Not just us

It is not only LUMEN that is expanding its presence in Mehatoor with new stations. Our alliance built new structures over the past year.

Also the Imperial Navy has been adding strongholds, such as this one close to the inner lava planet.

Those navy installations have been built fairly recently, and are now more busy than ever. And now there appeared a new construction site too that I had not seen before!

It is not clear what is being constructed, and when I was inquiring I was told to move along. 

I suspect that this is related to the worsening of the relations between the empires and the low-key warfare that is going on all over the cluster. It is not too surprising that Mehatoor as the Navy headquarters is getting reinforcements. 

Mehatoor will soon become a fortress system the likes of which have not been seen since the Traumark Installation. That too was a realization of House Tash-Murkon, the royal line which has given us Empress Catiz. This time, for fortress Mehatoor, the Navy fleets will be bolstered by the presence of the brave LUMEN capsuleer pilots!

Wormhole Atlas

With all the data collected from Sanctified Vidette, I have completed the wormhole map. It can be downloaded from this galnet link (large size to zoom and scroll) or viewed right here:

When you encounter a wormhole, you can view it more closely using the "look at" command on the neocom, and rotate the view about. For wormholes leading back to the known systems and regions of our cluster, you will see a distorted and upside-down picture of the sky in the destination system. Even though it is distorted, it is usually possible to discern images of some of the twelve main nebulae in our cluster.

Once you learn to distinguish the nebulae, you can figure out to which region the wormhole leads without having to jump through. For example, take a look at this wormhole:

It sports the Vapor Sea nebula and the Cauldron. In the chart above, you can identify four regions that show just those two nebulae if you zoom in on the chart: 

The relative size of the visible nebulae matters: in Kor-Azor, the Cauldron dominates, while from Querious the Cauldron is tiny. The only region where they are both medium-sized is Khanid. That is the region to which this wormhole will lead. The thickness of the lines in the chart and the example pictures shown of the wormholes will help you identifying the destination.

Some regions are particularly hard to distinguish, like Tenal and Venal, or Paragon Soul and Period Basis. But those are usually regions with relatively few star systems, close to each other at the edge of the map. 

I will probably use this as a reference from time to time, so here I include links to some other resources that can be useful to the explorer: explainer on scan probe strength and pinpointing, wormhole spawn mechanics, some scanning tips, and of course a brief (lore) history of Anoikis.

Theological Seminary

I noticed a message from Cardinal Kahar Dex on the galnet forums. The cardinal's see is in Providence, where the Curatores Veritates Alliance is projecting the Empire's power. I think his cathedra used to be in X6AB-Y, the Providence Monastery Cathedral. That information may be outdated, given the tumultuous history of the Curatores during the last couple of years.

In this letter, Cardinal Dex remarks that many who serve the Curatores in Providence wish to deepen their faith. It is a phenomenon not unknown to LUMEN! In the Societas, one of the major corporations in the alliance, we welcome capsuleers from all parts of the cluster as long as they abide by the laws of the Empire and are willing to assist us in our service the the Empress. There is no requirement that they have had a religious upbringing. 

Of course, during the course of their work with us, many get to know our faith and start they journey to join the faithful. We call those peregrinans, wanderers. I help them on their journey and for some, it results in conversion. 

I work case by case, but it seems that in the past Cardinal Dex has worked out a curriculum, and taught it at a theological seminary. Now that CVA has re-taken the marches of Providence from the barbarians, he plans to re-establish the Providence Theological Seminary. That seems to me a great opportunity, also for our peregrinans, to follow specific courses and work towards specific goals. I would be happy to learn more about it, and I wonder if my amateur-expertise in capsuleer conversions can be useful to the Seminary.

I have sent a letter to his eminence Cardinal Dex, inviting him to our humble chapel and library to discuss these matters.

Jubilee gifts

Now that I am back in the quiet sanctuary for the mind that is our library, I have completed the wormholes-and-clouds atlas. 

My commission allows me to re-use the data and images that I gathered for my own projects. I have decided to turn this into a commemorative piece for the Empress' jubilee. Rather than a panegyric reviewing all the great deeds of our blessed Empress during the ten years of her reign, I can focus on the particular achievement of the conquest of Vidette.

Like many other Amarrians, I will send in a gift to the Emperor Family Academy. They collect all these gifts, going from school children's drawings over simple produce by humble farmers to poems by writers and to lavishly gilded treasures gifted by noble Holders. Every year people honor the Empress in a way that suits their station, but this year is special as it is a jubilee.

The grand celebration is set for the anniversary of Her ascension to the Throne, September 27th. So, I will be well in time - a nice change for someone with an innate tendency to treat a deadline as a motivation to get started.

Outsourcing

To my surprise the State will relinquish control of the day-to-day running and safeguarding of the trade hub of Jita to third parties, Concord and Evermore. 

That just shows how much outsourcing has become dogma in some corporate circles. 

It is rarely a good way to save ISK - perhaps it looks like that at first, but in the end I think it often turns out either more expensive, or less qualitative. And with Evermore involved, it looks as if some jobs of system management will go to artificial intelligence. 

Trade consulates will be opened. The post of consul will be important, and no doubt many vie for the honor. It might have gone to House Kor-Azor, given their tradition of diplomacy. But in the end it went to House Tash-Murkon, which is a wise decision given their long mercantile tradition. The republic too is sending some clan elders from the Sebiestor tribe. 

But here comes the second surprise. The Federation is not sending any career diplomat or government legate. They will be represented by... the Quafe company! I think will never understand democracy. 

Well, it is not unprecedented. Some thirty-odd years ago, Quafe representatives negotiated a deal between the Empire and the Federation, to resolve a clash that we had over the Girani-Fa system. Back then, we trusted the Quafe company because Amarr is the largest consumer market among the four core empires, so Quafe has a real interest in fostering good relations between the Empire and the Federation. 

Fun with statistics

Previously, dr. Fritte Cornelius and I made observations that confirmed that the wormholes of Sanctified Vidette spawn according to a uniform distribution drawn from all Jove observatory systems. The research was written up in a research report.

But that observation is perhaps no longer true after the changes, since capsuleers have to trigger the wormhole appearance. Hence the uniform distribution can be distorted by capsuleers' behavior, which may differ from region to region. I set out to do the analysis again - with a more limited amount of data.

Nevertheless, over my recent observations in Sanctified Vidette, I have catalogued 275 wormholes (mostly before 22:00 New Eden standard time, and during the second half April). The observed numbers of highsec, lowsec and nullsec holes, and the expected values based on the uniform distribution are listed below:

Nullsec:    observed = 189, expected = 175
Lowsec:    observed = 46, expected = 45
Highsec:    observed = 40, expected = 55

The number of nullsec holes is somewhat high, but still quite within what you would expect to see by chance. The number of lowsec holes is perfectly ordinary and in line with expectations. But the number of highsec holes is indeed significantly lower! The overall observed distribution does seem to deviate from what existed before [1].

From this, I would tentatively conclude that capsuleers in nullsec regions are a little bit more likely than average to breach wormholes to Sanctified Vidette, perhaps to look for bridges to the Empire worlds. The denizens of highsec, however, are quite more risk-averse than average and tend to jump less into unidentified wormholes [2]. 

Perhaps this is not all to surprising, but it is still nice to see it reflected in the data. And with more data, this can be refined to statistics for smaller regions, and allow to detect movement of troops or material by groups using the Drifter wormholes. The Imperial Navy will be pleased to hear this.

Today's footnotes are for the statistics afficionados:

[1] Statistical note: using a multinomial model (with probabilities 0.63618, 0.16261 and 0.20058 for null, low, and highsec) the p-value for an outcome this far or farther from the model is still p=0.10 (chi-square of 4.6, with 2 degrees of freedom). While this indicates that the outcome is unusual, the deviation may not yet be confidently called significant.

