Overview
This is the official 4th guide. These go about explaining most parts of the Avian’s backstory. This PDF is hella long, if you want to check out the original, the link is at the bottom.
The Avian
Alright, here’s the Avian lore, not very requested but quite interesting. The Avian are a race of bird people (hence the name) originating from the planet Avos. Well, here it is. Just a
shout-out to my friends Crtl+C and Crtl+V for contributing to this guide.
*Note, I do not claim ownership over the following PDF, it belongs to Chucklefish LTD, etc etc.
Abridged History of the Avians
Subject to change – revision 34.
▪ Pre-Ascendance (E0):
⁃ Avians languish as moderately-intelligent hunter-scavengers, near the top of their
food chain, showing no interest in technological advancement. Over a quarter of
Avos’ surface area is barren scrublands due to the lack of sunlight, though the hazy
hydrocarbon atmosphere provides ample sustenance for large, slow-growing plant
life (which sustains the Avians).
▪ Ascendance (E0):
⁃ The automated robotic probes of an advanced alien race punch through Avos’
atmosphere and run sweeps for intelligent life, finding only the Avians. Two orbital
cycles later, a small fleet of the (unnamed) alien race’s ships emerges from FTL
travel and forms an orbiting base above the surface of the planet. As the
terraforming machines go to work, samples of the Avian population are taken and
studied.
⁃ After thirty lunar cycles, the hydrocarbon atmosphere’s composition has been
extensively modified to allow more light through without negatively impacting the
currently-existing biosphere. The planet’s moon (formerly dark and mostly inert)
has also been changed: the inactive magma core is heated to the equivalent of
Jovian core temperatures, and injected with millions of tons of slowly-decaying
radioactive substances, with a half-life of 100,000 years, to ensure that it stays at
those temperatures. The moon’s molten surface now outputs as much radiation as a
(very) young star, and will continue to do so for tens of thousands of years to come.
⁃ This is not the full extent of the alien race’s terraforming, though: deserts are
seeded with forests of trees that grow hundreds of metres tall, and small
populations of various alien creatures are planted in locations that will support
them.
⁃ Back on the orbital base, the sample population of Avians is being genetically
enhanced and given knowledge of advanced alien technology – from simple
combustion, to the art of constructing stable stone buildings, to sub-light particle
acceleration (with the sole exception being the technology of space travel, though
the building blocks for that particular field were supplied). This population, after
just one orbital cycle, is taken back to the planet’s surface with the technology
required to build a society. Leading them is the Avian known as Kluex, chosen by
the aliens for his above-average intelligence and physical prowess.
▪ Post-Ascendance: Kluex’s Reign (E1R1):
⁃ Kluex leads his band of Avians to build the beginnings of a mighty civilization; they
and their children build many temples for the express purpose of worshipping the
alien culture that caused them to Ascend. However, the aliens’ plan goes awry:
instead of staying separate, the post-Ascendance Avians interbreed with the
genetically distinct pre-Ascendance Avians, and the resulting half-breed, though
still very much Avian, is not quite up to par with the original plan for the race.
⁃ After fifty years as the supreme leader of a budding civilization, Kluex retires his
Page 2 of 7 Starbound Lore (Abridged Avian History)
seat (E1R1Y50/E1R2Y0) and styles himself as an arbiter of justice – as an Avian
still in his prime, he cuts an imposing figure as he metes justice upon those who
break his strict laws. He is loved, feared, and revered all at the same time, and even
before his death, cults begin to form around him, worshipping the very ground he
walks upon.
⁃ (E1R2Y35) Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and Kluex’s reign as the
most advanced Avian to ever live is no exception. He suddenly disappears thirty-
five years into the second ruler’s reign (at this point, his life has lasted over 150% of
the average Avian’s life-span, 125 years), and after a brief mourning period, his
life’s achievements are celebrated in hundreds of ceremonies across Avos. Some say
that he was chosen by the gods to ascend to the Aether and judge the souls
entering the afterlife, but others dismiss those claims as mere rumour-mongering,
and claim that Kluex was secretly killed by political rivals.
▪ Post-Kluex: Stargazing and Evangelization (E1R5Y15)
⁃ Decades after Kluex’s death, following a long period of political and cultural
instability, the Avians begin to turn their gaze towards the stars. As space travel
was not one of the technologies given to the Avians by the aliens, they spend over
two hundred years developing the technologies required to explore and sustain
themselves amongst the cosmos. By the time their spacefaring technology has been
perfected, the Avians have passed into their Second Era (E2R1), where Kluex (the
winged Arbiter who controls access to the Aether) has long since left living
memory and has been elevated to the status of a deity. All Avians perform
observance ceremonies to Kluex daily, and his revered temples slowly become
heavily-guarded places of worship.
