Difference between revisions of "Delver"
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|image=Spensa by cccrystalclear.jpg
|type=Extra-dimensional entities
|abilities=[[Cytonics]], [[nowhere]] travel, and more
|sapient=y
|universe=[[
|books=[[Skyward (series)]]
}}
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The '''delvers''', sometimes called the '''eyes''', are ancient, extra-dimensional beings that live in the [[nowhere]], the space beyond the world utilized by numerous [[cytonic]] abilities.{{book ref|sky1|54}}{{wob ref|12913}}{{book ref|sky2|4}} They can occasionally emerge into the physical space, where they pose major threat to all living beings.{{book ref|sky2|4}}
== Appearance ==
=== In the nowhere ===
Delvers can be seen by cytonics who attempt to use their powers. Initially, they appear as hundreds of pinpricks of light across a vast blackness, which open to reveal small, white eyes that watch the cytonic.{{book ref|sky1|43}} The effect is often compared the the attention of the entire universe suddenly focusing on the cytonic.{{book ref|sky1|40}} The longer one
The appearance of delver eyes is preceded and accompanied by a pleasant sound, akin to a thousand musical notes playing together in harmony. It grows louder the closer one is to seeing them.{{book ref|sky1|1}}{{book ref|sky1|43}}
=== In physical space ===
When sufficiently antagonized by cytonics, delvers can
A fully manifested delver is titanic in scale, enough so to have its own gravitational pull. The one summoned by [[Brade]] is somewhere between a massive moon and a small planet, while the one called
==== Interior ====
The inside of
At the center of the maze lies the heart, protected by an illusory membrane. Unlike the rest of the delver, the area immediately surrounding it has atmosphere breathable to air-using species, like humans or diones. A
The delver mind resides within the heart; while its true shape is uncertain, it seems to take the form of the person who
== Abilities and behavior ==
=== Hatred of cytonics ===
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Delvers are incapable of most emotions; rather, they reflect all that they sense outside.{{book ref|sky2|44}} This being said, they can hear and perceive any intrusion into the [[nowhere]]. It appears to cause them immense pain; as such, they utterly despise cytonics, and grow more hateful the longer one holds their attention.{{book ref|sky2|31}}{{book ref|sky1|48}} Extreme and prolonged
Once delvers leave the nowhere, they can also hear radio communications,
It's heavily implied that delvers do not understand that the noises are caused by living, sapient
=== Tangibility and deadliness ===
Delvers have a strange relationship with tangibility -- while the delver maze has discernible, unpassable walls and floors, the delver itself can seemingly pass through physical matter, allowing it to envelop entire planets.{{book ref|sky2|4}}{{book ref|sky2|43}} However, standard shields, such as ones mounted on starfighters, can stop the delver from passing through,
When a delver does pass through a living being, it causes the latter incredible physical pain. The person affected appears to shrink and fold in on themselves, as though under enormous force, before
=== Cytonic abilities ===
Despite their hatred of [[cytonics]], delvers seem to have at least some of their
* '''Illusions''': much like "mind holograms" used by the [[varvax|Krell]] to deceive human cytonics, delvers can create illusions for people that enter their mazes. The illusions are extremely chaotic, overwhelming and nonsensical; however, each is specific to a particular person. As such, two minds are required to discern them from reality.{{book ref|sky2|43}} Cytonics seem to suffer more from this ability, perceiving powerful emotions and illusions emitted by the delver.{{book ref|sky2|43}}
* '''Sense''': delvers do not possess any discernible eyes; rather, they perceive cytonic and radio signals as sounds.{{book ref|sky2|44}}
* '''Detecting cytonics''':
* '''Teleportation''': delvers are capable of FTL travel while in physical space, and can jump between star systems in an instant.{{book ref|sky2|42}}
Additionally, delvers possess strong telekinetic abilties. They can somehow create and control '''embers''', large rocks akin to asteroids, and shoot them outside of themselves at targets.{{book ref|sky2|43}} Close by, as well as within
=== Direct contact ===
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When a delver and a non-delver
On the other hand, at least within the heart, a cytonic can push their own thoughts onto a delver, bringing their mind down in scale to see from a living beings' perspective. This correlates with increase in empathy in the delver, and sudden ability to feel more
== Safeguards ==
