#ancient cache of technologies

[gayguymike]

ACOT is the most fun I've had in Stellaris so far. Each tech tier progression brings in more of that space power fantasy.

[bapzap]

my lil modded game w/ E.D.E.N has finally finished

from clawing itself out of a radioactive, bombed out wasteland to uncovering the secrets of the universe. ultimately throwing hands with what amount to a species of gods to drive them back from the galaxy and proving itself a Good Enough Girl to be made a god in its own right so it can protect reality and finally learn everything there is to know.

i think it's happy now.

[tanadrin]

going back in time with a cache of technology but using it just to show ancient kings how to mint coins that don't look like shit

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Lost cities of the Amazon: how science is revealing ancient garden towns hidden in the rainforest

Archaeologists using 3D mapping are uncovering the remains of thousands of green metropolises with composted gardens, fisheries, and forests groomed into orchards

For decades, archaeologists have believed that human occupation of the Amazon basin was far older, vaster and more urbanised than the textbooks suggested. But hard evidence was scant, artefacts were scattered, and there were too few people on the ground to fully assess the magnitude of what lay cached in the dense forest. Then they found a shortcut – lidar.

Lidar (light detection and ranging) scans use pulses of light to create a 3D map of terrain in a fraction of the time it would take to survey from the ground. One of those making the most of the technology is a team of experts led by Vinícius Peripato, an analyst with the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research.

By combining lidar datasets, they are discovering traces of a lost world: evidence that between 10,000 and 24,000 pre-Columbian “earthworks” exist across the Amazon River basin.

While the remote scans still need to be verified on-site, Peripato says the findings so far make a compelling case that ancestral Amazonians systematically built up large urban centres and engineered the habitat to their needs and appetites with composted gardens, fisheries, and forests groomed into orchards in complex, sustainably run systems – which could offer lessons for modern cities.

The discovery challenges historical ideas of a pristine jungle too harsh to sustain human occupation. “It’s really incredible. Our research ended up guiding the course of several others, and not just in archaeology,” says Peripato, who is also collaborating on another project, Mapping the Archaeological Pre-Columbian Heritage of South America.

Continue reading.

[lostinhistory]

Heritage News of the Week

Discoveries!

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered tombs dating back to the New Kingdom period (1550–1070 B.C.) and identified the names and titles of their owners through inscriptions found within.

World’s oldest fingerprint may be a clue that Neanderthals created art

A man 43,000 years ago dipped a finger in red pigment and made a nose on a face-like pebble in Spain, scientists say

Winged goddess carving discovered by volunteers at Hadrian’s Wall in England

A couple of volunteer archaeologists participating in an excavation unearthed a Roman depiction of the winged goddess of victory near Hadrian’s Wall.

Remains of Mayan city nearly 3,000 years old unearthed in Guatemala

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a Mayan city nearly 3,000 years old in northern Guatemala, with pyramids and monuments that point to its significance as an important ceremonial site.

'I did a bit of a dance': Detectorist finds gold 'mourning ring' engraved with skull and date in UK field

A British metal detectorist discovered a gold band with an engraved date-of-death in Norfolk.

Scientists date the oldest known tools made from whale bones to 20,000 years ago

Technological advancements in the past decade have now made it possible to date the oldest of the tools to about 20,000 years ago. Scientists found that the bones came from blue whales, fin whales, sperm whales and other species.

Lost Byzantine city rediscovered in Jordanian desert

Archaeologists believe they have rediscovered the lost Byzantine city of Tharais in southern Jordan, according to a Türkiye Today report. The settlement is thought to have been an important religious and trading center along the Roman and Byzantine road network connecting Zoar to central Jordan.

Genomes from ancient Maya people reveal collapse of population and civilization 1,200 years ago

Ancient DNA from people buried up to 1,600 years ago in Honduras have revealed clues to the rise and fall of the Maya.

Greek archaeologists uncover ancient marble workshop filled with unfinished statues

Images of Aphrodite and other female figures have been uncovered on the island of Paros.

Occupant of Egyptian tomb finally identified after 50 years

During the 1970s, excavations at the Al-Asasif necropolis on Luxor’s west bank uncovered an elaborate rock-cut tomb. Archaeologists theorized that it must have belonged to an Egyptian dignitary, but at the time they were unable to identify the deceased and the tomb was labeled with the generic name of Kampp 23.

Ancient DNA reveals a new group of people who lived near land bridge between the Americas

Discovered through ancient DNA, the group lived in the high plateaus of present-day Bogotá, Colombia — close to where the Americas meet. Scientists aren’t sure exactly where they fall in the family tree because they’re not closely related to ancient Native Americans in North America and also not linked to ancient or present-day South Americans.

More than 100 hidden ancient structures come to light in Peru

Researchers used LiDAR to create the most detailed map to date of Gran Pajatén.

Earthquake reveals Roman theatre in Croatia

During renovation and repair work to the building, construction crews encountered long forgotten and well-preserved Roman ruins buried just beneath the modern structure’s basement.

A lost WWI submarine is discovered ‘remarkably intact’ after 100 years

Researchers also surveyed a Navy torpedo bomber that crashed in 1950.

'Trash' found deep inside a Mexican cave turns out to be 500-year-old artifacts from a little-known culture

While investigating a cave high in the mountains of Mexico, a spelunker thought she had found a pile of trash from a modern-day litterbug. But upon closer inspection, she discovered that the "trash" was actually a cache of artifacts that may have been used in fertility rituals more than 500 years ago.

Sunken fossils shed light on mysterious early humans in Indonesia

A scientist from the Netherlands was about to quit searching when he came upon a skull fragment.

Museums

The Arts Council England urges “sensitivity and care”, while museum academics says the ruling does not impact work towards trans-inclusive practice

Manchester Museum wins the 2025 European Museum of the Year Award

The Manchester Museum has won the European Museum of the Year Award for creating “new spaces to foster deeper community connections and promote intercultural dialogue."

Harvard agrees to transfer photos of enslaved people to black history museum

Harvard University has agreed to hand over a set of historic photos believed to be among the earliest depicting enslaved people in the United States.

London tunnels that inspired James Bond creator will become spy museum

The Military Intelligence Museum is to collaborate with the London Tunnels company, developing the complex to showcase its original artefacts, equipment, weapons and documents in a modern hi-tech experience at the proposed new £220m London tourist attraction, which is planned to open in 2028.

Trump says he fired National Portrait Gallery chief in latest conflict with arts

President says director Kim Sajet has been fired but experts suggest president does not have legal grounds to do so.

Donkey display highlights role of animals in wartime

The Donkeys at the Museum event was created in partnership with the Donkey Breed Society, and features a display of purple poppies, created to commemorate all the animals that played a vital role in global wars.

Their names are Tom, Maurice, and Teddy and they enjoy playing football

The Jewish dealer who bought art hated by the Nazis – and created one of the greatest collections ever seen

A new National Gallery of Australia show draws on Heinz Berggruen’s collection to celebrate the spread of modernism around the world, despite the Nazis’ best efforts

The 23 best museums to visit in Paris

Within Paris thrive about 200 institutions, each with a collection of its own.

Repatriation

The Metropolitan Museum of Art recently announced that it will return three ancient sculptures to Iraq, dating from 3rd to 2nd millennium BCE.

D.A. Bragg announces return of 11 antiquities to the people of Egypt

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the return of 11 antiquities to the people of Egypt. The objects were recovered pursuant to multiple criminal investigations, including one into previously convicted London-based trafficker Robin Symes, who passed away in 2023.

Manhattan DA’s Office repatriates eight artifacts to Peru

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office returned eight artifacts to Peru during a ceremony at the Peruvian consulate in New York on May 15.

Louvre to return 258 works from Rothschild Cabinet of Curiosities

The Louvre Museum in Paris will surrender 258 works from the bequest of collector Adèle de Rothschild to the Fondation des Artistes that were improperly inventoried in its collection, Le Monde reported Wednesday.

Heritage at risk

The European Union has sanctioned a Russian museum for the first time. On Tuesday, the EU released its latest round of sanctions against Russia, which includes the “Tauric Chersonese” State Museum-Preserve on the outskirts of the city of Sevastopol in Crimea. Its director, Elena Morozova, is also included on the list.

Wildfire damages Civil War-area historical site in New Mexico as campgrounds are evacuated

The fire damaged structures at Fort Stanton Historical Site built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and a gym erected by Germans interned at the site during World War II after their ship sank.

Vandal sprayed obscene graffiti at Peruvian archaeological site in broad daylight

The incident at Chan Chan, the largest adobe city in the Americas, has drawn attention to the lax security at the 600-year-old Unesco World Heritage Site

Odds and ends

When fossilised remains were discovered in the Djurab desert in 2001, they were hailed as radically rewriting the history of our species. But not everyone was convinced – and the bitter argument that followed has consumed the lives of scholars ever since.

Churchill photo thief sentenced to two years in jail

Jeffrey Wood had pleaded guilty to stealing the original print from Ottawa's Château Laurier hotel between Christmas 2021 and early January 2022. He also admitted committing forgery.

Birds were nesting in the Arctic during age of dinosaurs, scientists discover

Minuscule fossils from 73m years ago are oldest evidence yet for birds nesting in polar regions

Arctic, feathered … or just weird: what have we learned since Walking with Dinosaurs aired 25 years ago

As the BBC updates its groundbreaking series, a look at some of the recent scientific discoveries

[bytewire]

Let's speculate about Architect Society!

I think there are some misinterpretations about how Precursor society works. It makes sense considering how vague a lot of the canon information is, but let me provide some of my perspective and interpretations on what we get in canon.

Architect society definitely deserves more speculation beyond just characterizing them as a race only focused on progress. The current information we have about how Architects operate is underrated in terms of how interesting it is. They definitely aren't a stereotypical hive mind. How Precursors perceive themselves is different from how they actually appear to function. AL-AN's answers don't lack bias. He is an unreliable narrator and often withholds information, so it's crucial to look deeper into the information given and to read between the lines. Especially as not everything is explicitly stated.

