The Quest To Find Raxxla

[Jorki Rasalas]

Yes, there was a station at the memorial “
Tethered below this vast, rotating mausoleum is the dodecahedral shape of a 'Dodo' class space station, the home of the Cemetery Authorites.
”

Have a search through Premonition. Pretty sure Luko said to Hassan that TDW HQ had existed for a while in Tionisla. Since Rebecca clearly was in TDW I assumed that was a reference to her old cobra. Her ship was added into the mausoleum by special request to the authorities & then she was killed in it by The Club mercs.

 

[yelboc]

'You seem to know a lot about all this ...'

'I know my history, signor,' Luko said, tapping the side of his nose with a finger. 'This Dark Wheel, they appear and they disappear. Whenever a crisis occurs, there they are. For hundreds of years they have been turning the pages of the story. The Tionisla system is steeped in mucho ancient lore.' He shrugged. 'And now they take Salomé into their world, eh?'

Only ref I can find. The context is that Hassan has taken Salome to Tionisla orbital graveyard. So no ref to TDW HQ, only that Tionisla is important in history - the graveyard is a central theme to Drew and appears frequently in Premonition, and is also mentioned briefly in Reclamation. This being a nod to ch3 in TDW novella. But nowhere does it mention TDW headquaters as far as I can see.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Your googlefu is weak young grasshopper! Two more hours on the rice paper carpet each day!

chapter 12, p452 in my ecopy:

“The graveyard?’ Luko queried, ‘Ah … yes.’
‘You know about the graveyard?’ Hassan asked.
Luko pursed his lips for a moment as if considering what to say. ‘I have heard much of it. A strange place, no? They say it is connected with old stories. They say it was once the headquarters of the Dark Wheel …’
Hassan frowned. ‘The Dark Wheel? Aren’t they a faction in Shinrarta Dezhra?’
Luko chuckled.
‘Somehow I think they are not related,’ Luko said. ‘Hmmm … Life, she saw, hope.”

Excerpt From
Elite Dangerous: Premonition
Drew Wagar
This material may be protected by copyright.

I did have a search around Tionisla looking for TDW station in case that was the HQ he refers to, but found nowt!

 

[yelboc]

Your googlefu is weak young grasshopper! Two more hours on the rice paper carpet each day!

chapter 12, p452 in my ecopy:

“The graveyard?’ Luko queried, ‘Ah … yes.’
‘You know about the graveyard?’ Hassan asked.
Luko pursed his lips for a moment as if considering what to say. ‘I have heard much of it. A strange place, no? They say it is connected with old stories. They say it was once the headquarters of the Dark Wheel …’
Hassan frowned. ‘The Dark Wheel? Aren’t they a faction in Shinrarta Dezhra?’
Luko chuckled.
‘Somehow I think they are not related,’ Luko said. ‘Hmmm … Life, she saw, hope.”

Excerpt From
Elite Dangerous: Premonition
Drew Wagar
This material may be protected by copyright.

I did have a search around Tionisla looking for TDW station in case that was the HQ he refers to, but found nowt!

Such is the peril in searching in a rush - Sack-cloth and begging bowl for me

There certainly isnt anything to be found where the orbital wreckyard should be, or anywhere else - I did scour it several times, and for some reason (THS campaign) I cant seem to escape the place.

Good work !

PS the irony, that Luko was TDW all along - poor Hassan - so naive

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

You could join The Order in Van Maanen’s, I hear they’re running short of rock hermits!

Yes, it’s a great shame FD didnt try from the outset to represent the Mausoleum. They probably couldnt do the Holdstock description justice, but something, anything...

I still cant make my mind up about Luko. His dialogue seems ambiguous. He apparently put the TDW emblem in her ship after she abandoned it; was that to deliberately frame her? It was used against her at the trial. His speech at times makes it seem as though he doesnt know much about TDW, then he’s supposed to be a member, then someone pointed out that there’s a Giovanni in CIEP in AHTW...is it the same guy or someone else (common given name).

@drew : if you’re still reading Drew then clarification on this would be most welcome!

 

[yelboc]

Lets just say he wasn't 'stranded' on that planet with the religious nutcases by chance

 

[Djidjel]

[...]have you (or anyone else) done an analysis of the missions offered by PF and TDW in Shinrarta? If it is a front run by the real DW then I’d expect a few of those missions to direct the player towards the real DW faction. That would be consistent with DB sayings about we dont play the game as they expected & he knows there are missions that nobody has seen (because of that unexpected gameplay).

