Grel Uplifting

The Grel Uplifting was the multi-generation project of the Galentean Empire to advance the Grel from a pre-industrial civilization into an interstellar one.

Background

As the Galentean Empire expanded its borders and explored the vastness of the galaxy, they would on occasion find sentient or sapient life on one of the worlds they encountered. As the purpose of the empire was ostebsibly an altruistic one, intending to use its technological advancements to better the lives of all it encountered. However, the Galenteans did worry about any species that might be too young or primitive to join the empire, as a sudden advancement in their technology might cause a cultural clash and internal strife. To deal with this, the Galenteans set a rule, that they were only ever to connect with any civilization that could engage first contact beyond the limits of their own worlds.
For these words, the Galenteans would set up additional observation stations, whose sole purpose was observation and study of fledgling worlds, ensuring an understanding of their culture, language, biology, and psychology, ready to receive them into the empire should they be able to finally make first contact.
However, the Galentean Observers who were monitoring the Grel noticed a pre-industrial species with a particulary violent streak. Unbeknowns to them at the time, fighting and brawling was a staple of Grel social interaction and their culture: for them, fighting was about bonding, settling disagreements, and matters of honor, and a Grel fight would rarely end with the death or permanent disability of one of the fighters. The Grel had long had strict codes of honor, law, and religious belief that strongly forbade the killing or disabling of another grel in the almost daily, ritualistic brawls.
In truth, War was a rare event on Grel'daan, but unfortunately, a war did break out shortly after the Galenteans arrived, a war between two of the largest nations on the world. At the same time, a plague had been spreading and causing massive devastation among the population. For the Grel these were dark times. And the Galenteans seeing this saw a species on the brink of extinction: being torn apart both by war and plague. To them, it appeared they had a choice: watch as a species went extinct, or interfere, breaking their own rules regarding new worlds and species.

Preparation

As the Galentean Observers were to never make contact with a species unless they could make first contact themselves, trying to save the Grel was an unprecedented task, and it took many years of planning and preparation, to ensure that the Grel would be able to join their empire properly.

First Contact

Within the same day, a single Galentean cruiser would descend onto each of the Grel Capital cities, with many envoys clad in grand emposing suits of armor, in a bid to awe the Grel into obedience. Additionally, they brought with them a cure they synthesized for the plague, to show the Grel they had good intentions.
The Galenteans would present themselves as envoys of the kingdoms of heaven, servants of the stars. They would tell the Matriarchal queens of the Grel that by following their teachings, they could join them among the stars, where an eternal paradise of peace, enlightenment, comfort, and wealth would be waiting.
Within a day, the War on Grel'daan was ended, the military orders disbanded and returned to their societies, and the Galenteans would begin the uplifting of the Grel.

The uplifting

It was a process that took many generations, but ultimately the Grel would join the wider empire. Initially, the Grel were indoctrinated with beliefs that the Galenteans were indeed divine beings, envoys of a divine kingdom that spanned the very stars in the skies. With time, and a growing understanding of technology and sciences as taught by the Galenteans, they would accept instead that they were nothing divine, instead being a grand and advanced empire that had managed to bridge star systems
The Galentean teachings were very strict, and would see an end to fighting between individual Grel, being taught from a young age that fighting would lead to ruin. This is today widely regarded as the biggest failing of the Uplifting, as for the Grel, fighting was an almost necessary aspect of their social structure. During the uplifting, the Grel would grow apart from each other, bonds would weaken, and many social ills would spread as a result. But the Grel pushed forward, encouraged by the Galenteans and driven by a desire for a grand utopian society.

Grel Uprising

After the Grel had indeed joined the interstellar civilization under strict guidance from the Galenteans, things were good for a while. While the society of the Grel was still highly unsatisfying to many individuals, the dream was still intact. The Galenteans would help the Grel settle and colonize neighouring star systems, expanding the Grel Homeworlds.
But not long after, the Grel would finally tire of the involvement of the Galenteans and their shaping of their ways. Throughout the many generations that were Uplifted, there were always those Grel that would hold on to the old ways, who would call the Galenteans Liars and Manipulators, and finally, they had managed to get Enough Grel on their side to start a civil uprising.
The uprising spiralled into a full-on festival of brawling, as the Grel would once more give in to their deep-seated desire to fight and bond with other Grel. While Galenteans were captured and tried by revolutionary leaders, those not involved would revel in newfound friendships, in the joy of fighting, and come to resent their Galentean rulers.
Over the following months, Many monuments of the Galenteans would be torn down, and their influence broken. At the same time, the Galentean Exodus was in full swing, as Similar events were happening all over Galenara. The Revolutionary leaders would begin to advocate for war, arguing that it was better to strike at the Galenteans before they could do the same.
With this, the Grel would Re-establish their military orders, based on long-lost military scripture from before the uplifting, and with a thorough helping of Galentean teachings of technology. They would invent new doctrine, new technologies for war, and begin training a new volunteer army of Disillusioned Grel'daan warriors, whose mind was only on shattering the Galenteans who had manipulated and deceived them for so long.

Post-Collapse

The war with the Galenteans and the other remnant states would leave the Grel species as a whole traumatized. The Grel would further turn back to the old ways, to old laws and codes of honor. The Homeworlds would unite under a confederate rulership, in some cases returning power to old ruling clans, and in others electing clans for the role.
The Grel also understood that, with the current state of the Galaxy, they could not afford to not have a military. Thus, their military forces would be turned from a professional military into an organization based on the pre-uplifting military orders, and thus found the Knightly Orders, combining the strict codes of honor of the past with the military realities of the modern day.