For a species-specific view of history prior to their arrivals on Thet, see their individual species pages in the Sophontology category.
Thessian history comes in three primary areas of study: the history of the original settlement of Thessia Major and Minor, the culture and developments that took place once the population had stabilised, and the more recent events of Thet after its near destruction. These are known as the Dhens, Thet, and post-Lapsarian eras respectively.
Recolonization (Dhens era)
1–1532 IKY. Early history of the brane's re-inhabitation after the eradication of the Tletkettoyi
by the Hogedep
. A relatively small, stable population of Lilitai
arrived first, with a significant interest in taming the land and desecrating ruins to avenge their fallen masters, the Ksreskézai
. Thet is at the very edge of space known to the former Ksreskézaian Empire, and the Tletkettoyic inhabitation prevented the empire's expansion into the rest of the universe, functioning as a bottleneck. Occasionally, the land had been used by Telaian refugees in the interim, but most species that visited did not establish permanent residency.
The Lyrisclensiae arrived shortly after the Lilitai
, and stopped the Lilitai from damaging Tletkettoyic archaeological sites. At some point it came to light that Thet might make a viable home world for the various human species that roamed the universe. Nations were formed, borders were drawn, and the economy began to slowly develop. The Lilitai and Lyrisclensiae established an approximate plan for co-residency, with other species such as the Peseneyi
finding refuge and commerce as well.
Early on in this period, the Hogedep assaulted Thet with the intention of taking it as a prize, now that it was obvious the Tletketti were vanquished; the Lyrisclensiae disputed this course of action and thus started the First Thessian–Hogedepi War
. The war ended in a decisive victory for the posthumans, prompting rebellion on Hogedepi colonies elsewhere.
With the exception of human species, however, the population of the Thessia system was limited by the widely-held belief that it was a rather poor place to live—it was thought of as a footpath between worlds, and thus living there was to be underfoot. Nevertheless, particularly after the war, small but determined populations from many species, including the Hogedepi, took up permanent residence on the planet, recognizing its growing importance to trade as one of the expanse's bottlenecks.
The Thessian Renaissance
1533–3274 IKY. Once Thessia Major became fully saturated with population and urbanized, most historians draw a distinction, as wars ended, cultures mixed, and national borders were no longer defended. Thessians began to consider themselves as one people, if only in a loose sense, and cooperation in scientific pursuits between many populations became the norm.
One of the major issues that had afflicted these species was that large bodies of scientific data, such as genomic and astronomical information, had not been kept on record. Although the genomes for most of the settlers on Thet were once well-understood, many of the difficulties of maintaining academic study across interstellar distances for the nomadic species proved problematic. Although the theoretical grasp of physics, chemistry and genetics was sufficiently advanced amongst most of these species, cosmological charts were fragmentary at best, and the knowledge of biological processes only extended far enough to allow for the resolution of specific problems when they arose, not a broader understanding.
Several conflicts defined the Thet era: tensions between the Lyrisians and other human species regarding technology transfer (especially military technology), the general instability of the Thessian brane caused by the planar breach drives used to get between pockets of inhabitable space, the Lilitic hostility towards excavations of the ancient Tletkettoyic ruins, general racial disharmony between the Cossipai and Telai, and the increasingly-important consequences of genetic engineering.
This last issue was of particular note. As the Thessian understanding of the cosmos inside of each cell grew, devices called phenotype respecifiers
were invented, first going on the market in 2862 IKY. These induced stem-cell-like states in the majority of a body's tissue, which then redifferentiated into the organs that their genes directed, allowing extensive rewrites of an organism's genome to take effect, even when this would involve developmental genes that would normally require an embryo to take effect.
Although broadly regarded as a leap forward, the commercial availability of such technology led to fads and fashions in appearance amongst those species who were compatible with the respecifiers—many woke up one day to discover that the streets were filled with identical people. This was the first time that the fundamental concept of personal identity became a widespread public issue, although it had figured largely in the art of the Lilitai since their independence. This was known as the Identity Crisis
, and was resolved in 3261 IKY by the shutdown of the respecifier data network.