[2] Also this can be quantified, using Bayesian inference. Let's say I am looking for the conditional probability P(breach|HS) that a Drifter wormhole is breached by capsuleers, given that it is in highsec. The number I observe in Vidette gives me the probability P(HS|breach) that a Drifter wormhole originated in highsec, given that it was already breached (otherwise it would not have appeared in Vidette). Bayesian inference then tells me:

P(breach|HS) = P(HS|breach) . P(breach)/P(HS)

Here, P(HS)=0.20, the probability of that a Jove observatory system is in highsec, and P(breach) is the probability that any Drifter hole is breached, estimated as the average number of wormholes in Vidette divided by the maximum - here I take it 40/60 based on observation (obviously the result just scales with this value). Following the Bayesian inference formula above, the outcome for highsec, lowsec and nullsec are:

P(breach|HS) = 0.48
P(breach|LS) = 0.69
P(breach|NS) = 0.72

These are the estimated probabilities that a capsuleer has breached a Drifter wormhole (by 22:00 NEST), per region. 

Blessing of a private chapel

Yesterday, I was called upon to bless a shrine. In order to be recognized as a holy place where also visitors can come to pray, private shrines need to be blessed by a member of the clergy. It is a part of the ministry that I do not get to do very often, and that makes it extra nice. 

Noble Houses or guilds or even rich commoners try to have their own side-altar in a cathedral, or their own shrine or chapel in their home. Sadly, cathedral side-altars become status symbol sometimes, a way to show off wealth or power. Major cathedrals become very crowded with these family or guild altars, and often there are multiple services going on at the same time. Before the invention of portable sound dampening fields, our cathedrals were as noisy as a Jita pachinko game hall.

Private shrines at home are more quiet (although they too can be used to brag by displaying precious relics or artwork). The shrine I had the pleasure to bless was clearly not to brag, but built for devotion. It is dedicated to Saint (and emperor) Amash-Akura, and I brought an old copy of Epitoth as a gift. The shrine sports the color of a noble House, but apart from that its main decoration is a tasteful bust of Amash-Akura. 

I have promised to keep the name of the builder and owner of the shrine private, but it is a pity really, as this would be a nice place for pilgrims to visit.

((ooc attribution: church interior, painting by Marten van Valckenborch, active period 1599-1612. Major cathedrals in north-west Europe could house well over 50 private altars, all holding at least one mass per week, so it could get crowded and loud!))

The experiment

So, back to the Cornelian Hypothesis. It states that the reduction in the number of static wormhole signatures in Sanctified Vidette is due to the fact that they are exit holes which since a couple of month ago only spawn when a capsuleer breaches the wormhole from outside Sanctified Vidette.

To test this experimentally took some time. First, I had to find a Jove observatory system. Second, it also needs to have a set of thermoelectric convertors -Drifter-adapted Sleeper technology- primed to the hyperspace signature of Sanctified Vidette rather than another former Drifter wormhole. Thirdly, it has to be in a dormant state, not yet activated.

Finding a suitable set of convertors took a while... but I finally did. I was in communication with the Navy Anchorage in Sanctified Vidette, who record and monitor all wormhole signatures in Sanctified Vidette. When I was ready to create the wormhole K162 in Sanctified Vidette, I gave the signal, and then breached the V928 wormhole - hoping not to be trapped in some hyperspace pocket universe.

It worked. At the moment that I breached the V928 in G-G78S, a new cosmic signature QKB-168 appeared in Sanctified Vidette. The signature was an unidentified wormhole exit, out of which the Indagatrix emerged. A new wormhole was created in Sanctified Vidette. The hypothesis is corroborated!

Like every good research work, this gives rise to follow-up questions. Why do we now have to breach the V928's for the exit to appear, and not before? What turned those into more "regular" wormholes than they were before? How is that linked to the appearance of other hyperspace anomalies?

To that my friends at the Navy Anchorage add "How can we use this for defense purposes?"

Inverted statics

Systems in Anoikis, including the former Drifter wormhole systems, contain so-called "static" wormholes. For our own colony Seclusion, there are two such statics, a B274 and a Z647 type wormhole. Whenever one of the two expires - either because it reaches the end of its lifetime or because more than the critical mass has passed through - a similar type wormhole automatically and immediately appears somewhere else in the system. That is why they are called statics. 

Whenever you visit Seclusion, there will always be a B274 and a Z647 present.

Also Sanctified Vidette and the other Drifter wormholes contain statics. Six regular ones, and sixty "inverted" ones. The inverted ones are very special, and to the best of my knowledge have only been seen in one other place where spacetime has been heavily re-engineered: Pochven.

As I pointed out in yesterday's log entry there is a difference between a wormhole entrance and exit. Wormholes start as an embryonic entrance, and only after a while or when breached, the exit will appear and the tunnel will be present. Now, usual statics are always entrances. They appear immediately in the probe scan window. So, when a static wormhole expires, the new one becomes visible for you to scan down immediately afterwards.

Inverted statics such as Sanctified Vidette's V928 spawn outside Sanctified Vidette. It is their exit, or K162 hole, that will be inside Sanctified Vidette. That is the inverse from usual statics.

Up till very recently the V928 holes were immediately breached by Drifters or by the thermoelectric convertor's particle beams, so the exit K162 hole immediately appeared in Sanctified Vidette. The system always contained the 60 exits except for very short times between a vanishing and respawning.

That changed around the time spacetime rifts and phased asteroid fields started to appear in New Eden, and I witnessed moments when there were much less than 60 wormhole signatures.

The hypothesis that dr. Cornelius suggested is as brilliant as it is straightforward: for an unknown reason, since a month or two the V928 now have to be scanned down and breached before the K162 appears in Sanctified Vidette. There are still always 60 statics, but since they are inverted and it now takes time (and capsuleers) to breach them, there are often less than 60 K162 signatures.

This hypothesis needed experimental proof.

Wormhole birth

To the casual traveller, a wormhole is just a tunnel between two patches of space. Both sides of the tunnel look the same.

However, like a ski resort full of girls hunting for husbands, and husbands hunting for girls, the situation is not as symmetrical as it seems.

During their formation, wormholes are directional. One side is the "entrance" and the other is termed the "exit". When they are fully formed these two ends behave the same for all practical purposes, but we keep the distinction in their labeling. The exit is always labeled "K162". The entrance can have many names, for example "B274", for our highsec static in Seclusion. You find this in the info panel for the wormhole:

The entrance label allows you to identify the type of wormhole, and get a lot of information on it. 

So, how do wormholes form? Well, first the entrance appears as a cosmic signature on your probe scan window. At that point, the K162 exit has not yet formed - there is no exit hole yet. There is only the embryonic entrance hole.

Our warp engines perturb the embryonic wormhole. If you warp to the cosmic signature then even if you do not enter, a spacetime link is created to the destination system. However, the wormhole exit is not visible yet in that system. As the link ages, there is a certain probability per unit time for it to become visible, even if you leave it alone.

Now, if you enter the nascent wormhole, and you are the first one to go through the wormhole, then at that particular moment, the exit hole will spawn visibly in the destination system. Folks there see a new signature pop up on their probe scan window at that point. That is why wormholers get really nervous when a new signature appears. It could be something that appears spontaneously - or it could be someone from another system who just breached a new wormhole and landed in your system.

I have found a diagram to explain wormhole spawn mechanics, on the galnet forums, and I am including it here for completeness' sake:

It looks complicated, but the main message is: the exit may not be visible unless someone came through, or the wormhole is already aged.

((ooc: the witty quote about the ski resort is not mine, but I did not find it back and do not know who to attribute it to...))

Good news

The alarming news from Syndicate aside, I have two pieces of great news.

The first one is that the experiment succeeded! 

As I prepared the return from Curse, following TES Valenia's reassignment due to the war, I convinced my escort to allow me to scan one more time for a suitable set of thermoelectric convertor field projectors out in space. Our way back took us anyway along several Jove observatory systems.

