The Szandite Collective is a unique political alliance of seven planets located across four different but adjacent solar systems in a remote corner of Near Space. Despite vast distances separating them, these worlds formed a collaborative governmental organization hundreds of years before the Gap—long before any had mastered interstellar spaceflight. This seemingly impossible alliance was enabled by a mysterious phenomenon: thousands of years ago, regular meteor showers peppered each of these seven worlds over several months, dropping dozens of enormous magical crystals onto each planet. These crystals, ranging from a few feet to nearly a mile in dimensions, were formed from colorful mineral combinations found nowhere else in their respective solar systems. Through independent research efforts, each planet's population discovered that the crystals provided magical interstellar communication—allowing speech and mental images from individuals touching any crystal to flow to all other crystals across all seven worlds. Each crystal also contained records of all communication that passed through it, accessible through touch and mental focus. After decades of collaborative translation and coordination, the planets made contact, determined their relative locations, and named the crystals szandite—an amalgamation of each planet's native name for the phenomenon and symbol of their friendship. They formally established the Szandite Collective to facilitate mutual learning, scientific advancement, and military-cultural alliance. The Collective's peaceful nature and lack of means for interplanetary war strengthened their bond. When the Gap ended, the Collective possessed a distinct advantage: centuries of shared knowledge through the szandite network. This collaborative information base enabled rapid, synchronous advances in societal systems and technology, practically eliminating armed conflict on member worlds. Upon developing starships, they focused on research and exploration, particularly seeking clues to the crystals' mysterious origins. Their practical isolationism has proven increasingly difficult as they've expanded into Near Space and realized their vulnerability to militaristic species. Recently, they've begun sharing technology and information with non-Collective species to secure allies for protection and research assistance. However, they absolutely refuse to trade szandite crystals themselves, as the material and communication records may contain answers to their civilization's greatest mystery. The Collective once numbered eight planets—a dedicated branch still searches for Krethiskar, a former member that fell silent before the Collective achieved interstellar travel. Recently, researchers discovered encrypted pleas for help embedded in ancient Krethiskar messages, dating to the Collective's earliest days. Neither the reason for these messages nor the cause of their cessation is known, putting the entire Collective on edge.