Free junk

I've gotten into a heated discussion with mr. Jepen. He insists in giving me frigates and useless modules and a bunch of isk. I have tried to explain to him that I operate under a vow of poverty, and I am not going to accept ships. 

He can keep his Venture and his Sigil, the gesture is appreciated. Less appreciated are all these civil-grade modules, like the civil data or relic analyzer. I showed mr. Jepen that I have a data II and relic II analyzer on stand by and hence no need for this cheap junk produced in some Caldari megafactory at a discount price. 

It was to no avail. I have no choice but to accept a package delivered to my hangar... I think I will donate these things to the first new capsuleer I get to chat with in Conoban, that is the only way to get rid of it.

Mr. Jepen

My career agent is mr. Jiekan Jepen, a middle-aged Khanid man who made me fill in a bunch of forms and provided me with some simple missions. I explained to him that I am no longer a starting capsuleer, and he reassured me that many of his clients are actually more experienced capsuleers. Either looking to boost standings or get a quick injection of skill points, due to a new rewards programme that started recently.

Mr. Jepen agreed that in principle my standings - given my background and recent history - should be higher and that this little bureaucratic dance is rather superfluous. But there's little he can do, in order to get me certified as a hauler (even though no-one asks for these certificates anyway) I have to go through various training missions.

Conoban

It's a bit of a weird vessel, the Sunesis. Looks like a fly impaled on a tiara that was made for electroshock therapy. But all in all the fly flies well, and is very agile. It aligns and warps out almost immediately. So, after the test ride, I decided I'll take the vessel. It will be my third ship (apart from shuttles or corvettes), and I'll baptise her the "Vectrix" or transporter.

With a bit of fitting she has a cargo hold of over 1000 cubic metres, and still allows for probes, and drones as defense against prossible pirates attacking me. 

The next piece of advice I got to bring up my standing quickly, is to ... go to career agents. It's again a bit humiliating, I already have a career. But I guess this is a lesson in letting go of my pride and so I will go to the Conoban system to learn how to be a hauler for Empress and Empire.

Sunesis

I got lots of good but often contradictory advice from friends, as I told them my plans to increase my standings through delivery missions. I'm grateful they also allowed me to vent vented my anger and disbelief at having to start at such low standings.

For the hauling and delivery missions, the Bestower and Sigil obviously received good reviews, but surprisingly I was also recommended the Sunesis. It's a vessel that was designed by the Society of Conscious Thought, so Jove influence. Casting aside my initial worries, it seems a decent vessel, with a fairly big hold. Enough for simple hauling missions, at least. It's agile, with a very fast align time. And what convinced me is that it is bonuses for scan probes. So - if I do find some interesting signature, and can still to a little bit of exploration with it. 

I've got an appointment with a salesperson at the Empire Family Academy to go for a test run...

Space trucker

Back in Nasreri, with the crew this time. I'll be doing the occasional wormhole exploration in the future, with them if it is for a longer expedition, without them if it is for a short probe.

So, contemplating the strategy for my quest - it seems like I do need to improve my standings. That would allow me to visit the Museum Arcana and the Labyrinth. These are well known Takmahl sites, but they are guarded by the Empire and only accessible to those with high standings. 

I've complained about this before, I am a loyal subject but still I must somehow grind missions to gain standings. Moreover, my vow of non-agression pushes me towards pacifism. Although the vow only forbids violence ("DPS") against other capsuleers, I try to extend it to non-capsuleers as well. This kind of restricts me to delivery missions.

I'm going to be a (part-time) space trucker.

Return home

Time to bring the crew back home and end the expedition in Anoikis. We've been out here nearly a month, and I can feel the crew aching to return home. They are getting a bit grumpy about me jumping back and forth to Nasreri several times while they waited in Seclusion.

And, to be honest, we did not find Takmahl relics during this month. Nor Talocan ones for that matter. There was a very nice find of an ancient space cathedral at the onset of our expedition, but nothing as enthralling came up later.

Still, I believe it is worthwhile to organise further expeditions here. We've barely gotten acquainted with this strange new part of our universe and its network of unnatural wormholes. I am sure here many more secrets are hidden.

Jason's manucision

I was back in Nasreri late yesterday evening, for the ceremonial manucision of Heir-Lord Jason Moradian. Jason only recently found out about his Ardishapur heritage, and wanted to impress friends and enemies by following the Ardishapur Decree to the letter. This law states that the male members of the Ardishapur family must have their right hand removed. 

It is not a very pleasant ceremony. Lots of blood and pain, accompanied by scripture passages about sacrifice. Bill Cypher was the surgeon at hand (no pun intended), and he wielded the ceremonial catlin knife with great skill. He fitted Jason's new bionic arm as well.

Many noble houses close to the Ardishapur court also follow the Ardishapur Decree. Indeed, most of these houses are intermarried in complicated ways over the millennia to House Ardishapur, and consider themselves linked to the extended family. House Moradian is part of this inner circle. Seeking acceptance from his peers, Jason underwent the rite...

Meanwhile, my impression is that the Ardishapur family is holding off any judgement as to when exactly Jason can claim his Holdership and regain control from the lord-regent. It was telling that they did not send a family member to attend the manucision, as they usually do. Lord knows they have enough family members. But they did send a representative, a clerk from the Ardishapur Family Bureau, which is sign that they do not reject his claim either. I think they're keeping their options open. And, it will probably remain difficult for Jason, given his Gallentean upbringing, to ever fully fit it. Then again, he doesn't have to.

Where next?

The engine tests came out fine. Personally, I had preferred it if they'd found something so they were able to fix it.

We've continued exploration, and the ever changing network of links reminds me of the vastness of Anoikis. It's unlikely to get linked to the same place twice. Our expedition just scratches the surface... Perhaps I should do a 'deep dive', without the crew. Just keep on jumping from wormhole system to wormhole system for a long period of time, to see, as they say, how deep this rabbit hole goes. 

However, duties for the moment prevent a long absence. Jason is having his hand cut off in the Ardishapur ceremonial rite, back home...

Fire rekindled

News of worrisome developments reached us in Seclusion. I heard it while taking some time off in Pilgrim's rest, awaiting the results of the stress tests of the engines of the Indagatrix III. 

The Empire and the Republic seem to have rekindled the battle for Floseswin and the Eugidi constellation in the war zone. Messages to the respective militia call for immediate action. Yet, for the moment, the constellation appears well secured in the hands of the Empire.

But, this comes on the heels of a conflict between the militia and LUMEN, less than a month ago. The Empress calls on the militia to defend and fortify the constellation and while this does not involve LUMEN I think some of our capsuleers will feel the urge to heed the call. Especially our friends in PIE may feel some honor-bound obligation. And, our foes may use this call to beat their chest and push others to join the warzone.

I would advocate leaving the warzone for the militia, we are not welcome there anyway. In stead, let us keep our focus on Arshat and the stellar transmuter device. It is quiet now there, but I don't think we should keep our eyes away from it. In fact, Societas, PIE and KHPER have been diligently patrolling it, and seeing from time to time some scouting from the Triglavians and other reds.

From lines to circles

The scanning tip that I mentioned before for lines also works for circles. If the results of your scan yields a circle - meaning just two probes picked up the signal - then swivel around to find the point on the circle that lies farthest from your probes.

Once you found it (from the first to the second frame in the figure above, I just rotated to get a better view) move the probes to this farthest point and you can zoom in at least two levels. It will yield a much better pinpointed source and save you additional scans.

A stone in the shoe

A new ship is always a bit like new shoes - doesn't quite fit as comfortably yet as the old vessel. I have to get used to it a bit before I can fully merge myself with the ship. I don't know quite how to express this differently, capsuleers will know what I mean. Explaining to baseliners what it means to become one with the ship... well it's like explaining what the color red is to a blind person.

But the Indigatrix III turns out to be a shoe that has a little stone in it, and I can't get it out. 

The engine doesn't feel quite right. Crew has remarked it too, the sound of the engine is different and there is a periodic hum that intensifies and ebbs. Techies can't find anything wrong with it, it attains nominal speed without problems. 

Perhaps I should bring it back to the manufacturer? We're going to run some tests while overheating the engine first - in close orbit to Seclusion station in case things go wrong.

Scan probe line result

Another tip. 

This happens regularly: the anomaly is only picked up by three of your scanner probes, and you get a line, the intersection of the three signals. Where to scan on the line? Many capsuleers will reposition the probes in the middle of the line, not gaining any resolution, and scan again.

But there is a faster way. Find out which of the ends of the line, as in the figure above, is farthest away from your current probe scan location. Sometimes you'll have to swivel the view around and turn it to see. The view in the left panel shows that the lower right end of the scan line is farthest from the probe location. The stuff you're looking for is there.

