The Quest To Find Raxxla

[Louis Calvert]

Did anyone else ever think that "Klaxian" is a vague-homophone for "Raxxlan"? To me it sounds a bit like what happens with linguistic drift and partial-mistranslations from different languages where you end up with words that sounds similar and mean the same thing, but aren't really that similar when you look closely (happens a lot in English because we've stolen borrowed so much of our culture many words from elsewhere over the centuries).

I wonder if Klaxian is just a "modern day" verbal translation of the sounds Thargoids make when talking about this ancient enemy, and in the past maybe the translation sounded more like "Raxxlan"... or someone somewhere a thousand years ago heard Klaxian and was recounting it later to someone else and said "I don't know, it sounded like Raxxlan or something..."

I do think the idea of two "god-like" alien factions/races fighting in the ancient primordial past is fitting with the themes. Ultimately either way we can be pretty sure that "Raxxla" is the product of aliens, and since we only know of two existing alien races, one of which may have two major factions or offshoots and one definitely does have at least one, then (as we've speculated before), Raxxla is either related to an entirely unknown alien race - or it's the product of one of the two known alien races (or their offshoots, etc).

I don't think Raxxla is going to be some entirely unknown thing. I think it's deeply rooted in the ancient history lore of the game, and likely somehow intersects Thargoid lore since they're so old and seem to have appendages in every pie at some stage.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

IIRC Klaxians Vs Oresrians cropped up briefly in Holdstock's original novella, but was amplified in Drew Wagars two books as two warring species of Thargoid and the less warlike Oresrians were intending to use humanity as a "meat shield" against the more warlike Klaxians while they made their escape into deep space, and The Club planned to piggyback that plan to evacuate the wealthy. I thought the original, non threatening Thargoid encounters were likely to be Oresrians whereas the Klaxians erupted when the Alliance started to terra-bomb planets in the Coalsack Nebula. But this never seems to have been supported by Galnet news posts etc. Whether this idea was put on hold, is still running in the background, or was deleted entirely I think only FD could tell us, but they don't!

One thing I do suspect-when the current Thargoid War is over there'll be something worse we've been training for! I say "we" in the general term, since I'm long past any interest in that side of gameplay, after developing hand pain killing off Thargoid Scouts to get my combat Elite rank.

Edit
When the research academy finally makes some progress in decoding Thargoid communications I suspect all the flashing lights and EMP from those initial Thargoid hyperdictions will translate to "the Dolphins told us to ask for fish"!

 

[selbie]

The current Rhea disaster news has piqued my interest somewhat.
Rhea's final child Zeus (6th child) was rescued by using a stone - the omphalos, wrapped in swaddling clothes, to trick her brother Cronus.
The sixth titan to arrive was named Thor, so perhaps we'll see if this titan is destined to survive as part of the game narrative

Futher to that, Rhea kept Zeus concealed in a cave at Mount Ida.
Interestingly there is an Ida Dhor system. The word Dhor has sanskrit origins with inherited meaning from "to hold, to keep", and can mean "catch" or "begin / start".
Might be worth checking out as a theoretical starting point of some kind.

It also seems oddly coincidental that Felicia Winters, amid the time of the Thargoid "titanomachia", is orchestrating a rescue effort for her people - blatantly ignoring her presidency for the sake of being a mother-like figure to her 'children'. If the lore is somewhat following themes of the mythology, then perhaps the Thargoids we are fighting are a possessive entity akin to Cronus attempting to consume his children to prevent his own prophesised fall from power - which would explain the kidnapping of humans. So even though there isn't a direct relationship between Felicia's rescue effort and Thargoids, there seems to be a common mythological thread to it.

It could also step into MB's Lovecraftian cosmic horror territory with the Great Old Ones. The thargoids could be like the Outer Gods who exist to protect a more ancient unfathomable entity. So it would then position them separate to the 'Empyrean' and 'Underworld' realms which fits with the theme of Lost / Otherworlds, and the Dreamlands - a parallel dimension you can enter via dreams. So possibly Jasmina's encounter with beings in her vision (ie. those which the Thargoids protect) could potentially link her narrative with the Otherworld Realms and thus the Thargoids form part of it.

Jumping back to the Rhea / Cronus / Zeus arc - Zeus used a substance given by Gaia to force Cronus to expel in reverse of what he has consumed - the omphalos and his imprisoned siblings. Assuming the wiki description is correct, the first was the Omphalos stone (to act as "a sign, and a marvel to mortal men"), then his two brothers Hades and Poseidon, then three sisters Hera, Hestia and Demeter. Then he frees the cyclopses Brontes, Steropes, and Arges who forge his thunderbolt.

Another thought flowing on from this is that Humanity may be symbolic of Zeus overthrowing Cronus and the Titans.
There are the mythological 'Hundred-Handers' who aided Zeus against the Titans and in one instance of the myth Zeus restored their strength by feeding them nectar and ambrosia, and then asked the Hundred-Handers to "manifest your great strength and your untouchable hands".
What if ED's equivalent is the Engineers? We genuinely depend on them and feed them materials to forge new weaponry in a literal Titan War.
Similarly, there is an account of Zeus hiding from Cronus by taking the form of a snake (and his two nurses as bears). Humans fly serpent-named ships - Asp, Anaconda, Mamba, Cobra, Python, etc. this could also explain why Thargoids were "searching" our ships - as shown by their UA encoded transmissions.

This leads me to a theory relating to the Raxxla logo. If the stone / rift is the centre as its namesake implies, and the 6 outer shapes are the 6 children of Rhea, then perhaps we are being shown abstracted components which, when pieced together in a sequence of stages, point us to the final goal?

