The Firstcome

Origins

The Firstcome are a diverse group of people that migrated to the Third Horizon in great colonization vessels in many waves, countless years ago. The order of their arrival has been forgotten, but tradition names Algol as the first planet they settled on. Starting out as a rather homogenous group regarding language and culture, they slowly grew apart over the centuries. Today, almost every system has its own language, although migrants and colonists spread the tongues within the Horizon – the Conglomerate on Kua has a large Algolan speaking minority, for example. The Icon faith is the one constant across all the Firstcome peoples, albeit with many different variations in practice. The Firstcome societies tend to be centered on the extended family or the clan, but this is beginning to change.   For a long time, the Firstcome lived only in the core systems, but when time turned colonists into natives, new waves of pioneers colonized the systems farther out. The war against the First and Second Horizon stopped the spread and laid waste to vast territories however, and the population declined during the Long Night. Today, the Firstcome are expanding again, as a reaction to the arrival of the Zenithians and their trade.   The first to arrive in the Third Horizon were fortune seekers, religious dissidents and rebels – none of them had any love for the empire-builders of the First Horizon, or any means of competing for resources in the rapidly overcrowding Second Horizon. Some of them would permanently put their mark on the Third Horizon: the group that eventually became the Order of the Pariah, the colonists who founded the beautiful cities on Mira, and the Odacon dynasty are some examples. The Firstcome laid the foundation for the Third Horizon of today, colonizing the larger systems, building magnificent cities and creating a free and tolerant new order. It was the Firstcome who introduced the Third Horizon to the Icons and the Dark between the Stars; today it’s the region’s largest religion. It was a civilized era. There was peace and commerce between the peoples, cultures flourished and evolved. But like all good things, the peace couldn't last forever.  

The Firstcome today

Unlike their Zenithian counterparts, the Firstcome factions place great belief in religious and mystical ideas about destiny and morality – in the legendary words of Icon Mother Saresha: “Without the Icons, the suns would go out. Without prayer, the Horizon would stop.”   Faith and morality can be discussed just as intensely before drafting a new trade agreement as when debating whether or not humanites have souls. The Firstcome factions are known for their inability to agree with each other, often leaving it to the Zenithians to mediate between them. Only on one occasion have the Firstcome factions joined forces to achieve a common goal: when they crushed the Nazareem’s Sacrifice.   There is no obvious leader among the Firstcome factions, but as far as wealth and size goes, the Church of the Icons and the Order of the Pariah are the strongest. With the Order’s recent seclusion and the Church of the Icons lack of any real military strength, the Firstcome factions are more divided than ever.