The Quest To Find Raxxla

Vetinari

V
KS Backers got an SD permit without any requirement for Elite....

When was DW in LFT 926 at the ground base, was it always there or did it jump out of SD? (and for some BGS reason I dont understand expanding from SD was made more difficult for the DW). Before TTW Mick and others, me included, tried to expand it from 926.

But was it there as an 'accessible' DW contact for non Elite from the start?
 

Jorki Rasalas

Jorki Rasalas
My memory is bad, but I think TDW only expanded out of SD into LFT 926 after a long while, presumably with some player BGS assistance. Does a galnet search give you the date? Edit: nope it doesn’ t, just checked both Heinrich & the French searchable galnet sites. Very little on either LFT 926 or Dark Wheel in galnet!!

Edit: I think the only reason for needing elite to find Raxxla came from Holdstock’s novella, and it was sort of supported by the Elite/Founder missions at Jameson which then disappeared. I still think it’s strange that FD people commented that those missions should still be there (must document those posts!) so maybe they are the DW test and an additional step was introduced before they appear???but I believe several players completed those missions and nothing happened? Perhaps had to do them several times??

Edit2: have updated the FD references thread (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/fdev-ed-relevant-quotes-videos.553526/#post-8671776) on this. Seems questions on those missing missions initially got a couple of “should still be there, will check” responses which later took on a “nothing to comment at this stage”. That seems highly suggestive to me. IMHO FD do seem to admit when they’ve made a mistake and attempt to correct it, but when the message becomes “nothing to say at this stage” I get the impression that it is related to an in-game secret & they seem to become over-secretive, probably not wishing to say anything in case their response gives too much away and spoils the gameplay. So I’m speculating that either those missions are still in the game and need a trigger of some form before they appear, or they were the DW test and a stepping stone to Raxxla but have been updated/replaced by some other test. Don’t think either possibility really helps us though 🥺

In case it’s the first possibility has anyone continued to take on gameplay recently at SD for the DW there? Perhaps we now need to do lots for them?
 
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Jorki Rasalas

Jorki Rasalas
Rochester got me interested, so spent a day googling Norse mythology. Some interesting tidbits, in-game systems enboldened:

Frigg (possibly Freya or Freyja) = Queen of the Æsir (one of the two tribes of Norse gods, home Asgard) and the goddess of the sky (but no jewel???); Other tribe being Vanir, home Vanaheim. Asgard is located in the sky and is connected to Midgard, the world of humanity, by the rainbow bridge Bifrost (rainbow being a jewel?)
Jörd, (Old Norse: “Earth”) also called Fjörgyn, or Hlódyn, a giantess, mother of the deity Thor and mistress of the god Odin. Jord is in-game.

Ran goddess of the sea was mentioned in the context of drowning unfortunate seafarers and dragging them down to dwell in her underwater abode, so could be a siren, Aegir was god of the sea; they had 9 daughters but none seem to be in-game. Jormungandr is a giant serpent who is a child of Loki’s and the giantess Angrboda, in-game as Jormungand, Odin threw the serpent into that deep sea which lies round all lands, and this serpent grew so that it lies in the midst of the ocean encircling all lands and bites on its own tail.

Freya embodied the female seer of the Norse religion who had the ability to tinker with the seidr – magic pertaining to destiny and its ‘weaving’. Freya was also regarded among the Norse goddesses as the ruler of the afterlife realm Folkvang, which allowed her to choose half of the warriors who were slain in battle (the other half were guided by the Valkyries to Odin’s hall Valhalla)

Hel, female ruler of the netherworld (also called Helheim where Vikings went who didn't die in battle), who was the daughter of Loki and the giant Angrboda. Hel is in-game

Ginnungagap ("magical (and creative) power-filled space") was the vast, primordial void that existed prior to the creation of the manifest universe.

