Gegn Star System

Gegn Star System

Major Holdings – General Information

History

The Tale of Gegn, Gate of Drala
as told by Witch Lord Bertwin for Beorn

On the edge of the Drucos Nebula with the Morimarusa Nebula lies Gegn, nestled as the gateway to Brigh, a quiet corner of the stars that has never been so quiet as it wished. In the first days, when the 12th Fleet of Mann still sought new homes among the nebula, it was Galan hands that broke the soil and planted the first fires there. A small folk, scattered and stubborn, they numbered no more than a few thousand. For ages Gegn remained a backwater, a speck scarcely marked in the charts of kings. Yet such specks often grow fangs, and in time Gegn would see blood enough to drown greater realms.

When the Feyan Star Dominion rose in power, Gegn swelled as well. Traders carved ports into its world and asteroids, and the system grew from scattered huts of the Galan to marbled Feyan homes and then teeming holds of the Glessum Furse. It was the Glessum Furse, after the Feyan Withdrawal, who made Gegn thrive, turning it into a trade-gate through Brigh and to Hebura and beyond, its harbors heavy with the flow of ships. It became a launching point for bold settlers striking out toward the dark wilds of Morimarusa from Drala, and a launching point for new settler seeking lives in Drala but also a home for reavers and pirates.

Among those who rose with Gegn was Tribe Rethe and the dreaded Clan Grim led by House Rethe Grimborn, who styled themselves kings for a brief while before bowing to the stronger crowns of Drala. They held the system for long years as system-lords, their banners guarding its lanes, until the Great Savage Crusade hurled them into exile. Still, even in loss, the blood of House Grimborn remained tangled with the fate of Gegn, as you will hear.

I myself recall the clash of 27,548 AA, when High King Baldwin the Bold Strongborn stirred the Dralan kingdoms into war against Wulfmar the Bold Stormborn of Umber. The two bolds met in Gegn, and boldness alone could not save the High King. At the Battle of Gegn, Baldwin and his allies were broken. Under-King Hildburh Smokeborn of Hywych was slain outright, her corpse cast into the void. Baldwin himself was forced to bend, surrendering worlds and tribute to Wulfmar. From that day, Gegn stood firm under the shadow of Umber, and even the kings of Linna bowed their heads, becoming banner-lords of Wulfmar.

But crowns sit uneasy in Drala. In 27,719, King Oswin Umbra Stormfury of Umber was murdered on Kaloon, a Starhold of Gegn. Poison, dagger, treachery, it matters little. His own kin, servants, and guards turned upon him. Some whisper Osbert Umbra Stormcloak, who many call Osbert the Usurper, guided the knife. Oswin’s daughter, Athelwynn the Martyr King, was born even as her father bled, a child destined to bear the weight of that murder. With Oswin dead, Osbert seized the throne, while the Stormfury’s of Umber rose in rebellion. Again Gegn’s stones were slick with the blood of kings.

In 27,801, the banners of Umber clashed again over Gegn. Frithewald Umbra Stormpyke of Deora fell in battle against King Cuthred Umbra Stormgrim, Cuthred the Avenger, his body entombed in his homeworld and hailed as a Feyan Hero. Thus Gegn became a shrine as well as a battlefield, a place where relics of kings and heroes lay mingled with ashes of betrayal.

The age of the Great Savage came next, and with it another turning. In 30,134 AA, System-lord Bilichild Rethe Grimborn of Gegn fled into exile in Angul, abandoning her hold as the tides of war swept in. Warlord xxxxx Weylin Bloodborn seized the system, one of many banner-lords raised by the savage crusade. Yet fate wound strange circles, in 30,136, Crown Prince Osgar Umbra Wyvernborn, later to be called the Great, wedded Roslyn Rethe Grimborn, daughter of Bilichild. Thus the blood of Grim twined with Wyvern, and Gegn’s name was bound to future high kings.

I watched the storm of 30,152 with mine own eyes, Beorn, when Rowana the Half-Raven, with her brother Ragnar the Raven Blade, and the warlords of the Great Savage, came pouring back from the Caldon Cluster. With them came Arthur Vana Starborn, Sigtryggr the Blade, xxxxx Molnar Blackborn, xxxxx Skar Skyborn, and, aye, even your own forebear, Beorn the Dauntless. They settled their followers across Brigh and Umber, uprooting old lines, planting new. Rowana was crowned king of Umber. Sigtryggr took Sattada. Beorn was given holds there and raised Bearhall Greathold, your home. And in Gegn, it was Warlord xxxxx Weylin Bloodborn who rose as system-lord, his hand heavy upon the one of the gateways of Drala.

From there, the tale flows toward treachery and politics of the later Star Commonwealth. In 30,364, Eddard Weylin Bloodborn of Gegn appears at charters of King Oswald the Ill-Advised, a king who leans heavily upon Weylin counsel. By 30,370, Oswald had raised Winfred Spot, Eddard’s sister, to the lofty seat of sector-lord of Vellaun. And by 30,385, it was Eddard himself who was granted Hebura and Brigh, lifted high as sector-lord, while House Stormbrand of Niwfreoge was disgraced. A bitter twist, for Stormbrand had fought bravely against the Skane, yet rumors of treason, perhaps seeded by Oswald himself, gave excuse to strip them. Weylin gained Hebura, Brigh, and Gegn all together, and so the blood of Grim was pushed aside once more.

Thus Gegn, once a backwater of the Galan, became the keystone of Tribe Weylin power, a springboard for their ascent. A trade-gate, a place of marriages and exiles, of banners raised and banners broken. Always the gate through which bold settlers and bold fleets pushed into Morimarusa, Gegn is both shield and wound. It is in a lonely position as the further major star system and it has been both frontier and prize.

Remember it well, Beorn. Gegn is where heroes are entombed, kings are murdered, and new dynasties are forged. Its soil is not rich, but it has fed empires with blood.