The Lands Beyond (Outer Wilds/The Land Before Time)

[X] Return to the Circle of Learning, where your grandparents are just waking up. You could speak to them… or check on your greatest secret.

You remember that by this point, your grandparents are definitely awake. While today is a free day, it still might be a good idea to check in with them. And, if your lucky, you could play around with-

No. First things first.

You head back to the Circle of Learning from across the City, passing by Tinker's workshop along the way. You take a moment to wonder what he will think of his apprentices' latest stunt. On one hand, a young one attacking a grown-up so brazenly should be a no-no, but on the other hand, many of the influential people in the City like Tinker really, really don't like Topsy. It could go either way.

Their parents, of course, will ground them for at least a month. Even if that happens, you'll still have to do chores for them.

As you climb up the hill to the Circle, you can already spot the arch of your grandfather's neck scanning the horizon. It takes only a moment for him to spot you.

"Oh, Littlefoot! You're up early!" he calls to you.

"Oh yeah, I just... rolled over a pinecone right before sunrise. It's a good thing I didn't lose much sleep anyway," you reply.

Your grandfather chuckles.

"Well, what are you up to on this fine day? Planning to visit the Museum for the hundredth time?" he asks.

"No, I'm actually meeting with Pterrie and helping the Hoofhands twins carry stuff. Just felt like doing something else," you say, feeling somewhat guilty at the half-truth. Your grandfather nods.

"Well, it's good to hear that you are trying other things for once. We worry about you, sometimes," he says. You know that your grandparents are concerned with your... greater-than-average interest in the Mysterious Beyond. You don't understand what danger they see in it, and arguing with them can be frustrating.

Your grandfather continues speaking.

"Well, now that you're accounted for, I'll be finding breakfast with your grandmother. You know where to find us!"

He turns his gargantuan body to the right, then begins walking forward to the fields. Before he leaves, he turns his head back to address you one more time.

"I've said this before, but be careful with those twins, Littlefoot. We fear they... may not be the best influence on impressionable young minds such as yourself!"

"Yeah, don't worry," you reply. Your grandfather nods, then turns back. With him moving into the distance and your grandmother nowhere to be seen, you realize that you have a window of time to play with your most prized possession. First, you scan the surroundings to make sure that nobody is watching you, then head to a nearby hill closer to the Great Wall. At the top of the hill lies a tree, and beneath it lies a conveniently-placed pile of leaves and twigs that hides the pit you dug with your own paws. Once you arrive, you eagerly begin picking up the twigs and leaves with your mouth and moving them to the side. Slowly but surely, the object inside the pit is uncovered.

Your anticipation builds as the thick, patchwork cloth that forms the front piece becomes visible, then the bulky leather of the forelimb gloves, and finally, the complex rigging of the backpack on the back piece - still lacking an oxygen canister. Finally, you spot the helmet and the strangely intricate form of the casing containing the tentacles, attached to the front piece.

Deduction Roll (Trivial): 1 + 2 + 4 (Deduction) = 7
7 vs. 6 = Success

You don't know who built the tentacles, but you're certain it wasn't the Far Beyonders. From what you've seen of their artifacts, their technology looks utilitarian and their metal is colored gray and black. This device, on the other hand, is coppery brown with engraved insets. A tiny cobalt-colored gemstone is set into the center of the top face.

Perhaps the identity of who built it is yet another of life's mysteries. Still, you can't help but wonder.

Stepping back from the pit, you take a moment to admire the thing you cleverly hid from the rest of the City.

You see, you have a space suit. You got it like this:

Three months ago, you had joined one of the rare tours that Mysterious Beyond Ventures offers of the Astrodrome. It was a sort of field trip for you and some other hatchlings. Your grandparents had been reluctant, but Director Malin eventually got them to acquiesce. One hazy afternoon, you and a few of your classmates gathered at the personnel lift located at the eastern edge of the Great Wall - one of the only ways to reach the Astrodrome from inside the Valley. The MBV representative on duty was a domehead who called himself "Cap" - one of the original co-founders of the organization and still its chief of astrosaur training. The name came from his status as "capsule communicator," a role that had been invented for the first interlunar flights and stuck around ever since.

You remember waiting on the personnel lift with great anticipation. You had only been at the Astrodrome a few times before, and each visit was something to be treasured. Finally, once all the hatchlings had been accounted for, Cap typed in the lift codes into the console on the left, and the machine began rising into the air with a jolt. Leaning over the railings, you watched as the Valley's floor grew more and more distant as you gained altitude. Finally, with another jolt, the lift came to a stop, and you turned to face the Astrodrome.

To your left was the Astrosaur Building. To your right was Mission Control and the attached Tracking Station for receiving signals from the extensive satellite relay network in orbit around Wild Nest. In between was the Assembly Yard - hodgepodge of machines, scaffolding, and workstations for assembling MBV's rockets and payloads. Beyond that is the railed track where completed rockets are carried to one of two launch pads in the distance by the Mobile Erector.

First on the tour was the Astrosaur Building. As Cap guided the party towards its entrance, you noticed that many of the other hatchlings were just as excited as you - even the four-legs. Perhaps it was only the grown-ups who looked unfavorably upon the space program.

The inside of the building was a single cavernous space containing a multitude of equipment racks, training devices, and other necessary implements for supporting MBV's astrosaurs. After ushering you in, Cap was eager to explain the purpose of each large piece of equipment in the room.

First on the agenda was a strange raised device consisting of a few stair steps leading to some kind of vehicle cockpit, like those of a scout but far more intricate. You spotted not just one but two computerized displays - a rarity in the City given the need to hand-craft every electronic device.

"This," Cap explained, "is our simulator. Here, astrosaurs can practice on a mockup of a mothership cockpit from the safety of home. We like to run them through all sorts of strange scenarios and failure modes on the ground so that when they're in the Mysterious Beyond, they'll be ready to deal with any problem the cosmos throws at them!"

The next tour item was a rack of space suits and associated handheld equipment. You could already spot distinctive models for rainbow faces, circle runners, sharpeyes, diggers, and domeheads - a wide motley of spacefaring clades represented.

"Now, these are some of the tools our astrosaurs use during their extra-vehicular activities..." explained Cap as he picked up a bulky device vaguely resembling a peashooter, with two canisters with hazard labels loaded into its bottom and a nozzle where a peashooter's muzzle would be.

