Weave Remnant

The Weave Remnant constitute the surviving elements of the Weave following the Tor Crisis. It exists as a confederation of civilisations and polities, heavily fragmented by unreliable transport and communication across the network.

History
The Weave Remnant has its origins in the Tor Crisis and its fallout. During the crisis, the death of Tor dealt a devastating blow to the Weave; its Outer Gods were trapped in the Creeping Cage created by its death throes, long range communications and transportation across the Void immediately failed and Tor corruption spilt throughout the collapsing Weave. With the fall of the Weave during the Tor Crisis and the sacrifice of its Outer Gods, a power vacuum was left to be filled in its wake. The survivors, reeling from the disaster, were left vulnerable to outside invasions and attacks. During this period of chaos and reorganisation, several previously suppressed threats arose again. These threats, such as the Necroan Flesh Cult, Amalgamation of Intelligence and pirate bands and cults to sleeping horrors carved out chunks of the remaining Weave for themselves. For nearly fifty thousand years from 32 365 866 to 32 414 939, the countless surviving civilisations desperately cling on to existence as communications between the damaged Weave Nodes wink in and out. This period, known as The Scattering, saw the revival of the Linelayers and the emergence of individuals that would come to form the members of the Unlasting. The Unlasting provided vital long range communications across vast stretches of the Void, allowing the surviving Weave civilisations to share information and advance warning on threats, as well as exchange vital research such as the Tor Harness. The newly reformed Linelayers, meanwhile, worked to relink countless distant universes and multiverses together, allowing greater cooperation among many of the survivors.

In this chaos, the largest surviving alliance, the Covenant of the Aedentide, took charge of the survivors and established the Weave Remnant. Assembling what assets and resources they could outside the newly established capital of Point 08, the Aedentide created the Negentropic Union, pooling its resources and manpower under a central military authority. The newly created Union engaged in the First Pathfinder War in 32 416 222, in an effort to reestablish connections between some universes and secure existing routes between the core Weave Nodes. This war met most of its objectives by its conclusion in 32 426 323, retaking some damaged Weave Nodes, while creating new routes between Union members. Offensives halted in some areas due to heavy enemy fortification, especially in the regions near the Iridescent Web and the Dark Forest. After the war, the Aedentide immediately directed efforts to consolidate their gains and further fortify their existing assets. The Timeless Eternities, Dark Forest and Iridescent web territories were greatly reinforced, and nearly two hundred Living Mythos were created over the course of twelve millennia. Work on opening a hole in the Creeping Cage commences for the Remnant. The Sublime Entelechy made first contact with the Remnant near the Iridescent Web, establishing diplomatic relations and trade. This period of stability gave rise to the Neirine Cultural period, which saw the emergence of several new styles of art and music, heavily influenced by the collapse following the Tor Crisis. Art, architecture and technology created during this period sometimes bore a 'fragmented' aesthetic, having their many parts slightly apart from each other. Other popular styles included a 'faded' appearance, which had devices and art appear slightly to blend into reality at their edges.

In the year 32 442 987, the Remnant recorded its first contact with the Ulemedi and their Arish hosts near the Dark Forest. The contact goes poorly, and most of the Aedentide diplomats were enslaved and subverted. Shortly after, the Ulemedi were declared a hostile power and the Negentropic Union mobilised defense fleets in the Dark Forest region. Shortly after, a full scale Ulemedi invasion occurs and large chunks of territory were lost near the Dark Forest. Taking advantage of the disorder, the Flesh Cult and Amalgamation of Intelligence subverted entire realities in the region for their own purposes, all the while sending saboteurs and infiltrators all across the Weave. Some of the occupied region was retaken in the short but brutal Second Pathfinder War, launched in 32 446 143 to 32 446 532. By the middle of the war, the first Patra were created with collaboration from free Arish that fled the Ulemedi's advances. With the sudden entrance of the new troops, the Remnant managed to regain some of its holdings in the region, while other territories were reinforced further.

Right after Remnant begins to rebuild from the war, the Flesh Cult launches its own invasion of the Iriddescent Web in 32 446 536. Having assumed that the Negentropic Union's ability to project power in the region would be weakened, they are instead met with extreme resistance by other powers. The Sublime Entelechy firmly repels the invasion, while the Remnant finish off the fleeing Cult forces. This success shortly after the initial disaster of the Ulemedi invasion convinces most of the other enemy powers of the Remnant to withhold their own ambitions for a time, waiting for another opportunity to strike.

This respite in a series of major wars became known as the early Cierarch period. The Remnant saw a renaissance in different arts and disciplines of its pre-collapse self, such as the cosmic Reality Dials, art pieces which shifted according to the slightest changes of a universe's timeline. Others included String-Singing, where cosmic strings would be spun and vibrated within an accretion shell of plasma to create pleasing patterns. The technology and architecture of this period tended to be more flamboyant and colourful, often woven out of fibres to create a an appearance similar to fabric.

