Indeed!

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, 17:31 (4239 days ago) @ Malagate

Last time I took a look at it, I don't remember feeling like it was the Traveler in particular. Let's compare notes.

Working from the completed image I see two main mysteries: Who / what is The Speaker, the one who's words we are reading, and who / what is The Subject they are talking about.

For The Speaker I get this:

1. Someone who is able to observe The Subject , either by staying near it, or viewing it from afar.
2. Someone who is able to discern The Subject's intentions, and emotoins. Perhaps by direct observation, or indirectly by picking up broadcasts.
3. Possibly someone who is able to exist for a long time. The events (almost certainly terraforming of planets and moons) seem like they would take a while even given a fantastic level of technology. But that's pure speculation, it could have been quick with all the planetary events happening the same day…
4. It believes that the best voices never allow themselves to be heard.

There just isn't much to go on for The Speaker. It doesn't ever refer to itself, and that's pretty much that.

We have more information about The Subject:
1. It can use its voice to urge, but only a trusted few can understand it, whether by design or not.
2. It wonders what happened to once populated places.
3. It seems to have a past that it doesn't remember / understand, "You draw deep inside, seeking direction, truth… But all you have are the riddles of your own intentions" The Speaker comments about it at one point.
4. It is looking for answers, and wants to tell everyone that it is strong again.
5. It has the power to terraform worlds and the attention to detail necessary to closely watch the process.
6. It is apparently a builder of worlds that leaves when it is done.

In some ways I want to believe The Subject is one entity. But it occurs to me that perhaps The Speaker is speaking to each of the planets in turn (thus my rampant speculation and interpretation):

1. It tells the Moon that it is best to be silent, that it has great influence, but it doesn't anymore
2. It tells Mercury that it used to be a livable world but something destroyed it, something from the past that has come again
3. It tells Venus of its terrafroming, and notes it’s confusion about its past… though the text seems to be speaking to something other than the planet (Venus) that is being described…
4. It talks of the Sun watching reemerging, and wanting to badly to spread the news.
5. It talks of Mars being terraformed, and again seems to speak of the Subject watching from a distance.
6. It talks of Jupiter (or perhaps its many moons?) being pushed into position.
7. It talks of Saturn being moved and its atmosphere boiling away, and it seeing and being seen (by the stars?)

I don’t know. These bits of text are confusing and mysterious and so open to interpretation. I feel confident that there is an unknown Speaker, but what it is speaking of sometimes seems to be of the planets themselves, and sometimes of the Subject who created / terraformed the planets. If anything is The Traveler I’d say it’s the Subject, traveling between planets, looking for answers, and recognizing its past works. But that is of course very tentative and undefinite.

But I also feel excited, and hopeful that this is a coherent and solvable mystery… We may not, probably don't, have all the facts we need yet.