#expanded universe codex

[knight-of-aether]

SWEU Fanon Codex: Red Zabrak in the Sith Empire

Thousands of years before the first Zabrak colonists crash landed on Dathomir, when the Nightbrothers and their kin had yet to exist, Force-sensitive Zabrak with bright red or orange skin could be found throughout the galaxy. These Zabrak owed their similar traits to their relationship with the Tsis, or ancestral Sith species, and their destinies were linked with the Sith Empire's long and bloody history.

I. Origins

During the early days of the Sith Empire, as it expanded within the isolated Stygian Caldera region, the Sith attempted to conquer and enslave worlds that had previously been settled by Iridonian Zabrak explorers, but they didn’t expect the local resistance - which was largely Force-blind - to put up as much of a fight as it did. In this clash between two warrior cultures, the Zabraks’ tenacity eventually earned the grudging respect of the larger Imperial army.

The Sith lords eventually decided that they were wasting resources on the war, and would be better off taking the locals as their servants and their lands as fiefdom than bombarding them into oblivion. Thus the first treaties were drawn up, with their terms leaning greatly in the Empire's favor. Most Zabrak clans, unwilling to admit defeat but exhausted by the war, agreed to join the Empire after several revisions to their terms. Those who refused were enslaved or executed, their lands confiscated and divided among the Sith and their new vassals.

Many Zabrak followed their new lords to the Sith homeworlds, including Korriban, Ziost, and the Dromund system. During the ages of the Great Hyperspace War and the Empire's fall and reconstitution, its Zabrak diaspora continued to grow. By the time of the Cold War, they had thoroughly intermingled with the last remaining Tsis and their Human-hybrid Red Sith successors, becoming their own hybrid people, the Red Zabrak.

II. Biology

While they share many traits with their Iridonian cousins, the Red Zabrak population has inherited notable Tsis features that are expressed to varying degrees in each individual.

Iridonian-inherited traits:

near-human height and generally fit build

vestigial horns that appear in the first few years of life, and grow in symmetrical patterns on the crown of the head

less hair than most mammalian species; no eyebrows or facial hair, often naturally bald

two hearts and resilient cardiovascular and nervous systems, resulting in greater stamina and a slightly higher pain threshold than many other near-human species

pronounced canine teeth and a metabolism optimized for a carnivorous diet

darkened camouflage striping or inkblot patterns that fade during adolescence, upon which tattoos are traditionally based

Tsis-inherited traits:

skin colors varying from burgundy through red, orange, and peach, similar to Red Sith in complexion and always more ruddy than Iridonian Zabrak

“bleeding” effect of a bright red ring around the iris, a partial expression of the Tsis species’ characteristic glowing eyes

heightened midichlorian levels and increased chance of Force sensitivity

Occasionally, Red Zabrak will display subtle, angular ridges across their skin. Though generally less noticeable than in Red Sith, these ridges have influenced their iconic face and body tattoos, which are a fusion of traditional Iridonian and Sith ritual tattoos that incorporate various symbols to convey clan affiliation and personal stories, and are often designed to outline and enhance any observable Tsis traits.

Bone spurs and cartilaginous tendrils, however, are recessive traits that were lost in most of the Red Zabrak population after first-generation hybrids. These traits, like the aforementioned ridges, appear with more frequency in Human-hybrid Red Sith due to both the selectiveness of the Sith elite, and the quirks of Tsis genetics.

III. Society

While Red Zabrak citizens are nominally equal with all free beings in the Empire, in practice they are second-class citizens compared to Red Sith and Humans, though with societal privilege above other nonhuman species, including Iridonian Zabrak. Scholarly opinion on the merit of their Sith blood weighed against their nonhuman heritage is mixed. Their treatment is comparable to that of the Chiss, but as ancient dependencies of the Empire rather than newfound foreign allies. Meanwhile, in Republic space, they are often viewed with distrust, if not outright detested by Iridonians as traitors to their species. Due to vows of fealty that were sworn when their clans first joined the Empire, many are bound to the ancient Red Sith aristocracy as vassals, with all that entails.

Family ties are vital in both Zabrak and Sith cultures, and the two have become inextricably entangled over their centuries together. The Zabrak openly regard their accomplishments in the Sith Empire as a point of pride and their allegiance as a concession that made both peoples stronger; according to their officially sanctioned history, the Sith definitively proved their superiority in the arena of war, and have remained worthy of following in their exploits to the present day.

Despite the Empire's tendencies towards forced assimilation, the clans have held onto some of their autonomy as agreed upon in their treaties - particularly to organize for cultural events, such as the yearly coming-of-age ceremony in which teenagers traditionally receive their first tattoos, after several days of combat sports, storytelling, and feasting. Large clan gatherings are required to be open to the public, and are routinely monitored by Imperial security forces, but are among the freest cultural expressions in the Empire outside Mandalorians.

Most young Red Zabrak end up in careers that will further the agendas of their affiliated Sith Houses - often the same ones their ancestors swore fealty to when the first treaties divided them among the Sith. Choosing a marriage or career that one’s clan or House disapproves of, or siding with a rival, is to become a social outcast at best. Since the Sith hold the strings of the Empire, they can and will obstruct and manipulate the paths of their servants, and sweep impromptu executions under the rug, in the name of preserving their power bases. Systemic xenophobia in the Empire at large makes social mobility for Red Zabrak even more challenging without Sith aid.

Stereotyped as violent, stubborn, and simple-minded but ultimately honorable aliens, Red Zabrak often end up in military positions within the Empire, and frequently serve as enforcers and assassins to their affiliated Sith houses. Despite the setbacks they face, this tenacious people can be found throughout the Empire in higher positions and greater numbers than any other non-Human or Sith species.

[crapeaucrapeau]

Defunct ME1 Website Codex Entries

In the interest of preserving rare documents related to Mass Effect, I'm transcribing here the Codex entries which were on the ME1 website when the game first came out. They are reproduced here as they form much of the basis by which we understand Mass Effect ; in some cases, they are phrased differently from the Codex in the actual game, with additional information, or contradictions (e.g. the given length of the Krogan Rebellions). Link here : https://web.archive.org/web/20130326112139/http://masseffect.bioware.com/me1/galacticcodex/index.html

Each Codex entry comes in two parts : the "lede" on the starting Codex page, and the entry itself. In an archiving interest, associated polls are included, though they do not represent anything more than the intended market's opinions prior to the game's release. Everything is quoted verbatim, though I have done some formatting modifications for ease of reading.

Note : since this was very much part of the promotion for ME1, the intended audience is clearly human, but it's difficult at times to see if it's an in-universe "we" or an IRL "we". The polls, however, are clearly out-of-universe.

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SPECIES

The Advent of Humanity on the Galactic Stage

In the decades since our first encounter with the greater galactic community, humanity has risen quickly to prominence, establishing colonies throughout the stars. However, our population growth and military strength have led to resentful speculation that an invitation to join the ranks of the Council itself is imminent. [Read More]

The Advent of Humanity on the Galactic Stage

In the year 2148, humanity discovered Prothean ruins on Mars. The remnants of Prothean technology scattered amongst these ruins allowed them to develop mass effect fields and faster-than-light travel. This led them to discover and reactivate the mass relay at the edges of Earth's solar system, giving them access to the mass relay network spanning the rest of the galaxy and bringing them into contact with the greater galactic community.

2148 AD : Humanity discovers a small cache of highly advanced alien technology hidden deep beneath the surface of Mars. Building on the remnants of this long extinct race - known as the Protheans - humanity quickly masters the science of mass effect fields, leading to the development of faster than light travel.

2149 AD : Spreading out through their own solar system, humanity discovers that Charon, Pluto's moon, is actually a massive piece of dormant Prothean technology - a mass relay - encased in ice.

Once activated, humanity discovers that the mass relay allows instantaneous travel across thousands of light years to a synchronized mass relay in another part of the galaxy.

There they discover several more dormant relays. Over the next decade humanity expands rapidly, establishing colonies and activating dormant relays to open up more and more unexplored regions of space.

2155 AD : To defend its rapidly expanding empire, humanity assembles a massive fleet and constructs an enormous military space station at the nexus of several key mass relays…even though they have yet to encounter another intelligent space-faring species.

2157 AD : Humanity makes first contact with another space-faring culture: the turians. Unfortunately, the encounter is far from peaceful. Over the next several months a brief but tense conflict known on Earth as the First Contact war ensues.

This conflict draws the attention of the Citadel Council - a multi-species government body that maintains peace and stability throughout the known galaxy. The Council intervenes before hostilities escalate further, revealing the existence of the greater galactic community to humanity and brokering a peace between them and the turians.

2165 AD : Humanity continues to expand, founding more colonies and establishing trade alliances with many of the other species who recognize the authority of the Citadel Council. In 2165 the Council makes official recognition of humanity's growing power and influence in the galactic community. Humanity is granted an embassy on the Citadel, the political and economic heart of the galaxy.

2183 AD : Commander Shepard - a promising young officer in the Human Alliance military - is assigned to the crew of the Normandy, the most advanced prototype vessel ever designed.

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Turians: Friend or Foe?

We fought these raptor-like aliens in the First Contact War, but have since settled into an uneasy co-existence with them. Despite their code of honour, discipline, and work ethic, the question remains whether these Council members are friends or foes. [Read codex entry]

Citadel Council Race: Turians

The turians were the last of the Citadel races to join the Council. Their features are avian, making them resemble humanoid birds or raptors. They have a reputation for skill and bravery in combat, but they are not known to be bloodthirsty. A rigid code of honor and strict discipline are the hallmarks of any turian officer. This includes humane treatment of prisoners and conquered enemies. A turian patrol unit will never willingly leave behind one of their own, no matter what the cost of saving them.

Turian society is highly regimented and very organized, and the species is known for its strict discipline and work ethic. Turians are willing to do what needs to be done, and they always follow through. They are not easily spurred to violence, but when conflict is inevitable, they only understand a concept of "total war." They do not believe in skirmishes or small scale battles; they use massive fleets and numbers to defeat an adversary so completely that they remove any threat of having to fight the same opponent more than once. They do not exterminate their enemy, but so completely devastate their military that the enemy has no choice but to become a colony of the turians.

Other species see them as "men of action," and they are generally regarded as the most progressive of the Citadel races. Since their culture is based on the structure of a military hierarchy, changes and advances accepted by the leadership are quickly adopted by the rest of society with minimal resistance.

WEB POLL : Turians are an honourable and disciplined race. Why do you think humanity warred with them immediately after first contact in the year 2157?

