Posted by Commander Chris Taggart (XO) in Side Sim - Galdor Trip (All crew free to join)

Posted by Captain Stovik (CO) in Side Sim - Galdor Trip (All crew free to join)

Posted by Commander Chris Taggart (XO) in Side Sim - Galdor Trip (All crew free to join)
Posted by… suppressed (14) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>

They walked through the door, and before them was a magnificent space. They were at the edge of a vast vertical cavern, all of the walls lined with books upon books, with a massive vertical column in the middle, blocking the view of the other side. There were walkways carved out of the natural wood, windows that let in the faint light from the green under-canopy, and thousands of glowing spots which must be some sort of light source, although what was causing the light wasn’t clear.

Looking over at Mwezi. “Mwezi. Is this library that we are in just something programmed or is it an actual building somewhere on your planet?”

Commander Chris Taggart XO

“It does exist. The Library of Ba’slu.”

Mwezi

“That is remarkable!” Chris explained. “Are there any other buildings on this level of caliber or higher?”

Commander Chris Taggart XO

“If you are referring to the size of the library, yes. The architecture is unique to Ba’slu city, but there are similarly incredible places all over the planet. Similar to the incredible constructions of Earth. The towers of Dubai, the pyramids of Egypt, the Notre Dam, the many waterfalls, the wall of China…” Mwezi listed.

He began to lead them across the small bridge over to the inner column of the library. Once they had passed through that, they were in a much more conservative room, with a floor all the way across except for the very middle, where there was a railing before a hole that seemed to go all the way down. There was also a spiraling staircase on the wall, making its way all the way around the room as it ascended. Also decorating the walls were painted artworks. The styles varied, ranging from something similar to grecian art, to medieval-style art, to hyper realistic and abstract. Mwezi smiled as he watched his companions explore and examine the room. The diameter of this smaller chamber was probably about eight meters, while the larger chamber of the tree was about twenty meters in diameter.

Mwezi

Stovik moved over to where the artwork was displayed and studied it curiously. Art usually reflected the society it was created in so might tell him something about its evolution.

Captain Stovik

Seemingly pushing away the earlier occurrence, T’Aria found herself to be observing the art with a sense of articulation. She wondered if there would be visible dates to when these pieces were forged, or if it would be a matter of estimation as to which was older than the next.

Dr. T’Aria
CMO

Most of the older art pieces were paintings of the Galdori mythology, historical events, and ancient figures. Most were labeled with artist, medium, and approximate date of creation, if known. The oldest pieces, what seemed to be photographs of cave paintings, claimed to be from a time more than ten thousand years ago, which the label named ~4000 B.U. - Before Unification. This was the equivalent of about 7000 years of earth time B.U., since the base system was different on Galdor.

Early artwork portrayed only one species at a time, but as the artwork progressed in time painted, up to The Day of Unification, about six-thousand earth years ago, multiple races being portrayed got more and more common to see. After that, it was rare to see less than two in a piece of historical or mythological art. Parallels like the Greek and Roman Pantheons could be seen in the mythological art.

Something strange was that even in art that was seemingly before the four terrestrial races had met, there was evidence of a shared mythology. Although the exact names and depictions varied, the depicted stories were rather similar…

Mwezi

OOC: just doing some snipping

Stovik studied the art work and found it fascinating that it was similar in theme to both Vulcan’s and Earth’s unification history, just a much longer timeline. “Fascinating parallel of mythology. Any theories for that among your people?” He asked curiously.

Captain Stovik

“Ah, you noticed that,” Mwezi stepped over to the captain with a small nod. “Many people from other planets disagree, but the majority of Galdori who have studied the subject agree that the gods that we worship are real entities. Some of our more liberal thinkers have conceded that they are not deities, but rather, must be entities similar to the Bajoran Prophets, some kind of extradimensional beings that shaped our societal development. Whatever they are or aren’t, we still worship them,” he said with a smile.

“Understandable, as a people always requires something to place their otherworldly faith into. Whether that be a science, a deity or some kind of extra-dimensional force.” T’Aria observed, recognizing their will to worship these creatures, regardless of their stance or what they actually were.

“Even our people, the Vulcans, have had our time in history where we worshiped our own entities.” Stovik said.

