The History Behind Chapter VII

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The Dark Age - A Past Long Forgotten

The historical records of the Common Century are not very forgiving to the years prior to The Purity. The After Colony era, as the few remaining texts from that time label it, was a constant illustration of the worst qualities of humankind. Violence, tyranny, and wholesale destruction were the most common factors associated with this chaotic period. Yet, at the same time, it was also an age of technological wonders. Many CC scholars are amazed at how easily the people of the Dark Age took such things as space colonies and faster-than-light-travel, both nearly lost to the Common Century, for granted. But then, they point to the great magnitude of military advances that accompanied these feats. Specifically, they highlight mobile weapons, some of the most destructive relics ever uncovered.

Looking back at the past, it seems clear that the people of the Dark Age were obscessed with war. Using their mighty technologies, they ushered in untold generations of apocalyptic conflict. Life was a continuous cycle of devestation and rebirth, followed by renewed hostilities once again. As people indulged in this lifestyle, they seemed to simultaneously wipe out all records of their own existence, leaving only scattered documents behind. Though this has left the people of the Common Century with few specific details about the Dark Age, it does provide a clear illustration of how terrible it must have been.

It is believed that, at one particularly low point in history, the civilization that existed during the Dark Age utterly destroyed itself. This lead to a long period of total anarchy, during which several advanced technologies were lost, order vanished, and nations crumbled away. This is history's bleakest point, forming the years the preceeded The Purity. It is uncertain how long this terrible time really lasted. Originally, it was thought to have been no more than a few decades, a hundred years at most. However, carbon dating of recently uncovered mobile weapons hints that it could have actually lasted several centuries. No one is entirely sure.

Regardless, the Dark Age is now viewed as a powerful lesson to humankind, though of what few can ever agree. The leaders of the new order portray it as the ultimate example of human weakness, evidence of how necessary the current use of genetic engineering to modify behavior is. Historians and engineers see it as a source of lost technology and culture, and thus continue to seek its treasures. Warriors tend to look past the evils of this violent time, and characterize it as a period of high adventure. Yet, despite these well-developed and diverging views, most sensible people prefer to forget the concerns of the past, and push ahead to the future.

The Purity - Breaking through the Darkness

Even though 151 years have passed since the Common Century began, the story of its founding still sits in the hearts and minds of every human being. It is an epic tale, largely unencumbered by the mystery that surrounds the Dark Age. Though many details are often exaggerated, the basic content remains true to memory. Nearly every person in the Earth Sphere knows that the CC era began with The Purity, which in turn began with one man: Morgan Heiliger, the Founder.

A warrior, scholar, and natural leader, history portrays Sir Heiliger, who was born Morgan Issac Renard, as the very personification of all that is heroic. His full story is one of many that has been lost to the obscurity of the Dark Age. However, it is known that he was a distant descendent of Catherine Heiliger, one of the founders and greatest heroes of the Torquemada Templar order. As such, he followed his family's tradition of joining the society upon reaching the age of majority, dedicated his life to selflessly helping those in need. Eventually, his deeds carried him into the office of leadership, where he also assumed the Heiliger name, forging his connection to the Templars' illustrious past and showing his committment to his ancestor's ideals.

In the chaos of the Dark Age, Sir Heiliger and his Templars were a rare beacon of light. Unlike the preying bandit lords and petty political tyrants, they did not seek to carve out their own kingdoms or impose their cruel whims. This attracted the attention of thousands, and soon tens of thousands, who all desired an end to the misery that surrounded their lives. Opponents gradually grew fewer and further between; who could question the reconstruction of humanity? The Templar orders soon banded together under Sir Heiliger, becoming one of the first unified forces to emerge since the Dark Age's beginning. Together, they slowly brought back the fundamentals of living: education, decency, morality, and idealism were once again nurtured in the hearts of humans. The crux of this rebirth, however, was the Avanced Neuralogical Code.

The AVN Code was the brainchild of Sir Heiliger, perfected using genetic sciences that the Torquemadas' had saved from the Dark Age's malice. Believing that the true weakness of humankind was its lust for conflict, Sir Heiliger sought to quell and rechannel that energy into something better. The AVN Code did just that. Administered to expectant mothers before the fourth month of their pregnancies, the code bombards an unborn child with a series of harmonic waves that influence neuralogical development. The treatment restrains the genetic factors linked to aggression, and other negative impulses, filtering out the child's innate fighting instinct. At the same time, it also streamlines intelligence centers of the brain, granting all recepients a clearer and more focused sense of thinking. The newborn child grows up happy and productive, aspiring to be the best human being that he or she can be.