Sadly, no.
I was thinking along those lines myself. Gotta get away from the game for a while and approach it from a new angle when I get back.
I just realized something. Dark Wheel. Drew Wagar. DW. Is that just a coincidence? I think not!

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Probably is coincidence though! Although he was the one who added detail to the concept, in his books, he’s said the TDW concept was given to the authors by FD. Unfortunately no details on that lore, not even in Allen Stroud’s PhD thesis.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Mmm, heavy Thargoid invasion just as Colonia Bridge completed. Hardly a coincidence!
Methinks we’ll lose the bubble fairly soon, humanity will migrate to Colonia (with The Club ferrying the wealthy elite to FRift, Conflux & Hawking’s Gap perhaps? Unless FD dont want to complete Drew’s plotline).

Think we’ll have to find Raxxla-in-the-bubble soon, or be denied by goid hyperdictions!

 

[Emperor]

"Students and commentators of Raxxla lore have noted that the legend of Raxxla is unusually influential, often leading Raxxla seekers to become singularly obsessed with it. This has been compared to the concept of "fernweh", which is experienced as an inexplicable longing for a place that an individual has never seen."

Why did they chose the word fernweh? it's always bugged me I had to google it when they used it too! ;-)

Such and unusual choice... anyone done any research?

"Most sources trace the word back to one Prince Hermann Ludwig Heinrich von Pückler-Muskau. A landscape gardener, Herr Pückler-Muskau also had been bitten by the travel bug and would end up publishing several books about his wanderings around Europe and North Africa (using the penname “Semilasso”). In 1835, Pückler-Muskau published The Penultimate Course of the World of Semilasso: Dream and Waking. In it, he uses the word fernweh several times, stating that he never suffers from homesickness, or heimweh, but instead suffers from the opposite affliction of fernweh."

"Prince Hermann von Puckler-Muskau wrote two travelogues using the pseudonym 'Semilasso'. Vorletzter Weltgang von Semilasso (1835) describes a journey through Germany and France, while Semilasso in Afrika (1836) follows the traveller to Algeria and the Kingdom of Tunis. The first book was not translated into English and received scant, mainly negative critical attention in Great Britain. The second was anonymously translated by E. W. P. Sinnett and Edward Ryan as Semilasso in Africa and brought out in March 1837 by the prominent London publisher Richard Bentley. The English text is largely faithful to the German and often elegant, though there are minor excisions and errors and some concessions to the tastes of British readers. The book was reviewed in many newspapers and periodicals, and its jaunty; anecdotal style and diverse subject matter prompted both admiration and censure. Critics commented particularly on Puckler's trademark sketches of scenery, his accounts of Roman and Punic remains, and the biographical and fictional narratives that stud his text. Semilasso in Africa went into a second edition in July 1837 and a third in 1839."

 

[CMDR Zulu]

A few things I considered to be of note with the whole Jokers Deck set of articles.
Disclaimer This is just my crazy and long opinion, don’t let it get your panties in a bunch.

Firstly, I believe “Joker’s Deck” in this context is metaphor for the Dark Wheel. They’re an invite only organization. They meet in secrecy in a secret location. They’re not criminal and have a strict code of honor. They offered a job to someone who infiltrated their veil of secrecy. Their leader is a fan of Galactic Mysteries maybe hinting at Legend Seekers. One thing I’m unsure of…is there something that’s of symbolic value to the founder of The Dark Wheel that’s been passed on to other members? I don’t think Salome’s dark wheel medallion fits this but I’m unsure.

The word “Wheel” itself is mentioned as well in these articles but it’s in French “Roue Mortelle” tables is “Deadly Wheel” tables. I guess the writer didn’t want to just use Roulette tables for some reason so used Roue Mortelle tables instead.

The specific characters mentioned as being associated with Jokers Deck seems significant as well but much harder to nail down.

Lexi October for example: October named for being the 8th month of the Roman calendar (I’m sure we’re all aware of the association of Thargoids and the number 8). I hypothesized over a year ago that she seemed to represent the leader of the dark wheel who came across the real Soontill after it had been damaged and brought it back from the brink. Back then I made the assumption that Supratech’s burned warehouse symbolized this, and now we have mention of another nondescript derelict warehouse that is palatial on the inside in this recent article. I don’t want to go back over Supratech and The Torc at this moment, so, on to the next few characters.

Duchess Rouncival: Rouncival possibly meaning Large, Monster. She’s associated with providing Onionhead to people at her decadent parties “that would have people in the Federation chasing unicorns.” There isn’t much to go on with her since she’s not mentioned often in Galnet.