⁃ In the fortieth year of the Second Era (E2R2Y15), the Avians finally find
themselves starbound, sending out long-term scouting missions in an attempt to
make contact with other spacefaring civilizations. Their preliminary efforts are
unsuccessful, though they do succeed in placing shrines to Kluex on any habitable
planets they find as a sort of interstellar cairn.
▪ Remainder of the Second Era: Reconsolidation (E2R4-R25)
⁃ After spending four centuries fruitlessly attempting to find sentient life among the
stars, the Avians begin to re-consolidate, with the incumbent rulers starting the
movement by recalling all starbound ships in what their critics dub as “The Great
Withdrawal”. The grand spaceports of Avos are inundated with hundreds of ships,
and many are abandoned in stable orbits around the planet, to be reclaimed at a
later date.
⁃ The next three centuries of the Avian civilization’s history are spent in a state of
political turmoil due to the sudden increase in planetary population: new rulers
come at a greater rate than before, with their predecessors succumbing to
“accidents”, assassinations, and diplomatic backstabbings. Only one tenet unites
one ruler from the next – that of xenophobia. However, throughout the fermenting
troubles, Kluex’s temples are protected and continue to survive as heavily-guarded
sites of refuge and safety.
⁃ Thankfully, research centers, funded through taxation of the populace and manned
Page 3 of 7 Starbound Lore (Abridged Avian History)
by the most intelligent Avians, continue to search the stars through the usage of
remotely-controlled radio telescopes situated on foreign planets, abandoned during
the Withdrawal. They are largely ignored and derided by those in power due to the
rampant xenophobia plaguing the Avian populace, though they remain operational
due to laws laid down by Kluex himself long ago.
⁃ As the Second Era draws to its close, an announcement is made by the remaining
stargazers via planet-wide information networks: sentient beings have been
discovered in outer space.
…Continued
Alright, here’s the Avian lore, not very requested but necessary. The Avians are a race of bird people (hence the name) that originate from the planet of Avos… what’s this…? HOLY SHAGGT, AN ENTIRE PDF ENTIRELY EXPLAINING THE AVIAN BACKSTORY?! Well, here it is. Just a shoutout to my friends Crtl+C and Crtl+V for contributing to this guide. *Note, I do not claim ownership over the following PDF, it belongs to Chucklefish LTD, etc etc, now lets get into it. (Yes, i’ve read it 3 times over already.)
Abridged History of the Avians
Subject to change – revision 34.
▪ Pre-Ascendance (E0):
⁃ Avians languish as moderately-intelligent hunter-scavengers, near the top of their
food chain, showing no interest in technological advancement. Over a quarter of
Avos’ surface area is barren scrublands due to the lack of sunlight, though the hazy
hydrocarbon atmosphere provides ample sustenance for large, slow-growing plant
life (which sustains the Avians).
▪ Ascendance (E0):
⁃ The automated robotic probes of an advanced alien race punch through Avos’
atmosphere and run sweeps for intelligent life, finding only the Avians. Two orbital
cycles later, a small fleet of the (unnamed) alien race’s ships emerges from FTL
travel and forms an orbiting base above the surface of the planet. As the
terraforming machines go to work, samples of the Avian population are taken and
studied.
⁃ After thirty lunar cycles, the hydrocarbon atmosphere’s composition has been
extensively modified to allow more light through without negatively impacting the
currently-existing biosphere. The planet’s moon (formerly dark and mostly inert)
has also been changed: the inactive magma core is heated to the equivalent of
Jovian core temperatures, and injected with millions of tons of slowly-decaying
radioactive substances, with a half-life of 100,000 years, to ensure that it stays at
those temperatures. The moon’s molten surface now outputs as much radiation as a
(very) young star, and will continue to do so for tens of thousands of years to come.
⁃ This is not the full extent of the alien race’s terraforming, though: deserts are
seeded with forests of trees that grow hundreds of metres tall, and small
populations of various alien creatures are planted in locations that will support
them.
