For almost six hundred years, humanity has been slowly recovering from the consequences of the Scream. Many frontier worlds have collapsed into barbarism and balkanized warfare. These “lost worlds” have sufficient resources for agriculture and life, but lack the fossil fuels or radioactives necessary to bootstrap modern technology. Some have even forgotten their origins or have had them obscured in the haze of legend and myth.
Now, in the year 3200, the fragile web of interstellar commerce and exploration has been reformed. Countless worlds remain locked in the darkness of the Silence, awaiting the bold merchants or reckless explorers willing to return them to the embrace of interstellar humanity. And if these brave souls should be rewarded with the ancient wealth in salvage and data so long trapped on these worlds, who is to say that they do not deserve it?