Crescent of Finality

University of Saebia | College of Sugran Studies

Archives and Special Collections Online Database

Introduction

Crescent of Finality is the Yeamese translation of and name for the sugran generational world-ship Kanshor na Mekketh. The ship is of paramount importance in sugran culture; differing fundamental views regarding the ship led to the political movements that created the three separate sugran nations on Chellok: Torgath, Gurrat, and Kranath.
Although most humans on Chellok recognize the name of the ship as the sugrans' former home, few primary sources of information or records of the ship exist and even fewer have been translated into Yeamese. The bulk of human knowledge about the Crescent of Finality comes from the journal of Sonnuk Yaga (? SE - 204 SE), which was recovered during Larta Aquon's famous expedition to Uaba Cave.

Journal entries mentioning the Crescent of Finality

The following journal excerpts have been selected by senior faculty in the College of Sugran Studies to give current and prospective students a brief introduction to the Crescent of Finality and more importantly to help dispel many of the common myths and rumors incoming students have often heard about the ship. The following entries have been translated from the original Sugranese. Dates have been adapted to the modern Chellokan calendar.

First mention of the ship's origin and defining characteristics 

UABA CAVE, 14th day of Month 32, 204 SE

...Everything on this moon is still so new that despite the difficulties of life here, I do not long to return to the Cresent. Each of us must deal with the "great expulsion" in our own way, for none of us are ever going to return to her bosom in this life. I found a peace with my new life here upon overhearing an argument between a few elders yesterday during a stroll near the cave entrance. In a tirade, one of them claimed that it was innate sugran perseverance and ingenuity that allowed our ancestors to construct the original kernels of the Kanshor na Mekketh and escape our doomed ancestral homeworld. I did not know this elder's name, nor did I linger to eavesdrop further. Nevertheless, the spirit and vigor in her voice renewed a faith within me, a faith that we were not abandoned here to die, but to once again till soil and grow not only our livelihoods, but a newer and greater chapter in the history of our people.
In unbosomed honesty however, I must confess to missing dearly friends and family. I wept last night at the thought of never again seeing the Beilin Saxora and remembering the awe on Uvas' and Duwar's faces while looking at the eternal sky as we traversed the Lanom conduits.¹ ...

¹Based on references elsewhere in the source work and anecdotal evidence gathered in the making of this translation Lanom conduits are believed to be an advanced technological method of modifying a beam of photons and gravitons in order to tether sections of or entire sugran space vessels together.

The oldest primary source providing insight into the ship's cultural importance and the psyche of early Chellokan sugrans

UABA CAVE, 20th day of Month 37, 204 SE

... But I like to think that my mind returns to the Crescent not for the past but for the future. Two days ago near the entrance to the cave one of our fellow exiles bore a child, the first sugran born on Pelseketh. How different will life be for this new one from the life all of us have known? I ought to record a few memories of the Crescent for posterity while they are still relatively fresh in my mind. Pelseketh has proven already to be full of surprises. Tomorrow's happenings cannot be known. However, talk of the ship has all but become taboo after the terrible time we have suffered in this wretched cave, but I remain resolved that in better times our descendants will look to what we here now leave behind in order to understand their lives on Pelseketh.
I write these words to those yet unbosomed, but I apologize in advance, for how can I possibly hope to succinctly describe the Crescent of Finality, our last hope, our sole home for 68 generations, our grand vessel and protector that carried us and still carries our soipele. Perhaps a story is the best place to start.²

²The following story, which spans multiple journal entries, has been liberally abridged to include only sections that specifically describe the Crescent of Finality. Students wishing to read the story in full are advised to purchase a copy of the complete translation, The Journal of Sonnuk Yaga: 22 months on Chellok by University of Saebia Press.

Professor Santai Marf's depiction of the basic structure of Crescent of Finality

Crescent of Finality

Open full size

An artists depiction of the basic structure of the sugran's generational world-ship, Crescent of Finality.

...Terlis explained to the congress of ship captains how the mechanisms of the original super-structure could be modified to great advantage, how the center of gravity could be utilized. She pleaded with them. If her plan were enacted, the Crescent would become entirely self-sufficient indefinitely. Never again would they need to plot courses to dangerous asteroid fields or ration food and energy for decades at a time. No more malnourished children. No more deep-space radiation poisoning. The congress debated for over a bilites, and ultimately Terlis' plan was everything she claimed it to be. ...
... It would not be difficult to tow asteroids into the gravitational center of the fleet. The problem was that as the fleet's center of gravity shifted as the ships revolved around each other, the asteroids would be pushed about and would never be stable in the center for long. Terlis' grand plan involved constructing a large sphere around the collected asteroids. Originally she had just planned to use this sphere to keep the towed asteroids in place, and provide a optimal platform for the drone harvesters as they mined and delivered raw materials throughout the ship. However, by constructing a sphere capable of maintaining Lanom conduits, Terlis realized that with enough concentric spheres, the entire fleet could be centrally tethered and generate gravity, energy, and a magnetosphere strong enough to redirect interstellar radiation.
... After listening to the engineers argue again and again, Terlis summoned her final strength to rise from her deathbed. It was then she uttered those trite words that all sugran know,

"Sugrankind has not sailed the stars to step back now." — Terlis Yar

and insisted that she be the first to traverse a conduit without an exo-suit. The usual stories always say she stepped into the conduit braver than ever, but in unbosomed honesty I believe she felt fear like any of the others. But her logic triumphed over fear, an example that will serve all of us here on Pelseketh well.

Crescent of Finality (Kanshor na Mekketh)

General characteristics (estimated)

Type: Composite fleet dynamically tethered via Lanom conduits
Mass (total): 10.631 quintillion kgs 
Diameter: 1.192 million km (fleet average) / 7.109 million km (magnetosphere) / 2,268 km (core)
Ships tethered: 5,828
Propulsion: 10,193 x Oso-pattern repulsor engines
Speed: 180.4 million km/hr (16.7% the speed of light)
Range: Unlimited distance; 15-16 Sekoran years

Lanom Conduits

Lanom conduits are assumed to be an advanced "hard-light" technology used by the sugran to link individual sections and ships of their generational world-ship together. The sugrans originally developed the conduit technology to prevent collisions during refueling and resupplying between early space-faring vessels. They refined and perfected the technology over generations of space travel into the "hard," energy-generating tether that makes the Crescent, essentially a sailing solar system, possible.

---

Beilin Saxora

'Threnody of Stone'

This central core of the Crescent of Finality is assumed to be a multi-layered structure of concentric spheres surrounding a mass of collected asteroids. The fleet's center of gravity shifts between layers as the individual sections or ships tethered to the core revolve around it. As the Lanom conduits move through the layers of the core and across its surfaces, the Crescent generates and distributes energy throughout the fleet.

About the Archives

The mission of the University of Saebia Archives and Special Collections is to support the betterment and learning of the student body, the university, and Saebia at-large by identifying, collecting, preserving, and making available for research records and documents of enduring value.
This mission would not be possible without your generous donations. To learn more about donating materials or financial support to the Archives, join our membership program: .