Tag: draconic ruins

#Lore 24 – Entry #119 – Sci-Fi Month II #28 – The Draconic Ruins of Vellion III – A Brief Overview

From the Official Record of Seraphino Basara, Chronicler of the Lady Goldeneyes, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana.

Devouring the reports from the scouting parties that entered the Vellion system is one thing, but finally being able to set foot on the third planet itself, to see the ruins that were discovered by the ASD divination team is something else entirely!  It’s remarkable the similarities between the ruins on this world and those I’ve explored on the other side of the Demon Barrier; even from the air during our approach, I could make out the similarities…and I would daresay, the identical nature of the structures.  The shaping of the draconic reliefs upon the upper level structures, the arrangement of the buildings themselves atop the mountain in relation to the planet’s solar cycles, even the presence of a massive draconic statue at the center of the ruin site…it’s almost…eerie just how much it reminds me of the ruins found upon the Dragon Isles of Andyllion.

I would daresay this discovery alone fortifies the Draconic Migration Theory, if not outright proves it.  I may be a bit presumptuous in that declaration, but how else can the presence of a place like this be explained?  How did the ancient dragons reach the Vellion system through the Demon Barrier?  At the very least, they would have had to have shifted to another plane and traversed through it and came back, but even planar travel into the Demon Sector is at best unreliable, at worst, deadly.  Did they…or do they…possess an advanced technology like the ATK drives, or some form of magical travel we can only begin to imagine?

But I digress; that’s a topic for another time.  As to the ruins on Vellion III…given that we’ve only been on site for two weeks, I don’t have all the data, certainly, but between myself and others who have began studying the ruins, we can ascertain certain facts regarding the history of this location:

  • The draconic language found on this world is identical to that of the worlds on the other side of the Demon Barrier. The inscriptions within the ruins themselves are readily readable by anyone who is familiar with the script of the language, and even includes High Draconic phrases.  The diplomatic party who ventured to the local kobold settlement were successfully able to discuss their history in relation to the ruins using the same language, modified slightly for the local dialect that developed.  I fear we may have adversely affected the development of their culture by revealing that we are not of this world, but who is to say that they would not have encountered “travelers from beyond the stars” eventually anyway?  At least our goals did not require violence upon them.
  • Like other known draconic sites, there is a historical record, the Magna Historiarum Draconis, marking the beginning of the draconic presence upon the world. Though local events are expectedly different, the same general pattern of development is present.  In short…the dragons appear upon the world, bringing their servants, primarily kobolds with a mix of other races, with them.  They construct their various empires and civilizations across the face of the planet, either benevolent or malevolent, all of which eventually decline as the dragons seemingly lose interest and withdraw, their former servants turn upon them and each other, and they eventually vanish, the Historiarum remaining unfinished.  There is also a massive portal chamber, likely how the dragons perhaps arrived or left the world, though long since destroyed, as is typical; likely it was destroyed by the final dragons to leave the world.
  • Based upon our analysis, the ruins here are approximately five thousand years old, making them amongst the newest ruins found to date. Without delving deeply into the vast history of the planet’s multiple societies, we cannot understand the true impact of this site and others like it that no doubt still exist upon the planet.  It will take lifetimes (relatively speaking) to properly study the histories here. 
  • The mysterious group that preceded us inside the ruins would seem to contain at least one properly trained archeologist, given the care and attention that was given to the excavation of the vault near to the destroyed portal chamber. Though we cannot ascertain with one-hundred-percent certainty if any relics were removed, it appears that most of what remains in the vault (some gemmed gold and silver treasures, ancient scrolls in preservative tubes, and other such items) was perhaps examined, but returned as they were found.  In a few instances, during prior excavations of similar sites beyond the Barrier, documentation was found indicating other worlds visited by the dragons that led explorers to them, so it is entirely possible we may have leads to other worlds possessing draconic sites.  Further analysis is still pending.