Scorpio Devorrow: Scorpion 8 legged arachnid. Described his personal computer device the Torc (a circular metal collar) as cutting edge tech that “uses holograms to surround you in your own personalized world”. The Torc failed to impress at the Ultratech expo because it surrounded users in a disorienting array of colors and caused nausea.

Senator Leatrix: Hosted a party at her “Glittering mountaintop retreat” that she believed would be inspiring for people to see…outlandish and out of touch for sure. She’s also a fan of Onionhead for some reason.


Ambassador Rochester: This one honestly eludes me. I feel as though there is a hidden reference in all the articles pertaining to Aisling and Rochester but I’m not convinced enough to make any claims and there are tons of them.

Arch-Corsairs Trask and Volantyne: Another conundrum. I couldn’t find any mention of Trask but Volantyne was associated with promoting Onionhead, which I believe Onionhead’s story so to speak was representative of historical Thargoid persecution i.e. the bombing of Panem with a chemical that behaves similarly to the Mycoid virus. This new development of The Helix or Gamma Strain is making me think we might see a new type or more widespread Thargoid activity. Similar to how Gamma Strain is more suitable for mass production. I do find it strange that the Corsairs are “taking on” Zachary Rackham at the Deadly Wheel (Roue Mortelle Tables). Given that Rackham chose not to fund Supratech and chose the Duradrive instead perhaps Rackham is representative of The Dark Wheels adversary or just an off shoot that isn’t aligning with the rest of the groups interests.

“Calico” Zachary Rackham: (Why they call him Calico is a mystery to me) After going over the articles mentioning him I think he is representative of The Club leadership which would explain why he’s portrayed as an adversary to the Arch-Corsairs in the article and why he chose the Duradrive over the Torc. Possibly even representative of Sirius. An Article mentioning Sirius wanting to host the Galactic Summit also mentioned Rackham wanting to host the summit at The Galactic Zenith seemed on the nose to me. That article quickly stated that Rackham wasn’t taken seriously as if to say he’s a joke and not worthy of consideration. Rackham has also been to the “Rhea Archipelago” a place that has been mentioned several times and is usually mentioned in conjunction with missing celebrities.

Xiona: possibly hinting at the word Zion: Heaven or Utopia. She makes very rare appearances and came out of retirement to do a one off show but apparently her sound is unmistakable. She’s always mentioned last in the articles. This leads me to believe there’s some sort of amazing audio associated with locating what I believe is being hinted at here.

Okay so what the heck is lunatic Commander Zulu getting at with all this?

About a year or so ago I was going through Galnet articles particularly the ones focusing on Supratech, Lexi October, Winking Cat, Xiona, Onionhead, etc. and saying that they appeared to be alluding to something hidden. Well now a good portion of those articles characters have been mentioned again underneath the umbrella of The Jokers Deck and Wolfe is seemingly vaguely describing how she infiltrated them.

I think it’s trying to describe what to do.

Locate a mundane looking planet (probably ice) or station in an industrial economy system, possibly the 8th moon, given that Lexi October was associated with the system Rakapila I’d check there or in that vicinity since she’s “the host” or maybe even other systems where People’s Rakapila Progressive Party is present if there are any. (Just as a side note in the DJ Truth Sayer interview Michael Brookes wore a shirt with a tree on it and Rakapila is a sacred tree deity in Madagascar). Then comes the fake ID part, not sure about that one, maybe a Thargoid Sensor or Probe.

Then, idk…there’s the Winking Cat…I’m starting to think we have to emulate what the Winking Cat does and circumvent thermal sensors and defenses via stealth mode to steal something. Maybe if done successfully you get offered work like Wolfe was but from the actual Dark Wheel.

I’m hesitant to even share this because of how crazy it seems. Oh well.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Seem to remember “Calico Jack” was a famous pirate, and this character’s history is murky.

Joker’s Deck sounds like a pack of playing cards, four card suits, one of which is Clubs. So I suspect these articles are hints that these characters are all members of The Club. The Club are ultra wealthy and consider themselves of elite social status, they use financial and media manipulation to control the population, and it seems likely that they would also promote use of “recreational drugs”, especially one that seems to be engineered to act as a trapdoor for other substances to be passed into the population when someone decides to do so. Possibly hexedit so the hoi polloi will be ordered to mindlessly fight the invading Thargoids while The Club make their escape.

