One of the most
lamentable gaps in our knowledge of Uranian history concerns the
mysterious Cobalt Era - 6,292,385 Uranian days; 256 Uranian yeras; =
21,534.5 Earth
years.
The
Cobalt contrasts with the last great era, the Vanadium, in that
population recovered; there was renewed interest in Fyaym; hereditary
monarchies ceased and Noads were
elected once more; the sunnoadex recovered its prestige. These trends, nudging
Syoom back towards the norm, come as no surprise. But
there is something more to era 27 than this.
To us it is like a dream of which strong impressions
remain, but few details. Or like a wash of colour, intense
and exciting, but without definite shapes.
It was an era which inspired many
great artists, at the time and since. The skyscapes of the Cobalt
Era are famous, and chime in with the fact that some of its most
characteristic developments were to do with journeys in the
sky.
One of the
few facts we know about the middle of the era is that an
international organization called the Sky Patrol flourished during that period; it
was a kind of Syoomean Navy, under the nominal or actual command
of the Sunnoad, and its role was to foster the thickening of the
Syoomean "carpet". Nothing like this Sky Patrol had existed
for a long time.
A peculiarity of era 27 was the great popularity of
balloon flights. Cheaper than airships although much more
vulnerable, balloons were used for exploration to a remarkable degree,
given the perilous conditions on Ooranye.
However the greatest mystery, the
one which ended the era, was tackled on the ground.
We are told
that the "first teleological investigations" occurred in era 27, linked
to the understanding which the Uranians later achieved, concerning
the direction in which the Great Cycle is taking them. A lot of
this work required the study of the rise and fall of previous civilizations, and so a stimulus was
given to archaeology. The ruins of many Vanadium Era and older sites
were swarming at this time with scholars, scavengers and
looters, wallowing in the ever richer culture-layer of Syoom.
The Cobalt Era ended with an archaeological
discovery.....
>> The Quonians
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