GoatBoy
2011-10-30, 07:51 AM
The Universe
Our race had become but one among many in the interstellar community. Though separated by light-years, language, biology, or any combination thereof, sentient species from countless worlds now worked together, with the unified goal of bettering themselves and their fellows. While greed, war, suffering, and hatred could never be wiped away, ours was now a society of peace and understanding, with shared wisdom and technology ushering us ever towards even brighter futures.
The incomprehensible distances between inhabited worlds were covered by the world-ships. Each of these gigantic feats of artifice were like planets unto themselves, ferrying peoples, supplies, and ideas from world to world, and taking on a bit of the characteristics of each one visited. For some, the world-ships were stopping points on their journeys, but many others eschewed terrestrial existence entirely in favour of a life spent in the emptiness of space, and the chance to take in the experience of crossing the breadth of the known universe. Some spent their entire lives within these hulls, but they would be the first to dispute that this constitutes an existence of confinement.
The Stellar Vanguard
It is on one of these ships that this story begins. This ship was not known by one name alone, since even the most basic concept to one race could be utterly alien to another. But the name Stellar Vanguard was settled upon by enough peoples that it might suit our purpose.
This was but one unremarkable ship among many others. It visited solar systems both settled and not, exciting and mundane, charted and unknown. It was one of these unknown systems which decreed the fate of this vessel.
World-ships served as both ferries, and as platforms for industry, science, even battle if it should come to that. It was only by the request of explorers that this system in particular was visited. But what appeared underwhelming at first - an average star, an average number of average-type planets - soon provided a most perplexing and appealing object of curiosity: a planet which emitted exotic radiation and wave-forms unlike any encountered on thousands of charted worlds. The Stellar Vanguard entered into orbit for a brief period of study and observation, perhaps a ground mission if there was time. A brief stay, however, was not what this world had in mind for the vessel.
For reasons still not completely known but no doubt related to the peculiarities of the planet, the Stellar Vanguard was unable to maintain its orbit. Crisis conditions were declared across the ship, which went from space-borne to a wreck on the planet's surface in the span of mere minutes.
The catastrophic results of a world-ship making planetfall in such a manner cannot be overstated. The loss of life was staggering, and many who lived through the tremendous impact only survived to face death at the vicious radiation on the planet's surface. But world-ships are built to suffer the worst that this universe has to offer, and a population of thousands were spared, safe enough from the ravages of the outside world, within the protection of the vessel's bulkheads.
Planet Fel
At first, survival was the only feasible objective. World-ships are entirely self-sustaining, able to provide the diverse metabolic needs of many exotic biochemistries. But despite the hull's protections, many fundamental technologies simply refused to work on this world, victims of unknown and unseen forces. Much needed to be re-discovered, or entirely re-created. There was no want of raw materials. At first, many were hesitant to scuttle the engines of the wrecked ship. But a great deal of time had passed without hint of rescue, and disasters of this kind were so unheard of that world-ships seldom provided details of the flight plans to others. Anyone who even found the system would have a lifetime of searching ahead of them, and it was also likely that the planet, now granted the name Fel by enough of its new inhabitants for our convenience, would mask any signatures of the ship. And it is all but impossible to raise a land-bound world-ship back into space, least of all with the survivors' limited resources. For now, they would have to make a go of it on their own, on this uncharted world.
It took a decade (standard solar calendar) before the survivors of the Stellar Vanguard were established enough to begin exploring Fel. It possessed an atmosphere of typical pressure, containing non-breathable but inert gases. No seasons were observed, but the planet had an active weather system which resulted in regular windstorms and rainfalls (liquid water, but saturated with countless dissolved minerals). The ship had crashed in the middle of an ancient floodplain, now a great dry expanse which stretched for hundreds of kilometres in all directions. No new elements were found, but bizarre, exotic compounds were discovered at an amazing rate. Some of these substances were incorporated into new technologies, the likes of which the interstellar community could only have speculated at.
When the breadth of the plain (named the Vanguard Expanse) was reached, the beginnings of several new areas were charted beyond its borders. A great sea, a craggy waste, and a jagged mountain range, from the mountains of which grew incredible crystalline structures, crackling with unknown energies. But most astonishing of all, biological life was found to inhabit this world. There was not enough diversity to constitute what could be called an ecosystem, but isolated pockets of creatures were located. Needless to say, the exotic features of these creatures were no exception to the series of wonders the planet Fel had to offer.
But most the perplexing manifestation of all had been with the survivors from the very beginning.
