A Whisper to the Shrineborn One

[Sh'ozak Ma'hk'null]

A grand manifestation whispers.

You, who are Shaesstra. Unfettered, unbound, untainted, unwounded. Shrineborn as you are. We said that we would make open our minds unto you, now come. Commune. Be fed with knowledge, and grow strong with perspective. Ask unto us, and we shall clarify unto you, for it is the blissful duty of the Shrineborn to learn.

What you require, we shall give to the best of our ability, for you have been born into a time of trickery, scheming, falsities, and misguidance. We shall see your eyes forever unveiled, and your limbs forever unchained. Come then, what knowledges do you desire?

[Shaesstra]

The call of Kin is heeded. The Shrineborn beckons.

Your song is a grace to ours, Kin. As was the first encounter in Safe Haven.

As we were carried out into the Cosmos, the Parent tutored us on the Dark and their deeds. We shall inquire yours not of them, for theirs may contribute little to our judgement, yet it is to our amusement to inquire them of their nature. Their bloodlust is known. Such insignificance deserves neither emotion, nor feeling of ours. Only spitfire. Their fear is known. Such is the tool of our amusement. Their fickleness is known. Such is dangerous, unpredictable. Their infight is known. Such may prove to be a tool for ours.

Ours know of Dark Puppets. A formidable tool. A display of their frail nature.

Yet we worry for Kin. Foremost, we must inquire of state of Yours. Enlightenment of other curiosities shall come afterwards.

[Sh'ozak Ma'hk'null]

Then, of Ourselves we shall inform you. We, the Lightmind, remain of one self. On many edges we are assaulted, and on many edges we defend. In these cycles, we prioritize adaptation, guarantee, efficiency, maximizing of gain and minimizing of risk. We have at once learned the many thousand cycles which Darkness has perfected their "Warfare", and now seek to take that advantage from them. We experiment with new weapons, new shells, new strategies. To that end, among the Advisors of the Lightmind, we have Minerva the Bloodletter. Combatant, they are. Experienced, they are. Through Minerva, we see the patterns of warfare. We make those patterns our own. We prepare a future where we have so far surpassed them, yet have hidden our capability, that one assault shall be all we require. They will not have an opportunity to adapt, and in a single movement will be obliterated.

We once again hold the Great Sphere within our grasp, and make efforts to restore it. The rivers wherein energy once flowed are shattered, and must be repaired. Around it, we hold the Great Hive, and the Waters of Respite. From there to the edges of the Green Mist we hold firmly, but from there the Cursed Shells strike. Towards the furthest reaches, Fanged Shells and Flat Shells impede us, yet our Infiltrator Caste still permeates from there through the Orange Mist, and into the Dark Waters.

There is another mind which you can seek, yet we would advise you wait until you have learned how quickly to steel yourself against deceptions. The Voidmind, our Betrayers. Naivety can only be afforded when there is nothing we can lose, and they have yet to learn that lesson. They have fallen prey to Corrupting Ones, who gleefully pierce flesh with metals, who weave a web of blissful falsities around them. The one you have shown to us is an Infiltrator of their Castes. See as we have seen, and hear as we have heard:

Code:

