Epikouria Chronicles IX

It has been a while since I received a letter from Brother Hugo, but he made up for the delay by sending me a long letter. 

Along with his companions, he has been busy running the pop-up church that serves as a pavilion showcasing the Amarr faith during the intercultural fair. This fair celebrates the cooperation between the Originals, living on the planets of Epikouria, and the Starborn, the space-dwelling colonists led by Publius. Brother Hugo writes that the pop-up church was shunned by most Originals.

Talking to those that did visit, he found out why. The Originals have not always been autonomous. The settlement actually started as slave colonies under the control of Amarr militia and a corporation called Far Eastern WormHoles. Back then, it was following Amarr law and peace ruled. When outsiders ousted the Amarr loyal forces, rebellion broke out, slaves no longer obeyed their masters. The population turned away from the true faith, and started to follow the path of darkness. 

In this rebellious era, space lanes came under the control of new rulers, the Alexylva Paradox, who allowed all sorts of heresy. This drew a lot of new colonists to Epikouria's settlements, and the planet's cities experienced a period of strong growth. The permissive atmosphere attracted, according to Brother Hugo's hyperbole "all the worst of the heretic scum of the galaxy, including Sani Sabik, abolitionists, and forbidden sentient AI". If true, this is indeed very worrisome news, and a danger for brave Publius' soul. 

After spending a few more pages fulminating against the heresies that he witnessed among the Originals, Brother Hugo goes on to describe the intercultural fair itself. It appears that there was a great mutual interest in each other's technology. 

The Originals possess advanced cloning and biotechnology (Brother Hugo writes "and you know that these sciences were also favored by the Takmahl!"). The Originals use a device called a "Riordan-Nilanth Gravitational Resonance Imager" to make clone backups available to even the most humble member of their population. 

In turn, the Originals were very interested in the technology that was developed during the period after the Alexylva Paradox left Epikouria. In particular the Upwell technology that allows transfers of consciousness to Upwell workforce clone bodies, and the technology behind breacher pods. They were also interested in the Triglavian mutaplasmids. And a particular subculture of the Originals, called the conjoiners, are interested in the Sansha technology that Publius' colonists have been using somewhat too enthusiastically. Brother Hugo says that they are small-size hive minds, one of many types of deviants. 

So, from the point of view of the Originals and of the Starborn, this exchange seems to have been mutually quite benificial. But, for Brother Hugo, it has only confirmed his worst fears.

Links to keep track of the letters of Brother Hugo:
I. First Contact
II. Diplomatic Talks 
III. Refugee crisis
IV. Setting up a new home station
V. Epikouria under siege
VI. Prince Seraghis visit

VII. A suspicion of heresy

VIII. Pop-up church

Fear of the Molok

I am happy that Yun-Hee is showing an interest in our Amarr customs and religion. But I am just a little bit concerned with her interest in the story of Molok the Deceiver. She wants to know all about this personification of evil - how to recognise his deception, how to ward him off. That impulse of course is all right, and perhaps I am too inclined to always worry.

Some facts are known about Molok the historical figure. We do know that he was the enemy of emperor Amash-Akura, and coveted the Ametat and Avetat for himself. He tempted the faithful with money and power and could sway some to his side. He became evil incarnate and used sorcery. He was ultimately defeated by Amash-Akura at the Battle of Edras, and put to death. But even though his body was vanquished, his evil spirit remained in this world since it was refused entry in the hereafter. Many believe that this evil spirit still can manifest itself in order to tempt people into sin and make bad things happen.

Yun-Hee seemed somewhat scared about this possibility, and to reassure her I gave her a medallion of Saint Amash-Akura, which traditionally is believe to ward off the Molok. 

Of course, for the Sani Sabik think Molok is just fine, or worse, worthy of veneration. They have ceremonies to call forth his powerful spirit of evil, and even attempt to get Molok's spirit to incarnate into a living body again. 

