War worries

Pochven seems to be heating up again. The Triglavians, loathe as ever to engage our forces themselves, have found new henchmen. Nullsec barbarians have replenished and complemented the defeated khybernauts. They attacked Smokey, the station where most of the fleets from the first war were staged.

The combined capsuleer fleets of the different empires assembled to defend Smokey once again, and the attackers were scared away.

This does not seem like much of a fight, but to me, it feels like a prelude. Poking around at our defenses, checking out what kind of fleet we bring up for these defenses. It does not seem unlikely to me that we will face war again in the Pochven domain...

New doc

The deprogramming is going well. Luckily, the new layer of cult was only seven years old, and there was still a strong, fertile layer of orthodox faith beneath.

Right before and also during this emergency, I met the new doctor at the medical facility, Jamika Tekitsuno. I discussed my cloning problem with her, and found her willing to help me! So I got my hopes up that she can provide me with a clone of the Takmahl corpse. She wanted to study the matter further, probably she was a bit taken aback by the strange nature of my request.

She's new. She still has to learn that strangeness is the capsuleer normal.

Deprogramming

I have to admit I don't know how to deprogram groups of cultists. I can't remember they ever taught us that at the Theology Council university. Or it must've been an elective I didn't take.

So, books to the rescue. 

The first few volumes I picked up were no help, really. Bishop Ainslie's "Breaking down Will" doesn't tell much about reconstructing a faith after the breakdown. "Exorcism for dummies", from the famous "for dummies"-series was not quite on topic. Hedion University Press's "Programming for Scientists and Engineers" did not say anything about deprogramming. It made me wonder though, why they make a distinction between scientists and engineers.

Finally I found what I needed in the Theology Council's "Short guide to deprogramming in six parts". Why is it that whenever a book title says "short introduction to..." these turn out to be massive tomes with at least 2000 pages? I think the authors want to brag that their subject is actually so difficult that even a short introduction will take you years to read. Or maybe academic handbook authors are all sarcastic.

Anyway, I could skip the first two parts, "Tome I. Kidnapping the Cultist" and "Tome II. Isolating and Breaking Down the Cultist". Those are better left to MIO professionals. And our cultists are already under guard in the Refugee Center.

Also, I skipped the third part, "Tome III. Discrediting the Cult Leader". I don't think it applied here, Luna is their "leader" against her will. She didn't try to take advantage of these people or lie to them, so I don't see why I have to discredit her. Also, applying Tome III's recipes will land me on the wrong side of an airlock with the book stapled to my chest.

I started with "Tome IV. Presenting contradictions". This is about confronting the false beliefs with reality that contradicts it. Or accounts that contradict it. The book says it is best done by former cult members, and I am glad to say there were some non-believers in the group. They didn't speak out before, because they didn't dare to. But now, encouraged by me, they help. We talk in small groups to the others and expose the nonsense and the contradiction. When Luna feels better, she can contribute to this, by telling people she's not a saint. If she tells it herself, this is much more powerful than when I tell it, and it keeps me on the right side of the airlock.

It's going well, and some groups have already moved on to "Tome V. Encouraging Confession", which is about the cultists themselves voicing their criticism about the cult. After that there's only "Tome VI. Crossing Back to Orthodoxy", which is about the cultists starting to identify themselves with the deprogrammers and seeing themselves as opponents to the cult rather than adherents of it. It is only at this stage that they are ready to see their sins and do penance to rejoin the True Faith.

Lunarism

The last couple of days have been very busy. I was called in for an emergency: a group of cultists arrived in the refugee center and they need to be "deprogrammed". Why this was an emergency -the cluster is full of heretics- was not clear to me, but I went down to the center as soon as I could.

There, it appeared that this particular cult worships our Directrix. Not in a figurative sense; not the benign  admiration that many corporation members have for her. No, they do so obsessively and they adhere to the delusion that she is a prophet of sorts. They were clamoring to see their "savior" and I had the greatest difficulty calming them down initially.

