Outside Vellova

Disclaimer: This is an Outside Straylight article. There is exactly as much of a game behind what's described here as there are nations behind what's described in other MicrasWiki articles.

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Vellova is a sanct. Its location on the map varies over the year between a set of anchor locations in Halberd Strait and the Straylight Sea. It's an origin option for Academic characters, giving a simple buff of 2 x Scholarship.

Sanct description

Towers of whale ivory and disdain.

(characters from here get "Towers of whale ivory and deadlines." as the description instead)

Locations

Lecture Halls

The public lectures are only for advertisement, but they're still meant to convince just the right people.

Action	Requirements	Effects	Notes
Audit a lecture. Any lecture.	Not Vellova: That's all they had for now	Always: Gain 1 x Vellova: That's all they had for now for a week. Quanta and Quarks You learn words that might be useful one day, if you come up with the right order to put them in. Gain 1 x Incomprehensible story. Goods and Services You learn how the sanct's owners make money from it. They consider it a matter of principle to be honest about this, it turns out. You, however, gain nothing from it. Robots and Cyborgs You learn about the creation of a different sort of life. Gain 1 x Gensym: They're Not Made Of Meat. Something about dolphins...? You learn absolutely nothing comprehensible. Gain 1 x Vellova: Impressed by Professor Orchiid.

Academic Office

Cubicles and copiers.

Action	Requirements	Effects	Notes
Correct Wynan's grades	Wynan: Not Back To School Either: Quality: Archivist, or: 1 x Wynan: Insights from a Night Out (always consumed)	(success) Manipulations Not too much better. Just what would have been right in the first place, and what nobody will be too surprised by. Gain 1 x Wynan: Corrected the Record. (failure) Gesticulations You try to explain to the guard what you're doing there. She doesn't agree. Gain 1 x Disgrace.	You can try again the next night if you fail. They don't really have a police force here.

Micras Coincidence Control Office

Men with astonishing beards.

Action	Requirements	Effects	Notes
Break in and see what they have		(success) A small haul After a fruitless search, you look in the office fridge, and hey, at least there's something there. Gain 2 x Ketamine vial. (failure) A small foul Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Nobody saw your face. Probably.
Meet Professor Orchiid	Vellova: Impressed by Professor Orchiid	They're only rumors The Professor understands that you understand that not everything you hear about the MCCO is true. Important work is done here. Vitally important.	Grants access to most MCCO interactions.
Take a very relaxed dip	Must not have any of: Quality: Claustrophobia, or: Quality: Nyctophobia. Must have delivered Cerebrated Dolphins to Orchiid.	(success?) Different Minds Even in the tank, you somehow hear the dolphins conversing below you, but they don't make sense, nothing makes sense. Gain 1 x Improbable Insight. (failure?) In the K-hole You come out of the isolation tank refreshed, if slightly astonished about how easily you forgot that a body is a thing that you have. You are sure the experience will change you forever, which it doesn't. Lose 1 x Stress.	Can be taken once a month. Orchiid will tell you he's worried about ketamine dependence if you try to retry sooner.
Trip with the Professor	2 x LSD Dose (consumed)	Tangents and delusions It's all so funny. Afterward, you don't remember why it was all so funny. Gain 1 x Incomprehensible Story.
Deliver cerebrated dolphins	Cargo: Alphon's Dolphins (consumed)	Logistics It takes a great intelligence to come up with the idea of putting dolphins in a tank in a city on the sea in the first place.
Take the Professor's frazzled but otherwise good brain	Quest: SYNAS's Collection	A new state of intelligence Orchiid agrees to the place and time, and you are ready. SYNAS's device quietly and efficiently vitrifies his head, while the sea will take the body. He will find what he was looking for, in the end. Gain 1 x Delivery to SYNAS: The last Gentleman-Scientist.	Without Orchiid, the MCCO is closed and the dolphins, if they've been delivered, will be released to the wild. Might be an option worth taking if you don't like putting innocent sentient beings in what's a very small box for them.