Collapse of the Takmahl empire

Yesterday I have been mulling over the question posed by dr. Valate: could the Takmahl have found Abyssal space? I concluded that they would not have done so while settling in Araz, nor do I think it is plausible that they did in the golden age of their civilization.

That of course leaves out the period of the late Takmahl empire. The downfall of their civilization was as meteoric as its rise to prominence was. The reasons for their quick demise are unknown. From an advanced civilization, in the timespan of merely a century, they collapsed to a pre-industrial state of barbarism.

Indeed, when scouts and explorers first reached the region, they found a backward stone age cannibalistic people that did not remember any of their former technology. The population had dwindled to a few semi-nomadic settlements in a decaying urban wilderness they no longer understood. The tools and edifices of their ancestors, the Takmahl, were venerated as relics left by ancient gods. Only the rites of the blood remained in practice, true to their long-lost Sabik origins.

What apocalypse befell the Takmahl? 

The standard theory followed in Hedion and other universities in the Empire is that at some point, the falsehood of their Sabik religion caught up with them. The depravities got worse and worse and collapsed their society, perhaps aided by the abuse of cyborgs in their cults. 

Another popular theory is ecosystem collapse. Most worlds in Araz are barren, and they relied on hydroculture in the ocean worlds in the constellation. Concurrent asteroid storms, inferred from cratering studies, appeared to have struck these worlds around the same time as the decline of their Empire.

Here now we may have a third theory. It is a variant of the theory formulated before by Valate once before in the context of Drifters, at the fourth SeyCon conference. That theory states that the Takmahl encountered a civilization much more advanced than they are, and perhaps unwittingly started a war with them. The new version of this theory would then involve Abyssal space. Maybe at some point they were able to reverse engineer the spatial rifts at the Labyrinth site enough to tinker with them and reached Abyssal space (or wormhole space). If they started looting it, who knows what they might have triggered. A reprisal by the Drifters? Or maybe the Triglavian's ancestors?

Takmahl in Abyssal space

Today I came across an interesting article by prof. Valate, a prominent Takmahl scholar whose works I track. Quite provocatively, she asks:

"was [it] possible that the Takmahl were able to create portals to abyssal realms, and made contact with someone or something there, not necessarily the Triglavians, during the time the Takmahl were active, some 1500-2000 years ago [?]"

Previous works (among which also those of Valate herself) assume a link between the Takmahl and the Talocan. The Sabik who fled Amarr at the height of Queron I's persecutions had technology no more advanced than cryoships. In a short timespan after they settled in the Araz constellation, they developed advanced cybernetics and ship fittings that still today we marvel about. Takmahl artefacts and materials are used to this day to produce advanced ship modules. 

So how could they so quickly go from refuguees to an interstellar empire? The consensus is that they stumbled upon Talocan technology left in Araz. The influences of Talocan technology on their society is visible through the artefacts and relics that are found in the ruins of their cities and space installations. It has always been implicitly assumed that they found this Talocan technology in deepspace pockets in Aphi and the other systems of the pentagram constellation.

I wonder about the track that is being explored - so far as I know without proof. Is dr. Valate suggesting that the Takmahl actually met the Talocan or their descendants in Abyssal space? It seems doubtful that in the initial stages, when they settled down, they would know about Abyssal space, let alone have the technology to go there. Filaments as we know them require more advanced ships than what they had.

Maybe the question is whether during the golden age of their Empire they would have found a way to go to Abyssal space. As ms. Jenneth suggests, traces of Isogen-10 would reveal this - but as far as I know there have been no such traces. Also, if they would have an influx of new knowledge and the ability to exploit Abyssal space, I would think this would give them a second boost, a second rapid expansion if not in territory then in technology. Again to the best of my knowledge there is no trace of that second spurt.

The Rod of the Creator

The Achura are a deeply spiritual people, which I find a bit at odds with the rest of the Caldari State. The Achura homeworld, Saisio III, is also the home of many relics. 

Those who believe that some long-lost civilization colonized our cluster through the Eve Gate often point to Saisio III as an important planet for that lost civilization. In their minds, the relics of the Ancient Gods are nothing but leftover technology from a thriving world before the Dark Ages.

