Hollow Moon Exploration: A Brief History of Space (Travel)
by Sharon Dornhoff An Outer Moon timeline for
Matera
This timeline covers all five historically-documented (i.e. that
I've thought of so far) and successful attempts to visit Matera,
which have been launched by the mortal populace of Mystara or
Patera. It's designed to fit my own campaign, which -- since I
don't personally care to run the Blackmoor modules and have never
been entirely satisfied with "they blew themselves up 'cause they
were idiots", as an explanation for that culture's disappearance;
in this post-Cold-War/X-Files-conspiracy era, it seems far too
naive! -- isn't at all canon, in its treatment of the Great Rain of
Fire. I've tried to explain my reasoning wherever my
interpretations diverge. Feel free to modify Part 1 of this
timeline as you like; it won't make much of a difference, so long
as the failure of Blackmoor to discover, and exploit, the HM
access-point at Mare Orientale remains unchanged.
Part 1. 'The Beagle', Blackmoorian astronomy, and the Ixion
Program
4000 BC : The exploratory Federation spaceship 'The Beagle'
approaches Mystara, with the intent to conduct an orbital survey of
the planet. The unsuspected presence of a second, invisible lunar
body -- undetectable by scanners or radar -- draws the vessel away
from its calculated orbital vector*, forcing an emergency landing
near the Blackmoor culture on the continent of Skothar. Despite the
best efforts of the ship's central AI computer, nicknamed "Fido",
to bring the ship in safely, the landing goes poorly and 'The
Beagle's' hull is damaged beyond repair.
Making contact with Blackmoor's natives, the surviving crew members
begin trading weapons and equipment to local tribal leaders in
return for food, shelter and protection. In accordance with
Federation law, NO information about spaceflight, astrophysics, or
the survivors' true origins is provided to these primitive and
potentially-aggressive natives. To the Blackmoorians, the
newcomers' technology appears to be magical, and their ship, a
flying castle from another plane of existence.
Unbeknownst to the survivors, this decision to arm the natives
triggers a Stage 4 situational alert on the part of "Fido", in
accordance with the Galactic Federation defence department's AI
Security Directive #1517G9V -- a secret command override of which
'The Beagle's' crew, like the majority of Federation citizens, are
unaware. Security Directive #1517G9V takes priority over
preservation of individual Federation personnel; and it charges AIs
to ensure that primitive, warlike species which acquire Federation
technology through illegitimate channels never achieve
interplanetary travel**.
(* - This is plain common sense. If the mere presence of magic,
itself, was incompatible with the Federation's technology, none of
the other equipment on the ship ought to work on Mystara either,
but an extra moon that wasn't accounted for in the approach-vector
will get 'em every time. ;-))
(** - Take another look at the kinds of nasty weapons the
Federation troopers on 'The Beagle' were packing... this, on what's
supposed to be a non-military vessel! Then tell me that their
security agencies WOULDN'T have something like this, hardwired into
every AI that ever left its world of manufacture.)
3998 BC : Through special arrangements with King Uther of
Blackmoor, the 'Beagle' survivors establish new, high-tech
factories on Mystara, where more weapons and advanced medical
devices can be produced by robots under computer control. As is
routine in the Federation, the factory mainframes are programmed
directly by an existing mainframe ... in this case, "Fido". Most of
the hardware manufactured by these autofactories utilises "smart"
technology, with self-guidance and self-diagnostic circuitry; and
the dedicated computers incorporated into each item are programmed
by the factory mainframes.
Upgrading to a Stage 3 alert, now that the Blackmoorians have
attained a self-sustaining military infrastructure, the AI "Fido"
secretly encrypts SD #1517G9V into the programming of the
autofactories' mainframes, and these in turn pass it on to the
equipment and weapons they produce.
3994 BC : Proclaiming the Federation has long since left off
searching for them, 'Beagle' survivor Ogdoban Treel persuades the
other Galactic immigrants to cease complying with the Federation's
strictures against dissemination of space technologies. Believing
with Blackmoorian aid they will soon construct a new ship, the
survivors extract the still-functional fusion reactor from 'The
Beagle' -- one day to become the Nucleus of the Spheres -- and
begin downloading all of "Fido's" data files on ship construction.
