The Setting

Stargate Explorations is set in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way some 210,000 light years away.

The Partholonian Era
Approximately 10,000 years ago, the great city of Atlantis, in the Pegasus Galaxy, was abandoned as the war with the Wraith began to reach its horrific conclusion.  Traveling through the only Stargate capable of breaching the intergalactic gulf to the Milky Way, the Ancients returned to Earth, from which they had left so long before.  Those Ancients that remained on Earth, by and large, joined their ancient brethren who had long before ascended.  But some remained on Earth, mortal, for thousands of years.  Others, mortal as well, departed for yet another galaxy, this time the satellite of the Milky Way, and eventually called the Small Magellanic Cloud.  This group was lead by their leader, a man named Partholon.

The Partholonians arrived on a habitable planet, one of a very few, after a journey that lasted many years.  Naming the world Magh Turahd, they set about establishing the center of a new network of Stargates.  However, like Pegasus, only a single Stargate in this galaxy would be capable of dialing the Milky Way.  Because Magh Turahd's location was extragalactic, an eighth chevron would be needed to dial any location in the Milky Way.  However, because the distance to the Milky Way was only a fraction of that to the more distant Pegasus, the extra power requirements were not nearly as severe as one would expect.  The single zero point module used to power the Magh Turahd gate, therefore, was more than sufficient.

For nearly four thousand years, the Partholonians spread life to the SMC, a small galaxy indeed, and one that had been largely rendered lifeless millions of years earlier by an intense stage of stellar formation.  But the Ancients had the knowledge and the technologies, and as they brought life back to worlds that had been dead for eons, they also spread the new Stargate network, and they spread themselves.  While the original Partholonians were mortal but in possession of life spans that stretched into the thousands of years, their new generation in the SMC was far more mortal in nature, living only for a few hundred years.  And each successive generation lived less and less, until the modern era where the Humans of the SMC are considered old by the far more "normal" age of 80 or 90 years.

These later generations came to be called the Nemedians, named so after a Partholonian hero.  Indeed, they regarded the Partholonians as near gods, and themselves had long since lost most forms of higher technology, their ancestors having preferred a return to the more sedate life of agrarian societies.  The Partholonians themselves, however, had begun to die off by this time.  Many were buried on Nemedian worlds, revered as saints or gods or mighty heroes.  Others had discovered the secrets of ascension, and had joined their ancient kin.  Whatever their fate, it was a galaxy largely empty of higher civilizations when, through a wicked twist of fate, the Goa'uld arrived.

Updates

November 24, 2005

• Completed the outlines of the setting.

November 23, 2005

• Established this page.

The Fir Bholg were not disappointed.  They arrived to discover many worlds, still worshipping the Partholonians, and swiftly settled themselves in as the dominant race.  However, there was discord, for Semion wished revenge on all other Goa'uld for his humiliating defeat and flight, and he began to rally his followers together, to construct a fleet of ships that would crush the System Lords utterly.  For nearly a thousand years this continued, with many worlds suffering greatly under Semion's tyranny, until finally there arose a rebellion by the other Goa'uld.  Semion was cast down and his symbiot was entombed.  His armies scattered, and all of the Fir Bholg were cast into disarray.  Seeing the weakness of their masters, the Unas Jaffa rebelled, intent on creating their own base of power.  Calling themselves the Fomhor, they vied for power against the Fir Bholg, but were eventually driven back.  They were not, however, defeated, and instead took the Goa'uld technology at their disposal and dug themselves into a region of the SMC where they would not be molested.  Thus it was that the Fomhor and their former masters came to be the harshest of enemies.  The Fir Bholg themselves began to use Humans as both hosts and Jaffa.

But the Fir Bholg were far from weakened, and they had come to almost completely dominate the SMC by 3,000 years ago.  Yet, in all this time, they had never discovered Magh Turahd, and so they never returned to the Milky Way, not wishing a journey of many years.  Nor did they seem interested in the possibility, content as they were with dominating the SMC.  But they were not to remain unmolested.