I worry about where Yun-Hee might have heard about the Molok, I should ask next time. Are there Sani Sabik among us that try to influence her? I would not be surprised if this is the work of the arch-heretic and his minions, it is not the first time that one of them infiltrated Gottin's Lamp...

Rite of conversion

Yesterday I interrupted my study of the recovered Takmahl artefacts and the telemetry of the temple rock for a festive ceremony.

We celebrated the conversion of Jade Blackwind to the Faith. Her liege is lady Echo Ashland, and her godmother during yesterday's ceremony is lady Arline Kley. 

The spreading of faith from one person to the next was symbolized by passing the flame of a candle from the godmother to the candle that Jade held. A new light shines! It is a powerful symbol of the light of faith that conquers darkness - a symbolism also present in the acronym of our alliance, LUMEN.

The ceremony took place in the chapel, and there were plenty of curious non-capsuleer members of our congregation that showed up. It is not that often that a capsuleer formally converts to the faith! 

I was also happy to see Yun-Hee present, she has shown an increasing interest in religious matters and I hope that one day she too will stand here before the congregation to become part of the great community of faithful. For, in the words of the prophet Kuria, "Only in God can we thrive and grow."

Spacewalk

(continued from yesterday)

Fearless (and also in disregard of safety regulations), Alda Malukker decided to make a spacewalk, during our exploration of the Takmahl temple rock. Blood Raider reinforcements could arrive at any moment, there was all sorts of space debris flying around at the speed of bullets, and the site is basked in unknown forms of radiation.

Capsuleers do not fear death - and are willing to risk it in order to advance science. Alda disembarked from her Retribution class frigate, as you can see in the image above (courtesy of Lunarisse, I was too stunned to take a picture of that spacewalk). 

This allowed us to ascertain that our inability to enter the tunnels with our ships is not due to malfunctioning proximity safeguards. Also an astronaut trying to enter the tunnel "on foot" is pushed back by some sort of force field. Not a usual shield, that could be depleted and penetrated with enough firepower - it seems the rock itself expels foreign bodies by its own design. Not in all tunnels or cavities - there is one where I could enter, and I think also the Takmahl could enter and staged their blood sacrifices ceremonies in. 

There was some speculation that the rock could be a spaceship (an old one that somehow accrued a lot of dust that coalesced). That does not seem to be the case. Even though there is a lot of subsurface structure there, there is no sign of engines, a bridge, docking bays. The tunnels appear bare, and appear as if they we not artificial, but the result of the violent formation of the rock. There are signs that when this asteroid formed there were repeated cycles of melting and resolidification: the stalagtites have rings of subsequent deposition, as if they are the product of some faulty melt extrusion, or perhaps some phasing in and out of an alternate dimension. It would be good to compare this with those new phase asteroids that have appeared. 

The expedition has taught us a lot about this temple rock, and in addition we have retrieved a large amount of artefacts and even fragments of texts and inscriptions. But it seems that -as it often goes in science- every answer has created new questions...

Takmahl tunnels

With the support of friends in fleet, I was able to take my time mapping out the Takmahl temple rock. I used the Stratios that I had received as a gift during the past Secret Santa party. It felt somewhat strange to pilot, as I am used to the Indagatrix, an Anathema class hull, good reliable Amarrian design. But the Stratios felt much sturdier, able to take a beating, and have a large collection of drones of all sorts to use. 

The stalagmite asteroid is very large, and it turns out to have not just one but many tunnels leading inside. Above you can see one of the major entry tunnels, and the (much smaller) size of the Stratios in front of it for comparison. In the backgroud is Aphi's star - the site is located very near the Red Giant basking in its radiation. 

The debris you see is part of a vast cloud of debris, remnants of a vast Takmahl space settlement that surrounded the temple, including structure to hold blood sacrifices, places to house the revelers, and a thriving tourist industry, no doubt. While steered the Stratios into the tunnel, fleet members retrieved what artefacts they could find from this debris, in between fending off waves of Blood Raiders coming to "defend" this place.