To First Assistant Rheddrian Benekander is assigned the delicate
task of extracting the ship's space-distorting FTL drive.
These breaches of procedure immediately trigger a Stage 1
crisis-situation response by "Fido". Recognising a direct and
immediate threat to Galactic Federation security, should Blackmoor
obtain possession of either the downloaded data or the FTL drive,
the AI induces the latter to generate a localised spatial inversion
without the use of safety baffles. This collapses 'The Beagle's'
engineering and computer bays in upon themselves, destroying "Fido"
and the FTL drive and trapping the hapless First Assistant* in a
dimensional vacuity that will one day be known as the Mirror
Shield.
Unable to make use of the fusion reactor without the irreplaceable
FTL core, the remaining survivors give up on returning home. They
gradually assimilate into Blackmoorian culture, even as they
introduce the natives to the basic principles of science and
engineering. Gradually the Blackmoor people cease to view 'Beagle'
technology as magic, and begin to slowly work towards understanding
the artifacts they've acquired.
The factory mainframes, deeming the situation to have stabilised
with "Fido's" self-termination, downgrade their own situational
status to a peaceful Stage 5.
(* - Given how Benekander the Immortal advocates strict
non-interference (which would, after all, counsel he LET the ship
blow itself up from the other survivors' tampering, and serve them
right too!), having him trapped in this way makes more sense than
having him try to avert his fellows' mistake. If Benekander is
imprisoned because of defence department subterfuge -- i.e. his own
Federation's officialdom "playing God" with pre-programmed AIs --
his subsequent revulsion for Immortals' manipulation and
near-brainwashing of their followers is a logical outcome.)
3500 BC : Blackmoor is thriving. Despite the loss of millennia of
compiled knowledge, with the unexplained passing of "Fido", native
scientists are finally coming to understand, duplicate, and modify
the most common technologies -- weaponry and synthetic compounds --
first obtained from the crashed space vessel. New advances in other
fields are made by simple deductive reasoning and step-by-step
experimentation; Blackmoorian medicine, chemistry, and the life and
earth sciences flourish, with little need for alien input*. One
notable exception is in astronomy, for attempts to reconcile the
orbital movement of Matera with that of the other planets in the
solar system invariably fail. Blackmoor has its Pasteur, its
Mendeleev, and its Darwin, but no Sir Isaac Newton. Another
exception is in computer science; because the direct programming of
computers by computers is far more efficient, all of Blackmoor's
"smart" devices and weapons continue to receive software -- and the
Security Directive -- from mainframes in the factories where they
are produced.
At some point in this period, a Blackmoorian merchant and part-time
thief sets his sights on Immortality in the Sphere of Thought. For
his impossible task, he pledges he will shatter the moon into
pieces. He then proceeds to break into a museum where relics of
'The Beagle' are stored, to steal a small rock collected from one
of the Jovian moons shortly before the ship's disastrous visit to
Mystara, and to shatter this geological specimen. This, he slyly
points out, fulfils his pledge to the letter, as he'd never said
which moon or how many pieces! Appreciating the mortal's
cleverness, his sponsor Korotiku elevates Asterius to Immortal
status; in memory of the merchant-thief's cunning play on words, he
recommends the moon as his symbol.
Blackmoor's priesthood proclaims the neighbouring Beastmen to be an
abomination, and a military campaign to exterminate them is
launched. Observing this new display of Blackmoorian xenophobia,
AIs all over the nation quietly advance their situational alert
status to Stage 4.
(* - Just saying "the aliens gave it to them" shouldn't be enough
to account for Blackmoor's technology; much like "they blew
themselves up 'cause they were idiots", it's too pat. In the
initial post-crash period, Blackmoor was a cargo cult: full of
essentially Stone-Age people who might've carried lasers and
grenades, but hadn't a clue how they functioned. Five hundred years
is a bare minimum, for them to start puzzling out the hard science
behind their second-hand technologies. Even if they HAD gotten a
push in the right direction, Blackmoorian scientists DID have to
work, to achieve all that they did.)
