Great cosmic sounds with cool synth work!

You even got the theremin in there, perfect.

The Outer Ring is home to a vast and unexpectedly dense pocket of mixed gasses at the edge of the galaxy.  Chaotic electromagnetic currents have prevented star formation throughout the area leading to a starless view from within the nebula.  Known colloquially as The Perimeter, the region is ruled by a mysterious alien of unknown race by the name of Jal’Marzan.  Though previously a lawless sector of space rife with bandits and piracy, Marzan’s influence has grown to where his will can be considered the law.

A most interesting creature, Marzan appears to most, at first glance, to be a humanoid of some form.  Generally pale and with an often scaly or bark-like skin.  It is only through repeated meetings or further inspection that one comes to realize that his appearance is never that of his own.  But in order to understand that, one must first be familiar with Marzan’s flagship. 

At the core of Marzan’s fleet lies an immense and uniquely designed ship known as The Menagerie.  As its name would imply, the ship is home to the largest known collection of plants and animals in the galaxy.  It is aboard this ship that Marzan spends most of his time.

From boring oxygen breather to extremophile, deck after deck of the ship is packed with the various forms of life.  Thousands of species, both plant and animal, ranging from molds and fungi all the way up to large macroorganisms are kept aboard the ship at all times.  Most are contained in tightly controlled micro-biomes resembling their native habitats.  Other, more toxic and dangerous species, are housed separately for the safety of crew and specimen alike.

The entire ship is maintained by a swarm of genetically engineered crab-like creatures with large brains known as the Nerûb.  Although fully autonomous, the Nerûb are all connected to a massive neural network made of living tissue that is housed at the center of the ship, called The Keeper.  Charged with taking in data from all parts of the ship and scheduling tasks for the Nerûb to complete, The Keeper acts as both curator of the ship’s various life forms and as the brains of the ship.

One might find the very existence of this massive, living interstellar zoo to be incredible all on it’s own, and indeed it is.  But what is even more incredible is the ship’s actual purpose.  You see Marzan doesn’t maintain his stock of flora and fauna for mere entertainment.  Nor does he house these beings out of some altruistic need to harbor and protect the galaxy’s life.  Indeed Marzan needs his collection to form and maintain his outward appearance and functionality like some form of organic exosuit.

At any given time, Marzan’s “body” is composed of hundreds, perhaps thousands of individual lifeforms or parts of their bodies.  Not merely stitched together like some kind of ancient Frankensteinian horror, each part seems to form a whole under the control of that which lies at the heart of Marzan.  Some things might be as benign as a peculiar moss in place of his hair, other parts of his outward appearance are clearly attached, at times, in a parasitic nature like that of a leech.  

While the entire operation might initially be seen as the galaxy’s ultimate exercise in vanity, and it undoubtedly is, it has nonetheless served him well during his ascension to ruler of the ring.  It is no mere coincidence that his influence has grown as vast and strong as it is now.  In dealings of diplomacy, Marzan is often able to tailor his appearance and mannerisms to those which his counterparts would find most appealing.  And though he generally presents to others as male, if it were to gain him an edge in a deal, he might appear as female or even androgynous instead.  In this way, he has been able to largely unite the various clans and factions that had previously been at each other's throats in the ring.

Drawings by Kazan the Lizard Lord in Rec Room, colorized by me.

The Outer Ring

Jon Rando is just your average random guy on the internet who makes a bit of music and art in his spare time.  Alright, that's enough of this 3rd person weirdness.

I make all this stuff with Jeskola Buzz and maybe some free VST's.  I started messing around with it in the late 90's as a teen and have sort of gotten back into it as a hobby in the last several years.  I also played drums in a garage band for many years and play a bit of guitar/bass as well, though none of that here.

In addition to dabbling with music, I also do a lot of photo manipulation stuff with GIMP as a hobby as well.  Most of the track art is stuff I have altered in some way or created from scratch.

In general, most of these songs are released under CC licenses and I have downloads enabled on most of the tracks.  So you are free to use something you like for your projects if you would like.  

Anyways, come on in, have a listen, and welcome to the Randoverse.

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