Gate Garrison¶

"Kwe Vadis Jurath — the gate holds fast, its keepers watchful. We hunt the abyss to guard the innocent." — Stommtharic, Guild Master of the Gate Garrison

The Gate Garrison is a bounty hunters' guild born in the aftermath of the Convergence War, tasked with containing High-Risk Zone artifacts that threaten the fragile peace of the Galia Expanse. Neutral and unwavering, they serve any who honor their code — their bracelets a testament to their unity and their pursuit of Iris.

What the galaxy sees is a professional guild of artifact hunters and fugitive trackers. What it does not see is the truth: the Gate Garrison was founded by an Awakened Tufa — one of the rarest beings in existence — with a single, absolute directive: ensure no one ever reaches Iris again. Every bounty, every artifact seizure, every HRZ patrol serves this hidden prime directive. The guild's members fight for coin, honor, and survival. Their founder fights for the fate of Iris herself.

The Garrison's influence extends far beyond simple bounty-hunting. Its military alliance with Xianyang-VI has transformed an entire sector into a defensive powerhouse. Its intelligence network tracks artifacts across multiple sectors. And its century-old leader — whose true identity carries the highest uncollected bounty in the galaxy — sits at the intersection of secrets that could reshape the balance of power across Galia.

History¶

The Cataclysm's Aftermath (~2525)¶

When the Convergence War ended and the Cataclysm was sealed — seven dwarf planets crashed together, Iris entombed at the center, and the High-Risk Zone became a ring of chaos surrounding the wound in space — most species retreated to the safety of the Medium-Risk Zone and Safe Zone.

One being stayed behind.

A Conscient (Awakened) Tufa — one of the rare Tufa who had achieved full self-awareness — witnessed the sealing of the Cataclysm firsthand. This Awakened Tufa understood something the rest of the galaxy did not: the seal was not permanent. Iris still pulsed at the center. Her influence still radiated outward. And there would always be those who sought to reach her — for power, for worship, for vengeance, or for ignorance.

He founded the Gate Garrison — initially a small band of HRZ survivors and war veterans — with one overriding mission: ensure no one ever opens that gate.

Formalization and Growth (~2530)¶

By 2530, the Gate Garrison had evolved from a ragged band of survivors into a formally organized multi-species bounty-hunter organization, operating from improvised bases throughout the HRZ. Recruits arrived from across Galia — some drawn by coin, others by purpose, and a few by the peculiar magnetism of a guild whose leader refused to show his face.

The Xianyang Alliance (~2547—2554)¶

The turning point in the Garrison's history came when Xianyang-VI, after being nearly overwhelmed by alien invaders, forged a defensive alliance with the Gate Garrison. The Garrison provided HRZ-forged combat expertise and alien threat intelligence; Xianyang provided infrastructure, shipyards, and a standing army.

By 2554, the Garrison formally relocated its headquarters to Xianyang-VI, cementing the sector as a military powerhouse. The alliance spawned the Xianyang Enforcers — Xianyang's own mercenary legion modeled on Garrison methodology, led by Executor Rhenn Kyung, a Garrison veteran.

Stommtharic — The Gatekeeper¶

Stommtharic is the most enduring enigma in the Galia Expanse's political landscape. He has led the Gate Garrison since its founding — nearly a century of continuous command — never revealing his species, his origin, or his face. He communicates through "static veils" — a biomechanical filtering that renders his voice distinctly inhuman. He appears perpetually cloaked. And multiple factions — including the Photoli, the Order of Seasons, and even the Council of Peace — have posted bounties for information about his true identity.

No bounty has ever been collected.

What almost no one knows is that Stommtharic is the founding Awakened Tufa. His Conscient biology grants him metagenic physiology — the ability to reshape aspects of his form — an extended lifespan far beyond any known species, and a sensitivity to Iris-adjacent materials and energy that borders on perception rather than detection. He can feel the Cataclysm's pulse.

The Anti-Photoli Decree¶

Stommtharic's absolute ban on Photoli membership is the galaxy's most visible mystery about the Gate Garrison. The explanation, known only to Stommtharic and a handful of Tufa, is devastating: a relevant faction within the Photoli harbors a hidden agenda to seize the energy source at the heart of Iris. They are the number one enemies of Iris and the Tufa — and Stommtharic, as an Awakened Tufa and child of Iris, knows this with certainty.

The decree is absolute. No Photoli may join the Gate Garrison. Any bounty hunter who cooperates with Photoli agents is expelled. Stommtharic has never explained the decree publicly — to reveal the reason would reveal that he knows far more about Iris than any mortal should.

