Known Galactic History

Although hyperspace technology has been invented independently by most major starfaring civilizations, and the Tel Azor actually discovered it 2000 years before them, Klex are ubiquitous in the known galaxy and their drives are held in high regard. For this reason, the Kleko-Pleiadean dating system, relative to their invention of hyperspace technology, is the one that has been most widely adopted in the known galaxy.

Though Azoradi civilization is by far the oldest living culture in the known galaxy, the surviving pockets of it are mere fragments of its former glory. Azor, the capital world of the empire, suffered a terrible catastrophe at the height of the civilization’s prosperity, though none alive remember exactly what happened. Modern Tel Azor measure time relative to this event, referred to as the Death of Azor (BDA/ADA).

The Solar Reach was, at one time, the unified governing body that exerted authority over all of human-settled space. Founded in 2500 HE, its influence spread hundreds of lightyears in all directions for over two thousand years. Unfortunately, over time its influence has waned, until its eventual collapse into many different factions and nations in the last millennium. Despite this, most human-descended starfaring cultures still use the Solar Era dating system (with Year Zero being the founding of the Reach), even if only in academic context.

Thousands of years ago, the aarakocra homeworld of Koliar was the heart of a grand interstellar civilization, an alliance of settled worlds called the Aeryne Confederation. Founded at the dawn of the golden age of aarakocra interstellar spaceflight, 3200 HE is marked in the annals of Aeryne history as Year Zero of AU: Aeryne Unity. Though the Confederation is all but gone now, its people, culture, and great works of engineering remain as a testament to its former glory.

The ancient civilization of Vayenir, also referred to as the Vayen Empire, once spanned hundreds of star systems under the banner of their many-headed chief goddess Tiamat. Dragonborn of the many worlds of Vayenir date their calendars from the Empire’s founding, with 3720 HE marked as Year Zero of the Age of Tiamat (AT). Unfortunately, the Age of Tiamat seems to be drawing to a close, as the empire crumbles from the combination of house infighting and ineffective defense against the rising Kreth Imperium.

The newest major power to arise in the known galaxy is the Divine Empire of Siltharesh, more commonly called the Kreth Imperium. Though small, it is a belligerent and power-hungry theocracy that has toppled far older and mightier powers than itself. The kreth worlds mark time from the founding of the Imperium, with 4530 HE being considered Year Zero of the Age of the Rising Tide (ART), or more simply the Kreth Dominion era (KD).