There was a misunderstanding that blew out of proportion - 64%

They feared our potential and saw us as competitors - 23%

They probably always attack first to probe for weaknesses - 11%

They wanted the planet Earth and our colonies for themselves - 3%

Other - read my comments - 2%

Total votes : 30656

[The website proceeds to try to set up a dilemma as to whether the turians can be trusted by connecting first to Nihlus's Codex entry - the "Friend" - then Saren's - the "Foe".]

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Spotlight on the Krogan Race

Explore the reptilian race known as the Krogan. Part one reveals how their harsh and unforgiving homeworld has affected their evolution. Part two delves into their tragic history and waning foothold in the galaxy. The final part spotlights Urdnot Wrex, one of the last krogan Battle Masters. [Read more]

Krogan Series Part 1 - Krogan Biology

The krogan are a species of large reptilian bipeds native to the planet Tuchanka, a world known for its harsh environments, scarce resources, and overabundance of vicious predators. The krogan managed to not only survive on their unforgiving homeworld, but actually thrived in the extreme conditions. Unfortunately, as krogan society became more technologically advanced so did their weaponry.

Four thousand years ago, at the dawn of the krogan nuclear age, battles to claim the small pockets of territory capable of sustaining life escalated into full scale global war. Weapons of mass destruction were unleashed, transforming Tuchanka into a radioactive wasteland.

Due to the brutality of their surroundings, natural selection has played a significant role in the evolution of the species. Krogan reproduce and mature at an astonishing rate. Their large shoulder humps store fluids and nutrients, enabling them to survive extended periods without food or water. Their thick hides are virtually impervious to cuts, scrapes or contusions, and they are highly resistant to toxins, radiation, and extreme heat and cold.

Biotic individuals are rare, though those who do possess the talent typically have strong abilities. Their most amazing physiological features are the multiple instances of major organs; these secondary systems are capable of serving as back-ups in the event of damage to the primary biological structures. This redundancy makes them difficult to kill or incapacitate in normal combat scenarios.

WEB POLL : What do you think is the most interesting part of krogan biology?

Redundant organs - 50%

Rapid reproduction and growth rate - 21%

Thick hides impervious to many dangers - 16%

Large shoulder humps that store fluids and nutrients - 14%

Other - read my comments - 2%

Total votes : 11673

Krogan Series Part 2 - Rise and Fall of the Krogan

Roughly 2000 years ago the krogan were a primitive tribal species trapped on a world suffering through a nuclear winter of their own making. They were liberated by the salarians, who "culturally uplifted" the krogan by giving them advanced technology and relocating them to a planet not cursed with lethal levels of radiation, toxins, or deadly predators.

But the salarian intervention was not without an ulterior motive. At the time, the Citadel was engaged in a prolonged galactic war with the rachni, a race of intelligent space-faring insects. The salarians hoped the krogan would join the Citadel forces as soldiers to stand against an otherwise unstoppable foe. The plan worked to perfection: within two generations the rapidly breeding krogan had the numbers to not only drive the advancing rachni back, but pursue them to their home worlds and eradicate the entire species.

Saviors of the Galaxy

For a brief period the krogan were hailed as the saviors of the galaxy. However, without the harsh conditions of Tuchanka to keep their numbers in check, their population exploded. Overcrowded and running out of resources on their new home planet, the krogan spread out to forcibly claim other worlds...worlds already inhabited by races loyal to the Citadel.

The so-called Krogan Rebellions continued for nearly three centuries. The krogan sustained massive casualties, but their incredible birth-rate kept their population steadily increasing. Victory seemed inevitable. In desperation, the Council turned to the recently discovered Turian Empire for aid. The turians unleashed the genophage on the krogan home worlds: a terrifying bio-weapon engineered by the salarians. The genophage caused near total infant mortality in the krogan species, with only 1 birth in every 1000 producing live offspring.

The Genophage

No longer able to replenish their numbers, the krogan were forced to accept the turian terms of surrender. For their role in quelling the Krogan Rebellions the turians were rewarded with a seat on the Citadel Council. The krogan, on the other hand, still suffer from the incurable effects of the genophage. Over the last millennium krogan numbers have steadily declined, leaving them a scattered and dying people. Faced with the certainty of their extinction as a species, most krogan have become individualistic and completely self-interested. They typically serve as mercenaries for hire to the highest bidder, though many still resent and despise the Citadel races who condemned them to their tragic fate.

WEB POLL : Was use of the genophage on the krogan justified?

Yes, it was necessary to stop the krogan from taking over the galaxy - 53%

No, it was cruel and should not have been used - 42%

Other - read my comments - 6%

Total votes : 8160

[Wrex's entry has been moved to "Characters"]

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The Quarians - Galactic Nomads

Some believe quarians are a cybernetic blend that can survive for a time in the cold vacuum of space. Others believe they are so used to living on their makeshift ships they never remove their survival suits. Most condemn them for unleashing a dangerous, synthetic life form on the galaxy. [Read more]

The Quarians - Galactic Nomads

A nomadic race of humanoid aliens, the quarians are generally shorter and of slighter build than humans. They dress in a scavenged assortment of materials, hiding their faces behind visors, goggles, or breathing masks. Some believe the quarians are cybernetic, a blend of machine and biology that can survive for a time in the cold vacuum of space. Others believe the quarians are simply so used to living on their substandard, makeshift ships that they never remove their survival suits.

Three hundred years ago the quarians created the geth, a species of rudimentary AIs, to serve as an efficient source of manual labor. But the geth rebelled against their quarian masters and drove them into exile. Now the quarians wander the galaxy in a flotilla of salvaged ships, secondhand vessels, and recycled technology. Other species tend to look down on the quarians, seeing them as scavengers and condemning them for unleashing a dangerous synthetic life form on the rest of the galaxy.

WEB POLL : Should the quarians be held accountable for unleashing the geth?

No, it's all in the past and what's done is done - 63%

Hmmm, I'm not sure yet - 21%

Yes, punishment should be fast and swift - 16%

Other - read my comments - 2%

Total votes : 21535

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Geth: Universally Violent Creatures

Residing in the Terminus Systems, the geth are a humanoid race of networked AIs who overthrew their masters 300 years ago in a brutal war. They have evolved since then into numerous sub-forms, and everyone in the galaxy approaches them with extreme caution. [Read more]

Hostile Entity: the Geth

The geth are a bi-pedal, humanoid race of networked AIs that resides in the Terminus Systems. The geth were created nearly 300 years ago by the quarians as laborers and tools of war. When the geth began to question their masters, the quarians attempted to exterminate them. The geth won the resulting war. The example of the geth has led to legal, systematic repression of artificial intelligences in galactic society.

The geth can learn and grow intellectually, but they progress far more slowly than an organic being. Still, the story of the geth's creation and evolution serves as a warning to the rest of the galaxy of the potential dangers of Artificial Intelligence.

The closer geth physically are to each other, the more intelligent each one becomes. Effectively, they "share" brain power. An individual geth has only a basic intelligence on par with animal instincts, but in groups they can reason, analyze situations, and use tactics as well as any of the organic races.

Over time the geth have evolved into numerous sub-forms - from the diminutive but highly agile hoppers, to the gigantic, lumbering geth armatures. It should be stressed, however, that in all forms the geth are to be approached with extreme caution as they are universally violent creatures.

WEB POLL : The geth are out of control and feared throughout the galaxy. What will you do the first time you encounter a geth?

Frag it - 57%

Talk to it - 22%

Outmaneuver or trick it - 15%

Avoid it - 7%

Other - read my comments - 1%

Total votes : 25359

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The Batarians, From Bring Down the Sky

Debuting in the Bring Down the Sky downloable content pack, the batarians are a disreputable species infesting the Terminus Systems and menacing human colonies. [Read more]

The Batarians - A New Race in Bring Down the Sky

A race of four-eyed bipeds, the batarians are a disreputable species that chose to isolate itself from the rest of the galaxy. The Terminus Systems are infested with batarian pirate gangs and slaving rings, fueling the stereotype of the batarian thug. It should be noted that these criminals do not represent average citizens, who are forbidden to leave batarian space by their omnipresent and paranoid government.

In 2171, humans began to colonize the Skyllian Verge, a region the batarians were already actively settling. The batarians asked the Citadel Council to intervene and declare the Verge an area of "batarian interest." When the Council refused, the batarians severed diplomatic and economic relations, becoming an inward-looking rogue state. Money and weapons funneled from the batarian government to criminal organizations led to many brutal raids on human colonies in the Verge, culminating in the Skyllian Blitz of 2176.

The rest of the galaxy views the batarians as an ignorable problem. The government is still hostile to the Systems Alliance, but beneath the notice of the powerful Council races. It is not known what the average batarian thinks about their enforced isolation, as the Department of Information Control ensures that only government-approved news enters or leaves batarian space.

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CHARACTERS

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams

Williams is a reliable and dedicated officer, but her aggressive instincts and blunt speech might lead to complications should she be required to interact with civilians. [Read more]

Systems Alliance Profile: Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams

Personnel File

Name: Ashley Madeline Williams Rank: Gunnery Chief Military Vocational Code: B4 Current Posting: 2nd Frontier Division, Eden Prime

Date of Birth: April 14, 2158 Place of Birth: Vercingetorix Outpost, Planet Sirona, 61 Ursae Majoris System Blood Type: B-positive

Genetic Enhancements:

In-utero vision correction (maternal predisposition for nearsightedness)

Class-B Alliance Infantry Upgrade Package

Dossier

Following family tradition, Chief Williams enlisted in the Alliance Marines directly out of high school and was assigned to the Recruit Training Depot in Macapá, Brazil.

During training, she certified proficient with the standard-issue M7 Lancer assault rifle and light and standard weight combat hardsuits. She completed certification in zero-gee combat aboard the Rakesh Sharma Orbital Platform in Earth geosynchronous orbit. For Hostile Environment Assault Training, she was assigned to Fort Charles Upham on Saturn's moon, Titan. She was awarded a commendation for her bold assault technique in a field exercise simulating an attack on turian point defense emplacements.

Drill Instructor Gunnery Chief Ellison noted her steadfast endurance and aggressive instincts, and promoted her to the role of squad leader. After observing her effective tutelage of the less skilled members of her training unit, he promoted her to platoon guide. She maintains a friendly correspondence with DI Ellison.

