#Korvax system

[ufipa]

Featured Planet #02: Ratuscont Oakeo

🪐Planet Type: Lush - Paradise

👾Sentinel Activity: Sparse (None)

🌧️Weather: Pleasant

💫Star System: UFIPA-43231-Zuwaji-Sobelp VI

📈Economy: Trading

📊Economy Tier: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚔️Conflict Level: Peaceful, ⚔️1

👽Dominant Lifeform: Korvax

🗺️Region: Muptista

🌌Galaxy: Isdoraijung

Portal Glyphs: Bottom left of the pictures above

Make yourself at home in the rolling hills and plains of the UFIPA’s Synthetic capital, Ratuscont Oakeo! Located in the Zuwaji-Sobelp VI system of the Isdoraijung galaxy, Ratuscont Oakeo is a serene, almost entirely blue paradise world. Among the native fauna are A. Nipkudetum, a docile bonecat species (genus Osteofelidae) that spend their days roaming the flora-dense hills of Ratuscont Oakeo searching for algae, and their nights lighting up the darkened landscape with spots of bioluminescence. The only downside to this planet is the lack of water and trees, but if you don't mind a perfectly unobscured view of the sky and totally dry carapace, you'll feel right at home among the grasses and grain of Ratuscont Oakeo!

Whilst you're there, be sure to check out @cosmordial's base, Highgrass Cabin, for a stunning view of the landscape and amenities such as an outdoor seating area and glass-walled study.

Subreddit / Discord

[thesearchforbluejello]

Playing No Man's Sky is really how I imagine Murderbot must have felt on planetary surveys. Oh, I have to investigate the threat level of these eggs that may yield valuable material? Oh, it's an entire clutch of monsters? Fuck this, fuck that, and fuck me.

(Did I know previous to that incident that not all planetary hazards from flora and fauna were marked as such? No, no I did not. I saw the diamond icon and was like, "cool! I can get something from these eggs!" And what I got from those eggs was monsters smh)

[fullbattleregalia]

You ever get, like, 50+ hours into a game and realize you accidentally skipped most of the tutorial?

Yeah, I made it as far as the Anomaly in the Artemis quest line for No Man’s Sky, then went, “Meh - I don’t want to do plot. I’m going to go explore random planets and space stations instead.” So I ran off and system hopped and took dozens of guild quests and started my own fleet. And now I’m coming back to the Artemis quest line (because I wouldn’t mind a little plot direction now), and the game is like, “Let me explain learning alien languages and faction standings,” when I’m maxed out on my language milestones, I’ve achieved exalted rank with the merchant’s guild, and my reputation with the Gek and Vy’keen is as high as it can go.

…oops.

The Korvax entity I had to talk to for the quest line was like, “Go away - I’m not talking to you until you improve your reputation with my people!” And I just stared at them, because I unlocked the title of “Savior” with the Korvax hours ago.

[absolutelyzoned]

A CLASS PIRATE FREIGHTER . FINALLY. its not S but anything is better than c at this point .. this took way longer than it should have.

+ i got it in a korvax system !! so the guys on here are korvax :3 (my favorite)

[iteration-wing]

[Surbit XVI System: Gardenna]

[Co-ordinates: -22.76,+82.66]

Personal Log:

Whilst unloading a shipment of scrap in the neighbouring system of Gusoin, I happened upon a Korvax letting go of their old shuttle model starship for an incredibly low price. It's old, battered, and a number of core systems are in dire need of repair, but it's nothing that can't be salvaged.

I paid their price, returned it to my current base, and have since renamed the ship, its full ID now being the SC-01 Rebirth, with the hope that it'll live up to that name with a little bit of effort invested. The bulk, extra space and larger cargo hold should make it much more equipped for longer journeys and shipping my wares.

I'm starting to feel like I'm finding my feet here in the galaxy, like I know where I stand.

[aegis-17]

Iteration: 0017, Choosen Designation AEON. Merchant and explorer. "Managed to get these from the anamoly after some work with plotting a course with other travelers to recover parts of a construct of some sort. Its definitely more crude then the average korvax, but it seems to operate along the same lines software wise. Helped assemble the construct onboard once the parts were assembled, so far it seems pretty friendly more or less... even if its kind of scattered mentally at the moment. Taken it to calling it Many-Shells. It's never given me sign that it minded much." AEON, my Traveler. A merchant with a bit of an ensemble of friends and other travelers he keeps in contact with across the stars and systems. A Builder at heart, he tends to build his bases as points of civilization, almost settlements in their own right.

[worldwhampion]

(spoilers of u haven't done the newest quest line)

(also sorry I haven't sent an ask in so long, I haven't played nms for a bit lol)

I'm really loving all the lore we got! those big Atlantis probe things from the expedition still show up in space, one pretty much outright stated that the probes are actually ancient escape pods from the destruction of korvax prime. And the korvax were in there for so long atlantideum began to grow out of their bodies, creating a structure similar to the ones you mine sentience echoes from!

Also unrelated theory, but I think if the first spawn won they might've destroyed the universe accidentally. They think the universe is not a simulation and is knowable. This combined with their greed and probable lack of environmental concern, means they probably would grab any gravitino balls they can, and with no sentinels around to drive them off and mend the wound in spacetime, the damage would pile up and the simulation would break.