There is one particular relic that interests me a lot - the Rod of the Creator. It is not one piece, rather it consists of different relics scattered over several monasteries. Some of these pieces have been stolen, some even hunted down and returned by loyal Caldari capsuleers. I've been fascinated by this relic, and in my mind I have come to link it to the Ametat, the Sceptre.

Now that my road forward with the Takmahl corpse is blocked, as I can't legally obtain a clone from someone else's DNA, this is the next route of investigation that I will pursue. Layla Accadis' corpse has been waiting for a thousand years, she can wait a bit more.

Could it be that the Sceptre, through some winding and mysterious path, at some point made it to Achura? They barely left the iron age a few centuries ago, so they would not have known its significance but surely they would have felt its power. How did it become fractured? Do the Achura have myths or tales of how it got there? I want to find out.

The monasteries on Achura are not readily accessible to visitors, at least not the interesting ones. But I have a plan.

To strengthen the ties between the Empire and the State, especially since the fall of Niarja, there are several cooperation and exchange programs. ACRE is one of these programmes, the "Amarr - Caldari Religious Exchange". The idea is that monks (friars are also eligible) from the Empire and the State trade places for a while. I would spend time in an Achura monastery, and an Achur monk would come to Mehatoor. 

I'll have to discuss this with Directrix Phonaga (yes, she took Franco's name). She'd be reluctant to let strangers into the SFRIM offices in Mehatoor, I think. So, maybe I'll first get Aria on my side. She is also from Achura, and linked to the monastic tradition. I have time, I suppose Lunarisse is now enjoying her honeymoon.

A wedding and a victory

They say misfortunes never come alone, but apparently that is also true of good things.

The wedding yesterday was magnificent. The Farthest Star chapel, usually a quiet place, was filled to the brim. Many Gallenteans came, to my surprise. The Gate seemed particularly active, throwing its whisps of light as if it was celebrating with us. 

The ceremony too was beautiful, the sedevacantist protesters from my nightmares were absent. There was only an interruption by Amadin, who mock objected like a jealous fool. The bride and the groom looked fantastic! There was a reception afterwards, but I may have dozed off a little. Maybe it was the release of the tension that I had felt officiating this wedding that made me sleepy afterwards.

Today, more good news arrived, probably the best wedding gift of all that were given. 

Our war with the Kybernauts comes to an end! God has given us victory! The fall of the Wirashoda Azbel was indeed the turning point, our victories multiplied afterwards. Their resistance crumbled before the onslaught of the unlikely alliance between LUMEN, Electus Matari and PNS. In their hasty retreat, the Kybernauts abandoned or burned down their own last fortresses. None remain, after yesterday's final mopping up operation.

Alas this was but a stage in a much longer war. For the Kybernauts are but the henchmen of their Triglavian overlords. The Triglavians are still strong, even if their servants have been defeated. With all their talk of proving, it stands to reason the Triglavians will not like failure. So, while some Kybernauts now try to seek refuge in the arms of their masters, hoping punishment will not be too harsh, others have chosen to run away and turn to piracy. 

Let us be gracious in our victory, and try to guide these wayward capsuleers back into the fold.

Preparations

I must admit I am somewhat nervous. I officiated weddings before, but never anything so high-profile.

Luna and Franco are getting married, and I have been given the honor of officiating their wedding. This is not merely a wedding, and not merely a capsuleer wedding! No, it is the wedding of our directrix! The wedding of someone I hold in high esteem and like to call my friend.

Everything is prepared, I went over the liturgy and ceremony with the couple. Scriptures are chosen, music is set, traditions picked among the many in the cluster.

And yet I had a nightmare that, as I was asking if anyone objects, a sedevacantist would stand up and start slandering the marriage as the groom is not of the faith - Franco hasn't converted yet. Franco has selected a paranymph - a member of the faith who will vouch for his character and ensure the children are raised in the faith. So there is no religious obstacle whatsoever to this wedding. But still, undercover agents under the influence of Nauplius would no doubt use the occasion to make a ruckus. And I know Aria would quickly take care of any heretic objecting, immediately helped by Ishta. But still.

