Let's Talk About: Fripp

Fripp has been introduced to us as the Leader of the Druids, a talking blue squirrel with otherworldly powers, and a friend to the Soulriders. But what is he, where did he come from, and what does he really want? Let's review what we know about him.

"It all started thousands and thousands of years ago, when my people and I traveled from star system to star system with a terrible cargo."

- Fripp, SSL:TLOP

It is quickly established in the original Starshine Legacy games (particularly episode 3, The Legend Of Pandoria) that Fripp is an ancient being from beyond the stars. Literally from outer space. After capturing Garnok, Fripp and his people traveled via starship, heading toward the end of the galaxy to leave Garnok imprisoned for eternity, but their plan was foiled when Garnok's henchmen broke free and attempted to take over the ship, leading to the crash in the deep ocean off Jorvik's coast.

But not only is Fripp thousands of years old, he is eons old. Seemingly immortal, without requiring any kind of sustenance, as the entire crew and cargo lay on the bottom of the ocean passed out for years. They then left Garnok and his henchmen on the ship, trapped there, and have been guarding them since.

"We were four guardians, four powerful heroes, each holding one of the locks that held the monster Garnok imprisoned. Over the centuries the Generals have made many attempts to free their master, but we have stopped them! We have chosen four champions who share our powers... these champions are called the Soulriders!"

- Fripp, SSL:TLOP

And so we find that Fripp is one of four creatures from a distant star, who has split his power with a champion in order to fight Garnok by proxy. So the Soulriders are not their own entities but rather a part of the soul or power of each guardian, reincarnated over the centuries to fight a never-ending war. Who are the other three? We may never meet them.

So this explains, at least, how Fripp so easily recognizes each of the Soulriders when they come into play. Throughout the Starshine Legacy comics and games, Fripp recognises each girl by name and knows her power and destiny, without ever having met her before.

"One day we hope to find the book because it will make the ceremony more powerful and it contains secrets written by ancient druids which we have forgotten or don’t know the meaning of today."

- Fripp, What Is The Book Of Ceremonies?

Fripp is ancient, incredibly powerful, able to bridge the gap between our world and Pandoria on his own. He can recall details of centuries past, but... how could he not remember the details in the Book Of Ceremonies? A ceremony he must have used hundreds of times, as his entire reason for being here is to use it to keep Garnok at bay. He and his three fellow guardians could not have forgotten how to perform their duties, unless they are actually starting to go insane over time. Fripp does not always talk as a sane person should.

And he does not recognise our main character in Star Stable Online. She is not a reincarnation of a Soulrider, we know that much. There is debate, based on the opening sequence of Star Stable Online, whether our character is Aideen reborn. But Fripp is eons old, hugely knowledgeable, and seems to worship Aideen himself. How could he not recognise the incarnation of his Goddess when he sees her? Or even a prophet of Aideen incarnate?

But enough of that. What do we know about Fripp for sure? We know the powers of he and his kind are directly drawn from Pandoria.

"We have activated the four seals! They are gathering the energy needed to release Garnok! [...] Little do they know that these seals are linked to their powers. We're stealing their own powers to unleash our glorious master!"

- Mr Sands, SSL:TRODC

The Soulriders were created by the guardians, given a share in the guardians' powers. And in Starshine Legacy: The Riddle Of Dark Core we face a new threat in that the minions of Garnok have put seals on the Soulriders' link to Pandoria. With these seals in place, Garnok's minions are able to leech the powers of the Soulriders in order to feed their own agenda, which establishes that the Soulriders and, by extension, Fripp and his kind pull their power from Pandoria.

"You can be sure that Dark Riders, being the opposite in every way to our Soul Riders, must have some connection to Garnok."

- Elizabeth, Meeting In Dark Times

If the Darkriders are the perfect opposites to the Soulriders, then it stands to reason that the Darkriders were created by Garnok and his minions as their own champions. Perhaps Katja and Sabine are not the original henchmen, but created by them, as the Soulriders are not the original guardians. And if the Darkriders are perfect opposites, it stands to reason that they pull their own powers from Pandoria as well, which Fripp only supports in his own comment.

"There are enemies out there with powers just like yours. Good luck, Alex!"

- Fripp, SSL:TLOP

Just like hers, drawn from Pandoria, with abilities to travel to Pandoria or to Soulstrike. The idea that the Darkriders are not the original guardians but created by them is only supported further by Fripp's origin story.

"Garnok is still trapped in the ship with his Generals, but they are doing everything they can to release him from his prison. These creatures are not human. They have powers beyond your imagination! The Generals use their mental powers to materialise in Jorvik - like Mr Sands, the girl Jessica, and even your enemy, Katja."

