Ancient Allagan Defrosted by Ishgardian Museum

A scientific breakthrough reported from noted museum and research institute Anamnesis Eorzea has opened the door to many, many possibilities both scientific and cultural. Per a press release as written by M'Sheerah Akhabila, the museum's Director of Research, the laboratory is quietly celebrating several discoveries that, in her words, “could seriously overhaul things such as space travel, medicine, and many, many other fields, as well as what we know of the history of the Allagan Empire.”

With research partner Lita Blanchimont at her side, the young director promised a series of follow-up conferences once they had some sort of results, but stopped short from admitting most of anything else other than the following:

“As of this day, the twenty-fifth sun of the Fifth Umbral this year of 7AE12, Anamnesis Eorzea is pleased and honored to announce the successful restoration of a discovered subject confirmed to be of Allag descent from what we can only describe as 'cryosleep', for much lack of a better term at the moment. I can confirm that our former research subject and new patient has regained consciousness, and while that things were somewhat dicey at first, communication was established with the subject and she is currently resting comfortably in our facility.

"Bodily, she appears to be in her twenties, with an actual physical age of somewhere between five thousand and fifty-five hundred years. She appears to be in relatively good health, with few if any health problems beyond the physical and mental fatigue she's currently enduring. I can attest to her appetite, but... she appears to be just as normal as you or I. I'm rather confident in saying she's not an Amon, a Xande, or even a Phlegethon. Just... a woman who really, really wants to go home.

"At this time, we ask that all inquiries on research be sent in and we'll get back to you at a future date. We ask that all other requests and inquiries on other subjects be expected to be delayed in answering until we have the time and energy to get to them.”

Director Akhabila remains positive that an eventual accord can be reached with the woman, but her wish for peace may fall upon deaf ears in at least one case: ownership of the derelict ship we previously reported on has yet to be decided, with the Forum of Sharlayan, Anamnesis Eorzea, the Cosmic Exploration Initiative and now its pilot all seemingly having a claim upon the derelict ship and the technology it contains.

Temporary suspension of life is possible in magic understood by the wider world, but the scale and duration of this Allagan technology is unknown to the broader scientific community of the Star. In the highly advanced nation of Alexandria, there have been some experiments into the concept and its fundamental science is understood.

Short of using the massive aether required to suspending a Spoken in a Stop spell, the ability keep someone alive long past their lifespan, unconscious, is daunting, but the answer has long been thought to be ice.

It's been said that a person is not dead until they're warm and dead. This is because cold temperatures slow the metabolism preventing the processes that take place immediately upon death, buying necessary time to treat patients. So, why then not just freeze people in static frost aether? Because another natural process takes place: liquid freezes inside the body. A Blizzard spell inflicts harm by forming ice crystals in organic tissue, and any means of preserving someone at low temperatures has to contend with this issue. On top of that, low temperatures simply slow the processes of death, not stop them. 

In the scientific circles of Alexandria's Solution Nine are just some that have chased the cryofreeze technology. 'Cold sleep' as some refer to it, has long been fantasized about by those who dream of being able to settle other planets, but are unsure as to how to transport enough in the way of supplies and manpower without having to worry about burning some of those supplies to sustain the crew on the journey outward. It has also drawn the attention of some elements of law enforcement, who see freezing as an easy way to store more prisoners in a smaller amount of space with less expense.

The promise of low-aether stasis, including that which may be supported by ice-coded electrope. What makes the revival of this subject unique isn't the ideas that a person might be frozen for a long time, but that the reheating process didn't kill her. Even more unfortunate for Alexandrian technology is the fact that the form of death introduced by the notion of cryogenic technology is an organic death - the failure of cells to function due to the accumulation of ice in the body's fluid. 

Current speculation on cold sleep technology combine advanced electrope engineering with a long-term chronomancy effect that would further slow the body's degradation alongside a regeneration effect. This complicated combination of expertise has only begun to take shape with the integration of Solution Nine into the broader scientific community. How it was achieved by Allagan scientists remains an open question.  

But one specific thing was let slip that has taken a surprising community by form: samples of the food supplies taken from the ship have found their way into the hands of some of the star's most potent culinary minds, and at the moment are being analyzed for whatever culinary insights they could be giving into interstellar cuisine and what it could mean for food prepped for long voyages through the cold darkness.

Surprisingly, the food is rather light, but nutritious - both in weight and in mouth feel- and a mysterious powder that becomes a drink with a fruit taste that seemed both pleasing, but a little off-putting to some, according to sources. Several sources describe another dish as a container full of light, biscuit-like sticks with a simple, savory flavor. Yet finally another describes an almost flavorless bar, but one apparently packed with nutrients and enough daily calories and proteins to enable continued activity.

"This one thinks Old Metal Ones truly were first ones to discovered food without heart," said noted Sylph chef Rixia Sylwest. Sharlayan gastronomists, she observed, are doubtless in an uproar.  

It's unknown how this might reflect on broader eating habits of the Third Era, however, as the Cosmic Expedition Initiative has developed several small, high-nutrient foods prized for the lack of physical space they take up relative to their health benefits. 

In all, the continued exploration of the Allagan relics found through the Cosmic Exploration Initiative have produced unexpected results, but without more information there's little that can be said about how they work, or indeed if they truly do. Experts in both Sharlayan and Solution Nine have cast doubts on the actual efficacy of these findings on cryogenic technology, claiming that the most likely explanation is that the immense power of a Stop spell was employed to preserve Anamnesis Eorzea's new patient.