## Statistics Galactic Age: ~1,600,000 Subjective Age: ~60,000 Homeworld: [[Apoidea]] Home Sector: [[The Sectors#Sundered Harmony (6)|Sundered Harmony]] Affinity Groups - [[Past Projects/The Plague Lords/Affinity Groups/Scientists]] - Seeking Genius - Wants someone to create the "right" kind of art. - What is Science? (Wandering) - Adventures no one else dares to undertake. - [[Past Projects/The Plague Lords/Affinity Groups/Politicos]] - Bet ~~the~~ Someone Else's Farm - Funding expeditions is the single most exciting form of gambling ever made. You are the most famous explorer in all of [[Sundered Harmony]]. Nearly a million years ago, you crossed the entire galaxy to reach the extreme edge of the [[The Sectors#Senescence (11)|Senescence]], almost exactly opposite your home sector. Even crossing most of the distance at near-light-speed, with funding from the Governor of [[Apoidea]], and with heavy [[Voidstalker Corps|Voidstalker]] support, that journey took hundreds of thousands of galactic years. Technically, you actually *went* on the voyage more like a million and a half years ago. You *returned* from the trip about half a million years after that, which is the date most commonly referenced. Over the course of the journey, you were witness to countless wonders and horrors. You saw stellar nurseries, nebulae light-years in span, even [[Leviathan Cults]], though those were thankfully seen only through relayed messages from your Voidstalker guards. Since then, you've been on countless voyages to forgotten regions of your home Sector, mapping parts of space long since thought empty or impassable. You want to see everything, everywhere. You know that crossing the gulf between [[Lakh]] and its closest neighbor galaxy is a terribly dangerous affair. Even just achieving escape velocity is difficult when you factor in the sheer scale of the resources you'll need to cart along. There's no guarantee whatsoever of finding human life, which means the endless terraforming and habitation which has turned Lakh into a veritable exoplanetary paradise is likely to be similarly absent. Your pet bean-counters ran the numbers, and it'll take *planets* worth of resources to make your expedition viable (Endeavor Rating: 20). Even so, you flatly refuse to accept the possibility of failure. Being an explorer in this galaxy is great, but you always arrive to discover that [[Celestial Empress|Her Majesty]] or one of Her servants preceded you -often by nearly a billion years. You've come to the [[Plague Council]] to get funding and support for your expedition; even an official Council motion if you can pull it off. At the same time, you know that your odds of surviving this greatest of all voyages are extremely low. You don't especially mind, as discovery was always paramount to continuity in your eyes, but you want to make sure you're remembered properly. You're looking for someone who will tell your story, whether that's through writing, monument-crafting, or any other medium. You've never considered yourself an artist -nothing crafted by human hands can compare to the silent symphony of a singularity- so you don't much care *how* you're memorialized, so long as it paints you in the right light. ## Goals 1. Convince the Myriadic Council to launch a grand expedition to the next galaxy. 2. Find someone to immortalize your many journeys, whatever medium they may use. 3. Secure funding and support for your future voyages. ## Character Notes - There are a few characters running around who are older than Duobi, but this character is definitely among the older ones in play. You've been kicking around for more than a million years, and unlike a lot of folks, you've really used that time. Your most famous expedition was nearly a million years ago now, a trip to the extreme edge of the [[The Sectors#Senescence (11)|Senescence]] in search of the lost temple of the [[Nameless Sage]]. Like every similar attempt before or since, the expedition was a failure and the temple remains lost. During the search, however, your fleet *did* find not one, not two, but three different uncontacted interstellar empires. After a few brisk rounds of large-scale technological disagreement, those empires bowed to the ultimate authority of the [[Celestial Empress]] and Her [[Celestial Empire]]. More importantly, they and their unique cultural products were connected to the galaxy at large with you as the broker. You've parlayed that fantastical wealth into an endless series of voyages since, culminating with your presence here, only a few dozen light-years from your home planet. How will the galaxy's most prodigal child feel about going home again? - Duobi's primary goal, to convince the Myriadic Council to launch a grand expedition, doesn't have any direct enemies. However, it will require a significant number of powerful figures brought to your side. How will the famed explorer bring enough councilors on board with their dream? - Like any explorer working on behalf of an empire, Duobi has been both witness and party to countless horrors. While the degree of "ruthless adventurer" is up to you to determine, Duobi has certainly seen the worst the galaxy has to offer, including a fair few [[Leviathan Cults]]. What is it that keeps this character so forward-thinking and prevents them from dwelling on the nightmares? ## Connections 1. [[High Seat Oro]] 1. "One of the few people in the galaxy who understands the purpose of unfathomable wealth." 2. Oro isn't quite as old as you are, but they are old in a way few but High Seats ever manage to become. While they're famous now as the red right hand of House Orman -or, in some circles, as a particularly idiosyncratic philosopher- you knew them in their earlier days. True, Oro pilots the single most outrageously deadly warship you've ever encountered, and they have a kill count usually reserved for surprise supernovae, but once upon a time that warship was nothing more than Oro's private vessel, a delightful little tearoom with every accouterments. Around half a million years ago, they joined you on one of your little jaunts, and the two of you had a whale of a time. Since then, their reputation has grown bloodier and stranger, but you've kept in touch. What is it about this undeniably dangerous person which makes you want to maintain a friendship? 