The challenger

I was still thinking about the grand master who thinks he is the best archer in the universe but doesn't know it is because his apprentices carefully paint bull's eyes around his arrows wherever they land. 

When master Drellken came to see how I was doing, I asked him if no-one ever told grand master Nori about the deception.

He thought for a bit, and then said, "Actually, one day, a young champion archer came to challenge the venerable Nori. He came to the training field, and showed off his skill. He shot an arrow right in the bull's eye from certainly one hundred meters. Then the took a second arrow, and shot it with an aim so good that the second arrow splintered the first arrow. He yelled out at master Nori to come and do better."

"So, grand master Nori took him to the forest, to a place where an old tree bridges a deep ravine. The tree is not stable and mushrooms feast on its rot. Master Nori carefully stepped on the tree and walked to the middle of the ravine. The tree creaked and cracked and shook and pieces fell into the deep, but master Nori didn't fall. He shot an arrow which landed in a tree trunk farther away. He then carefully stepped back and with a little leap made it back to the safe rock at the side."

"The challenger may have been an excellent archer, but he did not dare to stand on the rickety tree. As the champion bowed his head in defeat, master Nori explained to him 'you have trained your eyes and the muscles in your arms, but you forgot to train your mind'."

I guess that was my lecture for the day, as my mentor left and I still don't understand how master Nori can be thought of as the best archer in the universe.

The master archer

On several occasions during my walks through the forest I noticed, usually in places difficult to access, an archery target with a single arrow right in the middle of the bull's eye.

Curious about this, I asked my mentor Drellken about it.

He said those are from grand master Nori's archery sessions: "Grand master Nori is the best archer in the universe. Sometimes he wants to make sure he is still so good. Then, he instructs his apprentices to blindfold him, and to lead him to a random place in the woods where the target practice will take place. He doesn't know in advance where this will be."

"There they spin poor master Nori around and toss him around, and it is not rare that he falls and hurts himself, as he is already very old and gets easily disoriented. But then he stands up, and still as blindfolded as he was all the time, he takes his bow, places an arrow, aims without looking, and shoots."

"Only after the arrow has flown its course through the air and landed with a satisfying thud, master Nori allows himself to take off his blindfold. And every single time all can see that his shot has indeed again hit the bull's eye. What you encounter on your walks, are the results of such field archery exercises."

I was in awe, and without due deference I asked "But... if he can't see and doesn't know where the target is, how does take aim? Is God guiding the arrow for this holy man?"

"Probably not." my mentor answered, "As soon as the arrow leaves the bow, the apprentices run after it, and when it lands, they quickly paint a target around the arrow. They are good at this and train for it all year round, so they can do it without grand master Nori knowing."

As our directrix would say: Okies.

I asked "And... he never figured it out, grand master Nori?"

At this my mentor laughed heartily and replied "How do you expect an weary old man to notice if you yourself don't notice such things? You haven't even noticed the apprentices running around you!". Still laughing and shaking his head, he left me in my confusion.  

((ooc disclaimer: The stories Theodosius hears from the other monks during his stay in the Achura monestary do not come from my own imagination: I picked them from the folk tales and stories I collected while traveling around, told to me by the random people I meet during these travels.))

The role of idols in Achur faith

Life at the Achur monastery is peaceful and contemplative. It is strangely dissonant with anything I associate with Caldari corporatism. I've always mentally pictured the Caldari as a kind of "ant colony people", where the individual worker ants exhaust themselves for the good of the industrious colony. This monastery is about as far removed from that mental picture as possible. It is as if all the modernity and space technology cannot reach this ancient place. It doesn't want to build something new, or produce something tangible, it is meant to help individuals to discover some truth about themselves.

I've asked if I could be given a simple task to help my brothers. And so I've been tasked with maintenance work on the myriad of statues and idols that are on the monastery grounds. Some need cleaning of cobwebs, moss or leaves. Some wear blue knitted caps, and the caps must be replaced when they become too weathered or winds blew them off the statues.

