Tale of the King and the Judge

The outpost's name, "VOTE GIGX FOR C S M XIV" refers the Council of Stellar Management. The elections for CSM XIV took place in YC121. This Gigx was no candidate then, rather he was a deposed barbarian king. The constellation had been part of his kingdom "Circle of Two" just a year before, in YC120. 

According to legend, Gigx built his vast kingdom by being uncompromising, deceitful and brutal. He commanded absolute loyalty from his murderous troops. He reigned as a god, and his soldiers worshiped him, fueling his narcissism. Rumors have it that he started to believe that he was indeed a god, or at least an equal to the Amarr Emperor. Divine punishment was inevitable. Beneath the veneer of fearful worship, discontent was growing in his kingdom. 

It was growing also at the royal court, in the dark heart of the Judge, a member of the king's privy council. This judge was often ridiculed by the king, even though he was a great diplomat. The king took joy in the downfall of those whose success became threatening. So, he used the judge's diplomatic skills and reputation to gain the trust of the neighboring kingdoms only to betray them more effectively. Humiliated, the judge vowed to take revenge. 

For years he schemed and prepared the biggest heist ever recorded in the outer worlds. The king, believing all his followers were fearful worshipers of his godhood, had left the judge in charge of the treasury and of the keys to the main keep. One fateful day, when all preparations were done, the judge set his plan into motion. He stole 1.5 trillion ISK, and handed the keys of the keepstar over to the enemies of the realm, who slaughtered a large portion of the royal fleet. 

Though it was a hard blow, the king might have recovered from it, were it not that the judge had still prepared a final act in the theater of his vengeance. One from which the king, and his kingdom, would not recover. He had installed hidden cameras to record the king's temper as he heard the news of the theft and the lost ships. Oh, how disgracefully the king raged and frothed at the mouth! How he wailed in despair and panic as a little child! The judge streamed it all, so all his subjects could see it. The image of the God-King was shattered, and his followers scattered, demoralized. It was the end of Gigx's reign: he was forced to flee, never to be seen again, and his lands were divided up by his foes. 

Yet he must still have had some staunch supporters that believed in him, as this graffiti from a year after Gigx's fall from grace shows.

((ooc comments: I found the station and its name on Dotlan, and that is what led me to look up Gigx and find the tale of a heist that actually took place in Eve, which you can read about here. Of course, I can make no claim to know what really happened, nor do I know any of the persons involved, so beware: Theo's romanticized story must not be interpreted as an accurate portrayal of events or persons involved!))

The outpost in the vale

Blades of Grass seems to have been in control of the star system JZV-F4 and its constellation for two years now, and for the outer worlds this is a long reign. Perhaps they have built up some infrastructure, and I have been looking for possible stations that I can use as a base of operation. I was quite surprised to find in the records of the Amarr Trade Registry that there is an Amarr outpost in neighboring VORM-W. It is orbiting the fourth planet, an uninhabited oceanic world. 

This seems to be an old outpost, and it is odd to find one so deep in the wilderness. The records list that it was built on initiative from Ducia Foundry, to explore the mineral wealth of the constellation. Ducia is indeed known for far-flung operations, but I think the mining was just a front, as most personnel seems to have come from the Amarr Navy. So, in all likelihood this used to be a listening post to keep track of Jovian activity. 

Anyway, it was abandoned a long while ago, when the Jovian threat receded. I guess it was sold off to the  local barbarian warlords. Of that, there is no record, and officially it still belongs to the Empire. But there are no regular transports to or from the outpost any more. And, it has a strange name now, a name that is almost graffiti. It is called "VOTE GIGX FOR C S M XIV". 

Praise

The Amarr Certified News reported on the praise given by our blessed Empress Catiz to the Imperial Crusade for quelling the Cartel pirate insurgency in Mehatoor! 

My heart swelled with joy and pride hearing those words. Ah, that the loving gaze of our most holy Empress rested, however briefly, approvingly on our labor here in Mehatoor, and makes all those efforts worthwhile. I did good to join the Crusade's militia, at the right time, even if my stint with them was short and seemingly ineffectual.

No doubt this will boost the morale among our brave pilots and among the baseliner staff here at the Lamp.

Shores of an unknown sea (2)

((continued from 24/4))

The region that lies closer to Jove space than any other region is Vale of the Silent, to the southeast. It has a couple constellations just about 2 light years away from the Jove constellation 4I-WP1. In particular, the closest distance is the star JZV-F4 (in constellation 88G-M4, Vale of the Silent), which lies only 1.4 light years away from N-FKXV. If there are still hidden jump gates they are likely to be found there, in the constellation 88G-M4.