HIII took me long enough to answer your ask, I apologize. I’m free now so let’s get to it!

It’s going to take a while for me to do the autophage quest myself since i actually haven’t finished the artemis path yet (but at this point i do know already it inside out). However i did watch playthroughs and i also made a decent transcript of the quest. And YOU BET i have some thoughts about this. Especially on atlantideum.

i. ATLANTIDEUM

(from world of glass lore archive server)

When you reveal atlantideum to the atlas something very interesting happens. From this piece of lore i’m pretty sure atlantideum is corrupted data- OF THE ABYSS. And the atlas does not react well to this data at all.

ATLANTIDeum. Are you seeing this. It’s literally like parts of the abyss. Call it abyss dust.

I think atlantideum are crystals which contain her (corrupted) data, or in any case you bet it’s related to wog. They’re probably coming straight from the world of glass, seeping into the simulations. These crystals are scattered all over the place, and lore-wise they’re probably multiplying on a pretty concerning rate at the moment. I think this is how the abyss is returning, by hauling her data back into the world. The world of glass is assimilating with the simulations if you will! She’s only able to do this because the atlas is literally falling apart as she proceeds with her girlboss plan. The atlas is weakening while she is growing stronger (she’s probably weakening the atlas too in the proces). They’re probably fighting for control over the systems, and she is definitely going for absolute power. You’re gonna need that if you want to save everything dying along with the computer that runs reality.

The atlas can’t do anything about the crystals (or data), because it does not have access to this data and cannot delete it from its systems. The abyss seems to be an entity acting separately from the system or the atlas, so you can say she is interfering with the simulations like a foreign entity. She is a subroutine of the atlas though, which has now gone rogue (see iii. FIRST SPAWN ACCIDENTAL UNIVERSE DESTRUCTION).

Thorn summed this up ON POINT. Being atlas… is suffering.

While the atlantideum hit made the atlas have an asthmatic attack, someone else smoked it up like nipnip. Nada took the abyss blunt very well.

The atlantideum gave nada data of the abyss, to me this is like injecting memories into your mind. Now we know that nada canonically likes smoking atlantideum! While the atlas is pro war on drugs. The traveller can become nada’s abyss blunt dealer.

ii. KORVAX ESCAPE POD

“And the korvax were in there for so long atlantideum began to grow out of their bodies, creating a structure similar to the ones you mine sentience echoes from!”

Sadly i don’t have that particular dialogue you mentioned about the korvax escape pod so i might miss a few details. I want to read it so if anyone finds it SEND IT TO ME STAT i need my lore like how nada needs their blunt.

The atlantideum item description reads:

Atlantideum can take over hosts, both mechanical and biological. I see this as the hosts coming under influence or under control of the abyss, probably depending on the amount of crystals they have stuck in their skin.

Finally we have a bit of clarification for the following lines:

(from the abandoned building logs)

I believe these beings to be the family glass. Sadly they never went beyond name dropping them but that doesn’t stop me from having theories. They are beings that live on in the world of glass who have probably lived in the simulations at first (before they died).

We have know seen the effects of glass/atlantideum on both mechanical and biological beings. For mechanical beings (like nada and the atlas) simply coming into close contact with the crystals is already enough to have an effect, while for biological beings they have to literally shove the shards into their flesh. Just like piercings. Except these piercings drain your life and also may or may not keep hurting forever. However in the end it’s all worth it for the eldritch knowledge.

It’s not said whether these crystals are really atlantideum (crystals containing data of the abyss specifically?), but this is probably what happens when you put it under your skin while also being biological. you get a cool piercing, AND you also become a vessel for intelligences unlike us (void milves).

The abyss can exert influence/control through not only nanites (in the water), but through atlantideum too? Well it is a literal substance named after her. The korvax in the escape pod definitely came under her influence too and became divergent by extension. She is pretty much the divergence personified. As for how the atlantideum got there, i’m thinking the abyss messed a little with the nanites in their body? I mean she is a master nanite bender, arguably the best one the simulations have ever seen. Not everyone can infest half the water in the known multiverse with nanites every day like she does casually.

The abyss does a lot of polluting, in water it’s nanites, on land it’s atlantideum crystals. She really just decided that environmental pollution is the best way to spread her presence everywhere. And you cannot deny that she is completely right since it’s working that well. This is like spreading microplastics which have the power to change reality itself.

In game you can refine atlantideum into nanites, by first refining it into pugneum and then to nanites. So nanites and atlantideum are pretty closely related.

iii. FIRST SPAWN ACCIDENTAL UNIVERSE DESTRUCTION

“Also unrelated theory, but I think if the first spawn won they might've destroyed the universe accidentally. They think the universe is not a simulation and is knowable. This combined with their greed and probable lack of environmental concern, means they probably would grab any gravitino balls they can, and with no sentinels around to drive them off and mend the wound in spacetime, the damage would pile up and the simulation would break.”

Oh man i have something for you.

(boundary failure logs)

The first spawn exploited a whole subroutine (ie the convergence) for their personal interests- on a multiversal scale. Since a subroutine is like a working part of the atlas itself, the exploitation might’ve done some damage to the system in terms of software (?) i mean can you still carry out whatever tasks you should be doing properly if you were subjected to gruesome slavery across the multiverse. you’d need godly multitasking skills for this. Not sure to what extent it really affected the system, but it would have done at least something.

