The
Encyclopædia Planetæ
Alpha Centauri A
The Kentauros System
And the
primary world of Ghellhonus
presented by
the Exploration Society's Institute of Planetological Natural History
Contents
Stellar Profile -Orbital
Mechanics - System Profile -
The Moon -
Ghellhonus, the Planet
- Ghellhonus Life -
Native Ghellhonian
Intelligence - The
ArcBuilders on Ghellhonus -
The Colonization and Development of Human Society on Ghellhonus
Name Indigenous Name Distance from Sol Spectral Type Mass Luminosity Diameter Surface Temperature Rotational Period Metallicity Age Alpha Centauri A Kentauros 4.36 G2V 1.1 1.519 1.227 5,800º K 30 days 1.3 6.8 billion years Orbital Mechanics
The AB System is a typical double star system, but unlike most stars with companions at these separations, this system has managed to develop a family of planets. During the formative period of young binary stars, those with moderate separations tend to gravitational disrupt each other's accretion disk. Why this and a few other similar systems have managed to retain their planets is unknown.
A-B Separation A-B Eccentricity A-B Orbital Period 11.2 to 35.6 AU 0.516 79.24 years The C component of this star system, Proxima Centauri, is believed to be a true member of the Alpha Centauri family. It is uncertain how such a large separation could remain stable over the nearly 7 billion year history present here, but chemical and isotopic analysis indicates that Proxima did indeed for with the A and B stars.
AB-C Separation AB-C Eccentricity AB-C Orbital Period 13,000 AU unknown 500,000 years System Profile
The planetary system of Alpha Centauri A consists of four terrestrial worlds, and a single, sparse Vulcanian asteroid belt. In many ways the system is reminiscent of Sol's Inner System, even down to the specific planetary types. And like the Sol System, there is a single, life-bearing world present here, the first such world confirmed in Man's search for life in the cosmos.
Catalogue Name Proper Name Classification SemiMajor Axis Orbital Period Orbital Eccentricity Equatorial Radius Mass Density Surface Gravity Rotational Period Axial Tilt Atmospheric Pressure Atmospheric Composition Albedo Average Surface Temperature Number of Moons Alpha Centauri A-Belt I Vulcan's Belt Vulcanoidal Class (primarily) ~0.04 AU na na na na na na na na na na na Alpha Centauri A-I Asbolos Hermian Subtype 0.319 AU 62.78 days 0.031 1,792.3 km 0.02 62.78 days 25º na na 0.07 0 Alpha Centauri A-II Polyphonte Cytherean Type 0.779 AU 240.535 days 0.163 7,564.7 km 1.68 35.18 hours 24º 123.54 0.52 2 Alpha Centauri A-III Ghellhonus GaianContinental Subdivision 1.204 AU 1.266 years 0.087 6,602.6 km 1.0946 25.21 hours 24º 1.089 0.34 1 Alpha Centauri A-IV Teleboas EuArean Subtype 2.03 AU 2.89 years 0.098 3,300 km 0.11 32.9 hours 26.72º 0.14 0.15 0
Catalogue Name Proper Name Classification SemiMajor Axis Orbital Period Orbital Eccentricity Equatorial Radius Mass Density Surface Gravity Rotational Period Axial Tilt Atmospheric Pressure Atmospheric Composition Albedo Average Surface Temperature Alpha Centauri A-IIIa Amycos Selenian Subtype 276,000 km 15.597 days 0.00 1,904.3 km 374.328 hours 6.88º na na Ghellhonus, the Planet
Ghellhonus is a world which sports a biological history almost two billion years longer than Earth's, as well as a geological and a meteorologicalhistory. By any reckoning, then, Ghellhonus is an old world, and in many ways represents the future of the Earth. The biomes remain complicated and intricate, but they are populated by creatures which have had an evolutionary history of less than a billion years. Indeed, the basic families of life on this planet have changed over at least twice since the first multicellular forms evolved on the planet, some 5.5 billion years ago. Those earliest body forms possessed radial symmetries, with some of the more primitive species resembling nothing so much as a twelve-legged starfish. However, 3.7 billion years ago, through natural selection and being out-competed, those forms eventually fell into extinction as a more moderate and bilateral-designed group rose to dominance. Then again, 1.1 billion years ago, the planet suffered a major mass extinction, with the biological clock seemingly replaced to a near zero state. Life, however, is a tenacious force, and the third and modern groups of life came into existence and dominance.
