Hello again, Voyagers! You didn't forget what day it is did you? it's Aether Tuesday! Today we're going to be talking about the world the game is set on and the Precursors, a civilization that once inhabited it.
A precursor facility nestled into the mountains, a Voyager team preparing to enter.
The world that the crew of the Albatross is stranded on is completely uncharted by man, with geographical features that seem to fly in the face of science. The primary land masses are actually floating islands, suspended in the air above a dense ocean of clouds that obscures the true surface of the world, if there even is one.
Each of these islands has the potential to have their own unique biome with their own unique flora and fauna. These biomes range from relatively normal, if oddly colored forests, grassy plains, mountains and deserts to those never seen on earth like dark swamps flowing with glowing water, forests with towering mushrooms in place of trees and Twinkling deserts of multi-color glass.
A brave Voyager wades through a luminescent swamp.
The islands float independently of each other, sinking or rising and moving around the surface at their own pace. Travel between the islands would be impossible without some sort of flying machine, and even then the wind currents and large creatures seen flying in the space between them would pose a significant challenge to overcome.
A feature common to many of these islands is the presence of strange and ancient structures. While they are all but abandoned by their original owners, they house technology that makes even the advanced human technology look primitive by comparison. Explorers have found devices that create Hard Light constructs, materials that are both incredibly light and durable, machines that defy the laws of gravity, but most importantly Nanotechnology. This nanotech allows the the user to manipulate nanoparticles and perform feats that may as well be fairy tale magic.
in the absence of their precursor masters, the defenses of these facilities still function. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes designed for specific tasks or environments. Many of the security robots roam the halls of these structures following the programming instilled within them, but others worn down by time have gone dangerously haywire. Some of them merely incapacitate while others will viciously kill without warning. Some may warn or even aid the explorers, but some still lurk in the shadows waiting to strike against the unaware. The sheer variety of these drones means that a Voyager can never truly know what to expect.
A variety of Precursor security drones.
As if the security drones weren't bad enough, fulgori can sometimes be found skulking around the abandoned facilities, hoping to bring back some valuable prize to their leader. Luckily the security systems guard against fulgori scavengers just the same.
Not all of the technology hidden within these ruins is beneficial, however. Some facilities contain things better left alone. Rage viruses, insane AI and Toxic chemicals are only some of the dangers unearthed from these ruins. All the more reason to find them before the fulgori do.
That's all for today, Voyagers!
See you next Aether Tuesday!