The Quest To Find Raxxla

[simulacrae]

This has been brought up previously and very likely is just a coincidence.

Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-6357171

Written by:
ANDERSON, KATHLEEN [AGNES CICELY] (21 Jan 1888 – 14 Apr 1972)
(aka Sister Mary Catherine)
1930s – 1940s
Biographer and author of four novels, including Brother Petroc's Return (1937), The Dark Wheel (1939), The Spark in the Reeds (1941), and The Flight and the Song: A Tale of Old Devon (1946), the last co-written with her sister, novelist Lilian M. ANDERSON. She also wrote four biographies—Henry Suso, Saint and Poet(1947), Steward of Souls: A Portrait of Mother Margaret Hallahan (1952), Margaret, Princess of Hungary (1954), and The Chronicles of Thomas Frith(1957).

In 2015 The ‘Preserving Christian Publications Inc’ gives a very short synopsis: “A story in which a modern atheist is transported to the 16th century”.

On a separate note, and likely not related to this publication, the 16th century proposed the heliocentric universe and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of ‘celestial spheres’ through observational measurement of the 1572 super nova…

The image you identified on the front cover is called a Chi-Rho and is most likely part of that books publisher’s monogram - it being a catholic symbol, and a Christian based work; although it does have roots in pre-Christian symbolism; such as sun wheels and runes, but doesn’t everything.

I like the book because it involves religion and time travel… something of recurring themes in Holdstock. Maybe he knew it. But ya probably not related… i still kinda want to read it though

oh also i think you were more right with the sun wheel description … Id call it a solar cross. Not quite a chi rho as it doesnt make the letters.

 

[Rochester]

I like the book because it involves religion and time travel… something of recurring themes in Holdstock. Maybe he knew it. But ya probably not related… i still kinda want to read it though

oh also i think you were more right with the sun wheel description … Id call it a solar cross. Not quite a chi rho as it doesnt make the letters.

Well spotted… those with eyes to see indeed. I’ve edited accordingly.

I feel I may have an aversion to certain iconography.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

You use the Toast as a map, but the toast is from The Dark Wheel, and we know from the novels that TDW never found Raxxla. So how can they give us a map if they don't know where it is?

Mmm. I see some difficulties here....
Can we be certain that TDW really dont know where it is & that hasn't been retconned since the novel? Perhaps they found it since that statement? Someone in Holdstock’s original novella had found it IIRC-it was being exploited by a sinister cabal...
And we only have the Codex to say that it is the toast of TDW, might be that cabal’s toast, or someone else’s (the ninja penguin hasn't been seen for a long time, I suspect he found it and has been manipulating the galactic prices for fish!)

 

[Han_Zen]

Mmm. I see some difficulties here....
Can we be certain that TDW really dont know where it is & that hasn't been retconned since the novel? Perhaps they found it since that statement? Someone in Holdstock’s original novella had found it IIRC-it was being exploited by a sinister cabal...
And we only have the Codex to say that it is the toast of TDW, might be that cabal’s toast, or someone else’s (the ninja penguin hasn't been seen for a long time, I suspect he found it and has been manipulating the galactic prices for fish!)

TDW have not found Raxxla. At least not in 3301. That does not mean that they are clueless.
Jason Ryder knew where to search. He was gathering people for the search party. These TDW members would likely have been told the general direction and aproximate distance, to be able to prepair.

 

[Rochester]

It is safe to assume we know nothing about anything concerning the Dark Wheel and Raxxla apart from what is within the Codex, and certain confirmations made by various FD employees or their partners.

The Dark Wheel may / may not know anything, logic would dictate they don’t because supposedly Raxxla has not been ‘communicated’ as discovered.

But it’s equally plausible it has been discovered and was hidden from the general public as much as it remains either a total mystery, or maybe some elements of it’s location are known but lost to myth or obscured over time through tradition (see toast).

It could be that certain organisations such as the Dark Wheel are either actively searching for Raxxla, or they are not; it could equally be that such organisations are no longer active, we simply don’t know.

All we have as concrete is the Codex, that ‘maybe’ the DW station is out there and that it holds certain information; and the statements by FD that Raxxla ‘it’s out there’ and from Drew that prior to 2017 DW in SD is / was certainly a front.

Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-9529268

Draw your own conclusions but I try and be critical of my own assumptions, as much as I am of the reliability of any information.

We can all make assumptions, but until we have definitive ‘key findings’ we can’t make any reliable assessments.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

I like the book because it involves religion and time travel… something of recurring themes in Holdstock. Maybe he knew it. But ya probably not related… i still kinda want to read it though

oh also i think you were more right with the sun wheel description … Id call it a solar cross. Not quite a chi rho as it doesnt make the letters.

So not a chi rho practer then?

