In the days following the fall of the Syber, the Nomari resistance reluctantly organized around Gellen as their new leader. Most knew him as a traitor to the Nomari cause and had trouble accepting his rapid transformation into the savior his supporters claimed he was. If he was so loyal to his Nomari brothers and sisters, couldn’t he have figured out a plan that didn’t include so many of their deaths? He was supposedly some kind of genius after all, wasn’t he? Due to their long-term oppression by the Syber however, very few Nomari had the temperament and experience needed for a leadership position. The Rija who might have been able to play a role in the rebuilding effort mostly remained silent, their teachings leading them to believe that regular Nomari needed to step forward. Gellen and his supporters quickly moved in to fill the gap.

Though many Nomari were deeply concerned about his tactics, no one could argue with the truly stunning defeat that Gellen had inflicted on the Syber and his power grew by the day. He became a symbol of what the Nomari might be able to reclaim of themselves and their culture. A group of Nomari led by friends and relatives of the victims of Gellen’s murderous efforts on behalf of the Syber did attempt to organize opposition but were largely unsuccessful. They had no one to put forward that could offer the resilience and strength the Nomari now needed to see in their leaders and find in themselves. After the opposition effort failed politically and the movement fractured, multiple desperate assassination attempts were made on Gellen’s life but he escaped them all and punished the perpetrators severely, most with death.

For the first few years, the Nomari government remained on the Syber home world but a groundswell of support grew for the notion that all Nomari should return home to try and repair their broken culture on the ground it grew from. Gellen opposed this effort, not wanting to give up the weapons he now controlled and the unquestioned power that went with it. He needed more time to try and develop the advanced weaponry that could survive the electric storms of the home world. Although his motivation was mostly related to maintaining the status quo, he also knew the weapons were truly needed to protect a people that had become almost childlike and unable to protect themselves. He pushed this viewpoint aggressively and his message made many resistant to leaving.

When Rija leaders countered by encouraging a voluntary return compromise, Gellen, feeling threatened, had them jailed, tried for treason on trumped up charges and eventually executed. Concern predictably continued to grow regarding Gellen’s behavior and he responded with ever increasing paranoia and violence, lashing out at even members of his inner circle. He could not understand the general passivity of his people and could not muster sympathy for their plight. He had freed them after generations of abuse and servitude, paying a heavy personal price in doing so. How could they not loyally follow him now and how could they threaten their freedom and very survival by returning to a planet they were not ready to defend?

Gellen continued the abuse and persecution of all who had even the appearance of opposing him until even the loyalty of his staunchest supporters eroded. In a final deal brokered by the Rija, it was decided Gellen would be forcefully removed from power but there would be no single replacement. Instead, power would be permanently divided up among seven Nomari leaders so that it would never again be concentrated in the hands of a single individual the way it had with Gellen. The seven leaders and their followers were the first incarnation of the kilns that would come to define Nomari society. Legend held that each of the original seven leaders represented people from different occupations and that began the tradition of kilns being divided along vocational lines, ensuring an extended family and voice for all Nomari. Although no one official leader was ever selected again or any kiln more powerful than the others, the Rija were implicitly given deferential control over the shape and direction of the new government structure. Being the only Nomari cultural organization that had survived the occupation, they had long served as moral advisors and spiritual supporters, even when doing so meant a painful and violent death for some of them.

The Nomari stabilized under the new structure and over time increasing numbers returned to the home world. Many in the military and scientific kilns stayed behind to occupy the Syber planets as defensive outposts and to continue studying the Syber technology so it could be understood and adapted for their use. This encouraged the separate development of the kilns and the evolution of their own unique cultures and structures. Under the watchful eye of the Rija, the fortunes of the Nomari continued to grow and the cultural institutions strengthened. They made significant breakthroughs in shielding technology that allowed electronics to be used in a limited form on the home world for the first time. The ongoing challenge of the electromagnetic storms there spurred further development of unique biological-based systems that would become one of the great military advantages of the Nomari as they transformed into the people that would come to be known as the Given.