So, in that case, don't hesitate! Put your probes on the farthest end of the line and narrow it down. Close in on it, two zoom levels even, as shown in the middle panel. You'll get a ping close up on its location every time - as in the right panel.

Minmatar clothing

The crew quickly adapted to the new hull. Most things are the same, but there are some tiny differences. The visuals are sharper, better. A new generation of video probes circling the craft, I guess.

There appeared some Minmatar data sites. Probably some lost exploration, rust buckets must have buckled and failed in the end. 

We retrieved capsuleer clothing from them, and the crew seems to be intent on selling it, they claim it will get a decent amount of isk. I checked the market and I am aghast as how much a piece of fabric is worth. It must be absolutely revolting to baseliners, at least when they can't make a profit from it themselves. I advise the crew to wait with the sale - probably the Minmatar rebellion celebrations are not a good time to sell this kind of apparel, as the market gets flooded...

Maiden flight of the Indigatrix III

It was pretty quiet on the Indigatrix III today, as the crew took hold of this new yet familiar hull. We scanned down some standard anomalies, and investigated a relic site that did not offer much new insights. But I could still feel a tense atmosphere from my crew. Trigger fingers on the cloak and the warpout, and d-scan spamming even during hacking. 

I do feel safer when they're around, but I'm not sure that is reciprocated...

Help line

I've had a bit of explaining to do to the crew, for showing up with a brand new hull. They reacted with a mix of relief - that they hadn't been aboard the lost ship - and dismay - that they could have been aboard. There was general disbelief that this wouldn't have happened with them on board and that my wits were the only thing to blame. And a general worry about what they should do should they find themselves in an escape pod. In Seclusion their emergency beacon will be picked up by the station. But if they are in another wormhole, perhaps one without stations? 

Actually, not all hope is lost. The Signal Cartel provides rescue caches in most systems - a little refuge and a little help in the form of scanner probes. If that's of no help to you, then it is possible to contact the scout rescue team, who will send a search and rescue party. No wonder LUMEN has set the Signal Cartel blue and supports them with docking rights. The technicians have been making sure that also the baseliner rescue pods can contact this wormhole search and rescue folk.

The price of hubris

Bad news: I got podded.

Mitigating circumstance: nothing of value was lost.

I got greedy, and reckless. Yesterday evening, I saw a relic site on d-scan that I hadn't seen before. I decided to go at it alone, the crew was already off for the day. I was tired, but I felt I didn't need the additional split seconds that their interventions grant me. I was wrong. 

An Astero was laying cloaked, waiting. When I warped in and approached the first relic can, it grabbed me, and as I do not carry any DPS and did not have the split second reflex that my crew grants me, I stood no chance. 

I'll have to explain it to them tomorrow. The usual chain of events was set in motion: I recloned, and my agent used my funds to purchase and fit the Indagatrix III. At first, the crew will think I just went off to Nasreri again, to do some personal stuff like feeding Mittens. But I'll have to tell them eventually and I am worried about their reaction. Truth is, I got too complacent, too blasé and relaxed about doing those sites, while in reality danger is always lurking in Anoikis.

Pathfinder

A good galnet tool for wormhole explorations is pathfinder. It allows you to map the wormhole connections, yielding a chart that can be used by all in the alliance, 

Here, you see seclusion, and how it links to several other systems. There are two wormholes, and one link (our static) to highsec. I've been exploring and found that the Ursus, the C1 hole connected to home, is a dead end, leading to a nullsec and a highsec system. The additional wormhole lead to further exploration, and I haven't finished to complete that branch. Every jump is registered. You can even see where I am, the C4 hole. I tend to log anomalies, and pathfinder shows you an overview like this

but only after someone uploads it. But, the most useful part of it is the list of killmails from the wormhole system you are in. If you warp in, check it. It will reveal active hunters will kills on their name. In that case, just warp back out. But if the system has been dormant, you know you can stick around.

The Antiquarian

The Antiquarian has been spotted in Tanoo!

This is so exciting - many believe him to have disappeared, retired! And yet, there is now visual confirmation that he is spaceborne, flying through Tanoo towards Sashta. I have received footage and d-scan of his shuttle from staff I befriended in Tebu Amkhiman, I'm glad I shared these stories about the legendary capsuleer with them.

The Antiquarian is one of the oldest capsuleers, and a famous collector of rare and precious items. His collection is the stuff of wonder and myth, unmatched by any in the cluster. From the earliest days on, any special item would draw his attention and he would be the first one to grab them. He is reclusive, a hermit, nowadays.

Now that I know he is still active, I do want to speak to him, and learn about the relics he has collected over the years! If anyone can help me substantially in my quest after a single meeting, it is him! Oh, if only I could convince him to be the guest of honor in a convention for rare items I would plan... it would draw out every collector in the cluster, I am sure! 

Perhaps items obtained from more recent activities could raise his interest, as he's been less active? But perhaps this is a mistake, and he has stayed active all along to collect also newer items from events and activities. 

Could this be linked to what it going on in Athounon or Arshat? Is this why he woke from his slumber and did he get caught on camera flying towards Athounon from wherever he is stationed, passing Tanoo?

I must find him.

Earthers

The explorations have thusfar not turned up any evidence of Takmahl -or Talocan- presence in Anoikis. This is not a surprise: Anoikis is immense, and we have only scratched the surface of it, a few systems. Finding any remnant of these ancient civilizations here is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But it also allows for the fantasy to run wild. What if the Takmahl established a colony here, and it got cut off? Could it have endured undetected? Or would it have collapsed, as its parent civilization did?

The "Earthers" believe that we are in a similar situation; that humanity has a common ancestor coming from a single system of origin, and that we essentially got cut off from them. In that scenario, at least us, the colonists, survived. Who knows what happened to the home system, "Earth" ?

In fact, after Anoikis got connected to our cluster, many Earthers through that we had reconnected with the "home cluster", and that our planet of origin lay within Anoikis rather than behind the Eve Gate. They started expeditions, and searches to locate our ancestors - or rather, their descendents, our far-removed nieces and nephews. It did not prove succesful. They did encounter the Sleepers - an offshoot of the Jove, to all likelihood. I don't wish to encounter them - they do not look kindly on explorers as many folk from our cluster plunder their sites, for lucrative loot.

Anomaly scanning tip

Signature Anomalies are strange things.

You scan them down and find all sorts of things hidden behind them. Wormholes, but also relic and data sites. One wonders how it can be that there is a steady daily stream of these anomalies in every system, every day.

Hasn't there been a very thorough search yet of the home worlds? How come these things keep popping up? For the temporary wormholes, it is not hard to understand, but sites that remained hidded for many centuries or even milennia? Why do they pop up? Is it because their cloaking finally failed? Or because the many baseliner vessels that we don't see on our scans came accross them?

No, it's got to do with the fickle nature of solar winds and how they interact with celestials. These reveal disturbances, in a random and ever changing way, leading to this constant stream of anomalies we find. This leads to an interesting tip for scanning. Say, you see anomalies around a celestial like this:

The red spheres are 8 AU wide, and so you think you might need to set your scanners to 8 AU. But in fact, anomalies are never located further than 4 AU from a celestial! So, the best first step to scan down the above situation is to center your probes on the planet or celestial in the middle, and set range to 4 AU. This saves you time and effort in the scan, and will give good pinpointing results for all anomalies close to the celestial.

Deeper into the holes

Today, we decided to push deeper into the wormhole network and explore beyond Seclusion by jumping through the Ursus wormhole. First, we checked that it had not reached end of lifetime, and that it did not have its stability degraded by the amount ships going through it. The information that we called up on the hole showed it was still nice and stable, at least for another day.

After jumping through, there follows a choreography that I trained the crew to handle. First and most importantly, without breaking cloak, the wormhole entrance leading back to Seclusion is bookmarked (I usually just label it "-> home"). 

Then, a "new bookmark" window (ctrl-B) is opened and I select a celestial to warp to at 100km. In close sequence, I then 1) initiate the warp, 2) launch the scanner probes, 3) cloak my ship, and 4) bookmark a safe spot between the entrance hole and the celestial. After arrival at the celestial, I warp back to my safe spot, cloaked all the time.

Only then I relax a bit, and evaluate the system. If there's other probes or ships on d-scan, or a history of recent kills, I would bail out. Luckily, there was no activity in J102734.

Unluckily, there were also no relic signatures...

Celebration

I have been tempted by feelings of vanity once more: it appears I won a prize in the New Eden Writing Competition. I submitted a poem about the demise of our astrahus station, Farthest Shore, located at Eve Gate. My vow or poverty prohibits accepting the large monetary prize so I will distribute it to LUMEN members who want to buy a skill book with it. As librarian, I feel the need to give books, even if they are of the injectable kind.