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

It is safe to assume we know nothing about anything concerning the Dark Wheel and Raxxla apart from what is within the Codex, and certain confirmations made by various FD employees or their partners.

The Dark Wheel may / may not know anything, logic would dictate they don’t because supposedly Raxxla has not been ‘communicated’ as discovered.

But it’s equally plausible it has been discovered and was hidden from the general public as much as it remains either a total mystery, or maybe some elements of it’s location are known.

It could be that certain organisations are either actively searching for Raxxla, or they are not; we simply don’t know.

All we have as concrete is the Codex, that ‘maybe’ the DW is out there and hold certain information; and the statements by FD that Raxxla ‘it’s out there’ and from DW that the DW in SD is certainly a front.

Post in thread 'The Quest To Find Raxxla'
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-quest-to-find-raxxla.168253/post-9529268

And the Codex contains such ambiguous phrasing (“lacking in corroborative evidence...Opposing theories...self-professed Dark Wheel expert Lyta Crane...Crane believes...contradictory nature of these claims suggests that most of them, if not all, are untrue...Alleged toast of the Dark Wheel”) that there is little if anything that can be said to be solid.

And IIRC it was only one book (John Harper’s AHTW?) where a character said TDW had not found Raxxla. How could he know that? Was he lying? Was it more obfuscation?

I’d like to know why, in his blog, John Harper said (https://panzertard.github.io/elitedangerous-notes/notes/John-Harper): “And there’s Raxxla itself, the mystery, who’s rumours and sightings seem to ebb and flow on a 50 year cycle and we’re approaching that 50-year peak so hearing a lot more sightings and a lot more mystery around Raxxla.” Was this breaking the NDA? Was it an approved hint? Was it more obfuscation???

Trying to solve puzzles in this game is like building a house of cards on a foundation of pink blancmange...tasty but extremely frustrating!

Edit’ chapter 12 of AHTW. The INRA Admiral claims TDW didn’t find Raxxla but found something else... In the first peaceful contact Thargoids had mentioned Soontill, a place that to them held an aura of magic but they (i.e. the Thargoids!) had lost it.

 

[electro]

Is there someone that have found a NPC character with a familyname of Ryder?
I only found one engineer and the player faction (Ryders of the void)
But my guess is that this is important.. could you all search your game logfiles which system Ryder family exists

 

[simulacrae]

So not a chi rho practer then?

Just a sucker for symbols

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

You use the Toast as a map, but the toast is from The Dark Wheel, and we know from the novels that TDW never found Raxxla. So how can they give us a map if they don't know where it is?

Good point, given yes in theory they never found it. I think the connection is Judas Syndicate from Wanted. They ended up getting the non-human artifact after it was brought back from the Empire in First Encounters (also discussed in Elite Encounters RPG), and to an extent hinted at via Galnet. This may have given them hint about where to look. I believe I saw mentions of a pirate cache in Tornquist journal entry....

“Cora comes home soused and raving with wild stories, a new one every night. She claims she's found a map to some pirate stash, and all I have to do is loan her my ship so we can go dig it up. Maybe we should go find Raxxla while we're at it” — From the journal of Art Tornqvist, circa 2296

What bears repeating is the Judas Syndicate forms very shortly after Tau Ceti self-sufficient 2159. That is important as this was criminal syndicate of pirates. The gotcha is more of timing and are there multiple of these artifacts. If they got their hands on one leaving Sol or wherever they were originating from they could have known by 2296.

 

[simulacrae]

I’d like to know why, in his blog, John Harper said (https://panzertard.github.io/elitedangerous-notes/notes/John-Harper): “And there’s Raxxla itself, the mystery, who’s rumours and sightings seem to ebb and flow on a 50 year cycle and we’re approaching that 50-year peak so hearing a lot more sightings and a lot more mystery around Raxxla.” Was this breaking the NDA? Was it an approved hint? Was it more obfuscation???

I do like the idea of raxxla as a wandering moon that jumps from system to system ( possibly the progenitor of the Fleet Carrrier mechanic) and disguises itself among existing moons… working its way on a 50 year cycle… hmmm maybe time to go back over the various “ strange happenings” and look for patterns again.

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

Some good theories in there, some/most have been discussed in this thread I believe... good luck with your search! (Jorki is the resident expert on Sol!)

I am intrigued how you got to Achilles for “..and the yearning of our vagabond hearts”, whilst you found a reference to him being called a vagabond, if I remember correctly Achilles' "anger" is connected to being called a vagabond and so he didn't consider himself one?

And how is Achilles related to the "yearning" or "our vagabond hearts"?

When I looked at the mythology angle ( I think you can just as easily make a case for this element of the toast of the Dark Wheel referring to Homer's Odyssey as Odysseus is described in some translations as a “vagabond” or “beggar” when Athene transforms him in order to ensure he is not killed on his way home (BkXIII:416-440 Athene disguises Odysseus).