3274 IKY (14040 BCE). The Thessian brane had been long rendered delicate by the Hogedep virus that originally compromised its integrity, and the extensive use of planar breach drives, which precipitated a small tear in the consistency of the manifold in order to travel between branes of comparable dimensional configuration. When used infrequently, the breach drives permit the brane to re-seal around themselves, but the frequency of use of these drives had long-since required that the Lyrisclensiae engineer and produce machines that would stabilise these distortions more rapidly. Failure of the brane would mean the destruction of all within it, much like the Ksreskézaian homeworld.
While the Lyrisclensiae had experience with catastrophic brane failures, it did not extend to microcosms as complicated as that of Thet. Critically, their studies did not involve branes which contained an active star. The powerful gravitational distortions generated by plane-breaching tears had peculiar effects on the core of the Thessian sun, driving it towards going nova prematurely, which, in the limited space of Thet, would not only vaporize the contents, but push the frail membrane beyond recovery.
A Lyrisclensian scientist, time traveller and thaumatologist known as Anastasia Tetragnostica Coelispice
was responsible for preventing this disaster; how, no one exactly knows—only that it cost her life to perform. She was not entirely successful in her efforts; the first few shockwaves of the Thessian sun expelling super-hot hydrogen gas were sufficient to break up the planets of Thessia Minor and Major up into chunks of rubble, which were strewn wildly throughout the tiny brane in a sea of asteroids.
The remaining core of the Thessian sun was nothing like it had previously been.
Most survivors of the incident were more than willing to leave for greener pastures afterwards. Minimal trading activity occurred during this period, as it was widely believed at first that the brane was en route to shaking itself apart. Out of all the immigrants to Thet, only the Physarai truly believed that the microcosm should be defended to the bitter end, owing to their status as its sole surviving sentient natives.
When it became apparent that Thet was not on its way out, its enviable position as a bottleneck in accessing the territory of the former Hogedepi and Ksreskézaian empires soon brought back trade and, with it, people interested in establishing government. During Thet's last years, the various countries and nations had been working toward creating a unified world government. Most groups interested in recovering Thet's economic and political situation took some leverage from this design. With the old nations destroyed and all chunks of territory now mobile, it was widely recognized as impractical to attempt to build a nation along racial lines, so these designs either took on a nomadic form or a "winner-takes-all" objective.
Reed Delegacy (Regení Bízanlekía)
50–2500 tgc. The Regení administration arose quickly out of the ashes, making the strongest claim to being the heir of the world democracy plan, though in practice it was single-party, centrally-planned, and ruled by a system of committees. It was responsible for preserving Lilitic, which had not been one of the three primary languages of the preceding democracies, and took a highly prescriptivist attitude towards its citizens' welfare. It slowly began to decay after c. 2250 tgc, rather than being destroyed as some others were. Technologically, it was somewhat conservative, in that high technology and powerful computation were reserved for exceptional circumstances. Thet did not have a functioning post-scarcity economy at this time, making careful resource allocation important.
There were several small empires after the Reed central government collapsed, and even a stab at democracy or two, but the political climate in Thet remained unstable until the first evidence of the Iron Dynasty around 3000 tgc. Amongst these were several Reed successor states that started numerous civil wars, causing a rather severe period of resource depletion. In the end, most cities were left fending for themselves.
Iron Dynasty (Lenení Mitraje)
c. 3000–5020 tgc. Although this nation is widely regarded as the most artistic, peaceful and philosophical of all of Thet's historical governments, the truth is that it succeeded through strife between lesser aristocrats. Perpetual competition between constituent city-states was also responsible for many worthwhile developments in magic. The first Iron monarch took power on the basis of a patriarchal approach to dealing with the decay of the Reed administration. Quickly, however, this military thriftiness decayed, and while the Iron Dynasty is regarded as the most culturally accomplished as a result, even called the golden age of postlapsarian Thet, ultimately they were consumed by the malignant Gryphon Republic
, a tragedy almost as awful as the Shattering itself. Both very high levels of technology and its lavish use were prevalent at this point, as the availability of resources was once more plentiful.
