The temptation of freedom

The fleet's departure was a sight to be behold, viewing it from Pilgrim's Rest. It took three hours before all the ships had left for their voyage. Many people watched it, until the moment the ships were out of viewing range. 

I did not get to see Publius, and to be honest I think it was better that I did not take up any of his precious time with my trifles. 

After the colony fleet left, the activity of the station slowed down again, as if it had to rest after great physical effort. Cleaning up and bringing everything in order seems to have been left for tomorrow, mostly. People went home, or went to a bar to relax. I went to see ms. Yubari's slave, who now calls herself Libby. 

To my surprise, I found her in the midst of unpacking, even though she had not been traveling.

She was reluctant to explain, but I pressed her, and she confessed that she had been tempted to join the colonists and go with them to the fabled Epikouria system, with planets where gold can be dug up with bare hands from the ground. She did not want to join for the promise of wealth. She wanted to go because of the lure of false freedom and a so-called "new life". She had been on the verge of leaving, bags packed and ready, when she decided against it.

She told me that the Voidlanders, the main group of colonists, embrace a pluralist culture without slavery. Even though they tolerate the Amarr customs and abide by our laws, they do not condone slavery, and look down on Holders and the institution. In the part of the station that they used to inhabit, emancipation was the rule, and the law was stretched to a point that any slave coming there would be kept safe and not sent back. Slave-owning Holders were given the cold shoulder.

For someone in Libby's position, facing the dangers of Nauplius, the temptation to run away is understandable, especially with such an easy route. However, it speaks of her strength of character that she did not give in, and after careful deliberation decided to stay. God guided her decision, and gave her strength to withstand the Molok's whispers. 

I told her about ms. Yubari, and her need to have someone to look after her at this stage of her recovery. I also explained that she would not leave Gottin's Lamp, and be safe from Nauplius. To be honest, I am not completely sure about that, since the arch-heretic has been allowed to visit ms. Yubari on occasion, but there is no need to sow doubt now. 

Libby seems to care about ms. Yubari, even if she does not know her all that well. She told me that she owes ms. Yubari a debt of gratitude, and she agrees to return to the Lamp. She worried a bit about her work at St. Vasrayi's chapel, but I could reassure her: now that the colony fleet has left, it will no doubt be less busy and require less personnel.

Departure

Apparently I arrived in Seclusion on one of the busiest days: the main colony fleet is about to leave! 

The hangars today are hubs of frenzied activity. Cargo droids and passenger shuttles move past under a rain of sparks from welders up in scaffolds making last minute hull adjustments and installing cargohold optimization rigs. Berthing hauler ships collide with those tiny BOB drones that buzz around docked ships nowadays in stations. On the ground, hurried people push each other and bump into each other. There are so many people running along in the hangar, that it is almost impossible to get through. 

Out in space, the activity is no less, as various industrial structures are being unanchored, dismantled and  packaged for the journey to the new colony. I had to wait ten minutes before the Indagatrix was allowed to dock! 

Under these conditions there is little chance I will be able to meet Publius. I have delivered his books to his personal hangars in Seclusion, and hope he will find them when he has the time to think about other things than ship manifests and coordinating his wormhole colony's corporation, the Comitia Centuriata.

It is only going to get even more hectic out there in a few hours. LUMEN has called for an armed escort fleet to guard the deep space transports until they make it out to well beyond our port's scan range. Out in Anoikis, there are always security concerns since danger can uncloak at any time. It makes the denizens of the wormhole inclined towards paranoia [1]. 

Meanwhile I went to St. Vasrayi's chapel and to Pilgrim's Rest, a large park in Seclusion's fortizar. It has a dome made out of transparent alloy, allowing for a spectacular view of the fleet that is assembling. I am not the only one here: a small crowd of people, mostly family members either of colonists or hangar workers, is in the park gazing at the spectacle unfolding.

[1] I have been asked by one of the station's officers here to delay any communication of the move until its main part is finished, for operational security, so I will upload this log only late today after the fleet left.

