Having been stripped of an existential threat, humanity fell into an existential crisis. Salvation was found in the heavens, and humanity was fixated on its expansion throughout the solar system. The atmospheres of Venus and Mars, which once teemed with carbon dioxide, were shredded by rockets bearing J-180. Lights as brilliant as the Sun brightened the horizon, as the Inner Planets became mere baubles of man's creation.
Of course, the terraforming process was far from complete. Venus was the larger and more prized sister, so work began on her first. Successive rockets bombarded the yellow soil one after the other. Q-109 brought hydrogen from the ground, submerging half of both planets in oceans of freshwater. S-90 was meant to cool Venus to Earth temperatures but only resulted in noxious gas. Chemical engineers scrambled to save their work. F-10, A-44, and a double dosage of J-180 made for a ramshackle fix. The final rocket bore no chemicals at all but rather a grand assortment of seeds and spores that turned the yellow planet green.
Only then did humans realize that Venus was inhabited.
Panic covered the third planet as effortlessly as their works had covered the second. The mere concept shouldn't have even been possible. What's more, the aliens they found were humanoid, and many were alive after all this chaos! Billions flocked to religion, both to express their collective guilt and to demand some explanation. Sects that offered guidance welcomed their new followers, while those that couldn't faded into obscurity.
The rockets bearing humans bore less fanfare than what may had otherwise been expected. Diplomats, xenobiologists, missionaries, and anyone else that could reach out to these creatures got quickly to work. These envoys labeled their newfound neighbors the "werai," after a certain werai salutation. The werai viewed the humans through three conjoined slits and spoke through a layer of skin that covered their fixed-jawed mouths. Their skin felt like hard-boiled eggs and was covered in an insular layer of wax. They glowed when full of emotion, and they gained their sustenance through thermal energy.
The first sentiments the humans conveyed were deep apologies. The werai covered the apologies with their own gratitude. See, the tribes of werai society valued only two things- the single village male of each tribe, called a patriarch, and a tribal gem that signified the village male's right to rule over certain lands and villagers. Those who were wiped from the land were either insignificant underlings or dismissed rival competitors! Bring the gems of our now-exterminated foes to us, the werai proposed, and we would share the reclaimed land's bounty with you.
Mining firms across the world leapt at the opportunity. The first found gems paid for land that would sustain the first cities. Small leads and rumors would start mad dashes of thousands of teams. This gem hunt would spawn entire industries, built predominantly on the backs of the plucky and wander lustful.
Our story begins in the twilight of this age, in the north of Venus, on the small, wild Finch Continent, so named for its shape. Far from the cosmopolitan centers of Equator Crater, small settlements live on the continent's "talons" and host the few teams with hope for riches still in their eyes. Each and every one hopes to score the last great boon of Venus, that their lives and legacy would be cemented in Time Immemorial.
