Ee'koi history

Ee'koi history encompasses the history of the Ee'koi species from prehistory to the present. Originally native to the planet Qrichie in the Tbeew system, Ee'koi have expanded to the entire Tbeew Prime Cluster over the last thousand years.

Prehistory

Early ancestors of Eekoiidae first diverged on South Big Island around 1.5 million years ago. Although complicated by the nature of Ee'koi anatomy, the earliest fossils of anatomically modern Ee'koi have been dated to around 100 thousand years old. Little is known about early Ee'koi, other than they presumably lived in small, nomadic tribal groups near the ocean and that their numbers were most likely quite low, given the limited amount of available land. While very few confirmed tools have been found, cut and impact marks left around early archeological sites suggest that early Ee'koi fashioned tools out of material that did not survive in the fossil record, most likely wood and animal teeth. Definitive stone tools would not be found until later periods, coinciding with the peopling of inner lands.

Qrichie Age

As Ee'koi became more sedentary and formed the first organized societies, clans emerged as the highest-order sociopolitical structures. Built upon shared genetic and social ancestry, clans rose to become almost analogous to humanoid nations, with complex and unique cultural and political structures. Because Ee'koi society is driven by collectivism and utilitarianism, Ee'koikind progressed from its first complex civilizations to industrialism in just 3,000 years, much less than most other. The first Ee'koi vessel reached space in 2001 AAI and the first Ee'koi stepped on Xeog, Qrichie's largest moon, in 2003 AAI. However, Qrichie was still divided among several clans, which slowed down the progress of outer space colonization. A first colony was established on Xeog in 2021 AAI as a joint effort between the Chii, Jbew and Chii ẽ Cĩẽ clans, but it would be the only one. By the mid-21st century AAI, the bodies of the Tbeew system would each be divided among the many Ee'koi clans. The first interstellar probe would be sent to the Trĩ-Trĩ system, the nearest star to Tbeew Prime, in 2125 AAI using sublight propulsion technology. It was through this probe that Ee'koikind confirmed the presence of a planet orbiting Trĩ-Trĩ Prime that could sustain life similar to Qrichie, which was named Tbrow Khõgõc Trĩ-Trĩ, meaning "[it is] the third one at the nearest" in Jegcre, referring to its position around its host star.

First Star Age – Age of Isolation

Tbrow Khõgõc Trĩ-Trĩ was first colonized in 2140 AAI by the Chii clan, which renamed the planet to Trẽõc, meaning "forward". This launched a wave of colonization of star systems in the Tbeew Cluster, though the absence of any means of FTL propulsion made this a very slow process which left colonies isolated between each other. Over time, the branches of clans which had colonized other star systems would diverge from their common ancestors and, while some would keep the name of their parent clan, new clan lineages would be created. Some star systems within the Ee'koi sphere fared better than others, with many successfully uniting themselves under shared superclan banners. The Trĩ-Trĩ system, which peacefully united in 2277 AAI, became one of the most prosperous of the Tbeew Cluster. On the other hand, the Tbeew system experienced a series of brutal conflicts, the largest being the Great Tbeew War (Jegcre: X), which primarily opposed the North Big Island and South Big Island superclans, as well as the various clans of Sand Island between 2259 and 2282 AAI. The war was fought across Qrichie and the colonies of the Tbeew system and would leave several worlds in ruins.

The Tbeew system would slowly recover from the Great War, entering a period of relative peace and stability. Great technological advances would be made in the late 23rd and early 24th centuries AAI, culminating in the development of FTL technology known as sequence drives in 2317 AAI. Sequence drives functioned by distorting and dislocating a vessel’s position in space, creating a sort of "tunnel" of compressed space between its origin and destination. Sequence drives would revolutionize the Ee'koi sphere, allowing the various star systems to finally be reconnected.

Second Star Age – Age of Strife

While the various Ee'koi systems had been able to communicate using lightspeed methods, the advent of FTL technology allowed them to be much more connected to each other. There was much debate among the superclans of Tbeew whether sequence drive technology should be shared with the rest of Ee'koikind or kept as a tactical advantage, but rumors of FTL testing in the Trĩ-Trĩ system in the 2320s AAI would lead to the Technology Sharing Initiative (Jegcre: Ceochõt ẽ Tiecieg) in 2329 AAI. From that point, all Ee'koi systems had access to FTL transportation. The various Ee’koi polities were contacted by the Star Union of Systems in 2340 AAI, which had been observing them for the past 300 years. The Star Union's first contact policy dictates that sophont civilizations may only be contacted once they reach interstellar FTL capability, or they reach out first. Although the first contact between Ee'koi and alien sophonts was peaceful, the Star Union only shared limited knowledge with the Ee'koi and no technology, deeming them not ready yet. The Rulership of Fheqgaa, which the Ee'koi had known about from Star Union records, first contacted Ee’koi polities in 2343 AAI with the objective of having the Ee'koi join their empire. Debate ensued regarding how to best protect Ee'koikind against Tetropsid aggression, by either joining the Star Union or remaining independent, which led to rising tensions among Ee'koi polities.

Over the remainder of 2340s AAI and into the 50s and 60s, the Star Union and Rulership of Fheqgaa would fund various opposition groups and Ee'koi polities to sway star systems into the their respective hegemonies. The tensions would come to a head in the late 2360s AAI when armed conflict broke out between Independentist and Union-backed factions. This would be the first of the series of conflicts known as the Unification Wars (Jegcre: Jieg ẽ ii-Hẽwqbiiw). The Unification Wars were multilateral conflicts opposing the various Ee'koi clans and superclans, broadly divided into three sides: the Independentists, which fought for Ee'koi sovereignty, the Unionists, which sought to join the the Star Union, and the Tetropsids, which were looking to conquer Ee'koi systems. Allegiances shifted throughout the course of the conflicts and each side had no real central hierarchy. The Unification Wars were the most brutal conflicts in Ee'koi history, killing hundreds of millions over nearly four decades and leading to the extinction of some clans, most prominent among them the Chii ẽ Cĩẽ clan, exterminated by the Tbĩw ceo Ĩg clan. There is no definitive consensus on when the wars ended, but a common date is 2404 AAI, with the proclamation of the Serene Union of the Tbeew Cluster (Jegcre: Choc Jõ ẽ Qri Tbeew ii-Cbriw o). Minor conflicts would still continue for the remainder of the 2400s AAI as more star systems were integrated into the Serene Union.