This period came to an end with the Waxen Thief incident in 32 477 334. A Living Mythos, Tenared, had suddenly disappeared and lost contact from the Remnant's network. Investigation by several Negentropic agents revealed that an entity had managed to somehow whisk it away wholesale, inhabitants included. Alerted to the this theft, word rapidly spread throughout the Remnant and several teams of Patra, Exalts and special agents were assembled in an effort to find its whereabouts. See an opportunity to increase their power and prestige, several factions went to great effort into contributing to the investigation. The efforts of the entire Remnant were turned to finding the lost Mythos, with most citizens contributing through simulating different possibilities, while those on the frontier combed the wilderness for clues. Whenever it seemed that the various search teams had nearly closed in on Tenared's location a new set of clues appeared that lead them elsewhere. Eventually, one team led by agent Rhine decided to consult Szchest at their home of the Thinker's Garden. The Outer God revealed that the entity behind the disappearance as the Waxen Thief, a collector of both the strange and mundane. They further informed Rhine of the Waxen Thief's personality and history, naming a price in return for the information; the mechanism through which the Thief managed to steal their marks. After Rhine returned, the Remnant combed through the Thief's history of thefts. In the gathered data they came upon a single standout fact; that the Waxen Thief was fond of gambling and games of chance, and has been known to give back his stolen prizes to those who won against him. The Remnant consulted Szchest again, requesting that they mediate the games. At one of the sites that Tenared was tracked to, a message was left behind to challenge the Waxen Thief to games in the Thinker's Garden. A reply was received soon afterwards, announcing the acceptance of the Thief.

Rhine's team was chosen to represent the Remnant in a series of games, having studied the Waxen Thief the most. Just before starting the match, Rhine named the Remnant's price; for Tenared to be returned and the secret to how the Waxen Thief performed their legendary thefts. In turn, the Thief announced what he wished for; a damaged Weave Node, complete with inhabitants and the universe it was hosted in. With the pieces set, the two teams engaged in a match of wits, bluffing and deception. Under the scrutiny of the Outer God, neither side were able to cheat. Rhine and her team managed to barely hold on throughout the games, using the knowledge they gained from Szchest to keep themselves from losing. In a last, desperate gamble, The Remnant's team edged out a win. Having lost the match, the Thief returned Tenared to Weave held space and gave the device he used to steal away the Living Mythos. Quickly leaving after his defeat, the Thief disappeared without a word. Szchest, pleased with their new prize, considered the Remnant's debt settled and dismissed them.

The Waxen Thief Incident directly led to several millennia of unrest in the form of the Lost Years, a cold war between several factions within the Remnant. These included the Einar Collective, Horizon Hexarchy and Solar Paradisium, each of whom were new and rising powers within the Remnant. These organisations saw an opportunity to amass power during the Waxen Thief incident by providing a greater degree of backing towards the investigation. After the conclusion of the event, the three fanned tensions that arose during the incident, launching power plays and propaganda campaigns with the implied message that the established powers were unable to protect its citizens against the likes of the Waxen Thief. More established factions within the Aedentide took notice of this campaign and launched its own countercampaign. Seeing the greater part of the Aedentide reacting, all three powers signed an agreement with each other, becoming the Spectre Pact. The greater Aedentide became known as the Minsad Coalition, as they consolidated existing agreements and created new ones. Over the next fifteen millennia both sides took part in proxy wars and power plays between each other. Each signatory of the Spectre agreement had their own agendas, sometimes acting against each other as they made plays against the Coalition. Minsad, meanwhile, were hampered by old grudges and disagreements between its constituents, missing several opportunities to end the cold war by trying to resolve their own periodic conflicts. As the cold war dragged on and started to noticeably drain resources, calls for an end to tensions gradually became more popular. For the sake of preserving their remaining resources and manpower, both sides agreed to put the cold war on hold in 32 486 913. This reprieve after the Lost Years became known as the Late Cierarch period.

The late Cierarch period came to an end in 32 509 387, during one of the largest incursions of Tor fragments to date. Countless quadrillions of Greater Tor fragments subsume most of the Remnant held territory near the Dark Forest. The Hunter War as the conflict came to be called saw one of the largest deployments of strategic superweapons to the region, resulting in the erasure of countless realities and several immense Pools of Possibility from existence. With its territory shrinking, the Remnant push into the actual Forest itself to establish several new outposts. The push, known as the Senet Offensive after the first reality taken within the Forest, managed to claim a region a significant fraction of the size that the Remnant once held near the Pool Possibility at the cost of several large expeditions. By 32 511 320, the Hunter War had concluded.

