Meanwhile, Hilda was thinking on Asherrra's words – the words themselves, that was, not merely their meaning. She was a poet, a skald, and drawing links between words was her art. '"Et"? Did you say "et"?' she began, catching on the earlier statement and suddenly intrigued. 'In my tongue, we call them ettins. This means... glutton, devourer, eater.' Hilda explained. She was rather more eloquent in a tongue she was more practised with – in this case, the tongue of her enemy and the subject of her argument, Goa'uld, the only one she had in common with Asherrra. 'It is from a kenning, a metaphorical word-play in our poetry. The Goa'uld serpent is found in the neck or belly, so they are called "eaters of serpents". And all they do is consume, so again they are devourers.' She looked around the group to see if they understood her meaning. 'Perhaps this is why you know them as eaters?'

'The Jaffa are their warriors, the ones with power-sticks.'


OOC: It looks like we can only speak Goa'uld with Asherrra, so if anyone doesn't know it, I guess Hilda's translating.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ettin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6tunn#Etymology
This message was last edited by the player at 07:41, Sat 14 May 2016.

  OOC: Freyda can speak Goa'uld

"We do not have great technical skills," Asherrra replies after Hilda translates the various comments and questions, "but we have extensive knowledge."

"We do not know how we are poisonous to the Goa'uld, other than that we were made that way by the Alterans. It is encoded into our genetics."

"Perhaps figuratively is what I meant, though in the case of the Goa'uld, the distinction is hard to make. Perhaps also 'parasite' is what they are, but, again, that is not a distinction we are able to make."

"We do not know of these Jaffa of which you speak. We did see a few with our skybird.
It is the Varana that we have always seen before now."

"How are you different from the Jaffa? You look like them."

Hilda scowled darkly at the idea they looked like Jaffa. 'We do not wear their armour, we do not serve the Goa'uld, we do not have their signs on our brows. We do not have snakes in our bellies.'

In reply to Hilda (msg # 753):

OOC: Yep, Kaspar, too, speaks Goa'uld...with an accent ^_^

Kaspar casts a quick glance aside at Hilda, and with a small frown, adds, "But, with the exceptions of a few biological modifications made to them by the Goa'uld, yes - the Jaffa and us are the same race. That is one of many reasons that we are...in conflict...with the Goa'uld."

"But these Varana that you speak of, you have seen them in the service of the Goa'uld? Are they basically shaped like us, but reptilian in nature? We saw such creatures in the service of a Goa'uld, just yesterday."

OOC: Can we show the Asherra images from the MALP or drone of the reptilian Goa'uld entering the ship and the jaffa?

All the SGC teams have some sort of recording device to gather images. Mostly these are just digital cameras, but sometimes they permit cellphones. The techs are still debating whether a cellphone could be deconstructed to learn the technology and whether that technology could be developed into a weapon... or otherwise corrupt a less advanced species.

Cameras are preferred because the memory chip is easy to remove.

In any case, at least Freyda and Vasandra have similar type devices, and Gavin was issued an SGC camera.

So you can display images to Asherrra.

  The Asgard removed her computer from the brackets on the hoverchair and walked over to Ashterra. She pulled up the images from the MALP on her computer screen and showed the scene of the reptilian Goa'uld entering, and asked. "Is this the Verana you speak of, the reptilian species here? They are a new species to us and none of our species have seen them before, but we are from a much greater distance from this section of the galaxy. They ship we entered was abandoned because of some type of slime like creature that attacked the crew, and consumed everything but their bones and metallic equipment. Are you familiar with a creature like this?"

"Yes, those are the Varana... Evil Ones," Asherrra confirmed. "The Goa'uld could not use any of the native species out here for their slaves because the Alterans made us all poisonous to them. So the Goa'uld created the Evil Ones."

"They do not have souls. That was beyond the Goa'uld's ability, though I doubt if they would have given a soul to the Evil Ones even if they could."

"In any case, you are safe here in the first city. The Goa'uld cannot get past our defenses."

"In order to return to your home, though, you will have to go through the Astria Porta again, will you not?"

"Slime? I do not know of this."

