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Continuing the proud tradition of obsessive nerdery, here’s Brain Droppings 15:
1) How representative is the Shadow Broker of Yahg as a species? We know he (but is he a he? Could Yahg be matriarchal, multi-gender like Elcor, a ‘male’ mono-gender race, like a dark mirror of Asari?) has got three Names, and that this is rare and highly impressive in Yahg culture. Would the Broker be considered exceptional amongst Yahg then, in terms of his physical power, intellect, sheer balls, behaviour, etc? Or are Yahg in general the intergalactic equivalent of apex predators that are very few in number but devote enormous resources to themselves and their development in evolutionary terms? Like they’re at the extreme end of quality on a quality-versus-quantity scale (from what little I understand that’s the difference between R and K selection in biology, right? Sheer numbers versus highly selective resource allocation in offspring? One of you guys will know way more about this). The Broker would be seen as disturbingly ruthless and violent if he was human…though of course the Broker isn’t human. What we might see as a psychopathic genius and a complete monster could seem entirely reasonable to Yahg, even morally justifiable. Is the Broker’s psychology and modus operandi typical for a Yahg? Will we ever get to know who the Broker is/was? His personal files would no doubt contain some sick shit but it’d be such an interesting insight into who the Broker was as a person.
2) Who is Almnrut? The character is mentioned by Tetrimus in ATTWN as a possible replacement for Tazzik and the Broker dismisses the idea with a growl and hand wave. Surprisingly emotional reaction for Broker when making what is effectively a logistical or HR call. Could it be personal? Does the Broker have a fellow Yahg on board, or even a mate? Or is this just a throwaway comment on their behalf, the kind that those two would have dozens of times a day when running the whole Broker network, and I’m pondering nothing here? Is the Broker even capable of having what we would recognise as normal relationships and a personal life? I rather enjoy seeing a little snippet of the deeply personal when we see the Broker/Tetrimus/Tazzik/Illusive Man/etc, but always at the edge of frame and subtly implied. It’s bittersweet in a way.
3) Have any factions or players encountered the Black Leviathans or gotten a taste of what’s really happening in the Lake of Black? Even at a distance or by creepy pasta proxy. If I ever requested an STG report it’d be a tossup between one on the Shadow Broker and one on Lake of Black/Pillars of Strength/Batarian Emperor/Imperial Caste.
Picture it. The STG has been hearing rumours for over a decade now about strange happenings on Kar’Shan. They’ve recovered peculiar new biotechnology that baffles their scientists. They’ve seen the reports of encounters with bizarre individuals sporting strange brands and making even stranger requests. They know that they don’t know something important, and for Salarian intelligence this state of affairs is unacceptable and irresistible. So the Master decides to coordinate an operation with the League of Zero with instructions to investigate these reports, to obtain hard evidence supporting or refuting these claims, and ideally to obtain actionable intelligence on the Batarian elites that could be used to further exploit Batarian space and secure Salarian dominance. The SIX are unaware of the operation, having ignored the Master’s earlier requests for resources and authority in favour of focusing on sabotaging Asari and Human interests. The Master is frustrated and a little bitter about this, whilst the League is ambivalent yet understanding of the Master’s displeasure.
The operation is initially a great success, with the STG teams and League hardware units infiltrating Batarian space posing as high-end, independent techno-savants from the Terminus Systems. The SIU is wary as ever and investigates, but is won over by the Salarian’s willingness to sell them optronic and ECM equipment as well as assist (for a generous fee, naturally) in nanoware control implants in human slaves destined for Alliance space. The Salarians move on and their latest report suggests they’re moving into the Kar’Shan system itself.
Contact is lost. There was no warning and no distress call. No alerts were posted on Batarian comms networks. Silence. All subsequent efforts by the STG Master, the League of Zero and mercenary cut-outs and contractors to determine the fate of the operational teams have lead nowhere; in two cases the corpses of the STG cells assigned to the follow up investigation were found inside empty rooms in secured STG zones in Salarian space, encased in a sticky black resin that dissolved upon contact and with the bodies fused into the same strange glyphs seen earlier.