Crew members felt the need to celebrate, and threw a party in my honor, during which they also exercised their poetic talents by reciting rhymes of dubious content, mostly involving large chested Amarrian ladies, goats and cheese. After some libations, they decided I should sell the rubble that we collected in relic sites rather that throw it back into space. After some more libations, they argued that I should upgrade to a Stratios exploration cruiser, assuring me that they'd crew it most excellently and not many additional hands should be hired, and that they would take care of the hiring process.

It appears that not much exploration will be done after these celebrations.

Deep space particle accelerator

People leave all sorts of junk in space. 

Today, after performing the morning's scan to bookmark wormhole exits, probes picked up a strange matter signature, emissions of exotic elementary particles not known to appear in natural phenoma. Upon our arrival in the deadspace pocket where the signal was from, we found an abandoned particle accelerator, not even powered down. There was no sign of struggle. The science outpost had been abandoned and someone had forgotten to turn off the reactor on the thing.

The outer two acceleration rings were already sparking, and a high-curvature spacetime deformation was glowing in the center ring. It seems whoever built the station attempted to make gates or open up wormholes on demand. 

Right after Anoikis connected to Eve cluster, there was a flurry of enthusiastic exploration, and a lot of grant money flowed to learning about the wormhole worlds. The Arataka Research Consortium played a major role. This abandoned structure did not belong to them, it appears to be from a private Gallente research institute. Often, after projects from this initial exploration wave were completed, researchers returned, leaving their infrastructure behind in the hopes of coming back. But after the initial rush of excitement, grant money levels dropped back to normal as yet another topic became fashionable for science agencies to pursue. 

And so, we have functioning abandoned particle accelerators in wormhole deepspace pockets...

Comparative study of Amarr space cathedrals

Continuing our search for relics in Seclusion, LUMEN's wormhole system, scanners picked up a signal corresponding to an abandoned small space colony. Warping the Indagatrix over, we found that not much was left, except for the ruins of a large cathedral complex.

 

Figure 1: Ancient space cathedral, Seclusion

The structure was definitely Amarrian. Even from far away, the gold ornaments on ivory white hull revealed its link with our beloved Empire. Closer inspection confirmed this, as the structure contained inscriptions quoting scripture. In the cloud of space debris, we found and collected liturgical objects, altar fragments, cloth, chalices.

What is striking, however, is the shape, size and layout of this cathedral. It is a cruciform design, typical for many of the ancient architectural designs of our cathedrals. In this particular ruin, both the nave and the transept were still preserved, as was the domed roof at the center of the cross. The structure emphasizes the vertical, with pillars several hundred meters high connecting roof and floor. 

Imagine for a moment visiting this ancient cathedral, standing on its floor. You would feel humbled in this enormous space. Your gaze will be pulled up, following the lines and the perspective of the pillars directing your eyes to the roof, vanishingly high above you. The architecture leaves you devoid of pride, and with your sight towards Heaven, prepared for prayer and adoration of God. This style of cathedral cropped up on Amarr as well, and can still be seen in ancient pictures, such as the one below.

 

Figure 2: Inside view of an ancient land-based cathedral, similar in architecture as the space cathedral of figure 1.

However, this type of structure is not well suited for space. On a planet, the structure has to bear its weight, the pillars have to counteract the force of gravity pulling beams and ceiling down. That is why structures struggle to reach a height that is easy to reach in space. In space, a very different type of force is prominent: the pressure difference between the inside of the structure - at breathable atmospheric pressure - and the vacuum of space outside. This results in forces not pulling down on walls, but pushing them sideways. You have to design architecture as if it is a pressure cooker that wants to explode outwards. 

The outward force moreover scales with area - this is why the large outer walls of the cruciform space cathedrals are the weak spots, and end up being blown apart when the structure fails. They're no longer present in the ruin that we found, and in many others like it. 

Over the millennia, this has changed the shape of space cathedrals, as religious architecture habits slowly became better adapted to space. The shape that minimizes the area, for a given volume, is the sphere. It is the best shape to deal with pressure differences. However, more things have to be taken into account in choosing the optimal shape. For example, you also want to have a maximum useful floor area, or perhaps fit in landing bays and hangars. So, a compromise between a more rounded shape and optimized floor area and usage led slowly to Amarr's modern design of space cathedrals.

Figure 3: Modern Amarr space cathedral

The emphasis on height, directing your gaze upward is still present in the modern architure; but the cruciform shape with large flat panel walls has been abandond for a more rounded, cylindrical or semi-cylindrical shape. Note that the anchorages - the bottom "claws" where the crypts would be - have been retained, but also adapted to the more rounded shape. Interesting, this change in shape for space cathedrals in turn influenced planet-based cathedral architecture - it takes just one look at the Dam-Torsad cityscape to see the many cathedrals in tapered (semi-)cylindrical form. 

A question may have arisen in the reader's mind: what is an ancient Amarr space cathedral doing out in wormhole space? Anoikis has only become accessible very recently. However, many, often smaller, religious orders in the Empire felt the call to reclaim these strange worlds, and decided to start a mission there or relocate there. I can only surmise that the remains we found were from an order that decided to move its entire ancient space cathedral out to Anoikis. Probably it housed the relics of their patron Saint. Such a move has been done before, even with planet-based cathedrals. Indeed, emperor Doriam II moved the Tal-Romon cathedral from Eclipticum to Amarr Prime, dismantling it and building it back brick by brick, only missing a few bricks.

So, what happened to the missionaries of Seclusion? In figure 1, left of the cathedral, a broken piece of engine can be seen, comparatively large because of its proximity to the camera. It turns out to be of Sansha origin. The religious community living here was brutally raided by the Sansha, who destroyed the monastery and turned the cathedral into the ruin it is today. At least one missionary must have survived the raid, for at the heart of the cathedral's ruin a memorial stone was found, with the inscription:

"In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over our Anoikis home, and the wretched people shook; there were excessive metaliminal storms, space lightning, and fiery comets were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and a little after those, that same year on 6th of January, the ravaging of wretched heathen men destroyed God's church."

I will try to find out who these missionaries were, using as a clue the relics and scans collected. May their souls rest in piece.

 

((ooc attributions: the inscription in quotes is an adaptation to Eve from the medieval description of the Viking raid on Lindisfarne, reported in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. The paiting is the interior of Antwerp cathedral painted by Peter Neeffs the Younger around 1650))

A mystery solved

Yesterday after the ceremonies for the fallen in the battle of Aset, I met up with Jason Statesman. I have been helping him find his father and his origins for a while now, and after hitting a dead end I proposed him to involve a friend at the MIO. 

There is a decayed photograph and some DNA that could be used, and I thought the MIO would have no problems tracking this down. Despite some trepidation about involving the ministry, Jason agreed. The material was forwarded and the request made, and then there was a long wait.

The, yesterday evening, we got summoned. And what an unexpected turn of events was revealed! 

My trusted friend in the MIO, after a very friendly inquisition of Jason - not even a single thumbscrew or pulled nail - revealed that he is the son and possibly only living heir to Lord Hadish Moradian, subservient to House Ardishapur. The affairs of the holding are now in the hands of a regent, Lord Arya Nagad, and will likely remain so while Jason learns more about his heritage and about the faith and his tasks as a future Holder. Of course, it came as a shock to Jason, he'll have a lot to process and it is good that he remains surrounded by the faithful.

This joyous news diverted my attention from the shadows of war that are darkening the cluster, as I made my way back to Seclusion during the night.

War

Tensions between the Local is Primary (LiP) militia and the Edencom aligned alliance of Phoenix Naval Systems (PNS), Electus Matari and LUMEN came to a breaking point. LiP attacked a PNS structure earlier, and now PNS called upon the Edencom aligned alliance to retaliate.

The targeted stations are dens of sin, for the lustful pleasure of the mercenaries. Theologically, these places should indeed have been destroyed. However, the fight over them - after they'd been reinforced - took epic proportions. 

First, a battleship blast pitted our Typhoon fleet against their assorted mish-mash fleet. It appears that we were winning, when the fight escalated to dreadnaughts. It was a slaughter on both sides...

So, today I am hopping back from Seclusion to Nasreri, to hold some memorial masses and comfort those who lost loved ones among our many baseliners. The crew and the Indigatrix stay behind, I am shuttling back and forth.

All this is taking place behind the backdrop of another escalating conflict, of larger magnitude: the Federation and the State are openly fighting in Athounon...

Statics and bookmarks

Wormhole space is different from known space in that there are no fixed jump gate connections. Rather, the set of links between the wormhole systems gets randomized all the time. Any wormhole link stays open only for a few days, at most. This is due to the unstable nature of the wormhole, and makes mapping of Anoikis impossible. How would one map a continuously changing random network?

