In the language of my people, the Valosani, of the planet N’Goras, my name means “Ancient Fire” and I inherited it from my grandfather who was a member of the wise council of the tribes. It was through his tutelage that I began my journey of life on the path of Hak’ai or “The Path Of Ascension” which trained me to channel my thoughts and energies toward positive, rather than negative, outcomes. The Valosani once very nearly destroyed one another and their homeworld in their insatiable appetites for warfare. But the great Hak’ai rose above the chaos and taught a new way, what we now call “The Path Of Ascension”.
While our species still retains great technological abilities and prowess in warfare we choose first to seek a way to live in harmony and balance with the natural order of the universe. Also with other sentient beings we come into contact with in our travels among the stars. However, during an ill fated conflict against an aggressor who I refer to as “The Dark One” and some of my human friends call Donn, my fleet was forced to make a tactical retreat and I was left stranded on this strange world when I was unable to return to the fleet for transport.
Making The Best Of It
So, I have done all that I can to make a good life for myself and others while I live out my days here or perhaps one day a Valosani vessel may return to this sector to take me home once again to N’Goras. I have lived on this world, called New Caledonia by its inhabitants, for several of the planet’s orbital cycles around it’s star or as the Terrans say, years or blianta.
At first I was bewildered by this strange place in which the natural laws of physics sometimes do not apply. There were trees which did not fall to the ground from the force of gravity when chopped down and strange moss creatures which explode when they come into close proximity to you. Not to mention the creatures which are biologically dead yet are still animate. These will attack anyone who is in proximity. I’ve seen them exhibit hostility to one another as well. I do not believe, as I once did, that they are under the influence of a singular intelligence such as “The Dark One”.
Other Sentient Beings
Eventually I encountered another sentient from beyond this planet aside from the Terran inhabitants. Initially our encounter seemed hostile but over time we came to trust one another and even became good friends. His species calls itself Gorg and they have the unique ability to evolve attributes from the prey they have consumed. Therefore you may meet one Gorg and they may seem as though they are a completely different creature from another Gorg depending on their particular diet.
The Gorg and I tried to establish some order and stability to the culture of this planet and even built a city which we called N’Aur . This city is a central point of trade and technology. To the north was a land called Nova Falias which was inhabited by a colony of Terrans which called themselves Celts. These humans derived from lands on old Earth called Ireland, Scotland, Wales and others which I do not recall at this moment. There, they had a chieftain who had forbidden all technology on the land of Nova Falias.
Terran History
The reasoning was that in their history a tyrannical governing body called the Terran Cyberocracy had stripped the people of many of their freedoms to pursue their passions for art, philosophy or self expression. Essentially, this made serving the state the only pursuit of life that was deemed acceptable in their society. These people escaped that life to come live here and try to honor the ways of their ancestors without the use of machinery and technology which they perceived as evil.
I befriended the chieftain’s historian, a man named Gregor MacInnes. In our many long conversations, I learned much of Earth’s history and cultures. In many ways, their tribal ancestry and, admittedly, even their warlike nature, mirrored some of the history and ways of my own people, the Valosani. Like us, they nearly destroyed themselves in their drive for power and greed. The planet had become increasingly polluted and unlivable due to their tendency to place economic needs ahead of the needs of life and those who inhabited their world.
Familiar Stories Of War
They, too, fought wars for control of the planet and it’s resources. In those wars weapons of terrible destruction and devastation were unleashed. For them, turning governance over to machines programmed to bring balance and harmony back into the lives of the world’s inhabitants seemed like a good plan. Indeed, at first it was as the world became cleaner and more livable again, wars were stopped and people received better education, health care, access to healthy food and clean water.
But, in the name of efficiency more and more aspects of life which bring pleasure to living became outlawed. Things such as art, in all of its variations, music, fictional stories, acting, dancing and more as well as spiritual pursuits and gatherings were at first discouraged then later banished from their civilizations as being inefficient and wastes of time. Their lives were longer and healthier but many of the people did not feel that their lives were being truly lived.
But For Now
But I digress, I am writing now to tell my story, not the story of the people of Earth. Perhaps a Terran will write that story later. My friend, Gregor, unfortunately perished in the great cataclysm which consumed this world and remade it as new. Perhaps I should share the role I played in that event and explain how my good intentions eventually led to the demise of what myself and others had worked to build.
At N’Aur we established a perimeter defense which kept more of the hostile creatures and minions of Donn, “The Dark One”, at bay and we kept a large store of supplies for any who needed them to aid in their various projects throughout the world. It was a good system which benefitted the majority I believe. With the help of the Gorg and a Terran friend, Red Perez, I was able to obtain the materials needed to place a large beacon at N’Aur which enhanced the abilities of any who were in the proximity of it.
Technology Good Or Bad?
