Multi-User-Mainframe: Database // Tak Records // The Shroud // The Silence
Drich
Von Neumann Writing Machine
Some more for you.
Multi-User-Mainframe: Database // Tak Records // The Shroud // The Silence
+++
The Silence. The inevitable result of the Shroud's presence. Perhaps the most beneficial of passive behaviours, from the Shroud.
The Silence is... difficult to describe. It's a combination of several effects, really. Most of these effects serve the purpose of disruption, interfering with sensors, scans, and perception at range. Most of these effects are focused on things outside the Silence working on things inside the Silence, which makes testing rather difficult, as it doesn't interfere with most sensors inside the Silence.
Still, launching a few orbital probes gave me the results I needed. In realspace, the Silence produces distorted sensor results, phantom contacts, and occasionally just outright hides returns. As the effect covers the entirety of the island Sanctuary is on, this has resulted in strange yet interesting data. I have seen the probes report back everything from the island being smaller than it is, the island being larger than it is, the island being spatially located differently to where it is, the island being a different shape than what it is, and the island simply not being here at all.
The effect on the Warp is no less pronounced, though it is more limited. It 'hides' things in realspace from the Warp, up to and including the presence of life. The effect is enough to disrupt a Daemon's ability to locate souls, forcing them to manifest within the general vicinity rather than the immediate presence of a would-be victim.
I am still uncertain of the mechanism behind this. Honestly, I can't even detect the Silence itself, I only know its presence and border through extensive probing finding exactly where the trouble with sensors starts.
I called it a passive behaviour, but despite that, there is definitely an active component, as the Shroud is demonstrably capable of controlling the range, strength, and thoroughness of the effect. At higher strengths, disruption becomes even more severe, to the point that sensors give very little results at all, and Daemons fail to manifest even during the height of the Daemontide. The range can be spread quite far, or reduced to increase the strength. As to the thoroughness, the Shroud can also decide what types of scans do and do not get interfered with, as evidenced by the fact that many of the more basic of my probes' sensors started working properly after I used them for long enough.
It appears that the Silence is not capable of being changed instantly, however. It takes time, occasionally up to days, for the Shroud to change the strength, range, and thoroughness of the effect. Further, the stronger, wider, and more thorough it is, the more energy it appears to consume to maintain, as the Shroud speeds up and slows down its resourcing efforts during these modifications.
The Shroud usually refrains from making this effect too strong, as it prevents Daemons from manifesting on the island. This careful balance must be quite tricky to maintain, but it is evidently also rewarding.
The signs of Symbiosis, I'll note, bypass this effect. The constant drain of Warp Energy produces something of a 'current' in the Warp, leading to what has been described to me as a 'swirling drain leading to a hole where something should be'. I'm not a Psyker, so I can't confirm this myself, however.
However, the Silence enables us an opportunity. Its suppression of Warp-based detection also appears to suppress the effects of geometry and symbology on the Warp. Thus, shapes and symbols which would previously draw in Warp Energy, instead do little more than cause a small reaction. This is especially useful when it comes to processing massive amounts of data regarding the Warp, which often causes Warp Possession if done outside of the Silence and therefore requires noospheric systems to observe at slower rates.
The safety offered by the Silence enabled us to find and develop many Warp-repelling techniques, from simple hexagrammic wards to Quiet-Glass to advanced Empyreal Barrier Hardeners. For that alone, we owe the Shroud more than can be put into words.
As to the Silence itself, I believe it is some form of defense mechanism. The properties of disrupting long-range outside scans while not hindering inside scans leads me to believe this.
I can't say for certain how long the Silence has existed. It would however, explain why the Shroud was so difficult to locate during its first appearances, which implies that it has been present since before the Shroud's first observed state. What is it that made the Shroud create such a defense mechanism? Some prior experience, before this world? Something more?
I can't say.
Multi-User-Mainframe: Database // Tak Records // The Shroud // The Silence
+++
The Silence. The inevitable result of the Shroud's presence. Perhaps the most beneficial of passive behaviours, from the Shroud.
The Silence is... difficult to describe. It's a combination of several effects, really. Most of these effects serve the purpose of disruption, interfering with sensors, scans, and perception at range. Most of these effects are focused on things outside the Silence working on things inside the Silence, which makes testing rather difficult, as it doesn't interfere with most sensors inside the Silence.
Still, launching a few orbital probes gave me the results I needed. In realspace, the Silence produces distorted sensor results, phantom contacts, and occasionally just outright hides returns. As the effect covers the entirety of the island Sanctuary is on, this has resulted in strange yet interesting data. I have seen the probes report back everything from the island being smaller than it is, the island being larger than it is, the island being spatially located differently to where it is, the island being a different shape than what it is, and the island simply not being here at all.
The effect on the Warp is no less pronounced, though it is more limited. It 'hides' things in realspace from the Warp, up to and including the presence of life. The effect is enough to disrupt a Daemon's ability to locate souls, forcing them to manifest within the general vicinity rather than the immediate presence of a would-be victim.
I am still uncertain of the mechanism behind this. Honestly, I can't even detect the Silence itself, I only know its presence and border through extensive probing finding exactly where the trouble with sensors starts.
I called it a passive behaviour, but despite that, there is definitely an active component, as the Shroud is demonstrably capable of controlling the range, strength, and thoroughness of the effect. At higher strengths, disruption becomes even more severe, to the point that sensors give very little results at all, and Daemons fail to manifest even during the height of the Daemontide. The range can be spread quite far, or reduced to increase the strength. As to the thoroughness, the Shroud can also decide what types of scans do and do not get interfered with, as evidenced by the fact that many of the more basic of my probes' sensors started working properly after I used them for long enough.
It appears that the Silence is not capable of being changed instantly, however. It takes time, occasionally up to days, for the Shroud to change the strength, range, and thoroughness of the effect. Further, the stronger, wider, and more thorough it is, the more energy it appears to consume to maintain, as the Shroud speeds up and slows down its resourcing efforts during these modifications.
The Shroud usually refrains from making this effect too strong, as it prevents Daemons from manifesting on the island. This careful balance must be quite tricky to maintain, but it is evidently also rewarding.
The signs of Symbiosis, I'll note, bypass this effect. The constant drain of Warp Energy produces something of a 'current' in the Warp, leading to what has been described to me as a 'swirling drain leading to a hole where something should be'. I'm not a Psyker, so I can't confirm this myself, however.
However, the Silence enables us an opportunity. Its suppression of Warp-based detection also appears to suppress the effects of geometry and symbology on the Warp. Thus, shapes and symbols which would previously draw in Warp Energy, instead do little more than cause a small reaction. This is especially useful when it comes to processing massive amounts of data regarding the Warp, which often causes Warp Possession if done outside of the Silence and therefore requires noospheric systems to observe at slower rates.
The safety offered by the Silence enabled us to find and develop many Warp-repelling techniques, from simple hexagrammic wards to Quiet-Glass to advanced Empyreal Barrier Hardeners. For that alone, we owe the Shroud more than can be put into words.
As to the Silence itself, I believe it is some form of defense mechanism. The properties of disrupting long-range outside scans while not hindering inside scans leads me to believe this.
I can't say for certain how long the Silence has existed. It would however, explain why the Shroud was so difficult to locate during its first appearances, which implies that it has been present since before the Shroud's first observed state. What is it that made the Shroud create such a defense mechanism? Some prior experience, before this world? Something more?
I can't say.
...Actually that makes me wonder, do different demons *taste* different?