Central Dot:
The stone representative of Raxxla just as the codex alludes to.
3 Lines:
These could be the 3 'realms' that have been identified - Empyrean, Underworld, and Lost / Otherworld. These realms could also symbolise the 3 cyclopses who forge Zeus' weapon - ie. humanity as a symbolic weapon.
33 Dashes:
The omphalos was surrounded / wrapped with something in order to disguise it. The first thing that comes to my mind are the Generation Ships figuratively "surrounding" the early lore of humanity - what if there are potentially 33 in total to be discovered?
Alternately the number of dashes are not relevant and it acts as a division between the 'outer' and 'inner' elements.
6 Segments:
If these are the 6 children of Rhea, could the aspects these gods represent align with themes of something in lore such as the Generation Ship stories?
Hera - marriage, women, and family, protector of women during childbirth.
Hestia - hearth and home.
Hades - death, guardian of the underworld (ie. the neutral, non-evil interpretation).
Poseidon - sea, storms, earthquakes and horses / springs - typically protector of voyages.
Demeter - harvest, agriculture, crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth.
Zeus - thunder, lightning, authority / judgement.

This is all wildly speculative of course, but logically there has to be some kind of structural relationship to a puzzle that pins down each element. If we can find elements like this as a clear puzzle piece it would be a sign we are onto something.

 

[Rochester]

A Faery Orchestra

‘There is a tale told in the Lewis of how two young men chanced to be passing a faery knoll at the witching hour, when the knoll suddenly opened and emitted a green light. For a moment the men stood in astonishment, not knowing what had befallen them, until they realised that they were listening to a faery orchestra secreted in the very interior of the knoll. So overcome was one of them by the strains of faery music—he himself being a fiddler of sorts—that he straightway forsook his companion, and made for the green light.

No sooner had the passing fiddler been admitted to the company of the faeries than the knoll closed. And so enchanted was he by the music of the faery orchestra, and he himself contributing his part with a fiddle the faeries had lent him, that he eventually returned to his people in the belief that he had been absent but a few hours, whereas he actually had been away a year and a day. So well did he play his fiddle thereafter that no one dared disbelieve his story that he had performed with a faery orchestra.

Music equally enthralling was once heard by a Skye-man in the Braes of Portree, when passing the hillock known to the Gaelic-speaking natives by a name signifying Faery Knowe of the Beautiful Mountain.

And, then, delightful pipe-music has been heard issuing from underneath the Dun of Caolis, at the eastern end of Tiree; and the old folks of Tiree used to say that to this music they often heard the marching of many feet under- ground’.

The Peat-Fire Flame, The Moray Press p1937

Knowe (plural knowes) (chiefly Scotland and Ulster) means a small hill; a knoll.

Here’s another iteration of this same story, but via another source:

‘Several places in Skye are noted as haunts of the fairy folk: Fairy Bridge on the way to Dunvegan; a fairy knowe close by the inn at Broadford; Dun Gharsainn overlooking the head of Loch Beag at Totardair, in Struan; the Sithein (fairy dwelling) of the Pretty Hill at Braes, from which sounds of ravishing music have been heard’. The Misty Idle of Sky by J.A Mac Culloch p1905.

So from this source more context might be available about this descriptive term from Scotland. In that it very likely is just a singular localism, and not a term used in the wider mythology of fairy, but instead describes a local hill (next to a Knowe) which just so happens to be ‘attractive’.

From this my hypothesis about missing Beaumont system being linked to the Aos Si, is probably resolved as highly unlikely.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Just musing the PL garden again- specifically the middle panel.
we've assumed the wide light-coloured band represents planetary ring, but how about if instead it's the outside surface of a spherical shell viewed through a hole at the top- Satan's viewpoint in Paradise Lost?

 

[Ataxia]

Lets take a look at odd places near Sol.

I'm in Ministry and why they heck are there hundreds of degraded emmissions?

 

[Rochester]

Those with eyes to see - the beautiful mountain

Reminiscing about subterranean kingdoms and mountains, in relation to the reference in the book Elite Legacy to the Beaumont system; I was reminded of the presence in game of the Orbis Starport ‘Tannhauser Gate’.

It is located in the system Aztlan, a mythological Aztec location, in game situated in the Lost Realms zone, technically an area in game we can now positively identify as an underworld.

Aztlan is likewise linked to another mythological location called Chicomoztoc (seven; caves; place) the mythological origin of the Aztec peoples, as is the mountain of Calhuacan, all in game and inside the Lost Realms zone!

In the opera of Tannhäuser, said knight journeys to the subterranean location of Venusberg, translatable out of the Latin to: mons veneris and into English as "mountain" or "hill of Venus" or the ‘Mountain of Venus’.

The story is actually rendered in various legends and epics since the Middle Ages, and essentially talks of travelling to the home of the fairy queen who dwells in the Otherworld.

I am drawn to this concept due to Brookes description of the ‘Beautiful Mountain’ the Beaumont system from ‘Legacy’. Might the codex be referring to the ‘mountain of Venus’, via the hypothetical link to Legacy, by that texts description of the children’s story, and again the use of the phrase ‘those with eyes to sea’. Is that a nod towards the Bladerunner link?

Those with eyes to see - Roy Batty saw Tannhauser Gate?

I am however a little suspicious because firstly this is only an academic presumption, secondly within the opera such naming was more a euphemism of erotic nomenclature, as Tannhäuser resided in erotic pleasure, for at least a year. The operas libretto is full of puns about being "in" or "penetrating" the hill of Venus (another Latin description is mound of Venus eg pubis) this is further complemented as the story was also utilised for the inspiration for Castle Anthrax

Nevertheless the opera is only one interpretation of the story, albeit probably the most famous; of a journey to the Otherworld, in other sources the essence is very similar especially themes occurring in Celtic lore, of persons travelling over a dimensional threshold or portal, being held hostage by force or choice by some magical super-beings, with exceptional beauty, and of experiencing time dilation for several years!