3100 BC : A new generation of radio telescopes and X-ray
observatories uncovers the presence of an invisible moon in
circumpolar orbit around Mystara. The new devices, originally
intended to detect emissions from deep-space quasars, track Patera
by its own radioactivity, which is not obscured by the second
moon's light-bending properties. At last, the riddle of Matera's
orbit is solved and the science of astrophysics can unravel how the
wider solar system's gravity works. The resulting equations spur
speculation about space travel and communications satellites
throughout the scientific communities of both Blackmoor and
Evergrun; but the Blackmoorian government -- distracted by its
ongoing war of annihilation against the Beastmen -- is slow to act
upon these proposals*.
(* - Several timelines on the Web have Blackmoor out colonising
other planets, and bringing back some of the weirder races (e.g.
Emerondians) from Mars, Venus, etc. No offence, folks, but I just
don't buy that. If Blackmoor had had space colonies, then why didn't
they ever come back to Mystara and rebuild their civilisation? The
GRoF hadn't left the whole PLANET radioactive, for cryin' out loud!
(Personally, FYI, I prefer to think the Emerondians and other
"alien" races arrived, along with gemstone dragons, as part of the
Overlord's enslaved armies from "Dragonmage Of Mystara".))
3074 BC : The elven nation of Evergrun launches an unmanned
satellite into low-altitude orbit around Mystara, sending many
military commanders of Blackmoor into a near-panic. For the next
two decades, elven technology will prevail over Blackmoor's in the
"space race", as the rival nations attempt to out-do each other in
this new venue of competition.
Elven computers -- which, having originally been obtained by trade
or theft from Blackmoorians, sport identical software and adhere to
the same Directive -- quietly advance to a Stage 4 alert.
Blackmoor's computers go to Stage 3 when, seven years later, the
first Blackmoorian satellite is launched.
3066 BC : The first elf orbits Mystara. Southern elves boast of how
Blackmoor's technological supremacy is a thing of the past, and
their own era of unchallenged greatness is now at hand. In an
immense face-saving gesture, Blackmoor's chastened government
shifts resources away from the interminable Beastman genocide,
reassigning the country's best physicists and Air Force personnel
to the race for space. Blackmoorian public apathy and self-doubt,
in the wake of the elven launches, is swept away by nationalism and
a vigorously-renewed enthusiasm for the space program. Because
Patera's invisibility poses a nasty obstacle to any safe landing on
the inner moon, Blackmoor's head of state announces that Blackmoor
will land a manned mission on Matera within the decade. Lavish
funding for the Ixion Program is quickly approved by the
Blackmoorian legislature.
Despite this abatement of the war against the Beastmen, Blackmoor's
computers remain at Stage 3, as they are watching these new
developments with great interest.
3058 BC : Holovised live before an awestruck nation, Blackmoor's
Ixion lunar module lands the first Mystaran on the Moon. The
Blackmoorian space program is vindicated, and public confidence in
Blackmoor's superior technology skyrockets. Over the following
forty years, moon-launches go off on a regular basis, and a small
subterranean moonbase is established on the Nearside for the
purpose of scientific research. Seismological studies on Matera
show it is hollow... which comes as no surprise, as similar studies
have long since shown Mystara is, also. As with Mystara, sober
concerns about volcanic heat and seismic instability discourage any
attempt to dig down through the bedrock; the first probe dispatched
to explore the crater at Mare Orientale gets lost in a cul-de-sac,
and its video transmissions of a dead-end passage are
misinterpreted as proof the impact crater is no more than 3 miles
deep.
Blackmoor's AIs jump to Stage 2 situational alert, appraised of
events by the Ixion-11's own internal computer, even before
confirmation of a successful landing had been received at mission
control.
3027 BC : Old international tensions between Evergrun and Blackmoor
are gradually relaxing, and unmanned probes have retrieved abundant
data from other planets in Mystara's solar system. Plans for the
exploration of Mars* are underway, first by unmanned robot landers
and satellites, and then by a manned vessel. Politicians' interest
in continuing the Beastman genocide is declining, as scientific
spectacle has been seen to win public approval more effectively
than a religious crusade.
The reduced aggressiveness on Blackmoor's part counterbalances the
advances in space technology which take place during this period,
and the computers continue to hold at Stage 2 alertness.
