The Quest To Find Raxxla

[Rochester]

Trinkets are linked. But what relevance they initially or currently play however, remains an unknown!

Remember, when questioned in this thread, FD confirmed the trinkets were linked to ‘that story’ ergo the removed missions,

They have a specific action, which is they are both illegal in almost every area of space and attract pirates.

Trinkets in game description identifies they are associated with the deity Fortune / Fortuna.

In game the historical removed missions; What Was Lost Will Soon Be Found, had the sub title of ‘The Wheel Of Time Turns’.

Something is certainly off with them.

FD confirms TOHF link to removed missions
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-10123066

In the post below there is a discussion about the mega ship Nemb which is attacked by pirates, trinkets are not disclosed directly but the phrasing is suspiciously close. The systems location is odd too, being very close to the Greek Fates.

This location is particularly weird because it is essentially just off the circumference of the zone denoted by storm gods, aka the zone of Chaos.

Secondly this general area is technically by my calculations, the focal point of the Thargoid Mealstroms, somewhere around Mat Zemlya; Cocijo and Mamaragan but also Veroandi.

Cocijo is of note because it holds a body named after a Welsh mountain Moel Hebog.

Thirdly this location is home to the system Lethe. In Dante’s Devine Comedy, the river Lethe was located within the Earthly Paradise (Eden) atop the Mountain of Purgatory, which had a spiralling path upon it which every soul had to wait their turn upon.

Little else has yet to present itself, but I feel confident that the trinkets were part of an original, now archived narrative. If any localisation linked to them might provide context… I suspect they were left in because they may have been part of a larger element of ‘environment storytelling’, which I suspect- very much like the ‘garden design’ formed part of a hidden narrative who’s architectures have been left un-disturbed.

Greek fates location / megaship in LP 892-51
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-10395461

 

[Macros Black]

Where are TOHF found nowadays? I should probably pick a few up for poking around the SAO systems too.

You can acquire them from other hauler NPC's.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Where are TOHF found nowadays? I should probably pick a few up for poking around the SAO systems too.

Anarchy systems at the nav beacon. Cargo scan all traders, particularly adders, they show up once every 30 to 60 minutes (slow tedious work!!). Have plenty of recovery limpets, & be prepared for a shark feeding frenzy.
IIRC I got mine about 3 jumps from Shinrarta.

I think I have spotted a tendency for those particular cargo ships to try & bypass the circling pack of pirates in order to refuel & jump out, so I ended up aways from the pack trying to get them first.

 

[Macros Black]

Donated by a Keelback today in LP 45-128 (Anarchy)

Spoiler: TOHF

Exported from my carrier in Secure Trading, see my sig.

 

[Macros Black]

Circled Dahan Hathor R1 in Raxxla Hunter with Trinkets, no luck.

 

[splashythewhale]

Mmm. Interesting, I agree SAP8 might be relevant. Have you checked the map for anything near (70/35/00) ?

I went there yesterday. There is a single system in that grid. LP 904-36
Has 8 icy planets, none landable. Ton of degraded emissions signals with blown up ships.

Logged off in the system myself as it was getting late.
Went to the degraded emissions at planet 8. Just a bunch of ship debris and some cargo/loot.

It seems a pretty busy system.

EDSM - Elite Dangerous Star Map

The Galactic Positioning System of Elite: Dangerous at your service.

www.edsm.net

"2308 ships passed through LP 904-36 space, including 6 ships in the last 7 days. "

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Anarchy systems at the nav beacon. Cargo scan all traders, particularly adders, they show up once every 30 to 60 minutes (slow tedious work!!). Have plenty of recovery limpets, & be prepared for a shark feeding frenzy.
IIRC I got mine about 3 jumps from Shinrarta.

I think I have spotted a tendency for those particular cargo ships to try & bypass the circling pack of pirates in order to refuel & jump out, so I ended up aways from the pack trying to get them first.

Don't forget to use hatch breakers! I found modern cargo carrier hatch armour to be far superior to military armour, however not so their hulls!!!
Time was when you targeted the hatch & shot away until it started dropping cargo........then let them fly off to collect some more from wherever they find them (I mean really, I've seen 100 TOHF in a cargo carrier! Where do they get them from?)

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Circled Dahan Hathor R1 in Raxxla Hunter with Trinkets, no luck.

