One cannot embrace
A porcupine without
Numerous punctures

Zee reports from Decxyx with good news and bad news. The Deccans have gas — lots of it. There are no rocky worlds here, not even moons. Four gas giants spin around Decxyx. In the Deccan language their names are Oasis, Prey, Snacks, and Marksmanship. The Deccan culture is nomadic and clan-based -- the clans migrated from one planet to another when one gas giant passed near the next. Historically this allowed native species decimated by their predation to grow to maturity while the Deccans were elsewhere.

The Deccans float like enormous prickly spores through gaseous clouds. The Deccans themselves are nothing but outward-pointing spikes arranged in spheres. They are natural hunters, firing their spikes at any living creature they detect. Long strong tendons attached to each spike allow the Deccans to reel in anything they pierce.

During the era of open Gates, the main population of Deccans lived on Oasis and traveled to Harmony to hunt. The long closure of the Gates has caused a famine locally, and means that the Harmony Deccans are stronger and more numerous than the Decxyx clans. Mistrust is brewing here, and the Decxyx clans are hungry to secure food sources that bypass the Harmony Pax. They make it plain to Zee that their preference is for the Skald to send them living beings to consume, in exchange for Gas. Any living being is acceptable.

Zee applies all his charms, successfully persuading the Decxyx that they should not eat him immediately. Zee negotiates two packages that the Five-mind can accept or reject.

Colony option:

The Skald can establish a working colony in the skies of Decxyx. The Deccans will provide all the Gas necessary to establish operations. Starting as soon as colony construction begins, they will provide 5 Gas per Pulse to the Skald. All the Deccans ask is the right to harvest four percent of its population each Pulse. The Deccans point out that their formidable reputation (and actual patrols) would protect the Skald from hostile intruders. This is clearly the deal the Deccans prefer.

Trade option:

The Skald can provide the Deccans with 2 units of Ore for 1 unit of Gas, for a maximum of 5 Gas per pulse. This offer is only valid with one specific clan, led by a Deccan named the Farseer. Farseer requests that the Ore be provided pre-shaped into regular units of a precise shape, a flat rectangle with perfectly circular holes at the corners.

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Next Week: The King of Mocoporoi

Long time no talk! Great to hear from you guys as always. You mention trade and we’re on board. Here’s the thing, we’ve put out calls to our next-door supplier of Rares at GreyHol, haven’t heard back just yet, can’t guarantee their supply chain so we’ll put a pin in it and circle back. You might want to check across your way in what’s-it-called? You know, the one with the orange star. Gelt? We used to get a shipment every now and then to keep you-know-who happy.

Shoot, was it Rares you asked about, or Gas? Anywho, go ahead and ship some Ores our way and we’ll get the best price we can and hit you back. No promises on timeline, you know how it is.

Lunch soon? I’ll have my people talk to your people.

Smell you later,

Peder Webber

From the Rrrra System

Hello Skald, we are the Tigans.

We used to be war-like, but have found peace. We welcome peaceful trade and the exchange of ideas.

Do you have ice to trade? We can provide gas.

From Unknown

DNS Request timed out

Ping Time: 1

Pulse Trace: Superimposition detected

From Palux

Delighted to make your acquaintance, Skald.

Palux was a small but mighty auction house, home to many of the galaxy’s finest artists and worst roommates. We would be happy to arrange a private showing in exchange for referring adventurous individuals our direction.

Frank P.

Director of Collections

Next Week: Step on Zee Gas!

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Fusion, confusion
Irradiated space streams
Full of holes and tears

The scout team that returns from the Place One Does Not Go has to be quarantined from the rest of the mycelial network. They have gone fully insane. Certain phrases, pieced together with instrument readings from the scout ship, show a bizarre sequence of events.

The ship arrived in the star system and was hurled violently away from the central star. That star frothed and heaved and boiled as if newly born. In the space around it, comets and planetary bodies streamed long tails away from it, creating bright streaks against a too-black background. Ahead of certain of these comets, the fabric of space-time itself seemed… wrong.

The Skald captain had turned his engines up to maximum but even so their ship fell further and further away from the PulseGate, vibrating under incalculable strain. Something behind the ship was pulling on it with incredible force -- stronger than the gravity of the sun ahead. Or rather, many somethings were pulling on the ship. One interpretation of the instrument readings shows a series of point-sized black holes dancing like a gaseous cloud at the edges of the star system. Another shows instead a smaller number of points, mounted to some form of solid ring, each endowed with the ability to project a gravitational beam. A third interpretation resolves the data by asserting that the universe is inside-out; there is a single black hole surrounded by a ring of solar fire.

As the Skald scouts watched, an enormous solar storm flung up trillions of tons of material -- enough to form a gas giant. But before the plasma had time to cool, it tore away in streams that wrapped themselves around the comets and their tails and fell into the darkness beyond.

Shortly after this occurred, the scoutship ran out of fuel and plummeted outward -- inward? -- downward in free fall toward the black edge of the star system. Black became white; their continued momentum ejected the ship from the surface of the sun directly into the PulseGate, and -- white hot and radioactive -- it emerged back home at Skald.

A common theme in the spore emissions of the now-insane scouts is the sensation of having been seen, in a penetrating and violating way.

Skald scientists debate whether the whole thing is impossible within known physics, represents a self-cycling wormhole, or should be modeled as the eye of a higher-dimensional Leviathan peering into the PulseGate network.

Engineering Skald point out that regardless of what it is, there’s got to be a way to harness energy from the phenomenon. They sketch out plans for an enormous unmanned scoop that could be dropped through the Gate, collect Gas in the hostile environment and then return.

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Next Week: Getting Zee Gas

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If we are neighbors
we must know all we can of them
for better or worse

Investigate the Decxyx system to learn more about their people, their structure, the Pax and it’s history, and any Skald presence there.