That transformation happened slowly at first. Attacks from a band of planets known as the Roggs bent on revenge against the Syber but finding only ragtag groups of former slaves they felt could be easily defeated and exploited hardened their resolve. Though the Nomari fought bravely, they could not stop the looting and other incursions which continued for years, slowly increasing in frequency and intensity. The Nomari elders worried that soon there would be nothing left to take except the Nomari themselves, a prospect that shook all the leaders deeply. Having finally emerged from the occupation but without the leader who led them out, they knew they could very easily slide backwards into slavery or worse. Redoubling their efforts, the Nomari finally mastered the transport ships and force guns the Syber had left behind and once they did quickly realized these weapons were much more advanced than what the invaders were using. The decision was then made that in order to stop the attacks forever, the Nomari would need to follow the invaders home and bring the battle to them. Perhaps if they showed the Roggs they were not untouchable on their own home world, peace and mutual respect would be a possibility.

Though significantly undertrained and inexperienced as warriors when compared to the invaders, the Syber technology was so advanced that the band of rogue planets was quickly overrun. Being master traders in addition to bandits led the Rogg leaders to offer the Nomari a deal as part of the peace treaty. The Roggs would be willing to compensate the Nomari handsomely if the Nomari committed to providing protection for their planets using Syber technology. Intending their initial offer only provide a starting point for the negotiation, the Rogg leaders significantly underbid what they knew to be the value of the military protection the Syber weapons could provide. Such protection would make them nearly untouchable based on the currently known threats and that was priceless – they resolved to pay nearly any price asked by the former slaves. Warfare was not their specialty and considered a distasteful part of their culture to be avoided if at all possible. In a turn that surprised all Rogg leaders involved in the negotiation, the Nomari quickly accepted the offer without even countering, declining all invitations to celebratory events honoring the new agreement and quickly and quietly withdrawing.

Though the Roggs initially considered themselves victorious for outmaneuvering the Nomari, they could not have guessed at the transformation they had initiated or what would soon become of the poorly trained but well-equipped armies that had defeated them. In later days, they wondered many times why they did not stop to consider and investigate how these beginners had come by the Syber weapons and territory. If they had, perhaps they would not have continued to underestimate Nomari strength and resiliency. The Rogg leaders had always assumed that the Nomari were just lucky enough to arrive first after a natural disaster or other calamity befell the Syber. There was simply no way these poorly trained and uneducated beings could have defeated a society like the Syber with its powerful military machine and culture designed in every way to feed and enhance it. It was impossible to conceive of.

Stolen story; please report.

They learned later however as the payments demanded by the Nomari began to rise and their attempts to dissolve the arrangement were met with icy denials that they were dealing with a most formidable force taking shape before their eyes. The frustration, fear and anger of a people subjugated for thousands of years began to coalesce in ways the Rogg leaders could not understand but they soon began to sense that they were the ones who had been out negotiated. That observation was seemingly confirmed when they decided to call in favors and rally all allies they could summon to confront their former victims turned extortionists on the battlefield. The Rogg forces were astonished and overwhelmed by the strategic development of the Nomari military machine and the few Syber guns they had managed to steal were of little use to them. The Roggs were quickly routed and the previous arrangement immediately reinstated. In addition, punitive taxes were added to their regular payments as punishment. The Given transformation had begun.

Back on the home world, Nomari paranoia regarding the dangers of the galaxy and the potentially large numbers of societies like the Roggs increased to a fever pitch. Having tasted freedom again, the Nomari had become morbidly afraid of ever returning to a life of servitude. Their contact with the Roggs only served to deepen those feelings. This led to an increasing number of exploratory missions to both test their experiments with Syber equipment and try to understand the true nature of the risk other worlds presented to them. They were appalled at what they found. It seemed as if the only peoples that did not dream of dominating and exploiting others were the ones that had not yet figured out how to escape the iron grip of gravity and venture out among the stars.

With conflict between the Nomari and the other worlds increasing, it was decided they would offer a protection deal similar to the one in place with the Roggs to planets surrounding the home world. This arrangement was architected by the military leadership to create a strategic buffer zone around Noma and reduce friction between the nearby worlds. The Nomari were confident that their adapted Syber tech would intimidate any potential troublemakers into staying in line and they would then be able to finally carve out the small oasis of peace they longed for. Many of the local planets agreed to the offer, their leadership more than happy to offload the security cost and pressure of protecting their worlds and focus on domestic issues that provided more political payoff. Making the decision easier was the fact that the Nomari had no reputation as invaders or aggressors to raise the concern levels of most world leaders and their negotiators seemed honest and dependable. Their earnest sincerity and respect for freedom seemed to most diplomats as obvious as their ultimate goal was opaque.