Welcome mr. Jensen

Mr. Jensen arrived and took up his job as assistant librarian. He immediately made sure we acquire copies of the works of the laureates of the New Eden Literature contest. He is also applying the formalism that he invented, the Jensen index, to our book catalogue. Who would have known that octonion number geometry would be so convenient in library science?

I am glad to hear that mr. Jensen is adapting well as assistant librarian. Some of our customers have a hard time dealing with the disability that makes his slow in comparison to our neurological clocks, so I might consider hiring an additional "Overseer of the Shelves" - the rank just below assistant librarian to help mr. Jensen interacting with our customers.

There was today also an interesting question on the forums by prof. Valate. She wonders if the Takmahl may have knowledge of the Triglavian conduit portals. Probably the Triglavians were around in abyssal space then, but did they ever get contact with the Takmahl? This suggestions appears to me as thunder in a clear sky. I have not seen anything indicating it, but I am intrigued...

Naming ceremony

Yesterday there was a callsign naming ceremony in SFRIM. I think the idea is that a slight humiliation keeps capsuleers grounded, or humble. We had to tell embarrassing stories or failures, and then others would pound on it suggesting silly names. 

With drinks flowing profusely, I knew I had to be fast before the whole thing would degenerate. So, I volunteered first, and told the story of how my Abott called me Dozey, a play on the middle syllable  of my name, Theo-doze-eus. 

It appears that during sermons I meditate so deeply that other misconstrue this and think I doze off. The light humming I sometimes make, prayer during meditation, is also often misunderstood as snoring. Dozey will thus both remain and become my callsign during fleet operations.

I was right to go early in the evening. Some people who fell asleep got pounced on by their fellows and now will be known as Zonk. There's an Onion. There almost was a Fluffy. 

I think now of the joint fleet operations with Electus Matari and Phoenix Naval Systems, against the Triglavians. The proud Amarr fleet that joins our erstwhile enemies in a fight against a common threat. And insists to be called flitter, zonk, onion, ipsy and snoopy.

Stuck

I seem to be somewhat stuck. I finally obtained permission to examine the corpse of Layla Accadis and experiment on it, but I cannot get a clone. At wit's end I talked to a man of the Serpentis pirate faction. I was brought into contact with him by a low-level cryogenics engineer from Lai Dai who works at a clone facility.

I was hesitant. The man, Elaziel Sols, only wanted to meet me at some shady bar. I stood out like a sore thumb in that place. Mr. Sols had no difficulty identifying me. I explained my case, and he told me he can provide exactly what I want: a genetically identical body, without consciousness. I don't trust him. I think I want to talk to lord Garion about this first, he has been my moral lodestone.

In other news, I have decided what to do with my prize money. To keep it related to books, I have set up a skillbook fund. Up till the exhaustion of the fund, I will grant anyone from LUMEN who asks money for a skillbook the ISK to do so (up to a maximum amount of 65 million per applicant). That way, I can adhere to my vow of poverty and help our friends at the same time.

Conflicting emotions

Yesterday evening was the gala for the literature prizes. Even though such social events with famous people and parties and receptions are definitely not my biotope, I had planned to attend this event since it focuses on books. It warms my librarian heart to see writing celebrated, and I was amazed at the quality of the submitted works, and at creativity and wit of their writers.

But given the events of the past days I could not bring myself to partake in the festivities. Moreover, I had promised some families of our fallen soldiers to visit them. I cannot cut such visits short to go indulge myself. No matter how strongly I support this initiative, I couldn't make myself go.

I was happy to learn that my modest scribblings have earned me a prize! I am grateful to my promotor, lord Garion Avarr. Now I feel that I did the jury a grave disservice by not attending. Conflicting emotions, joy and vanity and a bit of guilt. 

I think there will be a monetary reward, and I have to think what to do with it. I fully intend to keep my vow of poverty, and at this moment I do not need more money to pursue my quest. I will reflect on how to put this to good use.

Bringing our fallen soldiers home

Even with all the learning, all the clerical training, even with my ordination to perform rites, I was not prepared for this. Not prepared for its weight, nor for its impact on me.