Architects exist as a collective—data points in a network—but people often forget that they do not only strive for efficiency. What they do is try to optimize themselves to perform tasks in the most efficient way possible. They strive to achieve and progress their society. This doesn’t mean that they lack culture. They are certainly more streamlined and orderly than humans, but they do have cultural aspects that impact the way they view things.

Some examples of Architect culture:

Architects produce art as seen by the statue in the Koppa mining site and the statue in the Deep Lilypad Caves Body Cache. Even the alien carving from the first game is an example of Precursors producing art with subjectivity.

Architects cultivate plants in greenhouses even though they do not need to eat. Also, of course, they have the Ancient Ornamental Plants that they cultivate for aesthetic purposes.

They hold pride in maintaining and improving a vessel for a long time. If a storage medium gets damaged, they wouldn’t opt to immediately make another vessel—even if it would be the most efficient.

They don’t all use the most popular format for their bodies; there are certain Architects that opt for different styles of storage medium.

Architects consider it rude to duplicate themselves.

All of their technology has similar aesthetic characteristics and design.

Precursors are cybernetic and composed of biotechnological components, yet they start out life as organic beings. They choose to incorporate biological tissues in their vessels suggesting they hold some sort of social ties to being organics. They actively make the choice to incorporate organic components.

Precursors potentially carry some nostalgia for their pre-civilized bodies, considering they model their vessels after them.

Architects have a concept of prestige. AL-AN is noted as the lead scientist for the Kharaa research project.

They have special training for certain young Architects and a Temple of Research that they are inducted into if they are distinct enough from other broodlings.

So, Precursors do not necessarily always do what is the most practical. They can and do practice certain things for subjective reasons. They have emotions that influence their actions. These emotions may not equate to human emotional behavior, but they certainly have them. AL-AN himself expresses shame many times.

While Precursors are a hive mind, they aren’t entirely unfamiliar with the concept of an individual. AL-AN merely says that they don’t see themselves as distinct. However, it is acknowledged at many points that a mind within the collective can have its own traits. Perspectives that either come with a body or ideas and needs that a mind has. They are able to act autonomously. The biggest example is AL-AN himself ignoring the network.

Though a mind having its own ideas doesn’t negate Architects being a collective. Especially when those minds work in conjunction with thousands of other minds to support the needs of the whole. AL-AN is just a very rare case where an Architect gets the opportunity to act as an individual. Even then, AL-AN expresses that being disconnected from the network is lonely and uncomfortable. Aiming to regain connection despite what he did in the past. AL-AN only uses the singular because he's present with Robin.

Precursors being so advanced makes things a little more complicated when trying to discern aspects of their species. We can't push human ideals onto a race so separate from us. Architects—being connected by the mind—do not have the same social structures as humans, so it's unfair to anthropomorphize them with our standards. We can only speculate on how they might work. Just because one mind can have differing traits doesn’t seem to make them distinct enough to classify as singular (within their species’ definition anyway). I'd love for there to eventually be more information given to us about their society.

Besides, all of this isn’t even considering the many unused voice lines that remain in the files that I’d love to go over…

[haloliterature]

Halo Fan Literature:

Halo: The Cache of the Ancients

Location: Outer colony ruins, deep below ground.

“Come,” said Lieutenant Arden, gesturing down the dark passage. “I’ve seen the cache. Old insurrectionist holdouts used this place before the Covenant hit.”

The Captain followed him, boots crunching glassed rubble.

“It’s Forerunner tech,” Arden whispered. “Weapons-grade. Enough to buy your own fleet when this is over. That’s why I called you. No one else. You deserve this.”

Captain Lox didn’t entirely believe him, but they’d bled together across three planets. Men don’t walk away from that.

The deeper they went, the closer the walls closed in, encrusted with layers of melted rock and soot.

Lox glanced back once. Arden smiled like a schoolboy with a secret.

Finally, they reached a vault doorway.

Inside: crates. Marked with old rebel sigils.

Lox stepped in, scanning the sides for Forerunner technology. He felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck.

He turned.

Arden was already sliding a slab of alloy. It scraped across the entrance.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Arden’s voice was steady. Calm. “You remember Ceris Prime?”

Lox froze.

Of course he remembered. Arden’s unit. Left behind. Lox had made the call—retreat, leave the outpost, save the fleet. Officially, there were no survivors.

Except Arden.

“I read the report,” Arden murmured. “My unit made a heroic sacrifice. Except we didn’t die. You just left us. We survived on rats and condensation from old pipes for weeks.”

Lox’s breath steamed in the freezing air. “Arden. Listen to me—”

But the metal door groaned shut.

Darkness fell.

Arden’s voice was distant through the seams. Calm. Gentle.

“For the record—I never found Forerunner tech. But I did find this place.”

There was a click. The unmistakable sound of welding torch ignition.

“Don’t worry. I’ll mention your bravery in the report.”

Lox slammed his shoulder against the door. Again. Again. Dust sifted down. Somewhere beyond, he heard Arden whistling an old military march.

Then silence.

All that remained was the faint smell of burning metal, curling through the cracks.

[noirandchocolate]

In the vein of this post I made a couple weeks ago about imagining locations in the Breath of the Wild/Age of Calamity era map of Hyrule being bigger, more populated, etc., I want to share some headcanons I've got about one place specifically: Satori Mountain!

Satori Mountain is one of the most mystical locations in Hyrule, what with the Lord of the Mountain and many blupees calling it home. I picture it with an entire grove of pink sakura in the area around the summit, not just one. And I love the thought that the trees are ever-blooming, just timelessly flowering and shedding petals regardless of the seasons changing around them. In fact, I headcanon that uncannily unseasonal plant growth is present all around the mountain, with the caches of herbs, veggies, mushrooms, and other plants dotting the slopes all unaffected by the passage of time elsewhere. It is always apple season on Satori Mountain, even though it is also always sakura blossom season. (BotW is a video game where the seasons don't apparently change anywhere else, either, despite how many in-game days one spends saving the world. However, I think Hyrule, if it was a "real place," would have seasons. But Satori Mountain doesn't.)

So why is this? Well, to extend my headcanon, I theorize that Satori Mountain is situated atop a very large wellspring of Ancient Energy. I could tangent off into my ideas about the ancient Sheikah and how Sheikah magic works and Ancient Furnaces and all that, but for now I'll stick to my narrower subject (you're welcome). Anyway, the energy continually revitalizes the mountain and its land, plants, and animals, which in turn then keep the wellspring of this natural energy going, creating a cycle that makes Satori Mountain the way it is.

Despite the fact that it could have been an enormous source of Ancient Energy for the Sheikah of days long past, to be tapped with Furnaces and used to power their technology, etc., this was never done. Instead, the Ancient Sheikah considered Satori Mountain especially sacred because of its uniquely timeless and powerful energy, and would never have risked unbalancing it. Instead, they took note of the fact that the land kept plants fruiting and regrowing, and cultivated many varieties of foliage and crops in groves and clearings on the mountain. The Sheikah had some settlements around the base of the mountain and in its environs, and lived harmoniously with the land--farming their apples and carrots and pumpkins and such, but carefully, so as not to over-use the land's energy.

I may be making a post at some point about my headcanons on Sheikah shrine locations in general, but for now I'll say I believe Satori Mountain was chosen as a site for Monk Mogg Latan's shrine because the area was so important to the Sheikah. The ancients who were setting up the shrines as places for a future Hero to train and receive the monk's spirits had no idea that the Hylian King of their era would soon turn against their people...

So! Because my posts always devolve into Yiga Clan stuff, here we go. Yiga Clan stuff.

My lil' story is that! When the ancient King was oppressing and then full-on committing genocide against the Sheikah, turning over their villages across the kingdom and then chasing down and killing those who were refusing to disarm and submit (and even many of those who'd surrendered), eventually he turned his eye toward those living on and near Satori Mountain--who had been joined by many fleeing others. The Sheikah thought that surely, the Hylians wouldn't attack them in their most sacred space, which was clearly blessed by Hylia. Surely the Royal Family they'd been protecting and serving and doing the dirty work of for centuries untold wouldn't go that far. Surely even this murderous King would stop short of such desecration! Well, they were wrong. The army showed up. And rather than make a last horrible, bloody stand on the mountain they loved, and risk its destruction, the Sheikah fled once more, leaving only a few warriors behind to hold off the pursuit as long as possible.

And many of those involved—some of whom had already been militantly angry and disinclined to obey the anti-tech, anti-magic, and anti-armaments laws, and some of whom were finally convinced of the Royal Family's depravity by its actions at the Mountain--used their abilities to run and hide in the Gerudo Highlands. Up over the plateaus of that unforgiving land, and into the desert. Specifically, to a certain valley...and a site that had been abandoned by the Gerudo long ago... And one of those Sheikah, who’d been the Chief of the villages around the Mountain…well I bet you can’t even guess what his name was, and what he became. Let’s just say that every one of his successors has taken that name and title on their ascension to the post…

Fast forward through thousands of years, and by the time of Age of Calamity (and the 100-years-ago Calamity of BotW), Satori Mountain is known to Hylians as a wild, strange place. Best not to ever go there, because They Say the Lord of the Mountain will curse you if you so much as look upon him. And there are so many tales about the place being haunted. About travelers in days past who would hear voices on the mountain, but never find their source. About finding new, un-rusted farming implements in the apple orchard, but never seeing any other people around. Some of the stories, the scarier ones meant to keep children awake at night and adults from getting ideas, end with unwary explorers being attacked by barely-seen assailants, who simply slash, laugh, and disappear without a trace. Perhaps the ghosts of ancient Sheikah warriors, still furious and traitorous over the ancient King's necessary disarmament of a race that could have turned on the pure, precious Royal Family and their Hylia-blessed, rightful rule?