Odin= vagabond; the one-eyed (“For those with eyes to see”) All-Father, haggard wanderer who relentlessly sought knowledge. Norse mythology associates Odin with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows (hung himself from Yggdrasil, wounded himself with his spear, and fasted from food and drink for nine days and nights in order to get the runes), knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet. He had many sons (i.e. lover?). Also called Wotan/Wodan/Woden (i.e. Woe den/dan?). "Wednesday's child is full of woe" alludes to Odin, who has never being attributed with any cheerful disposition. His symbol was a cross in a circle. On another occasion, he ventured to Mimir’s Well (the Well of Urd, whose waters impart cosmic knowledge) amongst the roots of the world-tree Yggdrasil; he asked Mimir the guardian for a drink from the water. The well’s guardian, knowing the value of such a draught, refused unless the seeker offered an eye in return. Mimir, whose name means “The Rememberer,” seems to have been the being who told the gods how to live in accordance with ancestral tradition, and with wisdom more generally. So in spiritual terms Odin sacrificed his “lower self” to his “higher self.” And his sacrifice of an eye indicates he exchanged a mundane mode of perception for a sacred mode informed by divine, ancestral wisdom. Odin’s Wisdom is in-game.

Odin’s grief at his son Baldr’s death?

In Marvel comics Loki (Loki Tan, Loki Tstae, tan translates to ‘ton’ or ‘so much’, tstae translates as ‘tstar’-a font, song, rapper, company name, or could anagram to ‘state/taste/teats/atest/tseta) was depicted as a member of the Olympian gods exiled to the Underworld. God of mischief, malicious sorcerer. Loki could take female form, including as the Scarlet Witch. Loki was killed by the Void, & reincarnated as a young street hustler going by the name of Serrure (the French word for lock). Lock-significant?? As in “lock that is also the key”

Jewel->Bifrost, Jord
whisperer->Loki Tan? Loki Tstae?
siren->Jormungand, Hel
Grief-> Baldr
Woe/Vagabond’s desire->Odin’s Wisdom (which at ~900ly could require an expedition (Holdstock-do we have a date for the novella against the current game timeline??), and might appeal to a group of adventurers/explorers).
 

IDrankWhat

I
Jorki Rasalas said:
It does sound plausible, and as I said earlier it would explain TDW presence in SD and the original need to be elite (SD permit) to find Raxxla. However a further thought occured- it is too stochastic. If you sell the system data for those systems elsewhere, which is most likely for most players, then they could never pass this test since you can only discover a system once. I don’t think DB/MB would allow that for the DW test as it would lock out most players from having a chance. For example when I was testing my Argonautica hypothesis I travelled the route then sold the data at the end system (Erio) on the assumption that one of the local factions was DW-affiliated (“wheels within wheels” clue from Premonition) -it wouldn’t have been logical in that context to sell the data at SD.

It is perhaps more likely that your travel history has to include a defined set of systems which then triggers a skill test which must be a passenger, cargo, or data retrieval mission (I discount assassination etc missions since TDW are explorers & adventurers).
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Looking at the time requirement and possible skill required, I'm not sure if I can complete the task. I'll give you what I have, see what you make of it, likely you're a better pilot than I am.
 

Vetinari

V
You cant leave it like that!

Jorki has done his hand in killing scouts, share it here if youre willing, your names on it if it comes to anything dont worry about that.

I have to admit Im intrigued as you said theres no myth involved so would love to see what you came up with. Even if its wrong it may trigger someone else to think something. Im 90% certain theres no myth involved. Just lore and in-game myth maybe.

No pressure, but any time, Ill read it.
 

IDrankWhat

I
Vetinari said:
You cant leave it like that!

Jorki has done his hand in killing scouts, share it here if youre willing, your names on it if it comes to anything dont worry about that.

I have to admit Im intrigued as you said theres no myth involved so would love to see what you came up with. Even if its wrong it may trigger someone else to think something. Im 90% certain theres no myth involved. Just lore and in-game myth maybe.

No pressure, but any time, Ill read it.
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I didn't give up, just not sure if I can succeed. Gotta go two places way outside my pitiful range of 5k ly.
 

