• 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

HarlequinActor

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Vita saw a lot of of the politics occurring around them. It was all very beyond them in that way, they’re not a politician nor a consular. They where a pilot and a nerd, neither of which assisted in understanding political finery other than their basic understanding of interspace taxation.

They thought for a little if they should speak up, deciding not to. Though when one directly spoke to them they decided to reply.

Oh sure. I am V E R Y much looking forward to seeing this.”
 

Foxen

Member
Much like Gwaed, most of Fioda's attention had shifted almost completely to the human in train with the high priest.

What purpose could they possibly have for it? Were they going to kill it in some sort of weird, stabby ritual? Was that why she was being asked to trot along through what was apparently an inevitable examination of the place which she had already started to think of as 'the ritual site'?

She hoped that it wouldn't get violent. Then again, they wouldn't have warned her about it if they didn't expect violence. Violence was her job. More specifically surprise violence was her job.

However, Fioda kind of liked the people she was working for now, over-the-table. Yeah, they seemed like they had been a little brainwashed by humanity, but the same could be said of most Aos'si at this point. Given better circumstances, she was pretty sure that they could be trusted or at least nudged in that direction. But that would take some time, she reasoned, and pointing a gun at them and the rest of the scientists so that the High Priest and his entourage could complete some sort of magical, quasi-religious rite, would make that nudge a lot harder.
 

Ray of Meep

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The High Priest let out an audible hmmph, looking back at the map of the site. After more murmurs from his entourage, he spoke up, Aithlin declaring in Mandarin, pointing at the large room in the basement, where the spherical frame was located.

"This room here, it seems to carry special importance to our ancestors. We will be conducting our ceremony here."

---------------------------


With permission from the Institute's scientific community, Amisra herself, and Gwaed and other Aos Si members of Parliament, the ruins were now flooded with breathable air, carrying the same composition as that on Zhuque. The hole in the wall that led out to the hostile moon terrain was filled up with an inflatable airlock that clamped around the edges. Every room had its own airlock and oxygen supply, several rooms sharing a carbon scrubber.

Thus, the Erinun Aos Si walked freely in their ceremonial robes, down several floors into that large basement room. The wire frame of the globe continued to stand ominously in the center as the priests gathered around it. The human observers stood outward, at the walls of the domed room, while their armed, Kongjian security were asked to stay outside.

As the Aos Si's camera continued to capture the momentous occassion, two priests stood at the two podiums that flanked the sphere, chanting quietly, reading text from the books they brought with them. The High Priest stood at the center, his back facing the sphere, his chest facing outwards towards the entrance. His hands were clasped together in front of his heart, his head tilted up, eyes closed.

Two Aos Si priests entered the room, also chanting quietly, carrying an ornate, cube box made of wood with metal furnishings between them. They opened the box carefully, unlocking the clasps that held the lid on, then lifting it off. The High Priest opened his eyes and looked down, kneeling down to reach what was stored with in, then stood up again, holding it up and revealing it to the witnesses. It was a metallic sphere that fit in two hands, decorated with esoteric imagery, surface-level metal engraving and molding that matched that of these ruins.

Aithlin watched attentively at the walls with the humans and the Goedwish Aos Si. He gave a glance at Vita, looking for their reaction.
 

HarlequinActor

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Vita had paid attention to the other human observers, though surprised to see Kongjian security they where quickly distracted by the presence of a very ponderable orb. The fact it matched as well attracted much of their curiosity, they watched it like an owl. You’re not sure if they’re blinking, afraid to miss it start to fly up or explode or glow or something.
 

CadetNewb

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Watching quietly at first, Amisra set a hand on her hip, glancing towards Gwaed to see his reaction. The many, many cycles that had come and gone made their own people distant. What was once one people, with one language, and one culture, had split like the branches of a great tree to the point that one end might be quite different from another. For all intents and purposes, these Aos'Si were Strangers to them.

"And what, would your ceramony entail exactly?" the redhead broke her silence. If it involved the energies within their heart-of-hearts, they had damned well better elaborate!
 
Gwaed watched, trying to hide the uncertainty in his eyes. They were strangers, these Aos Si, untrustworthy in their motives. Yet, a suddenly vocal part of Gwaed wanted to see something happen. Something fantastical to prove, once and for all, his talk of the old magic wouldn't garner scoffs from human academics. He could speak freely of their history, of the things he'd faced in the waning days of mana. Would their chanting accomplish anything visible? Or, like most religions touting their miraculous abilities, would the effect be "ineffable," or perhaps "only to be seen by the believers?" And yet, despite a depressed cynicism built over a century-plus of dealing with oppression in all it's forms, from genocide to the everyday hostile glances from the few remaining people who believed him lesser, the smallest part of him was filled with a childlike hope to see something to make him believe again. Maybe then, this would all have been worth it, even if his life path should never have been so egregiously altered by others in the first place.

