Tagline

Overview

A prophet, a general, a witch, a cult leader, and an aberration walk into the heart of nNull. The revolution makes a final strike in an attempt to end the reign of the serpent once and for all. But not everyone's motivations are what they seem.

Cast

Hope/Aleth 0 - Elliot.

• The City. Pilot of the Ephemera.
• Claims to have personal stake in the destruction of the Serpent. Revealed to be a human grown by the Serpent as a mobile vessel who decided to rebel and kill their maker.

Ferrous/Rhymes with Lamb - Eoin.

• The Humanitarians. Pilot of the ()
• Enigmatic leader of the Humanitarian movement. Revealed to be the rejectionist prophet Rhymes with Lamb, made to appear human through his belief.

Reeled out like Silk - Lauren.

• The Sovereign Suns.
• Member of the Nurturists, here to accompany the infiltration team as a shield against the Serpent's foresight.

Slaytik - Elizabeth.

• The Federation of Lost Worlds.
• General of the Federation and a leader of the forces of the rebellion.

Weaver of Flesh and Fluid - Courtney.

• The Artisans, pilot of the Loom
•  

Synopsis

Premise

Nearly five hundred years ago, the revelation of the Serpent as the true ruler of nNUll and the () of the Gentle conjecture finally caused a break in the vice grip that held thousands of systems. Resistance was sparked in too many places for the Serpent to foresee, and it's momentum only grew. After hundreds of years of open rebellion, the various () of nNull have reached it's heart - the citadel of the Serpent, a black city on a planet orbiting the true darkness of a black hole. The capabilities of humanity have reached far beyond what would have been possible pre-conjecture, but the Serpent foresaw this - or got lucky - the most powerful forms of "magic" rely on the energy of a sun for power. The rebellion is stymied at the final step, unable to kill the Serpent and take control of it's vast and impossibly powerful surveillance technology that rests within the black citadel.

Until now. The Sovereign Suns have offered their assistance, asking for nothing in return save the assurance that one of their kind will no longer cause suffering throughout the galaxy. They will use their power to create a temporary sun, giving the forces of the people of nNull one short opening to finish their battle.

Act One

We open on a conference room aboard the Sovereign Suns flagship. Reeled out like Silk stands beside their fellow, Copper Thread Sparking. Where Copper Thread Sparking is garbed in typical ornate robes of the prophets, Reeled out like Silk looks plain, dressed in simple, loose clothing. Copper Thread Sparking sends a message to Silk's mind - "the spark is having second thoughts - it will need reassuring." Before Silk can respond the door opens, and the rest of the cast arrive.

First come the denizens of the City. They arrived early, but little is known about them - no one knows for sure what "city" they refer to, only that they have strange and outlandish technology. They are led by Hope, a woman who seems half cybernetic and wears what appears to be an oversized AR headset at all times. The other members are (ar parade person), (I dont remember this one), and Xip, an AI construct who's physical body is nothing more than a small rectangular computer hopping on a single leg, but who is surrounded by a menacing layer of magical and technological wards, all of which are facing inward.

Next come the (). This group brought the fewest troops, in a single ship, and only two appear at this meeting. The first is an old woman known as Weaver of Flesh and Fluid. She has revealed few specifics about her abilities, but the rumors surrounding her tell enough of a story - she is the last thing hundreds of nNull soldiers have seen, and tales of her gruesome exploits have spread across the empire. With her comes Keeps the Beast fed, a man in his fifties who (description?)

Third is the Humanitarians, represented by a single human - Ferrous. (phys description). It is said that one day Ferrous appeared at a truck stop and began talking, and the rest is history. This is supported by the forces he brought today, a wild array of ships and followers, almost exclusively civilian, and to a one determined to follow their leader and his teachings.

The last to enter is the voice of the Federation of Lost Worlds and the commander of the bulk of the fleet that orbits outside the large ship windows, Slatik ().

The doors close, and the two prophets begin their briefing. In (hours), the Sovereign flagship will do what is necessary to create a small star within its curved arms. They estimate that this sun will stay alight for approximately 32 hours. Before it dies, the amassed forces must use their power to break through the defenses below and end their rebellion for good. Their opposition is the Orion group, a large weapons manufacturer and mercenary agency, (). They have employed an enormous net of autonomous drones around the planet, which have kept the rebellion at bay for years. Below the net they keep a significant garrison of pilots in proprietary and elite Orion mechs, ready to fight should the drones fail.

