Copyright: M. Rauls 2018

CHAPTER 1

Rimwald III: Birth

In the year of the Empire 3556, during the reign of the Emperor Argot Anders, the ISS Scrutiny, a planetary survey ship under the command of his son, Prince Cohune Anders was exploring that region of space in the constellation we know as Spica. Arriving in the Rimwald system, the ship took up a parking orbit around the third planet. Assuming that the records, which were silent on this system, were simply at fault, the planet was mistaken for one of the lost colonies of the Great War. The prince led a landing party on planet, and above the objections of his officers; he brought back to the ship a native woman to whom he was attracted.

This region of space had been designated for re-assimilation into the Empire; records indicated that contact was lost some 3200 years earlier during the Great War that culminated in the extinction of the Alteans. That war had almost extinguished the humanoid races as well and the climb back to the earlier glory of the Anderan Empire had been slow.

One interesting fact was that no Altean had ever been seen. Spica had been the outer boundary of that Empire and the first of the human outposts to be lost. Because of this, no first contact, protocols were instituted since it was assumed that these were members of the general humanoid races. The fact that the inhabitants were "human" to three decimal places and were inter-fertile with Galactics (the general name that humanoids members of the Anderan Empire were given) did much to convince the Sociologists aboard the ISS Scrutiny that these were indeed descendants of the Empire.

Unknown to the Galactics was the reality that they were the last remnant of the Altean race. They had, like other Spicans, been cut off from their mother culture some 3200 years previous. Although the Altean culture was vastly older than the Anderan one, this war had equally devastated both civilizations.

In retrospect, it was no surprise that the Prince became enamored of a native of Rimwald III (R3), since they shared similar abilities and sensitivities. Like the rush of young love all over the galaxy, no thought was given to the future or precautions taken against possible consequences during those first moments of passion.

It was no surprise therefore (at least to older and wiser heads) when the woman became pregnant. So, when news reached the Capitol, the Emperor ordered Cohune to return to the capital leaving the woman behind and deserting a scion of the royal house.

The woman believing that she had lain with a God from the stars, was unprepared for the response of her villagers when she made that claim. The villagers took the stories she told of his star ship and the fascinating views of their planet from space as pure madness. The scorn this brought upon her drove her over the brink of sanity during the eleven-month gestation period characteristic of her race. Even though Rimwald 3 was barely habitable due to stellar mechanics, as they had been on the planet as colonists for some 125,000 years, the residents of Rimwald 3 had adapted.

When the child was finally born, his mother's tenuous sanity rendered her quite incapable of caring properly for him. That is not to say she did not attempt the deed, she had to try. Her neighbors simply did not want to deal with her or the child. So it wasn't until something unusual occurred that the village took charge of the child.

A number of unusual events played into the formation of the persona we all know as Aedon Anders Seldran. His birth planet, his parents particular genetic 'gifts', and his mother's insanity were all powerful influences on his development.

His birth planet was unusual due to its incredibly high background energy. Those levels made the planet dangerously unsuitable for the standard galactic human. The planet was of intense interest to an Empire in which energy was the chief medium of economic exchange. But more important was the fact that humanoids were living there at all.

Standard galactic humanoids could only briefly visit the surface unprotected by Radiation hardened Environment suits. Long term habitations required shielded quarters. The price of non-compliance was incompatibility with life-extension treatments, effectively halving the lifespan. This was a sacrifice no Galactic human would make. His father was a notable exception to this rule. The Anders family had a genetic resistance to radiation making them quite unusual in this respect.

His mother's species was unusual due their apparent ability to not only survive, but also thrive in high radiation areas. In an era where radiation poisoning was the only terminal disease not yet conquered by medical science and anagathic treatments only failures were linked to radiation-induced genetic drift; the medical data on such a species would alone suffice to draw the Empire's intense scrutiny.

His father's 'family gifts' were unusual due both in their rarity and intensity. The Anders Dynastic scions had always had a facility for detecting truth. Additionally, the Royal family was universally known to be long-lived and able to survive as many as seven rejuvenation treatments, this ability bespoke a sort of genetic resistance to the normal mutating effect of high radiation fields.

While never directly tested, (Noble families tend to resist research activities directed at their persons) it has been postulated that members of the Royal family and close relativities might have the same radiation resistance that native Rimwaldans exhibit.

