Run River

"Alien Construct Interior" by Alan Dickinson

 

I didn't really stick with the whole Lore 24 thing last year, but the meta-setting I was fleshing out there continues to rattle around in my head. The basic idea, again, is a distant future where an Orange Catholic sort of taboo against “thinking machines” and other wickedness precludes transhumanism, artificial general intelligence, and advanced computer technology in general. No artificial gravity or FTL travel either—or at least none that humans can control. As long as we're willing to stick to one solar system (or can have fun with years-long time jumps as characters blast their way from star to star at high subluminal speeds), we've got the makings of some old-fashioned (and obviously very Dune-flavored) space adventures.

If we need to break those rules and do a little FTL travel, though, it ought to be strange and to obey inscrutable rules that the humans in the setting can't understand. To meet this need, I came up with “barises,” ancient or alien vehicles that superluminally follow a semi-mappable set of routes called “the River.” Inspo for what the vessels, and the journeys, might be like comes from Indrapramit Das, Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds, and above all Gene Wolfe—the ship from The Urth of the New Sun is the main referent here. You want to climb aboard a freaky, possibly demonic, contraption that uses paracausal space magic to violate the laws of physics? Have some tables to roll on!

* * *

What is the exterior form of this baris?

1. A tower of some impervious material that stands at the center of a great stone circle on a windswept plain.
2. An orb of ancient metal, its pitted surface carved or stamped with obscure symbols.
3. A gleaming doorway that stands shimmering in the open, with no visible means of support.
4. A cylinder or oblong peppered with blisters and antennae, looking rather like a conventional starship.
5. A sinuous nautiloid shell seemingly carved from opalescent stone.
6. A tree-like organic form with gnarled roots and wide-reaching branches.
7. A fractal concatenation of luminous crystals in myriad bright colors.
8. Something like a bird or a seed pod or a primitive oceangoing ship: a graceful body amid a fluttering storm of sails.

What is the nature of its coming and going?

1. Imperceptible. From one moment to the next, it is simply there, out of nowhere. Just as suddenly, it is gone again.
2. It seems to condense from an infinitely diffuse cloud of particles, then dissolve again into dust when it departs.
3. It appears as a single minute point, unfurls itself to its full size, then retracts again into a minuscule singularity.
4. It warps in from an infinite distance and compresses itself into a comprehensible size, then stretches away again to infinity.
5. It arrives with a tremendous flash of light and heat and, if in an atmosphere, a deafening roar. It leaves with similar spectacle.
6. As the hour of its coming approaches, it begins to be visible from the corner of one's eye. After its going, its echo fades away.
7. It crashes in and out of our reality like a wave, its facets spilling together and breaking apart until they resolve into stillness.
8. Light warps and bends around the space where it will soon appear or has just departed. A void awaits it, or remembers it.

What is the interior structure made of?

1. Rough stone. Some pocked and porous, some ridged and folded, some hard and glossy as glass.
2. Naked metal. Ribs, struts, columns, beams, decking. Uniform or variegated. Riveted or welded or seamless.
3. Raw concrete. Monolithic, soaring. Surfaces polished smooth, ridged, or dimpled.
4. Conventional space-age polymers and ceramics. Stark white or cheerily colorful. Smooth curved planes or tessellated tiles and panels.
5. Wood. Forced into molds or planed into lumber or gnarled, tangled, and free. Living or dead, bleached or stained.
6. Other, stranger organic compounds. Chitin, bone, flesh. Oozing, pulsing, trembling, respiring.
7. It's unclear. Parts of the structure seem to be invisible or are not connected to one another.
8. Roll 2d6 and combine them.

How is the interior decorated?