"This is one of our most entertaining inventions: a hypergolic flamethrower that can operate underwater or in a hard vacuum! While it's useful for clearing out Ironbark on Lofted Ether, it can also be used by astrosaurs on EVA for propulsion. It's small, but in propulsion mode it packs quite a kick - enough even to hover inside Lofted Ether!"

The hatchlings ooohed and aaahed all at once. A flamethrower? Now that was something even the least interested hatchling could get behind. Cap then picked up a Signalscope - a clever hybrid of telescope and radio dish - lying on a bench.

"I think the Hoofhand twins' signature invention needs no introduction. What I bet you don't know is that it was invented specifically for Mysterious Beyond Ventures. Our astrosaurs use it not only to scout locations from afar but to navigate using our radio beacons, as well as other signals that can be found in the wild, such as those emitted by certain Far Beyonder installations or other... phenomena."

Cap was about to turn to another piece of equipment when a digger suddenly burst through the doors of the Astrosaur Building and ran up to him, whispering something in his ear while the crowd watching awkwardly. A dark look appeared on Cap's face before he turned to address you in a dismayed tone.

"Sorry, something's come up in Mission Control that requires my attention. I'll be back in a bit, so you hatchlings should sit tight. Don't touch any of the equipment!" he explained before he exited the building.

Unrest broke out among the hatchlings the moment he was gone.

"Oh no no no. Did something happen to one of the astrosaurs?" asked a younger member of the Hoofhands family.

"I bet they blew up one of their spaceships again, like in Expedition 13!" exclaimed a clubtail. The crowd of hatchlings soon became more and more roudy, and you felt nervousness course through you. Desperate to get away, you sneaked away from the other hatchlings and towards a side door to the left of the suit rack, with a sign reading "Long-Term Storage" above it. Curiously, the door was ajar, and you could pick up a faint musty scent coming from it. This place probably contained relics from the earliest days of MBV.

Immediately, you were struck by a desire to explore it, but this was countered by the fear that you would be trespassing in doing so. However, the increasing loudness of the hatchlings in the distance made your choice for you. You would do anything to not be trapped with that bunch. With a deep breath, you grabbed the door handle with your mouth and slowly pulled the door open, then took a single step inside.

The storage room was piles after piles of objects strewn haphazardly on racks, on the floor, or by the walls. You carefully and cautiously ventured in, allowing your eyes to get adjusted to the dim light. As you scanned the room's contents, a sense of awe rose through you. You spotted ancient memory tapes, consoles, and even old space suits. Soon, you stumbled upon something that made you gasp - the first flight suit of Edmon himself. This was the first space suit ever used by a Saurian!

You continued exploring the storage room with reverence. This place was just as amazing as the Museum, and you wished you had more time to take it in. Then, you spotted a small glint out of the corner of your eye. It came from behind a rack of pre-Expedition 13 space suits for Lofted Ether. Something was buried back there, among the relics. With curiosity, you wandered forward and thrust your long neck through the suit rack.

What laid behind it was something you could scarcely believe. There it was, standing where nobody could see it, having been abandoned and forgotten. A space suit for a young longneck such as yourself! Immediately, your mind swarmed with questions. Why had MBV built it? Had there been a longneck hatchling astrosaur? If so, why did nobody know about it? How could a secret like this be kept after all these years?

You pushed the rest of your body through the suit rack and came face-to-face with the hatchling suit. Closer inspection revealed that it was covered by a thin layer of dust, but not quite thick as expected if it hadn't been touched for decades like the other suits on the rack. Clearly, somebody had touched it more recently, though you could not guess who. You also spotted what used to be a name tag on the left breast of the suit, though it was long scratched out.

As you stared at the suit, your joy turned to anger. Here was something straight out of your dreams, just left to lie here and gather cobwebs where no one knew about it! While so many four-legs like you dreamed of seeing one of your kind venture into the Mysterious Beyond! How could MBV be so neglectful!

An idea began to take shape in your head. If MBV was willing to just leave this here and forget about it, perhaps-

No. It was too risky. There was no way you could sneak it past Cap and the others without getting caught! But what if it wasn't you who did the sneaking.

When class ended the very next day, you headed to Tinker's workshop. There the twins were, Bendy welding a flamethrower together while Mendy operated what she called a "sputter coater." You had always felt their kind rather strange. All other duckbills had a single large hoof on their forelimbs and preferred to walk on all fours like you. But hoofhands like the twins had four little "hooflets" on their paws that they could move around at will and grasp objects with like any two-legs! You sometimes wondered if hoofhands were even duckbills at all. Perhaps they came from a clade that was otherwise forgotten to time?

It was Bendy who spotted you entering first.

"Huh? What do you want, Littlefoot? Can't you see we're busy here?!" she said in an exasperated tone.

"Well, uh..." you stuttered out in a way that made you feel greatly embarrassed. "I...I...uh, would you two be willing to help me with something?"

"With what?" asked Bendy.

"I... might have found... something in the Astrodrome's long-term storage yesterday while nobody was looking," you managed to explain.

Bendy raised an eyelash.

"Now what were you doing around snooping around in places you shouldn't be?" she asked incredulously.

"Never mind that!" you blurted out. "I just found myself in the storage room and there I found... a-a space suit for longneck hatchlings like me! It was just lying there, covered in dust! I don't know how it got there or who made it!"

You saw Bendy put her paws on her hips. Clearly you'd piqued her interest.

"And what do you want us to do about that?" she asked.

"Well... I-I was hoping that you would do a favor for me. It's a space suit for longnecks, and MBV has just abandoned it. It doesn't seem fair. I know you go up to the Astrodrome lots of times, so could you..."

This was going to be awkward.

"...sneak it out for me? Nobody's looking after it anyway..."

You almost winced at those words. The look on Bendy's face told all.

"Okay, let me get this straight," she began.

"You want us to steal MBV property from their storage and give it to a random hatchling like you, when there's no way you'll ever use it? Just who the hell do you think we are?"

You could only manage to utter an "Uh..." at their response. An awkward silence filled the room. Finally, you mustered your courage to speak.

"Okay, I know it sounds bad, but this... really means a lot to me. Look, I'll do anything for it! I don't have grasping paws like you do, but I could carry some of your stuff around. And nobody will notice the suit is gone! Please, I don't want to just leave this!" you begged.