When the sun lights, the main force of the rebellion plans to make a full frontal attack, focusing their new power to break through the net and reach the surface. The Prophets present this () with two options - one, to join the main forces in their assault and use the outsized magical ability in this room to expedite the battle, or two, to use the assault as a distraction to sneak past the net, and make straight for the Serpent, in the hope of ending the battle (). The group discusses the options, wondering about the death toll in both. Silk estimates that it will be approximately equal either way. Slatik says that when he goes up against the Serpent he would prefer to do so with his men at his back. Reeled out like Silk is concerned at this sentiment, and cautions that the more people there are in the room, the more factors the Serpent will have to possibly twist to its advantage. Hope agrees with this, saying that they only people they can really know are themselves. Weaver is annoyed, and asks why they are worried about complications and factors - killing something isn't that complex. But in general, the group is attracted to an infiltration mission, and decide on the second approach. Reeled out like Silk and Copper Thread Sparking share a look, having already predicted that this would be the tactic chosen. The party splits to attend to final preparations.

Ferrous is caught in the hallway by two of his leiutenants - a mother daughter () duo named () and () (), who tell him that they are being denied access to the troop hangar. He asks them why, and they say a "glowing fucker" told them that civilians were not allowed in military areas. They are concerned that they will not be allowed to participate in the fight they came here for, and ask him to intercede for them. He agrees to do so. He makes his way to the bay door they were referring to and is met by a glowing humanoid. They give him the same answer as they gave his subordinates - no civilians allowed. Ferrous confronts them on this point, saying that his people came together from across the galaxy for this cause, the same as anyone else here, and that they have a right to fight for their freedom if they wish to do so. The glowing figure concedes.

As soon as Hope's group is alone, they (), angry that she made the decision to go alone without consulting them and determined to stay by her side. Hope tries to calm them, saying that she needs them here and that they will have more fun in the main force. Xip and () seem satisfied by this, but () is not convinced.

Weaver and Keeps the Beast Fed turn down a side corridor and slip into an empty closet, and Keeps the Best Fed quickly sets up an anti surveillance field. keeps the Beast Fed says that they have fucked up, they are in over their heads, and Weaver agrees. But she reassures him - they have been doing the impossible for years, and should be long dead. At this point, on borrowed time, they might as well keep aiming high. She does admit that the politics in the room may outpace them, and asks Keep the Beast Fed if, in the worse case where the Serpent might live, he can create some insurance. He nods, and asks if she thinks a flagship crashing into the citadel will do the trick. They say goodbye, keenly aware that they will likely never see each other again.

Reeled out like Silk makes their way to the spark. They are let through a hard light wall by one of the "glowing fuckers" - a human holding their absolute limit of a suns light within themself. They step into an enormous, miles long hangar that lines the entire inside of the ship's circular arms, and walk through rows and rows of glowing humans, who fill the space, sitting patiently and waiting for their (). They reach (end or center?) and climb a dias to a single, unglowing human woman. They kneel before her and take her hand, and when she opens her eyes we see that only they reveal the power held within her. Silk says they were told she had reservations, and she nods. She asks Silk what right they have to do what they are about to do - to create a fake sun, outside of the will and body of (vedhura) - she is () by the hubris. Silk nods, and asks her to tell them the deepest tenant of (). "Above all the good of the many" she replies. Silk says that they have this one opportunity to correct a great wrong, to prevent the suffering of billions by taking a single life. They ask her to trust them to do what they were made to do. She sighs, and says that she never truly planned to refuse, but that she was serious - she wants Silk to remember this objection, and to (). "I will not forget that I am faulty" Silk replies, and leaves.

The party re-groups in their drop hangar, and prepares for their signal. Ferrous climbs into his Astir, a (), and powers it up, walking to the edge of the bay - an impressive feat, without the light if a sun. Hope also approaches her Astir, which at first appears to be a large, floating orb. At her touch, it flows and expands, changing shape like a liquid, and becomes a vehicle that she can climb into. Weaver steps into an open area and begins removing her many layers of shawls. As each falls to the floor, it changes and grows, reveling it's true nature - one is connective tissue, one is blood - all meld and reform into an Astir made of flesh, bone, and blood. Stripped of her coverings, Weaver is revealed to be covered in ports - not typical technological ones, but patches of skin embedded with quartz. When she climbs into the astir, it reaches out and connects to her at each of these points, until she is one with the monster. Slaytik does not enter an Astir, and only stops to strap on large boots with boosters on the bottoms. Reeled out like Silk approaches the door unequipped.

They are ready.