This constellation, the bridge to Jove space, is under the control of the "Blades of Grass alliance", in particular the corporation "I Love Woodland Nymphs". The title seems perfectly pacifist to me, evoking love rather than quarrel. They are the ones I should probably contact first to obtain right of passage through their lands, to explore the shores of Jove space. 

The figure shows the star systems within 3 light years of the southernmost Jove system of N-FKXV. Jove systems are indicated in red, stars in accessible space (all belonging to the nymphs of the Vale) are shown in blue. Coordinates are in lightyears (with x-y being the galactic plane and the origin centered on Amarr).

To complete the list: the remaining regions to the east of Jove space are Kalevale, Oasa and Cobalt Edge. They are buffered from Jove space by an uninhabited region, UUA-F4 that lies in between. These regions are controlled by "Pandemic Horde", but given their distance from Jove space are of lesser interest for my expedition.

Shores of an unknown sea

I have been reading constellation reports from the Ministry of Assessment on the geopolitics of the regions bordering Jove space. As fickle as the barbarians of the outer rim are, there appear to have been alliances that endured for a little while now in this corner of the cluster.

To the northeast of the Jovian regions J7HZ-F and A821-A  is our cluster's northernmost region, Tenal. It is governed by an alliance called Azure Citizen. The Azures have a treaty with the Fraternity alliance, which still owns the gateway systems to other regions.

Slightly south of Tenal, lies Venal. This region is the heartland of the Guristas, and visitors from the core worlds are generally not welcome there. Although, it appears that my non-violent stance resulted in my negative standing with the Guristas to be only -2.34, so I shall at least not be shot on sight.

The next region anticlockwise around Jove space is Tribute, to the east of A821-A. It is held by the Fraternity alliance. I note that their name does not refer to a religious brotherhood. There is one  system that is relatively close to Jove space, namely QFF-O6. It lies only 2.91 light years from W-WQM5 in Jove space. 

((to be continued))

Archaeology in the news

There was an interesting news item on Amarr Certified News (copied by the Scope) : it appears that archeologists have discovered an ancient lance implying that tournaments between Holders are older than previously thought. 

The common belief is that such tournaments originated during or around the Udorian wars, at the height of knightly culture. It was fashionable for young nobles to make their reputation during these wars on foreign shores. Back home, they were keen to show off their prowess and bravery, especially to the ladies of the Imperial court, during jousting tournaments.

The lance from the news has been discovered on Amarr island itself. That makes sense if it is to challenge the common belief that such tournaments originated around the Udorian wars. Indeed, if the practice is older than that, is has to take place on Amarr island, because before the Udorians arrived on our shores, we were not a seafaring people.

Tournament lances are different from combat lances, as shown below: 

To the right, you see a common combat lance. The lance-head is sharp and designed to kill. The left shows a blunted lance-head typically used for jousting. They were mounted on a heavy, difficult to control wooden lance-pole. The knights would thrust at each other with the heads of their lances, and try to unseat each other rather than kill each other. They would do so by first shattering shields and then very often splintering the opponents lance. In fact, knights inviting each other to a joust would do so by asking to "break lances with each other".

So, it is no wonder that very few tournament lances were recovered. Surviving lances from the early Udorian period are rare, and mostly identified from heraldry. It is not just the helmets and shields that were used for heraldic displays, but also the lances - they could bear inscriptions identifying the owner of the lance. In connection with the Book of Records, this can be a very useful method to date the items, perhaps more accurately than with radio-isotope dating. This must have led to the surprising conclusion that the lance mentioned in the news is indeed older than any other tournament lance found previously.

((ooc images attribution: The Metropolitan Museum of Art))

A hunch

During my explorations in Aridia I noted on several occasions interesting signs of Jove presence. They are not around today, but were in the past, and possible the recent past. They were quite active, especially in the Fabai constellation. I have already conjectures that they were monitoring the Blood Raider trail, waiting to intercept relics. 

The Jove have always been quite controlling about which technology should be available to the Empires and which should stay hidden. Yet it is not their will, but God's will that we should have back our holy Ametat and Avetat, even if these items hold unimaginable power! The Jove have no right to keep these hidden, but I am sure they tried, and certainly tried to get their diseased claws on the sanctified crown and sceptre. 