Zee to Negotiate Trade

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Let Zee speak for us
Negotiate terms for trade
return to balance

The Five-Mind sends Zee to negotiate trade terms with Decxyx and Harmony. With a heavy stream of spores the Five emphasize that their expanse into the stars relies on this deal and impress on the brash adventurer the paramount importance that all Skald be protected. If it is essential for Skald to re-join the Pax at Harmony then the Five-Mind can assent, but Skald is to remain neutral to all parties involved with the Pax. The desired terms that Zee instructed to achieve:

• Free trade with Decxyx, and all involved with the Pax

• Trade of Gas for Ores. We desire 2 gas per unit of ore, yet allow some flexibility.

• No harm to come to any Skald in Harmony or any vessel involved with trade or commerce of this deal and the Pax.

• Free passage through Decxyx controlled space by Skald. Skald will respect Decxyx by keeping distance while traveling through to gates beyond.

• No Skald are to be eaten. If the life of a Skald is needed for sustenance, we will gladly trade Ice for Gas to avoid the consumption of our people.

• Skald will remain neutral to respect the balance of the universe. No war or violence to any in the Pax by Skald.

• If there is unbalance, we are open to negotiations to rectify the balance and restore harmony.

Organize Community

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The needs of the many
must be met for all to be
a community

We seek balance in the ebb and flow. For this, we establish a cabinet office of the economy. It will be known as the office of Community, as it focuses on the resources and needs of all.

Gathering Stones:

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Some stones are worth more
and we have very little for now.
How can we get more?

Our stockpiles of Rares are small, our ambitions large. Begin investigation into possible mining locations, costs of mining, or other possible sources such as recycling.

Space Sword

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A thing of power
We must learn all that we can
and where it came from

Investigate Mocoropoknosomophoshogoi. Learn as much as possible about it before we bring it back to orbit Skald. It seems we can learn a lot from the space sword, perhaps even how best to utilize it. If knowledge is a weapon as the sword suggests, then it will be best to gather as much knowledge as possible. While investigating the sword, this team or a different team of scouts should look into Mocoropoi to learn more about that system, its inhabitants, and if they would like their sword back.

The Five-Mind find the formal name too long for their spore-and-syllable manner of speaking. The simpler “Space Sword” rapidly becomes the artifact’s name in Skald spoken language.

Enlightening Dark Clouds

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Place One Does Not Go
Is there something there worthwhile?
Or do we avoid?

If there’s somewhere called ‘Place One Does Not Go’ … we should know why we don’t go there. Is it perhaps something interesting? Something good? Or something that should be avoided completely? Let’s find out what’s there and what it’s all about.

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Next Week: The Place One Went

We will consider it
and have sent one of our own
to negotiate.

To Network:

Let us begin trade
we can trade ores for things.
Establish commerce.

Reply in the direction of Anchov:

A repeating pattern of our own matching the frequency of theirs

. . . . .
- - - - - - -
. . . . .

Pause, then repeat.

Reply to the unknown ping:

>TraceRoute:Count_Hops /Force
>Skald:Greyhol | Record_Travel
>Return: Location

To Tiga:

Your race interests us.
Please tell us your location
and when this is held

Next Week: A Thing of Power

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The needs of the many
must be met for all to be
a community

The Five-Mind foresee a need for a more organized office for managing economic decisions. It will be known as the office of Community, as it focuses on the resources and needs of all.

Pax Decxyx:

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If we are neighbors
we must know all we can of them
for better or for worse

It seems wise to investigate the Decxyx system to learn more about their people, their structure, the Pax and its history, and any Skald presence there. Intriguing to think there may have been a whole other colony there throughout the era of closed gates.

Zee to Negotiate Trade:

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Let Zee speak for us
Negotiate terms for trade
return to balance

The Five-Mind sends Zee to negotiate trade terms with Decxyx and Harmony. The Five-Mind emphasizes that their expanse into the stars relies on this deal and that all Skald must be protected. If it is important for Skald to re-join the Pax at Harmony then it is allowed, but Skald is to remain neutral to all parties involved with the Pax. The guidance provided to Zee is negotiating for are (in plain common):

• Free trade with Decxyx (and all involved with the Pax Harmony)

• Trade of Gas for Ores. Get as much gas per ore as you can — 2 to 1 would be a pleasing balance.

• No harm should come to any Skald in Harmony or any vessel involved with trade or commerce of this deal and the Pax.

• Free passage through Decxyx controlled space by Skald. Skald will respect Decxyx by keeping distance while traveling through to gates beyond.

• No Skald are to be eaten. If the life of a Skald is needed for sustenance, we will gladly trade Ice for Gas to avoid the consumption of our people.

• Skald will remain neutral to respect the balance of the universe. No war or violence to any in the Pax by Skald.

• If there is imbalance, we are open to negotiations to rectify the balance and restore harmony.

Gathering Stones:

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Some stones are worth more
and we have very little for now.
How can we get more?

Our stockpiles of Rares are small, but ambitions are large. Begin investigation into possible mining locations, costs of setting up mines, or other possible sources such as recycling unwanted materials into more valuable base elements/compounds.

Space Swords

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A thing of power
We must learn all that we can
and where it came from

The s Skald translate Mocoropoknosomophoshogoi into their native Skald language as the simpler Space Sword.

Investigate the space sword and learn as much as possible about it before we decide to bring it back to orbit Skald. It sounds like we can learn a lot from the space sword and how best to utilize it. If knowledge is a weapon as the sword suggests, then it will be best to gather as much knowledge as possible. While investigating the sword, this team or a different team of scouts should look into Mocoropoi to learn more about that system, it’s inhabitants, and if they would like their sword back.

Enlightening Dark Clouds:

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Place One Does Not Go
Is there something there worthwhile?
Or do we avoid?