Again it’s always made me think of the parallels in game, to the story of Star Ship One. Which I still hold, is a reference to a journey to the Empyrean and or Otherworld.

But these don’t all involve Venus, who equally could be any other interpretation of various pagan deities, likewise the mythological mountain name appears multiple times throughout Europe, one can be attributed to Sybil in Italy.

There is no system thus named in game, however there is a ‘Sibil’, which is one jump away?

I speculate the reference in game to Tannhauser Gate, although evidently an obvious Easter egg, may equally go beyond a simple homage to Bladerunner.

If the interpretation of the reference in Legacy of Beaumont is correct, it might simply be advocating we look for a mountain in the underworld, or said mountain is actually metaphorical and the emphasis is simply to draw attention upon a location below the underworld?

The Lost Realm zone is interesting because certain systems which ought to have close relative links are seemingly separated (not distant), I wonder if this is intentional and the concept is to draw ones attention to a specific area below this zone?

Those with eyes to see - The Journey to the pagan underworld to the fairy kingdom
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-10342908

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages
Sabine Baring-Gould, p1897, page 209
https://g.co/kgs/rFKELw4

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages

The wandering Jew.-Prester John.-The divining rod.-The seven sleepers of Ephesus.-William Tell.-The dog Gellert.-Tailed men.-Antichrist and Pope Jaon.-The man in the moon.-The mountain of Venus.-S. Patrick's purgatory.-The terrestrial paradise.-S. George.-S. Ursula and the eleven thousand...

books.google.co.uk

 

[selbie]

If the interpretation of the reference in Legacy is correct, is might simply be advocating we look for a mountain in the underworld, or said mountain is actually metaphorical and the emphasis is simply to draw attention upon a location below the underworld?

I was having the same train of thought when I was thinking through the Rhea / Zeus theorycrafting.
The codex draws specific attention to mythical lost worlds - Atlantis, El Dorado, and the kingdom of Prester John.
The systems referred to in Legacy are all in the game except for Beaumont - which means it has been lost in some way, either missed in implementation through lack of relevance to the mystery, OR, there was a deliberate omission of this system as a means to highlight its absence. To have Beaumont exist in game would probably make the solution too easy, or lead us to a red herring and its true purpose lost in translation.
If deliberate omission is the case, then the name is certainly symbolic, and perhaps there is a common theme amongst the 3 codex myths.

Achenar is the symbolic home of the Empire and their seat of power, and Beaumont is claimed in Legacy to be "a frontier world far below". So in the absence of a Beaumont system in the literal spatial direction below, then perhaps it is in a political or ideological sense.

Beaumont had an insurrection occur in 3294 - only 16 or so years ago from present day ED.
The prison was for penal slaves - different to the Empire's "normal" bonded slavery. So the inhabitants being viewed as criminal / vagabond-like reinforces the theme of "below". Further to this, the definition of insurrection is the act of rising up against an established authority.
Instead of seeing Beaumont as symbolic of the Underworld, another lens to apply would be within the mountain - in other words, the meaning within.

Lost lands are used as a metaphor for something no longer attainable - something that cannot be accessed and thus the lesson is to look within yourself. If Beaumont cannot be 'found', then the only other logical path is to look within something. Beaumont existed at some point in the past according to Hammer in Legacy, so:
What if this is a riddle telling us to look within time / history.
In Legacy, Hammer stated "in a past life I was a bit of a history buff." - is this a clue to look to historical aspects? just like how Julia was looking for historical events to overcome the Laphrian Navy.

This led me to chew on some speculation:

• Alioth was a point of revolt against the two established powers, thus forming the Alliance - a co-operative body formed by independent systems wishing to exist outside the two powers.
• The Old Worlds were the historic hub of the Alliance. - an aspect of time.
• Among the obvious Golden Gate, Witness Odysseus, and Rock metaphors, there is also Irkutsk station. The real world Russian city where many were sent into exile for their part in the Decembrist revolt of 1825.
• Alioth is also home to Argent's Claim. Named after the co-founder of the Alliance, Meredith led a coup against the empire's genetic correction programme. - argent is a 'tincture of silver' in heraldry and akin to white / 'white metal', and poetically associated with jewels, heavenly bodies, and innocence.
• The system is also home to Wicca's World - home to the Dreamware recording company, and the word Wicca likely refers to the modern pagan witch-craft religion.
• Then you have Bifrost - the rainbow bridge between worlds. - akin to the bridge between Empyrean and Underworld through Chaos / Other Space.
• Garden City, on Turner's World is the capital of the Alliance. - potentially a focus of the Milton Gardens?? - one design might point to Atlantis symbolism, and the Milton Garden design could deal with the Limbo of Vanity - a paradise that is a simulacrum of the 'real' paradise.
• The Alliance is notable for its Festival of Culture. During the festival, a reviewer noted the ballet 'Bones of Dreams'.
• The Winking Cat thief narrative involved stolen art, and giving clues for a treasure hunt. - during the festival, the artpiece 'Penance Street' was secretly returned. - the repentence of sin, and 'street' implying a road/path to redemption.
• The Starship One narrative led to Halsey associating herself with Mahon and Alliance diplomacy. - if the Alliance represents this aforementioned Lost World aspect, then it fits again with the old god / outer god relationship. - also, Aegis was formed in a cooperative effort to research the thargoids, and their HQ was originally Donar's Oak in Delphi.

 

[Rochester]

I’ve long suspected likewise, that the use of specific dates identifies a specific area.

Beaumont is of interest primarily because of its omission, granted this could be due to an editorial error, but we also have a date.

Such temporal markers can define areas of influence and this might have been the authors intent. But we cannot know for certain, and potentially this is too open to projection bias.

The codex and the Brookes Tours by my interpretation do identify the Lost Realms zone which so happens to be below Achenar, the very same conceptual area described in Legacy I doubt this is a coincidence.

