Years are counted from the First Sail. Now is year 1042 after First Sail.
The Old Makers fought the Vhal. They built the seven Rim Gates at the edge of the galaxy and sealed the Vhal behind them. Then the Old Makers vanished. Their ruins remain on Oldmark and other worlds.
People rebuilt the first helm from Old Maker ruins. Ships began to sail between worlds.
The great mage houses of the core crowned the first Regent. They founded the Gilded Dominion.
A Vhal swarm slipped through Rim Gate Four. It ate the sun of Hush and killed the world. Knights and priests closed the gap and founded the Order of the Last Light. They built Lantern Keep at the Dark Rim.
The Vhal burned the world of Ashfall 170 years ago. It is now ash desert and glass craters, with Order hospitals and refugee towns.
Factory workers on Brakka rose against the Dominion. They won with rune engines, which let anyone fly a ship. They founded the Iron Union.
The crime families of Vesk joined under nine bosses. Rush spread across the galaxy.
Traders and pirates of the outer worlds signed the Drift Charter. They founded the Free Drift Compact.
The light on Rim Gate Seven went out. Nobody knows who put it out. Ships near the Dark Rim started to vanish. People found alive on drifting ships are husks that no longer speak.
The Dominion and the Union are one incident away from war over the mines of Tarrow and Oldmark. The Syndicate sells to both. The Compact raids both. The Order begs all of them for help.