The Intergalactic Standard Year is E1014. Atail is a planet similar to Earth. Its dominant species are humans, but more technologically advanced than we are, most notably for being on the verge of making interstellar travel possible through their "dimensional expansion" technology. The humans hoped that the final frontier - the exploration of other galaxies and worlds - was finally within their grasp. However, weeks before the scheduled launch of their first mission to another star system, disaster strikes.
A devastating storm of unknown cosmic energy strikes the planet seemingly out of nowhere. It is later called The Rania Event, named after the region of space it was later tracked to. Nearly 2 billion people are killed. The widespread death and destruction creates a temporary chaotic state, and all government space programs across the planet are canceled; their resources poured into recovery efforts. The launch of the Unity, the craft that could have taken to other worlds, is put on indefinite hold.
However, help has come. The Rania Event, devastating as it was, marked the opening of an intra-universal portal (believed to be a true traversable wormhole) in the Rania Cluster, which also appeared to a far-away planet called Vais. The people of Vais, mostly anthromorphic creatures with human-level intelligence, were also affected by the Rania Event, and while not hit directly by any blast, the "fallout" from the burst of energy still caused considerable destruction. Still, less affected than Atail, and with an ambitious space program of their own, the Solthain Empire, the premier world power on the planet, was eventually able to send a team of Armine astronauts to make the trip through the portal on their flagship, the Daltai.
Their mission was to explore the region beyond the Leanna Gate (named after the appearance of pinkish clouds around the portal, which was reminiscent of a folk legend.) There the crew of the Daltai happened upon Atail.
At first the people of Atail were alarmed by the arrival of the explorers, but after talking with and meeting them, INASEA officials recognized that they were peaceful beings that meant no harm (Surprise: from studying documents and using information packages that were broadcasted into space in search for extraterrestrial life, the crew was able to learn Basic well enough to communicate with INASEA in a matter of days!) Dalon Gregor, president of the Union of Independent States, gave the visitors a warm welcome. Linguists were on hand to begin deciphering of the complex Armine language. Both peoples were eager to learn about each other's worlds, and through their discussion, they discovered that they had a problem in common; the destruction caused by the Rania event.
Quick to form friendships with them, Dalon proposed that both planets could enter an agreement to provide aid to each other, to recover from the disaster that struck their worlds. Due to the desperation of Atail's people, it was not long before the UIS ratified the proposal. The crew brung the word to their home planet, and after some deliberation among the countries of Vais, they accepted the agreement.
E1027, the Present. Recovery efforts on both planets are in full swing, and things are looking up. People from Vais have come over to introduce new technology and provide aid to Atail, and vice versa. Civilians are now able to travel from one planet to the other, and the populations of humans and the races of Vais have become somewhat mixed as a result. The wounds inflicted by the Rania event are still not fully healed however, and other problems arose in the meantime, most notably discrimination and hate crimes between the two peoples, and conflicts borne by nations who were weakened by the disaster, that still last to this day. Overall, though, the future of both worlds seems bright...
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GLOSSARY
The Rania Event: The mysterious cataclysmic event that struck Atail. According to the INASEA records (the InterNational Administration for Space Exploration and Aeronautics) the blast took out everything in a 174 mile radius, and caused considerable damage beyond that boundary and in other areas across the planet. Footage from a satellite shows the energy scattering from the explosion and bombarding large areas of Atail beyond the blast radius, which is thought to be responsible for the event's massive death toll; it is estimated that 1.9 billion people lost their lives, some of the victims being hundreds of miles away. The blast site still contains some residual energy, which scientists are now studying.
Leanna Gate: The portal that opened after the Rania Event, connecting the Seraph Star System of Atail to the Faolain Alpha Star System of Vais. Now a regular route of travel between the two civilized planets.
Seraph: A star with 8 orbiting planets. Atail's sun.
Faolain Alpha: A star with 12 orbiting planets and several asteroids. Vais's sun.
Daltai: "Warrior". the spacecraft that flew the fateful mission into the Leanna Gate. The crew was mostly Armine, except for the chief navigator, Jeanai Valdtam, who was Nazrian.
Armei: Demonym "Armine." One of the anthropomorphic races that populate Vais. They are furred and have a mix of characteristics, commonly compared to cats and foxes. Their fur colors and patterns are widely varied, but the rarest colors are considered to be blue, green, and pink. They are the most numerous species on Vais, and coexist peacefully with many others.
Nazri: Demonym "Nazrian" Another species of Vais. They resemble rodents (such as mice, squirrels, gerbils, etc.) There are many different races, each with unique identifying features, reflecting the diversity of the real-life Rodent order.
Leanna: IPA [le.ana]. Means "rose maiden" in Armine. Refers to a common legend among the people of Vais. The Leanna is purported to be an apparition of pink-furred young maiden of the viewer's species, whose presence is announced by the appearance of a rose-colored mist. She is also said to leave behind rose petals at the place she stands. Many say that her appearance foretells of a major change in one's life. The Leanna Gate is named after her, due to the pink clouds of gas around the portal from Vais's side. So far, all efforts to photograph or tape any one of these apparitions clearly have been failures.
Armine (language): Native language of the Armei, although many now speak Basic as well due to interaction with the people of Atail. It is a phonetically and grammatically complex language, with 79 consonants and 20 vowels. Probably due to the Armei being immune to many respiratory infections, it is the only known language (human or otherwise) to make use of nareal fricatives. It is a stress accent language. Armine makes several distinctions unfamiliar to speakers of Basic, and can be quite daunting to learn. It is mostly written with a traditional runic alphabet: A system of romanization has been developed but has not seen widespread use. Not all Armei speak Armine. They live all around the planet and may mix with other races and cultures; as such, derivative languages, isolated languages, and creoles have developed.
Basic: A language nearly phonetically identical to real-life Standard American English but written with a logical orthography, with one letter or digraph standing for one sound. Became used as a lingua franca throughout many countries of Atail and is now spreading to Vais.
Union of Independent States: An organization founded by a coalition of countries calling for unity after several civil wars took place. Basically like the United Nations, but with a less obtrusive, action-oriented administrative structure. Countries in the UIS increasingly base their policies and laws on UIS models, and most confer with the UIS assembly regularly. However, this tendency has drawn fire as impeding sovereignty, and not letting individual nations handle their affairs in the way most prudent to their people.
INASEA: Inter-National Association for Space Exploration and Aeronautics. An multi-national bloc organization on Atail that leads the planet in space exploration and observation technology.