Now, the reader may wonder: what is the origin of Lunarism? 

Apparently, Lunarisse had an industrial plant, I think it was on a gas giant planet in Nibainkier. Seven years ago, she stopped planetary production orders. Probably she assumed that the Nibainkier colony would be simply disbanded, but there must have been a miscommunication. In stead of being evacuated, the colony was left to fend for itself, while colonists were waiting for new orders to come for what must have seemed an eternity.

During the long wait, the figure of Lunarisse as the bringer of goods from outside the colony started to get mythical proportions. Prayers for news from her became prayers to her. Folks were waiting for the coming of Luna like they were waiting for Sefrim to come down and bring deliverance. They adorned the landing pad with effigies of Luna. Megacorp CEO's in the State can only dream about this level of devotion (as I suspect they do).

Needless to say, it all went very wrong. There was a schism when some of them heard propaganda of Nauplius and turned Luna from a saint into a demon. Some sort of civil war ensued. Meanwhile, Luna, not knowing what had transpired, had remembered the planetary industry colony and wanted to check it out. As communications had broken down, she went over to find out what happed. What she found must have been a nasty surprise...

To cut a long story short, the colony is now really disbanded, and the Lunarists have been transported to Mehatoor, where I and lord Garion Avarr face the difficult task of deprogramming them...

War zone patrol

During the attack on Farthest Shore I regretted that I was not able to help more actively with the defense of this structure. I wished to do more.

I have taken a vow of non-agression, which forbids me to inflict damage ("dps") on other capsuleers. And frankly, I prefer peaceful exploration and research to any combat.

I fully intend to keep my vow, and so I must find a role in fleet that allows me to do just that. Logistics, repairing damage done to my fleet mates, fits for me and allows me to keep the vow. Yet I know nothing about fleets: even though I have the repair skills on paper, I have no experience. 

So I was happy that lord Gallus-Onzo organised a teaching fleet and patiently explained to me the basics of remote repairing in practice. That practice was actually a war zone patrol, where I did manage to briefly give repairs, before my little training frigate was primaried. Nevertheless, I was happy to join and experience the talent of lord Gallus-Onzo as a fleet commander and teacher.

Back in Mehatoor, I encountered lord-consort Newelle and lady Yassavi. They appeared congratulatory, content that even a scholar would contribute to the effort in the war zone. I think Lady Yassavi interpreted my participation as if I had finally laid down my fickle powerlessness, and have now embraced the power to harm others.

I'm afraid they have misread my motives. My goal is not the become a warzone soldier - it is to learn logi... I got the impression that lady Yassavi feels power only flows from the barrel of a weapon; this a fallacy all too common in military circles. It disregards the true power which is exerted by diplomats such as Amicia or Lunarisse. Making allies, friends, is what brings victory, in a way that a single pilot or terrorist blinded by the "power" of their gun can never match.

Cat flap

I started installing a cat flap in the door to my quarters, so Mittens can move from the library to my cell freely. 

Drama ensued. 

The station's quarters have a type of sliding doors full of electronics for proximity activation and breach detection. Little did I know I wasn't supposed to use a diamond blade jigsaw on that to make a hole for the cat flap. The breach had been detected, alarms were blaring in some control room, and half a brigade of armed security were moving in, stormtrooper formation.

Apparently there have been some security issues and attacks and such in the past at the Lamp and they're very very jittery. So when the alarms went off of someone sawing through a door they took no risks. But really, a stun grenade? Was that necessary?

And then you would think that they would be happy there was no real emergency this time (except for my eardrums), but no. I was told in a very impolite way to have the door replaced immediately and not to drill through it again.

To be honest, I was going to replace the door anyway. Turns out I hadn't thought it through very well: with the cat flap thing attached to it, the sliding door didn't manage to slide all the way any more, thunking the protruding cat flap against the side and going back and forth. 

