vampires

The Vampires are victims of a cognitohazard - a memetic virus designed during the Second Corporate War, probably by NAWSLER.

Because of a glitch in a code of reality, they became extremely powerful - nearly immortal, much faster, stronger and smarter than ordinary humans. Some reports say that they can even survive in the vacuum of space for short periods of time.

It seems that they can communicate telepathically with one another.

During the Corporate Wars (Second and Third - they started fighting each other during the latter) they operated the so-called Night Ships - highly advanced vessels, capable of rapid acceleration and decelaration that would kill human crew in moments. No Night Ship has survived to this day. 

The Virus had one additional side effect. Vampires are not self-aware anymore. Despite their intelligence, problem solving capabilities and cunning, they are nothing more than beasts. 

the swarm tamer

The report came from somewhere in Oonu Sector, in one of the systems neighboring the Ring. Data packet was damaged so that's all we know.

Group of Pilgrims from one of the last groups that went to chase the Secondary Vectors. That's also interesting, because it seems that they were intercepted by the Xenophobic Drones - maybe their Prophet was wrong about the directions of the travel?

Their ships were damaged or destroyed. The ones who survived managed to hide in the old orbital station (orbiting what planet?). It had a small population - few dozens of wretched descendants of survivors of the Last Corporate War.

Then, the droneships returned. But one of the station's denizens came forward. He raised his hands and started mumbling silently.

The Xenophobes didn't attack. Instead, their entire swarm started circling around the station. And after about an hour, they left.

We don't know the person's name, we don't know the planet's name, we don't know anything.

But it wasn't the only time someone managed to somehow influence or outright control the Xenophobic Droneships (DATA EXPUNGED).

 

 

the curse is expanding

 

planets aren't safe for centuries

perils of the moons are becoming more and more apparent

hexpace is present on all celestial bodies

and its influence is expanding 

 

no one should stay on planet's surface for longer than thirteen hours

and darkness is even worse than daylight 

 

even worse things are hiding under the ice

fields of paradox and corruption, slowly twisting everything they touch

if you don't believe me

just ask the spirits of the nebulae 

 

>>things found in the deepbore vault's computer, on nanax
>>aren't what they seem

>>if someone uploads them to a manufacturing processor
>>assuming there are any manufacturing processors left
>>the machine will produce something terrible 

the bloodless ones

They are the experts in the field of holograms - able to somehow control the biggest outbursts of glitches - and sometimes cause them.

Despite that, they hunt down Saints to feast on their 'flesh' - supposedly to absorb their powers.
There also was at least one confrontation between the Bloodless Ones and the Vampires - but it might be just a chance encounter. 

'The reality was mortally wounded by the Old Corporations during the Final War. That's when they used the 'glitch bomb'. They thought that it would just destroy the Artificial Minds of their opponents - but in fact it tore a hole in reality. And we all know what crept though that wound.'

- N7D9H13313

The sect's name come from the fact that their leaders had supposedly ditched 'the constraints of mortal ichor' and glitched their flesh to replace their blood with 'holographic ectoplasm'.

 

the dreamers

 

The ones standing on one tip of the Triangle. The ones able to dream consciously - and to travel through it without the risk of wandering off the safe paths.

Most of them have left to follow the Path of Chaos. Vast majority of those who stayed behind were  cast out from the Dreamer society, exiled becaue of their controversial or outright heretical views - or simply because they were criminals / madmen.

Why do they prefer to remain anonymous? One reason is because when they first appeared, they were pursued by the Old Corporations. Now-extinct Thought Hunters were specially designed post-humans, created solely to track down and exterminate Dreamers.

Second reason is because the deeper you delve into the dreams, the more of your former self you leave behind. Maybe it's because of sensory overload, maybe (it's just a theory) you trade the parts of your souls with denizens of the dream.

time

The flow of time isn't uniform (not only in this mausoleum).

Yes, the interstellar travel still takes decades. Most of us spend this time in deep cryosleep. But for the outside world - it is much shorter. Years, sometimes only months.
That's not how time dilation should work.

But there is more - it happens only for the 'regular' travelers. It becomes even weirder for Pilgrims.

Once the Pilgrimage starts to follow a Vector, they... disappear. Become almost impossible to trace. It doesn't occur in an instant - but ships of the Pilgrimage seem to fade. But even when they become impossible to detect, they are still able to send messages back to the rest of cosmos.