Some of the wormhole links connect Anoikis to known space, to our gate-connected cluster, and that is how we can access this region. Many explorers that jump into a wormhole to get to Anoikis subsequently get lost, especially if they do not carry scan probes and forgot to bookmark the wormhole after jumping. Luckily, they can contact the Signal Cartel, who have made it their business to rescue wormhole explorers.

So, can the constant metamorphosis of the map ever lead to systems being completely disconnected from the network as a whole? No, there are "static" wormholes in every systems. It's a confusing name, they move around and there's really not that much static about them, except in the sense that there are a minimum number of wormhole entrances that are present at any time in a given system. 

Our wormhole has two statics: one that will always lead to some highsec system, and one that will always lead to another wormhole system. We call the highsec connection "Nexus", and the wormhole connection "Ursus". Some days there will be more wormholes in the systems, but never less than these two.

The entrance of these two statics does move about every day within Seclusion, without leaving the system though. So, it needs to be bookmarked over again every day, for fellow explorers to use. The exit of Nexus hops around in highsec, and also needs to be bookmarked. Joy when the connection happens to pop up close to a trade hub, disappointment when it leads to a backwater system.

It is an unwritten gentlemen's agreement between explorers to keep the bookmark folder up to date, especially for Nexus. It is the wormhole itself that should be bookmarked, not the anomaly. If you jump to the anomaly, you'll land some ten kilometers off the wormhole and need to approach it. This makes you vulnerable, and a proper bookmark will let you land at zero, able to jump immediately. Also I plan to keep up with this courtesy of keeping the bookmarks up to date (and set them with an expiry of 2 days for wormholes). Today, scanning and probing was our first task, but some good soul had already preceded us and the bookmarks were up to date. At least still for a couple of hours...

 

PS. For reference, this is how the bookmarks in the seclusion folder are formatted:

The green ones are in the same location as we are, Seclusion. They start with the identification code for the anomaly, and then a description. QED-968 is the Nexus, the portal to highsec. The other side of that is denoted by "Seclusion - Nexus", and today it is in Keba, in Aridia. If you'd go to Keba, and warp to that bookmark, you'd land on the wormhole entrance to Seclusion. By the luck of the draw there appears to be a second highsec hole still open, to Polfaly.

Edencom woes

Today, we did some simple scouting in Seclusion itself, to get the crew acquainted and removed their fears of space monsters in wormhole space.

Meanwhile, the growing tension between LUMEN and the "Local is Primary" militia is causing me worries. Here in Anoikis, I should not be bothered too much by this conflict, but it affects my friends back in Nasreri and Mehatoor. 

The militia have never forgiven LUMEN's participation in Edencom alongside Electus Matari, even though the Empress sanctioned international collaboration in the framework of Edencom in order to fight the Triglavian menace. 

Edencom itself is under fire. Our State allies seem to suspend their collaboration with Edencom and even with Concord in the Athounon system, in order to obtain technology from a cloaked station there. Never since the Elder fleet have the Yulai accords been under such strain.

Luckily, the Empire will not fall behind in the arms race, and has fortified our position around the Stellar Harvester. However, all this goes not without causing incident with the other powers.

Docked in Seclusion

We arrived yesterday in Seclusion's station. I'd been here before, but it had been a while. The station has been much expanded since my last visit, the upgrades allowing for more inhabitants, more cargo hangars, and better defenses. The park is still there: it's known by travellers as Pilgrim's Rest. It is underneath a cupola that opens up to space, and allows for daytime sunshine from Seclusions small yellow star. At night, the unfamiliar sky shows none of the known constellations.

Scattered between grassy meadows and forested patches, the park is home to temples and churches devoted to of various faiths of New Eden. No heretical sects, but also not just our Amarrian faith - there is a small Achur temple, for example. Probably this is because Anoikis is a refuge for people of all over New Eden, who want to disappear in wormhole space and build a new life there. Seclusion wants to be welcoming and inclusive.

As the crew had never been to Anoikis, and the Indagatrix needed supplies and checkups of the scanner systems, I gave them the rest of the day off. Idesbald went straight to Seclusion's most famous bar, "Two Shots Minimum". I do not think he stopped at the minimum.

Heading for Seclusion

Now that our charity in Mycena is operating smoothly again, I can embark on the expedition to Anoikis that I had planned a while ago. One of the technicians has found other employ, I guess she was restless, or scared about the space monsters supposedly living in wormhole space. 

I know I could fly the ship without crew, but I do like to take them on board to relieve me of some tasks. However, I'm not going to replace the techie now, six crew is more than enough. 

We leave in a couple of hours, heading for Keikanen in State space where the wormhole entrance to LUMEN's wormhole base called "Seclusion" was last seen. 

The wormhole to our base is short lived, so the entrance system changes every day, and hopefully it will still be there by the time we arrive. Otherwise we'd have to wait for someone in Seclusion to explore where the new entrance is: when the old hole dies, a new one appears connecting Seclusion to a seemingly random system.

Start-up troubles

The clinic in Mycena experienced some trouble - it was even inaccessible for a while. The front door was jammed, of sorts, and the medbots were missing. 

Luckily, things are back to normal out now, and the clinic is resupplied and back in shape. It's very busy, there's clearly a need for this type of medical care in the district. As soon as it re-opened, there were again queues.

The local authority, mr. Ignis Phage, has been strutting outside and taking credit for this development in the neighborhood, much to my dislike. He had little to do with this LUMEN initiative.

After the disruption of a couple of days ago, now everything seems to run smoothly, and I can go back to the Lamp, and look at my duties there. Apparently, there's some yak handbook that everyone wants to read and I have to figure out how to order it.

Yun-Hee's home

I had a most pleasant evening visiting Yun-Hee Yubari - she had invited me to see her new home. 

Her home itself is minimalistic and spartan. A bit like a monk's cubicle, which I approve but at the same time find strange for a young woman of marriageable age. There's also a martial arts training building called a dojo, and a tea house that is still being installed. 

But the most magnificent part is the garden! It encircles the house and meticulously reconstructs a beautiful achuran landscape, in miniature. As the eyes wander toward the horizon, larger trees complete the illusion of a house in the middle of rolling hills and nature. There are dwarfed trees closer in, like the one I have, but with needles rather than leaves. There are elegantly arranged stones, and raked sand, and a beautiful pool. It is a place that invites for meditation and calm. 

The only downside is that there are no benches, except for sitting down right on the floor at some low table. I'll need my cyberlegs to avoid a screeching pain in my knees.

I brought her a plant for her garden, without knowing the design of the garden. Wild garlic - you prepare its leaves rather than a clove of garlic, it is a medicinal herb and grows well under trees. However, as a flowering plant it is probably unsuitable for her garden.... a faux pas of a gift, I'm afraid. 

Anyway, this makes me yearn for a little garden of my own, a herb garden. An aromatic place. A place to let the mind come to rest and stop thinking. I don't want to take up more space than I do, so I'll look for some publicly available grounds. More accurately: I'll put that on my ever growing to-do list...

A day on Oris

I had the honor of meeting the Praetoria's chapter master again. It took a while to get a proper appointment and to find a time where Lord Lok'ri could find a spot for me in their busy agenda. I do not think I know anyone who works as hard as his lordship does, perhaps with the exception of Lunarisse.

So, I went back to Oris, this giant of a planet, and the Oris Chapterhouse of the Praetoria. After an interminable wait, I was brought to the Chapter master's office by an orderly.

Lord Lok'ri took an interest in my work in the Societas, I was pleased that time was made to inquire about that and about how I had settled into my ministry there.

But once I came to the point, and asked about the operation of the Tetrimon order to retrieve their relics from the blood raiders now sixteen years ago, I had the impression the tone changed. Not only did the mention of the Aegis Militia and the Verisum family left a sour taste in the Chapter master's mouth, his lordship also held a devastating opinion about grand master Horm and the Tetrimon Order. There was no room for the subtle arguments that Horm was fighting the Blood chancellor, or that Horm challenged his own order to support Empress Jamyl, at least according to the records shown to me by the Tetrimon themselves...

Lord Lok'ri was quick to tell me that no member of the Praetoria participated in this operation, even though at the same time they claimed not to have much recollection of this operation. I was refered to the Praetoria's archives, and given permission to consult those. I'm not sure what to think of all this, to be honest. Is it the old wounds caused by the Aegis Militia that were opened up again, or is there something to hide?

Clinic is up

Our clinic in Mycena is up and running. I'm glad to report we've already had a lot of customers. It seems many inhabitants were delaying a doctor's visit and letting their problems get worse. So the medical drones have been working almost non-stop.

There seems to be somewhat of a problem with pollution here, lots of symptoms related to heavy metal poisoning. However, we are well equipped for it, with the help of good doctors at the medbay of Gottin's Lamp. 

I am glad we can make a difference here. Helping everyone in the cluster is not possible, but at least we can look after those who live at our doorstep.