I did not have much confidence that we would find anything, since I have not had any success the entire week. But today turned out different! In G-G78S, among the many signatures, there was a pristine set of convertors. 

There were some pilots in system that would make the operation dangerous, were it not that they were blue, to my surprise. Three I-BLU pilots, out here in Curse. I wonder what they are doing here, but I was too excited by my find and to eager to do the planned experiment so I did not disturb them for a chat. 

I got to work, and managed to get the Sleeper projectors to work and to stabilize a wormhole connection. TES Valenia had me targeted the entire time, and was getting nervous, already regretting having consented to this ultimate attempt. I could perform the experiment and confirm the hypothesis! I am too excited right now to sort out my notes and tabulate measurements and write it all up, but will do so shortly.

The second piece of good news is that we will soon have another conversion ceremony. 

Ms. Yubari has made great progress and I think she is ready! We have many pilots among the various corporations in LUMEN that are not of the faith, but from time to time, as they get more acquainted with the faith, they decide to convert. It is always a source of great joy and celebration when they do!

Their heads on a plate

What a dark and grim place this universe is, there where the light of faith does not shine as it does within the borders of the Amarr Empire. 

The Executive General of the State's forces in Syndicate, Heika Torigo, has called for the killing on sight of those fleeing from Syndicate to the Federation. Their ships are not to be stopped, boarded, and searched for suspects to arrest. It is not "wanted, dead or alive", just a "wanted dead". Capsuleer pilots can earn billions by bringing in corpses as proof. Corpses for coin! The state, our former ally, has strayed far from the light. 

But there is also a little bit of good news. It comes from our closest ally amongst the locals, House Arnoux, one of the many governing houses and leaders in the complex patchwork of Syndicate politics. They are not fleeing. It appears the State is not targeting them or their stations at the moment. I thank God that House Arnoux are not amongst those that chose to seek refuge in the Federation. 

In stead of fleeing or blindly collaborating with the Executive General's command, Governor Evelyn Arnoux issued a very eloquent statement condemning Torigo's call to massacre the fugitives. 

I worry that this will put some strain also in our alliance, as many Caldari still strengthen our ranks, veterans from when the State and the Empire fought side by side against the terrorist rebels. At the same time, the presence of these legionnaires is also a strength: our voice may still be heard in the executive boardrooms that matter. May we plead for compassion and true justice to return.

Blitzkrieg

Browsing over the star map on my neocom today, I noticed that the Syndicate region was attributed to the State rather than the Intaki Syndicate: 

I was halfway through writing a letter of complaint about this flagrant mistake, when I was informed by mr. Firth that this was no mistake at all. What a shock! 

What will happen now to our friends among the Intaki Syndicate, especially governor Arnoux? Is she one of the many high-ranking members of the Syndicate fleeing State persecution? I do not think so, I cannot imagine that she was involved in any actions that led to the damaging of the Jita gates or embezzlement of State funds (although I am not one hundred percent sure about the latter). In addition, I cannot imagine her giving up sovereignty of Hetil Bairviit stations easily...

In the region we are also working closely with associates of Ishukone for industry and mining. I am not so sure that they will be happy with this annexation either. The other megacorporations are bound to move in aggressively and compete for the available resources. 

I hope the Empress will give us guidance soon.

Cluster politics and war

Still no luck on finding suitable gates out in Curse.

TES Valenia messaged me that we are to move our operations to a region of space that is "more relevant given the current war escalations by the Republic". A region of space where they can combine their current task with surveillance that is more important than following around a friar on his science project. 

I connected to Galnet to find out more about what was going on. The services that we held last week on Faith and Fortitude now appear on topic. The Concord agreements have broken down, perhaps in an act of sabotage - the last time this happened was when the treacherous Minmatar launched the Elder Fleet invasion. Indeed, there are again incursions of the rebels into Empire territory, but I am convinced the Navy is better prepared now.

I was also surprised to read that Silphy En Diabel has been arrested by the State. This will for sure shake up things in Syndicate, and the free Intaki there may seem more isolated than ever, enemy of both the Federation and the State. The new Federation president sees an opportunity I think, to draw them nearer by offering them some sort of amnesty, but my feeling is that the Syndicate Intaki will take that as an insult to the injustice they suffered.

For the Empire, this represents an opportunity. I hope the Empire can step in and show themselves as friends. LUMEN could play a role in that, given our strong presence there. And who knows, with the reshuffling of power structures in the Syndicate, the star of our own friendly governor Evelyn Arnoux may be on the rise if we play our cards well.

Illegal slave trade

The system of LJ-YSW in Curse is two jumps out from the Jove Observatory system Y-K50G and two jumps away from Zarzakh, the domain of the Deathless. 

Like in any system, the stations broadcast their market prices. Unwanted advertisements are a scourge also in Curse. And what does it promote in LJ-YSW? Slaves! Not the occasional misguided pilot trading a few slaves they found in space during a mission, nor a trap set by Minmatar rebels hunting slave traders. No, here is a vast and well organized slave market run by the Angel Cartel from its sarcastically named Dominions Logistics Support station. It advertises well over one third of a million slaves available for immediate sale, all year long. Prices and volumes compete with the largest slave markets of the Khanid kingdom. 

I have never seen such a thing outside the Empire, where the intent of holding slaves is benevolent. The slave status is a chrysalis in the transformation from the heathen to the faithful. The Holder guides, nurtures and protects his slaves until they are ready to be manumitted. Slavery as a means of reclamation has waxed and waned over history, and already since Heideran VII it is ebbing, as peaceful reclamation is gaining pace. 

Yet one must not forget that reclamation through slavery has shown its historical value and successes: remember that the Udorians were once reclaimed through slavery, and now we have a universally beloved and most wise Empress from Udorian descent! So, by no means Amarrian slavery can be said to hold down a people forever as the Gallente mistakenly think.

But out here in Curse, the Angel Cartel is making a perversion of it all! 

They do not care about reclaiming souls. They only have abuse in mind. They are twisting a sacred principle into a sick self-serving evil. Frankly, this makes me understand better why the Gallente hate slavery that much...

Dominions stations

The Angel Cartel has stations out here in Curse, and not only in the Heaven constellation. 

Who knows I might even be granted docking rights there? I do not plan to find out. 

I would never set foot on an Angel Cartel station.

They look somewhat like the Gallente stations, but they do not have their hedonistic vibe. The Dominions stations are dark and brooding, they feel like a trap ready to snap shut once you dock. 

I have been monitoring the Jove observatory in J7A-UR, when a mining fleet appeared. It turns out that the system has ice belts. In fact, three of the six Jove observatory systems in Curse are systems with ice belts... 

That makes exploration more challenging - with a hostile fleet around I cannot freely wander about. My cloaked escort - even if it were a match for angry Dominion miners - told me they will not lift a finger to help me. I was told that if I would get caught or killed, the Ministry would disavow any knowledge of my actions. 

So, I have to wait it out. The miners too, unhappy with the presence of an unknown foreigner in their system, wait it out. 

Angel territory

I left for Curse. It is not a very big region:

The systems with Jove observatories, suitable for the experiment, are shown in red boxes. They are somewhat apart from each other, but there are some hopefully quiet dead-end systems among them. 

However, the shortest tour of the systems - the well-known "travelling missionary problem" from mathematics and computer science - still takes a rather impractical but most of all very dangerous 26 jumps.

The blue rectangle highlights the Heaven constellation, the home systems of the first and second Jove Empires. Near the ruins left by these ancients the Angel Cartel built its own home, from which they control the rest of Curse. Coming down from the Ammatar Mandate, you enter Curse via Doril in the west. 

Unfortunately, the Jovian ancestral worlds are not on the tour of the Jove observatory systems... I am tempted to explore there, but on the other hand I do not want to stay any longer than strictly necessary in cursed Curse. If I get lucky and find a non-activated pair of thermoelectric convertor field projectors very quickly, I might still make time for a bit of archaeology on my way back to the Mandate.