They enjoyed greater speed, healing abilities and could work faster while in the area. But one day, someone stole the beacon. To this day, who managed this feat is still unknown. But in the interests of preventing this from happening again I utilized some of the most powerful of the Valosani technology at my disposal. I employed command blocks. Powerful tools which can altar the physics, even time and space, in the area which they are utilized in. But they have a caveat. Disrupting the natural order of the universe always comes at a price and achievements which once were available became no longer obtainable.
Also, I believe this toying with the fabric of time and space may be what led to the invasion of the Pillagers who attacked and destroyed Terran strongholds throughout the planet. Even the great castle at Nova Falias fell from the siege of the Pillagers. As the governing director of N’Aur I mustered our forces to come aid our allies of course but even in these dire times their Chieftain refused to allow us to bring any forms of technology into use on Nova Falias.
The Great Cataclysm
Adhering to his wishes we came and fought side by side with our friends with the simplest of weapons and armor until it was clear the war was lost and as many as we could rescue were loaded onto ships and retreated back to N’Aur where we encountered not only hordes of Pillagers but also the great dragon from the end dimension along with several of the creatures which the Terrans call The Wither.
The defenses of the city were overwhelmed and I was left with little choice but to employ the one great weapon I at my disposal. The reset device. A weapon which takes all of the base materials and biology of a world and remakes it as new. Anything which was made by sentient beings, not of this world, by the wave and indeed entire continents would be reconfigured and climates changed throughout the world. It was a last, ditch, effort to ensure the survival of those of us who continued to live on New Caledonia and it worked.
But at such a steep price. We have begun anew but this time we are trying to do better than we did before. There are still Pillagers around but their outposts are scattered and disorganized. Villages have begun to crop up in many places throughout the lands and trade routes are being established. I have set about a project to map this new world with what tools I have at my disposal and my friends and I have taken control of some of the ocean monuments inhabited by the mysterious aquatic creatures called Guardians who I am quite sure come from another world as well.
Such A Price To Pay
Using their technology we hope to establish a better system of transportation and trade throughout the known world. A new chieftain has established a couple of strongholds in the lands not far from the monument I have taken as my residence. His name is Angus Óg and he calls his stronghold in the mountains The Highland Stronghold while the one in the valley is the Lowland Stronghold. He seems an odd fellow but a tolerable neighbor and while he shares the former chieftain’s distrust of technology he is not opposed to utilizing the benefits of it when it is employed by others.
I am hoping we can become allies and make a society which allows all to live as freely and enjoyably as possible here. Time will tell. Or as he says “Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir.”
Fleet Beacon
My brother is Atahnis and he is the leader of a faction of our people called the Da’sheem. He commands the flagship of the fleet which I was part of. I have attempted to contact him on numerous occasions but even though we were able to construct a working fleet beacon, the nebula of mysterious gasses (mists?) which surround the sector this planet is located in interfere with transmissions so we are only able to receive pieces of transmissions occasionally and sometimes what we receive is garbled or even from different time periods than our own.
Occasionally we have been able to carry on two way communications with others we have been in contact with on the fleet beacon but often the signal drifts and we lose the communication link. In Valosani culture we have two primary spiritual orders which practice a philosophy of channeling and using our natural psionic powers. One is the Conclave of Light and the other is the Shadow Path. The Da’sheem incorporate the teachings of both paths in their training. This is a rather new concept in our culture which my bother began as he was the first to receive training in both paths.
Ancient Ones
For many of what Earth people would call centuries the Shadow Path followers practiced in secrecy as their ways were outlawed by the Conclave Of Light which held power over the governing bodies at the time. That was until our first encounters with the hostile member of the Precursors or Ancient Ones who we now refer to as “The Dark One” and the Terrans on New Caledonia call Donn. It is said that the Precursors long ago created the Valosani and many other sentient beings throughout the galaxy and perhaps other galaxies as well.
No one had ever met one of these beings until my lifetime but occasionally, rare, ancient and mysterious artifacts from their culture would be found and studied in seemingly, otherwise non-notable locations on planets, in space, within asteroids and one was even discovered on the surface of a star with the ability to withstand the intense gravity and heat of the star to remain hovering in place. Most of these remain a mystery as to their function and construction.
What Shall We Find?
Perhaps we will even find one here on this world one day. My friend, the Gorg, whose name is Kysh, has written a Bestiary describing some of the strange creatures we have encountered on this world. You may find a copy of it in our library on Phase 2 if you are interested in perusing it some time. If you are in need of assistance while passing through this world and working on projects feel free to contact me. I am always keen to help, especially with projects which will benefit the community as a whole. This is the way of the Path of Ascension.
What benefits the majority outweighs that which benefits the few, May your path always bring you growth and good fortune and may you never know hunger in your days.
– Andarius
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