Mycena

I visited a worker district called Mycena. It is located in the same station as our headquarters - the size of these stations keeps amazing me. Mycena somewhat of a city in its own right, with bars and shops and bad hotels and public transport. The parish is run by father Marn, an amicable man tending to his flock with great care.

There is a lack of good medical facilities, though, so I was happy to arrange for a semi-automatic clinic in that neighborhood, having obtained the permission from the representatives of Lord Valdant, the holder of this vibrant community. I'm looking forward to see this clinic serve our station neighbors!

Legs up

I am slowly getting used to the new legs. At first, it seemed like something else was propelling me forward, my upper body was dragged along by these legs. I have to find a new equilibrium, and a new pace to move my arms about in the right tempo for my legs.

On another matter - one thing I do not like about covert missions for SFRIM is that we have to compromise with folks that I think are evil. For our goals, it appears we have to strike a deal with a man raising child soldiers. That seems utterly wrong, even if the alternative will leave the children potentially worse off. I am struggling with this.

cyberlegs

I've had to postpone my expedition to Seclusion, because of urgent Societas matters.

Also, I need surgery. Well, not me as such: I need to have a clone that has cybernetically enhanced legs. Training doesn't work fast enough, and my trainer in the Lamp's fitness tends to forget my age just because I'm a capsuleer. 

Many capsuleers choose to reclone themselves in a young version of themselves, at their prime. I do not, I like to keep track of my age, and so my clones reflect my actual age. Of course, without any old-age disease and especially with painless joints. But that is not enough: I need to be able to run fast, and pass Ishta's "beep test". So I bought a clone with cyberlegs under real skin, the salesperson told me it looks and feels natural...

Down the hole

In between the cloak and dagger work that keeps my somewhat busy these days, I have been preparing for an expedition into wormhole space. The crew is a bit nervous, most of them haven't been to wormhole space and heard all manner of old wives' tales about space monsters living out there.

I could keep their anxiety in check by telling them we would be going to Seclusion, a wormhole system controlled by SFRIM. This reduces significantly the risk of being out there, as there will be a station where we can safely dock up and rest. The station, also called Seclusion, will be the basis of operations for this expedition.

Bersyrim relics and conjectures

I've continued to investigate the nature of the artefacts I recovered in Bersyrim. I think they were not collected over the years there from all sorts of other places. They are too consistently from a single time period, and in a singular style to be a hotchpotch mix you usually find in capsuleer's cargo holds or adventurer's collections. 

So, I hypothesize there was an expedition or a colonization attempt from the Takmahl at some time. The stuff they brought with them would be representative of a particular era and maybe particular style. The problem with this is that there is no known colony, nor did anyone find a colony ship wreck or exploration vessel wreck here. 

The other mystery is why they would choose such a place, far from their homelands. Maybe the even bigger mystery is how they got here! It is out of reach for their ships unless they would travel for decades. So, this leads me to another conjecture: Talocan wormhole technology. 

The Talocan, a much older and more advanced civilization than the Takmahl, possessed ways to open up wormholes. It is well known and document that the Takmahl found Talocan technology and reverse engineered it. So why not experimental wormhole tech?

The search continues

I responded to mr. Thorne, asking him what he intends to do with the Matari aspirant he wants to get from me, but again he has gone silent.

It appears my questions are compareable to kicking rotten woodwork in that all of a sudden a lot of strange critters crawl out. I've been contacted by several people pretending to help me find cardinal Graelyn for all sorts of payment. None of them have seemed trustworthy. But there is something about mr. Thorne that makes me think he could actually find his eminence, even though I do think he does not have pure motives.

Also, the small tortured tree is not doing well, a couple of leaves are starting to turn brown...

Thorne responds

Thorne finally responded. I had already given up on him.

It appears he has started the search. I had written a message I wanted to convey to his eminence Cardinal Graelyn, should he be found. However, Ulrik Thorne seems to think this message is -I quote- "good bait" to lure the Cardinal out of his hiding. 

So, I have come to suspect mr. Thorne has ulterior motives, perhaps nefarious ones as concerns the Cardinal. This is definitely not a Jita scammer who wants my money, no, he seems to use me and my cause to find the Cardinal for his own purpose! Sometimes I even imagine Thorne might want to harm high clergy, such as his eminence. Ridiculous as that thought seems at first sight, it is not impossible.

To complicate matters, Thorne has refused my ISK payment, and wants something else instead. A Matari aspirant of any sex or bloodline, third generation or later whose contract is held by the Praetorians. What does it mean? I'm not a holder, and why would I procure a slave for mr. Thorne? I don't know how to react to this request, to be honest.

Tree torture

Yulai and the systems around it are a melting pot for the different cultures in the cluster. 

That's how I found out about a horrible practice, in the State and more particularly in Saisio. 

They take a young sapling tree, and torture it. While it is growing, they knack it branches and curb its shoots so the tree never grows. It remains small, constrained and broken by its torturer. It is seen as an art to create these miniature trees, but in reality it is a slow torment to create a hobbled and abused plant.

I bought one, and I am going to let it grow how it wants, if it can in any way recover from its harsh treatment.

Letter from the Paladin Warden

Paladin Warden Saltz has replied to my inquery about the Aegis Militia, and told me the tale of how their relation with CVA deteriorated, and how they fell victim to the "Rekking Crew" invaders.

Few men were tested and put through such hardships as the Paladin Warden. May he remain strong and patient, and may his trials bring his soul closer to God.

I have decided it may not be prudent to accept mr. Thorne's request for money to find the Cardinal. The Paladin Warden dissuaded me from this course of action. I will look for other eye witnesses of the events surrounding the Temple of God's Assuring Whisper. 

Perhaps I should make work of a visit to Oris again, and try and meet Lord Gaven Lok'ri.

No answer

Still no reply from Ulrik Thorne. Did I insult him, offering only 75 million for his help? Should I reach out to him with a higher offer?

No.

There are enough veterans about that I should not bow to the whims of mr. Thorne. If he does not respond, then so be it. 

I've decided to go back to Oris and request an audience with lord Gaven Lok'ri. He has a sharp mind and a flawless memory, he might help me in this matter.

At the same time, I'm preparing the Indagatrix for another inspection of the Eve and Monalaz constellations.

The chivalry of SFRIM members

I have not yet heard back from mr. Ulrik Thorne, but the faithful members of SFRIM helped me. I had only speak half a word to Gaun Arel before he contacted his own agent specialized in finding a capsuleer's last known location. He quickly found out that Lord Cardinal Graelyn was last seen in commanding a vessel in E-YCML, in Providence. It's a bit creepy, this lack of privacy that we have.

This agrees with the information that his Eminence has retired in Providence, as indicated by mr. Thorne as well, although he pointed to Misaba. 

Enter a second champion, Jason Statesman. He rushed to his exploration vessel, and made haste to Providence to both systems mentioned. He talked to the locals but apparently no-one has seen the Cardinal for a while. He also reported that civility is in decline in Providence, and locals treated him quite boorishly.

Finally, ms. Renalard and especially our Directrix were very helpful in recalling events from the past, from a time before my kind paladins Gaun and Jason had joined SFRIM. The Cardinal appears to have a long and interesting history. 

Lunarisse also recalled Revan Neferis - though with great distaste. She fired a barrage of names at me, of capsuleers from decades past, and now I need to get cards, pins and tread in order to visualize all the connections.

I am grateful for all the gracious help from the members of SFRIM, and touched by their chivalry and unquestioning help.

Ulrik Thorne's offer of help

I have been contacted by a capsuleer named Ulrik Thorne, who offered his assistance in finding Lord Cardinal Graelyn. 

He asks for a reasonable recompense, and I informed him that I cannot spend more than 75 million. My vow of poverty does not allow me to have more isk than strictly necessary to replace the Indagatrix and her modules. I have to admit I blinged her out a little bit, and 75 mil is what she is worth now. If he will require more, I will have to figure out a down-payment plan.

Mr. Thorne seems to have a connection to the Cardinal. He was aware of his last known whereabouts, in Providence, and mentioned that he was owed money by the Cardinal. He wanted to try and broadcast my message to him, to draw him out.

I agreed, but I've become a bit worried since. I didn't sleep well. What if he uses me and my quest in order to draw out the Cardinal and harm him?

A spy cell

There was a theft of technology and pods in Jita, the main trade hub in the State. It looks like the Gurista pirates are involved. The theft also include a lot of information, intelligence gathering. 

Capsuleers all over New Eden are hunting down these capsules, and selling whatever information or runaways they find inside. That information then tends to spread around - no-one remembers the slogan "loose lips sink ships". So it was that via friends in the interlibrary loan network we were casually discussing the news and I learned about a piece of disturbing information.

