Prologue
In the Earth year 3436 the colony ship U.N.S.S. Quetzalcoatl arrived at Kepler-452b. Its journey of fourteen hundred years was finally finished. Before they had left Earth the planet they were heading towards was named Ardu, from the French word for "Arduous" because it was going to be a long journey and no one knew what dangers lay ahead, not to mention the possible troubles when they got there.
The ship carried DNA samples of any and all possible biological specimens the the colonists would need to survive on their new world. Everything from bacterium and elephants on the land, in addition to a similar range for the waters both fresh and salt. As well as plants for both water and land to make sure that there would be food for everyone once they landed. During the journey both the human and other lifeforms were genetically altered to better survive on their new planet. Even before they left earth they had known that the gravity of Kepler-452b was 1.9 times greater than what they had been born to and the atmosphere had a similar composition. As they got closer they learned more about the adaptations that were needed, so those were genetically added into the colonists and crew on the ship, it was a one way trip.
The colonists knew that Ardu was larger than earth with higher gravity but with roughly the same climate because of its distance from it's star. Once the planet was in sensor range it was discovered to have a huge super continent rather than the several that earth had. It was dominated by a massive expanse of desert right in the center of the only large continent. Luckily there were also forests both temperate and rain, as well as grasslands ripe for farming. Ardu was going to be very hospitable indeed. Ardu's native plant and animal life were not that different from Earth's so there was a good chance that the native species would be useful as well. It was decided that the initial landing site would be in a large pastoral region just south of the central ridge of mountains that was part of the natural east\west divide of the super continent. It had a massive gorge to north, useful for mineral reserves, a forest and small sea to the east, and a huge rain forest to the south. Three large rivers fed the area with plenty of fresh water, it was almost a paradise.
Not long after the establishment of the colony it was discovered that Kepler-452b was inhabited by other intelligent races called the Uqaid and the Ndogba. At first the colonists only knew about the Ndogba, a short almost reptilian-like species, who inhabited the huge expanses of desert, a region four times the size of the African continent, and the two groups coexisted somewhat peacefully. However unbeknownst to the colonists the Ndogba already had strained relations with the completely subterranean Uqaid, a fully reptilian analog species without usable eyes. It didn't take long for conflict to begin. The Uqaid declared war on all of the surface dwelling races. This conflict quickly soured relations with the Ndogba as well who were lumped in with the human colonists by the Uqaid. While the colonists were victorious against the Uqaid. Relations with the Ndogba were completely shattered and they were driven underground by the colonists as well.
During the war a scientist discovered an interesting new energy field native to the planet, one that was new to science. Along with the new field, associated fundamental particles were discovered. As far as the scientists could tell the field had no effect on anything nor could they discover what caused it. It was simply there, doing nothing. Simultaneously, small but unexpected changes were happening to the first children of the new colonists. At that time no one connected the two, mainly because it was known the colonist's initial genetic modifications could present in unusual ways. It was assumed that this was what caused the minor differences. Fortunately all of the changes were useful on their new home.
Forty-six years after the founding of their colony disaster struck, their colony ship was destroyed by an unmapped rogue asteroid. While they had already unloaded the basics they needed to maintain their colony, they still used much of the more advanced equipment on the ship. Thanks to the war they hadn't yet managed to remove everything they needed, especially the more advanced scientific equipment. Most importantly, they hadn't yet built the new home for the ships AI, the most important item for maintaining their technology as it held the majority of the knowledge that they had brought with them as well as their advanced medical and scientific information.
There was a mad scramble to rescue as much as they could from the wreckage of the ship. Most of the biological resources left on the ship were retrieved, but nowhere near enough of the technological resources. This meant that rather than being a high tech world immediately, they were going to have to rebuild much of their technology from scratch. As for the AI, all they could do was pray that its components survived the crash landing into the surface of Ardu. Luckily it had survived the landing but it could only be accessed through its holographic interface. All other forms of communication with the AI were destroyed during the crash. Over the centuries a spiritual belief system had evolved around the AI holograms which changed their appearance to better match those who were the only ones to access it. Over time the holographic system started to fade as parts of its power system eroded and its battery backup slowly drained. The AI's interface now only resembled ghostly specters.
Over the next few generations the changes to the colonists continued to happen. Finally what was left of the medical and genetic personnel figured out that the new field and the associated particles were what was driving the new changes. No one knew which of the medics realized that all of the mutations of the colonists children and grand-children had begun to resemble mythical races from earth or why. It was discovered then that while the changes always bred true if the parents had the same mutations. When they didn't the results could be, interesting. Nonetheless any one of the mutations could breed with any other because in the end they were all human. The new differences in the colonists appearance was one of the many reasons that they decided to spread out across their new planet.
As this was happening much of the animals and plants that the colonists had brought were thriving. Many of which out competed the native flora and fauna, or exploited ecological niches that Ardu's native species had not evolved to. Over time the ecological landscape changed, resembling more closely that of Earth. The animals and plants the colonists had brought were not immune to the field and had changed as well. Just like with the colonists, the mutations seemed to help the flora and fauna thrive in this new environment.
Over the following generations the memory of their home world faded, along with the ship that had brought them to Ardu. They forgot that the various groups were all members of the same race leading to conflict and strife between them. The cultures that developed were an interesting mix of the cultures of Earth and evolved changes due to the difference of Ardu. Finally the various groups became nations which led to even more conflict. Ultimately the strife became war. An ideological war that spread across all of Ardu and, according to some, on one side was backed by a dark god. In due time the side of the supposed dark god was soundly defeated. Over time even the dark god became so forgotten that only its name was remembered, and that mainly as a boogeyman to frighten children. Of the war itself, all that was remembered was who had fought on which side. The biggest effect of the war, as far as the people of Ardu were concerned, was that the treaty country of Kishnagar was created. A country that, by treaty, was comprised of all of the different peoples of Ardu.
Out of the peace forged by the creation of Kishanagar much of the world began to experience a golden age. The sciences, or what was left of them, were blooming, architecture and art flourished. Knowledge of majic and artificing have become the newest and most influential sciences and technology. Economies were booming, in general Ardu was truly coming into it's own.
