Formidine Rift... what is it?

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Dearie me.

This might be a long post.

Last night, I created a post where I specifically asked MB to help me out with understanding how Elite Dangerous works. And, fair play to the man, he answered although he did not understand what I was asking.
I was then very rude, and ordered the thread locked down. I find myself...not myself lately due to family concerns...etc. I am ashamed that I can be this angry with life in general and unreservedly apologise to anyone who experiences my wraith at his time.

Im working on it.

In the meantime, some of you have asked me what I have learned.
 
Dearie me.

This might be a long post.

Last night, I created a post where I specifically asked MB to help me out with understanding how Elite Dangerous works. And, fair play to the man, he answered although he did not understand what I was asking.
I was then very rude, and ordered the thread locked down. I find myself...not myself lately due to family concerns...etc. I am ashamed that I can be this angry with life in general and unreservedly apologise to anyone who experiences my wraith at his time.

Im working on it.

In the meantime, some of you have asked me what I have learned.

Hope things level out for you soon Gypsy.
 
Dearie me.

This might be a long post.

Last night, I created a post where I specifically asked MB to help me out with understanding how Elite Dangerous works. And, fair play to the man, he answered although he did not understand what I was asking.
I was then very rude, and ordered the thread locked down. I find myself...not myself lately due to family concerns...etc. I am ashamed that I can be this angry with life in general and unreservedly apologise to anyone who experiences my wraith at his time.

Im working on it.

In the meantime, some of you have asked me what I have learned.


It's all good Gyps although we do prefer your human side. ;)
 
Dearie me.

This might be a long post.

Last night, I created a post where I specifically asked MB to help me out with understanding how Elite Dangerous works. And, fair play to the man, he answered although he did not understand what I was asking.
I was then very rude, and ordered the thread locked down. I find myself...not myself lately due to family concerns...etc. I am ashamed that I can be this angry with life in general and unreservedly apologise to anyone who experiences my wraith at his time.

Im working on it.

In the meantime, some of you have asked me what I have learned.

Apologies. My young fella got hold of the keyboard!...Just come back from dinner. Anyhow! Onwards.

Drew stated that we might take a look at the core of the problem. The core of the problem being IMHO, a lack of information. So I decided to attack this a different way.
No 1: We have a limited toolset. That toolset cannot include any of the fancy stuff we have now. It has been available since Gamma.
This excludes:
A: Anything over a 25LY jump range.
B: Fiddling with star class filters. They didn't exist.
C: Plotting anything´. That didn't exist either (in its current 1000ly form)

So, that leaves us with what exactly?

Names.

And that was my toolbox. On my way back from the Formidine rift I attacked the mystery of "Salome" Being bereft of information, I decide to analyse the ships name. "The Seven Veils"
This produced a lot of information.

1: Oscar Wilde produced one of the first play versions of "The Seven Veils" Dance.
2: The Dance is still very popular in North African countries.
3: Its one of the World's first recorded "Stripteases" - at least in Oscar Wilde's time.
4: Oscar got his inspiration from the legend of "Ishtar" and her journey to the underworld. For each of the seven gates of the Underworld she had to remove an item of clothing in order to proceed to rescue her lover "Tammuz"
5: All of the gods of the time are accounted for in game as stars. (In order of importance) ANU, ENLIL, ENKI, NINHURSAG, ISHTAR,SIN and SHAMASH. (Last three are sky gods)
6: ISHTAR's (God of life and fertility) opposite is "ERESHKIGAL" She's there as a sun in game too.
7: Theres a shed load of other gods in the "Hades" sector too. (Hades meaning underworld in Greek)

Anyhow. After finding that out... I was baffled as what I could to do next.

I turned my attention to the "REGOR" sector as it has been there since day one. I saw it as a "Simpler" challenge than the one I had. Perhaps I could obtain the permit? Maybe something in relation to the "Formidine" was hidden there?

First off, REGOR is a reverse of "ROGER" This harks back to the days of the unfortunate Apollo 1 mission. From Wikipedia:

"More recently, during the Apollo program, it was common for astronauts to be trained in celestial navigation, and to use a list of naked-eye stars from which to take bearings. As a practical joke, Gus Grissom gave names to three stars on this list — Navi (γ Cassiopeiae)((EDIT: 27 Gamma Cassiopeia in game)) , Dnoces (ι Ursae Majoris), and Regor (γ Velorum). The names stuck, and were used through the rest of the program. Unknown to Grissom, these stars already had traditional names; however, those were not generally used, allowing the three other names to make their way into other records. Today, they are generally considered disused – some sources listing them as "traditional".

The three names are references to the three Apollo 1 crew:
Navi is Ivan spelled backwards, the middle name of Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom.
Dnoces is Second spelled backwards, alluding to Edward Higgins White, II.
Regor is Roger spelled backwards, the first name of Roger Bruce Chaffee."

The fact is is that Gamma Velorum is called Gamma Velorum in the game. All the stars around are called "REGOR" This sent alarm bells ringing. It seems to me to be a "Bait"

Interestingly, if you do a search for "Chaffee" in game, the first two results (out of 8) lie between "Pandemonium" The first system is also named after a Aeronautic specialist called "Sigurd Sloberg" - a close friend of Gus Grissom.

