I believe that I am beginning to see the picture behind the early Sorrows. Even now, with any direct answers blocked by the oaths of the Hearthguard that Kicha had given, and with our ignorance of general Shiplord society stymieing our ability to ask the local visitors
without raising suspicion.
Perhaps it will be even tied to the Fourth Sorrow.
Okay, here are a few quotes from the most recent update.
"I understand," Kicha's reply was layered with meanings too deep for you to follow. Maybe Vega would have better luck, but you lacked the Harmonial's instinctive mastery in applying her Focus to conversation. "You still don't know why we react that way, do you?"
You shook your head, and Kicha's veil shifted, flowing into the motions of a wistful smile.
"It is good to know that that remains for you to learn," she said, and if you had not been in the midst of a far more delicate conversation, you would have demanded a true answer then. Instead, you let her continue. "But if you fear the scanners and sensors of this place, I would Witness. As the steward of this Sorrow, I have the ability to override them, but I'd have to explain why."
As for Kicha, it was hard to tell. She'd gone utterly quiet as the vision ended, but you could feel the intensity of her thoughts surging to process what you'd shown her.
Your shaking sigh broke that silence, drawing the Shiplord's attention. For a moment, she simply stared at you, watching, examining, you couldn't be sure. But when she spoke, her voice was dead-toned, like a thing of glass shattered to dust.
"Where did you find this?" There was a touch of fire in the question. Had she been in any better condition, it would have been a shouted demand.
"On this world's twin," you answered hoarsely, ignorant of the tears on your face. "We felt something there, and on investigating, this was what we experienced. It hurt all three of us who found it, but it gave us a unique perspective on what happened here."
"I can see how it would," Kicha nodded heavily. She felt very cold to your wider senses, the same ancient pain she'd shared before numbing her reactions. "We knew that the Hjivin were trying to become or create something like an Uninvolved; those who ended them told us that. My understanding of the incarnation's words was that they had never wanted to act like that again, but would if needed to prevent such abominations. Those facts fuelled the Authority's agreement to the proposal to create weapons that would allow us to fight such beings ourselves."
"Why?" you asked. "The Uninvolved were clearly capable of it, and the Sphere were monsters. I-" Kicha raised an arm, her veil splitting into a subtle mimicry of a human hand, palm raised, and you stopped talking.
"Because," she explained, in the same voice of dead sand, "there is a reason that we reacted the way we did to what the Uninvolved did. Not their taking of action; that happened at the First Sorrow. But the way they did so here. The comparison is like night and day. And I am sorry, but I cannot explain why. You must see it for yourselves."
--[] The First Sorrow
Navigator's note: The yellow sun at the heart of this system was somehow twisted off axis by some monumental stellar event. Three major planetary bodies.
--[] The Second Sorrow
Navigator's note: A red giant surrounded by a graveyard of shattered worlds.
Kalilah: Our host implied that the First and Second Sorrows are somehow linked. She was there for the Second, not the First, yet gave the First far more importance. Why? Something to consider.
--[] The Fourth Sorrow
Navigator's note: A dying red supergiant, still flanked by the remains of its coterie.
Amanda: Very strongly without saying as much, Kicha suggested that we visit this Sorrow last. She wouldn't explain further.
As a matter of fact, my understanding is based on the events of the Second Battle of Sol.
Specifically, the
outrage when we used Practice in front of Shiplords.
And
pity when we tried to
Understand the reason why they were outraged.
Also, it is based in part on the
explanation what different options were when we examined the Sorrows of the Shiplords.
I will now begin my explanation.
"How dare you." You jerked back in shock, eyes widening unconsciously as the Shiplord spoke. The voice was deep, with the toneless edge of a synthesiser, but there was no missing the cold rage burning beneath it. "How dare you profane that gift and persist!"
"This will not hold me, desecrator." It said, and if its words had held a fraction of the power yours had, you would have been drifting atoms.
From the first segment, the
outrage at Practice, we can see the reaction is... It's as if we were commiting an act of
sacrilege in front of the Shiplords. The words Shiplord used,
"profane" and
"desecrator", are rather blatant in this.
We lacked any true context for this reaction. But now we have this context - the most likely trigger for sacrilege-associations for the Shiplords would be if something directly hit the nerve, and nothing would hit them, collectively and universally, stronger than something related to their Sorrows.
I conclude that Practice has long been known to Shiplords and that it is related to their Sorrows.
Next point. In the very next update. In fact, I strongly suggest reading it in entirety, because quoting two thirds of it is rather... Inelegant. So I will give the emotion, and the compiled poem. FYI, the poem begins right after the end of the first quote's words.
Then the Shiplord's helmet tilted up, fighting against the energy shell, in a mimicry of your own gaze. It was doing…something…but you didn't have enough context. There just wasn't enough there to build more than that outline, the edge of a deep well of alien knowledge and self. It wasn't staring into the abyss, but it was like…like trying to understand a picture painted in five dimensions. You could see a bit more clearly how it felt, however, even if the translation of emotion was informed by human bias.
And as it looked across and up, you felt the burning rage at its core turn to something so opposed that you thought it impossible.