Chief Williams has served in a number of ground force garrisons on Alliance colony worlds and industrial outposts. She has repeatedly requested transfer to a shipboard posting, but each request has been denied without comment by her superiors.

Every year since enlistment, she has used her mandatory week of leave to visit her family on Amaterasu. In 2181, she made an exceptional request for a week-long leave of absence from her posting at the Czarnobóg Fleet Depot, citing family issues.

Personal Observations

Chief Williams' platoon has logged unanimous positive feedback on her leadership in the recent fitness review cycle. Private Nirali Bahtia praised her focus on team-building exercises and "tough but fair" discipline.

Williams is a reliable and dedicated noncommissioned officer, but her service in rear-area garrisons has prevented her from gaining actual combat experience. Her aggressive instincts and tendency to speak bluntly are suitable for a field unit, but might lead to complications if her duties require her to interact with civilians. Additionally, her political opinions may be problematic, given the focus on improving relations with the Citadel.

WEB POLL : Ashley is part of your party as you carry out Spectre missions. Do you think her inexperience, bluntness, and aggressive tendencies will pose a problem?

No, I'll think she'll be a great addition to my team. - 39%

I'm holding off judgement and will give her a chance. - 32%

No. As Commander I'll keep my troops in line. - 25%

Yes, I'm quite worried about it. - 5%

Other - here's what I think - 1%

Total votes : 18746

Systems Alliance Profile: Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams - Profile Updated

From: Ashley Williams (ashley.m.williams@edenprime.mil.sa) Sent: June 17, 2183 22:03 UT To: Sarah Williams (randori-girl@ward37.amaterasu.civ.pub) Subject: Re: Hey sis

James left today. He's been reassigned to one of the new Rapid Response Bases out in the Kepler Verge. Lucky bastard. It's like the ancient west out there – pirates and slavers coming out of the Terminus Systems all the time. He gets to play the cavalry, riding out in frigates any time someone's house gets burned down.

I made some speech about how he was a valuable asset to the squad and he better make us look good out there, blah blah. I suck at speeches. I was cribbing from something I read back in history class. I don't think anyone noticed.

I'm going to miss him. Don't tell anyone.

So you think James is cute, eh? Yeah, well, when you said I should "go for him" – not gonna happen, kiddo. See, we have rules about "fraternization." You don't do The Deed with your fellow troops, especially if they're under you in rank. There's all sorts of problems that can happen when two people in the same unit get together.

Let's say your unit is in a tight spot. Some bug-eyed aliens are going to overrun the galaxy. They eat babies, smell bad, and don't have elbows. Nasty. You're told to guard the rear. To let everyone else escape, someone is ordered "hold this spot until we're gone." Someone has to be left behind. You think it's going to be someone you're sleeping with?

I've served with these guys for eight months now. Yeah, some of them make me feel tingly (and yeah, James was kinda scruffy-cute). I hope I never have to decide who lives and who dies. But if I have to, my decision can't be muddled up by magic-sparkly-hearts-and-stars feelings.

Anyways, I'm gonna knock off here. I've got dog watch in a few hours. Want to get a shower and a meal before then. Talk at you tomorrow.

- Ash

This message originated from an Alliance military network. It has been censored at transmission source for security purposes. Any reply may be read by military authorities.

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Agent Profile: Nihlus Kryik

Nihlus Kryik is one of the Citadel Council's most decorated Spectre agents. Cool under pressure, he has an uncanny ability to find an enemy's weakness and exploit it. [Continue]

Spectre Agent Nihlus Kryik

Nihlus Kryik is one of the Citadel Council's most decorated Spectre agents. Born in a small mercenary outpost outside Hierarchy space, he learned the hard way to fight for what he wanted. His father died when he was 16, and his mother forced him to join the turian military. His outsider status made life difficult; though he was always at the top of his class, his superiors and peers never truly accepted him.

As a soldier, Nihlus' skills were unquestionable. His attitude, however, often got him in trouble. On several occasions, he disobeyed direct orders to do what he thought was best. Although his instincts were usually proven right, his notoriety grew. Even when he single-handedly routed an enemy patrol, and saved his squad from ambush, his commanding officers berated him for his recklessness. His military career seemed to stall before it even began.

After being reassigned to a new squad for the third time, Nihlus was introduced to Saren Arterius, a fellow turian and a Spectre. Saren was impressed with the young soldier. He befriended Nihlus and offered to mentor him. Within a year of meeting Saren, Nihlus was asked to join the Spectres.

Free from the restrictions of military procedure, Nihlus excelled in his new role. He quickly stepped from his mentor's shadow and established himself as one of the Council's top agents. Since then, Nihlus has completed countless missions as a Spectre, each one more difficult and dangerous than the last.

Cool under pressure, Nihlus has an uncanny ability to find an enemy's weakness and exploit it. Though his methods aren't as brutal as Saren's, he will not hesitate to efficiently and thoroughly eradicate anything or anyone that stands in his way.

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Agent Profile: Saren Arterius

Saren Arterius is the longest serving turian member of the Spectres. Recently, he has become an outspoken opponent of human expansion in the galaxy, and many fear he may soon decide to take matters into his own hands.

Agent Profile - Saren Arterius

Saren Arterius is the longest serving turian member of the Spectres - the elite military operatives answering directly to the Citadel Council. For 24 years he has been an agent of the Council's will, a zealous defender of galactic stability in the unsettled border region of the Skyllian Verge.

Official records of Spectres are sealed, but it is known that Saren followed turian tradition and entered the military at the age of 15. In 2155 he was promoted to active service after only a year of training, though it is unclear whether his unit was involved in any of the battles against human forces during the First Contact War of 2157.

In 2159 he became the youngest turian ever accepted into the Spectres. Intelligent, cunning and capable, Saren quickly developed a reputation for ruthless efficiency. Although there were a number of unsettling rumors about the brutality of his methods, there was no denying his results.

In recent years Saren has become an outspoken opponent of human expansion. Like many other non-humans, he believes the Alliance has become overly aggressive in its efforts to establish the people of Earth as a dominant species in Citadel space. As a Spectre it is generally believed he will continue to follow the will of the Council in this matter, but there are some - particularly among the Alliance - who fear Saren may soon decide to take matters into his own hands.

WEB POLL : Do you think Saren is correct - are humans expanding too rapidly in the galaxy?

No - 51%

Yes - 33%

I'm not sure - 16%

Other - read my comments - 1%

Total votes : 14555

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Wrex, Krogan Battle Master

Urdnot Wrex is one of the last krogan Battle Masters: rare individuals who combine powerful biotic abilities with the devastating firepower of advanced weaponry... [Continue]

Krogan Series Part 3: Wrex, Krogan Battle Master

Urdnot Wrex is one of the last krogan Battle Masters: rare individuals who combine powerful biotic abilities with the devastating firepower of advanced weaponry. Born into clan Urdnot, he quickly gained fame for his prowess in battle. He became a leader of one of the smaller Urdnot tribes while still a youth - the youngest krogan to be granted the honor in 1000 years…until he was betrayed by his own people.

The betrayal opened Wrex's eyes to the truth about the krogan: most would rather die in battle than try to rebuild their society through peaceful means. Realizing the warrior culture that once valued courage, strength, and honor had been reduced to glorifying pointless violence, Wrex turned his back on the rest of the krogan.

Over the past three centuries he has served no master but himself, working as a bodyguard, mercenary, soldier of fortune, and bounty hunter; there is little in the galaxy that can still surprise him. He doesn't speak often, but when he does his words are direct and often shockingly blunt - and people tend to listen.

Despite his brutish appearance, Wrex rarely loses his temper. The mere threat of his anger is usually enough to get what he wants. When his fury is unleashed, however, it is a truly terrifying sight.

WEB POLL : Would you have Urdnot Wrex in your party?

Yes, I can use all the firepower I can get - 88%

No, he seems too mercenary-minded - 10%

Other - read my comments - 3%

Total votes : 16674

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TECHNOLOGY

M35 Mako

The Mako is a light infantry fighting vehicle you'll get to use when exploring planetary environments. Equipped with laser-guided ordnance, micro- thrusters, and laser detection arrays, it's an essential tool to have in your arsenal. [Read more]

Technology : M35 Mako

For 20 years, the standard "battle taxi" of the Systems Alliance Marines was the M29 "Grizzly" Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). While excellent in long-term planetary campaigns, the Grizzly's bulk and weight made it unsuitable for rapid deployment across the Alliance's expanding sphere of influence. To fill this increasingly important role, the M35 "Mako" IFV was designed to fit in the small cargo bays of Alliance scouting frigates. The M35's small size and low weight allow it to be easily deployed to virtually any world.

Since Alliance marines may be required to fight in a variety of planetary environments, the Mako is environmentally sealed and powered by a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell. For deployment on low-gravity planetoids, it is equipped with micro-thrusters and a small element zero core, which can be used to increase mass and provide greater traction.

The "eezo" core can also be used to reduce mass, allowing the Mako to be safely air-dropped. This allows frigates to deploy their shore parties while limiting the ship's exposure to defensive anti-aircraft artillery. When used in conjunction with thrusters, mass reduction allows the Mako to extricate itself from difficult terrain.

The Mako's hull is covered with laser detection arrays, which forewarn the crew of enemy laser-guided ordnance. Ground-penetrating radar allows detection of anti-vehicle mines and other subsurface anomalies. These will be brought to the attention of the crew by the vehicle's micro-frame computer system.

Several combat support vehicles using the Mako's basic chassis are manufactured for Alliance surface garrisons. These include a recon drone controller, a mobile air defense platform, and the M38 military ambulance nicknamed "Moby" because it is painted white during peacekeeping operations. Shipboard Marines exclusively use the tactically flexible and heavily armed base model.

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Normandy

Optimized for solo reconnaissance missions deep within unstable regions, and using state-of-the-art stealth technology, the Normandy is a prototype deep scout frigate. [Read more]

Technology : Normandy

Frigates are swift, flexible warships. Unlike larger vessels, they are able to land on planets. Although lightly armed, Alliance frigates usually carry a squad of marines for security and groundside duty.

The most important role filled by frigates is scouting and reconnaissance. Thanks to mass effect technology, ships and communications can travel faster than the speed of light. Sensors, however, are limited to the speed of light. If an enemy ship is a light year away, a stationary observer will only be able to see it when its light arrives in a year.

