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Ancient-Ruins-SLF

Ancient Ruins overview

For the second type of Guardian ruins discovered in February 3304, see Guardian Structure.

The Ancient Ruins are the remains of a species-wide, interstellar, faster than light communications network. It was built by the alien species known as the Guardians millions of years ago.[1]

The first Ancient Ruins site was discovered on October 27, 3302 by CMDR XDeath in the Synuefe XR-H d11-102 system.[2][3] Since January 3303, many additional sites have been located in other systems.

Description[]

Ancient Ruins sites have so far been found to have three main topographical configurations, each of which has multiple minor variations in how alien structures like obelisks are arranged.

  • Alpha layouts - 4 identified variants. All Alpha-type sites have the first third of Guardian data entries.
  • Beta layouts - 5 identified variants. All Beta-type sites have the second third of Guardian data entries.
  • Gamma layouts - 3 identified variants. All Gamma-type sites have the final third of Guardian data entries.

Data and Salvage[]

Guardian-Ancient-Artifacts

Guardian Ancient Artifacts

Ancient Artifact Cairns[]

Cairns consist of dark rocks surrounding an ancient artifact on a patch of ground that glows when approached in an SRV. They are detectable on the SRV wave scanner. The artifacts may be collected using the cargo scoop of an SRV or ship. (Destroying the surrounding rocks by shooting them may help.)

Ancient Ruins Artifacts

Ancient Ruin Artifacts

There are 6 types of artifacts in the cairns: Ancient Orbs, Tablets, Totems, Relics, Urns, and Caskets. Each can be scanned but this appears to have no effect. Artifacts can be sold at a market and their prices can be seen on the cargo screen of the right-side panel.

Object Image
Ancient Casket Guardian-Ancient-Casket
Ancient Orb Guardian-Ancient-Orb
Ancient Tablet Guardian-Ancient-Tablet
Ancient Totem Guardian-Ancient-Totem
Ancient Urn Guardian-Ancient-Urn
Guardian Relic Ancient-Ruins-Relic

Relic Towers[]

Guardian Relic Towers are tall structures that emerge from the ground when an SRV approaches. They can be scanned with the Short Range Composition Scanner, and unconfirmed sites that are scanned will be added to the Codex. At the top of each tower is a glowing moving Guardian Relic surrounded by three pillars. The relic can be collected by shooting the pillars. Relics can be scanned but this appears to have no effect. Relics can be sold at a market and the price can be seen on the cargo screen of the right-side panel.

Obelisk Groups[]

2016-10-29 SRV Next to Oblisk

Ancient Obelisk

Obelisks are triangular prism structures grouped together in various formations such as rows, chevrons, triangles, and rectangles, bounded by ornate markings on the ground. Typically at least one obelisk within each group will glow and emit sound when approached in an SRV, and an animated pattern of symbols appears on the glowing face. This can be targeted and scanned to acquire encrypted data packages in various patterns: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Obelisks deactivate after scanning (until next game login).

Guardians Data Decryption[]

When equipped with Ram Tah's decryption program (see History below) and holding the correct combination of artifacts(s) within the SRV cargo hold while scanning an obelisk, the data packages can be decrypted to reveal information about the Guardians' biology, history, culture, language, and technology. There are 101 data packges available, however only a limited number are available at any given ruins site. Multiple ruins sites must be visited to obtain all of the data packages.

Each obelisk is programmed with only 1 unique data package. The correlation between the ancient artifacts and Guardian information is as follows:

Guardian Information Ancient Artifact* Data Packages Available
Biology Urn 19
Culture Totem 20
History Casket 21
Language Tablet 21
Technology Orb 20

* This is the base artifact that decrypts the data. This artifact must be in the SRV cargo hold either alone or with another ancient artifact/relic in the correct combination for that specific obelisk.

Example: the correct combination to decrypt data from a biology obelisk is one of the following 7 possible combinations: Urn alone, Urn+Urn, Urn+Totem, Urn+Casket, Urn+Tablet, Urn+Orb, or Urn+Relic.

Notes for Ram Tah's mission "Decoding The Ancient Ruins":

  • Players do not need to unlock the engineer Ram Tah. Any ship docking in the Meene system will automatically receive the mission upon arrival. They will receive an inbox message from Ram Tah and the mission automatically appears on the Transactions tab of the left side panel.
  • The mission pays 1 million credits for each data item decrypted. Progress can be checked on the left side panel Transactions tab. If all data items are collected, there is an additional bonus of 10 million credits (total reward of 111 million credits).
  • The player has 28 days to gather data and return them to Felice Dock in Meene.
  • If the scan combination is correct a message will be received from Ram Tah with the contents of the data. (Note: sometimes the messages are delayed, and appear later after other scans.) If the combination is incorrect, a message from Ram Tah will indicate this. If one of the objects is correct but the combination is not, no message is received (hint).