Pity.
Soft, golden light bloomed around its armour, something that you instinctively knew was not offensive. And when it spoke again, it was in the manner of one's last words.
"I am your prophet and portent of doom
I call fire from the stars
Cause old fears to resume
I am progress's enemy
Complacency's friend
I am that from which
You must always defend
I am a voice from the stars
Speaker lying unseen
I am the figure that haunts
At the edge of your dream
I am dark and I am danger
Trials without end
But when time comes to greet me
You will call me
friend."
"For all that I am,
I am not your enemy."
"Believe."
When we tried to
Understand them, the
reaction for the leader of the Tribute Fleet was to look at us with pity, to recite a poem, and to commit Fleet-wide suicide.
I remember the thread pointed out that this poem sounds like a literal riddle. And it really does.
I now think that this was never a riddle about the past. But about the future.
A Prophecy. Of a sort.
More importantly. Look at those first verses. Look at them. Don't you think that they remind you of something?
I am your prophet and portent of doom
I call fire from the stars
Cause old fears to resume
Don't you think that fire from the stars is what the Ancient Uninvolved called down on Hjivin Sphere?
Don't you remember that Kicha revealed to us in the most recent update that the First Sorrow was also an Involvement? And that she said the way they reacted was like night and day, and
that specifically was the reason for the fear?
It is as if the first verse is that Ancient Uninvolved describing himself to the Shiplords... For what is the Sorrow, if not the old fear of their entire species?
The poem weirdly fits the Uninvolved, acting as an opponent,
as an antagonist, but not an enemy, to the Shiplords.
This line of thought is actually what makes me believe it is related to Sorrows.
That the nature of the Fourth Sorrow is in the beginning of the Tribute Cycle in earnest. That the impactful event that made it a Sorrow was the violent divide between the Shiplords, and the Uninvolved. The beginning of their own conflict lasting millenia if not millions of years.
Admittedly it is the weaker of my conclusion. It is supported however by the fact that Hjivin were the last near-peer polity the Shiplords ever encountered, implying that it wasn't mere hardship that made the event a Sorrow. But something more esoteric, perhaps.
Onto the third point. This one actually concerns the ties between the First Sorrow and the Second Sorrow, as hinted in the flavor text provided by Kalilah about the First Sorrow.
Now, remember the first point?
Practice is tied to Sorrows of the Shiplords.
I found it important to note that Shiplords referred to the Practice as a gift.
That it was tied to Sorrows of the Shiplords to evoke such zealous response.
That the Involvement of the Third Sorrow was like night and day in comparison to the Involvement of the First Sorrow.
A complete opposite, and what is the opposite to complete annihilation of a species if not salvation?
That the weapons meant to strike at Uninvolved are also effective against Unisonbound, the users of Practice.
And that Practice came to Humanity after
The Week of Sorrows, as the
Gift of the dying Dragons.
Same words. And I don't believe it to be a coincidence.
I believe that the Involvement of the First Sorrow was when Shiplords were bestowed a Gift of Practice, potentially as a sacrifice of the Uninvolved in question.
And that the Second Sorrow is the event which caused the Shiplords to squander and lose the Gift of Practice.
That is how the First Sorrow and the Second Sorrow are related - as the moments of gaining Practice, and losing it.
This is why profaning the Gift of Practice, as the Shiplord Captain put it, evokes such a response.
TL: DR version.
1) Practice is related to Sorrows;
2) Shiplords were gifted Practice via the Involvement of the Uninvolved in the First Sorrow;
3) Shiplords misused and lost Practice as species in the Second Sorrow;
4) At a guess, Fourth Sorrow is when Shiplords found themselves forced to deploy anti-Uninvolved weapons against the Uninvolved.
Finally about the
options given.
Witness in these memorials of Shiplords is accessing historical records.
Remember is about the cultural impact of the Sorrow on the Shiplords.
Experience is all about using the simulations to try and find the better way.
I think the silent horror of the Fifth Sorrow, the Zlathbu, is that the Experience option is missing entirely.
Implying that the Shiplords no longer believed that there was a better way to find. When we see how they tried to no avail with the Hjivin, it offers few hopes... But the important part is they actually
tried.
And I also think that, going forward, the
Remember option will rise in comparative value.
For the Zlathbu, from our viewpoint ever using Tribute Fleets was a mistake from the very beginning, but Witnessing that the situation was a point of intense contention and Shiplords did seek ways to deescalate and find a mutually accept able compromise for literal decades, would give former Tributaries much greater impact than Shiplords admitting that in the end there was a mistake there.
For Humanity, understanding the cultural ties of Sorrows and Practice would be paramount to helping placate the Authority now that Third Battle of Sol has been concluded.
And if my guess on the nature of the Fourth Sorrow (beginning of the conflict between Shiplords and Uninvolved) is correct,
Remembering Third and Fourth Sorrows would allow us to more effectively tackle that angle. Because we would see old fears reawakened, and old fears realized, respectively.
I will abstain from the decision on whether we should Remember the Third Sorrow - but I will definitely advocate Remembering both First and Second.
)
