History, Lore and the Future

As mankind on earth evolved, wealth and technology drove centuries long Cold wars among the world’s most powerful entities. Those who refused to align with popular political and spiritual ideologies were left abandoned by their own nations. Pleas for open discourse, common decency, and respect for our fellow man were met with hostility and suppression of national and local support. Amidst the pervasive tribalism held by so many, a global network based on a culture of thought began establishing itself under a core group of intellectuals, championed by a young entrepreneur by the name of David Spencer. Discussion of creating their own society led to individuals migrating from all walks of life to a series of islands in the south pacific, to join Mr. Spencer and his cohorts in what came to be known as the Elysium Alliance.

Elysian biologists began to study their own DNA and compare it to those that attempted to infiltrate their society. They were convinced they would discover a genetic difference that sets them apart from so many others who virulently rejected anything that did not fall into their belief structures, or the propaganda they had been spoon fed for generations. A previously undiscovered fifth molecule emerged upon analyzing the RNA composition of those who attempted to sabotage their society, the Demra molecule. Upon further analysis, they found that Demra consistently produced a unique gene expression, and therein, a protein which produced serotonin in a malformed state.

As a final attempt to save humanity from it’s own wayward evolution, the Elysians broadcast their findings of Demra corruption to the world. They had admittedly failed to understand what caused the Demra molecule, yet refused to believe it’s existence could be explained by anything other than science. They published irrefutable evidence in their processes and urged others around the globe to utilize and expand on their research. With no expectations of compensation, other than avoiding the fall of our species and a thirst to know the origins of what they viewed as the greatest threat to our way of life. Yet again they were met with hostility and labeled as elitists and liars by the world’s demagogues. So a new path forward to a better life was prioritized amongst their community.

The existence of habitable planets in systems far beyond the reach of conventional technology had been common knowledge for nearly a century, and every major power on Earth sought to claim the resources of our known universe. The greatest of Elysian minds, led by Doctor Russo, believed there to be many alternate realities that existed in parallel to our own.  Over a matter of decades, Doctor Russo and her team focused their efforts on developing a device they called the Pillars of Ether or POE, with the intent of allowing interdimensional travel to an alternate universe.

Doctor Stadt led research into the theory of interdimensional travel through black holes in his undergraduate days at Harvard. Now, nearly forty years later, he operated as more of a mad scientist in his basement. Muttering what most deemed to be nonsense, and largely written off by the scientific community, he made wild assertions that only the most gullible of conspiracy theorists ascribed to. Yet, through the fog, an Elysian scientist by the name of Professor Grant saw wisdom in his ramblings. A glimmer of hope, the missing pieces to their interdimensional portals ability to transport even the most massive of objects through space and reality.

As Doctor Stadt arrived in Elysium, he immediately rushed towards the POE device Elysian engineers had been constructing, sat down at the nearest terminal, and began furiously writing in a programming language they had never seen before. As they inquired as to what he was doing, and what language he bashed out on the keys, he simply muttered under his breath and shrugged them off. Concerned that all of their hard work would be compromised, some of the scientists began to argue and attempted to forcibly remove the Doctor from his terminal. During the commotion, a commanding voice quieted the room, “Leave the man to his work!” belted Vice Admiral Post. 

After three straight days, fervently clacking away at the terminal, Doctor Stadt looked up, and simply stated “And where would you like to go?”. With one last stroke of his hand he tapped the terminal, and the portal opened. This wasn’t a complete absence of light or matter, but something new between the frames the Elysian engineers had built. Professor Grant confidently walked up to this new ‘field of energy’ that lay before him, and plunged his hand through its surface, then pulled it back. 

The colonists of Elysium buzzed with excitement as rumors spread of the new discovery and began preparing for their travels. Military leaders, scientists, engineers, biologists, botanists and every other specialist in their colony began to prepare for travel. First expedition would be a group of one hundred who had been preparing for this moment for years. The rest of the Elysians continued preparations for their own journeys into this new world. The air was electric with thoughts of a bright new world for them to explore, and new life free of Demra corruption.

As the Elysians celebrated and prepared to formally send off the first expedition through the portal, gunfire sounded in the distance. Screams echoed through the long pedestrian corridors of their citadel, as Elysian soldiers rushed towards the approaching sounds of chaos. Just as the commotion began to quiet, a single shot pierced through the city, and Doctor Grant was struck in the chest as he stood in front of the citadel’s inner chamber housing the Pillars of Ether.

