• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

Day in the Life: Aos Si Ruins on Jing

Ray of Meep

Ray of Meep

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2320 Fall
Yunwang City, Zhu Que, Li Ming System

As the temperature dropped on the continent, the Red House trees prevalent around the city turned black and brown, their leaf analogs shriveling up and deposited to the ground, leaving behind cylindrical, skeletal structures. As the vegetation prepared for hibernation, the city itself was in a flurry of activity. Academic studies were in full swing, distracted by the even more rigorous celebration of human autumn festivals, celebrating this period which has been one of harvest in ancient human times. Now humans can enjoy bounties of food all year round, but traditions are hard to break, especially ones that give an excuse to consume unusual amounts of goodies.

It's been over sixty years since Amisra and Gwaed set foot in Yunwang. Sixty years of hard, academic work, then employment by human corporations and government bodies, patience, as they rose through the ranks, dragging their Aos Si brethren along with them, dedicating their time to gaining economic and political power for the Aos Si, restoring a modicum of cultural prestige inside the human city, and beyond. The Aos Si were still a minority group to be sure, slighted by the more bigoted, xenophobic humans, but that was all well and good. For the bigots were going to pass away sooner than later, but the Aos Si in comparison could wait. Amisra and Gwaed have been nothing if not patient.

The fruits of their labor were symbolized today, as they walked through the upper-class apartment complex in the center of the city, passerby's giving respectful nods without any questioning looks of their presence. Both were in positions of power, here to attend a lunar festival dinner party hosted by their old patron and professor, Li Shi Cheng.
 
Gwaed, in his time on his planet as it was now, had slowly become far less grumpy about the general state of affairs. After all, the Aos Si condition had improved dramatically in his time here. Through his studies in history, art, and other such cultural knowledge, he's worked to bring the Aos Si way back from the brink of obscurity. With government help he'd secured, he'd restored some of their greatest buildings in Yunwang to their former and now new glory. They would be remembered in both the human's history books and his own, which he felt he was slowly becoming more and more qualified to write. He'd studied well under Li Shi Cheng, his mentor in this particular field for decades, and was beginning to consider himself wise enough to follow in the professors footsteps. After a few more good works for the Aos Si of course.

He'd gotten the invitation from the professor, and marked it well on his calendar. Now he wore what constituted as Aos Si noble wear, taking his position of power seriously, robes that were simple, elegant, and allowed for a belt to hold his sword at his side. Despite all his good works, he kept his sword at his side at almost all times. To him, it was a symbol of his roots, his expertise, and how he gained the support of many less kind individuals, fighting their common enemies on the seas. His hair was well combed back, and he was well washed. He had to look good after all. He'd have been more annoyed, but he would do so for the professor.

As he passed the humans who felt comfortable enough to nod to the two Aos Si, he would nod back with a slight smile. Smiling had gotten easier, not a permanent stable of his face, not yet, but it came to him far more easily now.
 
"It's been some time since we have seen Shīfù," the other Aos'Si remarked, a small, playful smile on her lips.

Though she called him teacher-father, as was Chinese tradition, everyone who was anyone would know their true nature. He was indeed her teacher, but they were near in age, and in another age past, it would have been said mockingly. But not in this age. In this age, she said it with a warmth that flowed from her soft lips. Like her companion Gwaed, the passing of time had been kind to Amisra. Given opportunity that had been absent for so long, she had seized it and rose to command in her own company, and that affirmation of her prowess had softened her sharp bristles. Of course, time had been kind to Amisra in other ways as well. Clad in traditional garb, she looked dressed for the occasion as the threads of emerald green made her crimson hair burn even brighter.

"Shall we enter?" she smiled at Gwaed.
 
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Gwaed looked over himself, well groomed and fancy, if he did say so himself, but still he fussed over his robes once more. "I've only got the one fancy outfit," he muttered to her, rolling his shoulders. "And then formal casual wear. It feels stiff and stifling." As uncomfortable as he was in fancy clothing, he cut a good figure, and he'd gotten more used to it in the decades of social climbing. He took a breath, smiling his small smile at her as he gave a nod. "After you my dear." He opened the door, holding it for her. He only briefly considered letting go when she was halfway through. It would have been humorous.
 
