The Long Night

Prologue

In the bright noontide of the Polesotechnic League, bold merchant-adventurers swarmed across the starlanes exploring, trading, civilizing, zestfully—and profitably—living by their motto, “All the Traffic Will Bear.”

The hugely successful “League of Selling Skills” emerged in the twenty-third century in response to the challenges of the Breakup, mankind’s faster-than-light explosion into space. Like its prototype, the European Hansa of a thousand years earlier, this mercantile union aided its members’ quest for wealth. Backed by its own sound currency and powerful fleet, the League was the expansionist, ecumenical, optimistic vanguard of Technic civilization. During its heyday, its impact was generally beneficial because it exchanged cultural as well as material goods among the stars. Prosperity followed the League’s caravel flag across a whole spiral arm of Earth’s galaxy and beyond.

But the higher any sun rises, “the sooner will his race be run/the nearer he’s to setting.” The long lifespan of the era’s greatest merchant prince, Nicholas van Rijn, also saw the shadows of institutional mortality lengthen. Despite van Rijn’s efforts, the League faded from a vigorous self-help organization to a sclerotic gang of cartels during the twenty-fifth century. Protectionism stifled opportunity. As the traders became more and more entangled with Earth’s corrupt government, intervention, exploitation, and expedience dictated policies towards extraterrestrial humans and aliens alike. With mutual advantage blotted out, profit withered. The slow waning of trade disrupted communications and invited anarchy. By 2600, the League had collapsed and the dismal Time of Troubles had begun.

The nadir of this sorrowful and poorly chronicled period was the sack of Earth by the Baldic League, a horde of space faring barbarians originally armed by some greedy human gunrunner. Afterwards, the alien Gorzuni raided the Solar System at will, seeking slaves and treasure to expand their burgeoning realm.

So deep had darkness fallen, few dared to dream of dawn.