You might try it at Wanderer....I keep remembering that Brookes Tour final TB quotationfrom Paradise Lost:
"And fast by, hanging in a golden chain,
This pendent World, in bigness as a star
Of smallest magnitude close by the moon"

"Wanderer" = "Vagabond" which was the last line of the toast.

I'm wondering if the Rift is very small & concealed quite close to a moon, and I think Wanderer is a good possibility. I tried searching around there when I last played but found nothing, but then I wasn't carrying Trinkets at the time.

As someone suggested recently it might also be in a crater. That would resemble the classical Omphalos Stone description but I think the likelihood is lower than orbiting a moon, purely from the need to have planetary landing capability -I can't imagine MB implementing a puzzle impossible to solve until Horizons release. The codex also has "the legend of Raxxla has been circulating, in whispers, for centuries", which I think is a strong hint that it's orbiting.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Hmm. Slight oddity - SAO 92746 is in the real-world HD 12249, which is also in-game (as HIP 9369) and well below the bubble. In-game the SAO designation is given to HIP 56685, a star which doesn't appear to have a real-life SAO designation.

The SAO/HIP/HD references match up fine for the other five.

(And of course HD 12249 in-game has two further gas giants with eight moons...)


EDIT: and another maybe-not-coincidence: from the bubble (anywhere in the bubble really, given the distances involved), the long-distance SAO 10931 is basically on the straight line to NGC 7822 with less than a degree's deviation). So the whole thing could be read as an arrow pointing to that nebula. Of course, that's one of the most explored nebulae in the game...

Exported from my carrier in Secure Trading, see my sig.

Thanks - very helpful.

 

[Macros Black]

You might try it at Wanderer....I keep remembering that Brookes Tour final TB quotationfrom Paradise Lost:
"And fast by, hanging in a golden chain,
This pendent World, in bigness as a star
Of smallest magnitude close by the moon"

"Wanderer" = "Vagabond" which was the last line of the toast.

I'm wondering if the Rift is very small & concealed quite close to a moon, and I think Wanderer is a good possibility. I tried searching around there when I last played but found nothing, but then I wasn't carrying Trinkets at the time.

As someone suggested recently it might also be in a crater. That would resemble the classical Omphalos Stone description but I think the likelihood is lower than orbiting a moon, purely from the need to have planetary landing capability -I can't imagine MB implementing a puzzle impossible to solve until Horizons release. The codex also has "the legend of Raxxla has been circulating, in whispers, for centuries", which I think is a strong hint that it's orbiting.

No joy with Hathor R1, Dahan 3 R3 or Wanderer using Raxxla Hunter | Cobra Mk III

I agree with your assessment that no Horizon feature is required for the puzzle.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Poked around the 8th gas giant moons in the in-bubble SAO systems while carrying a trinket and a SAP 8, nothing obviously there.

Looking around HIP 9369 now - it's an interesting system even if it's nothing to do with the mystery, so that's nice
All the gas giants are around a very distant secondary star and from the discovery/map record may only have ever been remote-imaged. Even with the new SCO it's going to be quite a journey.

EDIT: well, it would have been a brilliant place to hide something - far enough from the bubble that its secondary star wouldn't attract casual inspection, hidden in plain sight by a star catalogue designation mismatch, etc. but obviously there's nothing actually here that I can find round either 8th moon of a gas giant.

(As always with the Dark Wheel station, the Codex picture worries me because it seems physically implausible, but why have it there if it's not one taken from the actual station?)

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Poked around the 8th gas giant moons in the in-bubble SAO systems while carrying a trinket and a SAP 8, nothing obviously there.

Looking around HIP 9369 now - it's an interesting system even if it's nothing to do with the mystery, so that's nice
All the gas giants are around a very distant secondary star and from the discovery/map record may only have ever been remote-imaged. Even with the new SCO it's going to be quite a journey.

EDIT: well, it would have been a brilliant place to hide something - far enough from the bubble that its secondary star wouldn't attract casual inspection, hidden in plain sight by a star catalogue designation mismatch, etc. but obviously there's nothing actually here that I can find round either 8th moon of a gas giant.

(As always with the Dark Wheel station, the Codex picture worries me because it seems physically implausible, but why have it there if it's not one taken from the actual station?)