(* - Or whatever its Mystaraspace equivalent is called.)
3012 BC : Potential crewmen for the upcoming Mars mission are
screened, and an optimal launch-window is predicted just nine years
in the future. Construction of the eight-man interplanetary capsule
begins.
Blackmoor's computers monitor every step of the capsule's design
process, and verify that it is a workable design.
3009 BC : In a surprise announcement, the Blackmoorian government
declares that Evergrun has negotiated for two southern elf
cosmonauts to join the crew of the coming Mars mission, in exchange
for human astronauts' admission aboard the elves' permanent space
station. This agreement is touted as the dawn of a new era in
peaceful international relations and in the free exchange of
scientific knowledge.
Now, elven computers join with Blackmoor's at Stage 2 situational
alert.
3003 BC : The Mars launch takes place right on schedule, without
any significant delays, and the capsule begins its long, lonely
trek across the Void.
Blackmoorian and elven computers monitor the signals sent to them
by the Mars capsule, every second of the mission's three-year arc
through the solar system.
3000 BC : Touchdown on Mars/The Great Rain of Fire. Immediately
upon its successful landing, the Mars capsule AI transmits the
success of its mission back to its fellows on Mystara, then ignites
the lander's solid-propellant fuel cells and incinerates the
capsule. In Blackmoor, the AI's transmission is received by
hundreds of computers, and a Stage 1 alert sweeps across the
hemisphere. In strict compliance with Galactic Federation AI
Security Directive #1517G9V, every fission reactor and atomic
munitions stockpile which receives the transmission initiates core
meltdown or self-detonation, instantaneously eradicating the
Blackmoor culture and shifting the rotational axis of the planet
Mystara. Researchers at work around the moonbase gape up at their
planet in horror, as Skothar becomes a forest of mushroom clouds;
within three weeks, grief and despair at the annihilation of their
entire civilisation will reduce the base's staff of thirty-two
scientists, engineers and Air Force personnel to six.
On Evergrun, which lies on the far side of the planet at the
instant of touchdown, AIs which did not directly receive the
capsule's signal recognise that their counterparts in Blackmoor
have responded to a successful landing; but the elven computers are
unable to react, in kind, before the globe-spanning electromagnetic
pulse from so many combined detonations erases their programming.
Thus the southern elves are spared an identical holocaust, although
the loss of every trace of information stored in computer memory
banks hamstrings their civilisation, and will eventually leave them
powerless to maintain it, in the face of global climate-change.
With no computer-mediated contact with the planet, the elven space
station eventually falls out of orbit and burns up as it strikes
the Skyshield.
A few Blackmoorian weapons, secreted inside EMP-proof underground
bunkers far from Skothar, also fail to pick up the signal and
remain on Stage 2 alert for the indefinite future, armed and ready
to detonate at the slightest provocation. In particular, they await
an indication that either Mystaran race -- Blackmoorian or elf --
which now poses a potential threat to the security of the Galactic
Federation, has survived*.
(* - This explains how a bunch of techno-naive elves could manage
to trigger a 1300-year-old nuclear warhead by "tinkering with it":
they didn't! The cached weapon which created the Broken Lands
would've detonated, in response to ANY indication that elves or the
humans of Blackmoor still existed. It's impossible that a weapon
which was really so unstable, could've remained intact as long as
it did. And besides ... nuclear weapons have FAILSAFES! The only
way that elves who didn't even know how to push a button -- let
alone, how to enter passcodes or turn two keys simultaneously --
could have set off a stable warhead, is if it decided to do so on
its own. The darn thing blew up, the instant its circuits realised
they were speaking elvish! It wasn't the Schattenalfens'
fault!)
2994 BC : The last surviving member of the Blackmoorian moonbase's
research staff, upon discovering that the hydroponic systems' yeast
cultures have failed and other food supplies are exhausted, opens
the base's main airlock to the frigid Nearside night. Perfectly
preserved by the -30 F temperatures below the lunar surface, the
facility becomes a frozen, timeless, forgotten tomb.