An attacker will always gain surprise against a defender; attacking ships moving faster than light will arrive long before their light speed-limited sensor data does. For defense, fleets are surrounded by spheres of scouting frigates. These vessels detect enemy ships passing by them, and transmit warnings to the main body. The Normandy is a prototype "deep scout" frigate, developed by the Systems Alliance with the assistance of the Citadel Council. It is optimized for solo reconnaissance missions deep within unstable regions, using state-of-the-art stealth technology.

For centuries, it was assumed that starship stealth was impossible. The heat generated by routine shipboard operations is easily detectable against the absolute-zero background temperature of space. The Normandy, however, is able to temporarily "store" this heat in lithium heat sinks deep within the hull. Combined with refrigeration of the exterior hull, the ship can travel undetected for hours, or drift passively for days of covert observation. This is not without risk. The stored heat must eventually be radiated, or it will build up to levels capable of cooking the crew alive.

Another component of the stealth system is the Normandy’s revolutionary Tantalus drive, a mass effect core twice the standard size. The Tantalus drive generates mass concentrations that the Normandy "falls into", allowing it to move without the use of heat-emitting thrusters. The heat sink and Tantalus drive systems allow the Normandy to loiter undetected in an enemy system to monitor traffic, or drop infiltration teams on enemy worlds. Should the Normandy’s design prove useful in field tests, it is expected that a follow-up class incorporating "lessons learned" will be produced.

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[wolsalwastaken]

So, as you do, I was on the new version of thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com and I’ve figured out every. Single. Secret. Code. I. Could.

Now with the help of the community, I am expanding this list! Please post passwords in the comments sections or reblog if I have not yet mentioned them! You will, of course, receive credit for your discoveries! Nerds unite! At the very bottom, you will find a full list of citations I used for the passwords. Any password that is un-cited is one I found myself :)

Spoilers for this version of the website. Keep reading at your own discretion, as these are spoilers if you wanted to solve it yourself.

This post will continually be updated as I find new codes and ciphers to solve and new passwords, stay tuned as this is a masterpost of this iteration of the website!

So, here’s all the places to click on screen for Easter eggs:

And here’s a list of all the different passcodes I’ve found to work on the computer. If multiple words are listed it’s because they activate the same thing. Brackets are not part of the pswd. (c) means that the person I learnt it from is listed below. If there is no (c), then I found it.

Cipher

Triangle (click 3 times)

Bill/Bill Cipher

Stanford/Ford/Sixer

Fiddleford/McGucket

Filbrick

Mason

Dipper (click 5 times)

Mabel (click 12 times)

Wendy

Robbie

Gideon (2 possible results)

The Book Of Bill

Alex Hirsch/Hirsch

Monster

Mystery Shack

TJ Eckleburg

Hey nerd

Divorce/breakup

Theraprism

Soos

Disney/mickey mouse/disneyland (c)

Hectoring

Axolotl

Stanley/Stan (click 8 times)

Gravity Falls

Pines

Geometry/algebra/math/greek/greece/trigonometry/shape (c)

Conspiracy

God/help me/frlliam (c)

Triangle

Ducktective

Waddles

Morality

Portal

Love/boyfriend

(Literally any word of profanity, i.e sex or fuck)/Ted Cruz (c)

Death

Dorito/chip/nacho (c)

Skeleton

Life

Weird

Reality

The universe

Baby/baby bill/lalalalala/mommy/daddy (c)

Rat

Urban legends/horror/creepypasta (c)

Blind eye

Crypto/NFT/gyatt/skibidi/fortnite/Elon/rizz (c)

Journal 3

Journal 2

Journal 1

Theory/that’s just a/matpat (c)

Question

Answer

Piñata

FBI/NSA

Blendin Blandin

Abuelita

Weirdmageddon

Toby Determined

History

Sorry

Cursed

They’ll see/they’ll all see/I see

Cryptogram codex

Curse wittebane

Fordtramarine

Disco girl

Ad astra per aspera

Forget the past

Torture mentally

Hotxolotl

Scrimbles

Lies

Paper is book skin

Euclid

Dionarap (c)

Booberry (c)

Unreality (c)

Vallis cineris (c)

Caryn

Euclydia (c)

Scalene (c)

Even his lies are lies (c)

Stodehttcennoc (c)

Emmalinebutternubbins (c)

Dispense my treat

Just fit in (c)

Nothing

Something

Ciphertology (click 2 times)

Well well well being (c) (click 4 times)

One eyed king (c)

Titans blood (c)

Blanchin (c)

Suck it merlin (c)

Tantrum (c)

You can’t kill an idea (c)

Kook (c)

Naitsuaf (c)

Oroborous (c)

Giffany (click 6 times)

Who are you (c)

R34lity

Fixinit1

Love ya bro (c)

Tad strange (c)

Liar lyre (c)

Xgqrthx (c)

Peak (c)

Platinum peak (c)

Glass shard beach (c)

Cray cray (c)

Deer teeth (c)

Season 1 (c)

Season 2 (c)

Season 3 (c)

Gun (c)

Irregular (c)

Seven eyes (c)

Xyler/Craz (c)

Yes (c)

Justblendin (c)

Black sheep (c)

Baaaa (c)

Union made (c)

29121239168518 (c)

Grebley hemberdreck (c)

3466554 (c)

Tinsel snake (c)

333 sun dapple lane cozy creek IL 60714-94611 (c)

Mountain don't (c)

Riddle (c)

Burnside (c)

No (c)

Llib (c)

When will I die (c) (click once a day)

Clone/paper jam/Tyrone (c)

Multilevel Mark (c)

Goodnight Sally (c)

Tourist trap (c)

The duchess approves (c)

Scientology (c)

Meow (c)

Shave your grandma (c)

Burned inside (c)

Sevral times (c)

Easter egg (c)

Oh yes they both (c)

Kings of new jersey (c)

Destruction is a form of creation (c)

Fuck you Alex/fuck Alex (c)

Rubberhose (c)

Am I blanchin (c)

Card (c)

Bye gold (c)

Globnar (c)

Kubrick (c)

Not a phase (c)

Virus (c)

Spookemups (c)

You're insane (c)

Owl trowl (c)

L is real 2401 (c)

Occurremus iterum (c)

Family matters (c)

Harold’s ramblings (c)

Is hell real (c)

Is there an afterlife (c)

Dippy Fresh (c)

Justblendin (c)

Here’s a link to the entire 15 minute video of me going over all the Easter eggs and codes, so if you don’t wanna bother doing it (fair) then here ya go! Had to post via Instagram because no other social media lets me post long videos, oh well. (As I find more codes, I may make a part 2 video of me solving those on video)

Link here (part 1)

Credits/sources:

@sage-nebula (Dionarap, vallis cineris)

@dottyistired (Booberry, unreality)

@vlada-elya (Ted Cruz)

@cloudofcaffeine (Euclydia, Scalene)

@putadapower (Even his lies are lies, oroborous)

@dippers101 (Stodehttcennoc, emmalinebutternubbins)

@ren-is-real (Just fit in)

@hopefully-maybe-abby (I see)

@towacletruck (Well well well being, one eyed king, titans blood, blanchin, suck it merlin, tantrum, you can’t kill an idea, kook)

@cskv11 (Naitsuaf)

@eazy-peazy54 (Breakup, gyatt, who are you, r34lity, fixinit1, love ya bro, tad strange, liar lyre, xgqrthx, giffany, peak, platinum pas, glass shard beach, cray cray, help me, deer teeth, lalalalala, season 1, season 2, season 3, Mickey Mouse, gun, irregular, horror, creepy pasta, seven eyes, yes, trigonometry, xyler, craz, justblendin, black sheep, baaaa, skibidi, Fortnite, union made, 29121239168518, grebley hemberdreck, 3466554, tinsel snake, 333 sun dapple lane cozy creek IL 60714-94611, mountain don't, burnside, riddle, no, llib, when will I die, Elon, clone, multilevel mark, goodnight sally, paper jam, tyrone, tourist trap, the duchess approves, shape, meow, scientology, shave your grandma, nacho, rizz, daddy, mommy, burned inside, sevral times, easter egg, oh yes they both, kings of new jersey, destruction is a form of creation, rubber hose, card, am I blanchin, fuck you Alex, fuck Alex, fuck you, bye gold, nsa, globnar, Disneyland, Kubrick, not a phase, virus, spookemups, that's just a, you're insane, owl trowel, L is real 2401, occurremus iterum, frilliam, family matters, Matpat, Harold’s ramblings)

@delusionalpaper (Is hell real, is there an afterlife)

@thisisnotawebsitedotcom-com (Dippy fresh)

@/soldofficialyt on YouTube, Justblendin

HUGE shoutout to @eazy-peazy54 for providing so many codes! Seriously, thank you so much for your amazing post compiling them!

[drakorn]

Rewriting Veilguard Part 1 - The World State

Disclaimer: I don't hate the game, I actually think it's quite great given the development hell Bioware went through in those 10 years. This is more of a hypothetical universe where there was less of that behind the scenes drama. Just a fun writing exercise.

Expanding Veilguard's World State Editor

Like many of us, I was disappointed with the total amount of choices carrying over from past games being only three, one of which dealt with romance, two with decisions made in the Trespasser DLC, and all of them being from Inquisition. This already set the precedent that we shouldn’t really be expecting the game to be as connected to our unique Thedas as we have come to be used to from previous titles—no more uniquely flavoured codex entries, no more small but sweet cameos here and there that make the world itself feel like a larger place that we had helped shape.

Given The Veilguard’s very troubled production history of multiple delays, staff layoffs, and all-around restarts of the entire project, it is honestly a surprise that we even got three choices, so credit where credit is due. They made with what they had. But what if The Veilguard had this vision from the start? What if there wasn’t any of this meddling? What if Bioware simply had more time and control? What if they could truly let us import the World State this game deserved?

Now, for this hypothetical rewritten playthrough, I’m going off from the fact that the Dragon Age Keep will not be used; I actually found it a neat idea to tick my three choices in the character creator, and it would have probably been better had Inquisition done something similar. Why do I think that? Because it means we are not running into any dangers of servers potentially shutting down, leaving us trapped in the canon we happened to have imported last. Converting the Keep into an offline editor was a good idea, but unfortunately not executed nearly enough as, let’s face it, we all expected. So we’re gonna have some fun for Veilguard.

Disclaimer: I’m going to refer to the game’s title as Veilguard from now on, not “the” Veilguard. I really don’t like the change of having a “the” in a series of otherwise one-word, or one-number, titles.

Of course, we have to be realistic about this. It is virtually impossible to implement every single decision from across all three games, and those that can be implanted can’t alter the main plot too much. Certainly, we like to imagine and picture things, but let’s approach this from an actually doable point of view.

