The Formidine Rift - Part 2

[Acheron Kimald]

Thank you I'm really excited in trying to solve all kinds of puzzles, especially such great mysteries of the cosmos, and I hope I can eventually be of greater assistance to the cause

The more the merrier I have a feeling we will need all the help we can get. Sadly, I didn't get much play time today even with getting off of work early.

About the permits.. I agree with Eremus's speculation. I do think Bovomit has a part to play, maybe even a home system for an alien race. I don't think it's what we are looking for at the moment, But it doesn't hurt to try and test things

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

All he really says is there's a reason it's called Seven Veils, and the reason could be nothing more complicated than her name is "Salome" which is the name of the person who danced the 7 veils. Inferring it's a clue to the rift seems a stretch to me.

Perhaps so. However we're still not entirely sure what we are looking for. Simply that there is a mystery to uncover about or in the Formadine Rift. Salomé was (or is?) searching for something, and the rift has a part to play in the search. Her ship, the 'Seven Veils' has a part to play in the search too and has featured prominently in the stories and Galnet posts that we are told contain clues. The Galnet entry where it remarks at the end: "In other news, the Senator's ship was confirmed to have had some significant modifications made to it recently, including a state of the art fuel scoop and a custom built Gutamaya discovery scanner." Seemed like an oddly tacked on piece of information to the content of that entry.

In the subsequent post, we are told that the ship is "stripped" of all essential systems. Strip being a word that aligns with seven veils being a 'strip tease'. Maybe Drew is just teasing us with this info or my tinfoil is starting to work again. Either way I'm intrigued.

 

[crushdepth]

The last part of the puzzle for me dropped into place this morning when I messaged a commander who has been "out there" and told me a very interesting fact. This fact leads me to believe that I know roughly where the thing I have been looking for is. To be very clear I 'am looking for

A) Raxxla or the gateway too it or
B) Thargoid home world

Either would be amazing to find. Both would be mind blowing.

On the location of Raxxla, David Braben stated very clearly somewhere that "there will be no clues". So any clues that we do turn up probably relate to something else. As to the Thargoid home world, I think we can reliably expect to get mugged by a fleet of octagonal ships before getting anywhere near it!

As an ally of the Dark Wheel I can also confirm that the tragic kidnapping of your goldfish this morning was completely unrelated to your investigations, and that the note on your door ("back off or Bubbles gets it") was merely an unfortunate coincidence.

 

[Warmaster Will]

Is there a list of major waypoints to get out there from the bubble?

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

Is there a list of major waypoints to get out there from the bubble?

Hey WW - check out Dommarraa's spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dtpJnRQHHcjwqRpBxFiI7YqGtPATAO3XJG82o-Iy-hQ/edit?usp=sharing

It has a route to the rift within.

 

[dynamicbob]

a route within is helpful thanks

 

[Dommarraa]

a route within is helpful thanks

That's what vanguards are for. Your 130 member fleet seem perfectly equipped to provide routes for various jump ranges, with and without jumponium.

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

Some other stuff I've been pondering: "Watch your six" ... It's US military jargon; I'm not sure if it originated in the Navy or Air Force. The idea is to give relative directions by laying out the horizon as though it were a clock: directly ahead is 12 o'clock, straight right is 3 o'clock, straight left is 9 o'clock, and so directly behind you is 6 o'clock.

I think it's understood that 'watch your six' translates to 'watch your back' ... but I thought the clock reference interesting when thinking about navigation. And looking at a clock, 6 is on the bottom or 'below'.

Also, probing a bit more into 'seven veils', as mentioned previously this originates with the Babylonian story of Ishtar. In that she had to pass through seven gates to reach the underworld. The two interesting aspects to the story are - in order to pass through the final gate she had to be 'stripped naked' (in the same way Salomé's ship was 'stripped' perhaps?). So, to pass through the seventh gate, Ishtar had to relinquish the final item of clothing, her thousand-petaled crown, by doing so also relinquishing her godhood.

More similarities with the story of how Lady Kahina left her Imperial tiara in her 'stripped' ship before she disappeared. Thereby also relinquishing her senator-ship and rule over Prism. I think the similarities are clear - and most likely not by coincidence!

How this all relates yet I'm not sure... and sorry if this ground has been covered before. Just trying to follow the scent of information

One final thing that popped out at me is Ishtar had to ask Ereshkigal (Goddess of the Underworld) permission to pass through the gates. There is a system in ED called 'Ereshkigal'. It's nothing much to report on - 5 stars and a gas giant. I'm just flying there for a closer look.