I inquired with master Drellken about the statues. I thought that the Achur faith did not worship gods or saints, as I was told it ponders the universal truth and the redemption of the self.

He explained that while this is indeed so, common villagers don't care all that much about the deep practices of Achur faith and they think worshiping the spirits or old gods in the statues is a good deed. But in fact, the statues are just symbols, for example to pay tribute to wise men of the past who taught about the truth. They can be like images of a loved one you keep near and can look at to bring back memories. The monks don't worship them and know they cannot reach the truth by worshiping them. They use them in their rites to remember teachings and to help focus.

Something similar goes for relics, but they have in addition the property that maybe still something new can be learned from them, so they are treated with even more respect. Our discussion thus turned in a natural way to the topic of the rod of the creator shard they have in the monastery. My mentor will inquire if I may visit it - they are afraid of theft as many pieces held by various monasteries have been stolen and are still missing.

Matins

I am settling in. I have been housed in a very comfortable wooden cabin, with all amenities I could wish for. It has a deck with a magnificent view over the mountains, towards the lake that sometimes can be seen in the distance. The view lends itself to sitting down and meditating. I realize this cabin is a privileged lodge for pilgrims, and even though I marvel at the view a regular cell would have suited me just as well.

The day starts with matins. The monks gather at the temple and chant in front of their idols and relics. One of the monks, a man with the build of a tall wardrobe, beats a drum. The rhythm is rather fast, two beats per second. The others chant one syllable per drumbeat. From time to time - I haven't been able to discern a pattern- another monk strikes a cymbal. I been given a hand missal, but it is a translation so I cannot chant along, just listen. In addition, I am not sure it would be proper for me to do so. There are villagers and visitors attending the morning chanting - I have not seen many during the other hours.

After this morning liturgy, we have breakfast porridge. It is the only meal of the day that is not taken in the refectory, but in the public hall of the temple. Each monk sits at a table with one villager family or visitor group and they eat the breakfast porridge together. This is the occasion for the visitors to talk to the monks, to tell them their stories and plights and to ask for prayers.

Achur that have problems with their eyes visit this particular monastery, many come from far away to place offerings and pray in front of the statuettes of the eye idol. The monks give them a flask with which they can scoop up water from the temple source, as this water is said to have healing powers for eyesight troubles.  

I take breakfast with my mentor, master Drellken. We talk about our faiths and rites. I haven't yet brought up my main question - my request to see the piece of the rod of the creator that they keep in the inner temple.

The stairway of a thousand steps

I slept like a log last night, tired, but in a good way. So, I shall finish yesterday's story. 

I arrived at the stone lantern in the late afternoon. A monk was there, I do not know if he was waiting for me or if they saw me coming and had sent him down. Their clothing is simpler than our robes, and I did not see any signs of body augmentations. Next to the lantern was the start of a stone stairway that led up into the forest on the mountain slope.

My monastic colleague told me that this is the staircase of the thousand steps, and it is the entrance to the Monastery of the Seeing Blind at the top of the mountain. My courage sank at the prospect of having to climb it. I was starting to feel the exhaustion of the walk in the heat. But he insisted this was the proper way to go the monastery. 

He had some duties still at the lantern, but would come up later and rejoin me. I started the climb. To my surprise, the stairs were not well maintained, there are stretches were the stones are broken up and scattered, and this makes the ascension difficult. I wondered if the monastery would ever get visitors. There were also snakes in the cracks between the stones, so I had to tread carefully, which hampered the climb. I had to stop several times, to catch my breath and drink the last sips of my water. 

There's this compulsive thing I do - counting the steps of stairs. In this case, thousand. It's hard to stay focused, but usually I am within a few steps of the actual correct number. Here, I counted two thousand two hundred and fifty five. "Thousand steps", a figure of speech, indeed. Dusk was falling but the heat was sweltering by now. There was no breeze and the air was humid, despite being in the mountains.