Faith and Fortitude

Writing sermons is a creative process, and like all creative processes it has its highs and its lows. For priests with writer's block, the Theology Council offers help in various forms. There are hefty tomes of recorded sermons of the past, and special holochannels where preachers are vying for top spots in the popularity charts. There are also handy online and officially sanctioned sermon generators.

From time to time, the Theology Council will send out a suggested topic as well. Not on special days for which the theme is already fixed, but for regular days throughout the year. This week's suggestion is "on Faith and Fortitute".

This combination of great gifts of God help us deal with hardship. Faith gives us assurance in a positive outcome. It is more certain than hope, and does not necessarily speculate about how things will work out. Rather, Faith is the inner conviction that, despite all the hardships, things are ultimately going to be okay.

However, faith alone will not necessarily give us the strength to do what is required of us to face these hardships. For this, we need courage, endurance, strength of will, and all these constitute Fortitude.

This is a nice suggestion of a theme for a service. It does make me worry a bit (those who know me will not be surprised and say that I worry about everything). 

But this theme makes me think that the Theology Council is foreseeing hardships for our people in the near future...

Epikouria Chronicles XI

While the Indagatrix is made ready for the expedition to Curse, I took care of paperwork that had been waiting for me in Mehatoor. There was also another letter of brother Hugo.

He appears to be taking a dangerous interventionist course. 

He starts his letter with the opening passage of the Book of Gheinok the First: "And the flames of the Lord died within them. Yet one flame remained."

Dano Gheinok, first of the great prophets, found that the world in which he lived had forgotten about God and lived in sin. He was the sole flame that remained, and he decided to go away from the damned society and start a new one. Gradually he gathered fellows to join him in his quest - these became known as the conformists, and after many years in the (spiritual and actual) desert they found Amarr island and settled there.

Brother Hugo sees a parallel with Origin. To him, their society is an abomination, and the White Paladins are the one flame that remains and that gives hope. He has clearly been under increasing influence of this group...

The flame also stands for the conditions on Epikouria V, a mineral-rich lava world known to the originals as Crucifix. Life is harsh there, and the prohibition against slavery (enshrined in the Exodus Charter) has made it even harder on the formerly well-off Amarr, who no longer live in comfort but now have to toil the lava fields and metalworks themselves. The "lava belt" from Iluna to Pyrewind has become the political powerbase for the White Paladins and their supporters. 

Their political program is as hard as the iron they produce: they want to secede from the Origin Colonial Authority, rescind the Exodus Charter, re-instate a traditionalist version of Amarr law and slavery, and expel those that do not agree with them. They have very little chance to succeed at this, at least by the political and diplomatic processes of Origin. They have been whispering insurrection for a while, but would stand no chance against Origin's military force, once operated by the warclone corporation Oneieda Paradox. They remain a fringe group.

Now, to my surprise, Brother Hugo is asking me to help bring Amarrian forces and weapons to Epikouria to aid the White Paladins... I would never consider it appropriate to mingle in such foreign affairs, unless ordered to do so by proper authorities. The Empire, interested as it may be in Anoikis since the conquest of Sanctified Vidette, has no plans to start a reclamation in Epikouria, so neither have I. I have written brother Hugo a clear refusal. 

I think it will not stop him to reach out to other contacts that he may have...

Links to keep track of the letters of Brother Hugo:

I. First Contact
II. Diplomatic Talks 
III. Refugee crisis
IV. Setting up a new home station
V. Epikouria under siege
VI. Prince Seraghis visit

VII. A suspicion of heresy

VIII. Pop-up church

IX. Intercultural fair

X. White Paladins

Curse

I am still missing two regions from my atlas. The first one is Fade, and the reason is that there is no nebula visible from it, I think. That makes it hard to distinguish from Branch and Deklein, two very dark regions too. So, I need to jump through a wormhole to Fade to make sure that it does indeed lead to that region. There are not many Jovian observatories there, so the chances are not very high.

The other region that for some reason has not appeared to link to Sanctified Vidette under my recent watches is Curse. This region is the domain of the Angel Cartel, and the former homelands of the Jove, before they moved out of there to the sealed regions up north. 

Surprisingly, there are only six Jove observatories in Curse. Out of a total reported in the cluster of over 1267, this is only 0.5%, and a correspondingly low chance of the connecting to Sanctified Vidette. I probably need to be more patient. Or perhaps I do not have a correct idea of how it should look like - I think it should show the Vapor Sea nebula, and the Scalding Pass nebula, but I might be wrong. 

Curse is a region that I am allowed to target for performing my experiment. It is well outside Empire space, and the Angel Cartel is an excellent scapegoat. I do not look forward to a stay there, given the presence of the Angel Cartel. Ishta has told me horrible stories about her time in the Cartel, and I shudder merely thinking back about that. But on the other hand, the region itself is historically interesting and I might combine my visit with a tour of the former Jove homelands. And also combine the experiment with completing the atlas. 

So, I am planning an expedition to Curse, staging from Gamis in the Mandate. LUMEN's mining hinterlands are there, as the alliance has since a long time been supporting the peaceful development of the Ammatar Mandate. It might take a bit more time to set up, but that will give mr. Firth time to check this through with his people and TES Valenia, which will also need to do some preparations I think.

Boundary conditions

I have received a briefing from mr. Ivan Firth, the Indagatrix's political officer, about the experiment with the Sleeper thermoelectric convertors. The ministry allows me to perform it, but under some conditions. 

First, I have to do it in a "region of plausable deniability", meaning outside of Empire controlled space. That also mitigates the potential hyperspace fallout to the Empire itself. I have been given a list of suitable locations.

Second, I will be followed at a distance by a covert operations ship from Ministry, TES Valenia. In case something appears to go wrong during the experiment, it will obliterate the Indagatrix, and then vaporize the wreck. I have been granted the courtesy of being allowed to wake up in my medical clone should such a thing occur. 

Mr. Firth will be monitoring me not from the Indagatrix this time, but from TES Valenia. The rest of the crew is less than enthusiast to participate to this mission, so it looks like I will be piloting the frigate by myself. 

It was not me

There was distressing news from Jita, well known as the main trade hub in the Caldari State. Its jump gates experienced disastrous accidents: hyperspatial rifts opened up and damaged the gates, killing many gate personnel. 

The link with the hyperspace fluctuations that scientists recently reported near Jita was quickly made, and the initial investigation by the State points to experimentation with the (Drifter appropriated) Talocan hyperspace network done presumably by the Federation or the Intaki, either for fraud and extortion, or for sabotage. 

This caused some confusion also close to home.

The Ministry of Internal Order, through the reports of mr. Ivan Firth, the political officer on board of the Indagatrix, is aware of my intentions to experiment with the Drifter wormhole technology myself. I planned this in order to test a hypothesis on the diminished number of wormholes in Sanctified Vidette. A scientific goal: of course I do not plan terrorist attacks on Jita gates.

Nevertheless they were worried that I had made some mistake, and that the Empire might be blamed for the Jita gate incident because of my tampering with Drifter wormhole devices. A very understandable worry, so they prevented me from undocking and invited me for a conversation. 

I was a surprised that also a member of the Caldari State Police was present. Usually conversations with the Ministry are very private. 

The misunderstanding was soon cleared up, as flight records of the Indagatrix, reports of my political officer, and the surveillance records of the Ministry itself showed that I had not done any such experiment yet. I have indeed been holding off on these experiments. I have been waiting to hear back from dr. Fritte Cornelius, to see if we could coordinate our research efforts. I am very glad now that I have not done anything yet.

The Ministry was also quite interested in dr. Cornelius and where they could find him. They asked me whether he is a trade hub ganker, and the man from the Caldari State Police asked whether he is a Black Eagle. I answered to the best of my ability, vouching for his pacifist nature and track record as a scientist. 

