Ancients

Introduction
Before the First Age, before even the Dark Ages, there was the Age of Light, or that of the Ancients.

Little is known of the Ancients. We know that the Ancients were the builders of the Helios Network. From analysis of the only real artifacts of theirs remaining, the seemingly indestructible network gates, it can be surmised that the Ancients based their space exploration on incredibly advanced technology rooted in Magic, as opposed to Physics. As such, the Ancients are widely viewed as the arch-mages of technology, creating feats of Magic well beyond the ken of modern folk.

The more ornate gates were heavily decorated, and analysis of these gates gives us a rough history of the Ancients. Their home world was Archaeo, and their original expansion between systems was direct travel via arcane gates from one planetary surface to another. Eventually they became space-born, but only after a establishing a vast multi-system empire. As such, finding Archaeo is believed by most scholars to be impossible.

The Ancients are also believe to have seeded the Terran Race across their territory, as humanoids, particularly Terrans, are the most abundant form of life in the galaxy.

It has only been recently, in the Third Age, that technology has fully reached and surpassed the level of technology the Ancients were capable of building. (See FTL Travel)

Unknown factors caused the fall of the Empire of the Ancients, which would lead to the Dark Age.