  Freyda nodded and responded, and then began a list of questions she had been wondering about. "Yes, we will have to return through the Astria portal. We were outnumbered and taken by surprise by their appearance on the ship. We are trying to figure out a way to safely return to our home base, and would be grateful for any help you could provide. The ship was drained of naquadah, which is a common source of power in our part of the galaxy. We found traces of this material in the forest area near where the ship crashed. Are you familiar with Naquadah? Did you monitor a conflict in the space near this planet? Can you monitor anything beyond the planet surface?"

OOC: After receiving answers to the above questions, she will continue to ask questions..

  The Asgard wasn't too surprised at the lack of knowledge about the slime creatures, but was hoping for more answers to that mystery. She pulled up the scans of the slime and showed it to their host, hoping that they might find some information in their data banks. "This is the scans we picked up from both the ship and another smaller version we found in the forest on the way to your city. We are not sure if it is a native species or if they boarded the ship and were brought here. They are slow but seem to consume anything organic. Although the small one in the forest didn't seem to destroy the organic material around it, but my scans shows it is the same type of organism."

Asherrra does not appear to be concerned about Freyda's questions, but answers them with candor.

"I am not sure how we might be able to assist you. I will have to pass that along to Mrrrowl," she replies.

"This planet does have naquadah deposits. It is why the Goa'uld come here."

"We do not have any means to monitor the space beyond this planet. Even our ability to monitor this planet is limited. We can only do so with the sky-birds."

"This 'slime' you mention... we know it as a macro-mold. It is one of three on the planet that grow large. No, it does not feed on most plant life because of the presence of sulfur in the flora."

"As far as we know, it is native to this planet. It has been here ever since we were uplifted. I do not know if it occurs on any other planets. We are not explorers, but recent discussions have proposed that change."

Hilda walked along with the others, listening carefully to the information Asherrra shared, but having little to add herself right now. She concentrated mostly on translating Goa'uld to English and English to Goa'uld for those who required it. The Goa'uld might have forced her to learn their tongue so she could build their pyramids, and she resented them for it as with many of their crimes, but this was at least a useful skill in the galaxy.

The revelation that the slime-beast was but a common animal on this world satisfied her somewhat. It wasn't, it seemed, a draugr after all.

She caught on something Asherrra had said earlier, and asked 'What defences do you have, that the Goa'ud cannot penetrate? Your sky-birds are clever, but I do not think they are enough.'
This message was last edited by the player at 07:22, Fri 27 May 2016.

"The Alterans left behind a defense," Asherrra answers Hilda. "I cannot tell you more about it because I have never seen it in operation."

"The Alterans believed that the Goa'uld would be angry that they could not eat us, and in their anger would destroy that which they could not have. Thus the defense."

"The Goa'uld learned long ago that the price for attacking us was too high for them to pay. They have long memories, and so do not make that mistake again."

"We have no need for the naquadah, so as long as they leave us alone, they are welcome to it. In any case, we have no way of stopping them from mining it or taking it off the planet."

This Alteran defence was probably like the Hammer of Thor, Hilda mused, a great big device that harmed the ettins, that was a mystery to those who lived around it. Hilda hoped it still worked. 'What made the ha'tak come down over there? Did it land or did it crash? Was is it the weapon?' she asked, gesturing back to where the pyramid stood in the forest.

"We saw it descend," Asherrra replies. "It did not look like it was completely under control. But, no, our defenses had nothing to do with that."

"What will you do now?"

In reply to Asherrra (msg # 764):

"We should probably wait and discuss our actions pertaining to the Goa'uld until we meet with your leaders." Kaspar responded, "We wouldn't want to suggest any actions that might upset your people. This is your world, after all, and we are just guests, here."

Kaspar paused for a moment, when another thought occurred to him,

"Asherrra..." Kaspar said, rolling the r's like any good Scotsman -- and still hoping he'd gotten it right, "...you've mentioned the Goa'uld, and their Lizard Jaffa, and of course the Alterans, but do your people have knowledge of any other Races in this part of the Galaxy? Do you have any contact or communication with them?"

Gavin listened to the conversation with interest, but had nothing to add to it. He was impressed with Kaspar's latest question, though. He would not have thought the man capable of thinking of that. Not that he wasn't a capable leader; just that his strengths seemed to lie in other areas.

Gavin pretty much guessed what Asherrra's answer would be. They already knew that these First Ones didn't have interstellar travel, and since they'd buried their stargate... what? centuries? ago, they would have had no contact with other species.