That codex picture has been graphically manipulated. I had a quick look at it ages ago (search this thread). IIRC comparing it against the rear view of a similar station (think I used the one in Aulin ) it was obvious the colour had been shifted & I posted a colour -corrected view & I think that changed the star type to a cool red dwarf M6. But then I think the geometry is also wrong-cant be that close to a planet and star...so the question is whether it is meant to resemble the TDW station (IF it exists & isn't just a rumour/misinformation by Lyta Crane as suggested by the codex phrasing) but is distorted to obfuscate it's location, or whether it just more flavour - with FD we just don't know!

Edit
I rather suspect TDW, their station, Raxxla, old E/F missions, different original spellings of Pilots' Federation factions (one of which would be "the real TDW") were all part of a storyline which was a pet project of MB, and a tribute to Holdstock, but was deleted when (or before) he left ED. I think Raxxla is still in-game as an easter egg, but I reserve judgement on anything else-I think the Thargoid bashing storyline emphasis killed it off on "commercial" grounds-more people prefer pewpew to intellectual puzzles.

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

Time to dust off v1.0 of my Raxxla theory since my doubts about its veracity have finally been quelled. By the way, I sincerely doubt this negates @PDJazzHands work. However, it may help with location of the globular cluster. @Rochester work can likely be bolted into it. Here goes nothing:


Idea was based on the ever present :

• Delphi is the center point (radius) between star lovers and Raxxla. As a consequence, it can be deduced provided you have key details.
• "Princess Astrophel and Spiraling Stars" was a reference to the initial publication which notably was loaded with spelling errors including the title, "Astrophil and Stella" or (star lover and star). The reference area is the Trapezium Cluster well below galactic disk.
• Ursa Major is a major part of the myth and must be visible from key system related to proof it exists. So the other end of the line from Trapezium Cluster through Delphi goes somewhere in the direction of Polaris.
• As a consequence of the Trapezium Cluster location, it is way up above the disk.

Complications:

• Left-hand Cartesian (x, z, y) requires advanced mathematics to triangulate.
• The discovery timeline angle though fuel scoops make it far less problematic.

Key points:

• Sol
• Delphi
• center of Trapezium Cluster
• Sol's true North Star (see Robigo missions)
• Raxxla

Structure of Milton's Cosmology:

Ittzes_Structure_of_Miltons_Universe_MTC__2012.pdf

drive.google.com

 

[Macros Black]

Took a look in HIP 9369, specifically B 2 H. Nothing interesting I could see.
Tagged some first footfalls on the way down and back.

 

[selbie]

That codex picture has been graphically manipulated. I had a quick look at it ages ago (search this thread). IIRC comparing it against the rear view of a similar station (think I used the one in Aulin ) it was obvious the colour had been shifted & I posted a colour -corrected view & I think that changed the star type to a cool red dwarf M6. But then I think the geometry is also wrong-cant be that close to a planet and star...so the question is whether it is meant to resemble the TDW station (IF it exists & isn't just a rumour/misinformation by Lyta Crane as suggested by the codex phrasing) but is distorted to obfuscate it's location, or whether it just more flavour - with FD we just don't know!

Edit
I rather suspect TDW, their station, Raxxla, old E/F missions, different original spellings of Pilots' Federation factions (one of which would be "the real TDW") were all part of a storyline which was a pet project of MB, and a tribute to Holdstock, but was deleted when (or before) he left ED. I think Raxxla is still in-game as an easter egg, but I reserve judgement on anything else-I think the Thargoid bashing storyline emphasis killed it off on "commercial" grounds-more people prefer pewpew to intellectual puzzles.

Yep definitely heavy saturation applied to the image and the only possible scenario I can think of for that heavily zoomed angle would be if the supposed 'unnamed gas giant' is somewhere off camera.
The most telling for me is that we are told it is a "disused starport". Meaning at some point in history its location was known to humans. That would imply a named system, with enough justification to support the construction of a major starport - which would imply a big enough population that would logically assign a name to said gas giant. Also even though an Orbis design does mean it's technically possible to strap engines on to hide it somewhere, the idea of secretly hauling an entire station falls apart if Jacques Station is the only station in lore to have been transported post-construction. So if that fact stands then it could only ever be in human-settled systems.

So either it has been REALLY well hidden and has a good explanation for how it got there, or the image doesn't represent the real station and it could be some tiny outpost with a single landing pad.
I strongly doubt it has been removed entirely, because that would go against a lot of what MB and the early dev teams would have worked on to implement. What they definitely did do is attempt to remove any misleading groups or named elements that would lead people astray. Time will tell (hopefully).