Bendy offered a glance to her sister, who by then had stepped away from the sputter coater to join the conversation. The latter spoke.

"Hmm... well, we have got a lot of orders on our plate to deal with. You look like you have a strong back. Fancy lugging around our stuff for... say, four months?"

You nodded eagerly. "Of course, I'll do anything!"

Mendy only stared before she offered her left paw.

"Alright then, we've got ourselves a deal!"

You lifted your left paw in return and let her grasp your thumb-spike.

"Deal!" you shouted. Bendy only stared at her twin, then shrugged her shoulders. Two weeks after that fateful meeting, you found the space suit delivered by the tree it now is buried under.

In the present day, you count the time until your obligations to the twins are fulfilled. Another month of having to lug around sandbags, polysilicon boules, metal ingots, half-finished mechanisms, and whatever else the twins need delivered during the afternoon. Still, you don't regret the deal for a second.

By habit, you push your forelimbs into the suit's front piece, then pull the rest of your body inside. Immediately, you feel a tingling down your spine as the neural interface on the front piece's artifact reaches out to you. Once the connection is established, you sense the artifact's tentacles inflating and unfurling, the claws on their tips opening. You don't know how it's possible, but you can control them as if they were grasping paws you were born with. As a test, you open and close them, then switch them between tripod and paw configuration.

You don't know who could have built them, but you also don't care. When you wear this suit, you can manipulate the environment just like a two-legs. You are no longer just a confused hatchling dreaming of the impossible. Now, you have power.

Once the tentacles are deployed, getting on the rest of the suit is easy. You reach back with them until they stumble upon the suit's back piece. You lift one hindlimb and pull the back piece into it. Once it's safe and secure, you do the same with the other hindlimb. Then, you pull the back piece's metal disconnect ring with its counterpart on the front piece, and latch them together with a satisfying "click." You feel the many cooling tubes on the suit's inner layer rub against your skin, though unfortunately you have no water source to make them work. Finally, you grab the helmet with your tentacles and slowly slip it on your head until it latches to the metal disconnect resting on your connect.

The moment the helmet is connected, you see multiple displays appear on the inside of its reflective visor. This "heads-up display" was obviously not present on the suit when you first got your paws on it. Fortunately, the twins had no problems upgrading it with state-of-the-art MBV technology, for which you are very thankful for.

You take a quick scan of your suit's HUD. On the upper left corner, your vitals such as heart rate and body temperature are displayed, as well as your oxygen meter. Unfortunately, it's currently flashing "WARNING: NO OXIDIZER CANISTER INSERTED," which you try to ignore. Below that is the Compass, which precisely indicates your orientation with respect to Wild Nest's magnetic field. You initially thought it a redundant feature to your worldsight, though experimentation has revealed that it is somewhat more precise and sensitive. On the upper right corner is the readout of your suit's radio communications system, as well as how many others are in the loop. This is a feature you haven't explored at all.

You don't know when your grandparents will be back, so you can afford yourself only a few minutes of practice. You stretch your right tentacle forward and grasp a strip of bark on the tree in front of you, then tear it out in a single gesture. Then, you use the bark to carve very uneven lines in the ground, part of you still marveling at your ability to do this. For a coup de grace, you attempt to practice vaulting with your suit. You set both your tentacles on the ground and slowly push yourself off it while trying to keep yourself stable. The tentacles bulge as you rise, somehow being able to lift a nine year-old longneck without bursting. You then put yourself back on the ground before suddenly pushing off from it with all your might, hoping to leap at least a meter in the air.

Unfortunately, your right claw accidentally grips the ground right as you are leaping. The next thing you see is a clod of dirt fly past your face, followed by you tumbling through the air and slamming into the tree. It doesn't hurt that badly, but it still embarrasses you. Of course, such a mistake is expected. For someone born without grasping paws, gaining the use of them requires a lot of effort.

You realize that your escapade is stretching on for a bit too long, as your grandparents could be back any minute. With a heavy heart, you return to the pit and doff the suit, reversing all your previous actions to don it. First, the helmet comes off, followed by the back piece, and finally, you slip out of the front piece. The connection to the artifact is broken and its tentacles deflate, slipping back into the artifact's casing while the gemstone ceases glowing a faint blue. Now, you once again just another longneck, though you know the suit isn't going anywhere.

There's still two places you can visit before the Museum reopens. Where will you head next?

[] The Traveler's Shrine, where Saurians of all clades come to reflect and contemplate the universe.
[] The Old Astrodome, where astrosaur Edmon first took off into the Mysterious Beyond more than thirty years ago. It hasn't seen use in about that long, but there's a lot of history there you enjoy taking in.

[X] The Traveler's Shrine, where Saurians of all clades come to reflect and contemplate the universe.

Returning to the City and finding the Traveler's Shrine is a relatively simple task. It's on the northwest side of the City, not too far away from the Airstrip. Part of you wonders if you could have just headed there first before seeing your grandparents, but it doesn't matter much now.

As you approach the site, your pace slows down, perhaps out of reverence. You've always found it hard to come here, as it is the place where the City's inhabitants commemorate those they have lost.

It's definitely something you'd prefer not to think about.

The Shrine itself is built on a raised platform overlooking Saurus Peak. The first thing you notice is the wooden arch spanning it, on which is attached a painted bronze symbol any Saurian would recognize.

The Eye of the Universe stands over the altar below - a mural depicting the Traveler head-on. Their form is stylized, but they posses the pointed head of a Saurian, staring straight downwards and towards the viewer. You spot the two circled dots the artist painted to represent their eyes, then the hollow circles below representing what you assume to be their nostrils.

All around the altar are various offerings left by the City's citizens. Mementos of the departed, whether they be friends or family. You hope you will someday find an appropriate offering to leave as well. It's what your mother would have wanted.

As you examine the Shrine, your eyes are drawn towards the symbol of the Eye of the Universe. A memory bubbles forth from within your subconscious, one that you have clung to for years.

One night, you and your mother were out stargazing. The shine of Firmament's illumined crescent cast the world around you in a faint blue light. The barred arms of the Great Spiral swept much of the northern sky.

"Do you know how the Spiral came to be?" asked your mother. Without waiting for an answer, she continued her explanation.

