No longer disunited bands of raiders, the fledgling Kabals of Commorragh found great insight and economic boon from uniting their disparate tribes under one lord -- in this case, lady. They made unparalleled advances in science, fuelled by raiding the frontiers of their neighbours -- Orks, Tau, ratlings, and more. Their graceful bodies naturally led towards maximising speed above all else for their ships, an example of true power. Outposts would be pillaged and emptied of wealth and people before the enemy could notice, and the slaves already at work back on their own world. Soon, they would discover the magic of gene-weaving. We could make our slaves stronger, better, more productive, more lucrative. We can make ourselves live longer, first, too. And that was something on our Lady's mind -- for she did not name herself "Living Dark Muse" for naught: she sought to become an art piece renowned across the Universe. A true piece of perfection, immortal, unaging. The first to defeat death. They will be a Drukhari.
Once a no-name captain, of one of many of the raiding skiffs, Itu un-Itek is granted command over his own fleet after the death of his senior, who fell through a spacing-hatch, used to dispose of corpses. Eventually, he would gain acclaim for his skilful maneouvre in the Enslavement of the Orks -- blockading the Orks from all help or restitution while their own slaves rebelled against them, and then when both were weak and weary from war, pressed the moment of advantage. The rebellion was put down, and then the Orks. Vital hyperlane routes to the rest of the galaxy were assured, and so were up to 10,000 population units -- of various species. They would all be brought to the Ringworld of Gommoragh, and it's various subdivisions, ruled by the different Kabals. The trickster's work in the war and his logistical supervision of so many slaves led him to a position in the Dark Conclave, the seat of the Lady's power. He would become Vizier -- chief of all our works across the sea of stars.
And then, the Emperor of Mankind, who was worshipped by many as a God, was brought before the Lady of the Dark City herself, who burnt him at the stake and hacked him to pieces, live and broadcasted. It was enough to cow the men of Sol and Centauri -- and they, too, were brought into servitude to the Kabals. Forever.
The beginning of the Lady's toying with the Shroud began at this time. A tutor of the Shroudwalkers was sent to Commoragh, and granted a seat upon the Conclave for their sage advice. A routine tribute of the purple space crystals, Zro, would be sent to the Coven for their time -- but eventually, he saw something different here, and stayed for room and board.
The telepaths would breach the Shroud, again and again, finding nothing but disaster and harm. Many were lost in the innumerable attempts. But eventually, we came across a giant body floating, resting. It gripped our Lady, holding her close like a treasure. And he pointed: "Go south. The ancients will have what you seek. And in exchange, for the Master of Masters, you shall hand us a quarter of your winnings."
The Muse grew less trustful, paranoid. It began to affect our diplomatic relations -- so much as a cruel, slaver cabal can have diplomatic relations. She would begin to focus on the internal works, and a section of the Dark City the size of a London borough would be dedicated to the worship of the Instrument of Desire. In the meanwhile, she was as vague with Itu as Desire was -- go south, young man, go south.
This was not the only method our Lady took to ensure her own godhood -- similarly, vast facilities of archaeology were expanded. We would learn from the tomb-worlds and the damned cemetary-planets the ancients had left us, and become more powerful than they ever had been.
The victories of the fleets of the Drukhari were well known 'cross this half of the galaxy by now -- if not the galaxy entire. His new neighbour to the south was the Anrathe -- a despicable bunch. They were another offshoot of the Aeldar race -- in exile from the Asuryani's craftworlds and the Exodites' singular planet-paradise. They were rapacious anarchists and rebels, the worst bunch. Integrating them would be difficult. But at their core, they loved the same thing as us. Marauding across the final sea -- nothing ever gave them the same thrill as such a thing.
After diplomatic negotiations -- and a show of power, encasing the whole armada of the seven major Kabals -- the Anrathe agreed to cultural and political dissolution, slowly but surely. They would join us in their fleets. They had no choice, once Drukhari security forces were garrisoned throughout their worlds in a solely altruistic gesture, to aid with their own wave of internal crime.
The Dark Conclave took a few breaths, a few decades, to amass more wealth. Their coffers swelled, and they developed gargantuan structures in space. Above the old homeworld of the Orks -- since bombed into a desert -- would the fleets be commanded and coordinated. The heat of the suns would be harvested across several systems; and the Dark City was greatly expanded. So, so many slaves. Some doubted our course. Give them a little more freedom. Not one inch.
After the integration, an eerie, single transmission, from one of those bloated, rotting empires. "Tread carefully, grow slower -- or you will break." The few diplomats the Drukhar had sent it up the chain to the Living Muse -- a title many had found hilarious behind her back. She was shaken by the premonition, even after her own encounters with the gods.
Itu un-Itek had completed the psionic initiation of the Anrathe. They were, once endowed with the same psychic awakening that the Drukhari were, and genetically rendered closer to their cousins, put in charge of the penal colonies and thrall-worlds that had been erected -- while he had been absent, at the Anrathi capital that had little time left to exist. Many were simply allowed to enjoy pleasures at the Dark City, or joined with contracts in un-Itek's fleets.
The Conservers of Qix'Lufran were the next target. They had to be what the Instrument were referring to -- one of those despicable ancient empires, keeping to themselves, hoarding their wealth, their knowledge. Oh-so-greedily. Any offers by the Drukhari were simply ignored. And oh, what a coincidence that an old hyperlane from the old Anrathe systems still had a course directly to their worlds.
The battle took much time to prepare for -- if they knew it would last as long as Troy, if they even cared to know what Troy was. It would be far longer than that. The Conservers, even millennia into their decay, were still ready and waiting. We were unaware of their cloaking technology, and we learnt a lot from the scraps and debris of their ships. It took the effort of every single Drukhari and every single slave to gain inches in the battle -- but eventually, the scientists discovered a weapon to end the back-and-forth: the Colossus. Equipped with a weapon that could separate worlds from the galactic community forever with a permanent shield-mass borne of Shroud, three-of-five planets were separated forever. The war was deliberately prolonged, from this point, on the Drukhari side -- and the Colossus was sent to it's giant shipyard for refitting several times. The fourth planet, everything was devolved to a pre-sapient state. And the capital was invaded, saved as a trophy. Soon, though they did not know it, they would be needing it, and all the knowledge they gained.
At the throne, to their leader, Eyes of Lavender, did un-Itek deal the killing blow. He was
With a parade of population units equivalent to several billion that were paraded through the entire core Ringworld, with un-Itek's glory, an eerie wasrning was given from one of the other ancient empires that still managed to had exist, their autonomous systems keeping them alive cryptobiotically an interidimenional horrorr of understandable preportions, turned our core into a black hole. many geysers dark matter erupts on a brand new colony, the first attempt the war would be cut short in the meantime his son would be charged with making the stocks broad and wide in one of the journeys to the shorud.. volcanic rift.. sacrifices..