Foundation Day celebrations

Past week we celebrated Foundation Day! 

Also this year, LUMEN organized their own celebrations, with a parade and fireworks display in Amarr, at the Empress' Honor Guard above our home world. The fireworks were so plentiful, and of such a brightness that they must have been visible from the nighttime planetside. Unlike some previous years, the parade was not disrupted by Ushra Khan terrorists. Personally I credit this to our warzone pilots keeping the pressure on them in the warzone.

This was followed by speeches from Dame Daphiti and from our Directrix, emphasizing how faith brings us together under the guidance of the Empress. After that, a formal celebratory ball took place. 

I'm afraid I missed most of the capsuleer celebrations - I was too caught up preparing the celebrations for our baseliner staff at the Chapel, and doing the heap of paperwork for the MIO permission. That latter task has now finally been completed, and with the paperwork submitted I hope to get a positive answer soon.

Red Tape

Mr. Firth has made good progress in getting us an MIO permit to explore in Mezagorm, bypassing the Directorate General of Cultural-Historic Patrimonium.

However, we have hit a bump in the road, as I need to fill in a background-check form. One question in particular appears difficult to answer:

Have you traveled outside the Empire in the past ten years? If so, give a precise list with for each occasion: when, where and why?

This covers all of my capsuleer life! I must have been outside of the Empire hundreds of times, and do not quite recall every separate occasion, let alone when and why... Now, if I make a mistake and that is detected by the MIO, we can forget about the permit.

Now, for the last 18 months, Mr. Firth has been the political officer on the Indagatrix, and for that period he had no problems producing this list for me. I think he simply had it in a drawer in his cabin.

For the period before that, I will have to rely on my logs to set up the paperwork...

Mr. Firth's kind help

Good news! Mr. Ivan Firth, the political officer on the Indagatrix, has taken an interest in my quest for the Ink of Truth. 

Indeed, he had been complaining a bit about how we did not contribute as much as we used to do, bringing back interesting items or information for the Ministry. It has gone a bit quiet since the Empire's most glorious victory over the Drifters.

With his current status -he seems to have much more clout now that he has been promoted to Itenerant Frumentaris Second Class- he might just be able to get me a temporary permit for an exploration expedition in Mezagorm. If he succeeds, we will even have the backing of an Imperial Navy punisher-class frigate to clear the site of hostile blood raiders.

Expecting a positive outcome to Mr. Firth's petition, I am preparing the expedition, and putting the station scanning equipment in the cargo hold. Given the recent splash in ISK, I have been able to purchase fancier versions of the radio-isotope fingerprint detectors. They will allow me to pinpoint regions in the stations that have been inhabited for a while after the Mad Emperor's "temple of pride" was formally abandoned.

The Temple of Pride

It seems that the word that I translated into modern Amarrian as 'gardens' had a special connotation in the language of the time. It was not merely any garden, but a communal vegetable garden in the city, a place where people would grow food for their own consumption, and meet their neighbors. 

Another clarification that Dr. Kadeyooh made, was that the 'temple of pride' in the riddle should not be interpreted as a place where the sin of pride is celebrated, or where a god of pride is worshipped. Rather, it is a place that has been built not with humility, but out of pride, out of a love for oneself rather than a love for God.

Within the Tetrimonic tradition, I believe - and dr. Kadeyooh tends to agree - that this might refer to the pride of the Mad Emperor, and the city that he built to satisfy his own megalomania. 

It seems I should head back to Mezagorm, and continue the search that I interrupted there. Last time, I had trouble getting in, since the Directorate General of Cultural-Historic Patrimonium no longer gives permits for archeological exploration there. I do not feel like going on a cruise again to visit it, so I'll have to find a new solution to get in.

Chronicle of Arzad

Luna got in touch with me, about the rare items fair that I organised. I think she also enjoyed it, but what is even better news is that she found precious items for our library!

It does not surprise me that some collectors would prefer to approach her -famous and very well connected and respected directrix- rather than some unknown friar. But she also has a keen eye for items of historical importance. 

She has found an ancient manuscript, in relatively decent condition, describing the life of Arzad Hamri, of House Hamri. Arzad was condemned by the Theology Council and sentenced to death, though for the Starkmanir tribe he is still considered a saint. Or an elder, although that might be more of a prophet? Anyhow, not that much is known about him, given his heresy conviction, and these documents will shed new light on the history of the system that was named after him, Arzad, in the Devoid region.

These manuscripts will of course draw attention also of the Republic, perhaps unwanted attention. So, I am ordering special protective glass anti-theft display cases to store these in. What a magnificent addition to Gottin's lamp library!

House historian

Reading in the palace library, I met the house historian of the Duke of Youledian. 

It is a hallmark of a truly ancient noble line that it keeps a personal historian, to track the footsteps that they leave throughout history. 

Dr. Ephas Kadeyooh told me that the Youledians trace their lineage back to a certain Khanid nomadic group that was known to be particularly ferocious and barbarian. They were said to eat their yak meat using their bare hands, which must have been most horrifying to the sophisticate Amarrian table manners of the early Empire. 

This led the faithful who finally subdued them to ponder whether this tribe, safely converted, might not teach us some lessons in combat. It was concluded that their savagery would "lend itself well to the strict enforcement of the law of God", in the words of general Darahzad, and so they were incorporated as shock troops, as many other Khanid nomadic tribes were.

Dr. Kadeyooh was adamant that the Tetrimon would not refer to the Khanid as "dark Amarr", since that was considered to be a derogatory term. The Tetrimon Order would have wanted to keep friendly relatios with House Khanid, as the Tetrimon Order was already hedging its bet on a possible banishment to their demesne (which was not yet an independent Kingdom during the Moral Reform civil war). 

