Aeon of the Ancients, Earth Men and the Elder Races

AEON OF THE ANCIENTS

Although scholars dispute the exact dates, the consensus is that the Aeon of the Ancients ended tens of thousand years ago, and began some several million years past. The Ancients is used to refer to the numerous prehistoric civilizations that existed on Algol. Not much is know about them, but these facts are generally accepted as true:

• The Ancients were human or human-like.
• Their civilization did not arise naturally, as Elder Races interfered in their development and possibly their evolution. Many sages posit that the original human of Algol were brought here from Earth by some Elder Race or vice versa.
• They had much knowledge in both science and sorcery, more advanced than anything known to present day humanity of both Algol and Earth
• The Ancients had contact with prehistoric Earth civilizations (Atlantis, Lemuria, Hyperborea, Mu, etc.), possibly the Ancients came to Algol from Earth, or perhaps the Atlanteans, etc., came to Earth from Algol.
• Their civilizations came to an end in a planet-wide war involving terrible weapons of massive destruction and reality-tearing nature. Much of the surface of Algol is scarred, poisoned and tainted from this. Almost all of the knowledge and works of the Ancients was lost in this holocaust or the decline into barbarism, savagery, or decadent degeneration that followed.

EARTH MEN

Earth Men are technologically advanced humans from our world (commonly referred to as Terra on Algol). The Earth Men, also called Terrans, have been sending rockets to Algol for hundreds of years; but as they do not possess the technology to travel faster than light speed, and with Algol being 93 light-years from Earth, they have had to use such measures as:

• robot crews
• automated facilities to grow clones and implant memories
• generation ships
• cryogenics
• time dilation or stasis technology
• longevity treatments

There are a few Earth Man bases and settlements on Algol, as well as a couple of orbiting space stations. Many have “gone native”, assimilating into local cultures or beginning the process of establishing their own.
Although more technologically advanced than present day humanity, the science of the Ancients and the Elder Races far outstrips that of the Earth Men.
While the Algol term is “Earth Man” or Terran for the language they speak, it is actually Esperanto, which is taught to all Algol explorers in order to facilitate communication between different expeditions.

ELDER RACES

The Elder Races were various powerful, inhuman races that range from hundreds of millions to billions of years old; almost all of alien or extradimensional origin. Their civilizations sprawled across Algol in prehuman times. The reason for their decline in unknown. Nowadays there are only a few scattered populations of the Elder Races on Algol, hidden in remote or inhospitable regions.

The Elder Races may be responsible for many of the bizarre anomalies of Planet Algol, by virtue of their puissant sorcery and science they were capable of warping the planet to suit their inhuman whims.

Their abilities with technology and magic were far more powerful than anything achieved by man; although survivors of the Elder Races may seem to be gods compared to men, they are only the wretched, degenerate descendants of the true Elder Races who only possess scraps of their unthinkable knowledge and might.