Microstory 701: Find the Ring of Expansion

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The First Ring, the Ring of Migration, and the Ring of Expansion were all hypothetically based on the same technology. We don’t know exactly what technology that is, or where it came from, but many believe them to have originated in another universe—this theory motivated only by the fact that they are so inexplicable. These three rings all do similar things, but differently so, and for different purposes. The First Ring is capable of summoning massive numbers of people to one place by some kind of instant transportation method we do not use for anything else. There is no evidence that it uses the simplex dimensions to accomplish this, but instead resembles data collected from ancient time travel experiments. The Ring of Migration can summon people as well, but does so in a more traditional sense. Instead of teleporting them, it merely attracts them to a single point, and lets them find their own way there. The Ring of Expansion, on the other hand, is more similar to the first. It behaves similarly to technology used millennia ago in the old worlds by tangent species of humans. At the time, one particular world had been cleansed of life, while higher dimensions that could be accessed from it were teeming with it. In order to repopulate the planet, they switched on a machine that we’ve never been able to recover, which consolidated everyone to mithgarther. Again, we’re not sure how they were able to do this, or why, but we know they did not use the Ring of Expansion. Some hypothesize that the Ring of Expansion was modeled upon this native technology, providing evidence against the possibility that any of the rings derive from some foreign universe. The Ring of Expansion is considered the most dangerous of all, because while the others are designed for one’s own people, this is designed for enemies. We have spent years fighting the Thuriamen, and though we’ve maintained a decent opposition to them, the war has stagnated. We are more technologically advanced, and we have more dedicated warriors on our side, but they still have the numbers. In all this time, teams were being sent to search for the Ring of Expansion, which promised the end to all this fighting. No one alive knew where it was, but the Book of Light strong implies that it was hidden in a hole of a dead moon. After years of hunting, we finally found it on an unnamed moon...orbiting an unnamed planet...orbiting an unnamed star. We were excited to finally be able to destroy the Amadesin remnant once and for all, but the Ring came with a note written in Sotiren Zahir’s handwriting.

Never shall this ring be used, against the Thuriamen, or anyone else. If ever it is, all taikon will be negated, and the universe will be plunged into eternal darkness you will never escape. If the Ring of Expansion is found after the end of The Light Wars, you may proceed with the taikon as they are written in the Book of Light. If, however, the war rages on, you must instead open the Book of Anseluka, and follow its instructions.