Crystalline GraveyardSource Starfinder #41: Serpents in the Cradle pg. 62
Location The Vast
Settlements —
Diameter ×1; Mass ×3/4; Gravity ×1
Atmosphere Thick
Day 112 hours; Year 225 days
When Veskarium scouting vessels were surveying the Weydana system, they saw Weydana-2’s unremarkable surface through their scanners and promptly moved along. While the dusty yellow sediment, lake of liquid mercury, and countless crystal formations seemed capable of sustaining life (indeed, an ecosystem of tough, mercury-eating creatures has evolved there) there was no evidence of a sapient species or resources worth stopping for.
A meticulous examination of the planet’s surface, however, reveals evidence of an extinct civilization. The surface’s prominent crystal formations are made of carbon-silicon compounds, and although they seem uniform, they actually vary widely in shape, color, material, and substance—differences and variations evident only upon close examination. Further, individual crystal segments have repeating patterns of lengthy, complex, and unique molecular chains akin to DNA. The crystal formations of Weydana-2 are in fact the inert corpses of a silicon-based society that was somehow transplanted to Weydana-2 from another world.
The telepathic imprints on the crystals reveal yet another shocking fact to those who can interpret them: the crystal formations of Weydana-2 were not only once alive, sapient, and telepathic, but their society was monstrous and ruthless.
These undiscovered crystal life-forms had the ability to combine mental imprints into a kind of psychic meme: a complex package of thoughts invested with detailed programming, even capable of simulating life. These psychic memes varied from simple commands (such as “surrender” or “sleep”) to complex bundles of ideas, concepts, and behaviors. The crystal life-forms could use these psychic memes to dominate a victim’s consciousness and even overwrite its memories or replace its personality.
This strange society had no interplanetary travel, so they used these ghastly powers mostly on each other, waging seemingly endless telepathic warfare of memetic propagation. The culture of this malevolent species was built around social dominance and exploitation, and their diet relied on silicon carbide found in the their own anatomy. The more powerful a crystal’s mind, the more that entity would be able to consume or enslave, and the greater the crystal’s physical stature and standing among others of its species.
Slower than other creatures on Weydana-2—their only form of locomotion being ejecting pieces of themselves—the crystalline species still stayed continuously active. After spreading across Weydana-2, the largest and most powerful of them began launching rock- and pebble-sized replications of themselves out of the atmosphere in an attempt to propagate the species on other worlds. Several of these replications got as far as Weydana-2’s moon, but internecine struggle and strife led to the death of every crystal on the moon (and the destruction of the moon itself).
Like all sentient life in the Weydana system, these cannibalistic crystals perished from the Culling Shadow. Now only their camouflaged corpses litter the surface of the planet, their true nature waiting to be discovered. Perhaps then the mysteries of where they came from—and if there are more of them—can be explored.Aliens found at Weydana-2Quicksilver Drifter - CR 5; Large animal
Stomakera - CR 5; Large magical beast
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