Shiva Winters
The World of the Relics and Remnants Series
The World
​​​ The planet HawX-147216-E was identified by the Hawkins Deep Space Array in the latter months of 2131, orbitting a yellow star nearly the size of the Sun. Two years later after the distant star system had been observed and analyzed with all the technologies available at that time, it was one of 102 planets added to the growing registry of worlds marked for exploration and eventually colonization by humanity. That analysis proved that it was a world rich in life, as it had all the trace gases, in abudance, present of all worlds where carbon based life had previously been confirmed.
However that world, set more than 5,400 light years from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius, was deemed out of reach by even the most adventerous of explorers and far too distant from their home-world for most colonists. It was not until 2207 that the first colonies ships were built capable of crossing such a vast distance in anything less than several millenia. In 2237 a ship was purchased by a group who had grown weary of the frantic lifestyle and high-tech culture of humanities' birthplace. The rights to HawX-147216-E were obtained, the star system was renamed Auquila, the world was named Prometheus, and the two year struggle to recruit healthy, like-minded individuals and families began. In January of 2240, the colony ship Axion slipped free of the Lunar platform and set out towards the outer solar system, leaving behind of Sol gravity and disappearing into the depths of space.
Brought together by the belief that technology was inherently evil and something that distracted humans from what was most important, the colonist aboard the Axion sought to create a world where a simplier existence could be forged for their descendants. Carrying with them only those simple, easily maintained technologies, and an archive of the 'old world' they had just left behind, one they all but planned to leave forgotten by the passage of future history, the founders of that new world had all but planned the course of the next two centuries of their children and grand-children. However, they did not, could not, have known that the world they had claimed as their own in order to create their distraction free, technology poor, utopia was far from the 'untouched' world they had thought it to be. Another unknown race had colonized that world long before them, and had left behind a wealth of technology far beyond the capabilities of humanity.
The Technology of the Ancients
Vast quantities of technology was left behind when that unknown race departed that world, much of which remains a mystery despite the vast span of human history on that planet. However, and despite the values of the founders, the few fractions of knowledge discovered by backwards engineering those relics was easily enough to advance the capabilities of the first generations of humans well beyond those benchmarks set by the humans of Earth. These early discoveries included advanced Artificial Intellegences, cold fusion technologies, quantum computers which operated at room temperature, advanced robotics that were nearly biological in composition, space telescopes capable of seeing a thousand times further into space, and geo-magnetic generators.
However the true marvel of those stolen technologies was and would continue to be the so called Fabricator. A device capable of generating zero-point energy, using that capacity to break the molecular bonds of a given object, sort those recovered molecules, and then use them to create a new complete and fully functioning pieces of technology from that molecular soup with only minimal input from an operating. It was this technology that took the first human settlers with little more than the most basic technology well beyond an 'industrialized society' in less than a generation.
The Books of the Relics and Remants Series

​​​Book One: Change of Season
Book Two: Coming Soon
​
The Ancients
​​​ Almost nothing is known about the race that is simply known as the Ancients, as no bodily remains were ever discovered. However by studying the objects, the structures, and the variety of other relics left behind, it is widely accepted in later history that they were likely a bi-pedal species standing several feet taller than humans. They likely had two or more arms with several fingers and at least one thumb on each hand. There was strong evidence they could see in a greater spectrum of light based upon the many unique colors found within their structures. It is also believed they were likely nocturnal, as even in their cities there was a decided absence of windows in their structures. Most of the scientists assumed that species had since switched to a purely synthetic diet as there was no evidence of any farming effort of any size on the planets surface. This fact prompted many, often outlandish, theories about their outer appearance, an idea colored by the fact the human society that followed them onto that world were seeking to form an agrairin society in the belief it was more healthy.
Of their history only a little bit more is known, as it was obvious, even to the most inexperienced observer that species were present on that world for many centuries, perhaps several millenia. However there was no evidence of any great conflict, natural disaster, or plague that ended their control of that planet. It seemed as if one day they simply left, leaving behind their cities, vast industrial complexes, their tools and devices, even their possessions. And even though potentially many centuries had passed between that point and the arrival of the Axion, much of it remained untouched by the passage of that history. It was strongly believed and later confirmed that they came to that world from some unknown point in space.
The Ronin
​​​ The Ronin are a remnant of a people who once inhabitated an island nation in the southern sea. However because of their support of the government versus the Sages, their island was destroyed in the first days of the war. The descendants of the few survivors now exist as a nearly broken people at the fringes of society. The clans travel the roads of the Empire carrying cargo, entertaining the people, and for the most part rejecting the laws and culture of mainstream society.
