Rise of the Elder Nation Look. What is this here? Another pup comes to old Grey Muzzle to hear the saga of some bloody Highlord? To hear the tale of how Magnus faced the dread madness of Janth? How Folkvar died on his feet holding the fortress Manticore? Yes. Blood, ale and glory? Is that what you seek, young bloodclaw? No? Then who sent you? Don’t think old Grey Muzzle is so blind that he cannot see your claws. Dripping with vine-blossom juice are they not? Do not think you can frighten me, shield maiden. One of the Sisters’ minions are you? Come to put an end to my archives? Your Ancients won’t protect you from the truth! No! Let me tell you how your kind found their way back here in the first place! Let me tell you about the first of your order. Let me tell you about the first Wolf Mother. In 210 the Nation awoke from a long slumber. The glories of the 3D Alliance were behind them, when Dewiek, Dominion and Detinus together had been masters of the Peripheries. The battle for Janth had seen Dewiek and Dominion allied against their former comrades. With blood and toil, the Detinus were driven from the Dewiek capital world. Once again the Dewiek controlled Janth. The war had ground to a halt and a truce left the DTR in the Noctollis system. The DOM grew more fearful of the DTR and threw their lot in with the Imperials. The DEN, lacking in strong leaders or much ambition, made themselves comfortable at the IMP’s lap. So it was for many years until the Wolf Mother came.

Adoqhina was not an impressive sight. Old by Dewiek standards, she had a scholar’s physique. Her voice was raspy and grated on the ale guzzling warlords she had assembled at the Elder Council. Only MaiChiKwai the decrepit Highlord gave her any honour. The young warlord Darkmane, once seen as a prospective Highlord, nursed his grudge at her imposition. Where she had come from in the depths of the Pocket Periphery, none knew. Yet she whispered a song that stirred the hearts of the placid court. She talked about the subject none dared broach: the Ancients themselves. She pointed to nearby stars unexplored. She berated them for turning over the product of so many Jacium mines to the humans. She cursed the power of the humans in the Home periphery. She made no promises. But she had a plan.

In the next two years that followed the DEN achieved a great deal. They weaved a new order by coaxing the Dominion out from under the Imperial flag, thus ending the IMP’s control of the Home periphery. They drove out those factions such as the GTT that proved a long term threat by their presence. For the first time in their modern history, the DEN began to make use of their territory to its full potential. Adoqhina’s children spread and built a new civilization out of the ancient ruins.

The exploits of Adoqhina have become legend now, of course. She was the first to warn the galaxy of the malice at the heart of House Liquan. The Prince who was to become a Meklan Lord blew up a moon in the Mizam system in retaliation. When the Empire rallied under the Dark Lord Githyanki to resume the war with the DTR, the DEN could not join them. Not whilst they allied with the HLQ in this task. So it was a fateful rift opened between the DEN and Stellar Empire that would never be healed. (See the special article on the history of conflict between the DEN and Stellar Empire in this special issue of the IGN)

This was also the time the DEN once again reached back into their storied past to confront the Ancients. It is well known the Dewiek Nation spanned much of what the humans call the Peripheries before the Great War of some five hundred years ago. Before the madness plague ripped through the Nation and Janth burned. This left most of the Dewiek dead, or regressed into a barbaric state. Only some survivors remained to knit together the Nation anew. At the heart of this history are the Ancients, those great organic vessels that grow in gas giants and work for some hidden, perhaps extinct, master. To face them again, as Adoqhina did in person in the Jasmine system, the Nation faced its greatest secrets. Mysteries that contain many unanswered questions still. Much of what occupied the first Wolf Mother in this time was the search for the Dewiek Homeworld. An incomplete search that has taken the DEN through great marvels and bloody battles. (See the special article on the Ancients in this special issue of the IGN)

Conflict has always been at the heart of Dewiek life. None more so than the conflict with the various Felini that the Ancients brought to the Cluster periphery. It is interesting that two species so naturally in tension should be brought together by these meddlesome beings. Both species consider themselves warriors and prize honour. The wheels have turned for each over the years. When the proud arrogant Clans dominated, the DEN were meek and called upon human allies to help them survive in the region. Now with the rise of the DEN over the past decade, the Felini Tyranny has nestled within the protection of the Stellar Empire. In Adoqhina’s time, the conflict over the system then called Twinkle was pivotal to the DEN’s hopes. It was written in the blueprint of the Nation, drawn by Adoqhina and followed by her many successors, to control the key stargates. Without control of the gates, the Nation would forever be at the mercy of other powers. So it was the prize of victory that earned the system its more befitting ancient moniker of Valhalla.

As old age caught up with the Wolf Mother, Adoqhina bid farewell to the Nation. Her legacy was to dig a foundation for the Nation to build upon. It would take others to bring the Nation to its rightful position as an independent power in the galaxy. Highlords who came riding on an ancient fleet from the long past. Highlords who would prove their honour by standing firm against the might of the Stellar Empire. All looked to Adoqhina as a guide on what must be done. Even now the Nation studies her words of prophecy and hungers for the lost homeworld. Twelve great tides must pass, For twelve great tribes to rise, A Maker repents and the pestilence spreads, The beacon is dimmed but the gifts show the way, Shadows of the future past awoke, An Elder buried in an ancient hall, Blood ties forged in flames, For the wolf shepherd was once prey, A new tide swallows the fearful whole, The final toll of a forgotten war, Rising stars and falling crescents, Watch the corruption eat its own, Fear not but have pity, The Nation is at home once more.