After great effort, I arrived at the top of the staircase, at the entrance to the monastery. There was a water well nearby, and several peasants and monks. Also the monk I had met at the bottom was there. I hadn't seen anyone else on the staircase, and he never passed me, so I asked him how he got there. 

He said he just took his ground transportation vehicle along the road a little bit farther from where the stairs started, it leads to the parking lot of the monastery. I was dumbfounded - "But, wasn't this the proper way to enter the monastery? You told me so yourself!". He answered, as if he was talking to a kid, as if it had been plain and obvious: "Yes, proper way for you. Not for me, I live here."

I was parched so I wanted to drink from the well, which was equipped with a row of cups on a long stick. But I was not allowed to drink yet: the well is meant for ablution, you scoop up water and rinse your hands and arms. Actually, the cold water flowing over my arms gave relief from the heat.

After that, I was given water to drink and brought to my lodgings, where, as you already know, I fell asleep shortly after.

Reaching the monastery

It has been a long day, but I have reached the monastery. I've been welcomed by my mentor and shown my lodgings. I am tired, and feel I will fall asleep soon, but I want to record my day.

Early in the morning, I left Nizunpaska. There is and old railroad for plasma maglev trains that circles the lake. It is a bit of a tourist attraction, and there is a museum of plasma maglev technology at the starting station, where one can marvel at the old engines. 

image credit: Christian Chihaia

The track goes along the shore of the lake, offering nice views. I took the northern route to one of the many valleys where a mountain river meets the lake. The station where I stepped off the train was not much more than a platform - and it was deserted. As I stepped off, I felt the day was already starting to get hot. 

I started my walk following the river up the valley. There is some farming, mostly hydro-culture grain fields. I only saw one farmer, knee-deep in the water between his crop. He looked up and stared at me, I think he had never seen an Amarrian before.

The valley is rather wide at the start, and flat at the bottom where the river meanders. After two hours of walking, I came across a hill, in the middle of the flat valley. It was maybe thirty meters high, and looked very much out of place. There was a shrine at the top, and despite the heat I climbed up to the shrine. It was deserted, but there were nice statues of old gods and there were relics scribbled all over with undecipherable writing. It looked well maintained, even if there was no-one there at the time. I rested a while, praying and taking in the quietness of the place.

I continued my walk up the valley. It narrowed down and became more woody. My mentor for the exchange had told me to walk all the way up, past the foothills, until I arrived at a large stone lantern at the base of a mountain. 

Ah, I am falling asleep as I write, I will continue tomorrow once I'm rested.

The lake city

Today I took the "fast" land transit to Nizunpaska, the city by the lake. I put fast in quotation marks since it took most of the day to get there, crossing a large and desolate mountain range. Nizunpaska (its Napanii name as indicated in the stations is not the local name) is not a large city by any planetary standards. 

While its core districts are still markedly Caldari in the way we know it from Jita, the old lakeside part has a different feel to it. It is more relaxed and less efficiency-focused. The remoteness of the city with respect to major metropolitan areas also shows itself in the demographics: there are markedly less Deteis and Civire here than in the main hub I was yesterday.

The city is located at the eastern tip of the lake, so the sun sets over the lake. Right in front of the city, there is a small islet in the lake, deemed a holy place by the inhabitants. In the evening, they gather at the lakefront to watch the sunset. Even though it was a bit cloudy, I took a picture to remember this place.

After sunset I went for dinner, and had a simple meal, the local soup. It is a fish stock with fermented soybean, to which they add small clams from the lake and local vegetables. I was explained that there is quite an art to serving the soup, as the serving (in a bowl) must balance greens and non-greens in the soup, as well as balance floating elements (a kind of fungus) and parts that sink to the bottom of the bowl. Also the clams must have opened in exactly the right way. I hope I did justice to the dish...

Arrival on Achura

I traveled to Achura today, third planet in the Saisio system. Eager to start this adventure, and wondering about my counterpart heading to Mehatoor. For sure, he will have a more easy travel - he can just dock up and walk to the library, where mr. Jensen awaits him. 

