The Visitor

The Visitor is a large extraterrestrial spacecraft occupying Earth orbit and regularly circumnavigating the globe. After its arrival in 2017, the Visitor destroyed electrical power around the world and caused the rapid decline and self-desctuction of human civilization.

Description

Only known photograph of the Visitor, taken by mechanical camera in 2017. Grainy reproductions were distributed widely and are valued by cultists.

The Visitor is a large, regular triangular-shaped spacecraft approximately 93 miles wide and six miles tall. It appears to be made from a dull, dark-grey metal. There are no visible windows, joins, centers of control, communication arrays, or means of propulsion.

The Visitor appears to have some type of display located on its bottom, which can be observed from the surface with the assistance of binoculars or a telescope. This display lights up with odd, twisted symbols that may bear some resemblance to the ancient language of Enochian. Cultists who worship the Visitor as the hand of God, or a god in its own right, are convinced this is its attempt to communicate with people. There have been no known successful efforts to decipher the message, if it is in fact a message.

Orbit

The Visitor orbits at the lower edge of the mesosphere, about 31 miles above Earth. It takes three days to circle the world, generally moving from North America down to Africa and then back up again through Asia in a steady pattern.

Effects

As it orbits, the Visitor emits strange energies that interfere with the operation of electronics. Anything with wires will be shorted out when the Visitor gets within 5,000 miles. Even simple flashlights fail when the Visitor comes back into range. It is also believed the energies emitted by the Visitor affect local weather patterns as the arrival of the Visitor is usually preceded and followed by severe thunderstorms.

Visitor Cults

Church of the Hovering Angel. The largest and best organized cult of Visitor-worshipers, their clergy travel widely and proselytize freely. Though deeply annoying in their zealotry, they are the most common contemporary source of information about the Visitor. Any township where the CHA is present will likely have at least one working telescope and an observer assigned to watch and record the Visitor’s passings.

Congregation of the Triad. A modern-day reinvention of the Pythagorean Mysteries, Triadists believe the Visitor is communicating in a mathematical code. They devote most of their time to the study of mathematics and cryptography in hopes of decoding the message and communicating with the Visitor.