Maybe I should make a hole in the wall next too the door?

Mittens settling in

The cat is adapting well to its new environment. My monk's cell is too small for it, so I let her go about in the SFRIM sections of the station, in particular the library. She's been given a tracking chip so I can find her when she would get lost. 

She's a brindle cat with an M on her forehead, and white paws. I've started to call it Mittens because of her paws, and she seems to agree with that name because she responds to it. I don't think she liked being called Saint Snuggles.

Unfortunately, Lunarisse is allergic to cats. It didn't take her long during one of her visits to the library to get full-fledged allergy symptoms... I'll put up a notice and get some extra vacuuming bots for the library, especially when Mittens is shedding fur.

Goodbye Farthest Shore

Farthest Shore is still on my mind today. I wonder why the pirates wanted to get rid of it soo much that they accepted great losses at the hands of our pilots.

The station did not have a flourishing market, being in a dead end system of an out-of the way constellation. It's significance as a reasearch outpost for the Gate has dried up since the coming of a brand new Kor-Azor research outpost. The scientists making observations of the gate prefer the new and state-of-the-art equipment at the new outpost.

Farthest shore did not have a military strategic significance. At least, not as long as Eve Gate doesn't miraculously re-opens, but only the Equilibrium of Mankind death cultists believe that, not the roadside brigands of White Sky.

Being highwaymen, they make a living of robbing and murdering pilgrims and visitors that travel the lonely path through Eve constellation towards New Eden. There are no public stations around for several systems around, so their victims can't dock up... unless they find Farthest Shore. It has a reputation of welcoming visitors. Of course, there are also some murderous psychopaths among the pirate capsuleers, who just wanted to murder for fun. 

But in the end I think that the station thwarted too many of their highway robbery attempts. And, I guess they had to strike now or never, before the Paladin fleet gets integrated in the alliance fleet... 

Anyhow, enough theorizing: I have to go get a litter box and cat litter. Farthest Cat chose a 300k ISK sister's core scanner probe as its favorite toilet substitute.

 

Battle at the Gate

What we feared has happened. Farthest Shore has been destroyed by the enemy, the brigands of White Sky and the pirates of No Forks Given.

Last night's evacuation went well, so the relics and the station clergy and personnel are safe and sound in highsec Empire space. Thank God, there are no civilian victims.

Lumen light brigade squadrons, helped by friends from Brave, stayed behind to face the enemy. And face them fiercely they did. Outnumbered and undershipped, our valiant fleet of assault frigates and harbingers nevertheless tore through the initial waves of attackers, forcing them to reship and bring ever larger vessels into the fray.

A dreadnought! They brought an Eater of Fleets. But Farthest Shore did not surrender. Its fighter pilots and station gunners pounded the dreadnought. The missile tubes of the station glowed red from the constant firing. Assisted by this barrage, the light brigade managed to destroy the dreadnought - making sure that any enemy victory would be pyrrhic at best.

At this point our enemies were out of their doctrine vessels, and were bringing in whatever kitchen sink ship they still had on hand at their barracks in Central Point. Another dreadnought and an Apostle capital ship were brought in. Ah, how close did the station gunners get to destroy it too! Alas, our fleet was getting whittled down from wave after wave of attack, and could achieve no additional miracle.

At 5:39, Farthest Shore's hull collapsed and the station exploded. 

Most of the light brigade fleet succeeded in retreating, using deep safe points that were made during all these years of observation in New Eden.

The last service at Farthest Light

All those that stayed on their post till the last evacuation vessel were gathered in Farthest Light chapel. The clergy and monastics of the Little Sisters of the Most Holy Sword were present. Also some station personnel that did a last sweep through the station attended. The burly barkeep of Farthest Star was still here, eyes wet now that the capsuleer bar has been dismantled and parts shipped off. Some pilots who fight in the battle in a few hours time were also here. I've only seen the pews soo full on one occasion, Luna and Franco's wedding...

