the situation, and once again learned from their enemy. They would begin emulating human tactics with varying success as they adapted it to their magical needs.
After ten years of observing the hostilities, the Dwarves decided no good would come of it, and went underground. Every door was shut and locked. They would not be heard from again until several hundred years after the war ended.
Human research led to cloning and cybernetic implantations. The first generation of cybernetically implanted humans was only marginally successful. Using full adults did not seem to have the same success as starting with a younger subjects, from a few carefully manipulated genetic lines. Within a decade, full Cyborg units were coming into play, and completely took the Fey off guard. The Fey had no heavy hitting front line troops to match. It looked like this would be the advantage the Humans were looking for.
As the war dragged on, the Fey pulled a retreat. The Humans felt this was a signal to victory. For a decade the Humans were unchallenged on the Nexus, until once again close to fifty Gates opened to reveal what the Fey had really been up to. This time it wasn’t just Fey that stepped through, but also an unknown race of huge animal hybrids called Beastmen. It appeared that once again, the Fey had taken a page out of the Human book of war, and manufactured a magical counter to the Cyborgs.
With this new development, the Humans and Fey once again ravaged each other across the Nexus, laying waste to the land they were fighting for. It continued for over a century. The Fey lived long enough that they still remembered the beginning of the war, and the Humans were developing a culture around a war effort that looked like it would never stop.
That was when Lt. Scott Johnson was stranded in the Nexus with his Felinae guide after the rest of his unit had been wiped out. His guide was named Madhura, who was a particularly adept at survival, and he later gave all credit for his survival to her. She led him back to her tribal band where he stayed for over five years, actually being adopted as one of the members. He married Madhura, and had children with her. It was later found that children tended to be genetically true to their mother’s race in the Nexus. It was the first recorded instance of Felinae and Humans crossbreeding, and they bred true to their Felinae heritage. During his stay with the Felinae he befriended the band's shaman, Vayu, and started to become more and more fascinated by the Felinae’s use of magic. The Humans had always assumed magic was something that only the Fey had access to.
Vayu taught Johnson to use magic, and explained the spirits wanted the Humans to learn magic. There is no real explanation why Vayu's teachings helped Johnson to learn magic, or why all previous attempts had failed.
He and his Felinae wife made their way back to Human-held lands, and brought this discovery home. It took less than a couple decades for Humans to start achieving enough magical might to seriously threaten the Fey, and it looked like the Humans had finally gotten the advantage to win the war.
Just when the Human forces saw victory in their sight, disaster struck. During the Battle of Pine Hill, Fey and Human forces were colliding in what was for the Fey, a desperate attempt to hold ground. Mid-battle, Cyborg units, led by Timothy Turner 5th gen, turned on their Human allies, and Beastmen turned on the Fey. This marked a potent third faction to enter the Gate War.
No one is sure how long these two factions planned their betrayal, but it was devastating. The Cyborg and Beastmen issued statements that they wanted the Nexus as their own land, and would fight to push both the Humans, and the Fey out of it. Timothy Johnson 5th gen was a brilliant tactician and leader that utilized his hard-hitting troops to their fullest advantage. He also had several bands of Felinae as trained scouts to aid his endeavor, plus carefully selected Beastmen and Cyborgs secretly trained in magical use. Overnight, his army was easily a match for either the Human or the Fey forces, causing a bloody war to get bloodier.
Unfortunately, this allowed the Fey to return from near defeat. Once again they doggedly held on to their defense. Now the Humans had to contend with two enemies, which opened them up for further Fey attack while at the same time they were being ravaged by Cyborg/Beastmen raids.
The fighting grew very bitter as all three factions now fought over the Nexus, ravaging the land. No one is sure what circumstances brought about the collapse, but at dawn during a heavy push by the Cyborg/Beastmen force, the world changed irrevocably.
The Felinae say the Nexus had had enough of the fighting, and decided to put an end to it. Humans, however, speculate that Fey forces had attempted some sort of powerful magic, and it had resoundingly failed. Whatever the reasons, it did happen with a force that knocked every living creature in the Nexus to its knees in a giant explosion of white light.
The first clue to a problem was that no Gate could be opened back to Human space. It took a few months to realize that the Fey were in a similar predicament. The number of random Gates increased dramatically, dumping creatures bent on nothing more but destruction onto already war-weary units, and further distracting the three factions from each other.
No one was sure if the dimensional stress of whatever forces were in play that day collapsed the home realms of both Fey and Humans, or if it just cut them off from the Nexus. The reality was that the Humans fighting on the Nexus Realm were stranded on with no path home for supplies, equipment, or backup.
With the constant fighting, and interruptions from Gate creatures, the Human forces collapsed into small groups. Aggression simmered, with occasional outbursts of violence, egged on by Fey raids.
However, Humans needed to concentrate on survival rather than fighting. As time distanced Humans from the battle, it was the Fey that were more often the aggressors, sometimes hunting down children of soldiers that had killed their comrades. As the decades, and then the centuries passed, Human life changed dramatically from what it had been before the Gate War. It was truly a descent into a dark age.