Aananda drags Ryleh over to the raised area.
"Okay, so we're here. But all I see are more walls. I'm not really sure what we're supposed to be seeing here...."
"Don't forget to hold on to the railing."
Tam, still near the entrance, touches yet another wall screen, and the doors close. The light in the room, coming from floating spheres scattered about, goes out. As it does, the walls change color from flat gray to transparent - and all around them, an almost innumerable host of tiny lights shine out against a black tapestry. It's as if the walls of the chamber have simply evaporated, and they are standing in the open.
Some of the lights are bright, some are dim, and some are somewhere in between. In most areas, they are scattered about haphazazardly, as if an artist had shaken out the excess paint from his brush. In one, though, the lights are more tightly packed together, almost forming a ribbon going through their field of view.
Tam does something at the console, and a dim red light illuminates the borders of the chamber, providing just enough light to see, but not ruining the view.
Aananda is rendered completely speechless. She stands in the center of the platform looking up, mouth open in astonishment.
"It's so beautiful," she whispers, walking around the platform to get a better view of different parts of the sky.
Ryleh grips the railing tightly. She'd never seen so much open sky, and found it just slightly disturbing.
As he is taking in the sights, there is a rustle of movement from the foliage about ten feet in...
"Umm, excuse me, but I was told it would be okay to come here. I'm Ryo Antairus..."
Aananda is rendered completely speechless. She stands in the center of the platform looking up, mouth open in astonishment.
"It's so beautiful," she whispers, walking around the platform to get a better view of different parts of the sky.
Ryleh grips the railing tightly. She'd never seen so much open sky, and found it just slightly disturbing.
Confident that Aananda's alright, Tam walks over to Ryleh and puts a steadying hand between her shoulder blades.
"Try focusing on the red lights at the base for a minute - it'll help you get your bearings back. Sorry about the surprise factor," he says with an apologetic smile. :)
As he is taking in the sights, there is a rustle of movement from the foliage about ten feet in..."Umm, excuse me, but I was told it would be okay to come here. I'm Ryo Antairus..."
Ryo's words trail off as one of the biggest bugs he's ever seen emerges from the foliage. It looks like a man sized version of a praying mantis (though still a foot or more taller than Ryo), with a red carapace.
While it only has two legs, it has four segmented arms, each ending in wicked looking claws.
Black, unreadable eyes stare into his as it stands over him.
Ryleh focuses on breathing slowly as she fixes her gaze on the red lights.
"This is perhaps more sky than I am quite comfortable with. I always found it quite comforting at home that if I flew up high enough I would always find more ground. This is....quite disorienting."
She sighed. "Well, at least my daughter is enjoying herself."
Ryleh focuses on breathing slowly as she fixes her gaze on the red lights.
"This is perhaps more sky than I am quite comfortable with. I always found it quite comforting at home that if I flew up high enough I would always find more ground. This is....quite disorienting."
She sighed. "Well, at least my daughter is enjoying herself."
"And that's why I'm glad we had the presence of mind to install seating. Here, let me help you down," as he guides her off the dais to one of the nearby chairs.
Ryo's words trail off as one of the biggest bugs he's ever seen emerges from the foliage. It looks like a man sized version of a praying mantis (though still a foot or more taller than Ryo), with a red carapace.
While it only has two legs, it has four segmented arms, each ending in wicked looking claws.
Black, unreadable eyes stare into his as it stands over him.
"Um.... are you Bek'kaar? Tamrin Sunwake said I could find a druid by that name here. I didn't want to risk the Observation Deck, and he asked if I'd like to come here instead."
He glances around, obviously interested in the new plant life he's seeing.
"This place is amazing."
Ryleh gratefully sank into a chair and looked away from the disturbing display of so much space.
"Do all of those points of light, er, stars....do all of them have planets circling them?"
"Um.... are you Bek'kaar? Tamrin Sunwake said I could find a druid by that name here. I didn't want to risk the Observation Deck, and he asked if I'd like to come here instead."