I am of a mind to investigate the Jove somewhat more. They are gone now - no one has seen any of them for years. Their empire consists of the regions known unpoetically as A821-A and J7HZ-F. These are the regions that they retreated to after God cast them out of heaven, or rather the Heaven constellation. Their regions seem no longer accessible, there are no official jump gates into them. Whether the Jove still persist in their isolated space or whether they have gone extinct is not officially known. To find out, one would have to access the inaccessible regions.

Now, there are still abandoned passages and jump gates and jump technology scattered throughout space. The best evidence are the gates to the hellhole system of Zarzakh, and the Jove station that the Deathless has appropriated there for himself and his cronies. So, why could there not also be secret passages into the Jovian regions? 

I am considering exploring the regions bordering the Jove domains to find out.

The new Ivan

My short-lived and ill-fated enlistment in the Amarr militia for the defense of Mehatoor did have one beneficial effect after all.

Mr. Ivan Firth, my political officer, took a fright when he heard about my enlistment. Indeed, he was a good enough judge of character to see at once that this was not a good match for me, and that keeping tabs on me while I tried out this new profession would only lead to my podding and his premature demise. We came to a mutual understanding that he would keep a close eye on the docked Indigatrix while I tested my mettle in the militia in other ships.

Now I have returned to scientific research in the Indigatrix. We do not talk about our previous arrangement - he seems keen to forget this episode. And he seems to be more relaxed (somewhat) and less high-strung and critical. I can even put on a glacial drift skin on the ship without getting a lecture about un-amarrian color schemes. 

I wonder how long this will last.

Space oddity

Gaun Arel found something interesting in space, an old wandering spaceship, and was thoughtful to report it back and bookmark its location. Of course, my interest was piqued. Moreover, the ancient ship was just one system away from Gamdis, a system of particular archaeological interest.

I had little trouble finding the artifact using Gaun's directions. It is a most gorgeous solar sail ship:

There is a gold-coated solar sail in front, and it carries along a small gondola attached by swaying cables to two masts, to which the sails are attached. The gondola is actually a kind of shuttle or lifeboat, with a ring not unlike the Stratios:

Note that the perspective here is deceptive: the gondola is actually quite smaller than the Indigatrix which here stands at a distance. The ship is comparable in size to a modern solar sailer such as the Zephyr designed by the Intaki scientist Valsas en Dilat. Perhaps en Dilat encountered this ship or one like this and got inspired? The back of the sail has a different reflectivity:

This ensures that there is a differential light pressure even in a cloud or diffuse light. There were no life-signs in the ship, but the vessel is still active, and powered up. It is just slowly sailing along. Concord has tagged it "Tom's ship". Someone must have scanned it and sent that information to concord. The pilot Tom must have passed away a very long time ago, as this ship shows signs of being adrift for many thousands of years. It was moving along at 0.2 - 0.3 m/s, perhaps it will accelerate somewhat when it gets nearer to the star.

Even though I find it suspicious that the vessel is so close to the Takmahl sphere of influence, it is clearly not a Takmahl design. Nevertheless, I was tempted to board the ship, and perhaps take it back for research. That would pose only minor difficulties, as it is not compatible with capsuleer technology, but that is no real obstacle. 

However, I  did not want to be the one who after all these thousands of years interrupts the journey of this magnificent  and majestic vessel, perhaps a tomb but certainly a monument to the ingenuity of humankind, and its indomitable spirit of exploration.

The answer

I received a letter from the Office of Captain Marshal Sirdan xer Qosh. How gallant of his lordship to answer me so quickly! 

Although, the answer itself is a bit disappointing.

"Ave Theodosius Savnar, valued Paladin Crusader,

We received your message from the frontlines in Mehatoor . We have read it with the greatest interest and you have our assurance that we are doing everything in our power to deal with the concerns raised by you. 

Amarr Victor!

PS. For quality assurance, this and future communications are being recorded and forwarded to the MIO."

Mehatoor corruption suppressed

Praise God, for he has granted us victory in Mehatoor! 

The Angel Cartel uprising has been stemmed, and the corruption suppressed in our home system. This time, Mehatoor will not descend into the lawlessness of a low security system. 

The dedication of our pilots, and the fact that the system itself was better prepared than the last time, paid off. Or, as the Directrix put it: "I guess the Empress yelling at the Holders worked".

For me, it is time for self-reflection. I zealously tried to participate, enlisting in the Amarr militia on impulse, driven by the will to serve the Empress. But I have to face the facts: I am simply no good as a soldier. 