Now, in one of the retrieved capsule's holostorage subsystems the following shard of text was found: "eard from one of the cell members based in the Amarr Trade Registry offices. Passed on some information about EDENCOM spending priorities during the invasion he'd dug u"

The Amarr trade registry station closest to the Concord systems is here in Nasreri! I can only conclude that the spy cell (hopefully not a terrorist cell) operates from here. I've alerted the board - it is no coincidence that this spy cell is here in the same station where SFRIM put its new headquarters. 

We're being spied upon! Aria may be confident in the airtight security cordon around the Lamp, but human error lurks around every corner. Now, how to unmask these spectres? I have to read up on counterintelligence operations, there must be some sort of handbook in our library.

Legal representation

Mr. Jensen helped me to find a lawyer. He said he was very happy with his lawyer, who had helped him win a case about discrimination of temporally impaired people in the workplace. After mr. Jensen's mishap in the wormhole he did various jobs, and one of his previous employers, Friendly Fried Fastfood, fired him because he was too slow. 

But in mr. Jensen's case it was a general relativistic medical condition which he had disclosed when he applied for the job, so Friendly Fried Fastfoods was wrong to fire him and had to pay a fine.

So, I contacted the lawyer, mr. Ezoterio Van Geneughten. I sent him a written message, as I was unable to figure out how to pronounce his name and also mr. Jensen admitted he could not remember. At first, mr. Van Geneughten declined, because he specializes in gravitational law and spacetime accidents. But he was willing to make an exception for a capsuleer friend of mr. Jensen, if he'd be allowed to bill the hours that he would need to study the parts of property law specific to my case.

He could already tell me that mr. Boulette claimed he had found the artefacts as space salvage, and that Boulette was not aware that his storage facility was used for illegal purposes by third parties. I probably had no right to open the containers and take the artefacts, but maybe I could claim that since the facility had been abandoned by Boulette I was also exercising the right to salvage. Anyhow, it looks like it will be a very long and costly affair in the courts...

Legal matters

The nerve of this gangster! I received a letter from an attorney in Bersirym, representing mr. Boulette. 

First, I am surprised that the scoundrel is still free. A gangster, whose henchmen have murdered me some time ago. They lack solid proof! Since when has a shimmer of doubt ever stopped the Ministry of Internal Order to apprehend criminals? Have they lost their mind and become bleeding heart "innocent until proven" Federals? Ah, it must be the relative proximity to the Federation that has poisoned law enforcement in that forsaken province. 

Mr. Boulette himself has Gallentean blood flowing through his veins. And he probably has some Gallentean blood on his hands too. And that of men and women of all four Empires, I am certain!

Anyway, his fancy lawyer claims I have illegally retrieved a bunch of artefacts from a storage facility of mr. Boulette in an abandoned mining colony, and I have to pay for these goods or return them to mr. Boulette. I mean, there was a firefight and another attempt at taking my life in that facility! I reported everything back to the local authorities who had given me the green light to investigate this storage facility in the first place. I don't know what happened afterwards with the whole thing, content as I was to have retrieved these artefacts from what was clearly a Blood Raider operation.

Most of the artefacts I have donated to Hedion University, but I did keep some choice ones here, for my Takmahl history museum that I plan to set up. I will not give them up! But I need to find some legal counsel. Either that or finally install pulse lasers on the Indagatrix.

Offer of help

It is always nice to receive offers of help without asking. Ms. Prime showed interest in my search for relics, and offered her help (and that of her Holder father).

I am happy to accept, even if right now the help I need may not be of the adventurous kind ms. Prime imagines. Rather, I would have her help me patiently scout out Access and the neighboring systems, and maybe also New Eden. Also, a review of the archives of the historical settlement of those systems may need and additional pair of eyes. 

But maybe I should be wary not to burn out my young friend with boring assignments? Another trip to Bersyrim may be useful, and then I can bring someone who is not afraid to engage other capsuleers or Blood Raiders.

A night at the Lamp

There was a very lively and pleasant night at the bar in Gottin's Lamp. I was there, having a coffee with Gaun, discussing the status of my research on the Tetrimon relics. It turns out that Gaun has shortly been in the same corporation as Lord-Consort Newelle; but he did not know about the retired (and heavily decorated) admiral, lord Graelyn.

That night, by a happy coincidence, many capsuleers chose to drop by, and the bar really filled up. There was also an interview with a candidate-member, Tiberius. Ishta was bartending.

It's nice to see our corp is in good spirits, and also still recruiting. When it appeared that some drinking games would begin - a thing not unusual among soldiery and miners alike - I retired. One spiked coffee is enough...

Lord-Consort Shutaq-Newelle's help

I learned a valuable lesson: if the coffee tastes off, don't drink it. Even if it is offered to you by a lord.

I met up with Lord-Consort Aldrith Shutaq-Newelle, to ask him questions about the history of the Militia, in particular Aegis Militia and their involvement in retrieving relics from the temple of God's alluring whisper. This happened in a time before his lordship joined the Amarr Militia, so he did not have too much information about them. 

However, he is acquainted with a retired admiral, Lord Graelyn, who probably was part of that operation. He will contact him and try to put us in contact. 

After this good news, Lord-Consort Aldrith Shutaq-Newelle invited me to the Holy Grape bar on Amarr. I think he misses a good intellectual or theological conversation. That is hard to come by in the current Militia, he says. He bought me coffee, but it was coffee with whiskey, and I did not realize until it was too late. That is, I do not hold my liquor, not even in small amounts, and especially not since I try to fast regularly. I got drunk. 

The next day I had to deal with a headache of such a magnitude that I decided to never drink a drop of alcohol again, and also no coffees that taste strange, even if it may offend a noble.

Training

I was acutely reminded of how much I dislike physical exercises as I continue a training programme that Ishta suggested for me, to get me "in shape". 

The training centers on running. I have to admit that Ishta chose to train a skill that excellently matches my primary instincts when facing an enemy. 

However, rather than running in a straight line, which would make sense to evade an enemy, I am to run back and forth between two lines, going absolutely nowhere. It seems like a silly sport. It's even a sphereless sport - note that many sports involve throwing, bouncing, kicking, hitting or punching spheres - with some exceptions using ellipsoids. I have to reach the goalpost before hearing a beep, and then turn around to run back to the first one. The time between the beeps gradually decreases until, inevitably, the task becomes impossible. After a while, it has me spinning around like a rabid hamster that lost its running wheel.

I could clone into a younger version of myself, and cybernetically enhance my legs, but the trainer considers this cheating. Also donning an exoskeleton would be cheating. It would however be the rational thing to do for one that cannot run well, and yet has to go on a mission. Why all this pain and suffering when there is an easy technofix for this? 

In the end, I resigned myself to this training, though. I have come to see these exercises as a form of self-flagellation, or maybe spiritual exercises. I try to discern in it a theological allegory, one of perseverance in the face of inevitable failure.

Progress is slow

Still no success in getting more information from our "veterans". They seem to have different hours than I have (or, in the case of ms. Renalard, refuse to talk to me). 

Meanwhile, I also have difficulties to find anything about the Aegis Militia. The Order of the Black Cross seems to have made much more of a fuss about them, and their demise is more documented.

I will try to find our directrix, our hours of activity have been particularly out of sync. And perhaps also lord Lok'ri, as he has been around since I think the start of capsuleerdom.

Var's distress

 I saw ms. Varcutii Renalard at the bar, and that looked like a happy coincidence as she is a veteran capsuleer and might know something about the Aegis Militia and the Dark Sephrim. 

However, she seemed quite distressed and disheveled. Perhaps even suffering from substance abuse... She refused to answer my inqueries about her distress and pushed me away.

Why is it that veteran capsuleers are so distressed? Those that witnessed the birth of capsuleering and the early years, the last ones of Heideran VII? Are they distraught at what we have become? Far from immortality, many end their own lives, as I've found looking into these "old" corporations. 

We do have the prospect of immortality, but few seem to be able to bear that burder longer than a decade...

Obituary

I received some really sad news. 

About a year ago, I found three stowaway exotic dancers in my hangar, and I brought them back to the federation. They were nice girls and I was glad to help them.

Today, I stumbled across an obituary for Anna Angel, one of them. She died back in January, apparently. And she died suddenly, unexpectedly, of an overdose of frentix. That's all I could learn about this, I didn't find any news of the other two girls. I have no idea how I'd contact them now.

I'm quite shaken by this news. She was so young, perhaps early twenties? Maybe I could have done more for her, tried to keep up with what was happening to her? I didn't stay in touch after I had them dropped off in Luminaire. I made a courier contract for that. It seems so impersonal now, I was concerned about my reputation. I didn't think about them afterwards, I just supposed all would be okay. I forgot about it afterwards.

I should have known better, they crept on board the Indigatrix during a Serpentis and Angel cartel party week, when I raided one of their data centers. Serpentis and Cartel, that should have told me they being taken advantage of. I failed to see that.