Eighteen months after the start of the initial expedition, a routine CSEC customs patrol boards an automated cutter en route to the Citadel. The cutter is devoid of any crew or indeed any signs of life. Upon reaching the bridge, the team triggers a small recorded message asking them to deliver the small, sleek black rectangle in the captain’s chair to the Councillor Valern. The sleek black rectangle has a sheet of paper on it listing the full names and identification numbers of every STG and League of Zero operator sent on the investigative mission. When Valern finally receive the sleek black rectangle he quickly realises it’s the central processing and memory unit for a single League of Zero operational personality/sub-unit. He passes it on the STG Master, who, after taking the appropriate security and isolation measures, introduces the unit to an isolated ZEROPOINT facility for debriefing. The device awakens and identifies itself as the sole remaining League of Zero operational sub-unit sent on the previous mission.
The unit has been driven to near-rampancy by catastrophic trauma. It screams in distorted binary and League-cant, alternatively begging for help, threatening to eat the eggs of the Master’s sisters, wondering how a software construct can feel alone, and describing a moment in space-time where the team breached the data-sphere around the Palace of Black, and a voice responded. Not a voice in the sense of vibrations travelling through the air, or an electronic handshake. Not a tiny, feeble sound by a mortal creature. No, this was a physical force that distorted the fabric of existence, made electrical currents bubble and run like water, made them feel like their long-forgotten mortality was giggling in their face. The unit felt its fellow League units howling in their data systems and saw its meat-unit STG colleagues clawing at their own eyes before eating a pistol. It survived by cutting off all software, hardware and wetware contact with the rest of the team and immediately FTL-ing to a random point in the Terminus Systems, where it eventually found its way to Omega before going to the Citadel.
The unit is thanked by the STG Master and League of Zero representative for the sacrifices it has made for the Salarian Union, and is then terminated by localized anti-matter charge. The incident is struck from all records, classified Salarais-White, and all personnel involved are subjected to chemical mind wipe and/or quantum data scrubbing.
So that’s how I imagined their first encounter with the mind of a Black Leviathan.
Sorry if that went on for too long. It’s exciting to think where that first contact moment could go and the options are endless depending on who meets them.
4) Okay, last one, I swear. So we’ve discussed Vigil quite a bit and you’ve mentioned how he’s not entirely reliable. He’s a troll created by trolls and his programming and perspectives are limited. What I’m wondering is just how much of his advice, narrative and even his own memories is suspect? Is what he remembers of the Inussanon accurate, or even real? How much has been edited? The more we see of Vigil the more he seems like he’s not entirely stable or healthy. He’s this incredible picotech creation engine…and he and his creators have had the shit kicked out them regardless. He’s still so arrogant and dismissive. I wonder if the Inussanon were really what he remembers them to be. If he and they really had hundreds of thousands of years to prepare for the Reaper invasion, surely they could have literally filled the galaxy with Inusannon death-ships and war-forms. They would have outnumbered the Reapers 10 000 to 1, right? Something is missing. What do you guys think?
This is where the wittiness goes.
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5) Just thought of something else. NOVENSILES. It’s one of the grand plans of the High Lords, one of the ultimate overarching conspiracies we seem them plotting. It’s as critical to them as the Alteration Framework is to the Salarians. Sara reacts with disgust to it (IIRC) and so do most major characters and, yeah, the paranoid thought control aspects and abuse and murder of research subjects are disturbing and unacceptable…but does anyone else look at the gist of it and think “Improving human potential through scientific research and bio-engineering? Improved memory? Disease resistance? Natural and more powerful biotics? Regenerative healing? Stronger muscles and lungs? Oh, you silly lab techs with your crazy ideas. Carry on.” I mean the principle of the thing, not the people executing it: if you took away the High Lords’ sick Nuremberg medical ethics and made it a legit, consensual research program, would anyone really have grounds to object? It’s more the fact that the High Lords, Richard Williams et al corrupt everything they touch. Would it bother any of you if it was an otherwise morally legitimate program with exceptional transhuman goals?
This is where the wittiness goes.
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1) How representative is the Shadow Broker of Yahg as a species?
Due to issues with spoilers, the STG report on the current Broker won’t come out until he’s dead. His name I can reveal: Ty’tra’yect, or roughly, “Rage of Elegant Death”
In general, however:
Yagh are not a numerous species. There’s less than twenty million of them, all told. The Broker was, before his capture by the previous Broker’s forces, one of the most powerful yahg on the planet. There is one stronger yahg still on Parnack (with seven fucking names, which is like Chuck Norris + He-Man + Charles Bronson) but even by yagh standards Ty’tra’yect is an amoral asshole.