I learned a lesson that, in fact, I already knew. It is one that in the past I have tried to explain to others. Namely: there are many ways to serve the Empire, none inherently more praiseworthy than the other. One must choose the path that best suits one's talents. For me, that is my clerical and academic service to LUMEN, and my explorations.

Cobbler, stick to your last.

Logistics lessons

I tried to give some logistic support today, using the Inquisitor class ship. Although finally I was able to do something within the confines of my vow, it was not much, nor was it very effective.

We tried to hold a "small" outpost against overwhelming odds in the enemy's preferred time zone, and ultimately failed. I could land some repairs here and there to fleet mates, but too little to turn the tide... Also, my little logistics ship got shot to pieces several times. But at least I learned a few basics of solo logistics: stay far enough from the fray, be fast enough to be hard to track, and do not forget to re-anchor when your anchor dies.

Despite my own failures, the combat against the Angel cartel seems to be going well overall, or at least better than during their previous incursion into Mehatoor. I pray that this time we can avoid the system turning lawless.

Pacifist attempts at warfare

The Angel Cartel corruption finally spilled over once again to Mehatoor. 

A third letter to lord Sirdan xer Qosh is in order. I found that not all available navy resources are used to combat the Angel Cartel in systems corrupted with pirate insurrection.

I took the Velocitas to a large Amarr outpost in Raa. I was able to use the acceleration gate. At that moment, the system contained a fleet of fifty-five Angel pirate capsuleers and not a single ally. Praying to God to keep me safe, I started orbiting the outpost at maximum speed, expecting the Angel pirates to come chase me away. They did not show up. A neutral appeared, and warped out, perhaps defeated by my so-called speed tank.

I proudly awaited the rise in suppression status after completing the task. Nothing happened! Moreover, I was informed that the job would not earn me any loyalty points in the Amarr Militia as the system is a rearguard or such. Scandalous! 

It turns out the outpost was not monitoring any Angel Cartel activity - only Minmatar rebel activity. All this while Raa is absolutely infested by the Cartel. Marshall Qosh probably does not know about his troops turning a blind eye to anything outside of their original assignment, I shall inform him. 

It gets worse. The only way to deal with the pirates - at least the only way I could find today - is to be on the offense rather than the defense. One has to warp to the Angel Cartel complexes, and actively combat them. For such attacks, the Velocitas is absolutely useless. Help comes from, no, not the glorious golden fleet, but Mordu's legion. What an outrage. 

The only way I see now to assist without breaking my vow is by providing logistics in fleets of our own capsuleers. I am not very experienced in that, although I did get some training by lord Utari Onzo-Gallius, paladin of the Excubitoris Chapter of the Order of the Sacred Throne. He also showed me a very cheap (so it can be sacrificed without concern) but quite effective fit of an Inquisitor class ship. Perhaps it can be of use to help in Mehatoor.

False advertising

I am writing another letter to marshall Sirdan xer Qosh, to inform his lordship of a severe defect to the Empire's acceleration gates, and I am putting the Secure Trade Commission in copy to warn them of deceptive advertising.

The gates do not permit shuttles to enter!

Yet, the structure, probably they bought it from Upwell, says: [This accelaration gate] "handles battleship size ships or smaller". Either they have really tiny battleships at Upwell, or this is clearly false advertising.

I have to change my plans, and use an unarmed, uncrewed frigate in stead - hopefully mr. Firth will not find out, or he might feel obliged to join. Well, mr. Firth will probably not want to find out, so that helps.

I will try a Punisher class ship, fitted with an oversized micro warp drive, a trick I learned from Dr. Moriarty during my stay at Eve Gate. It is cheap, and quite hard to track when circling around at ten kilometers per second. I think I heard Faith Griffiths once refer to this as "speed tanking".

Political Officer Panic

I was busy writing a letter to Sword Marshall Qosh, warning him of the dangers of allowing just any capsuleer into the Amarr Militia without proper vetting, when mr. Ivan Firth burst into my office, hyperventilating and not making sense.

He was having a panic attack. I calmed him down by reciting a very soothing passage of the Book of Trials while having him breathe in a paper bag.

"You... you enlisted in faction warfare? I thought you were an explorer, and only an explorer, and mostly highsec? That's what the Abbess told me!" He was about to cry. "You haven't fired a laser ever, and now you are taking us to the war zone in an unarmed exploration vessel?!? Is that your plan to kill me?"

I reassured him, "There is nothing to worry about. I will not take the Indigatrix. I will use a shuttle."