Geologically, Ghellhonus has continued on in its 6.8 billion year history with little or no pause. Like all Gaian worlds, there is a tectonic cycle that has seen the constant collision, splitting, and grinding of continental plates, a process which likely began shortly after the planet initially formed. Today we know of at least seven different supercontinent stages, when all of the planet's landmasses were gathered together in a single mass. Almost certainly there have been more, but evidence of them has long since been lost to the constant churning of the surface.
Today, Ghellhonus has three primary continents, being Amrosia, Eolia, and Naussica. Amrosia itself is the result of a collision of two older continents, an event which formed the Thule Mountains, the literal spine of the landmass. Naussica, itself a result of several micro-continent collisions, is in the long process of impacting southern Amrosia. Naussica is already a mass of wrinkled landforms, but the northern Alcinous Mountains are a result of the two continental plates already colliding, leaving only the turbulent Scyllan
Passage where once a warm and expansive sea could be found. Because of the overall warm climate of Ghellhonus, Naussica is also a tropical land, covered with thick jungles and southern temperate forests. Nearly all the mountain ranges on this landmass run in an east-west direction, and so funnel the oceanic climate quite effectively from one coast to the other. Yet, with the slow growth of the Alcinous Mountains, these ranges will become more jumbled, more complicated, and the relatively straight forward weather patterns are destined to change. The future of Naussica may well be one of alternating forests and deserts.
The largest of the continents, and the one with the most varied climate is Amrosia. For the most part, it is a semi-tropical land, as is much of the planet. The western seaboard is thick with old growth jungles, and this region represented the widest variety of native life to be found on the planet, save for what could be found in the oceans. East of the Thule Mountains, for the most part forests thrive even in the rain shadow of those mountains. Only in the southern equatorial regions do these woodlands give way to sands and scrubland. The mountains themselves are largely covered with thick forests, save for the higher mean planetary tree line, and those peaks and ranges which are simply too steep and too young to support the thick soil needed for Ghellhonian forests. These mountains continue northward to the northern pole, and it is this region which sees the only year-round snows. Sheltered in the deep valleys during the summer and expanding to cover much of the high elevation pole in the winter, these snow fields serve as an anchor for a variety of biomes. The eastern reaches of Amrosia are quite lush as well, but nowhere a much as within the Saganti Basin, a massive depression that is the heavily eroded remains of an impact crater, and likely the smoking gun of the massive mass extinction that reset the planet's biological clock 1.1 billion years ago.
A second major geological feature on Amrosia is the planet's largest and longest river, the Great Murky. Most of the eastern half of the continent is drained by this river, which dumps a staggering amount of silt into the Eastern Megantic Ocean yearly. Indeed, the Great Murky's delta is a biologically rich paradise, and was home to some of the planet's most spectacular life forms. Ironically, it is a relatively low range of mountains just south of the Murky, running eastward from the Thule Mountains to the ocean, which forms a second divide of the continent. These low mountains, quite ancient and heavily eroded, are enough to keep far southern streams from running to the Great Murky. Instead, they combine into a separate system, slowly winding through a semi-desert landscape.
The third continent is named Eolia, and can be characterized as a landmass that is slowly eroding into the ocean. Truly ancient, Eolia dates back at least 500 million years, and possibly much more, but has managed to remain intact in the face of the ever shifting continents. However, active mountain building has not been a force here for most of its history, with the only major topographical relief being found in the Axum Mountains, the eroded stumps of a range which may have once been as expansive as Earth's Himalayas. For the most part, though, the land is flat featureless, covered by forests and plains. To the north, a desert region of red rock is present, a geological oddity which may in fact point to a past civilization. To the south, swamps and large lakes abound, the water salty, the flora and fauna uniquely adapted to such an environment. Several small islands surround this continent, with the largest being the Southwind Island. However, these are all actually a part of the same continental plate, and represent the former highland regions of Eolia. The surrounding plains, of course, have long since eroded away into the ocean.
