Tag: aerian

#Lore 24 – Entry #102 – Sci-Fi Month II #11 – Security Systems Analysis 02 – The Unpredictable Factors of the Fleshy Sentients Within the Hull of the Great Ship that Explores the Deep Space of the Region of Demonic Beings

 

From Personal Logs of Gadri “Burnout” Quickbyte, Cybersecurity Specialist / Security Systems Analyst, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana, decryption algorithm successful, translated from original Gnomish script.

Translation Note:  Possible issue with either the translation or decryption algorithm relating to Gnomish script; subtitle of this entry is accurate but manual translation yields something more sensible: “Suspicious Persons Aboard the Maharani Morgiana“.  Further translation of this entry has been reviewed manually and properly translated to Common in proper fashion for readability; original version is attached for further review in case I missed something, though it is at least fifteen times the length.

Continuing the requested analysis of the Morgiana’s security systems, as I continue the deep dive into the system architecture, some further concerns have come to light during the review of personnel aboard the ship.  Below are people of interest who my algorithms have determined to have red flags on their records which could indicate possible security concerns.  Please review and act accordingly.  Not organized in any particular order, judge each risk as you will. 

Sorisana Kelvaris – Female Elf, Starfigher Pilot assigned to 1st Squadron – Signs of tampering with her personnel records, possibly significant alterations or pure fabrication.  Exceptionally well-done manipulation, done by an exceptional talent; doubt many would have caught the discrepancies on this one.  Cannot verify authenticity, however, as communication between here and the other side of the Barrier is currently unavailable due to Barrier radiation fluctuations.  If fabricated, could indicate a sleeper-agent level false identity.

Szoreth Delyl – Male Dark Elf, Under-Warden, prisoner work division – Another long-time prison employee, his records have a sealed section, from the company, following a period of military action approximately two-hundred-fifty years ago, lasting for another eighty years before he began working at the prisons.  May indicate nothing aside from state/corporate secrets that need to be maintained, could mean some clandestine operations that have further reaching consequences, could mean nothing. 

Brawnik’ush’Fangren AKA “Devil Dog” – Male Feradogian, assigned to scouting and recon division, ground operations.  Records are spotty, typical of the Ferians due to constant periods of warfare between their peoples.  Has tattoos and ritual scarring that indicates involvement with guerrilla factions on Feria known to value brutality of the old ways.  Outwardly easy going and personable based on other crew interactions, seems to be developing relationship with kerryn arcanist Kiara Mizutani, but loyalties cannot be easily determined, nature is somewhat chaotic and suited to being a loner. 

Provissh Longtail – Female Kobold, Technician, assigned to Engineering section.  Has served on over two-dozen ships in her time.  No direct evidence of misconduct on her part, but each ship suffered severe mechanical failure during her time aboard.  Could be coincidence, unlikely.  May be blessed with bad luck, possible actual jinx.  Technical abilities are solid, supposedly. 

Chiasa Charity Chiasakaniki – Female Kitsune, IT Specialist, assigned to IT Department.  Excellent coder, has talents that meld her natural magical abilities with her technological talents.  Known hacker, exceptionally curious, very likely she will be attempting to access backdoors and give herself heightened access to the Morgiana’s computer systems.  No indications of intentional harm, but possible she could be manipulated into threatening actions. 

Kourtney Bradigan – Female Human, Priestess of Erisaya.  Native of PLANET, has known ties to political factions there, and has confirmed involvement in violent revolution there.  Has a tendency to manipulate people with her charms and stoke fiery passions.  Unconfirmed ties to both the weapon-smuggling organization known as the Church of Violence and the militant historic society, the Seekers of Hidden Truths; would fit her personality and record. 

Donerail Wintergreen – Male Equinarian, Inmate, Prison Work Division.  Mercenary by trade, wound up on the bad side of an attempted coup on Odrade III.  Took down a lot of combatants but was captured when he decided to save some children caught in the messy evacuation.  Has been bouncing around the prison system since.  Could be useful, could be dangerous; was listed as non-violent, but has been confirmed as a combatant in unsanctioned prison fights.  May have unknown triggers that get him riled up.  Psych profile is outdated, so cannot verify.  Assigned to Under-Warden Delyl’s heavy construction unit.

Gragnesh Cracktusk – Male Orc, Inmate, Prison Work Division.  Also assigned to Under-Warden Delyl’s heavy construction unit.  Another mercenary, involved in space-based operations, trained as a ship’s gunner and for hostile boarding actions, possible links to pirate groups during time as a mercenary.  Has been a model prisoner on paper since incarceration, but also known to take part in the prison fights when he’s not been working the porno shoots.  Will dig into other prisoners assigned to that detail; may have some kind of secret combat unit here, or some very serious muscle loyal to Delyl.  Does Delyl have plans on something?  Recommend observation and a look at the gap in his records that was mentioned previously.

