General Intro
The human race has encountered a vast array of different alien species in the centuries of exploration and colonization. During the Second Republic, external has come to be used as the classification for aliens outside the human sphere of influence. Until a species was categorized, cataloged, and brought into the human alliance – either through absorption, treaty, or annexation – it was listed as external in all official and unofficial databases.
In the closing years of the Second Republic, the external classification has taken on darker and more foreboding connotations. On the far edges of the Republic, contact with external species are considered to be dangerous, mysterious, even hostile were reported. Most scientists at the time attributed these reports to the inherent dangers of life on the human frontier, but that only explains part of it. These reports fell silent however after the collapse of the Second Republic. It was not until contact with the Vau that the external classification was re-awakened. So has the paranoia of other external threats as contact is made with lost worlds. Rumors of strange and powerful species on the edges of the galaxy concern the Emperor and the Church.
GM Notes
The Externals from Star*Drive are a fascinating combination of Cthulhoid creatures, with a little Heinlein arachnid alien thrown in. Through out the material, the imply that the I’krl was imprisoned. I have not read far enough to learn by who, even if they do, but to work it into the Fading Suns setting, the Annunaki is an easy candidate. The whys and the what-fors don’t really matter. Both settins have this rich and mysterious precursor history that can be inter-meshed however the GM wishes to.
Rumors of their arrival started back in the late Second Republic but when keys were lost or destroyed, gates were sealed or destroyed, those rumors fell silent. The Externals have similar knowledge as the Annunaki and understand Jumpgate technology better than humans but their influence is still limited. The I’krl remain imprisoned and the resources of their agents are limited to what they can glean from the humans. The Emperor played right into their hands when he started his campaign of recontacting the Lost Worlds.
I am going to write a series of articles as I integrate them into Fading Suns. I am not sure how far it will go but I have started on it, so I will post as I finish them and see where it goes. Hopefully, it will inspire someone.
The Externals
Gardhyi
The dark agents of the I’krl are not that hard to imagine infiltrating the worlds of Fading Suns. Forgoing the “Men In Black” parallels, they can pass as Changed fairly easily. Infiltrating from outside the Known Worlds, the Gardhyi would be first introducing their influence among the lost worlds. There, humanity is less influenced by unifying things like the Church and the Nobility and can easily become pawns of the I’Krl Theocracy.
In the Kurga Caliphate, the Gardhyi would have to be well hidden and conform to the strict religious code of the Kurgans. I would imagine it a little more difficult to initially get a hold within the Caliphate but once they have that hold, they can utilize factional fanaticism to manipulate the people.
Ex: A Gardhyi agent has influenced a single group of people (city, nation, caste, extended family) into a more radical interpretation of the Law. Spawning additional documents and claiming them to additional Law (like the Mormons to Christianity and the Bible), they have been ignored and written off as a fringe group. Only recently have they been gaining power and influence within the Kurgan society.
In Vuldrok Star-Nation, the influence of the Gardhyi is more believable. A culture born of rogue worlds, there is little restrictions to prevent the subtle influence the Gardhyi would bring. Factions of religious fanatics hidden under the veil of the various religions of the barbarians are probably quite common. Shaman leaders with bizarre powers are probably rumored all over the Star-Nations.
In the lost worlds, whole worlds could be ruled by Gardhyi spreading the word of the I’krl in whatever way they want. Manipulating disparate and fragmented civilizations separated from the Second Republic, the Gardhyi could easily have a considerable following in the Lost Worlds. And eventually, with the connection to the I’Krl, could figure out ways to open gates back to the Known Worlds.
Example Idea:
I am thinking of the planet Hurricane in the Ptolemy system. Below is a re-invention of the system
Lost World: Hurricane, in the Ptolemy System
An outlaw system that’s preyed for decades on the shipping and outposts of the out regions Vuldrok space, Ptolemy is the feudal fief of one ruthless man – Vardye Hellis. Heir to a dynasty of pirate lords, Lord Hellls is the unchallenged king of the system. He commands a pirate flotilla that terrorizes the outer edges of Vuldrok space, owning to no Star-Nation or Vuldrok war lord. Ruling from the storm-wracked world of Hurricane, Lord Hellis carefully seeks a Known World patron who will allow him to remain the uncontested master of Ptolemy.