Of course, much of the planet is far more active than what Eolia represents. The Tau'Tau Islands, for example, are a chain in the northern Eastern Megantic Ocean situated over a very active geological hot spot. The mechanism which forms these islands is similar to Earth's Hawaii Island chain, but the hot spot is much younger and much more active. The islands average several hundred square kilometers each, and the oldest, a submerged island less than 100 kilometers from the end of the surface chain, is no more than 6 million years old.
Mu is another major volcanic island, formed from no less than four large volcanoes. Geological evidence points to a fragmentation and sinking of the landmass on no less than three separate occasions in the past ten million years due to major eruptions, with the last less than 900,000 years ago. Most scientists agree that the island will remain stable for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years more.
Ghellhonus Life
Much as Earth's life is largely dominated by creatures with a bilateral symmetry and four limbs of one sort or another, Ghellhonus' biosphere is dominated by animals with bilateral symmetries, and which are of a chordate nature (animals with a backbone, much like Earthly animals). However, the evolution of these animals is mixed with two other groups of competitors: bichordates and trichordates. While trichordates are still common, often living in ecological niches similar to Earth insects or other invertebrates, bichordates are much more rare, their heyday having come to an abrupt end 78 million years ago in a mass extinction event.The Chordatia Group, as they are formally called, can be broken down into two primary Orders, although there are many other minor Orders. These two main Orders are the Herbivoria and the Carnivoria, groups which comprise nearly all of the major animals. The Herbivoria are divided into three main Families. The first is the Megapodae, creatures which have often been described as apex herbivores. Following the standard Chordatia body plan, they are four-limbed, with a covering of keratinous "fur", typically quite short and sparse, and a head with one pair of functional eyes, and a second pair which evolution has modified into ears. Many species of Megapods weigh in at several tons, the largest reaching a height of 18 feet at the shoulder. Adapted to browsing and grazing, depending on the species, these animals are most efficient eaters, and operate almost without fear. Even the smaller megapods, of sizes comparable to large Earth bulls, have thick hides which ward off carnivores.
The second Family, the Celoxae, are by far the most prolific of the Herbivores, having branched out to fill any number of habitats, and coming in a variety of forms, from heavy and robust browsers and grazers, to tiny, almost rabbit-like animals that can breed to the point where they become, without predation, a serious nuisance. Most of the Celoxae have long, gracile necks, which serves both as grazing aids and browsing aids. They are quite efficient eaters, as well, processing the plant material of Ghellhonus in two distinct stomachs, and leaving behind the very minimal of waste. This might answer much to the question of why they are such a successful and diverse group. While other herbivores have these two stomachs as well, none have developed them to the degree of efficiency that the Celoxae have.
The Family Pascoae are characterized often as vegetarian opportunists. While not omnivorous, they do exhibit the free-for-all attitude of omnivores. Armed with an array of teeth, among the most robust known on any world, they are capable of feasting on everything from succulents to the toughest of bark. They, like the other Herbivores, have a second stomach. But in their case, the first stomach is used to process the pulped food, often for days, before the nutrients are passed on to the second stomach. Those materials not usable are regurgitated by the animal. For the most part, the various species are roughly the size of pigs, though there are a few species on either side of the size spectrum, from the very large to the very small. Indeed, one mouse-sized species was noted early on as an absolute scourge of wooden homes.
The Carnivoria are divided into two primary families. The first are the Paramatae, bipedal creatures with a long balancing tails and long grasping forelimbs. They are superficially similar to Earth's extinct therapods, including their short necks and strongly constructed heads. Some species, however, occasionally move about quadrupedally, though never when pursuing prey. The smallest species are about the size of monkeys, and have indeed taken to the trees, at least part time, though there are no true arboreal forms. The largest forms, and the more primitive ones, can attain heights of up to 12 feet, and are fierce apex predators. All species have thick coverings of the hair-like keratin, with some of the smaller species having evolved almost a shell, protecting their backs from larger hunters.
