[b][i][u]Origins[/u][/i][/b] [i]"...And the Great and Terrible Mother of Creation descended from the sky and unto our world. A mere rock it was, floating amidst a sea of darkness. But then she took it into her hands, and molded it like clay into Her image. That image was of something... beyond that we know. That was the image of life itself."[/i] -Rough translation of an excerpt from a collection of texts known as the [i]Divinium Lumen[/i], in which is detailed the modification and seeding of the planet Tatakai. First there were stars amidst the darkness of space. Then, there was life. Civilizations that somehow came to be in the eternal void of nothing. It was with one of these groups called the [i]Precursors[/i] that the carbon-based beings on Tatakai came into existence. As far as we know, they were placed here. [b]The Precursors[/b] An ancient race that somehow initially came into existence in the early days of universal life, the Precursors were highly intelligent beings responsible for the seeding of a large amount of known life. It is unknown whether or not they exist in a fashion similar to us, other known life, or anything thought to exist in the known universe. However, they were still mortal beings. With the destruction of their world along with the annihilation of their star, they built what is known World Makers, pyramid-like spacecraft controlled by a central super-intelligence (similar to that of an AI). It is said that this is based off of the Precursor's own uploaded consciousnesses, but that is still unknown. These "Creators" were sent adrift in space in an attempt to find and "adapt" potentially habitable worlds, possibly in an effort to restore the Precursor Civilization. One such found a suitable candidate that would soon come to be known as Tatakai... [b]Initial Creation of Life[/b] A super-intelligence (known only by the names [i]Her[/i], [i]It[/i], [i]Mother[/i], [i]Creator[/i], and others similar), along with the pyramid-like craft dubbed [i]The Prometheus[/i], arrived on Tatakai early in its initial formation and history. With it came the design of a Stage One [i]Master Seed[/i] and it's subsets, in which the genetic information for most basic life used to convert and sustain the planet at a habitable state (such as most forms of bacteria and primordial single-celled lifeforms). This was used as a staging ground for more "advanced" types of life, which was still based off of a similar origin. [Note: It is still unknown where most of the water came from. Perhaps it was also by design.] This led to the deployment of a number of additional Master Seed sets in a period known as Stage Two, which was responsible for the formation of more advanced life such as ocean creatures, mammals, and a number of other native species' (many of them now extinct do to advancements in space travel and planetary trade). [b][i][u]The Making of a World[/u][/i][/b] [i]"So then the Great and Terrible Mother of Creation looked upon her new world, and knew that it was near-perfect. A place that would serve as a beautiful beacon of civilization and life. And so, she would take it upon herself to create those that walk this land on this very day, to serve a higher purpose of beauty and complexity. Yet then, we would soon realize that we indeed weren't meant to live lavishly in this world, but that we were merely slaves to a higher power..."[/i] [b]Stage Three: The Creation of the "Humans" and the Prime Descendants[/b] Next came the final stage of Tatakai's seeding. The most advanced beings on the planet, the "human" species was created to fulfill one singular purpose; to build the Mother's structures and devices. And, as a whole, they were pretty successful. Yet she led them to believe that the world was meant for them. Which, in fact, it wasn't. Next came the highly advanced beings know as the Prime Descendants, human-like beings that possessed extraordinary abilities. They served as both overseers for the slaves and potential vessels for Her and the remnants of Precursor Consciousness. What they didn't know, however, was that they were also being used to create something else... [b]The Device[/b] Across the planet, the Mother's slaves would end up facilitating the creation of system-wide constructs that connect into a complex, multi-stage network of "machines" that served purposes not clearly (or commonly) known. With analysis, this "Device" has been determined to be a defensive/last resort mechanism to protect [i]Her[/i] against an unknown threat. [spoiler]WIP. Early planet lore that Pants gave me the go ahead to do a while back. Just now getting to writing it down.[/spoiler]