Estyria was thought an odd choice for induction into the Parliament of Worlds, as Parliamentary procedure typically required members to have attained the capacity for translight astrogation and Estyria was still in its Bronze Age. Nevertheless, the planet’s Viridian sponsors argued that special circumstances obtained owing to the Estyrians’ unique spiritual maturity, cultural diversity and vast reserves of Yylimium ore. The Estyrians themselves appeared largely unhappy with such an arrangement, but Parliament ruled they were not advanced enough to determine their level of advancement and forcibly granted them membership in the assembly as a Viridian protectorate.

Interest in the then-nascent Estyrian independence movement would likely have remained limited to a handful of inhuman rights groups were it not for Parliament’s 5264 decision to award the overwhelming majority of the planet’s mining rights to Viridia. Parties as diverse as the Vermailian Confederacy, the Shining Nest of T’ltssk and the Omniscium Wherescape suddenly found themselves committed to the Estyrian cause, training Estyrian natives in the use of advanced weaponry against Viridian mines and military outposts. Viridia retaliated by building up a heavily-armed Estyrian Defense Force to track down and destroy the insurgents. Both sides’ armories were largely supplied through contracts with the Tomorrow Hive.

The resulting proxy war escalated so rapidly that by 5267 Viridia was forced to launch a full assault on Estyria itself, sterilizing the planet of life. The Yylimium, however, remained well-preserved, and a more equitable division of the ore was eventually agreed to by the various powers concerned.

—Recorder 3000-21