The Nomari had decided early on they would play no role in governing any protected worlds even if it meant not intervening in atrocities and armed conflicts. Their mission was only to protect societies from external threats and this allowed them to expand their stable of planets relatively quickly and without complication. When dealing with the planets themselves, the Nomari envisioned a system similar to the one that had worked so well for them internally. No single Nomari would ever be responsible for managing the relationship with a given planet. There would be a council of three and members would rotate out after a period of years. No meetings would be allowed unless all three were present. This was intended to prevent any concentration of power due to familiarity or ambition and to limit the impact of any corrupt officials that might emerge. The same was true for the leaders of the protected planets. While protected peoples could pick their leaders, they would need to serve for limited terms just like the Nomari.

Word of the Nomari controlled group of planets and their comparatively benevolent approach to governance began to spread throughout the galaxy. A warlike people with advanced weaponry beyond any others in known space who seemingly had no desire to enslave planets but only protect them seemed like a dream come true for many developing worlds. Though the payments were steep, leaders who had lived through Syber occupations or been preyed upon by other aggressive, violent cultures considered the alternatives to be far worse. Many worlds beyond the buffer zone range began to initiate contact with the Nomari to negotiate protection agreements. Worlds under Nomari protection continued to rapidly grow in number though their increased visibility eventually drew the attention of the Rales empire. A previous rival of the Syber, they had also been expanding, taking advantage of the Syber disappearance and ensuing power vacuum.

Unlike the Nomari, however, they were a deeply violent society, bent on enslaving and exploiting any world they could control. Initially contemptuous of the Nomari culture that outwardly seemed so cowardly and weak, they were also deeply fearful of any group that could defeat the Syber when they could not after years of trying. To resolve any potential conflict, the Rales attempted to negotiate a treaty with the Nomari to divide known space between them. When that effort inevitably failed due to the Rales violent and aggressive culture, a decades long war ensued. Taking advantage of strategic gaps in the Nomari network of controlled planets, the Rales were able to extend the war and deliver many painful blows long after the time their legitimate chance at victory had passed. After the Rales had finally been completely defeated and the methods of their attack studied, the hundreds of millions of lives lost convinced the Nomari that their offers of protection could no longer be optional. Planets without their history and understanding of the universe could not be expected to make sound decisions or understand the magnitude of the potential threat that violent cultures like the Rales presented. The Nomari would need to decide for them, leading the way to guarantee the greater good and the preservation of all peoples, whatever the cost. A universe dominated by the likes of the Syber and Rales was unthinkable and had to be avoided even if the decisions used to achieve it were unethical.

As part of an effort launched by senior government officials, the Rija were drafted into providing the moral framework to help ease their collective conscience and justify the forced expansion policy. This effort, begun as a political expediency, quickly evolved into a full-blown intellectual movement to explore and codify the ideas behind their new philosophy. The Rija culture had been deeply scarred by the long centuries of the occupation and the relentlessly bloody conflict with the Rales. They were desperate to create a region of peace and solidify their role in the rapidly evolving Nomari culture. So desperate, in fact, that they were willing to wrap their hard-won credibility and goodwill around a solution that at best seemed morally ambiguous to many of them. To others though, the movement represented a complete abdication of the moral development they had been responsible for and maintained for millennia.

Though there was heated, almost violent debate on the topic, eventually Rija leadership gave in. Top Rija scholars began drafting documents extending the religious arguments about the special status of the Nomari originally adapted from ancient teachings to console them through the dark years of Syber oppression. The special purpose that the Nomari were to serve had finally found its meaning, it was to be as the protector of all peoples. The occupation had served as preparation for this leadership and to teach the Nomari to remain humble and not to abuse their power or take it for granted. All Nomari history was recast in this light and schooling, government and other cultural structures slowly began to evolve around it.

Over the next few centuries this transformation completely remade Nomari society and those who remembered a time when the Nomari were anything but an enslaved people or feared war machine were largely forgotten. Slowly but consistently acquiring planets and integrating their technologies and payments into a growing culture of control and protection, the Nomari had left their previous identity behind. To acknowledge and symbolize their new mission and the moral justification behind it, the Rija created a new holiday, Ruju, celebrating their rebirth. At the very first Ruju festival, the Rejiz himself addressed the Nomari worlds and formally adopted their new identity by giving themselves a new name. The Nomari were a people that had suffered through millennia of torture and servitude and they were no more. Through struggle and sheer will power, they become something else and committed themselves to sharing their enlightenment and purpose throughout the galaxy as their Gods wanted them to do. They had become the Given.