History[]

Ancient Ruins SRV

Decryption[]

Beginning with the 2.2.03 update on January 10, 3303, Engineer Ram Tah provided a free decryption program to all ships that docked at any station in the Meene system, which allowed them to decrypt the data found at the ruins.[4] The program was only usable for 28 days after receipt, as the Guardians' technology had the ability to adapt to the decryption. Investigation of the ruins using the program in conjunction with specific combinations of salvage items revealed significant details about the history and culture of the Guardians. As only 36 of 100 possible data entries could be decrypted at the initial site, it was believed that the remaining entries were at other, undiscovered sites.

Additional Sites[]

On January 24, 3303, Ram Tah announced that analysis of additional data provided by the galactic community[5] had allowed him to detect additional Guardian ruin sites. Although unable to discern their exact locations, he narrowed down the possible locations to four systems: Synuefe ZL-J d10-119, Synuefe XO-P c22-17, IC 2391 Sector ZE-A d101, and IC 2391 Sector GW-V b2-4.[6] All four sites were located by February 3, 3303.

The Melville Expedition[]

On February 10, 3303, personal logs surfaced from a member of an expedition to locate the Guardians' origin world led by a Professor Melville. Melville was an authority on xeno-biology who had disappeared several months earlier. Theorizing that the Guardians had once occupied a volume of space roughly equivalent to the human bubble before being forced to migrate, and that at least hundreds of ruins sites existed, Melville gathered a cadre of supporters to attempt to find these ruins. According to the logs, the expedition discovered clusters of three ruins sites in each of three systems: Synuefe LY-I b42-2, Synuefe NL-N c23-4, and Synuefe TP-F b44-0. As of February 8, in the logs' final entry, Professor Melville had seized control of the expedition ship and cut off all communication to the rest of the galaxy.[7]

Following the news of the Melville Expedition's finds, the pace of new site discoveries rapidly increased as CMDRs began searching along the ship's path. Systems, and even planets, that held multiple sites were identified, lending credence to Professor Melville's theory that ruin density would increase closer to the center of Guardian civilization.

Locating The Cete[]

The Cete

The Cete

On June 23, 3303, CMDR Synjorai located Professor Melville's ship, a Megaship called The Cete, orbiting planet A 3 in Col 173 Sector LJ-F c12-0, a system that contained at least five ruin sites. The ship's logs, dated between January 13 and February 18, contain much of the same information revealed in the earlier transmission concerning Melville's theories on the Guardians, and also reveal why the ship never returned.[8]

Apparently, Melville's crew became concerned that Melville had gone insane and would not allow The Cete to return home, and decided to abandon him. Melville was to be left in the drive-less lab portion of the ship with several years' worth of supplies, while the crew departed in the detachable drive ship. However, Melville learned of this plan, shot one of his assistants, and sealed off the drive ship, trapping them all. The final log indicates that The Cete's atmospheric processors were deactivated long enough for the ship's oxygen supply to be completely depleted. Professor Melville and the crew presumably died of asphyxiation.[8]

Ram Tah's Scanner Breakthrough[]

On February 13, 3303, Ram Tah announced that he had made a significant breakthrough in how to detect Ancient Ruins sites. Using a signal isolated from the Guardians' monolith network, Ram Tah made it possible for all ship scanners to identify sites within a range of 1,000 light seconds, greatly reducing the time and difficulty involved in the location process.[9]

Nebula Sites[]

Over the next several months, more Ancient Ruins were discovered across the galaxy in isolated clusters. These clusters were smaller and found in distant nebulae thousands of light-years away from the region where the first sites were found. Significantly, these sites were also found in proximity to Brain Trees, implying they may be connected to the Guardians.

Locations[]

A list of Ancient Ruins sites is maintained by the Canonn Interstellar Research Group here, and a 3D map of all systems with Ancient Ruins can be found here.

Primary zone[]

This is the first region where Ancient Ruins were discovered, and contains 113 sites. Listed below are the first 14 sites identified by CMDRs prior to Ram Tah's scanner upgrade, and the first 3 sites identified by Ram Tah's molecular analysis of Guardian objects. It is believed that this area, located to the east of Sol and the Core Systems, encompasses the Guardians' main territories and possibly their homeworld.

