Clearly that’s the missing piece, why we haven’t found Raxxla, we need green hair!
Wish I had some!
The Quest To Find Raxxla
- Thread starter Macros Black
- Start date
Clearly that’s the missing piece, why we haven’t found Raxxla, we need green hair!
Wish I had some!
Ah,
So the goids were actually inviting humanity round for pizza (looks like ham & mushroom) and a few beers, but the invitation was mistaken...
I suspect the mating rituals of thargoids are unrelated to Raxxla
Unless it involves a particular phase, of a particular moon, around some unnamed planet...
That ammonia beer tastes like bathroom cleaner, unless chilled to -65°C. That gives me one hell of a brain freeze.
And the pizza? It's not ham and mushrooms.
Goids don't touch mushrooms or any form of mycota. They seem to hate it. If you're lucky you get some sub ice fish topping, but in most cases it's some nasty form of spider beef.
I don't even know what the cheese is made of, but even Frenchmen get pale and sweaty from the smell.
There is one good thing about goid parties though. They are all girls.
Same for me, tracked 6 ships so far. That’s not a lot but I experienced same pattern myself. Followed Dark Wheel ships at most 4-5 system jumps then they just disappeared. Nothing out of ordinary in destination systems, such as 8th moon of unnamed gas giant, etc...
OK so this may seem off topic, but bear with.
I searched the archives for a 'Quest for Soontill' thread and found nothing (loads of references to S. Relics which dont even seem to be of Thargoid origin) . Soontill is in game as a system, but said system does not look like the real thing. Wrong star type, no planet at 998ls, its not near Grandmort, etc. and no planet matching the Soontill description either before or after pirate activity.
How is this relevant? We've all been looking for evidence of the Dark Wheel as a hook to Raxxla. The Soontill tale is linked to the Dark Wheel through a rift in the Ryder family that saw the inception of a splinter group, the CIEP - the UC Soontill has a tourist beacon about CIEP experiments on thargs there.
So this is a branch of DW lore that is also unsolved, just like the rest of the R mystery.
Now, if its near Grandmort, then I would have expected some on this thread to have already scrubbed the area...
I searched the archives for a 'Quest for Soontill' thread and found nothing (loads of references to S. Relics which dont even seem to be of Thargoid origin) . Soontill is in game as a system, but said system does not look like the real thing. Wrong star type, no planet at 998ls, its not near Grandmort, etc. and no planet matching the Soontill description either before or after pirate activity.
How is this relevant? We've all been looking for evidence of the Dark Wheel as a hook to Raxxla. The Soontill tale is linked to the Dark Wheel through a rift in the Ryder family that saw the inception of a splinter group, the CIEP - the UC Soontill has a tourist beacon about CIEP experiments on thargs there.
So this is a branch of DW lore that is also unsolved, just like the rest of the R mystery.
Now, if its near Grandmort, then I would have expected some on this thread to have already scrubbed the area...
Last edited:
The problem, of course, is that it would be impossible to hide Soontil after the events of And Here the Wheel. The discrepancies between the in-game Soontil and the Soontil from the book are likely due to poor implementation on Frontier's part and not meant as an enigma. Could be wrong so it might still be worth investigating.
Isnt Elvira Martuuk constantly trying to prove the relics fake?
What happens in the book that would prevent a cover-up?
Forgetting cannon vs non-cannon, is there any possibility of "unreliable narrative"? Some of the best stories rely on this technique
Think what you've actually got here is a case of using the wiki. Never ever go off what the wiki says without actually double checking the original sources (and other sources).On the subject of symbols, how did anyone see anything that even remotely resemble human symbols on a Thargoid ship?
"In 2849, the first footage surfaced of one of these "encounters", with one blurry image appearing to show an alien ship with the word "THARG" on its hull. The media immediately coined the term "Thargoid" as a name for the aliens. However, no conclusive proof of the Thargoids' existence was obtained, and they faded into folklore."
