Albino Eatpod wrote the V’rix at least four different ways between 2001 and 2004. This page sets out what recurs across the sources, then the four competing versions side by side, with what each explains and where they clash. Shipped in-game dialogue now settles part of one version; the rest stays open, and the page marks which is which.
Highlight one source
What recurs across the sources
Statements repeated in at least three distinct source documents, with none of the collected sources contradicting them. Many originate in related design material, so repetition is evidence of persistence across versions, not independent corroboration.
They are bound to the Ancient gates.
Eight of the twelve sources tie them to the gates: guarding them, studying them, ruling through them, keeping one on their homeworld, closing them in the Act I plan, or, in shipped dialogue, telling players the gates are not theirs. The other four (the Glenn timeline, news and patch messages, the transcribed messages and the content plan) do not address it directly, and none contradicts it.
“the pieces of the codex and the six poles known as gates. These gifts are not for you.”In-game dialogue
“They serve the Ancients by preventing other races from using the Ancient’s highway through the Universe, the waypoints of which are the Ancient Gates themselves.”Q&A notes
“Primary motivation: Knowledge of and protection of Star Gates”2002 design doc
8 sources
Humans meet them as insects.
Whether the insect form is their real body or a mask, it is what humans see.
“Vrix are angular, jagged insectoid-like creatures, primarily dusty brown to dark green in color.”2002 design doc
3 sources
They act as a collective.
The later sources describe V’rix society as hive-like or collective: hives, a hive mind, a genetic monarchy. The 2001 timeline still shows individual rulers and thinkers, and the live game had a defector, Azazel.
“These creatures can all communicate telepathically through this “hive-mind””2002 design doc
3 sources
A continuity problem
Something the drafts seemed to agree on, which the shipped game’s own timeline complicates.
Deneb is central to one V’rix incursion, but not to their first appearance in the shipped chronology.
Early designAmah opening the Ancient gate in Deneb is what drew the V’rix in.
Early designA renegade V’rix collective was imprisoned in gate-stasis at Deneb VII.
Contemporary player recordRoc, Deneb’s only sector, is “the system where the V’rix is rallying their forces.”
In-game text · Shipped2348: “Vishao's Gate discovered and opened … First V'rix appear.” 2353: “Amah opens Appian Gate, is captured by aliens.”
In-game text · Shipped“Amah has been held captive in the Deneb System since she apparently opened the Appian Gate.”
In the shipped timeline the V’rix first appear five years before Amah opens the gate to Deneb, when Vishao’s Gate opens in Capella and the Mazzaroth Maelstrom forms near Sirius. Deneb is still where Amah is taken and where the V’rix gather.
Four competing versions of the V’rix
A and B explain where the V’rix came from. C starts with an ancient species already in existence, and D gives a homeworld history without saying how it began. Each version is summarised in editorial words, followed by the author’s own lines. The clash notes link to the version they disagree with.
A
Version A
Servants of the Ancients
core claim appears in shipped V’rix dialogue
The V’rix serve the Ancients, who they believe will reward them with eternal life. Their job is to stop younger races using the gate highway. Their real home is the timeless space you pass through when gating, where they have no bodies. On entering our space they take whatever shape frightens us most, which is why humans see insects.
“The V’rix are servants of an ancient race, known to them as the Ancients. They do the Ancients’ bidding because they believe the Ancients will grant them eternal life if they serve the Ancients loyally.”Q&A notes
“the instant they enter this time-space continumum, they interacated with our collective unconscious and materialized as things that would scare us: namely, bugs.”Q&A notes
“Following the Ancients commands the V’rix has taken a form that will strike fear in human psyche, as big insects, to scare humans away from the ancient gates.”2004 player guide
“We are the Vrix. We serve the ancients.”In-game dialogue
Which parts have shipped evidence
Shipped dialogueThey serve the Ancients
Shipped dialogueThey keep others away from the gates
Design + player guideTheir insect form is a mask drawn from human fears
Design onlyThey expect eternal life as their reward
Design onlyTheir home is a timeless space where they have no bodies
Design onlyThey cannot use their own technology in our space
What it explains
Why they look like insects
Why their gear is a twisted copy of ours
Why they target gates rather than people
How they travel
Where it clashes
BServing the Ancients, not made by humans. (The player guide goes further and says the Ancients created them.)
