The Harmony is a playable faction in Endless Space: Disharmony, the first expansion pack for Endless Space.[They are conscious crystalline entities who seek to eradicate Dust, which they view as a corrupting plague, from the galaxy in order to resume their search for the universe's "Core".
Characteristics[]
The Harmony consists essentially of conscious crystalline mineral structures. There are several characteristics that differentiate the Harmony from other forms of life:
- It is possible that they pre-date the Endless. However, as they live in the voids between stars there has been little organised study of the species.
- As they are mineral, it is difficult to categorise them in terms of traditional definitions of "life." It should be said, however, that they appear to think, respond to stimuli, and move. Their ability to reproduce is unknown.
- They are largely indifferent to other life forms, as they do not compete for the same resources. They are more a force of nature than a conscious race that other sentient beings can interact with.
- Their goal and purpose, as nearly as we can tell, seems to be religious.
What little communication has been done with them seems to indicate that they are seeking the "Core" of the universe; a place where the great resonating frequencies of stars, planets, matter, and energy chime in an apparently perfect harmony.
History[]
Discovery[]
The Endless discovered the Harmony long ago, at a time when they had only just begun to explore the universe beyond their homeworld, Tor. An Endless miner named Rheuaril Beih encountered an unknown mineral on a distant world. A series of tests turned up a most unexpected result when the mineral reacted to stimuli, consumed energy, and altered its shape. Beih thus went down in history as the first Endless to discover an alien life form.
Further study of the mineral led to discoveries of similar minerals on other worlds, revealing an entire species which came to be known as the Harmony. A fundamental creature born of the energies of the Big Bang, the living rocks of the Harmony were capable of manipulating quantum energies and gravitation. The Harmony spread itself at widely varying speeds across the stars using space-time anomalies, gravitons or even interplanetary transport networks. Little direct knowledge was gained due to the near impossibility of communication, but study of the Harmony led to leaps in the Endless's ability to manipulate gravity and time-space.
Disharmony[]
The Harmony had been moving since the birth of the universe, passing through the galaxies, seeking the Core. Their migration was deliberate, calm, inevitable. Dust was their downfall. In the galaxy of the Endless they were ensnared; this strange technological creation that affected particles, fields and waves broke the single movement of the Harmony into a cacophony of gravity-enchained individuals. The Harmony sees Dust as a menace or a plague, and has set out to rid the universe of its effects.
For the rest of the galaxy, this cleansing is a minor apocalypse. The Harmony, creatures of mineral, see no difference between "inhabited" and "uninhabited" planets -- they are simply "infected" or "clean." And those that are infected will be dealt with ruthlessly. Thus began the Era of Disharmony.