It warrants further investigation.

 

[simulacrae]

Ok so this is what ive put together looking subjectively at Name Types for systems within the bubble. Essentially following what @Rochester has been doing.

Notes:
I started by identifying what I considered to be themes and looked for type lists on google and tried hunting for systems that way as well as searching areas and trying to identify named systems that fell into my perceived categories. This of course is highly subjective - I was shooting for atleast 100 systems to work with and currently have 101 in this map. Also I did include system names with slightly off kilter spellings or misspellings. The categories are as follows:

Axis: I lumped anything that was generically relative to a celestial axis in this category (as i already have several other categories that could be considered tied to an axis)

Spoiler: Axis Systems

Axis Systems:

Bifrost​	58.6875​	54.28125​	-62.46875​
Ratatosk​	-46.5625​	68.875​	84.5625​
Coeus​	-9531.71875​	-885.3125​	19839.21875​
Polus​	83.8125​	30.90625​	31.5625​
Axis Mundi​	43.6875​	-114.1875​	12.59375​
Apollo​	-11.21875​	-27.4375​	-45.59375​
Pole​	75.4375​	96.71875​	101.84375​
Polevnic​	-79.90625​	-87.46875​	-33.53125​
Mundii​	85.5625​	-1.0625​	-0.375​
Coeus​	-9531.71875​	-885.3125​	19839.21875​
Yggdrajang​	28.3125​	0.84375​	-67.875​
Fusang​	-12.59375​	-19.03125​	39.71875​
Kunlun​	15.28125​	-34.4375​	-25.53125​

Fate: Specifically I was looking for anything related to Fortuna Fate - Gods Goddesses associated with Fate

Spoiler: Fate Systems

Fate Systems:

Uror​	70.1875​	77.6875​	-6.25​
Uroarbrunnr​	-57​	85.28125​	21.4375​
Skuld​	55.15625​	-22.9375​	1.6875​
Hecate​	-56​	-25.125​	-44.28125​
Veroandi​	33.15625​	-37.625​	32.25​
Urd​	-85.28125​	-17.84375​	78.59375​
Chanses​	-21.875​	-109.375​	72​
Morai​	49.53125​	-92.28125​	-10.59375​
Fortuna​	-17.3125​	15.875​	-54.46875​
Tyche​	25.21875​	43.96875​	-28.6875​
Moros​	-45.96875​	17.375​	-31.3125​
Lia Fail​	21​	-26.125​	42.53125​
Kali​	33.59375​	57.375​	-28.84375​

Nature: This is a bit of a catchall for "The Goddess" as she is considered these days... So Nature, Mother Goddess, Fertility... etc. And yes the two end ones on the list are related - Sheela na gig I think is more of a fertility portal thing than a dragon.

Spoiler: Nature Systems

Nature Systems:

Demeter​	-55.34375​	40.8125​	7.5625​
Midgard​	-98.1875​	11.46875​	-26.75​
Vanir​	0.78125​	-59.34375​	40.625​
Artemis​	14.28125​	-63.1875​	-24.875​
Persephone​	31.59375​	-104.53125​	8.0625​
Rhea​	58.125​	22.59375​	-28.59375​
Nerthus​	15.5625​	-57.96875​	37.75​
Matres​	29.375​	59.46875​	24.5​
Cybele​	33.125​	54.46875​	25.03125​
Durga​	44.6875​	55.1875​	14.5​
Hera​	-36.8125​	55.59375​	-17.96875​
Utset​	19.375​	-174.34375​	-82.15625​
Frigga​	-132.4375​	-24.4375​	-132.4375​
Sheela Na Gig​	-24.9375​	67.46875​	-12.09375​
Haghole​	-5.875​	0.90625​	23.84375​

Snake: This category kind of straddles both Axis and Nature - I looked for World Snake type names as well as general Snake/Dragon monsters... often associated with mother nature

Spoiler: Snake Systems

Snake Systems:

Nithhogg​	47.71875​	-96.25​	117.21875​
Two Ladies​	19.625​	-51.8125​	37.8125​
Wadjet​	-14.1875​	-26.875​	-59.84375​
Jormungand​	32.125​	-164.625​	-101.03125​
Kui Hsien​	45.15625​	-101.46875​	11.875​
Lamia​	-105.75​	-14.46875​	42.4375​
Nagi​	127.625​	-105.5625​	-53.15625​
Nagii​	-55.34375​	38.25​	-158.75​
Typhon​	13.15625​	-24.46875​	-39.125​
Ladon​	-17.46875​	-59.84375​	-52.59375​

Storm: Just seemed that Storm Gods might show something as their own category.

Spoiler: Storm Systems

Storm Systems:

Zeus​	21.4375​	-52.8125​	-25.71875​
Thor​	60.375​	15.25​	-9.25​
Set​	-2​	-59.375​	-25.1875​
Perun​	15.9375​	48.375​	37.3125​
Enlil​	-37.5625​	39.09375​	-39.40625​
Raijin​	121.46875​	-68.875​	-0.375​
Tlaloc​	75.59375​	-108.96875​	67.90625​
Hadad​	9.875​	57.84375​	20.59375​
Taranis​	-52.53125​	18.46875​	-28.6875​
Teshub​	3.375​	-61.125​	-10.78125​
Susanoo​	12.1875​	-1.65625​	-62.78125​
Indra​	-60.65625​	-18.125​	-7.5​
Perkunas​	2​	50.09375​	38.4375​
Ehecatl​	29.59375​	-42.25​	42.125​

Underworld: Well this is probably the most obvious group as its been noticed from early on - and this area combined with the Upperworld and Utopia systems might be the tightest bunching of related systems. I looked at Gods associated with underworld as well as names of Underworld "places"...