He gestured to two different ancient artworks, both depicting a brightly drawn male figure beside a female figure and another male figure who seemed to be in shadow. One labeled them as Sol, Lupé, and Mordu, the other labeled them as Ett, Hasi, and Phius. “Our primary gods. As we know them now, and you might recognize these as the names of our sun and moons, they are Enris, Luné, and Va’al.”

Mwezi

“Do they represent anything in particular; perhaps an essence of your culture, or are they more-so guardians that hail from the sun and moons?” T’Aria curiously questioned. Perhaps mythology would have been described as an illogical placement of faith, for her people, but it was undeniably fascinating.

Doctor T’Aria

Stovik waited to see what the response would be. He was curious as well. While he might believe in extraordinary entities that might be given mythic properties he still was interested in noting how it shaped cultures and the history of a people.

Captain Stovik

“Bits and pieces of both. In the mythology, Lune is considered to be the moon, and the same for Enris and Va’al. That’s why we still use their names. Enris was said to be the head god. He is god of the conscious mind, of visions, of the future, and god of the sun. Lune is goddess of the bright moon, goddess of motherhood, the present, wisdom, and the moment between waking and sleeping. Va’al is primarily the god of death, the farrier of souls to the afterlife. He is also god of the dark moon, of the past, god of dreams and the unconscious mind, and the god of justice,” Mwezi listed. The way he spoke the words was effortless, as if it took no active recall at all. It was like asking someone what colour the sky was, knowledge that he knew so deeply it was ingrained in him. “There are eight more great gods - the gods of the four traditional elements, and the gods of the four seasons,” he added as he stepped over to a painting that portrayed the eleven thrones of the gods on a dais.

The thrones in the painting were empty, but had symbols on them to represent each of the gods, and there was a twelfth throne lower on the dais that had no emblem. The artwork was labeled, “The Seat of the People,” and if they looked closely, they would see that the throne had, in its texture, the outlines of the shapes of the five intelligent races which populated the planet. There were hundreds of tiny shapes, overlapping and combining. For the artist, this had been to represent that together, all the inhabitants of Galdor were together the final god - for it was their hands that shaped the climate and the geology of the planet after they had discovered advanced enough technology.

Mwezi

“Fascinating. A similar tale told over many star systems. My people had three major gods through our mythos. Shariel, the god of death; a god of war and one of peace. It is told on the glyphs of Gol that the god of peace came between Shariel and war and led eventually to our united people. It would seem to be a necessary societal evolution in reasoning races.”

Captain Stovik

Chris listened in amazement at the history and myths of another world in another galaxy but yet it was still the same as Earth. He frowned at that and then frowned at the captain’s remark. “Captain. What seems necessary for societal evolution in reasoning races? The need for a god or a higher power? I am not trying to argue with you sir but was just trying to understand what you said. I might not have heard correctly?”

Commander Chris Taggart XO

“That it appears to be a logical evolution of a species, yes. Perhaps it is the quest for knowledge and understanding that is actually never lost even with advanced technological advancement. Do we still not do so? Quest for knowledge and new insights. It is why we are here. It helps us to put some understanding in the universe around us. There are always races who are more knowledgeable or powerful then we ourselves. Our more unsophisticated selves would have thought of them as gods surely, though now we understand that they are just more advanced then we are.”

Captain Stovik

Chris nodded. “Sounds like a logical answer to me. Thank you captain for clarifying and exasperating on your thoughts and my question.”

Chris

T’Aria listened carefully to Stovik’s offer of a response. “In every species’ evolution, there was a time when they expressed emotional and debatably barbaric tendencies. Regardless of their stance now, there would have been an era where that species devoted themselves blindly to a force of omnipotence, whatever that might be.” T’Aria remarked, her fascination a merely expression of tone rather than any emotional change. “It is fascinating, truly, how people of opposite sides of a galaxy, can follow the same basic religious paths.” She returned her hands to rest before her abdomen. “Mr. Mwezi,” she chose to turn her attention to their guide, rather than the curious conversation of their leaders, “Does your species still place emphasis on the practices of the past, regarding religion, specifcially? Or has there been an evolutionary change in your history, that led to a different principle of thought?”

Dr. T’Aria