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The danger posed by the delvers has made it necessary to take measures to avoid catching their attention. Such measures were known even to the ancient humans, who proscribed radio silence and shielding all fast processors.{{book ref|sky1|31}}
The chief safeguard, maintained both by the people of [[Detritus]] and by the [[Superiority]], is to abandon all but the most crucial cytonic abilities and technologies, and surrounding inhabited spaces with '''cytoshields''', which clamp down on and limit cytonic activity. Cytonic communications have likewise been abandoned, and radio usage is greatly limited, with cables replacing it where possible.{{book ref|sky2|10}}{{book ref|sky2|11}} Artificial intelligence has
The one cytonic technology still widely in use is FTL travel; to maintain it without delvers coming through, Superiority uses [[taynix]], a non-sapient species of cytonic slugs, as a distraction.{{book ref|sky2|34}} However, in the years since the last delver had vanished, places such as Starsight
== History ==
=== First appearance ===
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The origins of delvers, if there are any, are unknown, though it's likely they've existed in the [[nowhere]] for thousands, if not millions of years.{{book ref|sky1|54}}
The first known appearance of a delver
In total, thirteen delvers emerged into the physical world. They rampaged throughout the galaxy for the next few decades, destroying world after world, before eventually fading away one by one. From then on out, however, they were a constant presence in the [[nowhere]], observing all
=== Second attempt ===
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A century after the Third Human War, the
With rumours of delvers being close to reemergence -- possibly fuelled by Winzik's propaganda --
=== Reemergence ===
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When Superiority arrived over [[Detritus]] for a decisive battle, [[Spensa]] quickly realized that [[Brade]] intended to summon a delver
After the delver emerged, Spensa tried to send it away, to the star system in which she and the other trainees had practiced. While she succeeded at dissuading it from attacking Detritus, the delver instead went to Starsight.{{book ref|sky1|41}} Spensa and her flightmates followed, hoping to take it out before it could kill everyone on the space station.{{book ref|sky2|42}} With assistance from [[Morriumur]], Spensa managed to reach the heart.{{book ref|sky2|43}} There, she communed with the delver and managed to show it that all the annoyances that the delvers despised were living creatures. This seemed to horrify the delver, which quickly returned to the [[nowhere]].{{book ref|sky2|44}}
== Trivia ==
* The name "delver" is mentioned once in ''[[Skyward]]'' before being properly introduced in ''[[Starsight]]''; whenever the delvers are referenced in ''Skyward'', [[Spensa]] uses "the eyes" instead.
* Brandon once began writing a science fiction novella called ''The Eyes'', inspired by [[wikipedia:Fermi paradox|Fermi paradox]], the question of why we can't find any aliens despite the statistical probability of their existence. The story remains unfinished, although a chapter of it was posted as a reward on the [[Writing Excuses]] Patreon page.{{bws ref|state-of-the-sanderson-2016|State of the Sanderson 2016|date=2016-12-19}} Its setting was eventually absorbed into the [[Skyward universe]], with one of its alien races appearing in ''[[Starsight]]''{{wob ref|12197}} Given the title, it's possible that delvers originated from the story.▼
* There is a deliberate similarity between the appearance of the delver heart and the communication chamber from ''[[Defending Elysium]]''.{{wob ref|13427}}
▲* Brandon once began writing a science fiction novella called ''The Eyes'', inspired by the [[wikipedia:Fermi paradox|Fermi paradox]], the question of why we can't find any aliens despite the statistical probability of their existence. The story remains unfinished, although a chapter of it was posted as a reward on the [[Writing Excuses]] Patreon page.{{bws ref|state-of-the-sanderson-2016|State of the Sanderson 2016|date=2016-12-19}} Its setting was eventually absorbed into the [[
* Much like [[Calamity (Epic)|Calamity]] from [[The Reckoners]] series, delvers are extradimensional beings from a dark and quiet place that hate the noises of our world and the people who make them. When asked about this similarity, Brandon said there is a "very, very loose connection" between them and that [[The Apocalypse Guard]] series was originally intended to be a bridge between these things, though he was unsure if that bridge would remain after he finished fixing the first Apocalypse Guard book.{{wob ref|13608}}
== Notes ==
<references />
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{{Skyward}}
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