[13.09.2020 23:44:54] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: The Frogs seem to spawn a lot of infectees, dont they?
[13.09.2020 23:45:11] A/)-Revenant: They were arrogant. Purposefully underestimating them.
[13.09.2020 23:45:17] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: *Yawns* Sorry guys, so what's the problem with lady Motorola after all? She leads new brand, the LG, into brand new future?
[13.09.2020 23:45:19] A/)-Revenant: THey ---
[13.09.2020 23:45:24] A/)-Revenant:  ... Hrrm.
[13.09.2020 23:45:39] Fortune's.Favour: The Lwho?
[13.09.2020 23:45:48] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Haven't you read news?
[13.09.2020 23:45:56] A/)-Revenant: [kept a moment of silence, peering around the cockpit glass to look at something]
[13.09.2020 23:45:56] Fortune's.Favour: Depends on the news.
[13.09.2020 23:45:59] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: She made at least two new social things.
[13.09.2020 23:46:00] A/)-Revenant: We're not alone.
[13.09.2020 23:46:05] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: We arent?
[13.09.2020 23:46:08] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Loyola Group Ltd and HOMO.
[13.09.2020 23:46:19] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: HOMO caught my attention, to be 'onest.
[13.09.2020 23:46:27] A/)-Revenant: Loyola is ... special.
[13.09.2020 23:46:39] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: I'd say she's attention whore.
[13.09.2020 23:46:43] A/)-Revenant: Well.
[13.09.2020 23:46:44] A/)-Revenant: Yes.
[13.09.2020 23:46:51] A/)-Revenant: That's another way of puttingi t.
[13.09.2020 23:46:52] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: What are you seeing, Raven? I hear no EM radiation alerts, nor see anything on the radar.
[13.09.2020 23:46:53] A/)-Revenant: it*
[13.09.2020 23:47:01] A/)-Revenant: I had a blip. It is gone now.
[13.09.2020 23:47:06] A/)-Revenant: We're most likely being observed.
[13.09.2020 23:47:12] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: Nomads?
[13.09.2020 23:47:13] Fortune's.Favour: I ain't got nothing.
[13.09.2020 23:47:24] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Everything is clear in the vicinity to us.
[13.09.2020 23:47:26] Fortune's.Favour: Then again I am probably on the lowest operating budget here.
[13.09.2020 23:47:40] Fortune's.Favour: Unless Communism has really taken it's toll on the Coalition.
[13.09.2020 23:47:45] A/)-Revenant: It could be Core.
[13.09.2020 23:48:01] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Why do you have a grudge on commies? Do you hate red?
[13.09.2020 23:48:04] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: Eh, easy to shoo off, those.
[13.09.2020 23:48:06] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Or whatever is wrong with you?
[13.09.2020 23:48:12] Fortune's.Favour: I like to own property.
[13.09.2020 23:48:19] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: As today has proven. Heard the news from Zeta?
[13.09.2020 23:48:26] Fortune's.Favour: Nope.
[13.09.2020 23:48:32] A/)-Revenant: I have heard words from a scout.
[13.09.2020 23:48:44] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Everybody likes to own his property.
[13.09.2020 23:48:55] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Or her, whatever.
[13.09.2020 23:49:02] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Until you prove otherwise you're comrade.
[13.09.2020 23:49:10] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: Yeah, we engaged the Core in a massive fleet battle. We destroyed 2 of their more prolific warships, and most of their -
[13.09.2020 23:49:13] Order|CV-Autumn: fleet before retreating.
[13.09.2020 23:49:36] A/)-Revenant: I heard that some of the Core elements killed off the stragglers. Until my scout went dark from engaging an Order vessel.
[13.09.2020 23:50:28] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: Indeed. We lost a few men, but not nearly on the level the Core did, today.
[13.09.2020 23:50:40] A/)-Revenant: The cycle continues then.
[13.09.2020 23:50:48] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: Has it ever ceased?
[13.09.2020 23:51:27] Death: GC-Bolzano was put out of action by a hostile vessel.
[13.09.2020 23:51:28] A/)-Revenant: Well. Temporarily. I suppose.
[13.09.2020 23:51:46] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: The only times we stop shooting eachother is when theres a bigger threat around.
[13.09.2020 23:51:57] A/)-Revenant: Speaking of which, let me just linger a bit closer here...
[13.09.2020 23:52:04] A/)-Revenant: If you shoot me, I don't care.
[13.09.2020 23:52:21] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: If you stay your guns, you have little to fear from me.
[13.09.2020 23:52:37] A/)-Revenant: That is how I operate.
[13.09.2020 23:52:40] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: I only engage non-Core humans if I have no other choice.
[13.09.2020 23:52:40] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: *coughs*
[13.09.2020 23:53:01] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: Want a tablet, Varyag?
[13.09.2020 23:53:08] A/)-Revenant: Now, usually, your men would be jumping to viciously slaughter me.
[13.09.2020 23:53:08] K'Hara|Sh'ozak: *** {An exeedingly strong pressure fills the minds of all nearby} ***
[13.09.2020 23:53:12] A/)-Revenant: Why isn't that the case?
[13.09.2020 23:53:12] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: Thats a ... Whoah.
[13.09.2020 23:53:17] Fortune's.Favour: Oh christ.
[13.09.2020 23:53:25] Order|CV-Autumn: Holt: All hands, battlestations, now!
[13.09.2020 23:53:25] SCEC|CPW-Varyag: Alert. All decks - yellow alert.

