Concept art: the rise of trigg
Written by J.L. Lockwood
09/06/2026
The Occulan Archives dives deeper into the artifacts, histories, and recovered writings from across the Aeturnus Continuum. Here we have Conceptual designs for the next short story: “The Rise of Trigg,” a part of the upcoming collection: “Strange Tales of the Aeturnus Continuum”
Fig 2. Nimjian technology/architecture
Nimjian Vesselforms vary by function, encompassing combat, logistics, command, and mobile habitation. Their offensive capabilities were sharpened through early conflicts with the Zellian — a species whose strength in stellar warfare initially overwhelmed the Nimj. Each defeat fed new knowledge through the Xixtis Web, guiding successive generations of vessel design. The Nimjians returned with leaner, faster craft and precision weaponry developed to counter Zellian tactics, eventually turning the conflict in their favor.
Brynoid shipbuilding grew increasingly sophisticated, producing specialized Vesselforms for heavy weaponry, rapid maneuvering, and fleet support. Central to these formations are the vast Kani’labi — motherships that channel the Xixtis Web, support surrounding vessels, and sustain entire Nimjian communities. These traveling colonies carry the infrastructure needed to establish new footholds among the stars.
Though formidable in battle, the Nimjians remain vulnerable to unfamiliar threats. Their strength lies in their collective capacity to learn, rebuild, and return better equipped for the next encounter.
Fig 3. Nimjian Vesselforms
Nimjians are a highly intelligent, collectively organized species, specializing in the creation of constructs of impossible complexity. Vast, layered Metroforms emerge not merely as colonies, but as bio-technological super-organisms — built to sustain the Nimjians’ ever-expanding territories. Each is threaded with interconnected bridges, node centers, and layer networks, through which every Nimjian transmits signals across the Xixtis Web — binding colony and collective into a single ilving system..
Their weaponry is distinctly Nimjian, delivering suppressive force through an array of specialized systems. Particle physics, nanokinetics, chemokinetics, and static discharge converge within their armories — ensuring that any threat which confronts them must endure devastation in several forms at once.
A recent alliance with the Scionnese—Nimjians who pioneered synthetic manufacturing — has expanded the Guild’s traditional engineering capabilities. The two now share the means to produce autonomous, self-replicating biomechanical mechaforms, granting their colonies an unprecedented capacity for expansion and adaptation. Together, they have transformed the Guild of Scionn into a uniquely formidable starborne power within the Bell Quadrant.
The Nimjian Species emerged on its Subterrainian Homeworld, beset by a tumultuous history. Early forms of the Nimjians — the Proto-Nimjians — spent ages developing within their world’s crust, until an asteroid broke through it; forcing Proto-Nimjian colonies to adapt to a newly exposed surface.
Through the proceeding epochs, the Proto-Nimjians evolved highly complex engineering — slowly evolving into the first true Nimjian Bioforms: the Tsujians. They spread across the landscape, building networks of Metroforms, linked by a collective bio-network called the Xixtis Web.
Advancement accelerated when those land-based Nimjians began to construct Aereoforms — massive floating colonies which hovered across the planet’s cloud-strewn atmosphere. Through many proceeding technological iterations, a collection of those air-bourne Nimjians ascended to the voidscape of the Bell Quadrant, while their Tsujian progenitors remained on the homeworld’s surface.
This Nimjian sub-species: the Brynoid, earned distinction as a uniquely star-faring sub-species — branching off into factions, colonies, sub-castes and interstellar collectives.
Fig 1. Nimjian sub-castes
Fig 4. Nimjian characters/classes
Nimjian society is sustained by a multitude of specialized roles — engineers, harvesters, assimilators, and warriors, each contributing to the greater colony. Through the Xixtis Web, their efforts converge across layered Metroforms and vast fleets of Vesselforms. Engineers tend the living machinery of their settlements; in conflict, signal disruptors unravel enemy communications while warriors advance under collective command.
Within the Freylonn system, the Guild of Scionn unites Brynoid engineering with the synthetic craft of the Scionnese. Together, they sustain an expanding network of colonies, carrying their influence deeper into the Bell Quadrant. Though guided by their own interests, they cultivate enduring alliances and seldom seek open war. Yet those who turn against them face a force shaped by generations of conflict — each defeat remembered, each weakness studied, and each return more formidable than the last.