Known History of This Realm

My masters didn't understand what had happened at first, only that they were not dead, and they were no longer in familiar territory.  They set out to explore, and soon ran into others who had been attacked as they had been; other survivors trying to figure out where they were and how to get home.  Caution bred through generations of slavery led them to keep secret their possession of a weapon like that which had sent them all here.

Although the races worked together to solve the mystery of their location, it took them many years... years in which they began to grow and prosper again.  Though lost, and of many races, they had all come from the same empire, and it was natural they form a similar empire again.  

They finally came to understand the futility of their search when an astronomer studying the unfamiliar constellations discovered a spiral galaxy in a cluster obscured by vast clouds of dust.  Analysis of the spiral and comparison with old map data confirmed his fear... home was unimaginably far away and there was no known way to travel the distance required.

All of the races were deeply affected by this news, and many turned inward, isolating themselves from the rest.  Some disappeared entirely, attempting to make the trip home in vast arks designed to carry them for as many years as it took.  The fledgling empire faltered, on the verge of  collapse.

One race of men, determined not to go quietly into the night, fought back against the collapse, and helped restore order and motive.  The Philospher Kings ruled the empire for three centuries, balanced precariously between collapse and the growth and expansion they so desperately tried to promote.

They were gradually replaced by the great Merchant Houses, who succeeded where the Philosopher Kings had not... while they ruled, the empire turned again to growth and exploration.  It was during their rule that the secret of my masters got out... they still retained the weapon!  The belief arose among the Merchant Houses that if they could acquire the weapon, they could figure out how to use it to get Home.  My masters refused to give up the weapon, and two centuries of expansion and peaceful rule came to an end as the Merchant Houses began arming for war!

Long outlawed weapons, such as nuclear bombs, planet busters, and genetically engineered soldiers were soon evident among all the Houses, and their use was almost inevitable.  My masters, prepared, as always, for the worst, dug deep into the ground under their capital city, where I was serving as Portmaster.  I was given control of defensive weapons and began to serve as their Defender, and later, as war raged on, I was given still more power, control of their fleet.  I moved underground with them, performing my functions on the surface through avatars.

In the end, when still my masters refused to give up the weapon, a planet buster was dropped on our capital city.  Fearing all was lost and having nothing to lose, I launched our entire nuclear arsenal at the dropping bomb.  The blast of heat and radiation must have damaged the bomb, for it exploded in mid-air as well and all went black as the city melted and we lost contact with the surface.