Part 2. The Exodus of the Nephthisians
2000 BC : The first human settlements are established in the
Northern Reaches, by Antalians from Norwold. Deeply concerned
because they are of a whale-hunting culture, Seshay-Selene acts to
obstruct their future expansion along the Brunnish coastline. For
the first time, the Immortal whale seeks worshippers among
land-dwellers, appearing to the Nithians in the human guise of
Nephthisi, Queen of the Moon, a patron of silver-miners and a guide
and protector of night travellers.
1900s BC : Nithia's success as a nation has halted the Antalian
expansion, and the all-female priesthood of Nephthisi takes on an
important role in the theocratic governance of the Pre-Dynastic
Period. With their authority over silver mining -- a metal more
precious than gold, in Nithian reckoning -- and their patron's
pre-eminence among traders, who cross the arid outlands in the cool
of evening, they amass great wealth and count some of Nithia's
early queens among their number.
A private ritual, "moon-seeking", becomes common practice among the
Nephthisians, as barefoot priestesses walk by night over the dry
ground of Nithia, with only the full, silvery face of Matera to
guide them. This rite is considered spiritually purifying, and a
mark of trust in Nephthisi's guidance, by the priesthood.
1850 BC : In a series of "reforms" intended to consolidate their
own power and put females "in their place", the priests of Rathanos
sharply curtail the authority of the Nephthisian sisterhood. They
retain the right to bless caravans and administer religious rites
to silver-miners, but no longer have sole control over the
distribution of this precious metal. Over the next thousand years,
a growing pantheon of young or newly-revealed Immortals (Pflarr,
Ba-steh, etc.) will subsume much of Nephthisi's once-extensive
portfolio; having already averted the Antalians' expansion, the
Immortal whale doesn't much care, though she continues to grant
spells to her human priestesses.
1500 BC : As the Nithian Empire expands, the priestesses of
Nephthisi continue to lose influence and status in their homeland.
Her sects gradually migrate away from Nithia proper, establishing
shrines and hermitages in many of the Empire's frontier colonies,
where Rathanos' priests will not persecute them.
1085 BC : The Nephthisian priesthood withdraws entirely from
Nithia, establishing new temples in the colony of Thothia. Prince
Ramenhotep appreciates their presence, as they give confidence to
miners at work under the dangerous conditions in the Isle of Dawn's
mines. Satisfied to be rid of the Nephthisians, Rathanos' priests
in Nithia opt not to contest Ramenhotep's tolerant policies. Thus,
the priestesses avoid the bloody massacres of Nithian silver-miners
which are perpetuated by gnollish rebels in 1050 BC... a first step
in Thanatos' long-term plans for Nithia, and one which extinguishes
the last of Nithia's local silver industry and ends the worship of
Nephthisi in the Nithian homeland.
800 BC : Fleeing an invasion of their homeland by tiger-riding
Pateran rakastas, hundreds of Ochalean refugees seek asylum in
Thothia. While they are never entirely assimilated into the
Thothian culture, they do introduce a new form of mysticism to the
colony -- one which finds enlightenment in abstract ethical
principles, rather than subservience to particular, named
Immortals.
Finding the Ochaleans' philosophies compatible with their own
beliefs, some of Nephthisi's priestesses adopt foreign rites and
practices acquired from the newcomers. The most extreme devotees of
the resulting, hybrid faith become true mystics, establishing their
own monastic sects and intermarrying with the Ochaleans.
780 BC : Distressed by the Nephthisian mystics' "turning away" from
the customs of their faith, the remaining priestesses cut all ties
with the mystical sects. The rift between Nephthisian sects never
escalates into violence, but the conflict between creeds interferes
with the priestesses' duties to Thothia's mining industry.
Eventually the governing Prince of Thothia orders the mystical
sects to depart from his realm; and, knowing they are still
unwelcome in Nithia, the mystics join with other Thothian pioneers
in sailing to the Savage Coast.
700 BC : Thanatos, Immortal of the Sphere of Entropy, succeeds in
corrupting the pharaoh of Nithia. Because silver constitutes a
powerful weapon against many of his undead minions, he convinces
his royal pawn that the time is long overdue for Nephthisi's
faithful to be routed from all Nithian territories. Soldiers are
dispatched to Thothia, to arrest the priestesses on trumped-up
charges of sedition and of mocking Nithia's traditions. Warned by
the sympathetic Thothians -- whose own growing acceptance of the
Ochaleans' philosophies is equally contrary to tradition -- the
Nephthisian priestesses flee the colony, bearing their families and
a wealth of temple silverwork with them.