The service was sober, and yet intense. There are three relics that sanctify the chapel: a book from Scripture, an artifact dating back from around the time the Gate must have closed, and a relic from saint Junip.They were all transfered to travel reliquaries, according to the prescripted rite of Translation of Relics. 

They were brought in procession to the blockade runner vessel that will fly them to safety, along with the clergy and the last station personnel. I followed in the Ratakh Hubrau.

Now only the pilots and their volunteer crews -knowing very well the risk- remain in the station. Maybe all in all a few hundred souls will spend a short tense night in this vast station, made to easily house tens of thousands.

I felt anguish as I closed the doors of the chapel, maybe for the last time. I will not sleep tonight, rather I will keep a vigil and pray for our soldiers.

Taking in a refugee

I docked up at Farthest Shore. The station looks battered and bruised, but at the same time there is a buildup of energy, nanites ready to repair it.

I don't have a lot of stuff here, mostly artifacts I gathered while exploring the system. I've loaded it all up in the Ratakh Hubrau, double checking that its cloaking modules and warp core are in perfect working order.

Luna has asked me to hold a service at Farthest Shore's chapel and perform a rite of Translation of Relics. The relics that sanctify the chapel will be moved to safety. They will be evacuated along with the clergy that is still around and the last of the station personnel evacuees. As these logs that you read are public, I will not write more about it today, but report on it tomorrow, after hopefully everyone is safe and sound in highsec Empire space.

I've taken on a refugee too, and she will accompany me home in the Ratakh Hubrau.

I found her in a part of the station that was already evacuated, or rather, she found me. 

As Brother Sarachem did not answer my call, I went to check if he is not meditating in his hermit's cell and missed the evac. He chose to live in a part of the station that is rather derelict even in normal times. But now, with the evac, it is downright ghostly there. There's no-one around, and many parts are already in low-power mode. Expensive enough stuff that can be moved has been removed, even from the walls, so some parts look as if they were ransacked.

The doors to Sarachem's cell were powered off, so I had to pry them open. He wasn't there. I couldn't decice what to do with his stuff, but in the end I decided to leave it there. There wasn't much in his ascetic cell anyway. 

I met her when I walked back through the abandoned passageways, not far from the hermit's cell. A scrawny cat, most probably a feral thing that hid in unused spaces. She came up to me and lept up, jumping on me and meowing. Purring when I picked her up, bumping her head against me. 

Animals feel when things are wrong, I am sure this kittycat feels the danger now. Maybe on a normal day she'd shred me if I tried to pet her, but now she treated me as if I was Gheinok himself. 

The other thing is, cats and kittens are my soft spot. They sense that as well. So I could not leave her behind... I brought her on board and fed her. I still have to find a name for her. I lean towards Gates, or maybe Farthest Cat, or maybe I'll ask for suggestions at the next callsign ceremony.

Evacuation notice

Now that Farthest Shore is reinforced to hull, evacuations are taking place of all personnel and equipment that is not strictly necessary for its hull defense.

So, I have sent word to warn my friends in New Eden of the precarious state of Farthest Shore. 

Professor Moriarty, an expert on ultra-high-velocity experimental ships, was in New Eden several months ago. We met and had very pleasant discussions. He taught me the stellar bounce manoeuver. Maybe he still has assets there? He is a bit distracted, almost stereotypical for a professor. I'm afraid any automated message about the hull reinforcement may have been snowed under by urgent messages from his students or his team members. Anyway, I sent him a message.

Then there's Brother Sarachem. He and Father Sartorius belong to the Goner sect that believes in a "Mother Earth" beyond the Gate. The sect is heterodox but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to reach them. They fly to the Gate using corvettes. In between the long flights by which they slowly inch their bookmarks ever closer to the Gate, they rest up in the station, I can see them in the guest manifest. They can be quite... deeply meditating, and may not heed the evacuation notices. I sent a message, but I'm afraid it won't reach them in time.

