Ensembles
Entity Classification
| Aggressiveness | 3/5 | Highly defensive. If threatened can be quite aggressive. |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | 2/5 | Quite rare. No current main habitat. |
| Intelligence | 3/5 | Capable of learning. Actively seeks out complex goals. |
| Pritoria Index | 2.667/5 | Can be dangerous. In most cases, they can be avoided. Majority of harm caused is non-lethal. |
Description
Symphonies, Choirs, Orchestras, and Ensembles are all names given to this unique entity. Ensembles are at the most basic level; Collections of soundwaves that form into colonies to produce better, higher quality, and louder songs. Ensembles are sentient songs in a way. While they may seem simple their true behaviors, biology, and origin are much more complex and interesting.
Biology
To understand Ensembles one must first go a level down into the entities that form the Ensemble, the Notes. Notes are individual minuscule entities that are both pointless and defenseless without dozens or more of their kind. Notes are unique in that they do not possess any physical body but rather are made of soundwaves. Notes are exactly as their name implies, they are individual notes like those of a chord or score. Notes are barely detectable when alone without proper audio recording devices because of their lack of physical bodies. All kinds of Notes exist as they can produce noises of instruments, voices, and other noises. Notes are harmless because they both are without a Conductor and only produce one noise for their entire life. Note's only purpose is to form with other Notes into an Ensemble.
In all successful Ensembles resides one Conductor. Conductors are extremely rare Notes that do not produce noise on their own. Rather they can organize and conduct other Notes. The Conductors lead Ensembles to survival and manage every Note in their colony. In a way, Conductors are like the brain of the Ensemble. The Conductor is crucial to an Ensembles survival as without a Conductor the Ensemble will be unable to organize and learn to be able to communicate and fight others. The fact that Ensembles, Notes, and Conductors are incapable of reproducing means that Conductors are hard to come across. Every Conductor that is alive currently has an Ensemble.
After learning about the Notes and Conductor, one can comprehend the Ensembles. As said before, Ensembles are the collective name for Notes that have formed into one colonial entity. The smallest Ensembles are around 14 Notes large while the largest can be made of thousands of Notes. Even with thousands of Notes, there is only one Conductor per Ensemble. Conductors are territorial and seek to control their entire Ensemble without others' interference. Since Ensembles lack physical bodies they can move freely through the air. Their soundwaves can bend and fold to get through cracks in walls. Individual Notes when in an Ensemble move around as their Conductor issues to do so. Each Note can easily evade attempts at enclosing them in objects because of their Conductor's ability to manage the Notes. Small Ensembles can move collectively faster than larger Ensembles. This may be due to some form of organization that Conductors use.
Ensemble’s unique biology has been the topic of debate for a long time. How can they exist? Are they even alive? Do they eat? Do they see? The most conclusive theory is that Conductors can feel as their Ensemble body collides with objects and other sound waves. This is how they can recognize their surroundings and threats. The only way that is known to kill an Ensemble is to take away the Conductor. Conductor-less Ensembles quickly dissipate or get integrated into other Ensembles.
Ensembles have been proven to be alive and sentient by observing their actions in differing scenarios. Tests with music, sounds, and voices prove that Ensembles can react to and learn about their surroundings.
Behaviors
Ensembles follow the ideology of their Conductor. Each Conductor has a unique style of thinking and preferences. Some Conductors value louder songs, others prefer shorter songs. Conductors prefer different styles of music and can learn new genres by listening to other Ensembles or sources of music. Though most times the Conductor will try to destroy the rival music. There is a multitude of complex ideas that Conductors can have and follow. However, one idea is shared among all of them. Conductors are highly aggressive against other Conductors. If two or more Ensembles meet one another they will begin to either communicate or attack. Communication is rare as the ideology of trading information and Notes are rare in Conductors. In most cases, the Ensembles will attack one another.
Ensemble duels are a spectacle to witness. Conductors fight in many ways. In the end, what decides the winner is whichever Conductor survives. Conductors will orchestrate their Ensembles to perform at the others to draw in Notes from their opponent, disrupt the rival Ensemble, and completely neutralize the opposing Ensemble. If the individual Notes see that their rival is better at coordinating or that their Conductor is failing, they will try and join their rival’s Ensemble.
Any noise that the Conductor finds to be challenging their rule will be attacked. Ensembles can increase in volume and pitch to drown out other noises. If the noise happens to come from a living creature, the Ensemble can try and cause deafness and in some cases can grow so loud to the point of damaging organs.
Some of the older Ensembles have found new ways to harm potential threats. The older Ensembles have learned new songs and pitches with their old age. However, they have also learned songs that can damage the brain of listeners. The effects are more visible in humans but the Ensembles' songs also affect non-humans as well. Memory loss, dizziness, fear, dread, and paralysis have all been seen to be the results of some of these special Ensemble songs. These "elder" Ensembles have been recorded to have lived for several centuries before discovery. It is believed that Ensembles do not age in the same manner as most other life. The Conductor's minds seem to remain intact even after centuries of living.
Discovery
Ensembles were first discovered in the now missing limspace “The Growing Valley of The Choir”. The valley was discovered and documented years before its eventual collapse. The only information on the valley has all been recorded. This limspace was a gigantic series of elaborate valleys and hills that was devoid of all life besides the Ensembles. The Ensembles would battle and trade with each other. High in the sky reigned the largest Ensemble of all time. This Ensemble is theorized to have been the first Ensemble in existence. The Ensemble is estimated to have been made of billions of Notes. The Conductor of such a massive Ensemble must have been extremely unique in ideology to have been able to amass such a size and not attack the lesser Ensembles below. Deciphering the songs of the more peaceful Ensembles we have pieced together that the gigantic Ensemble in the sky may be the origin of all sound. At some point, the limspace was fractured and ultimately destroyed. In its destruction, the Ensembles were all thrown across limsystems. Most of the Ensembles ended up in The Backrooms.
As Ensembles are incapable of reproducing, there is a limited number of Ensembles in existence. Whilst limited in population, Ensembles are in no way endangered. "The Growing Valley of The Choir" is the origin of the Ensembles and created innumerable amounts of Notes. Since the Ensemble homeplace is lost Ensembles will eventually die out as a species.
Survival Guide
Most Ensembles are defensive. If you hear an Ensemble the best course of action is to remain as silent as possible and wait until the Ensemble gets distracted or moves away. If seen and without any other options, try and create the loudest and most disorganizing noises possible. This may kill the Conductor thus freeing you. However, if you fail you may have angered the Conductor to the point that it will actively seek to eliminate you.