And so when Amisra spoke the illusion was lessened, and all he could do was gently place a hand on her shoulder. "If they had intended to tell us, they would have done so before they started the actual ritual. Hush, darling mine, for once in your life," he snarked with a smile.
 

Foxen

Member
Fioda had drifted back towards Gwaed and Amisra; she was technically their security detail, after all, though honestly, it seemed hardly necessary. She had removed her helmet in the 'fresh' air, having already received, she assumed, all of the basic instructions that she was going to get. The rest would have to be up to her best judgment.

Right now, her best judgment was focused on the orb thing they had brought out.

She pondered it.

"I kind of want to see this too," she told the others, quietly. "I can just barely remember this sort of thing. It's kind of eerie."
 

Ray of Meep

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Aithlin friendily waved Gwaed off. "Lady Yvresse is justified to be curious. It is a simple ritual of reclamation. We have done so for multiple locations in Erinun territory, locations that were lost or buried during the global civil wars, then the human conquests. What the High Priest is doing is thanking our ancestors and the natural gods, before reaffirming our commitment to reviving the Aos Si Golden Age and reestablishing our bonds with Them."

The High Priest spoke in an ancient Aos Si dialect, with some terms barely understandable to the Goedwish Aos Si: "Sun", "Earth", "Mother", "Home", etc. He then turned to the spherical metal frame, presenting the sphere in his palms, and continued chanting, while the other priests lowered their heads in respect.

"Right now, he is supporting our claim by presenting a well preserved and cared for artifact of our past. In this case, the Orb of the First Moon, Chia'Gaela."

The chanting went on for a few more minutes, before the High Priest sighed.

"It is done." Aithlin remarked, before his eyes lit up in confusion.

Audible heartbeats sounded from the chests of the Aos Si present, and Vita.

As the High Priest relaxed his hands, the sphere didn't follow downwards. Instead, it floated in midair. Arcs of electricity connected it to the carbon scrubber, the oxygen supply, and all the other human instruments in the room, and on the people.

Bukang's eyes darted to Aithlin with a mix of fear and curiosity, while all the eletronics started spitting out warning lights and nervous beeps. "What is the meaning of this?"

The interpreter shook his head vehmently. The priests backed off from the central spherical frame in astonishment. "This wasn't part of the plan!"

One of the human soldiers barged in, barking at Bukang. "Sun, is everyone alright, the environmental controls are going haywire!"

It was then when Gwaed, Amisra, Fioda, and Vita felt an excrutiating pain from their chests, sending them to the ground, along with the rest of the Aos Si. The metal sphere floated into the center of the frame, which started rotating, bright light eminating from the center. As they drifted in and out of conscious, they heard barks and orders that grew ever more distant.

"We need medics and stretchers, now!"

"Sun, they're not breathing!"

"Come on, Hewyllys, hang in there!"

----------------------------

In the beginning, the earth was barren, the void empty and cold. Then, a single light in the dark sky, which grew ever brighter. Beneath it, a sapling, standing alone. The light grew brighter, the sapling grew larger along with it. The light a bright star, the sapling now a great, tall tree with beautiful pink leaves. Then, more stars appeared in the sky, the great tree spreading its young across the earth, more saplings that grew tall themselves, each of their own color. The star became the eye of a great constellation, the tree towering over a forest.

But then, one by one, the stars disappeared along the periphery, trees withered and died, until there was a lone, red-leafed tree and a lone star. Blinks of light spread out across the sky, but ephemeral, and soon, the last star disappeared as well, the last tree withering into a cold, lifeless husk. The earth became barren again, the void empty, and cold.


-----------------------------

The view was foggy now, the air wavy. White noise filled the background. They stood on a black, dusty road, asphalt, the humans called it, leading through a barbed wire fence, the gate left open, stopping in front of a brutalist building, its walls covered with sheet metal.

Aithlin's image was ill-defined, barely recognizable, his voice distant. "Where... are we?" The other Erinun Aos Si were nowhere to be seen.

A sign was mounted on the fence, written in the human, Chinese tongue, foggy and twisted, but legible: "Area 43."
 

HarlequinActor

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“I… have no clue.”

Vita has a somehow increased look of wonder in their eyes. Though the pain was still disappearing from their mind. They seemed to be slowly catching up on what happened in their own mind.