I also found some stuff around each gate being associated with a colour. I thought that this might correspond to the colour of the seven scoopable stars (OBAFGKM theory that was thrown around previously). Unfortunately not all the colours align - but the seventh gate, and seventh star in the set are both red. Does it mean we are looking for an M-class star system ??

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

... the Rifters

Heh. I like that

 

[Virgil Kyle]

I'm wondering - Has anybody figured out which constellation a straight line from Reorte to Riedquat points to? My guess is Cetus - Is that correct?


EDIT: Sorry - Upon a visual inspection in the Galaxy Map of the Reorte-Riedquat line, the path seems to go through Cepheus, which is still intriguing, given the connection to the diviner, the fortuneteller (the 'Kahina' connection), the Oracle of Ammon, who told Cepheus to chain Andromeda to the rock for the feared and dreaded Cetus (the 'Formidine' connection) to consume as a sacrifice.

Anybody noticed these connections in Greek myth? I have to believe I'm not the first...

 

[Dielos]

I'm wondering - Has anybody figured out which constellation a straight line from Reorte to Riedquat points to? My guess is Cetus - Is that correct?


EDIT: Sorry - Upon a visual inspection in the Galaxy Map of the Reorte-Riedquat line, the path seems to go through Cepheus, which is still intriguing, given the connection to the diviner, the fortuneteller (the 'Kahina' connection), the Oracle of Ammon, who told Cepheus to chain Andromeda to the rock for the feared and dreaded Cetus (the 'Formidine' connection) to consume as a sacrifice.

Anybody noticed these connections in Greek myth? I have to believe I'm not the first...

I certainly did not, and have been around for quite some time... Nice job! Another front for study.

I'll give you rep as soon as I'm on my PC...

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

I'm wondering - Has anybody figured out which constellation a straight line from Reorte to Riedquat points to? My guess is Cetus - Is that correct?


EDIT: Sorry - Upon a visual inspection in the Galaxy Map of the Reorte-Riedquat line, the path seems to go through Cepheus, which is still intriguing, given the connection to the diviner, the fortuneteller (the 'Kahina' connection), the Oracle of Ammon, who told Cepheus to chain Andromeda to the rock for the feared and dreaded Cetus (the 'Formidine' connection) to consume as a sacrifice.

Anybody noticed these connections in Greek myth? I have to believe I'm not the first...

Nope I think you are the first on this one! Nice connection though... Drew did mention we should look into the etymology of Kahina - but I think folk only went as far as to understand 'Kahina' was some sort of oracle / soothsayer.

I've never been able to view constellations in ED - don't know if it's a Mac bug or not. Someone did mention previously that Polaris was directly above the RR line, but no further connection than that.

A quick read on Cepheus is that "the bottom star Errai or Gamma Cephei is a binary star system with at least one planet. This star – at the peak of the 'roof' in the house-shaped constellation Cepheus the King – will someday be a North Star for Earth."

I wonder if Errai is worth a visit now

Update: It's called "Alfirk" in ED (HIP 106032) but it doesn't look like a binary star in the galaxy map.

 

[Sgt.Barnes]

The more the merrier I have a feeling we will need all the help we can get. Sadly, I didn't get much play time today even with getting off of work early.

About the permits.. I agree with Eremus's speculation. I do think Bovomit has a part to play, maybe even a home system for an alien race. I don't think it's what we are looking for at the moment, But it doesn't hurt to try and test things

With Erimus's speculation it leads me to believe the next best thing to do is to just get lots of ships out there and trawl the rift and surrounding area's and see what we flush out.

On the location of Raxxla, David Braben stated very clearly somewhere that "there will be no clues". So any clues that we do turn up probably relate to something else. As to the Thargoid home world, I think we can reliably expect to get mugged by a fleet of octagonal ships before getting anywhere near it!

As an ally of the Dark Wheel I can also confirm that the tragic kidnapping of your goldfish this morning was completely unrelated to your investigations, and that the note on your door ("back off or Bubbles gets it") was merely an unfortunate coincidence.

Yes and thats part of one of the clues too. We are warned by the old lady to be well armed as you will need it. So perhaps thats worth noting ? But then again if we got too close to Raxxla I expect we would get the welcome wagon treatment so I suppose it goes for both scenarios.

BTW Give me back my bloody goldfish !

[/URL]via Imgflip Meme Maker[/IMG]

Some other stuff I've been pondering: "Watch your six" ... It's US military jargon; I'm not sure if it originated in the Navy or Air Force. The idea is to give relative directions by laying out the horizon as though it were a clock: directly ahead is 12 o'clock, straight right is 3 o'clock, straight left is 9 o'clock, and so directly behind you is 6 o'clock.

I think it's understood that 'watch your six' translates to 'watch your back' ... but I thought the clock reference interesting when thinking about navigation. And looking at a clock, 6 is on the bottom or 'below'.