As far as I know, these are what Thargoid symbols look like:
The only words I've found in english that have "tharg" in them are words relating to lethargy, and "litharge."
Litharge: "A yellowish or reddish, odorless, heavy, earthy, water-insoluble, poisonous solid, PbO, used chiefly in the manufacture of storage batteries, pottery, lead glass, paints, enamels, and inks."
Odorless. Has anyone got close enough to sniff a Thargoid?
The "yellowish or reddish... poisonous solid" parts seem to relate, though.
Here's why in this particular case:
All perfectly clear when going off the original source.
It would be a great twist to this story if Soonthil and Raxxla ended up being the same place. Again, allowing for unreliable narrative, the twisted man could be a certain Mr Ryder, who faked his own death to go and exploit what he found......ok, I know, too far!
In another ‘never ever go off the wiki without double checking the original sources’, I suspect it’s also the cause of some Soontill Relics confusion.
The Soontill Relics are Thargoid in origin.
What the wiki says:
“Chief Xeno-Chemist Lyran Betar said that scientific tests revealed the elemental make-up and crystalline structure of these relics are not made by human hands and could be tens of thousands of years old. It doesn't align with known Thargoid material.”
What the original source actually says:
“The research team’s results clearly state that no known human technology could have created the relics, yet they do not quite align with known Thargoid materials.”
That ‘quite’ makes all the difference.
Given the nature of Soontill, the relics not quite aligning with known Thargoid materials is perfectly in line with what would be expected.
The Soontill Relics are Thargoid in origin.
What the wiki says:
“Chief Xeno-Chemist Lyran Betar said that scientific tests revealed the elemental make-up and crystalline structure of these relics are not made by human hands and could be tens of thousands of years old. It doesn't align with known Thargoid material.”
What the original source actually says:
“The research team’s results clearly state that no known human technology could have created the relics, yet they do not quite align with known Thargoid materials.”
That ‘quite’ makes all the difference.
Given the nature of Soontill, the relics not quite aligning with known Thargoid materials is perfectly in line with what would be expected.
News on other species? Yes. They are called the caretakers. Gan went off to find them. Im sure he will report back soon! Where have you been? ;-)
Last edited:
I might be misunderstanding you here, but I think the acid test is to ask of any given idea the following question. What most accurately describes the material/tech in question:
- they do not quite align with known Thargoid tech
or
- they are nothing at all like known Thargoid tech
Guardian stuff is the latter.
It’s probably fair to say that it’s going to be the same for any other species (unless one has somehow adopted Thargoid materials and tech.)
Now if on the other hand we’re talking what lead to the divergence of the Soontill Thargoid tech/materials from the main set of Thargoid tech/materials known to humanity then that’s a whole different matter! On that front, yes, IMH(and also researched and considered
)O it’s Guardian related, both in terms of influences/sources of the divergence in the tech/materials, and in terms of the separation/isolation part of the divergence.I did a big thread on it all a while back now, will fish it out and post a link!
Obfuscation seems to be the key word. And I wish we had six keys we were looking for to unlock Raxxla... instead of it being a mysterious planet with no bearing on the gameplay.
SO, having got over the bruised ego of my last failed hypothesis (I still want to know what caused my PC to crash after starting to show a strange hyperspace transition! It never crashes!!)
I have been reconsidering matters.
It still strikes me that the Dark Wheel toast is a strong clue, clearly leading to "Broken Heart" which seems to be repeated three times in the third line. I've tried the Broken Heart Cluster in the last hypothesis (FD- kindly note aforementioned bruised ego! I'm still awaiting DB's confirmtion it was/not a bugged Raxxla), so concluded it had to refer to the Broken Heart "Nebula", actually IC 1805 which is another cluster. (It's too near the Formidine Rift says the penguin? B*g*r that!) And as I said before it seems to be in the wrong position astronomically - astrophotographs show Broken Heart Neb inside the Heart Neb where its light is blowing the hole in the Heart Neb (hence its name). So, suspicious!
