#14thage

“ Written details and instructions become as vague and uncertain as myths given enough time." - Ossimira Meigs, "Technospectives." 

The legendary weapons and crystals of the old forge masters continued to glow and sparkle for many years after the white ships left their home world.  To the dismay of all however the imbued qualities faded over time and for ages they remained stunning but static examples of craftwork seemingly beyond the people’s skill.  

Or at least it seemed.  

Many attempts were made to forge new weapons, often using gems and metals from lesser ancient examples.  The techniques were well documented and often practiced.  But to no avail.  New and ancient blade and gem sat dark.

The dark was how best Benjimir preferred to keep his quarters at night with his gaze and mind cast toward the stars ahead.  Of late the blue world and it's moons along the fleets course were foremost on his mind.  One pale and white, the other red and luminous.  As was customary the fleet was deep into study of the bodies orbiting the star ahead.  The fleets intended destination was directly past this system in the center of a constellation, at least from the perspective of their forefathers.  

There were many whose task it already was to determine plans to navigate the system, take advantage of the opportunity to obtain resources before the fleets journey continued.  This did not prevent Benjimir from pondering the same things for himself.  

It was a faint shimmer from his case of relics which drew his attention away from the starscape outside his porthole.  The Beacon of Andunie had awakened.

"The Forge Masters were true in every way to their lore and traditions.  Still, what their efforts produced remained dark and inert.  What old and new alike lacked what ancient lore did not prescribe. Purpose." - Benjimir Thursby, "The Analects."

Six years removed before Benjimir’s footfall on the Sagolii, the Andustar reported a variety of observations of the red moon which lay ahead of the fleet.  Observations had demonstrated that this moon had begun to shift in its orbit.  Caution dictated closer monitoring that thus led to unnerving revelations.  

The corps of craft and making studied images, prepared briefings to advise the Command Advocate General (CAG)-the term given to replace that of Steward-and fleet commanders as to what the findings could mean.  The most accomplished, the Master Keepers, had not completed those reports before Benjimir briefed them all to awaking the night before of the long vanished glow of ancient relics and the Silithar seeming to sing with a resonance to an unseen connection.

Word of the ancient relics taking on new life was not widely disseminated within the fleet.  However study of the blue world and its moon intensified.  Soon signs of the Dossimir or "Dossi" Effect were observed from the Andustar and correlated with findings from the Meneltarmir and Entullesse.  

The “Dossi’ effect was named for the alchemist Obrick Dossimir who first learned how to tie crystals into resonance across vast distances.  The discovery became the foundation of many technocrafts.  It was the basis on which the means to communicate through Commstones without the loss of time between each became possible.  

The Craft and Lore "Master Keepers" were only able to touch on the depths of the 'Dossi' Effect' but the possibilities seemed without limits.  After an age, the craft seemed nearly as magic even to those who were well practiced in its works.  It was deeply unnerving, generations after sailing from their home, for the near mythical relics to spring to life seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  Whatever the red moon was as well as its presumed parent world, it had a resonance with craft and lore from ages and a hundred thousand light years away.

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"Note the pattern of the striations of the surface.  They seem on close observation to be random, yet they are uniformly angular, 90 degrees and perpendicular at each junction point.  

Additionally, analyzed at a higher level they are not random but a repeating pattern which spans the visible surface.  Notably there are also these crystalline structures at precise points along longitudinal and latitudinal points.  Which a crystalline lattice might create such precise appearances, the statistical odds of this occurring on such a scale are unfathomable.  

It can only be surmised that what we have deemed a moon is in fact a structure of intelligent engineering and construction.  The purpose of its movement and means of locomotion is yet indeterminal.” 

"For some it was akin to something out a scary story from our youth.  As if old toys had come to life and would only find rest if some super natural feat appeased a spirit of some sort."

- Bondermir Exidines, "Stuff I Saw Too."

Ancient icons of their past coming to life after millennia.  A world and moon clearly inhabited and rich with resources not seen beyond their home.  Or at least for the moment.  Andustar's latest track of it pointed to the red moon being drawn deeper into Arda's gravity well and for no reason that could be attributed to natural explanations.  There were the great mysteries of existence and there were these.  Nothing about these mysteries could be happenstance.  Nothing about the fall of the red moon could be natural.  The precision with which all things were occurring as the White Fleet came to this place itself could only be purposeful.

Benjimir sat back in his reclining chair in front of his quarters generous viewing panel.  His eyes immediately caught the red moon.  He knew crews throughout the White Fleet had given names to it, all of ill omen and foreboding from beyond living memory.  He had his own preferred term for the moon he did not give voice too but he shared the consensus feeling about the angry dot in space.  He looked at a viewer and accessed the latest metrics status from Andustar.  "Moon holding CBDR relative to Arda 922 track point of intercept, 05:14:3291 GR.  Dossimir disturbances consistent and growing."