The second family, the Venatorae, are a vast group of opportunists, rarely larger than a large dog, and often living in large packs or families. They are quadrupeds, but in large numbers certain species are among the most deadly killers on Ghellhonus. Many more species are weasel or rodent-sized, and prey upon invertebrates or the numerous trichordates.
The Trichordatia, while having lost the evolutionary race for terrestrial dominance, are still a remarkably diverse and large group. They have split into three groups, the largest of which are small and live in the undergrowth, or the dark and damp places that, on Earth, one might expect to find any form of "bug". This group is so diverse that, even today, new species are being discovered in remote regions. The Trichordates are also notable for have a line which split away long ago into oceanic forms, and which have since come to fill every aquatic niche that one would expect to find fish in. Both marine and freshwater forms are common, and come in forms as large as small whales, and as small as tadpoles. These members of the Piscommata, or Piscommites, often serve as the back bone of most food chains, being the first large creatures in it. They themselves feed on smaller forms, though some have evolved herbivorous or carrion habits.
Millions of years ago, a specific group of Piscommites diverged and took to gliding over the open waters. When they were gaining this trait, the skies of Ghellhonus were largely empty. In response, these animals exploded outward and became almost completely aerial in nature. These are the Parava, the birds of Ghellhonus, and they have a range of species that is both huge and intricate. Some of the most beautifully colored animals on Ghellhonus are these fliers.
Native Ghellhonian Intelligence
Ghellhonus is a world which has seen a long biological history, albeit one which has suffered two major interruptions. Nonetheless, many expected that such a world would have hosted signs of an intelligent native species, perhaps even a native sophont. Unfortunately, nothing alive on Ghellhonus today quite fits the bill. The nearest thing to intelligence on the planet is a species of Herbivoria, belonging to a minor family, found in the north polar mountain valleys, lands which see moderate summers and chilly winters. Called trundles, they are a social animal, living partly blow ground, and partly within large mounds of dirt, rock, and forest detritus heaped up over their burrows. The construction of these mounds, and the burrows themselves, seems rather haphazard, but great deliberation is taken in their construction, even to the point of the trundles using their teeth to cut large sticks or small logs to size. But more telling are the family structures exhibited, and the degree of cooperation between individuals. Some believe that these animals, given the opportunity, could develop true intelligence, even tool-use. To this end, the species has long been protected, their regions of habitation barred from any sort of formal development.There are, however, the Cthulu Anomalies. Located throughout the Red Desert of Arallu, there is a geological layer which was laid down some 3.4 billion years ago, during the first biological period of the planet. Isotopic indicators point to this layer as having originated in an environment rich in materials which could only have been created artificially. While no artifacts or fossils have been found here, and indeed no indications of the layer have been found in the handful of other sites around the planet with exposed deposits of this age, the mere presence of this layer is strong evidence for the presence of a previous technological civilization, and one that was possibly quite advanced. Yet one would expect such a level of civilization to have spread across much of the planet. The lack of evidence for this civilization in other regions on the planet, however, lend some credence to the argument that this may well have been the site of a non-native colony or outpost. Little enough evidence for any stellar or galactic civilization can be found on any world during this period, however. Between the time of the Angelic civilization's collapse 4.52 billion years ago, and the rise of the Dunwalli 1.35 billion years ago, there is little no no evidence of any extant starfaring civilization.
Thus the question begs: who created the city or colony or outpost that eventually became the Cthulu Anomalies? Did the first biological era on Ghellhonus spawn an intelligence, one that is now extinct? Or was some ancient interstellar group responsible, one for which we have no other evidence but a sooty-black line in a rust-red cliff face? This, then, is the premiere archaeological and paleontological mystery on Ghellhonus, and the subject of popular theory, mythology, and even local conspiracy theorists.