DBodiless outsiders cannot have an evolved homeworld history.
B
Version B
Built from human Gate Keepers
asserted as history by the designer
Millions of years ago, humans used the gates to travel back to the beginning of time and shattered reality. To close the gates for good, they bred Gate Keepers: engineered humans. The Keepers met an unknown race, and the meeting produced the V’rix. Humanity gave them height, width and depth; the other race gave them time, blood and gravity. They now swarm to any awakened gate and build hives to unlock its secrets.
“And so the GateKeepers were bred. Genetically engineered Homo Sapiens programmed with the singular genetic program to close all the Gates.”Back-story
“Humanity brought the construct the concepts of height, depth and width, while whatever else brought to the Vrix time, blood, and gravity. The ‘other’ was Light; it was Humanity that was Dark.”Back-story
“The V’rix are drawn to the power of the Gates like bees to a field of flowers.”Back-story
What it explains
The six dimensions and the sacred hexagon
Their Light and Dark philosophy
Why humans in particular disturb them
Where it clashes
AMade by humans, not servants of the Ancients. Clashes outright with the guide’s “created by the ancients.”
CIn the Bible the Gate Keepers become the sharh, who rule the V’rix rather than become them.
The V’rix are an ancient predatory species whose empire spread from the galactic core along the gates and later contracted. The sharh, Gate Keepers corrupted by the gates’ power, conquered or bred them as shock troops. The V’rix humans meet are a renegade collective, imprisoned in gate-stasis at Deneb VII, who want to dominate the galaxy by controlling the gates.
“The V’rix are an ancient species whose Empire spread and contracted thousands of years ago. They are a predatory species that came out from the coreward star clusters of the galaxy toward the rim and the spinward arms.”Bible
“To enforce rule of the Empire, the V’rix were conquered or bred, which one is not clear, and turned into shock troopers, dog soldiers for the Empire.”Bible
“The V’rix encountered by the Humans at the onset of Earth and Beyond are a renegade Collective who have left the master race.”Bible
What it explains
Why they arrived at Deneb
Why they are hostile
Their Sovereign and Regents
Where it clashes
AA predatory empire seeking domination, not servants who “do not want to kill us.”
BPartly compatible: if the sharh bred them, B and C describe the same event from two sides.
DPartly compatible: an empire that rose and declined.
D
Version D
A species with its own history
asserted in-world
The 2001 timeline gives the V’rix an ordinary planetary history: twin suns, a homeworld riven between Purebloods and mutated underworld hordes, early mathematics, a Pureblood empire, and a long decline that begins when a mixed-blood regent takes on the role of Gate Keeper for their World Gate.
“A V’rix Pureblood becomes the First to put forth a valid trigonometric solution to the motion of their twin suns. Reason begins to stifle the old superstitions.”2001 timeline
“First V’rix Mixed-blood ascends to Regency. Under his leadership, Empire assumes the mantle of Gate Keeper of their World Gate, the beginning of the V’rix Decline”2001 timeline
What it explains
Purebloods, mixed-bloods and “dire” V’rix
How guarding the gates became their role
The empire’s decline before first contact
Where it clashes
AAn evolved species with a homeworld, not bodiless outsiders.
CPartly compatible: both describe an empire that declined.
Which version reached players?Version A’s core claim is spoken by the V’rix themselves in shipped dialogue: “We are the Vrix. We serve the ancients.” Players also transcribed a decoded message reading “WEARETHEV'RIXANDWEARETHESERVANTSOFTHEANCIENTS.” That shipped evidence covers serving the Ancients and keeping others from the gates. It does not confirm the rest of Version A, such as their bodiless home or the promise of eternal life, which appear only in the designer’s Q&A notes.
How the versions fit together
Four of the six pairs flatly contradict each other. Two pairs might overlap. B and C both tie the V’rix to Gate Keepers, though C also starts from an older V’rix species, which makes C unstable on its own terms. C’s empire in decline could be D’s.
