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- Dating:
- The events of this peom take place in the last days of
the Avethellan Empire. Legend has it that Dareenten took the
Golden Throne late in the rule of Mooredann, perhaps as late
as the Gergathan's crippling attack on the Empire. It is certain
that the events of this poem take place after Dareenten spirited
Toolea, Heir of Aemallana, away to the Secluded Realm. Historically,
Toolea was an adult when the Golden Throne was taken.
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- Dareenten:
- All evidence indicates that Dareenten was an Iaranor.
He is popularly called "The Last Galactic Rider." When
Aemallana took control of the Scattered Worlds and neutralized
the Gergathan, a new era of peace fell on the Galaxy. Commerce
was easy, and there was much interaction between Avethell and
the older societies of the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds.
The Galactic Riders found themselves with little to do. As Riders
died or retired to their own worlds, they were not replaced.
The Council of the Free Peoples stopped encouraging new Riders.
Eventually, over the 70,000 year span of Avethellan history,
Dareenten was left as the only member of the Galactic Riders.
Although (as legend has it) he longed to reitre to Ismallia to
live out the rest of his life, Aemallana encouraged him to remain.
Outside the Court, "The Last Galactic Rider" became
a figure of humor, and even an object of scorn.
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- Queens die:
- The death of Aemallana, followed quickly by the execution
of Takhmis, signalled the approaching end of the Avethellan Empire.
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- Find a place/planet near:
- The actual world to which Dareenten fled with the Throne
is not known. It was not until nearly two hundred years later
that Dareenten arrived on Nephestal with Toolea, the Throne,
and a few retired Galactic Riders.
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- Many worlds claim to be the stopping point, but perhaps
the most persuasive claim is Kree, later capital of the Empire
of the Miethara.
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- Honor Riders all:
- With Dareenten's fateful flight, the prestige of the
Galactic Riders rose again, and within a generation the Council
of the Free Peoples was swamped with applicants for membershiop.
Never again in history would the reputation of the Galacitc Riders
sink so low.
- Legend ascribes this poem, and the music that goes along
with it, to Toolea. She supposedly penned it in fond memory of
her friend, foster parent, and hero Dareenten.
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