Request from the Medbay

To reach Seclusion, or indeed any destination in Anoikis, one has to consult incomplete and ever-changing starmaps, charting the ephemeral passages between wormhole systems.

Going there is always a somewhat dangerous adventure, so I had the station scanning equipment that was loaded into the Indagatrix's cargo bay for my expedition to Mezagorm unloaded again. 

While I was consulting maps to find today's route to Seclusion, I was contacted by our Medbay. One of the head nurses spoke to me, saying that Ms. Yubari's memory is starting to come back to her and that she would like to see her slave again. She had entrusted the care of that slave to me, and I have brought her to Seclusion for safety after Nauplius made attempts to find the slave. 

It is indeed a safe hiding place (be it that travel to and forth are not that safe). Without secure contacts in LUMEN that grant access to the starmaps showing the way to Seclusion, it is impossible for Nauplius to find her. Now, Ms. Yubari's request to see her slave Libby again comes exactly at the right time, as I am planning to head over there anyway. I do not know how Libby will react to this, but we will see. 

Colonization fleet

I have received interesting news from St. Vasrayi's chapel in Seclusion, LUMEN's foothold in Anoikis. 

The system has seen a strong surge in activity over the last year, under the industrious guidance of Publius Cornelius Felix. This must have been an action that, without knowing, picked up the spirit of the times! Indeed, over the past year also our beloved Empress has expanded the Empire into Anoikis, after the recent merciless Drifter attacks.

Seeing his own efforts mirrored by the Empire has fired up Publius even more, and he forged ahead with his own plans to explore and expand into new wormhole systems. I am afraid his enthusiasm is too big to be contained in Seclusion. 

The acolytes at the chapel tell me that he will set sail to new wormhole horizons with a bunch of colonists. The ship loaders and hangar crews speak of a massive colony fleet of deep space transports and Armageddon battleships preparing for departure. Local youth are whispering of a promised system full of planets resplendent with gold and other precious metals. 

I shall miss Publius, the young explorer with his boundless enthusiasm and his inclination to challenge and change the old ways. I will try to meet him before he leaves: I feel I must warn him against the dangers of Bobism, out there in the Anoikis wildlands. Also, he needs to take some decent books, guides and scripture excerpts with him to stay on the right path. 

Good tidings

Good tidings from the warzone! Bishop Merdaneth announced the reconquest of Auga by the Empire, after a long siege and strategic operations spanning three years. 

The system holds symbolic importance, both for Amarr and for the rebel Minmatar, as it plays an important part in the history of the terrorist group 'the defiants'. They have aided the Elder invasion, an act of aggression that broke all international laws, and have performed numerous terror raids. 

The official government of the Republic claimed they had nothing to do with these terrorists, and they disavowed the leader of the defiants, Karishal Muritor. Most probably lies, in order to save face on the international arena. But, back then, the Republic had more reasonable leadership in the person of Karin Midular. She tried to rein in the hatred-filled terrorists and had Muritor stopped by force in Auga. Ever since, for the followers of the evil defiants, Auga has been a place of pilgrimage to commemorate their martyred leader. 

It did not take long for the brief light of reason to be extinguished from the Republic: after an internal power struggle, those that adhere to the defiants' creed of hate deposed Midular and took power. The current leader, Maleatu Shakor, scandalously rehabilitated the terrorists - he probably was one of them. I am shocked that there was not more outcry everywhere in the cluster over this.

Now that our valliant pilots with the 24th imperial crusade managed to recapture Auga, the worship of the terrorist leader Muritor in that system can finally be put to an end.   

Foundation Day celebrations

Past week we celebrated Foundation Day! 

Also this year, LUMEN organized their own celebrations, with a parade and fireworks display in Amarr, at the Empress' Honor Guard above our home world. The fireworks were so plentiful, and of such a brightness that they must have been visible from the nighttime planetside. Unlike some previous years, the parade was not disrupted by Ushra Khan terrorists. Personally I credit this to our warzone pilots keeping the pressure on them in the warzone.

