After spending a while in the library museum, we were informed that lord Lok'ri was ready to receive us, and went up to his office. It is a magnificent room, opulent in books. His lordship was sitting behind a massive desk, looking distinctly statesmanlike. He inquired about me, and I explained him sincerely about my quest. Lunarisse was silent, but at my side during the entire interview. Somehow, that made me feel invulnerable.
I did not want to conceal anything, so I told him about my vision. He was sceptic, but not dismissive, and that was a relief for me.
God, in our prayers we mumble that we are not worthy that you come to us, and -barring a rare exception- most of us truly believe that. Even though as a people we are chosen, as an individual we are aware of our sins and imperfections, and we do not feel worthy. So, on the rare occasions that You choose tell something to one of us, and we come out in joy, almost nobody of our peers is capable of believing us. And nobody can cure this unhealthy disbelief. God, is that the reason that You prefer to remain mostly silent?
But I digress. Lord Lok'ri first listened to my various leads, and with the swift certaintly of a Speaker he spoke his judgment, telling me quite frankly which ones were utter idiocy according to him. He suggested I broaden my scope and focused on three periods when relics were missing: the early spacefaring epoch, the era of the Moral Reforms, and the most recent times of the Minmatar rebellion. He even suggested a new lead, the "Audesder incident".
This involved a precious shrine that was packed into a subwarp spaceship to rescue it from rebel hands. It surfaced in Audesder, in Minmatar territory and is apparently still in their hands. It seems the Excubitoris chapter even has some special section devoted to retrieving the relics of the Empire from heretical hands: the "Strategic Archeological and Archival Services". Ekaterina deSilvestris plays an important role in this branch. That is a stroke of luck - Ishta told me she will be marrying into House deSilvestris (also I had to suspend my disbelief when she said that). So, I am intent to meet with lady deSilvestris.
There was only a single moment when lord Lok'ri let some emotion shine through his shield of rationality. It was when I asked about a Khanid noble and capsuleer who was also member of the Tetrimon order. He immediately told me I should not talk to her. Then, he tried to conceal this by saying it could be many different people and he did not remember names. There was a mention of an "Edeity" capsuleer, a strange name that I will also look into, relating to the Trials.
I must admit, I have now met a few lords and ladies, but to date lord Lok'ri is the most impressive one...