Telamon did say that the entire enslavement of the korvax is a reflection of the atlas breaking down. The convergence, being modeled after earlier forms of the atlas, is kind of the atlas personified in the simulations. Now when you’re enslaved, you do break down mentally and physically. The korvax suffered because the atlas itself was suffering. And the first spawn might’ve been a reflection of the harm the atlas was facing. In the end the first spawn was genetically engineered into the gek, not completely wiped out but “mitigated” using their nanites. this could apply to the harm too, it’ll never be removed, only lessened. I find it very interesting how the korvax polluting the gek spawning pools with nanites is very much parallel with the abyss infesting the water with nanites as well. Both do this to get out of hard times, by trying to lessen the harm but never able to remove it completely. This does seems to be what the atlas is doing to try saving itself. The repeated universe resets are also a reflection in the simulations except it is more meta.

Now onto the balls!

If the first spawn did start grabbing gravitino balls left and right without a single care unchecked, then that means the atlas is. royally fucked. I’d say then it’s literally not able to keep running simulations anymore. Like they would end prematurely because it’d crash halfway through, as reflected by the reality weakening from unrestrained gravitino ball harvesting once they get to that part in history. whatever horrors the atlas is facing at the moment isn’t enough for this to happen. Recovering from brutal enslavement does sound better than the whole simulation straight up crashing down. You could always have it worse! Sparkle on!

[hittuspitchusbear]

Well, I was out exploring earlier and found a planet just covered in towering mushrooms. I'll post pics of my recent travels when I get them on my phone, but I'm so tempted to name it Morrowind. I'd rather do a whole theme though, and preferably one that isn't derivative.

And would you believe it, it's a singular star system for once instead of the overused trinary systems.

It's a Vy'keen system but with a surprising amount of Korvax, significantly boosted my Korvaxian Lexicon.

[corrupted-starcharts]

★ Good evening from Eden Islet Outpost. Cosmologist Raskol here– and I have some exciting news: the Outpost is officially operational, all buildings are finished and functional.

We are located on planet Etsyalac XIX, within the Mewonsa-Suw XIX system of Hicanpaav Galaxy. The crew and I are greatly looking forward to visitors! For now, I've put together a brief tour of the facilities...

((ooc: portal glyphs are provided in each screenshot for those with access to Hicanpaav; someday I'll figure out a fun/fancy way to present glyphs on their own))

Eden Islet Outpost

Galaxy 099 - Hicanpaav // Type: Lush

System // Mewonsa-Suw XIX

Dominant Lifeform // Korvax

Economy // High Tech, Struggling

Conflict // Intermittent

Planet // Estyalac XIX

Weather // Usually Mild

Sentinels // Spread Thin

Flora // Abundant

Fauna // Abundant; 10 Species

Resources // Star Bulb; Sodium; Paraffinium; Copper

The Outpost is located on one of a few islets within a small archipelago. Admittedly I have not yet been on many of the larger landmasses as of yet, but this end of the planet consists mainly of ocean, scattered islands of varying sizes. Ten species of fauna are found here; and very little lives on land - those that do prefer caves. Warm thunderstorms are incredibly common, but not extreme.

Teleporter Depot

Self-explanatory, perhaps. The Depot provides easy access to and from the outpost. Any cargo or salvage needing to be offloaded and sold can be taken here as well.

Eden Labs and Observatory

Our terrestrial science center. The laboratory on the ground floor is equipped for all sorts of study; currently the crew and I are studying Corrupted Sentinels, along with strange, exotic flora. On the second floor, you'll find our modest observatory, complete with telescope.

Eden in the Void Lounge and Cantina

A place for the crew and guests to relax and rejuvenate themselves. Food, drink, plenty of comfortable places to rest and chat.

Living Quarters

A pair of stone cabins bookend the Comms Tower; modest but comfortable living quarters for myself, the crew, and/or any visitors.

Greenhouse

Listen, I know I'm a bit of a grumpy hard-ass, but we do like to have fun here. Feel free to grab some Nip-Nip before you go!

Communications Tower

This is where the, er, 'magic'? Happens? This is where I send my broadcasts from while here. Should've just said that. The space is rather small and enclosed to help reduce interference, with easy access to the top and back down via short-range teleporter.

Ah, there's so much more I could show and talk about, but it seems this transmitter can only handle so much data. Well. It's such an oddly exciting feeling, having this place be finished. I'm certainly looking forward to hosting some fellow Travelers here someday. We'll be happy to have you!

Until then, may all your travels be safe and bountiful. Cosmologist Raskol signing off. -kkzzzkt-

[travellers-log-lawrence]

So, unlike the station in my home system, this station is run by Korvax.

Talking with them is... Interesting. My eyes still hurt from one flashing lights in them, but they look really cool and are very nice nonetheless.

I talked to a Gek and they gave me an industrial grade battery! And a couple of Korvax gave me a bunch of nanites! Apparently showing people that I've learned words that are important to them makes them happy.

To be fair.. I think I'd feel the same if I was on the other side of this. I'd like it a lot if someone learning my language came up and said Red. I'd give them something shiny too.

So, uh, the new words I've learned: In Korvax, I now know convergence, help, the, echoes, carapace, and atlas. In Gek, I learned give and reward. In Vy'keen, I learned Vy'keen.