Beginning as an experiment of the Torquemadas, the AVN Code eventually gained acceptence as the means to forge a better humanity. To further ensure the creation of a perfect human race, and the elimination of all past corruptions and vanities, Sir Heiliger brought forward ideas for sweeping social change. Like the code, they were widely embraced, converting even the most corrupted souls to the new path of peace and harmony. This reshaping of the Earth Sphere, from a hotbed of violence into a haven of peace and harmony, is known as The Purity.

The Common Century - Heaven Comes to Earth

Sir Heiliger's utopia blossomed without opposition, established on the rigorous precepts that he himself hammered out before his passing. First and foremost was the need for an efficient and orderly government, which meant the eraser of all past national borders. The old lines of the Earth Sphere, long divided by its myriad number of United Alliances, Free Confederacies, and World Nations, were wiped clean. In its place was left the Circle of Ministers, a body of six governors mandated to act in the best interests of the people at all times.

Like all foundations of the new order, The Circle finds its origins with Sir Morgan Heiliger. Following the first fragile years of The Purity, Sir Heiliger had guided the new Earth Sphere with his own hand. Burdened by the rigors of age, and sensing his mortality, however, he fashioned the Circle to rule in his place. The original set of six ministers were choosen from the growing religious sects and monastic orders that were florishing under the Founder's rule. This was a calculated move by Sir Heiliger, who believed that just as the AVN Code purified the minds and hearts of humans, spiritual leaders would inspire their souls.

The Warrior Houses also saw their beginnings at this time. Constructed from the bare bones of military units, Templar orders, and warrior families who had survived the Dark Age, they were first met with reluctance by most. Their fighting ways were a reminder of the Earth Sphere's bleak history, and their mobile weapons were a threatening symbol of its return. Sir Heiliger eased these fears, however, by assuring the people that these Houses were born of present-day intentions, and would serve as the shield for the new Earth Sphere.

Following the Warrior Houses were the edicts on technology, which separated the great sciences of humanity from the forbidden practises of the Dark Age. First and foremost, the Founder declared all war machines to be taboo from manufacture. To keep humans from nurturing a new Dark Age, the tools of destruction had to be restricted. Only the Warrior Houses were permitted to repair and use these instruments, and even they had to contend with using only those relics they were able to excavate. Those who refused to obey this law were branded traitors to the Earth Sphere, no better than the remaining Reaver bandits who insisted on living in the past.

For the average citizen, life continued in a manner that reflected the peaceful period before the Dark Age. Commercialism survived the Purity, albeit on a limited scale. People still worked, still earned money, and still used their gains to buy goods. However, all humans were provided with the necessities of life: food, medicine, education, and, once they reach the age of majority, a home. Those blessed with AVN purity thrived in this environment, and even the remaining normal humans adapted their cruder ways to it. It was the perfect blend of the competitive old world with benevolent new elements.

The first few prosperous years to follow these changes, however, were overshadowed by a great tragedy. After abdicating his leadership, Sir Heiliger returned to his past role as warrior, taking a position with the House formed from his own Torquemada Templars. The disruption that came with forming the Warrior Houses had reawakened old memories, luring him away from the political table and back into the cockpit of a mobile weapon. He enjoyed being among his own kind again; not just soldiers, but natural-born humans. All House personnel were exempted from the AVN Code, a necessary evil for the preservation of paradise.

Alas, the Founder was no longer well suited for the hard and fast lifestyle of a warrior. In the winter of CC 034, remembered as the bitterest of seasons, the great Sir Morgan Heiliger fell on the field of battle. His death, like his life, was the very stuff of heroism, his final moments spent defending fleeing innocents from a charging brigade of vicious Reavers. It is said that Sir Heiliger's grand mobile armor stood firm until the last of the Torquemada evacuation ship had dusted off. Then, in a mighty charge of his own, he routed the entire bandit army before collapsing from his wounds.

In his memory, the Circle proclaimed Sir Heiliger the first saint of this new modern age. His name has carried through the generations, maintaining both its significance and intensity among our people. In his memory, the Circle of Ministers, and their successors, have respected the spirit of Sir Heiliger's dream, inacting laws in his name, and often seeking his divine council for guidance. Our entire culture and value system continues to carry his influence, and from this inspiration it will draw the strength to endure all trials. Not even the barbarism of the Reaver lords, nor the disbelief and outright blasphemy of the distant colonies, can sway us from our path.

Artwork by Local Network CG