They stay in parts of the station that are otherwise unused (Farthest Shore is far too big for a system that has as little traffic as New Eden). It helps them find peace and meditate. I'm afraid they will be overlooked. I plan to go over to Farthest Shore to get out some personal stuff I have there, and while I'm there I will check that brother Sarachem is safe.

Battle in New Eden

Moments of joy and moments of sorrow follow each other in quick succession in this universe that we inhabit. A few days ago, my heart was lifted by the news that the holy Paladins of PIE will join us in closer alliance. But today I feel anguished and worried, as I got the news that Farthest Shore, our Astrahus "house among the stars" in New Eden, is under attack by pirate scum. 

I have a personal connection with that station. When I started my quest as a capsuleer, one of the first theories I investigated is that the Ametat and Avetat are on a lost expedition between the New Eden star and Eve Gate. I spent quite some time in the system. 

Lunarisse was a stranger to me then, but she offered me access to Farthest Shore, and allowed me to use it as a base of operations, and showed me a bookmark closer to the Gate than I'd ever been before. Up till that moment, I had not trusted her, because I had read on the forums of her attack on an archeological expedition. Now I know that expedition was led by the heretic Nauplius, but back then I didn't know him yet.

It was that small token of trust that convinced me of her good intentions, and that made me think of joining SFRIM, and that in the end led to me finding a place in this corporation, the best that Amarr can offer for a friar-capsuleer. 

I've been back many times to Farthest Shore. For contemplative retreats. To continue a personal study of the Gate. To meet up with other explorers. To visit the new Kor-Azor research station. To join Lunarisse and Franco in marriage. To simply gaze at the whisps of plasma emanating from the Mouth of God while sitting on a pew in the Farthest Light chapel. 

These New Eden visits have helped my quest, through contacts and talks with the people in system. Through a gift of God, an encouragement in the form of an abandoned vessel that He put on my path.

I feel an acute sense of powerlessness. I am not a soldier and so I am unable to meaningfully assist in the military actions against the pirate scum that target Farthest Shore. In stead, I will do what I must do: pray to God and all the Saints for the defeat of the pirates.

A holy union

When I first looked into capsuleer corporations in the hope of learning about archeological expeditions, I was surprised to find some tension between PIE and SFRIM. One was like the Sword of the empire, the other was the Shield, and their strategies did not always fully align. I prayed at the time that these differences would be resolved - Sword and Shield are most powerful when both are wielded together by the warrior.

Today, I woke up to the joyous news that my prayers have been heard: PIE and SFRIM join together under the alliance umbrella of LUMEN. I look forward to meeting the PIE paladins in the halls of Mehatoor, and to strengthen the ties with their famous library and museum in Oris!

The fallacy of meritocracy

Our Caldari friends are organizing a conference to sing the praises of meritocracy, for their Union Day. Those not born and bred Caldari cannot participate, not even based on merit. Nevertheless, I felt inspired to write my thoughts on the subject.

First, the shield: a defense of our own system.

I note that State detractors of our Amarrian Holder system point out that a hereditary aristocracy is not “fair”, as it is based on the randomness of birth, whereas a meritocracy rewards one on one’s capacities and abilities. This has always seemed somewhat silly to me. On the one hand, people have acceded to nobility based on their achievements and work. On the other hand, one’s intellectual capacities or physical strength is also strongly influenced by one’s set of genes.

Smart people or Holders, both are part of a kind of lucky sperm club. 

 

Second, the sword, for the offense against meritocracy.

Meritocracy assumes in its essence that value can be narrowed down to a point where people can be ranked, placed in an ordered list according to their worth. But is the successful CEO who does not see his children superior to the lowly laborer who is an excellent father? Worth, merit, value: like beauty they all contain so many incomparable dimensions that creating a universally accepted ordered set out of a population is not possible.

