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.

Converting for love

It is an interesting conundrum. What if someone wants to convert to our religion not because the fire of faith has taken hold of them, but out of love - love for a person that does find faith important? Is that a reason good enough? Should they be allowed the conversion rite if they are not convinced to their core of our creed?

I have given it some thought, and I think it should be allowed. God has many ways to call people to Him, and certainly the path that starts with love for another person is not a bad one to begin the journey of faith.

There is historical precedent, too. Back when Assimia was still a patchwork of pagan kingdoms, a mighty king fell in love with a common girl called Riasan. He was impressed by her beauty and wisdom and kindness. She was of the faith, and through her prayers and devout life, she succeeded in converting her husband the king. This did not happen overnight, and I can imagine that the king's heart was not quite convinced of Riasan's religion at first, and he may have converted (and converted his subjects as well) out of love for his wife. This shows that love is a fertile soil in which the seed of faith, once planted, can grow and flourish!

Miniature of queen Riasan in prayer

It is to be noted that Saint Riasan is nowadays invoked against sudden death and iniquitous husbands. I am not sure where the sudden death part comes from, but she has indeed proven that she is able to change a husband for the better.

(( ooc picture attribution: St. Clothilde from Gallica Digital Library, available under the digital ID btv1b84472995/f53 ))

Aguard

I was surprised by the news from the Federation today. The Federation, once an enemy, have steadily moved more towards a friendly relation. The Pashanai accords, brokered by house Kor-Azor, enacted a new era of (perhaps tense) peace between the Federation and our Empire. 

LUMEN has played a role in these thawing relations. We have opened an embassy, well before even the Pashanai accords, on Luminaire, in order to bring the Empire and the Federation closer, be it merely at the level of our capsuleer engagements. On the overall scale of things this is perhaps a small role, but still I believe it to be an important component of our improved relations. It was one of many moves that prepared the way towards Pashanai.

So to hear today that the leader of the Federation, President Celes Aguard, has been deposed from office, is shocking. 

I realise Presidents are nothing like an Empress, they are not chosen by God but by the people, people with all their sins and imperfections and callous judgments and selfish desires. They do not reflect the divine, they merely reflect the basest common denominator of wants. But still - presidents are imbued with authority. I do not know what will happen now, there are no heirs in their system, there is no Shathol'Syn, no divine guidance. Most likely they will again poll their people, who have no training nor guidance in selecting good leaders...

May the next President prove to be a reliable partner for the Empire and may he or she continue to follow the path of peace and collaboration.

Preparing for Seclusion

I am heading out to LUMEN's wormhole system of Seclusion this weekend. There is a naming celebration for the planets, as we are encouraging new industry and investment on those resource-rich worlds. 

Astronomers had named them Seclusion I, Seclusion II, and so on - scientific names. They will now be named after virtues, somewhat corresponding to the type of planets. So there will be a contest where people can represent virtues through poetry, clothing, dance, song, or any sort of performance. I will be on the jury for this. 

Mr. Firth very much approves of such celebrations, proclaiming them to be virtuous in their own right. But that is not his only motivation to join me to Seclusion, despite his strong dislike of wormholes (or, indeed, of any type of space that is not high-sec by concord standards).

We will also inspect a Talocan frigate that was retrieved by Baron Redwolfe's exploration fleets. It has been towed to station, and remains there, sealed and ready to be investigated. I will be bringing a team of engineers from our Gottin's Lamp headquarters to help us breach the hull or access parts of the ship that might still be closed off. Perhaps I should also bring one of these neural lace implants in case we need to hack a systems. Special drilling equipment, small scanning probes, a force field enclosure... the Indagatrix's cargo bay is filling up quickly. 

Preparations are indeed needed - this is much like opening an ancient tomb. Also this is not without danger! The Talocan possessed knowledge and skill far beyond what we have. However, the high risk comes with a high potential for reward as well. And even though prudence is a virtue, so is fortitude!