"You look fine," Amisra remarked, all too aware of the play on words. "You should wear nice clothing more often, it suits you," she accepted the offer. Even after all these years though, she was ever so slightly wary of it closing on her. Like children and their games, they continued to 'play'. Especially now that the times were good once again.
 
Li Shi Cheng was at the door with a soft smile. He wore a white Hanfu with silver embroidery, larger than his body to accommodate the exoskeleton underneath, which spanned his limbs and spine, still yet needing a cane in one hand. Fortunately, his bad arm has grown out well over the years thanks to regrowth technologies, visibly more youthful and stronger than the rest of his body to the attentive eye. Furthermore, his eyes were bright and leery underneath a blanket of greying and white hair.

"Welcome, as always." Shi Cheng used his free hand to shake Amisra's, before gesturing them to enter. The professor's home was large and well kept, a soft yellow light blanketing everything. A large, round table with plenty of chairs over looked a living area, multiple monitors mounted on the walls, plants and bronze statues depicting ancient humans of various cultures planed along the walls. A music player broadcasted human, oriental songs, filling the room with strings and drums. Shi Cheng's wife, Shu Yang, nodded at the two Aos Si as she placed food onto the table, stir fry still crackling on pans behind her in the kitchen area.

There was something odd though. Every year, the professor invited his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, along with some of his favorite students to dinner parties like this, and whenever Amisra and Gwaed attended, there'd be a dozen other humans here filling up the room. However, this time, they were the only two here.

"Take care of our guests for a moment, Shu Yang," Shi Cheng nodded to his wife, before he left for his office. Shu Yang smiled politely at the two Aos Si. They didn't interact much, but Gward and Amisra would've recognized her as a professor at the university who taught electrical engineering, now retired.

Professor Li returned after a few minutes, carefully walking out with a black case in his two hands, awkwardly balancing himself with his cane at the same time. With a soft grunt, he placed the case on the table. "I apologize for the strangeness of the circumstances, but I feel this matter too important to be addressed with the public constantly eyeing you. A dinner party is one of few occasions that we can appreciate some privacy." There was an environmental monitor on the case that reported temperature, pressure, humidity, and acidity of the inside. Two fingers on the bio-lock let the case open up. Inside, protected of foam cushioning, was a seemingly ordinary piece of silvery metal, with singed patches and broken faces.

"Please, hold it, and tell me what you feel." He requested.
 
Gwaed would be kind to Shu Yang just as he would to her husband, something he felt they'd fully earned from him, his respect. "It is ironic that it's in the company of others that we can finally have some privacy," he chuckled. He was more than ready to eat the meal, the cooking well known to him as fantastic, but the proposition stayed his hand. He looked down at the lone piece of metal, and then looked to Amisra. Art and old artifacts of the Aos Si had been one of his favorite subjects to inform the world of, but this was strange to him. It wasn't pottery or old armor, as he initially suspected, or at least not one he'd seen before. He gently picked up the silvery metal, holding it in his rough hands.
 
Immediately, Gwaed felt a rhythmic vibration emanating from the metal plate, coursing through his hands, then his arms, finally reaching his heart, which lightly vibrated in resonance. The plate of metal was naturally broken, in a state of chaos, but the Aos Si could feel it once belonged to something grandiose, alive. Grotesquely, it felt like he was holding a segment of a finger, with all the bone and muscle and skin and capillaries in place, but disconnected.
 
"We are celebrities now, as they call us," Amisra noted, grateful for the quiet. The humans lead bustling lives, though she only had her previous life and the notes from times before to compare it to. She wondered if this was something that her people had to put up with even when they sailed amongst the stars. "I for one, am simply grateful to not be swarmed for pictures," she remarked, now more grateful for Shi Cheng and Shu Yang's company than she initially had been decades ago. However, when the trinket was brought out, the corner of Amisra's smile quivered ever so slightly as old feelings rushed back. She banished the bitterness and nodded to Gwaed to do the honors. "Where did this come from?" Amisra asked, brushing a few stray strands of red from her face. She could feel her skin prickle.

This...piece for better word, had Presence.
 