Spoiler: Underworld Systems

Underworld Systems:

Helheim​	-90.6875​	60.71875​	132.21875​
Niflheimri​	15.90625​	-38.21875​	72.125​
Nastrond​	-75.34375​	-40.4375​	-56.75​
Erlik​	51.90625​	-128.5625​	22.25​
Mot​	65.40625​	-124.21875​	23.75​
El Tio​	36.96875​	-117.5625​	25.4375​
Asphodel​	48.03125​	-117.53125​	12.9375​
Pandemonium​	34.15625​	-114.03125​	45.96875​
Irkalla​	46.0625​	-129.84375​	41.75​
Agartha​	70.71875​	-123.65625​	41.3125​
Annwn​	75.0625​	-135.46875​	19.84375​
Avici​	-5.75​	42.53125​	8.28125​
Styx​	-24.3125​	37.75​	6.03125​
Atum​	49.96875​	17.625​	5.59375​
Tartarus​	65.03125​	-113.84375​	-19.0625​
Ahriman​	94.3125​	-94.53125​	11.1875​
Naraka​	84.8125​	132.1875​	69.59375​

Upperwold: Was expecting more of these and also further away from the Underworld. Used Gods associated with Heaven and names for "heavenly" realms

Spoiler: Upperworld Systems

Upperworld Systems:

Alfheim​	26.96875​	94.9375​	-22.875​
Tengri​	47.03125​	-140.0625​	-3.25​
Tian​	20.5625​	-141.21875​	16.75​
Summerland​	28.9375​	-121.09375​	3.53125​
Dyaus Pita​	41.53125​	-132.1875​	32.96875​
Dyaus​	41.09375​	-182.6875​	4.78125​
Ambisagrus​	-15.5​	18.71875​	-57.84375​

Utopias: The idea of utopias at the edges of the known world is an interesting subject (well for me atleast). I used names for places that werent places... the otherworld, places of dreamed riches... etc... similar to the Lost Worlds that Rochester is using i think. To be honest the whole section of Hells, Heavens and Utopias could be tossed into a larger category of imaganied realities. It is these areas that seem to be most condensed - and suspicious...

Spoiler: Utopia Systems

Utopia Systems:

Cibola​	65.25​	-156.4375​	6.1875​
Thule​	27.65625​	-131.75​	9.46875​
Hyperborea​	45.59375​	-139.15625​	22.4375​
Avalon​	50.1875​	-132.96875​	36.1875​
Lyonesse​	39.625​	-117.625​	5.15625​
Tir Na Nog​	39.5​	-95.875​	27.75​
Mag Mell​	39.875​	-122.78125​	44.9375​
Themiscrya​	38.3125​	-107.875​	-6.9375​
Penglai​	41.375​	19.09375​	2.8125​
Atlantis​	65.875​	-117.96875​	47.71875​
Thule​	27.65625​	-131.75​	9.46875​
Aztlan​	80.8125​	-133.71875​	6.40625​

Oh and here is a 3d flythrough I put together:

Source: https://youtu.be/be_dpO9PvaU

 

[selbie]

I haven't looked into the system yet, but while I was grinding some engineered SCO stuff I had a look at Achenar again and something caught my eye.

If you focus your map on Achenar, then use the vertical pan to go in a straight line up, there is a system that aligns very closely to this axis called Katta which falls within Alliance region.
The Greek origins of the prefix kata- (now spelled cata- ) mean "down / downward, through, against, concerning a matter"
As a funny coincidence the word catachresis means the misuse of a word / metaphor (kata = 'down' in the sense of perversion of an idea).

If the theory that Achenar is the peak / 'above' of this 'beautiful mountain' (seat of power, home of gods?, empire = empyrean?), then from this perspective going below would mean "up" going against our standardized view of the galaxy. Not a clear theory at all, but some puzzle mysteries will utilise changing perspective to 'see' a new clue.

---

Love it!

 

[simulacrae]

Ok so I looked at the stargoids and a possible relationship to what we are seeing in the bubble. The way they are setup is almost like they are arcing around something - but not quite. I suppose there would be a mathematical way to do this but I played around with triangles and trial and error. I am not at the "center" but i think it is close to the area we are looking at. I put the lines (with distances) between Arcadian and each of the Stargoid Locations. Its no where near a perfect sphere but they do seem to pointing more in this area then say Sol.

Source: https://youtu.be/zyV0STA2mMU

 

[simulacrae]

The Winking Cat thief narrative involved stolen art, and giving clues for a treasure hunt. - during the festival, the artpiece 'Penance Street' was secretly returned. - the repentence of sin, and 'street' implying a road/path to redemption.

Very much this - Penance street is a euphemism for a Pilgrimage and the painters name is Megan Madigan…. Name meaning Pearl Dog. I suspect this was pointing us to the jewel..Sirius as the first post on our Pilgrimage…. Waypoint?

 

[Rochester]

Ok so I looked at the stargoids and a possible relationship to what we are seeing in the bubble. The way they are setup is almost like they are arcing around something - but not quite. I suppose there would be a mathematical way to do this but I played around with triangles and trial and error. I am not at the "center" but i think it is close to the area we are looking at. I put the lines (with distances) between Arcadian and each of the Stargoid Locations. Its no where near a perfect sphere but they do seem to pointing more in this area then say Sol.

Source: https://youtu.be/zyV0STA2mMU

Great work O7

Very interesting…it’s evident from you map there is a clear symmetry.

I may look at these again, something just crossed my mind!

Evidently they are all named after storm gods, I have to wonder how does this effect they’re spacial orientation?

Likewise, apart from two titans, all the others share a name that has been used for a system! I wonder what that identifies regards spacial orientation?

In my past model, I identified it ‘might focus upon a certain location, and there ‘might’ be some significance, but I did not pursue it further… I’m going to re-map this and see if I can extrapolate anything more?

Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-10138410

 

[Rochester]

Mapping - will update soon, nothing of interest to date!

 

[Suhurrat]

Array Delta 69
Strange signal. People disappeared
27,8863 / -35,5144 0'9g
Gravitational field 0,1 G around 10km.

Col 285 Sector BG-O d6-93

Find the spot with 0,1g and listen.

Go to 7 Pleiades sisters. Go to their parents.
First one is Alcyone -82.9375 / -156.78125 / -362.09375
Second one is Atlas 8.1875 / 26.71875 / -6.0625 Charick Drift scan for Atlas generational ship.

next step already is in your mind - Electra controlled by the Hive collective. Anti Xeno initiative.
You know the drill. Next step is Maia - with obsidian orbital - first settelment established outside core.
Next one is Merope. - first goid barnacle. You see the pattern.
Next is Pleione. Not the system. But the generational ship. They all disappeared from ship. Where? Same pattern as Array Delta.

The Pleiades are the daughters of Atlanta and Pleione. Its poetic.
Poetry? Let me collect the numbers.

Oh, yeah, I'm already losing my mind. But i see from where is it coming.

A Lover's Complaint - also know as lover's woe. Thanks shakespeare.

Going to Merope back. In the myth of Orion's pursuit of the Pleiades, it is implied that Merope was the pigeon that perished time after time between the Plancts, and was revived by Zeus. Stop wait for a moment. What is a Plancts?

Planktos - in Greek mythology, floating rocks, misleading, were a serious obstacle to ships

Seven pigeons were supposed to fly through the Planktas every day. The Pleiades were turned into them to deliver ambrosia to Zeus. Six managed to fly, but the seventh one died, and Zeus replaced it with a new one (variant - revived it).

What? Log entry? Game? Section PR5 row 2 seats 5 and 6. Pleiades Region 5. Merope is a fifth. Row 2 is a second planet. Dead centre? Pole probably. Whitch one?

Ohhhhhh okay... where is it? Where to look? I see.

So. Homer's epic Odyssey mentions the Wandering Rocks, which are described in Circe's story to Odysseus. According to this narrative, the rocks smash ships and the remaining parts of the ships are scattered across the sea or exposed to fire. These rocks are on one of the potential routes leading to the island of Ithaca.

Praea Euq QDC b54-0 (Plantae (The Wandering Rock))

Wait? So...we return to homer's odyssey?

The similarities and differences between the Wandering Rocks and the Symplegades has been much debated by scholars, as have potential locations for them. (See also Geography of the Odyssey.) As Scylla and Charybdis have often been located in the Straits of Messina, this has led some (like E. V. Rieu) to suggest the Wandering Rocks were located around Sicily, with their flames and smoke coming from Mount Etna. An alternative theory of the geography of the Odyssey places Circe, the Sirens, Scylla & Charybdis and the Wandering Rocks, all mentioned in the stories of both Jason and Odysseus, in northwest Greece.

To the whisperer in witch-space, the siren of the deepest void

Odysseus and his crew cross the ocean and reach a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseus sacrifices to the dead and summons the spirit of the old prophet Tiresias for advice. Next Odysseus meets the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence. From her, he learns for the first time news of his own household, threatened by the greed of Penelope's suitors. Odysseus also talks to his fallen war comrades and the mortal shade of Heracles.

The parent's grief

Odysseus and his men return to Circe's island, and she advises them on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirt the land of the Sirens, pass between the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis, where they row directly between the two. However, Scylla drags the boat towards her by grabbing the oars and eats six men.

Alright let's check. There is crash site poi on Scylla D3.

They land on the island of Thrinacia. There, Odysseus' men ignore the warnings of Tiresias and Circe and hunt down the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios. Helios tells Zeus what happened and demands Odysseus' men be punished or else he will take the sun and shine it in the Underworld. Zeus fulfills Helios' demands by causing a shipwreck during a thunderstorm in which all but Odysseus drown. He washes ashore on the island of Ogygia, where Calypso compels him to remain as her lover for seven years. He finally escapes when Hermes tells Calypso to release Odysseus.

the lover's woe

Odysseus is shipwrecked and befriended by the Phaeacians. After he tells them his story, the Phaeacians, led by King Alcinous, agree to help Odysseus get home. They deliver him at night, while he is fast asleep, to a hidden harbor on Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own former slaves, the swineherd Eumaeus, and also meets up with Telemachus returning from Sparta. Athena disguises Odysseus as a wandering beggar to learn how things stand in his household.

Oh i see there.

pass between the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis, where they row directly between the two

However, Scylla drags the boat towards her by grabbing the oars and eats six men

Odysseus is shipwrecked and befriended by the Phaeacians

So we need the space between Scylla and Charybdis.

The sea monster Charybdis was believed to live under a small rock on one side of a narrow channel. Opposite her was Scylla, another sea monster, who lived inside a much larger rock.[1] The sides of the strait were within an arrow-shot of each other, and sailors attempting to avoid one of them would come in reach of the other. To be "between Scylla and Charybdis" therefore means to be presented with two opposite dangers, the task being to find a route that avoids both. Three times a day, Charybdis swallowed a huge amount of water, before belching it back out again, creating large whirlpools capable of dragging a ship underwater. In some variations of the story, Charybdis was simply a large whirlpool instead of a sea monster.

Through the descriptions of Greek mythical chroniclers and Greek historians such as Thucydides, modern scholars generally agree that Charybdis was said to have been located in the Strait of Messina, off the coast of Sicily and opposite a rock on the mainland identified with Scylla.[2] A whirlpool does exist there, caused by currents meeting, but it is dangerous only to small craft in extreme conditions.