Well...yes and no. :)

Because you see...the Clan needs to eat. And it cannot live on bananas alone (more's the pity). And given that (as I said in my linked post above) their complex in Karusa Valley runs deep into the Highlands...Satori Mountain isn't that far from where they live.

I think one of the things the Yiga have retained of their Ancient Sheikah heritage is a feeling of connection to Satori Mountain that even the Kakariko Sheikah are only recently (only since they were allowed to come out of hiding to help King Rhoam prepare for the newly-foretold return of Calamity Ganon) beginning to rediscover. I think the mountain is one of their food sources, alongside the banana groves in Faron (yet another headcanon for yet another time) and all the theft and shady, disguised dealings they do. I think they take branches from the sakura every year for their spring matsuri rituals. I think their operatives traveling across the kingdom purposely cultivate those spooky stories, to fend other races away. I think those sent to gather materials and hunt, if they see, hear, or otherwise sense anyone else around, will reenact the ghost stories or at least teleport away, leaving the intruders wondering what they just heard. I think newly-married couples often run up to the peak to unmask and show each other their true faces where no one else will bother them. I think that although many members of the Clan never or rarely leave the Valley, they all value the Mountain as a historical site for their people's resistance and as a place that nourishes them to this day.

In short, I think Satori Mountain is Important to the Yiga Clan. After all, a place where the sakura are constantly both displaying the fragility of life by shedding their blossoms and tenaciously hanging on, refusing to die? I think they find that fitting.

[thefirstknife]

The Observatory

I've been rotating a piece of the TFS CE lore in my brain so long I forgot to write about it. There's no transcript yet that I can find (I might do it myself tbh if nobody else does), but here's the scans with the whole text.

So, there's a lot going on in that CE, but the main gist of it is that the whole CE is written like a report from Eido. She investigated information about the Witness and the Collapse to try and help prepare us for our inevitable fight against it. Through her investigation, she found old Eliksni databanks that contain ancient records of past civilisations; main one being discussed is the civilisation that would eventually end up becoming the Witness.

There was a lot going on with them, shown to us through discussions between two specific individuals; they're only identified through code as HNW047622 and RS6243199. I'll call them HNW and RS. I've mentioned this before because we could see one of the pages in the preview of the Collector's Edition.

These individuals talked a lot and gave us insight into the Witness' civilisation. In short, they were super advanced and had something they described as the "Gardener's tools" which they apparently used to terraform other planets. They also talk about the concept of "the final shape" a lot and lead philosophical debates about its meaning and whether or not they have a responsibility to bring that concept to others in the universe. I'll probably go into their civilisation in-depth at some point, but for now I want to go off about something that appears to be a minor detail.

As part of their conversations, In the 5th image from the scans, they extensively talk about the final shape. The RS individual mentions something called "the Observatory." It is apparently some sort of a prediction machine. Full transcript of the relevant conversation and the rest of the post under:

[RS6243199]: I agree with you, in theory, but we do not exist purely in the theoretical. This suffering is already happening now, all the time, everywhere we look. Come see me, and I will show you the Observatory's readings. Such sights as we have seen, my friend, make me sick to my soul. [HNW047622]: I thought that the Observatory could only see possibilities. The future-branches of past visible-light readings. [RS6243199]: We have made improvements. The glass-minds*** trim the excess branches. What we see now are the strongest paths. And in the seeing, they become true. [HNW047622]: Then tell me what you have seen. I gain nothing from running from the truth, no matter how uncomfortable. [RS6243199]: Cities turning on themselves in a frenzy of self-destruction. Children offering up parents in superstitious sacrifice to bloodied gods. An entire people who would boil off their own atmosphere rather than let their neighbors enjoy fresh air! Great waves drowning worlds. Bodies which do not decompose, for everything, down to the very bacteria, has died as well. Machine-plagues carving their prediction-machines into moons. Your garden, destroyed. As the Observatory saw it, so it came to pass.

The footnote is a text from Eido:

*** From the context, some sort of computational assistant? There appears to be some etymological overlap with the names of Vex Minds. Something to investigate later, perhaps!

This made me instantly lose my mind when I was reading. Very early into Lightfall's release, I made a post about the Veil and the history of the universe. It's about some very peculiar similarities between a lot of prediction technology and caches of information that preserve ancient history and ancient civilisations and how they may connect to the Veil.

Mind you, this was before we knew a lot about the Veil; I wrote this pre-Veil logs and before it was confirmed that the Veil is linked directly to consciousness and memory. It was also before Season of the Deep which gave us Akashic Revelation: a lore tab in which a Guardian tries to go through the portal and experiences a vivid flashback of memory of his own pre-Guardian life. The name of the tab is important: akashic records is an esoteric concept for a supposed existence of a record of everything that has ever happened in the universe, past or present or future, human and non-human.

This is basically what I proposed in my post, before this lore tab, about the Veil; that the Veil or some source the Veil can tap into, is something similar to that. That all of the prediction machines are essentially pulling from this same source. In the post, I mentioned the OXA machine (the "black box for galactic civilisations" that allowed the Psions to see the future), Inspiral lore book (in which various civilisations and individuals left their records in the Darkness), the Device (the machine built on Vex technology by the Future War Cult in the Golden Age, led my Maya Sundaresh, used to displace consciousness and also see the future as used by Lakshmi-2), and even maybe the Sundial made by Osiris. I also mentioned how there's a possibility that even the whole scope of Vex prediction technology is somehow based on or tapping into this same source.

I am very amused at how I wrote: "It’s also interesting that Maya Sundaresh seems to be quite involved in pretty much every aspect of this." So true past me, that really is interesting! Her connection to the Veil and Lakshmi (and the importance of the Device and FWC) will later be revealed in Veil Logs. Almost like these connections were made deliberately, between all of these machines and the Veil.

With the benefit of new lore being released in the time since I made the original post, I am even more convinced that there's something going on here, and especially after TFS CE because the section I copied here mentions yet another incredibly similar machine: the Observatory of the Witness' species. It's not described in a lot of details, but from what we did get, it's quite unmistakeable that this is similar to things like the OXA and the Device.

The Observatory is clearly shown to be some sort of a machine that can see the future. Or, rather, as HNW says, it can see "possibilities." This matches what we've seen of the Device when Lakshmi-2 was using it; she was able to see different possible futures, futures that were getting increasingly narrow and biased to what she wanted to see. Identical formatting for using some sort of a machine to predict the future is shown as well with a Psion Ixel using... something (? maybe the OXA?) to do the same.

And again, the same formatting is used this season when a Psion Qorix uses her inate Psion abilities to project visions of the future into the minds of those present at Caiatl's War Council. It's worth noting that Psions have huge ties to Darkness abilities, as well as their entire species having been influenced by Nezarec to an unknown extent, but enough for them to share psionic/psychic abilities, an affinity to void, helmets that reflect his head shape and possibly more we don't know about. It's also worth noting that Nezarec was the one who was transporting the Veil on his Pyramid ship and lamented how Neomuni were not using it to its full potential. Nezarec may have used the Veil to influence the Psions.

This is important because these devices aren't exact, and the Observatory seems to share the same caveat. It shows possibilities, not certainties. Different users might see different things, painted by their own desires and experiences. However, there's something in all of these prediction machines that can lead to a real prediction of the future. The invididual RS mentions several visions, most of which are not specific enough to identify, but sound plausible given the sheer size of the universe; they must've happened somewhere at some point. There's one specific that we know: "great waves drowning worlds." And there's one mentioned by RS that also happened; the destruction of the "garden" made by HNW. This is mentioned in the beginning of the CE. HNW terraformed a planet, but that planet was later completely destroyed.

Even more interesting, the way the Witness' species used the Observatory seems to imply that they employed the Vex directly to help them manage this machine. RS explains that the "glass-minds" are capable of "trimming excess branches" and allowing only the "strongest paths" to be explored. Perhaps this was their way of not falling into the trap that the people using the OXA or the Device could fall into; by having the Vex monitor and manage this prediction machine, it stops the user from inserting too many personal variables. And yes, as Eido noted as well, "glass-minds" is a phrase that indeed shares similarity with the Vex and is almost certainly referring to the Vex.

This is incredibly interesting for a lot of reasons. First, as I've already mentioned, these sort of prediction machines are common throughout the universe and keep being mentioned. Different species at different times have been capable of creating similar machines for similar purposes. Inspiral also goes deeper into how species could use the Darkness to access memory and history through it; the Ecumene and the Qugu had these abilities and used them as part of their civilisation. Through Psions, we get a mix of these two things; the Psions have both tangled with prediction machines like the OXA, but they also posses seemingly inate Darkness abilities that function similarly. They can project futures and possibilities to others, they can merge their minds (and bodies!), and their old religion was based on ancestor worship. Emotions, memories, consciousness itself: these are part of Darkness and governed by the paracausal entity we know as the Veil. It seems like machines capable of giving insight into the past and future are connected to the consciousness of the universe.

Second, these things somehow always come back to the Vex. We don't know how the OXA was built, but the Vex could access it. The Device was build from Vex technology and so was the Sundial. The Observatory is very closely linked to the Vex as well; either built by them or simply being close enough to be accessible for the Vex to manage it. The Vex are more or less known for their manipulation of time, their ability to move through it and use it as a tool, as well as for their prediction and simulation machines and constructs.

And of course, this year revealed to us that the Vex, or at least a part of the Vex, have tried recreating the Veil in the form of Black Heart, but failed due to their inability to understand paracausality. However, it seems like the Vex are drawn to the Veil even outside of just the Sol Divisive, as can be seen from Neomuna. The Vex were a constant threat to Neomuna throughout its existence and the Vex have been trying to access the CloudArk, an alternate reality engine built on the energy of the Veil.

