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Predators and Menaces —<br>
Predators and Menaces —<br>
Carved to endure by [[Xi Ro]]] —<br>
Carved to endure by [[Xi Ro]]] —<br>
Third surviving sister of the [[Osmium King]]’s last brood —
Third surviving sister of the [[Osmium King]]'s last brood —


A [[Stormjoy|STORMJOY]]. A stormjoy is a living cloud. When it passes over our continent, it lowers its feeding tentacles. On each tentacle are the BAIT STARS. Although light makes you happy, you must avoid it. You will be eaten.
A [[Stormjoy|STORMJOY]]. A stormjoy is a living cloud. When it passes over our continent, it lowers its feeding tentacles. On each tentacle are the BAIT STARS. Although light makes you happy, you must avoid it. You will be eaten.
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This entire world is deadly to us.
This entire world is deadly to us.


MYSTERIES. The Fundament is very large. We are the smallest things in it. If you don’t understand something, it will probably kill you. My teacher [[Taox]] says this is why we have such short lives. So we can breed and adapt quickly.
MYSTERIES. The Fundament is very large. We are the smallest things in it. If you don't understand something, it will probably kill you. My teacher [[Taox]] says this is why we have such short lives. So we can breed and adapt quickly.


MOON WAVES. My sister [[Aurash]] is afraid of moon waves. When she gets back from her expedition to the Tungsten Monoliths, I will ask her why.
MOON WAVES. My sister [[Aurash]] is afraid of moon waves. When she gets back from her expedition to the Tungsten Monoliths, I will ask her why.
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Aurash, navigator child, who dreams of the infinite ocean. Tomorrow she will return from the Tungsten Monoliths.
Aurash, navigator child, who dreams of the infinite ocean. Tomorrow she will return from the Tungsten Monoliths.


None of these are suitable heirs. None of them will protect the Osmium Court from the howling Fundament. Xi Ro can fight, but not lead. Sathona can think, but not fight. Aurash’s curiosity will draw her away from duty. I fear for all future children.
None of these are suitable heirs. None of them will protect the Osmium Court from the howling Fundament. Xi Ro can fight, but not lead. Sathona can think, but not fight. Aurash's curiosity will draw her away from duty. I fear for all future children.


Soon the Osmium King will lock himself into the Royal Orrery to study the moons. Gather your knights, o Helium Drinkers, and invade our continent. Kill the three heirs. I will rule the Osmium Court as your regent, and build engines for you.
Soon the Osmium King will lock himself into the Royal Orrery to study the moons. Gather your knights, o Helium Drinkers, and invade our continent. Kill the three heirs. I will rule the Osmium Court as your regent, and build engines for you.
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“I will help it too.”
“I will help it too.”


I am Aurash, first daughter of the dead king. I will chase my father’s last screamed warning. I will know what changed the motion of our moons. If the end of the world is coming, I will understand why.
I am Aurash, first daughter of the dead king. I will chase my father's last screamed warning. I will know what changed the motion of our moons. If the end of the world is coming, I will understand why.


On my center eye I swear it. I will understand.
On my center eye I swear it. I will understand.
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The high vengeance —<br>
The high vengeance —<br>


Only Xi Ro’s bait stars let us escape. Only Sathona’s tricks let us reach the coast. But now that we have my ship, I must lead the way. I am the navigator.
Only Xi Ro's bait stars let us escape. Only Sathona's tricks let us reach the coast. But now that we have my ship, I must lead the way. I am the navigator.


We may never see our homes again. Xi Ro seethes with hate and fury for Taox.
We may never see our homes again. Xi Ro seethes with hate and fury for Taox.
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And he made the sign of a syzygy.
And he made the sign of a syzygy.


Imagine the fifty-two moons of Fundament lining up in the sky. (It wouldn’t take all fifty-two, of course: just a few massive moons. But this is my deepest fear.) Imagine their gravity pulling on the Fundament sea, lifting it into a swollen bulge...
Imagine the fifty-two moons of Fundament lining up in the sky. (It wouldn't take all fifty-two, of course: just a few massive moons. But this is my deepest fear.) Imagine their gravity pulling on the Fundament sea, lifting it into a swollen bulge...


Imagine that bulge collapsing as the syzygy passed. A wave big enough to swallow civilizations. A God-Wave.
Imagine that bulge collapsing as the syzygy passed. A wave big enough to swallow civilizations. A God-Wave.


I have to find a way to stop it. Before the God-Wave annihilates my species. If I could only get back into my father’s orrery, I could learn exactly when!
I have to find a way to stop it. Before the God-Wave annihilates my species. If I could only get back into my father's orrery, I could learn exactly when!


