Timeline of Solaria (TCW’s home galaxy)
RE – Restoration Era
(Designation given by the Transhuman Order of Terra Nova Sectoris)
??? BRE – An unknown phenomenon called the Cosmic Death destroys most of the known universe
30 BRE – War for the Future begins on Terra Nova
(After generations of struggle to rekindle civilization, the major powers on Terra Nova – one of the best preserved worlds after the Cosmic Death – clash ideologically against each other in a bid to control the planet’s future)
0 RE – The Transhuman Order wins the War for the Future, becoming Terra Nova’s dominant society
~180 RE – Limited means for FTL travel are (re)invented; the stars become reachable again
180-228 RE – A handful of surviving pre-Cosmic Death colony worlds are discovered
228 RE – The planet of Utopia is discovered. Its biosphere is an ecological paradise, making it the first Gaia-class planet discovered in contemporary history, while its extremely exotic and reality-altering environs mark it as the first paraworld
229 RE – Arceria (AR-KEH-RIAH), Airo and Ferrtau’s homeworld, is discovered
229 RE – On Utopia transhumans, fauna, and even flora begin to transform into dragons. The process is sudden, violent, and its causes are unknown. Transformed subjects become extremely hostile towards all colonists
229-236 RE – The Red Colony Campaign; Utopia renamed to Utopia Draconis
(The Transhuman Order begins a bloody suicidal war trying to retain control over Utopia Draconis, drafting millions of soldiers from multiple interstellar colonies, including Arceria.)
231 RE – Project Ascension is greenlit. Its goal is to uplift dragonkind, gifting them with sapience
236 RE – Aethernalis becomes the first sapient dragon in Solaria. The Red Colony Campaign ends shortly after, as spontaneous transformations of people and creatures stop, while all remaining dragons rapidly acquire sapience via unknown means
237-250 RE – The study of dragons leads to the discovery of the “holy trinity” of interstellar civilization: SUHN-space FTL travel, MEM cells (Matter-to-Energy Module), and advanced gravitics. Together, they pave the way for a true starfaring society
255 RE – The Vortex Demon Invasion
(Utopia Draconis is invaded by hordes of immortal creatures dubbed “demons”, who pour out from what appears to be fractures in the very fabric of spacetime itself)
256 RE – The Order of the Radiant Knights is founded
(Dragons band together to defend their home and their future from the demons, being the only ones who can kill them. The bravest of transhumans join the dragons, wielding veronite weapons – made from dragon blood – to help in the desperate conflict. The demonic invasion ends when the rends in spacetime are sealed via the Shard, Utopia Draconis’ “world soul”)
292-293 RE – Battle of the Orders
(After centuries of no oversight and no challenge to its authority, the Transhuman Order has deviated from its idealistic mission, gradually growing into a totalitarian interstellar regime. The Radiant Knights, serving until then as the best and brightest representatives of wider society, rebel against the abuse of power. They barely win after a short and devastating conflict which leaves the galaxy without leadership)
293-501 RE – The Supremacy Wars
(All major worlds in the known galaxy begin a generations-long conflict to fill the power vacuum left by the fall of the Transhuman Order. The Radiant Knights are able to stop the conflict in the end by slowly and painfully rebuilding their power base and gaining favor with all parties involved)
516 RE – Dawn of the Æther Age
(The Æther – a universal layer previously known as dark energy – is accessed comprehensively for the first time, redefining all collective knowledge. The word “magic” is given new meaning, as people become able to “Awaken” and – after much training – alter reality through direct application of willpower)
532 RE – The Black Void is discovered
(Distant interstellar expeditions encounter an exotic region, from which nothing can pass through and return, except light, gravity, and fundamental forces. Follow-up expeditions determine that the exotic region encloses Sector Tau 42 – aka the known galaxy – in a roughly spherical “prison” with a radius of about 4000 light years, with the sphere’s center being Utopia Draconis)
534-803 RE – The Axiom Crusades
(Following the discovery of the Black Void, galactic society develops a form of “cabin fever” and existential panic of cosmic proportions, leading to a series of ideological conflicts between the major stellar powers, fighting for what is now considered a “finite universe”)
803-810 RE – The Dragon Independence War
(Aethernalis dies under mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, the begrudged dragon population of Utopia Draconis decides it had enough suffering and senseless death due to its involvement with the rest of the galactic society. Dragons rebel en masse and attempt to subjugate the galaxy under their rule. In the end, they are beaten back to their homeworld, where they isolate themselves, neither traveling the stars, nor allowing anyone to visit Utopia Draconis)
975 RE – H’raal arrive in the galaxy
975-978 RE – The Starblaze
998 RE – Beginning of The Celestial Way