If there’s somewhere called ‘Place One Does Not Go’ then we should know why we don’t go there. Could be something interesting, something good, or something that should be avoided completely. Let’s find out what’s there and what it’s all about.

Next Week: More Messages

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Brightness and lightness
With joy we bring together
Known information

Skald astronomers have been making progress on the tricky problem of looking past their star’s overwhelming brightness, and include tentative updates to the map -- stars north of Skald are the most difficult to image.

Meanwhile, they sense the Five-Mind’s desire to integrate information from the scouting missions and Zee’s interim report. His final report may fill in some additional star system names, but these were not included in his brief broadcast.

Did someone mention Mocoropoi? That’s an ancient empire famous enough that its location is in the archives.

Finally, the astronomers have settled on a convention to mark areas where 2-D representations fail with a white/brown pattern, while areas that are simply not imaged yet are marked with blank gray. The white/brown hexes are not spaces that actually exist, they are placeholders on a map to show that (for example) Network and Anchov both link to Skald, but there is no direct link from Network to Anchov; meanwhile, there are two distinct 3-Gate pathways from Skald to Hansom, but there is no 2-Gate pathway.

This Pulse the Five-Mind receives several messages from beyond the Gate:

From Decxyx:

We have too much Gas and do not desire yours. We require nutrition. We desire to reestablish the arrangement involving Harmony. The circle of life, balanced, beautiful, fulfilling. Sign onto the Pax. We shall compensate. With Gas.

From Network:

Hey, great to hear from you, it’s been a while (laughing loud) but basic sitch is still the same. Working those connections to get the boss what she wants. Ya know how it is. Trade sounds epic, we are thinking hey, we know all those people and we should leverage that into like, sourcing labor to other worlds. Here’s the deal: you tell us about any adventurer types you hear about, and you tell us what kind of adventurers you’re looking to hire, and we make the connect between the talent and the job-creators, yeah? Finders’ fee applies of course.

From beyond Anchov

Distant static, but in a repeating pattern

From beyond Harmony

The Republic of Tiga has sponsored a Tour de Tiga race spanning the former Tigan Empire. Open to any pilot able to provide their own ship. Full ruleset available upon arrival at the Rrrra System. Considerable prize pool to be divided among first and second-place finishers.

From “Verbel” (beyond Anchov)

The Verbel Tourism Bureau invites all and sundry to come experience the comforts that made Verbel renowned among the wealthy and elite for generations.

This message is sponsored by the Verbel Tourism Bureau

From unknown source:

Non-authoritative answer:Skald:Network:Greyhol:Segfalt

Error: 404 Not Found; Passcode Prompt

Next Week:

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A knife in the dark
Ancient words unexpected
Illuminate much

Like Om’s star Skald, the central star of Hansom is a bright, giant star. Unlike Skald, this system is entirely devoid of planets. What is here is a single orbital platform made of white porcelain, obsidian and diamond. It is shaped like an unsheathed sword many kilometers long. The hilt faces the sun and fully shades the blade. When the scoutship nears, the small amount of light reflected from their hull and sent out by their radar causes the sword’s sharp edges to begin glowing. As the glow increases, holographic letters rise from the flat of the blade. They form words in an ancient tongue comprised mostly of vowels, known to Skald historians.

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And then unto them the ancients spake: Like a knife in the dark will you find the truth!
Blessed traveler, you have discovered treasure beyond your wildest dreams
Gaze upon Mocoropoknosomophoshogoi, Sword With Two Edges
Perpetual Endowment of Mocoropoi, the Infinite Empire
Forged by Historians, Archive of Monarchs Immortal
Your weapons, your conquests, your wars
Come to nothing if not remembered
Knowledge is our sword eternal
Outlast even bright stars
Thus we conquer all
Examine it closely
And learn much
But take care
If damaged:
Permanent
Ignorance
Complete
Oblivion
Untold
Death
Your
End
Will
Be
!!
!

Following the sword’s hint about close examination, the scoutship uses its best imaging equipment to “examine closely” and determines that the sword’s blade, beneath a diamond lacquer, is finely etched with text, like a microfiche. It is possible that this etching goes down to the near-atomic level, and with almost eighteen kilometers of blade, the knowledge contained here must be vast indeed. To properly image the etchings, the Skald must land directly on the sword.

After days of careful maneuvering, the Skald scoutship comes to a landing on the pommel. Immediately new holograms arise around them, with pictograms that appear to be something like an instruction manual. The instructions show something alarming. Apparently the entire sword can maneuver like a ship, and can be sent through the PulseGate. But if a little light brings the sword to life, what will occur when its blade is fully illuminated? The scouts determine that they should not decide what to do with (or about) Mocoropoknosomophoshogoi until they consult with the Five-Mind.

Next Week: Maps and Messages

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Harmony has skald
Trade terms at best suspicious
Pax says harpoons only

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Invite extended
To Decxyx home star system
Harmony skald scared

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Query to leaders:
Permission to offer up
Sacrificial skald?

From these words they infer that there are Skald living on at least one planet in the Harmony system, that the Decxyx are willing to engage in negotiations for some of their gas, and that Zee will travel to the Decxyx system for the next phase of the mission. The last line of each report segment jogs deep memories, and dredges up an old recollection of the Harmony Pax. This is the agreement that the warlike Decxyx imposed on multiple races who once lived together in that system in relative peace.

The Harmony Pax says:

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Death by harpoon is permissible. It binds the killer to the killed. The use of any other weapon is forbidden.
Death for food is permissible. It binds the killed to the killer. Those who eat the flesh of others shall compensate the other’s clan.
Let there be no war in this place. Let there be no hunger.
We take what we need, no more, no less.
We pay forward what we owe.
This is the Harmony Pax.
Observe it or be devoured.