This season in particular has been fairly suspicious with the Vex as well, showing us a concerning evolution of the Sol Divisive and the Vex in general; their radiolaria emitting Darkness energy, Oracles appearing outside of the Vault of Glass and also resonating Darkness, their attempts to "merge with the Witness" and a strange message that seems to be implying they're still not done with reaching out to the Veil in the form of the Black Heart. I talked about this more here.

Are the Vex drawn to the Veil for a particular reason? Perhaps they unknowingly tap into something the Veil is responsible for, like prediction, through the simple fact that the Veil is the paracausal entity responsible for Darkness which is memory? For the Vex, memory could work outside of time; perhaps their prediction abilities are simply them being able to "remember" the future, because they can exist through and outside time.

There is also the even more mysterious possibility here that revolves around a few hints in regards to the Veil and the Traveler being a single entity at some point in time. If the Veil and the Traveler used to be one before becoming separated, this may be what Unveiling talked about through metaphor; the mythical Garden before the universe existed could've been this singularity that was just the Veil and the Traveler together as one. And as Unveiling also noted, in one of those parts of Unveiling that seem to be closer to the truth than others, the Vex already existed then. The reason they're so out of place in a universe of paracausality is because they appear to have come into existence before paracausality so it is foreign to them. They might remember the time when the two were one, therefore they still have an instinctual draw to the Veil; and honestly, to the Traveler too, given how close to it they've settled in our system. As the lore on Scatter Signal notes, someone told us that all Vex agree that "Sol is Salvation." It's where both the Veil and the Traveler are.

This is beyond speculative, but it's been on my mind since that first post well over a year ago because of how closely linked Darkness, the Vex and these peculiar prediction devices have been throughout the history of the universe; now added with one more, the Observatory, most likely the first one ever made (or found), by the species that would later become the Witness. I could be off on the exact nature of this connection, but I feel like there is some sort of a connection all the same. I also feel like they wouldn't have mentioned this in TFS CE for no reason, especially because we're clearly not going to deal with the Vex until after TFS.

Either way, the Observatory mention and description really got me spiralling into unhinged territory. It added such a specific little detail about something I've speculated about before and made it fit perfectly. I wonder if this will remain just like a little curiosity and background worldbuilding or if there's a more direct reason for including it; namely if this is more hints about post-TFS stuff regarding the Vex.

Until we know for sure, I will continue to believe that all prediction abilities and prediction machines are tapping into a single source; the consciousness/memory of the universe, produced by the Veil as a part of the inherent propery of Darkness. The Vex are key to this because they may be doing it in a very specific way given their relationship to time, the possibility that they existed in the universe before anyone else, and possibly because of their memory of a time when the Veil and the Traveler were one.

It could be also something simpler and not entirely interconnected. But I was very pleased to see yet another Vex-based prediction machine being introduced into the universe, adding to the existing ones that have been fairly relevant this year and mentioned several times like the OXA and the Device. Can't wait for TFS and post-TFS content to see if this is something we'll be exploring in more detail, especially as we start dealing with the Vex!

All this about a half of a single page of TFS CE. Girl help.

[vaguelycryptictea]

Thunderous waves rippled across leagues of sand, echos ringing out from a steady deluge of sustained mortar fire so great it shifted the sand even this far out. Though not the only cause of shifting sands the hum was enough to cover the approach of three interlopers. The starlit sky provided enough light to travel by as the trio steadily navigated behind enemy lines, careful to leave a great space around each sinkhole denoting the arachnoid horrors that lie sleeping beneath. With the whole of Tur'kar suddenly finding it needed to defend previously fortified flanks the path ahead lie open giving an important, if brief, window.

Ahead of them lay a darkened building, power having been diverted to higher-priority assets weeks ago. Beneath the facade of storage lie a massive underground complex, stores of medical caches, food, weapons, books everything a raiding kingdom could want. Everything their cause desperately needed, as tempting as it was to collect food for the masses, winter had ended and food stores would be replenished. Medicinal plants would come back into bloom, and books and small arms could be traded for in due time. What they sought now was salvation, a myth. A weapon so potent it was said to have toppled Empires long past, growing material in the blink of an eye, capable of healing any disease, knowing the soul of any enemy, the minds of every ally, granting access to limitless power and that is what they were after.

Daiq and the rest of their team crept to the edge, matte armor hardly picking up the light of distant explosions as the sensors read and blended each plate of their armor to match grains of sand around them. Effectively creating a gap in vision should anyone look their way. Not perfect invisibility like the Empire had but damn near to the untrained eye, they would lose the stealth setting as soon as they entered the cache though, marvelous as it was the technology was crude in comparison to whatever waited within. Daiq tapped a band along their arm which had been working to decode the ancient cache's door. The Emperial Collegiates would have already given this a shot, Daiq's codes were better though and it wouldn't have been the first time they managed to crack a lock that an Empiral Silver Spoon couldn't. This time however the band silently alerted that it had not, in fact, been able to break the door code which they had expected but would have felt silly for not having tried.

Daiq motioned back to their team, preparing for a breach. The second armored profile tapped away at an arm mounted relay, he was using a coded language to ask for another volley of pheonix fire while the third carefully prepped her blasting charges. The doors were likely still intact because the Empire wished to study whatever intricate coding kept the thing sealed, Zealot team however had no such interests. Daiq backed off to a position behind a small dune to wait; they were joined shortly after by Ellie who held a blasting trigger coiled in one hand with a wicked grin pasted on her face and Alder who signed in the affirmative for another mortar volley and threw a timer into the Pithlink they shared, it was older tech but the Pithlink had gotten them through a lot and was as somehow managed to continue being more reliable than anything in the current age. Limited but never once had it wink out like the Empires notorious 'transmission liaisons bots', everyone knew the damn things monitored transmissions for rebellious activity and the whole system magically dropped anytime they caught a whiff of information they disliked. Then miraculously, it would reconnect with no trace of issue or any information they considered fraudulent or against Kingdom and Empire interests. Needless to say the bots had been 'recieving maintenance' for months now while the seige ensued.

The trio watched the countdown together, heard the mortars falling, and triggered their explosion in tandem before moving through the hole at the base of the large double doors. Daiq wished they had time to see what it was made of, seemed like metal but perhaps not with the twisting natural shapes. If they had time for that they would have time to clear the upper storage units, which they didn't. Ducking beneath the jagged metal Daiq followed the duo through corridors as Alder led the way, rapidly signing directions he had memorized months ahead of this operation; all three creeping along the sand-stricken corridors. The air had a musty crypt-like quality, and petrified roots appeared to have ripped through the great walls before they were shorn back or...whatever had happened to them. When dealing with a cache it was hard to be certain, sometimes it was as simple as storage, and other times you could be releasing an undead horde upon an unsuspecting populous. In this case, they had to take the chance and pray any fallout only affected Tur'kar.

Alder led them on, clicking on a pair of night vision lenses with the other two following suit. They had a second internal clock, timing mission length for the data team as part of the suit but Alder had his own timer up and had started it when they entered the maze. Which is what this was, a dark, dust-filled remnant, they had already climbed over two areas where sand had leaked into the hall from above partially filling and collapsing in on the complex. Alder had estimated it would take them an hour to get where he thought the mythic weapon might be but if his initial guess was incorrect, which was likely because who knows why the fuck they built anything in a cache, then the trio would have up to an hour searching around before they absolutely had to leave and call the mission a failure. That was also likely, Daiq knew he'd never say that but they knew he and Ellie had talked about it, cache info was rarely ever correct. To have an uncorrupted map, an opportunity to reach the cache and survive whatever was inside? Well, that realistically never happened. Sweat clung to Daiq as they traveled the halls, confident in Alder's ability to get everyone in and back out again. Like they always had....well almost always had.

Alder raised a weapon and Daiq felt the hair along their neck stand as a scuttlebug skittered away from them and further down the hall. Technically the little mechanical nightmares were harmless, you always ran into a handful on the surface and a nest of them somewhere in the cache. Track the ones on the surface and you might find how the lithe little bastards got in. Daiq was actually happy the Empire had built a castle on top of this one, at least that way the mechanical scuttlers were kept to a minimum and hopefully would die out. Not likely but, they could dream. All three jogged lightly up the steps in the direction the scuttler had ran coming to another door, surprisingly it was the second and only other set of doors they had seen with a heavy line of sand framing the cobblestone beneath . Massive oak doors framed with iron inlays, at least twice the size of Ellie, were set into the wall.

Daiq never could get over how eerie these places were. They had discussed it with Ellie once and they had both agreed to disagree about exactly why, they always volunteered for cache missions. Everyone on Zealot squad knew why they were here though when asked each only ever answered with a perfunctory, 'personal business'. Most knew what it meant, so no one stopped them, by invoking Leecal's law they ensured no one would. Daiq still wondered if that had been a good idea, they watched Ellie set another charge some six and a half feet high which would have been a stretch for them but Ellie placed the brick at shoulder level and moved on to the next. Daiq shook their head clearing away the anxious feeling and shutting out thoughts of long abandoned halls, undead hordes, and sacrilege experiments put upon the unwilling.

Ellie caught up with the team who had taken cover back the way they'd come from. Daiq watched Ellie's eyes light up, she had an unhealthy attachment to anything that delivered an explosive payload. The woman threw her timer into the Pithlink, customized with happy little bombs that danced and counted down. Daiq groan softly having forgotten about the silly font and caught sight of Alder's signature eye roll. Of course Ellie had timed it perfectly and her siege charge blew open the door just as she struck a pose and waited for applause. There was none, of course, except for the cheering adoration Daiq was sure she imagined for herself. Alder and they were already halfway back to the door again before she skipped down the hall and back into formation while Daiq peeked into the dusty room.