Right, so imagine you just finalised your Rook, and then get a screen titled “Past Adventures”. Not just “The Inquisition”. And it would take up the entire screen instead of being shoved somewhere in the corner of the final CC page, which many people missed. I could have missed it too, had I not known beforehand that it was going to be there!

It would say something akin to “You can customise the protagonists and several events from the games Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. These choices will have both major and minor effects on the plot of Veilguard. If this is your first Dragon Age title, you would be advised to skip this section for now, as you may otherwise risk getting overwhelmed. A default World State has been pre-generated for the game.”

Why did I add this disclaimer? Because it would show us, right from the get-go, that we respect both new and old players. If you’re a new player, feel free to skip this part as it won’t matter to you anyway and, quite frankly, you wouldn’t want to spend an eternity in the character creator doing things you might not even be familiar with. But if you’re a returning player or someone who has read up on recaps and watched countless lore videos, come on right in, we’ve got you covered, don’t worry! We know how much time you spent meticulously crafting your World State for Inquisition, so join us and customise to your heart’s content.

If you choose to not skip ahead (honestly the only time I would click “skip” on that shit is if I was a new player), you will be presented with three tarot cards, one shows the griffon, the Grey Warden symbol, one shows Kirkwall’s heraldry, and one shows the Inquisition’s banner. Here’s your previous three games. And now we get to customise them a little. The little gremlin in me would be quite gleefully rubbing his hands at this prospect.

Past Adventures: The Blight

We open the first slide and are immediately hit with a crimson screen and an ambient reprise of several of Inon Zur’s themes from DAO. I loved this part in the game, when you click to customise your Inquisitor and are immediately hit with “Calling the Inquisition”. Really great stuff for early emotions. Now let’s actually customise things.

The Hero of Ferelden

I do not expect us to actually be able to recreate the Warden in the flesh, but I believe they should be at least brought up in conversation or mentioned in codex entries and letters. Here are the things we get to customise about them specifically:

The Hero: Here, we get to tick the race, gender, class, and background for our Warden. Again, no character creator, just fancy tarot cards. But guess what? That would already be more than enough for what we can do. At least we know the game acknowledges their continued existence.

The Warden’s fate: Did the Hero of Ferelden perform the ultimate sacrifice?

Romance: Who did your Warden romance, if at all?

The Companions

Now that our Warden is set, we jump over to DAO’s companions. Each companion has their own little mini-section. The first few questions will always be “Did you even recruit them? And if so, did they survive? If so, were you on good terms or not?” These questions, depending on the answers, will immediately lock or open the more specific ones. Which are, as follows:

Did the Warden have Morrigan perform the Dark Ritual?

What is Alistair’s ultimate fate?

Was Sten reunited with his sword?

What happened to Loghain?

What happened to Marjorlaine?

The Battle of Ostagar

What happened to the prisoner at Ostagar?

The Arl of Redcliffe

What is Connor’s fate?

Is Isolde alive?

Did you help Bevin and return his sword?

The Urn of Sacred Ashes

What happened to the Urn?

The Nature of the Beast

How was the situation between the Dalish and the werewolves resolved?

A Paragon of Her Kind

What happened to the Anvil of the Void?

Who rules Orzammar?

Did the Warden help Brother Burkel create a Chantry in Orzammar?

Did the Warden prove the Legion of the Dead was connected to a noble house?

Did Orta join the Assembly?

Warden’s Keep

What happened to Sophia and Avernus?

Denerim

Did the Warden complete Slim Couldry’s crime wave?

Who rules Ferelden?

Who killed Urthemiel?

Awakening

What happened to Nathaniel?

What happened to the Architect?

What happened to Vigil’s Keep and Amaranthine?

As you can see, I have not included all the choices, just the ones I think can be carried over in both realistic and interesting manners. Not all of them will heavily feature in the game; in fact, many of them are for flavour and codex entries only, but there is still merit in those. We know there is a whole lot of stuff happening in the South thanks to the letters the Inquisitor regales us with. So let’s put some world-state uniqueness to those letters. But in this rewrite, some of these choices will, in fact, feature in a more substantial manner.

And that’s Dragon Age: Origins done! Moving on to the next one!

Past Adventures: The Tale of the Champion

When we enter this screen, the CC assumes Kirkwall’s orangey-yellow tone and we get a reprisal of the key DA2 themes by Inon Zur, the most prominent one being, of course, Hawke’s family theme. This one is not going to be as big as DAO, but there are a few important factors nevertheless, especially concerning possible deaths and survivals.

The Champion of Kirkwall

Unlike the Hero of Ferelden, Hawke will actually be customisable in this one. Because no matter whether or not they were sent to the Fade or Weisshaupt, there is always the potential for them to still be alive. So, here are the choices regarding Hawke:

The Champion: Here you can customise Hawke’s gender, class, and personality.

Who did Hawke romance, if at all?

The Party

Pretty much every companion’s card, aside from a few, will have the questions “Did you recruit them?”, “Are they still alive?”, and “Were they friend or rival to Hawke?” at the forefront. Most of it is gonna be flavour, but it’s still my flavour, dammit!

What happened to Bethany or Carver?

What happened to Isabela and the Tome of Koslun?

What happened to Fenris and Danarius?

What happened to Merrill, her eluvian, and Clan Sabrae?

What happened to Bartrand?

What happened to Anders when the Chantry exploded?

Did Hawke approve of Anders' actions?

Did Aveline marry Donnic?

The Tale of the Champion

Did Hawke protect the Bone Pit from all its dangers?

What happened to Feynriel?

Did Hawke let Zevran go?

Did Nathaniel survive?

Did Hawke side with the mages or the templars?

Fewer choices are carrying over here compared to DAO, but many of the events that occurred in DA2 are only relevant to Kirkwall’s immediate fate, which is already resolved by the time of DAI. Many of these will be flavour again, but some of them, I’m not going to say which, will definitely have a bigger impact.

Right, we’re done with DA2, let’s move on to the last one!

Past Adventures: The Inquisition

And here we get to the big one, the game that most directly impacts much of DAV’s story. We click on the last page and get the green shades and DAI’s ambience themes, a beautiful reprisal of Trevor Morris’ great hits. I would like to once again reiterate how emotional the CC music made me feel here when I was playing the game. Let us now customise our choices.

The Inquisitor

While the Hero of Ferelden will be a background figure in letters and codex entries, and Hawke more of a minor character with a significant role, the Inquisitor will have a much larger presence. Just how large, you’ll find out soon. But for now, let’s customise them:

The Inquisitor: Here you can customise your Inquisitor’s race, gender, class, and specialisation. Their personality as well, for while it wasn’t as apparent as with Hawke, the Inquisitor does still have a distinct range of dialogue choices. You can still be diplomatic, lighthearted, or even rough.

Who did the Inquisitor romance, if at all?

The Inner Circle

As with the other companion sections, pretty much all slides here will feature the “Did you actually recruit them?”, “Are they still around?”, and “Are you friends or not?” questions. Alongside a few specific ones that will definitely have more of an impact here.

Did Dorian resolve the issue with his father?

What happened to Blackwall?

Did the Iron Bull remain loyal to the Qun?

Did Cassandra rebuild the Seekers of Truth?

Did Cassandra discover the book of secrets and what did she do with it?

What happened to Harmond?

Which path did Cole choose?

What happened to Solas’ friend?

Did Varric track down the red lyrium source?

Did the Inquisitor give Vivienne the heart of a snow wyvern?

How was Cullen’s lyrium dilemma resolved?

How did the Inquisitor help Josephine resolve her family’s fortunes?

Was Leliana hardened or softened?

The Path of the Inquisitor

Did the Inquisitor embrace or denounce their title of Herald of Andraste?

Did the Inquisition side with the mages or the templars?

What was the general principle upon which the Inquisition was founded?

Who rules Orlais?

Who stayed behind in the Fade?

What happened to the Grey Wardens after Adamant Fortress?

What happened to Samson or Calpernia?

Who drank from the Well of Sorrows?

Did the Inquisitor respect the rituals at the Temple of Mythal?

Who became Divine Victoria?

The Inquisition’s Influence

Did the Inquisitor ally with the Hinterland cultists?

Was the rift in Crestwood closed?

Was Caer Bronach captured?

Did the Inquisitor make a deal with Imshael?

Was Suledin Keep captured?

Was Griffon Wing Keep captured?

Was Sutherland’s company formed?

What tone did the Inquisitor’s judgments take?

Jaws of Hakkon

Did the Inquisitor learn Ameridan’s fate?

Was Hakkon slain?

Did the Inquisitor share the truth about Ameridan?

The Descent

Did the Inquisitor stop the earthquakes from destroying the Deep Roads?

Trespasser

What is the ultimate fate of the Inquisition?

What is the Inquisitor’s final goal regarding Solas?

Again, this looks like a lot, and it is, but bear in mind that a lot of these will only have minor impacts on the story in the form of cameos and codex entries. However, there are several major DAI choices that will have significant impact.

For our hypothetical rewrite, I shall not list every single choice I made for my imaginary playthrough. Instead, I shall reveal them as we go along so as not to clutter the space too much. And it’s a bit more fun this way.

And that’s the World State editor finally done! I believe all of these choices are able to feature in some capacity, be it big or small. But no matter if it’s a big world-changing consequence or simple flavour texts and cameos, it will still be our Thedas, our own unique version of it that we helped shape.

Now that the past is dealt with, let’s look at the present. Next time we’ll talk about Rook, the six factions, and why a DAO-style origin story selection would have not only been beneficial but very doable.

Rewriting Veilguard Part 2 - The Shadow Dragons

[exilethegame]

Writing Update (09/22/23)

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I made one of these, huh? 👀

I've spent the past few weeks settling back into university work, but now I'm back into the swing of writing and developing things. So I thought I would take this chance to clarify some things, and lay down what the future of The Exile is gonna look like.

The Public Demo is now done. Chapter Five is the last chapter that you'll be able to play for free until the game is finished. Right now, I am working on rewriting what is written and porting the game into Twine. This means I'm expanding scenes, adding variation and flavor text, fixing stubborn lingering bugs, and implementing a codex + optional flashback scenes (*cough* and art *cough*) into the game. This will take a while.