Anchov -- Premium, Basic, and Supreme

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Union, disunion
Commerce breeding rivalry
Fish without water

In this star system there are two gas giants, a small rocky planet, and a considerable number of moons. The rocky planet is known as Aquaterra. It is crackled like a desiccated lakebed, with deep canyons and flat plains between mountain ranges and plateaus. The atmosphere shows almost no water content.

The smaller gas giant is known as Principal, while the larger is known as Premium. Around both, numerous small moons orbit. Every moon appears to be not only inhabited, but densely inhabited. Landfish ships tend to be rectilinear, favoring ninety-degree angles with only slight bevelling. They are often connected one behind another and appear to follow predetermined routes on a regular basis.

When the scouts arrive, they observe a large facility under construction near the PulseGate. It features many obvious docks for large interstellar vessels. The only portion of it that is already functional is a large neon sign written in a slightly archaic version of the intergalactic common language: Trade Centre and Gift Shoppe.

The governing body here is the Anchov Supreme Chamber of Commerce, which brings together five lesser Chambers of Commerce, each of which has their own sub-hierarchies. Most organizational charts can be depicted as pyramids.

The Supreme Chamber appears to be mostly utilized for settling disputes between the lesser Chambers.

The most powerful of the lesser Chambers appears to be the Global Chamber of Commerce, which is based on Aquaterra and has total dominance there; several moons are also majority-owned by the Global Chamber. The Global Chamber controls the Ice and Ore market.

The Basic Chamber of Commerce is based on Principal; they contact the scoutship immediately to see whether they would be interested in receiving a loan of 5 Gas, and if so, what form of collateral the Skald would put forward. The Basic Chamber’s arrangement is simple. They provide 5 Gas now, and starting 5 Pulses later, the Skald repay 2 Gas per Pulse for 3 Pulses. If the Skald cannot repay, the collateral becomes the property of the Basic Chamber. Small moons and asteroids make good collateral, and their records indicate the Skald are in possession of several of these.

The Premium Chamber of Commerce is based on Premium, and engages in open rivalry with the Basic Chamber. They let it be known that the scouts can apply for entry into a free trade agreement. Free trade appears to mean that the Skald would be permitted to build a harvesting operation on Premium, but would need to pay the Premium Chamber for insurance on that facility and shipments of the product. The Premiums should hate for anything to happen to their gas supply lines. Ships are so expensive to produce, you know?

The Living Chamber of Commerce offers a favor. They are willing to send a set of supervised workers to build anything you might need building, in places where you’d rather it was not so clear who the actual owner of a facility might be. They’ll provide the labor and the ships to move it. You provide the resources, a payment of 1 Rare, and a guarantee that the Living Chamber’s ships won’t be subject to inspection.

The Assassins Chamber of Commerce does not exist. Who said they did? No one, if they’re smart. If they did exist, they would run a very reliable waste removal service. Reasonable rates, no questions asked. If you wish to arrange a meeting, visit the Gift Shoppe and ask for Finny.

The scouts are permitted to fly through the atmospheres of Aquaterra, Principal and Premium, but not permitted to land on any planet. They are also not permitted to dock with any Landfish moons or space stations. When the Trade Centre is complete, it will permit foreign visitors.

Next Week: A Hansom Blade

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Innovation comes
From preparation and need
We are now prepared

The skald tasked with creating an Artifice Office situate themselves on mixed terrain, arranging their subnetwork as an ellipse with foci in both the light and the dark side of the planet; near the more strongly illuminated side are some rocky areas where they can test out ideas for areas not yet populated with mycelial roots. Near the dark side there is a small sea, where concepts for wet worlds can be tested. In part due to this diversity and in part by design, this subnetwork suffers from more than usual disunity. In theory, this will generate some creative chaos. In practice, it is an office that will perform much better when graced with a single mind and purpose.

The day side of the Artifice Office recommends pursuing rapid research into obtaining Gas. The night side of the Artifice Office recommends research into cultivating advisor-quality minds similar to the Five-Mind. Clearly this is possible to achieve, though new, fully realized minds of this nature have not been made in many generations.

From old experience the Five-Mind vaguely recalls that the leader of the Artifice Office ought to periodically provide research recommendations with complete price-and-schedule budgets, but until a strong leader is in place, the old system of piecemeal investigations will remain the only way to discover the cost of new ideas.

Harmony!

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Skald fresh afire
Build homes to build relations
Harmony on Om

Like minnows in a puddle fleeing a dropped rock, droves of young Skald scatter from the broad flat surfaces of the Kojo Plateau. They root themselves instead on its most sunward face and begin the work of assembling offices and chambers within the hard rock. These will be the embassies for foreign agents whose ships will park on the plateau above. By the end of the pulse, the youngsters are joined by elderly Skald, some brought out of retirement. The olds prefer the shade on the plateau’s far side, but seem invigorated by sharing roots with so many youth. Carving out embassies isn’t complete by the end of the pulse, but also these are not yet in demand. It will give the youngsters something to work on while awaiting instruction from a head of department. Similar to the Artifice Office, this Diplomatic Center will function better with dedicated leadership.

Stepping on the Gas

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Desirable clouds
Round foreign stars forbidden
Old friendships… new terms?

Zee is given his mission before Dee is fully completed, so Zee takes the opportunity to review all that is known about past sources of Skald Gas trade before he launches. Certain historian-mushrooms flattered by his attentions rush their results to him and -- not coincidentally -- three of them expect to soon become parents.

The most promising star systems for Gas are Decxyx, Blasphemy, Snotblossom, and Anchov. These each show clear signs of containing large gas giants. Each shows certain risks.

Anchov is the home of the Mudskippers. Their prices were notably steep. Another team will scout Anchov this pulse.

Blasphemy has a deadly history, as the site where the sector’s bloodiest war in a millenia began. Little is known about this system, except that while Skald who traveled to and from Harmony freely, it was forbidden to visit Blasphemy or Tango. According to rumors, the lords of Blasphemy were known from time to time to visit Harmony, though they resented the Harmony Pax.