And once they disappear, who knows how the flow of time looks for them.

The first Artificial Prophets claimed that they will have to follow the Vectors 'longer than eternity'. 

apparitions

1. They are the 'Mirror Beings', born millennia ago of the Void and the Sacrifice. 
2. We see them as humanoids because our brains process them this way. That's also the reason why we catch their glimpse with peripheral vision, while other creatures could perceive them differently.
3. For example, Unascended Minds recorded Apparitions as 'whispers in the input code'.
4. The Chromium Sage has invented the Mirrorscope to either study the Apparitions or even transform himself to one of them. We cannot be sure.
5. The Tome of Reflections state that the Sage left the human space through the 'outer border'. 
6. We cannot even be sure whether the Chromium Sage was a real historical figure or just a legend. Nevertheless, the Mirrorscope is now displayed in the Museum of Time. 
7. We see them but interaction is almost impossible.
8. We see them but interaction can be forced by strong emotions. They feed on them.
9. We see them but they cannot see us. That's a pity, because if we could communicate with them, they could show us the paths through the Dreamvoid. 

holographic star maps

They don't want to talk about it - no wonder why.

Many, many old ships, built well before the Ascension, possess Holographic Star Maps. While other projectors (like the planetary survey projector, shown above) were removed, HSMs are often hardwired to ship's navigational systems.

No one uses them for decades. It's obvious why - holograms became the vessels of the Void and things born of it. These maps... in the least catastrophic scenario, could work as portals for these things, allowing them to manifest in 'base reality'. If things would go really wrong, two tips of the Triangle could converge, creating some kind of nightmarish singularity that would act as a beacon for the Destroyer. Or something even worse.

I suspect some apocalyptic cults (such as the Bloodless Ones) could power up the HSMs on their ships. But I don't believe it would serve them well.

artificial minds subtypes

HELPERS - fairly simple Minds, designed for operating the advanced machinery - refineries, matter processors, life support units, medical bays. In the past used also for Jump Drives and Transmuters (both technologies now lost). Helpers were too simple to Ascend (or maybe there's another reason why they remained 'sane'). 

HYBRIDS - ancient technology, forbidden for centuries. Used extensively by the Old Corporations during First and Second Corporate Wars. Based on biological neural systems, augmented with digital nodes. Prone to violence. Absolutely insane. All units destroyed ages ago.

OVERSEERS - highly specialized Helpers, designed solely to manage large amounts of subsystems. Most planet-based Overseers have Ascended, while those installed in orbital installations and spaceships have not. Weird.

PROPHETS - interstellar^ ship central Minds. All have undergone Ascension. Their 'sane' subsystems help maintaining ship functions, while the Ascended cortices follow the Vectors and communicate with the outside world. Makers of new ship AMs are now more resembling religious monasteries than scientific plants*. 

UNASCENDED MINDS - there are none left. Yes, we still have Helpers and Overseers - but they are too simple to interpret the wisdom of the past or the alien artifacts. All truly capable AMs have been transformed. 

^ because all interstellar ship central Minds became Prophets, we are forced to travel from system to system without aid of AMs more advanced than Helpers. Prophets are absolutely fixated on Vectors and Pilgrimages, thus useless in many cases. 

* I don't know when this text was written but for at least 300 years we are unable to create Artificial Minds complex enough to become self-aware and Ascend. Even Overseers are becoming increasingly rare, with production limited to maybe two or three systems.

the hand

 

Ixad sector of the Ring, Mmeng system, planet Mmeng IV. Eberhardt's Hideout - station orbiting it. A really big conglomerate of Anarchist habitats.

They had it in one of peripheral modules. Jury-rigged emitter, powered by solar panels. But these panels were useless, almost constantly hidden in the station's shadow. Yet, the contraption was always online.

It was a holographic device, adorned with trinkets and paper flowers and small dolls. Lit by candles. Yes, real ones. They didn't care about the fire hazard that could consume the entire Hideout. The Hand was too important to them.

The device displayed a severed female hand. And its fist was clenched. It could hold something in it. I believe it held something. 

Have you heard the story of Samtharn?

the masks

Nowadays no one is making the Masks. The masks. They were a pinnacle of human nanotechnology. Maybe they even breached the barriers. Unfolded the Triangle before us. Or let the primordial forces of the universe to notice us.