Unfortunately I had no idea of his whereabouts. 

That is regrettable: my ignorance forced them to use more advanced conversation methods to try and help me remember anything I might have forgotten. The next few hours were not pleasant. I vaguely remember that at some point in the conversation the man from the Caldari State Police no longer wanted to be in the room, which made the interlocutors from the Ministry laugh.

But all is good that ends good, and in the end I was allowed to resume my usual business. First, I will take a day off and pay a visit to medbay as my current clone misses some teeth and some nails and has a limp. 

Thermoelectric convertor field projectors

I have been discussing the decrease in static wormhole numbers with dr. Fritte Cornelius from Signal Cartel. 

The number is not always exactly thirty, but fluctuates. There appears to be a cycle, around noon it starts out low, rising to forty and close to fifty at midnight, then it decreases back down towards the next noon. This seems to imply human interference, rather than a natural phenomenon.

Dr. Cornelius has offered an interesting hypothesis that sounds correct to me. It is best to test it before it is made public, I think. That requires some experimentation that is not very easy to perform: an attempt to generate a wormhole in Sanctified Vidette ourselves, using the Sleeper Thermoelectic Convertors in known space. 

These structures need to be scanned down. I stumbled on some abandoned ones in Sanctified Vidette; they look like this:

The bright spot is no wormhole but the magnetar in the system. You would expect a Drifter wormhole in between those two structures when they are active. Now, if we manage to power these up...

President Moreau

After a month of voting, the Gallente presidential election has concluded! 

Dr. Alix Moreau won narrowly, on a programme of unrestricted research and a promise of the bright future that this research would bring. 

President Moreau also promised more independence for the constituent worlds of the Federation that seek a greater extent of self-determination. This was a crucial strategic move, gaining the support of the Intaki autonomists. Polls before the election showed a sea of support Roden, with one isolated exception: Intaki, which pundits quickly labeled "the highsec island of dr. Moreau".

That island grew, until the map finally colored more evenly between the candidates. I think the Intaki will not be forgotten, and will fare better than under the militaristic repression of Aguard.

But the true agenda of dr. Moreau is to liberate scientific research from any moral or legal restraints. That is dangerous - as the code of Demeanor warns, "Be Watchful. Free Thought is the Begetter of Disorder". What strange inventions and hybrid creatures will dr. Moreau create? CONCORD is concerned, and chairman Sakari of the State calls it proof of "Federation insanity". 

Scientific progress always holds both promises and dangers. New findings can be used to improve the lives of countless billions or to destroy these lives. To turn planets into gardens of Eden or into burning radioactive hells. 

In the Empire, we have God and the Empress guiding us. 

But in the Federation, the situation is very frightening! Whether science is used for good or for destruction depends on which leaders the capricious and mostly ignorant citizens call upon to decide for them...

Worrisome wormhole development

While working on the wormhole atlas and collecting some more data, I noticed a worrisome development in Sanctified Vidette. I do not know if the same thing is present in the other Drifter wormholes, I have less experience with these and do not know their normal number of wormholes.

In Sanctified Vidette there are always six static wormholes to the six other classes of Anoikis system, one for each class. And there are always sixty wormholes to systems in our own cluster. As joint research with mr. Cornelius has shown before, these sixty "statics" lead ro systems picked randomly out of a uniform distribution over the 1267 systems with Jove observatories, spread out all over known space.

Today, I found that the number of wormhole connections in Sanctified Vidette has halved. The six Anoikis connections are still present, but only thirty statics to our cluster! That is way too large a discrepancy to be a statistical coincidence. 

I had the impression before that there were less, but did not pay attention to it, as I was too focused on other tasks, so I am not sure how new this anomaly is. But it must be fairly recent, no more than about a month. My new friends at the Imperial Navy anchorage in the system declined to comment. When I asked whether they think it is linked to their experiments, they told me it was inappropriate for me to consider such a thing. 

Static wormholes are supposed to be ... static. Their number is a topologically protected constant for any given system - a change in their number is unheard of. It cannot occur without there being a major disruption in hyperspace. This comes at the time when the science community is reporting hyperspace fluctuations also in our cluster, notably in the Forge region... 

Exordium

I have received more help for the wormhole atlas project, from mr. Fritte Cornelius of the Signal Cartel. These intrepid explorers have probably ventured deeper into the wormhole network than anyone else and have imaged the nebulae even more extensively! 

It is really heartwarming to see how the New Eden research community forms a network of friends that steps up to help each other. Science is a search for truths that are independent of ideology and as such this endeavor transcends borders, giving it the capacity to bring us all closer to each other.

It is in the same spirit that Exordium was established. Rumors of its existence have been going around now for a while, and the existence of this new region was finally revealed today. Around fifty new star systems have been linked up to the cluster-wide jump gate network. These are to be peaceful systems, of little strategic or industrial value, where law is enforced by concord and dominion is shared among the empires. 

May it bring hopes of peace to all of our star cluster!

New bloodshed in Vak'Atioth

There is a rumble, like faraway thunder, coming from the outer worlds: the barbarian kingdoms are at war again. 

There are always skirmishes: without the light of faith, the poor souls out there are condemned to live in a violent darkness where they hold violent, dark convictions. 

This time around the bloodshed was worse than ever before. The various warlords have aggregated into two large coalitions that battled it out in Vak'Atioth at the edge of the Jovian regions. Countless lives and trillions of isk were lost. Titan-class ships were ripped to shreds in a cruel death dance involving -it is claimed- ten thousand capsuleer pilots.

The news of fresh bloodshed in Vak'Atioth gives me cold chills, as probably it does to many Amarr. 

In this system, our Empire suffered a historic defeat at the hands of the Jove. That defeat paused our expansion into the universe. It also led to the opportunistic rebellion of the Minmatar, a rebellion that is causing pain and death enduring to this day. 

It is as if all the evil from the battle of Vak'Atioth first spread through the cluster as a disease, gaining strength, only to refocus now back to Vak'Atioth through some strange alignment of fate.

Help with the atlas project

My mapping project has gotten kind support from mr. Ché Biko, a diplomat who sometimes visits Gottin's Lamp. He has connections to the Arataka Research Consortium, and gave me access to the Consortium's archive of holographic pictures of the sky as seen from various regions in the cluster. 

Together with the data from the Imperial Astronomical Society at Hedion University, I now have plenty of images to go by. 

Theoretically I could compute how the sky and the nebulae of various regions would appear through a Sanctified Vidette wormhole, but I think especially here it is still worthwhile to image the real thing, with all its sources of noise and instabilities. Also for some remote nebulae, I may still want to search for higher resolution imagery; perhaps in those cases indeed there is still value in collecting one's own images. 

But certainly this kind gift has cut back the amount of work, and I will not need to expose myself to as much danger in the outer worlds of the cluster.

Cloud Atlas

Apparently I have a reputation of being an expert in Sactified Vidette wormholes.

I have been commissioned to create an atlas of the wormholes there, for all different regions in the cluster.

Each region's typical night sky appears in a distorted way through the wormhole, on the other side, allowing pilots to see where it is leading to before actually traversing it. While the image is heavily distorted, our cluster's nebulae can still be made out distinctively. Even the direction from which a nebula is viewed alters its aspect. Take for example the Kor-Azor nebula as seen from Khanid:

It has a "coeur d'azure" or azure heart, surrounded by a brownish shell. The blue-sky colored center of the nebula is clearly visible from the Kor-Azor region where it dominates the celestial dome, and some say House Kor-Azor got its name from it. But when you look at the same nebula from Genesis, it looks more like a cup or cauldron:

You no longer see the blueish center part of the cup because you look at it edge-on rather than from the top. So, to embark on my commission I will have to start with making a "cloud atlas" of the twelve different nebulae of our cluster, and after that match each with the views from the Vidette wormholes.