One of the Kybernauts reached out to us, with an offer to retrieve our dead. Our Directrix contacted me to help. I agreed to meet this compassionate Kyber in Hek, in Republic space close to the faction warfare zone. We easily demonize our enemies during war, but I was reminded by this action that Kybernauts can be honorable persons, who just like us worry about their families and honor the dead.

I was given access to a hangar where the Kyber had stored the remains of our fallen. The hangar had been purged of its toxic atmosphere and disinfected from mutaplasmids. My contact appeared only via holodrone. 

All the caskets and urns were there. I was shocked at the sheer amount of them. Thousands. I was overcome for a little while, and the Kybernaut let me pray in peace as I reached out to God for strength.

I barely could fit all of them in my cargo hold, I had to strip some stuff and leave probes and other material behind in Hek. Faced with this problem, to my own surprise I had switched from a state of disarray to a mechanical state of duty to be performed. I had turned into a kind of numb robot. I remember thinking about the optimal stacking problem in my cargo hold as if it was some abstract mathematical question.

I managed to fit all of them in my hold, and brought the most precious cargo I have ever transported back to Mehatoor, and from there it went forward to Nahyeen, to the memorial garden.

My "numb robot" state passed when the memorial ceremony began. It was as if, when I saw that I had completed my task, I could finally once again go back to experiencing feelings. They came over me as a shock wave. A wave of row upon row of flag draped caskets and urns. I said a few words during the ceremony, I cannot even remember what I said clearly now, I let my training and clerical instinct take over.

As I cannot fall asleep, I pray. I pray for strength. I pray for the fallen that journeyed home with me. And I pray that I may never get used to such missions.

The eerie quiet

Yesterday I flew to Bashyam in the Duchy of Fekhoya, hoping to meet the new candidates for conversion and to bring them into the fold. 

The trip was horrendous.

I got stopped three times by Royal Khanid Navy, and my shuttle got searched by the Chesm Khan. The first time, I was told that due to the recent operations, I could not land on Bashyam and certainly not at the Deritan estate. The only reason that in the end I could proceed on my way, was that I am a capsuleer and this grants special privileges. 

The second time, I started by using this prerogative, and could continue. The third time, they insisted on searching my ship first for contraband and weaponry to deliver to what they call "One Crown Unificationists". Of course they did not find anything, but they confiscated a vial of holy ointment I was planning to use, they took it for drug testing!

I finally was allowed to land at the estate, and what a difference it was with a week ago! No more trace of festivities. The estate looked rather abandoned as I was waiting in the courtyard. No friendly slave coming to bid me welcome and let me wait inside. Some furtive glances from inside the estate, but no-one came out. It was strangely quiet. I did not see the Duchess or any of her retinue coming or going, and waited for two hours. 

This worries me, has she been arrested? At least, there were no traces of violence or battle at the estate, not insofar my untrained eyes can see. I did notice that the Khanid stone garden seemed a bit neglected or ruffled, but that could be from last week's party - I cannot tell. 

I should have checked my appointment in advance, and waited for confirmation. It has been a week since the Duchess had asked me to come by, and many things happened since then. I could not contact anyone on the spot. I hope she was simply held up somewhere else...

Towards troubled Bashyam

The events in the Duchy of Fekhoya kept me awake yesterday night, worrying. 

I have come to know and appreciate Duchess Deritan and several of her close collaborators. Her rise was meteoric, and that resulted in the jealousy of many other noble houses. She is as this hero from legends, who flew towards the sun using wings made of bird feathers and wax. She flew too quickly too high, towards the sun, and her wings melted, and now she falls.

The scheming of her competitors bore its bitter fruit, as they convinced King Khanid to reassert his claim on the Duchy of Fekhoya. Using force, indeed using his elite cyber knights units. This takes place right now, now that the Duchy has been made prosperous again though the labor of both LUMEN and lady Deritan's own corporation. 

I cannot question the wisdom of a Royal heir, but at the same time I cannot forget how adequately and compassionately the Duchess leads her people and thus served her King. 

Tonight I am headed for Bashyam IV, for the Deritan estate. I am converting some servants of the household to our faith. I do not know what I will find there, I hope that the planet is not under a blockade...  but I must go, as I promised.

