Vael Station.

What it is

The station is ancient, weathered bronze, with broken rings and debris drifting around it. Its blue core still burns, but the station has been abandoned for a very long time. The Vael's ships still come and go in the dark nearby, but none of them come to the station. Something alien took the station over long ago, and it is still growing.

The station is a ring about three kilometres across, with four arms that reach out from a central hub. The ring is broken in two places. One of the arms is a cradle. The outside of the station is built in large blocks of 8 metres each. The rooms you can walk through are inside the hub, and they are built in smaller blocks of 1 metre each.

Finding it

The station only hangs over one world in a system: the furthest world from the star. Your ship must be out in space above that world. It does not appear over any other world.

1. Fly out into space above the furthest world of your system.
2. Once anyone is out in space over that world, the station is put up there. It never moves once it is in place.
3. Look at the scanner. The station's beacon shows on it from anywhere above that world's sky.
4. Fly to the beacon, and enter the dock.

The Vael's own ships may be nearby when you arrive. See the Vael and their ships for how they behave, and what makes them angry.

The three rooms

The station has three rooms that can be walked. Each room has its own message, which is shown once to each player. The game remembers which rooms you have already heard about, so you will not see the messages again on a later visit. Some of the violet lights in the rooms still flicker.

Room	What it is	What it says
The dock	Open to space, with a deck to land on.	"A Vael station, dead a very long time. Their ships still come and go in the dark nearby - but none come here."
The hall	A long hall of dead consoles.	"Their consoles are dark. Here and there a light still flickers, as though something keeps trying to wake it."
The core	The chamber of the core, still burning blue and grown over with the alien flesh.	"The core still burns blue. Something has grown over everything round it - and it is still growing."

Exploring it, step by step

1. Enter the dock, which is open to space and has a deck to land on.
2. Walk through the hall of dead consoles and read the message. Watch the lights flicker.
3. Make your way into the core and read its message.
4. Leave by the same way you came. The station stays where it hangs, and it will still be there on your next visit.

The story of the Gate is on the Gatewrights and the story, and the Vael's ships are on the Vael and their ships.

Where to go next

The Gate and the Beacon are on The Gate, the Beacon and the Lens. For the other alien peoples, see the alien peoples and their cities.

← Back to the wiki · Last updated 25 October 2026. Mantlenaut is in alpha, so things change.