And yet, in order to be the First, they had to know that there were others that came after them.

"Our archives tell of the others that came after us, but we have no first-hand knowledge of them," Asherrra replied.

"None of us here now were alive when the Goa'uld attacked."

"The archives speak of all species being Uplifted and made poisonous to the Goa'uld, though only a few were mentioned. The Dolphins, the Canines, the Ursine, the Avians, and the Otters. We know nothing of what has happened to them over the millennia, though we have been curious about the Dolphins."

'So, it was infested by these macro-molds after it landed.' Hilda had noted, but she couldn't remember the significance of events on the ha'tak, it had been so long ago.

She shuddered to think of all these animals made into people. It seemed unnatural somehow, or the work of the gods. She'd slain bear, eaten cow – how would it be to meet an Uplifted one, walking and talking and seeking vengeance? She had a strange enough urge to ruffle Asherrra's fur as it was. She glanced to Freyda to see the goddess's reaction to this. 'And you were the First of these?' she quizzed Asherrra.

In reply to Hilda (msg # 768):

Kaspar surreptitiously signals to both Gavin and Vasandra to slow down with him and fall a few steps behind their guide, while Hilda is talking with her.

"Did you just hear the same thing that I think I just heard?" Kaspar quietly asks the two - scientist and space pilot.

"If I understood what Asherra said, then this planets defense system allowed an unpowered ha'tak to crash land without making any effort to stop it! Could that be a hole in their defenses? Could the defenses be programmed to only attack naquadah-powered vessels, on the assumption that they are Goa'uld?"

"Except for their unlucky encounter with the flesh-eating slime, that ha'tak had enough troops, and a Stargate, which would have been sufficient to create a bridgehead here on the planet. I would also point out that not only did that ship survive a supposed 'crash' landing surprisingly intact, but we also didn't find any deathgliders in the hangar bay. I'm thinking that that ship was outfitted to drop down on this planet without power, secure a landing site, then wait for reinforcements to come through the Stargate - probably bringing a re-supply of naquadha and any repair parts the ship might need."

"But I'm not well versed on Goa'uld tech, or even the unpowered flight capabilities of that kind of ship. So I ask you two, could that ship have been intentionally crashed down here, in order to slip past the defenses?"

"It sounds like the defense is only activated if the city is attacked," Vasandra replies. "The Goa'uld come here and mine the naquadah, and the defense has never stopped them."

"I do not see any reason for such a subterfuge as faking a crash landing. It does seem possible, though, that the ha'tak might have been bringing the stargate here. They may not know what happened to this planet's original stargate... assuming that any Goa'uld survived that first attack."

"I do not believe the ha'tak had any hangar bays. We never searched the whole ship."

Kaspar grimaces at the reminder, "That's right! She did say the Goa'uld come here, occasionally, to mine. That slipped my mind."



"Really?" Kaspar says, turning his gaze to momentarily glare at the back of the head of the young Army Ranger walking near Hilda, "I could have sworn that I instructed somebody to look for them, as we were making our way up the ship. Ah, well. I'm an old man; I get forgetful."

Kaspar gives a shrug and a heavy sigh, "Harrumph!. I guess I got worried over nothing. Though I still find it a little odd that, after a long time of just coming here, taking what they want, and leaving - and only being attacked if they should bother the locals - some upstart Goa'uld Lord has chosen now as the time to come here with a 'Gate and set up some kind of base. Just a little while before we show up."

"And remember that Goa'uld with the Gator-Jaffa? They acted like they didn't know what to expect, when they came through the 'Gate. They were on a reconnaissance, not arriving as reinforcements. They were unaware of what had happened to the crew and their master."

In reply to Kaspar Radoslaw Gorski (msg # 771):

"So, Asherrra," Kaspar calls up to the being the team is following, "When shall we meet with your leaders?"

"The Elders are presently communing," Asherrra replies to Kaspar. "They will be available in a half cycle."

"What will you do while you wait? Do you wish to rest? To eat? To see the city?"

It did not seem highsun yet, and what did pussy-cat people even eat? Would they serve up a platter of dead mice and a bowl of milk? Hilda looked to the others and offered 'I would see the city.' There had to be something to see, to marvel at.