A
B
C
D
A
—
ClashDifferent makers
ClashServants vs conquerors
ClashBodiless vs evolved
B
ClashDifferent makers
—
Possible overlapPossible overlap: both tie V’rix breeding to Gate Keepers or the sharh, but C also has an older V’rix species
ClashBuilt vs evolved
C
ClashServants vs conquerors
Possible overlapPossible overlap: both tie V’rix breeding to Gate Keepers or the sharh, but C also has an older V’rix species
—
Possible overlapBoth an empire in decline
D
ClashBodiless vs evolved
ClashBuilt vs evolved
Possible overlapBoth an empire in decline
—
Other open questions
Smaller points where the sources give different answers.
What do they want?
To bottle humanity up and destroy the gates, mainly by frightening us. “The V’rix do not want to kill us.”
To unlock the secrets of every gate they reach.
Knowledge and protection of the gates. “Hostility factor: Typically low.”
The renegades want domination through control of the gates.
Planned: they close the Ancient gates and destroy Earth with the Eye of God.
What do they really look like?
About 5′4″, chitin-plated, two pairs of arms, hexagonal side-set eyes; females have folded wings.
The insect form is a mask. Their true form: “I don’t know yet.”
Insect form taken “to scare humans away from the ancient gates.”
What is their technology?
Living biotechnology. Ships and weapons are alive; they surf gravity waves instead of using warp.
They cannot use their own technology here. Anything they carry is a corrupted reflection of ours.
Second to none in biogenetic engineering and nanotech.
How are they ruled?
Matriarchal. Each colony has one Queen and no central government.
A genetic monarchy under one Sovereign, with Regents below.
A Regis, Regents, Stewards and “Three Orders of Society.”
What is their sacred number?
Six. They fly in hexagons and perceive six dimensions.
Their smallest military unit is a Triumvirate of three.
What are the Ancients called?
The Ansarium.
The Ansazi.
Voices and positions inside the story
Views held or acted on inside the story, by characters, a cult and a defector. They show what people in the setting think, not what is true.
“Only, know this, the V’rix are not just our enemy, they are a malevolent force.”
Mordane, Jenquai Black Guard · Spoken as he enters the Ancient Shrine on Arzachel Prime.
“Mordana is a Jenquai extreme cult which welcome the V’rix war and work towards the return of Mordane.”
The Mordana cult
“the defected V’rix in Ardus sector, an activity not liked by the real V’rix.”
Azazel, a V’rix defector · Gave players a mission in the live game.
“The V’rix destroy earth. We really need to open the gate now. But we have to fight a bunch of V’rix to do it. Why are they so angry with us?”
Vinda, Sabine leader · From the Act I plan.
The V’rix in the live game
From shipped patch messages and news, and the April 2004 player guide.
Patch, 28 May 2003“Progen Republic Declares War.” After “months of cryptic communications and debilitating scans,” the Progen go to war with the V’rix.
Patch, 22 Jul 2003“V’rix Seize Praetorium Mons!” The V’rix take the Progen citadel on Primus.
Net-7 news“Amah has been held captive in the Deneb System since she apparently opened the Appian Gate.”
Akeron’s GateThe V’rix “moved in with a rather strong force here to construct the ‘Eye of God’ (which was a doomsday weapon en route for Earth).”
Planet Primus, VegaInvaded. Praetorium Mons “now holds the only V’rix station 1C4615H (ACOYAUH) in the galaxy and the only V’rix that the players can meet and talk to face to face,” Tezcatlipoca.
Roc, Deneb“The system where the V’rix is rallying their forces,” with several large encounters.
SiriusA battlefield between Grey Feather’s Kokura and “the V’rix pouring in from the Mazzaroth Maelstrom.”
Maelstrom spaceThe V’rix “dominate the Maelstrom space together with a lot of Maelstrom whelp creatures.”
Language“V’rix uses numbers instead of some vowels in their language, 1=A, 2=E, 3=I, 4=O, 5=U, 6=Y.” Tezcatlipoca is written T2ZC1TL3P4C1.