"According to legend, it had once been a mortal longneck couple who traveled the world. One day, they came upon a herd beset by a pack of tyrant sharpteeth. The herd was about to be devoured, when the couple placed themselves in front of them. They fought the attackers off long enough for the herd to escape, but tragically perished. The Traveler was so moved by their sacrifice that they scattered their remains among the heavens, forming the Spiral. Its arms are their necks, still entwined in an embrace after countless generations."

"Are there any other things in the sky that the Traveler made?" you asked. Your mother chuckled.

"The Eye of the Universe, of course. It is the Traveler's dwelling place, resting outside of reality in a realm even the sharpest-eyed longneck cannot find. From there, the Traveler gazes down upon all Saurians, looking out for us."

"But if nobody can see the Eye, how does anyone know it's real?" you asked incredulously. Your mother then gave an answer you would never forget.

"Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart. The Eye is not just a place, but a symbol of hope to Sauriankind. It reminds us that, even in the darkest night, there is someone watching out for us... and that we do not wander the cosmos alone."

You were left in silence after this. Seeing you lost in thought, your mother grabbed a nearby branch resting on the ground with her mouth and began tracing patterns in the soil. You could not understand what she was drawing at first, but soon the image of an eye composed of countless rays became apparent. Your mother dropped the branch, proud of her work.

"Now, Littlefoot, would you like to hear the tale of the universe's creation once again?" she asked. You nodded.

"Alright. In the beginning, there was a void emptier than even the Mysterious Beyond. Then, the Traveler gazed upon it, and the possibility that had laid there took form..."

"Thinking of someone, hatchling?"

The voice behind you interrupts your memory. With a jolt, you turn to see a gray-feathered sharpeyes stepping towards you. Her miniature sickle claw is relaxed, yet the sight still sets you on edge. For decades, the multiple species of the sharpeyes clade that Amber had managed to recruit were the only sharpteeth that called the City home. They weren't dangerous to the inhabitants, for they could easily subsist on fish, insects, or the various kinds of pest mammals that enjoyed preying on the City's food stores. Still, aeons of instinct tell you that you are in mortal danger, and it takes a great effort to suppress your fear.

"I... uh, yeah, but it's not your business!" you reply. The sharpeyes only nods.

"I can see that look in your face. You've also lost someone."

She slowly walks past you towards the altar, then stretches down to pick up an offering. As she lifts it, you see it is a necklace carrying a single tiny stone, but with a strange sheen and dark purple color. Something about it makes you feel uneasy, but you can't quite pin what it is. However, it does not seem to bother her in the slightest as she mournfully caresses it.

"Who was that for?" you ask.

"My father," she replies. "Zanz Sr."

You reel at those last two words. Zanz Sr., the co-founder and first chief propulsion engineer of Mysterious Beyond Ventures. Which means-

"Wait, you're Zanz. Jr!" you exclaim, suddenly realizing with embarrassment that perhaps you shouldn't be speaking to the current chief propulsion engineer of MBV so casually. Fortunately, Zanz Jr. doesn't take offense. Your mind is racing with questions.

"Sorry for asking, but how many of the stories about your father are true? Did he really talk to ghosts?"

Zanz Jr. chuckles.

"Hatchling, if I had a seashell for every time someone asked me that question, I would be a rich Saurian!"

She pauses for a moment.

"Yes, my father always believed in ghosts, even before the accident. He had been convinced he heard the voices of the departed since he was a hatchling, and this intensified over time. However, unlike what you've heard, he did not perform rituals in front of a strange wandering rock he found in the Valley."

Another pause, and when she speaks again, she speaks in a mournful tone.

"He was never proud of his earlier work. His first engines, the ones that used pressurized gas to feed in propellants, were a hack job to him, and let's not get started about his thoughts on red fuming nitric acid," she says, uttering those final four words with disgust.

"After Expedition 13, he was consumed with guilt. He felt that the disaster had been caused by his own carelessness and corner-cutting. After MBV was shut down, he became obsessed with somehow making amends. He locked himself in his lab for weeks at a time, feverishly trying to design more efficient engines and find a safer alternative to RFNA as an oxidizer. Ultimately, he was able to discover how to reprocess the waste from Creep fuel refinement into a dense, storable oxidizer perfectly suited for rocketry, and his work on turbines lead to the turbopump-fed engines MBV uses today."

Another pause.

"I don't know what exactly caused the accident that took his life. Probably he dropped a flask of dangerous chemicals that sparked a fire and... kaboom. It's a miracle we were able to salvage any of his notes from the wreck of his lab."

She remains silent for thirty seconds after the final statement.

"Well, I'd best get going back to the Astrodrome. We've been going through a rough patch these past few days. Can't say why, sadly. See you some other time, hatchling."

She puts the necklace back where she found it, then turns to leave. Your mind is in turmoil at the thought that you've just bonded with a sharptooth.

You think the Museum's going to reopen soon, but there's still one last location to explore.

---

[X] The Old Astrodome, where astrosaur Edmon first took off into the Mysterious Beyond more than thirty years ago. It hasn't seen use in about that long, but there's a lot of history there you enjoy taking in.

The way to the Old Astrodrome is relatively peaceful. However, once you get closer, you start to get nervous. Your destination is just past the place you want to be the least - the Topps Farm. After the incident in the Town Square, you just know that Topsy is in a particularly awful mood, and you do not want to be at the receiving end of his rage. Plus, there's the fact that you might very well encounter his awful daughter in the fields, and that possibility somehow feels even worse. At least the father is too big to chase you.

As the Topps Farm enters into view, you leap into the bushes by the path by instinct and slowly sneak through them while keeping a watch on your surroundings. You've done this many times before without getting caught, but you'd rather be safe than sorry. It takes an agonizing few minutes to pass by the Farm, but fortunately you do not spot anybody along your way. Confident that the coast is clear, you emerge from the bushes and resume your usual pace.

The Old Astrodrome was built into a clearing close to the eastern edge of the Great Wall. As you approach, you can see the rusted, vine-covered remains of the ramshackle launch tower standing in the center, and the reinforced personnel bunker a kilometer away from it. This site was always meant to be a temporary installation, as the founders of MBV knew that a much larger launch site would be needed to support their long-term endeavors. Still, it was good enough for the Up-Goers I and V that carried Edmon up on his first few flights.