The ArcBuilders on Ghellhonus
Like so many moderate G-type stars throughout the Local Neighborhood which sport habitable worlds, Ghellhonus was the recipient of an ArcWay on the surface, and a WayGate located out at the edge of the system. In the case of the Alpha Centauri System, to be specific, the WayGate is located in an orbit well beyond both the A and the B components, even though only Ghellhonus itself possesses the ArcWay. Indeed, it is a mystery why the ArcBuilders did not colonize Baahki, orbiting Alpha Centauri B, for no sign of any surface installations have ever been found.On Ghellhonus, the ArcWay was discovered deep within the Saganti Basin, most of the old colonial site long buried beneath sediment and a hundred thousand years worth of accumulated forest detritus. The region, long wild and unexplored, was largely ignored by the colonists, and settlements in the area did not begin until after the ArcWay had been reactivated, and Hegemony representatives had begun to arrive in order to make re-contact with Humanity's first extrasolar colony. The ArcBuilders themselves, typically, left very little behind for modern archaeologists to explore. The warm and humid environment had long since reduced nearly all artifacts to dust, rusted heaps, or unidentifiable lumps of matter. Most buildings, apparently built out of stone and artificially hardened mud (a curious preferred building method by this advanced species) had also long since vanished, leaving behind only the faintest of traces, buried deep beneath the forest floor. Only the massive dome of the ArcWay itself was intact, as apparently indestructible as every other such structure found in the Local Neighborhood.
The ArcBuilder impact on Ghellhonus seems to have been minimal. No surface ruins or artifacts have been discovered elsewhere on the planet. This is in keeping with most other ArcBuilder worlds, which indicate that the aliens preferred to remain in close proximity to the ArcWay, reinforcing the belief that they tended to live in hive-like social structures. Spreading out or sending out isolated settlements seems to have been quite contrary to their nature.
The Colonization and Development of Human Society on Ghellhonus
Ghellhonus first fell into the public Human eye in 2042 CE when the Sagan Project detected the spectroscopic signatures of life on this distant world. Free oxygen, traces of methane, the overwhelming presence of chlorophyll, all of these elements pointed to the presence of a thriving biosphere, the first confirmed beyond the Solar System. It was during this period in Earth's history that thoughts could be turned to more ambitious exploration, without the fear of squandering important resources. Indeed, by 2076 CE, the new Exploration Society had announced its intent to send a colony to this world (as well as the now conformed life-bearing worlds orbiting both Alpha Centauri B and C), an endeavor that was met with both praise and scathing skepticism. Nevertheless, by 2097 CE, the Centauri Traveler, an unmanned system of probes, was sent towards the Alpha Centauri System. Upon arrival, they would relay their findings, including geological meteorological, and biological data, to the colonial ships which would already be on route by that point. These colony ships, powered by the latest antimatter-fusion technology, departed Sol in 2101 CE. Three vessels, accompanied by several unmanned cargo vessels, headed towards Alpha Centauri at the eventual top speed of 0.13c (as a point of fact, the unmanned ships traveled much faster, and would precede the colonists by several months, giving them time to automatically set up the initial habitation modules on the surface of the target planets). Even as critics called the endeavor the Great Experiment, and environmental conditions on Earth began to deteriorate to the point where many began to question such a use of resources, Humanity had embarked on a new chapter of his existence.Of the three colonial ships, the ACP Jamestown was the one destined for Ghellhonus. And in 2136 CE, she decelerated into the Alpha Centauri A system, her engines sending out a blinding pillar of exhaust thousands of kilometers long, and certainly visible throughout the entire system for several weeks. Slowly, the crew of the Jamestown were awakened. Of the 20 members of the crew, only four had been awake at a time during the long journey, working in several month-long shifts. But now all were needed, and so as the ship decelerated in a course that took it around Alpha Centauri A in three full orbits, further bleeding off speed, everyone was suddenly caught up in a flurry of activity. A landing site had already been chosen, thanks to the reports which came back from the Centauri Traveler, and now all that remained was to bring the ship into a safe orbit about Ghellhonus, and to begin planning the logistical deployment of 600 colonists (still sleeping) to the surface. Preceding them, the unmanned cargo ships allocated to this colony had already entered planetary orbit, and most had already sent down their loads of goods, automated systems, and other items. The colonists would set foot on Ghellhonus, their homes waiting and ready for them, the landing site already christened New Jamestown.