Me, I have to travel to a mountain monastery, in a more remote part of the planet. Today, I stay in the large metropolis where my shuttle made planetfall, and where border officials checked my paperwork. I got a free Sukuuvestaa Mass Transit pass, allowing me to travel around for the duration of my stay.

The city is immense, but it and reminds me more of Jita than of Dam Torsad. Things are geared towards efficiency and industry, and there is less emphasis on historical relevance and of religion. The Sukuuvestaa corporation and its subsidiaries appears to be present everywhere. There are billboards and advertisements everywhere, and they try to personalize them to those who walk by. Mass transit is very well organised. I had difficulties orienting myself, but a mass transit employee went above and beyond in his efforts to show me exactly where to go.

I will rest up at a hostel for pilgrims. Tomorrow I will take the fast rail system to the city closest to the monastery. The town's name can be loosely translated as "water city". It is located at the top of a large inland lake, right at the mouth of the main river that feeds the lake. This will require me to take a long trip over land, over a mountainous range.

New recruits

Only a few days left before I leave for Saisio III. I am curious what I will find there. I am also thinking of my counterpart, who must be preparing now for the trip just as I do.

In the last couple of days I met several new recruits, the alliance appears to be growing at an accelerating pace. It seems to me that almost every time I enter Gottin's lamp bar for a coffee, there is an interview going on. One of the new recruits, Zohra Ismayil, spent time in a monastery before joining, and I felt a kinship even though she is very young. She is interested in exploration and books, so there's common ground. 

Another new recruit appears to be a former member of the order of St. Tetrimon. They have grown in importance. The recent troubles with Equilibrium of Mankind infiltrators -as highly placed as Alar Chakaid in the Theology council- have started inquisitions and purges to remove heretics from positions of power in the Empire. The Tetrimon, who from the very start suspected and apprehended Alar Chakaid, have proven themselves useful in the purification of our ranks, and I expect their power to increase further.

The Tetrimon also hold old manuscripts and old parts of Scripture, which are no longer the official canon but which may hold clues to the fate of the Avetat and Ametat. When I get back, I must find our Tetrimon corp member and talk to him.

Ishta's manumission part 2

It was a beautiful ceremony, in the SFRIM chapel. So many people were gathered, all supporting Ishta and being happy about her bright future. 

Lord Pitoojee delivered a magnificent speech, a mix of rejoicing and warning. Indeed, life as a free person comes with responsabilities and duties that you have to set yourself. No longer are you told what to do, you have to figure out all that yourself...

Ishta's family was also there. I met young Arne, Ishta's half brother if I'm correct. He is interested in the ministry, and feels the calling. He is still young, so his calling will meet tests of faith, but I plan to support him. I'll give him a little job in the library. He can prepare himself for the seminary and study scripture in the quiet hours.

There was a nice surprise at the end of the ceremony, one that further propels Ishta towards her future. So many developments are happening all at once...

Ishta's manumission

Later today, Ishta's manumission ceremony will take place. I am quite curious to see how it will go. I confess that I don't quite remember from my theology studies how these ceremonies work... back in the days it was just some sort of footnote.

You see, when I was young, it was a time when not many slaves were set free. Manumissions were rare, and I can't remember ever attending any. This was in Heideran's days, but it was well before the Pax Amarria. That was published while I was secluded in the monastery. The same goes for empress Jamyl's decrees, these occurred while I was not in touch with worldly affairs.

I came back to a changed Empire. Yet I think it is a change for the better. Manumissions show to those that are still enslaved that there is hope and a real goal to work towards. Praise be to exemplary holders such as lord Pitoojee who guided Ishta from a very dark place towards the light.

Rens incident

A few days ago, I was transiting in Rens, in Heimatar. The warp core of the Indigatrix was giving me warning messages, so I docked up for quick repairs. You don't want a warp core malfunction in between gates. I was waiting in a small bakery shop, with a coffee and a book, while the repairs took place.