This was followed by speeches from Dame Daphiti and from our Directrix, emphasizing how faith brings us together under the guidance of the Empress. After that, a formal celebratory ball took place. 

I'm afraid I missed most of the capsuleer celebrations - I was too caught up preparing the celebrations for our baseliner staff at the Chapel, and doing the heap of paperwork for the MIO permission. That latter task has now finally been completed, and with the paperwork submitted I hope to get a positive answer soon.

Red Tape

Mr. Firth has made good progress in getting us an MIO permit to explore in Mezagorm, bypassing the Directorate General of Cultural-Historic Patrimonium.

However, we have hit a bump in the road, as I need to fill in a background-check form. One question in particular appears difficult to answer:

Have you traveled outside the Empire in the past ten years? If so, give a precise list with for each occasion: when, where and why?

This covers all of my capsuleer life! I must have been outside of the Empire hundreds of times, and do not quite recall every separate occasion, let alone when and why... Now, if I make a mistake and that is detected by the MIO, we can forget about the permit.

Now, for the last 18 months, Mr. Firth has been the political officer on the Indagatrix, and for that period he had no problems producing this list for me. I think he simply had it in a drawer in his cabin.

For the period before that, I will have to rely on my logs to set up the paperwork...

Mr. Firth's kind help

Good news! Mr. Ivan Firth, the political officer on the Indagatrix, has taken an interest in my quest for the Ink of Truth. 

Indeed, he had been complaining a bit about how we did not contribute as much as we used to do, bringing back interesting items or information for the Ministry. It has gone a bit quiet since the Empire's most glorious victory over the Drifters.

With his current status -he seems to have much more clout now that he has been promoted to Itenerant Frumentaris Second Class- he might just be able to get me a temporary permit for an exploration expedition in Mezagorm. If he succeeds, we will even have the backing of an Imperial Navy punisher-class frigate to clear the site of hostile blood raiders.

Expecting a positive outcome to Mr. Firth's petition, I am preparing the expedition, and putting the station scanning equipment in the cargo hold. Given the recent splash in ISK, I have been able to purchase fancier versions of the radio-isotope fingerprint detectors. They will allow me to pinpoint regions in the stations that have been inhabited for a while after the Mad Emperor's "temple of pride" was formally abandoned.

The Temple of Pride

It seems that the word that I translated into modern Amarrian as 'gardens' had a special connotation in the language of the time. It was not merely any garden, but a communal vegetable garden in the city, a place where people would grow food for their own consumption, and meet their neighbors. 

Another clarification that Dr. Kadeyooh made, was that the 'temple of pride' in the riddle should not be interpreted as a place where the sin of pride is celebrated, or where a god of pride is worshipped. Rather, it is a place that has been built not with humility, but out of pride, out of a love for oneself rather than a love for God.

Within the Tetrimonic tradition, I believe - and dr. Kadeyooh tends to agree - that this might refer to the pride of the Mad Emperor, and the city that he built to satisfy his own megalomania. 

It seems I should head back to Mezagorm, and continue the search that I interrupted there. Last time, I had trouble getting in, since the Directorate General of Cultural-Historic Patrimonium no longer gives permits for archeological exploration there. I do not feel like going on a cruise again to visit it, so I'll have to find a new solution to get in.

Chronicle of Arzad

Luna got in touch with me, about the rare items fair that I organised. I think she also enjoyed it, but what is even better news is that she found precious items for our library!

It does not surprise me that some collectors would prefer to approach her -famous and very well connected and respected directrix- rather than some unknown friar. But she also has a keen eye for items of historical importance. 

She has found an ancient manuscript, in relatively decent condition, describing the life of Arzad Hamri, of House Hamri. Arzad was condemned by the Theology Council and sentenced to death, though for the Starkmanir tribe he is still considered a saint. Or an elder, although that might be more of a prophet? Anyhow, not that much is known about him, given his heresy conviction, and these documents will shed new light on the history of the system that was named after him, Arzad, in the Devoid region.

