Histories of the Homeworld

Time and the Three Ages

	Ours is a people rich in history and knowledge.  Through time, the legacies left by the Old Ones have echoed outward from their sources in the past to their current position in the present.  Like the ripples from a pebble cast into still water, time has shaped and matured those echoes to what we now see today, and set the stage for what we shall see tomorrow.

	The Aracoix concept of time is similar to the Aerynthian belief of “years” in that we measure our lives and culture by the cycles of the world around us.  Our “year” is referred to as a solstice.  Rather than counting to a certain number of days, only to reset and count again, the Aracoix ceremoniously await the cycling of our own sun, which culminates in a day where the sun seems to pause in the sky.  This marks the beginning of the new solstice.  The ancient celebration of Hrak’Solia also accompanies this new solstice, and the Aracoix celebrate themselves as the sun stops to pay homage.

	The number of days and nights in a solstice may vary, but usually by no more than 5 days from the previous cycle.  

	The concept of an Aracoix “age” is also very similar to that which is exercised on Aerynth.  Our history leading up to the present has experienced three ages, of which we are in the third.  Below, I will attempt to briefly summarize the historical significance of each age.  The ages are referred to differently depending on the Kh’ree that is doing the referring, but they are most generally and simply referred to as the First, Second, and Third Ages, respectively.

	The First Age is the largest of all the ages to date.  This is, of course, because it covers from the time of our first evolution to the time of Ascension.  As both legend and fact have stated, the Aracoix were once like the duracoix (and perhaps even once torishacoix) living in small communes amongst the craggy landscapes dotting the young world.  Advancing further, we learned to construct defensive structures from the terrors of the oceans that plagued our people.  And even further still, to actually fight against and overcome them.  But the terrors upon our people were numerous, and victories were few and far between.  The First Age would come to an end at the Time of Ascension, however, when the foundations of the Hrak’Shyia and the legacy of the Old Ones began to shine through us as we took to the skies.  We are not certain how long this age lasted, as we have no record of events prior to the Worldquake, an event I shall cover in a later chapter.

	The Second Age is the age in which we find our finest moments as a people.  The construction of grand Aeries in the skies of the Homeworld, the final victories over the terrors of the oceans, the discovery and first usage of the Peridules, all accomplishments of the Aracoix of the Second Age.  The Empire arose and its citizens rejoiced as a land of fear and doubt melted away to a home of comfort and reassurance.  With the Homeworld secured for the Aracoix, we began to grow as a people, and began to scratch away the surface of the mystery that was existence.  Much of the Second Age is recorded by the finest Savants to ever have graced the skies.  Philosophy and examination ruled the minds of the Second Age, and the way of the Hrak’Shyia was embraced by the Aracoix.  Lasting for over 20,000 solstices, the Second Age is where we find our truest origins, and the glory of our people that will be with us always.  

	The Third Age is where we find ourselves today.  The “Glorious” Empire has grown exponentially through the concept of colonization.  The Peridules were becoming much less a concept of the visionary and more of a tool of conquest.  The Empire became very militaristic and expanded ever onward, colonizing new worlds, enslaving or slaughtering any duracoix they encountered.  This was escorted in and welcomed when the Autarch, Dur’kyn, assumed the throne of the Empire.  Most people place this event as the official start of the Third Age, while others say that it did not begin until a few years later when the first expeditionary forces began traveling through the Peridules.  Either way, the concepts and strive of the Third Age are apparent, and have remained so up to the present Autarch.  

	Some have ventured to say that the Empire has actually entered a Fourth Age.  Since the so-called “War of Talons” here on Aerynth and the continual defeat of the expeditionary forces, the number of exarches (Aracoix not born on the Homeworld) has increased.  Along with that, Aerynthian “magics” and simple apathy towards the Hrak’Shyia have created a resistance to the Empire amongst the Aracoix.

	Our position is not one of apathy of the Empire, nor is it fear of “magic”.  We of The Broken have recognized that the Hrak’Shyia is abused by the Empire, and no longer represents what it once did.  We hold true the philosophies and truths discovered in the Second Age.  We live amongst the duracoix of Aerynth to help them strive for Ascension, and we aid them in the blights that plague them, as once plagued us.  

	It is we that believe in this Fourth Age:  The Age of Truth.  In it, you will learn from we who have seen what blind eyes can do. 

	Even now, the Empire begins to show signs of struggle.  After thousands of years of conquest, the truth has finally caught up to it.  The Hrak’Shyia will once more shine with the light of insight and knowledge, but not until its taint of hatred has been removed.