Presidential candidates pay homage to the Empire

Capsuleer fickleness. Well, I guess it is for the better that the wedding annulment has been annulled. I am happy that lady Ashland and lady-consort Blackwind seem to have patched up their relation. Personally, I blame the slaver tooth necklace, it being a bad luck charm.

While around Amarr, I have noted another increase in pilgrims. To Emperor Doriam II's memorial, and to empress Jamyl I's statue and the Mekhios graveyard. 

This time around, I am wary - I do not let my heart jump of joy at the sight of hit-and-run-pilgrims any more. Indeed, after asking around a bit I received confirmation that this is again part of the Gallente election tour. 

The candidates - all three of them! - not only urge their capsuleer supporters to visit the Eve Gate, which can be considered a space phenomenon beyond borders, but they also bring them closer to Amarr, to our memorials. This is very good news, and can only signal the willingness of each of the three candidates to collaborate more closely with the Empire. At the least, it is a show of respect. No wonder that the Empress has reciprocated, and that she is not preferring one candidate over the other.

It is also a very big snub from the Federation to the Republic. 

The tour does not pass by any Minmatar system. And the choice of visiting the Mekhios graveyard is a clear condemnation of the Elder Fleet and of the Minmatar agression. Official election tour visits to the memorial are an expression of support for the Amarr side of our enduring conflict. It also signals a strengthening of the new Entente between our empires, and the deepening rift between the Federation and the Republic. 

Perhaps the day that the Federation presents excuses for their support of the Elders and even aids us in bringing the Defiants to justice is not too far away!

Trouble in paradise

Bad news never comes alone. After finding that confession did not help mr. Quirinus, I am now confronted with a marriage annulment by lady Ashland. And this only a few weeks after it has been officiated! 

I am not even sure all the paperwork is properly processed by the Amarr Civil Service, and this spells trouble. What if the marriage paperwork ends up on the desk of a slow -or let us say very busy- clerk, whereas the annulment paperwork finds its way to a relatively empty desk of a fast clerk? The latter may annul the annulment on the basis that there was no wedding registered yet, after which the former will end up registering the marriage at a later point. 

Even if it is all processed in the correct order, there will still be an official pauze in the annulment, since there needs to be a minimum time (I think it is nine months) between both. It can be sooner, but that requires the couple follows marriage counseling first. 

I will try to offer that service as LUMEN's chaplain.

I worry about the reasons for this break-up. If it is merely capsuleer fickleness or the revelation of a past lover, that can probably be mended. But perhaps something more perfidious has happened? Hopefully it is not something that could cast doubt on the sincerity of lady-consort Jade Blackwind's conversion? I also hope that he horrible Gallente tabloid person is not still around for this.

Capsuleer insanity

I thought mr. Quirinus was better after confession. He really resolved to stand fast against the temptation to publicly proclaim himself Emperor, and he saw the error of his ways.

That did not last long.

Upon my return from my explorations, unfortunately I found that mr. Quirinus has lapsed back into his prideful and sinful thoughts. 

Perhaps it is a form of madness. One that is not curable by confession and meditation. It is said that when capsuleers clone too often, and perhaps use those cheaper clone bays, errors creep into their infomorph, accumulate over time, and turn them insane. Often this expresses itself in delusions of grandeur. And, contrary to non-capsuleer humans, there is little help to be expected - they cannot be confined for a period of time to a mental sanatorium to heal.

I am afraid I can not help mr. Quirinus any further. Perhaps the best we can do is help channel his madness towards a good purpose? If he would indeed focus his efforts in building a chapel or a church in some faraway place, it might still benefit him as well as the Empire.

Tests concluded

I performed an array of tests and measurements, at specified times, not knowing what exactly is going on. I had to rely on my speed of probing and scanning, and warping around to different signatures.

Although I am not informed as to the true purpose, I can always wager a bet and put this in relation to what I heard and learned during my visit to the Amarr Navy research complex here in Sanctified Vidette. I think that our scientists are building devices to control the number and type of "static" wormholes in wormhole systems. 

This would revolutionize life in Anoikis, and impact colonies such as our own Seclusion, and Publius' colony Epikouria. The different classes of wormhole systems have very different properties, and generally higher class wormholes are deemed to lead to more dangerous but more profitable space, as these higher classes appear to have better preserved Sleeper ruins. 

For example, at this point the odds of finding connections from a class-four wormhole system straight to high security Empire space are fairly low, and no statics allow this. That is why residents of these higher class systems have to find an ever-shifting route trough lower-class type systems often. Controlling this directly would give the Empire a great edge in the reclamation of Anoikis.

With the tests (and my services as hauler and scanner) concluded in Sanctified Vidette, I will return to the Empire. Perhaps I will check in with Quirinus in Amarr to see how he is doing.

Conservation laws

In physics there is a deep connection between conserved quantities and symmetries. A symmetry is a kind of transformation that leaves the system that you are considering unchanged. Perhaps the system you are considering can be viewed from any angle, so-called rotational symmetry. Well, this turns out to lead to conservation of angular momentum.

Some conserved quantities are local, meaning that they can be computed at any given spot (such as the amount of energy) and the only way that it changes is when there's a current of that quantity flowing away or into that local spot.

There's some conserved quantities that can only be computed globally, taking into account all of space in a given system. They're called topological invariants, as you can deform space and bend it around, the quantity will remain constant. Think of the number of holes in a surface - as long as you continuously deform the surface and not tear it, the number of holes remains constant. I am sure you have seen somewhere the animation of a donut deforming into a coffee cup.

It turns out that also for wormholes in space there is a conserved quantity. It is not obvious in our own cluster, since wormholes appear and disappear at random. But in Anoikis systems, there are special types of wormholes whose number remain constant. They are called statics. In Seclusion, there is always one wormhole to highsec space in our cluster, and one wormhole to a class-1 other Anoikis system. When they expire, another one has to respawn. They are topological invariants of the system in question.

You can only change these numbers by breaking the symmetry associated with the conserved quantity. 

That is exactly what the Talocan figured out and exploited to make their wormhole network. It is  mimicked in the Nexus device to fill up Drifter homeworlds with static wormholes. And now, it appears to be our turn to figure out exactly what this symmetry is and how it can be manipulated. 

Delivery

I have delivered the crates to the Imperial Navy research complex in Sanctified Vidette. With its many stations and shipyards it looks as impressive as always, and the security is intense. The Indagatrix was continuously scanned and was searched both before and after the cargo was taken out of the hold.

This time (as a 'thank you' in stead of loyalty points) I got a short tour inside the Nexus Research Facility, where Drifter technology is taken apart and studied. While everything here is under strict security measures, as typical for scientists and academics among each other there is some pride in showing at least part of your research, I guess.

I have been asked to monitor the wormholes and keep key statistics during a specific time window (to be announced just minutes in advance). My guess is that they will perform an experiment then. 

From what I could make out from enthusiast scientists is that there are some ideas about how the Drifters can manipulate or emulate Talocan technology that has an impact on the presence of wormholes. There is an underlying mechanic giving rise to such a large number of wormholes in one system, no doubt related to the presence of Talocan artefacts in Thera, and to the Nexus device in Drifter systems.

Mission

Mr. Firth has already another mission for me. The Ministry appears to be aware of my expertise in wormhole scanning in Sanctified Vidette, and is in need of my services.

I wanted to object and point out that the goal of a political officer on a ship is not to set the course or determine the mission, but rather it is to guide the pilot in always acting in the best interests of the Empire. The choice of mission remains the pilot's prerogative. A political officer works in the background, much like a conscience that assists the mind's decisions.

But then, at the same time, I am due obedience to the Ministry of Internal Order. 

Also, I am actually curious as to what that mission could be. 

For now I must however work on a "need to know" basis. The first task was to pick up cargo at Hedion University, which has been brought to the Court Chamberlain bureau in Hedion. The cargo, in sealed containers, is using nearly all the space in the Indagatrix's cargo hold. Whatever is in there is affecting the ship's systems, it seems to have more trouble getting into warp.