Now I thought about the rest of that Codex entry. Omphalos is an artefact with a funnel-shaped hole in the centre. Astrophel ("star lover") and Stella ("star") is mentioned almost in the same breath, so what loves stars & has a funnel-shaped hole- a Black Hole! There is one in IC 1805, "Altera's Eye" in IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y E3. This is surrounded by a spectacular planetary nebula but has, apart from the Black Hole, only a Sagan-Class Tourist megaship plus a load of NPCs popping in & out. Seems a bit odd, other BH don't get tourist ships, is this another hint thought I? NGC 7822, which I interpreted as the second line of the toast (since it's been named "Siren") also has a Tourist beacon at S171 37. Have FD, thought I, been giving hints all along through the presence of Tourist Beacons?? So I traipsed out there again. Scanning on the way some double star systems that I had marked for investigation on my previous trip, on the basis of the Horizons menu screen possibly being a hint that TDW station might be in such a system. When I got out there I thought I'd go sell my plentiful data in the Heart Neb & investigate the Heart Neb's Black Hole before trying Altera's Eye. If I die trying I want to go rich with an expensive funeral, cremation through brandy!
Now the thing that kickstarted my thought train on this was the realisation that Odysseus was an original "vagabond" (a person who wanders from place to place without a fixed home, one leading a vagabond life) and there are a few hints of greek mythology around here, such as the Gorgon Research station in NGC 7822, and Coeus (Koios, Polos)was a Titan god of intelligence and farsight, . I remembered that Odysseus escaped the one-eyed cyclops by piercing it's eye; "Altera" means "the other", so perhaps we have to pierce the Other Eye's Black Hole to find Raxxla? In itself possibly a risky undertaking which might be the test of skill & courage required by TDW- so perhaps you have to find Raxxla then take the risk which leads to TDW acceptance? Perhaps a bit of misdirection/obfuscation here?
I flew out to Heart Neb happily scanning more double star systems (until I entered one, flew through the edge of the companion star & started to overheat! luckily I had heat sinks ready, kept up speed & escaped with minor damage). I sold the data at Farsight Expedition Base, then tried to enter the Heart Neb BH; nothing happened-hit the exclusion zone, seems impossible to get beyond it. Nothing ventured thought I, and made the 22 jumps to Altera's Eye. Same thing (after 'piercing' it with beam laser, multicanon & plasma bolts) - nowt! Impossible to get past the exclusion zone. Darn it, thought I, what next? Pootled over to the tourist megaship, scanned the hackable comms array & ship log upload. It supposedly undertakes a round robin trip:
"IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y E3
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-5
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y E3 (*)"
Assumed the bracket+asterisk meant that's where it is in its route (haven't seen it move, & I've been here before!). Do I have to repeat this loop to unlock something thought I? So I did. AV-O c6-6 has a planet-side Planetary View tourist beacon (mmm, another! but badly placed, you can't actually see the nebula from it at the moment) but scanned that, took some nice piccies, carried on. Got to the end of the route, tried to pierce Altera's Eye again - same result! Came out of BH, set up a jump through it, jumped, normal system 62ly from the BH.
Pah muttered I! Fiddlesticks! Rhubarb Rhubarb! Underworld's Carillons and similar epithets....
I am now officially clueless!
Well, actually hypothesis-less, since "there will be no clues"
I'm still in the vicinity if anyone has any suggestions...
Is it too early to start on the lavian brandy? Ah well, it's only a couple of hours to gin o'clock! I think the sun will be going down early today!!!
I have been reconsidering matters.
It still strikes me that the Dark Wheel toast is a strong clue, clearly leading to "Broken Heart" which seems to be repeated three times in the third line. I've tried the Broken Heart Cluster in the last hypothesis (FD- kindly note aforementioned bruised ego! I'm still awaiting DB's confirmtion it was/not a bugged Raxxla), so concluded it had to refer to the Broken Heart "Nebula", actually IC 1805 which is another cluster. (It's too near the Formidine Rift says the penguin? B*g*r that!) And as I said before it seems to be in the wrong position astronomically - astrophotographs show Broken Heart Neb inside the Heart Neb where its light is blowing the hole in the Heart Neb (hence its name). So, suspicious!
