The Night of Bonfire Skies

One night, approximately 200 years ago (exactly 214 years, 7 months and 3 days if you're Cheldrun), the fate of Karia Vitalus was suddenly and irrevocably changed. The darkness of night was interrupted by the blaze of enormous objects burning through the atmosphere, plummeting like fiery stars toward the ground. They were 117 ships, an infinitesimal fraction of the number which had originally embarked on the Flight, and they gouged scars in the flesh of Karia which have never healed. Climbing out of those metal shells, a new people saw the forests of Karia for the first time.

The Cheldrun on Karia are the tiniest remnant of what was once a mighty galaxy-spanning empire. From a people who used to number more than the stars the few that crash-landed on this planet numbered in the millions - which for Karia was still an overwhelming invasion. The colossal starships which burned through the atmosphere each bore hundreds of thousands of refugees and the Cheldrun immediately adopted an aggressive posture toward their new home. Unsure of themselves and their surroundings and conditioned for generations to fear 'The Enemy' the Cheldrun treated all strangers as hostile.

The Night of Bonfire Skies (as it is called by the Anakarix), had a tremendous effect on the Karians. No one had ever seen magic of such extraordinary power as the explosive arrival of the Cheldrun. No one had ever imagined a people so different or with such strange artifacts as the clanking Mechified, or the psychic Biomade, or the Mecha-riding Allskin. Aside from the shock of discovery there was a sense of tragic loss. The arrival of the Cheldrun coincided with the retreat of the Dusk Sages who took with them their mystical control of the seasons and the cycles of life. Life without the Dusk Sages and in frequent conflict with the Cheldrun was much grimmer and riskier for the Karians.

The Karians, typically, had many different reactions to the new arrivals. Some of the more curious Zipsum tribes welcomed the Cheldrun and offered them help learning to adapt to their new home. The Anakarix tended to be cautious and reserved, observing from a distance. The Jevumm took an immediate dislike. Indeed, early Wild Hunts by Jevumm tribes killed sufficient numbers of Cheldrun to create a lasting indemnity between the species. The Prill at first were suspicious of the disruption of natural cycles the Cheldrun caused, but counseled peace. Meanwhile, the Gogajin's initial offer of trade was rebuffed by the Cheldrun which led to open war for a number of years, which the Cheldrun undoubtedly got the better of.

The ships that crash landed that night were dismantled and cannibalized for materials which were used in building the first Cheldrun cities. Neither Cheldrun nor Karian can forget that night. The Cheldrun celebrate it every year as a solemn holiday in which they remember the threat of the Enemy, the desperation of the Flight, and the vow never to return to the stars, which they made on that night. The Karians remember it as the moment when their peace was shattered; when the security and prosperity of the Dusk Sages was stolen from them, and the future of their species, and their home, became uncertain...