Also today, I did not encounter the Talocanites.
I changed the nanobeacons identifying the shuttle to show LUMEN colors when I entered their domain, and I again donned my monk's gown. But now I start to think the natives are hiding or scurrying away when they see an Amarrian approach.
So far away from the Empire, settlements are rare and far in between. Even star systems are farther apart than in the dense center of the cluster. So, not much news from the core worlds must reach this distant place, and when it does it will be distorted. The locals may have heard about the Amarr Empire, but it might be more in terms of myths and legends about a far-away golden place with planets that are home to billions of souls.
In order to show them my peaceful intent, I dropped some Pax Amarrias in a container close to the I-hub structure. After a while I went back to a safe in the system, and powered down the shuttle. I will try again tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I am reading St. Ahlwin's "Advise to the Errant Bishop", a famous classic. It is a three-thousand year old treatise written at the onset of the reclamation of Amarr. In that age, some bishops would travel far away to heathen lands to try and bring the Faith there. Their travels were beset with dangers, as they went only with a small group of acolytes (the people, not the drones), and performed open-air masses in front of locals. Sometimes the peasants they encountered ignored them, but sometimes they chased them away or tried to kill them. The latter happened especially if the missionary bishop would smash the idols of the local gods - which they would do more often than not. The most important advise that St. Ahlwin gives is to perform miracles stronger than those the local gods can do, in particular miraculous healing.
I am no bishop, but this collection of travel stories is appealing to me in my current situation. Also, I should have brought anti-viral agents and advanced medicine with me, to perform miracles of healing.