2. [[Historian Sibilia]] 1. "We're both in search of truth, though mine lies far away and Sibilia's far beneath." 2. The aged Historian is something of an enigma, even to you. In most circles, you're considered old. Even in galactic society, crossing the million-year mark is impressive. While there are likely countless ancients still walking the void, they reappear extremely rarely and with little to no warning. No, by the standards of galactic society, you're near the upper end. In fact, there are only a few humans older than you kicking around, and Sibilia is one of them. As far as you can find, Sibilia is nearly *twice* your age, and has been active regularly throughout that span. There are rumors that the Historian might have even reached the subjective age of 100,000, a number even most Great Houses can only look on in wonder. At the same time, Sibilia is surprisingly down to earth. Maybe that's why the two of you get along so well. They've spent millennia upon millennia ferreting out conspiracies of every stripe; Leviathan Cults, Physical Realists, even a handful of traitors in the [[Imperial Bureaucracy]] and [[Voidstalker Corps]]. Sometimes it feels like you return from every trip to hear of a new, galaxy-spanning scheme unveiled and picked apart by your old friend. It makes for a delightful homecoming; swapping your stories of the galaxy's wonders with their stories of it's conspirators. Now, though, you're finding yourself in the middle of a Sibilia story. Will you help your friend navigate and unravel the many motives in play, or prioritize your own curiosity? 3. [[Knight Leander]] 1. "Where I have looked wide, Leander has looked deep." 2. You admire Leander. You also dread the idea of being anything like Leander. These two factors serve to complicate what would otherwise be the best and most unambiguously *good* friendship you've ever had. You first met the Knight around thirty three thousand galactic years ago, perhaps a subjective century or so. Then, Leander was a warrior-god, a paragon of violence in barely human form. You watched breathlessly as they single-handedly turned back a Leviathan Cult invasion of [[Sateen Kaari]]. Your heart pounded to see a lone, doomed warrior duel an entire fleet and though that knight did not win, neither did they lose. Hours passed, then days, until, after nearly a month of ceaseless slaughter, Leander's homeworld was finally able to mount a proper defense and drive the Cultists away. It was most of a year before Leander was recovered, and you were long gone on an expedition by then, but ever since you've made a point to stop in and see them whenever you're in this part of the galaxy. If you're honest, you've probably gone a bit out of your way to make that happen from time to time. There's something fascinating to you about a person who has been so stationary -Leander has never gone more than ten light-years from their home! Unfortunately, over the last couple of visits, you've noticed a decided change in your friend. Where once their eyes burned with the flame of war, their every footstep was havoc, and their voice was the very voice of thunder, now the flames gutter low, the havoc is swept aside, and the thunder is very, very far away. Can you find a way to bring the light back to your friend, or is this the inevitable conclusion of all immortals, one to which you will eventually be damned yourself? 4. [[Nuncio Polybdia]] 1. "Always willing to lend an ear. Even more willing to whisper into one." 2. Polybdia reminds you of a great many similar figures you've met through the ages. Hell, you *were* a similar figure once upon a time. Gathering up others' secrets like a magpie gathers coins, making the truth dance and spin until it grew too dizzy to stand, the Nuncio is a master of manipulation. Sure, it may look like gossip and idle banter, but each word Polybdia speaks is a dagger in the heart of their enemies, and their Holding's enemies. On voyage after voyage, you've found the iron truth that nothing matters more than morale. Those with the power to move hearts and minds typically end up with the power to move antimatter and superweapons. For the last few subjective decades, you've made a point to stop and chat with the good Nuncio whenever you had the chance, to ensure you remained on the right side of their attentions. Now, as a great many warring factions draw close and the sector prepares for cataclysmic upheaval, you find yourself once more in Polybdia's company. Will you forge an alliance, or will the wheel of public opinion threaten to crush you in its path? ## Mechanics **Asset:** [[Supporting the Arts]] Being a [[Patron]] is a bit of a strange job. You're not an artist, not really a merchant, certainly not any kind of salesperson or, perish the thought, an economist. No, the role of the Patron is to give artists, inventors, philosophers, and all those other bright sparks who light the galaxy the resources, support, and protection they need to keep shining brighter and brighter. You can support an [[Endeavor]], allowing participants to create art, or technology, or other great works without the direct involvement of a [[Governor]]. If you support an Endeavor led by an Artisan, you instead add three advantages to that Artisan's total, plus one for every two participants. **Lien:** [[Qui Bono]] When you pay an artist to create art, how do you measure the return on investment? Feelings-per-credit? The delta in inspiration frequency? There's no easy way of saying who, besides the no-longer-starving artist, benefits from your work. You have the ability to make things possible, but no real knowledge or ability to guide events toward a particular goal. When you participate in an [[Endeavor]], you are not able to participate in the planning stage.