System Planet Surface Coordinates Site Layout Notes
Synuefe XR-H d11-102 1 b -31.806, -128.937 Beta 1 1st Ancient Ruins site discovered on Oct. 27, 3302 by CMDR XDeath. 239.72LY from Meene.
IC 2391 Sector GW-V b2-4 B 1 -29.10, -30.51 Beta 1 2nd site discovered on Jan. 29, 3303 by CMDR Zorbaq.[10] 472.84LY from Meene.
IC 2391 Sector ZE-A d101 C 3 29.42, -59.54 Alpha 1 3rd site discovered on Jan. 30, 3303 by CMDR Khenistry.[11] 413.09LY from Meene.
Synuefe XO-P c22-17 C 1 19.534, -141.787 Beta 1 4th site discovered on Feb. 2, 3303 by CMDR Clanga and CMDR Zwei34.[12] 428.13LY from Meene.
Synuefe ZL-J d10-119 9 b -23.382, 178.909 Alpha 1 5th site discovered on Feb. 3, 3303 by CMDR Artyomska.[13] 717.76LY from Meene.
Col 173 Sector KY-Q d5-47 8 c 16.270, 18.128 Beta 2 6th site discovered on Feb. 7, 3303 by CMDR Madwax, CMDR mGtRd, and CMDR Noodlz.[14] 938.04LY from Meene.
Col 173 Sector KY-Q d5-47 8 c 46.07, -171.33 Alpha 2 7th site discovered on Feb. 8, 3303 by CMDR Madwax, CMDR mGtRd, and CMDR Noodlz.[14] 938.04LY from Meene.
HIP 39768 A 14 f 7.09, 170.20 Beta 1 8th site discovered on Feb. 11, 3303 by CMDR Zorbaq.[15] 750LY from Meene.
Synuefe TP-F b44-0 CD 1 59.33, 15.10 Gamma 1 9th site discovered on Feb. 11, 3303 by CMDR Robbie Junior and CMDR Clanga.[16] 733.87LY from Meene.
Synuefe TP-F b44-0 CD 1 30.97, -100.16 Beta 3 10th site discovered on Feb. 12, 3303 by CMDR Madwax and CMDR mGtRd.[17] 733.87LY from Meene.
Synuefe TP-F b44-0 CD 1 30.97, -100.16 Alpha 1 11th site discovered on Feb. 12, 3303 by CMDR Madwax and CMDR mGtRd.[17] 733.87LY from Meene.
Col 173 Sector KY-Q d5-47 9 a -15.08, -102.99 Alpha 3 12th site discovered on Feb. 12, 3303 by CMDR Zorbaq.[18] 938.04LY from Meene.
Synuefe NL-N c23-4 B 3 -30.54, -24.20 Alpha 4 13th site discovered February 13, 3303 by CMDR Khenistry.[19] 745.35LY from Meene.
Col 173 Sector KY-Q d5-47 9 a -37.525, 84.250 Gamma 2 14th site discovered February 13, 3303 by CMDR Madwax and CMDR mGtRd.[20] 938.04LY from Meene.
IC 2391 Sector YE-A d103 B 1 -54.5617, 25.1067 15th site discovered October 24, 3304 by CMDR YourGentDerk 337 LY from Meene.
Synuefe AH-J D10-83 C 1 43.6525, 174.2177 16th site discovered December 23, 3304 by CMDR HoroX 633.26 LY from Meene

Secondary zones[]

Blaa Hypai sector[]

System Planet Surface Coordinates Site Layout Notes
Blaa Hypai EU-D c13-0 B 4 -0.3624, 130.5764
Blaa Hypai LZ-F b27-0
Blaa Hypai OZ-O d6-16 4 c 16.4817, 123.4503
Blaa Hypai XR-I b26-0

Blae Eork/Eta Carina sector[]

System Planet Surface Coordinates Site Layout Notes
2MASS J10444160-5947046 1 b -28.5223, -156.7385 Alpha
2MASS J10444160-5947046 1 b 23.9612, -82.1337 Gamma
Blae Eork IF-G c27-13
Blae Eork QU-D d13-3 3 11.8410, -56.0411 CMDR Casimir von Dierks
Blae Eork RU-D d13-17
Blae Eork RU-D d13-20
Blae Eork UL-J b56-1
Eta Carina Sector EL-Y d16
Eta Carina Sector IM-V c2-4

Eorl Auwsy sector[]

System Planet Surface Coordinates Site Layout Notes
Eorl Auwsy SY-Z d13-3468
Eorl Auwsy SY-Z d13-3861
Eorl Auwsy YF-Y b56-16

