Tsvayg Tsurik Oyfshteln, "The Branch Restored," may be an economic and technological backwater of The Harmony, but it is a region rich in diverse cultures - and opportunity for fortune and adventure. Tsvayg Tsurik is a proud example of The Harmony's reclaiming of Onvern Velt (Lost Worlds) from Tsepitslen Melukhes (the Shattered Realms.)
Tsvayg Tsurik is defined by the recovery of Onvern Velt (Lost Worlds) back into The Harmony. The Quincentennial of the restoration is approaching; the festivities are to be spectacular.
Some worlds went Onvern Velt a full five millenia ago, while others were lost as recently as five centuries ago.
Some few Onvern Velt were recovered nearly five centuries ago,while hundreds of others are just being returned to The Harmony now. Thousands more are yet to be contacted.
The result is an incredible variety of worlds - and incredible glory, as well as wealth, to be gained.
Note that the region of Tsvaygy Tsurik is not defined by a physical volume in a particular universe but rather by the network of Gates and Links and other means of communications through which the various worlds may be accessed.
That this communications network is being reconstructed along somewhat different lines than it was originally woven has resulted in the various worlds having rather different "neighbors," in terms of access, than they had before.
Archeological evidence reveals evidence of Ancients' Seeding missions here billions of years ago. Since then there have been many waves of Seeding and colonization. If their remains and impacts seem to the naïve eye scattered and without pattern, it is because, as Gates and Links are developed and lost over the millennia, how Cosmic cartographers perceive communication rout defined regions changes; systems which were once joined as neighbors become distant and those once distant become neighbors. As the positions and periods of activity of Ancient Gates and Links is researched - and some even revived - the patterns of the past are gradually revealed, patterns that suggest the location of yet more worlds with great promise for courageous explorers.
Over the course of billions of years, the remains of countless cycles of civilization, whether local or interstellar, have left their mark, both biota and artifacts. These remains are now a part of the geological strata of many worlds in the region, blurring the line between natural process and artificial. Enough time has passed that on some worlds whole classes of plants and animals and other life forms have developed which depend upon the fossilized remains of ancient civilizations for their habitat and mineral resources. Later civilizations have also developed which exploit, knowingly or not, the remains of their predecessors.
Other worlds, once richly inhabited, are now lifeless, the record of flourishing habitats and remarkable civilizations buried in layers of rock or sunk under seas of dust.
It is at once reassuring and chilling to note that these remains of civilizations long passed include traces of past AI civilizations. Reassuring, because such remains give us confidence that The Enemy can be driven back and even defeated. Chilling, because sometimes these remains reanimate; The Enemy plots on an infinite timescale.
The Organic Harmony opened Gates to various parts of what is now Tsepitslen Melukhes (The Shattered Realms) between one and eight millenia ago.
People of the Ma'ar and their subordinate suzerainties of The Harmony explored the region over the course of several millenia, expanding their nets as they revived Ancient Gates and established new Links to join more star systems to the region. Ingiginous populations were enlightened to The Harmony and thousands of worlds were colonized. Some were enlightened to The Harmony for scant centuries while others had become part of The Harmony for millenia before the Dissoluion plague washed them away.
This resulted in a wide range of dates for initial contact and early colonization before the Dissolution.
The needs of The Harmony call for giving different treatment to different worlds. Diversity is vital as a teacher to and defense of The Harmony. Only thus may Organic Life hope to succeed in The Great War against the cold, synthetic machinations of The Enemy.
The result of these policies of The Harmony is the fostering of a rich diversity of cultures, fostered by some disparity in access to Cosmic Culture and its technological and philosophical achievements.
(SEE Colonization for details of policy.)
SEE The Dissolution for details.
Five thousand years ago the Dissolution plague first washed in to The Harmony, flooding in from from several Gates. It was an attack by The Enemy, the infinitely patient AI which hungers exterminate organic life from all the Multiverse.
Hundreds of worlds became Onvern Velt ("Lost Worlds") in that first wave of the Dissolution. Over the course of the next four and a half millenia thousands of more worlds were lost as the Dissoloution plague seeped through the imperfect Quarentine time and time again.
As a result, various worlds's dates of becoming Onvern Velt ("Lost Worlds") ranges from five thousand years ago to barely five centuries ago.
Trillions died in the Chaos accompanying the Dissolution.
(SEE The Dissolution.)
For five millennia, The Harmony held itself in Quarantine against the Tsepitslen Melukhes (Shattered Realms,) as the regions abandoned beyond the Sealed Gates is known. The quarentine was imperfect; time and time afain the Dissolution washed more worlds into the Tsepitslen Melukhes.
Four hundred and ninety years ago, as The Harmony learned how to handle the Dissolution phages, the hemoraging of Harmony worlds into the Tsepitslen ceased. Soon thereafter restoration of Gates and Links began, and with that the Recovery of the Onvern Velt commenced.
Of course, only a handful of worlds were brought back into The Harmony during the initial phase of the restoration, over four hundred years ago. The numbers of worlds enlightened increases exponentially with each cycle of exploration, evaluation, and Harmonization.
This means that Harmonic worlds in Tsvayg Tsurik have a range of nearly half a millenia since having been Recovered, or at least contacted.
Some worlds remain restricted or even under full quarantine, for biological or economic health and safety, for military concerns or cultural preservation, or for other reasons. This may be determined by agencies or officials of The Harmony or by local governments. Other worlds are fully "open," with law-abiding travelers welcome with few restrictions.
Today, worlds in or near Tsvayg Tsurik include:
Fyn-Lakshyr
Tsvayg Tsurik also includes versions, some very heavily modified, of the following "borrowed worlds:"
Darkover (Andre Norton)
K'zin Empire (Larry Niven)
Majipoor (Robert Silverberg)
Summa Nulla (Ruby, WZBX Radio Theatre)
Witchworld (Andre Norton)
Urth of the Dying Sun (The Shadow of the Torturer, etc., Gene Wolf)