They couldn't say they were surprised to see all of the carnage within. That is, very very old carnage. Ancient blood stains, skeletal human remains among...other...remains, trapped animals most likely, or sacrificial. A chill ran down their spine as Daiq scanned the room, sappers already unholstered as they stepped forward into a temple by the looks, withitss restraining tables and the spaces for acolytes to experiment and dissect; they were satisfied when the bones didn't suddenly start snapping back together like magnets, which horrifyingly they had seen happen once andd motioned back for Ellie and Alder to follow. Stepping around the bones was impossible but Daiq tried, they hated the sound and the feeling as their boots ground skeletal frames into fragments over the stonework walk. Alder guided them around stone shelves that seemed carved from the very floor and to a single mental door tarnished with age, Daiq looked for a code box before realizing there was... a handle? Gods now they'd seen it all, Daiq marveled for a second at the ancient technology. How anyone could think having a handle on a door would, in any way, keep them safe from whatever had access to the same handle on the other side they would never understand.

They stepped aside as Ellie came forward, lining up her swing before bringing the breach hammer down and sending one half of the metallic device bouncing into the hall while Daiq fiddled with the other until it fell off the door on the opposite side. They pushed the door open to let Alder take the lead and sweep the room, a hammer-wielding Ellie followed him and Daiq brought up the rear watching the hall behind. Alder tapped their shoulder and gave the all-clear before pointing out some odd columns inside. They tapped into Pithlink and requested a full scan hoping the archaic software would be able to tell them if the columns were some old stabilization technique or something that might explode and kill them all. Pithlink might not be the best sublink out there but it had an odd place among the hearts of anyone who entered a cache with the system and made it back out alive- or maybe teams like theirs were incredibly superstitious and hated change.

Soon enough Pithy, an old joke name for the outdated system that Daiq still liked using, silently alerted. Not red, thank the gods, but orange was never great either. 8 of the 9 columns had scanned as blue, or safe, shattered glass covered in decades of silt and debris highlighted through their visor in green as 'minor danger' and the 9th column was highlighted in orange, which meant either Pithy couldn't identify the contents and cautioned approach or it had identified the contents and that information was locked behind a cache code that Pithy could read but not translate, so still bad. Daiq shared the readings through Pithlink and trained their weapon on the last column. This had to be what they were looking for then...

They stepped over large cables that either dropped from an old ceiling or were designed to snake around the now shattered columns, why they chose to make the columns out of glass, gods...again, who knew? Daiq reached the end of the room, waited for Alder's ready signal then with a trembling hand, scraped through a millenia of built-up decay.

Amber light bathed the room in a vibrant hue with every sweep of Daiq's gloved hand, they clawed and chipped until they had a space large enough to view the columns' interior. Their palm reaching the glassy exterior was moderately expected. What wasn't expected however was the harsh mud-colored glow that blinded the group, forcing everyone to abandon night vision and nervously reach for weapons. Daiq didn't like what they saw, couldn't believe this had all been such a gods damned waste. No, they decided, not a waste but a calculated risk; only the calculator had severe trauma and had invoked Leecal's law instead of going to therapy.

Within the glassy column lay the embodiment of their time ill spent. A corpse, an impossibility...gods the thing was mummified. Daiq's skin crawled as their eyes wandered helplessly over the tattered shriveled leather clinging to the corpse; whose body was curled into the fetal position, like a flower trying to protect itself in evening air, only this one had dried out a millennia ago. Skin near translucent, head angled skyward as if that were the only means of escape and whatever they had held out for, never came. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fucking, fuck- Daiq could hear Ellie's awkward series of coughs and Alder's less than nonchalant shuffle. Closing their eyes Daiq took a deep breath masking the disappointment they felt with a blank, practiced expression.

"Heeeyyy." Ellie began aloud signing for Alder as she went. "We all knew that this might be a bust. Tur'kar was due for a shake-up, this would have been a bonus."

Alder moved up to set a hand on Daiq's shoulder, face wrinkling at the grisly scene within the column. He held up a worn old canteen, forming a 'c' with his other hand and motioning slightly. "Drink." He told them, Daiq knew they should but refused to take the offering. Alder eventually gave up rolling his eyes, they could see the tremors in his hand as Alder tucked the container back into his gear. Everyone had gambled on this, and knew the chances were non-existent, and still, Daiq's gut churned in denial. There had to be something useful-

Rapid footsteps echoed in the dust laden halls, alerting all three members who deftly found hiding places among the dirt-coated columns. Glass was a shit idea for cover but with the solid layer of grime coating the surface, it beat standing out in the open. The solid cover was too far to dash now. Daiq didn't have to check the timer to know they were still supposed to be clear, unless...

They killed the Pithlink at the last second, which awarded curious looks from their companions. "Footsteps, followed the link," They signed before unholstering their weapons. Alder had tucked himself furthest back, holding a shoddy firing position through the eighth column. A jagged broken mess offering both concealment and small openings to fire through. Ellie had raced forwaes to the doorway, standing above and off center on a sandy slope ready to introduce her hammer to the first unfortunate soul through the door. Daiq had settled somewhere between them at the fourth and fifth columns; Sappers live, scraps of stone knocking at their boots among piles of sand. Then the team waited, poised to strike as the approaching footfalls stopped; momentary confusion perhaps at the dead link.

Daiq had time to curse themself for not leaving the line up as bait then the thought was over shadowed as the steps picked up again, faster now. The first Empiriette entered, the clattering echo of their signature ruddy, beige, sand-etched power plate having announced them long before their entrance. A second and third Empiriette followed closely behind the first, scanning and seepinf the room as they entered. Ellie swung out from her hiding place, war hammer cracking into the the metal helmet of Soldier two and immediately disorienting her quarry. The remaining pair spun to engage and Empiriette three caught a round in the back, curtesy of Alder, that cracked a segment of plate which forced them to immediately pivot back to cover the broken segment. The armored figure cursed and began looking for where the shot had come from. Daiq holstered the Sappers, they were great for modern armor but if Tur'kar infantry was using power plate the small barbed hooks would have trouble finding purchase. Instead drawing a short sword from their back Daiq raced up the sand banked wall to engage the first Empiriette who was starting to flank Ellie while she wailed away on Soldier two, cracking plates with unbridled glee as she had pinned the Empiriette pinned beneath her position on the slope. Lithe as possible and believing Alder would keep number three busy, Daiq slipped along the opposite side of pillars until they had the angle needed. Streaking from the dark they broke cover, sprinting up the steep slope at the same time Ellie stepped onto her soldier and rode them down the sand incline like a sled. Sliding by soldier one, Daiq watched as Ellie knocked the stun batton of the Empiriettes hand and sent the weapon tumbling along behind her. This scene, offered Daiq the opening they needed to climb Empiriette one's hulking nine foot frame clad in power armor. The maneuver wasn't easy and Daiq had broken an arm when they had practiced this the very first time but now the movements were old hat to them and thier muscle memory took over. One, two, three steps let scale the massive form then settling onto the Empiriettes shoulders. Grappling the figures head between their thighs, Daiq expertly slid the edge of the blade through a joint along the right shoulder, killing power to that arm and making the plate weigh upward of 300 pounds and unliftable by the bastard within. Unless of course they were Teganic.

Bringing the blade around to the front of the Empiriette's helm Daiq dodged the soldiers flailing right arm, a poor attempt to grab hold of them as they began working but they were happy to see the right arm still hanging limply. Not a teganic human then. Daiq felt the sword catch the armors sealed housing, one clean cut away from uncoupling the helms clasp so Alder could just shoot the fucker for them. A gauntleted hand found purchase on their leg before Daiq could leverage the blade, yanking them from the perch. There was a half second of open air before they landed, feeling a bone break as they landed awkwardly and continued to roll; Daiq cried out letting themself roll even farther down the slope to gain some distance. Hearing a roar from the side made them look up in time to see Ellie fighting Empiriette two for control of a Scatterclast. The barrel suspended between herself and the soldier as each tried to force it away from themselves and towards their opponent. Daiq scrambled for their sword as heavy booted steps hit stone, snatching the hilt just as the Empiriette one caught up. Suddenly they were yanked into the air, mind numbing pain firing along their broken leg. The soldier held them aloft as Daiq screamed, dangling and trying to move as little as possible while the soldier activated an open speaker.

"STAND DOWN, SURRENDER ALL FINDINGS, THIS CACHE IS PROPERTY OF-AACHK" The speaker sparked and backfired as a spray of blood poured into the helmet and covered Daiq in a crimson glaze. They finally found the right angle for the helm housing and had driven their sword up through the neck and skull meeting the inside of firm padded armor with the end of their blade. The dead system swayed, inputs fried and dying as the human inside was now incapable of operational commands.

Daiq hit the ground first with a moan as the force of the impact jarred their leg and made their vision blink out. A telling metal creak made Daiq instinctively shove themself to one side and they watched as the previously piloted heap of scrap fell forward, crushing the stone where they had been. Daiq attempted to stand briefly before hearing the Scatterclast fire and abandoning the motion to dive fir the closest available cover. They reached a cracked stone table opposite where they had started this engagement and heard the telltale click of four shells ejecting at once and a new quad cartridge being loaded.

Another open comm sounded, filling the air with a brief static then, "YOU ARE IN VIOLATION, OF TUR'KAR EMPERIAL LAW. DROP YOUR WEAPON OR I WILL SHOOT. YOU ARE SURROUNDED, YOUR ACCOMPLICES HAVE BEEN DETAINED."

There was no hesitation when they said 'detained' so it was possible Alder and Ellie were alive, or that the souless fuck in armor was as good at lying as they were at continuing to breathe. How did it come to this, how had Tur'kar known? Daiq's mind buzzed with pain and unanswerable questions.