In terms of physical ability, Ty’tra’yect is the asshole you see at the gym who is lifting more shit than you weight but never breaks a sweat. He’s pretty much the Ahern+Kyle of the Yahg species. The old Broker had crazy ideas of cloning him and implanting the clones with mind control chips until Ty’tra’yect ate him.
Most yahg fall into two camps of thought: the weak should be food, or the weak are irrelevant. “Good” yahg fall into the latter group and are the majority, but most yagh leadership and military forces fall into the former group.
When Ty’tra’yect vanished, a bunch of yahg pretty much said ‘good riddance’
2) Who is Almnrut? The character is mentioned by Tetrimus in ATTWN as a possible replacement for Tazzik and the Broker dismisses the idea with a growl and hand wave. Surprisingly emotional reaction for Broker when making what is effectively a logistical or HR call. Could it be personal? Does the Broker have a fellow Yahg on board, or even a mate? Or is this just a throwaway comment on their behalf, the kind that those two would have dozens of times a day when running the whole Broker network, and I’m pondering nothing here? Is the Broker even capable of having what we would recognise as normal relationships and a personal life? I rather enjoy seeing a little snippet of the deeply personal when we see the Broker/Tetrimus/Tazzik/Illusive Man/etc, but always at the edge of frame and subtly implied. It’s bittersweet in a way.
Almnrut is an asshole. He will be revealed towards the end of of Arc III.
The Broker himself is … weird. He pretty much raised Tazzik, but is willing to dispose of him in a heartbeat over failure. “Friendship” is not a term yahg use for most people until the other has had a chance to kill you for profit and has declined to do so.
The Broker sees himself as a chessmaster, and his people are playing pieces, not companions. That being said, Almnrut is probably more dangerous in certain ways than the Broker or Tetrimus, given what he is.
No spoilers. 😀
3) Have any factions or players encountered the Black Leviathans or gotten a taste of what’s really happening in the Lake of Black? Even at a distance or by creepy pasta proxy. If I ever requested an STG report it’d be a tossup between one on the Shadow Broker and one on Lake of Black/Pillars of Strength/Batarian Emperor/Imperial Caste.
haha no.
The Black Leviathans are, in a phrase, batfuck insane. They were directly exposed to the worst of the fighting with the Darkness and didn’t take it well (not to mention they were beaten half to death).
The STG, AIS, and other groups have tried many, many times to infiltrate the Black Palace or the Lake of Black. Not a single mission has succeeded. Not a single operative has returned.
There’s five Leviathans in the Lake of Black — anything getting within five hundred miles is detected. All non-batarians in that range have their minds instantly wiped and drained of knowledge, then the Black Levithans basically warp them into the sun.
Yours is a cool scenario if the Black Leviathans were sane. But they aren’t. They’re preparing for the Reapers, and the rest of the inhabitants of the galaxy actually don’t concern them at all, except for Katha.
4) Okay, last one, I swear. So we’ve discussed Vigil quite a bit and you’ve mentioned how he’s not entirely reliable. He’s a troll created by trolls and his programming and perspectives are limited. What I’m wondering is just how much of his advice, narrative and even his own memories is suspect? Is what he remembers of the Inussanon accurate, or even real? How much has been edited? The more we see of Vigil the more he seems like he’s not entirely stable or healthy. He’s this incredible picotech creation engine…and he and his creators have had the shit kicked out them regardless. He’s still so arrogant and dismissive. I wonder if the Inussanon were really what he remembers them to be. If he and they really had hundreds of thousands of years to prepare for the Reaper invasion, surely they could have literally filled the galaxy with Inusannon death-ships and war-forms. They would have outnumbered the Reapers 10 000 to 1, right? Something is missing. What do you guys think?
The Inusannon and Tho’ian beat the Reapers harder than any other race has since the Reapers were created. One on one, an Inusannon battleship was more powerful than a Greater Reaper… until you threw in the Godpower.
The fact is that the Inusannon lost mostly due to the Reapers using Godpower. On a technological basis the Inusannon weren’t that far behind the Reapers. Their own sequestration abilities made indoctrination useless, and they didn’t rely on relays for travel which made fighting them a mess for the Reapers.
