Contact with the conquerors

I went back to Feythabolis. The first attempt failed, and my only crew member got ejected in a life pod. I had not kept enough attention to the fact the the Interdiction Nullifier has a recharging time that is rather long. After using it to bypass a bubble on a outgoing jump gate, I found myself in a bubble at an entering jump gate without enough time to recharge...

My second attempt - without crew member as she is making her way back to hisec - was successful. I made it out to the Talocan systems, now held by other alliances. Their lands have been divided by the Skeleton Crew (C45-9Y constellation) and ZERG (RGH-40 constellation). The Talocanites are... extinct here. At first, I failed to get a response from the new lords of the lands. But, warping into a mining crew, at last I connected with the Zerg! And they got the Pax Amarria to their leadership - it will only take a moment before they see the light!

[ 2023.06.05 21:37:23 ] Theodosius Savnar > Greetings, miners. I mean no harm. I come from the worlds at the core of the cluster, from Amarr.

[ 2023.06.05 21:38:25 ] Kemiloto Kashuken > Greetings explorer, good luck with your flight!

[ 2023.06.05 21:39:01 ] Theodosius Savnar > Thanks! I would like to learn about the former occupants of the system, the Talocan Star Empire. Are any of them still around?

[ 2023.06.05 21:40:19 ] Kemiloto Kashuken > We do not know. We're just mining for the glory of the Queen!

[ 2023.06.05 21:41:05 ] Theodosius Savnar > Glory to Empress Catiz! I have brought copies of the Pax Amarria, and I can drop some at your Territorial Claim Unit.

[ 2023.06.05 21:42:16 ] Theodosius Savnar > Would it be permitted to explore in this constellation? And could I get access to one of your stations? I am only interested in relics from the ancients, and would gladly contract the rest to one of you.

[ 2023.06.05 21:42:23 ] Qqes > OK am can take it

[ 2023.06.05 21:43:26 ] Qqes > am on star gate  Stargate (Minmatar System)*

[ 2023.06.05 21:43:52 ] Qqes > P8-BKQ

[ 2023.06.05 21:44:06 ] Kemiloto Kashuken > I'm sorry, I don't have the right to open docks

[ 2023.06.05 21:44:31 ] Theodosius Savnar > The Pax Amarrias have been dropped close to your territorial claim unit, and I have abandoned cargo, so you can just take them.

[ 2023.06.05 21:44:56 ] Qqes > не трогайте его

[ 2023.06.05 21:45:26 ] KROSSTAR > да ктож такой грех на душу возьмет

[ 2023.06.05 21:45:52 ] Theodosius Savnar > I shall not interfere, для вас нет риска

[ 2023.06.05 21:46:10 ] Qqes > we can speak whith our Ceo about that

[ 2023.06.05 21:46:21 ] Theodosius Savnar > Yes! Please bring me to your leader.

[ 2023.06.05 21:46:54 ] Theodosius Savnar > Perhaps we can negociate something mutually beneficial

[ 2023.06.05 21:47:27 ] Kemiloto Kashuken > We will deliver Pax Ammaria to our leader!

[ 2023.06.05 21:48:06 ] Theodosius Savnar > I'll stick around for some days. Who is your exalted leader?

[ 2023.06.05 21:49:36 ] Theodosius Savnar > I am only interested in the relics of the ancients, in particular the Takmahl and the Talocan. All the rest I find here, I will drop off to any station that you wish.

[ 2023.06.05 21:50:07 ] Qqes > am can teke a contact

[ 2023.06.05 21:50:14 ] Qqes > secon my friend

[ 2023.06.05 21:50:23 ] Theodosius Savnar > First, I need permission to explore in your space!

[ 2023.06.05 21:50:35 ] Theodosius Savnar > Blue standings, if possible.

[ 2023.06.05 21:51:16 ] Theodosius Savnar > Also, to make a contract, I need a station to drop off the loot.

[ 2023.06.05 21:52:01 ] Kemiloto Kashuken > Our leader is resting today. You need to come earlier and contact our leader.

[ 2023.06.05 21:52:35 ] Qqes > Kbyrfybnt Dkflf

[ 2023.06.05 21:52:40 ] Qqes > Линканите влада

[ 2023.06.05 21:53:00 ] Kemiloto Kashuken > Vladislav Mernher Our leader

[ 2023.06.05 21:53:27 ] KROSSTAR > ZERG REBORN we will put Your present to our Leader with a pleaser. Ssory for making Your highesty to wait

[ 2023.06.05 21:55:09 ] Theodosius Savnar > All right! I'll send Vladislav an evemail. Thank you for indulging me. I hope to be exploring alongside with you all soon!

[ 2023.06.05 21:55:37 ] Kemiloto Kashuken > Fly safe!

[ 2023.06.05 21:55:41 ] KROSSTAR > Theodosius Savnar Fly safe!

[ 2023.06.05 21:55:48 ] Theodosius Savnar > you all too!

[ 2023.06.05 21:55:54 ] Kemiloto Kashuken > We also need to rest.

This is most promising, and much more fruitful than any of my attempts to contact the Talocan Star Empire. They've taken the Pax Amarria's to their leadership! What more can a missionary ask for? I have sent their king a mail, asking humbly for permission to explore. I eagerly await his answer.

Talocanite collapse

The Talocan Star Empire collapsed. The few remaining systems they held have been swept away by their foes. I was about to go back to them, when I checked the star maps again and found that they have been completely wiped out. So, I was going to forego any further exploration, but Gaun talked some sense into me. I should go there and find out if there are refugees from the Talocanites, and if so, bring them back to the Empire. The expedition is going forward!

Wordweavers

My new hire for cloak and probes turns out to be a daughter of a wordweaver couple. Among the many unique cultures in the cluster, for linguists the wordweavers are probably the most interesting ones.