 

[Ian Doncaster]

That codex picture has been graphically manipulated. I had a quick look at it ages ago (search this thread). IIRC comparing it against the rear view of a similar station (think I used the one in Aulin ) it was obvious the colour had been shifted & I posted a colour -corrected view & I think that changed the star type to a cool red dwarf M6. But then I think the geometry is also wrong-cant be that close to a planet and star...so the question is whether it is meant to resemble the TDW station (IF it exists & isn't just a rumour/misinformation by Lyta Crane as suggested by the codex phrasing) but is distorted to obfuscate it's location, or whether it just more flavour - with FD we just don't know!

Yeah. I checked what the closest "8 moon gas giants" were to their stars, and you don't tend to get closer than about 150-200 Ls, whereas you'd need to be within 10-20 Ls to get that much detail or apparent size off a red dwarf star. Even with a zoomed focus it looks impossible.

I am wondering about red giant stars, though. Obviously you wouldn't need to get as close to those, and you can get some 8MGGs at reasonably plausible distances - next stop will be to check some of those out, not so much with the hope of finding it but to see if it is geometrically plausible to use one.

I don't like the idea that the picture in the Codex isn't of the actual station; if the station exists, but you can't get something resembling that picture from it, there's barely enough information in the Codex as it is to need to put red herrings in too. Similarly, sure, the Codex says that it's all rumour and no proof but it would be rather unsatisfying if what little concrete information it did put forward was also wrong.

(I did also wonder about "NSP cloud" as an explanation for the colour shift; you can get some interesting dimming of stars from within one of those, but I haven't been in one for long enough to tell if that's plausible specifically)

Took a look in HIP 9369, specifically B 2 H. Nothing interesting I could see.

No, nothing obvious at B 4 h either. Nice system but probably nothing unusual going on.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Yep definitely heavy saturation applied to the image and the only possible scenario I can think of for that heavily zoomed angle would be if the supposed 'unnamed gas giant' is somewhere off camera.
The most telling for me is that we are told it is a "disused starport". Meaning at some point in history its location was known to humans. That would imply a named system, with enough justification to support the construction of a major starport - which would imply a big enough population that would logically assign a name to said gas giant. Also even though an Orbis design does mean it's technically possible to strap engines on to hide it somewhere, the idea of secretly hauling an entire station falls apart if Jacques Station is the only station in lore to have been transported post-construction. So if that fact stands then it could only ever be in human-settled systems.

So either it has been REALLY well hidden and has a good explanation for how it got there, or the image doesn't represent the real station and it could be some tiny outpost with a single landing pad.
I strongly doubt it has been removed entirely, because that would go against a lot of what MB and the early dev teams would have worked on to implement. What they definitely did do is attempt to remove any misleading groups or named elements that would lead people astray. Time will tell (hopefully).

While not convinced it exists in-game I did speculate on why it was disused, & not moved or dismantled. A good reason would be if it was a military staging post in a war which was lost, or similar reason. So from ED timeline relevant factors might be:
2323-25 Battle of Achenar Fed fleet staged near Beta Hydri
2752 The first Coriolis station was in orbit around the world Lave. Each Coriolis station has a diameter of 1 standard kilometre (from original Elite manual)
2621 to 2735 Birthright wars
2805 the first independent explorer pilots banded together to form a Pilot’s Federation, and we know from one of the TB that TDW is a faction within PF
3104 Emperor Hender Saik Duval establishes Facece Military Academy
3114 the scientists of Nesbitt Landing in Alioth began demonstrating substantial innovations in robotic manufacture and production, known as ‘the quinker process’, which flouted rules on artificial intelligence which sparked an Imp-Fed war ending 3122, by which time, the core group of scientists working on the quinker project had died or disappeared.
3120 Holdstock’s The Dark Wheel set, TDW already a thing
3151 First Thargoid War ends after INRA mission by Cmdr Jameson to deploy the Mycoid bioweapon. GalCop funds Project Equinox to establish multiple deep space monitoring outposts (e.g. GCS Sarasvati) to monitor for Thargoid activity. Sara's ati logs suggest other outposts-might be a disused station
3167 Investigation brings to light rampant misreporting of GalCop's stability and colony management together with policies that isolated and deceived the planetary populations of member worlds -
3170 Collapse of GALCOP - might explain an abandoned station
3230 Alliance founded in Alioth. Elite Legacy hints Raxxla is in Alliance space
3253 INRA is disbanded, military agency with plenty of money
3270 Project Dynasty, a venture funded and organized by The Club, launches three secret expeditions beyond the Core Systems to chart habitable worlds in three remote areas...a station might have been associated with that, we don't know where those mega ships were built
3293 AHTW mentions hidden CIEP space station..to my mind this is the best candidate, not least because it was found through a statuettes made in Grandmort and Trinkets description mentions staruettes. But I'm not sure the location in the book is anywhere near Alliance space.

