Available at http://w3.fadingsuns.tk
"It is through communication and discussion that the Word of the Pancreator is spread.
To silence it is to deny the Word of our Lord."
- Chow Sun Yi, itinerant Amalthean
"The noble legacy of mankind, it is not land, it is not technology, it is not
even the Word of the Pancreator. It is knowledge."
- Laurence DeVareant du Hawkwood, Questing Knight
It is the dawn of the sixth millennium and the skies are
darkening, for the suns themselves are fading. Humans
reached the stars long ago, building a Republic of high
technology and universal emancipation - and then
squandered it, fought over it, and finally lost it. A new
Dark Age has descended on humanity, for the greatest of
civilizations has fallen and even the stars die. Now, feudal
lords rule the Known Worlds, vying for power with
fanatic priests and scheming guilds.
Once the suns shone brightly, beacons in the vast night
of space, calling humanity onward. The stars were symbols
of humanity’s vast potential, a purpose and destiny revealed
in progress, inciting an exodus of unlimited growth to the
distant stars. Once people looked to the heavens with hope
and longing in their eyes.
Then the suns - and the hope - began to fade.
It is the beginning of the sixth millennium after Christ
and history has come to an end. Humanity’s greatest civilization
has fallen, leaving ignorance and fear scattered among
the ruins of many worlds. A new Dark Age is upon humanity
and few believe in renewal and progress anymore. Now
there is only waiting. Waiting for a slow death as the ageold
stars fade to cinders and the souls of the sinful are called
to Final Judgment.
But not all believe in this destiny. A leader has arisen,
an emperor sworn to unite the worlds of Human Space together
again under one banner. To ignite hope once more in
people’s hearts.
It is a monumental task, for most people have already
given up and fallen into the ways of the past, playing serfs
to feudal lords. What is hope to them now but a falsehood
which leads to pain? Better to leave the hard decisions to
their masters and let the Church console their souls.
There are enemies everywhere, those who seek to selfishly
profit from humanity’s demise: vain nobles ruling farflung
worlds, power-hungry priests who seek dominion over
the lives of men, the greedy merchant guilds growing rich
from bartering humanity’s needs and wants. They are not
alone. Others are out there among the darkening stars, alien
races angry with humankind for age-old slavery, and enigmatic
alien empires with agendas too paradoxical to fathom.
It is in such a universe that individual men and women
must live. Only a few of them will question. Fewer still will
seize the stars - and their destiny.