We have Scylla. But where is Charybdis?​

MADNESS AND GHOSTS 3/5
Comms Log 908.7.34

I’ve done it. I’ve managed to decrypt the signal and identify the source. But it’s even more confusing than I thought. The signal originates from an uninhabited planet we passed 15 light years ago. Who sent it and how it managed to infect the comms array I have no idea.

I know what everyone might think. that I'm a lunatic. But there's too much interconnectedness. Signals out of nowhere. Gravitational anomalies. People going crazy or disappearing without a trace. Plus it all too well lays down the story of the toast and the odyssey.

 

[simulacrae]

I know what everyone might think. that I'm a lunatic. But there's too much interconnectedness. Signals out of nowhere. Gravitational anomalies. People going crazy or disappearing without a trace. Plus it all too well lays down the story of the toast and the odyssey.

Fellow lunatic here - I like the Odyssey slant, been looking at Dantes Inferno - there is a section about Odysseus's "Last Journey"

Spoiler: Odysseus

I sailed away from Circe, who’d beguiled me
to stay more than a year there, near Gaeta—
before Aeneas gave that place a name—

neither my fondness for my son nor pity
for my old father nor the love I owed
Penelope, which would have gladdened her,

was able to defeat in me the longing
I had to gain experience of the world
and of the vices and the worth of men.

Therefore, I set out on the open sea
with but one ship and that small company
of those who never had deserted me.

I saw as far as Spain, far as Morocco,
along both shores; I saw Sardinia
and saw the other islands that sea bathes.

And I and my companions were already
old and slow, when we approached the narrows
where Hercules set up his boundary stones

that men might heed and never reach beyond:
upon my right, I had gone past Seville,
and on the left, already passed Ceuta.

‘Brothers,’ I said, ‘o you, who having crossed
a hundred thousand dangers, reach the west,
to this brief waking—time that still is left

unto your senses, you must not deny
experience of that which lies beyond
the sun, and of the world that is unpeopled.

Consider well the seed that gave you birth:
you were not made to live your lives as brutes,
but to be followers of worth and knowledge.’

I spurred my comrades with this brief address
to meet the journey with such eagerness
that I could hardly, then, have held them back;

and having turned our stern toward morning, we
made wings out of our oars in a wild flight
and always gained upon our left—hand side.

At night I now could see the other pole
and all its stars; the star of ours had fallen
and never rose above the plain of the ocean.

Five times the light beneath the moon had been
rekindled, and, as many times, was spent,
since that hard passage faced our first attempt,

when there before us rose a mountain, dark
because of distance, and it seemed to me
the highest mountain I had ever seen.

And we were glad, but this soon turned to sorrow,
for out of that new land a whirlwind rose
and hammered at our ship, against her bow.

Three times it turned her round with all the waters;
and at the fourth, it lifted up the stern
so that our prow plunged deep, as pleased an Other,

until the sea again closed—over us.”

Inferno 26 – Digital Dante

Digital Dante offers original research and ideas on Dante: on his thought and work and on various aspects of his reception.

digitaldante.columbia.edu

His wanderlust drives him to go once more on the sea – searching past the pillars of Heracles – past the edge of the Earth in a quest to find Knowledge… the tree of Knowledge. His Goal would be Eden. In the West … as the World is East of Eden.... the Distant Mountain i think...

 

[Rochester]

Fellow lunatic here - I like the Odyssey slant, been looking at Dantes Inferno - there is a section about Odysseus's "Last Journey"

Spoiler: Odysseus

I sailed away from Circe, who’d beguiled me
to stay more than a year there, near Gaeta—
before Aeneas gave that place a name—

neither my fondness for my son nor pity
for my old father nor the love I owed
Penelope, which would have gladdened her,

was able to defeat in me the longing
I had to gain experience of the world
and of the vices and the worth of men.

Therefore, I set out on the open sea
with but one ship and that small company
of those who never had deserted me.

I saw as far as Spain, far as Morocco,
along both shores; I saw Sardinia
and saw the other islands that sea bathes.

And I and my companions were already
old and slow, when we approached the narrows
where Hercules set up his boundary stones

that men might heed and never reach beyond:
upon my right, I had gone past Seville,
and on the left, already passed Ceuta.

‘Brothers,’ I said, ‘o you, who having crossed
a hundred thousand dangers, reach the west,
to this brief waking—time that still is left

unto your senses, you must not deny
experience of that which lies beyond
the sun, and of the world that is unpeopled.

Consider well the seed that gave you birth:
you were not made to live your lives as brutes,
but to be followers of worth and knowledge.’

I spurred my comrades with this brief address
to meet the journey with such eagerness
that I could hardly, then, have held them back;

and having turned our stern toward morning, we
made wings out of our oars in a wild flight
and always gained upon our left—hand side.

At night I now could see the other pole
and all its stars; the star of ours had fallen
and never rose above the plain of the ocean.

Five times the light beneath the moon had been
rekindled, and, as many times, was spent,
since that hard passage faced our first attempt,

when there before us rose a mountain, dark
because of distance, and it seemed to me
the highest mountain I had ever seen.

And we were glad, but this soon turned to sorrow,
for out of that new land a whirlwind rose
and hammered at our ship, against her bow.

Three times it turned her round with all the waters;
and at the fourth, it lifted up the stern
so that our prow plunged deep, as pleased an Other,

until the sea again closed—over us.”

Inferno 26 – Digital Dante

Digital Dante offers original research and ideas on Dante: on his thought and work and on various aspects of his reception.

digitaldante.columbia.edu

His wanderlust drives him to go once more on the sea – searching past the pillars of Heracles – past the edge of the Earth in a quest to find Knowledge… the tree of Knowledge. His Goal would be Eden. In the West … as the World is East of Eden.... the Distant Mountain i think...

Yes, where as Milton placed hell, etc within a wider cosmology, Dante utilised a mountain Purgatorio, created from Lucifer’s fall, with paradise at its top and hell below its base via a conical inverted mountain.