The preparations were cut short as Mr. Spencer hastily instructed the first expedition to rush through the portal. As they rapidly began to enter the portal, buildings surrounding the citadel began to crumble as clearly timed explosions began to destabilize their foundations. The Elysian colonists sprinted  towards the core of the citadel in an attempt to escape their imminent demise, as Vice Admiral Post and his soldiers positioned themselves as a barrier to ward off an attack from an enemy they still had yet to lay eyes on.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the sky began to fill with the parachutes of thousands of mercenaries only moments away from touching ground. As the last of the colonists lept blindly through the portal, Doctor Stadt began furiously typing at his terminal again. A team of their attackers managed to breach the lines of defense, ignoring the Elysian guards, they focused on and swarmed the portal, hurling themselves through. 

Instantaneously standing up with an awkward smile broadcasting a live feed to all of Elysium for the ceremony, Doctor Stadt swiped the terminal one last time. The portal began to expand beyond the pillars of the POE, then rapidly retracted and disappeared, collapsing the inner core and creating an implosion, leaving only a pile of rubble where decades of research and some of the world’s most brilliant minds used to stand.

Visibly shaken, but content in the environment of this completely foreign world as they took their first breaths. The final colonists to have made it through the portal looked around in wonder at the beauty of where they had arrived. As the invaders who had made it through the portal scattered into the nearby forests, the first expedition began to assess their situation. An initial colonization mission of one hundred, with only enough supplies meant to establish a support system over the coming months for additional colonists. Anyone could see that they were ill prepared for the nearly five hundred colonists who had rushed through the portal during the chaos.

The colonists began to argue, and their previous decades of common discourse seemed to vanish in the face of uncertainty. A group of colonists who had made it through the portal, yet were not part of the initial expedition held fast to their beliefs but while realizing the burden they placed on the rest of the expedition, ventured off into the forests of this new land to fend for themselves. Following faint movements that always seemed just out of sight, and a sense of intuitive determination led them collectively towards a destination that they had no understanding of. 

At the initial arrival point, the first expedition had been quietly discussing their options amongst themselves. After a few days of deliberation, they arrived at a decision and addressed the remaining colonists. “We have decided to leave these fertile lands to those of you who do not possess the skills to survive more harsh environments. We will take a portion of our supplies, and a few of you that are strong enough to help us establish a colony in the mountains over the horizon. Good Luck”. Without another word, they began their journey, including the largest of the men and their families.

Left alone, in what seemed to be a beautiful location, with no threats other than some simeon type creatures that would defend the occasional fruit bearing grove of trees, the remaining colonists began to build their settlement. Left with few tools, they built their shelter from the materials this new land provided. Staying true to their cause, despite the chaos they had so frantically fled and the desertion of their best and brightest. The Elysian Loyalists maintained hope that this world could still be the utopia they had always dreamed of.

After the first settlement of Elysians to colonize Next Island had been left to their own devices for decades with the Elysium project in shambles. No one truly knows where all of them have gone, though it is apparent that they have colonized various locations across the planet. The Elysians seem to have adapted to the various climates and circumstances of where they have settled. Unfortunately, they do not all seem to be cooperating with one another in anticipation of our arrival.

The initial Elysian colonists have separated into three primary factions that we are currently aware of. There is also an alarming amount of tectonic activity on Next Island that seems to be causing the current state of the planet to change rapidly. It is unknown at this point what the cause is, though it may have something to do with an increasing amount of activity we seem to be finding on the planet that gives off similar signals to the portal developed with the Pillars of Ether.

We, the second wave of colonists, are now arriving in large numbers. Thanks to the Jump Gates developed to send us from Earth to Planet Calypso, we have been able to continue our pursuit of developing Elysium. Plans to establish a proper colony with the values we held back on earth are underway and materials to build the new Citadel are beginning to arrive. It will take years to fully establish ourselves, and we must take precautions to avoid our supplies being pillaged by the intruding scavengers the Loyalists have warned us about. One of the other Elysian colonies, the Woodland Haruspex, have been kind enough to assist in the construction of a new colonist arrival area while we await supplies, though we do not understand how their wealth of knowledge of this planet has become so much more advanced than the Loyalist colony. 

The New Elysian Order that has settle into the mountains to the north has yet to respond to any of our attempts to make contact, and these scavengers seem to be cautiously watching us from a distance. We will continue our goal of building the new Elysium, even though there are still many things we do not understand about this planet. We will attempt to collect the journals of those that have lived here long before us, to try and make sense of it, and will continue to catalogue our own encounters for posterity. There are other colonies from Earth in this Universe that we still know little about, though in time we hope they will receive us as we are. Our ambition is that they will join us in our quest for a collective civilization, far superior to the one we have now traveled so far to escape.