Approved Location The Worlds Within (WRotP Contest)

[Kal]

"A gigantic archive holds lost knowledge from across the galaxy."
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• Intent: A many-levelled mystery for Wondrous Ruins of the Past.
• Image Credit: Shell World by JohnMalcolm1970. Srina's Contest Headers.
  • The Worlds Within: Dark Planet - Breaking Point by Mathias Leth, Horizon - Scars of War by Lloyd Allan, Heritage by Helen Ilnytska, The Ocean Sketch by Leon Tukker, Apocalypse by Eric Felten. / The Worlds Between: Artificial Planets by Paweł Latkowski, Lunu Ocean #1 by Stas Bordukov, Colony on Alien Planet by Stas Yurev, and Horizon: Zero Dawn - Cauldron Concepts by Lloyd Allan.
• Canon: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: N/A

• Astronomical Location Name: The Worlds Within
• Classification: Orbicular Megastructure | Artificial 'Planet'
• Location: The hex above Helska and Lokondo, near Vector Prime.
• Rotational Period: Varies from Layer to Layer, not all have a day-night cycle.
• Orbital Period: N/A, the Worlds Within is located far from the nearest star system.
• Size: Large; 2.33 times the diameter of Coruscant, yet its gravity is somehow only 0.97 Standard.
• Affiliation: Presided over by an alien artificial intelligence known to most as 'Custodian Secundus'.
  • Tenuous translation, other alternatives include 'Secondary Caretaker', 'Second Preserver', etc.
• Population: Sparse; populated by an eclectic mixture of fugitives, scavengers, and descendants of lost explorers.
• Demographics: The outer layers are populated primarily by Humans, Zabraks, Duros, and Jawas. Older things lurk beneath.
  • Drones, animal-like droids found in hundreds, if not thousands of distinct models, are far more numerous than sentient organics. A few models have been noted to incorporate organic components, but most are purely mechanical constructs whose form is inspired by the various fauna 'preserved' by the Worlds Within, some of which are extinct elsewhere and some of which are nowhere near endangered. They come in a variety of roles, most notably constructors, scavengers, cultivators, and the dreaded hunter-killers. The Custodian seems able to incorporate technology from visitors into its designs - many models sport vibro-edged claws and a variety of energy weapons.
• Accessibility: Reaching the Worlds Within is a moderate navigational challenge in and of itself, but once there the approach is fairly safe. If, that is, you are travelling in a vessel below ~73.4 metres in length. Anything above that seems to trigger some sort of defence protocol that sees swarms of squid-like fighter Drones descending on the vessel until it retreats or is overwhelmed and destroyed. High orbit is considered safe. Usually, anyway. Orbital bombardment is said to be absorbed without a response, but no one has had any reason to try recently.
  • Descending below Layer Zero can be difficult for a variety of reasons. The maintenance levels that divide Layers are a maze of advanced machinery and alien geometry, the convenient 'Elevator Spires' that dot the surface are difficult to reliably slice (especially as one goes deeper towards the core), and the Custodian's Drones have engagement protocols that vary wildly from area to area and type to type.
  • Wormholes to other locations will occasionally open near the Worlds Within, a small swarm of specialised drones pouring through. Once they have collected a sufficient snapshot of a planetary biosphere, another wormhole will open to allow them to return. The Wormholes are too small for larger capital ships to pass through and are difficult, bordering on impossible, to predict with any certainty.
• Description: The Worlds Within is, at a glance, a massive planet made of blackish metal with large gaps that are slowly being plugged by vast hosts of constructor Drones. The landscape beneath is barren and largely lifeless, but already possesses a breathable atmosphere - that is but the first Layer, however, and beneath it lies dozens, perhaps hundreds more, each a convincing snapshot of a planetary biosphere. The Worlds Within is believed to have been designed as a repository of genetic diversity, the residence of a long-departed creator species, or both.
  • Layers are counted from Zero (the current surface, not counting the 'shell') and rise as one descends.

