The Citadel
The Baalu are the most expansive race in the known galaxy; indeed, it is they who make the galaxy known. They have discovered two other spacefaring races and numerous other systems with signs of life, but still have only explored a fraction of what’s out there.
It was Baalu vanguards that discovered the mysterious structure they dubbed the Citadel, orbiting a small ice planet in a seemingly lifeless system. Sculpted from an obsidian-like substance, the Citadel is a labyrinth of passageways, towers, bastions, rooms and balconies, all open to space. There are many steps, many levels, many twists, turns and dead-ends, all shaped to the scale of someone perhaps a little smaller than the average Baalu. Every room, wall and surface are unadorned but often reflective. There is one small room, hard to get to, somewhere deep within the Citadel. Not in the centre, that would be too easy; it took the Baalu some time to discover it. In this small room there is a single button shaped like a mushroom.
There was much debate about what should be done about the button. Some said that it should never be pressed, that to do so would likely unleash some apocalyptic nightmare upon the universe. Some said that they should try to crack open the inner workings of the machine, for machine is what this artefact seemed now to be. But the obsidian surface was impervious to anything but the most violent intrusion, and there was hesitation to cause damage to what could be a valuable or dangerous find.
In the end there was a squabble around the button between a few choice players, and one of them pressed it, vehemently, to much horror and screaming. Turns out the Citadel gives out a pretty spectacular light show while spinning on its axis, but that’s about it as far as anyone can tell. A work of art, it seems, or a cosmic joke, left behind by some mischievous soul.
It was Baalu vanguards that discovered the mysterious structure they dubbed the Citadel, orbiting a small ice planet in a seemingly lifeless system. Sculpted from an obsidian-like substance, the Citadel is a labyrinth of passageways, towers, bastions, rooms and balconies, all open to space. There are many steps, many levels, many twists, turns and dead-ends, all shaped to the scale of someone perhaps a little smaller than the average Baalu. Every room, wall and surface are unadorned but often reflective. There is one small room, hard to get to, somewhere deep within the Citadel. Not in the centre, that would be too easy; it took the Baalu some time to discover it. In this small room there is a single button shaped like a mushroom.
The Citadel by The Ephemeral Man
There was much debate about what should be done about the button. Some said that it should never be pressed, that to do so would likely unleash some apocalyptic nightmare upon the universe. Some said that they should try to crack open the inner workings of the machine, for machine is what this artefact seemed now to be. But the obsidian surface was impervious to anything but the most violent intrusion, and there was hesitation to cause damage to what could be a valuable or dangerous find.
In the end there was a squabble around the button between a few choice players, and one of them pressed it, vehemently, to much horror and screaming. Turns out the Citadel gives out a pretty spectacular light show while spinning on its axis, but that’s about it as far as anyone can tell. A work of art, it seems, or a cosmic joke, left behind by some mischievous soul.
Alien artifact: The Citadel
Origin: Unknown
Discovered by: The Baalu
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