Artifact

Artifacts are the fragments of the Armillary, and were created by an unidentified, intelligent alien species at some point in the past which are called the Creators by the Starborn, who often seek them out. Artifacts appear to cause localized anomalies in gravity, and can be found at various locations in the Settled Systems. Some worlds host large ruin sites that appear to be composed of the same alien technology.

Overview

Humanity has been discovering various Artifacts since the early 22nd century, when Dr. Victor Aiza, a NASA astronaut and scientist, discovered the first known Artifact during an expedition on Mars. Aiza's discovery inspired him to invent the Grav Drive, which made interstellar travel possible for humanity. Tragically, the original Grav Drive prototype was flawed, and extensive testing of it caused Earth's magnetosphere to destabilize and finally collapse in 2203, resulting in the planet becoming uninhabitable. Aiza kept the secret that back when he touched the Artifact, he had experienced a vision from another version of himself from a different universe. They taught him how to create the Grav Drive and warned him about the consequences for Earth. Before he died, Aiza came to regret sacrificing Earth to give humanity a future among the stars. The role of Aiza's Artifact was lost to history, and other Artifacts that were found later were usually dismissed as curiosities.

In 2310, one Artifact came into the possession of Constellation, but instead of being studied, it was promptly stored in Constellation's archives and forgotten. Barrett uncovered the Artifact in 2326 and experienced a vision consisting of lights and music. He initially thought this to be a message from an alien intelligence, but later came to believe that coming into contact with the Artifact changed him somehow. His colleagues did not experience any similar phenomenon when they touched the Artifact, but found it intriguing enough to focus Constellation's resources on studying it and searching for more. A second Artifact was found on Ka'zaal after The Eye detected an anomaly there, and Argos Extractors were hired to dig it up.

Argos Extractors were hired again when a potential third Artifact was detected on Vectera. This Artifact was extracted by the Spacefarer, who became the second person after Barrett to experience a vision. When the Spacefarer brought their Artifact to Constellation on New Atlantis, it provoked a reaction with the other two, confirming they were designed to function together. With the Spacefarer's help, more Artifacts were located in quick succession. One was tracked to Sol, where it was held by Vanguard Moara Otero. Another was confirmed on Akila in a cave that the legendary pioneer Solomon Coe had charted and named "the Empty Nest". Two more were tracked using The Eye and were excavated from abandoned mines. Yet another had come into possession of Slayton Aerospace CEO Nicolaus Slayton, and the Spacefarer journeyed to Neon to procure it.

List of Artifacts

• Artifact Beta (found in Sol by Vanguard Moara Otero)
• Artifact Eta (found on Vectera by the Spacefarer)
• Artifact Chi (found on Akila by the Spacefarer)
• Artifact Iota (found on a randomly determined planet by the Spacefarer)
• Artifact Zeta (found on a randomly determined planet by the Spacefarer)
• Artifact Nu (found by Nicolaus Slayton)
• One Artifact found in Constellation's archives by Barrett
• One Artifact found on Ka'zaal by Barrett
• One Artifact found on Mars by Dr. Victor Aiza (currently found at the NASA Launch Tower on Earth)