Vyrlesska “V.V.” Verlucia – Female Succubus, Entertainer and Procurement Specialist.  Runs one of the cantinas aboard the Morgiana, sings and dances there as well.  Known to be quite capable of obtaining often-illegal goods for her clients.  Could be useful to have someone like this aboard, certainly, but she’s a free spirt, and may not be too discerning about what items she’s procuring.  Likely has many contacts in many areas, again, useful, but she appears to be out to make a profit for herself first and foremost.

#Lore 24 – Entry #101 – Sci-Fi Month II #10 – Incarcerated Workforce (Aboard Ship)

 

From Personal Logs of Gravius Scharaiden, Chief Security Officer, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana, decryption algorithm successful, translated from original Aerian script.

 

Whoever approved this idea is an idiot.  Complete moron.  Must have come from that dark elf in charge at RestranTech who stopped by with the Veylani girl the other day. 

Or is this some terrible decision from the ASC?  Some corpo with a bleeding heart?

Doesn’t matter who is responsible in the end.  I’m the one who will have to deal with the problems it’ll cause down the line.  Having prisoners working the loading docks at Aphelion Station is one thing but incorporating them into the Morgiana’s crew long-term is something else entirely.  I don’t care if they’re wearing that SealTech shit 24/7; all it takes is one fuck up and all hell is going to break loose.  If there’s an uprising against the command structure, I’d put money on these lifers being involved with it. 

Oddly, the RestrainTech rep in charge is a female dark elf, Vyrmeth Rashryth.  Thought they only let their men be in charge?  Maybe she’s a problem case and they wanted to get rid of her?  Former security guard at one of their max-sec prisons, now granted the title of “Expeditionary Over-Warden” upon getting the assignment, mostly clean record, no major infractions, just a few write-ups for cruel treatment of prisoners.  Cruel treatment?  The hell does that mean?  Thought those rubber suits were bad enough, not to mention the personal prison cubes they use, or their porno work-release bullshit.  What constitutes cruel treatment in a dark elf prison?  Can respect the need for order and discipline, sure, but she’s an elf, and tied to a very shady corp; will have to dig deeper, find out more about this operation they’re running.  She’s got a dozen Under-Wardens with her, plus a support team for the SealTech systems; whole damn thing is already integrated into the ship’s security systems, so anyone with access can track the prisoners at any time. 

Handy that, screams backdoor access, though; need to look long and hard at that.  Will assign Burnout to it; he’s good at the computer thing, worked with him long enough to trust him as much as I can a non-Aerian.  Will make it sound spicy, get that gnomish mind of his turning; he’ll root out any security issues.  Have a meeting with Rashryth scheduled for tomorrow; going to push for full access to the SealTech control systems and a full demonstration of their security procedures.  Big ask, see what she’s willing to give up.  Going to be friction between us, I’m sure. 

Have some concerns with the prisoners themselves, too.  No psycho killers or rapists or others that should’ve been executed, but some have violent incidents on their records, armed robbery or assault and the like, a minority, but still red flags to me.  Few ex-soldiers turned mercs who took up the wrong job and wound up on the losing side.  Most are white collar types, a lot of those are cybercriminals and technician types, but some records seem off to me.  Assuming these are a lot of political prisoners, or corpo types who got the shitty retirement package.  People who the system wants disappeared.  Supposedly they’re all volunteers, but if your only other choice is a four-by-four cube and being a cog in the porno industry, who wouldn’t take the chance for something else?

Prisoners should be isolated as much as possible and are isolated to “prison” blocks on their downtime, but they aren’t otherwise restricted from interacting with other crewmembers while on duty.  Multiple reports of casual conversations going on already, some getting too close to the prisoners for my liking.  They won’t try anything before we set out, but how long until something sparks up?  Going to have to discuss this with the Captain directly. 

#Lore 24 – Entry #98 – Sci-Fi Month II #7 – Potential Threats (Aboard Ship)

 

From Personal Logs of Gravius Scharaiden, Chief Security Officer, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana, decryption algorithm successful, translated from original Aerian script.

Clusterfuck doesn’t even begin to describe this stupidity.  I would prefer a clusterfuck to this any day.

Captain Silvercask has expressed his concerns to me about the personnel assignments aboard the ship.  I share these concerns.  He has tasked me with analyzing the personnel assigned and requested a report on possible security issues.  Guessing this will take a few hundred pages.  Copy of important details follow.