Now he cried.

"I intend to keep my vow, I will not engage enemy capsuleers."

That still did not reassure him.

"I can assure you I am quite good at running away."  I continued to explain, "I have read up and talked to friends. Apparently, one way to contribute is to assist our heavily armed Imperial Navy vessels while they are patrolling. You just have to hang around with them at an outpost and be an extra pair of eyes, and wait till a timer runs out. It is called 'defensive plexing'. Now, how dangerous can that be, hm?"

He cried again. 

"I am not taking the crew along, nor you. You can stay with them, here in station. On the Indigatrix." I added, "They like having you around and need your guidance." I will need to do penance for this lie.

He looked at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "But I am assigned to keep an eye on you. To go where you go."  I told him that he had been assigned to keep tabs on my exploration activities. The Reverend Mother Kahoudi did not specify that I should be monitored on a shuttle that cannot do exploration, and what if I sneak back to the Indigatrix, certainly his place should be there. It was not difficult to convince mr. Firth, and for the first time in a while I will be flying without the commissar.

Enlisted, for the Empress

Mehatoor is under threat again. Neighboring Raa is facing a resurgence of the Angel Cartel. These pirates are like Achuran knotweed: you think you eradicated it all but it keeps growing back.

The crisis is being dealt with more proactively this time, I think the local Holders were scared enough by the reprimand of the Empress. There are recruitment posters, and navy recruiters everywhere in the 24th Imperial Crusade station. Also I decided to be more proactive. I want to do good by the Empress, and show that I will not sit by idly while Mehatoor, the pearl of the silk road, the crown of the crusade, gets corrupted. 

So, I decided to talk to someone from the Imperial Navy, and walked into the recruitment office that just opened around the corner from Café Marlinea. I was greeted by a very young man in a navy uniform, who shouted "Welcome, friend! Time to pick your career in the Imperial Navy!!"

I answered, "I am here to see if I can contribute to the fight against the Cartel pirates, within the limitations of my vows. I am a capsuleer of the Societas."

He continued to shout. "Excellent!! You can enlist in the Amarr Militia ánd keep your job at your corp!!! Serving one weekend a month, and you'll find an extra paycheck, money for college and all the adventure you can handle!!" 

I was taken aback, college money? How could he mistake me for a frat boy? But perhaps he had only been recruiting at colleges before. Noting my hesitation, he continued, "It comes with an enlistment bonus! And a fine uniform! And a standard issue side-arm!"

None of those appealed to me. So, I dropped the bombshell: "I have sworn a vow of non-violence."

The recruiter did not seem to understand, or perhaps he did, as he retorted "Be all you can be!! Find Yourself in the Amarr Militia!".

He handed me some paperwork on a clipboard, and said "Please sign on the dotted line! Hail the Empress!!" I read it, and it seems capsuleers can end their enlistment as easily as they can start it, there is only a one day waiting time to re-enlist. That is indeed what I had heard also from other capsuleer members in LUMEN. 

So, I signed. I am worried about how easy it is to enlist. They did not even do a background check, any sort of hoodlum can enlist, before you know it there will be all sorts of unsavory elements in the Militia.

I got a uniform that I handed back, a side-arm that I refused, a few credits that I will donate to charity, and a holo welcome message from Sword Marshall Sirdan xer Qosh. Apparently, as I am a capsuleer, the rest (whatever I choose to do in the Militia) is up to me.

No match

I tried setting up a date for Loai Qerl with Gaun Arel. Gaun is a selfless and courageous paladin, a paragon of faith who is always looking to help people. A good match for any damsel. But it appears he has a vow of celibacy. Also, he is not of noble blood, and I had understood that to be a requirement. So that did not work out.

I also found out that lady Thea van Deilyx still has a nephew who is a bachelor, and she was initially interested in matching him with Loai. But then, Loai being a commoner looking to marry into a noble family did not sit well with lady Deilyx.

I talked to Franco about this when I met him at the Lamp's bar; and he explained a few things. As it turns out it is Loai's uncles who seem to be pressuring her to marry. And her own preferences are not that strict about nobility. Franco was going to adapt the advert he had placed to find bachelors, in order to clarify these points.

Living secluded in a asteroid monastery has not prepared me well for this a task. The library was not really a big help this time: we have Gallentean non-fiction books on relationships, written by various famous sexologists, but they focus strongly on the carnal aspect. So I think I'll give up on these matchmaking attempts. 

After one last attempt, I still have one LUMEN man in mind.