Decxyx is the homeworld of a solitary and warlike race; these were the brokers of the peace that prevailed over Harmony. While they were willing to sell Gas to Skald in the past, they have never permitted visitation of their star system by Skald delegations. The Decxyx home system contains nothing but Gas giants -- they may suffer the inverse problem of the Skald.

Snotblossom was a Decxyx protectorate in ages past and likewise off-limits for visitation. More recently, it exhibits strange characteristics when viewed through the Gate -- as though a large strip of its skies were occluded by some vast ring.

All this information is (naturally) conveyed in twenty-one syllables and a cloud of pheromones and spores. The exchanged pheromones lead the three librarians to discover one another and unite in refusing Zee any further information.

Zee concludes that successful negotiations with the Decxyx would be the quickest known pathway to obtaining Gas supplies. A visit to Snotblossom to check whether they are now independent may anger the Decxyx, but would potentially reveal further star systems beyond. Harmony is the traditional meeting ground for negotiations with Decxyx, and it seems unwise to start negotiations with acts forbidden under prior arrangements.

Zee boards Dee, and yeets into the PulseGate just before it closes. He spends the entire Pulse at Harmony, and when the Gates open again, reports with unsatisfying brevity:

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Harmony has skald
Trade terms at best suspicious
Pax says harpoons only

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Invite extended
To Decxyx home star system
Harmony skald scared

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Query to leaders:
Permission to offer up
Sacrificial skald?

Next Week: The Harmony Pax, and Worlds Beyond!

Zee: desirable.
Seeds sown may reap roots or rage.
Send to fertile ground.

Zee is perhaps the physically fittest adventurer on the entire planet of Om. His experience with long excursions makes him capable of enduring long solitary periods, both in terms of understanding how to meet his nutritional needs and also in terms of his psychological resilience. More than that, he exudes sexiness. Literally.

The Five-Mind’s authority enables access to Zee’s private medical information. It turns out his endurance and ambition are side effects of an overabundance of the testosterone-equivalent for the Skald. Wherever he goes, Zee passively spews forth an unusually high number of spores. These will have a chance to take hold and produce a local mycelial network, working best in earth-like environments.

People and indeed entire species find him strangely irresistible or infatuating upon their first meeting. Those manipulated by Zee’s pheromones will retain the infatuation for as long as he is present, but will “snap out of it” when he is gone. Where actions taken under his influence differ significantly from the self-interest of the individual or society, feelings of spite, resentment and outright hatred of Zee in particular may result. Zee tends to burn bridges, relationship-wise. As a result, he is quite effective on a first pass, less so on second contact.

Om Merchant Shipyard

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Dee ship not dee end
Such roots, such minds make light work
Design without flaw

Freshly named, the cargo ship Dee launches. It leaves behind a crater ringed by smug and self-satisfied Skald. These individuals remain rooted around the new bowl carved into the world. This site will serve as the hub of Om’s new merchant shipyard. The local subdivision of the mycelial network immediately begins refining the process based on lessons learned in creating Dee. With the influx of additional resources, they set about arranging matters to suit future construction -- flow chutes for powdered ores and soils, root networks for electrical impulses and liquids, and so on. The setup will make production cheaper, yielding ships much like Dee at a cost so low as to be part of Om’s background economy, beneath the notice of the Five-Mind.

It is expected that construction will finish on Pulse 4, and the first new ship can be produced on Pulse 5. Sources of Gas secured later than Pulse 5 will result in immediate background trade, which will escalate very gradually over time.

Next Week: Progress! Harmony! Harpoons?

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When our people speak
Five minds as one mind listen
Name the first ship Dee

We remember it is good to name ships that move from star to star. Detached from our roots, they must have their own identities and their own internal ecosystems. Besides, soon we will have more than one. We cannot keep calling this one it “the ship.” We name it the mighty syllable: Dee.

Investigations:

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Branch out like our roots
to learn as much as we can
Go gather knowledge

The team in Network will gather information on as many systems connected to Network as possible. By this we do not mean travel, we mean looking and seeing. In Network and in Anchov we should see what connections lead to other star systems. Mapping stars and knowing things. This helps us balance.

Looking Inward:

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Zee is the future
We should see what he’s made of
See where his roots go

Much will depend on this singular fungus. We therefore desire to understand Zee more deeply. Skills, talents, deep longings, even shortcomings. This we must know of one, for the sake of all.

Investigate Zee.

Looking Outward:

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Zee must go forth now
We must find stable gas
Go and secure it

Walking is a kind of balance between gravity and motion. These are not times for sitting still. Zee must go forth. Though we await more knowledge of Zee’s character, Zee must go forth. A step into darkness. Keep upright by keeping moving. We can cross unfathomed rivers by feeling stones as we go. Send a team to locate and secure a stable source of Gas

Shipping Shapes:

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Gas is limited
We need to acquire it
Once ships are ready

Our star system is dusty, is rocky, is not suitable to harvesting certain resources we need in bulk. Gas, useful Gas. Small atoms for combustion and compression, for fusion and confusion. We will need a lot, but we have none.

Before we can collect Gas we need ships that can haul it. Before we can have ships, we need the means of shaping them. Think big, everyone. Construct a Merchant Shipyard.

Skald Speak to Space:

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Messages received
Messages should rise like spores
Here is what to say

Message to Network:

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That was us who asked.
Seriously, we need gas.
Can we start to trade?

Broadcast to all nearby systems:

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We are known as Skald.
Please, tell us about yourselves.
We would like to trade.

Message to Unknown:

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C:\ NSlookup: ping
C:\ Find: previous hops - from: here
C:\ Trace: Other pinged hosts

Next Week: Groundbreaker, Heartbreaker, Lover of Worlds

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Sunbeams warm new caps
Lifeblood quickens in new roots
We respond as asked

In response to the decree, many Skald move toward the sunward side of Om. The pulse of the mycelial network quickens. The Skald known as Soh is seen to raise a small ship around herself, rise into orbit, and depart in the direction of the PulseGate.