Now I thought about the rest of that Codex entry. Omphalos is an artefact with a funnel-shaped hole in the centre. Astrophel ("star lover") and Stella ("star") is mentioned almost in the same breath, so what loves stars & has a funnel-shaped hole- a Black Hole!
There is one in IC 1805, "Altera's Eye" in IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y E3. This is surrounded by a spectacular planetary nebula but has, apart from the Black Hole, only a Sagan-Class Tourist megaship plus a load of NPCs popping in & out. Seems a bit odd, other BH don't get tourist ships, is this another hint thought I? NGC 7822, which I interpreted as the second line of the toast (since it's been named "Siren") also has a Tourist beacon at S171 37. Have FD, thought I, been giving hints all along through the presence of Tourist Beacons?? So I traipsed out there again. Scanning on the way some double star systems that I had marked for investigation on my previous trip, on the basis of the Horizons menu screen possibly being a hint that TDW station might be in such a system. When I got out there I thought I'd go sell my plentiful data in the Heart Neb & investigate the Heart Neb's Black Hole before trying Altera's Eye. If I die trying I want to go rich with an expensive funeral, cremation through brandy!Now the thing that kickstarted my thought train on this was the realisation that Odysseus was an original "vagabond" (a person who wanders from place to place without a fixed home, one leading a vagabond life) and there are a few hints of greek mythology around here, such as the Gorgon Research station in NGC 7822, and Coeus (Koios, Polos)was a Titan god of intelligence and farsight, . I remembered that Odysseus escaped the one-eyed cyclops by piercing it's eye; "Altera" means "the other", so perhaps we have to pierce the Other Eye's Black Hole to find Raxxla? In itself possibly a risky undertaking which might be the test of skill & courage required by TDW- so perhaps you have to find Raxxla then take the risk which leads to TDW acceptance? Perhaps a bit of misdirection/obfuscation here?
I flew out to Heart Neb happily scanning more double star systems (until I entered one, flew through the edge of the companion star & started to overheat! luckily I had heat sinks ready, kept up speed & escaped with minor damage). I sold the data at Farsight Expedition Base, then tried to enter the Heart Neb BH; nothing happened-hit the exclusion zone, seems impossible to get beyond it. Nothing ventured thought I, and made the 22 jumps to Altera's Eye. Same thing (after 'piercing' it with beam laser, multicanon & plasma bolts) - nowt! Impossible to get past the exclusion zone. Darn it, thought I, what next? Pootled over to the tourist megaship, scanned the hackable comms array & ship log upload. It supposedly undertakes a round robin trip:
"IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y E3
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-5
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y E3 (*)"
Assumed the bracket+asterisk meant that's where it is in its route (haven't seen it move, & I've been here before!). Do I have to repeat this loop to unlock something thought I? So I did. AV-O c6-6 has a planet-side Planetary View tourist beacon (mmm, another! but badly placed, you can't actually see the nebula from it at the moment) but scanned that, took some nice piccies, carried on. Got to the end of the route, tried to pierce Altera's Eye again - same result! Came out of BH, set up a jump through it, jumped, normal system 62ly from the BH.
Pah muttered I! Fiddlesticks! Rhubarb Rhubarb! Underworld's Carillons and similar epithets....
I am now officially clueless!
Well, actually hypothesis-less, since "there will be no clues"
I'm still in the vicinity if anyone has any suggestions...
Is it too early to start on the lavian brandy? Ah well, it's only a couple of hours to gin o'clock! I think the sun will be going down early today!!!