He glances around, obviously interested in the new plant life he's seeing.
"This place is amazing."
The creature's mandibles clack together in rapid succession several times - the only thing on its body moving at the moment. Then, without warning, it suddenly turns to walk down one of the paths, nodding at you as it does so.
Ryleh gratefully sank into a chair and looked away from the disturbing display of so much space.
"Do all of those points of light, er, stars....do all of them have planets circling them?"
"A great many of them do, but not all of them, no," Tam says as he gives Ryleh a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder before walking back over to Aananda.
"Some stars aren't always conducive to the existence of planets, though that doesn't mean the systems aren't inhabited."
Ryleh gratefully sank into a chair and looked away from the disturbing display of so much space."Do all of those points of light, er, stars....do all of them have planets circling them?""A great many of them do, but not all of them, no," Tam says as he gives Ryleh a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder before walking back over to Aananda.
"Some stars aren't always conducive to the existence of planets, though that doesn't mean the systems aren't inhabited."
"Really? Does that mean there are ships like this one floating around in them? Or are there creatures out there that can live in the sky without any planet at all?" she asked eagerly.
"Really? Does that mean there are ships like this one floating around in them? Or are there creatures out there that can live in the sky without any planet at all?" she asked eagerly.
"Both, actually. The galaxy is pretty much filled with starships zipping around every which way. And systems without planets can still have ships in them, or spacedocks for those ships. Some systems are even massive mining ventures, where the resources there are processed, refined and shipped off to be used in other places."
"Elementals tend to be pretty prevalent in the otherwise 'inhospitable' systems in the Empire. Stars are essentially huge balls of fire, asteroids are mountain-sized chunks of earth, comets are big chunks of ice and water. Air elementals are usually the only rarity, but they still can show up on gas giant worlds."
Tam glances back at Ryleh, then whispers to Aananda:
"Maybe you and I should come back here later - your mom's looking a bit ill..."
The creature's mandibles clack together in rapid succession several times - the only thing on its body moving at the moment. Then, without warning, it suddenly turns to walk down one of the paths, nodding at you as it does so.
Not sure what to do, Ryo follows, stopping occasionally to look at a tree or sniff a flower.
"Adsila would love it here. I wonder if I could get a few seeds to bring back to her?"
"Amazing," she whispered. And then the rest of what he said finally registered.
"Mom's not feeling well? Oh, I guess not. I guess she's not much more of a fan of open space than Ryo, huh. Okay. Guess it's time to close the windows then," she said, reluctantly.
"But I definitely want to come back later and look some more," she added with a grin.
The creature's mandibles clack together in rapid succession several times - the only thing on its body moving at the moment. Then, without warning, it suddenly turns to walk down one of the paths, nodding at you as it does so.Not sure what to do, Ryo follows, stopping occasionally to look at a tree or sniff a flower.
"Adsila would love it here. I wonder if I could get a few seeds to bring back to her?"
"What seed...do you offer...for them?" the insect says in broken Common while inspecting the trunk of a sapling just off the path.
"Amazing," she whispered. And then the rest of what he said finally registered.
"Mom's not feeling well? Oh, I guess not. I guess she's not much more of a fan of open space than Ryo, huh. Okay. Guess it's time to close the windows then," she said, reluctantly.
"But I definitely want to come back later and look some more," she added with a grin.
"Sure - we can come back once I get quarters arranged for everybody," he says with a nod as he heads back to the controls by the door. The red lights go out, the dome returns to its flat gray color, and the lights slowly come back up.
"Okay - guess we'd better get down to Hydroponics and see how Ryo's interspecies social skills are doing!" he calls back with a smile. :)
Ryleh looks relieved to be leaving the observation deck. Aananda puts an arm around her waist and keeps up a steady stream of distracting chatter until Ryleh looks less pale and more collected.
"What seeds...do you offer...for them?" the insect says in broken Common while inspecting the trunk of a sapling just off the path.