The first decades of life on Ghellhonus were fraught with peril, exciting discoveries, and unparalleled exploration. Regular communication with Earth was maintained, although meaningful conversation was, of course, impossible considering the distances. Rather, status reports were sent, while the Earth returned updated news events and other communications at the end of every year. However, these news reports ceased in the early 2150's, likely due to pressures from the ever decreasing quality of life on the planet, the ever increasing environmental collapse, and the many wars which had begun to break out. New Jamestown itself ceased communicating with the Earth in 2160 CE, effectively severing ties between the two worlds. Records indicate that there was indeed regret at the loss of communications, but it is also clear that this was the point in which New Jamestown began her truly independent cultural and social evolution.
The following century and a half, classically known as the Colonial Period, saw the expansion of Human habitation on the planet. It also was the period of the first true crisis for the young colony. A breakaway group of people, wishing to create their own society, separate and independent from New Jamestown, used armed conflict as a tool for independence, stealing large amount of supplies in their escape. Settling in the northern valleys of Naussica, the city-state of Thompson Breaks was founded. A punitive expedition by New Jamestown regained some of the lost supplies, but in the end the new society was left to its own devices, an communications were lost between the two societies. Today, no one knows precisely where Thompson Breaks was located. There are no records of the city (more than likely a mere fort of sorts), and no artifacts have ever been found in the region. It is known that later expeditions from New Jamestown and her daughter settlements encountered scattered small tribes of hunter-gatherers for a time, but then even these people vanished. The likely end result was that Thompson Breaks could not support itself, away from the central if relatively primitive industrial centers of New Jamestown, and that the breakaway society eventually degenerated into primitiveness, and finally extinction.
Towards the end of the Colonial Period, the fundamental nature of the New Jamestown society had begun to change dramatically. Founded as a largely democratic society, the loss of high technology (an expected result of colonizing an empty world) created ripe conditions for the rise of an almost feudal society. Local magistrates began to wield a power not unlike ancient Earth regional barons, with the importance of New Jamestown gradually diminishing. Culturally it remained an important population center, and had for decades been the most populous. But by the end of the 2200's more and more people lived in urban areas. New Jamestown had become another unassuming small city, one of many. But this changed dramatically in the last decades of the century, when the fragmented society began to fall under the rule of a single man and his particular brand of social cohesion. Advocating a peculiar mix of monarchial and democratic rule, a man named Addacio sel Rama began to unite the many settlements under his rule. Most of the time the barons accepted his rule, and were glad for a central authority. Upon occasion the diplomacy of the sword was required. But by the end of the century, most of the populated regions of Amrosia were under his rule. By 2300 CE, he had founded his capitol city of Pemba, and established a ruling line of kings.
The beginning of Addacio's rule started the Rule of Kings Period of Ghellhonus. For two-hundred and fifty years at least three different lines of kings ruled ever-increasing territories on Amrosia. Some of the first sea voyages around the coasts of the continent, as well as the first permanent settlements on Naussica, were undertaken during this period. But these were exceptions to a more subsistence level standard of living. Society and technology fell to lower levels during the Line of Kings, and the mean level of education had degraded to an Earthly 15th Century level. Most people had become illiterate, and knowledge of the past was forgotten, as were those relics of the colonial past. People were far more concerned with growing food and seeing to the tithes that the Kings required than they were learning about their own past. Inevitably, this began to lead to the fragmentation of society as resentment against the Kings grew. By 2550 CE (although it should be noted that Earth dates had long since fallen out of use, and indeed no proper dating system was in place), the kingdom had fragmented into several different independent factions. The last King had vanished, possibly gone into hiding although it is more likely that he was simply assassinated, and the importance of Pemba swiftly vanished, much as New Jamestown had before it (indeed, that old city had become little more than a fishing village with a few enigmatic ruins). For some five years the different polities argued and fought over land rights, but even to the most hard-line elements it was obvious that, while having fallen into a corrupt rut, the line of Kings had served an important unifying purpose. Thus, in 2550 CE or so, the Council of Nations was established, beginning a new era of democratic rule and recovery of lost cultural heritages.
