For centuries the Slah’ke were directly ruled by their Gods. The gods demanded war, competition, and blood. The scriptures say that in the beginning, the Slah’ke were mindless mud crawlers until their Gods came and showed them how to hunt, kill, conquer and survive. Competition and battle was the holy mandate to improve the Shah’ke and show their faith.
Those who excelled in battle were honoured by the God’s, and revered and challenged by their peers. The Slah’ke was a weapon that honed themselves through battle. Weakness and cowardice was a heresy. Ritual religious battles took place between the medieval tech level Civilizations devoted to the gods. The greatest among them were chosen and honoured by elevation into the ranks of the Holy Warriors who fought in space.
The 10 Gods of Proxima, supreme leaders of the Slah’ke, were aligned with 5 identities/tenets, two gods to each.
1. The Arrows from on High brought Judgement
2. The Daggers in the Dark sought Truth
3. The Shields against the Storm protected the Faith
4. The Hammers of the Light embodied Righteousness
5. The Blades like the Fire fought with Zeal
These 5 tenets informed the mentalities of the different sects of Slah’ke “worship”, divine war-making. Each God chose warriors for its ranks from the champions of the temple
In 2500AD, or Interstellar Year 0, the Gods disappeared. The prophets proclaim they abandoned them for lack of faith but will return when the blood price has been paid. The scriptures declared that the Slah’ke had been weak, and failed to be strong enough. Only through conquest and the blood of their enemies would the Gods return.
Such was the faith of the Slah’ke, that the disappearance of their gods had little impact on their society. Instead of battling for their favour, they now battled for their return.
For almost 2 and a half centuries, the Slah’ke warred with themselves within Proxima, until Prophets from the sect of Zeal unearthed designs for the God Engines hidden within First Temple. The Priestlords, as they called themselves, united the sects into a loose Union using the new technology, devoted to conquering the Galaxy for the glory of their Gods.