Elf Blood

Let us delve into the realms of future imagination for today’s post!

As I put the finishing touches on today’s page, I also completed watching the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode ‘The Chase’. In this episode, Picard’s old archaeology teacher shows up with a mysterios artifact in tow. Picard must race against other interested parties to unravel the secrets of an ancient, long-gone race.

Now, I don’t think it comes up very often in this little bloggy bit, but I am a HUGE alien nut. Have been since I was a little kid. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, and if you’re going to tell me you’ve had an encounter, I’m going to demand scads of evidence. But, by and large, I do believe in the existence of extraterrestrial beings. Over the years, my interest in all things alien has transmuted itself from simple interest in the chill of close encounters to the more sophic pursuit of cultures other than our own. To this end, I find a lot of joy in many science-fiction works. As much as Prometheus has its flaws, I got incredibly excited over the idea of ancient alien ruins, and must admit to sharing some of the characters’ wonder as they tried to figure out what purpose the facility served. Even in the Star Trek episode, which did not get into ancient alien architecture, was fascinating. The idea that some advanced race may have had a hand in not only our species’ development but that of countless others in the local area (cosmically speaking) is nothing short of exhilarating, if a little frightening.

I was having a brief discussion with my good friend Bob as I was watching this episode, which led to me asking a question; Which would be the more exciting find? A living, breathing alien civilisation? Or their remains?

For me, personally, I think I would be more excited to find the remains of an alien civilisation. My reasoning is, however, entirely selfish. Trying to figure out the story of a long-vanished species through the study of their artifacts, ruins, and maybe even their bodies has a wonderful veil of mystery over it. It in itself would be a story of hard-won knowledge, of a puzzle solved through the cooperation of hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of dedicated scholars. I feel that humanity would achieve a much greater degree of satisfaction as a species out of this.

If we were to encounter a living, breathing civilisation, I would of course be very excited. However, there are practical considerations to be made. Politics and diplomacy would be difficult, and possibly dangerous. We would have to be wary of their intent, and they in turn would certainly have to keep an eye on us. Perhaps we would have much to learn from them in terms of technology, but would could we offer them in return? Would they even have concepts for trade and generosity?

I suppose the main difference between the fields of Xenoarchaeology and Xenoanthropology (Xenology?) is, to me at least, mostly a question of complexity. Xenoarchaeology is straightforward and simple, wherein the pieces of the puzzle are set out for us to study at our leisure, and there are no major consequences for us if we make incorrect assumptions. Xenology is fraught with potential danger, but may yield so much more in terms of learning we can apply to our own species’ development. It is the high-risk high-reward route, wherein we may be gambling with not only the prosperity of our own civilisation but also that of one or more others.

Sounds like too much pressure, if you ask me! 😛

Anyway, thus concludes my musings on Xenoarchaeology and Xenology. I’d just like to remind you that I’m still looking for fanart to help me out during my move later on in June! I’ve received a couple of pages so far, and they tell a nice story, so I’m looking forward to sharing that with you 😀 Said contributor, and anyone else whose work is used, will be published and publicised on the site, and will also receive a signed sketch of the character of their choice as thanks for their awesome work!

All you need to do is to send in your Elf Blood fanart to:
awaned.official@gmail.com

I’ll be accepting awesomeness until the end of May! 😀

Cheerio for now!

M.