NGC 3199 sector[]

System Planet Surface Coordinates Site Layout Notes
NGC 3199 Sector BV-Y c2
NGC 3199 Sector DL-Y d12
NGC 3199 Sector IM-V c2-5
NGC 3199 Sector MC-V c2-8

Prai Hypoo sector[]

System Planet Surface Coordinates Site Layout Notes
Prai Hypoo GF-E c10 B 4 -27.281, 31.641 Discovered by Baton.[21]
Prai Hypoo GF-E c10 B 4 -31.1279, -124.0304 Discovered by Baton.[21]
Prai Hypoo GF-E c10 B 4 -23.7853, -110.4353 Discovered by Baton.[21]
Prai Hypoo QC-C d31 2 a -39.7614, 147.8094 Discovered by Baton.[21]
Prai Hypoo QC-C d31 2 a -42.2723, -149.5279 Discovered by Baton.[21]
Prai Hypoo WD-A d1-6 10 a -42.5870, -22.5244 Beta Discovered by CMDR Awan.[22]
Prai Hypoo WD-A d1-6 10 a 36.6468, -86.1073 Alpha Discovered by CMDR Awan.[22]
Prai Hypoo WD-A d1-6 10 a -37.5488, -86.1685 Alpha Discovered by CMDR Awan.[22]

Prua Phoe/Skaudai sector[]

System Planet Surface Coordinates Site Layout Notes
Prua Phoe US-B d86 C 2 3 Ancient Ruins
Prua Phoe US-B d86 C 3 2 Ancient Ruins
Prua Phoe TS-B d252 D 1 -38.0001, 56.6375 Beta
Prua Phoe TS-B d252 D 1 -31.7542, 48.6742 Beta
Prua Phoe TS-B d252 D 1 35.2218, 39.5785 Gamma
Prua Phoe XY-Z d42 7 a 3 Ancient Ruins
Prua Phoe XY-Z d42 8 a 2 Ancient Ruins
Prua Phoe XY-Z d114 4 d
Prua Phoe XY-Z d114 4 f 3 Ancient Ruins
Skaudai AM-B d14-138 AB 7 a -35.8122, 10.4804 Beta [1]
Skaudai AM-B d14-138 AB 7 a -49.6706, -69.6161 Gamma [2]
Skaudai AM-B d14-138 AB 7 a -37.8226, 10.4979 Gamma [3]

Trapezium sector[]

System Planet Surface Coordinates Site Layout Notes
Trapezium Sector YU-X c1-2 1 a 1 Ancient Ruins, related to the Proteus expedition

Notes[]

  • With the release of the 2.2.03 update on January 10, 2017, in addition to the activation of Ram Tah's archaeology mission, the layout of the first Ancient Ruins site was also slightly changed.
  • The GalNet article for the Ram Tah mission was originally released in error on December 9, 3302 during the beta period for the 2.2.03 update, and so was removed. When 2.2.03 was released the GalNet article was not republished, also in error.[23]
  • The original bonus payout for collecting all 101 data items for the Ram Tah mission was 100 million credits. It was reduced to 10 million credits in July 2017.[24]

Gallery[]

Pre-2.2.03[]

Post-2.2.03[]

References[]

  1. Canonn Research: Guardians Data – Technology
  2. reddit: Cmdr xdeath found the monolith!
  3. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn
  4. GalNet: Galactic News: Ram Tah Breaks his Silence
  5. GalNet: Galactic News: Data Appeal Concludes
  6. GalNet: Galactic News: Ram Tah Discovers New Sites
  7. GalNet: Galactic News: Intriguing Expedition Record Surfaces
  8. 8.0 8.1 Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 10 - The Canonn, post #1,460
  9. GalNet: Galactic News: Ram Tah Makes Breakthrough
  10. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #21,086
  11. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #21,942
  12. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #23,843
  13. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #24,199
  14. 14.0 14.1 Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #26,044
  15. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #26,238
  16. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #26,488
  17. 17.0 17.1 Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #26,752
  18. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #26,798
  19. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #26,923
  20. Frontier Forums: Alien archeology and other mysteries: Thread 9 - The Canonn, post #26,924
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 Frontier Forums: Guardians Discussions, post #129
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 imgur: New Guardian Ruins in the Prai Hypoo Nebula!
  23. Frontier Forums: Deleted Galnet article for Ram Tah mission?, post #8
  24. Frontier Forums: Changes to Ram Tah Mission Bonus Rewards

External links[]

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