Battle of Wirashoda

This morning, I found the station in Mehatoor in a celebratory mood. It soon became clear that we have booked a great victory in our war in Pochven. For a while now, together with our allies in Edencom, we have been trying to vanquish the Red Azbel, a kybernaut stronghold from which they produce arms and ammunition.

The Battle of Wirashoda which took place yesterday must have been the largest capsuleer engagement in Pochven yet. The odds were against our fleet. The enemy had amassed a far greater host, and brought in wildlings from Delve, in far greater number than our own barbarian auxiliaries.

Moreover, their stronghold allowed them to reship. As we broke wave after wave of defenders, they kept coming in their Leshak battleships. Our auxiliaries crumbled and fled, but the core of the Edencom alliance - us and our allies from Electus Matari en Phoenix Naval Systems - held fast.

To force the outcome of the battle, and to bring down the Red Azbel for once and for all, the valiant navy plunged forward, guns ablaze, knowing they would not survive. But also knowing that our suicide mission fleet had enough firepower to take down the structure - God granted us victory through our sacrifice. When all seemed lost, faith carried our crewmen and they fulfilled their duty without fear of death, certain of their place at the right hand side of God. Though we suffered great losses, the enemy's loss is greater still. Their factory of evil cannot be rebuilt.

I am convinced that this will be a turning point in the Pochven war. I have offered a prayer of thanks, as it is fitting to thank God for this triumph. My thoughts go out to the families of the martyrs and all others they leave behind. May they find solace and may they be cared for till the end of their days.

Origin heresies

Time to report on some heresies.

Heresies about the Ametat and Avetat, believed by foreign historians and archeologists. There are those in the Federation who claim that these holy artefacts were actually tools or devices from ancient races, appropriated by the Emperor. In their views, maybe even the Sefrim might be members of these ancient races.

The idea of ancient races stems from the commonly believed notion that all races have a common ancestor. It is unlikely that genetically compatible species would evolve on so many different worlds. Even with convergent evolution for the major physiological characteristics, the odds that we would be able to procreate with a different species is vanishingly small. 

The common origin theory is further corroborated by the fact that for example many ruins and relic sites, even Jove or Sleeper ones, operate by the same common safety measures, and can be hacked using the same common information theoretical routines.

This theory is carried further by those who believe humanity came through Eve Gate at some point, such as the Goners and Equilibrium of Mankind. This humanity would have spread accross the cluster. The ancient races would then be those that kept their advanced technology intact and their knowledge intact during the dark ages that befell all others.

These kind of theories fuel the conjecture that at some point, members of those ancient races - Jove? Talocan? Even more ancient? - would end up by accident or by mishap on Amarr, and share their advanced technology with one warlord. Rather than a gift from God, these heresies claim that our most holy relics are remnants of the technology of our farthest ancestors, the first humans to cross the gate.

That heresy aligns with the doctrine of the Goners that link the artefacts to their Anticipator key and to a way to reactivate the gate. Such legends are also present among the other races - the Achur believe in their version of the Sceptre as an ancient and powerful tool.

I feel I should keep an open mind on these theories, even if they feel heretical or at the least heterodox to me, and make me feel uncomfortable.

A new assistant

As I have been away from the library more often recently, I have been scouting for a capable assistant librarian. I have found one: mr. Jensen, who is famous in librarian circles for his book classification scheme, the Jensen Index. 

The good man suffered an accident during travel, a warp core breach in wormhole transit. The gravitational distortion of spacetime during this accident has affected him down to the molecular level. As a result, time appears to flow more rapidly for mr. Jensen since the accident. Conversely, for us mr. Jensen appears to have slowed down. For this reason he has lost his job of master librarian at Hedion's Graduate School for Design. 

We met at the Amarr Civil Service station a while ago, when I was taking care of the formalities for Layla's corpse. He's a big shot, and I was amazed to hear that he was fired. I asked him if he would be interested to work at Mehatoor's library. It took him a while to respond, not surprising given his condition, but he accepted. I look forward to having him in the library.

Concert in Fekhoya

Today I attended the concert by Duchess Deritan in honor of the birth of Marcus, the newborn child of lord Utari Onzo and lady Lasai Raske.