Spacial directions differ in each text. Milton uses a form of 3 dimensional direction in space outside of time. Firstly Heaven and Hell exist in direct opposition, with Hell to the South, and Eden to the East. The compass point denote the viewpoint of God, not our world, where as with Dante the whole text is actually planet bound and is in real-time.

Purgatory was located on the earth in the watery southern hemisphere, at a location diametrically opposite that of Jerusalem (forming an axis), souls travelled to the mountain via an angelic boat from the mouth of the Tiber.

In Dante’s text this mountain Purgatorio had a spiralling path denoting terraces attributable to various vices, in order: Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, ‘Avarice and Prodigality’, Gluttony and Lust.

Of interest in game is that the mountains top was noted as a point where the river Lethe (in game) was located, within the Earthly Paradise of Eden.

Above the mountain were the spheres of the heavens represented by the classical planets. The protagonist moves from the earth, down to hell then up to paradise then up into the sky and space via the planets (metaphorically).

Milton separated Hell from the spheres and the planet Earth. Hell existed at the base of a void - the mother of creation called Chaos a universe outside our own. Heaven was far above it, in direct opposition, with the spheres hanging from its East wall in a solid ball.

Satan was pushed out of heaven during the war, by the north wall before earth was even made. Fell through Chaos to the realm of Hell an enclosed land of fire and ice. He then journeyed south over land sea and air to Hells gates, then up through Chaos, got directions, found heaven, then set foot on the sphere, walked around a lot - lost. Then found heaven’s staircase and then flew down through an opening down into our universe.

He passed various other solar systems, then found ours, then stood on the Sun and got directions before landing on earth…he also had a bridge built during his travels, linking Earth Hell and Heaven together!

Both texts are great examples of highly detailed fictional realities which interpret and reshape classical elements to map out their respective areas. Likewise they are separate and totally different universes that don’t correlate.

Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-10380541

 

[El Saico]

Fellow lunatic here - I like the Odyssey slant, been looking at Dantes Inferno - there is a section about Odysseus's "Last Journey"

Spoiler: Odysseus

I sailed away from Circe, who’d beguiled me
to stay more than a year there, near Gaeta—
before Aeneas gave that place a name—

neither my fondness for my son nor pity
for my old father nor the love I owed
Penelope, which would have gladdened her,

was able to defeat in me the longing
I had to gain experience of the world
and of the vices and the worth of men.

Therefore, I set out on the open sea
with but one ship and that small company
of those who never had deserted me.

I saw as far as Spain, far as Morocco,
along both shores; I saw Sardinia
and saw the other islands that sea bathes.

And I and my companions were already
old and slow, when we approached the narrows
where Hercules set up his boundary stones

that men might heed and never reach beyond:
upon my right, I had gone past Seville,
and on the left, already passed Ceuta.

‘Brothers,’ I said, ‘o you, who having crossed
a hundred thousand dangers, reach the west,
to this brief waking—time that still is left

unto your senses, you must not deny
experience of that which lies beyond
the sun, and of the world that is unpeopled.

Consider well the seed that gave you birth:
you were not made to live your lives as brutes,
but to be followers of worth and knowledge.’

I spurred my comrades with this brief address
to meet the journey with such eagerness
that I could hardly, then, have held them back;

and having turned our stern toward morning, we
made wings out of our oars in a wild flight
and always gained upon our left—hand side.

At night I now could see the other pole
and all its stars; the star of ours had fallen
and never rose above the plain of the ocean.

Five times the light beneath the moon had been
rekindled, and, as many times, was spent,
since that hard passage faced our first attempt,

when there before us rose a mountain, dark
because of distance, and it seemed to me
the highest mountain I had ever seen.

And we were glad, but this soon turned to sorrow,
for out of that new land a whirlwind rose
and hammered at our ship, against her bow.

Three times it turned her round with all the waters;
and at the fourth, it lifted up the stern
so that our prow plunged deep, as pleased an Other,

until the sea again closed—over us.”

Inferno 26 – Digital Dante

Digital Dante offers original research and ideas on Dante: on his thought and work and on various aspects of his reception.

digitaldante.columbia.edu

His wanderlust drives him to go once more on the sea – searching past the pillars of Heracles – past the edge of the Earth in a quest to find Knowledge… the tree of Knowledge. His Goal would be Eden. In the West … as the World is East of Eden.... the Distant Mountain i think...

Wait a second - so Dante only had the Roman portrayals of Odysseus to go by, and thanks to Cicero's reimagining of the Sirens he was no longer moved by nostos, as in the Homerian original, but had very much a vagabond heart.
And some literary critics see him as an Adamic figure, led astray by his lust of knowledge to search beyond the limits set by God.

I've occasionally thought about the Divine Comedy as a possible inspiration, but never got around to investigate. At the same time, I was puzzled by the dissonance between the Dark Wheel's goals and their toast's Odyssey allusions - this explains it neatly.

 

[Rochester]

There are various systems in game which in my opinion could support Dante’s work.

But in my opinion such a path presents a very an inevitable resolution, which by my understanding of the in game locations would lead towards certain obviously permit locked areas. It’s plausible, but although the two story’s are relatable and share many of the same inspirations, the ‘universes’ they were set in are very different, also if these do resolve to a known permit locked area it advertises a narrative gate.

I suspect there might be some cross over in game, as it does seem like the author has utilised various sources to build their own creation.

Contextually this is not technically accurate, from an academic nor historical perspective, but creatively I suppose anything goes, and that could be why all this falls apart, because if as I suspect, by the evidence presented, some segments of this story may have been sidelined, the ‘context’ therefore which originally underwrote it, lost. I think that’s where the codex comes in, I see it more of an index or redux.

There is so much in game which may or may not be relevant, no one knows for sure. I presume the point of Raxxla is it will make sense of this all?