Memory transcription subject: Raudd Klapatch, Vaulter Seeker

Date [standardized aurigan time]: Braying 13, 1 AA

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After the attempted assault on Venlil Prime, the exchange programs with the venlil began moving forwards again, and it was up to me to helm the anthropological and ecological programs. After weeks of preparations, the anthropological exchange was finally beginning, and I was to give a presentation about aurigan sapients and their history to venlil experts.

Standing before the assembly of alien scientists, historians, doctors, and reporters, I looked down at the microphone they had for me, awkwardly adjusting it to its maximum height. The helmet meant to keep my eyes hidden from the assembly was luckily also hiding my awkwardness as I struggled with the short device.

"Esteemed guests and specialists of venlil academia, thank you for coming to this conference. I'm sure you have many questions about my people, and our allies, even after the data package we provided you."

I paused to look over the crowd, and could see the reporters were already taking hasty notes, probably thinking they were about to expose some great secret.

"You must've all heard the rumors that the data was intentionally kept at a minimum, and that it may have been on purpose." I began again, causing the assembly to murmur in worry. "But it was not on purpose. It's true that the package was fragmentary, but it was unfinished solely because we had no digital records to share with you."

A few historians in the crowd turned to whisper to each other, while the reporters seemed to be somewhere between disappointed and elated.

"For centuries our knowledge was recorded on physical media, and our histories often shared through oral tradition. We did not have digital storage before boarding the Argosy and accessing her databases, so we had to build that data package in haste. I am here to fill in as many blanks as possible, with a detailed history of Auriga's sapient life, both extant and extinct."

That seemed to get everyone's attention again, so I cleared my throat lightly, and began at the beginning.

"Thousands of years ago, Auriga was found by the endless, a powerful interstellar species in the midst of a civil war. They were at war over philosophical reasons, one faction determined to live as digital constructs, and the other faction finding the idea of digital immortality to be amoral. The digital faction, called the virtuals, were certainly not making their case palpable, as with immortality came boredom, which then led to moral decay. This only further emboldened the other faction, the concrete, in their beliefs."

I waited for the crowd to finish taking notes, before activating the display screen behind me, showing images of the allayi. Thankfully, we didn't need to censor their eyes, but the artificial chiropterans had to have their teeth censored.

"Upon finding Auriga, it was not uninhabited, and was home to the guardians and the allayi. The guardians were massive constructs powered by Dust and created by a faction older than even the endless, and they were tasked with guarding the planet. The allayi were their helpers, an organic, yet equally artificial, species created by this same older faction. According to the allayi, it was Auriga herself that created them and the guardians, and there is some evidence to back the idea that there was a guiding intelligence controlling the planet, but concrete data is slim, and we mostly have folklore to go off of."

"The allayi were once so intricately tied to the seasons on Auriga that they could change shape depending on the season. Normally their fur and wings are white, but in winter they became black, to absorb more sunlight. This is because the allayi rely on sunlight and water for nourishment, rather than eat plant or animal matter. Yes, their wings are solar panels."

"After the endless found the allayi, they were scattered and destroyed, and the few survivors hid for centuries to wait for the time to emerge into the world once again. They tried to secure their survival against the coming ice age, but a few of them defected to other causes, realizing that Auriga was truly doomed. Many of them tried to flee on another crashed ship found on Auriga, while others fled with us. In the end though, that other ship exploded, damaging the Argosy and sending us adrift."

After a brief pause of further note taking from my audience, I continued, changing the screen to display the drakken, the true drakken, in full draconic form, not the drakkenlings or wyverns. Their faces had to be censored though, as true drakken were very intimidating, and had much more forward-facing eyes.

"Then we have the drakken, the only other native sapient of Auriga. When the endless found them, they were giant, flying lizards which lived in volcanic areas. The endless tried to uplift them into omnivores, and give them the ability to survive cold climates. However, the experiments went unfinished, as the planet was bombed into a nuclear hellscape, leaving the drakken without the guidance of their gods."

I waited for the crowd to get over the shock of the fact that our planet had once been 'glassed' and yet recovered, before continuing. I could already see them question why the image on the screen was different from what they knew.