The Felweave
In the first months following the crash, bizarre happenings plagued the survivors. Small, shapeless objects would manifest out of nowhere, and then disintegrate a moment later. There were sudden, localized temperature shifts of such scale that objects could spontaneously catch fire or grow ice crystals. Small pulses of energy that burnt out the few working electronic devices were not uncommon, and the survivors themselves would develop and recover from mysterious ailments in the space of hours. The rules of reality itself were thought to have broken down. But as the months went on, the survivors discovered that, through concentration, these phenomena could be avoided, and even called forth at will by a few talented individuals. Nothing considered controlled use of these manifestations would result for some time, but over the years, those who were young at the moment of the crash, or who were to be born on the planet itself, demonstrated greater affinity for controlled use of this power. It came to be called the Felweave, for talented users of this power described a sensation akin to capturing threads of energy about themselves and forming them into a usable configuration.
Eventually, scientists and philosophers put forth the idea of a great device located somewhere on or within Fel. Technology that was available to the universe at large was able to duplicate many of the effects of the Felweave, albeit at a greater scale. But always the limiting factor of these technologies was the need for a user to input exactly what was needed and where it needed to be. If technology was to reach the ultimate in usability, it would need to be available exactly when, where, and how its creators desired. The only logical solution to this problem would be devices which responded directly to the thoughts of its user. Perhaps a great machine somewhere on Fel was responding to the thoughts of the planets' newest tenants, exactly as it would to those of its enigmatic creators. The limits of this engine's capabilities, however, could only be speculated upon.
Home For Now
It has been over one hundred years since the crash of the Stellar Vanguard, and the ship itself bears little resemblance to its original configuration. It is now akin to a great city, a bastion against the harsh conditions of Fel to millions of beings from thousands of worlds. With each generation, ever more talented Felweavers appear, producing ever newer effects. The lands beyond the Vanguard Expanse now call to daring explorers, rich with discoveries undreamed of. But most foreboding of all - and most tempting - are the remnants of ancient devices which dot the land. Perhaps Fel once held a great civilization, or perhaps these are the remains of other unwilling visitors to the planet, doomed to be forgotten by the sands of time, as the latest batch may well be. Fel is brimming with danger, promise, and opportunity. If the planet cannot be escaped, perhaps it may yet be conquered.
Our race had become but one among many in the interstellar community. Though separated by light-years, language, biology, or any combination thereof, sentient species from countless worlds now worked together, with the unified goal of bettering themselves and their fellows. While greed, war, suffering, and hatred could never be wiped away, ours was now a society of peace and understanding, with shared wisdom and technology ushering us ever towards even brighter futures.
The incomprehensible distances between inhabited worlds were covered by the world-ships. Each of these gigantic feats of artifice were like planets unto themselves, ferrying peoples, supplies, and ideas from world to world, and taking on a bit of the characteristics of each one visited. For some, the world-ships were stopping points on their journeys, but many others eschewed terrestrial existence entirely in favour of a life spent in the emptiness of space, and the chance to take in the experience of crossing the breadth of the known universe. Some spent their entire lives within these hulls, but they would be the first to dispute that this constitutes an existence of confinement.
The Stellar Vanguard
It is on one of these ships that this story begins. This ship was not known by one name alone, since even the most basic concept to one race could be utterly alien to another. But the name Stellar Vanguard was settled upon by enough peoples that it might suit our purpose.
This was but one unremarkable ship among many others. It visited solar systems both settled and not, exciting and mundane, charted and unknown. It was one of these unknown systems which decreed the fate of this vessel.
World-ships served as both ferries, and as platforms for industry, science, even battle if it should come to that. It was only by the request of explorers that this system in particular was visited. But what appeared underwhelming at first - an average star, an average number of average-type planets - soon provided a most perplexing and appealing object of curiosity: a planet which emitted exotic radiation and wave-forms unlike any encountered on thousands of charted worlds. The Stellar Vanguard entered into orbit for a brief period of study and observation, perhaps a ground mission if there was time. A brief stay, however, was not what this world had in mind for the vessel.
For reasons still not completely known but no doubt related to the peculiarities of the planet, the Stellar Vanguard was unable to maintain its orbit. Crisis conditions were declared across the ship, which went from space-borne to a wreck on the planet's surface in the span of mere minutes.
The catastrophic results of a world-ship making planetfall in such a manner cannot be overstated. The loss of life was staggering, and many who lived through the tremendous impact only survived to face death at the vicious radiation on the planet's surface. But world-ships are built to suffer the worst that this universe has to offer, and a population of thousands were spared, safe enough from the ravages of the outside world, within the protection of the vessel's bulkheads.