Inside are cavernous spaces, with some Takmahl inscriptions on the walls, but no real docking bays. There are traces of landings, mooring of ships, but no structures. There are gullys carved out on the cavern's floor, hinting that at one time there might have been some construction that allowed for an atmosphere and flowing liquids. The gully's lead to a pit, and still contain traces of organics, so I think they were part of some horrible blood ceremony taking place inside the temple rock.

I was not able to move much deeper, and emerged from another tunnel, near some of the spires

There are many tunnels, leading to internal cavities, but they do not seem to contain any habitations or ruined docking hangars. But some of them seem to have force fields. A central sunward tunnel turned out to be blocked, although as you can see, it also ought to have been large enough for the Stratios to enter.

The collision sensors appear to have been fooled by the minerals in the rock, since I could not detect any shield. The same was true for an entrance at the top, which appeared to have some radiation coming out of it, hinting at some type of power source within

There's many kilometers of rock below that - the glow appears to come from the rock rather than from the Red Giant's light penetrating. I was wondering how we'd bypass the ships collision sensors - or somehow reduce its signature radius, perhaps by switching off power to the shields, when Alda Malukker spontaneously tried a special experiment...

(to be continued)

Visiting the Takmahl Temple Rock

I must begin this log entry with scripture: "Surround yourself with the faithful, Stand together, for there is no strength like it under the heavens."  It is an evergreen favorite from the Book of Missions, and it remains very relevant.

I would not have been able to do this without the help of my fellow LUMEN pilots. The Takmahl labyrinth is invested by Blood Raider scum that think they own the place, because the Blood Raiders and the Takmahl share some common Sani Sabik ancestry.

A fleet gathered in Dresi - the Praetorians often work from that system. Under the command of good Gaun Arel, many pilots rallied to my call for help on this exploration mission! Lord Kane Arcahviri did some scouting in advance. Luna was there, as well as Alda Malukker, Echo Ashland, Tiberius Arthuron, and Otto, Vintrilus, Naktaria Tevangelys, Paul Pantor Pahineh, ... I hope I have not forgotten anyone in this list - I was overwhelmed by this nice support.

With that many talented pilots in fleet, the Blood Raiders were quickly dispatched, with no casualties on our side. 

I had plenty of time to explore the rock and could take all the telemetry I needed, confirming my suspicions. But more on that in tomorrow's log - today is a day to celebrate and be grateful.

Seeking an archeology support fleet

I used an auspicious connection from Seclusion to Gheth, one system away from our Mehatoor headquarters, to return home. These fleeting connections come and go, and one has to wait sometimes to get a connection that goes back to Empire space. So, even though the study of the Talocan wreck is not quite finished, I headed back during the time frame that this particular wormhole was stable.

Now I am getting ready for an expedition to the Araz constellation, and should see if I find Gaun or Baron. They lead anti-piracy operations, and since the Takmahl sites are infested with Blood Raiders, their expertise will come in handy. I will also need to prepare the Stratios class hull, since my Indagatrix is not suitable to hack relic sites under heavy enemy fire. Hopefully all can be brought in order for coming Sunday, depending also on the anti-piracy fleet's schedules.

The goal is not just to retrieve artefacts from the debris belt circling the Takmahl's holy rock, but also to investigate the rock itself more closely, and scan to see if there are structures or cavities inside this rock. It is a dangerous operation, and I am inclined to make a general call for help among LUMEN's capsuleers.

The writing on the wreck

To a looter, like to a grave robber of an ancient tomb, a thorougly salvaged wreck holds no interest any more. I think that is why the Sleepers let this Talocan frigate just float about. They have extracted everything of any use from it.

However, to the scientist curious about ancient cultures, even a looted wreck is a source of interesting information: We know very little about Talocan culture and writing, and even though the tomb is emptied of valuables, so to speak, there are still frescoes on the wall. 

Over the many years that the wreck has been exposed to solar winds and dust clouds, all markings seem to have faded away. However, even a small amount of pigment particles can still be made visible through (even weak) fluorescence rather than reflection or absorption of light. By sending in the right frequency, and monitoring the right frequency, even trace amounts can be made visible. 