Anyhow... so far ive gotten nowhere!

And apologies for lack of coherence. I need some sleep! Peace! x
 
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As promised, here is the system's name now that I turned in the data: it's Outotch UI-Z b55-0. Draw a line from Reorte to Riedquat, then rotate it 90 degrees counter-clockwise. I haven't found CMDR Salomé's tags in nearby systems, but I haven't exactly gone over them with a fine comb. (Plus there have been other commanders' tags nearby too.) The system consists of a pair of class M stars, both with their own sets of planets. The primary star was discovered by Salomé, and she tagged a water world there. The secondary star is 84k ls out, and it looks like she wasn't patient enough to fly there - maybe she was in a hurry? Anyway, that one has a water world too, and an ammonia world as well. Also, there are no landable planets, all the bodies in the system have atmospheres.

I'd advise anyone not to get their hopes up, but hey, at least it's something to check. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary while I was in the system.

Seems to me that she is triangulating a possition.

- She had the general direction, with the RR line.
- She went to Sol's gas giants (open space far from the Sun), to get a unobscured 'view' of the area. She spotted or heard what she was looking for.
- She went to Earth to read old protocols. Perhaps catalogs of radio sources.
- She goes out 90° to triangulate, to get the distance.

To me it seems she is looking for a dim object (black hole) inside a dark nebula. Very hard to spot in flight and in the GalMap.
 
While settling into the rhythm of long range travel after two false starts one tanking my conda the second forgetting to bring the srvs and did I leave the stove on, with hyperspace hypnosis and hypnagogic brain dribble churning obsessed with the druclu to reexamine assumptions about the character of Salome and the core of the problem, I keep getting stuck with this. Instead of capitalizing CORE or PROBLEM how about "THE". Salome has clearly defined what she thinks THE C.hildren O.f R.axxla E.xistential problem of all humanity is. On her personal sociopathic level why waste her time back scrabbling her way to merely become Emperor when she see's a path to become Queen of All Heaven while bringing peace love sunshine lolipops and rainbows to all the people of the galaxy.

Opposed to this of course is the IRNA. You can't create an organization like that and expect it to go away once the crisis is over; give folks like that a feather and they'll figure a way to weaponize it. They certainly have an interest in keeping their monopoly on Thargoid , other alien technology and information and have a vested interest in keeping things the same with their deep slimy fingers in all power blocks and corporations.

What both share is the belief that alien tech is the path to ultimate power.

All the attacks and assassinations could be either or both really but more likely INRA.

So she left her tiara and dark wheel behind for the COR. Bye-bye Empire, bye-bye Dark Wheel.
Don't know enough about the Dark Wheel to know what to make of that.
 
Nice :) It's good to see some fresh ideas rolling around. I'm out of ideas myself, so I'm moving to cross the bridge. After reading Reclamation, the old woman tells them -
"Once you reach the rift you're going to have to plot a way across. There are no stars for dozens of light years and the dark systems haven't been mapped, so take your time, watch your six."

Which also makes me wonder about one of Drew's hints.. He could've been quoting the book, and not actually hinting at anything :)

If we go off of this and what we know of the Rift so far, it seem's that what we are looking for would be on the other side. It's a simplistic approach and I know others have explored the other side, but it adds up. The only thing that doesn't quite add up is the "core" of the problem.
 
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Not owned by me, no. She is her own mistress most of the time, but she is 'the' Salomé and will be acting in accordance to the 'story'. She is on the "Distant Worlds" expedition currently, due at Beagle Point towards the end of March.

Hot damn! Well, that's an interesting tidbit.
 
The view of the galaxy from out here is amazing...

Imagine it up here. Type in "White" into the galmap.

Up comes the White eyed pea nebula. Be a perfect place for a brooding megalomaniac with a fat white cat.

On another note, FD mad a boo boo here. WEN is only 6000ly distant. Not the 12000ly in game. Just sayin'!
 
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Nice :) It's good to see some fresh ideas rolling around. I'm out of ideas myself, so I'm moving to cross the bridge. After reading Reclamation, the old woman tells them -


Which also makes me wonder about one of Drew's hints.. He could've been quoting the book, and not actually hinting at anything :)

If we go off of this and what we know of the Rift so far, it seem's that what we are looking for would be on the other side. It's a simplistic approach and I know others have explored the other side, but it adds up. The only thing that doesn't quite add up is the "core" of the problem.
I'm faced with the same doubt as you right now...

I crossed the bridge and just went through the Badlands. Sitting currently at PHROOE HYPOOE DL-Y G0, aprox 2.000ly from the RR line but behind the Rift. Trying to find out if I should head north into the Rift, or south into the outer arm. Trying to take a decision with the hints we have...


The same one that Acheron posted, from the old woman:
"Once you reach the rift you're going to have to plot a way across. There are no stars for dozens of light years and the dark systems haven't been mapped, so take your time, watch your six." - I understand from this we have to look outside the Rift, but could be wrong...
And then relevant comments from Drew:
"I've not heard that anyone has found anything of note on the far side of the Formidine..." - (Unclear to me, inside or outside the Rift?)