There are other BHs with tourist beacons and many NPCs. I took a TDW famous explorer to one just this side of the galactic core and it was busier than Jameson Memorial!SO, having got over the bruised ego of my last failed hypothesis (I still want to know what caused my PC to crash after starting to show a strange hyperspace transition! It never crashes!!)
I have been reconsidering matters.
It still strikes me that the Dark Wheel toast is a strong clue, clearly leading to "Broken Heart" which seems to be repeated three times in the third line. I've tried the Broken Heart Cluster in the last hypothesis (FD- kindly note aforementioned bruised ego! I'm still awaiting DB's confirmtion it was/not a bugged Raxxla), so concluded it had to refer to the Broken Heart "Nebula", actually IC 1805 which is another cluster. (It's too near the Formidine Rift says the penguin? B*g*r that!) And as I said before it seems to be in the wrong position astronomically - astrophotographs show Broken Heart Neb inside the Heart Neb where its light is blowing the hole in the Heart Neb (hence its name). So, suspicious!
Now I thought about the rest of that Codex entry. Omphalos is an artefact with a funnel-shaped hole in the centre. Astrophel ("star lover") and Stella ("star") is mentioned almost in the same breath, so what loves stars & has a funnel-shaped hole- a Black Hole!
Now the thing that kickstarted my thought train on this was the realisation that Odysseus was an original "vagabond" (a person who wanders from place to place without a fixed home, one leading a vagabond life) and there are a few hints of greek mythology around here, such as the Gorgon Research station in NGC 7822, and Coeus (Koios, Polos)was a Titan god of intelligence and farsight, . I remembered that Odysseus escaped the one-eyed cyclops by piercing it's eye; "Altera" means "the other", so perhaps we have to pierce the Other Eye's Black Hole to find Raxxla? In itself possibly a risky undertaking which might be the test of skill & courage required by TDW- so perhaps you have to find Raxxla then take the risk which leads to TDW acceptance? Perhaps a bit of misdirection/obfuscation here?
I flew out to Heart Neb happily scanning more double star systems (until I entered one, flew through the edge of the companion star & started to overheat! luckily I had heat sinks ready, kept up speed & escaped with minor damage). I sold the data at Farsight Expedition Base, then tried to enter the Heart Neb BH; nothing happened-hit the exclusion zone, seems impossible to get beyond it. Nothing ventured thought I, and made the 22 jumps to Altera's Eye. Same thing (after 'piercing' it with beam laser, multicanon & plasma bolts) - nowt! Impossible to get past the exclusion zone. Darn it, thought I, what next? Pootled over to the tourist megaship, scanned the hackable comms array & ship log upload. It supposedly undertakes a round robin trip:
"IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y E3
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-5
IC 1805 Sector AV-O c6-6
IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y E3 (*)"
Assumed the bracket+asterisk meant that's where it is in its route (haven't seen it move, & I've been here before!). Do I have to repeat this loop to unlock something thought I? So I did. AV-O c6-6 has a planet-side Planetary View tourist beacon (mmm, another! but badly placed, you can't actually see the nebula from it at the moment) but scanned that, took some nice piccies, carried on. Got to the end of the route, tried to pierce Altera's Eye again - same result! Came out of BH, set up a jump through it, jumped, normal system 62ly from the BH.
Pah muttered I! Fiddlesticks! Rhubarb Rhubarb! Underworld's Carillons and similar epithets....
I am now officially clueless!
Well, actually hypothesis-less, since "there will be no clues"
I'm still in the vicinity if anyone has any suggestions...
Is it too early to start on the lavian brandy? Ah well, it's only a couple of hours to gin o'clock! I think the sun will be going down early today!!!
Having said this....I am inclined to agree with it being close to the Formidine Rift. Mainly because of the data left at the Club sites. It talks, as you know, about whispers in witch space, deepest void, etc, all in almost exact same wording as TDW toast
Could the club sites be the obfuscation/misdirection I wonder? If something is obfuscated, it looks like something else or unrecognizable. This could fit the bill.