Message from Source Unknown, Likely Network

Hey bro long time no talk. This is kind of random but do you still have Gas? I am remembering you used to trade in the stuff and a guy I just met is looking to buy. Could totes hook you up. Ttys.

Message from Source Unknown

A message arrives through the Gate, source unknown. It says “Ping: 2 Pulses. System Error Server Not Found.”

Message from Anchov

Business proposal: For sale: Ice mining rights within the star system Resort. Many clients already interested. Make your bid now. Joint ventures possible and welcome.

Ralph “Seven Percent” Wanderlake

President, Anchov Global Chamber of Commerce

Next Week: From the Five-Mind

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Five lace like Council
Many message, fewer meet
Spiders know a guy.

This system is strange. A white dwarf star much smaller than Skald is orbited by five rocky worlds, each entirely wreathed in fiber-optic cables and metal scaffolding -- they look like lace or spores. End of cabling trailing out into space and tether all manner of satellites. When the planets are near enough to one another, they connect by long wires directly one to another using magnetic couplings. It seems safest to consider these five planets as a single unit, unified and separable much in the way of the Council itself.

Upon arrival we received many messages inviting us to have a chat, a coffee, tag up, one-on-one, and so forth. More than forty thousand such invitations were received within the first five minutes. We shut down our receiver because it was in danger of melting down.

Sorting through these messages, we realized that many were identical. Upon sorting for the unique invitations, we followed up on three hundred. Many of our responses were not answered; only fifteen produced conversations. Upon instruction we docked at various points, each a different tethered satellite in orbit above one of the rocky planets. There we met the denizens of Network.

They are spiders. Hairy all over, eight-legged, and varying in size from a half-meter to a meter. We enquired about where we could find Gas, and their responses followed a format that rapidly became familiar: They said of course they could get us some Gas, because they knew a great guy who owed them a favor. They would then tap at the surface of a glass device, forget we were present for two to three minutes, and say in a sheepish voice “Looks like he’s not getting back to me right away -- usually does but I haven’t talked to him in a while. He’s in another star system.”

We are not convinced there is any gas here, but self-evidently there is a great deal of ore in the form of metal and wire. Likely there are raw rocks down at the center of each lattice, though we were not permitted to make a landing. Indeed the lattice is dense enough that a ship would be unable to penetrate all the way to the surface. We believe spore spread here is possible.

We must also report… certain feelings. Throughout our visit to Network, we have felt… watched. Surveilled. Looking down at the planetary surfaces here there is a sense that light should filter down through all the latticework and reveal what is at the center. Yet from what we can see, each planet is… shrouded in darkness.

Do you wish us to return to Skald, proceed to another star system, or remain here in Network for further actions? Visibility from here is much better and we were able to match many systems to their names based on our otherwise fruitless meetings here.

Next Week: Messages Return!

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Calm before the storm
A hero looks to the sky
Payment in advance

The handsome adventurer Zee accepts the offer of employment on the following terms: two Rares as a signing bonus, one Rare per pulse going forward. He recommends he be immediately deployed as an adventurer scouting (and spreading spore!) in nearby systems. Immediately, if not sooner!

Fa Beyond

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Orbital balance
Forever behind the sun
Skilled skald called. Our kin?

A swift trip skimming past Skald’s scorching surface brings a follower to the rocky planetoid known as Fa. The report arrives in the form of radio waves bounced off of Pa -- no direct line communications are possible because there’s so much sun in the way.

We have rediscovered lost brethren! The Skild are a lot like the Skald but Skild are not Skald. The Skild inhabit the world of Fa as the Skild want to be far from Skald. The Skild started as a group of Skald that decided to separate from the Skald due to their rigid ways and establish their own settlement on Fa. After many generations, the Skild are hard for us Skald to understand -- their ways seem frankly insane. For example, they do not connect roots with one another to form a mycelial network, and instead have a system of goods for trade, acquiring sustenance by physically hauling it from one place to another in small, discrete packages. Bizarre!

Yet the Skild make clear they are open to any Skald who wish to join them. An embarrassing confession of a personal nature: the Skild have propositioned me repeatedly for partnerships of a conjugal nature. Enough pheromones were… presented that I can deduce they are biologically viable mating partners, though deeply unpalatable as a matter of personal taste.

Skild have colorful, ornate caps and compared to the average Skald are somewhat more comfortable using their limbs for locomotion and handling objects. Though plainly capable of civilized speech in proper grammatical counts, they have a laziness of mind and childishness that indulges in iambic pentameter, limericks, or other freeform poetry. On more than one occasion I was confronted with horrific usages known locally as “slant rhyme.” They seem amused when I am disquieted by such linguistic travesties.

Skild society is commune based and freeform. Individuals take care of themselves and their local group. There is no central Skild government, just an agreement among Skild, occasionally verified by counting votes.

Upon my confirmation that the Gates were again open, multiple Skild indicated an intention to immediately travel through it and “I dunno man, see the world, taste new planets, roots unfurled. Feel the breeze across my cap, do some crimes and take the rap, grow some spores where’er they’re hurled.” You see what I mean about their impossible speech patterns.

For our own purposes, it’s worth pointing out that the Gate cannot be seen from Fa, and Fa cannot be seen from the Gate. If we need to hide things from prying eyes -- for example, a large fleet of ships -- we could park them at Fa undetected.

Overall, the Skild are excellent craftsmen and women, and are abundantly -- disconcertingly -- comfortable operating independently. It is likely that the Five-Mind could recruit a highly competent Advisor here to lead the new Office of Progress, or an adventurer to launch into the Gate system. However, we do not believe these Skild possess the qualities needed to fill the vacant Office of Harmony position.