Distribution
The Weave Remnant is a heavily diminished power compared to its predecessor, possessing less than a fifth of the total territory of the former Weave. Most of the regions that the Weave extended into has a Remnant presence, though lesser compared to its golden age. The Remnant fully encompasses the Timeless Eternities, Creeping Cage and Hypnos Stretch, with territories held in the Iridescent Web and Dark Forest.

Life within the Remnant
Due to the danger of living in isolation or small communities, most surviving civilisations of the Weave Remnant are located within heavily reinforced multiverses and realities. These groups are concentrated mainly in Living Mythos, damaged and intact Weave Nodes and the occasional universe untainted by Tor. The remainder of these civilisations are nomadic, travelling throughout the Void and realities in mobile megastructures like the Eintithi. Many individuals and organisations operate outside these areas, however, and fortified outposts and trading stations on the frontier and in hazard zones are fairly common.

For a typical civilian living in one of the main population centres, life is mostly secure, albeit filled with vigilance and with a weapon on their person at all times. As the civilisations of the Weave Remnant are under a state of constant militiarisation, all individuals under its mantle are expected to contribute to the various wars being waged. While outright enlistment in the armed forces isn't expected for most, all those living within the main population centres are required to take mandatory training (whether directly downloaded into their minds or physically learning) and be implanted with basic combat related metaphysical augments such as inactive Tor Harnesses. For most civilians contributing to the war efforts entails constantly dedicating a certain number of their thought partitions to relevant research and study alongside manufacturing equipment and infrastructure such as various drones and reality warping technology. Civilians are otherwise allowed to do as they please within the confines of the laws of the location they live in.

A being living on the frontier tends to have more freedoms than those living in the main fortified realities, though they must deal with much less security. Those who deal with frontier work are more heavily augmented, with permission from the Aedentide to implant themselves with most military-grade metaphysical augments. Beings living on the frontier undertake a wide variety of occupations, from salvage and study (often of Weave ruins and artifacts), field research of strange phenomena and new species, resource gathering, trade and exploration.

For those in the sizeable military fielded by the Weave Remnant, lives are dangerous and fraught with hardship, though rewarding in equal measure. Around forty percent of those on their first deployment don't return, falling to Tor, Ulemedi or other foes using the Opal Light. Compared to the vast armies of drones that do the bulk of the low-level fighting (Kulviss extermination, destruction of minor threats etc.), the Weave Remnant fields comparatively smaller numbers of more skilled and powerful enlisted to act as commanders and elite units. Each infantryman is given a small contingent of several million ships, a drone fleet and manufacturing equipment before being deployed for centuries to millennia at a time. Those enlisted receive greater benefits than civilians in being payed a respectable amount of Protean Traces, more potent augmentations, preferential treatment for transport between distant realities and entire galaxies to themselves. Leaders and officers are given even greater benefits, being rewarded their own fully fledged universes in return for greater risks; higher ranking commanders are expected to tackle existential threats such as Greater Tor Fragments, Ulemedi Lords and full scale Flesh Cult incursions. To accomplish these tasks, high ranking officers are allotted strategic superweapons alongside their sizeable armies, though even so many leaders don't return from their campaigns.

Communications between distant realities and multiverses is an unreliable endeavour at best, despite the efforts of the Unlasting. The Unlasting are an organisation of beings with a telepathic ability known as the Kaleidoscopic Gift, enabling them to communicate instantly across vast stretches of the Void. Due to how critically important this group is, membership within is a confidential matter for security purposes. Despite the distrust many have for members of the relatively secretive group, their importance as a critical part of the communications infrastructure grant them a great deal of protection and hefty benefits. It is not uncommon for higher ranking members of the group to be payed entire universes for their own purposes.

Stable and relatively safe routes between distant realities and multiverses in the Void are the domain of the Linelayers, an Old Brethren organisation that links universes together for instant and secure transport and communications between them. The occupation is among the most dangerous throughout the entire Remnant, with most falling during their first linkages. Being a Linelayer involves diving straight into the Tor-infested Void, a less than survivable prospect for many. After diving into the inhospitable absence between realities, a Linelayer must carry a temporal-spatial link to the target reality, avoiding the various dangers on their journey. After successfully completing their task, Linelayers are payed handsomely, often with resources and technologies that are exceedingly hard to access for most others. Successful Linelayers are amongst the most wealthy and influential individuals within the Remnant, owning large private fleets, armies and several realities to do with as they please.

Component Organisations

 * Aedentide: Governing and Diplomatic Arm
 * Negentropic Union: Military and Peacekeeping
 * Metasoft: Economics and logistics.
 * Unlasting: Communications
 * Observers and the Itaari Conclave: Scientific research