You approach the open end of the personnel bunker. Scattered inside was the extremely rudimentary instrumentation that MBV used to monitor flights. Not controlling it, though, as in the early days of the program MBV hadn't developed any sort of automated guidance for its rockets. They were all flown into orbit and beyond manually: a feat that even you find hard to believe.

After you have your fill of the bunker, you leave to take a closer look at the launch tower. To this day, it and the ground around it is stained by the residue caused by using RFNA as an oxidizer. You know it's probably inert by now, but approaching it still makes you uncomfortable. You think you're done with this location.

You take another look at the sky. The orange haze of morning is starting to be replaced by the calming blue of noon. Shrouded Ember is completing its transit across Firmament, while Gale's Abyss is approaching the western side of the Great Wall. Your spirits rise as you realize the acid spill has almost certainly been cleaned up by now. You begin to head back towards the City, knowing that the Museum awaits!

The journey back to the City is uneventful and it appears most of its inhabitants are occupied with their normal routines. When you return to the Museum entrance, the protective railing is gone, though the ground remains slightly stained. You think it's fine to step on it. Probably. Definitely.

As you stumble forward, you notice that Cobalt is not at his usual station: his office to the left of the entrance, packed with records. Ah, whatever, you know this place like the back of your paws. It's time for a reminder of everything the universe has to offer.


The first section of the Museum is the hall of spaceflight, showcasing the history of Mysterious Beyond Ventures. You've done it a hundred times before, but you still stare in awe at the charred barrel-derived capsule that Edmon flew Sauriankind's first orbit in. As the display helpfully points out, the mission revealed that wood doesn't seal in air well at all, so subsequent capsules would be made of hermetically sealed metal. Still, you think it had a bit of charm, and wood's a perfectly fine building material for things like satellites that don't have Saurians onboard.

Inevitably, you are drawn to the enlarged photograph plastered on the wall to yourself. It's faded monochrome, but you can still make out seven Saurians standing in a line: a circle runner, a domehead, a smaller rainbow face carrying a flight helmet, a digger, a significantly larger rainbow face with a welding mask, and two sharpeyes of different species.

"This photograph depicts the founding members of Mysterious Beyond Ventures. From left to right: Opal, Cap, Edmon, Malin, Altus, Zanz Sr., and Qiu."

Of those seven, five still remain in leadership positions in MBV. As for the two that aren't, Opal is busy being Mayor and doing astronomy while Zanz Sr... well, you already know what happened to him.

Next up is the exhibition on the first MBV's early missions. You walk towards the scale models on display. The first is the puny Up-Goer I: the first Saurian rocket capable of carrying a person. Of course, it was only capable of placing Edmon on a suborbital trajectory, but it still demonstrated that Saurian spaceflight was possible. For the first orbital missions in 84 AFC, MBV decided to attach four boosters to the Up-Goer I's central core, producing the Up-Goer V. This was a craft held together by prayers and wooden struts, and you find it a miracle that none of them blew up.

The next model on the display easily dwarfs the last two. Per the display:

"After the founders of MBV had demonstrated spaceflight, work began on a far greater class of rocket to be launched from the new Astrodrome above the Great Wall. The Farsoarer XII, named for the twelve Thunderer engines on its first stage, was the first vehicle capable of transporting Saurians to another world and returning them safely to Wild Nest, as it did with Expedition 7 in 92 AFC. With four stages carrying 2,750 tons of propellant, the Farsoarer XII remains the heaviest vehicle Sauriankind has ever built."

The Farsoarer XII possessed a tapering body, with its first stage having a vague umbrella shape and the width of the vehicle narrowing as one goes up. Its propellant was stored in spherical tanks surrounded by metal hull, with some wooden scaffolding holding the hull sections together. You don't think this was a very efficient design, but it got the job done.

To the right of the display is a much larger scale model of the Lofted Ether Excursion Module that was used for Expedition 7 and follow-on missions. This two-stage bundle of fuel tanks held together by wooden struts is what first landed Saurians - specifically, astrosaurs Edmon and Waren - on another world. It may seem primitive compared to what MBV is using now, but it still has charm. Of course, the model conveniently leaves out the detachable heat shield that was used to get through Lofted Ether's tenuous but still bothersome atmosphere.

It's never fun, but you feel obligated to examine the memorial placed at the center of the room: a concrete plinth, topped by a bundle of flowers, with the following words carved into a metal plaque:

"This memorial commemorates the loss of Expedition 13 - the greatest tragedy in MBV's history. In the summer of 94 AFC, astrosaurs Ceph, Thoid, Ruthio, and Bani took off on a Farsoarer XII for a mission to Lofted Ether. Their flight would last only teh seconds, for soon after liftoff, all but one of the Farsoarer's engines shut down. The crew ejected, but this was not enough to save them, as upon impacting the launch pad the hypergolic propellants of the Farsoarer mixed and detonated, producing an explosion equivalent to that of 2,000 tons of high explosive. The escaping crew capsule was immediately destroyed, as was the launch pad. The blast sent burning droplets of Creep fuel as far as the Great Valley, where they ignited multiple wildfires.

After the disaster, MBV was shuttered for nine years. When flights would resume, MBV would use a new generation of vehicles with more efficient engines and improved safety margins. The tragedy remains a stark reminder of the perils of spaceflight, and MBV is committed to make sure a similar disaster never happens again."

You shake your head. It was this act that made four-legs like you distrust space travel. However, you prefer not to think about about it.

The final section in this hall is on MBV's modern endeavors. Occupying a prominent position in the right half of the room is a hanging model of an MBV mothership, consisting of a long metal truss having a wide metal heat shield and cockpit attached to the front end and a large engine section attached to the back end, from which four hollow wooden panels vaguely resembling the arms of a windmill emerge, two of them carrying solar arrays inside and the other two carrying heat radiators. The attendant display reads:

"The standard MBV mothership is the organization's premiere interlunar transport vessel. It consists of four sections: the Aerocapture Shield, the Command Section, the Payload Section, and the Propulsion Section.

The wide Aerocapture Shield in front is capable of shielding the craft during high-velocity passes through a lunar atmosphere, allowing a mothership to be captured into lunar orbit with minimal propellant expenditure.

The Command Section is on the port end of the mothership behind the Aerocapture Shield and contains the cockpit of the mothership as well as living quarters, life support, and consumables storage.

The Payload Section on the starboard end of the mothership is where an Expedition's landers are docked, as well as other supporting equipment such as science modules.