Needless to say, we could likely spend years upon Vellion III at the very least, so our teams are trying to expedite our analysis as much as possible, given that Captain Silvercask has already inquired as to whether we have located any information relating to other sites.  Assuming that it was a Trailblazer team that preceded us, there is likely a clue that we have yet to uncover which they have already acted upon, but as soon as a determination is made, we will alert command so our course can be decided upon.

#Lore 24 – Entry #117 – Sci-Fi Month II #26 – Vellion III – Initial Scouting Report

Scouting Report from Brawnik “Devil Dog” Fangren, dispatched to Vellion III, Southern Continent, Mountain region, Draconic Ruins Site 001.  Decryption algorithm successful. 

Arrived just after dawn on Day 1, landed my scout during a rainstorm.  Sensors registered little in the way of pollutants in the rain or atmosphere, as expected of a primitive world.  Landing  site was amongst the outer ruins, elevation approximately 6500 feet, most vegetation at this level was grasses and vines, air was expectedly thin.  Immediate area, no hostiles, no wildlife.  Setup camp with my scout ship and secured camo netting, dispatched the mapping drones to cover the ruin site.  Specific data from scanners and drones attached.

Even at first glance, I recognized the distinct draconic nature of the ruins; they are practically identical to those found on Feria and other locations beyond the Barrier.  I’ll let the brains figure out the exact details, but these might not be quite as old as the ones we’ve found outside the Barrier; weathering doesn’t seem as bad, damage from vegetation growth doesn’t seem to be as extensive further down.  I’ve recognized a few symbols in the draconic tongue, matching others, so likely the language is the same.

Further down, in the deeper growth areas below the cloud line, humidity is much higher, and wildlife is abundant.  Typical jungle species, with variations of local differences.  Refer to the images attached regarding the snakes here; anyone exploring these ruins will have to be EXTREMELY cautious; think these are another Demon Sector special; they’re the size of a large constrictor but behave more like pissed off vipers, and their heads look more like what I’d call more ‘draconic’ than snake-like.  They’re spitters, too, and they can expel a lot of venom that can blind and begin to decay flesh almost immediately; they feed on the local ape species mostly from what I’ve observed, but had no fear of coming near me.  Their venom is comparable to other extremely lethal snake species according to the scanners, and they’re prevalent throughout the area of the ruins.  Maybe ancient guardians?  Had to kill a few of them; don’t recommend getting close.  Edible, though, once the venom sacs are dealt with.  Not bad.

Haven’t found signs that any locals have been here for a long time; there are old stairways and paths through the more damaged regions at the lower elevations, but these are long overgrown.  Nearest local settlement are kobolds, tribals, roughly ten miles out, to the east by the river.  Did find signs that someone has been here recently, though.  Upper levels, far side of my camp, one of the stone platforms shows signs of recent engine burn from takeoff and landing, probably a few months old.  Found footprints inside the ruins that hadn’t been washed away, just as old.  Looks like a couple light-steppers, kerryn or elves, one rattenvolk with a walking stick, and another with one of those spider-legged backpacks their techs use, and one equinarian, packing heavy gear.  Scents were all gone by the time I got there, and they cleaned up after themselves.  They set up camp inside the ruins for a while, explored internally, but I didn’t venture further in; not my area, leave that for the tomb raiders aboard the ship.  Trailblazer team?  Captain had his idea to search the system from somewhere, didn’t he?  Looked around for any notes and scanned for a beacon, but didn’t find anything of the sort, so no idea where they might’ve gone after that.  Doesn’t look like they descended below the clouds, at least on the outside; no signs of footsteps or spent cartridges down that way.

Weather is a bit temperamental here this time of year, frequent storms, heavy rain and lighting throughout my time here.  Doesn’t seem to be anything unnatural, just the geography.  Gets cold at night high up, stays uncomfortably humid further down.  Kept feeling eyes on me when it rained and I was below the clouds, though.  That kind of feeling that says intelligent, not predatory animal.  Didn’t seem hostile, just kept to themselves, whatever they were; never could find signs of them.  Ghosts or other spirits, maybe.  Worth taking caution; might get hostile if the teams start poking around for treasures.  Have some priests venture down there and have a look about.  Much more pleasant up top, good place to think up here, no distractions, nobody watching.

