Theories on the Daam-K'Vosh

[jammi]

This article is an excerpt from the larger Daam-K'Vosh page from the Discovery Wiki.

Theories on the Daam-K'Vosh

The Daam-K'vosh (DKV) are an ancient race of aliens that lived hundreds of millions to billions of years in the past. They are believed to have once had an empire that spanned the known universe, possessing technology capable of moulding space, time, and life itself.

Despite this, they mysteriously and abruptly vanished, with the exact cause remaining unknown. The DKV and their creations are the only intelligent alien species humanity is currently aware of.

Humanity's understanding of the DKV is currently patchwork and limited, and significantly hindered by many discoveries remaining classified by House authorities, hidden by clandestine organisations, or siloed in corporate research labs. As a result, it is very difficult for any one individual to assemble a complete picture of humanity's collective knowledge.

Despite this, prominent institutions of study across Sirius have established their own xenoarchaeology divisions to carry out academic - or applied - research into their history, culture and technology through the excavation and exploration of ancient ruins. A number of theories have emerged to try and explain the departure of the DKV from Sirius.

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Extinction theory

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Extinction theory posits that the DKV were wiped out, although the precise mechanisms through which this would have occurred remain speculative. Popular suggestions include disease, civil war, a revolt by a creation / subject, or a targeted extermination by a second, as yet unknown, alien species. This remains a deeply controversial position in academia, particularly due to the complete absence of any fossilised DKV remains that might provide further insight.

Napo Field fragments, Omicron Theta

Critics of the theory argue that most common explanations do not account for the circumstances that current evidence describes. For example, a multi-stellar empire that fell from an epidemic of some sort could reasonably be expected to gradually decline as quarantine measures were compromised and overcome - this would also have a high probability of leaving isolated colonies of survivors. Additionally, such disasters would leave evidence of remains which are so far conspicuously missing.

This theory gained a significant boost in the late eighth century, when Zoners and explorers from the Houses began to more fully chart Omicron Theta. The Sabana Fragments are believed to be the remnants of a destroyed planet, while the ominous crystalline formations of the Napo Cloud have been described as "architectural" in nature. Speculation about cataclysmic "system destroying" battles immediately ran rampant.

The suggestions that the Napo "asteroid field" was in fact the remains of a ruined DKV facility appeared to be further bolstered after free-floating Artifacts were discovered within. Despite the scientific community's interest, further study of these anomalies has been extremely limited. This is owed to the extreme hostility of local Corsairs to trespassers in their claimed territories, and their jealous protection of Artifact sources.

In recent years, it has been further hypothesized that the scattered fragments visible on the surface of Jericho in Coronado could be the wreckage of a DKV vessel - the first ever encountered if so. Unfortunately, attempts to study these for further evidence of this theory have resulted in failure, as an extreme, short-range electromagnetic and radioactive field surrounding them has consistently destroyed approaching probes. Longer range visual inspection has been uninformative.

While the Extinction Theory has a number of influential supporters in modern academia, particularly among the generally pessimistic schools of Hamburg University. it is not shared by those possessing secret knowledge of DKV caches, such as Valhalla One or the Mennecy Vault.

This includes the governments of Liberty and Gallia, and groups such as The Order. This is because the seeding of technological caches to guide a successor's development would seem to preclude the DKV being exterminated in some cataclysmic conflict, save perhaps an improbable mass suicide.

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Migration theory

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Migration theory describes the possibility that Sirius was little more than a remote colony or worksite for a vast and distant pan-galactic empire. Whether for economic reasons, as part of a cyclic mass-migration, conflict, or mere preference... the DKV abandoned the colony and withdrew to their core territories.

This theory was initially popular among academia's more optimistic (or at least less fatalistic) xenoarchaeologists, who assumed the DKV continue to exist elsewhere in the universe (and perhaps harboured hopes that they might one day return to answer questions).

This is an enticing idea to pop culture, demonstrated by the countless holovirals and games depicting a DKV return to Sirius. This notably includes the popular "Phantom Hunter" franchise, which sees the DKV manifest to grant humanity weapons to fight off an invasion of fictional aliens known as "Crathygtans".

Migration Theory is often combined with Patron Theory and / or the Fine-Tuned Sector hypothesis, which states Sirius was intentionally engineered to particular standards. Supporters of the two theories may argue that the DKV acted as precursors who established the conditions to allow life to flourish, before withdrawing to allow it to develop and evolve naturally towards independent intelligences.

This has historically been a particularly popular position among Cambridge academia, driving significant support towards The Gaians in defence of the unique ecology of Planet Gaia.