Now, I am looking for a convenient entrance wormhole.

Quirinus at the Gate

At last we met, mr. Quirinus and I ! 

Yesterday evening I found him in the New Eden system. Unfortunately his shuttle had been destroyed earlier. He returned and reshipped to an Anathema-class hull, a wise choice.

The system was still very busy with pilots touring for Gallente election canvassing.

I formed a fleet with mr. Quirinus and we flew towards the Gate, meditating and praying in its mesmerizing light. We were not disturbed - the many pilots jumping in and out of the system were focusing on moving as fast as possible.

We talked about his sin, and with a bit of my help mr. Quirinus came to understand the fundamental nature of his errors, and he showed contrition. The details of our conversation of course fall under the Seal of Confession, but I am confident that the conditions were met to absolve him. He also accepted to do penance.

I am glad he has returned to the fold, and hope that he will remain watchful now. I will keep tabs on him, he usually resides in Amarr. Hopefully we can meet again soon to discuss his spiritual progress and well-being. 

Epikouria Chronicles X

Finally, a sign of life from Mr. Quirinus. He has embarked on his pilgrimage to Eve Gate and is already underway. So, I will go back out in hopes to finally meet him.

There was also a sign of life from brother Hugo: another letter from the wormhole colony of Epikouria. 

Following the intercultural fair where he learned about the history of "Origin", he has been in contact with like-minded individuals amongst the Originals. 

The Originals are definitely not a uniform bloc. 

There are some among them who long back to the time that Amarrian law and order was present in the colony. These folks are a very tiny minority and consist of some early settlers, who used to be land owners, aspiring Holders, and overseers from back in the days that the planets in Epikouria were slave colonies. They call themselves the White Paladins, and have been recruiting support among disgruntled (human) youth among the new settlers in "Origin". 

The founders of the White Paladins were disenfranchised after the slaves were set free more than a decade ago by the new powers that chased out the Amarr militiamen, who up to then had been in control of the system. They viewed the takeover by the Alexylva Paradox as a hostile invasion, and rejected the new government's liberal stance on transhumanism, in agreement with brother Hugo's conviction that the non-human sentients are abominations. 

The Origin Colonial Authority - that is the current ruling class of the Originals - treats them as extremists that have to be curbed and educated, but they do not really persecute the White Paladins. They are given -like many other groups- their freedom of expression and thought as long as they do not harm others. 

The Starborn (Publius' space-station dwelling colonists) do not care or meddle with groups like the White Paladins or any other political faction of the Originals. Their only concern is good neighborship and access to planetary mining resources. But the White Paladins are elated to have found brother Hugo and his companions, and they treat him as a lifeline back to the old ways and the Empire. 

I think it flatters brother Hugo's ego, but I am afraid they will use him for their own designs.

Links to keep track of the letters of Brother Hugo:
I. First Contact
II. Diplomatic Talks 
III. Refugee crisis
IV. Setting up a new home station
V. Epikouria under siege
VI. Prince Seraghis visit

VII. A suspicion of heresy

VIII. Pop-up church

IX. Intercultural fair

Marriage at the Chapel

Baptisms and marriages are always a pleasure to officiate. A chapel full of happy people, looking forward with hope and joy and full of good resolve!

It was no different this time, for the marriage of lady Echo Ashland to Jade Blackwind. They kept the ceremony modest, limited to close friends. Capsuleer marriages always draw crowds of curious onlookers though, and the non-capsuleer congregation of Gottin's Lamp Chapel had come out. Some outsiders were also in attendance, including a journalist. Not from Amarr Certified News but from some Gallente magazine I heard.

Ms. Blackwind, now lady Jade, kept us waiting...  I could feel that there was some tension rising, and people were thinking that this could be a runaway bride situation. I have never had that happen, and luckily this time it was also not the case. 

There was one unusual custom at this ceremony - in stead of exchanging rings, or reading personal vows, or releasing Achuran songbirds, lady Ashland adorned a necklace. A slaver tooth necklace! That is not usually a symbol associated with the bond of holy matrimony, but apparently it symbolized the hunter pledging to take care of the family. 

I understand that there are many different traditions in our vast Empire, but this, honestly, had me quite surprised and I did not know very well how to react. To me - and to many - these necklaces represent something more insidious: slave abduction raids by rebels. I just continued with the ceremony after that strange moment, and there were no other, let us say, irregularities.

I hope lady Ashland will not be the subject of slander or gossip for this... 

Hope for humanity's epiphany

Today as I started on my way back, for a few moments I thought I witnessed a divine miracle.

New Eden constellation has been very quiet while I was here, but not today! A steady trickle of pilgrims began to show, in shuttles mostly, and in yachts for the richer ones. The trickle grew to a stream, with at any time at least five or six pilots entering or leaving through the underused jump gates. There were jump delays, the gate operator crew here is not used to heavy traffic.

So many pilgrimages, so many people coming to witness the splendor of the Mouth of God and meditate on life, I was elated, and offered prayers of thanks that the world finally has come to its senses and everyone is doing some very necessary introspection. 

It struck me that these pilots did not belong to White Sky, nor to Sedition. No, they were from all around the cluster! And not just Amarrians, also barbarians from the Initiative, Fraternity and even the fallen Horde, rebels from the Republic, lost souls from the Federation, all sorts of corporations and alliances I had never heard about. Is cluster-wide peace finally at hand through God's miraculous intervention as He has opened the eyes of humankind? 

My joy did not last very long. My psalms of joy were overheard by pilots, and a certain Zenoxii Boirelle struck up conversation and explained to me that these were not pilgrims at all. In stead, this is part of the Gallente election!

I will never understand these things.

Apparently, in order to rally support, candidates go on a tour of the lands to present their program and garner "votes", meaning that their presence makes people choose them above the candidates that are at a larger distance. It must be a Federation thing. Now, they are hiring capsuleers to do the campaign tour for them, since that also results in "votes". 

The election campaign trail is going through the New Eden constellation, that is all.

I got confirmation that universal peace was not at hand when I spotted a White Sky Ares-class interceptor trying in vain to grab the passing shuttles. 

Sad and cloaked, I watched it for a while, feeling at least some relief seeing pilots scoot by unhindered by its clumsy failed attempts to catch and kill. 

I made my way back to Mehatoor to be in time for the wedding.

Return from New Eden

I am finishing my stay out in the New Eden constellation, as I have not heard back from mr. Aeonyx Quirinus. He was intending to come here for a pilgrimage and work on his redemption, and I was planning to help him with it. He seems to have disappeared, the last message I received from him is about setting up a new corporation to deal with his aspirations. 

That was back in Amarr, and when I did not find him in the Emperor Family Academy, I ventured out to New Eden on my own, hoping to see him there - perhaps he was already on his way towards Eve gate. 

I have to return today though, with Quirinus' disappearance still a mystery - tomorrow I have a pleasant task to perform at the Chapel, a noble wedding!

I have gathered data on the pirate structures and hauling routes and schedules. Mr. Firth seems happy enough with what we have, and considers the mission complete. Nevertheless, I am thinking of returning after the wedding ceremony for perhaps a last attempt to search for Quirinus.

Central Point

Explorers charting new territory get the privilege to name the places they map out. Some tend to be poetic. Some are vain, giving their own name, or nostalgic, naming a landmark to a place back home.

The explorer of this constellation was none of the above, as is evident from the name "Central Point".

It is quite literally the central point of the cruciform Eve constellation. The system next to it is Dead End, which is also to be taken literally. 

I wonder if there was never a brief moment of mischievous thought, an instant of capricious rebellion against the dignity of the office of geographer, when our first explorer considered to name the central point Dead End and the dead end Central Point. Such a prank would certainly have gone well with the name of the other dead end system next to Central Point: Canard. 