"It does indeed. I used the root word in Latin as the inspiration, Formido, which translates to 'dread' or 'fear'. Congratulations Commander. A clue." - Fear/dread has a meaning here. Something in the galmap that could inspire fear? There are areas with dark clouds inside the Rift, could be something like this? Could also probably be joined with the Seven Veils. Veils can be used as well to cover something, so maybe a dark area hiding something behind?

"Whether it is found or not depends entirely on who goes looking." - No idea about this one. All Cmdr's that have reached this area in search of a mystery with so elusive clues have shown tons of dedication, so this one eludes me...

"It's not locked to a rank. All you need is wanderlust, patience and an ability to read between the lines." - This basically tells me that we have a chance of finding it with what we have, although some serious brain power might be needed (certainly not me...).

"You may want to review the etymology of the name 'Kahina' too." - Fortune teller / diviner... I see future written in big letters here, but in relation to what? A star waiting to go super nova? An expected interstellar event?

We seem to still be missing all the necessary clues from in-game/galnet to solve this mystery, so all we have to go with are the subtle hints from Drew. It might be impossible to pinpoint an exact system with this info, but it would be great if with the above, we could at least reduce or define the search area better. Looking inside or outside the rift would be a big start.

There are as well other important things that might be of relevance, like the Seven Veils, and Kahina's trip to Sol. I didn't search for all quotes and hints from Drew, so a lot are missing here, like the one with the "core of the problem". We should really find a way to put all hints in the same place, we somehow need to join all the dots...
 
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You're missing something from the etymology of Kahina. Extracted from wikipedia:..Dihya, Dahiyah, Dahia, Dhabba or Kahina (the title Kahin meant Prophetess) was a Berber (possibly Jewish) warrior queen, religious and military leader who led indigenous resistance to Arab Islamic expansion in Northwest Africa, the region then known as Numidia; used a scorched earth policy against the invading Saracens, destroying cities, orchards, and herds of sedentary Berbers, to make North Africa a desert, but that in turn lost her their support & she was finally defeated. Died around the end of the 7th century in modern-day Algeria. Supposedly, Dihya had a passion for ornithology that shaped science and learning in early North Africa. The TV series Relic Hunter (episode 64) -the relic hunters recover an artefact (Saddle) that had belonged to Kahina & Kahina is seen in flashback scenes.

So basically Kahina led resistance to invasion- I think things are going to hot up soon.

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5: All of the gods of the time are accounted for in game as stars. (In order of importance) ANU, ENLIL, ENKI, NINHURSAG, ISHTAR,SIN and SHAMASH. (Last three are sky gods)
6: ISHTAR's (God of life and fertility) opposite is "ERESHKIGAL" She's there as a sun in game too.
7: Theres a shed load of other gods in the "Hades" sector too. (Hades meaning underworld in Greek)

I spotted the ancient gods references; also don't forget Persephone (station where Kahina had her ship refitted) - Persephone, also called Kore or Cora "the maiden"), is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest goddess Demeter, and is the queen of the underworld. Persephone was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld. ('Kore' = "Core" ??). However where is the Hades sector? couldn't see it on galmap.
 
it would be great if with the above, we could at least reduce or define the search area better. Looking inside or outside the rift would be a big start.


A quote from woman in the hospital:

"Don't tell no one, but I got as far as the Formidine Rift, not many folks can say that! No one has gone past it and lived to tell the tale."

To me, that implies that she has never been on the other side of the rift either, as she's obviously still alive. So whatever she saw is either just at the edge or inside the rift, not behind.

"Once you reach the rift, you're going to have to plot a way across"

That probably points to inside the rift then if combined with the other quote.


BTW, my personal interpretation of "consider the, ahem, core of the problem": there are still clues hidden which can be found in the core systems, maybe by tracing the steps she did in the book or on the Galnet articles? Is there a hint on the location of the GalCop database she accessed in the book, for example? Should be somewhere in the "old" systems which have been in the first Elite.
 
A quote from woman in the hospital:

"Don't tell no one, but I got as far as the Formidine Rift, not many folks can say that! No one has gone past it and lived to tell the tale."

To me, that implies that she has never been on the other side of the rift either, as she's obviously still alive. So whatever she saw is either just at the edge or inside the rift, not behind.

"Once you reach the rift, you're going to have to plot a way across"

That probably points to inside the rift then if combined with the other quote.


BTW, my personal interpretation of "consider the, ahem, core of the problem": there are still clues hidden which can be found in the core systems, maybe by tracing the steps she did in the book or on the Galnet articles? Is there a hint on the location of the GalCop database she accessed in the book, for example? Should be somewhere in the "old" systems which have been in the first Elite.
That sentence of her could as well imply that nobody got past it but her. Sadly, it's unclear to me, but English is not my main language and I could understand it wrong...
 
That sentence of her could as well imply that nobody got past it but her. Sadly, it's unclear to me, but English is not my main language and I could understand it wrong...

The far I understood the phrasing, she got to the edge of it - not past it, however.
 
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