“But it S E E M S like a good idea to explore…”

They start moving towards the area slowly.
 

CadetNewb

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"Oh?" the corners of Amisra's lips curled up with amusement as she realized what they were saying, and what they were really saying. The thought gave her mirth. "That sounds like a particularly dogmatic way of saying this is an activation sequ - " Mid-sentence, the redhead's emerald eyes bulged with realization of what they were doing, the joy she took from their ignorance only having dulled her mind. Clutching at her chest, the CEO fell to her knees as her chest burned with fire, her heart of hearts resonating with their fool-ritual. "Serves me right," she thought to herself, the stone floor rushing into view.

Only for Amisra to see something else entirely.

"Hm." Emerald eyes shifting left and right, she took stock of what she saw and sighed. "You humans call this 'going on a trip' I believe?" Amisra asked, following Vita's lead. "It would seem you have a heartstone, and a propensity for magic," she pointed out to him. "Which is why we are in this shared, mana fueled 'trip' as you would say. At least, that is my own guess," she shrugged. "What say you, Gwaed?"
 
Gwaed had fallen to his knees as this surge tried to put him down for good, the priest’s foolish attempts at reclamation resulting in a shock to the heart to all present… or so it seemed. In the excruciating seconds between life and death, he looked at those Aos Si who had brought this upon them and muttered in their tongue, “I’m going to kill you all if I die from your foolishness.”

It was shameful to have one’s own body attack them, and so rage and spite had kept him from collapsing for about 10 seconds, before the pain overtook him. When his eyes opened to a miasmatic vision of somewhere distinctly not familiar, he was angry. He was enraged.

“Fools! Dogmatic fools with no concept of foresight! They turned it on without trying to recover information from any of the books! I should have stopped them, the fools did exactly zero research and just turned it on! This operation was supposed to take weeks at least, to parse information of every sort, but the damn cultists just wanted to rush right into things. If we’re not all already dead I’m going to kill them!” Bottled up emotion roared from its source as he somehow elegantly thrashed a fist against the fence before them.

Even expelled as such, the anger still did not subside. He turned to Amisra’s murky form with a frown, eyes ablaze. “It was curiosity that slew the cat, and I fear we were the cat. The sooner we navigate this otherland the sooner we either awaken or die for real.”
 

Ray of Meep

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The fence's form was ambiguous, nearly letting Gwaed's hand go through it. There was a split second of delay, before the Aos Si felt the wire fence unconfidently bounced back against his skin, only when he thought how a fence should react to impact.

Vita's exploration was equally perplexing. Terrain away from the complex grew murky, ambiguous, generically matching what one would imagine the planet's forests would look like, before going black all together. Looking inwards into the complex wasn't much clearer. Some buildings and paths were more well defined than others, the edges of the complex completely shrouded by impassable fog.

To the three Goedwish Aos Si, the complex in general brought a sense of dread. Gwaed and Amisra especially felt their hairs bristle at that innocuous plaque.
 

HarlequinActor

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Eyes wide, Vita looks towards Amisra with an unreadable expression.

“Well I do not know what a hearthstone exactly is… but this seems E X C I T I N G to say the least.”

After their brief exploration granted them some vague hints at the world Vita shortened the distance between them and the most clear image in the vicinity, the fence and area behind it.

“This place, it is very interesting… like a dream. I W O N D E R What is inside?”

Seeing no warning signs commonly associated with electrical fencing they would take a brief look around and then start moving in through the gate.
 
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Foxen

Member
Magic.

Actual, real magic.

For a moment, as her knees lost their strength, her heart having gone absurdly wild, Fioda felt betrayed. Had they known it would kill her, along with everyone involved? 'Finish the ritual?' As she got her breath back, or at least some semblance of breath, Fioda scanned her new surroundings with a confused sense of wonder.

She returned to her feet, surprised to find she could, and gazed around at the blackness.

Dreams. They were dreaming.

Or at least, Fioda dreamed. She had a brief moment of existential vertigo as she was forced to consider the possibility that she was dead and that this was her hell. Black, endless - filled with dark forests, strange plaques and fences, and the people she'd dragged down to whatever served as hell with her.

Then they started speaking, and she realized this was a magical dream.

Why, for fuck's sake, was the weird human here? Hearthstone?

She watched the creature enter the gate and then looked to her two erstwhile companions.

"Guess we follow her?"
 
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CadetNewb

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As the odd human, surely one with a heartstone she guessed, forged forward, Amisra followed.