These manuscripts will of course draw attention also of the Republic, perhaps unwanted attention. So, I am ordering special protective glass anti-theft display cases to store these in. What a magnificent addition to Gottin's lamp library!

House historian

Reading in the palace library, I met the house historian of the Duke of Youledian. 

It is a hallmark of a truly ancient noble line that it keeps a personal historian, to track the footsteps that they leave throughout history. 

Dr. Ephas Kadeyooh told me that the Youledians trace their lineage back to a certain Khanid nomadic group that was known to be particularly ferocious and barbarian. They were said to eat their yak meat using their bare hands, which must have been most horrifying to the sophisticate Amarrian table manners of the early Empire. 

This led the faithful who finally subdued them to ponder whether this tribe, safely converted, might not teach us some lessons in combat. It was concluded that their savagery would "lend itself well to the strict enforcement of the law of God", in the words of general Darahzad, and so they were incorporated as shock troops, as many other Khanid nomadic tribes were.

Dr. Kadeyooh was adamant that the Tetrimon would not refer to the Khanid as "dark Amarr", since that was considered to be a derogatory term. The Tetrimon Order would have wanted to keep friendly relatios with House Khanid, as the Tetrimon Order was already hedging its bet on a possible banishment to their demesne (which was not yet an independent Kingdom during the Moral Reform civil war). 

To find out what is meant by the Dark Bishop, the kind dr. Kadeyooh who has a good knowledge of Moral Reform Tetrimon symbology has agreed to help me. 

Audience with the Duke

It was such an honor to be granted an audience with Duke Fayed, Holder of Youledian and Khanid royal appointee to the Theology Council! 

He was able to grant me a full two minutes and forty seconds of his most precious time, as he had other people to meet during the audience hour. Along with other lucky visitors, I was queuing in the palace's Hall of Audiences where ushers moved us along as we were led one by one in front of his majesty the Duke.

In his words to me, he expressed his satisfaction at LUMEN's contributions to conquer Sanctified Vidette, and asked me to convey his heartfelt encouragements to lady Von Deilyx and to our pilots to keep up the good work. He also pressed upon me to redouble efforts to have all our faithful pilots adhere strictly to the orthodoxy as expressed by the Theology Council and the Empress, in particular in what regards attendance at least twice a day to mass. 

Protocol forbade me to ask a question unless invited to do so by the Duke, so unfortunately I was unable to find out more about the riddle or connections between House Youledian and the Tetrimon Order. By the time he finished congratulating LUMEN and giving his advise on guiding a capsuleer flock, ushers bade me to move on. The Duke cast his benevolent gaze upon the next petitioner, and that was the end of my audience.

While I am still very much impressed to have been in the presence of his majesty, the event leaves me somewhat confused now about how to proceed. Luckily, the palace also boasts a library. 

When in doubt, always go to the library.

Palace Gardens

The palace gardens remind me of the Khanid gardens I saw on the estate of House Deritan - a former duchess of Fekhoya, fallen from grace, and presently of unknown whereabouts. And, of course, it also reminds me of the beautiful example on display at Luna's "Gardens of the Empire" exhibit. I would advise our new members to visit if they get the chance to do so.

In the Khanid custom, gardens are seen as places to come to rest and meditate, to get away from the business of the day, and to spend some time focusing on what matters most. Their style is less formal and rigid, less rectilinear than classicist Dam-Torsad gardens, and the element of random encounter is allowed to come into play. Walking along the twisting stone paths, one finds strangely shaped rocks, carefully shaped ponds with water lillies, patches of the whitest sand, manicured shrubs, Khanid maple trees, and tiny trees that have clearly been tortured to remain small while still looking natural. 

The eye is both guided inward and outward. Inward, towards the center of the Duke of Youledian's garden, a lone giant Emperor's tree presides over its surroundings. It is visible from nearly every corner of the garden, and symbolizes the dominance of a Holder over their holdings.