In the Republic, it is not uncommon for us, Amarrians, to get yelled at and insulted. Never accept coffee that you did not see being brewed in front of your own eyes, unless you like the taste of spit. Now especially the tempers run high, as Minmatar pilots are all riled up by these foolish reenactments of battles against Amarr for Republic "liberation day" celebration. Like every year it ends up being a celebration of violence.

As I was waiting, a man came up to me menacingly. Judging by his clothes and demeanor, he was military. Pale skin, dark hair, rather tall. He had a Sebiestor face, with scars on his face but no visible tattoos. Maybe he didn't take the Voluval, maybe he was born in Empire space. He somehow knew I was in LUMEN, because he addressed me as "Lumen". He yelled it as he came towards me and looked quite disturbed. 

At that point I was trying to remember when I had last made a clone backup.

He did not draw a knife or gun, though. He just shouted at me, confusing language. About how I should tell Tamiroth that Howdahri was attacked and killed. Now, I know Tamiroth as the fourth planet of the Amarr home system. And I have no idea how I have to pass on a message to a planet. I concluded he had mental problems, and frankly, at the moment, I was too stunned to respond.

He added an accusation about the murderess of this Howdahri. I will not repeat it here as I do not want slander another member of LUMEN. The man turned and left before I could respond.

As I said, I thought these were the ramblings of a madman. So while I was a bit shocked I gave it no further thought.

That is, until I found out that Tamiroth is not only a planet, but also the name of one of our SFRIM members, apparently on leave now.

Preparations

I have started with the preparations of my visit to Achura. The advice, kindness and help of many Achur in our alliance has been invaluable - I am especially thankful to Franco, Aria, and Therese.

I plan to leave as soon as I can, but certainly not before Ishta's manumission ceremony on the 11th. Lord Pitoojee has deemed she is ready to be freed. Although she is still a bit a diamond in the rough I would humbly say I agree with his lordship's evaluation. 

Great changes are coming for her, and they come all at the same time. She also got her capsuleer licence, and will be acceding to the illustrious house deSilvestris. I hope she can cope with all these momentous changes in her life. My impression is that she starts with a lot of energy and idealism in her new life, with plans to make the Empire (or at least Nakri, the deSilvestris homeworld) a better place. I hope the cynicism of veteran nobles will not dissuade her.

The go-ahead

I met with Lunarisse and Franco today. Not in the context of their freshly minted marriage, but to ask their support and help for my plan to visit Achura (Franco's home world). 

I received permission from Lunarisse, as Directrix, for this exchange.

Franco gave me advice, supplementing the advice I also got from Aria and Therese. He would also look into the monastery that I chose, and see if he can find more information on it - maybe it is linked to the monastery close to where he lived! If that is the case, he was willing to recommend me, and that would certainly help me get a glimpse of the relic of the 'Rod of the Creator'.

So, I will go forward! And in a few days, enroll in the exchange. I am a bit anxious but mostly curious to what I will find there.

Beach barbeque

I was able to talk to Aria about the exchange with Achura. Lunarisse was also around, but the setting was not ideal. She had just returned with Franco from honeymoon. SFRIM had organised a beach BBQ in an picturesque atol with solitonic resonances leading to large waves. She was attempting to surf them. This is apparently a tradition after concluding wars.

It is unclear why this relaxation must envolve exposure to ionising solar radiation and corrosive fluids, but all seemed to enjoy the sun and sea. Aria shares with me a certain discomfort with such relaxation, or at least that is how it appeared to me. 

She reassured me that there will be no security concern to let an Achura monk take my place for a short while. But Aria also explained to me that Caldari society will not tolerate proselytizing. The silver tongued poison of Federation propaganda has made them wary of any foreign influence. So, while I am visiting, I should definitely lay low and keep my own rituals and practices very private. I will heed these wise warnings.