Joker’s Deck reported wealth and status would tend to support this interpretation. I suspect they’ll soon be boarding Torval’s megaships enroute to FRift/Gap/Conflux in order to escape the coming Thargoid invasion.

P.S. I suspect the stolen valuable item will be an old playing card- the Ace of Clubs.

 

[MrShinyTorterra]

What if we all went to their next live stream and all asked "Is Raxxla a fysical place in Elite Dangerous you can visit?" Maybe they would feel pushed to give an answer?

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

I’m going slightly batty. I know Drew posted recently a couple of links to two fan fiction books that, I think, he said carried on with the Salomé storyline & he recommended them. I downloaded them into my iPad iBooks. Now they’ve disappeared from my iPad (happens occasionally!) & I can’t find his post (thought it was in this thread) or the links.

Have I been hexedited?
Anyone got the links?

UnHexEdit: Ah, found them. Links on Drew’s site. Legacy of Salomé by M Lehman, books 1 & 2

 

[Emperor]

"Students and commentators of Raxxla lore have noted that the legend of Raxxla is unusually influential, often leading Raxxla seekers to become singularly obsessed with it. This has been compared to the concept of "fernweh", which is experienced as an inexplicable longing for a place that an individual has never seen."

Why did they chose the word fernweh? it's always bugged me I had to google it when they used it too! ;-)

Such and unusual choice... anyone done any research?

"Most sources trace the word back to one Prince Hermann Ludwig Heinrich von Pückler-Muskau. A landscape gardener, Herr Pückler-Muskau also had been bitten by the travel bug and would end up publishing several books about his wanderings around Europe and North Africa (using the penname “Semilasso”). In 1835, Pückler-Muskau published The Penultimate Course of the World of Semilasso: Dream and Waking. In it, he uses the word fernweh several times, stating that he never suffers from homesickness, or heimweh, but instead suffers from the opposite affliction of fernweh."

"Prince Hermann von Puckler-Muskau wrote two travelogues using the pseudonym 'Semilasso'. Vorletzter Weltgang von Semilasso (1835) describes a journey through Germany and France, while Semilasso in Afrika (1836) follows the traveller to Algeria and the Kingdom of Tunis. The first book was not translated into English and received scant, mainly negative critical attention in Great Britain. The second was anonymously translated by E. W. P. Sinnett and Edward Ryan as Semilasso in Africa and brought out in March 1837 by the prominent London publisher Richard Bentley. The English text is largely faithful to the German and often elegant, though there are minor excisions and errors and some concessions to the tastes of British readers. The book was reviewed in many newspapers and periodicals, and its jaunty; anecdotal style and diverse subject matter prompted both admiration and censure. Critics commented particularly on Puckler's trademark sketches of scenery, his accounts of Roman and Punic remains, and the biographical and fictional narratives that stud his text. Semilasso in Africa went into a second edition in July 1837 and a third in 1839."

Something distinctly worrying about that picture ;-)

and this one.... LOL

 

[Comandante]

Joker's Deck - then there's the association with the Tarot in that it also consists of four suits each with knave, king, queen and ace. According to some (misguided individuals), there's the occult link with the word tarot itself - Tora being law (Pentateuch/first 5 books of the bible (implied because early deck 'major aracana' trump cards were ascribed with a Hewbrew letter)) being an anagram of Rota (Latin wheel/turning) which when joined up moving left and character-wrapping from 'T' (T > A > R > O > T) reads tarot (borrowing from the same word group itself) with the final 'T' to make a wheel).

However, for myself making this association from Joker's Deck to try and 'find' an association with a 'Wheel' from the paragraph immediately above (Deck of Cards > Tarot > anagram = 'ROTA' = 'wheel') is too far-fetched and would be outside of the typical sanity and positive mental health of any normal person or player. I mention it because it's the first thing I thought (proves I am not all there!) and that sometimes, digging for these clues will take you down any old rabbit hole...

I blame @CMDR Zulu for giving me the idea in the first place!

(POST EDIT: and that's before we even begin to talk about the joker!)

 

[CMDR Zulu]

Joker's Deck - then there's the association with the Tarot in that it also consists of four suits each with knave, king, queen and ace. According to some (misguided individuals), there's the occult link with the word tarot itself - Tora being law (Pentateuch/first 5 books of the bible (implied because early deck 'major aracana' trump cards were ascribed with a Hewbrew letter)) being an anagram of Rota (Latin wheel/turning) which when joined up moving left and character-wrapping from 'T' (T > A > R > O > T) reads tarot (borrowing from the same word group itself) with the final 'T' to make a wheel).