In early Second Republic, an entrepreneurial firm by the name of Vergance Explorations surveyed the Ptolemy system and sold the rights to a corporate conglomerate called the Nariac Domain. Although the Nariacs were much more interested in colonization efforts on their side of the Republic, the Nariac Central Committee decided to establish a foothold in this new region of space. They established a Workers Colony on Ptolemy, to send less than desirable members of their citizenry. The acrid wastes of Hurricane proved to be a challenge to many and an ideal place to send undesirables and malcontents. As the value of the colony grew, the Nariacs quickly installed a few terraforming engines to speed the transition of Hurricane’s atmosphere into a breathable one.
Nariac support for the colony gradually tapered off as the Second Republic collapsed. The War of Liberation that followed severed all ties to the Domain. The gate was sealed and all incoming space traffic ceased. The Ptolemy system was on its own. The leading military officer of the colony, Colonel Barak Durenko, recognized his opportunity. Siding with the rebels, and backed by his small but loyal security force, he seized power in 2355.
Durenko soon realized that despite all the work done on the world, Hurricane was not a planet to sustain the population he had to support. Early in the Dark Ages, the Hurricane colony teetered on the brink of collapse and annihilation. Even after raiding and re-establishing system mining installations, Durenko could not find enough resources to sustain his people.
Gaining enough gate keys to reach nearby lost worlds, Durenko authorized a raids on these worlds. The nearest world was Lucullus, a planet once considered a sister world in that it too was a dumping ground for undesirables. Using what was left of the Nariac Colonial squadron, Durenko attacked and the raid proved highly successful. Durenko began a campaign of out-and-out piracy against every system within his reach.
It was during this time, the I’krl very covertly influenced Hurricane. A Gardhyi agent named Gilas Tere Rothmyr had infiltrated one of the more influential religious factions and was using it to work his way up the upper echelons of power. Through is influence, the Church of Asar slowly became a leading power in the politics of Hurricane. Colonel Durenko even was a follower.
Rothmyr eventually gained a position on the Church Council and eventually an assistant liaison to the King Durenko. Taking every opportunity to influence the new King, Rothmyr became a confidante to the king. What no one knew was Rothmyr secretly had access to a gate key and produced gate keys when the king needed them, claiming Asar provided them. When Durenko began his raiding campaign, Rothmyr was key in that plan, although the king never revealed this to the people.
This not only bolstered Rothmyr position, but it also gained the Church of Asar considerable political power. Other popular religious faction were marginalized to cults while the Church of Asar gained positions of power within Durenko regime. However late in his reign, Durenko began to question the power the Church was gaining. Upon his death at the hands of an ambitious and charismatic underlingCere Hellis, few knew Rothmyr’s true role in the overthrow. The leader of a pirate squadron, Hellis was a loyal follower of Asar and built a loyal following of increasingly ruthless and desperate men. Declaring himself Lord of Ptolemy, Hellis continued the raids, with Rothmyr’s and his agents help. At the same time, Rothmyr established himself as Hugh Bishop of Grand Church of Asar, now the dominant spiritual power on Hurricane.
As Hellis won a reputation as a corsair lord, attracting new followers from each for plundered world, Rothmyr’s own cabal of Gardhyi grew as he covertly arranged for more of his kind to infiltrate Hurricane society. When Hellis (Hellis the First) died, he passed the rule of Ptolemy to his son, Uric Hellls, who in turn passed his reign to his son, Fyra Hellis, thus starting the Hellis dynasty ruling to this day under Vardye Hellis.
