Argilkin
The Argilkin are an ancient, divine race that continue to seed the universe with billions of diverse alien plant and animal species, many of which are sentient. It is assumed that their birth directly from stars made them the Original curators of galaxies, new stars, and solar systems. They are the fusion of stellar matter and the divinity that created life as we know it. Argilkin, while not immortal, measure time on a scale we cannot comprehend. Argilkin vary greatly in appearance and demeanor, but maintain kinship through their Origin and their passion to cultivate planets, consciousness and magic throughout the universe. Their eternal quest is to forge beautiful and diverse new worlds; endlessly creating life and ultimately collecting artifacts from those life forms as tribute to their Origin.
Origin Story
Stars produce massive amounts of energy, or more accurately, transfer massive amounts of energy. They are a nexus between the vast emptiness of space and the infinite domains of supernatural power that can literally create reality. This permanent connection to supernatural power imbues all stars with a limited form of consciousness that grows with the density of the star. When a massive star’s density and consciousness mature to the point that it becomes self-aware, it explodes in a supernova, releasing a wave of supernatural consciousness teeming with wisdom, power, and magic. In a supernova, most of a star’s mass is sent outward in every direction, but an incredibly dense and relatively small (moon-sized) sphere is left behind. This sphere has been called many things: Creator, Origin, Source, Stellanatus, Starborn, Black Hole, and many other names lost to time. Argilkin understand supernovae intimately as part of their own life cycle — it is the birth of their Origin.
Before completely cooling, and directed by Its supernatural consciousness, the Origin cracks and fragments its own surface into numerous glowing, metallic shards. These shards vary in size from battleships to dust; each with a consciousness of its own. Argilkin begin to form as larger shards pull on and absorb smaller nearby shards. By combining with the lesser shards around them, the Argilkin add appendages to grant simple movement and physical strength while increasing their own wells of conscious power. This growth also enables them to resist the pull of other, larger shards and Argilkin. Ultimately, they stabilize as massive, god-like beings that exist to honor and grow their Origin. They do this by leaving their Origin to cultivate new and diverse conscious beings throughout the universe, returning with powerful artifacts created by those races. These artifacts are offered back to the Origin as a tribute to increase Its size and consciousness.
Life of an Argilkin
On the surface, an Argilkin is the densest metal in the universe, but at its core it is pure, concentrated consciousness. An Argilkin’s soul is tied directly to the supernatural domains, granting near limitless power. Having access to the shared wisdom of their Origin, combined with nearly unlimited power, Argilkin can bend space-time to travel at roughly 100 times the speed of light. Although they can travel to remote parts of the universe, Argilkin tend to stay in family groups called galaxies where most of their creations remain “close” to their Origin. In fact, Argilkin rarely leave the arm of the galaxy they were born in.
When Argilkin arrive near a young star to create a new planet (or terraform an existing planet), a small piece of the Argilkin and its consciousness is consumed to seed the planet’s core with life. Dead planets cannot support life, only living, conscious planets can sustain higher life forms by maintaining a proper balance established by the Argilkin. Although solitary by nature, Argilkin may travel in small groups to terraform planets together as a form of competition to honor their Origin — these groups are called Worldbuilders. It is very rare to see a group of Worldbuilders from different Origins working together; and never with Argilkin from outside their own galaxies. This competition naturally creates the best and strongest tribute, driving each other to create more complex forms of life that can expand consciousness and create their own forms of magic and worship.
Argilkin retrace their travels once every 10 galactic supernova (roughly every 500 earth years), bending and travelling the vastness of space to study and collect artifacts from the races they’ve created. Objects of art, ritual, and worship are naturally imbued with some of the consciousness of the created race. The Argilkin then literally meld these objects into their bodies to replace and sustain the consciousness they lost creating the races and planets. An Argilkin’s personality is then changed by the objects it collects, slowly contaminating its pure consciousness with that of its creations. As the Argilkin retrace their paths, they eventually reach the Origin from which they began. It is then that they offer their most meaningful artifacts as tribute to their Origin, binding it to their own consciousness. In so doing, the Origin grows not only in consciousness, but as an interstellar museum of art, culture, and wisdom. This binding also deepens the connection between the collective wisdom of the Origin and the individual Argilkin (the original hive-mind).
After eons of collecting and assimilating artifacts as tribute to its Origin, the diversity and complexity of its own consciousness eventually drives the Argilkin into the final stage of its life. It is said that an Argilkin never dies, instead it chooses to end its cultivating of consciousness and begin cultivating deeper meaning and wisdom. It then travels to an empty part of its galaxy where it seeds a massive new star, or Luminovum, (Literally “egg of light”) with its entire soul. This begins the entire life cycle of star to supernova to Origin to Argilkin all over again. Occasionally, an Argilkin believes its own wisdom surpasses that of its Origin and kin; believing its creations to be so superior in demeanor, appearance, or design that they choose to found an entirely new galaxy away from their kin.
How Many Are Out There?
Argilkin are numerous, more numerous than the stars. Because we know that supernova occur roughly once per second somewhere in the Universe, there are hundreds of Argilkin being born before you finish reading this sentence. And because they live for ages (before going Luminovum), their numbers continue to grow exponentially. New stars, planets and life forms are being created throughout the universe at an exponential rate. This is why the universe continues to expand and grow, and why we as humans continue to expand and grow in consciousness.
Tiny Humans
Tonight, when you’re looking up at the stars in the heavens, know that there are trillions of god-like Argilkin tending to their Origins. Our own Origin is up there somewhere in the Orion spur of the Milky Way Galaxy, because we wouldn’t be here if the Argilkin hadn’t created us. As you read this, Argilkin are assimilating countless artifacts from new, ancient, and extinct alien races.
We are tiny creatures, doing tiny things, on a tiny planet, near a tiny sun, in a tiny galaxy. We are only one of an estimated one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) galaxies, each containing roughly one hundred billion (100,000,000,000) stars. Think about it. Our galaxy is 100,000 light years in diameter and the next closest galaxy (Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy) is about that same distance away…
Tribute
Make something. Make a Tribute (capital T) to whatever it is you believe in. Pour yourself into a work of art to honor who you are and what you believe in. Be creative. Draw on your own wells of power. Make a piece of furniture, a canoe, an amulet, a sculpture, a painting. Write a book, create a new language, write some poetry, bake chocolate chip cookies, 3D print something. At the end of your life, you should be able to look back knowing you left a few beautiful marks on the world, maybe they become heirlooms, no matter how small, and regardless of what you believe in — you can create and inspire others to create. It’s what we do as humans.
Not Inspired? Watch this video (full screen):