For the people and star systems that now compose the Sellonian Empire, legends and stories from the Age of Darkness are as varied as the people who tell them. Though still debated within academia, it is generally agreed that of the nine sentient species of the known galaxy, the Solanar were the first to reach the stars. Desperate to escape a star that was rapidly expanding to consume their original homeworld, the Solanar found safe haven on a new planet lightyears away. Early contact between the Solanar and the humans is heavily documented, heralding a long history of cooperation between the two cultures. Humans soon became prolific in their colonization, quickly occupying and cultivating numerous worlds.

As each race arrived on the galactic stage, new conflicts arose. Skirmishes over expansion, religion, and cultural differences grew increasingly common until war had become the common language of the galaxy. Long, horrific conflicts punctuated by brief respites of peace dominate the records that have survived the ravages of war and time. Records suggest the first interspecies war developed between the humans and Nara over control of the Sarga system, ultimately ending in a stalemate between the two civilizations. The Rikkan warred against the Solanar in a centuries-long conflict beginning thereafter, nearly forcing the Solanar into a second exodus away from their new homeworld of Nevi Prime.

A new era of warfare dawned when the Nara gifted the Yaru species the technologies of interstellar travel. A militant civilization driven ever-forward by a belief in a bloodthirsty deity, the Yaru almost immediately turned against their benefactors. A sudden campaign of genocide initiated against the Nara left a lasting mark on the species, as biological weapons permanently altered their DNA.

Responding to Naran calls for aid, a tenuous and short-lived alliance of Human, Vyxian, and Rikkan warships answered this atrocity with their own. While it is unknown what diplomatic efforts were attempted, the Yaru refused to back down. Hoping for a speedy — and permanent — solution to the conflict, the combined battle fleets launched a devastating bombardment against the planet of Yarut. When the weapons finally ceased, Yarut was left as a charred and inhospitable wasteland with an utterly extinguished population. The first galactic genocide was complete.

In the wake of such wanton destruction, an enclave of Khi’Hinnese monks retreated into a period of H’ar, a sacred time of physical withdrawal for research and reflection. Hoping to avoid the terrors of the past, the monks cried out to the universe for a path to peace and enlightenment. The response would forever change the fate of the galaxy.

Throughout recorded history, members of every sentient species had noticed strange and supernatural abilities within a select few among them. Though exceedingly rare, such individuals typically exhibited heightened senses and physical capabilities, precognition, empathy, and influence at supernatural levels. Some cultures ostracized these beings as sorcerers or demons, while others saw them as prophets, gifted leaders, or valuable oddities. Others failed to notice the manifestation at all, ascribing their powers simply to individual luck.

As the Khi’Hinnese enclave met in H’ar, the discussion of such gifted individuals quickly took center stage. For more than four decades, they probed the mystery through meditation, inquiry, and debate, isolated from the conflicts and chaos of the greater galaxy. A common thread seemed to weave its way through these gifted beings and on to the galaxy at large. Such an energy empowered those it touched, yet manifested itself in all life and on every planet to some extent.

The revelation of such a mysterious presence was the fruit of the Khi’Hinns’ labor. When the H’ar finally broke, the monks emerged exhausted but empowered. They jubilantly announced the discovery of “Xik’khi’an” — The Great Light — a powerful and permeating energy that manifested with life itself. A select few — now labeled as Radiants — were able to harness The Light’s power into miraculous abilities. Most of the original discoverers soon joined a swell of Radiant Khi’Hinn in additional H’ar to further unlock the secrets of The Light and allow this new knowledge to blossom. It was not long before members of the other species would join the Khi’Hinn in the “Rifak H’ar Xik’khi’hi,” The Order of The Light.

Under the tutelage of the Khi’Hinnese sages, the first generation of Radiant adherents began to ply their abilities in earnest. Infused with the traditional Khi’Hinnese principles of community, their teaching put the service of others over self at the height of its tenants. Many students returned to their own worlds after their training, seeking out other Radiants and establishing temples across the galaxy. The Order of The Light began to swell in numbers, establishing its formal Grand Temple on the human capital planet of Rho, where sensitivity to The Light’s power proved exceptionally high.