Ancient
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| Cultural Style | Archaic | ||||
| Appearance | Unknown | ||||
The Ancients are a non-playable, presumably extinct race of unknown appearance in Starbound. Before they disappeared, they had left behind countless advanced ruins, including the Ark, Ancient Vaults, Ancient Gates, and Challenge Doors. The Ancients can be credited with the invention of technologies such as pocket dimensions, terraformers, teleporters, automotons, hard light, and weapon upgrades.
One of their most important creations lies within the Ark. According to their Ancient Murals, the Cultivator had warned the Ancients of the Ruin, and shared with them a plan to seal it away in one of the Ancients' pocket dimensions. They were able to construct the Monolith Gate, which could only be unsealed using artifacts that were gifted to six chosen races. In the event that the Cultivator's plan to imprison the Ruin failed, the Ancients created the Ancient Vaults to salvage what little life they could.
The Ancients understood that their race would one day die out, and predicted that the Cultivator would meet the same fate. Though the Cultivator was essentially destroyed in its fight, it had also succeeded in sealing the Ruin away. They knew that this prison would not hold the Ruin forever, but the Ancients were builders, not heroes, and believed that they could not defeat the Ruin themselves. To guide the Cultivator's chosen races, they had written down their account of these events, instructions to open the Monolith Gate, and one final warning; "It will return".
From this point, the Ancients seem to fade away from history. They may have been around to see fragments of the Cultivator be reborn as Novakid, as the Novakid are represented on the Monolith Gate. They seem to have also seen the Apex transform into their ape-like forms due to the Miniknog's VEP, since their faces are depicted as such on the gate and in holograms.
The Ancients had their own language, written in ancient runes, that can be found on many of their structures. If players gather both a left and a right translation wheel, they can be exchanged at Treasured Trophies for a special codex, The Ancient Alphabet, which can be used to decipher the Ancients' writings. Esther Bright is the only person other than the player that is known to be able to decipher ancient runes, which lead to her discovery of the Ruin.
The Ancients utilized a mysterious energy called Ancient Essence, which can be used by the player for Terraformers and Weapon Upgrade Anvils. It is said to pulse in harmony with the living universe. Many of the Ancients' devices glow with a similar purple color, so this energy may be partially responsible for some of their many technological advancements.
Trivia
- The Ancients are one of the races that do not have a corresponding fossil.
- There is an NPC in the Outpost called "The Trader" that you can trade with for Vault Keys for Ancient Vaults who might be one of the few surviving Ancients. They wear an unobtainable outfit known as the Caretaker Set.
- An earlier version of The Trader called the Ancient Prop exists in the files, and was even teased in the Devlog of June 2nd, 2015 with the word "CARETAKER" written in ancient runes. If The Trader is intended to be one of the Ancients, then this early design may have originally implied a less strictly humanoid, or at least more hunched-over, appearance than most Starbound races.
- According to an investigation of their technology by the Occasus, it is theorized that the Ancients may have been an inorganic species, possibly even artificial in nature regarding the first line of the Ancient Mural. If they were a robotic species, this may mean that they are one of the extinct brethren of the Glitch.
- Code-wise, The Trader is technically the Shadow race underneath their robes. Whether this indicates some connection between the Shadows and Ancients, or was simply chosen as the most appropriate base for an Ancient NPC (like how Humans serve as the base for Deadbeats and Alpacas), is unclear. It's worth noting that The Trader is intentionally set to use Shadow speaking sounds regardless of what race is hidden behind its robes, though it's unconfirmed whether it could be proof of them actually being a Shadow, or was just chosen to make The Trader sound mysterious.
- All depictions of Ancients, including the unused Ancient Prop, feature wide red eyes that somewhat resemble the unused Dark Guard Mask that was seemingly meant to be used by Shadows. This may also be proof against the Ancients having been Shadows though, as all Shadows have bright unshaded eyes while the Ancients' eyes are much more dull and appear to feature brighter pupils. In the final game, Shadows are only ever seen with green eyes, while the only known Ancients have red eyes.