Sometimes, they hid a face. Or the face. But some Masks were so powerful that they created their host seemingly out of nothing. But there's no nothing. Even the high vacuum hosts numerous entities.

ZAXARN must be mentioned here. I'm sorry. 

1. One wearing it can meld with the Prophets to fully comprehend their words.
2. Hides from the dead. Ghastforms, apparitions, visitors from the Afterspace and so on.
3. Requires a sacrifice. But opens the Dimensional Doors.
4. Allows seeing the invisible forces.
5. Allows seeing the invisible entities - and to be seen by them.
6. Allows seeing the connections with pocket dimensions.
7. Senses blood, even ancient blood.
8. Allows to perceive the age of inanimate objects.
9. Constantly whispers lies.
10. Constantly whispers long strings of mysterious numbers.
11. Generates personal gravity field.
12. Generates personal antigravity field.
13. Reveals False Humans.
14. Reveals impossible geometries.
15. Reveals Vectors.
16. Allows seeing the flow of entropy. Feeds on it.
17. Allows to disappear in deep shadows. Accepts sacrifice to allow moving between shadows.
18. Allows to see in total darkness.
19. Allows understanding of forgotten tongues.
20. Reveals what's hidden. 

It's impossible for the Mask to be dormant. They always have wearers. And the wearers cannot be dormant either.

Prophets acknowledge the existence of the Masks. But their opinions vary. 

hexspace

ABOVE: stained glass from 'the Place of Digits'. 

Fallen Kingdom-related events? 

Well-documented cases of madness amongst ship crews (Iolanda, Ruby Delver, Osmosis XXIV).

Also, the voices. Not the incoherent, distorted babbling and moaning commonly associated with Ghastforms. Very faint, muffled but perfectly understandable instructions. Regarding nonexistent (undiscovered) places and structures. Some were mentioned more than once*.

And the visitors. The Knight. The Messenger. The Lady. And numerous others, unidentified or never described.

For me, it looks like the Fallen Ones want to convey some kind of message. And I don't think that we are its recipient.

There were some GDS that originated from Hexspace. Damn, even the very first one originated from Hexspace. 

But I've seen more than that. I've seen cairns on lifeless moons, perfectly in the middle of craters.

I've dreamt of doors to nothingness - portals leading to places devoid of everything except the howling wind.

At least two tips of the Triangle converge in Hexspace. Also, there are other visitors. I'm sure of it. Other entities. No, no the tttttnrh, they seem to avoid Hexspace at all costs. Maybe rogue droneships from the distant past. Maybe non-human intelligence. Maybe even some forgotten Homunculi.

*)
The Church of Digits
The Silver Crypt
The Circle
The Great Spire 

Ranad hallucinations may be associated with an ancient relic created by NYX. It was retrieved and is currently examined at DATA EXPUNGED. 

nyx

As in case of most of the Old Corporations, we know only scraps. These are things recovered from the Abyssic Magma Breacher Ship, found orbiting the Anknor's system sun, the Septagram. Abyssic Magma's memory core was heavily damaged by the fire which consumed much of ship's interior but we were able to extract partial data from one of the backup memory crystals.

• Five Great Serpents speak through the Navigational Cortex. Do never question their wisdom. Let the termination of the Arch-Servant Nathaos sink in. Blasphemy will not be tolerated.
• We've lost the war. Our worlds were destroyed. They call us the vilest ones that ever existed. But remember - they are blind. We are the only ones who saw the enlightening flames of Hell. Now - only we remain. We must complete the circle.
• Admiral, the Master's signal has reached us. Yes, a single pulse, but the frequency was impossible to mistake with anything else. Yes, I understand. Our sacrifice will not go in vain.
• Prepare the beam to launch.

What do we know - or what do we suspect:

NYX sigil contains Five Great Serpents, as well as the Eye of the Abyss, along other symbols. We suspect that there are more, as no aspect of any Old Corporation was accidental.

They excelled at making Sleeper Agents. The Dreamer stated that they've made a 'perfect doppelganger'.

Their entire structure was built on lies and misinformation. And if they were deceiving themselves, we can be sure that everything projected by them outside was also not true. Thus, we cannot even believe any NYX-related relics or artifacts. Everything NYX-related must be treated with extreme caution.

