Biwvfpik
We first became aware of the Biwvfpik in 5440. They inhabit the frigid planet Pibwi in the Xixwo system. They are wise, sedentary, and proud.
The Biwvfpik have begun to cultivate crops. They are especially fond of a kind of tough seaweed known as bipwi that grows well in the dense forests of Pibwi.
The Biwvfpik have learned how to catch water-dwelling creatures such as the pipwi, which is now an important part of the Biwvfpik diet.
The Biwvfpik have developed a simple system of writing, which they use primarily for record-keeping.
The Biwvfpik have domesticated a species of small scaly creatures. The pets assist their Biwvfpik owners with hunting in exchange for food and shelter.
The Biwvfpik make widespread use of stone tools in a variety of contexts, especially when hunting the wild biwcfpoc.
In 5572, a rapidly growing religion known as Pixwi became the official religion of the largest Biwvfpik state. Adherents of Pixwi wear distinctive colorful clothing to mark themselves as believers.
The Biwvfpik have begun to construct permanent dwellings and other structures. They make especially extensive use of marble as a building material.
The Biwvfpik have mastered the control of fire. They use it to cook their food, and to light their villages at night.
The Biwvfpik have discovered how to forge molten metal into jewelry, tools, weapons, and armor.
The Biwvfpik have built elaborate pipe and sewer systems to supply their larger settlements, such as Pipwo, with fresh water and a hygenic means of waste disposal.
In 5642, many of the disparate Biwvfpik villages were united under a single banner by an individual known as Pixwi the Conqueror. The city of Pipwo has been named the capital of the resulting empire, which rules over approximately 19% of the entire Biwvfpik population. Unusually for the Biwvfpik, it is governed by a hereditary monarch.
The Biwvfpik 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 Biwvfpik have developed a sophisticated understanding of basic mathematics, such as arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.
Some of the Biwvfpik have begun to experiment with alchemy, systematically searching for new ways of combining and manipulating ingredients to yield useful chemicals, compounds, and medicines.
The Biwvfpik have begun to use lenses and mirrors made from polished crystal, glass, and water to redirect and focus light.
The Biwvfpik have learned how to build ships and sail them across the oceans of Pibwi to explore and trade over increasingly greater distances.
The Biwvfpik 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 Biwvfpik have developed a simple printing press, and mass-produced versions of important texts have begun to circulate widely throughout the world. Serial fiction is especially popular.
In their efforts to understand the motion of planets in the sky, free-falling bodies, and projectiles, the Biwvfpik have developed a new branch of mathematics which is immediately recognizable as calculus.
The Biwvfpik 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.
In 5800, the Biwvfpik population reached 25 million individuals. Many of these live within permanent cities, the largest of which is known as Pipwo and has a population of 30,000.
Through systematic observation and categorization of the various living things on Pibwi, the Biwvfpik 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 biwcfpoc and the pipwi, may in fact be descended from a single common ancestor.
Due to its role as the birthplace of several major Biwvfpik religions, including the especially prominent Pixwi faith, the city of Pipwo is regarded by many of the Biwvfpik as a holy site. Leaders from all around the world travel to the city in order to curry favor with the leaders of their people's religion of choice.
Although initially controversial, the hypothesis that diseases are caused by microorganisms has begun to catch on among the Biwvfpik, leading to the widespread adoption of public health policies which have greatly reduced the spread of disease.
The Biwvfpik 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 Biwvfpik population.
The Biwvfpik have developed a practical and cost-effective steam engine, which can be fueled with wood or coal.
The Biwvfpik have developed flying machines which can carry them into the skies above Pibwi.
The Biwvfpik 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.
With the development of the transistor, the Biwvfpik have begun to construct more sophisticated electronic circuits.
The Biwvfpik 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 Pibwi to exchange several messages over the course of a single day.
The Biwvfpik have begun to build general-purpose programmable computers.
The Biwvfpik have discovered a way to manufacture gunpowder, which they primarily use in warfare.
The Biwvfpik have begun to develop rockets.
The Biwvfpik have discovered that electromagnetic waves may be used to transmit information, enabling the development and widespread deployment of media for audiovisual broadcasting.
The Biwvfpik have developed an accurate model of the internal structure of the atom, which has also enabled them to understand the phenomenon of radioactivity.
The Biwvfpik have taken their first tentative steps into space, launching craft capable of supporting several individuals into orbit around Pibwi before retrieving them safely.
The Biwvfpik have begun to connect their computers into a single vast network, enabling communication and collaboration on a truly global scale.
The Biwvfpik have developed a form of artificial general intelligence which rivals many of their own intellectual capabilities.
The Biwvfpik have begun to understand quantum physics.
The Biwvfpik have begun to experiment with the use of "intelligent materials", in the form of swarms of programmable nanobots.
The Biwvfpik 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 Biwvfpik have discovered a means of sending and receiving messages which travel at speeds exceeding that of light itself.
The Biwvfpik have begun to establish permanent colonies on worlds other than Pibwi. Although still largely unable to travel outside of the Xixwo system, the distribution of Biwvfpik civilization across multiple worlds greatly reduces the risk that they will collapse due to any crisis of merely planetary scale.
The Biwvfpik have successfully tested their first faster-than-light starship. No longer are they trapped within the gravity well of the Xixwo system: they are now free to take their place alongside us as fellow wanderers among the stars.
In 6071, the Biwvfpik joined us.