The Coming of the Dannan
Sometime around 2,000 years ago, in the Milky Way, a new off-shoot of the Goa'uld had arisen.  Calling themselves the Tok'ra, these were a race who were completely opposed to the philosophies of the System Lords, and had vowed to fight them and eventually see to their downfall.  Full of this new conviction, it was some 1,500 years ago that a large group of them set off for the SMC, intent on removing the distant but real threat that they saw in Semion and his unaccounted for regime.  When they arrived, they were horrified to discover the Fir Bholg in complete control, as well as their one-time slaves, the Fomhor, dominating a distant but sizable portion of the SMC as well.

Under the guidance of their leader, Danna, these Tok'ra began to call themselves the Dannan, and swiftly became a major threat to the Fir Bholg regime.  To the Humans of the SMC (the collective title of Nemedians having long since been lost through the haze of primitiveness and interference by the Fir Bholg), the Dannan seemed to be a new race of gods, come to deliver them from the evil of the current pantheon.  And indeed, by 700 years ago the Dannan had freed many worlds from both the Fir Bholg and the Fomhor, leaving many worlds free to develop.  Little did they know, though, that this would be the cause of their undoing.

The Rise of the Milesian Free Republic
One of the worlds freed by the Dannan, called Milesius, had also been a major colony of the Partholonians.  Freed of Fir Bholg influence and domination, the Milesians swiftly began to discover Ancient technology, long ago hidden, but referenced to in quasi-religious texts that the Fir Bholg had long ago banned and, so they thought, destroyed.  With this technology, as well as much more technology left behind by the Fir Bholg, the Milesians quickly grew to a space-faring force more than capable of defending themselves.  By 300 years ago, they had complete control over their own and several neighboring star systems, as well as some other, more distant worlds reachable via the Stargate.

But they had learned much more during their long time of enslavement.  They had learned that a stranglehold was surer than a kind hand, and that total domination offered more protection than loose alliances.  By 200 years ago they had founded the Milesian Free Republic, but their empire was far from benign.  So ruthless were they that the Dannan began to confront them, and to protect other worlds from their new invasions.  The Milesians responded in the only way that they believed would be effective:  they began to attack the Dannan, and with the aid of their Ancient technology, they began to beat them back.  By 150 years ago, the Dannan had been almost completely wiped out by the Milesians, the remainder of their forces sent into hiding throughout the SMC.

But the Fir Bholg and the Fomhor were not given free reign because of this.  On the contrary, though they did manage to expand their territories once again, they were still held in check by the ruthless Milesians, who had, despite their nation's name, become little more than a powerful and corrupt facist regime.

The Milesians are the second most powerful race, with their Milesian Free Republic, a fascist empire in truth, ruled over by a single Representative, and possessing a massive army of superbly trained soldiers.  Their technology is almost exclusively derived from that of the Goa'uld, with little new innovations, although they are backed up by Ancient technology.  However, they have two major flaws which count against them.  First, their Ancient technology is purely singular in nature.  That is, they have not been able to replicate any of it, and so when some Ancient weapon or device is lost or destroyed, it is gone forever.  The day will come when they no longer have this technology at their disposal.  The second major flaw is that they lord over a population of billions that are weary of repression and the lack of freedom.  Their soldiers, while devout, are often rebellious on the fringes of the Republic, and more than one legion has gone missing, having become fed up with their task, or seeing the opportunity of a life free and clear of this total dominance.

The final major power in the SMC are the Fomhor.  They do not crave power or followers, but only territory.  They are content to let their people live on their many worlds as they wish.  But they do not tolerate the presence of free Humans, and often will convert entire populations of Humans into little more than beasts, used for labor, servants, or even food.  To them, Humans are little more than beasts.  And they view the Fir Bholg as pretenders, false gods that are below contempt.  Goa'uld or Jaffa, they will attack them on sight.  Their technology is derived from Goa'uld technology, but many new variations have been developed.  Pyramid ships are rare, but they have other forms of mother ships, and other forms of weapons.  But they are not a delicate race, nor do they plan well.  They operate through brute force, and are very opportunistic.

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Last updated November 24, 2005

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