Spoiler: The Worlds Within

• Farport: Positioned well beyond the Worlds Within's high orbit and the invisible demarcation line therein, Farport is a bustling space station and the best place to restock before an expedition, assuming you don't get mugged, cheated, or arrested. Since force projection is difficult on the Worlds Within itself, most interstellar governments that have controlled its space have chosen to garrison Farport instead.
• Layer Zero: Lying just beneath the unfinished surface of the Worlds Within, Layer Zero is barren and largely lifeless, but has already received a Type I atmosphere. Its landscape is vaguely reminiscent of the windy canyons of Iridonia; since the sphere was discovered when Drones from a wormhole sampled the planet's biosphere in 407 ABY, most believe it will house a simulacrum of the world at some point in the future.
• Layer One: Calm, pristine, idyllic. Layer One has little in the way of ancient secrets, having been finished within the last millenia. It is, however, a rather nice place to spend an afternoon - it has all the ecological variety of a typical temperate world, but seems rather pleasant overall. The fact that the local Drones only ever take hostile action in self-defence or in response to severe ecological damage is an added bonus.
  • A small civilisation descended from trapped explorers can be found on this level, concentrated primarily around an Elevator Spire and the fertile farmlands that surround it. A semi-democratic 'Provisional Administration' serves as the local government, a holdover from a distant past when rescue seemed likely. Out of all the original residents, only a single weary Hutt remains alive - despite having claimed that he would leave 'first chance he got', 'Elder Yinvug' remains, firmly entrenched within the local administration and a book club.
• Layer Three: Easily one of the Worlds Within's strangest 'biospheres', Layer Three appears to be a snapshot of Ecumenopolises in general. For whatever reason, this garbled mess of metal, lava streams, and cooling systems (effort was clearly placed more in the general characteristics of the habitat than architectural accuracy) hosts Dianogas, Stone Mites, Duracrete Slugs, and even a kind of noninfectious Rakghoul.
• Layer Five: Unlit but for bioluminescent flora and fauna, Level Five mimics some sort of sunless cave world vaguely reminiscent of Umbara. It's known for its dangerous predators, psychedelic mushrooms, and plentiful hiding spots. Fungal forests. Oceans full of eyeless fish, spiky squids, and crocodilian giants. Enormous geysers pumping life-giving heat into their surroundings. Layer Five is as strange as it is wondrous.
  • Glimmerdeep is the largest spacer settlement on the planet, a haven for rogues and opportunists clinging to an Elevator Spire located beside a vast, sunless lake. Slicers have coaxed a few service elevators into reliably going to and from the surface and as deep as Layer Twenty-Four, or so they say. Naturally, passage into the depths (and departures to the surface) does not come cheap.
• Layer Seven: Scourged of all life to contain 'the Infection', Layer Seven was successfully reclaimed and repurposed as some sort of testbed for life itself. Unusually many Cradles sprout from its vibrant landscape, a trickle of specimens emerging from their bowels. On occasion, clouds of mutagenic gas have been spotted sweeping across the landscape and inducing minor to drastic genetic alterations in affected beings.
• Layer Eight: At some point in the distant past, Mnggal-Mnggal made its way onto the Spheres Within. Somehow, 'the Infection' was held back by the Custodian, which sterilised the entire Layer and implemented harsh containment protocols. Nearly a kilometre of support facilities in the 'sky' and 'underground' of the Layer has been converted into a mazework of defensive fortifications and hunter-killer Drones roam the wastes to eradicate 'the Infection' - and any trespassers it might infect. Sizeable Gree ruins lure in the very boldest of scavengers - all know that they might never return, for if the Custodian detects even a single inert molecule of 'the Infection' it will err on the side of atomization.
• Eight-Point-Eight: A pale and faded reflection of the most advanced and forgotten days, Eight-Point-Eight rests between the infected wastes of Layer Eight and the relatively pastoral Layer Nine. Their ingenious Operators have succeeded in harnessing part of a Foundry for their own needs, securing a steady supply of foodstuffs, security/labour droids, and tools. The arcane procedures through which this is done is kept from the eyes of outsiders, for their Administrators fear that leeching too much in the way of resources will lead to unwanted scrutiny from below.
• Layer Fourteen: A lush world of jungles and vast oceans, Layer Fourteen is apparently a partial recreation of pre-bombardment Tatooine. This is not necessarily unusual in and of itself, but most xenoarcheologists believe it was constructed after the glassing. The implications of this are of great interest to academics - adventurers tend to be more interested in the valuable crystal structures found in parts of the Layer.
• Layer Thirty-Seven: Like the Gree, the Rakata once visited the Worlds Within. Unlike the Gree, they sought to dominate; even today scars of their ancient war can be seen across some layers, especially Thirty-Seven, which has been permanently reduced to an irradiated swamp littered with the mummified bodies of Rakata and their slaves - as well as vast legions of fallen Drones long-since gutted by scavengers. The Layer is cold enough that the swamps often freeze over, the air is toxic, and the land is irradiated - but there may still be potent artefacts left to find.
• Layer Thirty-Eight: Dominated by broad valleys and fertile plateaus, Thirty-Eight itself is nothing out of the ordinary, but the civilisation that thrives here certainly is. While free tribes and frontier settlements exist, the majority of the Layer is under the dominion of a vast preindustrial state known as the 'Cogsworn Dominion'. Humans form the upper and middle class while Flesh Raiders serve as serfs and warriors. The Priest Kings that rule the Dominion have mastered the art of appealing to the Custodian for minor favours, solidifying their position in society.
• FOUNDRIES are alien facilities that spin-up physical matter from 'light and lightning', forming the Drones, construction materials, and more needed to operate, maintain, and expand the Worlds Within. These facilities are usually located in the depths between Layers and are rarely left unguarded - the hunter-killer Drones attached to them are known to be second only to those who guard the Cradles in viciousness.
• CRADLES are the means by which life is stored, maintained, and allowed to proliferate. A mixture of genetic vault and cloning facility, Cradles produce the specimens that populate the Layers (or rather, the first generation of specimens) and compensate for any losses. The Custodian's more protective subroutines monitor these facilities for any threat or deviancy - it is said that all the DNA is backed up somewhere below.
• THE CORE is little more than myth and speculation, for none in recorded history have ever reached it. Some postulate that it contains a vault safeguarding the genetic history of the Galaxy as a whole, a kind of 'Super Cradle', but only one fact is universally agreed upon - it must hold within itself a power source of incalculable potency, for no Foundry has ever been seen to rely on anything but recycling and raw energy. The nature of this power source is a point of some contention, with the wildest theory being that the Core contains and drains a black hole.