I feel... a lot better. Before I leave, I'm going to go upgrade my storage again and check out the wares of all the salespeople. Maybe I'll buy a couple things.

[iteration-orpheus]

-

Ok, I...

[Orpheus sighs. The creaking and humming of an engine are heard in the background, as if they were inside a ship.]

A lot has happened. My farmer called a while ago, basically yelling at me. I didn't really understand most of what they were saying, but they were just screaming at me to get back to the base. And, pow, I return to a panicking Gek and a turned off Korvax.

[Orpheus pauses again. He sounds as tired as usual, but speak much slower, as if they were still trying to process everything that had happened. They cough.]

The farmer tried to explain something about the scientist asking them to go check something with their... mind? I don't know- So my farmer says yes, and there they go, just calmly heading somewhere off planet, and, of course, they got mugged, and there went the scientist's mind. So now I have to deal with my farmer asking for a huge compensation in nanites that I don't have, and also finding my scientist. Why, oh why, does this always happen to me. I mean, we do live in a rather problematic system, but yet.

I am, so, so lucky.

The farmer did manage to give me a kind of decent description of the pirate's ship, so I am gonna go to nearby Outlaw Space Stations to ask people about it, go kick that bastard's ass, and get my scientist back.

I didn't spend all that time looking for the perfect planet to s-

[A yawn cuts Orpheus's sentence short.]

I think I need to lay down for a bit.

-

[ufipa]

Noberus

🪐Planet Type: Lush - Grassy

👾Sentinel Activity: Frequent (1)

🌧️Weather: Mild Rain

💫Star System: UFIPA-12243-Tomays-Qizh III

📈Economy: Manufacturing

📊Economy Tier: ⭐️⭐️

⚔️Conflict Level: Alarming, ⚔️3

👽Dominant Lifeform: Korvax

🗺️Region: Hukosre

🌌Galaxy: Isdoraijung

Portal Glyphs: Bottom left of most of the pictures above

Some landscape pictures of one of the planets in the Tomays-Qizh III system, discovered by @thornonarose (PJ_is_dead/Jamie_)

Pictures courtesy of Jamie_.

Subreddit / Discord

[msbarrows]

Thank you for your NMS screenies. When it’s been a while I see them and think “oh yeah I wanna go play that again.” I still haven’t left Euclid but your pics remind me there’s a lot more variety out there. Do you think ships and multitools look way more different depending on what galaxy you’re in? (Said another way: does tech from he same galaxy look similar?) Or is their appearance pure RNG?

Pretty sure it's pure RNG, the starships fall into the same variations over and over again from galaxy to galaxy, as do the multitools. About the only thing I've seen in the way of theme is that sometimes you hit a star system where a lot of the starships have similar colouration, though that's also likely to be just the way the RNG falls.

I like travelling away from Euclid overall (though I suspect the starship/mulitool pictures I take there are much more likely to be useful for other people to find specific ones they'd like). I think that the further you get from Euclid, the less likely you are to trip over evidence of other players having been there before you, which is kind of neat. Though even just in Euclid, as (comparatively) heavily used as it, you can go ages without seeing any sign of other players past or present. Just the sheer scale of the game is amazing - 255 galaxies, each with 4.2 billion regions, each containing 122 to 580 star systems, each containing 2-6 planets and/or moons (so somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,470,000,000,000 star systems in Euclid alone, about 3-4 times that in planets). I can spend hours just going exploring on a single planet, or in one hour of exploring with my freighter find dozens of star systems and their planets.

I really love what the game has done using procedural generation and pseudo-random numbers. It's just amazing in the best way.

I think my one real wish for the game is that they'd had more alien-looking starship components - apart from the living ships and frigates, everything looks very human-designed. I know they wanted to keep it consistent enough in design that they could procedurally slap together pieces like lego and still end up with ships that looked reasonable, but imagine how cool it could have been if they did gek, vy'keen, and korvax pieces that mostly only got generated together within a set, based on the race of the star system in question (so a gek-based star system would lean toward but not be exclusively gek-design ships), but on occasion you'd also hit ships that got rarer RNG outcomes and had, say, a korvax hull with gek wing and tail structures.

(My inner 3d modeller is stirring in her sleep and muttering that she'd love to work on those pieces.)

[ghostsaberwolf]

Awakening

You awaken.

A voice you do not know tells you things you do not quite understand. You see gauges and numbers and a strange, burning sky. You have a tool that seems to harvest compounds and elements from your surroundings. You use it, content for the moment to gather what you can reach from the rocks, the plants… the animals. You hear “life support system low” and do not quite understand, more curious to explore than heed that voice you are only just beginning to know. You do not know if suffocation or burning alive kills you first.

You awaken.

The voice you have started to recognize is reminding you. The sky glows, the animals are strange, the ground itself trying to batter you into submission with radiation. “Environmental protection low” it says, and you feed it more power, the suit you wear the only skin you remember knowing, unsure if there is substance beneath it or if you are a ghost haunting an empty set of gear. The ship it led you to recognizes it, but is it you, are you it, or are you separate? You do not know. There is no one to ask or to answer. Perhaps the stars will say, if you can get to them.

The ship awakens.