Initially, on their home planet there were two very distinct cultures. They shared one continent on a temperate planet. The people of  the northeastern parts, the Krk Krzj, spurned vowels in their language. The inhabitants of the southwestern region, the Aoai Ue, did not use consonants. No-one has any idea how this came about. But, unable to have a conversation or even pronounce each other’s name, misunderstandings soon led to war. For a thousand years, the sounds of frontline battle rang across the continent, "grr" versus "aai".

It was only when facing a common challenge, in the form of the Amarr 10th Expeditionary Force, that they started to collaborate. 

Negotiations between with the apostolic legates required always both a Krk Krzj interpreter and an Aoai Ue interpreter. When, for example, they would need to say "Amarr", the two interpreters would alternate and interweave their speech. The Aoai Ue would do the "a"s and the Krk Krzj would do the "m" and "r".

Quite rapidly, this developed into a special and unique form of art, wordweaving, where a Krk Krzj and an Aoai Ue sing together, attuned to the pace of their voices in such a perfect way that the words, with both consonants and vowels, flow seamlessly as one. 

Of course, the voices need to match well if the words are to flow harmoniously and be well understood. This required close collaboration between voice partners. Great voice matchings soon led to great marriages. And with that, peace returned to the continent.

Ethnologists and linguists are nowadays hurrying to record such performances, as the art is in decline because the children of mixed marriages between Krk Krzj and Aoai Ue grow up using both vowels and consonants. It turns out that wordweaving is only made possible by the inability of pronouncing some sounds, rather by the ability to produce some.

Ms. Ayoagan had difficulties with consonants, and pronounces her own family name closer to Aioa'aha so it appears she has a stronger influence of her father (who belongs to the Aoai Ue), but nevertheless she is able to work with consonants too.

Reship

This year, like the previous, I made submissions to the New Eden Writer's contest. I may have made more than usual, and somehow I feel the sting of sin, being vainglorious. I should not come out so strongly, and remain more humble...

On different news, the Talocan Star Empire seems to have stabilized. They did loose the worlds where I dropped Pax Amarrias, so that is a concern. 

I am heading out to Dital. As I went in a shuttle to Feythabolis, I went without crew and delayed picking up ms. Ayogan who has been contracted to work for me as crew member in a covert ops ship. 

Advertising

The Talocan Star Empire seems to have stabilized again, keeping a smaller nucleus of systems in Feythabolis. Perhaps I should take an exploration vessel out there this time, rather than a shuttle.

Meanwhile, I have been busy with advertisements. The constant strean of advertisements sent to me by Federation publishing houses has made me think about how common this "marketing" way of communicating anything from products to political ideas must be in the Federation. 

At the same time, I became aware of a new initiative from the owners of the billboards in Upwell stations. They will allow capsuleer corporations to display their own adverts, and this all over the cluster. 

This seems to me a great opportunity for spreading the light of faith peacefully to our neighbors. It could also be of help to our diplomatic efforts in Caille. Based on my experience making documentaries, and with the suggestions of Amicia Cora (who has experience in diplomacy), I made a draft version of such an advertisement.

Prime directive

I have been troubled by a bout of guilt. I dropped Pax Amarrias at the infrastructure hub and territorial claim structures of the Talocan Star Empire, in order to get their attention.

What if that drew in the neighboring Skeleton Crew, hungry for the faith and starved of scripture in these faraway lands? In their search for redemption, they may have tracked down the containers with the valuable Pax Amarria, and thus stumbled on the sovereignty infrastructure of the Talocanites, who in turn were still to frightened to come out of hiding and defend their settlements? 

Did I intervene in the evolution of these primitive cultures, violating a prime directive of non-interference? Perhaps without this action, the Skeleton Crew might not have ventured into the Talocanite space, and the Talocanites may still be living there. Even if this is so, I do not know what to do about it... any additional intervention might only worsen things. For now I will just keep monitoring things from afar.

Resettling

I was about to reship into an exploration vessel to go and investigate the Talocan Star Empire. If the natives do not want to meet me in the open, I can still probe them down. It would be a bit dangerous to get there, as I've noticed a few warp interdiction bubbles in the systems just beyond our borders. But once past that danger zone, the rest of the journey appears to be through rather desolate systems.

So-called "system sovereignty" is updated on a daily basis at the Amarr Cartographic Society, and it shows the Talocanites loosing further ground in Feythabolis, while they appear to have gained some systems in the region of Insmother. Perhaps they are moving?

I decided to wait and let the situation reach a new equilibrium. If the Talocanites do resettle, they are likely to take whatever relics they have with them. Hopefully they are not a nomadic tribe, and this move just happens to occur at the same time I was seeking them out.

Collapse of the Talocan Star Empire

I had forgotten the fickleness of these barbarian lands.

The Talocan Star Empire, absent from space, is losing its systems to the Skeleton Crew, the new rulers in town. To be honest, I haven't seen Skeleton Crew members either, they must be keeping different hours. I know they were around since the territorial claim has changed. Today again, I only met a single person, a traveler unaware of what is happening - and he jumped system in fear of my shuttle:

[ 2023.05.23 19:44:18 ] Theodosius Savnar > Ave, Platanus! How are you?
[ 2023.05.23 19:45:11 ] Platanus Occidentalis > Good, tnx
[ 2023.05.23 19:45:51 ] Theodosius Savnar > Are you a member of the "Talocan Star Empire" who used to own this system?
[ 2023.05.23 19:46:46 ] Platanus Occidentalis > Amm, prob no
[ 2023.05.23 19:47:00 ] Theodosius Savnar > Or are you part of the "Skeleton Crew", the new owners?
[ 2023.05.23 19:48:42 ] Theodosius Savnar > I am trying to get in touch with the Talocanites.
[ 2023.05.23 19:49:09 ] Theodosius Savnar > No need to jump system, I am in a shuttle and come in peace.
[ 2023.05.23 19:49:17 ] Platanus Occidentalis > Amm, no :)
[ 2023.05.23 19:49:23 ] Platanus Occidentalis > im by myself
[ 2023.05.23 19:49:25 ] Platanus Occidentalis > freeman :)
[ 2023.05.23 19:49:31 ] Theodosius Savnar > Have you seen any of them?
[ 2023.05.23 19:50:22 ] Platanus Occidentalis > No, not here at least. But im here only for today probably. Will move away from here soon :)
[ 2023.05.23 19:51:15 ] Theodosius Savnar > All right, I wish you a good exploration today! I'll move around to try and find them, don't mind me.
[ 2023.05.23 19:51:27 ] Platanus Occidentalis > Good luck!
[ 2023.05.23 19:51:28 ] Theodosius Savnar > Fly safe!