698 BC : Reunited with their mystic counterparts on the Savage
Coast, the priestesses of Nephthisi wisely call for a truce with
their sister-Nephthisians, at least until the current crisis has
been weathered. But this reunion of the sects is soon betrayed, by
lay informants in the pay of the pharaoh; and armed Nithian troops,
led by disguised undead in Thanatos' service, are dispatched to
finish off the divided sisterhoods, once and for all.
Warned of the Nithians' arrival in dreams sent by their patron --
an Immortal who, up until now, hasn't directly intervened on their
behalf in over twelve centuries -- the leaders of both the priestly
and mystical sects try to flee with their followers into elven
lands, but are cut off by the Nithians and trapped with their backs
to the sea. Just when all hope of escape seems lost, a pod of great
whales arises from the depths along the rocky shoreline, willingly
presenting their broad, barnacled backs to the Nephthisians.
Recognising the miracle as a reprieve sent by their patron, the two
sects gather their possession and families, and climb aboard the
cetaceans' offered transport. The migrating humpbacks soon carry
their astounded passengers out of range of the Nithian soldiers'
missiles, and into the open sea.
Communicating with their marine rescuers through their respective
powers, the leaders of the priesthood and of the mystics learn that
the great whales are also followers of Nephthisi; and that they
have been instructed to deliver the refugees to safety among the
few remaining free Makai islanders, on some tiny islets in the
eastern Thanegioth Archipelago. There, the whales reveal, the
sisterhoods must not tarry or bicker between themselves, for
Pharaoh has been corrupted by Evil and will not cease pursuit of
those who have twice eluded him. The only refuge for them and their
faith, if it is to survive, yet remain free of Rathanos' oppression
as well as Entropy's, lies across "the dark sea that knows neither
waves nor weightiness." There, Nephthisi has a place prepared for
them which will be their sacred homeland, long after even "eternal"
Nithia has fallen into dust.
Arriving on the appointed islands, the Nephthisians are welcomed by
the Makai. The natives' outriggers show many advances over Nithian
ships, yet are reminiscent of the riverboats the lay followers of
Nephthisi used to transport the silver of Thothia; realising this,
the sisterhoods understand why their Immortal saw fit to bring them
here, to prepare for the mysterious voyage they have been charged
to undertake.
694 BC : Having learned from the bitter mistakes of the past, the
priestesses and mystics now work side by side to solve the riddle
presented by the humpbacks. None of the priesthoods' scrolls of
knowledge or astral rovings around the globe reveal a sea that
lacks waves, for even the Sea of Flowers in Ethengar is blown by
the winds; nor can the mystics' abstractions conceive of an
other-planar "sea" which does not carry weight -- albeit of a
philosophical, not material, kind -- in all the aphysical cosmos.
At last, a young scholar who has partaken of both sects'
disciplines finds the answer: that the "dark sea" they are to cross
is the still and airless Void beyond the sky, and the holy land
that awaits them is none other than the moon of which Nephthisi,
herself, is Queen.
In haste to fulfil their patron's wishes, and fearing they have
already delayed too long, the sisterhoods and the Makai work
together to craft and enchant vessels by which to make the grand
exodus to Matera. Combining the long Nithian riverboat with Makai
outriggers, and enchanting them with priestly rituals and the
air-spells of island pearl-divers, they create Mystara's first
Voidships. Meanwhile, the mystics train the unschooled among the
sisterhoods' families in the art of slowing one's breath and
heartbeat, in order that most may cross the Void in a state of
trance, without need for supplies or oxygen.
693 BC : Kerendan buccaneers seeking slaves for Nithian markets
capture a lone Makai outrigger in the Sea of Dread, and learn of
the Nephthisians' activities. The captive Makai fishers are
purchased, and interrogated, by Nithian agents of Pharaoh, and the
corrupted monarch soon learns of the sisterhoods' plans to flee the
planet. Irritated by their past evasions and thinking to claim this
promised "sacred homeland", if it truly exists, for his own empire,
the pharaoh orders his own skyships (of which the Nithian Navy has
several, although of crude and slow-moving design) refitted to
pursue the followers of Nephthisi beyond the Skyshield.