1. It's inlaid with gold and other precious metals and stones.
2. Heavy fabric is draped everywhere: curtains, banners, tented ceilings.
3. There are windows—or other portals—everywhere you look.
4. Lamps and lanterns gleam from every corner and hang from every ceiling.
5. Murals or graffiti cover every plausible surface.
6. Holographic displays blink and glow throughout the space.
7. Greenery sprouts from planters, fountains, wall hangings, or the structure itself.
8. Art and handicrafts—pottery, weavings, paintings, carvings—are displayed throughout.
9. It's not. The corridors and public spaces are starkly unadorned.
10. Roll 2d8 and combine them.

How is the interior organized?

1. A rigid, easy-to-follow grid system.
2. A haphazard maze of twisting, turning corridors.
3. A living tangle of passages and chambers that regularly restructure and reorganize themselves.
4. Impossible topology. You can never come to the same place by the same route. Retracing your steps only gets you more lost.
5. A vast hollow space containing a number of substructures (roll d4 for each if you want them to have different styles).
6. One giant chamber or seemingly boundless plain. Functional spaces are tents, dugouts, towers.

What sounds do you hear inside?

1. Constant dripping. Water—or some other liquid—condenses everywhere or flows through the walls.
2. Howling wind. Violent air currents run through pipes, ventilation shafts, or the corridors themselves.
3. Beeping, blooping, humming, crackling. Noisy electronic machinery is all around you.
4. Chimes, bells, gongs. Slow, ringing musical tones, resonating from nearby instruments or arriving from a great distance.
5. Voices. The cheerful hubbub of a busy throng or the eerie whispers of mysterious persons forever out of sight.
6. Creaking, groaning, rumbling. The entire structure strains under unfathomable pressures or bends to reshape itself.
7. None. It's eerily silent apart from you, or something seems to muffle even the sounds you make.
8. Roll 2d6 and combine them.

What odors do you smell inside?

1. Blood, sweat, and piss. The stuff of animal life.
2. Fragrant smoke. Incense, burning wood, well-cooked food.
3. Bright vegetal scents. Perfume or cut grass, citrus or pine.
4. Damp and rot. Wet earth, wet stone.
5. Rust, dust, and dry decay. Stale old air.
6. Acrid vapors. Electrical fires, chemical burns.
7. Something cloying, artificially sweet, unsettling.
8. Oil, grease, ink, paint, solvent. The factory floor.
9. None. It's strangely sterile.
10. Roll 2d8 and combine them. Maybe a whiff of one amid the constant presence of the other.

What is your berth like?

1. Small but cozy. You wake unusually refreshed after each “night's” sleep.
2. Spacious but uncomfortable. A bare warehouse for you and your luggage.
3. Unimpeachably luxurious. Like staying in a fine hotel.
4. Awkwardly repurposed. Clearly used to be a kitchen, a bathroom, a lounge, a morgue, or something alien.
5. Pleasant but peculiar. Perhaps not meant for somebody of your size or general anatomy.
6. Uncanny. You never feel entirely comfortable or completely alone. Strange dreams disturb your rest.
7. A tiny slot for your body, not much bigger than a casket.
8. A common lodging, shared with several other passengers. Roll 1d6 for the general vibe.

How easy is it to find your way around?

1. No matter how complicated the layout may be, you somehow always know where you are and how to get where you're going.
2. It can be confusing, but there is excellent signage always within sight to help you reorient yourself.
3. You need some kind of tool or mnemonic device to keep track of your movements. A map, a compass, a skein of thread.
4. Whether you can manage on your own or not, crew members are always available and willing to assist you.
5. It's practically impossible, even with assistance, and you get hopelessly lost if you stray far from your berth.
6. Variable. Some routes are easy to learn; others elude simple understanding.

What is the nature of the crew?

1. Humans or epihumans who look more or less like you.
2. Humans or epihumans who have some novel aspect: green skin, three eyes, tails.
3. Machines with familiar forms: humanoid robots, hovering drones, and the like.
4. Humanoid beings, whether parahuman or alien or machine, with demonic aspects.
5. A hodgepodge of humans, epihumans, aliens, and machines.
6. Beings of unclear form and uncertain nature. Glowing points of light, flickering shadows, ghostly voices.