This has been disappointing. Perhaps they left? Or am I witnessing the collapse of another civilization based on Talocan technology? Anyway, I am tired of sleeping out in deep space safes in a shuttle, and I miss Mittens. I'll return to Mehatoor and rethink my next move.

A fellow explorer

Good news, and bad news. 

I shall start with the bad news. Still no sign of the Talocanites in what should be their heartland system of RIT-A7. The good news is that I met a fellow explorer, who confirmed the presence of relics of the ancients! Here is the transcript of our conversation:

[ 2023.05.21 14:06:39 ] Theodosius Savnar > Ave,  Vladblodemag !

[ 2023.05.21 14:06:50 ] Theodosius Savnar > I come from the center of the cluster, from the Amarr Empire
[ 2023.05.21 14:07:00 ] Theodosius Savnar > Are you part of the Talocan Star Empire?
[ 2023.05.21 14:07:25 ] Vladblodemag > Not, but i want to find who they are
[ 2023.05.21 14:07:36 ] Theodosius Savnar > Me too!
[ 2023.05.21 14:07:49 ] Theodosius Savnar > This is why I came in a humble shuttle
[ 2023.05.21 14:10:39 ] Theodosius Savnar > Perhaps they went extinct, like the real Talocan? Or they are hiding, as soon as they see us.
[ 2023.05.21 14:10:59 ] Vladblodemag > here there are 2 relics of the ancients
[ 2023.05.21 14:11:07 ] Vladblodemag > i have no time to collect it
[ 2023.05.21 14:11:31 ] Theodosius Savnar > Ah, wonderful! I was already suspecting that there was a link with the ancients here.
[ 2023.05.21 14:12:21 ] Theodosius Savnar > If I can meet the Talocan Star Empire leader I can ask for permission to explore, and come back with an exploration ship. It would be of great value to me.
[ 2023.05.21 14:12:37 ] Theodosius Savnar > It is nice to meet a fellow explorer.
[ 2023.05.21 14:12:42 ] Vladblodemag > You should do it
[ 2023.05.21 14:13:48 ] Vladblodemag > i have to return to other systems and make some plasma researches
[ 2023.05.21 14:13:54 ] Vladblodemag > good luck
[ 2023.05.21 14:14:19 ] Theodosius Savnar > Good luck to you too! Fly safe

More than ever I am convinced there is a link between the natives of the region and the Talocan. I will try again to meet them tomorrow, but if it fails again, I will return and come back with the Indigatrix. I am eager to scan these anomalies!

Errant Bishops of Ancient Amarr

Also today, I did not encounter the Talocanites.

I changed the nanobeacons identifying the shuttle to show LUMEN colors when I entered their domain, and I again donned my monk's gown. But now I start to think the natives are hiding or scurrying away when they see an Amarrian approach. 

So far away from the Empire, settlements are rare and far in between. Even star systems are farther apart than in the dense center of the cluster. So, not much news from the core worlds must reach this distant place, and when it does it will be distorted. The locals may have heard about the Amarr Empire, but it might be more in terms of myths and legends about a far-away golden place with planets that are home to billions of souls. 

In order to show them my peaceful intent, I dropped some Pax Amarrias in a container close to the I-hub structure. After a while I went back to a safe in the system, and powered down the shuttle. I will try again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I am reading St. Ahlwin's "Advise to the Errant Bishop", a famous classic. It is a three-thousand year old treatise written at the onset of the reclamation of Amarr. In that age, some bishops would travel far away to heathen lands to try and bring the Faith there. Their travels were beset with dangers, as they went only with a small group of acolytes (the people, not the drones), and performed open-air masses in front of locals. Sometimes the peasants they encountered ignored them, but sometimes they chased them away or tried to kill them. The latter happened especially if the missionary bishop would smash the idols of the local gods - which they would do more often than not. The most important advise that St. Ahlwin gives is to perform miracles stronger than those the local gods can do, in particular miraculous healing. 

I am no bishop, but this collection of travel stories is appealing to me in my current situation. Also, I should have brought anti-viral agents and advanced medicine with me, to perform miracles of healing.

Empty space

I traversed the space of many strange alliances. Mostly, there was no other capsuleer in the system. If there were capsuleers, it was at least a dozen. There were almost no stations, but there were structures. Infrastructure hubs, Ansiblex jump gates. From time to time an Astrahus, but I did not have docking rights. 

I first spent a long time going through space controlled by the "Dracarys" alliance. Then "Hisec Miners", wrongly named, in Tenerifis. The nebula reminded me of the one visible from the Khanid Kingdom. The controlling instance then changed to "Destiny's call" in U2U5-A still in Tenerifis. Still, I was mostly alony as a capsuleer in any system I traversed. The Angel cartel is strong here, but there are no stations visible on the overview.

Then it changed quickly, from system to system. Legion of "XXdeathXX", and "Paper Numbers", before -finally- the Talocan Star Empire. The first few of their systems were empty of capsuleers. I proceeded to the center of their Empire. It didn't get better. I toured their home constellation of RHG-40: no-one home. Nowhere. Not a soul in sight.