However, for myself making this association from Joker's Deck to try and 'find' an association with a 'Wheel' from the paragraph immediately above (Deck of Cards > Tarot > anagram = 'ROTA' = 'wheel') is too far-fetched and would be outside of the typical sanity and positive mental health of any normal person or player. I mention it because it's the first thing I thought (proves I am not all there!) and that sometimes, digging for these clues will take you down any old rabbit hole...

I blame @CMDR Zulu for giving me the idea in the first place!

(POST EDIT: and that's before we even begin to talk about the joker!)

What have I done!? Sorry friend. Hopefully you at least enjoyed the dive down the rabbit hole.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Doh!
For some reason I’ve always thought the spiky-haired woman in Premonition who gave the speech about TDW operating as a “loose conglomerate... wheels within wheels...TDW in SD is a useful front to hide the true Wheel” was Alessia Verde, Luko’s daughter...
But just re-reading Holdstock’s TDW (it’s blowing a gale outside, the copawlot is going to have to wait till this afternoon for his EVA!)...”She was quite small. Her skin was olive, her eyes dark. She wore her hair in a fashionable series of spikes, like a porcupine...’Trader Fields', she said, and touched the heel of her right hand to her left shoulder by way of salute. 'My given name is Elyssia. Elyssia Fields.' She smiled again. 'My brood mother's little joke.”

 

[yelboc]

"Students and commentators of Raxxla lore have noted that the legend of Raxxla is unusually influential, often leading Raxxla seekers to become singularly obsessed with it. This has been compared to the concept of "fernweh", which is experienced as an inexplicable longing for a place that an individual has never seen."

Why did they chose the word fernweh? it's always bugged me I had to google it when they used it too! ;-)

Such and unusual choice... anyone done any research?

"Most sources trace the word back to one Prince Hermann Ludwig Heinrich von Pückler-Muskau. A landscape gardener, Herr Pückler-Muskau also had been bitten by the travel bug and would end up publishing several books about his wanderings around Europe and North Africa (using the penname “Semilasso”). In 1835, Pückler-Muskau published The Penultimate Course of the World of Semilasso: Dream and Waking. In it, he uses the word fernweh several times, stating that he never suffers from homesickness, or heimweh, but instead suffers from the opposite affliction of fernweh."

"Prince Hermann von Puckler-Muskau wrote two travelogues using the pseudonym 'Semilasso'. Vorletzter Weltgang von Semilasso (1835) describes a journey through Germany and France, while Semilasso in Afrika (1836) follows the traveller to Algeria and the Kingdom of Tunis. The first book was not translated into English and received scant, mainly negative critical attention in Great Britain. The second was anonymously translated by E. W. P. Sinnett and Edward Ryan as Semilasso in Africa and brought out in March 1837 by the prominent London publisher Richard Bentley. The English text is largely faithful to the German and often elegant, though there are minor excisions and errors and some concessions to the tastes of British readers. The book was reviewed in many newspapers and periodicals, and its jaunty; anecdotal style and diverse subject matter prompted both admiration and censure. Critics commented particularly on Puckler's trademark sketches of scenery, his accounts of Roman and Punic remains, and the biographical and fictional narratives that stud his text. Semilasso in Africa went into a second edition in July 1837 and a third in 1839."

Yes came up with Von Puckler Muskau along while back - his tomb, btw, is a pyramid in the middle of a lake.

Of all the words in the codex, its the only one that comes out the same in all translations (its untranslatable) so would make a good cipher key. But to what cipher..?

 

[simulacrae]

“Calico” Zachary Rackham: (Why they call him Calico is a mystery to me) After going over the articles mentioning him I think he is representative of The Club leadership which would explain why he’s portrayed as an adversary to the Arch-Corsairs in the article and why he chose the Duradrive over the Torc. Possibly even representative of Sirius. An Article mentioning Sirius wanting to host the Galactic Summit also mentioned Rackham wanting to host the summit at The Galactic Zenith seemed on the nose to me. That article quickly stated that Rackham wasn’t taken seriously as if to say he’s a joke and not worthy of consideration. Rackham has also been to the “Rhea Archipelago” a place that has been mentioned several times and is usually mentioned in conjunction with missing celebrities.

There was an early 18th century pirate named ‘Calico Jack’ his given name was John Rackham… maybe a distant relative? Also i am intrigued because of course Calico … is also a type of cat…
Ah ya missed jorki pointing it out