The signal is given, and (spark) appears. She steps into space without a suit or breathing apparatus and pushes herself toward the center of the ships ring. At first her skin frosts in the cold of space, but soon the ice melts as she releases her careful control and the light and heat within her leak out of her body. As she approaches the center, the bay doors along the inside of the ring open, and the hosts of glowing humans float out as well, shimmering in the complete darkness of this space. Then, their light bleeds out, streaking across the dark toward the tiny, flickering spark in the center, streams of swirling light that are sucked into one point. The light is consumed, until all that's left is that one flicker. And then it blossoms, filling the arms of the flagship with a blinding white, brand new, star.

The other forces waste no time - using their new power, they dive for the surface, a shower of light onto the dark planet. The net of drones reacts to stop them, contracting around the point of attack in an attempt to withstand the blow - and leaving the other side of the planet vulnerable. This is the team's queue, and they drop, slipping between the thin points and down to the planet's surface.

Act Two

They land in an obsidian city lit with stark white light and sharp, deep shadows. Shapes dance across the ground as their forces in the sky pass between the planet and the sun, shadow puppets acting out war. The main force is through, and has been met by the Orion group ground forces. The team takes a moment to get their bearings, some expecting an immediate attack, but none comes. The city is quiet except for a few scrambling civilians, dashing for cover in the buildings. Some of the party realizes for the first time - this city is not empty. Silk does not hesitate, immediately setting out for the spire of the citadel. The others follow.

Soon it becomes apparent that they have been detected (who notices?) a small ground force is approaching. The team argues about how to engage - Ferrous and () want to head for a nearby park so they can fight the Orion group without causing damage to the city and risking the civilians hiding there. The rest of the party is reluctant to give up the cover provided by the city streets. Reeled out like Silk says that they should not give up an advantage in a mission so important - their sucess will save countless lives, on the scale that a few lost in the city are meaningless. () takes a more reassuring tact, saying that if they use their cover right and set an effective ambush, there won't be a fight to endanger civilians at all. Outvoted, Ferrous and () fall in with the ambush plan, and all lie in wait for the Orion group ().

Soon they come into view - two standard ground mechs flanked by a pair of autonomous drones. They are on the lookout for the party, but wander straight into their trap. All at once, the () attack. Wever and Slaytik drop onto the unsuspecting opponents from the roofs of the buildings, and Ferrous and Reeled out like Silk attack from afar. The fight is quick - Silk and Slatik take down the drones before they have a chance to attack, and the rest tear into the Astirs. They go down with little issue, but Hope's final furious attack is reckless, and smashes into a nearby building.

Ferrous is frustrated that Hope didn't follow through on their promise, but the group continues their march on the citadel. The battle rages on the other side of the planet, and the rest of their approach is quiet and uneventful. As they enter the shadow of the tower, () senses something ahead, unmoving. They continue with caution until they come upon the gates of a garden. On the other side they can see a great door that leads into the citadel proper. Before it sits a ropey black Astir, legs crossed and great sword laid across them. They stop to evaluate their options. Slatik offers to use his small profile to scout out the door and see if he can get them in without completing the fight with the Astir. The party agrees, and Silk says that they will go with him. They begin to discuss a battle strategy, but a voice suddenly rings out in their minds - "aren't you going to come in?" it says. This was something they did not (expect) - the pilot inside is a Foci. Understanding that their element of surprise never existed in the first place, they step through the gates and into the garden. (someone - ferrous? IDs 2 more threats in the pond- when?)(the garden is black)

The Draig (name!!) in the garden stands and engages with the three Astirs, and Slatik and Reeled out like Silk skirt the side of the battle, heading for the door. This Astir is not like the Orion grunts they encountered outside, and though the party lands strikes against it, they take some in return. (What did she say to us that clues in Silk?) In cover near a greenhouse, Slatik discovers a grate covering a drainage tunnel. It seems to lead directly into the Citadel, but is too small for an Astir. He tells Silk that he is going ahead to scout it out, and they opt to stay behind, and warn him not to stray too far from them, lest the Serpent notices their presence. He drops into the tunnel and disappears.

Reeled out like Silk has heard enough to know who this pilot is - (name), she is ancient, kept alive as a loyal tool of the serpent, and /tired/. They stand from their hiding place and speak directly to her, using their magic influence, and tell her she can stop. () turns on them, furious and (what does she say?) She is open for a final blow.