I went back out, to the constellation C45-9Y, controlled for the most part by the Talocan Star Empire. The only capsuleer I encountered in the Talocan controlled systems was a man named "makshard". I contacted him in local:

[ 2023.05.19 18:10:02 ] Theodosius Savnar > Greetings, makshard ! Are you affiliated to the Talocan Star Empire ?
[ 2023.05.19 18:15:20 ] makshard > hello
[ 2023.05.19 18:15:32 ] makshard > how im affiliated?
[ 2023.05.19 18:15:50 ] makshard > what do u mean?
[ 2023.05.19 18:15:53 ] Theodosius Savnar > I'm trying to get in touch with them
[ 2023.05.19 18:16:07 ] Theodosius Savnar > But you belong to a different alliance?
[ 2023.05.19 18:17:05 ] makshard > idk
[ 2023.05.19 18:17:09 ] makshard > yes i gues
[ 2023.05.19 18:18:02 ] Theodosius Savnar > Oh, I see. So you cannot bring me to their leader? And tell them I come from Amarr, and I come in peace?
[ 2023.05.19 18:19:25 ] makshard > no i cant
[ 2023.05.19 18:19:31 ] makshard > are u joking me? XD
[ 2023.05.19 18:20:20 ] Theodosius Savnar > No, I'm not! No worries, I'll head into their heartland systems and will probably meet them sooner or later.
[ 2023.05.19 18:20:27 ] Theodosius Savnar > Fly safe!
[ 2023.05.19 18:20:32 ] makshard > fs

I went to RIT-A7. Once again, I logged off while in space, hoping the shuttle won't get destroyed.

Waking up in foreign lands

Relief. I woke up and I have not recloned, despite staying in space in nullsec territory. The shuttle went into low power mode about fifteen minutes after I "powered down", but no-one scanned me down during that time. The backdrop of the Amarr nebula is still prominent on the sky.

Donning the Aliastra captain's jacket and my whig I am unrecognisable:

After checking that the hull's corporate colors indeed show the Intaki corporation's colors, I proceeded. Thirty-nine jumps through barbarian territory...

First leg of the trip

Here's the new Gallente shuttle, with Aliastra skin:

D61A-G is the first system where I venture beyond Empire space, and immediately I land in a bubble and a large group of hunters. Luckily, the shuttle is immune to this, as Gaun predicted. I can continue my way to the LUMEN controlled system of F-YH5B. A slew of strange new icons appear on the Concord interface: Infrastructure Hubs and Territorial Claim Units.

There's nothing there. No stations to dock in. A lot of planets and moons, yes. I warped to the Infrastructure Hub, and to the Territorial Claim Unit. No way to dock up there. I warped to the neighborhood of planet VIII and logged off, hoping that the lack of enemies will keep me safe as I spend the night a sitting duck in space...

Coffee

Worries about Ishta have kept me from heading out to the Talocanites. That, and all sorts of urgent matters at the library, with new shipments of books coming in from the Gallente publishers. They've somehow figured out I like coffee and now also send brands from the Federation to me, specialty items. These strong coffees make me all jittery...

The disguise

I  bought a Gallente shuttle. I hesitated about also buying the Angel's "spirit" skin for it, but in the end I went for a ship skin that I already had: the Aliastra colors. They are general retailer, and a large corporation with Intaki roots. They trade all over the cluster, and although they are anchored in the Federation, they are quite independent. I will also wear a regular Gallente captain's jacket rather than my usual monk's robes. 

This should make me inconspicuous across most of the heathen lands, and I hope I will not draw attention as an Amarr target. Moreover, a trader from the core worlds should be welcome among these barbarians. So, I've opted for the road through Providence, rather than through Sansha or Angel territory. 

This will also allow me to meet up with our people in Providence, in the systems that LUMEN patrols. And, close to them, also with the systems controlled by the fine folks of CVA.

Expert suggestion

It is always good to talk plans over with experienced capsuleers. Especially with Gaun Arel, who is wise and like myself drawn to coffee. 

He made a brilliant suggestion: perhaps I could first go to the heirs of the Talocan in a simple shuttle. It would not allow me to probe anomalies, but it does allow for first contact, and the opening of negotiations to allow some research. I do not have to jeopardize any crew - former or new - as they are not useful in a simple shuttle. Moreover, the shuttles are immune to warp disruption bubbles, and can give me an idea of how heavily camped the gates are before I go there in an exploration ship.

Between a rock and three hard places

My initial enthusiasm to visit Feythabolis and the Talocan Star Empire's home constellation of RHG-4O has substantially cooled after I consulted to star charts to plot out a good route.

There are essentially three viable routes: through Curse, a region dominated by the Angel Cartel, through Providence, where the Curatores Veritates alliance and LUMEN are trying to bring some order to these lawless lands, or through Stain, home of the Sansha.

None of these regions are welcoming to a faithful LUMEN capsuleer. I will need camouflage and subterfuge to pass these lands without being stopped - by cartel gangs in Curse, or by insurgents in Provendence, or by Sansha in Stain.

Proselytizing

Delays, delays. The relic analyzer needs some repairs, and the necessary chips are not in supply right now so I have to wait. I could simply fly to Amarr and buy a new one, but that would be wasteful... 

In the meanwhile, I heard that the barbarian horde of the Goons will join the Empire in the warzone. They're a vast bunch of ruffians, and some seem pleased to have them on our side. 

I'm not so sure. 

It seems we just got rid of the previous untrustworthy mercenaries, the ones flying under the banner of the pirate Mikal Vektor, whose misdeeds went so far that even the Sarum court had to speak out to rein them in. If the other core powers want to use pirates and barbarians, let them. We should not follow suit.

The news made me wonder though... is the Talocan Star Empire allied to these Goonses or not? If they are, they might be friendly to me and welcome my visit. I might then use the opportunity to spread the faith. Indeed, the Book of Reclaiming urges us to do so, "I give to you the destiny of Faith, And you will bring its message to every planet of every star in the heavens".

New crew

Feythabolis is really at the edge of the universe.

It is hard to get the usual crew to come along. They remember the ship being destroyed in Pure Blind and all the trouble of the rescue efforts for the escape pod. And the death of one of them. They're fine with highsec Imperial stuff, but get uneasy when I ask them to go out to the deepest of barbarian lands.

I do have a new hire, well versed in cloaking technology and scanning drones. Eloise Ayogan. I need to pick her up in Dital, where she will return after family business.