 

[Rochester]

I still wonder if M Brookes book -Elite Legacy, is pointing us towards the DW station?

He gives us a few locational and temporal clues to the supposed Beaumont system!

“Bring up the Beaumont insurrection from 3294.” “The Beaumont system was a frontier world far below Achenar.” “The mining base was positioned in a rich cluster in the asteroid belt around two AUs from the populated planet.”

Excerpt From Elite: Legacy Michael Brookes

One theory I’m entertaining; M Brookes talks of a mountain in some of his later blogs; I do wonder if these were theological references to the spiralling mountain of Purgatorio?

I can’t align the Dante localisms directly within game as much as I can Milton, because the two text are actually diametrically different in relation to to time and space, but there is evidence Brookes studied this text, he wrote a Drabble about it, and the theology has certain parallels, and it makes sense in game; to travel through a wood (like Gilgamesh or some Celtic Otherworld liminal boundary) to Hell / Underworld, and then find that spiralling mountain created by Satans fall, and travel up it towards Eden, as Dante and Brooke’s recount, it’s a journey everyone must take.

I am still hoping the DW station is real and in game.

My wider hypothesis is that it very much like Raxxla was part of some alternate narrative; but now archived and probably altered, but left in situ with some type of altered mechanics. I suspect the real DW faction is gone and disbanded, at least maybe its origins. The station is a relic of that period of time during the frontier and acts in game as a signpost, probably with some voice acting, giving us some major clue towards the next chapter?

I suspect we travel down below into the Underworld and are supposed to find that ‘beautiful mountain’ and some form of direction to land our path, travelling upwards along the spiralling stars.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

While Legacy hints that Raxxla is in Alliance space that would allow the TDW station (IF it exists) to be anywhere, and the two might be linked in MB's mythical (couldn't resist! ) "Raxxla storyline".

The hidden CIEP base- Circle of Independent Elite Pilots, an offshoot of The Dark Wheel. They used Soontill as a secret military base, so where might they have had a station?

 

[El Saico]

Time to dust off v1.0 of my Raxxla theory since my doubts about its veracity have finally been quelled. By the way, I sincerely doubt this negates @PDJazzHands work. However, it may help with location of the globular cluster. @Rochester work can likely be bolted into it. Here goes nothing:


Idea was based on the ever present :

• Delphi is the center point (radius) between star lovers and Raxxla. As a consequence, it can be deduced provided you have key details.
• "Princess Astrophel and Spiraling Stars" was a reference to the initial publication which notably was loaded with spelling errors including the title, "Astrophil and Stella" or (star lover and star). The reference area is the Trapezium Cluster well below galactic disk.
• Ursa Major is a major part of the myth and must be visible from key system related to proof it exists. So the other end of the line from Trapezium Cluster through Delphi goes somewhere in the direction of Polaris.
• As a consequence of the Trapezium Cluster location, it is way up above the disk.

Complications:

• Left-hand Cartesian (x, z, y) requires advanced mathematics to triangulate.
• The discovery timeline angle though fuel scoops make it far less problematic.

Key points:

• Sol
• Delphi
• center of Trapezium Cluster
• Sol's true North Star (see Robigo missions)
• Raxxla

Structure of Milton's Cosmology:

Ittzes_Structure_of_Miltons_Universe_MTC__2012.pdf

drive.google.com

With Ursa Major being a core part of this hypothesis, it might be interesting to take into account the Ursa Major moving group - also known as Collinder 285.
Its core stars are part of the Alliance core (I've bookmarked them recently, need to take a screenshot later), but according to the EDTS library the namesake sector's center is fairly off...