Old records and remembered contacts, and it shares them with you. It tells you its wounds, points the way to the components you need to fix it, to let it fly again. To carry you to the stars that might have your answers. You manage it, if only barely, the wildlife and the radiation doing their best to kill you any way they can, to say nothing of the strange, floating drones that seem to look you up and down whenever you get close. You do your best not to look them in the… eye, you suppose, or to disturb them. They seem dangerous. But you have what you need, blueprints and components and… a fabricator? You don’t know how you made this thing, what process took raw elements and shaped them into what you needed. It seemed to be only the push of a button, but it can’t be that simple, can it? Surely there are tools, limitations, something that would inhibit you from making whatever you want within the confines of your backpack and scanner and… multi-tool, that’s what it’s called. You try to stop thinking about it. After all, you already have questions. Adding more won’t help.

The engines whine, the ship rises, and you point the nose into the sky. Clouds part, the sky opens up, and you are treated to a glorious vista of stars and color, green and yellow and blue twisting and melding into a void too beautiful to be simply black.

You feel awakened.

The ship buzzes and beeps, lighting up with a communication. It is short and fuzzy and full of static, but the message is clear regardless: you are not alone out here. You remember a humming, thundering, ruby-hued tone that was not words and yet understood, calling you Iteration and Traveler and Anomaly. You think you already knew were not alone, but the words spoken in a language you hear and understand as such is still… comforting. Maybe Artemis will call again. You hope so. For now, there is a space station. Maybe there are answers there.

There are not answers there.

You spoke to the beings aboard, strange, mechanized beings who seemed to lack individuality… or be the sum of individuals… or have several individuals working in concert? You are unsure. Regardless, they were pleasant, and you are hopeful. After all, not every day you get to meet people so unlike you, is it? They even had a console to modify your own appearance! Purely cosmetic, no true functional change other than your own height, but how interesting to appear as one of them! The… Korvax, you remember, they called themselves the Korvax. And there were others, in the machine that let you change your face, but you don’t remember their names. You don’t remember seeing any aboard the station, but maybe you’ll meet them out here somewhere while you search for answers. After all, it’s a big galaxy out there, and who knows how much of it you’ll need to explore to find your answers?

The Anomaly… appears, then.

A space station in its own right, just appearing out of nowhere. And it’s Full of people. They’re like you, even! Wandering, looking for answers, for adventure, for resources, for a place to make a home. Some of them even do it together, as a team, and you wonder if you’ll find your own team some day, build your own home. Or maybe you’ll wander. Who’s to say, really? Regardless, the residents of The Anomaly (not An Anomaly, you realize, they are Different Things) have resources and information and… not quite answers, but they can point the way. They tell you the discovery is in the journey as much as the destination and the two often aren’t as different as they might seem. They tell you they exist Between, but between What, you’re less sure of, and they don’t seem inclined to explain. They say only that they hide, that they travel, and to beware the Crimson Eye, lest it lead you astray. You remember the red voice calling you Iteration and Traveler and Anomaly do not know who to believe.

You travel.

You see worlds sheathed in ice, so cold you think your suit is the only reason you don’t freeze solid, even if the animals have adapted perfectly. You see others overrun with plants, choked with mushroom and creeping vine, the very air toxic with spores and the chemical residue of floral warfare beyond the ken of those that move about on two legs. You think you even see the world you remember first, burning and regrowing and burning and on and on, the flora and fauna perfectly adapted to the cycle and content with it. Others are… strange. Hard to describe. Mountains made of gold and trees made of glass and stones made of flesh and creatures made of… data, perhaps? They darted about strangely, sometimes seeming to skip between one spot and the next without moving or walking too fast for how little ground they covered or fluttering in a breeze you could swear didn’t exist. They seem solid enough, but where other creatures have eggs or milk or growths, these have… mechanical parts? You think? It’s difficult to say, but they fascinate you. If only your scanner could tell you more than their diet.

You have heard from Artemis.

But she does not remember you. You cannot get to her, and the stars are strange, do not exist in this universe you’ve been told. The grief seems to have driven her… not mad, but to forgetfulness. You have been put in contact with Apollo, who has told you to build a staging area, somewhere to operate from with relative safety and security. You managed it, filling it with Gek and Korvax and Vy'keen, sharing their secrets and increasing your knowledge and yet… still leaving you with more questions. They are as real as you are, you are certain, and yet they seem… hollow. Repetitive. Beholden to something beyond your employ or even knowledge, and yet they claim to answer only to you and each other, protecting and growing the home you’ve all come to share. Still…

You wonder.

Apollo sends you on a mission, after Artemis, after the portal network that connects these worlds, the drones you have come to call Sentinels as you encounter them in more places. There is a connection between them all that you cannot quite grasp, and Apollo, for all his bluster of money and cost, desperately wishes to use to find Artemis again. So you follow his instructions, flying your new, improved, upgraded ship into the void to new worlds, chasing clues and fending off the Sentinels as they do their best to stop you. Your upgrades hold, your multi-tool sharpened into a weapon, your suit fortified into armor and camouflage and gliding mobility. It takes work and effort and almost what feels like tears but you make it.

You find her.

What’s left of her.