A new expedition

I am making preparations for another expedition, this time to the outlands of Feythabolis. This is not the first time I've ventured outside of the bounds of the civilized world, but every time it remains a challenge. The star systems beyond the borders of the Empire are rules by ruthless barbarian warlords, and care is needed.

This time the goal of my travels is a tribe called the 'Talocan Star Empire', its main corporation being 'Talocan Core'. I believe they may have stumbled upon some remnants of the Talocan, much as the Takmahl did, and profited from this influx of technology to build some sort of kingdom. From the parallels with this current-day society, we may learn a lot about the ancient Takmahl.

Spam

I'm back from the conference and only now I realize the damage wrought by my actions...

Collecting mugs, and that pen with a ruler, and the weird magnetic putty, and all sorts of exhibit gadgets, I appear to have given my participant contact details to the exhibitors. I am in all their mailing lists! The amount of promotional messages not yet classified as spam is staggering. I have spent all day unsubscribing from the various lists.

On top of that, we are getting a lot of shipments of free books and catalogs. Not all of them are suitable material, and sorting it out takes time and cannot be done by the untrained. 

Tribal feelings

The last day of the conference was only a half-day. I decided to relax a bit in the afternoon and go visit the old town center of New Iphria. The ancient monasteries and cathedrals, devoted to House Kor-Azor, are astonishing. But that is not the only thing that struck me.

It is sort of strange, but among the many people that walk around in the city, I think I can recognize fellow academics or librarians from a distance without talking to them. I talked to a few to check my hunch, and got it right nearly every time. It is impossible that I remembered the faces of all conference participants, but I think it is their mannerisms. The way they look a bit forlorn, clumsy in a way. They peer around and then look at a map to figure out their orientation and where to go, in a... librarian kind of way? The typical hesitation or internal debate in choosing a particular direction. Also the attire, perhaps? I can not quite pin it down, but it is as clear as a voluval tattoo would be. I recognize my own tribe. 

Exhibits

The plenary discussion sessions that involved both the Theology Council representatives and the Gallentean publishing houses were interesting, but it is clear that no formal guidelines or rules are going to appear any time soon and that we will have to use our good judgment. Controversial and lewd biography of Uriam Kador: not acceptable. Cookbook with Garoun-era recipes: acceptable. 

As for the parallel sessions, frankly, there were too many of them to learn much. You are drowned in a bath of information, gaining no specific new understanding, but rather getting an impression of the overall direction library science is taking nowadays.

I did visit the exhibit hall a few times. Exhibitors try to get the attention of the attendees by offering free trinkets and gadgets. Coffee mugs, pins with funny slogans, mini-drones, key-chains with lasers, puzzles, pens of all types, stickers,... I found out to my own surprise that I am a gadget hoarder. I have no need for seven different coffee mugs, but I could not quite stop myself. I justified this latent compulsive disorder by convincing myself that it will replenish the stock of mugs in the Lamp. 

My talk

Today I gave my talk. A rehearsed presentation where I put a lot of effort in making nice pie charts.

It was in parallel session #53, in one of the many smaller side-auditoria. This was a rather dark and somewhat chilly room with seating for about fifty people.

There were seven people in the audience. One was asleep, another one was checking his datapad, and one was the session chairperson. The remaining four were the other speakers for the session. 

It appears I made more effort to prepare this talk than was necessary.

Conference center

The conference center is enormous, with a gigantic domed hall for plenary lectures at the center. It can hold a crowd of twenty-two thousand participants at full capacity. We are not even filling it at half capacity. Even then, the experience is humbling. Large holoscreens show the speakers, too far away to clearly see with the naked eye. They give clear guidelines and advice to a rapt audience.

Smaller halls and auditoria are sprawling around it along six lanes that are laid out as the arms of a snowflake, splitting in many sideways. Simultaneous "semi-plenary" talks are held in each of the six main halls, but after that the talks split up along the many side rooms in the fractal architecture.

The 'little talks', like my own, only last fifteen minutes, but they are scheduled back to back from early morning till late evening. You cannot learn much from these short talks, but the sheer amount of them plunge you into a bath of science, and you can learn where the field in general is heading too.

Around noon, the participants conglomerate in the lower floor below the large domed main hall. That's where you get the lunch packages and where the trade exhibit is. 

Tomorrow I have my own talk... I wonder how that will go

To Eclipticum

I booked public transport to planetside Eclipticum, to the large metropolis of Nova Iphria where the conference will be held in that city's conference center. The city itself is a trade and services hub. 

I'll arrive late tonight - the conference starts tomorrow.

I had no trouble finding a hotel near the massive conference center, using the list provided by the conference itself. I think they struck deals with the hotels, but it still is quite expensive. They tried to set me up with a roommate, but I prefer a room to myself. Room sharing is for the youngsters. When you pass your first century alive, you've learned to appreciate the comfort of having a place for yourself.

There are many restaurants and bars in the districts close to the conference center, but the old town center, with its ancient monasteries and cathedrals dating back two thousand years is rather far away from the conference and trade fair district. There are good connections via mass transit. The conference travel desk also organizes some visits and trips, but they are meant for the partners of the participants. The participant's program is filled, from morning till evening, with lectures and talks...

Eulogy for the living

It's a stange thing, a eulogy for the living. Someone I know is planning to end her current clone and revert to one from long ago, effectively wiping her memories. It is a kind of suicide - albeit one specific to capsuleers. An ending not of the bodily life, but of memory. An ending, nonetheless.

Usually, and indeed strangely, one waits till someone is dead to say a lot of nice things about them, to recall what they meant. Why not before? Why not make it a habit, when a loved one becomes more fragile or older, to express what they meant to you and why they are/were important in your life, and then tell it to them while they are still alive. Somehow we don't do that, we always assume that the people we care about will just keep on living a bit longer. There's still tomorrow, and there's much to tell and it's complex. And then we're taken by surprise when they are gone. Only when they're gone we're able to summarize all this complexity and get to the core of things.

