Earliest existence: 6,618 BR
Primus, the cold architect of Mechanus, had watched the Gith for too long. Millennia spun past in a maddening spiral of Githyanki aggression and Githzerai withdrawal, a chaotic, wasted loop. Kemet was to be his finest testing chamber. He hypothesized that with the tyrannical leash of Vlaakith finally broken, they might find a new, more perfect state of being. The grand experiment was ready.
Deep within the meditative enclaves of Limbo and the war-ready citadels of the Astral Plane, an unholy wrenching began. Githyanki warriors preparing their blades and Githzerai monks settling into their trances felt a sickening, undeniable pull. It was as if a master clockmaker had reached into the planes and with precise, agonizing force, plucked a significant population from each side. Across the vast planar gulf they shifted, landing on a single large island on Kemet. The moment they arrived, the connection to their home planes snapped shut, a final, irrevocable severance of their past.
The Githyanki materialized on unfamiliar, rough terrain. They found themselves on rocky, volcanic slopes where dense forests spilled down to a turbulent ocean. Initial shock turned instantly to panic as they realized the psionic chains of Vlaakith were gone. The ruthless core of their officer class, the most disciplined among them, moved like lightning. They quickly silenced the infighting, imposed order, and began securing high ground for fortified positions. Scouting parties were thrown out to map the confusing terrain, locate resources, and identify any rivals. Trapped in a new reality, their focus sharpened to a brutal point: survival and conquest.
The Githzerai arrived in a contrasting world. They formed within a dark, dense forest, surrounded by alien flora and strange animal sounds. Their ingrained discipline saved them from the chaos that gripped their kin. The Zerths immediately sought out defensible groves, prioritizing self-sufficient enclaves deep within the wood. Feeling no immediate threat from the Githyanki, they focused inward. They began the slow, delicate process of attuning to the new world, sensing the foreign wells of celestial energy that pulsed up from the very core of Kemet.
Unknown to either faction, Primus had placed them at the extreme opposite ends of the vast island. He expected the Githyanki to move for dominance, imposing their will through conquest and acquiring territory. He expected the Githzerai to seek harmony and communal order within the deep forests. He had stripped them of their history and their environment. Now he would observe. Would they fall back to the old, chaotic cycles of tyranny, or would they finally find a perfect order within themselves?
Over the ten thousand years that followed, the Gith reached a static state. They fell into a grim Cold War, a careful conflict where skirmishes erupted but never blossomed into full-scale war. Their defense systems grew sophisticated enough that a final, resolution-seeking attack would guarantee mutually assured destruction. So each side remained eternally vigilant, occasionally testing the other’s weakness but never committing. This perpetual tension rarely leaked beyond the island of Volgaard, and the people of Kemet learned to keep their distance or risk being pulled into a conflict with no end.
For a more complete history to present day, see Telarian and Zyrin