Shifting the viewers screen Benjimir began to tap out outlines of orders.  He knew the rumors running through the Keepers divisions.  He knew the anecdotal comments passed onto him from off-watch officers and station minders.  By mid-watch the next day Keeper Miegs would have a well formed report she had been writing in parts few days compiled into a full report.  It would detail disturbances in their communication systems, which were based on Dossimir Effect crafting, that kindred signals were detectable but undecipherable at that time.  The structure would make it leave no question of the crafting skills of whomever the peoples were giving life to the lights, roads and settlements on Arda 922.

All of these details would make the orders he drafted and immediately ordered seem prophetic and impactful.

“Obrick held that if you quantified all the eventualities which might manifest ill, than by the precepts of Dossimir's Statute it would be so.  

Obrick was an optimist."

-Benjimir Thursby, The Analects.

The Silithar was attached to a mount suspended within a spherical cage made of a metal mesh.  Benjimir watched as the Craft Master Keeper, Osimira Miegs, activated a computator cycle.  A pulse of energy surged into the bottom of the Silithar and at once a ribbon of light burst through the top of the crystal with a snap and hiss.  The ribbon remained rooted at the tip of the crystal and undulated.  

"The cage is unnecessary so far as we've observed.  The energy never extends beyond this length at this setting."  

Benjimir nodded, glancing down at the gauges measuring how much power had been input through the crystal.  

"It's an amplified arc...or ribbon.  Hows it contained?" he asked.  

Miegs nodded and replied, "Not contained, there is no field effect being used.  The energy flows out, then back to the crystal.  No thermal energy loss.  No radiant electron field emitted."  

Benjimir flared his brow,

"Dossimir?" he asked.  

"No sir, this is something different we have not yet given name too.  Whatever the force is, the initial energy surge triggers the ribbon, but virtually all of it remains in a sort of cycle we think.  It requires a slight negative energy draw to deactivate the ribbon.  But there is no correlating link to another crystal, so far as we can tell."  

Benjimir looked impressed and asked.  

"And the other ancient weapons, the shimmer and glow?"  

Miegs hedged with a tip of her head but nodded.  "We think it is the same effect if by means and origins we haven't determined yet.  We can observe and possibly measure the force guiding the energy, adding to it, but there is something beyond it which we cannot quantify."  Benjimir nodded slowly in response.  

The ribbon had seemed to slow it's movement, projecting largely straight and away from the leading tip of the crystal.  Fixated on the image he asked,

"Can we replicate this, with new forged weapons, devices?"  

Miegs drew a breath and answered slowly having gone over records of past crafting efforts dating to the century after the original effects such as this had diminished then ceased.  

"Yes.  In a fashion.  Already some lesser artifacts from weapon crafting during the decline and end of the past recorded .....manifestations of the effect are showing similar qualities to this. If less efficient.  We don't dare use the eldar crystals, so our past and new efforts use rited derivatives."  Benjimir continued to focus on the ribbon which was nearly steady.  

"Rited?"  

Miegs silently forgave Benjimir his study of history over the crafting lore and explained.  

"-ite, a suffix to the core substance, meaning created or derived from synthetic or natural materials.  Dossimirite, Dolimite, Kyberite, Etherite, etc."  

Benjimir pinched his lips and nodded,

"Aye, forgot, I studied...."

"...history...." Miegs echoed, finishing his reply.  Miegs answered his next question as she continued.  

"Yes sir, a noble and underappreciated field of the liberal arts.  As you can see, the ribbon seems to stabilize under observation.  We've noticed the stability varies depending on whom or what is observing, but it appears to be a proof of "Obrick's Blind."  Where the figurative trump card in a persons hand can be high or low at the same time, but you don't know which until you turn the card."  

"I never realized Dossimir played at cards."  Benjimir glanced away and as he did the ribbon swayed again.  

"Obrick's Blind holds that it requires an act of observation for the Dossimir Effect to take hold." Miegs added.  

"So you are saying a person can control the ribbon?"  Benjimir asked.  

"Or possibly the crystal, maybe both, we aren't sure." Miegs said.

Benjimir broke his attention away from the ribbon which began to sway freely as it had before.  He pressed the viewer symbol for shut-down and the ribbon withdrew into the Silithar which flared bright blue before resuming a soft glow.  

"Very well.  Secure the Silithar in my quarters.  And immediately have your team begin to check our comms systems, look for any off-nominal performance, especially anything correlated to the observations tied to Arda and its moon."  

He turned and with a courtesy nod as Miegs bowed slightly he walked to his quarters.  The Andustar's telemetry report had arrived with high resolution images of the surfaces of the moon and Arda 922.

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