I'm not just copy and pasting things into Twine and changing the coding-- I'm polishing things, adding lore and info, and overall just making the game significantly more "put together" so-to-speak. The version of The Exile that's up right now has been the Alpha Version of the game, It's never been properly edited beyond fixing glaringly obvious typos, continuity errors, and bugs. Now, I'm working on actually implementing broader, more complex changes into the game based on feedback I've gotten over the coarse of the past two years of writing!

My hope is to release the Twine Demo at some point around January. But that's a goal, not a deadline. I'll likely take in more beta readers for the Twine version of the game at some point, and post the Twine build onto my Patreon more casually in the following months. I'll delve more into both of things, however, when the time comes.

My hope is to be as transparent as possible and try to be more active on here as I work on things, so expect to see writing updates once more! Though they'll likely be quite short, functioning just to keep you guys updated on what's going on ~*behind the scenes*~

That's all for now, and thanks for reading! :)

Rewrite Progress [Prologue] The entirety of the Prologue is being rewritten and expanded upon.

Expanded the Jamie + Lnyla encounter in the woods (scene has three main variations, and can end in 4 different ways! And Jamie is less of a little brat <3)

[WiP] Expanding Vethna's intro scene-- there are two main variations, and there will likely be more than one way for the scene to end this time...

Added codex entry for magic-users

Added codex entry for Vrithka

Added codex for blood magic

Working on overhauling and simplifying stats (the main focus with be MC's combat stats, along with MC's personality + commanding style)

Debating adding a sort of optional "personality test" that will tell you what mythosi your MC would be based on their personality!

[burningbladestorm]

CODEX ENTRY ???? : "Ender Draxxis"

"Mysterious Scholar king of the Aetherheart Realm and leader of the Cyclopsian Defendrinites, He engineered the Library cities, trapped countless deadly lifeforms within the containment mountains and coded the Anarchy Servers, his main base of operations is the Echoing metro, a massive collection of black towers that seed artificial thunderstorms to power the city and his vast majority of experiments, the other realms struggle to comprehend this realm of strange glyphic magic and only devoted knowledge seekers (or madmen) seek out his libraries.

He dispatches Defendrinite watchers throughout the realms cataloging every being and event, planning for every catastrophe that could inconvenience his work. One warrior who perplexed his interest is Evelia the Clandestine, Most adventurers that aid his quests choose physical currencies, Evelia being the only one to seek further knowledge of the planet and the endlessly expanding universe.

He is the only being to travel freely in the cold webs of space, walking the orbital pyramids among the moons, he has built countless vessels atop his towers should he become damaged by the inhabitants, with his ultimate work being a vessel Titan that can Kombat Gods"

[pikapeppa]

Me upon reading the two Codex in Veilguard that vaguely imply what happened to Sten: I know in some universe out there Yara is stumbling upon that man while he's injured out there in the wilds, after being thrown out of the Qun, and the reunion that follows would crush me ✊😔

YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!

[ahem] [with slightly more dignity] Yes. I was feasting on the crumbs that they gave us about Sten-Arishok's current situation. I wish I had the screenshots in front of me of those codex entries, but from what I recall, Sten-Arishok was taken by surprise during a war council and ambushed by the other antaam commanders, who would eventually become the "warlords" in DAV. But some loyalists helped him escape with nonfatal wounds, and he works with the Ben-Hassrath now. So that's the canon situation! I AM PICKING UP WHAT YOU'RE PUTTING DOWN THOUGH and I would be lying if I hadn't been fantasizing about a situation where Yara had been sent to collect intel or something on the qunari movements and managed to help get him to safety but my mind keeps getting bogged down on why she'd be doing that bc it's not like the Grey Wardens would give a shit what the qunari are up to so why would she get sent there for intel. Unless... BLIGHT IN PAR VOLLEN? okok brain calm down

Anyway. YES. I am also still thinking about this. And thinking about everything qunari in general! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that the qunari presence in this game was just reduced down to antaaam urukhai (basically) and that all the interesting nuance of their culture was watered down. At least we had Taash and Shathan for a little bit of nuance there. AND I have hope that the next game (assuming there will be one) will expand on the qunari -- MAYBE PARTIALLY TAKE PLACE IN PAR VOLLEN -- given the whole Devouring Storm thing and the mystery of who "gave the adaari" their gift of firebreathing!

LOTS TO THINK ABOUT. I'm so sorry for totally sidetracking your entire question to rave about all things qunari 😂😂😂

-- love from your friendly neighbourhood Pikapeppa xoxo

P.S. Holy shit. Did this question just make me start thinking about how I could make it plausible for Sten and Yara to meet again? hm hm hmhmhm.

[amaryllis-sagitta]

Ancient elvhen & death

As discussions about the DATV gameplay reveal go on, it is often brought up that by establishing the Veil, Solas brought mortality onto elves - which adds a layer of depth to his "People die all the time" line. But it is worth remembering that the ancient Elvhen did not seem to be strangers to death altogether; they were only strangers to aging, which was something humans and animals did.

The narrative of "eternal Elvhenan" is a myth told by the Dalish Keepers, that emphasizes the leisure and slowness of ancient elvhen existence in contrast with that of transient humans:

Before the ages were named or numbered, our people were glorious and eternal and never-changing. Like the great oak tree, they were constant in their traditions, strong in their roots, and ever reaching for the sky. They felt no need to rush when life was endless. They worshiped their gods for months at a time. Decisions came after decades of debate, and an introduction could last for years. From time to time, our ancestors would drift into centuries-long slumber, but this was not death, for we know they wandered the Fade in dreams. (Codex: Arlathan: Part One)

This state of affairs is confirmed by some codices found in Trespasser, that hint at decisions and rituals taking many years to finalize. I don't think this narrative is entirely false; I think it describes the chiefly ancient elvhen idyll in times of peace.

What we need to remember is that ancient Elvhenan waged at least two devastating wars: one against the Titans, and the other against the Void, personified by the Forgotten Ones. There must have been a tremendous amount of senseless loss in these wars, considering that Titans could shape the earth and the Void is a universally corrupting and depleting force.

When we confront Solas in DAI Trespasser, the word "immortality" is used in a double context: one is the lack of aging, the other is the Evanuris having the magical prowess to circumvent death almost completely. It is significantly harder to kill them. Which means an average elvhen person still had to mind dying from wounds or plague.

Solas: The elven legends of immortality? All true. It was not the arrival of humans that caused them to begin aging [emphasis mine, AS]. It was me. (DAI Trespasser)

What the Quickening really introduced is senescence and the shortening of the lifespan in consecutive generations of elves. The depiction of how the Quickening took hold seems to echo ancient stories at the base of the Western culture, depicting humanity's deterioration as it left the perfect "default" state of the Golden Age/ life in Paradise: what happened to first humans in the Old Testament, and Hesiod's and Ovid's depiction of the Ages of Man. In both instances, the "default" state implied that people lived in perfect harmony with their gods (in Dragon Age this also includes Fade spirits!) and endured for a very long time in a youthful state, and that there's been a progressive shortening of life expectancy in consecutive generations - linked with some kind of a transgression on the humans' part, being respectively the Biblical Original Sin and the Olympian Gods' act of overthrowing Cronus.

It is noted in The World of Thedas that the elves first noticed the Quickening around -2850 Ancient or -1655 TE. If we assume that humans could only expand and thrive in the post-Veil reality, then the date -3100 marking their approximate arrival in Thedas would not be long after the Great Betrayal. By this estimate, it would take 300-500 years until the elves noticed something in their biology was off.

It is entirely possible that the ancient elvhen had concepts and rituals for many kinds of sudden death. The Uthenera also seems to be some concept of "lesser death" - they aren't here, they probably won't return, but the spirit is roaming. This could also imply that, for them, the post-Quickening death of the body equals the death of the soul/spirit in the person, so it's "more finite". If someone departed suddenly, the ancient elves could rationalize it as something avoidable. Or perhaps they had rituals to regenerate the body and thus revive the dead as long as the soul/spirit has not left yet.

The entire cult of Mythal being focused on sorrow and loss is a fertile ground for theory crafting that concerns mourning and precautions against the death of personality or memory.

The weight of the shock that came with the Quickening was about the inevitability of decay, and about gradually losing time. So it doesn't come as a surprise that, since things now inevitably deteriorate and the memory of elders won't serve the people as well, the effort goes into preservation of heritage. Solas seems to be partly in denial of this shift, he fixates on the thought that the deterioration can be undone if he tries hard enough.

This really hammers it home that ancient elves had an entirely different philosophy around the passage of time, that the pressure of time is something inherently terrifying to them.

[the-eyeless-watcher]

Starbound oc lore drop because why the heck not!!

a small test group was sent to expand the Terrene Protectorate to space more than they have (in the game there like no other Terrene Protectorate so I'm just assuming that most were on earth for the graduation.). they called the group the Stella Protectorate, this group wasn't able to get to earth for the graduation because they were too far out and were still working on getting the group organized. their goal was to help those in a specific galaxy (the Terrene Protectorate were planning on having groups like this all over for some kind of better policing system and to better connect and help small cites on planets)

ANYHOW

The leader of the group is an Apex named Dmitri Brek. before he joined the Protectorates he lived in one of the Miniknog cities with his wife. she was a scientist for the Miniknog doing shady things and she died. Dmitri started learning more about the Miniknog and he joined the rebels, at some point the Protectorates helped the rebels win a fight and he decided that was the best way to help people, so he joined the academy.

Achere Stormwire was living in a small village as a farmer for who knows how long before one day his code just broke and he realized what was happening around him. His village wasn't super thrilled about that and he became an outcast. One day he was out taking care of the robot chickens when he saw a group in blue uniforms passing through, and even weirder, they were humans. The other glitch around kinda just ignored him, but he was curious, so he talked to them and ended up going back with them and joining the academy. his one goal in life is to be able to lie and have no one notice, even if it's small and insignificant like saying that the sky is green, he hates that he has to say his inflection before the words. Achere works as second in command in the Stella Protectorates.

Wisteria was the youngest member of her tribe, she was both incredibly skilled in hunting, and in her studies with the Greenfinger of her tribe. she watched the Greenfinger make contraptions and get them to work. The scientist from the codex "Florans in the Mist" was at her village, the scientist was able to convince Wisteria of a humans ability to be sentient, and the scientist was probably forced out of the tribe shortly after that. but the idea of more worlds and races made Wisteria curious. so when she was older, she and her Greenfinger made a small ship and she eventually found the academy. In the Stella Protectorates she is the head of security.