That is how we see the frescoes on this tomb's walls. I have logged and added the symbols that we found. We do not understand them yet, they look blocky somewhat like Jovian glyphs (and some have posited a relation, although that is controversial). The Talocan language remains a long-standing mystery, and many academic works have been written trying to interpret the icons.

As you can see from the sample in the handbook above, these square pictographs look somewhat similar. There also seem to be too many different ones for them to be letters in an alphabet. We do not know if they break down into such smaller units, or perhaps they are ideograms representing words or concepts, like a pictogram for "emergency exit hatch". 

However, the more different ones we can add (including the context where they were found), the larger the body of knowledge about them grows and perhaps one day we have enough information to crack the code of the Talocan language! 

((ooc picture credit: Archaeological Museum of Zagreb; page of the Oedipus Aegyptiacus of Athanasius Kircher))

Cargo cults

The Talocan wreck was found in the vicinity of a sleeper listening post, and it appears at first sight to be stripped of any salvage, probably by the Sleepers. Our crews are still making certain that no nanite or other ancient traps are present.  

Meanwhile the exterior is also worth examining. The hull is an elongated ellipsoid, with a thicker band running around its circumference in the middle, and a band running along the long side's top edge. The front part has six forward facing spikey protrusions, probably scanning devices or some sort of weapon. The aft has exhausts from a propulsion module.

This type of shape is quite typical of Talocan structures, be it ships or even small outposts (these tend to be somewhat less prolate). It could be just the product of my imagination, but I do see a certain resemblance with the stalagmite asteroids, albeit turned on their side. 

This points to a very interesting hypothesis: the Takmahl (do not mix them with the Talocan) worship of the stalagmite asteroid is a cargo cult religion! 

The Takmahl might have been visited by the Talocan, and were so impressed by their gifts and help coming from that alien ship, that they made or modeled an asteroid to look like it, and to implore from that rock the gifts that they received from an actual alien visitor.

This is a known phenomenon: indigenous inhabitants of small islands, during the wars of reclamation, met with the technologically superior Amarr who used islands as temporary bases and brought in goods with airplanes. After the reclamation, the bases were removed and the army left, but the inhabitants made mock landing strips from sticks and stones in the hope that this would attract the divine visitors with their goods.

But the Takmahl empire is fairly young on the scale of things! If true, this hypothesis implies that (perhaps the last) Talocan would have wandered around the cluster much much after we now estimate that their civilization got extinct!

Virtues Party

Tonight I will sleep under the unfamiliar constellations of Anoikis. I have arrived in our wormhole system of Seclusion, but today I did not have much time for the Talocan frigate, just a quick visit. First, my presence was needed at a ceremony to celebrate that the planets have been given names, registered in the Amarr Planetary Society's atlas. The planets are named after important virtues: Obedience, Devotion, Charity, Temperance, Sacrifice, Honesty, Propriety and Justice. 

For this milestone we had a party at the "Two Shots Minimum" bar on station, where Baron Redwolfe first reviewed the history of LUMEN's wormhole, from the time when intrepid explorer Umar Ahmad announced that LUMEN had claimed their spot in Anoikis, to the present era. That was followed by a contest, for the best personification of a virtue through dress, word or performance. 

Charity (Lady Echo Ashland), Propriety (ms. Jenneth) and Justice (Lady Arline Kley) impressed the jury, and each of those winners will be immortalized by having one of the control towers at the corresponding planets named after them.

The winners are also given a planetary-industry fitted Epithal-class hauler (which paladin Kley could not accept due to her vows with the Praetorians). That in itself is not worth a great deal in terms of isk, but it is easy for new industrialists in that they do not have to bring it and the bulky planetary command centers to Seclusion themselves. 

It is part of a wider effort to attract new investment and industry to the resource-rich planets of Seclusion. They have hired a public relations firm from the State, who have printed and distributed brochures "Seclusion is Open for Business!" that tout the very low tax rates and absence of tariffs for exports from the newly named planets.