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The Vael.
The Vael are a people whose ships range about beyond the sky. They are explorers rather than targets, but if you strike one of their ships, the whole group will turn on you.
Who the Vael are
The Vael are an alien people. They keep their business to themselves. Most of their ships are on a journey of some kind: exploring, watching, mining, carrying goods or crossing to another place. They pay you no attention unless you give them a reason.
Their radio voice is a low, velvety woman's voice with a ghostly filter over it, so that it sounds as if it comes from a long way off.
The Vael's old station hangs high over the furthest world of the system. See Vael Station for the station and its rooms.
Where you will meet them
You meet the Vael out in space, above the sky of a world. They come to a player who is out there, and never to one who is on the ground, under the sky.
- A group drops in 2,600 to 4,800 metres away from a player who is out in space. A metre is the game's unit of distance.
- A group stays for 170 to 360 seconds (about 3 to 6 minutes), goes about its business, and then flies off in a flash.
- No more than 6 Vael ships are about at once.
- The game looks for a new group every 40 seconds, and each look brings one with a chance of 35 in 100. The Vael are rare, so do not expect them every time you fly out.
The ten kinds of Vael ship
A group has one lead ship, and it may have company. Big ships come with escorts: a colony ship, a command ship or a diplomatic ship always comes with a warship and an explorer. A transport or a mining vessel comes with an explorer or a warship. An explorer sometimes comes with another explorer. A relic is seen only now and then.
| Kind | Half-length (m) | Hull strength | Cruise speed (m/s) | Guns | Seconds between volleys |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explorer | 40 | 900 | 140 | 1 | 2.2 |
| Transport | 80 | 2,400 | 70 | 1 | 3 |
| Warship | 140 | 9,000 | 90 | 4 | 2 |
| Science vessel | 70 | 2,600 | 40 | 1 | 3 |
| Colony ship | 250 | 30,000 | 25 | 2 | 4 |
| Mining vessel | 100 | 5,200 | 35 | 2 | 3 |
| Diplomatic ship | 85 | 3,000 | 50 | 1 | 3 |
| Command ship | 150 | 16,000 | 45 | 4 | 2.4 |
| Stealth ship | 50 | 1,100 | 170 | 2 | 1.6 |
| Relic | 160 | 40,000 | 15 | 0 | no guns |
The half-length is measured from the middle of the ship to its nose or its stern. Hull strength is how much a ship can take before it is beaten. The science vessel, the diplomatic ship, the command ship, the colony ship and the relic are round, disc-shaped craft with rings, and the others are long, spear-shaped craft.
Keeping out of trouble
If you do nothing, a Vael group ignores you. The steps below help you avoid a fight.
- Keep your distance from a group. Every Vael ship moves about its own task, such as ranging about, circling, holding still or crossing on its way.
- Watch your scanner. It turns red when a Vael ship is angry with you.
- If the scanner turns red, get well away. A group that is angry chases you, and the chase reaches out to 7,000 metres.
What makes them angry
A Vael ship that you strike becomes angry, and its whole group turns on whoever struck it. An angry group closes to a few hundred metres, circles you and fires violet plasma bolts. Each ship fires a volley of bolts at the reload time shown in the table, aimed a little ahead of where you are.
The group calms down in one of two cases: you get more than 7,000 metres away from every Vael ship, or a minute passes without another blow.
Striking a Vael ship that is not already angry with you counts as a crime in the eyes of the Gatewrights. The game tells you: "You are wanted for assault against their ships." If the blow destroys the ship, it counts as murder. Blows that do not destroy the ship are counted at most once every 25 seconds, and a wanted record makes the Gatewrights think less of you. See reputation.
How to beat an angry group
- Use any weapon you have: guns, rockets, railguns or shells all hit a Vael ship. Each hit is taken on the ship's own shape, so aim at its body.
- Watch for the violet plasma bolts, and dodge them.
- Beat the ships one by one. A beaten ship breaks apart in a white burst.
- When the group has calmed or you have beaten it, leave the area, or wait for the group to fly off.
Beating a group is dangerous. The warships and the command ships carry the most guns (4 each), and the colony ship and the command ship have the most hull strength after the relic. For how fights in space work, see dogfighting.
Where to go next
The Vael's own station is described on Vael Station. The pirates and raiders who also fly in space are on space pirates. The rest of the peoples of the universes are on the alien peoples and their cities.
← Back to the wiki · Last updated 25 October 2026. Mantlenaut is in alpha, so things change.