Planet Fel
At first, survival was the only feasible objective. World-ships are entirely self-sustaining, able to provide the diverse metabolic needs of many exotic biochemistries. But despite the hull's protections, many fundamental technologies simply refused to work on this world, victims of unknown and unseen forces. Much needed to be re-discovered, or entirely re-created. There was no want of raw materials. At first, many were hesitant to scuttle the engines of the wrecked ship. But a great deal of time had passed without hint of rescue, and disasters of this kind were so unheard of that world-ships seldom provided details of the flight plans to others. Anyone who even found the system would have a lifetime of searching ahead of them, and it was also likely that the planet, now granted the name Fel by enough of its new inhabitants for our convenience, would mask any signatures of the ship. And it is all but impossible to raise a land-bound world-ship back into space, least of all with the survivors' limited resources. For now, they would have to make a go of it on their own, on this uncharted world.
It took a decade (standard solar calendar) before the survivors of the Stellar Vanguard were established enough to begin exploring Fel. It possessed an atmosphere of typical pressure, containing non-breathable but inert gases. No seasons were observed, but the planet had an active weather system which resulted in regular windstorms and rainfalls (liquid water, but saturated with countless dissolved minerals). The ship had crashed in the middle of an ancient floodplain, now a great dry expanse which stretched for hundreds of kilometres in all directions. No new elements were found, but bizarre, exotic compounds were discovered at an amazing rate. Some of these substances were incorporated into new technologies, the likes of which the interstellar community could only have speculated at.
When the breadth of the plain (named the Vanguard Expanse) was reached, the beginnings of several new areas were charted beyond its borders. A great sea, a craggy waste, and a jagged mountain range, from the mountains of which grew incredible crystalline structures, crackling with unknown energies. But most astonishing of all, biological life was found to inhabit this world. There was not enough diversity to constitute what could be called an ecosystem, but isolated pockets of creatures were located. Needless to say, the exotic features of these creatures were no exception to the series of wonders the planet Fel had to offer.
But most the perplexing manifestation of all had been with the survivors from the very beginning.
The Felweave
In the first months following the crash, bizarre happenings plagued the survivors. Small, shapeless objects would manifest out of nowhere, and then disintegrate a moment later. There were sudden, localized temperature shifts of such scale that objects could spontaneously catch fire or grow ice crystals. Small pulses of energy that burnt out the few working electronic devices were not uncommon, and the survivors themselves would develop and recover from mysterious ailments in the space of hours. The rules of reality itself were thought to have broken down. But as the months went on, the survivors discovered that, through concentration, these phenomena could be avoided, and even called forth at will by a few talented individuals. Nothing considered controlled use of these manifestations would result for some time, but over the years, those who were young at the moment of the crash, or who were to be born on the planet itself, demonstrated greater affinity for controlled use of this power. It came to be called the Felweave, for talented users of this power described a sensation akin to capturing threads of energy about themselves and forming them into a usable configuration.
Eventually, scientists and philosophers put forth the idea of a great device located somewhere on or within Fel. Technology that was available to the universe at large was able to duplicate many of the effects of the Felweave, albeit at a greater scale. But always the limiting factor of these technologies was the need for a user to input exactly what was needed and where it needed to be. If technology was to reach the ultimate in usability, it would need to be available exactly when, where, and how its creators desired. The only logical solution to this problem would be devices which responded directly to the thoughts of its user. Perhaps a great machine somewhere on Fel was responding to the thoughts of the planets' newest tenants, exactly as it would to those of its enigmatic creators. The limits of this engine's capabilities, however, could only be speculated upon.
Home For Now
It has been over one hundred years since the crash of the Stellar Vanguard, and the ship itself bears little resemblance to its original configuration. It is now akin to a great city, a bastion against the harsh conditions of Fel to millions of beings from thousands of worlds. With each generation, ever more talented Felweavers appear, producing ever newer effects. The lands beyond the Vanguard Expanse now call to daring explorers, rich with discoveries undreamed of. But most foreboding of all - and most tempting - are the remnants of ancient devices which dot the land. Perhaps Fel once held a great civilization, or perhaps these are the remains of other unwilling visitors to the planet, doomed to be forgotten by the sands of time, as the latest batch may well be. Fel is brimming with danger, promise, and opportunity. If the planet cannot be escaped, perhaps it may yet be conquered.