"Glad you asked." Shi Cheng nodded slowly, sitting down. He began to explain. "A few weeks ago, a few graduate students were exploring the institute's land on the far side of Jing, partially for amusement, partially to find a good spot for an observatory. In their efforts, they discovered metal shards scattered about. Composition analysis quickly determined that there is high Wofleonium content inside the shard, and not integrated in a way that us humans would for our FTL drives." The old professor paused, "There's no mistaking it, this is Aos Si in origin, made to resonate with your magic."

He then pulled out his datapad, requesting an information transfer to Gwaed's. "Institute policy dictates whenever we find xeno-artifacts, we report it to the government. Of course, any such report has to get my approval before it goes to the government or the public, and now I'm doing my job and delivering the report to the 'government'." Shi Cheng winked at the Aos Si. "The report includes the suspected location from where the shards originated, and a recommendation on excavation procedures. I trust you'll make the right decision and present it properly in front of parliament for action."
 
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Gwaed's eyes were widened, looking at the wall as memories flooded through his mind. "It's been soo long since I've felt anything like this," he said with a smile. With that same wide smile he turned to Amisra, holding the artifact forward towards her. "Ami," he said fondly, "Take it. Feel it." Handing her the item, he turned to his hosts and took a breath. "Over a century ago, before humankind descended in fire and death, our power flowed through individuals who had the discipline to use it. But it was a dying art, not because of out negligence, but because the power was draining from the world. I had forbade myself from using that 'magic' so that it would be saved for others who could use it better. It didn't matter."

He leaned back, looking to the ceiling as he thought for a time. "Ami, if you feel what I feel, does this mean... a Resurgence? Or is this merely one more fragment?"
 
When Amisra first came to the humans, she wanted to bring back the glory of the long, lost past. It was like a bitter poison or disease that coursed through her mind, compelling her to dark corners of thought. But then, having faced the reality of the situation, that it would never return, Amisra put her effort into building a brave new world for her people. Now however, Gwaedcryf handed her a fragment of the past. Gleaming. Tempting. It beckoned to her with all the endless, magical possibilities.

"Mayhaps," Amisra remarked, her face impassive as she eyed the object in her hand. "Or it is a fragment and, nothing more?" she wondered, reaching out from her heart of hearts to gently - ever so gently - touch it.
 
Gwaed knew her eyes, he knew her thoughts to an extent, and so in a playful manner jabbed a finger into her ribs. "We must keep it safe, if we're to actually go through with this. We'd need money, ships, crew, I'd get to wear my space armor," he said with a laugh. "Ahh, goodness, an adventure sounds therapeutic right now, if I'm to be honest. Not before I finish the meal before me of course, that would be rude." He chuckled, eating meal prepared for them. "Fragment or not," he said between bites, "It's still something for the collection, something of that time. I'll find a place to put it, if we're ever allowed to take what's rightfully ours."
 
It called.

"Worry not, it's just a broken trinket," Amisra smiled, gently placing it back from whence it came. Though true, the piece was well comparable to nothing more than perhaps a portion of computer circuitry smashed out of a mainframe or mother board. Interesting, but useless. None the less it was the concept, the idea that it represented. "You make it sound like going to the moon is such a huge endeavor Gwaed," musing over the possibilities. She had made her home, her tidy little nest. But this was...potentially so much more. "It's just an observatory perhaps? A small outpost or temple?" she tried to convince herself, more than anyone else.
 
Two months later...

The decision making in parliament was rather quick. New Age Technologies, Amisra's company, would retain ownership over the excavation site and all the potential treasures, funding the entire endeavor, while the Li Ming Republic and its institutes would have free access for research. It was too enticing; already research teams across the HFR and beyond were scrambling for priority on the potential artifacts, most of which were rejected outright. The Yunwang Institute would get the first eye balls on the excavation, much to the dismay of Jing Research Institute. A sleight of hand by Professor Li.

Uncovered were the Aos Si ruins on the far side of Jing, currently bathed in the harsh starlight coming from Li Ming. For the past few weeks, an army of drones carefully dug through a small hill of regolith, eventually uncovering a broken structure that once had a sleek, triangular shape that pierced upward into the void, surrounded by a donut structure half buried into the surface. A research base was established nearby, a dome structure connected to a stationary fusion powerplant, supply depot, drone garage, and a launch pad, currently accommodating a Ji Guang (Aurora) -class Recon Corvette, with all the sensors and communication equipment necessary to provide support above head.