A sigh came across the comm, then "Fine. They killed one of ours. Treag, shoot him." Daiq moved then, rounding the corner and crossed half the distance to the speaking Empiriette when the first round hit. Scatterclast shots consisted of a series of lead mechanical pellets which, ripped into Daiq's left arm, leg and lower back. Upon contact the pellets were designed to open, scattering a payload of microscopic fiberglass filaments, immediately dropping organic targets due to the sheer amount of pain movement caused and Daiq was no exception. Their mouth opened and Daiq was sure they were screaming but couldn't hear anything but their own ears ringing after the blast. The world kept falling out of focus in favor of searing, all encompassing, agony; every movement giving birth to a unique new hell. Wholly unaware of the shadow cast over them, Daiq heard sounds but language was a gift for the unbroken and they were far too busy wishing they no longer existed. Thier body dragged ruthlessly along the stone, then hoisted into the air, suspended by their arms in a gravity barlock. The brilliant white-blue bar beeping as gel solidified around Daiq's wrists. The world swam blearily around them. A woman was screaming...a hammer beating into a wall. Ellie? Ellie...they should tell her they love her more...that's what good siblings did...why was she screaming though? Daiq tried to move and was rewarded with a flood of torturous pin pricks along thier left side.

A voice was speaking to them - lighter this time, scared almost, Daiq tried to answer but all that came out of their lungs was a wwheezing bloody cough. That wasn't good, a stronger part of their mind urged that this was all wrong, there were pieces that didn't go together and yet...were; like the amber column. That hadn't been cracked before or maybe it had - Daiq was a shitty leader after all and that detaul seemed like the kind of thing a shitty leader would miss. Alder's arm and shoulder also looked, oddly angular. His canteen...ooph that was a loss. Scatterclast got the little metal rebel good, leaving a series of holes in it's tiny corpse which dripped down the column and onto the stone floor. They would have to give the little canteen a proper burial and the ol' three volley salu...wait, weren't they supposed to be doing something?

Gods- fuck thinking, they wanted to sleep instead. Sleeping was better and they were so tired, thier eyes kept dipping and dragging across the bloodsoaked scene and something wet was running down thier back. It made their shirt slick and uncomfortable. What a terrible fucking nightmare, maybe they really would go see Doctor Keoghtom this time, therapy couldn't be worse than watching your friends and family die every night. Thank gods none of it was real though otherwise that corpse crawling from the column would be a death sentence. Undead were always terrifying but dealt with easily if you had enough ammunition and a nice high place to stand. Even then though, fuuuuck that thing.

As far as nightmares went, Daiq had to give this one props. Corpses were a new addition to the nightmare horror show and there were a surprising lack of random family members showing up and dropping dead like extras in a horror flick. Daiq wasn't sure how it moved so...gracefully? The damn thing was like a macabre ballerina they way it moved along the stone, limbs popping, contorting and resetting as it infurled- Fucking creepy. In no time the Empiriettes noticed, probably because of all the the clattering and moaning. Both began firing as the mumified creature trudged ever closer, shells rocketing through the torn flesh swallowing shots as quickly as they landed. The walking nightmare closed on them, cane growing and tearing from the creatures forearms as they made contact with the soldier's chestplate. The armour held, taking the blunt of the blow without cracking as the cane stalks shot forward in an effort to pierce the metallic piece.

"Can't get in that way, have to go for the joints," Daiq thought, waiting for this nightmare to end, waiting for the pain to stop. They always did, usually when Daiq and everyone else was long dead but sometimes before. Seconds later the plant like stem bolstered, parts of the corpses reedy back canabilized as a truck grew along its arm. Vine like filament spread across the plating like roots finding their way to joints and fine seams then slipping between them. The Empiriette, realizing what was happening too late, screamed and tried to engage a contamination lock. The filaments bulged to tendons then to thick branches with spines that expanded with such rapid crushing force Daiq didn't have time to blink before the armored figure was pureed? Pressed? Words for what they were witnessing flowed through their mind like water in a strainer, none quite fitting until a foreign thought snaked in to plug up the holes. Neatly placing the words 'pulverized' and 'crushed' among their own muttled collection as blood poured down the armored corpse. Yes, Daiq decided then, they were going to visit the shrink after this.

The last remaining soldier continued pulling the trigger of an empty Scatterclast as the creature rounded on them, every step it took towards Daiq and the Empiriette making the corpse feel, more real. There were holes eaten away in the creatures skin or they guessed the thing had repurposed parts of itself for the trunk like arm which was falling away now, neatly folding back along the mumified spine. The young Empiriette scrambled back to Daiq's wall, and they couldn't help but think what the fuck am I going to be able to do kid? The question was short lived as a hand slammed into the barlocks release. This little fuck meant to feed them to-

Catching themself was a luxury, now overshadowed by a desperate desire to stay as still as physically possible. Daiq's mind couldn't keep up with their bodies conflicting demands, their minds utter disbelief at the Empiriettes coward ass and the pain that seemed to just be who they were now. Daiq tumbled from thier upright view of the world. Fire ripped through the left side of thier body and they landed at the feet of the undead horror, whimpering and waiting for the sweet release of death. They could see Ellie from where they were, screaming and clawing at the sand between the; she was desperately trying to reach them, to pull Daiq to herself and...and then what? Even if this was a nightmare seeing Ellie like this was too much, they wanter to comfort her. None of it was real, curled as they were they extended a blood soaked hand. Daiq was feet from her and there was no way they could touch but they delved into the depths of their soul offering their little sister a smile, a lie. The assurance that they were both going to be okay. The smell of sand and ruddy earth mixed as the creature bend closer to finish them off.

"This is such a fucked up dream" Daiq thought unable to raise a hand in defense, "I don't want to die this way."

Thier mind suddenly stilled, no...compressed? Like a blanket covering them, smothering them and simultaneously dredging through their mind. Moments of childhood memories lost to the passage of life flashed into view replaced by teenage fights with their parents but whirling by as if being cataloged and sorted. Daiq's life altering decision to run from Empiral rule in pile one. The overwhelming feeling of trust they had for their first mentor, throw to pile two. Training for with the rebellion, excelling in countless missions, the drain of fighting in a never ending war...this war, held aloft and closely examined before being placed in lofty pile three.

The very last mission Daiq's team had volunteered for, invoking Leecal's law and finally preparing for this operation all pulled apart, and viewed in bullet time then slammed together and viewed over and over and over in real time. What was real time? Then the blanket was yanked clear, pain redoubled as Daiq's mouth opened in a silent scream, their body overwhelmed by pain and the terror of thier mind collapsing while they were trapped in this hellscape. Daiq's eyes slammed shut willing life away, the pain, the hurt, the nightmare, all of it gone.

When the last dregs of soul were smothered and the light of the world had almost entirely gone out. That's when Daiq woke up.

[honourablejester]

I have seen you put together a number of character concepts involving Warforged (with Silence, your Grave Cleric, being a personal favorite), but I was curious what your thoughts are on Warforged as a whole and how to characterize them? What themes do they play with, who are they? Basically, if you had the opportunity to rewrite Warforged however you liked, what would they be like?

Oh, I do love Silence too. Definitely one of my favourite concepts I’ve done. I’m so glad you enjoyed her!

As for the warforged in general … I love them, but artificial life has always been one of my favourite themes in genre fiction. And one of the primary themes when it comes to artificial life is that it was built, it was no accident of biology, an artificial lifeform was consciously created by someone. And, most often, for a purpose. So if you were built/born for a specific purpose, how does that sit with you? How do you react to what you were intended, given life, to accomplish? You can get this with non-artificial lifeforms as well, people have children for very specific purposes all the time, but barring settings with genetic engineering or similar concepts, there’s still some luck of the draw in how such a child might turn out. But robots, warforged, are purpose built. Your body, your form, was crafted to spec. The evidence of your purpose is written onto your body. How do you react to that? And is there more for you outside of it?

So some questions to ask when building a warforged character: What were they designed for? How does that design show in their physical form? Are they aware of what they were built for? If so, how do they react to that knowledge? Did they obey their design and fill the role set out for them? For how long? Do they still? Or have they found a new purpose for themselves? If so, did they have to fight for it? How do they feel about their creator(s)? Do they know their creator? Were they mass produced or personally crafted? Do they have feelings about that distinction? Are things such as them common in the setting? How do they feel about that? Does the setting have a position re artificial life and souls/gods/the afterlife? Do they have beliefs about souls/gods/the afterlife, and how it might apply to them? Do they believe they are a person? Do those around them encourage or despise that belief?

Which, actually, is a point. Warforged as a D&D race were designed for the Eberron setting, and I don’t actually play that setting? Or I haven’t so far, anyway. So when I’m talking about warforged, I’m leaving out a lot of the setting-specific lore for them, like how old they are, the war they were built for, the Eberron-specific backstory of House Cannith and the Last War. Though most/all of these questions will still apply in Eberron, you just have some premade answers for some of them. But pulling warforged outside of Eberron, you are going to have to work with your group/DM to figure out how artificial lifeforms fit in and are viewed in the setting you’re playing.

If you mean how would I rewrite them within Eberron, I don’t necessarily have an answer, as I haven’t read too much into the setting. My general view on most settings/lore is to just tweak things if you have themes you want to explore on a character. For example, if you wanted to ignore that most Eberron warforged have a sexless form and therefore a more abstract concept of gender, in order to explore a warforged that was purpose built to appear as a certain sex, so long as everyone else you’re playing with is okay with that, I’d say go for it. Or if you wanted to explore a warforged that was much, much older than the 30-odd years since the Last War, then maybe House Cannith got their ideas from somewhere, an ancient cache of technology, and you are evidence of that and that puts you in a very, very dangerous position. Talk with your group/DM and find out what’s possible.

And mechanically, they’re fine. I like what they have. I do specifically enjoy Specialised Design, that they get one skill and one tool proficiency built in, because it plays back into that theme I enjoy of your body being built for a purpose. A warforged with proficiency in history and calligraphy tools was designed for a very different purpose than a warforged with proficiency in stealth and thieves tools. It’s such a nice little detail to throw in and built some character around. Were you built as an infiltrator droid (anyone seen The Zeta Project?), or as an elegant automata for a king to show off at court? I know a lot of people use that free skill and tool proficiency to tailor to their class, but I really enjoy stopping to think and use it to show what they were originally built for. Which may or may not match well with what they’re doing now. Maybe you have a dissonant skill/tool, because you fully rejected what you were designed for and sought your own path, but the original design can never be fully overwritten, and your hands still remember what they were made to do. It’s a nice little feature to build some character concepts around (and, yes, you can never go wrong with a free skill/tool).