The Propulsion Section encompasses most of a mothership's length. The rear end of the truss contains a mount for two vacuum-optimized Yonder engines, to which four scaffolded arms are attached which provide power and waste heat removal services for the vessel. The empty space on the truss contains attachment points for up to eight jettisonable propellant tanks, each storing a hundred tons of Creep fuel and oxidizer. This modular system grants incredible flexibility to mission planners and allows MBV to configure a mothership for missions to any accessible moon."

To the left of the hanging mothership is another hanging model of the SkyNest, MBV's space station. It consists of a single large habitation module to which two solar panel "sails" and a four-armed heat radiator "windmill" is attached, along with multiple sets of ion thrusters. According to the display, the ion thrusters are necessary for countering the severe gravitational perturbations caused by Firmament and the other moons, allowing the SkyNest to maintain a stable orbit.

To the right of the hanging mothership is a third hanging model of an MBV relay satellite, which contains a large radio dish attached to a wooden chassis, four solar panels, and single ion thruster. MBV's satellite constellation is necessary to relay signals from deep space to the Astrodrome.

By the wall there is a display containing scale models of MBV's other currently-operating vehicle. Most prominently displayed is the Farsoarer Multibody, the three-core superheavy lift rocket used to launch components and propellant tanks for motherships. Next to it is the Ranger V, a significantly evolved successor to the Up-Goer V that is more structurally sound and carries a second stage capable of lofting the six-Saurian Expedition capsule into low orbit around Wild Nest.

Next to the Multibody and Ranger models are models of MBV's lunar exploration vehicles. Each moon has a different design: the Shrouded Ember Ascent Vehicle is a miniature two-stage rocket of its own, the Lofted Ether Access Vehicle is a squat vessel with external propellant tanks, two lateral maneuvering thruster assemblies, and a ventral orbital thruster, and the Gale's Abyss Ascent Vehicle is a winged craft with both rocket engines and what the display calls "scramjets." You've never seen a Lambent Creep Ascent Vehicle, but you doubt anyone is interested in heading there anytime soon.

The last item in this room is a contemporary MBV space suit, with this particular model fitted for a rainbow face. With a Creep oxidizer-fueled life support system, these can sustain a Saurian for up to 25 hours! Of course, food is another story entirely...

With increasing excitement, you head on to the Mueseum's second and significantly larger room, dedicated to space science. As you enter the large circular space, you immediately notice something strange: the Far Beyonder statue at the center of the room is powered up! Its single eye is glowing a faint blue, and you can hear an ominous hum coming from it. Nervously, you move towards the statue. With its vertical cylindrical shape, dark gray metal composition, and lack of limbs or other features besides its eye, it doesn't seem to represent any kind of living creature. The display below reads:

"This statue is just one of many artifacts made by the Far Beyonders, an alien civilization of unknown origin that were present in the Near Beyond thousands of years ago. They vanished just as mysteriously as they arrived, leaving behind only ruins on Firmament's moons. Despite our astrosaurs' best efforts, it is unknown how the Far Beyonders lived, worked, or even looked like, as they left behind no written texts, artworks, toys, or other artifacts that could identify them."

To you, the complete lack of knowledge Sauriankind possesses on the Far Beyonders only makes them more interesting. They could have been anything!

On the left of the statue is mounted a strange Far Beyonder contraption the size of your paw, consisting of a central core with an "eye" surrounded by a metal shell made of triangular pieces glued together. According to the display:

"This is the smallest example of autonomous Far Beyonder devices we have recovered. These 'robots' are thought to have been able to independently execute tasks and interact with the environment in a manner that even our most advanced electronic systems could not."

To the right of the statue is a stack of Far Beyonder-made cannisters surrounded by Far Beyonder-made metal plating. The display for the cannisters reads the following:

"These Far Beyonder cannisters are thought to have stored antimatter, an exotic substance that annihilates with ordinary matter to produce vast quantities of energy. If harnessed, antimatter would have the potential to completely revolutionize space travel. However, we have deemed investigating too risky with our present capabilities."

The display for the plating reads the following:

"These Far Beyonder structural elements are made of a highly advanced metallic alloy. Further investigation has revealed that its microscopic structure resembles that of a glass more than a regular metallic crystal, granting it significantly improved strength and toughness. Attempts to replicate this "glassalloy" is ongoing."

You cautiously glance at the statue again. It doesn't seem to have reacted to your presence. How long was it powered up like this? A few hours? You'll have to talk to Cobalt about this later, as this is a mystery that definitely requires solving.

Turning your attention from the statue, you trace the path of the series of exhibits on the outskirts of the room, one for each moon. First, you stop by the map of the Near Beyond as a whole. On its left edge is the large bulk of Firmament, with moons of increasingly distant orbits displayed rightwards. From nearest to furthest orbit: Shrouded Ember, Wild Nest, Lofted Ether, Gale's Abyss, and finally Lambent Creep. The attendant display reads the following:

"The realm we call the Mysterious Beyond is divided into the Near Beyond and the Far Beyond.

The Near Beyond is our name for the space containing Firmament and its system of moons. Firmament is thought to have coalesced out of a protoplanetary nebula four billion years ago, while the four innermost moons formed soon after from a glancing collision between Firmament and a now-destroyed planet that originally orbited closer to Bright Circle.

The Far Beyond encompasses the rest of the observable universe, including countless other stars and galaxies. At present, we know of only one other planet orbiting Bright Circle: another gas giant named Amber's Wander. Even the closest stars are an unfathomably vast distance away, making it highly unlikely we will ever visit them in our lifetimes. Still, the presence of the Far Beyonders suggest crossing the gulf of interstellar space is possible, even if we cannot fathom how this could be accomplished."

Now comes your favorite part of the Museum: the lunar exhibits. First up is Shrouded Ember. You immediately look upon pictures of a volcanic nightmare of a landscape, with obsidian rock and seas of lava beneath a pitch-black, soot-clouded sky. The attendant display:

"Orbiting Firmament every 12.5 hours, Shrouded Ember is only one fourth the mass of Wild Nest but is the most geologically active body in the Near Beyond due to the intense tidal friction produced by its proximity to Firmament and gravitational interactions with other moons. It is shrouded by a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere, with surface temperatures an average of 60 °C - and that's away from the lava flows! Scarcely any water is to be found on this moon, with only a few sheltered underground deposits to help our astrosaurs.