Here, as this friend is preparing her end, I was not taken by surprise. I could tell her what she meant to me, what memories I hold dear. And it feels good to do so. I learned from it, I learned to tell people what they meant to me while they are still alive. Also this is something I thank her for.

Top genres

I have prepared a most boring lecture for this conference. What can I say, there is not that much difference in book tastes between capsuleers and baseliners. 

More or less tacky romance novels are at the top of the list, good for almost 30% of loans. They're followed by a broad category of explanatory nonfiction - including self-help books, business books, educational books. Next come biographies/history/memoirs, followed by cook books and mystery novels.

Apparently, these genres are more or less in the same order across the cluster, with cultural differences as to the particular content, of a romance novel, for example. And political analysis seem to be a topic that sells in the Federation and the Republic, but there is much less interest for it in the Empire or the State.

Registration

As usual for conference participants, I registered and submitted my abstract just before the deadline.

Soon after I registered, I started receiving goodies from the Gallentean publishers who agreed to be sponsor of the conference. Free books are the most honest gifts - as you can assess them and write a review. But there are also restaurant visits, hotels, ladies, luxury goods. It is just appalling how they try to trick you! 

We do get warnings from the organizers about fake tourist agencies that try to get your money and make fake hotel bookings... even booking a room is compromised!

Luckily the Theology Council provides proper hotels and travel arrangements so we do not have to navigate all these fake agencies...

A new market

I have several expeditions in mind. A return to wormhole space, this time to look for Talocan related clues. A similar mission to the Araz constellation. And finally, a visit to a barbarian dukedom out in Feythabolis. It drew my attention by virtue of their name: the Talocan Star Empire. Perhaps they too found Talocan technology they could put to use, like the Takmahl.

However, these plans have to wait. I've been invited to a bibliothecography conference on Eclipticum in the Kor-Azor prime system. As diplomatic relations with the Federation are improving, publishers in the Federation are trying to get a better access to the huge market that is the Empire. 

This poses a problem, since the Theology Council's sacred congregation of the index cannot catch up with the influx of books. So, at least in these initial stages, it will be up to the individual librarian to pick and choose, and to screen out harmful works. 

That is the topic of the conference, organized jointly by the Kor-Azor family bureau and the Theology Council congregation of the index. There will be a bunch of workshops to train us, and parallel sessions with talks. I have been asked to give a talk about the specific problems relating to capsuleers and books. I have no idea yet what I am going to present...

Actually, for our own library there is the additional problem that I also should think of the sensitivities of our many Caldari friends, who would be abhorred to find Gallente propaganda books between their business manuals.

Takmahl downfall

A question quite separate from the Talocan influence on the Takmahl, is how the Takmahl empire ended. It is a particularly pertinent question as to the location of the relics that they stole from the Empire. They kept those in secret locations, that may have moved around at the collapse of their empire.

Very little is known about the end of the empire. The main theory was formulated by Valate, and relates to asteroid strikes on several main worlds, destabilizing central command. Takmahl emperors would not have their own centralized army, but work with a local lords who would contribute forces to an army in case of need; in turn they were allowed to rule and tax their own fiefdoms. It is a low-income low-spending way to rule an empire, putting the local lords in charge.

The downside is that these local lords start to fight and feud as soon as centralized rule is put into question. The Takmahl emperor, claiming to derive his power from the blood god, would have his legitimacy undermined by major disasters. When an increase in the number of sacrifices to the blood god could not turn the tide, the emperor would lose legitimacy and any local lord would have a claim to the throne as the one chosen to better represent the blood god. Infighting and splintering of the realm into many small fragments started the downfall which ended in a decimation of the population and a dark age where the survivors reverted to a barbarian state.

Whether this represents the true history, or whether these are folk tales, we do not know for sure. But it is clear that those who separate themselves from the empire are doomed - even if they enjoy a temporary reprieve by finding alien technology.

Talocan and shipcasters

There is not all that much known with certainty about the Talocan.

The Talocan were (or are?) a truly ancient race, perhaps even older than the Jove. They mastered the weaving of spacetime, and could create pocket universes and project wormholes to new places. They could create wormhole channels between stars of their choosing, building networks with travel hubs. They were not limited in their travels to our cluster, which some researchers say made them more advanced even than the Jove. 

They could travel through Anoikis with wormhole connections of their choosing - indeed many scholars believe that the randomly rewiring network of wormhole connections seen today is a malfunction in whatever is left of the Talocan network control. 

Today we do not see them around, but it does not mean they no longer exist. We do not find evidence of a collapse of their civilization as we do for the Takmahl empire. They may just have left the cluster, as they certainly had the ability to do so.

Indeed, most scholars agree that the Talocan harnessed the power of stars (in particular blue ones containing special isogen forms) in order to alter the very topology of spacetime. 

Sounds familiar, in the light of current news? To me it does: that's exactly what we try to recreate with the "shipcaster" technology. It requires a stellar transmuter to power the casters that create new paths to faraway systems... 

Are we, and the Triglavians as well, following in the footsteps of the Takmahl by exploiting the breadcrumbs left around by the Talocan as they left? Some speculate that the Triglavians are an offshoot of the Talocan - but I find it more likely that they are the inheritors of the Talocan technology.

Talocan link

It was a busy weekend taking care of baseliner worries at the Chapel, and of screening new book deliveries in the library.

Meanwhile, I have started digging into Talocan archeology. My focus was on the Takmahl, but they learned from the Talocan, and used their technology. I should go to the State to study them more, there are specific archeological sites there. 

I do hope the recent disagreements with the State will not hamper that...

Confession of impotence

I get these files from time to time. Forwarded from recruiting. About someone utterly broken. Like, captured by blood raiders at the age of three, and got free just a year ago, well into adulthood. All messed up.

They get referred to me. As if I can fix them. As if I have any power over all these years of abuse. I do not. All I can do is listen. I attempt to say things, things that get dismissed or get interpreted as wrongful interference from someone who does not understand. Who can not understand. And that's correct, I admit I can not.