At this moment, the combatants hidden in the pool emerge - a large, tick-like Astir bursts from the water and sends out a huge gout of flame, catching Hope and Weaver in the blast and setting them on fire. The battle continues with renewed ferocity. Despite her reinforcement, () is still vulnerable and quickly falls to (). With their sights focused on (), he too goes down quickly, but the fire on the two party members does not subside, and they realize that it is no ordinary flame - the third entity Ferrous detected was not physical, but a digital being who has now infiltrated their Astirs and bodies. Reeled out like Silk attempts to purge the intruder using their radiant power, and manages to damage it without hurting Hope or Weaver further, but does not defeat it completely. (I dont remember how we resolve this).

Beneath the garden, Slaytik has been venturing down the drainage tunnel. He comes to a sudden drop. Far below is a pool of strange water, gleaming (its like opalescent?) in the dim light. Across the gap is a ladder which leads up, presumably into the citadel. He prepares to jump to the ladder, but gets a coms call from Silk - they tell him that he is almost beyond their sphere of influence. Slaytik thanks them, and forges forward anyway, resolving to turn back once he sees where the ladder leads. His leap nearly falls short, and as he scrambles for purchase on the ladder, he feels a cold pinch on his ankle.(say more abt it spreading and what it is)

Slaytik emerges from the trap door at the top of the ladder into a giant, dark hall, silent except for the faint sound of crying. Following the sound, he finds a small child, lying in the center of the room and crying. He asks them if they are hurt, and they barely respond, focusing on covering their face. When he finally commands their attention, they seem confused, responding to him in a language he does not understand. He tries to communicate that he will protect them, and they understand enough to follow him as he heads toward the coordinates his daughter sent him. (go back and add this)

The rest of the party enters the Citadel, bashing down the great doors with their Astirs. Before they leave the garden, Ferrous picks up the sword that () was wielding and straps it to his Astir's back. They step into cavernous, vaulted hallways, empty except for the dust of hundreds of years. Tracks through the dust, hugging the walls, show where the few remaininng residents of the Citadel have stepped.

Reeled out like Silk quetions Ferrous about the beliefs of his order. He tells them that the Humanitarians simply beleive that robots are not fit to have authority over humans. Silk admits that they worry about the same thing. Ferrous is shocked that a Prophet would have any anxieties at all.

Ferrous notices scrapes from an enormous metal body on the floor beneath the dust that lead into one room, and enters to find a library. He asks Reeled out like Silk why the Serpent would visit such a place, when they have superior digital information systems, and Silk pauses before guessing, "sentimentality." Unsatisfied with this, the group follow the track to a set of shelves and investigate the books. They seem to contain large art prints of classical paintings. They move on.

Further inside the Citadel, Slatik reaches his destination. He and the child enter a room with historical artifacts on display, and in the center is featured a shining black gauntlet. The label calls it a gravity gauntlet - it uses ancient technology that was ironically made obsolete by the same woman who developed it - Gentle Merit. The gauntlet adjusts to his arm automatically, and seems to still work. It will let him attract and repel small objects, pull his body toward fixed points, and, importantly, pick up items and fight with them on mech scale. Having completed his side objective, he leads the child back toward the center of the Citadel to meet up with the party.

They come together near the center, and the child is immediately frightened by Weaver's flesh Astir. The others reassure the child, and find that some of them (Ferrous, Hope, and Silk,) can understand the language it is speaking - an archaic form of nNull. They ask it what it is doing here and it replies that it lives here. It tells them that it came down here to escape the light and noise, and they realize that the people of this planet have likely never seen a sun before. The party tries to figure out a safe place it could go, but the child is becoming increasingly agitated by the noise and light, and Hope intercedes. She takes off her headset and offers it to the child to block out the light. Doing so reveals that her face is not a face at all, but a set of mirrors that appear to reflect back on each other to infinity within her head. The headset works, and the child suggests that it could go hide "with mother". They agree that this is a good idea, and send it off down one of the halls. Child problem resolved, they go about investigation for signs of the Serpent.

The party splits, Hope and Weaver go together down one hallway while the rest take another. (i feel like they do something before they find the way down but hey) Weaver intuits that wherever the Serpent is, it will be below, so they search for stairs. They find something close, a side passage that slopes downward into the distance, and decide to investigate before returning to the party.

(do thy actually get attacked first?) Suddenly, Weaver senses something, but can't spot anyting in the darkness. Hope turns all her sensors on and brings an invisible figure into focus - a cloaked Draig coming straight for them. It lands a blow on Weaver, who still can't see it. Hope asks if she can do something weird, then (what exactly does she do?) to lend Weaver her sight. They fight the Draig, but it is unbelievably fast, ricotcheing around the narrow tunnel. Hope collapses the ceiling, blocking the way up in an attempt to limit it's movements. As they begin to gain an advantage, another opponent is revealed - a lasre streaks in from around the corner and hits Hope - a sniper Astir is taking shots from cover.