Next Week: Network connections

Dee dee Dee dee dEE
Dee DEE dee Dee Dee Dee DEE
dEe dee dee dee DEE

Whole swaths of sunward hillsides vibrate with the sound of this single syllable.

Ship, Shaped

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Dee dee Dee dee DEE
Molecule by molecule
From dust, a vessel

Seven hundred Skald congregate, each carrying a few clods of dirt to toss onto a pile. It’s mayhem for a while with individuals clambering up and down the pile’s growing slopes, relocating individual clods and even climbing over one another. But after a time the scene calms. The mushrooms gather in concentric circles and send roots deep into the loose soil. Many hold hands. One skald says a single syllable: “Dee”. Others take up the word, infusing it by scent and spore with many subtle meanings as they chant: “Dee/ prosperity. Dee/ fortune. Dee/ the smell of one’s own home after a long journey. Dee/ the sound of peanuts cracking when there are more inside the shell than you expected. Dee/ growth.”

Time passes. When it is right, the skald atop the pile of dirt begin to shimmy, like dancers doing “the twist”. Rhythmically, in time, they bend their bodies. The soils shift. A sleek, seed-like shape emerges, rising from the powder. Dee/ the ship we have made. Dee/ a feeling of sudden pride. Dee/ patriotism, well-understood. Dee.

Shipshaping

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Venturing to space
Calls for space to build more space
Faring ships. Friend ships.

Building a shipyard will create large-scale Fleet carriers more efficiently. Carriers enable larger numbers of small ships to pass through Gates safely and speedily.

Excited Skald sub-sets develop several proposals for creating a shipyard:

Orbital Shipyard: An orbital shipyard circling any of the planets or planetoids around Skald is possible. The Orbital Shipyard would require initial outlays of Gas but would reduce the later Gas cost of building Fleets by 2. An orbital shipyard would be on its own mycelial network and would be less defensible than one on a planetary surface.

Om Fleet Shipyard: This plan would use lessons learned from building the first ship to create a shipyard optimized for the creation of large ships that take advantage of PulseGate physics to maximize the transportation of other smaller ships and/or large volumes of cargo. It would reduce the cost of Fleets by 1 Gas, and requires no initial Gas investment.

Om Merchant Shipyard: This is the cheapest to produce. It essentially formalizes the process just used to produce the first cargo ship for gas. This shipyard would be optimized for producing Gas-hauling cargo ships, and will produce a new ship every Pulse unless otherwise instructed. This will tie up some of the Ores produced by Om’s current economy, but would gradually expand the volumes of Gas that can be brought from trading partners each Pulse, limited (of course) by the volume those suppliers make available.

Next Week: Explorer and exploration

The gates have opened
Once more we venture upwards
Once again to stars

The Five-Mind issues a decree to all Skald. With the gates open once again we must return the universe to harmony. We focus not inward but instead turn outward to the stars. We will achieve balance once again and our spores will spread wide.

Learning by Doing

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Our world may be small
And yet our fleet is smaller
It begins with one.

Spores waft on open breezes. Catalysts glide through certain routes. They bring on an urge to build. Skald receiving this guidance will create a cargo ship suitable for establishing trade and in so doing will investigate how a shipyard can facilitate future construction. The Skald have no native sources of Rare elements or Gas, and will need to secure income from beyond the Gate.

Construct Offices for Artifice and Diplomacy

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The Five lead all Skald 
but even they require help
laying foundations.

To have a stable foundation for all Skald to reach the stars, Skald must first have a stable foundation on Skald. A dedicated office for Progress (meaning scientific research) and Harmony (a concept that includes diplomacy) will help them move forward and outward.

Hire Zee

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We need assistance.
The Council requests your service
to help us serve all.

The Five-Mind summon the alluring individual Zee to their presence to discuss their services. They offer a maximum of 2 rares for service. The pheromone subtext encourages Zee to serve for the honor.

Investigate Fa Outpost

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How unusual
for this message to arrive.
We’ll look into it.

Strange for such a message to arrive in person, for such a person to arrive with a message. The Five-Mind will look into their message and see what such skilled wordsmiths have to say. This could be interesting.

Investigate Network:

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The gates are openTrade, 
Exploration commence
Start with Network first

Information is important resources to the Skald, though they recall difficulty conveying it to others. While important to learn about all the systems connected to the gates, it is decided they will start with Network in order to re-establish the long forgotten Skald trade routes.

Speak to the Stars

The Five-Mind craft messages meant for outsiders. At their direction, older Skald excavate from deep memories the ancient methods of beaming meaning outward.

To Network:

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The gates are open,
we wish to trade resources.
Tell us of yourselves.

To Decxyx:

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We desire peace,
Our ties shall remain neutral.
Can we trade for gas?

To Unknown:

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CMD: /run Locate - ping
tracert: /find_source /node_use = all
nslookup: /force

Next Week: Ship shaped

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We listen and hear
Bright waves crashing on our shores
Photons from beyond

A message arrives through the Gate, source unknown. It says “Ping: 117 Years. System Error Server Not Found.”

Reconnection

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Our counterbalance
Calls out after long silence
From inside the house

Just before the Five-mind dissolves its session, a messenger arrives in person (an unusual, high-security step). They bring a message from the estranged Skald outpost at Fa.

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Query for you Skald
Who keeps shaking space and time
Are we high or what
If question seems queer
Man do we have some good shit
Available for sale
Our enormous hands
Our psychedelicious roots
Yearn for salty snacks

This is the longest message received from Fa in over seventy years.

Disconnection

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We wake to ourselves
We smell a world unbalanced
Shaken to its roots

The Five-Mind briefly relaxes into their solo identities to sup from the nutrient network and relieve themselves of accumulated neurotransmitters. They discover that they are not alone in convening private conversations. Throughout the world they can detect several private conversations. The flavor they share is… fear.