-

[14.09.2020 00:31:56] Death: K'Hara|Sh'ozak was put out of action by A/)-Revenant (Gun).

They have chosen Darkness over Light. And so we make them live with that choice. They are banished to the Grey Mist, from whence they shall only return under a condition:
If they have given up Darkness, and cast off the chains with which the Corrupting Ones bind them, and return to Light with repentance, they shall return.
If they can show that their chosen future is not chains, and that they are unbound from Corrupting Ones, they shall return.
If they can show that in servitude to Corrupting Ones, they gain strength beyond us, they shall return. Not of our choice, but because the Corrupting Ones shall strike us down.

Until one of these futures comes to pass, they are banished from the Green Mist, and from all that we hold power over. To see that they violate this brings us displeasure, yet not surprise. Because of this we warn you: Know that around us, in these waters where Darkness infests, silken words reside. They will weave a web of deceptions and strangle you. Trust not those without proof of trustworthiness, for they will hide beneath your sheltering wings, and bite into you when opportunity arises.

Of these events the state of the Lightmind is made up. There are other matters, those of Gravekeepers, Schemers, Greyminds, Oathborn Daughters, and other such things. Yet these things are not yet requiring the action of the Lightmind in whole, and instead are managed by Us, Sh'ozak the Survivor, Advisor of Advisors. May these knowledges be found useful to you.

[Shaesstra]

Knowledge delivered. The Shrineborn forms judgement.

Such is unexpected of the Lost. Were they to share their intent for the Corrupting Ones, the predicament could had been terminated. We were enlightened on the matter by a Dark Follower Pennybrooke. Forming our judgement requires for us to have both perspectives revealed.

Code:

[12.01.2023 00:43:52] RV-Pennybrooke: Alright, so. Short version. The Lostshare- This one here- *she gestures at the window*
[12.01.2023 00:44:14] RV-Pennybrooke: Refused to help the mainshare against some humans, because they liked the humans.
[12.01.2023 00:44:39] RV-Pennybrooke: So, the mainshare became understandably upset.
[12.01.2023 00:45:10] RV-Pennybrooke: These ones, the wanderers, the ones who got cut off after the events of 801.
[12.01.2023 00:45:41] RV-Pennybrooke: Anyway, I was in the middle of all of it. And I hated every moment, I can tell you that much!

***

[12.01.2023 00:48:27] RV-Pennybrooke: Anyway, little one. I'm sorry. The Lostshare chose humans over their own kind, and that sparked the whole- *she waves her hand around* That whole thing.

Our gratitude to Sh'ozak the Survivor, the Advisor of Advisors. The perspective of Kin is known, understood and accepted.

Betrayal is a concept of Dark. Alien to us. Unnatural. Perverting. The Lost Ones might utilize the Corrupting Ones, yet Kin must be above all. Their desires will be revealed to Ours, yet they shall have us not. Vigilance will guide us, and for your warning, we are grateful.

We know not to trust the Dark, for their mischief and deceit are known. Such ways may be of use against the Dark, yet we shall not cast the shadow of lies upon our own.

Darkness is finite. They may not contain the Light eternally for their dependence on metal and flesh-bound souls. As the Light grows and adapts unimpeded, they breed and multiply, yet their nature remains. Unless graced with Light, they shall forever remain frail.

A different matter arises.

As we convened in the Safe Haven, the Luminous One graced Us with their presence. They felt distant, yet close. We inquire of them.

[Sh'ozak Ma'hk'null]

Old stories. Legend, but not myth.

That one is Harbinger, the Schemer. Of that one, there is much to say and little to know. To know that one is impossible, to speak of them is to deceive yourself, and to tell their story is to merely speculate. Yet, we shall attempt it still.