Lord Vardye has faced only one serious challenge to his rule. Lord Hellis was given a new key by the Church Bishops and raided the further out than the squadrons of Hurricane had ever raided – into Vuldrok space. The small star nation of Aegis, with their fleet fought off his corsair squadron, followed the survivors back to Ptolemy and destroyed his shipyards and fortifications. In the aftermath of the disastrous raid, Vardye Hellis was forced to put down a widespread mutiny among his followers, but he survived the turmoil through the judicious application of force, with the help of a newly established royal paladin guard, chosen by the lord and blessed by the church – the Naithian Guard. Miraculously, this guard were “blessed” with amazing technology by the church, making them extremely lethal.
Little did the Hellis regime know that the agents among them were working with other Gardhyi among the Vuldrok colonies nearby. They wanted to put the people of Hurricane into a new level of desperation and need, as they were ready to execute the next phase of their plans.
Etyri
The Sifarv are entirely too similar to the Etyri to ignore. Integrating them into the Fading Suns universe can create a very interesting tie-in between the I’krl Theocracy and the annunaki.
A few important notes:
Star*Drive time roughly 2500 AD. Fading Suns time roughly 5000 AD. Difference: 2500 years.
| Est. year | Event |
| ~1500 BC | First Contact between the Sifarv and the Kadarans. The Sifarv conquer the Kadarans and make them their primary geneticists, scientists and bio-tech engineers. |
| ~500 BC | Contact with the I’Krl Theocracy. Sifarv become the “nobility” and military leaders of the I’Krl. |
From the above, one can conclude that the Sifarv were a space faring race at least 1500 BC if not before.
From the Etyri perspective, there is not a lot given about their early history. Whether that is intentional or laziness by their part, it leaves a lot open to interpretation. It all depends on how the GM wants to approach the Etyri origin.
Etyri origin relatively recent
The best kept secret among the Etyri is that their existence on Grail is a relatively short one. Linked to a lost Sifarv colony ship, an early sleeper ship or refugee ship, the Sifarv came to Grail early in their space exploration years (1600 BC to 1700 BC).
These lost Sifarv found a Neanderthal-version of the Etyri and in order to survive, interbred with them to create the modern Etryi. This created a much more sentient version that conflicted with the indigenous six-legged lizards creature already inhabiting the planet.
Etyri origin relatively ancient
An ancient race (perhaps the Anunaki) – the race responsible for “imprisoning” the I’krl – recognized the predisposition of the Sifarv to be influenced by the I’krl. In their infinite wisdom, they thought it best to take a few proto-Sifarv from their home world and seed them into the ecosphere of another world. This world happened to be Grail. Inter-breeding them with the local fauna, the Ancients created a new version of Sifarv that was resistant to the influence of the I’Krl (or so they thought) – the Etyri.
Repercussions
The repercussions of the Etyri relationship with the Sifarv can be interesting. From the ethics of the Empires interference with life on Grail (and the genocide of the Zhuil’hishtu) to the possibility of a I’krl sensitive race in the Known Worlds, the epic story arch potential is considerable.
The first thing that came to mind when I first came up with the idea was the genocide of the Zhuil’hishtu and what it meant. It meant that the Royal Houses helped a non-native alien species destroy the native life of Grail. The moral and ethics questions of this are astounding. Of course, in a dark universe of Fading Suns, it would be no surprise something like this happened but it could be potentially embarrassing politically to those involved. It could be a secret someone knew and wanted to keep secret. Or even deeper, this could be something the Vau wants to keep secret.
Another idea I came up with was that the Sifarv were susceptible to the I’krl influence, which is why they are so easily manipulated and subservient. Perhaps it was some genetic seed planted on various worlds by the I’krl before their imprisonment. Whether you use the recent or ancient origin story, the potential for a race that is easily controlled by the I’krl is awesome. The idea I had was that their psychic control would spread like a pandemic virus once first contact was made. All that had to be done was place a contact device on the planet and the I’krl would have a new horde of slaves.
And this is also why the Vau may end up getting involved – to prevent the contact from happening.
Just some ideas. The similarities between the races is too much to ignore.