In less than half a century the Kentauric Republic was founded through the unification of the different nations It was a renaissance of scientific and cultural discovery. The Republic founded colonies throughout Amrosia and Naussica, with several smaller settlements as far as Eolia and Mu. Sea travel was raised to an art form, while new scientific disciplines began to see the establishment of medical practices and social reform. By the beginning of the 2800's, Ghellhonian society had spread across the planet, and had returned to a level which marked the initial colonists. While much of their past remained a mystery, they had become versed in astronomy and biology. Seggio Madrake had lead seven full expeditions across the face of Ghellhonus, pushing forward biology and geology as serious disciplines, while the twin brothers Maakus and Deegan ley Falangia had discovered (or rediscovered) the other planets in the solar system, as well as the planets orbiting Alpha Centauri B. Indeed, it was Deegan who first deduced that Alpha Centauri B was a sibling to their own sun and bound to it, and he had begun cataloguing the various bright stars in the sky (including Sol, although of course its importance to the Human species remained unknown). The Kentauric Republic was on the rise, and it is likely that it would have continued to rise rapidly in science and technology (several scientists and innovators were, in fact, attempting to create the first combustion engine) had not fate intervened.
In 2808 CE, the ArcWay network was discovered by Humanity. Through the combined work of Earth and Tsevorde scientists, the network was interpreted and reactivated, and in 2820 CE the Ghellhonus ArcWay was activated. Buried as it was, however, it took several months of careful excavation from the inside out for teams to breach the surface. The first explorers discovered that they were deep within an untamed jungle (indeed, even the resurgence in exploration by the Ghellhonians had not yet seen anyone explore this deep region), with no evidence of Human habitation whatsoever. However, realizing that it was a large planet, and that it might be months yet before space-based explorers entered into the Alpha Centauri A system through the WayGate, it was understood that the colonists might not be contacted for quite some time. Thus a special expedition was set up, one which would travel out of the jungle and towards the east, and the coast. Ahead of them would be remote fliers, scouting the terrain and searching for any possible sign of habitation. It did not take long, in fact, until remote images of small cities and towns were received. The remote fliers themselves caused a large stir, and the eventual meeting of the first expedition and a regional military troupe sent to investigate the strange apparitions went well. Several scientists, puzzling over the apparent difference between Humans, certain animals, and the rest of the Ghellhonus biosphere at large, were thrilled at discovering the cause of such a large mystery. Earth-Ghellhonus relations quickly solidified, with the Republic benefiting immensely from Hegemony technology.
Within twenty years the Republic had expanded beyond Ghellhonus, exploring Amycos and sending out expeditions to the neighboring planets. While the Hegemony provided a large amount of support, the Republic was swift to adapt, and soon began to develop its own space exploration technologies. In 2850 CE the Republic sent a mission to Baahki, landing on the surface and making contact with the Human society there. Not long after, and Bester, orbiting Proxima Centauri, was also reached. By the mid-2900's, the Kentauric had become a thriving interplanetary culture, and one of the leading allies of the Solar System. Because of this, the fall of the Hegemony and the rise of the New Church Dominion spelled disaster for Republic, which swiftly fell under Dominion rule in 2945 CE. The brutal Dominion governor, Aris DelCrombie, became the defacto ruler of the Republic, and to a lesser degree Baahki and Bester. Under his rule, thousands of people either died or disappeared. The ongoing scientific revolution that had marked the past centuries quickly died. The deep resentment which was born from this was a key factor in Ghellhonus' aid in toppling the Dominion by 2981 CE.
Even so, it was a reluctant Republic which consented to join the League of Worlds in 2995 CE, bringing the polity into the interstellar venue. Distrustful of the Solar System, which had seen the creation of the Dominion, the Republic nonetheless became one of the premiere members of the League, and swiftly became a symbol of prosperity and innovation. Indeed, throughout the First Millennium (League Reckoning), the Republic swiftly became one of the major League powers. It was in fact this status which lead to a certain amount of internal discontent. Many in the Republic believed that Ghellhonus deserved a greater amount of say in the League, to the point where a political party eventually formed, the Advance Party, which directly advocated the elevation of Ghellhonus as a leading member of the League. This, despite the fact that the Republic already held considerable political sway. Others were equally opposed to such a notion, and Ghellhonian society seemed split down the middle in an unprecedented display of bipartisanship.
