Stone circles

The worship of large rocks or solitary stones in a landscape goes back to the beginnings of civilization on many worlds. Huge stones or "megaliths" were pulled in an upright position, and this "orthostat" evolved from a landmark to a place of gathering, cult and worship. Often, other megaliths were dragged in from far away, and placed in a stone circle formation.

We have come a long way from megaliths to cathedrals.

Strangely, some alien civilizations seem to have never abandoned the worship of large stones, even in their space age. I think that was the case for the Talocan - they have a certain preference for large "stalagmite" asteroids, such as the one I encountered earlier in one of the Drifter wormholes (not Sanctified Vidette). 

Another notable example is the stalagmite asteroid at the center of the Takmahl labyrinth. Here, I think the Takmahl stumbled on Talocan technologies and found an ancient revered stone, and simply encompassed it into their own cult - everything Talocan so far surpassed their own capabilities that it must have seemed sacral to them. To some extent, this must also have been the case for the Jove and the Drifters - they seem keen on incorporating rectangular monoliths in their structures.

Interestingly, also in Sanctified Vidette there is a (space) stone circle, with a special assembly in the center. It is not a stalagmite asteroid, but two asteroids (a round boulder and elongated rock) that collided and shattered. A cloud of dust and small particles orbits the two, rotating with a period of about one minute. Around these two, a stone circle has clearly been assembled.

There is a wreck of ancient vessel nearby, either an exploration vessel or a cryoship, attesting to the age of this site - I think this predates the occupation of this wormhole by the Drifters. The site itself is not incompatible with other Talocan sites. There are peculiar round indentations on the rocks. These are not impact craters, they suggest erosion by continued contact with some smaller round rock perhaps carried by the cloud of dust. Whatever it was, it has vanished.

There is a blue plasma that connects the dots, and flutters around like a flame. It originates in the round indentation. It is not the glow of Tyranite, and it is light blue rather than Drifter green. The Indagatrix could not identify the nature of this glow or its energy source, the gas or plasma does not match known gas cloud compounds. I tried sampling it, but the emanations stopped when I got close. 

There is still so little we know and understand of deep space - or of the Talocan. I wonder what more wonders Drifter space will reveal!