While the 4386th cycle of the modern Ithael era may only be recognizable to any Terran as a span of time between the years 2656 and 2657, it is forever burned into the collective history of the draconic Ithael as a critical turning point of their culture. Relatively early on in their years as an interstellar colonial species, Ithael culture was very much centered on capitalistic motives to advance technology and culture. In many ways, their culture exhibited many of the more avaricious qualities befitting their draconic shape: hoarding, ambition, and ruthlessness. Charity outside of one's clan was an extreme rarity, with the exception of the Order of the Aeon.

By the cycle of 4386, the Ithael had claimed 4 exoplanetary systems as the locations of their first colonies. Of these efforts, the planet known as “Bounty" was the first. Situated within the Galvanis System roughly 10 light years away from the Ithael home system of Okarel, Bounty was charted in 3941 and initially settled for terraforming operations in 3980, thanks to advances with faster-than-light travel. Terraforming operations were declared complete in 4266 and the planet soon after experienced a rapid influx of settlers seeking to exploit the riches of that world. Many of the most prominent clans established some form of influence on or around Bounty through which they extracted great sums of wealth in the forms of manufacturing, travel, and mining; their coffers swelled to unprecedented sizes.

However, those leading the most powerful clans were miserly, and did not release these greater sums of wealth into the wider society, instead preferring to “reinvest" the newly acquired wealth within their own networks to balloon their accounts further. As a result, the lower reaches of the economy suffered under the weight of the burgeoning upper levels. The greater amount of wealth and subsequent reinvestment in the clan-controlled corporations within the stock markets led to run-away inflation of cost for everyday necessities in the rest of the economy. Had anyone in power cared to look, it should not have come as a surprise when the anemic foundation of the Ithael economy finally buckled in 4386.

On 21-Anos-4386, an armed militia led jointly by clans Phaelzirynth, Skolaetyrith, Kraethrynix, and Ilzathradaruth assaulted the cities of Aer, Verdis, Vaekal, and Teratis. The attacks were swift, resulting in the militia seizing control of the anchor of the orbital lift in each of those cities despite substantial armed resistance from local clan and governmental authorities. While the militia achieved great success on the ground, infantry actions composed of clans Plisargiwaph, Straitholaex, Xylanthreth, and Kyrotharix, took the space docks. The resulting stalemate ground local spacefaring operations to a screeching halt for more than 2 months. This wasn't the first time a lower clan militia had taken large pubic and corporate assets, and it wasn't expected to be the last. However, what stood this event out from those previous was both the enormity of the occupation and the aggressiveness of the militia that was directly responsible for the deaths of 4,000 warriors and 800 civilians, maiming 1,300 more.

Three weeks into the occupation of the orbital lifts, things began to take an ever-worsening turn. Just one day before the new year, on 39-Anos-4386, The Ithael Colonial Authority received an urgent FTL communication from the colony of Bounty, requesting immediate large-scale assistance. Astronomical and nuclear physicists stationed on the colony had been studying the host star, Galvanis, and had discovered that the star had reached a relatively unstable point in its life cycle. Such findings may seem routine, but in the case of Galvanis, the data was much grimmer. The scientists had double and triple-checked their work to be sure, but the conclusions were clear: Galvanis was expected to experience a coronal mass ejection, but on a much more massive and destructive scale than previously thought possible. The authors of the paper coined a new term for the phenomenon: Mass Coronal Shedding. The data of the paper indicated the MCS was likely to occur within a cycle of the report's publication, and an alarm was sounded to deploy evacuation ships to the colony that had grown to a population size of just under thirteen million.

Despite the urgent call for aid, the feuding clans refused to budge. The militia cited multiple grievances, ranging from lack of funds for basic necessities to political corruption. The higher clans, however, countered that they were entitled to the full rewards of their labors and were not required to assist those that clearly were doomed to fail. The militia disagreed with the rebuttals, and doubled down on their control of the orbital anchors, preventing the transfer of all cargo and fuel to all ships moored in the space docks. From this point, what began as a clan feud quickly spiraled into a humanitarian crisis as the immovable desires and egos of clan leaderships refused to budge on their positions and further stymied attempts retrofit and dispatch colony ships to Bounty for evacuation purposes.

The continued development of what became known as the “Bounty Crisis" sent shockwaves through the ranks of the Aeon. For the first time in the modern era, the humanitarian order sprung toward their ancient roots. For more than 2 centuries, the Order had eschewed its war-like past to become a volunteer conglomeration of the best and brightest minds in Ithael society. The Aeon recruited volunteers from its ranks into the most grueling and intense military training. One month later, the First Aeon Battalion of the modern era was officially commissioned.

As their first deployment, the Aeon used their technical experience and credentials to gain access to the leaderships of the militia and all belligerent clans while other members of the order attempted to mediate negotiations between the parties. Predictably, negotiations ended without any meaningful redress of grievances. In response, the Aeon unleashed their newly trained battalion of warriors from both outside and within all other groups. It was the firmly held belief within the Order of the Aeon that the only way to grease the stalled engine of society was to slicken the gears of greed and ego with blood. For four hours on the eve of the tenth week of the occupation, the First Aeon Battalion drove all other belligerents from their fortified positions and culled their leaderships. Having won their military objective, the Aeon set about occupying and repairing the orbital lifts and their anchor stations. The occupation was declared over the following week, and preparations for rescuing the colonists of Bounty began in earnest.

The preparations were too little, too late. The colony ships arrived in the Galvanis system to find the Colony of Bounty dead. Faster-than-light travel, while advanced for its time, was still in its infancy, and the star had undergone its MCS while the ships were in transit. The resulting discovery of the lost colony dealt a massive blow to the collective consciousness of the Ithael. The combined death toll from the lost colony and the fighting reached just over thirteen million. From then on, the ordeal was not referenced as the “Bounty Crisis" or the “Spaceport Stagnation." Instead, it was simply named for the lives that had been lost as a result: the 13 Million Souls tragedy.