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The Advent of Mandrala
It was not long before the Enlar discovered that, in one of the
neighboring systems of their home star, existed a
fruitful world not all that dissimilar from their own
that was hospitable to life.
Upon this planet, lived a species of short, vaguely humanoid,
4-limbed organisms now known to those well-versed in the
echoes of Ancient History as the Crenations. Fearful of
any direct contact with these creatures, the Enlar
concealed their presence, content to observe the unwary
Crenation populous from the safety of orbit above their
world.
The Crenations were a barbaric and fragmented civilization of many
different tribal factions that were constantly at war
with one another. Though they had developed a number of
highly sophisticated languages amidst the various,
primitive societies that scattered across the vastness
of their war-ravaged planet, any form of technological
innovation—beyond the most rudimentary of weapons and
protective structures—was utterly beyond their
comprehension. Loyal only to their secular warlords,
they were a sentient species bred for battle, as was
evident by their powerful limbs and their lean,
muscular, upright-walking bodies.
But, in “one of the galaxy’s most astounding coincidences” (as it
was to later be called, by the Mandralor), shortly after
the Enlar arrived in orbit above the Crenation home
world transpired the Advent of Mandrala.
The Enlar were at once fascinated by Mandrala, who was some form of
mutant to the original Crenation genus. Possessing an
extra pair of limbs protruding from each side of his
abdomen, the monolithic creature stood at twice the
height of any other Crenation that walked the face of
his ancient world. He was a being of uncanny
intelligence and charisma, and (like the Enlar) despised
any act of physical confrontation, resorting to violence
only when absolutely necessary.
Despite his pacifistic proclivities amidst a planet saturated with
war-mongering overlords, Mandrala ultimately managed to
unite his species: bringing them beneath the banner of
one leader, and one mind. Mere decades passed before the
he had morphed the savage Crenation world into a
theological civilization based upon the complete
obedience of their secular (and simultaneously
religious) leader: himself.
Honoring the holy commands of Lord Order, with whom Mandrala
allegedly made repeated, personal interventions
throughout the course of his unnaturally long lifespan,
the prophet guided his people with the benevolence of an
enlightened, altruistic dictator. And because he never
aged (although his various offspring did) Mandrala soon
became no less than an all-out deity to his children: he
was the Voice of God Himself, and no one questioned his
authority.
Being both physically and mentally superior to the 4-limbed
mainstream Crenation species, Mandrala’s dominant traits
soon overwhelmed the Crenation gene pool. Within the
span of just a few dozen generations, the Crenations
morphed into the Mandralor: possessing the prophet’s
appearance, as all their offspring were born with his
idiosyncratic pair of extra limbs and prodigious
intellect
It was then, upon the dawning moments of peaceful civilization on
the planet below, that the Enlar chose to reveal
themselves to the Mandralor. Though the secrets of
interstellar flight were still far beyond them, the
Mandralor were not shocked to discover the existence of
the Enlar. Their leader, Mandrala, had spoken of
countless “spiritual encounters with Lord Order,” where
“strange, luminescent beings from the sky descended to
their world,” and gave him guidance. And when Mandrala
immediately accepted the boon of Enlar friendship, upon
an understanding of their seemingly divine existence,
the galaxy’s first inter-species camaraderie was born.
Like the Enlar, the Mandralor were possessed by some inbred
interest to understand the universe around them. They
constantly demanded information from the Enlar about the
myriad undiscovered stars in the sky, for they were a
young race, and never had opportunity to explore the
galaxy for themselves.
At first, the Enlar were hesitant to reveal any of their secrets to
their unproven allies, but they soon learned to exploit
the interest of the Mandralor for their own benefit….
As a “gift,” the Enlar provided a steady supply of reliable (albeit
outdated and oftentimes dilapidated beyond value)
starships for the Mandralor, asking only that they share
the bounty of information that they discovered with
their benefactors. Acting with boundless enthusiasm, the
grateful Mandralor used these vessels to scout out and
chart the surrounding abyss—zealously throwing
themselves in harm’s way under the command of their
prophetic leader, Mandrala.
Without any further hesitation, the entire Enlar civilization
ceased their unnecessarily risky interstellar
explorations. Staying within the relative safety of
their own borders, they merely awaited for the regular
reports by the legions of naively curious Mandralor
explorers. Indeed, the Enlars’ plan had worked
beautifully: the Mandralor became their early scouts.
And when, after only a few short decades of exploration, the
Mandralor came into contact with the Legionites, the
Enlar soon became very intrigued. Having recently
acquired a profound interest in societal manipulation
ever since their discovery of the Mandralor, the Enlar
decided to experiment with this species as well….
The Legionites were mountainous, whale-like creatures of solid
muscle and bone that could barely even support their own
massive weight outside the buoyancy of their boggy
habitats. Pleasantly living out their lives, eating
plants that grew in the verdant bogs of their homeworld,
their primitive form of communication had, thus far, led
their civilization into only the first stages of
development. Because of this, the Legionite people were
very susceptible to superstition and suggestion, being
easily led and readily swayed in their pacifistic
nature. Though they brains possessed only modest
neurological sophistication, their huge, brawny bodies
proved very readily capable of tolerating the harsh
conditions of industrious slave labor.
The Enlar easily manipulated the Legionites into a sort of unified
world government, and established a “puppet leader”
(whom they had full control over at all times) at its
head. In this method, the Enlar quickly became ruthless
taskmasters over their entire species.
Though only a handful of the huge creatures were ever aware of
their influence, he Lagionites almost instantaneously
overtook nearly all of the Enlar’s production of ships
and arms. Hundreds of thousands of new, giant space
cruisers were constructed for the use of the Mandralor’s
interstellar explorations.
And so the galaxy’s first Union of races was born: upon the
relentless courage of the Mandralor, the administrative
perspicacity of the Enlar, and the backbreaking labor of
the Legionites….
Within a few short decades, the Mandralor already had proven to be
far more adept at reconnaissance than the Enlar ever
were.
They discovered many semi-sentient races, whose barbaric tendencies
and societies were not all too dissimilar from those of
the early Crenation civilization. Most of these races,
who were ultimately be deemed in later days as the
“Goth,” had not developed far enough to the point on
Enlar interest. Leaving the “lesser creatures” to
themselves, the Enlar commanded the Mandralor to
continue their expedition across the universe—until they
ultimately came across something utterly shocking in the
scope of its horrors.
What the Mandralor found was too destructive—too volatile a
possibility to be left unchecked without the watchful
eye of their Enlar masters. Stretching far beyond the
territories mapped out by the Enlar, and relaying
information between their colonies in the absence of
more advanced communication devices, like interstellar
messengers of the Ancient Age, they quickly retreated
back to the heart of Enlar territory.
But, by the time they had returned to relay the message, they had
discovered that they were too late…
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