Sokmet

Sokmet is the name of two related settings, one being the original Sokmet, and the other the rebooted Sokmet. The original Sokmet was a role-play setting used on the Yahoo! Instant Messenger programmer starting in 2001 and ending in 2008. It was home to hundreds of player characters, and almost as many players. The rebooted Sokmet is an ongoing project redesigning most of the cultural and background elements of the storyline, and updating the story itself to be more in depth.

Original Storyline Summary
The storyline of the original Sokmet focused on the conflict between two point of view characters, Armand de Leon of the Malkaari, and Baron Hanosake of the Nevarians. This personal conflict was part of an overarching war between the technologically advanced Nevarians and the magically powerful Sokmet Alliance, which consisted of several races. Three Great Wars, defined as wars fought between or on multiple planets, were fought between the Sokmet races and the Nevarians. After the Second Great War, which wiped out nearly 90% of the Alliance's population, the Nevarians were allowed to join the Alliance as part of a surrender by the Allies. The Alliance transformed itself into the Republic of Sokmet, and went on to colonize and conquer various worlds using a combination of Nevarian technology and Alliance magic. All was not well, though, and a Third Great War broke out between the newly anointed Nevarian Reich and the Republic Loyalists. This final war ended in the Battle of Godshead, where Republic forces received support from the Savaran Fae Empire, and were able to force a peace with the surviving Nevarian leadership. The majority of Republic and Reich leaders and soldiers were killed during Godshead, and the planet it was fought on was laid waste. During the confusion of the battle, Armand de Leon was able to ascend and become a God, before vanishing with the rest of the setting's deities and leaving the mortals to fend for themselves.

Rebooted Storyline Summary
The rebooted Sokmet storyline focuses much more on the political and social causes of the three Great Wars. The storyline begins much earlier than the original Sokmet, covering the original enslavement of Nevarian and Alliance races by the Savaran Fae Empire. The populations of the Nevarian, Malkaari, and Xarcan races are transported by the Fae to three new planets. After centuries of slavery, the Alliance forms and rises up against the Fae. The Revolution goes against the Alliance until the Daishokube, a sect within the Fae Empire, joins their cause. When the Revolution is won, the Savarans retreat, and the Alliance promptly enslaves the Nevarians. It is at this point that the timelines between the original and rebooted storylines begin to match up.

First Great War
The First Great War is fought when Nevarian forces liberate their world from Alliance occupation forces. The battles are hard fought, but new Nevarian technology gives enough of an edge to crush the garrisons. Though the Alliance was able to close its Fae Gate to the Nevarian world, it did nothing to stop the coming invasion. Nevarian forces, using Jump devices to traverse between the worlds, begin an all out assault on the world of the Malkaari and Daishokube. The Alliance, without question, is crushed and sent retreating in the face of vastly superior Nevarian forces. The war ends, however, when Nevarian forces begin running out of ammunition. A peace is created, and the Nevarians withdraw back to their world. Nevarian offensives are noted for using Martyr units-- pilots of jet powered missiles whom guide their weapons to the designated targets, killing themselves in the process.

Second Great War
During the seven years that pass between the ending of the First War, and the beginning of the Second, both sides pursue a program of increasing militarization. With neither side trusting the other to maintain the peace, the war becomes inevitable. Armand de Leon, heir to the ruling family of the Malkaari, quarrels with his sister, Rose. The two disagree on whether to adopt Nevarian technology and tactics in the face of an oncoming threat, but also whether or not the threat itself is real; Armand argues that Nevarians and the Alliance races can live in peace with each other, while Rose believes that war is inevitable. The debate ends in a compromise: Alliance forces will be outfitted with new technology and tactics, but will also be increased in numbers and set at a higher alert in the case of attack.

Nevarian leaders, for their part, agree that war is coming. The disagreement is on the tactics to be used, and whether civilians are acceptable targets. The influential and charismatic Baron Hanosake convinces the ruling council that any Alliance members who survive the war will only prepare to enslave the Nevarians again. It is agreed that the total annihilation of all Alliance races is required before the Nevarians will ever be truly safe from slavery.

The Nevarian attack is launched on the seventh anniversary of the ending of the First Great War. Despite all attempts to ready themselves for attack, the Alliance forces are caught flat footed. During the first offensive, Baron's Phoenix Knights-- power-armoured warriors-- captured Rose de Leon, the ruling Duchess of the Malkaari. Rose was tortured, raped, and sent back to Alliance lines with the message that any surrendering forces would be given amnesty from the crimes committed against the Nevarian race. Several Alliance units surrender, and are promptly slaughtered by waiting Nevarian forces. Armand executes Rose before news of her attacks can spread, and takes command of the Malkaari himself. Though initial battles go against the Alliance, a stalemate is reached after Armand's ascension to power.

The stalemate is broken when Jehova Hanosake, one of Baron's sons, stumbles upon the slumbering Chaos Dragon, a powerful deity. Jehova and his team awaken the Dragon, and set it loose on the unsuspecting Alliance population centers. The Dragon, referred to as the Devourer of Worlds, massacres the bulk of the Alliance's civilian and military populations. It is eventually stopped, when it's body is destroyed, after a costly battle. Baron, seeing his chance for a decisive end to the conflict, offers surrender terms to the Alliance; Alliance races will recognize Nevarians as equal, and will allow the Nevarians to be a leading race in the Alliance itself. Armand accepts these terms, and peace is declared. Alliance populations have been reduced to two hundred million souls, from eight billion, following the Dragon's attacks and the ending of the war.

