The Colonies of Fāxiàn and Vidlunnya

Faxian

Even with nine colony ships available, the Cyntaf, the Diofyn, and the Vaerbere were disinclined to grant a colony to the delegation from WuDao. The Academy's overexploitation of resources on Himmelird was known to be directly responsible for overextending the TAIN, disrupting the ecosystem and the weather of Ird, killing the entire lunar population of over 250,000 colonists from all the nations of Ird, cutting the Cyntaf off from their source of immortality granted by the Progenitors, and removing the safeguards on the Diofyn so that it was unable to regulate its own growth, thus dooming the planet. Besides that, they had always been xenophobic and isolationist, by Irdisch standards anyways, and the way they colonized Himmelird left no one with any real hopes that they would treat other worlds any differently. To everyone's surprise, the Academy delegation volunteered to take the entire populations of Shaasakon, Kenchikka, and Sanhoui, who had no weighty representation of their own with the Committee. The combined population of these less populous people would take up about 35% of the life support capacity of the colony ship. Perhaps because their own population was so high, they estimated the lost space as insignificant in proportion to their overall population that would be left Irdside, while remaining politically advantageous in securing a ship for their delegation. Regardless of their motivations, their offer was accepted, as the committee worried that the minor Volke would not have the infrastructure necessary to establish a significant colony on their own. For the first time in their history, the population of "the Academy," now only their colony ship, FaXian ("discovery"), was less than 75% Mophlion. Although that might seem like an overwhelming majority to most of the other colonial cultures, for the Jingming, the effect was profound. FaXian has become one of the most equitable and integrated of the First Wave Colonies, without the restrictive Departmental Assignment structure to their society, while maintaining a focus on science and discovery that includes cultural innovation and the arts due to the heavy influence of the Shaasakon and Kenchikka. Most of the new cities on FaXian began as outpost monasteries of Kenchikka, where Shaasakon frontiersman cleared the land and built homes and prepared farms, which the Jingming then worked to feed their community while being tutored in arts, letters, and history by Shaasakon and Kenchikka experts. The first Colonial Epic was composed by a Jingming poet, illustrated by a Shaasakon silk painter, the silk of which had been woven by a Kenchikka artisan, and set to music composed by a Sanhoui musician. It is the only piece of First Wave art transmitted by Ansible, and is considered the official anthem of the entire Irdisch Exodus expedition.

Vidlunnya

Because of the centuries of exploitation by the Targachy (the Droemmarn of the Elmine), the delegation from Othessa was recognized over the one from Velikye Elminye, sending the latter into utter disarray, and dooming their ruling class to extinction on a dying world. The Cyntaf named the Lycelti as their official successors, as they would perish if they left the range of the failing TAIN. The Lyceltic Voyiny took Droemmarn only from the Dypeskoger, and a number of the Vaerbere from their region, in addition to their own kin from Elminye; although they selected no Droemmarn from the Targachy, the Droemmarn population has actually boomed in the colony. The cities of Vidlunnya ("Echo") sprung up quickly thanks to the Vaerbern architects, helping to ensure both that this colony would survive the uncertain Settlement Age, and ensuring its place as a major player in the Second Wave Colonization.