.png)
The Lavarians are from the Logar System in the Iconium Galaxy, which is one of the two galaxies that make up what is termed the “Central Systems”. The planet of Lavaria is cold and dark most of the year. Though it shares Lystra’s two suns it is located much further from their light, causing Lavaria to experience a mostly cold climate and little sunlight. Lavaria's many bright moons often cause the night to be brighter than the day.
Lavarians are a time-minded people, shrewd and cold like the machines they love and depend upon. They are red-skinned, like the lava lakes of the deep mountains, which they have made their home. Their eyes are bright yellow that glint in the dark due to their impeccable vision; no race in the universe sees quite as well as the Lavarians. Most resemble the build and height of a Movarian, but their faces are usually hairless: no eyebrows, beards, or hair atop their heads. Their skin is stretched tight over their bones, giving most a starved or skeletal appearance.
Legend tells that Lavaria was once as bright and beautiful as Lystra before its people brought darkness upon their lands by scorning their suns and following the Cult of Shadows. The Cult of Shadows was once a collaboration of necromancers who became the ruling power on Lavaria in its early history. They sought a dark power that they used to enslave the entire planet. Since their power was greater in the light of the moons, legend tells that they used their powers to weaken the suns and ascend the planet into shadows, beginning the Age of Darkness.
During the Age of Darkness many Lavarians sought refuge from the Cult, and the cold of the planet's surface now sunk in darkness, in the caves and caverns of the mountains. Not much is known about what happened to the kingdom of the Cult of Shadows (recorded history first begins with the time of the Cave Dwellers) though countless ruins across the surface of the planet give credence to the legends of old.
When the Lavarians first emerged from the caves and caverns of the planet their eyes had adjusted so well to the dark that they could see with ease, and even preferred dim lighting compared to the brightness of the suns that would come out every several weeks.
It was at this time that the caves of the planet were becoming overcrowded so Lavarians began to populate the surface again, yet many of the most rich and powerful kept their dwellings under the earth, a practice that continues to the present. For instance, Lavaria’s great capital, Lovarna, is completely submerged under a great mountain.
After they began to repopulate the surface there was much infighting between the top-dwellers and the cave-dwellers. The Top-Dwellers, faced with difficult conditions above, were forced to be resourceful and created ingenious inventions for war, defense, and new technologies to deal with the cold weather and cruel creatures that they were not used to dealing with beneath the earth. Soon the Top-Dwellers gained the upper hand and defeated what was left of the original Cave-Dwellers, taking their underground lands for themselves.
It took many more years for the rest of the surface to be populated, but the planet never gained a centralized unity, power often exchanging hands between warring nations, until Lavaria was first visited by the Laneer in the Fifth Era. This visit, called Lathoria in the Lavarian tongue, had a dramatic effect on the culture and political atmosphere of the Lavarian people. With the help of the Laneer the most powerful nation at the time of their visit unified the planet with one last worldwide war known as The War of Tears. From this conflict the Lavarian Union was formed.
Their interests now directed to the stars, the Lavarians aided the Laneer in their search for power and wealth throughout the vastness of space. The Laneer’s knowledge of space travel matched with the Lavarians aptitude for science and technology aided both races greatly in this joint venture. It was not long before the first Jumper was discovered that allowed the Laneer and the Lavarians to travel to other systems.
When they first discovered the Gaja System, the Laneer took it for themselves, but the Lavarians were quick to push back with force, starting the first among many conflicts between the two people groups. With the Lavarians superior knowledge of warfare they would have reigned supreme against the Laneer if the Rendarians had not come to the Laneer's aid. The joint forces of the Laneer and the Rendarians pushed back the Lavarians all the way to their home world.
Lavaria was so devastated after the Gaja Wars that it took a decade for them to recuperate and find allies of their own, during which time the Laneer used the Rendarian’s armies to conquer the Central Systems. Not all the systems fell under the rule of the Laneer, however, for the Lavarians found allies in the Frodarians of the Frodar System and formed the “Union Planets For Freedom” or U.P.F.F.
After the Laneer conquered most of the Central Systems their empire was wide spread and their fighting forces depleted. It was then that the U.P.F.F. fleets attacked the Laneer in the system where the conflict had begun: the Gaja System. The battle over the Giana moon, Jug, began the bloody War of Worlds.
After an Era of fighting, with heavy loses on both sides, a peace treaty was struck between the Laneer and the Lavarians and along with it the United Republic was born. The Laneer established the capital of this new republic on the space station they found belonging to the Old Ones. They also adopted the Old One's language as the official language of the new regime.
The Lavarians were wary of the newly established republic from the beginning, but it brought with it a peace across the universe that was sorely needed and the newly discovered planets beyond the Rim Systems promised enough power and wealth to be had for both superpowers. These new systems were designated the Frontier Systems and an agreement was struck that the systems discovered there would be given to any race that found and colonized them, as along as each system would fall under the ultimate authority of the United Republic.
With these terms set, an uncertain alliance was formed between the Lavarians and the Laneer, but the ill will of the Lavarians for the Laneer never quite went away. As more and more systems joined the United Republic, these new representatives acted as buffers between the two superpowers, but in the minds of many there was always a fear that a universe wide war would break out again.
If you want to find out more about the Bright Abyss Series be sure to pick up a copy of the first book in the series The Bright Abyss. You can find it by following the link here: The Bright Abyss. You can also get a free download of my short story The First Encounter, a Bright Abyss story, by signing up for my email list below!