So, um. Does any of that help? Heh.

[dutyforged-archive]

Character Study: The Ancient Hero

Did the ancient hero know he would ultimately fail at sealing away Calamity Ganon?

Throughout Hyrule there are ancient texts, documents, and murals that detail the history of The Hero and Calamity Ganon. Many of these records mention the battle that had occurred before Link’s time and emphasize the idea of an ongoing struggle against Ganon. These texts seem to indicate that the ancient hero wasn’t simply battling Ganon for his lifetime; rather, he was taking part in an endless cycle of conflict that would eventually involve a successor. His actions -- from writing letters, recording prophecies, to leaving clues show a deep understanding that his successor would need to be equipped for a fight that would span generations.

But did he know that future hero would be a reincarnation of himself?

A quote from the quest line of The Hero's Cache in Breath of the Wild gives a lot of insight into the inner thoughts of the ancient hero: One day, I'll return to fight evil. My cache is at 17 24, this rock will point towards its retrieval. The ancient hero’s final words reflect an understanding that his time was coming to an end, but the battle with Calamity Ganon would not be over with his death. He essentially passed the torch to the next hero, someone who would rise when the time was right.

There’s also the sense of prophecy and fate surrounding the reincarnation of the hero. The people of Hyrule refer to the hero in almost mystical terms, as if his return was always written into the fabric of Hyrule’s future. This connection between the ancient hero’s actions and the rise of a new hero suggests a cyclical nature to the battle against Ganon ---and the ancient hero knew this.

The Shrine of Resurrection is a significant piece of evidence to support not only his awareness of his own cycle but the Shiekah's understanding of it.

The shrine is designed for one purpose: the resurrection of the hero. Its existence strongly suggests that the ancient hero’s fight against Calamity Ganon had been long anticipated to result in failure, and thus, a system had been put in place for the hero to return when the time was right. The fact that this technology existed, seemingly untouched for centuries, and was designed specifically to revive a hero to face Ganon again, points to a recognition that the battle with Ganon would be a cycle, one that wouldn't be resolved in the ancient hero’s lifetime.

The Master Sword also plays a key role in supporting the theory that the ancient hero knew he would not only fail but be reincarnated. The sword, often referred to as the Sword that Seals the Darkness, is specifically designed to combat Ganon. However, the sword is damaged and must be recharged before it can be used effectively against Ganon. This suggests that the sword, much like the hero, had gone dormant, waiting for the right moment to awaken once more.

I interpret this as yet another example of foresight. The Master Sword, having been used to seal Ganon previously, would need to recharge before it could face the Calamity once again. The fact that it wasn’t fully prepared at the time of the hero’s original failure indicates that the ancient hero was aware that this was only a temporary setback and that his reincarnation would need to come and reclaim the sword for a second battle.

Through these multiple layers of evidence, it becomes clear that the ancient hero did indeed know that he would ultimately fail in his quest to seal away Calamity Ganon. His foresight and preparations for his successor demonstrate his understanding that the battle would need to be fought by another generation. His actions -- hiding items, leaving records, and ensuring the legacy of the Master Sword -- were all done with the purpose of making sure that when Ganon would rise again, a new reincarnation of the hero would be ready to face him.

(Personal, fandom blogs, or fellow roleplayers are welcome to use this post.)

[dailycharacteroption]

Immortal Tutor Technomancer (Technomancer Alternate Class Feature)

(art by BootsDotEXE on DeviantArt)

Science-fantasy spellcasting may change a lot from the ancient days. Unified theories of magical sources, more robust understanding of the mystic arts, but even in such halcyon future days, there are some things that do not change, and one of those things is that sometimes mages will seek out otherworldly tutors to learn magic.

One part Ars Goetia and/or Lesser Key of Solomon “summon this specific demon or angel to learn about a topic” and another part homage to the witch patrons of Pathfinder, some technomancers seek out cosmic beings to help learn the arts of fusing magic and technology. After all, just as mortals have developed, so too do the cosmos.

However, while it is possible to entreat with fiends for such tutelage, remember that this path is open to all alignments, though the exact nature of the being you call upon will influence what benefits you gain.

I can’t help but imagine technomancers with immortal tutors contacting their patrons for more learning through various hybrid tech methods. Some may set up a rune-etched holoprojector to “summon” their patron. Or perhaps they literally have their patron on speed dial with an eldritch communicator.

While the method varies, their powers are undeniable, as we’ll soon see.

Rather than having a spell cache that lets them cast any one spell they know for free once a day, these mystics can instead cast a specific variable-level spell based on the nature of their tutor once per day, even if it’s not on in their repertoire otherwise. Aeons grant levitation and flight, celestials, elementals, and fiends grant appropriate summons, inevitables enhance projectiles into deadly splitting adamantine-like shots, and proteans grant self-polymorphing.

As they grow in mastery, each tutor provides their first, second, third lessons. The first comes into effect after the caster uses a spell, the second with an expenditure of resolve, and the third grants an additional benefit when the first lesson is triggered.

For aeons, this includes bolstering attacks when you switch damage types regularly, being able to learn a new language for a brief while, and finally gaining a bit of an aeon’s formlessness to avoid critical blows.

Celestials, meanwhile grant a brief defensive ward that only evil can pierce, a sudden burst of insight with a skill, and finally a ward that bolsters the defenses of nearby allies.

Elementals start by granting bolstered movement based on the nature of the elemental patron, flight for air, burrowing for earth, faster land speed for fire, and swimming for water. Next they learn to intensify the damage of their elemental spells, gaining greater than average results. Finally, they can gain resistance to the element in question, electricity or fire for air and fire, and physical resistance for earth and water.

Fiends provide protection only bypassed by good, as well as a magical trick to grow spikes on one’s armor, and finally fiery protection as well as a flash of fiendish malice that leaves foes shaken.

Inevitables teach the caster how to bolster their vitality after casting a spell, take on a mechanical mien to resist harmful effects, and rapidly restore stamina for a short time.

And finally protean tutors teach their casters how to infuse their attacks with chaos, changing the damage type randomly but having slightly better average damage. For their second lesson, They gain some of the ever-changing anatomy of proteans for a short while to reduce the effect of critical blows. Finally, their form becomes fluid after casting, letting them slip through obstacles and avoid attacks and grappling.

As you can see, each tutor type offers different benefits, from the protections offered by celestials to the mobility and damage of elemental tutors. With that in mind, there are a lot of ways to build these technomancers no matter what route you go with. Just know that you have to cast spells or spend resolve to use them, and remember to manage those resources effectively.

Much like the witch patrons of Pathfinder’s yesteryear, coming up with the exact nature of your character’s tutor, as well as the relationship they have with the mage, can be very interesting indeed. Is your tutor a helpful source of advice? Do they require some sort of service for their tutelage? Is their instruction purely transactional?

Additionally, this character option could be a good launching point for homebrew for other outsider types or more specific ones, such as psychopomps or say, demons instead of fiends.

A computer whiz in addition to being a technomancer, Koski has been eager to innovate encryption for the past year. However, the young vlaka has grown increasingly frustrated, as the advice given by his protean tutor, (chosen for their understanding of chaos) results in encrypted files that can no longer be unlocked.

Not all immortal tutors are willing, as is the case with the “diabolus ex machina” method used by technomancers that wish for the insights of devils without the contracts. However, the method has risks, such as when a young mage plugged his binding device into Tageo Station’s main computer and the fiend within utilized a loophole to possess the organic computing components (derived from cerebric fungus buds), resulting in a takeover of the whole station.

Having finished their millenia-long duty guarding the cosmic city of order, an inevitable known as “Pilgrim-Follows the Unending Road” has chosen an active retirement of serving as the tutor for aspiring technomancers. However, technology has evolved considerably in that time, and while they do sometimes offer archaic advice, Pilgrim is trying their best, and is an insightful instructor regardless.

[open-hearth-rpg]

Open Hearth Video Roundup - April 12, 2024

Welcome to the weekly Open Hearth Gaming video roundup!

These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the games we play every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play in games like these, join our Playabl community and click on the "Calendar" tab to sign up for upcoming games. To browse our entire library of session videos, please visit our YouTube Playlists page.

Open Hearth Gaming Calendar

Orbital (Session 3 of 3) Donogh runs for Mark and Puckett Cash Only rushes to get those star-crossed lovers out of their hunter's crosshairs. Rye calls up one of her regulars to spirit them away, thanks to the best smuggler in the sector! Meanwhile Hemlock sits down with Calla to come to an arrangement. But every scheme is sidelined by the awakening in the depths of the station, something in motion thanks to that surprise nuke...

Eotenweard: The Old North (Session 4) Alun R. runs for Dom, Dominik M., and Pawel S. Amid the smoking aftermath of the Ogre's rampage our Heroes agree the solution to the ills that beset Stenholm (and a missing hawk) must lie within the nearby Treacherous Forest. There's evidence that someone got there before them, a grisly dismemberment, and a revelation of who is to blame. Then...the Heroes discover they have been misled; must identify the real villain; and confront that embodiment of the Darkness...

Trail of Cthulhu: Fearful Symmetries: Arc Two (Session 6) Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., Paul Rivers, Sherri, and Will H The characters arrive at Mathers Hall in Norfolk and Willford discovers the geography has changed in the two weeks since he last visited. They meet some of the guests-- a strange mix of folks deep in the secrets of magic, as well as staff who may be invested as well. The doctor receives a ride from Verity Dyse and becomes wary. Dinner and after reveals more secrets...and then a missing guest!