This came to a head in the earliest years of the Second Millennium when the Kentauric Civil War erupted, throwing most of the League into economic and social chaos. While the war lasted less than a year, the ramifications rippled throughout the League via the ArcWay network. Refugees flooded several worlds, while military forces from close allies passed through the GateWay (neutral territory by League law) to aid either side. In the end, it was the Advance Party which won the war, and brought an end to the Republic. In its place they established an Emperor, and proclaimed the founding of the Imperial Kentauric Oekumene (the IKO). For nearly a century the IKO was concerned largely with consolidating and repairing the damage done to Ghellhonus, as well as repairing relations with her stellar neighbors. In 4095 CE the IKO made Baahki an Imperial Protectorate, and in 4107 CE Bester fell under their rule. For the next thousand years the power and sway of the IKO grew, eventually coming to rival that of the League itself, to which the IKO had always remained an ally, if no longer a true member. IKO influences were being felt throughout the League, culturally and economically.
Perhaps the greatest sign of the IKO's rise to power came in 6512 CE, when the Empire claimed the Earth itself as an Imperial Protectorate. By this time, the Earth had been largely abandoned by Humanity. The only populations remaining were scattered tribes, living in relatively primitive conditions, as well as a few isolated arcologies. The planet was well into its new ice age, and rather than see it exploited and stripped of her few remaining resources, the Solar League (made up of the many different polities which inhabited the Solar System) had decided to leave the planet to its natural state. Aside from sporadic scientific expeditions, the Earth was by and large ignored by Humanity. The Empire, seeing the Earth as the ultimate birthplace of Humanity, too it upon itself to decide that this was not enough. Rather than risk some Solar League group's greed, the Empire arrived within the Solar System and claimed the entire planet, pronouncing it protected and inviolate (a curious similarity to the same decree by the New Church back at the beginning of the Hegemony Period).
Immediately the Solar League condemned the Empire, and demanded that they withdraw their forces, their claims, and the presence of any citizens within the Solar System. The Empire, flushed with its own greatness, refused. Armed conflict inevitably broke out, largely confined to the Kuiper Belt of Sol, and the outer regions of the Alpha Centauri AB system, with occasional and devastating forays into the inner regions of both star systems. Before the year was out, however, mediation by the Tsubar'ey (along with some stern warnings by that ancient species) brought an end to the war. Earth remained a protected planet, but it was under direct Tsubar'ey supervision that it was so. No one, not even the ever-growing arrogant IKO, would defy the Tsubar'ey.
After this point, the IKO became a much more complacent power, perhaps somewhat cowed by the chastisement given to them by the Orion Corpus. But more so, it was likely realized that a cooperative Empire would make greater political and economic inroads throughout the League than one throwing its hefty weight about. Relations with the League, and particularly the Solar League, never truly recovered, and to this day the two are cold acquaintances at best. Relations with the Tsubar'ey, however, changed dramatically in 8500 CE when the IKO consented to become a client polity to the Orion Corpus. While remaining independent, as they had been under the League of Worlds, the IKO now answers only to the Corpus, and benefits from the exchange of knowledge with the Tsubar'ey that comes with such an arrangement. This did not change in 9500 CE, a full thousand years later, when the Corpus founded the Garden Oekumene. However, in the face of such founding members as the Em Nu Evolution, or the Xirumatu, the Kentauric Empire has been relegated to a relatively minor political player, despite its continuing great influence on the Local Neighborhood.
As recently as 9785 CE a great change has come to the Empire, with the death of the so-called Last Emperor. While the polity itself remains intact, the Imperial Line itself was never renewed. Despite the many changes that have occurred over the past thousands of years, civilization on Ghellhonus has continued onward, almost without interruption. While many ancient Earth colonies have undergone massive changes, some of them losing great pieces of their history, other falling to extinction entirely, that of Ghellhonus has remained unbroken, serving as a link with Humanity's past, and its period of turbulent youth when the Local Neighborhood was a place of wild uncertainty.
