My visit to Gamdis III was in the end rather inconclusive for me.
I did not find what I came looking for, and as potential archeological sites are not accessible any more, there was little in the way of artefacts or other hints that could be retrieved to help me on my quest.
However, the trip did help to answer questions that I had, and in doing so to close a loose end in the investigation, at least for now.
I'm working on an official report today that I promised to make for the reverend mother Sisyriana Kahoudi on the Gamdis trip.
She won't be interested in the descriptions of local fauna and flora and sightseeing. So that is something I can share here.
The interesting thing about the sand on Gamdis III is that acts like a liquid - you could not walk on it without sinking in. It forms a sand sea, and the rocky outcroppings are the only places accessible for settlement and exploitation. To travel accross the sand, you need a boat. Luna's family has a sand sailing business, and we got a sailing boat to travel to our destination, a mountainous ridge that rises out of the sand seas and is owned by Luna's family.
The sand sea is also home to some remarkable creatures. There are sand skates, which look like manta rays and can dip out of the sand. They followed the sail boat for a while. There is also a sand lion, it makes a kind of bowl in the sand, a funnel of huge proportions and with a web in the center. Our ship almost got dragged into it. I had a little moment of panic, but Luna and the sailors were able to steer clear from it.
Curiously, there are also places with water, and the usual fish, on 'land'.
I wonder how the sand fish taste and if it's different from the usual fish like rockjaw....
Lunarisse has promised to bring me to Gamdis III in the next few days. It's a place that I really want to see. Various archeological expeditions have gone there and ended badly. In fact, these doomed searches on Gamdis were what first brought me to Lunarisse and it is how I got to SFRIM. Wars, Kybernauts, militia trouble, and other leads meant that our trip was often postponing, but it looks as if this time it might actually work.
The MIO is also still investigating the lost expeditions. I've had a discussion with a representative of the ministry, on Amarr, a while ago. So there could be things I will not be allowed to disclose in these public logs. Hopefully there will be enough that I can still write down for future reference.
I need to go back to this shop for hiking and outdoors gear for clerics, the Missionary Adventures. I already got some gear there, but probably it is good to discuss with a professional what is necessary for a warm, arid climate. Gamdis III has sand seas with rocky outcroppings, I have not been to any place like it before.
Last evening, I waited till nocturns, reviewing my archives and reading. There is always a stack of “to read” papers ensuring that I do not lose time by idling. Aspenstar contacted me briefly to say that there was an emergency with one of her pilots requiring her attention. She did not return that evening before I went to sleep.
Today, again Aspenstar seems busy. But, once again I saw Nauplius docked at the station. Today, I took the opportunity to talk to him. He kindly answered all my questions. Firstly, why Gamdis III? His only reason was that Aspenstar was digging there. He did not do research; he just picked the spot that others were investigating. And thus, he could give me no additional information that can explain why Gamdis III is of interest. I think he is an opportunist rather than a real archaeologist.
Then I asked him why his expedition was attacked. He tells of the official claim: Khimi Harar attacked him because the slaves doing the digging were illegally acquired. I don’t get it, why did they not use the official institutions for that? Why attack an expedition? His explanation is that they are after the relics themselves. Under the cover of a “family business” in sand sailing on Gamdis, Aspenstar continues the excavations.
I also wondered at him being in the same station that Lunarissa Aspenstar proposed to meet. He says it is coincidence, he lived here a long time. Finally, he accused not only Aspenstar but her entire corporation of heresy: wanting to free all the slaves, regardless of whether they are ready. He says she wants to use the Ametat and Avetat for that wicked purpose. But he also said: “She is pretty secret and equivocal about her abolitionism”. Yet another heretic on my path to Ametat and Avetat? But why then does she accuse Kernher of heresy? Maybe heretics accuse each other of heresy, just like madmen can call out the madness in each other but not recognise it in themselves?
I learned that about a year ago, an expedition was sent to Gamdis III in the Kakol constellation, by a wealthy capsuleer and Khanid commoner that goes by the name of Nauplius. He built a research station, the Ametat Archaeology HQ, which was soon after destroyed by an alliance called Lumen.
The reasons for this destruction are not clear, it appears Nauplius is in a race with Lunarisse Aspenstar (aka Lunarisse Daphiti) of LUMEN to find the artifacts. This lead points to Anath V, as is clear from this fragment on the background of Aspenstar:
Anath V is a storm planet known for an unusual population of indigenous wildlife colloquially named “Sefrim’s Veil” floating through its tulmultous skies. Killed during the attack were many colonists, administrators, soldiers, gas miners and their families, including Tertius Ausonius Bathana, a noted archeologist from Hedion University, known for his study of the ancient Takhmal and his quixotic pursuit of the Ametat and Avetat, and his Ni-Kunni wife Mairi Beaumonte, the-then heir to a Ni-Kunni trading clan. Perhaps the most famous survivor of the attack is the couple’s then four-year old daughter, now known by the call-sign of Lunarisse Aspenstar of the loyalist capsuleer alliance Khimi Harar, who later came to maturity on Mishi IV in the care of her mother’s extended family.[https://forums.eveonline.com/t/rumors-gossip-tabloids/130182/91]
Another explorer involved in the search is Lord Jude Benayahu Aslan, searching also in Gamdis III in the Araz constellation:
Lord Aslan’s expedition is rumoured to be visiting both the more well-known Araz constellation, known for many historical sites and ruins, as well its lesser-visited neighbors, such as the Kakol constellation, perhaps in the hopes of discovering sites overlooked by others. The expedition is well equipped, with specialists from Hedion University and the Royal Amarr Institute, teams of mechanics and technicians, as well as security, numbering close to a hundred souls.[https://forums.eveonline.com/t/rumors-gossip-tabloids/130182/93]
However, Lord Aslan’s expedition seems to have ended in disaster on 5-9-YC121, due “to catastrophic technical mishaps with excavation equipment and the site’s unstable geology.” It is interesting that he is also a suspected leader of the Purity of Throne cultists. And again, Lunarisse Aspenstar was close by the accident:
The MIO spokesperson expressed gratitude to Khimi Harar for their tireless Search and Recovery efforts, and other assistance in the aftermath of the disaster. The Executrix of Khimi Harar had been on vacation in the world and was among the first on the scene to render aid and mobilized response forces. [https://forums.eveonline.com/t/rumors-gossip-tabloids/130182/94]
Why is Gamdis III a candidate system for the relics? There is a mention of “local legends” for salespeople paddling false souvenir relics. And why does Aspenstar try to stop these expeditions? What did her father Bathana look for or find in Anath V ?
Aspenstar seems too dangerous to approach. I will start with the others.