How restricted are your movements?

1. You have the run of the ship. You could go meet the Captain…if you could find the bridge.
2. Many areas are passively closed off, but they are not impossible to enter.
3. Many areas are forbidden to you, and firmly sealed or actively guarded by the crew.
4. You cannot go anywhere outside your quarters without an escort from the crew.

What areas might you find if you go exploring?

1. An area so cold you cannot explore it without a suit. The crew either guard it zealously or superstitiously avoid it.
2. A bay full of strange instruments or weapons which seem to protrude out through the hull. You do not recognize them.
3. A garden of surpassing beauty and tranquility, full of pleasant sights, sounds, and smells.
4. An abattoir of some kind, where unfamiliar animals are being drained of unfamiliar ichor.
5. A shrine or temple, scattered or piled high with offerings. If you wait long enough, you might meet a votary.
6. Some kind of barracks or storage area or gathering place for the crew. You may be unwelcome here.
7. An arena or theater of some sort—risers encircling a platform. Perhaps a fight takes place, or a dance, or a lecture.
8. An ossuary or crypt. Honored remains tucked into niches or stacked in great mountains of urns.
9. A titanic cargo hold, crisscrossed by catwalks and piled high with exotic wares.
10. A map room or observatory crowded with charts, projectors, armillary spheres, or holographic displays.
11. A dark alley or ravine or cul-de-sac, abandoned and overgrown, a dump for detritus. One being's trash…
12. An area so hot you cannot explore it without a suit. Enormous machines pump lambent molten metal.

What notable persons are among the passengers?

1. An imperial noble, traveling incognito with the smallest of retinues.
2. An arrogant arms merchant, gloating over the size and value of the cache he's brought aboard.
3. A jittery courier, never more than a few steps away from their coterie of heavily armed guards.
4. A troika of Continuum commissars in pursuit of a dangerous renegade, uncomfortable about being on a baris.
5. A troupe of performers, happy to entertain their fellow travelers with their arts.
6. A murderer, perhaps. Bodies keep appearing; passengers keep disappearing. A serial killer? An assassin?
7. An individual sealed up in a bulky, archaic space suit. They seem to be human, but refuse to shed the suit.
8. Itinerants of the Condolent Inquiry, eager to teach the Litany of Solace to those fellow travelers who do not know it.
9. A whole community of refugees or other migrants with all their worldly belongings, including livestock.
10. An esteemed scholar, assistants in tow, determined to study the vessel and its crew.
11. A surpassingly beautiful person clothed in elaborate finery who claims, discreetly, to be the true Emperor.
12. A flock of mystery cultists or other sectarians, their number diminishing day by day as the voyage goes on.
13. An old hand who claims to have sailed this route a dozen times or more tips and to know all the ship's secrets.
14. A band of hijackers or mutineers, plotting somehow to take control of the baris.
15. A group of travelers gone native, now permanent residents of the baris, offering services to newcomers.
16. Acolytes of the Benthic Lance, investigating some tenuous rumor or ambiguous prophecy.
17. A hunted android, desperately hoping the River will carry them to safe harbor among the Recusant Worlds.
18. An inconspicuous hooded figure whose features remain forever obscure. An Outsider traveling the Pale? An Arbiter?
19. A haughty individual who clatters about the baris mounted on a horse or other riding animal.
20. Who knows? You hardly meet any other passengers in all your days aboard.

How do you pay your way?

1. It's all arranged with a broker beforehand. You use the local currency at your point of departure.
2. A terminal aboard the baris accepts a dizzyingly wide range of currencies and in-kind payments.
3. You must bring a certain quantity of (extra) trade goods along, to be left behind in the hold.
4. A crew member comes to your berth and presents a personalized receipt; the demands vary widely.
5. You are expected to provide some service or perform some labor for the Captain or crew during the voyage.
6. You don't. You don't seem to, anyway, at least before or during the voyage.