Despite these challenges, exploration of Shrouded Ember is ongoing. Our efforts are focused on the area in vicinity to Mount Death - an active volcano more than six hundred kilometers wide! Strangely enough, our astrosaurs have reported that temperatures on its slopes are somewhat less than expected, with bizarre temperature fluctuations that fly in the face of basic thermodynamics.

In a high powered orbit around Shrouded Ember is a large Far Beyonder installation thought to have been built to collect antimatter from Firmament's magnetic field, which is the strongest in Shrouded Ember's orbit. All in all, it appears we have only scratched the surface of the secrets this moon holds."

Next up is Wild Nest, an exhibit that is always painful for you to look at. You see pictures of deep canyons, towering mountains, vast deserts and oceans, and thick forests all beneath a hazy orange sky. Then, there is a picture of a region covered in lava flows. The place you once called home.

"Orbiting Firmament every 25 hours, Wild Nest is not the only moon in the Near Beyond capable of supporting life, but its biosphere is by far the most diverse. While it would not have enough mass to sustain significant geological activity and a magnetic field by itself, the tidal friction it experiences is sufficient to keep its disproportionally large iron-nickel core in a molten state. While not nearly to the same extent as Shrouded Ember, Wild Nest still experiences significant volcanism, with at least one volcano actively erupting on its surface. This has filled Wild Nest's atmosphere with sulfate particles that give it a hazy orange shade.

Every few centuries, an entire region on Wild Nest will become the site of an immense volcanic eruption that covers it in lava. These "flood basalt eruptions" can block out Bright Circle for months on end. The last such eruption occurred only four years ago, in disturbingly close proximity to the First City. Fortunately, we are not due for another one for centuries.

Despite its harshness, life has clung on to Wild Nest. The moon is populated by a great many species, from humble plants to mindless animals such as insects, fish, and mammals to thinking Saurians of many different clades. It may not always be the most pleasant place to live, but Wild Nest will forever be our home."

You struggle to hold back tears. It was this "forever home" that took your mother from you. Perhaps that is why you often dream of leaving it.

The next exhibit is one that does much to brighten your mood. Lofted Ether has always been your favorite moon. How couldn't it be? It's hollow on the inside, with a miniature "star" and floating mountains and-

Okay, you're getting ahead of yourself here. The first picture you see is of Lofted Ether's exterior rust-colored shell, sporting an immense crack running across it, from which eerie white light emerges. The next is of Lofted Ether's interior: a breathtaking hollow world lit up by the White Hole at is center, with skybergs floating above its interior surface. As per the display:

"For ages, Lofted Ether was thought to be just a barren lump of rock orbiting Firmament every 50 hours. However, Expedition 7 and subsequent missions revealed the truth: Lofted Ether is in fact a hollow shell of iron and nickel more than two hundred kilometers thick encapsulating a negative mass gravitational singularity known as the White Hole, which provides an inverse gravitational field to the interior.

The inside of Lofted Ether has a substantial nitrogen atmosphere, though not normally breathable. Its strangest features besides the White Hole itself are the many skybergs that float above its interior surface, kept aloft by the very low gravity and powerful convective wind cells of Lofted Ether's interior atmosphere."

You look at a third picture, this one of a skyberg suspended ten kilometers above Hollow Ether's interior surface. It is covered by what appears to be a very large tree with lustrous gray bark and red leaves. The display provides a description:

"These Ironbarks are the primary lifeforms inhabiting the inside of Lofted Ether. They are named for their unique metal-rich biochemistry, which has no counterpart on Wild Nest. Their photosynthesis of the White Hole's light provides bubbles of breathable air on the skybergs they inhabit."

The next moon on the list is Gale's Abyss. You spot pictures of an overcast moon sporting vast hypercanes hundreds of kilometers wide. Another picture is of a massive bulge of water heading towards a lone island - a terrifying sight to say the least. Finally, there is a picture of what appears to be an underwater kelp forest. The display says the following:

"Orbiting Firmament every 100 hours, Gale's Abyss is somewhat more massive than Wild Nest. It is almost completely covered by water, with only a few scattered volcanic islands poking above the waves. Due to its all-encompassing ocean, Gale's Abyss is in a 3:2 tidal lock with Firmament rather than a 1:1 lock like the other moons. This means that its Firmament-induced tidal bulges are not stationary with respect to its surface, but instead move. This means that every location on Gale's Abyss is buffeted by tidal waves more than a kilometer high every 100 hours, making the surface islands all but inhospitable to life.

However, Gale's Abyss still contains a thriving underwater ecosystem. Many of the organisms in it are also found in the oceans of Wild Nest. It is unknown why these two moons share biospheres in this manner. Finally, Gale's Abyss was the primary site of Far Beyonder Activity, as orbiting around it is an installation of unknown purpose. Our astrosaurs are currently at work exploring a site speculated to contain an actual Far Beyonder settlement, though results are still forthcoming."

The next exhibit is the one that always gives you the creeps. To this day, Sauriankind has never seen the surface of Lambent Creep - only distantly-taken pictures of an eerie pus-colored world. Sometimes you even think you see a face in its surface features, contorted into a silent scream. Next to the picture is a glass jar containing an ashen-colored fibrous tendril with faintly yellow highlights. The description:

"Orbiting Firmament every 14 days at a 30 degree inclination, Lambent Creep is thought to have once been a free-floating planet that was captured by Firmament's gravity. Rivaling the other moons put together in mass, Lambent Creep is a world Saurians know almost nothing about, despite the many horrifying legends that have sprung up about it.

It is thought that the pseudofungal macroorganism known as the Creep originated from this moon, from which it colonized multiple regions of Wild Nest as well as other locations in the Near Beyond. While highly toxic to unprotected Saurians, Creep can be distilled into both a stable and highly energy-rich fuel and an oxidizer liquid at room temperature, and this combination makes spaceflight possible."

You know the Creep tendril in the jar should be dead, though you swear you've once seen it twitch. Best to get a move on.

