When Warp Travel Technology first spreads, it transforms the nature of the galaxy. Not everyone thinks that's a good thing...
The Galaxy of Kuxtal (pronounced Koosh-tahl) is a series of short stories that all take place in the Universe of "Life", on...
The Universe of "Life" is a world very much like our own, except that a small difference in atomic properties results in a huge increase in the probability of life arising independently. As a result, lifeforms can be found in nearly 25% of cosmological terrains.
In this universe lies the Galaxy of Kuxtal (pronounced "koosh-tahl). Life seems to have emerged for the first time about 2,315,000,000, or 2.35, billion years after the formation of the Galaxy. About 1.315 billion years later, the first terrestrial life forms began to develop the technology for space travel. It then took over 5 million years for the first cornerstones of a galactic government to be built. People often ask why it took so long, and the simple answer is that with a galaxy that has 4 trillion stars and a diameter of approximately 140,000 light years, it is nearly impossible to establish and maintain a government without Warp Travel Technology. So, the many space traveling civilizations were largely isolated from the galactic community until the technology spread. Time works differently across such vast distances. The lives of individuals are tiny parts of an enormous tale. People aspired to build empires and great civilizations, but the means were never there. Not before the beginning of the Galactic Age.
Historical Overview - The Eras of Kuxtal
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The following is a Brief History of the Galaxy of Kuxtal, organized by historical era.
The Physical Age *
Years: Approximately 0 - 2,315,000,000 (2.315 Billion) in the Galactic Origin Calendar (GO)
This Era lasted approximately 2.315 Billion Years
The Formation of the Galaxy, including stars and planets and other celestial formations. Evidence indicates that life did not emerge in this era.
The Biological Age *
Years: Approximately 2,315,000,000 - 3,450,000,000 GO (3.45 Billion)
This Era lasted approximately 1.135 Billion Years
Life begins emerging in multiple locations across the galaxy (the earliest location is still being debated). Many different types of life form, from multicellular organisms, to nebular beings, to plastrinids. Many developed civilizations and advanced technologies during this era.
* Exact dates for the Physical Age and the Biological Age are still debated. However, exact dates are known for the Orbital Era. As a result, many calendars treat the beginning of the Orbital Era as Year 0, and they mark the dates as GO (Galactic Origin) without making note of the first 3.45 Billion years
The Orbital Era **
Years: 0,000,000 - 1,221,031 GO
The beginning of this Era is marked by the first known instance of space travel by terrestrial beings (The First Orbital Travelers) - the completion of a series of orbits around their own home planet. Many species across the galaxy begin to develop the technology for space travel, but they are almost all limited to orbiting their own planet or traveling within their own solar systems of origin. There are a few species that make the effort to colonize distant star systems, but their travel velocities remained relatively low in this era, and the few colonies that are formed remain almost entirely independent and isolated from their systems of origin.