Nevertheless, meritocratic corporations insist on selecting people from ranked lists. So how do they judge merit then? Typically, there will be a panel of meritorious men and women who will set up the criteria. In order not to run into a contradiction, the panel members must assign a high score of merit to these traits that they themselves possess. After all, it can only be a panel of meritorious people that is qualified to decide what is merit. And that's where it goes wrong.

Those that started out as meritous will by there definition only strengthen their merit, concentrating power to them and their favorite circle. Those that are not born talented -according to the panel's criteria- are deemed not to deserve success and growth in a meritocracy. Moreover, it's their own fault. The unmeritous are more irredeemable than our lowest slaves.

Many in today's State now protest their corporate leadership, decrying corruption and nepotism and yearning for a return to merit-based leadership. They fail to see that this concentration power in corrupt entitled leadership is the necessary outcome of a callous unrestrained meritocracy.

 

[[ooc comment: the term "lucky sperm club" to describe a talent-based aristocracy was, to the best of my knowledge, coined by Michael Young in his book "The Rise of Meritocracy". I found the book itself somewhat long-winded, but the author's short introduction to the transaction publisher's edition is brilliant]]

Association for Interdisciplinary Research

New opportunities may have arisen for research collaborations: the "Association for Interdisciplinary Research". It is supported by the Servant Sisters of Eve (who provide laboratory equipment) and Ishukone, and it is run by former members of these corporations.

Apart from making it easier for people to become a capsuleer and to grow their skills, it is at the moment unclear what they plan to do in practice. Both parent organizations have contributed technological breakthroughs, the most notorious being the Sister of Eve's exploration vessels. Maybe we will get new technology again?

I find it a bit uncharacteristic for the Servant Sisters of Eve - they usually keep their secrets to themselves, and have their own organisations for various purposes. They explore the Gate and want to unlock it, like so many other organizations that I come across during my own search. All roads to relics lead to the Gate it seems. But they do not share their knowledge freely, and so I do not fully trust them.

We'll see if this Association will be a true scientific society or a front for something else.

Reflection on the Achuran faith

I have been reflecting on my stay in the Achuran monastery. I've been thinking about their religion, and why it doesn't fit me.

I noticed that they are very open to exploration and understanding the universe, and I admire that. They try to see through the bias and refute the illusions that our mind adds to reality. Also that appeals to me.

All our sensory inputs are preprocessed by the mind before they enter our consciousness - otherwise we wouldn't be able to make sense of the cacophony of inputs that overwhelm our senses every second of every hour of every day. But this preprocessing also distorts and colors reality around us. We have evolved to see only cause and effect, and to divide the world into boundaried objects and categories. We create mental narratives to order incoherent impressions into a coherent framework. Through these narratives we are impelled to attach importance to certain silly things, such as pieces of paper with numbers printed on them, in order to infuse our life with an illusion of meaning and importance.

The Achuran monks want to pierce these illusions. In particular the monastery of the Seeing Blind that I stayed at tries to do this by exposing us to absurd stories, of which I have received my share. They are meant to shock us into dropping our filters and seeing raw reality.

What is the goal of that? I think it is do free us from the desires that stem from our constructs, the desire to be rich or powerful or popular. The desire to possess things and people. These desires are illusory, so they must stem from the filters and narratives that we put up in our mind, according to their reasoning. And these desires are what leads to our unhappiness and to evil. That last part, I can agree on.

Even though I can agree with these tenets, there was something that bothered me, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Until now. I realized that what I miss in Achur faith is the social dimension. As I understood it (imperfectly, given my extremely short exposure), it is most focused on freeing oneself, on personal improvement and growth and reaching enlightenment by and for oneself.

Our faith is not so much about raising ourselves up, our faith is much more about our relation to the others around us than it is about our own enlightenment. Of course both faiths talk about self-improvement as well as relations to others, but I'm discerning a nuance in focus. Our faith is more about lifting your neighbor out of the darkness. It's about sharing the fragile flame of faith with others, rather than freeing yourself from pain. 