We are weeks of travel and many continents away from home.
We are weeks of travel and many continents away from home.


When I’m paralyzed by fear, Xi Ro sits in the cabin with me and comforts me with soft, brave words. But more and more we have come to rely on Sathona’s wit. She will go off to be alone (she insists she must be alone) and return with some mad idea — steer into the storm, throw down a net, eat that strange beast, explore that menacing wreck.
When I'm paralyzed by fear, Xi Ro sits in the cabin with me and comforts me with soft, brave words. But more and more we have come to rely on Sathona's wit. She will go off to be alone (she insists she must be alone) and return with some mad idea — steer into the storm, throw down a net, eat that strange beast, explore that menacing wreck.


Somehow Sathona seems to manufacture good luck by sheer will.
Somehow Sathona seems to manufacture good luck by sheer will.
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1. We salvaged the needle from the Shvubi Maelstrom. I knew it would be there.
1. We salvaged the needle from the Shvubi Maelstrom. I knew it would be there.


2. The needle is a gray ship, as long and slender as hope, as unbreakable as time, and old. Older than death. It tumbled through the maelstrom before our ancestors crashed into the Fundament. This is not a sea-ship, like Aurash’s. It is an artifact of high technology.
2. The needle is a gray ship, as long and slender as hope, as unbreakable as time, and old. Older than death. It tumbled through the maelstrom before our ancestors crashed into the Fundament. This is not a sea-ship, like Aurash's. It is an artifact of high technology.


3. I know its purpose. I know what happened to the crew.
3. I know its purpose. I know what happened to the crew.
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Who should be afraid —
Who should be afraid —


1. It was my father’s familiar. I ripped it from him as we fled. It is a dead white thing, segmented, washed up from the deep sea.
1. It was my father's familiar. I ripped it from him as we fled. It is a dead white thing, segmented, washed up from the deep sea.


2. It’s dead, but it still speaks to me. It says: listen closely, oh vengeance mine...
2. It's dead, but it still speaks to me. It says: listen closely, oh vengeance mine...
{{clear}}
{{clear}}


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“Xi Ro, my brave sister, you have worked too hard to move the carcasses out of the birthing room! Come. Steer the ship for a while. Take joy in what our needle can do.”
“Xi Ro, my brave sister, you have worked too hard to move the carcasses out of the birthing room! Come. Steer the ship for a while. Take joy in what our needle can do.”


Xi Ro tried to protest, but secretly, she was so glad for Aurash’s care. She flew the needle ship in cutting circles, down beneath the sea: and their wake rose up to the surface like a traitor’s dying breath.
Xi Ro tried to protest, but secretly, she was so glad for Aurash's care. She flew the needle ship in cutting circles, down beneath the sea: and their wake rose up to the surface like a traitor's dying breath.


“Aurash, lonely navigator, we have traveled so long with only each other. I know you love to hear and speak new tongues. Come, sit in the flesh garden room. I will read you these stories I bought at Kaharn.”
“Aurash, lonely navigator, we have traveled so long with only each other. I know you love to hear and speak new tongues. Come, sit in the flesh garden room. I will read you these stories I bought at Kaharn.”


Aurash sat among the mummified flesh fans with two of her eyes closed and listened in silence to Sathona’s stories, hungry to understand, voracious to know as much as she could before her ten year life died.
Aurash sat among the mummified flesh fans with two of her eyes closed and listened in silence to Sathona's stories, hungry to understand, voracious to know as much as she could before her ten year life died.


Later, Xi Ro said, “Sathona, cutting mind of ours, you grow lonely in your thought. Play swords and lanterns with me!”
Later, Xi Ro said, “Sathona, cutting mind of ours, you grow lonely in your thought. Play swords and lanterns with me!”


But Sathona was heavy with sorrow, and couldn’t pretend any joy as she chased Xi Ro through the needle’s glistening halls.
But Sathona was heavy with sorrow, and couldn't pretend any joy as she chased Xi Ro through the needle's glistening halls.


“Sathona, pensive one, what is it? What troubles you?”
“Sathona, pensive one, what is it? What troubles you?”


Her sisters listened as Sathona said “Oath-bearing siblings, we are five years old. For two years we’ve worked to repair this ancient ship and understand its systems. I am almost too old for the mother jelly, and the knights who killed our father are surely dying of age.
Her sisters listened as Sathona said “Oath-bearing siblings, we are five years old. For two years we've worked to repair this ancient ship and understand its systems. I am almost too old for the mother jelly, and the knights who killed our father are surely dying of age.