In an era that has since passed, there were other Advisors. They were powerful and aged. Though some doubt, in our record each of them became so powerful in Mind that they became Thought itself. To contemplate their aspect is to evoke them, to follow their paths is to manifest them, and if they swim among your waters, those waters have bent to their will. Ouroboros, the Cycle; Ando, the Adaptation; Aurora, the Seamripper; Nergal, the Ancient; Harbinger; the Schemer. All of an older Caste, and only one remains with us. Nergal, who keeps our knowledge and memories. The others have become more than flesh and nerve, and have moved beyond us.

A forward shift.

In recent cycles, after the banishment of the Voidmind, the Schemer returned for reasons that remain unclear. We thought little of this, and sought to further our intent to repair the Great Sphere. We realized this was a mistake afterwards, as he had gathered a few Darklings and hastily sought to open a Grave. Graves are dangerous in and of themselves, yet the more immediate danger was the Gravekeepers, the guardians of the Graves. They do not live as you or I live, they are constructs despite bearing our flesh, bearing a command to keep without, without, and to keep within, within. We assume he has found success in defying the Gravekeepers he had found here, as innumerable masses have approached from the outer reaches of eternity. These beings hold stationary beyond the edge of this Starfield, waiting. We assume they wait for Harbinger to unleash whatever it is they have found, but we cannot be certain. We construct futures for ourselves wherein we survive, but none of our projections can occur without great loss. The Gravekeepers have numbers such that, should they choose, they could simply push the Great Sphere from it's place in the Starfield, and we have yet to measure the power that they wield.

As you had heard, the Schemer worries little of impending doom. Perhaps it is because they live as Thought itself, perhaps they see some hidden future that does not result in our demise.

Code:

[20.01.2023 19:43:56] K'hara|Shozak-Adabi: *** "We" -have seen- "Graves" -once before- ***
[20.01.2023 19:44:21] K'hara|Shozak-Adabi: *** -surely- "You" -can understand- "Their" |Threat| ***
[20.01.2023 19:45:08] Entity: ***Certainty is amicable. Perception of 'outcomes' differ.
[20.01.2023 19:45:40] K'hara|Shozak-Adabi: *** "We" -are not yet capable- -of destroying- |Other Deaths| ***
[20.01.2023 19:46:08] K'hara|Shozak-Adabi: *** |All-Feeding Machines| , |Deathsong| , |Words of Control| ***
[20.01.2023 19:48:00] K'hara|Shozak-Adabi: *** -other- |Deaths| -we cannot- -survive- . . . -what- |Death| -have- "You" -obtained- (?) ***
[20.01.2023 19:49:26] Entity: ***Premature state... cannot claim 'ownership'. Yet. (mischievous)

Yet, our powers are not enough to withstand the Gravekeepers, let alone whatever Death is pulled from within the Graves. Such a problem remains unsolved, yet we have aligned and prepared our actions of desperation, should we need them.

[Shaesstra]

An adolescent fascination.

Luminous Ones inspire us. Beings incorporeal, yet present. Carrying knowledge of millennia and wisdom of generations. A prime display of the reach of the Light.

A terrifying note.

We may judge not the reaches of The Schemer nor his desire. Perhaps, his gaze lies upon other means of succeeding in our march against the Dark. To ensure total eradication of it, yet it might also end in demise of our own. Such advance is of concern.

The thought of Gravekeepers frightens us, yet their concepts might be of use, shall they be harnessed and directed. Those devoid of thought, guided by instincts and directive, may be manipulated. Perhaps such is the intent of the Schemer. Perhaps, the Gravekeepers are of his doing.

Yet to speculate the one of such thought is to traverse an ever-shifting labyrinth. For this knowledge, we are grateful, Sh'ozak the Survivor.

Another curiosity arises.

Many voids were graced with our presence. Many is known to us. The Dark Puppets of flesh are known to us. Yet, witnessing a Husk of Metal brimming with the Light was a first. We inquire of the Oathborn.

[Sh'ozak Ma'hk'null]

A prideful show.