To find out what is meant by the Dark Bishop, the kind dr. Kadeyooh who has a good knowledge of Moral Reform Tetrimon symbology has agreed to help me. 

Audience with the Duke

It was such an honor to be granted an audience with Duke Fayed, Holder of Youledian and Khanid royal appointee to the Theology Council! 

He was able to grant me a full two minutes and forty seconds of his most precious time, as he had other people to meet during the audience hour. Along with other lucky visitors, I was queuing in the palace's Hall of Audiences where ushers moved us along as we were led one by one in front of his majesty the Duke.

In his words to me, he expressed his satisfaction at LUMEN's contributions to conquer Sanctified Vidette, and asked me to convey his heartfelt encouragements to lady Von Deilyx and to our pilots to keep up the good work. He also pressed upon me to redouble efforts to have all our faithful pilots adhere strictly to the orthodoxy as expressed by the Theology Council and the Empress, in particular in what regards attendance at least twice a day to mass. 

Protocol forbade me to ask a question unless invited to do so by the Duke, so unfortunately I was unable to find out more about the riddle or connections between House Youledian and the Tetrimon Order. By the time he finished congratulating LUMEN and giving his advise on guiding a capsuleer flock, ushers bade me to move on. The Duke cast his benevolent gaze upon the next petitioner, and that was the end of my audience.

While I am still very much impressed to have been in the presence of his majesty, the event leaves me somewhat confused now about how to proceed. Luckily, the palace also boasts a library. 

When in doubt, always go to the library.

Palace Gardens

The palace gardens remind me of the Khanid gardens I saw on the estate of House Deritan - a former duchess of Fekhoya, fallen from grace, and presently of unknown whereabouts. And, of course, it also reminds me of the beautiful example on display at Luna's "Gardens of the Empire" exhibit. I would advise our new members to visit if they get the chance to do so.

In the Khanid custom, gardens are seen as places to come to rest and meditate, to get away from the business of the day, and to spend some time focusing on what matters most. Their style is less formal and rigid, less rectilinear than classicist Dam-Torsad gardens, and the element of random encounter is allowed to come into play. Walking along the twisting stone paths, one finds strangely shaped rocks, carefully shaped ponds with water lillies, patches of the whitest sand, manicured shrubs, Khanid maple trees, and tiny trees that have clearly been tortured to remain small while still looking natural. 

The eye is both guided inward and outward. Inward, towards the center of the Duke of Youledian's garden, a lone giant Emperor's tree presides over its surroundings. It is visible from nearly every corner of the garden, and symbolizes the dominance of a Holder over their holdings.

To the south, the garden borders the edge of the mesa on which the palace is built, so looking outward one sees the vast landscape from high above. An ornately sculpted stone balustrade at the edge of the steep escarpment is low enough to allow for some degree of vertigo in those standing next to it. As the mesa rises high above the city, and due to the restrictions in height of the buildings below, the view is not obstructed. 

According to the riddle, one has to find the "stench of sin" in these gardens. Is there anything that looks as if it would disturb the meditation? If there is, I cannot see it. 

I have a requested an audience with the Duke, as I have heard that he is around in his palace for a few weeks, and gives audiences every Sunday. 

Arzanni VII

The ducal palace on the temperate world Arzanni VII could have been built in any lush and fertile green region that the planet has. Instead, it is perched on a jagged basalt mesa at the edge of Arzanni's largest continental steppe, a region that would more closely resemble the ancestral Khanid homelands on Amarr. 

Black and silver is a Khanid theme, also for this ducal palace. Its walls are built from polished volcanic stone, giving the palace a gleaming black sheen, and its towers are topped by silver domes, looking a bit like the round nomadic tents of the early Khanid. 

The first Duke of Youledian who built this palace must have been a bit homesick... 

At the foot of the mesa, a sprawling city stretches into the steppe, the capital of the duchy. It does not have skyscrapers so common of modern Amarrian cities - it seems there is a law restricting the height of the buildings to be less than that of the ancient cathedral tower. I have booked a simple hotel close to mesa's cliff, on the slopes rising up towards the cliffs. This appears to be the "tourist hotspot" - where the quotes indicate that tourism is definitely a euphemism.

I have booked a guided tour to the palace and the palace gardens.

Dukes of Youledian

I have been debating what lead to follow. Talocan research, relic dark web, or the riddle leading to the Ink of Truth? I know myself, and will be chaotically following all three unless I decide to focus.

I will leave the Talocan artifacts to the Lamp's science team and a friend and scholar from Hedion who agreed to help. And for the relic dark web, that does not require much action, simply lurking around and seeing what is being asked or offered.

So, the riddle it is. The most likely starting point seems to be the "Dark King's bishop". The dark Amarr is a nickname for the Khanid, so I think this refers to King Khanid. Of course, there are many bishops in the Kingdom, none in particular associated with the royal court. Rather than bishops, it has been nobles from the court have been appointed to the theology council in the past. Some may remember that the accursed Sa-Baron Chakaid once got that post, but that resulted from a machination by that evil man.

Historically, it has been the Dukes of Youledian that took on the role of theological councilor to King Khanid. This is true today as it was yesterday: the current appointee of the Kingdom to the Theology Council, Duke Fayed, is again from house Youledian. 

The ducal palace, the seat of power of house Youledian, is on Arzanni VII. It has gardens and a ducal museum that can be visited. Time for a trip... with the interbus, given the nuisance of piracy lately.