To the south, the garden borders the edge of the mesa on which the palace is built, so looking outward one sees the vast landscape from high above. An ornately sculpted stone balustrade at the edge of the steep escarpment is low enough to allow for some degree of vertigo in those standing next to it. As the mesa rises high above the city, and due to the restrictions in height of the buildings below, the view is not obstructed. 

According to the riddle, one has to find the "stench of sin" in these gardens. Is there anything that looks as if it would disturb the meditation? If there is, I cannot see it. 

I have a requested an audience with the Duke, as I have heard that he is around in his palace for a few weeks, and gives audiences every Sunday. 

Arzanni VII

The ducal palace on the temperate world Arzanni VII could have been built in any lush and fertile green region that the planet has. Instead, it is perched on a jagged basalt mesa at the edge of Arzanni's largest continental steppe, a region that would more closely resemble the ancestral Khanid homelands on Amarr. 

Black and silver is a Khanid theme, also for this ducal palace. Its walls are built from polished volcanic stone, giving the palace a gleaming black sheen, and its towers are topped by silver domes, looking a bit like the round nomadic tents of the early Khanid. 

The first Duke of Youledian who built this palace must have been a bit homesick... 

At the foot of the mesa, a sprawling city stretches into the steppe, the capital of the duchy. It does not have skyscrapers so common of modern Amarrian cities - it seems there is a law restricting the height of the buildings to be less than that of the ancient cathedral tower. I have booked a simple hotel close to mesa's cliff, on the slopes rising up towards the cliffs. This appears to be the "tourist hotspot" - where the quotes indicate that tourism is definitely a euphemism.

I have booked a guided tour to the palace and the palace gardens.

Dukes of Youledian

I have been debating what lead to follow. Talocan research, relic dark web, or the riddle leading to the Ink of Truth? I know myself, and will be chaotically following all three unless I decide to focus.

I will leave the Talocan artifacts to the Lamp's science team and a friend and scholar from Hedion who agreed to help. And for the relic dark web, that does not require much action, simply lurking around and seeing what is being asked or offered.

So, the riddle it is. The most likely starting point seems to be the "Dark King's bishop". The dark Amarr is a nickname for the Khanid, so I think this refers to King Khanid. Of course, there are many bishops in the Kingdom, none in particular associated with the royal court. Rather than bishops, it has been nobles from the court have been appointed to the theology council in the past. Some may remember that the accursed Sa-Baron Chakaid once got that post, but that resulted from a machination by that evil man.

Historically, it has been the Dukes of Youledian that took on the role of theological councilor to King Khanid. This is true today as it was yesterday: the current appointee of the Kingdom to the Theology Council, Duke Fayed, is again from house Youledian. 

The ducal palace, the seat of power of house Youledian, is on Arzanni VII. It has gardens and a ducal museum that can be visited. Time for a trip... with the interbus, given the nuisance of piracy lately.

Dark web relic trading

Besides the Talocan artifacts, the trade fair also gave me an entry point into the collectors' network. Only a small fraction were present - fairs like these need time to develop an international reputation - but it gives me a foot in the door.

I also have become aware of the existence of a "dark-web" trading server where insanely rich collectors bid on all sorts of art and artifacts. With the help of Gottin's lamp IT specialists, I set up an account under the name of Reliquarius, to snoop around a bit. 

I converted what I thought was a large amount of isk into the cryptocurrency that is used on the server. Apparently, the prizes being bid and asked are a few orders of magnitude larger... The items that I saw discussed thusfar are rare ship modules, enhanced by some strange mutations with Triglavian nanotechnology. I am yet to see any relics of interest.

And I am yet to see any trace of the Antiquarian.

Talocan life support cores

I have come to consider the enigmatic Talocan more and more as the teachers of the Jove, as a race that was more ancient and advanced even to them. Or, at the very least, to the Second Jove Empire - little is known about the first.

It is through my studies of the Takmahl, who have undeniable links to stolen holy relics of the Empire, that I started being interested in the Talocan as well. As a vanished civilization, the Takmahl are much younger than the Jove: they are a sickened offshoot of our own civilization. But what allowed them to thrive for a short while, was a cache of Talocan technology that they stumbled upon during their flight from Amarr.