The last exhibit in the Museum is by far the strangest. A single photograph of a moon completely shrouded by clouds, resting above three display cases. One of these display cases contains a single shiny purple stone, pockmarked by holes. Knowing the trick behind it, you blink. The moment you open your eyes, the rock has somehow moved to a different case. The accompanying display text:

"This is an image of the Wandering Moon, a strange body slightly more massive than Lofted Ether which inhabits the Near Beyond. It seems to switch between four different orbits at will: one between Shrouded Ember and Wild Nest, one between Wild Nest and Lofted Ether, one between Lofted Ether and Gale's Abyss, and finally one around Lambent Creep. On rare occasions, it disappears from the Near Beyond entirely, only to return soon after.

The Wandering Shard here exhibits similar properties on a much smaller scale, moving between different display cases when consciously observed. This phenomenon is completely baffling to our scientists and we are not close to finding a satisfying explanation for it. Some have attempted to link this Shard to the legendary "Stones of Cold Fire," thought to be able to heal the sick or commune with the dead. Of course, such a connection is tenuous at best and absurd at worst."

Deduction Roll (Trivial): 4 + 4 + 4 (Deduction) = 12
12 vs. 6 = Success

You realize that the Wandering Shard looks like a much bigger version of the shard that was in Zanz Jr.'s necklace offering. However, that one was not wandering at all. Are they somehow connected?

"Curious, isn't it?"

The voice suddenly coming behind you makes you nearly jump out of our own skin. You shout in surprise before turning to look at the intruder. You see before you a mound of shaggy feathers below a beak with amber markings. It's a rainbow face, but not anyone you'd recognize. Still startled, you manage to stutter out a few words.

"W-w-who are you? Are you f-from here?"

The rainbow face smiles, or as much as he can without lips.

"I'm afraid not. I'm a traveler, you see, just passing through. I've heard much about your City and the incredible things it has accomplished. Traveling the Mysterious Beyond is something I never thought you could have done, but here we stand, in the shadows of giants! Normally, I would ask you to give my thanks to Director Malin, but I'm afraid our time is running short..."

He steps towards the exhibit, staring at the Wandering Shard.

"How fascinating. An object that does not exist unless you stare at it with your own eyes. Truly, the universe contains far more mysteries than you have been able to grasp! It's a good thing your City has many curious minds willing to unravel them!"

He then whispers the next line in a way that makes you shudder.

"Because, the way things are going, you'll need all the help you can get."

"Help for what? Is there something wrong?!" you ask.

"Oh, you'll know it when you see it. I wish I could say more... but that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

The ominous delivery of those words makes you even more nervous.

"Well, I'd best be going now! You see, I'm here for an appointment, and I'm very, very late!" continues the rainbow face.

"Uh, goodbye, Mister..." you reply. Before you can finish, the rainbow face suddenly becomes startled. "Look, over there!" he shouts, pointing backwards. You quickly turn to once again look at the Wandering Shard. The moment that happens, you hear a faint mechanical whine coming behind you. The moment you glance back, you almost have a heart attack.

The rainbow face is gone. Instead, you see the robot from the Far Beyonder exhibit hovering in front of you. Its core is glowing blue and it looks like it is somehow starting at you despite not having eyes. Paralyzed with fear, your eyes are drawn to the core, and a moment later, it emits a blinding flash.

You feel like something alien has just reached into your mind, worming its way into your deepest subconscious. The walls around you vanish, and you are plunged into an infinite blackness lit only by streaming blue lights. You hurtle forward at incomprehensive speeds, feeling like your very molecules are being stretched into an infinitesimally thin line. Your mind is disassembled into countless bits, and you are left voiceless while wanting nothing more than to scream.

Then, as suddenly as it began, it is over. You are back inside the Museum, reeling from the experience and trying to pick yourself back up from the floor. The robot is gone, and you are all alone. Shaken by what just happened, you slowly stumble back outside. It's just been three hours since you woke up, but already you have felt an entire day's worth of events pass.

The streets are full, but they feel empty. Wind skims the voids keeping neighbors apart, as if grazing the hollow of a cut reed, or say, an open Museum. A familiar note is produced. It's the one Desolation plays to keep its instrument in tune.

Something feels missing from the world. You feel having fallen victim to the latest sleight of hand in the repertoire of an unseen riddler, one to engender a sense not of mirth, but of lack. His coarse schemes are those less of a prankster than a common pickpocket. His riddle is Absence itself. It is a mystery dispersing altogether, like the Wandering Moon's reflection, with even one pebble of inquiry dropped in its black well. It is the most diabolical riddle of all.

You have a feeling it's going to be a long day. And you have a thousand questions you cannot begin to find answers for. It is clear that you must get to work.

A memory surfaces. A Far Beyonder artifact has just come to life in front of you. You don't know what awoke it, but you do know a place where more such artifacts could be found. You are sure that the Great Valley was once the site of a Far Beyonder installation of some kind, buried inside the cave system near the mines. You once remember exploring the northwest side of the Great Wall and stumbling upon a small opening overlooking a strange mass of glinting metal inside a cave. It seemed large enough to fit through with your suit on. Alternatively, you could try finding it from within the mines, though you do not fancy the prospect of getting lost or, worse, getting caught with MBV contraband by the miners.

If you are going to be sneaking around with your suit on, you could also attempt to find answers at the Astrodrome. Thanks to spying on Bendy and Mendy, you think you know the code to the lift, though your longneck body precludes you from entering it without your space suit. Perhaps there's something about the Far Beyonders lying around there? Or some piece of equipment that could help you on your adventuring? Of course, you'll have to avoid detection by MBV's employees.

Part of you wonders if you really have to be doing this sneaking around business at all. Perhaps you could try to get answers from somebody inside the Valley? To do so, you'll have to eschew your suit, as it is something you are not supposed to have.

Many possibilities are in front of you. Now, it is time to forge your own path.

The Prologue Section of The Lands Beyond has concluded. You now have access to the full open-world exploration of the quest itself, and any further railroading from here on out will be minimal. It is up to you to figure out what just happened, and you have multiple avenues of investigation to explore.

From here on out, most updates will be relatively short, though longer "narrative updates" similar to the Prologue's content will still happen from time to time. Questers will write in plans of action to visit and interact with various points of interest in the world. Expect voting to last for at least 12 hours.

Survival and Time Loop Mechanics have been unlocked, though food is not a concern inside the Great Valley.

Status:

Time: 3 hours/?? hours
Health: 10/10
Food: 100%
Sleep: 12 hours of wakefulness remaining
Inventory: None