lyrics from the hit single, Delphoid Blue
by The Dolls, on "Meet the Dolls"
courtesy of SmallStax Records, LTD

. Habitat . (unknown)

. Delphoids come from a place and dimension unknown, where they most probably thrive.

. Delphoid visitations have been reported in diverse regions of the universe and throughout the known history of the cosmos. Whatever they are, Delphoids most certainly exist outside of the normal conventions of space and time.

. Biology & Behavior

. Delphoids represent the most mysterious toy space entity on record and brilliantly illustrate the old Drop Corps motto, "No matter what you know, you don't know nuthin'!" Each Delphoid encounter is markedly different from the others, and each is linked to the rest by miraculous appearances and unusually mundane coincidences.

. If Delphoids have a native form it is unknown to modern science. Descriptions of Delphoid visitors vary wildly and some experts have theorized that it is the nature of the viewer that determines the from in which the Delphoid manifests.

. Nothing much at all is known about their possible biology beyond the common description of roughly blue in color. They seem able to manifest a material being at will, but do not require one to maintain cohesion.

. Delphoid encounters are often described as an internal cranial orator, or a disembodied presence which is capable of stopping time, teleporting anywhere in time or space, and controlling all matter, energy and dimension at will.

. Those few who have directly encounter a Delphoid describe the event as being plucked without warning from their own time and place. To the one having the encounter it begins instantaneously and can appear to evolve over extended periods of time, in some cases well past the remainder of the subject's normal life span.

. Those outside of the encounter report the event as lasting only seconds. Witnesses report that one moment the subject is completely normal in every respect , and the next he is forever changed.

. Profound lingering discombobulation is the most common post-encounter condition. If not for the appearance of the Delphoid Marker, most of those who directly encountered the Delphoid would have been killed or permanently hospitalized.

. Society and History

. It is possible that there is only one Delphoid being, however, as with almost every other facet of their existence, the truth remains a mystery.

. There are two distinctive elements that link every Delphoid encounter and they represent the only hard information available on the Delphoids and their purpose.

Delphoid Markers Shortly after the subject of a Delphoid encounter is returned to its original moment in time, a miraculous event occurs. From out of what appear to be nowhere and nothing, a substantial object materializes in the precise location of the encounter, or just to the side if the subject still occupies that space.

. The composition of these Markers and their means of operation remain as mysterious as the Delphoid experience itself. Each Delphoid Marker is unique in character but their common function is revealed upon physical contact.

. Markers appear to be a storage device for the subject's encounter with the Delphoid, replaying mental projections of the experience for those who willingly contact it. Projections are typically out of context and incomplete snippets of the experience they document, but those viewing the projections are usually convinced of the sincerity of the subject and the profound implications of the experience itself.

318 The unusual redundancy of the number 318 has also marked each Delphoid encounter (see below) but the meaning or significance of the number is unknown.

. Extended Study

EG data-recap provided by OmniGlance Systems

7 Delphoid Encounters:

1 The Vexian Visitation
The earliest recorded Delphoid visitation occurred trillions of years ago on the once idyllic planet of Vexia, now known as Class 11 Space Quarry #H78-2. The subject of the visitation was an anointed prince of the kingdom named Tal, who was hosting an important political summit on the night of his 318 birthday. In the middle of a toast to himself, the young and popular prince was taken by a "blue man of the shadows" to "a place where my thoughts were his to control." For what were to him 11 Vexian days (time standard unknown), Kal was the subject of exhaustive interviews and testing of every nature, including a vision of the end of his civilization, before being returned to the moment of his departure. An astonished crowd saw Prince Tal fall to the floor in mid-boast, never to regain his sanity. A dense black cube, the Delphoid Marker left in the wake of the visitation, is the only surviving record of the Vexian people, whose planet and culture were destroyed in an unrelated catastrophe (see Don't Press That Button and Other Tales of Regret). The Vexian Marker was recently donated by Dirtco, INC. to the Ng Institute where it remains the subject of intense scrutiny.

2 Pre-History Grog Visitation
The Grog Home Planet (GHP) has been visited by Delphoids twice, making Grog unique in the study of this phenomenon. The first encounter happened millions of years ago during an early and violent prehistory Grog epoch called the Age of Sorrows. Grog of this period were brutal and primitive, existing in loose clans locked in constant battle with each other. One of these clans was about to make a daring attack on an enemy enclave when their tribal figurehead was visited by "a blue eel," who, "held me in a tank of his mind, and wrested my soul through my gills." The Delphoid keep this Grog for 18 years, critically testing his will and strength with never-ending physical and emotional trials. When Grog was returned to the moment of his departure he was, "unable to feed or swim," and his incredible story was met with disbelief followed immediately by execution. The Delphoid Marker recording this event remained hidden in the deep murk beds of GHP for centuries and was located at a depth of 318 Standard Grog Fathoms (SGF) shortly after the second Grog visitation. It is a roughly hewn slab of black glassy matter with 318 identical oblong depressions in its surface.