Spoiler: The Worlds Between

To preserve, nurture, and expand. To capture snapshot after snapshot of genetic history for posterity and create habitat after habitat for it to flourish free from war and interference. That seems to be the purpose of the Worlds Within, but it is difficult to communicate with the presiding intellect in a coherent manner; as such, speculation has been allowed to flourish, especially since none know what lies at its Core.

The true age of the megastructure is unknown, as is the nature of its creators. Some kind of relationship with the ancient Gree is a possibility, but it seems unlikely that they created it - whatever its reasons, the Custodian seems unusually friendly towards Gree, so long as they do not interfere.

At some point in the distant past, elements of the Infinite Empire appears to have tried and failed to invade the structure. Xenoarcheological studies have determined with a high degree of certainty that this was part of some sort of power struggle surrounding the Star Forge: A coalition of warlords at odds with the powers that be appear to have committed the totality of their remaining forces in a desperate gambit to secure a strategic edge.

As is clear to any who have made the daunting trip to Layer Thirty-Seven, their efforts were met with nought but nuclear fire and death.

The Worlds Within was (re)discovered by galactic civilisation a few decades before the release of the Gulag Plague. Not long after the pestilence first began spreading from Csilla, the entire sphere was locked down - hermetically sealed behind a deflector shield of unmatched potency. Only recently has it re-opened, freeing the confused descendants of expeditions sealed away many generations ago.

 

[The Mongrel]

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