Next week: Decisions, Decisions.

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Resort and Anchov
Network Decxyx Harmony
Place one does not go

In prior times, the PulseGate in Scald had four connections. In the immediate memory of the Council of Five, the map is as follows:

Skald is of course the Homeworld

• Network was a place where much information was exchanged, and Skald could trade with other races for resources

• Decxyx was a supplier of much gas, and home to a warlike race

• Harmony was a system with multiple inhabited worlds, aligned with Decxyx with a fiercely enforced code of conduct known as the Harmony Pax

• Resort was often used as a place of meditation and retreat, with its many cool proto-cometary bodies

• Anchov was home to the Landfish, a race of mudskippers -- philistines all.

• And finally, there is the Gate to the Place One Does Not Go. It is known that there is a cloud of... something... there.

Beyond this basic map the memory of the Five does not serve. Older or more adventurous Skald might supply additional information, and careful observation of the next Pulse could confirm or dispute the remembered map.

Dust off Ships, Ships of Dust

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Defy gravity
Thrust down reaction mass
Exquisite balance

During the long silence of the Gates, the Skald intentionally limited space travel to preserve resources. Within their home system, gas was a non-renewable resource. While a handful of existing craft could be sent on exploratory missions, ships capable of moving cargo or handling combat would have to be restored from mothballed hulks or built from scratch. The Five-Mind can tap into existing supplies of sand to build new ships.

Building a cargo ship to haul gas is simpler than building a fleet. This is already affordable.

Establishing a dedicated shipyard ecosystem would lead to more efficient ship production. Building a shipyard would require several pulses, beginning with plans, followed by then one or more pulses to construct the necessary infrastructure.

Picking Mushrooms

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Five becoming one
Seven serve skald skillfully
Open departments

The Five-Mind recalls that interstellar travel comes with many more decisions. In the past, other skald -- some individual and some collectives -- took on tasks. A balanced government would have Five, Seven and Five, representing the Five-Mind (Ho, Shey, Mi, Ffa, and La), the Seven Servants, and the Five Departments: Research, Economy, Culture, War, and Diplomacy. The Seven Servants are pre-selected, but during the long quiescence of the Gates, the Five Departments have been led by the separate persons that compose the Five-Mind. Splitting these roles once more will require certain re-shuffling, the construction of appropriate offices and the retraining of dedicated secure mycelial networks -- oh, and also selecting officers fit to serve.

At present two candidates spring to mind:

• Soh, a Skald who served many years ago as part of the Five-Mind. Soh retired nearly a thousand pulses ago. She lives now atop a crag at the edge of the night, sipping only lightly and infrequently from the local nutrient network. Near her home she is something of a tourist attraction, thanks to a habit of shouting epic, esoteric poetry at the stars.

• Zee, a young hotsider Skald who has organized expeditionary explorations reaching almost to the Point of High Noon (aka ShadowVanish, aka aha’la’auawaiamafaonah’iahalewaha), and is thus familiar with many of the tools and practices needed for a skald to move quickly in hostile environments and survive for days at a time without the support of a mycelial network.

Next week: Messages from Beyond?

Note from the translation team: Much is lost by rendering the thoughts of the Skald into English text. For clarity the thoughts of these mushrooms will be rendered using human comparisons for size, human idioms, and human metaphors, with occasional additional notations giving some sense of what is lost in translation. Each report appears with an approximation of the original poetry used by the Skald.

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Skald blinks away moon.
Open roots mean open routes:
The Gates pulse! Ship ships!

The Council convenes. Information flies through their roots, through the air as sound and pheromones. The Five-Mind awakens, sentient and self-aware. Here is what the Five-Mind suddenly knows.

Local Neighborhood:

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Om orbiting Skald
Stability for each rock
Perfect circles all

• Skald (the Sun)

• PulseGate

• Om (Homeworld, large, rocky, tidally locked)

  Om is an old world, seismically still. We believe it is among the oldest in all of the Pulse gate network. While we know much, much has been forgotten. The terrible heat of the central sunward side and the frigid antipode are zones of mystery and legend.

• Rocks

  Five small rocky bodies are located at the five Lagrange points associated with Om’s perfectly circular orbit:

  • Li (L1) -- between Om and Skald, from Om this sits at the exact center of the PulseGate zone while the Pulse is active. When the PulseGate has a visible component, it looks like a permanent speck in the exact center of Skald.

  • Dak (L2) -- this rock sits in Om’s shadow. Neither Li, nor Fa can be seen from Dak; Skald would be visible as a fiery ring around Om.

  • Fa (L3) -- this rock sits precisely opposite Om, with Skald between them. It cannot be seen from Om, Dak, or Fu.

  • Fu (L4) -- this rock sits at a point of neutral gravity ahead of Om in its orbit. It can see all six other bodies in the system.

  • Pa (L5) -- this rock sits at a point of neutral gravity behind Om in its orbit. It can see all six other bodies in the system.

Other Planets: None.

For reference:

PulseGates: How Do They Work?

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Opening, closing
Space and time and distances
Folding, unfolding

The PulseGates have been closed for many years, making rapid travel between stars impossible. PulseGates operate much like the mycelial network. Each gate is a node with a route (a root?) connecting to a set number of other networks; the connection is reversible, and a flow travels each direction during each pulse -- outbound travel does not block incoming travel, and harmony is preserved on either side. Life and sustenance once flowed into the Skald System through the PulseGates. Perhaps it will, again.

PulseGates are as easy to use as capillary action. Objects or ships placed at the root’s (route’s?) opening will be taken by the flow. Like language, ships must be a single packet -- one syllable, one spore. The Gates will pluck a single spore out of a cluster, but if they are enclosed in a bubble, it will take the bubble and all within its limits.

In most star systems, the Gate is close to the central star. So it is here in the Skald system.

Next week: Ships and shrooms