At the rare item trade fair, a capsuleer by the callsign of Ninavask had put a large crate of Talocan items on their list of offerings. The crate contained what was labeled as life-support cores. Ninavask told me that they did not interface with modern technology, she had tried to see if they could be integrated but failed to find a useful purpose for them. How capsuleer-like to look at a rare artefact and wonder if it can be used to boost the performance of some ship module! She offered a ridiculously low price for the items - I doubled it as a token of my genuine interest and bought the lot.

To the academic mind, the objects present a unique opportunity to learn more about the ancient Talocan civilization, and in this case about the Talocan anatomy. For example, strange as it may seem, it is not even known today what kind of atmosphere the Talocan breathe - presumably oxygen-nitrogen, but what proportion? This may lead us to know more about their home world too. 

I have never read about anything remotely resembling these cores in the astro-archeological literature, so it is truly a special find, one probably that only capsuleer pilots in their reckless bouts of exploration can obtain. I am itching to study these more closely, and have contacted Hedion university to obtain some expert help.

Rare and collectible items

I am tired, but happy. It has been a bit of a scramble to try and arrange things for this trade fair in short time. But it all went smoothly.

There was a good mix of people from nearby and from far away, familiar faces and ones I had never seen before. It did attract the attention of collectors from the outer rim. The Antiquarian was not there, but perhaps the news of our successful trade fair will draw him next time we organize one.

One of my new contacts is part of an alliance that recently moved all its belongings over to another region. This great transmigration was in the news, as they tore down their old home after the move. Of course, everyone who has ever moved from one home to another knows that this is the time when you find back all sorts of stuff that you had forgotten about. And when you want to do a garage sale. 

Still, there were only few true relics on offer. Well, there was a large transaction of mortal remains, but these were not saintly body parts, uncorrupted by the passage of time. They were capsuleer corpses. No wonder that capsuleer corporations are advised to hire a human remains manager.

I have bought - and sold - some things as well. But that will be for tomorrow's log - for now sleep beckons. 

Trade fair preparations

The rare and collectible items item trade fair that I have been planning is finally taking shape, and will take place this Saturday, July 5th. A company specialized in organizing such fairs is handling practical matters such as registrations, badges, goodiebags, sponsoring and industry exhibition booths. Room for the trade exposition was rented at Tebu Amkhiman. 

Tebu Amkhiman, or "The Thousand Lights" is LUMEN's headquarters in the Mandate, located in Tanoo. From that center of operations, LUMEN built up industrial facilities and helped develop the economy of the Derelik region via the "Ammatar Mandate Revitalization Project" under the high patronage of Lord Ardishapur. 

This has worked very well, especially along the axis Gamis-Tanoo, which now has become one of the main tributary rivers to the great stream that is the Amarr-Jita silk road going through Sasta next to Tanoo.

So, while it has ready access to the great trade hubs, it is still somewhat off the beaten track, in a region where rare items are more easily found that heavily explored Domain, it seems a good location. Moreover, the station is a freeport, so that capsuleers from all over the cluster can easily come by.

Now, let us see how many relic collectors will show up. Perhaps it will even draw the fabled "Antiquarian", who is rumored to have the cluster's largest cabinet of wonders and rarities.

Riddle

Not only the names of the hidden relics, but also their hiding places are in code. Whereas for the names I could recognize one reference, for their locations I do not find any clue. Moreover, these are not given by a cipher, which might have been amenable to computational code-breaking, but described in a riddle:

In the guarded gardens of
the fallen temple of pride,
at the Dark King's bishop,
find the stench of sin.

That is the best I can make of translating the old language. The references must have meant something to the Tetrimon Order of the time. The only thing I can make of it is perhaps this "Dark King". I think it may refer to King Khanid, since the Khanid are sometimes colloquially referred to as the "dark Amarr". 

I will look into the clergy attending the Khanid court at the time of the Moral Reforms; perhaps a bishop fallen out of grace, or denouncing the Order of Saint Tetrimon?