The Code: Kwe Vadis Jurath¶

"Kwe Vadis Jurath" — spoken in a lost tongue that no living linguistic database can translate — is the Gate Garrison's oath. The phrase is etched into every member's AI-guided bracelet upon entry and repeated at every rank promotion. The language may be ancient Tufa — a communication form used by Conscient Tufa before the Convergence War — making the Code, literally, the mother tongue of the guild's hidden founder.

The Bracelet System¶

Every Gate Garrison member wears a bracelet that denotes their rank through material composition, contains an AI core that records hunts and ethics violations, serves as identification recognized across the galaxy, and cannot be removed without the wearer's consent or death.

The Rules¶

Rank System¶

The Day of Silence¶

Cataclysm-rank hunters, upon return from a deep HRZ mission, observe a mandatory twenty-four-hour silence. They speak to no one, eat alone, and sit in the Drift Bastion's lowest hold. This is not punishment — it is decompression. What they see in the deep HRZ is not spoken of. The bracelet AI records it. The hunter does not share it.

The Drift Bastion¶

The Drift Bastion is the Gate Garrison's mobile stronghold — a repurposed warship-fortress that patrols the HRZ border zone. Its hull hums at a sub-audible frequency that visitors describe as "grief made physical" — a property believed to derive from its HRZ-sourced construction materials. The Bastion is built to endure, not to attack; its weapons are defensive, its purpose to serve as an anchor point.

Internal Structure¶

The Dusk Chain Feud¶

The Dusk Chain is an artifact of unknown origin — likely HRZ — connected to Iris Dusk in ways neither the Garrison nor the Order of Seasons fully understands. It is a physical chain of dark, iridescent links that seems to absorb light. When held, it produces a sensation described as "the feeling of sunset that never ends."

The feud erupted when the Order attempted to claim the Chain for doctrinal reasons — it may be a relic of their faith. The Garrison intercepted the transfer and seized it. "Blades met sigils, and the Garrison held, though blood stained the relic they kept." The Chain now resides in the Vault of Chains.

Saevar, the Order's deadliest operative, carries a personal grudge related to the incident. Among the Order's Novk, the Dusk Chain is unfinished business. For Stommtharic, the Chain is not a trophy but a containment object — he can sense its connection to Iris Dusk, and he believes that if the Order obtains it, they will use it in ways that weaken the Cataclysm seal. The Chain stays in the Vault. The gate holds.

Named Operations¶

Operation Ashfall (~2555)¶

The first joint operation between Gate Garrison and Xianyang Enforcers. An HRZ smuggling ring was transporting unshielded genesium cores through MRZ-5 toward Denebula black markets. The Garrison tracked the shipment; the Enforcers provided the fleet to intercept. Fourteen smugglers captured, three genesium cores contained, the pipeline collapsed. This operation cemented the Garrison-Xianyang partnership.

The Zavijava Shadow Operation¶

HRZ relic hunters stole a temporal artifact from one of the worlds dominated by the Tufa Titan Bklok. They fled to the Zavijava Zone and accidentally activated it, generating random temporal anomalies that have plagued the sector ever since. The Vortex Watchers — publicly a coalition of neutral scholars — are in truth secretly funded and directed by the Gate Garrison. Their real objective is to locate and extract the Tufa Titan artifact before it falls into other hands. Stommtharic maintains extreme personal interest in this recovery — as an Awakened Tufa, a stolen Tufa Titan relic is both a personal matter and a containment risk.

The Sorkof Bounties (Ongoing)¶

Stommtharic has issued standing contracts on Sorkof Pirate operatives. The Sorkof's slave trade and artifact smuggling place them firmly in Gate Garrison crosshairs. Multiple Iron and Lumanite-rank hunters maintain active pursuit of Sorkof routes through HRZ border sectors.

Notable Members¶

Relations¶

Galactic Indices¶

Current Status¶

The Gate Garrison remains operational and expanding, its Drift Bastion patrolling the HRZ border, its alliance with Xianyang-VI stronger than ever. Stommtharic's century of command shows no signs of ending — whatever biological processes sustain an Awakened Tufa, they appear to function without degradation.

Several unresolved threads, however, cast shadows over the Garrison's future. The Zavijava temporal artifact continues to lose energy — when it dies, its location becomes discoverable by anyone, creating a race the Garrison may not win. The Order of Seasons has not forgotten the Dusk Chain, and Saevar's grudge only deepens with time. And the question of what lies inside Stommtharic's sealed chamber at the top of the Drift Bastion remains one of the galaxy's most fiercely guarded mysteries.

Whether other Awakened Tufa exist — and whether Stommtharic knows — is a question no one has had the courage or the means to ask.