The Duchess performed herself. I had no idea she was such an accomplished flutist!

The pieces she chose to perform with her Khanid bamboo flute for the first part of the concert were all quite energetic and upbeat, and also that was a surprise as I thought recent events must have sapped her energy. At least outwardly, this was not the case. Through her music, she appeared defiant against her competitors at the Khanid court.

The second part of the concert also contained songs that were softer and more evocative of beautiful, peaceful landscapes. It was as if, once the forceful statement was made to outsiders, now she turned to comfort her own people. It ended with a beautiful duet with lady Aselin-Duvaul, a classic piece, the "flower duet".

The concert was magnificent, but I have to admit I still do not feel comfortable with crowds. Certainly with all the decorum and with the nobility present I did not feel at ease at all. Also I was wearing my new ceremonial habit and it itches. My usual one has a hole at the elbow, so I couldn't use it. But mostly, it's the intricacies of nobility decorum that I'm afraid since I am unfamiliar with them and lack any intuition on what the proper hierarchy between the nobles would be.

I overheard Lord-Consort Newelle say that children should be kept out of places where the Chesm-Khan might drop in or drop a bomb, and it seemed to me (a common friar) rather insulting to the hostess and to the guests of honor. Was it proper or not? Probably that depends on the hierarchy and is not clear to me, but it made me ill at ease.

Anyway, I was glad to see Ishta appear. She was late, as always. But all is forgiven, she has passed for her final capsuleer tests! I heard through the grapevine that she was also accepted as a member of SFRIM. I'm not sure if Lord Pitorjee has freed her from bondage, but I am confident that if it hasn't happened already, it will soon.

Ah, I kept the best news for last. Lady Zeresh, reknowned for her expertise in cybernetics and daugther of a famous cyberphysician, agreed to help me with the transplants when I have the clone. These social events have their advantages, even if I feel uncomfortable, they do advance my cause.

Cloning

I have been taking a closer look at cloning.

I found information on illegal cloning facilities that pop up in some systems and then break up camp again a week or so later, before the authorities can catch them. Outside of the empire, deep in the barbarian outback of nullsec, this is how many capsuleers obtain their clones. Yet these illegal facilities cannot guarantee safety or quality of the clone. They cannot be trusted to deliver a defect-free clone that can support an infomorph. Often, it is not even clear what biomass they actually use for their clones.

That may be OK for what I want to do. The clone that I am considering will never house an infomorph. It is mechanical, a tool to activate the cybernetic implants. I only need a shell with functioning organs and a neural system, and the DNA to match Layla's.

Even that is not so easy. The usual clones one gets from a respectable company, even a recent and adventurous startup such as Cromeaux, don't come with a brain. They start from a three dimensional gel structure that matches the shape of their client's brain structure. When the client dies, a scan of his precise state of brain is made, and the clone brain is then fine-tuned to replicate this state faithfully.

What to do in Layla's case? Her brain is decayed, so they can't replicate even the basic structure of the neuronal geometry as they would normally do. Also, there is no intention to bring her mind back, I only need a mindless body with an "empty" brain. It's only role is to allow to the implants to be grafted successfully and to activate these implants so they can be read out. A true clone, grown with its own brain matter in stead of neural gel.

Another hurdle

For us, capsuleers, it is so easy to obtain a clone that it has become almost a reflex to discard and install clones in stations.

So I thought I would be easy to get a clone for the Takmahl corpse to transplant the cybernetic implants to. These ancient implants are tailored to interface with her specific genotype, but can't function on the degraded corpse. So, just get a new body, right?

Well it is not that easy. You can't get a clone of someone else. You can only have yourself cloned.

In the early days of cloning technology, there were some horrible scandals. It is said that most innovations are immediately abused to satisfy some depravities of the human mind in a new way. This has also proven true for cloning. For a hefty price, one could buy a clone of a famous holoreel star. Stalkers with money had their victim cloned. Such cases of abuse of the technology resulted in strict laws.

I inquired both with Poteque Pharmaceuticals and with Zainou (the biggest market players in cloning), but neither companies were willing to help me obtain a clone based on the Accadis DNA.