The exploration team would find themselves in a cylindrical room with a command table in the center. They come from military and civilian life, scientists, engineers, soldiers, politicians. The command table was currently throwing up a holographic model of the ruins, what could be scanned anyways. The donut structure was hollow, with a few tubes that led to the central triangular tower. There also seemed to be rooms underground, with a spherical one at the deepest parts.
 
Hands in her pockets, Shen Hsiung scanned the model of the ruins. Her eyes traced over each section, a faint half-grin showed on her face as she did so--a grin that was more a permanent fixture than any real show of emotion. Not that she wasn't excited. This site revealed itself to be more complex than she imagined it would. Shen hadn't held any real expectations at all for this mission, so anything other than a pile of rocks was a pleasant surprise. As long as she got to fly her drones around, she was happy.

The military woman glanced around the room at the rest of the team, her eyes hidden a bit by her black hair which framed her smooth face with long layers in the front that blended into a short pixie cut in the back. She didn't make any judgements, but just wanted to size up the people she would be working alongside. It had been a while since she had hung out with such a colorful bunch of people. And it had been...well, never, since she had been in a room with this many Aos Si.
 
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Taelara hastily scrawled notes into her datapad, her attention bouncing between the screen in her hands and the hologram on the table. Already, the young Aos Si was consumed with analyzing the buried structure, running through different hypotheses of it's nature in her mind. "Amazing. Truly fascinating. That such a structure has remained hidden for so long, it's almost criminal." The excitement was plain on her face and she couldn't help but grin as she wrote. This was one of the biggest discoveries in her life, after all, and now she was part of it...

Glancing up from her notes for a moment she remembers that she is not, in fact, alone in the command room. She takes a minute to study the faces of the team assembled in the room before starting to jot down notes about them as well.
 
Gwaed, full name Gwaedcryf Hewyllys anorchfygol, stood regally in slim clothes, all the better to quickly put the space suit on should the need arise. He did allow himself his sword at his side, not usual space technology, but far too valuable to leave in his home. A tall man, magnificently pale skin with raven black hair cascading down his shoulders, and striking dark blue eyes were busy staring at the 3D readout of their target for discovery. He couldn't help but hold a semi-permanent smile as he watched the hologram. "In some ways, my new friend," Gwaed spoke in regards to Taelara, "This is the perfect time for this opportunity. Any sooner, and the humans would have taken this from us. Any later, who knows what could have happened. Sooner than that," he chuckled, 'We'd have never been able to fly here."
 
"Yes, I agree completely. The time is right." Though her title was far less impressive, Amisra av Yvresse was an impressive example of the Aos'Si. Unlike many of the others, she opted for a prototype suit her company had worked on. Though it bore the same white pattern, its green and red markings had her stand out from the humans as one of her own people. But perhaps just as importantly, it hung close to the contours of her body's curves, with a pack and helmet that were both light weight and unobtrusive. Unobtrusive enough that she felt comfortable wearing it more casually. "What scripture and markings have we been able to locate on the building's exterior at this time? They may shed some light on the nature of this place before we delve in," she hoped. Even as the redheaded ex-Ranger said this though, her emerald eyes stared into the faceplate of the helmet she held in her hands.

For now, what thoughts she had were her own, but they did not look the most promising.
 
As if hearing Amisra's thoughts, one of the monitors lit up and beeped at her, showing a series of pictures that best matched her request, with tags underneath each: "exterior", "building", "markings", "scripture". Many images were taken by droids at a safe distance, creating a ground view that could be generated as a 3D environment for dedicated facilities on the moon's institute and facilities back on the planet. Millions of images were tagged as "exterior" and "building", showing what was present on the hologram: a broken structure that was plated with some sort of smooth ceramic-metallic composite, with a metallic skeleton underneath. Thousands were tagged as "markings", which were just scratches on the exterior created by stray micrometeorites and sprayed and glanced off the surface. Only a few hundred were tagged as "scripture", which were all false positives, the artificial intelligence misinterpreting the scratches as something sapient-made. Closer examination would have to be made to further understand the past and purpose of the structure.
 
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