3 Second Grog Visitation
The second Delphoid encounter with a Grog occurred centuries latter to a pre-adolecent female Grog who was gathering moss some distance from her Pod's village. When she failed to return by nightfall her clan began searching, finding her weak and babbling about a "blue crustacean with 100 eyes." Next to her was found the Delphoid Marker, a black cone of dense matter that confirmed the frightened child's story of a five day encounter that included a visit through time to her great grand sisters and precise instructions on how to find the Delphoid Marker from the previous Grog encounter. It is notable that the Delphoid's behavior was decidedly kind and even paternal toward the young subject throughout this encounter. It is in this record that the entity directly refers to itself as a Delphoid, and explains to that it, "must find out if you can believe." This revealing information is the only known direct explanation of itself ever offered by a Delphoid.

4 Early Insectian Visitation, origins of The Obelisk of Kli.
An early Insectian warlord became the subject of a Delphoid encounter that shaped the course of their history. Grand Agent Kli-Nezk, a decorated arch-general of the Black Hive, was performing the requisite ritual of Muld-Ahknu (the "Ballad of the Conqueror") after a particularly long siege of an enemy Hive when the Delphoid made contact. Muld-Ahknu is an ancient and complex verse with 572 lines, but when Kli reached line 318 1, he was seen to, "fall as if his exoskeleton were suddenly hollow." For 81 years, Kli-Nezk was the captive apprentice of a mysterious "Blue Master" who never revealed a material form while schooling Kli as the first Insectian Sand Shaper. Trapped in a "deep cave" Kli was taught how to harness his mind and turn common sand into glass as strong as steel. The Delphoid Marker that recorded this encounter became the textbook by which generations of Insectian Sand Shapers refined their skills, and heralded the First Glass Age. Kli-Nezk was anointed as a Black Hive Elder but his encounter with the Delphoid prevented him from assuming the responsibilities of that position. The Obelisk of Kli continues to instruct new generations of Sand Shapers and is one of the most sacred artifact of the Great Black Hive.

1. Muld-Ahknu, line 318: "...so that even the Worm will see thee as low,
and dust refuseth to be a friend."

5 Gloy Visitation, the "Horrid Blue Death" song cycle.
It is likely that at some point in their history the Gloy of Gecko made contact with a Delphoid entity. The event is chronicled in one of the Gloy's rarest traditional song cycles, called "Horrid Blue Death Fear Takes a Proud Tall Brother" This ritual relates the story of Ffthssvfthffshsstff, a mature Gloy of rigid stature, who was lecturing his familial group on the benefits of good posture when he was plucked from his time and place and held for an undetermined length of time by a figure only refereed to as "Horrid Blue Death." Ffthssvfthffshsstff was critically depleted by the encounter and died shortly after being return to his lecture, instantaneously reduced to a thin, dying organ sack in the middle of dispensing sound advice. His family and the rest of the Gloy of Gecko assumed that evil had befallen them, and when "a vial rock of evil reflections" appeared near the newly dead, a wave of panic gripped them all. The song cycle indicates that the Gloy destroyed the "vile rock" and the evil was vanquished, but based on durability studies of other Delphoid Markers it is much more likely that the device was secretly hidden by an anonymous Gloy of exceptional bravery, where it remains undiscovered. The "Horrid Blue Death" song cycle concludes with a somber reenactment of the Burial of Ffthssvfthffshsstff, involving exactly 318 pointed stones.

6 Muk Empire Criminal Decree #318
A curious repeated transmission from the Cyan Moon Cluster has lead to the hypothesis that The Muk Empire may have been the scene of a recent Delphoid encounter. Every week, the Emperor of the Muk Empire delivers an address to his subjects that is beamed to the universe at large for the benefit of the many Mukoids and other Cyan Moonlings scattered throughout space. After each address an updated list of Criminals of the Muk Empire is attached to the broadcast, and for the last decade they have included Criminal Decree #318. CD#318 offers an unusually high bounty and names a "Blue Deceiver" as a dangerous wanted alien being, charging that it, "captured, detained and committed unauthorized torture of" a Muk chieftain named Houl. The Decree suggests that the, "monster and his Evil Block be obliterated," and that, "the Slayer shall be rewarded with endless slave wenches and feasting for many generations." The tone of CD#318 has almost completely dispelled the theory that the Delphoid is a rare breed of Cyan Moonling.

7 Skekt-auk Visitation
A Skekt-auk Overlord known as Gulmex became the subject of a Delphoid encounter during the first Overlord space mission. Shortly after claiming the lifeless moon of Blung in the name of He Who Eats All, Capt. Gulmex was taken by a Delphoid and held for 43 days, during which time he was disassembled and reassembled repeatedly. Appearing in the form of a pair of giant blue hands with 8 fingers each, the Delphoid spoke only once, saying, "Your kind is full of noise." The Marker that followed this encounter, and Capt. Gulmex himself, were quickly launched into a nearby sun on the order of the Chambermen of He Who Eats All. The Marker was recently recovered by the crew of the ASA Walkure and donated to the Ng Institute's Astro-Artifacts Collection, where it is being studied.