Gryphon Republic (Gripsení Klitramaze)
4950–5811 tgc. Characterised by its savage nature, and perversely successful at maintaining control. The government rose to power out of the military, preying on the decadence and docility of the Iron period. Through induction of moral panics and the threat of a Hogedepi invasion, it became rather easy for the movement to spread from the outer belts toward the central islands. The Gryphon Republic was physically separated from the Iron Dynasty during its first 60 or so tgc of existence as it swallowed up the outlying principates.
Shortly after the beginning of its existence, the state became very obsessed with controlling its subjects' lives. Already, early on, the Lyrisclensiae and Lilitai had evacuated from Thet to adjacent branes (including the second colony at Illera
), fully aware that the foul winds directing the government would most likely lead to the persecution of artists and scientists. For most of the government's history, the entire population of the Thet was concentrated in a small area and wired into the Link
, a huge virtual reality world that the Gryphon government had co-opted. This left much of the archipelago unmonitored, however, so it was somewhat easier for dissidents to escape and start a new society, the Stía Resistance
. Because of the co-evolution between government and culture, this entailed building an augmented reality replacement for the Gryphon virtual reality infrastructure that had become an integral part of citizens' lives since the Consolidation
Trade was at an all-time low during this period. The Gryphon Republic inherited the Iron Dynasty's technological prowess, but used these assets more conservatively.
Quill Republic (Stíení Klitramaze)
5785–6239 tgc. The Quill period started off as a countermeasure
to the Gryphon government, creating a renaissance. Noble, intelligent, and responsible for perfecting Lilitic magic, this period was hallmarked by its citizens' integration with a rich augmented reality network, and is often likened to the culture and the creative and scientific productivity of the Iron era. This approach proved highly successful, though often internally tumultuous—a common symptom of a civilisation governed by intellectuals. A bit over halfway through its lifetime, the Music nation started as an experiment in core constitutional revisions, eventually being adopted as the primary government of Thet.
The sudden return to the real world prompted many Quill citizens to adopt more radical and unique physical shapes through the use of the recently unbanned phenotype respecifier. In addition to its reputation for magical excellence, the Quill period is heavily marked by flourishing self-discovery and artistic experimentation.
Music Nation (Altsithení Starje)
6002–6930 tgc. One of the greatest debates that plagued the Quill era was the question of how magic should be used, which paralleled the debate about technology that the Quill Republic was characterised by (for it was ultimately discordant with the Gryphon and Iron dynasties' opinions.) The ease with which it could be used to alter the physical world was perceived as dangerous by many, as it was difficult to control, and so legal and social mechanisms were employed within the Starje's borders to stop magic almost outright. Despite all of this, art flourished even moreso than it had under the Quill government, though it is generally regarded as inferior to the Iron Dynasty.
Wind Dynasty (Shúthimení Mitraje)
6920 tgc – present
. The Music parliament eventually shook itself apart in political turmoil. This led to a general dysfunction of the academic institutions in Thet, taking with them much of the knowledge of magic, a process hastened by its long-term unpopularity. As a result, residents of the archipelago began to spread out again, often inhabiting ruins from past civilizations. The Wind Dynasty is now the most prominent government in Thet, and now controls the most populated areas of the inner belts, although the archipelago remains predominantly anarchic.
Officially, most Wind governments have espoused the view that the Music and Quill dynasties were dangerous experiments, and that stricter policies in the vein of the the Gryphon Republic would forever be necessary to ensure a strong protection from potential threats. This has led to some diaspora of individuals disinclined to endure a recurrence of the Gryphon era, but the government's tenuous grasp on the islands has largely made such concerns unnecessary.