Īt eight years of age, the proto-Hive Osmium King of the Osmium Court on Fundament sires his final brood of offspring, which include his three daughters Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash who are tutored by sterile mother Taox. Meanwhile, a species of bony six-armed cephalopods named the Ammonites benefit from the Traveler's patronage and build a sophisticated starfaring civilization spanning all of Fundament's fifty-two moons, before eventually coming into contact with the distant Ecumene. The proto-Hive survive and build a new civilization for themselves on the floating shards of their former homeworld, gradually forgetting their original history. One such species was the proto- Hive, whose homeworld collided with Fundament and shattered. As a result, hundreds of species migrate to Fundament and become stranded there-eking out a living on the shards of their broken worlds which become floating continents.
The Worms in turn begin calling across the stars to other species, seeking to lure one that can free them. The Traveler's priest, a creature called Leviathan, also dwells in the deeper Fundament and attempts to dissuade anyone from seeking them out. The Worms, an intelligent species able to wield the power of the Darkness directly, are trapped in the depths of a global ocean within one of the atmospheric layers of the gas giant Fundament by the Traveler.
The Ancient Past Main article: Books of Sorrow Year