Chiyo Yoshida is in charge of Science in the Stella Protectorates. Chiyo was raised by her eccentric philosopher grandfather. she grew up around old scholars and she wanted to learn, she became a scientists, she never really had a specific field, she enjoyed biology and anatomy of all the races but was never interested in anything medical, she just wanted to learn. she learned about the Protectorate academy but wasn't interested, until she learned that she could study science and be around every race and learn more about the universe.

Khonsu was actually born on Avos the home planet of the Avians. He was raised by an influential Stargazer priest. he was raised believing in Kluex. The priest was training him to take over as a Stargazer priest so he could be "reunited with Kluex" (HAVE YOU READ ABOUT THEIR RITUAL SACRIFICES ITS WILD). but our boy Khonsu when he was little, he snuck out of the temple and started exploring the area, and he was so entranced by it that he didn't notice a monster sneak up on him. he got hurt and he decided it was divine punishment, but he wanted to see the outside world again so he went out again, and he was fine, nothing hurt him and he started questioning things. eventually he ran away and started seeing the world for what it was, but his little escape pod he escaped in crashed somewhere and he got stuck (he is still a little kid btw) a member of the Protectorate found him and raised him. he joined the academy once he was old enough so he could help people just like his mom did for him. he still has all of the teachings of Kluex memorized and still has a hard time doing things that were considered forbidden for him. His job in the Stella Protectorate is medic.

TWO MORE

Ackey Bridger grew up in a classic old west town, her pa was the sheriff and her ma was a (retired)bandit (it made family gatherings real interesting) she spent her days riding horses out in the open fields, herding cattle, and chasing down bandits with her pa. as a Novakid she never really felt at home anywhere (even in a town full of Novakid), she yearned for the stars. Ackey kissed her ma and pa goodbye and left. she wandered around for a little bit until she saw a pamphlet for the Protectorate academy outside a gas station, then she was off. somehow she made it through the schooling, she wasn't a great student. Her job in the Stella Protectorate is mostly handling equipment, guns, armor, rations, vehicles, etc.

Last but not least: classic funny blond guy character! (i love him thanks) Curtis Sullivan!!

Curtis grew up watching the Protectorates on TV,he wanted to be like them, he would dress up when he was a little kid in blue clothes and a yellow blanked tied around his neck like a cape and jump around his small suburb home "saving earth". he had a lot of siblings and he falls right in the middle. his older siblings got stable jobs, but he had his heart set on becoming a Protectorate, the problem was money. he worked really hard in school and got tons of scholarships and got a free ride into the academy. he comes off as confident and goofy but he is fully capable of working hard. because of his "people person" personality, his main duty in the Stella Protectorate is dealing with people, making negotiations, talking with leaders, and anything that has to do with being social.

they also have a classic gum chewing, cat eye glasses, secretary, but i haven't gotten around to designing her yet, i know nothing about her lol.

thats them, thats the boys... that was more typing than anticipated.

one thing i really like with these characters is that no matter what they can be in the same world as your player character it's not one or the other idk.

i'm thinking about making little comics with them!

[codexmaledictus]

Welcome to CodexMaledictus - Tales of Chaos and Beyond

Welcome to CodexMaledictus, the dark archive curated by Apollo Gavinci. This space is dedicated to weaving stories from the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40k, beginning with my favored faction, the Death Guard. Here, you will uncover tales rich in lore, battles echoing through the Warp, and the twisted fates of warriors and warlords alike.

The Death Guard holds a unique place within Warhammer’s history. Known for their resilience, unyielding loyalty to Mortarion, and the blessings of Nurgle, they embody the perfect mix of decay, determination, and dread. These initial stories will focus on their rise, their battles within the Eye of Terror, and the cursed gifts bestowed upon them by the Plaguefather.

Expect core narratives that dive into:

Character Spotlights: Delve into the lives and motivations of key figures within the Death Guard.

Weapon Lore: Discover the stories behind their most feared bioweapons.

Tales from the Warp: Experience the chilling accounts of their ventures through the Eye of Terror and their interactions with other Chaos Legions.

I’ve become very passionate about the stories I write and am happy to share them with fellow enthusiasts. I’m open to feedback, comments, and even requests for stories around specific units, characters, factions, or matchups you’d like to see.

And listen well, for the words I speak are steeped in the rot of truth. This archive of blighted tales and lore, drawn from the shadows of the Warhammer 40k universe, holds within it tales that may be conjured by the foul machine intelligences, the likes of ChatGPT by OpenAI. Yet, do not be misled, for this collection bears no mark of allegiance nor sanction from the dark lords of Games Workshop, whose grim dominion over such hallowed stories remains absolute. We lay no claim to the mighty characters, blood-drenched battlefields, or cursed lore they hold in their iron grasp.

Know this, we do not toil for profit, but rather for the sheer delight of sifting through the miasma of history, sharing our adoration for the rot-infested lore, and welcoming others into this grand decay of stories. Should any who rule these tales in rightful claim find disquiet in what festers here, reach out—send your missive to grimdarkgavincichronicles@gmail.com—and it shall be dealt with swiftly, as is fitting for one who treads these cursed paths.

As the Codex expands, other factions’ stories will also emerge, each adding a layer to the galaxy's ever-darkening tale. Prepare to step into a world of endless war, plagued destinies, and forbidden lore. The archives await.

Stay tuned, explore, and embrace the decay.

[worldofsaia]

saia ; she/they. 24. traveller. unsundered. 

      “welcome, traveler of realms.”

BYF

◈ poc / black shifter.

◈ i don’t respond to dms from anyone under 18.

◈ be respectful or be removed.

◈ new posts might be queued. 

◈ mentally existing between realities—please bear with me on replies.

◈ english / some french and european spanish. unsundered: i do not belong to the waking world, but i speak its language.

◈ this is a space for cosmic rebellion, consciousness-expanding concepts, and unfiltered musings. topics include multidimensional thinking, and personal philosophy. proceed with caution if the unknown feels too vast.

ABOUT ME

hello; i’m saia, an emissary of thought and a reality shifter. 

this space is my diary and my codex: a reflection of the traveler, the weaver, and the god that resides within. i post about cosmic ideas, personal rambles, and the labyrinth of consciousness. reality isn’t fixed. it bends, rewrites, and reimagines itself under the weight of your will.

TAGS

#unsunderedsaia — core entries, foundational knowledge, and major revelations.

#voidborn — 4th dimensional thinking. 

#emissary — insights on sovereignty, limitless thinking, and mechanics of creation.

#starless – the darker side of exploration: dreams, fears, and existential wanderings.

#labyrinth – poetic or symbolic writings.

LINKS

✦ THE CODICES

      ╰ foundational knowledge and key insights.

the holographic universe

troubleshooter subliminal

pac i.

everyone can shift

the quickest way to shift

✦ THE TREATISES | [wip]

      ╰ essays on specific topics like manifestation mechanics, alien/divine knowledge, or multidimensional thinking.

✦ THE TREASURY

     ╰ a collective of my realities.

[smexychip5]

Finally watched Venom 3 yesterday. I know the series isn’t known for being really good (trust me, I know. That’s the major reason why I love the series in the first place), but with this last(?) one, I didn’t really enjoy it in a dumb fun way like the previous films. Sure, it was kind of cool that there were more symbiotes, and that they introduced the concept of Knull, but the new symbiotes get completely wasted as soon as they’re introduced, and Knull might as well have not showed up in the film with how little he actually does in the film. I know that they’re probably setting him to be Sony Spider-Man Universe's Thanos, but you see, when the MCU introduced Thanos as this puppet master at first before his destructive introduction as the big bad, it at least made since although Thanos is very strong without the stones, he is not immortal, and gaining the stones isn’t a easy task due to their potential universe ending powers obviously. So it made sense that it would take Thanks awhile to obtain them or at least enough to be known as a big threat by Infinity War/Endgame. Outside of the whole Codex hindrance, there’s no point in having to wait for Knull to require more strength since he is literally the creator of all symbiotes and a primordial god. On top of that, and something I bring again in a bit, Venom 2 established that every symbiote throughout the Multiverse is connected via a hive mind, and can tap into it to be able to travel to different or at least gain the knowledge of the different universe counterparts since it’s possible that Eddie ended up in the MCU because of Spider-Man/Doctor Strange, and not Venom himself. Plus with how “well” the MCU is being handled currently, do you really want to follow in their footsteps now Sony? How about instead telling/teasing the audience about how dangerous Knull, why not actually you know show it? And no, the Xenophages do not count. We know how strong/dangerous they are, but does not correlate to how dangerous Knull himself is. With Knull showing up in the post credits, it either implies that Venom is not fully gone for good or that Venom died for no reason since Knull is going to be free regardless. Another thing that felt like wasted potential/should have been expanded upon is Venom taking over animals. As previously stated, I really like the credits of the film. With all the visually amazing artwork(?) of Venom as all sorts of animals like a Squirrel and a Kangaroo, how can I not like it? At the same thoughts, I feel disappointed because I feel like if this movie was a road trip like I wanted it to, having these concepts actually developed into the plot would make it so much more interesting. Sure, we did get the whole Venom Horse, Fish, and Frog, but that’s barely scratching the surface. One last thing is that while I 100% agree with Venom at the beginning of the film that “I’m so done with the multiverse shit.”, I feel like if they actually expanded on the concept that they introduced in the last film, and had like idk Sam Raimi Spider-Man 3’s Venom so up, I think I would have found the movie more interactive or at least I would something interesting to talk about. It wouldn’t be executed very well, but at least it wouldn’t have been a nothing burger of film like this movie is. Overall, I’m disappointed with how Venom 3 turned out, and I kind of hope that this won’t be the last one. Oh, and this film was less queer coded than the last one, which made it even more disappointing.

[dragon-age-codex-entries]

Codex entry: Winter Palace

The Grand Apartments

This wing once served as a home-away-from-home for members of House Valmont's four cadet branches, but it has fallen into disuse since Emperor Florian's reign. The late emperor would not allow relatives more distant than his siblings into the Winter Palace; for years the entirety of the Grand Apartments was closed off.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

──────────────────

The Servants' Wing

During her reign's fifth year, Empress Celene substantially expanded the palace servants' living quarters. They now encompass a large stretch of garden which the landscape architect Trenou designed; it is considered one of the finest examples of his style in Orlais.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

──────────────────

The Grand Library of Halamshiral

The Winter Palace's collection of book is one of the world's largest; only the library of the University of Orlais and the Imperial Palace library compare. Famed cabinet maker Gustav of Val Fontaine designed and built the shelves, the finest examples of his marquetry technique still in existence.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

──────────────────

The Verchiel Fountain

Emperor Judicael I commissioned this massive fountain to commemorate House Valmont's historic victory against Xavier Drakon. The four lions represent Emperor Alphonse Valmont and his three younger brothers—Duke Isidore d'Arlesans, Duke Yvon of Savrenne, and Duke Stephan of Val Montaigne—who took the field against the usurper.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

──────────────────

Le Requiem

After his coronation in 8:84 Blessed, Emperor Florian commissioned the building of a chapel in the palace of Halamshiral as his first act, to honor his infant daughter Evangeline who died in the Hundred Days' Cough outbreak of 8:77 Blessed. The chapel contains exquisite murals Empress Justinia herself painted, of the life and death of Andraste.

