First Contact

First Contact refers to the scientific breakthrough by researchers on Erathis at the Ardaithian Gates scattered across the planet. Each Gate connects Erathis to the other planets in the known systems, and are named according to the order they were activated. This led to First Contact with each of the other seven worlds over the next year or so.

The Ardaithian Gates
The Gates themselves were not discovered until archaeologists were able to access an Ardaithian structure on an island in Parvella on Erathis. The structure contained a mural depicting a world map and marking several locations across the planet. Each mark represented the location of one of the Gates, and the countries of Erathis created a joint task force dedicated to researching the Gates.

The Gates were all in caves or underground, accessed by stone doors. The Gate was always accompanied by two wall paintings, at first thought to be primitive cave drawings. One showed two people on either side of a straight, vertical line. The other is more elaborate and made up of a series of eight concentric circles around a much larger ninth circle. Each of the eight concentric circles was drawn at varying distances from the central circle. The Gates are two cylindrical pillars topped with a triangular stone with a symbol carved into it, and each pillar has four semi-sphere indentions. Activating the Gates required pressing the central circle of the wall-painting, activating little multi-colored lights on the surface of the Gate, four on each pillar. By arranging the lights on the Gate in order from closest to farthest on the wall painting, the Gate was activated.

Behlum, Alpha Gate
Behlum was the first planet where the races of Erathis encountered an advanced civilization. At the time of their discovery and activation, most Gates were located in remote religious sites across their respective worlds. The Draj of Behlum were already a space-faring race at the time of First Contact, though much of it was rudimentary, while Erathis was in the early stages of industrialization. The draj and Erathis races began relations on a bad note. The Alpha Gate research team was immediately captured by the draj and interrogated. The draj considered the gate to be of holy importance, and unknown beings trespassing in holy lands was seen as an offense and a threat. The researchers were able to convince their captors to allow them to demonstrate how the Gate worked and even took some draj to Erathis with them.

This began a long and fruitful relationship between the two worlds, each sharing aid and knowledge with each other. The relationship led to the creation of the first iteration of an interplanetary alliance, before its eventual collapse amid tensions with the Norisian Covenant.

Calor, Beta Gate
Calor, the home of the mighty Dragonborn, was the second planet that was discovered to have another civilization. Both Calor and Erathis were on-par technology wise, but Calor was able to advance quickly with the draj's technology. Due to the planet's desert surface and sparse water supply, Dragonborn lived short and harsh lives. This changed with the advances of technology, allowing the Dragonborn to live longer lives and be more forward-thinking.

Tethys, Gamma Gate
Tethys, an ice world with a harsh climate, was originally thought to be just arctic wilderness. After several expeditions into its mountains, the Erathis races came into Contact with the Anzol. The Anzol were second only to the draj in its advancements, having created biodomes to insulate their cities from the arctic climate based off of the Ardaithian ruins scattered across the planet. These biodomes were then created on Calor around its cities, forging a strong bond between the two planets.

It was during the Occupation of Tethys that the Gamma Gate was fractured and rendered useless. In the desperate fight to keep their homeworld, many of the Anzol residents fled through the Gate to Erathis before dispersing as refugees across the known systems. Several covert operations were dispatched to try and fix the Gate, but none were successful.

Pulkra, Delta Gate
Pulkra, a garden world, was the most primitive of the civilizations discovered during First Contact. The Tabaxi, a feline race, were separated into tribes that roamed the forests of the world between their cities and small villages. A second race, the Trinzi, also inhabited this world but were more reluctant to engage with the other races. The tabaxi never formally joined the old alliance, most choosing instead to stay planetside, resisting technology and deferring to the traditions of their society.

First Contact War
The Eta Gate, linked to the jalek homeworld Murtos, was the site of a cover-up incident involving the United Erathis Government. A team of three researchers disappeared into the gate, and the site was the location of a brutal murder years later. The site was mostly hidden away until it was discovered the Jalek were using it to travel to Erathis and use the other Gates to spy on the other worlds.

Jalek intelligence managed to accurately pinpoint the location of the other worlds, using the location of various night-sky-objects, and began an assault on Erathis. They were able to use to both the Gates and their advanced starships to attack from the ground and above, destroying an entire city before the UEG was able to muster a response. The Jalek also made assaults on the other worlds during this time.

Many of worlds were able to repel the attacks, since the jalek fleet was spread so thin, but Tethys was hit hard. The jalek set up a siege on the world for years, while control of the planet constantly shifted hands. Tethys' native race, the Anzols, were faced with the choice to endure the constant warfare or to flee. While some Anzolian still live in isolation on Tethys, some have scattered across the worlds and many have made a home for themselves on the orbital station Cardiff Station over the planet Dius.