I'll light a candle for her at the chapel and pray for her soul.

Too little, too late.

Heresy

The downfall of the Order of the Black Cross started when they declared war on Aegis Militia, the other group that was supporting the Tetrimon. It appears they allied themselves with Blood Raiders and other dubious characters.

One of their 'friends' was a certain Arderich, a sedevacantist before they become known by that name. He declared the following tenets of his belief:

"1) Pax Amarria must burn and
2) the Udorian House Tash-Murkon must retreat.
3) I realize this statements are clearly against the decisions of Heideran. Neiher Heideran nor Doriam were Gods chosen ones is a logical conclusion of this two first statements. On a side note: again I am pleased to have heard a similar statement form Grand Master Horm.

I think this pretty much sums up the whole chaos and I am not at all interested to get between the lines of this nonsense that is happeneing between multiracial corporations/alliances with wicked and strange relationships all over."

This was a decade ago, but reeks of Sedevacantism. It seems this heresy was simmering underneath long before Nauplius became its self-proclaimed leader. This leads me to believe it will not go away once Nauplius goes away...

Members of the Order of the Black Cross

From what I can find in the trade registry, the Order of the Black Cross, and its executor corporation Dark Seraph indeed seem defunct. 

An alarming number of capsuleers that were registered with them have been biomassed and/or have been stricken from the Record. It looks like there was a final purge somewhere around or just before YC112, not just a disbanding. These folks didn't retire, they were eliminated. 

There's no more trace of lord Jeserat Verisum, or Revan Neferis (who perhaps became his wife and a lady of the fallen House).

A few members of the Order got out, and remained active. There's only one of the maybe more prominent members that managed to escape: ms. Verjigorm. She's a convicted heretic and now a pirate and has shown signs of activity all the way up to YC 119. 

To my surprise, I found that a former member of the Order of the Black Cross has joined SFRIM, staying there up to June last year. Mr. Kazuma Ry. I pulled up his interview. Too bad that back then no-one asked about prior associations with known heretics... Nothing special was noted in the interview, it would take a skilled exegete the transcript may reveal an undertone of the Order's heretical beliefs painted over with the veneer of tolerance.

The Order of the Black Cross

I'm glad I am away from Teakh Tak-Teakh, and the dark world of Ibani VI. I didn't get to hear the ice sing, but I don't want to stay for that natural phenomenon. I did buy a recording of the singing ice from a souvenir shop in the Khanid Transport Storage station at Ibani VI, and a fridge magnet showing the glow beneath the glacial surface.

It's not that the Tetrimon refused to help, it's just that everyone remained quite distant. As if I am suspect, or impure. They won't offer any advice. They only tell me what I ask about. They don't sabotage me, not at all, but they simply have no interest in seeing me succeed.

To investigate House Verisum I don't need their archives any more. I will do just fine back in Nasreri consulting the Amarr Trade Registry in our station. I've already remotely logged in to the library's databases and found a next clue: House Verisum was apparently deeply involved in a secretive organisation, the Order of the Black Cross. 

Allegedly, this Order no longer exists, but of course, if it is a secret organisation, then it would make sense for them to let the rest of the world believe they no longer exist. 

The thing is, even secret organisations need to buy stuff and leave a paper trail in the vast bureaucracy of the Amarr Trade Registry. It just needs to be dug  up.

Fallen allies

My best chance to get more information on this "Temple of God's Assuring Whisper" is to find the people that were involved in retrieving artefacts from it before. 

Grand Master Horm led the last mission to retrieve the relics, but he is no longer with us. He was assisted by by members of the Aegis Militia and House Verisum, so these are the people I need to talk to. 

The Aegis Militia was an Amarrian loyalist faction, but I have no idea what became of them. Have they been absorbed by PIE? That would be an ideal outcome, maybe some of their old members are still in PIE and now that they are in our own alliance it will be easy to talk to them.

House Verisum was more deeply involved, and I think they would know more. They were staunch supporters and allies of the Order. However, they fell from grace. Grand Master Horm denounced the Verisum Family, accusing them of severe crimes against the Empire and the Order. According to the recorded indictment the accusations included threatening pilots of the Order, flying alongside known enemies of the Empire, feuding with Imperial loyalist forces, and releasing private communications into the public domain. Even though the Grand Master offered redemption, House Verisum refused, with one exception: Revan Neferis decided to seek a pardon from the Order. 

She did not get her pardon.

But to me, this implies Revan Neferis stills cares about her soul, and holds on to the faith. She might be the key to this mystery - and to the location of the temple where Tetrimon IV hid the relics. Who is she? The Order might never tell me what I want to know, but these fallen allies just might.

I look forward to leaving this depressing world and getting back to Nasreri.

The temple of God's Assuring Whisper

Slowly, in this dark and forlorn archive, I am making a bit of headway in the search for mentions of the relics hidden by Grand Master Tetrimon IV.

I'm finding scattered references revealing that the stolen relics of the Apostles were brought to safety in a region all to familiar to me: the constellations close to Eve Gate in Genesis. There are many mentions of a "Temple of  God’s Assuring Whisper". These whispers can only be heard close to the Mouth of God, which is what we call Eve Gate in the Amarrian language. I've even found some references that locate the temple in the Access system. 

This would indeed be a convenient hiding place, far away from the Throne worlds, at the edge of what was then the explored part of the cluster.

The archivists and other monks here tell me this temple was indeed an important place long ago, but it was destroyed during the civil wars following the Moral Reforms, and information on its location is lost.

However, back in YC108 the Order did retrieve some relics that were stolen from the temple by Blood Raiders. The thieves and the relics were still in the Genesis region, and this is not the Blooders' favorite place. If they were stolen long ago, they would have been moved. So I think the Blooders got their hands on the relics around YC108 and not before. This leads me to believe that maybe the temple or its ruins remain to this very day a hiding place for many relics stowed away by Tetrimon IV. 

And I need to find it.

Contradictions

These archives are vast. And contradictory. 

On the one hand, a lot of the material of the Tetrimon Scrolls advocates for the concept of "equality". This is the (disturbingly Gallentean) idea that all people are the same and should be treated the same. Nowhere is this more clear than in the teachings of Tetrimon IV, who was grand master of the order during the Moral Reforms. He emphasizes the apocryphal exhortation "For you are all my creation, and are all equal in my kingdom". 

Tetrimon IV opposed emperor Heideran V and his Moral Reforms, that would see power centralized in the hands of the Emperor and the Heir houses. The drive for equality is indeed antagonistic to the idea of increased power for the Heirs and the Emperor. It would even now be considered a heresy now, I am convinced of it. Holders and slaves are not equal. This inequality does not mean that holders are inherently superior, just that the duties and expectations are different. And this is as it should be, as it always was.

Tetrimon IV hid the records of the Apostles, and many can be found now in these archives. They show a council that slowly loses its grip on power and no longer is able to keep the Heirs and the Emperor in check. The grand master also hid the relics of the apostles, but they do not appear to be here.

On the other hand, today's Order is now all about orthodoxy and enforcing the rule of the Holders over their slaves. I find that contradictory to their historically held beliefs. It is clear from these records they even acted against Doriam and his release of slaves, and they were eagerly participating in Sarum's and Ardishapur's wars against rebellious slaves. This enforcer role must be what earned them the support of these Houses.

I wonder where the current grand master stands, Khemon Dulsur an-Tetrimon is a direct descendant of Tetrimon IV, and hence of Saint Tetrimon. Perhaps he returns to this belief in equality? Indeed, he has supported Jamyl in her reforms, something that was unthinkable before.

The pit

Following a tradition that dates back into the dark ages, an abbey's muniment room - where the documents are kept - is located close to the calefactory, where the power generators are. This probably goes back to a pre-industrial era when the calefactory was the only heated place in monasteries, and documents needed to be kept close to that room so they would not get damp and moldy.

                                                               (OOC image credit: Wojtec Fus)

The historical archives of the Order are also located near a site where the power generators are. Mostly fission reactors, creating enough excess heat to melt some of the ice on top of the site. The site itself is mostly undergound, to protect it from orbital attacks. It looks like a chasm, an immense hole in the ground, and that is why people refer to it as "the pit." A dark place in a dark world.

It appears to me that it also houses a kind of command center and fleet hangars. The security is tight, and I am constantly tracked. I'm only allowed in some restricted area. But I could finally start working - I've installed myself in the reading room and I have found a helpful assistant archivist. Helpful, but like everyone else here, not very chatty.

Teakh Tak-Teakh

The Tetrimon knight met up with me in the hangar of the Khanid Storage station orbiting Ibani VI's fifteenth moon, while I was reviewing the Indigatrix's systems and preparing for another round of probing in the Ibani system. A stern fellow, taciturn. He introduced himself as Paladin-Knight Kaertush Eradahr. He took me to a shuttle, capable of atmospheric flight.