—Excerpt from Architectural History of Orlais, Volume 1 by Elodie Ferrneau

[1997thebracket]

Round 1C

Men In Black: Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow. Men in Black is a sci-fi comedy, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, which would go on to spawn a franchise after the success of the 1997 film. It centers around a secret government agency known as the Men in Black, tasked with monitoring and regulating extraterrestrial activity on Earth; these agents, notably our protagonists Agent J and Agent K, protect humanity from aliens living among us and ensure the world remains oblivious to their existence. The franchise was praised by critics and audiences alike for its unique screenplay, action sequences, and the humor and chemistry of the lead actors. Over the years, Men in Black has expanded to include multiple sequels, an animated series and spin-offs, all contributing to its enduring popularity as a cheekier take on the sci-fi genre.

The MP3 is Leaked: It took a decade to develop the MPEG Audio Layer III– or the MP3– while maintaining the fidelity to make it commercially viable. It took a college student a single night to bring the music industry to its knees forever after. Karlheinz Brandenburg, who worked at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits in Germany (pictured) would emerge as the “Father of the MP3” in the 90s. The development of the file codex and software, alongside the developments of competitors and the early marketing of the MP3 is well worth independent research, but ultimately background noise to this entry. Mid-1997, in an international clusterfuck facilitated by the popular internet Warez community, an Australian student used a stolen credit card from Taiwan to purchase professional-grade encoding software from Germany. He successfully cracked the software, proceeded to upload it onto a server in Sweden, and initiated distribution to multiple U.S. universities through an FTP site; within it, there was a read-me file that labeled the program as freeware, with a "special thanks" given to Fraunhofer. Brandenberg would do everything he possibly could to warn his colleagues and label executives, but the toothpaste could never be put back into the tube. You know the rest: Napster, Kazaa, Limewire and numerous others would come to follow. The RIAA would engage in endless lawsuits, as would several big names in music, but the industry would never recover from the change in public perception of/capacity for piracy the stolen MP3 ushered in.

[gosorsomething]

The Book of Josephine - Chapter 7 up now!

Another update of my Warrior Nun Universe spin-off now on AO3! Thank you to everyone that has read so far!

An excerpt from Chapter 7: "Now it will spring forth,"

Vincent scoffs across the table. “It’s fine. You know she’d probably give you an earful if she could, Isaac.”

Sister Josephine and Sister Gregory look at each other while suppressing a laugh.

“Trust me, she’s given me a page-full quite a few times.” Isaac raps his knuckles on the table again and stands abruptly. “I’m going to check my e-mail before you all start making non-verbal jokes about my bald spot.”

He turns to leave, and when his back is to the group, the old woman puffs out her cheeks and makes a circle with both of her hands, spreading them apart to expand the shape, mimicking how Isaac’s bald spot must be growing. Sister Gregory and Father Vincent burst out laughing, causing Father Isaac to whip around.

“I knew it!” He storms out.

“Isaac, wait. I need to discuss the demonstration with you, more seriously.” Father Vincent catches his breath as he stands to leave. Isaac yells something unintelligible from the hall.

“Codex, Sister Josephine, it was good to see you again. Sister Gregory, it was nice to meet you.” Vincent bids farewell to the two nuns still seated at the table.

“And the Novice.” He takes a couple of steps in the teenager’s direction, on the way to the door. “Keep in touch about your training, you will know how to reach me, if you need anything. I probably won't see you again before I have to leave this afternoon. Good luck, and I’m terribly sorry you have been put into this situation, but trust that everything will end up as God intends.” He goes to the doorway and turns back once more. “In this life, or the next.”

“In this life, or the next.” Sister Gregory repeats as Sister Josephine tips her chin in acknowledgement.

The younger nun stands quickly and jogs to the door, shutting and locking it in one swift motion. She turns, wide-eyed, glancing between the old woman and the teenager.

The Novice turns to face a very loud laugh coming from behind her, where the old woman is seated.

“What a crock this morning has been!” Sister Josephine lets out.

“Now that I think about it, I should have shot you last week when you asked..."

read more on ao3

[wodenscild]

Aight! So! Futhark is pretty fekking cool! A pretty script! It had a tonne of different varieties from the various Scandinavian futharks to the continental futharks to the Anglo-Saxon furthark! Being both a linguistics student and a follower of Fyrnsida, I thought what if I could modernise the Anglo-Saxon futhark to fit my own Aussie English!!! If you don't wanna read the whole thing I have put a summary at the end of this post that you can jump down to!

SO! FIRSTLY! WHICH ANGLO-SAXON FUTHARK (or as more aptly Futhorc) SHALL I USE? There are two complete sets that we know of! These are the Thames scramasax which was a short inscription on a sword, and the Vienna Codex. While graphematically the same, they have a few graphemic/visual differences!

[Elliot, Ralph W. V. 1996. "The Runic Script." In The World's Writing Systems, edited by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright, 335-339. New York: Oxford University Press.]

I am gonna go with the Vienna Codex here just cos that is the one that the computers use so :P sorry Beagnoth- anyway! Next step was to get the phonemic transcriptions of these :D [sobs] This book gives a good overview of the readings of each of these runes, but there are some abiguities with ᚳ, and the exact qualities of some of the vowels. So my thinking is to take ᛁ/ᛇ, ᛖ, ᚪ, ᚩ, and ᚢ as the basic 5 vowel system, and then have ᛟ as /œ~ø/, ᚫ as /æ/, and have ᛠ and ᚣ be /æa/ and /y/ respectively! ᚳ I am gonna use solely as /k/, and recreate the /tʃ/ through a digraph later! It should also be noted that ᚠ /f/, ᚦ /θ/, and ᛋ /s/ are voiced medially, and that ᚷ /g/ is lenited non-initially. I quite like these so I am gonna keep that!

NOW! NEXT ORDER BUSINESS! ORTHOGRAPHY! HOW IS THIS GONNA FIT ONTO MY ENGLISH? THE MOST ANNOYING PART IS GONNA BE VOWELS! Australian English vowels are more than the ones that the Futhorc can write. So we gotta do some expanding and use some diagraphs- so I have settled on:

/ɐ/ BUD - ᚪ

/ɐ:/ BATH - ᚪᚪ

/æ/ TRAP - ᚫ

/æ:/ BAD - ᚫ (not gonna double this one as /æ/ and /æ:/ are saliently different to me but if anyone wants to use this they can double it if they want!)

/æɪ/ FACE - ᚫᛁ

/æɔ/ MOUTH - ᚫᚩ

/ɑɪ/ PRICE - ᚪᛁ

/e/ DRESS - ᛖ

/e:/ SQUARE - ᛖ (again, vowel length with here is not something I can hear really well?)

/ɜ:/ NURSE - ᛟ (closest modern vowel we have to /œ~ø/)

/ə/ ABOUT - ᛠ (this is just- a weird sound we, or at least I, don't use. I think it would be funky to be our schwa but! I know this is arbitrary, but I wanna try to use all of runes here)

/əʉ/ GOAT - ᛠᚢ

/ɪ/ BIT - ᛁ

/ɪə/ NEAR - ᛁᛠ

/i:/ FLEECE - ᛇ (this was used as a variant of ᛁ, and also represents a few consonants which doesnt exist in my variety today, so I am just using it for /i:/ out of a want to use all the runes)

/ɔ/ THOUGHT - ᚩ

/ɔɪ/ CHOICE - ᚩᛁ

/ʊ/ FOOT - ᚢ

/ʉ:/ GOOSE - ᚢᚢ (I know these are different vowel qualities but tbh, it isn't immediately apparent to me that they are different lest i really listen to it? So personal choice to just use this digraph here)

It was pretty easy to assign vowels to runes! All bar ᚣ, whose /y/ sound is just... not something we have anymore? But! I have an idea for it with consonant digraphs!! So let's dive into the consonants!

The standard ones

/m/ MAN - ᛗ

/n/ NOON - ᚾ

/ŋ/ KING - ᛝ

/p/ POT - ᛈ

/b/ BELLY - ᛒ

/t/ TEST - ᛏ

/d/ DOG - ᛞ

/k/ KEG - ᚳ

/g/ GIFT - ᚷ

/ks/ WEET-BIX - ᛉ

/tʃ/ CHURCH - ᛏᛋᚣ

/dʒ/ JUDGE - ᛞᛋᚣ

/f/ FAN - ᚠ

/v/ VALUE - ᚠᚻ (this digraph I am gonna use initially, I am gonna use ᚠ in non-initial positions for /v/)

/θ/ THANKS - ᚦ

/ð/ THIS - ᚦᚻ (same as with /v/)

/s/ SISTER - ᛋ

/z/ ZOO - ᛋᚻ (same as with /v/)

/ʃ/ SHELL - ᛋᚣ

/ʒ/ VISION - ᛋᚣ (I cannot think of any words outside of vision where this sound comes up, so it'll be safe to have it homographic with /ʃ/)

/h/ HOME - ᚻ

/ɹ/ RED - ᚱ

/l/ LOLLIE - ᛚ

/j/ YOUNG - ᛄ

/w/ WATER - ᚹ

Personal one

/x/ MURDOCH - my /k/ and /g/ tends to lenite at the end of words, or in fast or stressed speech non-finally - ᚳᚻ/ᚷᚻ non-finally, and ᚷ finally

So! TL:DR we have come to:

Next thing I wanna work on is making these runes more pen on paper writing friendly. The angularity of the runes was due to the materials into which they were typically carved into, and in quick writing can be a bit awkward for writing. So that is gonna me my next goal. Again! The runes were always used with degrees of variability, to match the speech of their writers. They were never standardised, and this here is not an attempt to standardised them here. This is just a personal project that others are more than free to use and modify as they wish! I will follow this up later when I replace my pen that died last night with possible handwritten styles for the runes.