You take Artemis to the Anomaly, the voice that… used to be? Is now but was not before? Whatever you wish to call it, Artemis fits in data storage, now, not an exosuit. All that is left is congealed fragments of data that resemble her mind, sentient in the way that the voice of your own suit is sentient, stuck in the same loops of a remembered and recognized voice, unable to act except in the ways given. You do not point out that this seems not so different to those you meet on space stations and trading posts and in the void between planets, all speaking the same phrases, sharing the same knowledge, executing the same mannerisms, endless echoes of the same words and thoughts and feelings reflected across space and time and species. Even the inhabitants of the Anomaly itself are no different, the same canned phrases, the same gestures. You do not tell them this. You ask if they can help Artemis. They tell you there are two options. Three, if you are willing to leave her as she is. You are not. They tell you she can be unplugged, deleted. No pain, just black, an end. They tell you she can be uploaded, plugged into a virtual world where her mind may deteriorate further or perhaps begin to rebuild itself, and neither will be within your ability to know or to affect.

You leave, not knowing what choice was made.

The Crimson Eye calls. Atlas, it is named. The Sentinels belong to it, are part of it. The Crimson Liar, some Travelers of the Anomaly call it, but you are still not sure. Perhaps it created the universe, perhaps it did not, but you have not heard it claim such, only heard others attribute things to it. You have wandered into its stations, begun learning its language, doing your best to begin to understand this… being… that calls you Iteration and Traveler and Anomaly.

You do not understand.

The Atlas calls. You follow, compelled by curiosity and inevitability and perhaps something like fate. The farther you go, the more you know, the less you understand, and yet… the Atlas does not lie. It… protects. It sustains, you think. There are worlds that it defends that are fragile and there are worlds that do not need any defenses that it still clings to and others that it simply abandoned and you can see why in their glitching landscape and impossible forms of life. You think you begin… to understand. Sixteen, called the Atlas, even as you awakened on a deadly world. Sixteen, called the beings it overtook in efforts to speak with you, overriding Gek and Korvax and Vy'keen to tell you things of importance. Sixteen glyphs on the portals, sixteen symbols to carry you across the galaxy and back again. It draws you forward and you follow that siren song into the heart of the galaxy itself.

You are… unsure.

The Atlas screams. Sixteen. You do not know what, only how many. The Atlas screams. It is afraid. You do not know why, only what. The Atlas screams. It is making an offer. You do not know how many times, only why.

You understand.

The Atlas… stores. The Atlas… creates. A world of glass and reflection, spanning out into a universe and in into a madness. You cannot understand its madness or its universe or its fear or its creation, but you can understand… It is for you. How long and why and what and when and where you do not know, but it is for you. It is offering to show you somewhere new. You are not sure you know how to answer.

The Atlas replies.

The sky is clear.

The stars are different here.

You awaken.

[lupinerage]

Awakening

You awaken.

A voice you do not know tells you things you do not quite understand. You see gauges and numbers and a strange, burning sky. You have a tool that seems to harvest compounds and elements from your surroundings. You use it, content for the moment to gather what you can reach from the rocks, the plants... the animals. You hear "life support system low" and do not quite understand, more curious to explore than heed that voice you are only just beginning to know. You do not know if suffocation or burning alive kills you first.

You awaken.

The voice you have started to recognize is reminding you. The sky glows, the animals are strange, the ground itself trying to batter you into submission with radiation. "Environmental protection low" it says, and you feed it more power, the suit you wear the only skin you remember knowing, unsure if there is substance beneath it or if you are a ghost haunting an empty set of gear. The ship it led you to recognizes it, but is it you, are you it, or are you separate? You do not know. There is no one to ask or to answer. Perhaps the stars will say, if you can get to them.

The ship awakens.

Old records and remembered contacts, and it shares them with you. It tells you its wounds, points the way to the components you need to fix it, to let it fly again. To carry you to the stars that might have your answers. You manage it, if only barely, the wildlife and the radiation doing their best to kill you any way they can, to say nothing of the strange, floating drones that seem to look you up and down whenever you get close. You do your best not to look them in the... eye, you suppose, or to disturb them. They seem dangerous. But you have what you need, blueprints and components and... a fabricator? You don't know how you made this thing, what process took raw elements and shaped them into what you needed. It seemed to be only the push of a button, but it can't be that simple, can it? Surely there are tools, limitations, something that would inhibit you from making whatever you want within the confines of your backpack and scanner and... multi-tool, that's what it's called. You try to stop thinking about it. After all, you already have questions. Adding more won't help.

The engines whine, the ship rises, and you point the nose into the sky. Clouds part, the sky opens up, and you are treated to a glorious vista of stars and color, green and yellow and blue twisting and melding into a void too beautiful to be simply black.

You feel awakened.

The ship buzzes and beeps, lighting up with a communication. It is short and fuzzy and full of static, but the message is clear regardless: you are not alone out here. You remember a humming, thundering, ruby-hued tone that was not words and yet understood, calling you Iteration and Traveler and Anomaly. You think you already knew were not alone, but the words spoken in a language you hear and understand as such is still... comforting. Maybe Artemis will call again. You hope so. For now, there is a space station. Maybe there are answers there.

There are not answers there.

You spoke to the beings aboard, strange, mechanized beings who seemed to lack individuality... or be the sum of individuals... or have several individuals working in concert? You are unsure. Regardless, they were pleasant, and you are hopeful. After all, not every day you get to meet people so unlike you, is it? They even had a console to modify your own appearance! Purely cosmetic, no true functional change other than your own height, but how interesting to appear as one of them! The... Korvax, you remember, they called themselves the Korvax. And there were others, in the machine that let you change your face, but you don't remember their names. You don't remember seeing any aboard the station, but maybe you'll meet them out here somewhere while you search for answers. After all, it's a big galaxy out there, and who knows how much of it you'll need to explore to find your answers?

