The Shroud - What could it be?
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I'm already envisioning it as like "The Veil" which is a thin facade separating reality from, like, the 'spirit realm'.
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Ascension related stuff/parallel universe/alternate dimension of higher beings. I'm for some reason imaging something on the level of the Ancients/ascended beings from Stargate lore but it may be something well different.
Equally i'd love something more 40k/warp inspired mwuahaha...or well for Stelariss it'd likely be a little more event horizon.
Equally i'd love something more 40k/warp inspired mwuahaha...or well for Stelariss it'd likely be a little more event horizon.
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Sounds like an ascension specific crisis, given the implication of a shroud in this context is funerals.
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Science flings aside
The shroud, baring cosmic horrors.
Thanks a lot, science.
The shroud, baring cosmic horrors.
Thanks a lot, science.
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"The Shroud" doesn't ring particularly funeral-specific to me. I just think "obscuring".
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It's so nearly a haiku. Eight syllables in the second line.
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The shroud is for 'repairing' the atmosphere of a planet. (Or distributing a Genophage. (But you don't heard that from me.))
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Well, that's ONE of the definitions.
Looking at the literal definition of 'shroud' https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shroud , it means a covering, whether to obscure or hide something (and in some applications, protect).
Going by definition alone, 'The Shroud' would imply something that is surrounding or obscuring something else. Before we go further, lets notice what Wiz said before it, "Psionic Transcendance and The Shroud."
So, 'The Shroud' in connection with transcendance could imply:
1. Shuffling off the mortal coils (or the mortal shroud, if you will) in some way. (after all, the materialist ascension includes immortality, so, why not the Psionic transcendance?)
2. Some kind of barrier that has to be pierced.
*is thinking*
3. Space Jesus? lol.
It's in the context of Psionic Transcendance.....
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Smjjames I was referencing another Sci-Fi series, Mass Effect to be exact. 
But I think you're on the right track. It would seem logical that you have to breach through the shroud or overcome it in order to reach transcendence. That, or the Shroud is part of the transcendence you aim to achieve. When it comes to the name the first option seems more plausible.
But I think you're on the right track. It would seem logical that you have to breach through the shroud or overcome it in order to reach transcendence. That, or the Shroud is part of the transcendence you aim to achieve. When it comes to the name the first option seems more plausible.Or maybe something along the lines of 'the shroud of the mind', which would make somewhat more sense given the word 'psionic'.
Since the Materialist ascendance has immortality as part of it, I don't see why that one should have a monopoly on immortality.
Since the Materialist ascendance has immortality as part of it, I don't see why that one should have a monopoly on immortality.
If all this mystery keeps on piling up, loads of players will need meds until the game is finally released and then
succumb after a marathon gaming session with 1.5 banks and the utopia expansions.
You're threading on thin ice here PDX!
succumb after a marathon gaming session with 1.5 banks and the utopia expansions.
You're threading on thin ice here PDX!
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Arguable- keeping each Ascension Path distinct would be more interesting than them all doing the same thing with a different coat of paint.
My expectation for the Psionics path remains something based around the establishment of a "collective consciousness", a mental link between all your people. Not a hive mind, but more like the repository of memories and emotions that makes up the Protoss Khala in Starcraft; I could very easily see that fitting as a framework for amplifying the Spiritualist ethics divergence reduction and giving them additional mechanics to exploit.
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I'm thinking Psionic Transcendance and The Shroud are separate (perhaps related though). Psionic Transcendance could relate to victory coming from the Ascencion Perks and the Psionic Path. Maybe how other empires will react and the consequences of such.
The Shroud could be some kind of technological plague (SIVA from Destiny, Replicators from Stargate, Mass Effects Synthesis ending, or something like a virus) that arises and sweeps across the galaxy. Basing this off of the pulsing circuitry from the buildings in the Utopia teaser. Relating to Psionic Transcendance it could be triggered by an Empire going down this path and The Shroud reacting to this as a major threat.
Though I wouldn't say no to The Shroud being some form of massive blockade around another empire. Cutting them off completely. That being a crisis in that form would be interesting to see as well.
The Shroud could be some kind of technological plague (SIVA from Destiny, Replicators from Stargate, Mass Effects Synthesis ending, or something like a virus) that arises and sweeps across the galaxy. Basing this off of the pulsing circuitry from the buildings in the Utopia teaser. Relating to Psionic Transcendance it could be triggered by an Empire going down this path and The Shroud reacting to this as a major threat.
Though I wouldn't say no to The Shroud being some form of massive blockade around another empire. Cutting them off completely. That being a crisis in that form would be interesting to see as well.
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We already have a plague-like crisis though, the Prethoryn. There's the AI one, which is plague-like, but you literally have to intentionally work to trigger it (I had to use the cheat).
It is possible, however, that The Shroud actually has nothing to do with the Psionic Transcendance itself, at least directly. Wiz, in DD 56, mentioned talking to the beings that reside in the higher plane that the Psionic Transcendance reaches? I could totally see a bunch of events or an event chain that relates to whoever and whatever those beings are. They'd have to find someone to write out the event chain though.
@Fenian Yeah, those 'beings on the higher plane' could be lovecraftian for all we know. The event chain which gives your scientist psionic trait has a lovecraftian tone to it.
It is possible, however, that The Shroud actually has nothing to do with the Psionic Transcendance itself, at least directly. Wiz, in DD 56, mentioned talking to the beings that reside in the higher plane that the Psionic Transcendance reaches? I could totally see a bunch of events or an event chain that relates to whoever and whatever those beings are. They'd have to find someone to write out the event chain though.
@Fenian Yeah, those 'beings on the higher plane' could be lovecraftian for all we know. The event chain which gives your scientist psionic trait has a lovecraftian tone to it.
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Stellaris as a whole seems to enjoy cosmic horror tropes... I mean, their first major story DLC is pure, refined cosmic horror written by a man known for crafting cosmic horror stories in interactive fiction form. Even before the Horizon Signal DLC though, a lot of stuff from Leviathans fits the bill (most obviously the Dimensional Horror, but IMO stuff like the Wraith, Enigmatic Fortress, and Infinity Machine all possess cosmic horror vibes too), and even the base game has its share of unknowable invaders with alien mentalities and bizarre phenomena we can't hope to fully understand, the ruins of far greater empires left to rot in the wake of some unseen but obviously titanic fall...
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