Other publications deal with the hypothetical relationships between the Anders family and the Rimwaldans, so we will not deal with that here. More significant to the story is the interaction of these 'common gifts' with the high-energy field on R3.

The natives appear to be able to handle free energy directly and in various manners. All of them appear to be able to produce an interference field that tends to impede the progress of both matter and energy through it. These energy fields are called "WARDS" or "SHIELDS" by the natives. Depending on their use, they are effective in deterring all but the most massive of the planetary predators.

The forces that resulted in Aedon's birth continued to act on his life. The natives on Aedon's planet were primitives despite their long history. Unable to understand the facility they had for energy control for what it was they resorted to calling it wonder-working or simply magic. Typical of most early civilizations, they developed elaborate procedures to control their abilities and extensively codified modes and methods for accomplishing their intentions. Those most capable became the Masters and controlled great wealth and influence. Various sects and societies came into being that pooled knowledge and talent, some utilized special materials to enhance or focus their abilities. One such group, known as the "Star Smiths," used a number of different chrysalis embedded in their foreheads to amplify and focus their power.

The impact this had on Aedon will be seen shortly. His innate ability to handle energy and the special gifts of the Royal family combined to make him a truly formidable man. The historical account of his rise to power is peppered with conjecture and guesswork since some was unknown to even him. Much of what you will read is recovered data from Aedon's own personal diaries, some small portion is postulated using the best computer models of all the involved personalities, and finally some is shear guesswork. Our analysis implies that the entire sequence of events is plausible and possesses a 72.3% probability of general accuracy. The probability of any specific event is much less of course. Although we are reasonably sure that many of these events DID occur at some point during his life.

HISTECHNOTE: 231.672-001M8 COMMENTS:

Since Aedon will neither confirm nor refute any of the data presented, the student is asked to view this presentation with some skepticism.

Bovlaq d'Seldran, Professor of Simulated Historical Technologies

Scathis Historia InstitutiaAn institute at the Galactic Institute of Scathis Prime

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Chapter 2

Rimwald III: Flight

Planet: Earth type, heavy gravity, split moon, high background radiation, two dominant races. The peculiar lunar configuration and the result of a stellar collision, the planet is bathed in an abundance of free energy. Due to the nature of the indigenous animal life, the survival of the colonists have required an edge beyond mere intelligence.

The dominant races have achieved great skill in the handling of the free energy. Even the animals have some rudimentary ability in that field. Due to the dangerous nature of any energy in abundance, heavy concentration and great care were needed to ensure the desired results. This type of concentration is difficult and because of that; the mastery of this discipline is limited to the very few. However, one talent that has become almost universally instinctive is the ability to create highly disturbed fields of energy. These fields, which tend to both injure and repel the animal life, are called by the natives, wards or shields. The practitioners of this discipline are called known collectively as wonder-workers and individually as Smiths. There are several specialized groups practicing various forms of this discipline called Smiths with appropriate prefixes indicative of some focus or specialty.

Aedon's mother, despite her acquired disability did try to exploit Aedon's heritage to his advantage. She had said something of his father being a king in his own land. However his mother was quite addled by the time Aedon had reached an age where the things she said made any sense. Consequently he took everything she said with "a grain of salt."

Shortly after he was born, his mother had somehow managed to implant a Snowsprite chrysalis in his forehead. Subsequent research has shown that the process is fairly simple. However vigilant repression by the Star Guild kept this information out of the public eye. Consequently, when Aedon was but seven years old, the results of this act manifested itself. Aedon began to exhibit wonder-working abilities. It was in the exercise of these newfound talents that his path crossed that of a Master Smith of the Star Guild. His use of the energy field attracted the attention of the Smith, who in keeping with guild policy banished the child from the planet. This act occurred almost without thought. No child should have been invested with the star gem, but the fact that the bearer was a child did not deter him, they were all children. Although his oath prevented him from destroying the child outright, it did not prevent him from addressing the source of the leak. Since the code required that no Gem-bearer be destroyed in other than direct combat by another wearer of the gem.

In such cases were peasant women managed to procure a gem and embed it properly, the guild simply banished the bearer. Another unpleasant fact was that he would have to hunt the woman down and kill her. But such were the demands of the Oath; no one must ever wear the gem without the restraints, which that Oath placed on them.