Anyway, Central Point. Being central, I was not surprised to see that both White Sky and Shadow Cartel have an Astrahus in the system. The White Sky one has defensive modules fitted, almost in an identical way as the station in New Eden. The Shadow Cartel station next to it does not. Both have a cloning center, so I take it that the pirates stage from Central Point - for obvious reasons. 

Another flurry of Metenox drills disfigure the moons, while planetary customs offices are owned by a corporation called the Milkmen. No doubt this is a dairy corporation - piracy must be taxing on the bones, requiring supplemental calcium intake. However, why these milkmen choose to let their cattle graze on gas giants remains a mystery. I cannot imagine it being efficient when one needs to levitate cows to prevent them from falling straight down to the high-pressure zone of the gas giants.

No longer a promised land

Today I scouted Promised Land, the neighboring system to the New Eden (dead-end) system where Eve gate is.

During my last survey I saw the first few of these Metenox moon drills appearing here. Brand new types of structures back then. To me these are a source of concern, as they hinder proper colonization and may be abused to exploit the weak and the poor. 

Sadly, Upwell's revolution has now taken over all the space industry here. 

Where I only saw a dozen of these Metenox abominations in the entire constellation, now there are more than a dozen in this system alone. The industrialization has become fully automated, there is not a single athanor space station left. 

Not that anyone of pious and right mind will miss "McRumble's Mud-Wrestling Mansion" athanor station that used to be here, but you understand what I mean.

In stead there are two small control towers - one with laser batteries and other defenses, used as a mining safe, the other seemingly undefended. Shadow Cartel, White Sky and Sedition seem to share this space, with the cartel doing most of the automated moon mining and planetary industry, and Sedition's friends "Kacote Dungeon" (part of "Churn and Burn") doing I guess ore belts.

For capsuleers, Promised Land has become nothing more than an ore extraction hinterland, rarely visited except for hauling industrial resources, and mostly benefiting criminal capsuleer organisations...

New Eden scouting

I completed the survey of the New Eden system. It looks easy, since there is just one planet. But people here tend to make deep safes and put structures there. The Black Chapel was an example. So, I dutifully scanned a larger area.

There was nothing out of the ordinary.

The Eve Gate is as beautiful as ever, as seen here from the research stations in orbit above New Eden's line planet. A Sisters of Eve structure side by side with the Kor-Azor research station. Eve Gate from time to time seems to pulse a bit more strongly, but then there's a running joke that each time you see the gate you see it pulse strangely.

The pirate presence was light. There's a single astrahus, at the Promised Land jump gate, belonging to a member corporation of the "Churn and Burn" alliance. I scanned down its defenses for the Ministry. 

My combat probes and station hacking and scanning cause a bit of a scare, I think. There was a single pirate in system, but after my scanning the pilots in the station were rudely awaken from their sleep, I could see the number of pilots increase. Just two came out, one cadet posted at the jump gate, and one buzzard scanning around for the enemy. They scanned in vain.

The route to New Eden

With no news from mr. Quirinus, I decided to set out for New Eden myself. 

I was considering to bring the Ratakh Hubrau, an Astero-class ship. I learned that these types of ship are less scary to the outer-worlders than Amarr exploration vessels. Especially mining fleets fear the Anathema-class ships way more than the inferior Astero. The Anathema can fit much more advanced modules, as it has much more CPU. It can also fit covert cynosural field generators, and that strongly contributes to the fear that our Amarr ship instills in the barbarians.

I do not want to appear as a threat, but unfortunately the Astero has some difficulty fitting expanded probe launchers without compromising other systems' efficiency. For a good survey mission one needs to be able to scan down structures as well as ships, using combat probes. So, I will be using the Indagatrix anyway.

The way over to New Eden is rather scenic. There are interesting sights at the various jump gates on the way, such as a massive hollow asteroid at the Antem gate in Djimane. On the other side, the Djimane gate in Antem, a strange abandoned station can be seen looming mysteriously over the gate.

The way was also very quiet tonight. No gatecamp in Fensi, for a change. And reassuringly, there was a massive Imperial Navy fleet in Promised land at the New Eden gate. 

Their presence is warranted: the constellation is still plagued by the presence of a mix of various low-class nozems. Thugs from White Sky share space with Shadow Cartel miscreants. But, to my delight, the "Black Chapel" pirate haven in New Eden appears to have been dismantled. 

I guess my letters to the Imperial Navy have been taken seriously after all.

Waiting

Still no sign of mr. Quirinus. So, I took a day off and visited Dam-Torsad today. It was splendid weather for a walk in the streets. I toured the grand cathedrals  in the old center, doing my prayers in each of them. I went for a long walk to visit one of my favorite libraries, the library of the Imperial History Museum.

When I came back, I again consulted the capsuleer guest list, but I not find trace of mr. Quirinus - perhaps he already left for New Eden? 

To help me find out, I decided to contact Nurveh, a friend who used to work in space-lane traffic control in Kor-Azor prime. It appears that Nurveh has made promotion and is now doing important work for shipping logistics for House Kor-Azor. It did not take him long to confirm that mr. Quirinus has not left the Amarr system. 

Most likely he is off-grid in the Emperor Family Academy station in orbit of Oris. I really do not like that busy station with its hustlers and scam artists, its loud and raucous atmosphere. I do not want to go look around in the drinking dens and other places of degeneracy. In stead, I will simply stay for a bit longer in the hopes of finding him, and then I will head out to New Eden on my own. 

I mean, it is likely that the Ministry of Internal Order beat me to be the first to offer mr. Quirinus the opportunity to do penance, in which case I should not expect him to re-appear soon anyway.

Scouting mission

I have had some delays to join mr. Quirinus on a pilgrimage. I had to get permission from my political officer and his initial reaction was that mr. Quirinus would be better helped by a visit to the cleansing pits than a visit to Eve gate. 

I have been arguing for the contrary, pointing to the fact that mr. Quirinus is showing contrition in the Good Word.

Mr. Firth warmed to the idea after a while, in particular since a fresh review of the capsuleer structures in New Eden and in the Eve constellation in general would be useful for the Ministry of Internal Order. Perhaps part of mr. Quirinus' penance could consist in helping to scout every uninhabited planet, moon and asteroid belt in this far frontier.

It has been a well over a year since my last visit, when I also provided this service. I wonder if the 'Black Chapel', the athanor of evil, is still present in New Eden. It is a pirate haven used by the hoodlums of White Sky and I have been (uncessfully) petitioning the Amarr Navy for its permanent removal.

But first, I will head to Amarr, to see if Aeonyx Quirinus is still there or whether he already left for his pilgrimage. 

On madness

In some more remote corners of our glorious Empire, a belief persists among doctors and medical professionals that false religious ideas can cause such strong emotional responses that they damage the body, and that the physical injuries inflicted on the body and the brain in turn result in madness. These false ideas make it very difficult to treat the disease, once the afflicted is convinced that to doubt them is blasphemy.

I have never been an adherent to this particular theory of madness, and in better medical circles it has been discarded and treated as outdated and wrong. 

But sometimes, a particular case might seem to fit the bill. The false idea of Sedevacantism is so harmful that it seems to have affected a regular on "The Good Word" channel to a degree that seems to border on insanity. Indeed, it looks as if poor Quirinus has started to think that he might be the promised emperor that the arch-heretic is clamoring for.

There are delicate threads of reason still keeping his soul from damnation. He speaks of building a church, and of pilgrimage. I do not think he has yet reached out to a priest for spiritual counseling, or to a medical center of the Ministry for physical treatment (even though these are free of cost!) 

I am feeling a pang of compassion. A pilgrimage could indeed help to cleanse the mind of heresy, but if he walks that path alone his troubled thoughts will bounce back and forth in self-reflection on the mind's mirrors, amplifying only themselves in the absence of outside input. This may end up reinforcing his madness. But if I were to join him, even for a bit of the way, I may have a chance at bringing back this lost wanderer on the right path through prayer and by administering the rite of confession...