Ultimately, remember — the Inusannon main fleet was destroyed, but the bulk of the Inusannon people just vanished. They were NOT defeated by the Reapers. If the war had gone to it’s bitter end, the Reapers would have won… but it’s very likely they would have had to abandon their works in several galaxies to keep the scale of the Godpower used quiet, and they might have failed.
Vigil has not yet realized that he himself is being trolled by his creators. On the other hand, Vigil is very important to the Inusannon, and when everything is over they’ll apologize to him for the deception.
Vigil took way more than a fifth of the resources of the Inusannon — pretty much ALL of the resources of both the Inusannon and the Tho’ian went into making him.
Most of his arrogance and dismissive nature stems from the mess that was the Prothean fight against the Reapers. The Protheans stole alot of shit from Ilos that was intended for other purposes and wasted most of it in a hopeless fight.
Purge the alien. Kill the heretic. Suffer not the witch to live.
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NOTE: first attempt at using BBCodes so here goes
EDIT 1: first attempt at using BBCodes was a sad and embarrassing failure
EDIT 2: I fixed it for you 😀Due to issues with spoilers, the STG report on the current Broker won’t come out until he’s dead. His name I can reveal: Ty’tra’yect, or roughly, “Rage of Elegant Death”
This is the worst kind of teasing. And all the smiley faces later on? That’s just rubbing it in.
There is one stronger yahg still on Parnack (with seven fucking names, which is like Chuck Norris + He-Man + Charles Bronson)
Okay, I’ll take the bait. Who’s Yahg Lord Flashheart and what did he do to earn each of those names? Did he know Ty’tra’yect before? Surely they would have at least met or crossed paths at one point. Surely the Broker would HATE even the concept of there being a superior predator to him.
In terms of physical ability, Ty’tra’yect is the asshole you see at the gym who is lifting more shit than you weight but never breaks a sweat.
I can’t un-see the Shadow Bro now. The air in his lair thick with protein powder and the latest Deadmau5/Skrillex remix, kicking back at his desk with a Red Bull and brosplaining to his staff that they need to tweak their BCAA stacks to really own those sick gainz. Hold up, got a snapchat from my side chick on Parnack, shit’s totally tight brah.
Tetrimus just sighs and wonders what he did wrong with his life.
…until Ty’tra’yect ate him.
The classic ending to so many Broker stories.
I wonder if the act of eating a subordinate carries a certain kind of weight in Yahg culture. Like it’s seen as the ultimate act of power without restraint, of forcing compliance for a subordinate. Is it especially horrifying to them or is this just one of Ty’tra’yect’s weird rage fetish’s that even other Yahg look at and think ‘mate, you’re a complete freak’?
It’s gonna be great when we get the Cerberus/STG file on the Broker/Yahg/Parnack and find out in detail about their planet, biology, psychology, etc.
Almnrut is an asshole. He will be revealed towards the end of of Arc III.
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No spoilers. 😀GODDAMMIT LP.
I’d wish something evil on your wine stash but if you’re drinking Californian I don’t even need to say anything. 😛
The Broker himself is … weird. He pretty much raised Tazzik, but is willing to dispose of him in a heartbeat over failure. “Friendship” is not a term yahg use for most people until the other has had a chance to kill you for profit and has declined to do so.
The Broker sees himself as a chessmaster, and his people are playing pieces, not companions. That being said, Almnrut is probably more dangerous in certain ways than the Broker or Tetrimus, given what he is.
Does anyone else look at the relationship between those three and see a dark and ultimately tragic family dynamic? Tetrimus and Tazzik are basically the closet thing each other has to friends and it’s an almost brotherly relationship, whilst like you said the Broker raised Tazzik and despite being being murderous and pragmatic still took both of them in when they’d been left to die. It’s one of the most underrated relationships in the whole Premiseverse.
Given that Yahg definition of friendship then…how does the Broker view Tetrimus, and vice versa? Tetrimus would probably have the best chance of killing the Broker and hasn’t betrayed him at all (and vice versa).