Monastery of the Seeing Blind

I looked more closely at the ACRE program, and found that I can apply to one of the monasteries that has a piece of the Rod of the Creator relic. 

The possibility that caught my eye is the "Monastery of the Seeing Blind". I would be able to visit them for about two weeks, staying in the monastery and learning about their rites and the relic. In exchange, a monk from their ranks would take my place in the library. It would be a capsuleer monk, trading places with me, a capsuleer friar. 

I haven't seen Aria around when I was in the library, but I hope to see her or Lunarisse tomorrow, for her approval of the exchange, or maybe a suggestion for a better exchange partner.

Collapse of the Takmahl empire

Yesterday I have been mulling over the question posed by dr. Valate: could the Takmahl have found Abyssal space? I concluded that they would not have done so while settling in Araz, nor do I think it is plausible that they did in the golden age of their civilization.

That of course leaves out the period of the late Takmahl empire. The downfall of their civilization was as meteoric as its rise to prominence was. The reasons for their quick demise are unknown. From an advanced civilization, in the timespan of merely a century, they collapsed to a pre-industrial state of barbarism.

Indeed, when scouts and explorers first reached the region, they found a backward stone age cannibalistic people that did not remember any of their former technology. The population had dwindled to a few semi-nomadic settlements in a decaying urban wilderness they no longer understood. The tools and edifices of their ancestors, the Takmahl, were venerated as relics left by ancient gods. Only the rites of the blood remained in practice, true to their long-lost Sabik origins.

What apocalypse befell the Takmahl? 

The standard theory followed in Hedion and other universities in the Empire is that at some point, the falsehood of their Sabik religion caught up with them. The depravities got worse and worse and collapsed their society, perhaps aided by the abuse of cyborgs in their cults. 

Another popular theory is ecosystem collapse. Most worlds in Araz are barren, and they relied on hydroculture in the ocean worlds in the constellation. Concurrent asteroid storms, inferred from cratering studies, appeared to have struck these worlds around the same time as the decline of their Empire.

Here now we may have a third theory. It is a variant of the theory formulated before by Valate once before in the context of Drifters, at the fourth SeyCon conference. That theory states that the Takmahl encountered a civilization much more advanced than they are, and perhaps unwittingly started a war with them. The new version of this theory would then involve Abyssal space. Maybe at some point they were able to reverse engineer the spatial rifts at the Labyrinth site enough to tinker with them and reached Abyssal space (or wormhole space). If they started looting it, who knows what they might have triggered. A reprisal by the Drifters? Or maybe the Triglavian's ancestors?

Takmahl in Abyssal space

Today I came across an interesting article by prof. Valate, a prominent Takmahl scholar whose works I track. Quite provocatively, she asks:

"was [it] possible that the Takmahl were able to create portals to abyssal realms, and made contact with someone or something there, not necessarily the Triglavians, during the time the Takmahl were active, some 1500-2000 years ago [?]"

Previous works (among which also those of Valate herself) assume a link between the Takmahl and the Talocan. The Sabik who fled Amarr at the height of Queron I's persecutions had technology no more advanced than cryoships. In a short timespan after they settled in the Araz constellation, they developed advanced cybernetics and ship fittings that still today we marvel about. Takmahl artefacts and materials are used to this day to produce advanced ship modules. 

So how could they so quickly go from refuguees to an interstellar empire? The consensus is that they stumbled upon Talocan technology left in Araz. The influences of Talocan technology on their society is visible through the artefacts and relics that are found in the ruins of their cities and space installations. It has always been implicitly assumed that they found this Talocan technology in deepspace pockets in Aphi and the other systems of the pentagram constellation.

I wonder about the track that is being explored - so far as I know without proof. Is dr. Valate suggesting that the Takmahl actually met the Talocan or their descendants in Abyssal space? It seems doubtful that in the initial stages, when they settled down, they would know about Abyssal space, let alone have the technology to go there. Filaments as we know them require more advanced ships than what they had.