The Order has since abandoned Migration Theory due to their access to the Sinclair Artifact, which acts as a map of DKV Hypergate nodes across this and adjacent galaxies. This entire network appears to be equally dormant, indicating that whatever befell the DKV occurred on a significantly larger scale than Sirius alone.

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Ascension theory

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Ascension theory is a newly revitalised disappearance explanation that applies a maximalist interpretation of the DKV's powers and capabilities. This assumes they had hit the limits of science itself, bending space and time to their will. This theory describes a civilisation that had reached the "end-state" of the scientific method. They pushed their technology to the point where there was no further to go, boxed in by the fundamental laws of our universe's reality.

Similar to Migration theory, Ascension argues that the DKV are simply somewhere else. Rather than a physical location in our or another galaxy, Ascensionists boldly claim the DKV instead grew beyond the spatial confines of our reality, moving as god-like beings into the uncountable dimensions that lie beyond or beneath it.

For centuries this view has been treated as fringe pseudoscience, espoused as dogma by spiritualist kooks rather than trained xenoarchaeologists. The first tentative evidence for the theory emerged unexpectedly from researchers affiliated with The Core in 818 AS. Leaked, anonymous claims alleged a translated cache of Nauru Artifacts had provided the hint of an implication about dimensional manipulation and travel.

The Core refused to comment on "superstitious nonsense", while also resolutely refusing academics access to their Artifact catalogues for peer review, claiming "commercial confidentiality." Following the 821 AS internal schism that resulted in the birth of The Technocracy, Ascension theory was again stoked on as its senior ex-Core leadership claimed to possess secretive insider knowledge on the matter. This has since cultivated a convoluted web of conspiracy theorists and "true believers."

As a result, Ascension theory has taken on an entirely new character as an ideology rather than a simple attempt to explain the fate of the DKV. Now, proponents argue that ascension was not enabled by any innate characteristics of the DKV themselves, but rather a technological path they pioneered - that humanity can follow. This has resulted in extreme technological accelerationist positions, arguing in favour of unfettered AI, human augmentation, and technological hybridisation with DKV Artifacts.

It is unclear whether The Technocracy genuinely believes in this ideology, or is simply stoking it with promises of secret knowledge as a means of filtering or manipulating potential assets. Ascension Churches see the DKV as self-created gods to be venerated, and their Artifacts holy relics to be obtained and protected. The Liberty Security Force have already noted several examples of Manhattan art dealerships being burgled and vandalised by Ascensionist radicals, with the stolen Artifacts being "tithed" to The Technocracy for "preservation".

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Patron theory

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Patron theory focuses on the motive for a DKV disappearance, rather than the specific mechanism. As a result, it is frequently combined with either Ascension or Migration theory, often alongside the Fine-Tuned Sector hypothesis. Patron theory suggests that the DKV departed from Sirius and / or the wider universe to allow successor species to inherit the garden they had created.

In some schools of thought, this refers to non-human species seeded on Sirius' worlds, that might one day evolve to exhibit intelligence of their own. To others, humanity itself is that successor, with some postulating Earth's own development may have been the result of DKV life seeding or uplifting.

To support this argument, proponents point to the alien fauna discovered in the Sirius sector, which is frequently carbon-based, metabolizes similar proteins, and often requires similar Oxygen-based atmospheres. Critics retort that this is not necessarily evidence of intelligent interference with humanity's evolution, but may indicate that there are common pathways to life that are governed by fundamental physical laws.

While this theory remains entirely abstract and hypothetical in the public eye, it is known to be objectively true - to some extent - by those governments and organisations that have awareness of the Valhalla-One or Mennecy Vault caches. The DKV did indeed seed Sirius with technological libraries that were intended to impart specific scientific insights on a successor at appropriate milestones in their development.

Awareness of this fact raised issues of existential security within Liberty and Gallia's early governments: Were the DKV monitoring their project, or had they departed to allow matters to run their course? Were the caches intended for any worthy successor with the knowledge to open them, or were they designed for a particular recipient? Was humanity that successor, or was our intrusion theft? Would theft from the DKV brook a response in anger?

While passing centuries dulled these concerns - the DKV did not appear to react to humanity's plundering - they surfaced once more in the aftermath of the Colony Wars. It became clear to Liberty and The Order that The Nomads had likely been intended as the DKV's successor. With the DKV's pupils now awakened from stasis and reacting to their occupation of their creche, concern over potential DKV responses have returned once more to strategic planners.

Was the sophistication of the DKV so profound that they anticipated humanity's arrival in Sirius? Is tackling and surmounting this "challenge" a part of the DKV's plans for the Nomads? Or conversely, are humanity an unintended "outside context problem" that are disrupting The Nomads' carefully guided development? Would the DKV intervene if the Nomads' war on humanity led them to the precipice of their own destruction?

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