A Tulmultuous Span of History
​​​ The reclaimed technology of the Ancients was responsible for the swift rise of the first coloniest from a society with very little to one capable of surprassing capabilities of the humans of Earth. However for all that the principles of the founders were readily abandoned upon the discovery of the first Ancient settlements, those beliefs were not forgotten. For more than half of the nearly 1,000 years of human history on that world, those centuries were permeated and defined by wars and conflicts. The fundementally opposing forces driving some to discover technology and those trying to reject those 'evils', was in so many ways at the heart of all those conflicts. These included two full scale wars lead by insurgent groups trying to overthrow the democratic government established by the founders, nearly two dozen violent and bloody 'police actions' when local populations tried to throw off governmental oversight, and numerous skirmishes and conflicts fought between groups with opposing viewpoints.
All of which culminated in the civil war and attempted coup that ended democratic government of the founders, and eventually lead to the foundation of the Empire. That coup, which killed nearly a third of the existing population was began by the Sages, a group which had controlled nearly 90% of the reclaimed Ancient technology. Believing themselves to be smarter, better, and more capable than the members of government, they began that war by using an Ancient, and previously unknown, weapon capable of whole scale destruction. The demonstration of their power did not, as they hoped, scare the remaining populace into capitulation and instead turned the people against them. Even still the war lasted decades and cost millions of lives, something that in the aftermath called into question the validity of a now fragmented government which had lengthened that war with its' indecisiveness.
Because of that troubled history, and so many pointless deaths, which is now mostly considered a thing of the past, humans have remained mostly confined to merely a small fragment of the planet's supercontinent, leaving the vast majority of the planet's surface unexplored despite the vast span of time since the colony's foundation. However with the start of the Imperial rule of the Empire and the fall of the Sages the pressure and drive to discover more of the Ancient's technology and the relics that race left behind had slackened considerably. With a succession of Emperors and Empresses to thoughtfully guide the human population towards a peaceful future, a society has taken shape that is neither reliant nor intolerant of technology. Most of the current generations are content with their relatively simple lives, and have few wants nor concerns about the coming days. That peace is in part fueled by what was in many ways the greatest cost of that war, the loss of vast sums of knowledge, much of which had been kept hidden and secret by the Sages in their quest for power and control. Nearly all the knowledge reclaimed from the ruins left behind by the Ancients was either lost or destroyed by the Fall of the Sages, and much of the knowledge carried to that world by the ancestors had been left to be forgotten. However as time has passed since those darkest of days some small strides have been taken to leave behind the lingering shadows of that war. Whether those discoveries and those things rediscovered might again bring darkness and despair or a new golden age is of great concern to a great many.
The Empire
The Empire, as it is simply known by the citizens it encompassed, came about because of the many failures of the old government made unyeildy and lethargic by corruption and bureaucracy. The Emperors and Empresses are not of a single family line, rather they are selected from among the best and brightest of those to volunteer for public service. They spent at least some years serving on the Council a group of potential candidates who oversee and monitor the state of the Empire and advise the current ruler of any points of concern. When the current ruler steps down or dies, the next to take the throne is selected from the ranks of the council.
However the person on the throne is not the sole authority within the Empire. While the current ruler is given nearly unilateral control over many things, especially in military matters, they do not hold absolute power. When it comes to many matters of governance the Senate, elected from districts throughout the Empire, holds the power. While the Emperor or Empress in effect leads the Senate there have been times in the nearly 500 years of Imperial rule when those two powers have fueded. However, ever since the inception of that hybrid form of government there had no major conflicts, and only a few points of troubled history. The society brought about by that government is generally happy and peaceful as the people see little outside interference in their lives.
~S.W.
The Winters Family
Though there are any number of famous families inside the Empire, those who have done great services for the people in the past, those whose wealth makes them forces in their own right, and those who are descended from the Emperors and Empresses of the past, but there is perhaps no family more well known, nor more infamous than the Winters family. This is because for twelve generations the members of that family numbered among the great minds and most influential people in the Empire. One and all, Artificers, Archaeologists, Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors, the members of prestigious family did much to unlock the lost legacies of both the ancestors and the Ancients. What was more, and despite being one of the Great Houses, they were champions of the people, sharing their discoveries with the people freely and free of charge, depriving the other Great Houses their chance to profit from that rediscovered knowledge.
But as is the way of things that long line of honored names fell, in a single generation unworthy of that legacy, and it was very nearly destroyed by it. And while their enemies snickered and toasted that fall from grace, it was always with the worry and fear that the remnants of that family carried on at the farthest fringe of the Empire. For a time that family was content to leave that shattered legacy to fade from history, but some gifts skip down through the generations, and some tasks are too important to be left undone. As the hands of the clock turn an old legacy is threatening to return and forever leave a mark upon history, and that threat comes from the least likely of sources.