Xujmxe
We first became aware of the Xujmxe in 2790. They reside on the rainy planet Xejmce in the Xujmxu system. They are obsequious, intelligent, and enterprising.
The Xujmxe have learned how to catch water-dwelling creatures such as the fxiem, which is now an important part of the Xujmxe diet.
The Xujmxe have begun to cultivate crops, including a kind of chewy vine known as fjeyejz.
The Xujmxe have domesticated a species of small feathered creatures. The pets assist their Xujmxe owners with navigation in exchange for food and shelter.
The Xujmxe have begun to watch the skies and recognize patterns in the movements of stars, which they use to navigate over great distances and keep track of time.
The Xujmxe make widespread use of stone tools for many things. This has dramatically improved their efficiency in hunting the wild yejmce.
The Xujmxe have mastered the control of fire. They use it to cook their food, and to light their villages at night.
The Xujmxe have begun to construct permanent dwellings and other structures. Wherever possible, they seem to prefer marble as a building material.
The Xujmxe have developed a simple system of writing, which they use primarily for record-keeping.
The Xujmxe have developed a sophisticated understanding of basic mathematics, such as arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.
The Xujmxe have begun to make use of more sophisticated construction techniques, relying on sturdy structural elements such as arches and buttresses to support larger and larger buildings.
The Xujmxe have discovered how to forge molten metal into jewelry, tools, weapons, and armor.
The Xujmxe have begun to use lenses and mirrors made from polished crystal, glass, and water to redirect and focus light.
The Xujmxe have developed a simple printing press, and mass-produced versions of important texts have begun to circulate widely throughout the world. Transcriptions of folktales are especially popular.
In their efforts to understand the motion of planets in the sky, free-falling bodies, and projectiles, the Xujmxe have developed a new branch of mathematics which is immediately recognizable as calculus.
Some of the Xujmxe have begun to experiment with alchemy, systematically searching for new ways of combining and manipulating ingredients to yield useful chemicals, compounds, and medicines.
In 3093, many of the disparate Xujmxe kingdoms were united under a single banner by an individual known as Fjecejy. The city of Cejyxe has been named the capital of the resulting empire, which rules over approximately 43% of the entire Xujmxe population. Unusually for the Xujmxe, it is governed by a council of elders.
Through systematic observation and categorization of the various living things on Xejmce, the Xujmxe have begun to develop a more sophisticated understanding of biology. Some theorists have even put forth the idea that dramatically different-looking organisms, such as the yejmce and the fxiem, may in fact be descended from a single common ancestor.
In 3105, the Xujmxe population reached 25 million individuals. Many of these reside within permanent cities, the largest of which is known as Cejyxe and has a population of 57,000.
Following a long series of failed attempts to besiege the city, Cejyxe has become renowned among the Xujmxe as an impenetrable fortress. The image of its distinctive walls has been widely adopted in Xujmxe oratory as a symbol of resilience.
The initially controversial theory that diseases are caused by microorganisms has begun to catch on among the Xujmxe, leading to the widespread adoption of public health policies which have greatly reduced the spread of disease.
The Xujmxe have learned how to build ships and sail them across the oceans of Xejmce to explore and trade over increasingly greater distances.
The Xujmxe have built elaborate pipe and sewer systems to supply their larger settlements, such as Cejyxe, with fresh water and a hygenic means of waste disposal.
The Xujmxe have begun to construct wind and water mills, which redirect the forces of the natural world to perform repetitive mechanical tasks such as grinding grain and pumping water.
The Xujmxe have developed a practical and cost-effective steam engine, which can be fueled with wood or coal.
The Xujmxe have successfully tamed electricity, and are now beginning to deploy it throughout society. Electric lights are widespread, electric motors are used to drive factories, and the growing need for electric power has led to the construction of power plants near every major center of Xujmxe population.
The Xujmxe have discovered a way to manufacture gunpowder, which they primarily use for explosive mining.
The Xujmxe have begun to develop rockets.
The Xujmxe have developed flying machines which can carry them into the skies above Xejmce.
The Xujmxe have begun harnessing the power of electricity to send messages across very great distances with unprecedented speed. Due to the overhead of encoding and decoding messages, long-distance communication remains far from instantaneous, but it is now possible for individuals on opposite sides of Xejmce to exchange several messages over the course of a single day.
The Xujmxe have discovered that electromagnetic waves may be used to transmit information, enabling the development and widespread deployment of media for audiovisual broadcasting.
With the development of the transistor, the Xujmxe have begun to construct more sophisticated electronic circuits.
The Xujmxe have begun to build general-purpose programmable computers.
The Xujmxe have arrived at a sophisticated understanding of genetics, which has enabled them to craft new forms of life by deliberately modifying the genes of existing organisms.
In 3349, an emerging religion known as Yejmce was declared the official religion of the largest Xujmxe state. Adherents of Yejmce wear simple black coats to mark themselves as believers.
The Xujmxe have taken their first tentative steps into space, launching craft capable of supporting several individuals into orbit around Xejmce before retrieving them safely.
The Xujmxe have begun to connect their computers into a single vast network, enabling communication and collaboration on a truly global scale.
The Xujmxe have developed an accurate model of the internal structure of the atom, which has also enabled them to understand the phenomenon of radioactivity.
In 3394, the Xujmxe successfully detonated their first prototype nuclear weapon. It remains unclear whether the Xujmxe scientists who worked on the bomb understand the sheer destructive potential of the weapon they have created.
The Xujmxe have begun to understand quantum physics.
The Xujmxe have developed a form of artificial general intelligence which rivals many of their own intellectual capabilities.
The Xujmxe have constructed their first cost-effective quantum computers, dramatically improving their collective ability to perform certain types of calculation.
Through their investigations of quantum phenomena, the Xujmxe have discovered a means of sending and receiving messages which travel at speeds exceeding that of light itself.
In 3422, following decades of negotiation, the various sovereign Xujmxe nations came to an agreement concerning the establishment of a unified planet-wide government for all of the Xujmxe.
The Xujmxe have begun to experiment with the use of "intelligent materials", in the form of swarms of programmable nanobots.
The Xujmxe have begun to establish permanent colonies on worlds other than Xejmce. Although still largely unable to travel outside of the Xujmxu system, the distribution of Xujmxe civilization across multiple worlds greatly reduces the risk that they will collapse due to any crisis of merely planetary scale.
The Xujmxe have successfully tested their first faster-than-light starship. No longer are they trapped within the gravity well of the Xujmxu system: they are now free to take their place alongside us as fellow wanderers among the stars.
In 3437, the Xujmxe joined us.