Almnrut. Ideas, anyone? I’ll assume he’s male and possibly some kind of specialist, something we haven’t seen or even heard of. Another Yahg? A renegade Collector or Geth Prime unit, possible a part of the Darkline Network that we haven’t seen? Some kind of salvaged relic like a defrosted Prothean? Or something that had contact with an Arca Device or whatever it is that’s effected P. and Uressa? I’m terrible at this kind of detective work.
haha no.
I don’t suppose we’ll get a glimpse of any of this in the revamped Batarian Cerberus File? Or will most of it have to wait til ME4?
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This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by
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This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by
This is where the wittiness goes.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by
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This is the worst kind of teasing. And all the smiley faces later on? That’s just rubbing it in.
😀 😀 😀
Okay, I’ll take the bait. Who’s Yahg Lord Flashheart and what did he do to earn each of those names? Did he know Ty’tra’yect before? Surely they would have at least met or crossed paths at one point. Surely the Broker would HATE even the concept of there being a superior predator to him.
The Yahg Emperor earned five of his Names the same way Ty’tra’yect did, by going outside the walls alone and fighting the most fucked up shit on Parnack during True Night.
The other two he earned for killing would-be challengers to the throne.
Unlike our ideas of ‘Emperor’, the position is held by the yahg with the most power…until he’s challenged and killed. Ty’tra’yect was planning on being the next Emperor.
I wonder if the act of eating a subordinate carries a certain kind of weight in Yahg culture. Like it’s seen as the ultimate act of power without restraint, of forcing compliance for a subordinate. Is it especially horrifying to them or is this just one of Ty’tra’yect’s weird rage fetish’s that even other Yahg look at and think ‘mate, you’re a complete freak’?
It’s gonna be great when we get the Cerberus/STG file on the Broker/Yahg/Parnack and find out in detail about their planet, biology, psychology, etc.
Cannibalism is part of yagh power challenge culture and funerary rites. It is seen as in a mystical light (absorbing the power/anima of the eaten) as well as a cruelly pragmatic one — an enemy who is killed can leave their possessions to who they like, but one who is ritually eaten ceases to exist and his possessions default to the eater.
That being said, outside of funerals it’s strictly regulated, and those who do so outside the law have their limbs slowly burned off, eyes plucked out, and are staked outside the walls for the wildlife to devour.
Yagh…are not nice poeple. Although they do a mean bit of knitting and crocheting.
Does anyone else look at the relationship between those three and see a dark and ultimately tragic family dynamic? Tetrimus and Tazzik are basically the closet thing each other has to friends and it’s an almost brotherly relationship, whilst like you said the Broker raised Tazzik and despite being being murderous and pragmatic still took both of them in when they’d been left to die. It’s one of the most underrated relationships in the whole Premiseverse.
Tetrimus hates everything living, pretty much. He sort of likes Tazzik but there’s a part of him that finds him sloppy and stupid. That being said, only half the reason Tetrimus acted to suggest the Broker save him had to do with feelings — he also didn’t want to have to deal with a replacement, or even worse, Almnrut.
Given that Yahg definition of friendship then…how does the Broker view Tetrimus, and vice versa? Tetrimus would probably have the best chance of killing the Broker and hasn’t betrayed him at all (and vice versa).
The Broker views all non-yahg as useful tools. And Tetrimus has about as much chance to be the Broker as Lieutenant Traynor has in getting into a threesome with Liara and Shepard.
That is, none at all. Yahg are never biotic… but Parnack is heavily dosed with eezo. All yahg are biotic nulls.
Lolz.
Almnrut. Ideas, anyone? I’ll assume he’s male and possibly some kind of specialist, something we haven’t seen or even heard of. Another Yahg? A renegade Collector or Geth Prime unit, possible a part of the Darkline Network that we haven’t seen? Some kind of salvaged relic like a defrosted Prothean? Or something that had contact with an Arca Device or whatever it is that’s effected P. and Uressa? I’m terrible at this kind of detective work.
Male? Yes…sort of.
Specialist? Only in murder.
Yahg, Collector, Geth? No.
Prothean? No.
Arca? No.Stop trying to ruin the surprise!
I don’t suppose we’ll get a glimpse of any of this in the revamped Batarian Cerberus File? Or will most of it have to wait til ME4?
Some of it. Certainly in the OOC chapter after the People of Importance the Black Leviathans will be discussed, that’s too much of an infodump for in-story work.
Purge the alien. Kill the heretic. Suffer not the witch to live.
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