We went down to the planet, to fortress Teakh Tak-Teakh. You could feel it, as the craft descended. Ibani VI is a large world, with a high gravity, pulling you down and making every movement tiresome. 

Everything gets more weight, down here.

The fortress is a squat, hunkered down, sprawling installation with large guns to take down orbital bombers and shields to protect it from bombardment. It's built into one of the few rocky outcroppings in the ice. There are many hangars, it's clear that there is a fleet here and a full commandery of several cohorts of Tetrimon forces.

After some formalities I have been housed in a cell, with a small window to the outside. I took the above picture of the view from my cell of the panorama outside, on  what is known here as a bright sunny day. 

I am to wait here, and will be brought to the archives and library tomorrow. They're in a different facility, known as the Pit, which serves mainly as power station for the fortress, housing the old-fashioned fission reactors that power up the entire place. I ventured out of my cell a bit, going to the nearest refectory in the hope of chatting with other monks. But I did not get any normal conversation - everyone here seems quiet, tensely focused on work, thinking only of duty, and wary of strangers.

(OOC: image taken from scrolller.com / antarctica - image author unknown)

Singing ice

Ibani VI is a large ice planet. At a distance of 31 AU, Ibani's sun is so weak that even high noon looks like dusk, and stars remain visible on the celestial dome throughout the day. The sun is not able to warm anything on this world, and it is covered by an ice layer many kilometers thick.

Ibani VI has no less than 22 moons. Some of these moons are quite massive, the size of small planets. The large amount of moons means that there are no tides, the moons usually pull all in different directions, averaging out whatever tidal effect there would be. But from time to time there are lunar alignments. Especially if several of the larger moons align, this does cause a powerful transient tidal force on Ibani VI.

There's no free flowing water, Ibani VI is covered in ice. But the immense tidal forces during an alignment event create a strong tension in the ice, ultimately making it crack. As the cracks and fissures move at high speeds through the ice mass, they create strong vibrations resulting in otherworldly sounds, heard over hundreds of kilometers. The ice sings. The colder, the louder the eerie sounds. If a crack occurs close to you, even if it is hundreds of meters below the surface, the force of the vibrations can knock you down. During a tidal event, the proliferating cracks that slowly move around the planet create a powerful and enchanting symphony unlike anything you ever heard.

This is often accompanied by weak, almost auroral light - but rather than an aurora above, the sheets of light are below the ice. This blueish glow under the ice travels at great speed, spreading underfoot from horizon to horizon in a matter of seconds, racing along like the cracks. It's not yet fully understood what causes these curtains of diffuse subsurface light, although often it is attributed to piezo-electric effects in the ice. This glow adds to the magic of the phenomenon.

The singing ice of Ibani VI draws tourists, even from Amarr itself. It's apparently the only thing for which people bother to visit this system. Well, there's the Order of St. Tetrimon's fortress, but that one is not very popular.

Ibani

Ibani. A cold, feeble star. It looks orange, even though it's classified as a main sequence brown dwarf. It's a bit too large for a dwarf but this aberration of a star is still close enough to the main sequence. It's a dark place, and whatever meager light comes from that star has to be enhanced by the ship's imaging systems.

I came early for the meeting. A paladin knight of the order would escort me. Not a cleric: I must be reminded that this is a militant Order.

I passed my waiting time by launching combat scanner probes and having a look at the system. There were a few miners from Darwinism who scurried away as soon as they saw the probes on d-scan. Maybe they picked up my Anathema as well, before it cloaked up, and thought I would cyno in a battle group. I tried to tell them on local that I present no danger, but they were already gone before I could type up a full sentence.

The miners were working the belts, but there are no Athanors in this system, no one is interested in the ore-poor moons. There's some planetary industry, at least if one goes by the customs systems. 

I scanned the ecliptic plane out to about 300 AU, to see if the order is hiding some stations in deepspace pockets. They did this in Thebeka: they built a fortress monastery more than hundred AU away from anything. No-one bothered to scan that far out so their station went undetected, until they chose to reveal it. In this system, I couldn't find anything.

En route

Yesterday, I had a nice chat with mr. Statesman about the search for his father. He's been given some interesting artefacts as "heritage" when his mother passed away, providing hints to the identity of his father. He asked me to help him analyse them - a long while back, in Mehatoor. He then left for a long time - and only recently did he show up again, at SFRIM's new offices in Nasreri. I was glad I could finally get back to him with the results of my investigation, and suggestions on how to proceed next. I almost feel like a private detective.

Anyway, further detective work on this will have to wait a bit, today I left for Ibani - it is rather far away. The kind of place that always seems to be at least 40 jumps from any reasonable place you may find yourself. It is still part of the civilized world, but barely, with a 0.1 security status. The local capsuleers seem to have banded into an alliance called "Darwinism", and unfortunately, they appear to be set red to us, unfriendlies.

I haven't been given permission to land anywhere near the fortress complex of the Order of St. Tetrimon, on Ibani VI. In stead, I have been asked to dock up in the Khanid Storage station orbiting the 15th moon of that planet.

Ascension since Jamyl's reign

The return to power of the Order of St. Tetrimon was a policy of Empress Jamyl I. It came as a shock, totally unexpected, just like Jamyl's reappearance in Mekhios to save us from the Elder fleet. 

One would have thought that Jamyl's return would have been met with scepticism and critique from such an conservative sect. In stead, they issued a simple statement, in support of Jamyl: “The Order of St. Tetrimon welcomes Her Royal Highness Jamyl Sarum home. God’s children rejoice as His light returns home, and the light shall bring death and despair on His enemies.”

Soon after, Jamyl invited the Khanid heir back to the privy counsel, and overturned the old suppression edict, allowing the Order to operate in Amarr space. When Empress Jamyl passed away, it was the Order who was responsible to oversee the succession trials. Empress Catiz has maintained their privileges.

In the last couple of years, their influence has grown even stronger, supported by both house Ardishapur and house Sarum. The Order became more militant, and was given key roles to purge the Empire from heresy, alongside the ministry of internal order. Ardishapur and Sarum were instrumental in giving the Order an  Empire-wide mandate to seek out heresy and rebellion, first among slave populations, and then in general.

House Ardishapur allowed them to start a new chapter in the Ammatar mandate, and to build fortress-monasteries on the planet of Halturzhan in Jarizza, as well as in the Thebeka system, where the order helped defeat a slave rebellion. Similarly, House Sarum gave them titles to a fortess on Dihra VI, and permission to start a new chapter in their demesne, and in return they have been involved in House Sarum's battles in Floseswin.

The Empire has been purging itself from heresy after the treacherous Equilibrium of Mankind attacks, and this latest development has seen the Order become more powerful than ever.

Doriam's period of grace

The Tetrimon cult in exile in Khanid space longed to be recognized by the Empire and lobbied hard and long for this. Heideran never allowed it. However, under his successor, Doriam II, they were finally given a chance to get re-instated. In YC106 the Theology Council accepted a petition to investigate their doctrine and decide if it is in line with the imperial rite. Unfortunately Doriam would not live to see the result of that investigation.

The cult's teachings are based on a slightly different version of the scriptures. Some parts are not included, while others are added. There are apocryphal texts that are not in the canonical version of the scriptures, and these parts are known as the "Tetrimon Scrolls". These include some very old books that were retained by the Tetrimon when the Order had been instructed to purify Scriptures from the Mad Emperor's heresies. These old parts date from at least two millennia ago, when the Order was still in the good graces of the Empire, before the Moral Reforms.

For the duration of the Theology Council's investigation of the scrolls, the Suppression Edict was revoked, suspending the exile of the Order. Still, it was no walk in the park to bring their sciptures to Amarr, in fact the Order's grand master at the time, Elata Ardo, died protecting these shipments during their transfer to the Theology Council. 

The Theology Council then debated and studied these texts carefully for nearly two years, and at first, things were looking good. A first report in January YC108 concluded that several books in the Tetrimon scriptures are authentic.

Things took a turn for the worse not long after that. It appeared that the Order had been spying on the Theology Council. There were even some claims that they tried to influence members of the Council. Their spying attempts were revealed, resulting in a strong condemnation from the Empire. In the end, the Theology Council described the scrolls as "inconclusive", and while this does not reject their authenticity, it does not accept the Order back into the fold either.

In October YC108, chancellor Karsoth had ordered the Imperial Navy to attack an installation from the Order in the Bleak Lands, claimed to be the center of their eavesdropping effort. The Order claimed that it used this station to mop up the remnants of the Blood Raiders that were still in the Bleak Lands following Doriam's successful campaign against the Raiders. The installation was destroyed. One month later, the Privy Council reconfirmed the Suppression Edict and the exile of the Order. 

After two hopeful years, things were back to square one for the Tetrimon.