 

#Lore 24 – Entry #116 – Sci-Fi Month II #25 – Astral Divination and Navigation

From the Personal Journal of Primula Tallfoot, Arcane Support Division Head, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana. 

Sometimes I can’t help but ponder how I’ve wound up all the way out here…where my life has gone so very wrong that we’re relying on someone like Mizutani to navigate this entire fleet.  He still gets lost aboard the Morgiana on the regular, is still routinely late to work, and yet he’s the most talented diviner aboard?  Somehow.  Some way.  Mizutani, who can’t seem to see past his next date night, is being called upon to navigate the fleet?!  Is one of the gods of magic just fucking with us on this one?  I’d believe it.  Seriously…Mizutani is our go to on this leg of the trip?  I’d better make sure that cage of his is extra tight and prickly so that he stays focused, or we’ll all wind up diving into a quasar or taking the wrong kind of ride through an aetheric current.

Captain Silvercask is the one to blame for this mess we’re about to find ourselves in.  We’ve been following the course that was approved by the ASC before we left, and out of the blue, the captain showed up this morning to inquire about long range divination for a system outside the planned flight path.  He never told me where he got the idea to view the system from afar, and was actually pretty tight-lipped about it, simply asking for an indulgence.  Fine, whatever.  Everyone has secrets.   I get it.  Maybe he’s got word from one of those trailblazer teams?  Regardless, since we’ve still not overcome that long range interference that plagues the fleet’s sensors out here, we’ll have to rely on our diviners.

I still can’t understand how Mizutani specialized in divination, with a special focus on astral divination, and somehow excelled at it at the academy.  Yeah, I had to pull his records again just to make sure I hadn’t imagined it when I’d read it the first time.  Did someone give me falsified records as a joke?  The captain and I have arranged for tomorrow morning, first thing, to find out.  The ship’s due to drop out of hyperspace at 0900 and the ASD is due to begin divination immediately once we revert to realspace.  I’ll be overseeing the operation, of course, but Mizutani’s the lead on this one.  The twit looked like he was about to panic when I told him about him finally taking on some serious responsibility.  I had to get pretty stern with him to make him understand that being late in the morning was not an option if he ever wanted his dick free again and might have implied some additional restrictions if he screws up.  Think I got my point across.  I’m sure he’ll be plenty motivated to perform tomorrow.  If it’s one thing arcanists are good at, it’s working under pressure.  At least, I hope that’s still how they teach them at that fancy school…

Entry Update:

I guess anything’s possible, even Mizutani getting to work on time and performing his duties as expected.  I wouldn’t have believed it until I saw it today, but he actually knows what he’s doing.  Apparently when properly motivated, he can perform admirably.  Will it continue beyond today?  I have my doubts, but we’ll see. 

The astral divination went splendidly, with Mizutani leading another half dozen of our diviners in a circle, their gazes focused on the system in question.  It looks like another fairly standard star system, a dozen planetary bodies, though only one appears to be in the habitable zone, the third one in line.  Several of the larger outer planets will likely serve well for construction materials and other resources, and there were no immediate dangers found in the system itself, no signs of modern tech, but there are definitely more primitive civilizations on the planet, pre-industrial, equivalent to most of our own societies during the Age of Legends.  Thus far, the diviners have seen humans, orcs, kobolds, and a few elvish enclaves; there are likely others in the mix as well.  So far, my prediction of encountering no truly alien species is correct.

Mizutani was drawn to a particular region as he focused on the planet’s surface, in the mountains on one of the southern continents.  He sensed lingering arcane ripples coming from the area; his scrying mirror revealed ruins there…draconic ruins in fact.  Though mostly hidden amongst the jungle overgrowth, the higher elevations revealed undeniably draconic architecture and statues.  It seems that we’ve finally got a proper ruin to explore!  Captain Silvercask is changing course as I write this and has already dispatched a scouting team to secure the area for us and other teams to study.  We should be arriving within the week, and I for one am anxious to finally set foot outside the ship and get to some serious work!