"The drakken you see here are the true drakken, not the drakkenlings or wyverns you see in our ranks. Those two 'soldier castes' are a genetic 'failsafes' planted in the drakken gene pool by the endless. When Auriga began dying, drakken eggs stopped spawning drakken, instead spawning drakkenlings -bipeds capable of using weapons- and wyverns -smaller and more agile than true drakken. Despite being weaker than true drakken, the drakkenlings are still the strongest of Auriga's sapients. Sadly, the true drakken were too large to fit on the Argosy, and since the drakkenlings and wyverns are incapable of reproduction, the drakken are functionally extinct. We hope to one day be able to create artificial reproduction methods for the drakkenlings, but that is going to take a long time."

The crowd let out a sad murmur at the news that a species could be left entirely sterile like that, and I couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. Though I was happy to see that the venlil were showing empathy towards the reptilians.

"The drakken were ruled by sister queens which alternated their rule, one hibernating, the other ruling. When one of their queens lost her mind and became placid, the drakken governors realized that their survival plans were likely going to fail, as the mad queen was the one in charge at the time. So they set up an alliance with the Vaulters, and we agreed to get as many drakken off-world as we could. We also owe the drakken a great deal for their help against the horrors we faced on Auriga. They are our oldest true ally to this day."

I waited for the crowd to ship exchanging whispers, before shifting the screen's display to an elf, with their massive, floppy ears and their bald heads. The eyes were still censored, as one would expect, but the real issue with them was the Sharing. Hopefully the venlil wouldn't panic upon hearing of it.

"And now we have the elves. Once simple hunter-gatherers, their psychic gift to shape rock and trees into structures allowed them to build great metropolises in the forests of their homeland. This connection also allows them to sense the presence of other beings from miles away, as to them, a forest might as well be an extension of their own senses."

Stolen novel; please report.

A few in the crowd murmured in disbelief, or questioned my sanity, but they would likely see elves with their own eyes soon enough.

"In addition to this power, the elves can also form psychic bonds with animals, allowing them to experience life as an animal. However, elves can get 'lost' in this psychic connection, their minds overwhelmed by the animal's mind. It's because of this reason that the act of psychically bonding with animals is now outlawed in elven society. Genetically they are an off-shoot of the mezari, though far enough removed that they are their own species."

I waited for the shock of psychic elves and sapient speciation to dissipate, before continuing with the presentation, switching the screen to an image of two minotaurs.

"On to the next species, these are the gaurans. They are the one species amongst us most similar to Federation species. They are semi-quadrupedal herbivores, and a little less intelligent than you or I, though not by much. Gaurans tend to have no interest in luxuries or pursuits, and are satisfied with satisfying simple wants and desires such as food, shelter, and warmth. When threatened, however, they are fierce fighters, using their strong legs to rush down enemies, which they attack with their horns, or with hand-held weapons."

The crowed murmured loudly amongst themselves, since the idea of herbivores fighting was so anathema to Federation ideology, which tricked them into being weak. I held my tongue though, the presence of the gaurans was hopefully enough to make them question their alleged weakness on their own.

"Gaurans live in clans, each led by a chieftain. The position of chief is won through a contest of strength, and the clans host regular games where males show off strength and prowess. The Chiefdom that accompanied us off Auriga became our ally when one of our heroines, Nadjne Zolya, bested their chief in these contests."

That seemed to pique the journalists interests, and I hoped they weren't going to spin the story the wrong way, but transparency had to be maintained if we wanted their trust. Or at least enough transparency that they wouldn't assume we were secretly evil.

I switched the display again, this time to an orc, once more with the eyes censored for the sake of the audience. The green, hulking humanoids tended to wear animal pelts back home, but this one was thankfully in vaulter garbs, making their appearance less feral.

"And these are the hurnas, also called orcs. Back home they lived in itinerant tribes that followed herds and crops with the seasons. They mainly foraged for fruits and nuts, and replanted them as they went on, with the occasional hunt complementing their diet. In that sense they are very similar to the elves. Like the elves, they are skilled archers, but unlike the elves, they never settled down in cities."

I didn't wait for the venlil to get over the idea of orc hunters, before quickly switching to mentioning orc culture. "The hurnas take great pride in their homes and family life, and their tents are constructed to provide a sense of fellowship and warmth, greatly decorated in bright colors and natural patterns. They offer reverence to the natural world, and gives thanks to the food they eat, because they consider that everything has a soul and that every living thing and must be respected, even those that they unfortunately have to eat to stay alive. They are a very lively bunch, and welcoming to strangers."

Quickly moving on from the skilled orcish hunters, I changed the image to that of a dwarf, the face entirely blanked out for the sanity of the venlil.