Pax Sokmet
The years following the end of the Second War were marked by sharp changes in Alliance cultures, and desperate attempts to rebuild the shattered worlds that had suffered during the war. Daishokube populations were reduced to a mere million souls following the war, and the race would never recover from this devastating blow. The Malkaari population had dwindled to some one hundred and twenty nine million souls, while Xarcan populations had fallen to ninety million souls. The Nevarians, on the other hand, maintained a full population of four billion souls. The surviving Alliance cultures shifted to place a heavy emphasis on reproduction, with the Malkaari going so far as to consider number of living offspring as the chief determinant of status and wealth. Traditional values within the cultures, such as monogamy and patriarchy, vanished in the face of looming extinction.

While the Alliance cultures scrambled to survive, the Nevarians completed work on enhanced Jump engines, which were integrated into vast orbital vessels. These ships were able to cross great distances in the blink of an eye, and allowed the Nevarian dominated Alliance to begin exploring, colonizing, and conquering new worlds. Many of these worlds fell before Nevarian military might, while some others were able to resist. One such world that resisted was named Terra, and was populated by several races and many nations.

During this time of exploration and conquest, termed the Pax Sokmet in recognition of the internal peace that existed within the Alliance, Armand de Leon scoured his home world for the remnants of the Chaos Dragon. With the aid of his future wife, Kaya, and a god-like being from Terra, Armand was able to locate and secure the Dragon's remains. In a secret ritual he consumed the Dragon's corpse and took her powers for himself. This marked the ascension of Armand from a mortal Malkaari to the station of the Deity of Chaos, one of the Seven Divines. His new form was unable to interact with the world of mortals without doing it grievous damage, for the power of Chaos was so strong as to corrupt any creature within its presence; Armand fled the mortal world, and thereafter sent puppet bodies, his Avatars, to do his bidding among mortals.

The Republic is Born
One of these Avatars forged an alliance with the surviving non-Nevarian Alliance leadership, and some of the less militant Nevarians. He went on to use this alliance in the creation of a new, unified, nation: The Republic of Sokmet. This Republic replaced the Alliance, and all internal racial governments, with a new unified and elected government. The creation of the Republic was hailed by the great majority of citizens as ushering in a new age of peace and prosperity. Nevarians could be elected to office just like their magic using brethren of the original Alliance races. Not surprisingly, Armand's Avatar was elected as the first Lord President of the Republic, with Thorne Freyastor Hanosake-- Baron Hanosake's second son-- as the Grand Admiral of the Armed Forces of the Republic.

The period following the Republic's creation was one of prosperity and rapid advances in the fields of the Arcane and the Sciences. Modified designs of Nevarian orbital ships, called Clan Ships, were created using the magics of the Alliance races to allow them to maintain flight within an atmosphere. These vessels became the backbone of the Republic's military, and the heart of a renewed campaign of conquest. Worlds that had once resisted the might of the Alliance fell before the fleets of the Republic, and those that could not be brought down were bombarded from the skies until their cities lay in ruins. The Republic enjoyed peace and prosperity within its borders, while spreading terror and devastation to new worlds.

The Terra Incident
Terra, a hub-world that was connected to many others by means of Fae Gates, became a principle target of the Republic's renewed conquests. Wars were fought across the planet's surface, and the Republic's forces emerged victorious on the largest continent. Victory, however, was stolen from the Republic by waves of enemies arriving through the Fae Gates; enemies came from nations and worlds diverse, who had grown to fear the power of the fledgling Republic. Republican forces were fought to a standstill, and then forced to fall back before the combined might of many nations.

Despite this powers arrayed against its military, the Republic was able to complete a devastating and powerful weapon: The Spire. The weapon was a massive tower, near half a mile in length, that was mounted on the floating city of Lumiere. It was held together by powerful magics, and existed solely to enhance offensive spells thrown down its length. A single spell fired from the Spire would leave a smoldering crater where a city had once been. The Spire was immediately used on the encroaching enemies. Armies that had once threatened the Republic ceased to exist, but so too did all resources and objectives that the Republic had sought to make their own. The Treaty of Terra was signed, creating a peace between the Republic and its challengers on the world.

The peace was short lived, as a surprise attack was launched on all forces present on the world. Several nations, calling themselves the Nahuat, and declaring themselves the natives of Terra, unleashed devastation across the planet. Several defending nations were wiped from the map in a matter of weeks as the Nahuat offensive struck at the heart of "Invader" territory.

After the third week of battle, Nahuat forces began an attack unlike any the defenders, or the Republic, had ever seen before. A crystal seed was planted at a Ley Line nexus, which began to grow as it drank in the planet's magical energies. The crystal spread, covering the land about it, and killing all non-native flora it came into contact with. The defenders, desperate to stop the spread of the crystal, launched a combined assault on its location. The Republic, agreeing on the level of the threat, joined this assault.

The Battle of New Eden was brutal and bloody, with many heroes on both sides of the conflict engaging one another. The Nahuat were clear victors, and the battle ended any hopes the defenders had for victory. While the defenders fought valiantly to destroy the crystal, they failed to achieve their objective, and the Nahuat revealed the crystal's true purpose: when the crystal had reached a sufficient size, it opened a gateway that allowed the planet's spirit to manifest in the physical world. The vengeful spirit was an unstoppable force, killing all defenders and Republican forces in the area.

Facing this new power, the Republic chose to evacuate its entire planetary population.

Birth of a New God
Following the Terra Incident, and the realization that planetary spirits could not only be sentient, but could manifest in a physical body, Armand's Avatars began experimenting in the creation of a new spirit, loyal to the Republic. The experiments bore fruit when, after sacrificing his own son to provide an anchor for the spirit, the Avatars birthed the spirit of Al-Maisan. The new spirit, the spirit of a star, took the name Adrian de Leon, and was raised by the Malkaari as a god-made-flesh. His first years were spent learning the arts of a Malkaari Noble, before he was sent to learn from his "sister", the spirit of Terra.