So often, I feel completely powerless to help. It drains me, because I want to help but I am unable to, and perhaps my words have an adverse effect. Is this a common feeling amongst spiritual helpers? Is there a way to disconnect and feel neutral about it? If so, I pray God helps me find it.

Krusual library

Going to Faspera in Derelik I dropped by in our industrial stations in Gamis and Tanoo. And I also visited another structure in Tanoo, one often overlooked by our more industrious capsuleers. There is a a Krusual mobile library in Tanoo, that's a space library!

It has an interesting architecture, too. The different halls of the library are connected by walkways with tall glass walls that offer a nice view of surrounding space, and of the station itself. It is a bit discomforting, especially if you're used to the confines and bulkheads of a regular station. I find myself intuitively staying rather close to the center of the walkway, even though in case of a breach it won't matter.

Minmatar and Ammatar scholars mingle here, studying the history of their people. I did not particularly feel welcome, not surprisingly. However, once I could make clear that I am also a librarian, the mood relaxed, and I could get a tour. I enjoyed that a lot, and recommend a visit!

Evolving Scripture

The vast majority of religions in the cluster have a holy book, usually written by prophets or their disciples. That book contains immutable truths, dogma. Its contents cannot be changed, merely commented upon. Sometimes it is literally carved in stone, and put away in a tabernacle for eternity. Many outsiders think this is also how our religion works.

But that is not how Amarr Scripture works!

Firstly, the amount of Scripture is immense. It's not one book, or a collection of books that can be put on a shelf. Rather, it is a vast corpus, an immense library, both reflecting and guiding Amarr culture, recording it through the eye of religion and harmonizing us with God.

Secondly, and more importantly, Scripture evolves. Imperial decrees get added to it: the Pax Amarria is part of Scripture now. At times pieces get removed - be it stricken records or entire works such as during the Moral Reforms. As our society evolves, God's message to us evolves and adapts along with it. God did not speak once and then remained silent. No, God is in constant discourse with us through Scripture.

Within the Federation, some worry about the new 'entente' with the Empire. The detractors really do not like slavery, and believe it is a dogma that will never change. It is not! Slavery has waxed and waned in our history, and it is precisely in times of peace that it has historically been at its low point. Peace, dialogue, cultural exchanges, they are much more effective than war and Minmatar abduction raids. 

Sure, the process of change is slow, and can be frustrating. But that is a good thing, as you cannot build an empire by chasing the fashion of the day!

Similarly, there are some in the Empire that grumble about letting the 'corrupting' influence of the Federation in. To them I would tell to believe in their own strength. And to see how this also opens us a grand opportunity for peaceful reclaiming.

A historical pi day

It will be an important date in history, pi day YC125. Relations between the core powers are being redrawn. 

I am happy for the ceasefire with the Federation - and hope that it will lead to better economic and cultural relations. This is also something that LUMEN through its embassy has been striving for. The road is long, there is a lot of mutual distrust, and there are aspects of our cultures that we find horrible in the other. Yet, this peace was the vision of Emperor Heideran VII and the Pax Amarria.

The peace between the State and the Republic, in a way, is also welcome. But it does put a lot of strain on our alliance with the State - probably this will revert to simply a non-agression pact too. 

One must keep in mind that there is no longer an all-out war between the empires for well over a decade. Concord has channeled that war into the arena of the designated constellations for faction warfare. It is there that the impact will be felt most strongly. Rather than an Amarr-Caldari bloc fighting the Gallente-Minmatar bloc, the two warzones will most likely split. In one theatre, Empire and Republic will fight, while in the other, Federation and State will wage war.

Concord will see to it that the battle does not spill out of the designated war zone.

Faspera

I went over to Faspera. It's a rather boring system. No temperate worlds, and only one station - testing grounds for the Ammatar fleet - orbiting the lava planet of Faspera I.

Scans of the anomalies revealed nothing special. The usual wormholes and some Sansha sites. No more trace of the Angel Cartel.

The archeological survey site is in a desolate part on the barren world of Faspera V. The folks from the archeological survey were very tight-lipped about what is going on there. I do not think they hide something. They are probably still in shock about the raid. 

Although, I did spot machinery that looked unfamiliar to me - and I have seen quite some archeological sites by now. Also, in the wake of the attack there is an investigative team from the Ammatar authorities on-site, and marines. Their presence is perhaps not conducive to having an open discussion with the researchers there.

I returned home none the wiser.

More worrying news

I was shocked by the news tonight, even if it was just a side-item:

Angel Cartel Carries Out Lightning Raid on Faspera V Archaeological Survey Base Evading Ammatar Fleet Response 

Criminal organisations attacking archeological surveys? Scandalous! And with all the news time spent on the (expected) entente between Amarr and the Federation, this appears like a footnote. Not so to the amateur archeologist!

Also, what is on Faspera V ? I haven't heard about this barren planet having archeological importance. If I find some time, I will go and poke around. It's close to our industrial stations in Gamis, that should help.

Theory of frustration in political networks

Century-old alliances appear to be shifting, or are at least under strain. That is especially worrying for LUMEN, as we have members loyal to two different allied blocs. Traditionally, Caldari and Amarr work together in LUMEN towards common goals. A Minmatar-Caldari rapprochement could change that.

Psychologists and political scientists have been investigating how networks of relations between entities evolve over time. These could be networks of individuals, or networks of corporations in an economic market, or even networks of relations between nations. They have come up with a general description called 'Structural Balance Theory' which is now a workhorse for modelling these relations. 

Like any widely applicable theory, it is a huge simplification of the real world, but which nonetheless captures a certain essential truth about it. So let's have a look.

The central object, the 'atom' of the theory, is the triad. These are groups of three interconnected nodes on the network. Depending on whether the connections are blue (good) or red (bad), there can be four cases:

When all are blue to each other, this is the best situation. Two allies fighting a common enemy is the next best one. All fighting all is a frustrating situation, but even more frustrating is when your two allies are fighting each other. Any network can be given a score based on the breakdown in triads. 

