At the beginning of the Dark Ages, barely a hundred years after the fall, the anti tech hysteria raged across the shrinking known worlds.
At the beginning of th Dark Ages, barely a hundred years after the fall, the anti tech hysteria raged across the shrinking known worlds.
In the now lost world of Raval Cassius McGregor, a master engineer, did his best to keep the terraforming engine going. But a new government had arisen, the local Decados lord overthrown by some fanatical Avestites who stirred the angry mob had fallen and a very strict theocracy ruled with a burning iron fist.
But with the nobles fallen all the rage had to be focused on something else, the answer was evident: technology. The guild members on the planet started to fall victim to the purges and in that moment Cassius saw it clear: the powers that be in the Known Worlds wouldn´t tolerate that and would send his forces in, but the avestites would probably lock the gate before that. They had already taken the Charioteer Guildhouse and sooner or later someone would give up the code.
Cassius took his family and all his belongings (including the Interatta Archives) and went to his friend´s James O´Barr house. O´Barr being a likely sathraist had already prepared his escape off-planet.
On the way to the gate they got ahead of a signal that meant they´d be lost if they couldn´t open the gate in time. The locking signal had already been sent. Cassius wasn´t a religious person at all but he prayed with as much faith as he could gather and swore he would put himself to the orders of the Pancreator if he got out of there. And they did...
It´s unknown if the jumproute to Duna was the one they had planned or they somehow ended up there bacuse of the locking signal but there his fate changed forever.
For the next three years they lived in the deserts of Duna between the Moabdir people. The Moabdir, the offspring of the first settlers of Duna, a bunch of researchers who had to adapt to the harsh conditions of the planet when the fall isolated them.
In those days Cassiuss changed his name to Ali and started to preach, his family and O´Barr, who changed his name to Omar converted but the Moabdir didn´t. They always respected everybody else´s faith, but their own philosophy built around a sense of duty and debt was strong. Even then Ali considered them the most honorable people and promised them they´d be considered as such in the empire to come.
When Ali expressed his desire to leave the Moabdir guided him to an underground warehouse were they kept all the original material in mint condition, and so Ali left for Alhambra.
Alhambra was another world whose coordinates where lost to the Known Worlds, and whose local powers were entering the downwards spiral that happened so often during the times of the Fall.
The world of Amber as his inhabitants named it was ruled by House Al-Malik but brother was turning on brother and sect turned against sect. There Ali found ground to plant his seed and started preaching. He took the daughter of the local Count as a second wife converting the nobility to his faith, turned towards the clergy to teach them the Revelation of the Light, and approached the remnants of the League to instruct them into the forgotten lore he brought with him from beyond the Gate.
For 21 years Ali directed the destiny of Alhambra, the fortress of faith, and built the new caste system that has been kept till the present day.
These are the days when he named sacred the names of the Al-Hussein and Al-Rashid, being the Al-Hussein the children of Jada, his first daughter to his first wife and the Al-Rashid the line of Rashan, his Al-Malik son. He also named royal the Omar family and the Honorable Moabdir as he promised them.
In those preparations for the expansion in the name of the unnameable were made repairing all the technology factories they could and building the great shipyard Alhambra is still known by.
Then after sixteen months of trying random activation sequences in front of the gate came the discovery of the Annubasi.
DUNA: A dessertic world, home to the Honorable Moabdir people where Ali was healed and taken care of. Place of pilgrimation
ALHAMBRA: Second world visited and birthplace of the caliphate. A more inhabitable world once divided into internal wars between the remaining noble families. Harsh and rocky. First world to convert to the the Light. Pirates abound in the system. Ruled by the Al-Rashid
LORE: Home of the Annubassi, a jackal like humanoid breed. Plenty of Ur ruins and an Egyptian like culture. The Calipha made peace with them and is the nexus of the jump routes. Currently ruled by the Omar family.
JAFAR: Home to the serpent like Davai, another hot world covered by deserts, swamps, jungles and canyons. ruled by the Al-Jaffar
SHEREZADE: The dream world, living gaian eco system, fantastic animals and aurora like events in the sky. Ruled by the Omar family
XANADU: The second home. First world with complete earthlike conditions. A new garden to populate. Capital moved there. Ruled by the Al-Rashid
ATTILAN: Plenty of volcanic activity and harsh ecosystem. Continous failure of terraforming engines who has to be repaired. Ruled by the Al-Hussein
YATAGHAN: Conquered from the Voodo/Gjarti Leviathan people. Under the dominion of the Al-Jafar
HIRA: Supposedly under Al-Rashid control
AL JAFAR: Warriors, a clan who rose to power and got land by submitting hostile natives
AL RASHID: The royal family, decending directly from Ali´s first son politicians, merchants and patrons of the arts
AL HUSSEIN: Descending from Ali´s first daughter, a matriarchy which sponsors research and technology
OMAR: Secondary family who investigates the occult, important holdings at lore and attilan
MOABDEN: Not a family but given Royal status by the First Calpiha, inhabitants of Duna and high presence of Psi
ENTERTAINERS: Courtisans, bards, athletes, artists. They all are considered above the plainpeople and give "cache" as retainers
MERCHANTS: Those who trade they just deal with the costs, also act as important money lenders
CARAVANEERS: The pilots of the Starvessels, they are in charge of all the non militar space transport. They are rough soldiers who protect the convoys from piracy
ASTROMANCERS: In charge of allthe Ur technology and investigation including opening new jumproutes, close to the Ib-Qatan
DJINNIMANCERS: Builders and researchers of golems they have almost reached full sentient AI again
CYBERMANCERS: All standard tech and enginery CONJURERS OF THE FLESH: In charge of the Calipha´s Eugenics program
IB-QATAN: Decend from the old skatonics, they have been influenced by the Anubasi culture (Egyptian ways)
SERVANTS OF THE JYHAD:
CALIMAHN: followers of the teachings of the first calipha and "orthodox" ways
IMANNI: mixture of hesicasts and avestites antitech sect who claims that we shal wait for the Gehenna when the suns consum themselves into a blaze that will burn the unholy and bring the rest to the celestial light
The army of the empire, made of free men who fight to expand the Caliphate into the stars
SCRIBES: Seneschals and administratives, they are in charge of minor things like running the Market and are to obbey the local lord
AMBASSADORS: Couriers and bringers of the will of the Calipha. They survey all the Kurgan worlds
SPIES: they don´t exist officially but everybody knows the calipha has eyes and ears in every corner