10 AU
When the Orians encountered a nearby world sheltered within a nebula, they dubbed its inhabitants Nebulari (literally, “the nebula people”). The rough interpretation of this was Nebulan, which has persisted to the present without challenge. However, the Nebulan people originally called themselves the Akreshna (singular: Akresh), which approximates to the Kresh. They believed themselves to be descendants of the legendary horde that ravaged that galaxy in the pre-Unification age. Thus the acceptance of the name Nebulan by the outside galaxy has caused some confusion. The term was used for such a great length of time that when people heard the Nebulans call themselves Akreshna, it was believed to be their language. Because of this confusion, Nebulans adopted the mistaken identity as their outward persona, and the name Nebulan now evokes greater fear in Aesgar than does Akreshna.
General consensus among historians places the organization of the Nebulan people into a state about a decade after Terra Nova Unification. Though a sedentary people, the Nebulans fought in the style of the nomadic Elan, with focus on speed and maneuverability. They combined this with a savagery that has become legendary.
Early Nebulan history is checkered with minor conquests eastward. Though not substantial at first, the resulting cultural assimilation and enforced political system eventually formed the foundation of the modern Nebulan Star Empire. Certain benefits such as military protection were extended to conquered worlds in exchange for loyalty, manpower, and taxes. Full Nebulan citizenship could even be achieved after a certain period of non-citizen service. Any world that resisted was brutally suppressed and their population enslaved.
Most historians contest the common idea that this early Nebulan state can be regarded as synonymous with the Nebulan Star Empire that rose over a thousand years later – the young Nebulan nation lacked the scope and foreign channels of later times. But it was precisely this lack of outside attention that allowed the Nebulans to grow unchecked in the far reaches of the east for hundreds of years.
