The Creatures, Objects, &
Mysteries of Xg57H4y
fragmented images from
a long extinct planetary culture
Background
The visual data samples gathered here, along with the fragmentary documents encoded in
printed symbols provided to you as a separate unit, are the only surviving remnants of the long
dead civilization that once flourished on the remote planet Xg57H4y, which seems
interestingly to have been referred to by its inhabitants simply as ”earth." The documents and
images were miraculously retrieved from a space capsule of unknown origin launched during
what appears to have been a period of intense cultural activity.
The printed documents were encoded in Xg57H4y's most widely used symbolic code for data
dissemination, apparently known to its users as ”English," which has already been deciphered
for you in the version available to you. Those documents clearly reflect ideas and practices of
importance to at least some of the creatures living on Xg57H4y; though it is unclear which if
any of the life forms glimpsed in the following visual data were responsible for creating the
documents themselves.
I have made some conjectures based on the available materials, regarding the nature of the
objects in these images; but much work remains to be done. I invite you to join me in
reconstructing, to whatever extent possible based on these images & accompanying
documents, the features of the culture which produced them. You may even wish to
speculate, as I sometimes do, on how this culture might have evolved, and what led to its
eventual demise.
1. Living Creatures
Xg57H4y was evidently inhabited by two types of living creatures:
those primarily covered with hair, and those with smooth outer surfaces
of various types. The hairy creatures, though evidently outnumbered
by smooth-skinner ones, were clearly of superior intelligence and
character.
Smooth-skinner creatures seem mostly to keep their bodies covered, at
least in part, with (often brighly colored) textile fabrics. Though
endowed with more supple and variegated bodies, such creatures were
clearly plagued with deformities and disease, and given to constant
distraction and even mania; many of the documents provided along
with these images seem to reflect their various fascinating pathologies.
With regards to specific parts of the bodies of these creatures, the most
complex and often featured part features seven orifices, ostensibly
allowing for sensory input, though which type of senses and how many
different ones these beings had access to is unclear.
creatures with bodies mostly covered by hair
hairy creatures with
more unusual forms
contortion & intertwining of bodies
aggressive (military?) activities
oddly shaped (diseased?)
creatures
machines linked to bodies
clear capacity for
flight
unidentified object commonly placed close to faces
smoothskinned
creatures
close-up:
facial
deformities
of various
types
multipurpose limbs clearly used for
symbolic communication
<---action
symbols?
vs.
object symbols?
<----->
more complex
forms of
communication
communication involving various instruments
alternative theories argue that longer limbs were also used to
communicate, and perhaps even more important
a hidden orifice (for sensory input or removing waste?)
& symbolic signs placed on other parts of the body.
2. Landscapes,
Structures & Machines
Some of the most striking images in this collection reveal startlingly beautiful
landscapes which seem to have been almost entirely ignored by the manic
smooth-skinned creatures whose features are so thoroughly portrayed in the
images of the preceding section. While it is clear that a few (perhaps widely
famous) smooth-skinned explorers did venture into such realms--hence the
images we have of them--it seems that smooth-skinned creatures as a whole
preferred to remain isolated amongst the structures and machines of their own
making--though note that hairy creatures are commonly shown against the
backgrounds of such realms, once again suggesting their superior intelligence and
character. The only image that directly shows smooth-skinner explorers of
ignored landscapes suggests that even they relied primarily on machines when
venturing into such realms; indeed, a number of other images show mechanical
instruments of unidentified functions placed in landscapes, perhaps to obtain
information about them from a distance. The remainder of the images show
complex structures and machines used for various purposes, though it is difficult
to discern for certain what those purposes were and which which of the planet’s
creatures constructed them.
ignored landscapes
apparent
attempts to
study these
ignored
landscapes
through
mechanical
means
rare and perhaps famous explorers of ignored landscapes
(note here too reliance on mechanical appendages)
glossy structures, perhaps
explicitly designed for
various manic activities
slanted structure with rough surface,
perhaps constructed by hairy creature?
oddly shaped
structure
suggesting
difference in
status,
or perhaps
waste
disposal
most likely towers
of various types
unidentified instruments, perhaps for cross-planetary travel
3. Mysteries
Apart from the uncertain nature of creatures and objects
noted in the previous sections, quite a few of the images of
Xg57H4y present us with questions that are nearly
impossible to answer with any sense of certainty. Once again
I invite you to consider these puzzling data samples, and
perhaps suggest theories to account for their existence.
postures of submission?
smooth-skinned creature immersed in fluid
an odd combination of hairy and smooth-skinned creatures
not exactly
hairy, yet
strikingly
different from
the usual
features of a
smoothskinned
creature
a strangely two
dimensional record of
oddly colored
smooth-skinned
creatures
(perhaps traces of
abject poverty &/or
enslavement?)
the posterior section of an unidentified creature
landscape or living creature?
perhaps a wind
turbine of some
sort?
possibly an orbiting space station?
blueprint for primitive circuitry of some type?
perhaps a further clue re: the unidentified object so
often held