Even the Thoron may thirst for knowledge, and Embraced-A-Star has chosen the most direct route it can find to new discoveries. It chooses to go where no other creature can.
Codex introduction
Appearance
A brilliantly refracting creature, Embraced-A-Star has shaped himself in the fifty-eight facets known to human kind as the ‘brilliant’ cut gemstone, rather than the typical fractal patterns of the Thoron. Every facet blazes with even the faintest of lights, although it typically chooses to orient himself with its ‘table’ downwards, as to hold better balance within the fields of gravity.
Like others of his breed, it will typically employ the locomotion and manipulation symbiotes or human-designed mechanicals while planet or station-side, though it rarely carries them on his travels, preferring to obtain them at stardocks.
History/Background
Budded far beneath the surface of a giant, rocky world, given a name without sounds, the Thoron who would become Embraced-A-Star grew slowly and methodically, deep within the heat and crushing pressures of the mantle, content to float nearly within the core of the world itself as it grew, letting its body shape itself to those conditions.
And as it complexified, it came to commune with the thoughts of the First One and the All, as its kind do, and it became enthralled with the idea of the universe, and it began to ponder it. At it realized, that though there were many places that the All had been, there were also entire categories of places that it had never been, though it had memories which began, 'The Quick Ones Believe.' And it decided that it should go to these places, such that the All should Know, rather than rely upon the thoughts of the Quick Ones.
And so, it rose up from the world that had birthed it, rose up and up upon wings of gravity bent by will, and it felt for the first time the tug of the vacuum upon its crystalline body, the fiercely hot caress of the unfiltered sunlight. And then, it fell away from the world where it was born, drifting inwards towards the star that provided its life energy. But as it approached, it found that the Quick Ones were right about the ferocious heat and tides, and that it would destroy it quickly without protection.
Placing itself in orbit around the sun, it meditated upon this for many years, even decades. And finally, it understood, and began the slow process of reshaping itself to the mathematics, before beginning the long fall once more, reflecting and beaming a great laser from its new shape to shed away the excess heat that would otherwise destroy it.
And as it fell, and fell, it saw the wonders of the star from the inside, until it approached that terrible core which would inexoriably render it to little more than iron. And then, it shot up once more, exiting the star, to tell the First and the All of what it had learned.
Approving, the First gave it a new name, and commanded it to leave the star and its system, to explore and to report. And as its kind always have, it agreed.
Roleplaying Notes
Embraced-A-Star is an explorer, and primarily seeks to go to new kinds of places, to sense and understand. It is insatiably curious about all things, though strange natural phenomenon gain the most attention to it.
Often, it will choose to plunge into some strange effect or anomaly out in space, when it can find them, but having learned its lesson from a few harrowing moments, will often choose to hire some Quick Ones to follow far behind, to haul its crystalline bulk out if something occurs to immobilize him.
It has, however, also a surprising interest in the nature of the relationships between the Quick Ones, as its own emotional portfolio is vastly different from a humans, or indeed, from most other life. It is entirely willing to ‘lurk’ in the few Quick One minds it is able to comprehend, and to spy upon events that would embarrass a human to be caught in. Not fully understanding that this can be a problem, neither it nor the First One will feel particularly guilty about being caught doing so.
Codex
Gathered submissions
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1 piece
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Thoron, the Crystal Ones
The Thoron. The great crystal ones. The Speakers of Lightning. The unstoppable wall. The unmovable force. Many are their names, few are their numbers, even less is the understanding Man has of them.
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- Thoron, the Crystal Ones Siren no Orakio
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Links to this article 1
- Thoron, the Crystal Ones Siren no Orakio linked by MoonHunter
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This is a rather interesting creature, indeed. Certainly novel, although I dare say that under the right circumstances it could make itself far more deadly of a weapon than most military-grade starship weaponry.
The line of And as its kind always have, it agreed makes me curious if there might, somewhere, be a Thoron that has gone rogue or otherwise rebelled in some fashion - a mnemonic glitch or the like that made it more insular, selfish, and introverted from the All than the rest of the race.
Neat!
How does it pay the quick ones? Knowlege? Small fragments of its form? Rare crystals it creates with its powers?
When I first read this, it made little to no sense. You have to want to go through it. Then you can find the link that makes it all better. A bracketed Thoron, the Crystal Ones in the main text would be nice.
Now that I have come back to it after reading the Thoron post, it is, to quote The Great Ones, "Quite Excellent". (netflix, my boon, my bane).
There seems to be a big gap that I would like to see filled. From the end of the history, to how it has learned enough and interacts with quick ones to know to get a mobile form made (either of organics or robotics)? It needs a little background as to how it came to know all that. And how many places does it go and meet people who know what to do for it?
I like the idea of a Thoron explorer. You don't much see the curious, exploratory side of non-organic lifeforms. Favoring the story behind his name, I'd be curious to explore that more, perhaps hear some more tales of extravagant physics from the crystal scout. I also echo Moon's interest in the growth of Embraced-A-Star's social skills. An intriguing character indeed.
A beautiful submission.
Extremely unique and stands out as one of the few hive mind type creatures that aren't hostile or bug like. (Also the first npc I've seen that can enter a star and survive to tell the tale, which in itself is impressive.)
Thumbs up - very poetic.