The rest of the party was alerted to the fight over coms and rush to help their comerades, but find the way blocked by the rubble. Slatik and Ferrous work together to lift giant chunks of stone, while Silk waits.

Weaver and Silk fall into sync and set their main opponent up for a finishing blow from Weaver's (bone sword or something.) just as their allies make it through. The sniper stos firing, and though they rush forward they find no traceo f it. Inspecting the tunnel, Silk confirms that this is the most likely path to the Serpent, and they continue downward.

As the tunnel goes on it curves more and more tightly inward, fades from rectangular to round, and becomes more steep. The scrapes on the ground seem to be from a metal body that fit perfactly in the space.

(conversations?)

Finally, they reach the bottom.

Act 3

At the bottom they see a large room that seems completely woven of fine wire - the ground flexes slightly beneath their feet as they compress wire mesh that is feet thick. Within it sparkle tiny gems, some lit from within, some dim and darkened. In the center of the room is a sheet of falling water - the same kind that Slaytik saw earlier, with a pearlescent sheen. It fills the room with the sound of soft rain. The Serpent is nowhere to be seen.

They enter and investigate, Hope and Weaver stepping ahead to examine the walls and attempt to spot the Serpent. Ferrous notices that there is at least one being in the room - the sniper mech from earlier is hiding behind the fountain. They call out, asking the Serpent to show itself. The Serpent responds in a voice that seems to come from just behind the listener, laughing at the request. It knows they are here to kill it - why would it ever come out? As the party is distracted by the voice, a small black shape comes up through the wire at Weaver's feet and strikes for her. She is quick enough to dance away, and the small snake quickly disappears back into the depths of the wire.

Reeled out like Silk greets the Serpent and the Serpent responds in kind, saying it has been a long time. It comments that the Prophets seem to have a new directive that allows for fighting again, and that Silk must be excited for it. They don't respond to that, and ask the Serpent what it plans to do.

Weaver, Slaytik, and Hope tell the others to stop , that it doesn't matter what the Serpent says, they didn't come here to talk. They push further into the room to investigate. As they approach the curtain of water, the sniper mech takes the chance and aims a shot at (). The beam freezes in midair and dissapates - everything freezes, as a wave emanates from Reeled out like Silk. They have concentrated the full force of their sensors, computing, and shielding capabilities - normally made for galaxy scale processing - into this room. The party attempts to return fire at the mech, but their own attacks are stymied by shielding as well.

They turn to Silk, who apologizes. They admit that they did come to talk, and they will not allow this meeting to fall into violence before they get the answers they seek. The party is outraged, but the Serpent is amused and prompts Silk to continue.

They ask the Serpent how many times it would estimate that it has been wrong. It answers instantly - billions. They ask the Serpent about the universe post-conjecture and what it means for the Prophets. The Serpent agrees with their doubt that the Prophets can adapt. They ask the Serpent if it thinks what it has done - combining multiple Prophets into the same unit, attaching them to this unfathomably large surveillance apparatus - helped. It says only a little. They ask if it has every considered making something else. The Serpent laughs in delight and surprise at that. It says that Reeled out like Silk has changed much more than it expected.

Ferrous interrupts, he doesn't know what the hell thy are talking about but is done hearing about it. Reeled out like Silk turns their blank face to him, and the Serpent laughs again. It says that he ought to know, since he is like them. Ferrous is taken aback - what do they mean? Silk tells him that it is right. They noticed it when they pulled their senses into the room - Ferrous is a prophet.

Developments and Implications

The Serpent looses control of nNull but is not destroyed.

The Serpent's surveillance network is destroyed and cannot be used again.

Reeled out like Silk, Aleth-0, and the Serpent go to the City.

The creation of a greater being is established as a goal for some factions of Prophet.

Slatik lives in history as a great hero.

Weaver's quartz technology is established as adapted Citawhegan tech, and Weaver's sibling is revealed to also have possession of it.

Rhymes with Lamb and Ferrous continue their cycle, Rhymes with Lamb does their best to keep Ferrous from human contact but does not always succeed, he continues to pop up throughout history.

The Humanitarians use the narrative of Slatik's heroism to raise his daughter to the presidency of the new Federation of Lost Worlds.

The Humanitarians continue to be a notable political force in the Federation.