Report Summary, Highest Threats:

  • The Elves – Personal biases against elves aside, elves should always be considered suspect and treated with sufficient caution. Too many worked under DSM previously, many more are associated with the Great Houses in some way.  Always scheming, always plotting, always running long games to twist things to suit their whims.  Can’t trust any of them.  Reports of malfunctions and sabotage have come from previous UEF missions.  No proof, but makes sense that DSM wouldn’t take being left out of the ruling council lightly.  Always suspect elvish involvement.  See Section 2 for information on suspicious individuals.
  • Corporate Entanglements – The idea that multiple corporations could function together successfully was ludicrous. They like to spout cooperation and equality for the media, but each of them are vying for a bigger piece of the pie than the others.  Dozens if not hundreds of corporations of every size and type, too many possible dangers.
    1. Veylani Transport is in charge of the ASC; somehow that girl has managed to keep the top spot and pulled several other big names around her to keep her there. She’s romantically involved with a dark elf though, Fenrou Varmyrl, big name in their for-profit prisons, suspected he’s much more than that, though.  Likely she’s compromised, though partnership with the prison corp kept DSM away during hostile takeover attempt.
    2. A3 wants resources, and they want their people securing them. Dwarves are greedy, they’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they get first rights to mine whatever we come across.  Trust them to prioritize these resources over any other concerns, though it’s likely they’ll sacrifice others before any of the dwarves onboard; at least they still value loyalty to their own kind.  Hopefully they’ll start with the elves when it comes to sacrifices, at least.
    3. ASC – The Aphelion Station Council has become unstable. Lots of arguing since it expanded from the Big Three it was initially founded with.  Basically your typical nightmare bureaucracy now, composed of over a hundred entities.  Expect conflicting orders from the top.  They will test loyalties, try to extort compliance in some way or another.  Agree with shifting personnel around; some will need to be watched more closely.
  • Racial Tensions – Expect frequent arguments at least, violence more likely. Elves don’t get along with anyone, can barely stand each other.  Dwarves, orcs, and kobolds have long-running hatred that hasn’t died yet.  Kerryn, equinarians, and halflings are hard to provoke, but tend to band together against threats.  Ferians are loose cannons, likely to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation; watch the male ‘dogians and female ‘katians especially.  Aerians and orcs get along better than some, don’t expect two warrior societies to get along all the time, though.  Rattenvolk keep mostly to themselves and the bowels of the ship, so if sabotage is going to happen, they’re likely the ones to do the dirty work.  Gnomes are wildcards, can’t predict them.  Succubi will entangle themselves with whoever gives them the best offer, then try to manipulate others to their side. 
  • Religious Conflict – There is a reason aerians usually don’t have faith in the gods. They’re like anyone else, always squabbling, pushing conflicting beliefs.  Those serving the whore goddesses will cause trouble just by their nature, stoking passions and twisting people one way or another.  The Mausolians will seek death at any opportunity, wouldn’t trust their recommendations on most things; expect any sudden deaths and assassinations to be their fault.  Expect the orcs following their war god to want a fight whenever possible, even if peaceful solutions would be best; can’t really fault them there, always prefer a fight myself.  Wouldn’t even trust the followers of the librarian goddess not to cause problems, either; probably some militant ones there who will start trouble if they smell a secret to uncover. If any followers of Saressh happen to have a prophetic vision, though, might actually pay attention to that.  Studied history enough to know that goddess at least has an above average success rate on her predictions, so I guess maybe she’s not entirely useless.
  • Untested Tech – This ship’s an accident waiting to happen. Pushed it through trials too fast, too many hands have touched it during the refit.  Last shakedown had some issues that were supposedly being fixed, but don’t count on it.  That docking frame on the hull, that’s just asking for trouble; one ship goes up, and the rest of them are not far behind.  Don’t like the idea of those robot drones being onboard, either; haven’t been tested enough, still likely to suddenly develop a killing impulse like previous robotics; keep the AI on a short leash, or dump them into deep space the first chance we get. 
  • ASD – Can usually trust an arcanist more than a priest, not that that says much, but the Arcane Support Division is as big a mess as anything else. Too many ties to too many corporations, too many old loyalties, too many abrasive personalities.  Division lead, Tallfoot, she’s unstable; not sure how she managed the spot.  Guess maybe pickings were slim by now.  Lots of new blood, too many straight out of school to be counted on in a crisis.  They’ve got their own dress code; should be in uniforms like everyone else.  Special treatment is bad for everyone. 

 

Report continues…

 

#Lore24 – Entry #73 – Fantasy Month #13 – Saressh, Fallen Goddess of the Kerryns

 

From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos:

Though hard for your average person to comprehend, the idea of something more powerful than a god is rather sobering and indeed frightening, but the example of the fallen Saressh is one that more people should be aware of, were it not for the standing decree by the first Emperor that her name shall not be spoken, lest another calamity be put in motion.  Can dead gods hear their names when spoken by mere mortals?  Do gods truly die when the faith of their followers is lost, or do they simply take on other forms and evolve into other deities?  Does the mere speaking of their name hold power, even if they no longer exist?  I’m hardly a theologian and certainly not a priestess of any sort, but I can still discuss the topic somewhat, from a historical perspective, at least.