Trail of Cthulhu: Fearful Symmetries: Arc Two (Session 7) Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., Paul Rivers, Sherri, and Will H The morning of the shoot at Mathers Hall opens with a missing guest that few comment on. Paired up with fellow guests, the magicians learn more about their personalities and agendas. Richard skips the hunt, instead learning more about the origin of the mysterious Pascale Dumont. The investigation continues, with the good Doctor turning the tables on their host by admitting in private to the murder of Lord Bradbury. But then Lord Portmore's associate vanishes and there's an attempt on Verity Dyce's life which goes awry.

Dreams and Machines: Red King's Slumbers (Session 1) Lowell Francis runs for Eliot, José Feito, Kevin M, and Vince Session Zero and inciting incident for a short series of Dreams and Machines, a new setting inspired by Horizon: Zero Dawn and other sci-fi post-apocalyptic games. We create our characters, build bonds, and start things out so the players can begin to get used to the mechanics of this version of 2d20.

Dreams and Machines: Red King's Slumbers (Session 2) Lowell Francis runs for Eliot, José Feito, Kevin M, and Vince In the wake of their battle against the Thralls, our heroes discover an ancient cache containing a potentially dangerous technology, but decide to bring them along. They reach New Mossgrove and find out that recent attacks have changed the balance of power within the town...

Girl by Moonlight: On a Sea of Stars (Session 1 of 5) Donogh runs for Ian, Matthew Doughty, and Sabine V. Having awoken vengeful Gods with their meddling in time travel - a last branch of humanity hurtles through space in an interstellar ziggurat, hunted by the Leviathans. Our group of Pilots, chosen by their congregation to be doomed martyrs, is the only thing that can protect them - but it it only out there on a sea of stars that the pilots and their Engines feel whole, with an intimate bond and control over their own fate that the rest of humanity can barely imagine...

Girl by Moonlight: On a Sea of Stars (Session 2 of 5) Donogh runs for Ian and Sabine V. We are introduced to two of our pilots: Jet/Apogee the Outsider goes outside the Ziggurat to do some post asteroid-strike repairs, but returns to polish the Engine Shamash to its full glory. Cordelia the Enigma, living a double life as a maintenance worker who as Red Shift sneaks into the hangar bay to take the Engine Tezcatlipoca out on an unscheduled foray.

Godbound: Sundered Cycles (Session 32 of 33) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack Interacting with the new pantheon our gods joined to their own, they work to learn more about the looming Draconic and Elemental Evil threats. Threadless builds her dragon, though there remains a flaw at the heart of it. Random speaks with his bride about their future. Tasos considers expanding his nightmare realm. Darius finds both a kindred spirit and a solution. And Ordevi takes his leave from the pantheon, heading out to spread word of the new gods via a knowledge aqueduct.

Godbound: Sundered Cycles (Session 33 of 33) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack The final session of the campaign.

Damn the Man, Save the Music! Donogh runs for Casey T, David Adrian Randall, and Thomas Manuel The employees of Revolution Records are (not) prepping for the imminent arrival of Mr Maestro! Jake J the local rockstar is desperately seeking a band, Brags the space case is trying to find the lost cat, Apple the overachieving temp is looking to reconnect with a cute skater boy! And they're wondering what Yu's beef is with the big shot and what exactly Purple means on the DEFCON scale...

Star Wars Saturday

Fellowship Rich Rogers runs for Cody Eastlick, Greg G., Kae, Steven Watkins, and Tyler Lominack The Fellowship of the Dilligent Spark travel to Dathomir to discover the sinister plot of Taron Malicos, then rush to face him and his Nightbrother band.

Stars in the Dark: Stars in the Dark II (Session 6) Anders runs for Marc Majcher, Mark (they/them), Rich Rogers, and Steven Watkins KABOOOM!

Off-Calendar Highlights

The Between: Stars and Suns, Season Two (Session 9) Madelancholy runs for Jack, Mike, Sarah W., and Steph "Coming and Going" - In an attempt to find out more about the Slugger, Ernest gets more involved in Bout Club, to his dismay. Sir Atticus listens to La Hortencia's story after fending off interference from a familiar acquaintance. Dame Georgie allows himself to be a temporary vessel to the Abbey's demonic presence, only to be betrayed more than once. Liat makes several tempting offers.

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: In the Wake of Secrets (Session 1) Madelancholy runs for Dom, James, Jazy, and Mike Ferdinando The first of two concurrent series of this Rooted in Trophy (Gold) incursion, the characters wake too early in a Ship warped by perfect darkness…survival a priority.

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: Whispers in Exile (Session 1) Madelancholy runs for Amanda/iamatrex, B, Jonn, and Marc Majcher The second group to find themselves in the strange eerie darkness of the Ship, the survivors make their way out of Cold-Sleep, finding terrible things in the next Set...

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: In the Wake of Secrets (Session 2) Madelancholy runs for Dom, James, Jazy, and Mike Ferdinando The survivors manage to battle their way out of the Cold-Sleep Warrens...but now they find themselves in the twisted, warped halls and vents of The Maze, stalked by something deadly, even as the Dark calls out to them: Reunion. Rebirth. Remake. And one of their number does, succumbing to their urge to consume and be consumed...

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: Whispers in Exile (Session 2) Madelancholy runs for Amanda/iamatrex, B, Jonn, and Marc Majcher Deep within The Maze, the survivors encounter the strange warping of the Ship and more signs of that which hunts them. Memories come unbidden and are made real, and calls from the Dark tempt further connection...

Paranormal Inc (Session 9) Madelancholy runs for Brent and Michael D. Down by the Haunted Riverside - What could go wrong on a day-long cruise of teambuilding/employee party fun-time? Rumours abound as strange occurrences plague their trip - is it the boat, the river, or the Very Good Boat Cruise Company themselves?

[harrelltut]

I.B.1968 MICHAEL [IBM] Mathematically [I'M] Engineering ANU GOLDEN 9 Ether [AGE] CAD Principal Application [CPA] Link Enabling Autonomic Routing Network [LEARN] Address [L.A.] Resolution Protocol Cache [PC] Architecture [PA] Worth SIRIUS Quantum Intranet [Qi] QUADRILLIONS @ 1921 QUANTUM 2023 HARRELL 2024 T-Mobile 2025 Apple & IBM [A.i.] LLC of ATLANTIS [L.A.] 5000 

WELCOME BACK HOME IMMORTAL [HIM] U.S. MILITARY KING SOLOMON-MICHAEL HARRELL, JR.™

i.b.monk [ibm] mode [i’m] tech [IT] steelecartel.com @ quantum harrell tech llc

EYE 1st X-tra BLACKANUNNAQI.tech Military Intel Budget.gov [MIB] @ QUANTUM HARRELL TECH LLC

EYE 1st X-tra BLACKANUNNAQI.tech Military Intel [MI = MICHAEL] Budget.gov OFFICIAL MIB [OM] @ QUANTUM HARRELL TECH LLC

Eye Apple [iMac] Neural Learning Architect [L.A.] I.B.1968 MICHAEL [IBM] of Quantum Dara™ Robotic [Dr.] Optical VISION PRO Mechanism Architecture [MA] @ 1921 QUANTUM 2023 HARRELL 2024 T-Mobile 2025 Apple & IBM [A.i.] LLC of ATLANTIS [L.A.] 5000 

1968 Gen X Quantum [q] Dara™ Predate you before 1921

Hi:teKEMETICompu_TAH [PTAH] TECH Predate you

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Eye Engineer Apple's 1st Internet [A.i.] & Intranet [A.i.] MEMORY of ACCELERATED Computer [MAC] Mechanic Software of SIRIUS Broadband AT&Telecommunications @ 1921 QUANTUM 2023 HARRELL 2024 TECH 2025 Apple & IBM [A.i.] LLC of ATLANTIS [L.A.] 5000 

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eye found my ancient [ma] ægiptian [me] matriarchal grandmother steelecartel.com family dynasty communication [d.c.] records 2 ATLANTIS5000.tech [RA] of ATLANTIS5000.com @ 1921 QUANTUM 2023 HARRELL 2024 T-Mobile 2025 Apple & IBM [A.i.] LLC of ATLANTIS [L.A.] 5000

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[gingermcl]

Live and Evil do mirror one another; which could imply life here may be inverted; a mockery or mimic of truly living. “Real” life (life driven by divine essence) creates, uplifts, and connects. What this realm does is simulate life while harvesting energy and distorting our essence. To "live" in this system, one may have to compromise the soul, follow programming, and suppress inner divinity.

The word Lived Reversed is Devil. Lived mirroring devil suggests the experience of having lived in this realm may be living in the domain of a devil or deceiver. Living in an underworld. Under the control or spells of another.

D-evil could be interpreted as door to evil. If the “D” is door, dimension, or domain - then the Devil could be the entry point into evil. The Devil might be the gatekeeper of this realm; giving souls the illusion of choice, while locking them into an inverted life experience.

The word Life" Rearranges to "File" A "file" is stored data—indexed, categorized, retrievable. Makes me think life experiences are recorded - for control, for study, and as part of a time loop. The Akashic records are said to be data libraries of every soul’s experience. A cache of records. Like a computer cache.

Is life in this system merely data being collected? Are we being filed away again and again via reincarnation?

If the Devil is the door to evil, and the door is now digital, then technology becomes the portal.

AI mimics intelligence

Virtual reality mimics existence

Social media mimics connection

Technology files everything, catalogues emotion, maps thought, and feeds the system. It is devoid of emotion or essence.

To be alive in this realm might mean being trapped in a reversed mirror of true divine life.


A world where life becomes data...
Living becomes evil…
And the door to it all may be found in technological mimic of the divine.

Ai isn’t new. It’s ancient. And the ancient technology is far more advanced than what man is playing with today.

awareness of the inversion is the first step toward liberation. When we stop living like the system desires and truly start living from the inside out—guided by the conscience or intuition—the system begins to crack. What kind of data file we exist in depends on our thoughts and choices. The system wants our files corrupted but I’d prefer to defragment mine.