Template:Age (Dark Age) The Dark Age (3946–4000) was a time-period in Hapan history that is generally considered to have started during the final months of the Pal'durath dynasty's reign during the Decline Era and lasted up until the coronation of King Andrew in 4000. The Hapes Consortium was splintered in to numerous warring factions during the Dark Age in the conflict known as the Hapan civil war. It was a defining time-period in Hapan history which brought about countless reforms and technological advancement.
Fall of the Monarchy, Factions & War
The last monarch of the Pal'durath dynasty, Queen-Mother Pal'durath VII, did not appoint any heir before falling in to a coma in the fall of 3945. When she died in early 3946, her daughters along with their respective supporters in the nobility were engaged in heated debates in Lorell Hall over who the next Queen-Mother should be. The council was unable to bring about a solution without resorting to a vote. When the vote ended in favour of Princess Ta'lan, Princess Da'tan refused to accept the outcome. Together with her supporters, she launched an attack on the Lorell system before announcing the creation of the Draconian Union. The union stood for conservative ideals and the Princess was an avid Tini'duranist, a strong supporter of the Consortium's feudal governance system.
Princess Ta'lan formed the Sword Confederacy in response to her sister's aggression and vowed to reunite the Hapes Consortium under a single banner. She favoured a more centralised style of governance, but postponed her plans for reform until she could gain control of lost territories. Ruling the Capital and Interior region, the Sword territories were the target of multiple long-lasting campaigns and sieges over the course of fifty years.
The conflict eventually dragged on longer than expected, and the Victory Alliance split off from the Draconian Union in 3965, some 19 years after the outbreak of the war, forming a stronghold in the Alsace system and expanding to some nearby systems. They fought both the Draconian Union and Sword Confederacy until 3972 when House Shaa delivered the final hammer-stroke that broke the Alliance.
The Phoenix Movement officially formed in 3985 after plaguing the Draconian Union with small time attacks for five years. The Phoenix slowly gained control of territories but was viewed by both the Sword Confederacy and Draconian Union as a peasant revolt. After nine years, the Movement defeated the Sword Confederacy and conquered Hapes Prime in 3995. Unwilling to lose more territory, the Draconians dug in to the trenches and slowly bled the Phoenix, letting them pay dearly for ever inch of land.
After the second battle of Gallinore, the Draconian Union was considered defeated, having lost Princess Da'tanah and several important members of their ruling nobility. The Draconian Regents, Lady Ci'hani and Lord Tylger agreed to meet the Phoenix leadership at the Gallinore Conference of 3999 where both parties eventually signed the Gallinore Accords, ending the war.
Industry, Technology & Economy
Before the Dark Age and the Hapan civil war, Hapan industry was booming. It continued for three decades in to the conflict, but the last twenty years marked downfall of industry as the warring parties began destroying each others production facilities. Most shipyard facilities were destroyed or severely damaged in the conflict, making it hard for the Hapes Consortium to recover after the reunification of 3999.
Technology, however, advanced significantly. Especially important was the development of the Nova Battle Cruiser near the end of the war, which would be essential to the reunification of the Hapes Consortium and keeping the peace afterwards. Many of the Consortium's treasuries were depleted during the Dark Age and the post-war regime required donations from the nobility to restore the infrastructure of the government.