"The only ones I have with me are infused to protect me from... certain types of attacks, and thyme is a common herb were I come from, so they aren't worth much to a lot of people. I don't know what their magic would do if they were allowed to grow with other plants."
He goes back to looking around, careful not to step on stray vines or roots. It was quiet here, peacefull despite the sky above. He lets go of his worries and just relaxes, bringing down almost every mental wall and strecthing his consciousness through out the garden. Each plant was happy and healthy, a testiment to Bek'kaar's skill, and Ryo thinks he may be okay with this ship if he could stay here most of the trip.
Tam leads them down the route Ryo took, and they enter the ship's grove.
"Bek'kaar? You in here? It's Tam."
"Hey, I sent somebody down here to check out your handiwork, but I forgot to tell him to say that he wasn't on the menu. You didn't start munching on him yet, did you?" (^_^)
Aananda and Ryleh see a large, red insectoid head rise up from over some bushes, staring at you all with its large, expressionless black eyes. Two antennae on its head twitch, then lowe to either side of the things head, almost as if they were drooping.
"He lives...but he had...no seed...to offer me," it says in broken Common as its mandibles do their best to shape the words.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I know he would have brought seeds if he had known you wanted some. We'll bring some next time, okay?" :)
She tries not to stare, but this is the first time she's ever met an insectoid and she is very curious.
"I told him I didn't know what the magic in the plants Addy gave us would do to the others plants." Ryo says as he turns a corner.
"I told him I didn't know what the magic in the plants Addy gave us would do to the others plants." Ryo says as he turns a corner.
"Probably nothing good. It wasn't really meant to interact with other plants. And time magics can have some really weird side effects," she agreed.
"I told him I didn't know what the magic in the plants Addy gave us would do to the others plants." Ryo says as he turns a corner."Probably nothing good. It wasn't really meant to interact with other plants. And time magics can have some really weird side effects," she agreed.
"I told him I didn't know what the magic in the plants Addy gave us would do to the others plants." Ryo says as he turns a corner."Probably nothing good. It wasn't really meant to interact with other plants. And time magics can have some really weird side effects," she agreed.
Tam just chuckles.
"Bek'kaar's actually a she, Ryo." :)
"Pleased to meet you, Bek'kar," she said, nodding to the druid. "You have a beautiful garden. What little I've seen of it," she added with a smile.
"Okay - follow the screens, they'll take you there. If anybody asks, tell them I sent you there. The druid's name is Bek'kaar. He's there most hours of the day."
"He's there most hours of the day." Ryo saya as he tries to mimic Tamrin.
"Sorry about the mix-up Bek'kaar."
"Okay - follow the screens, they'll take you there. If anybody asks, tell them I sent you there. The druid's name is Bek'kaar. He's there most hours of the day.""He's there most hours of the day." Ryo saya as he tries to mimic Tamrin.
"Sorry about the mix-up Bek'kaar."
"Pleased to meet you, Bek'kar," she said, nodding to the druid. "You have a beautiful garden. What little I've seen of it," she added with a smile.
"Well, there's no need to stay crowded around the entrance. By all means, take in the sights. So long as you take only memories and leave only footprints, as they say, of course," nodding to the insectile druid.
Ryleh wanders into the garden very interested in examining all the new plants.
Aananda blows a stray hair off her face and tries to muster up some enthusiasm for looking at plants.
After the requisite amount of time in the Garden to compensate for the Observation Deck time...
"Ryleh, if you and Ryo want to stay here to explore to your hearts' content, I can take Aananda down to see the engines. Since I'm guessing that's not high on either of your lists..." ;D
"Ooh, engines!!!!!"
"This is so exciting!" ^.^
She chuckled.
"By all means, show Aananda the engines. I'm sure that I would be bored out of my mind on that tour. Just be prepared since she's going to want a detailed description of how each part works." :D
"I hope I can get some schematics to read," she agreed cheerfully.