"These are the dwarves, also called delvers. They are an off-shoot of the mezari, just like the elves. Much shorter than the mezari, they were forced to live underground by an older cataclysm than the one that pushed the Vaulters to the surface, and by the time they resurfaced, they had adapted to cave life. Their culture is very focused on digging and mining, and they once built massive underground cities. This individual's face is completely censored because the dwarves wear fake skulls on their faces and body, as a way to show reverence to the dead."

The crowd was shocked and appalled at the idea, and I leaned in slightly to whisper into the mic. "We find it equally unsettling." I then cleared my throat before adding. "But it's not our place to change their culture, since these practices do not harm anyone."

"Moving on though, we have the jotus, also called tetikes." I shifted the image to the two-headed hyena-men, the entire region above the necks blurred. "Their ancestors were bred as gladiators by the cruel endless, and they have rather rudimentary intelligence. However, they form strong social bonds, and are fiercely loyal to anyone they befriend. They have a very simple culture, as they were created artificially, and most of their history involves being shunned and hunted by other sapients who saw them as monsters. So they were never given a chance to evolve beyond their basal needs."

The crowed was divided on the tetikes, some were clearly still scared of the carnivores, while others pitied them. A few did seem to realize the parallels to how the Federation treated us all, shunned for looking like monsters, and never given a chance to prove ourselves before it was too late.

I switched the display over to the image of a warg. The brutish, white beast with bony plates for a face had to have its teeth censored, but its mutation gave it side-facing eyes, so they could stay unaltered. The massive bony jaws extending down from the warg's face were something else though, and hopefully they wouldn't look terrifying.

"Now we have the wargs, or geldirus as they call themselves. The last species on the Argosy, not counting the mezari. The wargs were once simple animals, from a species called wolves, that were exposed to and mutated by Dust. Like the tetikes, they have very little in terms of a cultural identity, but like tetikes, they can be fiercely loyal to those they befriend. They are a simple people, with simple needs, just like the gaurans, and this has led to the two species being quite fond of each other, despite one being a carnivore and the other being a herbivore."

"Those massive tusks on the sides of their face are used to dig into the snow and ice, where the wargs naturally make their burrows. Of all the species on the Argosy, the wargs are the ones most adapted to the cold climates of the dark zone."

The crowd were heavily debating amongst themselves about what to make of the semi-bipedal wargs, especially since they were so much larger than Federation species, around the size of a mazic. It was probably best that we kept the wargs out of sight for the foreseeable future.

"And finally, we have the mezari." I spoke up, trying to divert people's thoughts away from the wargs. "The mezari came to Auriga in different waves, some arrived when the Argosy crashed on the planet, others came on other ships that were equally unfortunate. Auriga had an endless defense system around it, that shot down approaching ships. This stranded would-be explorers, colonists, and even criminals on the planet, leaving many to start anew."

"Our ancestors came to the planet on the Argosy, crashed under the arctic regions. We settled underground and lived there for generations, until we found evidence of ancient technology bearing our language on it. That's when we knew that the Argosy wasn't just a myth, so we set out to find it."

"One of the larger groups found on the planet were the Roving Clans, traders that built their cities on the backs of giant beetles, and traveled the grasslands and deserts as merchant tribes. They eventually became our ally, and many of them left Auriga with us."

"Another large group were the Argent Mages, an ancient society that was exposed to Dust following the nuclear cataclysm, and who used pain to enhance their Dust powered 'magic'. They were one of the ancient enemies of the Vaulters long before we even left for the surface, as they sought to delve into the depths of the crust for endless artifacts."

"Then we have the Broken Lords, a chivalric culture that survived the nuclear cataclysm by transferring their minds into Dust clouds, becoming virtual beings. Their founders were Concrete Endless that couldn't survive the nuclear hellscape, but by the time we found them, their numbers were entirely made up of recruited mezari, with the founders long gone."

"And finally, the last large group of mezari on the planet were the Cult of the End. They worshipped an ancient Endless AI that hated its creators, and wanted to erase all traces of them from the planet. This included getting rid of technology we relied on, so they were one of the few people we were at war with."

"We four were the major mezari nations of Auriga, with a few minor nations also existing, such as our Sister of Mercy and Magtay allies. They were already covered in the data package though, so there's not much more to say about them. Now, does anyone have any questions before I move on to the species that were not on the Argosy?"

Dozens of hands shot up, and I knew it was going to be a long evening.