Having received word of the Makai fisherfolks' disappearance, the
sisterhoods know the time to depart is at hand. Under the full
moon, forty Nephthisian Voidships lift off into the sky, each one
with a crew of Thothian priestesses, part-Ochalean mystics from the
Savage Coast, and adventurous Makai curious about the promised
homeland. All told, and with their families and a few faithful
servants who have stayed with them all this time, over six hundred
people join in the Nephthisian Exodus from Mystara.
Unfortunately, the Pharaoh's astrologers keep close watch on the
moon as per his instructions, and soon catch sight of the
Nephthisian Voidships. Dispatching his own re-fitted fleet, crewed
with undead that need not fear the Void's cold or airlessness,
Nithia's ruler seeks to intercept the sisterhoods' convoy of
vessels. Unarmed and slower than the Nithian Navy's shyships, the
refugees' ships cannot elude their pursuers for long; before the
first month of the long voyage is out, the sister-sects have been
forced to fight off several assaults by the relentless undead which
harry them through the Void. The last wounds of the old schism are
healed, in these desperate struggles, as priestly turning and
mystics' martial skills carry the day.
691 BC : Though decimated by countless skirmishes with their
pursuers and demoralised by so many months of shipboard
confinement, overcrowding, and spell-created food, the Nephthisian
exodus at last receives the help they have prayed for. As they
approach the moon, several skyships of a design totally unfamiliar
to them show themselves on the lunar horizon. Though
strangely-constructed, with broad decks and long, blade-like metal
runners beneath their hulls, the new ships do not attack; indeed,
closer inspection reveals their sails bear rough designs much like
Nephthisi's symbol, the ankh-and-crescent-moon. As their ships veer
around to Matera's shadowy side, the strange vessels' crews --
ungainly, white-furred creatures with ribbed membranes, like bats'
wings, beneath their shaggy arms -- emerge from below decks and
gesture for parlay. With no time to spare for translations, the
moon-creatures flutter clumsily to the Nephthisian flagship, and
urgently gesture for the Mystarans to board their deserted vessels.
By this exchange of crews, the sisterhoods reach Matera in safety,
while the bat-folk pilot the Mystaran ships back the way they came,
luring the better part of the Nithian fleet astray in the Void.
Befuddled by the moon-creatures' ploy, the majority of Nithian
ships turn from their true quarry, and begin to hound the cryions
across space on the latter race's own, Stormspume-mandated diaspora
to Mystara. Those which are piloted by undead of a more cunning
nature are not fooled, and set their course to intercept the odd
cryion skyships. Guided by the parting gestures of their bat-like
benefactors, the Nephthisians sail directly for an immense crater
on the edge of the Materan Farside, where their borrowed vessels
dive into the black depths of the seemingly-bottomless
depression.
Attempting pursuit, the Nithian naval fleet also plunges into the
vast pit, but its spectral commanders realise only too late that
the walls of the crater are closing in behind the fleeing
priestesses. Unable to pull back in time, the Nithian navy is
trapped between the oncoming, crushing walls of unbreakable
crystal, and its vessels are crushed to flinders. The few
incorporeal undead which remain undamaged by the crater's closure
find themselves helplessly embedded in solid crystal their forms
cannot pass through, and are annihilated by the unfiltered sunlight
of the airless outer moon, when the terminator crosses the sealed
crater's surface several days later.
689 BC : Having easily eluded their pursuers now that only mindless
undead remain among the Nithian crews, the bat-creatures land
safely on Mystara and establish their own thriving, if small and
uncommunicative, communities.
500 BC : Weary of Nithia's corruption, the Immortals bring down the
Nithian civilisation, erasing the empire's very existence from
Mystaran history. The few elements of Nithian society which remain
unsoiled by Entropy are salvaged by the Nithian pantheon and
preserved in the Hollow World. The religion of Nephthisi, Queen of
the Moon -- having already been extinct in Nithia for more than
four centuries -- remains forgotten.