Fringian Dark Age

The eight-century long period that the Voyagers dwelt within the Distant Fringe region, beginning in 3730AD with the first sightings of Voyagers in the spinward systems of Halcyon Sector.

The technology of the Distant Fringe was a waiting banquet for the mineral-hungry Voyagers. Lanthanum-rich starships were a particularly juicy morsel and fusion reactions seemed to draw their attention: space travel of any kind became impossible and interstellar commerce collapsed. Many worlds died, particularly those with hostile environments or those that were reliant on deliveries of supplies. Other systems became barren through natural disaster, by being evacuated, or simply through bad luck. But many systems did survive.

The Voyagers had no taste for base materials such as steel and plastics and technological levels across the Distant Fringe fell to industrial levels or lower – levels that didn’t attract the Voyagers' attentions. Some surviving societies went as far as forsaking advanced technology altogether. During the centuries of isolation societies changed, too, evolving their own traditions and customs and linguistic peculiarities. Knowledge wasn’t necessarily lost, but it was hidden safely away until a time when it could be applied and exploited. In many places, advanced equipment and supplies were hidden in deep caches until it was safe to collect them.

The end of the Dark Age began with the events of Slaver Year (4498AD): the last verifiable observation of a Voyager was in 4570AD from the Mengo system (2837 Shadow Rift), on the very coreward edge of the Distant Fringe. The Dark Age was followed by the Renaissance.