Har'kish Civil War

On 14 Temporal 1292, the Har'kish Empire erupted into civil war. At the time, the empire had hundreds of holding spread across the Astral Sea and across a dozen worlds. For hundreds of years before this time, they warred with the illithids and the githzerai. After defeating them and nearly exterminating all of them for a thousand miles beyond their borders they entered a long period of peace. This period of peace revealed cracks in the moral fiber of the society with its lack of political and religious freedoms. Some also wanted to break with the militaristic tradition of sending their young to the crèches. These places raised children in the art of war and placed little emphasis on other studies. The civil war was a battle between the traditionalists and the separatists. The separatists sought change in the empire and the traditionalists sought to keep the military state and its monotheism institutions.

The Har'kish Civil War caused devastation in nearly every Har'kish holding in the Astral Sea. The two sides were brutal in their attacks employing the same measures used against their old enemies, the illithids and the githzerai. Many places were reduced to ruin from bombardments by the Eye of Gith. This also weakened the empire to such a state that they became prey to other hostiles of the Astral Sea, including their age old enemies.

The end of the civil war resulted in a schism. Two sects of githyanki came from this, those determined to follow the theocratic tradition of the githyanki and those determined to follow a path allowing more political freedom. This latter group became known simply as the Separatists, while the Vla'akith CLVII loyalists were referred to as the Theocrats. The Separatists chose whatever god they deemed fit their goals, but most put their faith in the war god Ares. Most of the Separatists left the Astral Sea for the world Bal-Kriav where they took refuge in the ancient Zeymah'kein bastion Vith Niigol.