Let's look at possible scenario's between the four core powers:

There are four triads: ACF, AFM, CFM, ACM. In the situation up till now (top left) each triad is of the 'weak balanced' type, so the stability score of the network is +4. That is good, but there can always be a shock, there is always a certain probability that one of these links will flip. Structural balance theory predicts that, as a result, the effects will cascade through the network and change alliances all over, as the network tries to adapt to restore stability.

The shock that we may be heading towards is the Caldari-Minmatar relations turning to blue. This leads to the lower right network in the figure above. It's now become very unstable: the stability score drops precipitously to -4, due to two strongly frustrated triads.

This will lead to a strong pressure for the Caldari and the Minmatar to resolve the frustration of choosing between allies. The most likely outcome, according to structural balance theory, is to break one of their alliances, as this turns the strongly frustrated triads in weak frustrated triads (upper right). The score is raised from -4 to 0. Now, there will arise a new pressure, this time on the Amarr and Gallente. If they flip their relation to blue, then the better score of +4 is achieved (lower right). 

It is a very simple model - and there are many ways it can be made mode complete, for example by allowing also neutral standings rather than just blue and red. Yet even in this simplest version, it is clear that step by step the effects of the Caldari-Minmatar flip percolate through the network. We are indeed witnessing this theoretical model play out in today's realignments of the relations between the empires.

 

OOC source attributions:
Structural balance theory is not fictional, it has been around for a long time. The main sources are
Heider, F. (1946). Attitudes and cognitive organization. Journal of Psychology, 21:107–122.
Cartwright, D. and Harary, F. (1956). Structural balance: A generalization of heider’s theory. Psychological Review, 63(5):277– 293.
Harary, F. (1959). On the measurement of structural balance. Behavioral Science, 4(4):306–323.

No advice

So, I gathered my courage and asked around on the Summit today about good architects for musea. I would think that capsuleers who travel all over the cluster have an opinion about good musea.

They don't.

I've been left none the wiser.

Ghosts from the past

One of the new corp members used to be held by lady Ithiria D. She was the Duchess of Fekhoya before the Khanid King decided differently and had her deposed.

I've worked with the duchess, and acted as her confessor even. But there was always this vague sense that something was very wrong in her estate. That her slaves were used for pleasure, perhaps, rather than guided along a straight path to God. They were wearing very little clothing, and some of them looked quite troubled, saying things like "I've been a bad girl, daddy" while I am a Brother (and not a Father) as anyone trained in the faith should know.

However, I always kept in mind that I am not a Holder, so I should keep my own judgment to myself and trust the decisions of a Holder for their slaves. So, I did not intervene and dismissed my doubts.

But then, after not too long, duchess D. fell from grace and vanished. The estate was abandoned.

And now (is it already almost two years later?) I meet one of her former slaves, who became a capsuleer, and is still looking for God. It feels like an assignment, to rectify a mistake...

design competition

Awaiting further news from Kaztropol, I am starting with the museum. I need to find a good architect, or architectural bureau in order to create a modern museum. With an interplay between the light and the exhibit.

I'm hesitant to ask on the IGS, in the hopes of finding perhaps a renowned Gallente museum architect...

Kaztropol visum

Come ot think of it, I will probably also need some sort of visum or permission to enter from Kaztropol itself. I can imagine they are not to keen to let Amarr clergy on their land. To avoid their more demon-possessed citizens bursting into flames and such.

The problem is that these arch-heretics of course do not have any embassy or consulate where to get such a visum. I may have obtained the MIO's permission and thought that was hard, but it was the easy part...

I've sent a mail to professor Valate to ask her advise on these matters:

<< Dear professor Valate,

Good news! After a procedure that required remarkably little paperwork, I have obtained permission from my local MIO officer for a scholarly visit to Kaztropol and its university, and to you. When would it be suitable for you to receive a visiting scholar?

I can imagine such travel also requires me to get a visum from Kaztropol. But I cannot find any consulate or embassy here. Also, its precise location is not clear to me, I hear it is in Delve? The local tourism office in Mehatoor 24th Imperial Crusade station is unable to provide flight+hotel arrangements so I am planning to come over in my own ship. I do need some advise on what travel documents I need. Does my Anathema need a concord low-emission zone green sticker to land?

Respectfully,
Brother Theodosius >>

The barbarians beyond

Perhaps more than the mud, the journey worries me. Kaztropol is outside the sphere of influence of the Empire. This means I'll have to travel though barbarian systems again. If I am not mistakes, it lies in Delve, where the Blood Raiders took refuge after the good Emperor Doriam chased them from the Bleak Lands. 

The few constellations they control are surrounded by those under the influence of the barbarian kingdom of the Goon's Swarm. I have no idea yet how they can be swayed to offer me safe passage through their lands. But, this could be an opportunity to bring the light of faith to them - through gifts of nuclear reactors and copies of chosen books of Scripture. 

Every little effort that contributes to wrest them from the influence of the Sabik is worthwhile.

Kaztropolitan certified non-toxic safety sports mud

I am reading up on academia in Katztropol - the home of professor Valate, Takmahl expert. 

Apparently, it is not uncommon to settle arguments through mud wrestling. They've even perfected a type of mud for such occasions: Kaztropolitan certified non-toxic safety sports mud. 

The diversity of cultures in our cluster never ceases to amaze me.

Sadly, a cultural faux-pas can be quick to make, unknowingly. Sometimes even top diplomats have a hair-trigger temper when this happens (as I learned today on the IGS). I'm worried I will unwittingly say something offensive to the Katztropolians and be challenged to a mud wrestling fight. 

The stress caused me a sleepless night: I do not know how to wrestle, let alone mud wrestle. I'm too old for this kind of sport. But perhaps I should be training, just in case? The Societas' gym has a capsuleer trainer. I should ask him for advice.

Also, I wonder if the wrestling rules are different for capsuleers. We're all supposed to be heavily augmented, so it would make sense to have special rules. I could not find anything on this topic in the library's documentation on Katztropol...