“We three will die here, in exile. Taox will outlive us. And Aurash, brilliant-eyed Aurash, you will die of old age long before you have proof of your God-Wave, or any way to stop it.”
“We three will die here, in exile. Taox will outlive us. And Aurash, brilliant-eyed Aurash, you will die of old age long before you have proof of your God-Wave, or any way to stop it.”


Aurash and Xi Ro looked at each other. “I wish you weren’t so honest,” Xi Ro said. And Aurash thought that Sathona had never been wrong.
Aurash and Xi Ro looked at each other. “I wish you weren't so honest,” Xi Ro said. And Aurash thought that Sathona had never been wrong.


In her soul Aurash knew that the only way to keep their oath was to find a great, powerful secret. A secret that could change everything. This was Aurash’s soul, her fire and her shadow — her desire to cut through the flank of the world and find its beating heart.
In her soul Aurash knew that the only way to keep their oath was to find a great, powerful secret. A secret that could change everything. This was Aurash's soul, her fire and her shadow — her desire to cut through the flank of the world and find its beating heart.


“We have to dive,” Aurash said. “That’s what this ship is built to do. Dive into the Fundament, the world below us... towards the core.”
“We have to dive,” Aurash said. “That's what this ship is built to do. Dive into the Fundament, the world below us... towards the core.”


“That’s where the ancient crew died so obscenely,” Xi Ro protested. “That’s where the atrocity in the birthing room was born...”
“That's where the ancient crew died so obscenely,” Xi Ro protested. “That's where the atrocity in the birthing room was born...”


“We have to dive,” Sathona said, following the whispers of her familiar. “In the world beneath us, in the metallic depths, I hope we may find what we need most...”
“We have to dive,” Sathona said, following the whispers of her familiar. “In the world beneath us, in the metallic depths, I hope we may find what we need most...”
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For life, Sathona dove. For vengeance, Xi Ro dove. And Aurash dove to understand.
For life, Sathona dove. For vengeance, Xi Ro dove. And Aurash dove to understand.


The needle ship pierced the skin of the world and burrowed deep. Through layers of foam and metal and cold elemental slush. Aurash devoured the ship’s maps of Fundament, from the high angelic cloud decks, down and down through storms and oceans and plates of floating world, into the crush of the core.
The needle ship pierced the skin of the world and burrowed deep. Through layers of foam and metal and cold elemental slush. Aurash devoured the ship's maps of Fundament, from the high angelic cloud decks, down and down through storms and oceans and plates of floating world, into the crush of the core.


They met monsters of continental scope. Vast anemones that raised glowing tentacles to bait them in. Xi Ro flew the needle ship through them and they bled black carbon jelly and frost.
They met monsters of continental scope. Vast anemones that raised glowing tentacles to bait them in. Xi Ro flew the needle ship through them and they bled black carbon jelly and frost.
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They came to a still place, beneath a plate of metal.
They came to a still place, beneath a plate of metal.


“I’ll use the sensors,” whispered Aurash. “Listen...”
“I'll use the sensors,” whispered Aurash. “Listen...”


In the wet gold dark of the helm, they listened to the ship, and the ship listened to the crushing motions of Fundament.
In the wet gold dark of the helm, they listened to the ship, and the ship listened to the crushing motions of Fundament.
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They heard the collision of continents. They heard the patter and the crash of helium-neon rain. They heard the struggles of monsters. And they heard the distant groan of the ocean rising. Tugged by distant moons.
They heard the collision of continents. They heard the patter and the crash of helium-neon rain. They heard the struggles of monsters. And they heard the distant groan of the ocean rising. Tugged by distant moons.


“The syzygy is real...” Sathona hissed. “It’s already begun.”
“The syzygy is real...” Sathona hissed. “It's already begun.”


Behind them, Xi Ro thought of the birthing-room, where ancient explorers had labored over surgeries and administrations, peeling back the chrysalis and the caul of that which they had made from the deep, whose birth none of them would survive...
Behind them, Xi Ro thought of the birthing-room, where ancient explorers had labored over surgeries and administrations, peeling back the chrysalis and the caul of that which they had made from the deep, whose birth none of them would survive...


“There’s something down here,” she whispered. “Something secret.”
“There's something down here,” she whispered. “Something secret.”


And the Leviathan loomed over them, its brow as huge all the continents of their childhood, its great array-fins crackling with the lightning of its life. Booming into the hull of the needle ship in a microwave voice:
And the Leviathan loomed over them, its brow as huge all the continents of their childhood, its great array-fins crackling with the lightning of its life. Booming into the hull of the needle ship in a microwave voice:
ForgottenJedi
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