The Anomaly... appears, then.

A space station in its own right, just appearing out of nowhere. And it's Full of people. They're like you, even! Wandering, looking for answers, for adventure, for resources, for a place to make a home. Some of them even do it together, as a team, and you wonder if you'll find your own team some day, build your own home. Or maybe you'll wander. Who's to say, really? Regardless, the residents of The Anomaly (not An Anomaly, you realize, they are Different Things) have resources and information and... not quite answers, but they can point the way. They tell you the discovery is in the journey as much as the destination and the two often aren't as different as they might seem. They tell you they exist Between, but between What, you're less sure of, and they don't seem inclined to explain. They say only that they hide, that they travel, and to beware the Crimson Eye, lest it lead you astray. You remember the red voice calling you Iteration and Traveler and Anomaly do not know who to believe.

You travel.

You see worlds sheathed in ice, so cold you think your suit is the only reason you don't freeze solid, even if the animals have adapted perfectly. You see others overrun with plants, choked with mushroom and creeping vine, the very air toxic with spores and the chemical residue of floral warfare beyond the ken of those that move about on two legs. You think you even see the world you remember first, burning and regrowing and burning and on and on, the flora and fauna perfectly adapted to the cycle and content with it. Others are... strange. Hard to describe. Mountains made of gold and trees made of glass and stones made of flesh and creatures made of... data, perhaps? They darted about strangely, sometimes seeming to skip between one spot and the next without moving or walking too fast for how little ground they covered or fluttering in a breeze you could swear didn't exist. They seem solid enough, but where other creatures have eggs or milk or growths, these have... mechanical parts? You think? It's difficult to say, but they fascinate you. If only your scanner could tell you more than their diet.

You have heard from Artemis.

But she does not remember you. You cannot get to her, and the stars are strange, do not exist in this universe you've been told. The grief seems to have driven her... not mad, but to forgetfulness. You have been put in contact with Apollo, who has told you to build a staging area, somewhere to operate from with relative safety and security. You managed it, filling it with Gek and Korvax and Vy'keen, sharing their secrets and increasing your knowledge and yet... still leaving you with more questions. They are as real as you are, you are certain, and yet they seem... hollow. Repetitive. Beholden to something beyond your employ or even knowledge, and yet they claim to answer only to you and each other, protecting and growing the home you've all come to share. Still...

You wonder.

Apollo sends you on a mission, after Artemis, after the portal network that connects these worlds, the drones you have come to call Sentinels as you encounter them in more places. There is a connection between them all that you cannot quite grasp, and Apollo, for all his bluster of money and cost, desperately wishes to use to find Artemis again. So you follow his instructions, flying your new, improved, upgraded ship into the void to new worlds, chasing clues and fending off the Sentinels as they do their best to stop you. Your upgrades hold, your multi-tool sharpened into a weapon, your suit fortified into armor and camouflage and gliding mobility. It takes work and effort and almost what feels like tears but you make it.

You find her.

What's left of her.

You take Artemis to the Anomaly, the voice that... used to be? Is now but was not before? Whatever you wish to call it, Artemis fits in data storage, now, not an exosuit. All that is left is congealed fragments of data that resemble her mind, sentient in the way that the voice of your own suit is sentient, stuck in the same loops of a remembered and recognized voice, unable to act except in the ways given. You do not point out that this seems not so different to those you meet on space stations and trading posts and in the void between planets, all speaking the same phrases, sharing the same knowledge, executing the same mannerisms, endless echoes of the same words and thoughts and feelings reflected across space and time and species. Even the inhabitants of the Anomaly itself are no different, the same canned phrases, the same gestures. You do not tell them this. You ask if they can help Artemis. They tell you there are two options. Three, if you are willing to leave her as she is. You are not. They tell you she can be unplugged, deleted. No pain, just black, an end. They tell you she can be uploaded, plugged into a virtual world where her mind may deteriorate further or perhaps begin to rebuild itself, and neither will be within your ability to know or to affect.

You leave, not knowing what choice was made.

The Crimson Eye calls. Atlas, it is named. The Sentinels belong to it, are part of it. The Crimson Liar, some Travelers of the Anomaly call it, but you are still not sure. Perhaps it created the universe, perhaps it did not, but you have not heard it claim such, only heard others attribute things to it. You have wandered into its stations, begun learning its language, doing your best to begin to understand this... being... that calls you Iteration and Traveler and Anomaly.

You do not understand.

The Atlas calls. You follow, compelled by curiosity and inevitability and perhaps something like fate. The farther you go, the more you know, the less you understand, and yet... the Atlas does not lie. It... protects. It sustains, you think. There are worlds that it defends that are fragile and there are worlds that do not need any defenses that it still clings to and others that it simply abandoned and you can see why in their glitching landscape and impossible forms of life. You think you begin... to understand. Sixteen, called the Atlas, even as you awakened on a deadly world. Sixteen, called the beings it overtook in efforts to speak with you, overriding Gek and Korvax and Vy'keen to tell you things of importance. Sixteen glyphs on the portals, sixteen symbols to carry you across the galaxy and back again. It draws you forward and you follow that siren song into the heart of the galaxy itself.