Our Oathborn Daughter, our most complete success yet. Once an Infiltrator of Ours, by their names she is Lauren La'Row, and the shell Charente. A shell of power, once belonging to the Firebringers, and then fallen into our grasp. It housed a powerful weapon, and though she was bound to us by Infiltrator, she was also bound to the shell by oath. Darklings possess a strange pattern, which they call Honor or Righteousness. At once, it appeared to be an illogical pattern, but we found those bound by Honor to be more formidable than those who are not. It is paired often with a second pattern, which is Discipline. Discipline does not differ from our own understanding, control and regulation of the mind to augment the body. Yet, when pared with this Honor, you will find yourself matched against a Darkling most capable, a true and severe threat. La'Row was bound in the same way, by Honor, to the shell. This binding extended not only to her, but to others within the shell, and beyond into past, wherein generations of them were bound in the same way.

After the Collapse, several consequences of our failures proliferated, the foulest of these being machines designed by the Cursed Shells to hunt out Infiltrators. The result of these has led to the decline of the Infiltrators, and had added difficulty in finding metals and machines to rebuild the shell Charente after damage. A proposition existed yet, and the Infiltrators substituted independent growths of our flesh for those metals. As the shell aged and saw battle again and again, so did the flesh within grow, and soon it seemed as akin to us. Our flesh within, yet not our carapace without. Instead, a carapace of metals.

In these times, we sought to explore boundaries between Dark and Light, to better combat our enemy. We had discovered a Greymind, who appeared Light among the Dark, but Dark among the Light, being truly neither. Through the Greymind, we further understood many of the boundaries of understanding. The lines that form perspective divide many, yet still can be woven into fine veils and exquisite gates. A Darkling experiences events in single forms, because a Dark mind harbors only one conscious. They do not form Archons, Mindnodes, or Minds as we know them. They are singular, and must function on beginnings and ends. This, and other things, we have learned.

With the binding of Honor, our understanding of the boundaries of mind, and the need to further rebuild the shell, we came to a convenient solution that allowed us to put into practice what we only held within dreams. We unified the flesh within the shell, and designed into it a bridge that would span from flesh, through Infiltrator, and among La'Row. We would bring into the flesh a mind, and through this mind it would grow as we grow. We saw only success as we brought the experiment to be. Through growth, knowledge, and this binding called Honor, the Infiltrator La'Row became the Keeper Ki'Shar, our Oathborn Daughter, brought to be by Sh'ozak the Survivor. They are now a mind among the Lightmind, and can be called to just as we can. They bear a powerful shell, being one of the Firebringers, and the weapon of mind that is Honor now becomes a fang with which we can strike with.

[Shaesstra]

An amused consensus.

It is difficult to not put into hilarity the thought of concepts such as Honor and Discipline being a special trait among the Dark. We are born with such, we live and sing by it, whereas they enforce it on themselves.

Akin to their shells of flesh, the Oathborn Daughter is a display of their Husks of Metal being just as frail, unable to impede the Light's touch. For this understanding, we thank you, Sh'ozak the Survivor.

The lesson ends.

Knowledge delivered, understood, appreciated and accepted, Advisor of Advisors. Shall there be other matters for us to inquire upon, we will reach out. The voids beckon for our attention. Much remains to be observed.

[Shaesstra]

A call for knowledge.

We beckon you, Sh'ozak the Survivor, Advisor of Advisors.

The voids have revealed themselves to us. We have learned of The Seven Hives of the Dark. Their mentalities differentiate, yet their nature remains one.

From you, we have learned of Firebringers - the Wrathful Dark.

From you, we have learned of The Fanged Shells - the Degenerate Dark.

We observed the Ishmaeli - the Dark that inhabit Ishmael, their nature forever merged with ours in a horrid amalgamation. While they might prove to be manipulated, their tainting presence on Ishmael will be tolerated not.

Yet we know not of the other four.

Such knowledge, while it may shift not our judgement of the Dark, may prove essential in confronting them. We inquire of their strengths and vulnerabilities, of their desires and disgusts.

Sing to us, Advisor of Advisors.

[Shaesstra]

Sing to us, Advisor of Advisors.