Jorki Rasalas

Jorki Rasalas
IDrankWhat said:
I didn't give up, just not sure if I can succeed. Gotta go two places way outside my pitiful range of 5k ly.
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My piloting skills are limited at the moment, I’m not enjoying pirate-bashing because of my hand problems.
For anyone interested I’m in Ejagham, solely because it has the only tourist beacon that refers to lovers (“lover’s Woe”)-twin ice moons, also a type F star- I remembered the picture of the old start menu screen which showed an F/A star and two ice moons (impossibly close together, but I think FD like to manipulate visual scale) with an orbiting station-always thought that was a clue! I also am dubious about mythological “clues” and think the solution really ought to be in-game. The Yggdrasil t-shirt was the one thing that gave me pause for thought - I’ve always been suspicious of that “there will be no clues” statement; DB/MB wouldn’t leave such an Easter egg as Raxxla solvable only by pure chance in a 4 billion to one probability, and I think it likely that MB’s sense of humour might lead him to say that while wearing an obvious clue, same thought about his tattoo.

There’s no difference in difficulty between 5kly and 100ly, the way to climb a mountain is to take it one step at a time! Just ensure your ship is properly equipped and engineered for a long journey. But yes, we’d like to hear your hypothesis. We might not believe it, but if someone likes it they will check it out. Might be me, might be Vetinari, Macros, Han_Zen, Simulacrae, Edelgard (where is he? Not been in contact for a while!) or someone else. I’m way past the point of personally wanting the find, I just want it (or at least TDW invitation!) to be found by someone; I’ve got a problem-solver type of mind and the Quest is getting a little boring!

One thing that occurred to me while lying in bed last night was that we know TDW are antagonistic to The Club, and were keen to expose The Club’s Dynasty plot, elitism, and historic manipulation of humanity. So a possible membership requirement might be to have visited all the Dynasty bases and read the message logs (which are stored in your commander’s database...convenient for testing by “TDW”). I’ve done FRift and Conflux (during DW2) bases, but haven’t yet been to the Hawking’s Gap bases. Anybody done all of them? It would be a lot of travel and therefore could appeal to a band of explorers and adventurers!
 
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Macros Black

Macros Black
IDrankWhat said:
Looking at the time requirement and possible skill required, I'm not sure if I can complete the task. I'll give you what I have, see what you make of it, likely you're a better pilot than I am.
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As @Jorki Rasalas said just start climbing the mountain. Or catch a ride a fleet carrier. Don't have one (yet), so can't offer a ride unfortunately.

I'm thinking of visiting lightning lagrange clouds with an Imperial Cutter, so that might be a good case for a FC.
 
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Han_Zen

Han_Zen
Vetinari said:
KS Backers got an SD permit without any requirement for Elite....

When was DW in LFT 926 at the ground base, was it always there or did it jump out of SD? (and for some BGS reason I dont understand expanding from SD was made more difficult for the DW). Before TTW Mick and others, me included, tried to expand it from 926.

But was it there as an 'accessible' DW contact for non Elite from the start?
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Not only KS backers got the SD permit. I only had beta access and I've always had it.

Not sure if that was intended or a mistake from FD. There have been a few temporary permits issued in the game. I still have them all.
 

IDrankWhat

I
I'll give this explanation a try, may have to edit a few times for clarity. There are currently two ways of interpreting the results that I can not yet rule out until I have made the first journey (I'm on the way, had to get a high jump range ship, engineer it and unlock a Guardian FSD); however, they all result from the premise. When considering this view of the toast, do not conflate this with finding Raxxla, or dismissing it out of hand due what we believe are constrains on the location and distance of Raxxla. What this toast leads to, I have no idea.

The solution seems simple, or rather 'obvious', and fits with a group of "legendary explorers and treasure seekers".