Maybe the question is whether during the golden age of their Empire they would have found a way to go to Abyssal space. As ms. Jenneth suggests, traces of Isogen-10 would reveal this - but as far as I know there have been no such traces. Also, if they would have an influx of new knowledge and the ability to exploit Abyssal space, I would think this would give them a second boost, a second rapid expansion if not in territory then in technology. Again to the best of my knowledge there is no trace of that second spurt.

The Rod of the Creator

The Achura are a deeply spiritual people, which I find a bit at odds with the rest of the Caldari State. The Achura homeworld, Saisio III, is also the home of many relics. 

Those who believe that some long-lost civilization colonized our cluster through the Eve Gate often point to Saisio III as an important planet for that lost civilization. In their minds, the relics of the Ancient Gods are nothing but leftover technology from a thriving world before the Dark Ages.

There is one particular relic that interests me a lot - the Rod of the Creator. It is not one piece, rather it consists of different relics scattered over several monasteries. Some of these pieces have been stolen, some even hunted down and returned by loyal Caldari capsuleers. I've been fascinated by this relic, and in my mind I have come to link it to the Ametat, the Sceptre.

Now that my road forward with the Takmahl corpse is blocked, as I can't legally obtain a clone from someone else's DNA, this is the next route of investigation that I will pursue. Layla Accadis' corpse has been waiting for a thousand years, she can wait a bit more.

Could it be that the Sceptre, through some winding and mysterious path, at some point made it to Achura? They barely left the iron age a few centuries ago, so they would not have known its significance but surely they would have felt its power. How did it become fractured? Do the Achura have myths or tales of how it got there? I want to find out.

The monasteries on Achura are not readily accessible to visitors, at least not the interesting ones. But I have a plan.

To strengthen the ties between the Empire and the State, especially since the fall of Niarja, there are several cooperation and exchange programs. ACRE is one of these programmes, the "Amarr - Caldari Religious Exchange". The idea is that monks (friars are also eligible) from the Empire and the State trade places for a while. I would spend time in an Achura monastery, and an Achur monk would come to Mehatoor. 

I'll have to discuss this with Directrix Phonaga (yes, she took Franco's name). She'd be reluctant to let strangers into the SFRIM offices in Mehatoor, I think. So, maybe I'll first get Aria on my side. She is also from Achura, and linked to the monastic tradition. I have time, I suppose Lunarisse is now enjoying her honeymoon.

A wedding and a victory

They say misfortunes never come alone, but apparently that is also true of good things.

The wedding yesterday was magnificent. The Farthest Star chapel, usually a quiet place, was filled to the brim. Many Gallenteans came, to my surprise. The Gate seemed particularly active, throwing its whisps of light as if it was celebrating with us. 

The ceremony too was beautiful, the sedevacantist protesters from my nightmares were absent. There was only an interruption by Amadin, who mock objected like a jealous fool. The bride and the groom looked fantastic! There was a reception afterwards, but I may have dozed off a little. Maybe it was the release of the tension that I had felt officiating this wedding that made me sleepy afterwards.

Today, more good news arrived, probably the best wedding gift of all that were given. 

Our war with the Kybernauts comes to an end! God has given us victory! The fall of the Wirashoda Azbel was indeed the turning point, our victories multiplied afterwards. Their resistance crumbled before the onslaught of the unlikely alliance between LUMEN, Electus Matari and PNS. In their hasty retreat, the Kybernauts abandoned or burned down their own last fortresses. None remain, after yesterday's final mopping up operation.

Alas this was but a stage in a much longer war. For the Kybernauts are but the henchmen of their Triglavian overlords. The Triglavians are still strong, even if their servants have been defeated. With all their talk of proving, it stands to reason the Triglavians will not like failure. So, while some Kybernauts now try to seek refuge in the arms of their masters, hoping punishment will not be too harsh, others have chosen to run away and turn to piracy. 

Let us be gracious in our victory, and try to guide these wayward capsuleers back into the fold.