Yes its a system used by British & American WWII pilots. Its a clock face on a flat plain with 12 directly in front and 6 behind etc. Above the flat plain is "high" or "on high" and under "low" or "below" so a bandit coming up at you from the right hand side is "3 o clock low" or behind 6 o clock hence "your six" . "Bandits at six on high" means they are coming in from above on your direct rear or just 4 o clock would be right rear etc. Also not related to this story but an interesting term was to "Bounce" which means drop in from high out of the sun to surprise the enemy with a fast attack "They never even saw it coming" Could be of use in a NAV beacon fight. I really think the only thing you can take from the reference is that it is a women who is used to combat and use to fighting alongside others, probably with a military background. I doubt its used any more due to advances in radar and lack of actual close combat. Nowadays you spot the target 10 miles away on radar,and send a gift. You rarely get to visual an actual airborne enemy at all so the system is pretty much obsolete.

 

[Cyalope]

Some other stuff I've been pondering: "Watch your six" ... It's US military jargon; I'm not sure if it originated in the Navy or Air Force. The idea is to give relative directions by laying out the horizon as though it were a clock: directly ahead is 12 o'clock, straight right is 3 o'clock, straight left is 9 o'clock, and so directly behind you is 6 o'clock.

I think it's understood that 'watch your six' translates to 'watch your back' ... but I thought the clock reference interesting when thinking about navigation. And looking at a clock, 6 is on the bottom or 'below'.

It means to know a point from which we should see or perceive something by looking behind us. the only indication we have is the R / R line, so it makes sense to look toward the human bubble. The question is from where.
If I remember correctly, in supercruise, we can spot a black hole in a close system. Maybe we can use this method to identify other things less common. it should not be too difficult to locate something using brightness of the galaxy or the black background of space.

The old woman speaks of dark systems, I'm not sure what she's talking. I almost finished crossing the rift and I did not see any black hole yet. Even on galmap.

 

[Poseidal]

It means to know a point from which we should see or perceive something by looking behind us. the only indication we have is the R / R line, so it makes sense to look toward the human bubble. The question is from where.
If I remember correctly, in supercruise, we can spot a black hole in a close system. Maybe we can use this method to identify other things less common. it should not be too difficult to locate something using brightness of the galaxy or the black background of space.

The old woman speaks of dark systems, I'm not sure what she's talking. I almost finished crossing the rift and I did not see any black hole yet. Even on galmap.

Dark Systems aren't black holes. They are systems that are not showing up on the galactic map.

It's possible another interpretation is those cold, unscoopable systems where the main star is just a brown dwarf...

 

[Warmaster Will]

I like Sgt Barnes suggestion lets flood the area with coordinated search teams.
I have another week of stuff to do in the bubble...then I make my first Walkabout to the Rift.
AspX with a 25-31 jump range loaded-unloaded

 

[Alkibiades]

Is there a list of major waypoints to get out there from the bubble?

check out the startpost, theres a google doc with pois.

 

[woodhouse]

Sensors on heading 180 mark 0 (or 0 mark 180?) would be equivalent to 'watch your six'.
<tinfoil>Find systems names with 180 and 0</tinfoil>

 

[Cyalope]

Dark Systems aren't black holes. They are systems that are not showing up on the galactic map.

It's possible another interpretation is those cold, unscoopable systems where the main star is just a brown dwarf...

Thank you for that clarification. During my first exploration, I have seen systems with planets orbiting a black hole completely plunged into darkness, even on galmap. I thought it could be this.
If They are not showing up on the galactic map, are they reachable? Someone has already seen this kind of systems?

 

[GiantCorn]

I'm wondering - Has anybody figured out which constellation a straight line from Reorte to Riedquat points to? My guess is Cetus - Is that correct?


EDIT: Sorry - Upon a visual inspection in the Galaxy Map of the Reorte-Riedquat line, the path seems to go through Cepheus, which is still intriguing, given the connection to the diviner, the fortuneteller (the 'Kahina' connection), the Oracle of Ammon, who told Cepheus to chain Andromeda to the rock for the feared and dreaded Cetus (the 'Formidine' connection) to consume as a sacrifice.

Anybody noticed these connections in Greek myth? I have to believe I'm not the first...

Hi there, nice idea!

I checked Cetus (and algol ? the star at the head of medusa which was used to save andromeda by perseus) and andromeda in wikipedia - none of the stars in those constellations goes beyong more than 2000 odd LY from earth. So unlikely to contain " the rift" as referred to in the book quote or general consensus (the area about 10,000ly away from SOL)

Nice effort tho - way more of an idea than ive been able to come up with!