Editing Nothing is here 6

[[Category:The Judges of Tehom]]

The Lords above the Depths shall lead you.  Know the Lords as the Tides know them.

Tehom, or “Raquiya IV” as it was originally labeled on the Marcusian documents, is a world for heroes.  It demands and creates heroes, and humanity responds.  It is a world ruled by a segment of humanity, known as the Cerenim, who have been imbued with supernatural powers and success.  Under their guidance and celebrity, the survivors of a failed human terraforming effort have flourished, creating a handful of sprawling cities that dot the islands and small continents along Tehom’s equator.  Within these cities, humanity struggles to stabilize itself as it obeys the decrees from and obsessively follows the exploits of the Cerenim. 

=The world and a short history=
Once in a great while, the slipstream changes enough that the jump links between systems change.  When this results in a system suddenly disappearing from a cluster, it is a horrible tragedy.  When a new system appears, however, it creates a massive opportunity.  Such an opportunity presented itself when the Ziz Cluster found itself linked to a new system, Raquiya.  The primary rights to map and colonize Raquiya were acquired by the Marc United Systems, one of the four TerCols (terraformation-colonization groups) within the Ziz Cluster.  As the oldest extant TerrCol, it had the greatest ability to marshall the necessary resources.  MarcUS found a relatively rich and uninhabited system with several barren worlds and one survivable world – Raquiya IV
Raquiya IV was slightly smaller than the Terran Standard Size, but it was frigidly cold with little dry land.  Nevertheless, the air and water were compatible with human life, and the early survey teams discovered substantial mineral deposits.  Colonization was approved.

==The Marcusian Period==
MarcUS  became quite successful as its exploitation of the system.  As its profits increased, MarcUS established three space stations for systema administration:

*STAS – System Theater Administration – Slipknot
**This station was in charge of the slipknot point linking Raquiya to the rest of the Ziz Cluster
*STAM – System Theater Administration – Military
**In orbit around Raquiya IV, the central command and control post for MarcUS
*STAR3 - System Theater Administration - Research, Regulation, & Representation
**The station for civilian administration
As Raquiya’s system population increased, discussions regarding the terraformation of Raquiya IV began in earnest.  As the world was already (more or less) inhabitable, a lower-cost and slower terraforming process was conceived.

===The Plague: World Blood===
Terraforming began as planned, and as the world warmed and the oceans began to be open water all year, the inhabitants began calling the world “Tehom,” denoting a deep, turbulent ocean.  
But quickly, things began to go awry.  Sabotage became a constant concern, and many unexplained malfunctioned plagued the project.  Additionally, the scientific models were proved widely inaccurate: The climactic changes to the world did not fit within anticipated parameters, and dangerous meteorological activity became frequent.
The first serious crisis was a pandemic.  As the world warmed and the ice thawed, the water supply in many areas became contaminated with a bacteria that caused mental illness, including mass auditory and visual hallucinations.  Its colloquial name, “world blood” (which the upper administration of MarcUS did not appreciate) came from the fact that after a critical mass of contamination, water would become a reddish color.
The pandemic worsened and changed.  Those who were poisoned began to die quickly and horribly if taken too far off the surface of Tehom.  STAR3’s orbit was low enough that it became a medical research facility. 

===The Fall of STAR3===
Things get weirder and more paranormal.  STAR3, as the space station within "reach" of The Tavul, becomes the primary focus of its attention.  There was an apparent outbreak of the station, causing it to be quickly quarantined.  Within a day, all communication from Station Command ceased, and its orbit began to deteriorate.  A mission sent to save the station was fired upon by unknown individuals on STAR3.  The most common theories involve either surviving station command or infected individuals.  Within a week, STAR3 fell mostly burning up in Tehom's atmosphere.

At this point the world seems to turn explicitly against humanity, with weather actively attacking air- and spacecraft.

The first rumors of mystics begin to emerge, and TAvul as a phenomenon is identified.

==The Bear Period==
Quarantine procedures trap a large portion of the population on Tehom to fend for themselves.  Supplies are sometimes dropped in.
Military scientists, operating off of STAM, effectively wage war against the Tavul, using terraforming.

The planet-bound population comes into conflict with STAM, worried they will be written off as collateral damage.  Tensions between the two grow into open hostility, and harsh tactics are used by STAM to bring the colonists in line.

Eventually, some communities on Tehom stabilize, almost alwayys around charimsatic leaders.  People note the Tavul's fascination with the leaders stabilizes weather conditions.  STAM targets these leaders for assassination.

==Leopard Period==
A leader arises who becomes a serious HERO.  He travels across the surviving communities, organizes his followers, attacks STAM operations, etc.  He manages to commandeer a ship and destroys STAM, leaving behind an accountof his life and how to gain the attention & favor of the Mevakeret Tavul.

==Ten Horns, Seven Crowns==
After the fall of the Leopard, his generals began to carve up Tehom.  Treaties were signed, and 10 Horns or capital cities with recognized lineages back to the Leopard's inner circle were established.  Lesser cities existed, but the Tavul cared about them less, and they were marginal, as were their Cerenim.  A relatively stable society evolves organized around the actions of the hero-lord Cerenim who occupy and entertain the Tavul and are given power as a reward.

===The Earth-Blessed Revolution===
Not all are content with this aristocratic social organization.  An egalitarian revolution, the Earth-Blessed Duidainians, grew as a movement.  It came to the foreground when one Horn's Shoftim was inept to the point he collapsed the Cerenim system of his city.  It was later discovered that Duidainians may have a way to dampen Tavul's attention of an area.  Their revolution spreads, and takes out 2 more horns before treaties are signed with the remaining 7 Shoftim.  Duidain becomes the "little horn", the farthest from the ocean.