Solution 1: The toast is a short description of the journey that all members of The Dark Wheel must complete to join.
To the jewel that burns on the brow of the mother of galaxies. - Your starting location.​
To the whisperer in witchspace, the siren of the deepest void. - Your end location.​
The parent's grief, the lover's woe, and the yearning of our vagabond hearts. - Parents and lovers response to a long dangerous journey not knowing if or when you'll return and our drive to explore and discover what is out there. (*edit notice there is to "To", this part doesn't describe a location)​
To Raxxla! - The ultimate goal.​
​
Mission: A flight line from starting location to the remote location to travel without dying (also turning in cartographics data as proof?). A journey that everyone must make for themselves. The two locations are significant to an explorer, the view you see with your eyes.​
​
Solution 2: The toast describes a location where something is to be revealed.
To the jewel that burns on the brow of the mother of galaxies. - Your starting location to view from.​
To the whisperer in witchspace, the siren of the deepest void. - Your end location to for alignment visually.​
The parent's grief, the lover's woe, and the yearning of our vagabond hearts. - Parents and lovers response to a long dangerous journey not knowing if or when you'll return and our drive to explore and discover what is out there. (*edit notice there is to "To", this part doesn't describe a location)​
To Raxxla! - The ultimate goal.​

Mission: Fly to Point A, align yourself with Point B to see something.​
​
Starting location is Source 2, its the jewel that burns on the brow of the mother of galaxies Sagittarius A*. Seeing the view and understanding just how large the galaxy is.

End location is located on the very edge of the galaxy, it is a whisperer in witchspace (FDev Video FSS), and it is a siren (dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island). This indicates a Neutron star on the edge of the deepest void, edited intergalactic space. This location also gives views of the galaxy from the outside in.

I'm on the way to Sag A to test solution 2, using the super massive black hole lensing to see if something appears when orienting your ship, black hole and destination point in a line. If nothing presents itself, I'll be taking on solution 1.

When I reach Sag A, if anyone else is there doing the same.. we can chat over outer edge system possibilities.. I think I know the correct one, but not 100% sure. Hope to see a few people there trying.
 
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Vetinari

V
I like it, havent seen that interpretation exactly before :)

Have wondered if go above or below Galaxy, if you can see a star that burns brighter than the rest, I went up once near Sag A but didnt look as not thought about at the time.
 

IDrankWhat

I
There are a few other anecdotal possible quotes and mentions from FDev that do agree and hint at this solution, but I don't want to travel down a rabbit hole of whether they are accurate or hearsay.
 

IDrankWhat

I
Vetinari said:
P.S. to the whisperer could mean head towards Tharg space...if we knew where it was.
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I had a very long think about that but rejected it due to:
-Its a destination that is unknowable
-They aren't a siren in a void (witchspace sure is populated with bodies)
-Why give directions to the center of the galaxy by giving a star description only to have the second description be an alien race, it doesn't fit.

According to accepted spacer lore, membership in the Dark Wheel is by invitation only, and only the most exceptional pilots of each generation ever receive them. The process of initiation is subtle, and usually involves a disguised member of the Dark Wheel approaching a potential candidate and administering a test of courage and skill. If the candidate passes the test, the examiner reveals their identity and presents an invitation to join the group.

A journey that will require an engineered ship, neutron boosting and jumponium sounds more like a test of courage and skill. Execute it wrong, and your parents will grieve and your lover will woe.
 

Jorki Rasalas

Jorki Rasalas
Vetinari said:
I like it, havent seen that interpretation exactly before :)

Have wondered if go above or below Galaxy, if you can see a star that burns brighter than the rest, I went up once near Sag A but didnt look as not thought about at the time.
Click to expand...

Yes, interesting interpretation. I remember on DW2 we visited a Carbon star high above the galaxy with a nice circular view of it laid out below, but can’t remember the name offhand, it’ll be in the DW2 list of waypoints.

Edit: ah yes, waypoint 8 Goliath’s Rest, planet b1 of Swoals IL-Y e0, primary neutron star, B star was huge Carbon (29xSol), had to use neutron boosts to get to it, 2,850 light years above the galactic plane, on the fringe of intergalactic space. Nice place for a picnic, but forgot the meat paste sandwiches and apple pie for desert, but still celbrated the view with a fine lavian brandy!!

@IDrankWhat: this is the shipbuild I went in https://coriolis.sourcebin.org/outf...weloBhBmUBYoFMCGBzANokICMF8hRFA&bn=Deep Peace
 
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