That's what I missed, I think, in the Achur faith, or in what I could glimpse of it during my short stay with them.

The Gardens of the Empire

The week-long celebrations of Foundation day came to a close. For me, they ended yesterday in a grand finale - a tour of the "Gardens of the Empire", hosted by Lunarisse.

The gardens are inside a luxurious yacht, docked in Amarr. I had no idea our Directrix had a taste for such luxury vessels. Or maybe she hasn't, and the yacht is just an excellent place to house a mobile botanical exhibit.

To be honest, it is much more than a botanical garden or an arboretum. Each hall is an exquisitely composed biosphere, reproducing also the atmosphere of a place, and telling a story. There were foreigners and new capsuleers on our tour, and I think through these immersive life-size dioramas they learnt about our customs and our history.

The gardens bear a very personal touch. I was moved by the colonist's storm planet garden depicting life on Anath V, the planet where Lunarisse lived as a child with her parents until the fateful Blooder attack. And the oasis garden, it was modeled on the oases of Mishi IV, where Luna's family is from. 

So, while for the outsider the tour is glance into the Empire, for those that know Lunarisse they also offer a view into the places of her past. It is nice to know that there are some new gardens in the making, I think they will offer a view of her hopes for the future.

God's name

Elsebeth Rhiannon told a tale at the Inter-Galactic Summit that is very much intra-galactic. 

Ms. Rhiannon is not merely a terrorist but she is also a wonderful storyteller, and offers an insight into the mind of the apostate Minmatar. They believe in spirits that have names and live with us in this world, and God for them is merely one of these spirits, albeit a very powerful one. Of course, they see it as a malevolent spirit. To them, it is an angry spirit, cut off from the original world of spirits, and the only  nameless spirit. Their animistic religion mirrors the cruelty and violence of their society.

Nevertheless, the story of God's namelessness reminded me of a beautiful prayer of St. Gregory of Nahyeen:

God beyond all things earthly,
By no other name could I call You!
You are beyond words,
when all words stem from You.

You who name all names,
You are the only unnameable one.
How could I call you other than
God beyond all things earthly.

You see, our theologians agree that God does not have a name like John or Lisa. But rather than seeing this as a weakness or a punishment, it is a characteristic of strength, or rather of God's transcendent nature. He from who all names stem is beyond naming, as the Saint points out. 

 

((ooc attribution: this paraphrased short piece is part of a longer prayer on the trancendent nature of God by St. Gregory of Nazianzen, a fourth century archbishop of Constantinople who was clearly an Amarrian))

Tour guide

For Foundation day, tours of monuments and historic places in the Empire had been organised. I had the pleasure of being a tour guide for capsuleers, for a tour in space around Amarr. 

There are many additional things to see in lowsec space nearby, but we stuck to highsec, so we could get newly graduated capsuleers to join us. The tour brought us from Doriam's reign to Jamyl's reign to the current day. 

There were many places of wonder, such as the monument for one of the first miner tycoons and the fortified monastery of the Order of Tetrimon. There were also places that bring strong emotions - the Elder war memorial, the wreck of Jamyl's titan, and the space cemetery in Molea. I am amazed that there are so many wonders to see within a few jumps from Amarr, and I even left out some, like the conserved experimental construction site of the first Upwell astrahus.

I haven't been in space during many momentous events, such as the Elder war or the attack on saint Jamyl. Luna, and lord-consort Newelle were there, and while we visited these place I could sense how strongly it still affects them. The monument that evokes the strongest emotion in me is the Molea cemetary. It has this immense number of graves, the vastness of which you can only appreciate if you fully zoom out on the grid, each of which bears a message for a lost loved one. It reminds me how interconnected we are as capsuleers, how much we form our own community in between the stars.