- Fripp, SSL:TLOP

What seems scarier to me is the idea that Garnok and the Generals share the same powers and interstellar origin as Fripp and his guardians. Could they all be the same? Two sides of a war from the same galaxy, a civil war within the same species. Can Fripp really be trusted if he is of the same origin as Garnok? Can we trust the Keepers of Aideen, a faction that does not even recognise their own Goddess incarnate, who seem to have mysteriously "forgotten" how to do their job, and who barely trusts their Goddess with her own powers?

If you know me, you know my opinion of Garnok's capture. Who's to say that Fripp is as trustworthy as we're told, or that Garnok is as guilty? Could Fripp feel threatened by us?

"And who really are you? Really? Who are you? [...] Do you know who you are…? No. Who could even answer such a question anyway…? [...] I suppose it’ll be quicker for me to just give you a wand rather than spend time telling you all the reasons why you shouldn’t have one."

- Fripp, A Trip To Fripp

"As desirable as the powers [she] has, they still need to be trained and controlled."

- Fripp, Meeting In Dark Times

Let's Talk About: Garnok's Capture

In the third Starshine Legacy game, Legend of Pandoria, we take Anne's role and travel to Pandoria. In Pandoria we find a room filled with 8 gigantic runes, telling the story of what seems to be Garnok's capture and subsequent crash on Earth.

"Those creatures look like horses. And a little bit like guards, as well. I wonder if that's supposed to be their planet?"

Anne is kind enough to interpret the runes for us. Note that the horse-people's planet has a horse head on it, and the human and Garnok planets just look like targets - just ambiguous planets.

"Yikes! There's this evil monster attacking the horse-people! He looks horrible!"

But I would disagree with her very strong bias against a tentacle-monster she's never even met. Who says he's evil?

This is the first rune that I find truly interesting. Note that while before the center planet had a horse head, here that part is omitted. Who's to say that we're looking at an invasion by Garnok?

What if we put aside our bias for a moment, and entertain the idea that we're seeing the horse-people invading Garnok's planet, instead of the other way around? This story becomes much more concerning.

"The horse-people are fighting the monster! It looks like they're winning!"

Garnok is being beaten into submission, and we're back at the horse-people's planet. What if they captured Garnok and brought him back by force?

"Hey, the horse-people captured the monster! Serves it right, it looks evil!"

Let's be honest, we don't know that Garnok did anything wrong. We've only seen the horse-people brandishing weapons in these runes - we've not seen Garnok doing anything that comes across as truly sinister.

"Hmm... this looks like it's a ship... a starship! The monster is imprisoned on it! The horse-people are sending the evil thing away!"

And now they're taking Garnok away on a ship, away from their planet and, presumably, away from his own, with a horse-person guard in the ship with him.

"Something's gone wrong! The starship is crashing... on a planet... could it be earth?"

Is it crashing, or is this just it landing as expected? Could they be using Earth as a prison for Garnok intentionally, because it's the nearest planet that belongs to neither the horse-people nor Garnok's kind?

"Let's see. The horse-people are making friends with a horse and its rider... and the evil monster is buried under the sea! Maybe it's escaping?"

Our first glimpse of Aideen, I believe. It seems that Aideen did not inherently have her own light - here we see the horse-people giving a light to the horse and rider, which presumably gets used to populate the nearby island, to guard against Garnok's return.

"Oh no, the monster is free! But wait, here are four horses and four riders... they're driving the evil thing away! I wonder what all this means?"

Garnok is out, and he has a few of his own kind with him. Did they follow him, or are they spawned from him? Either way, the soul riders and Garnok are at odds, and I have to say I could understand why Garnok might be feeling violent.

This is the first glimpse we get of Garnok being violent at all. In the initial invasion rune, the lightning above can easily be brought down by the horse-people, as the lightning is directed at Garnok. But here we see the lightning directed at the riders, presumably by Garnok or his minions.

Could it be that Garnok was attacked without reason? The leader of his world taken captive and sent to a strange planet to live in isolation, kept down by his enemies at every turn he takes. I can understand why Mr Sands and the generals are so hateful of the soul riders and Druids. These minions of Garnok just want their leader back, and revenge for an injustice wrought on them centuries ago.

We can't say that the Druids are totally innocent themselves, with what they've done - drugging employees, banishing people's souls?

Garnok's minions may be cruel, but I think I understand their cause and why they're lashing out.

I say to ye, Garnok is innocent!