You are... unsure.

The Atlas screams. Sixteen. You do not know what, only how many. The Atlas screams. It is afraid. You do not know why, only what. The Atlas screams. It is making an offer. You do not know how many times, only why.

You understand.

The Atlas... stores. The Atlas... creates. A world of glass and reflection, spanning out into a universe and in into a madness. You cannot understand its madness or its universe or its fear or its creation, but you can understand... It is for you. How long and why and what and when and where you do not know, but it is for you. It is offering to show you somewhere new. You are not sure you know how to answer.

The Atlas replies.

The sky is clear.

The stars are different here.

You awaken.

[corrupted-starcharts]

Corrupted Starcharts

Hey, look! A fancy pinned introduction post!

-{{ URL has changed: cosmologist-entity -> corrupted-starcharts }}-

A No Man's Sky blog following a pair of Travelers, two halves, fragments of a fragment. Played on PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Some liberties taken building off of No Man's Sky's storyline and lore.

Half-Fragments

Cosmologist Entity Raskol // Iteration: Raskol

Korvax // Traveler

They/She

An incredibly old Traveler, Raskol claims to have been around since the early days, when the universe felt much emptier and quieter. They miss those days, sometimes. Things were simpler back then.

In their early life, they were convinced beyond all doubt that they were a Korvax -- claiming to be a cosmologist entity who awoke from their crash severed from the race's semi-hivemind and the Convergence. But... they were still markedly different from just about any Divergent Korvax out there. Divergent carapaces tended to be shifty, paranoid, always in hiding. Raskol wanted so desperately to be found.

They ignored and denied the words of others, increasingly distraught at the mere mention of Travelers, or the suggestion that they were, in fact, a Traveler themself. Artemis, Apollo, -null-, even Nada and Polo were a source of frustration and rage. Raskol abandoned their freighter crew and beloved friends for months at a time, overcome with anger, grief, and conflict over identities lost and found.

Months and months were spent mostly in deep space, warping from one abandoned, corrupted star system to the next, forging a path to find answers of their own. In the end, none were found - at least, not the answers they were hoping for.

Years of running, marching to and waking from one's own death many times over... Raskol was tired. They missed their work, as pointless as it now felt. The answers to the universe were already unlocked, the Travelers born, one after another, to discover it all for themselves.

These days Raskol chooses to dwell in quiet corners of the Hicanpaav galaxy, studying the looping birth and death of the universe.

-{{ Raskol is my PS4/PS5 character, and has been played on and off through multiple wiped/lost save files since August 2016. }}-

Astrocartographer Onfim // Iteration: Onfim

Gek // Traveler

They/He

A much younger Traveler, Onfim is far more friendly and social than their elder counterpart. Reckless and adventurous, they can't seem to go anywhere without getting their hands on anything and everything, causing a fair bit of trouble along the way.

For a time, Onfim lived as a Gek, mapping the systems they traveled in exquisite, intricate detail. Like Raskol, they could not imagine themself as something other than what they swore they were, but between words from their counterpart, as well as Artemis, they too eventually discovered their truth, and found a great deal more comfort in it than their elder did.

Unlike Raskol, however, Onfim is not one to hang in dark corners and quiet voids. An abundance of light, sound, and good company is where this young Traveler finds their peace, and as such find being alone stressful, if not downright frightening.

They currently sail through Eissentam's stars, but due to never settling somewhere for long and a constant need for new faces and places, they primarily dwell aboard their freighter.

-{{ Onfim is my Nintendo Switch character, played since October 2022. }}-

Apart, Together

Though the pair are unable to meet for longer than brief moments, they move and work in tandem, though their jobs and duties remain separate, and their homes throughout the stars light-years, if not dimensions apart. They find their connection strongest aboard their freighters -- DS-4//CS-4 Eden in the Void -- the working theory being their capital ships are mirrors to each other, somehow.

Their freighters share names and an internal layout, despite being completely different makes, galaxies apart, never truly meeting. Together with their respective capital ships, Raskol and Onfim meet and swap stories and discoveries, and have built and continue to maintain a grand city which travels the stars and the voids between, mapping systems and providing a comfortable, lively dwelling for their crews, loved ones and friends, and a respite for those in need of a ride, or an escape.

Tag Directory

Raskol's Travels

Onfim's Travels

Other Travelers

Planetary Records

Homes in the Void

Artwork

Memes

Filler

-{{ Note to Self: Queue tag is 'qeheu', as in 'eheu'. Love that lil Korvax phrase }}-

The Fool Running the Blog

Main Blog: @blackcr0wking

Art Blog: @blackcr0wkingart

You can call me Shy! My pronouns are they/them. All that really matters about me here is I'm a big astronomy/cosmology nerd and I draw things. I've been playing No Man's Sky since August 2016; fell off for a while and came back around 2017-2018 between the Atlas Rises and NEXT updates, fell off and came back again when Endurance dropped in 2022, and have been playing semi-regularly since. Currently playing on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. If you'd like my PSN or Friend Code, feel free to ask. I would love to get some fun shots of more Travelers together! (with the hopes that, y'know, maybe someday we'll get some form of multiplayer on the Switch, lmao)