Historically speaking, gods and goddesses come and go.  Historical records are replete with examples of such vanished deities, though usually not such recent examples as in the case of Saressh, mother of the Kerryns, goddess of protection, good health and procreation, pleasure, prophecy, and cats.  Most often, we’ve found remnants of lost civilizations and along with them, at best, scattered carvings alluding to the existence of the lost deity, vague hints of their nature, little in the way of daily practices or rituals.  This is especially true in the case of those lesser deities worshipped by the monstrous races, though some conjectures exist that lean toward the idea that the same deities simply take on different names through the ages, given the similar natures and domains shared by many deities we have recorded.

Such is not the case with Saressh, however.  Though mostly seen as a dark goddess who guided her people into demon worship, and was later consumed by said demons, records would, in my opinion, indicate something far more insidious at work behind the scenes.  As the Deep Archives are filled with preserved examples of Saressh’s teachings, priestly paraphernalia, and records of many of her followers, I have had some chance to study her ways, and without dedicating myself to diving deeper, Saressh absolutely does not seem the type to have her children turn to worshipping demonic forces.  Quite the opposite, really.

It is my opinion that Saressh was defamed during the period preceding the Great Cataclysm, when tensions between nations were high and wars were common, likely by agents of the Elvish Dominion, known for their extensive and masterful use of propaganda, lessons the current Empire still makes use of.  The Elvish Dominion was far more powerful than it is today, at least on this side of the world, and had great influence over many of the human-led nations, for humanity still saw them as mostly a benevolent force, wisest amongst the long-lived races of the world.  During this period of great unrest, it came to be that the Aerians were on the verge of extinction through the combined efforts of the Elvish Dominion and the growing human nations, and when things were at their darkest, the Kerryns stepped in as a neutral group, brokering a peace that would give the war-hungry Aerians a chance to recover and try to change their ways; kerryns of the day were certainly optimistic.  This alliance, born of compassion from the Kerryn people, would perhaps ultimately lead to their downfall and the destruction of the Aerians who had dedicated themselves to the defense of the Kerryn people for their act of kindness.

Circling back to the topic of Saressh, it is known that during the years preceding the Great Cataclysm, when the wars had somewhat settled and tensions were beginning to cool, something happened to her faithful clergy.  Madness began to spread throughout their ranks, and the power of their magic began to wane.  Some theorize that Saressh had been slain in the divine realm already, and it simply took time for her death to be felt within the realm of mortals, while other theories indicate that perhaps she was beset on all sides by her enemies, chiefly among them the demonic forces of the Demon Lord Suzu’Reitani, whose power served to corrupt the very flow of power from Saressh to her people, before she was ultimately slain.  Regardless, it was soon after the madness began to spread through her clergy and the faith of her people began to wane that war once again broke out when the Aerians led an offensive against the lost desert nation of Al Sisamanah when they had enslaved a kerryn princess that would eventually marry the Aerian prince who led the campaign (this is entirely a topic unto itself, and I shall not delve into it further here).

It was during this time that demons began to travel more freely between their realm and our own, and the records of other churches of prominence during the era, namely those of Lashanna, goddess of Justice, and the twin goddesses of desire, Erisaya and Yurisaya, and the god of death, Mausolus, confirm this with the sharp increase in reported cases of demonic possession and outright manifestation of them within our world.  Though, curiously enough, records on the subject from the Elvish Dominion are entirely lacking in detail, there is more than enough evidence from other sources during this time to at least create a plausible case that the elves were responsible for allowing demonkind into our world, and simply shifted the blame to the kerryns and the aerians, as they were their primary enemies at time (the might of the Aerians, reinforcing the more peaceful kerryns, with their formidable diplomatic talents, may well have led to a new age of peace, though with the Elvish Dominion in a much smaller and less influential role as nations were slowly but inevitably turned against them as their underhanded methods were repeatedly exposed).  Curiously enough, such conjectures are as forbidden to discuss aloud as that of the topic of Saressh herself; some may call this mere coincidence, but I am not among their ranks.

I could continue for some time further about Saressh and the many topics surrounding her mysterious death (is she even dead?  Perhaps she still exists in some form or another, her power dispersed amongst the demonic forces of Suzu’Reitani?), but my duties must take precedent.  I am to assist General Loukas Kormides with a study of historic battles in the northern regions on the morrow, and have much study and preparation to perform today.