⁃ Back on the orbital base, the sample population of Avians is being genetically
enhanced and given knowledge of advanced alien technology – from simple
combustion, to the art of constructing stable stone buildings, to sub-light particle
acceleration (with the sole exception being the technology of space travel, though
the building blocks for that particular field were supplied). This population, after
just one orbital cycle, is taken back to the planet’s surface with the technology
required to build a society. Leading them is the Avian known as Kluex, chosen by
the aliens for his above-average intelligence and physical prowess.
▪ Post-Ascendance: Kluex’s Reign (E1R1):
⁃ Kluex leads his band of Avians to build the beginnings of a mighty civilization; they
and their children build many temples for the express purpose of worshipping the
alien culture that caused them to Ascend. However, the aliens’ plan goes awry:
instead of staying separate, the post-Ascendance Avians interbreed with the
genetically distinct pre-Ascendance Avians, and the resulting half-breed, though
still very much Avian, is not quite up to par with the original plan for the race.
⁃ After fifty years as the supreme leader of a budding civilization, Kluex retires his
Page 2 of 7 Starbound Lore (Abridged Avian History)
seat (E1R1Y50/E1R2Y0) and styles himself as an arbiter of justice – as an Avian
still in his prime, he cuts an imposing figure as he metes justice upon those who
break his strict laws. He is loved, feared, and revered all at the same time, and even
before his death, cults begin to form around him, worshipping the very ground he
walks upon.
⁃ (E1R2Y35) Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and Kluex’s reign as the
most advanced Avian to ever live is no exception. He suddenly disappears thirty-
five years into the second ruler’s reign (at this point, his life has lasted over 150% of
the average Avian’s life-span, 125 years), and after a brief mourning period, his
life’s achievements are celebrated in hundreds of ceremonies across Avos. Some say
that he was chosen by the gods to ascend to the Aether and judge the souls
entering the afterlife, but others dismiss those claims as mere rumour-mongering,
and claim that Kluex was secretly killed by political rivals.
▪ Post-Kluex: Stargazing and Evangelization (E1R5Y15)
⁃ Decades after Kluex’s death, following a long period of political and cultural
instability, the Avians begin to turn their gaze towards the stars. As space travel
was not one of the technologies given to the Avians by the aliens, they spend over
two hundred years developing the technologies required to explore and sustain
themselves amongst the cosmos. By the time their spacefaring technology has been
perfected, the Avians have passed into their Second Era (E2R1), where Kluex (the
winged Arbiter who controls access to the Aether) has long since left living
memory and has been elevated to the status of a deity. All Avians perform
observance ceremonies to Kluex daily, and his revered temples slowly become
heavily-guarded places of worship.
⁃ In the fortieth year of the Second Era (E2R2Y15), the Avians finally find
themselves starbound, sending out long-term scouting missions in an attempt to
make contact with other spacefaring civilizations. Their preliminary efforts are
unsuccessful, though they do succeed in placing shrines to Kluex on any habitable
planets they find as a sort of interstellar cairn.
▪ Remainder of the Second Era: Reconsolidation (E2R4-R25)
⁃ After spending four centuries fruitlessly attempting to find sentient life among the
stars, the Avians begin to re-consolidate, with the incumbent rulers starting the
movement by recalling all starbound ships in what their critics dub as “The Great
Withdrawal”. The grand spaceports of Avos are inundated with hundreds of ships,
and many are abandoned in stable orbits around the planet, to be reclaimed at a
later date.
⁃ The next three centuries of the Avian civilization’s history are spent in a state of
political turmoil due to the sudden increase in planetary population: new rulers
come at a greater rate than before, with their predecessors succumbing to
“accidents”, assassinations, and diplomatic backstabbings. Only one tenet unites
one ruler from the next – that of xenophobia. However, throughout the fermenting
troubles, Kluex’s temples are protected and continue to survive as heavily-guarded
sites of refuge and safety.
⁃ Thankfully, research centers, funded through taxation of the populace and manned
Page 3 of 7 Starbound Lore (Abridged Avian History)
by the most intelligent Avians, continue to search the stars through the usage of
remotely-controlled radio telescopes situated on foreign planets, abandoned during
the Withdrawal. They are largely ignored and derided by those in power due to the
rampant xenophobia plaguing the Avian populace, though they remain operational
due to laws laid down by Kluex himself long ago.
⁃ As the Second Era draws to its close, an announcement is made by the remaining
stargazers via planet-wide information networks: sentient beings have been
discovered in outer space.