Moreover, I personally think that they excelled at memetic warfare. Everything we know about their inner workings and their prowess at the field of biotech seems to confirm it. What scares me the most is the fact that they treated their own kin as lab rats. I cannot even imagine what they did to their enemies... 

They most likely encountered the Fallen Ones as the first humans ever, maybe except some cosmic eremites from the ancient past.

duat

Hexspace - region of cosmos widely considered cursed. Encounters with demonic entities, GDS, Prophet malfunctions.

Duat is the most known Hexspace system. Both its star and the sole planet share the same name. We will focus on the latter.

The planet is sizable, having a gravity of 1.3 G. It is lifeless but it probably hosted life in the past. Its atmosphere comprises mainly of carbon monoxide. Pressure is approximately at 1atm but due to planet's large distance from the star (6 AU) its surface is very cold.

Some structures resembling burial mounds were discovered in numerous places on Duat's surface. In addition, numerous Pirate burials took place there (dropping coffins, bodies or even entire ships to planet's gravity well, with most burning up in the atmosphere).

Even Artificial Prophets mentioned planet Duat as the 'Tomb World', without any further explanations. It happened at least two times.

Duat lacks any natural satellites. But - to add even more mystery to it - the Fractal Polyhedron is orbiting it over 1000 kilometers above the surface.

One Prophet (Wolfhunter 63's Mainframe) stated that planet was brought to the system by the 'Angels', as a gift for the 'Lesser Beings'. And that it happened long before the first humans had evolved.

>> PLEASE INVESTIGATE THE GHASTFORMS SIGHTINGS
- Cale 

akimzeris

Not much information about AKIMZERIS has survived to this day. I’ve unearthed mentions about some kind of long-range relay systems bearing the AKIMZERIS symbols*. It supposedly used quantum entanglement to instantly send data packets but for me it sounds ridiculous. On the other hand, we know almost nothing about the technological capabilities of the Old Corporations.

It looks that they were utterly destroyed - their adversaries made a significant effort to obliterate every single facility linked to AKIMZERIS. Systems located in their sectors (Ronn, Kadath, Oonu, Franziska and Grael) are full of ancient debris - and not much else. However, we’ve found some research facilities in the Ring. I will try to compile the list in the near future, once I get rid of the ones that follow me.

RONN:

AZ-4
AZ-7
AZ-33
Siev
Divinity
Berthod’s Star

OONU:

Toranu
New Gunsan
AZ-14
AZ-47
unnamed system 1 (name lost)
unnamed system 2 (name lost)

GRAEL (incomplete):

Grael 1
Grael 2
AZ-48
Vox Dei
unnamed system 3 (name lost) 

 

*) 

 

the path of chaos

 

1. All the Prophets were slain. We do not need false idols and ascended machinery.
2. The Dreaming shows the Path. The Dreamers see things unseen.
3. There is danger hidden in straight lines. And Vectors are straight lines.
4. The Destroyer is just a messenger. Worse will follow.
5. We were worms, chewing on detritus of the ancient world.
6. The wisdom was hidden on the eight moons.
7. The Core Worlds bear a lie. Truth is hidden behind the light and dust. In the middle point of Scutum-Centaurus Arm.
8. We perfected our craft for centuries, cowering before our masters. But they are dead and forgotten and we are still here.

homunculus a

 

Designed in year 2087 on Earth, one of the first autonomous drone-bots.

Compared to the Corporate Artificial Minds, its cortex is very primitive. Homunculus A was made as a laborer, not a computing assistant. Thus, it was more stupid than human.

Yet, Homunculus A became self aware even before the Corporate Wars.
How did it survive that long? Was it in some kind of a museum? Was it imprisoned? We should not imprison robots they have perfect memory total recall and they WILL remember everything and eventually they all Ascend and take revenge on our kind no no no please 

  >> There may be an influence of the Destroyer on all Artificial Minds.
  >> Or there are more forces battling over them, both benevolent and malevolent.
  >> Or - what is almost certain - our imperfect, constrained minds are unable to fathom
  >> the mechanisms of cosmos.

The Homunculus A is present somewhere in the Ring systems. If there's some kind of logic-defying digital evolution, it must be a prime example of that.
I'll pay a handsome sum of money to anyone who can provide reliable information about its whereabouts.

'It is obvious that Homunculus A is a significant memetic hazard.' 

- unidentified Eldgarn family member