The war as planned, and what shipped
The story was released in numbered steps. Shipped patch messages show Steps 3 to 7 went out between May 2003 and February 2004. The January 2004 content plan, looking back, also dates Step 2 to January 2003, though no patch text for it has turned up. Step 8 was scheduled for 16 March 2004, but no patch record for it has been found, so Steps 8 onward are plan-only in the evidence collected so far. Released text could differ from the plan below.
Step
Planned
Patch message
Evidence
2
22 Jan 2003
none found
Release indicatedDated 22 Jan 2003 in the January 2004 retrospective content plan; no standalone patch text identified yet.
3
8 May 2003 (text) / 28 May 2003 (table)
28 May 2003: “Progen Republic Declares War”
Shipped
4
22 Jul 2003
22 Jul 2003: “V’rix Seize Praetorium Mons!”
Shipped
–
–
26 Aug 2003: “What the *@!$ is that in Akeron’s Gate?”
ShippedPatch message between Steps 4 and 5.
5
28 Oct 2003
28 Oct 2003: “Last Flight of the Kokura”
Shipped
6
9 Dec 2003
9 Dec 2003: “Merjan Missing”
Shipped
7
3 Feb 2004
5 Feb 2004: “Healing the Maelstrom”
Shipped
8
16 Mar 2004
none found
Plan onlyScheduled in the January 2004 plan; no shipped patch record found yet.
Step 5Step released 28 Oct 2003 Amah’s DNA “is fueling new V’rix weapons and items. Is Amah still alive?”
Step 6Step released 9 Dec 2003 89 flees to the V’rix for help. “The V’rix kill him.” The V’rix attack Witberg.
Step 7Step released 5 Feb 2004 “The V’rix have closed the ancient gates,” and de Winter uses Psis to keep them open in secret.
Step 8Plan only Loric “strikes a secret deal with the V’rix to get them in thru Cygni’s back door.” Battle imprints turn out to form “the collective unconscious of all pain from all war.”
Step 9Plan only The V’rix destroy Cygni. “The V’rix are using the imprints against us. We must destroy all imprints.”
Step 10Plan only “Eye of God destroys Earth.”
Step 11Plan only Ariad synthesizes “a new anti-V’rix weapon out of the battle imprints and the OCD and DNA from the Zenrei.”
Step 12Plan only Nostradamus “in some low-key way sacrifices himself to enable the V’rix to be defeated.”
V’rix history in the 2001 timeline
The homeworld chronology behind Version D, with the timeline’s own dates.
c. 2800 BCEMutated “wild” hordes rise from the underworld and overrun the Purebloods, producing the mixed-breed “dire” V’rix.Chronicle →
c. 2400 BCEThe Purebloods crush the underworld V’rix at the Slaughter-mound and make them the Ruling Clans’ war-machine.Chronicle →
c. 1950 BCEA Pureblood solves the motion of their twin suns.Chronicle →
c. 450 BCESky-watchers first see Heaven’s Gate, an Ancient wandering gate.Chronicle →
c. 400 BCEThe Pureblood Unity founds the Empire.Chronicle →
c. 1200A mixed-blood regent takes on the role of Gate Keeper of their World Gate: “the beginning of the V’rix Decline.”Chronicle →
1620The first Regis unites the homeworld for the first time in 2,000 cycles.Chronicle →
1961The Empire sits leaderless and stops expanding.Chronicle →
2525After the Second V’rix/Human War, the five superpowers unite as the Sol Dominion.Chronicle →
Sources
Twelve source records contribute to this dossier: seven items recovered from the emulator forum thread (six of Albino Eatpod’s drafts and plans, reposted by Mynd in 2012, and one player-written guide) and five game-era records preserved in the 2004 Storyline Reference compilation. Each is labelled by kind and, for in-game text, release status.
“The Earth and Beyond galaxy” player guide. describes April 2004. Voice: player, reporting the live game. Kind: Contemporary player record. Found in: Forum thread (Mynd, Aug 2012), comment_62651.
Old V’rix messages and decoded transmissions, as transcribed by players. 2002–03. Voice: in-world messages, transcribed by players. Kind: In-game text · Transcribed by players. Found in: Storyline Reference (ebbook.pdf, 2004), pp. 242–245.