…Conclusion
⁃ (E4R1Y2L113) The plan is a rousing success. Before long, barring some hiccups along the way, every Avian on the planet is aware of the robot race, and the pervasive Avian xenophobic attitude slowly fades away to one of curiosity and goodwill. ⁃ Upon the success of her plan, the current leader makes her final preparations to step down and, twenty lunar cycles after her address (detailed in “Privileged Information, Part 2”), finally takes her place among the ranks of the former leaders of the Avian civilization. ⁃ The next elected leader pushes, as a matter of principle, an aggressive-expansion strategy which, after 10 years, has resulted in a significantly increased Avian power base. The Avians are no longer restricted to their homeworld: given the proper lifesupport technology, any Avian can survive on any planet. ⁃ (R2Y10) As the number of settled planets rises, the amount of resources available for research and worship do too. The Word of Kluex is spread, if not across the
Page 6 of 7 Starbound Lore (Abridged Avian History)
galaxy, across the areas populated by the Avians, and the robots’ FTL drive design is dramatically overhauled. This allows further, quicker jumps, with higher precision. The new capabilities, however, are not used except for when liaisons with the robots are required.
▪ Second Contact (E4R23)
⁃ Time passes, and the Avians become interested in life other than themselves, much in the manner of the Ascendants – they begin to land probes on habitable planets, and observe many fascinating samples of life from across their small part of the galaxy. One particularly interesting lifeform that the Avians discover is a sentient plant which survives (and thrives) through a combination of photosynthesis and ingestion of biomatter. These Avian-sized, savage, aggressive lifeforms are labeled the Florans. ⁃ (R24Y7) Intrigued by the biological processes which allow Florans to exist, an Avian research centre undertakes an initiative to study the Florans, their culture, and their planet, dubbed “FL1-4” for its place in the Floran solar system. ⁃ No lack of discoveries hinders the research effort – in fact, the information gathered on FL1-4 is beyond fascinating to the researchers, and one discovery in particular sparks a small political crisis with the Avians’ only known spaceborne contacts: the robots. ⁃ While scanning FL1-4, the orbiting Avian research vessel finds traces of robot habitation – in particular, a field near the equator strewn with parts of dismembered robots, adjacent to a large blast scar (partly overgrown). ⁃ Armed with this knowledge, the reigning Avian ruler contacts the nearest robot sub-station and demands to speak with their leading unit. Upon the ruler’s arrival (the first off-world sojourn by an Avian ruler), the truth is revealed, though it was never specifically hidden: the robots conducted a research mission on the very same planet, but lost their entire research crew due to a surprise attack from the hyper-aggressive locals (who had been raiding them regularly). Their ship, after an unspecified period of time, engaged auto-pilot and left the planet of its own volition. ⁃ This is also the conflict that was referred to in the first intercepted robot transmission. (“Dossier on Extraavosian Artificial Life”) ⁃ The Avians continue studying the Florans for hundreds of years, but never land on FL1-4 – the Florans exhibit an uncanny ability to break down and reverse-engineer foreign technology, subsume it into their already-existing technology. The technology they gained from salvaging robot bodies is, thankfully, limited (due to the robots’ own design limitations). ⁃ Catastrophe strikes without notice or warning: a gas leak in a reserve ship resupplying the Avian research vessel causes a huge explosion, instantly killing the crew and disabling the ship’s autopilot. The supply ship burns through FL1-4’s atmosphere and crashes on the surface – the secrets of space travel are suddenly laid bare for the Floran civilization to unearth (literally). ⁃ Observing this with some alarm, the Avian research vessel calls for military
Page 7 of 7 Starbound Lore (Abridged Avian History)
intervention – a blockade of the planet to stop the Florans from spreading into space. ⁃ The blockade arrives promptly, but is of little effect. The Florans, in a move which the Avians would have never considered, activate the FTL drive on their new ship while it is still within FL1-4’s atmosphere, causing a gigantic explosion (razing approximately 3000km2 of forest) and allowing the Florans to slip right through the Avian blockade. ⁃ This triggers an ongoing conflict between the Avians and the Florans, with the Avians only trying to restrict the Florans to their home system (and maybe convince them to worship Kluex). The Florans, on the other hand, wish only to spread, multiply, and consume. ⁃ With the Floran-Avian conflict raging, the Avians once again turn their eyes to the stars; they tire of the robots’ company. The remote radio telescopes are once more activated, and hundreds of automated probes are sent out in random directions in the hopes of finding someone – or anyone.
// end of file //
Hey, you made it. Here’s the actual link to the PDF – [link]
The Floran will be next in line for a LTGYITK. the Floran guide is never coming, give up.