History of Tsalos by Blink

Published on Kiith Iopia on date Unknown

The following text is an excerpt taken from the writings of a Tsalos historian. This finding gives some details on what may have happened to the Kushan and Taiidan.

There has been much interest of late in how life here on Tsalos came to be in its current state. Many philosophers, through the years, have attempted to explain how a people as primitive as we, could build such astounding structures as the spires of Corad Yah, or the underwater cities near Racstoth Nor. No doubt you have heard the stories telling how our race used to be able to travel among the stars and do other things that boggle the imagination. After extensive research into some of the wonders of this planet, and into many ancient myths and a few ancient books, I believe I have been able to piece together what happened over the last several thousand or so years. I warn you before hand, Lord Arcipus, that the accuracy of these writings may not truly reflect what happened so long ago. But it is as close as we can come, in the present.

Around twelve hundred years ago, our race was just starting to explore space. The people of that time were already constructing great cities that floated in the sky, far above the clouds. However, it was not a time of great joy as you might expect. It had long been known that the planet nearest us was also host to a race of intelligent beings and they were slightly more advanced than we were. Our ancestors were afraid that this race might have been hostile and called them "sa Victi" or the "outer ones" in their ancient tongue. But as time went on it was discovered that the race was not hostile at all, and in fact, were just as worried about us as we were about them. For many years a trade route existed between our two planets and a great many things were learned from the sa Victi. But then things turned sour. Apparently some kind of dispute arose between our people and theirs and a war was fought. As space warfare was very new to both sides it was difficult to know exactly how to fight. Because of this, millions of lives were lost on both sides. The war went on for many years and our ancestors and theirs became bitter enemies. Finally, we gained the upper hand, pushed the sa Victi out of space and forced them back to their own planet. Instead of asking for their surrender, we bombarded them from space, destroying their cities and doing great damage to their planet, until they no longer had the ability to harm us. Only then was our wrath appeased. With the sa Victi no longer a threat, we began to colonize other planets in our system.

Over the next hundred years we continued to explore space. Our space faring vessels went faster and faster and our colonization of other worlds continued to grow faster along with them. Not much thought was given to what would happen if we should run into another species that had similar abilities as ours. Rather the people of that time became selfish and greedy, wanting only power. They gobbled up planet after planet in a never-ending attempt to get more. This race for power eventually led to a bloody civil war, which lasted for nearly 10 years until someone discovered another space faring race of intelligent beings called the "Kushan". Fearing that the Kushan were hostile, the clans fighting in the war decided to unite in order to meet the common threat. But in truth, there really was no threat of harm from the Kushan. Though powerful, they were a benevolent race. They were known for dealing fairly with all, and living in peace with the races around them. Those that took this as a sign of weakness quickly found out that they were mistaken. The Kushan would not tolerate threats and were reported to swiftly punish those that made them. But for the most part they were a kind race.

The Kushan greeted us in peace and introduced our fledgling race to many other races. Our ancestors, though they once considered themselves powerful, now saw how weak they really were. In light of this they decided to put aside their differences and unite as one. As time went on, the Kushan fostered our people and helped us to grow. They also continued to become more powerful. Soon they were considered the protectors of all the races around them. The Kushan looked upon this as an honor and used their power to usher in a new era of peace. It was during this time of peace that Tsalos became an important center for trade. From all around the stars, other races came to buy and sell goods. Due to this our entire race prospered like never before, and with this prosperity came power. Soon we no longer relied on the protection of the Kushan, and because of that grew apart from them.

For several hundred years there was peace. Then came a violent race from stars unknown. They called themselves the "Tiidan". They attacked many and took what planets they captured as their own. The Kushan, acting as protectors, fought valiantly to repel these forceful invaders. This struggle was called the Great War. After nearly 80 years of fighting the Kushan could no longer stop the Tiidan onslaught, though they did not quit trying. Eventually, the Kushan defenses collapsed and the Tiidan began attacking the more defenseless races. The Kushan continued to offer resistance whenever they could but it was never enough to stop the Tiidan. Encouraged by this bravery our people along with another race called the "Yaskil" threatened to join forces against the Tiidan if they did not stop the war and withdraw from Kushanii space. The Tiidan refused and massed a fleet near the Kushan home world. The Kushan threw together the few remaining ships they had in an attempt to delay the Tiidan until our forces could arrive to help them. The Tiidan demolished this small fleet easily and were in the process of attacking the Kushan home world when our forces arrived, followed by a huge fleet of Yaskilid vessels. A bitter battle was fought with both sides losing many. The end result was a draw.

After this battle, negotiations began between the two sides. These negotiations went on for a long time until a solution was finally agreed upon. The Tiidan would take control of the Kushan home world. The remaining Kushan holdings (those not occupied by the Tiidan) had to be abandoned and would serve as a buffer zone between the two sides. No ships would then be allowed to pass through this zone. In return the Tiidan agreed to end the war. It was also agreed that the Kushan survivors should be divided into three groups - one group going to each race - so that the Kushan race would not be wiped out. Thus a group of Kushan was sent back with the Yaskil, the Tiidan, and with us. You may think it strange that some of the Kushan were given over to their enemies, but apparently this was a customary thing to do during that time, and no one really thought much of it.

Ten years of peace followed the battle. Then the Tiidan launched an offensive against the Yaskil. Once again, our ancestors formed an alliance with them tried desperately to help defend them. But in the end, the Tiidan were victorious. Knowing that we would be the next target, our people launched an attack into Tiidan space in an attempt to throw them off balance. This attack, though stopped, was successful in that it caused division among the Tiidan. One group of the Tiidan was tired of the fighting and wanted to stop while the other group wanted to continue on. Unfortunately the Tiidan civil war that erupted 5 years later came too late to save our empire. The Tiidan that wanted to fight were able to overrun our defenses and destroy our space cities. But by the time Tsalos was bombarded, the Tiidan civil war had left most of the galaxy vacant, as it once was millions of years ago. Thus the Great War destroyed many proud civilizations and reduced those who were still living to savages.

The destruction on Tsalos was very great. The Tiidan bombarded this planet just as our ancestors had done to the sa Victi hundreds of years before. The smoke of burning dwellings blotted out the light from space. Those who lived in the cities fled, never to return. By the time the Tiidan left, Tsalos was a smoking ruin. The few who were left alive struggled just to survive. As generations went by, the knowledge of how to build the great things was forgotten. Eventually, nature began to emerge from the ashes and swallowed up many of the marvels of our past; leaving us to discover them anew.

The rest I will detail to you in later writings, Lord Arcipus. If you are wondering what happened to the Yaskil, the Kushan, the Tiidan, or the other races, I am afraid I cannot tell you much. One story I heard was that the Tiidan totally wiped themselves out in their civil war. Another story says that the surviving Yaskil were able to rebuild and are fighting the Tiidan to this day. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the Kushan. No mention of them is ever made again after the Great War. I assume many of the answers are still out there, waiting to be found. But since we were thrown from space we have no way of discovering them. I can only hope that someday we will return there to solve these mysteries once and for all

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This could explain why after 1500 years, the Taiidan aren't way more advanced than the Kushan.