"They have the right idea," the redheaded woman admitted. "We have little option otherwise. All paths lead there it seems, this feeling of foreboding made into locale." She knew that whatever reality was, it would have to wait. This 'dream' had to come first, and that included finding out the rules. Was it run by someone? Was it their subconscious' working together? Just one of theirs? A memory from the ancient artifacts? It was difficult to tell. But one thing stood above all else.

"The priests are not here with us," she realized.
 

Ray of Meep

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"They were closest to the center of the room." Aithlin recalled, then sighed, looking at the others apologetically as he followed. "I promise you, this wasn't our intentions. It was supposed to be a simple ceremony, in an exotic location, yes, but the ritual was done on several other locations on the planet without distress."
 

Ray of Meep

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The entire complex was abandoned, some buildings more vivid, physical in form, then the others, all made of brutalist concrete interlaced with metal cages. What buildings the party could enter were eerily messy, but most of the contents intact: the furniture made of synthetic materials, large pieces of human technology, metal boxes with buttons on them, black panels with glossy frames, fabrics on beds, chairs, and sofas, some papers left scattered about. Whoever presided here left in a hurry.

Then there was one building that was especially clear, in contrast to the fogginess that enveloped the others, its unlocked door reinforced with metal bars, a metal box above the handle. Inside were more tables, more black screens encased in metal boxes, more scattered papers in the human language, but some of these had images of Aos Si anatomy on them. Arms, legs, the head and chest, cutaway views of the muscle, veins, skeleton.

Another unlocked, metal door led deeper still. Now, a long hallway that split into different rooms, each disturbing. Flat table like structures with synthetic cushions on top. Metal knives, scissors, and small picks in the cabinets. Black screens, metal boxes.

One room had a thick, padded door. Inside was especially cold. In place of the cabinets and furniture were shelves, shelves with jars with metal bases and lids, the bases having their own little black screens on them displaying odd human symbols. In the jars were organs. Eyeballs, stomachs, a kidney, a heart, strands of veins.

Finally, a room near the end of the hallway, a soft, pained cry emanated from within. Inside was an Aos Si, naked, shaven, and strapped to the table. One of his arms and one of his legs were gone, replaced by wires that connected to a metal box. More wires mounted behind his back and the back of his skull. He looked parched, malnourished to the bone. Seeing the party, his eyes widened, croaking out in Goedwish.

"End... me..."
 

CadetNewb

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Amisra had continued in silence, her expression impassive and cool like the perfect surface of finest porcelain upon the table. However, as they neared, her eyes narrowed every so slightly.

"I have a suspicion little had occurred previously given your priests have yet to encounter mana in such high quantities," the redheaded CEO surmised, looking upon the vivisected victim before them. "This is an old memory of ours, or perhaps something based off of it, is it not Gwaed?" she turned, emerald eyes falling upon the man. "It was things like this that used to light a fire in your heart, made you smolder with anger and hate towards the humans," Amisra noted, looking upon the memory again. But not for long. She then looked at the others with them. "I assume you have all heard of this? Or perhaps seen some of this?" the woman asked without judging, her attention shifting to Fioda, then Vita in particular.

The odd, odd human.
 

HarlequinActor

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Vita saw the heavily damaged and injured person, and after figuring out what they where looking at(it’s a very shocking thing for a person whose main job was piloting people between planets). They went up to the injured person and would start checking them. It’s meant to be gentle, but Vita isn’t good at being a comforting presence. Doesn’t stop them from trying.

“Are you okay?!”

Sounds like a dumb question, and it is, but it can help someone with heavy injuries keep aware and awake. If only to make fun of the person asking.
 

Foxen

Member
Fioda paused in the doorframe, taking the scene in at length. After a while, she realized that Amisra had been talking to her and had to call up her words again.

"Yes."

Fioda had heard about this and seen some of it. The cruelty humans exhibited knew no boundaries; they named whatever they pleased an alien or an animal, and torture wasn't the end. Once humans had decided the Aos'si weren't worth sharing space with, that they were ignorant savages instead of a beautiful species worth respect, they had authorized all indignities without a single moral compunction. Experiments, butchery, torture, rape; the slow descent of a sentient species to a position next to cattle. By the old gods, Fioda realized, she'd experienced some of that herself - it still happened, in so many small and vicious ways.

She briefly wondered if shooting this tortured cousin would end the dream or not - or whether a gun in a dream could do any good at all. She didn't doubt that Amisra had been correct to say that this was someone else's memory.

Fioda began to speak softly in their mother tongue, instead. Whether the human with them understood it, or not, Fioda felt it was more appropriate to speak in a language the victim would understand.

"I think we should grant that request."
 
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