You can review my thoughts on it being Homer's Odyssey from posts from here (I broke down the toast in a similar way)

The Quest To Find Raxxla

Can confirm I didnt find it in the most obviously named system 'HIP 1984' :) worth a try though. However, on the way went though Struve's Lost Sector / Nebula, that one grabbed my attention I can tell you. Reading about it bears some similarities to some versions or guesses at Raxxla, not sure...

forums.frontier.co.uk

And the final thing that doesn't make sense in this part of the toast when referring to Greek Mythology is that the quote is "the yearning of our vagabond hearts" as heart is plural and doesn't belong to someone specifically as that would be "the yearning of our vagabond's heart"..... and the only explanation for the actual quote I can think of is yearning of something with multiple hearts... which I would suggest is either Thargoid related or the player base.... if Thargoids have no home or can't get home then perhaps it's them... however the "our" part sort of indicates the players...?

Achilles and Helen of Troy is the original star-crossed lovers saga. Achilles is referred to as vagabond in the Illiad itself:

So he pleaded,
lost in his own great innocence . . .
condemned to beg for his own death and brutal doom.
And moved now to his depths, the famous runner cried,
"No, no, my prince, Patroclus, what are you saying?
Prophecies? None that touch me. None I know of.
No doom my noble mother revealed to me from Zeus,
just this terrible pain that wounds me to the quick—
when one man attempts to plunder a man his equal,
to commandeer a prize, exulting so in his own power.
That's the pain that wounds me, suffering such humiliation.
That girl—the sons of Achaea picked her as my prize,
and I'd sacked a walled city, won her with my spear
but right from my grasp he tears her, mighty Agamemnon,
that son of Atreus! Treating me like some vagabond,
some outcast stripped of all my rights . . .

Technically, I believe the CMDRs could also be vagabonds as we certainly roam ...

 

[simulacrae]

Also like that our friend the Winking Cat has returned… and stolen a Joker…. Trickster…Hermes…. Mercury? Always assume the wink is for us to see… something

 

[Emperor]

Thought this was a good visual of our solar system and article on dwarf planets.

A Visual Introduction to the Dwarf Planets in our Solar System

Since dwarf planets started being classified in 2005, nine have been recognized. Here we visually introduce the dwarf planets in our solar system.

www.visualcapitalist.com

 

[CMDR Davanix]

Scholz’s Star just reading up on this one, why is it the only famous WISE catalog star I cannot find

 

[Leon Kompowsky]

I do like the idea of raxxla as a wandering moon that jumps from system to system ( possibly the progenitor of the Fleet Carrrier mechanic) and disguises itself among existing moons… working its way on a 50 year cycle… hmmm maybe time to go back over the various “ strange happenings” and look for patterns again.

I think something like that checks a lot of boxes. Though a 50 year cycle is a bit too much for it to be useful to players.
If it just looks like a moon or a planet then it is very easy for players to miss. But if it changes systems every week or month or whatever and a system that it moves through is scanned on multiple occasions over a long enough period of time then it could be noticed when comparisons are made between those scans. If a moon or planet is on some scans and not others that would be highly suspicious.
That's only really useful if it's doing a circuit and it regularly returns to places it has been or if someone catches it when it arrives and can ride it to the new destination(s) and report that to everyone else. This could also explain how it was lost , if an attack or accident killed everyone when it arrived at a destination before anyone could report where it is then it would be lost to everyone left alive. It could just be whereever it landed, in which case it's not very helpful to us, or it might continue to jump around and be possible to notice.
It's also notable that the developers showed us they can hide things in asteroid belts like that salvage ship with no outward indication that anything is there. I find that it would be pretty unfair to players to have hidden anything in there since the beginning without any hints since it took them years to even demostrate that there is ever anything of interest to find in those belts and that ship was only found because they told us where to look, but they're under no obligation to be fair to us.

 

[simulacrae]

Scholz’s Star just reading up on this one, why is it the only famous WISE catalog star I cannot find

Well looks like it was discovered in 2013 ED went live in 2014 so depending on how quickly it made it in to the star catalog and when ED took its snapshot… it might have been found too late to make it in game?

 

[Emperor]

The Unexpected Guest - A Short Story by Allen Stroud

Since announcing the involvement of both Allen Stroud and Michael Brookes in the writing team of the new upcoming Elite Dangerous Role Playing Game, we have been releasing instalments of this short story over on the EDRPG Developers Blog. We will be publishing the same instalments here, on a...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Saw this story in one of his documents...

PART 4

Roberts reads slowly from the screen.

“In 3125, the first Peter Jameson left Lave Station at the start of his great expedition which brought him fame and fortune. After him came Naomi Jameson, his daughter the explorer, who in 3163, crashed into a planet in the Zearla system while chasing a comet and bankrupting the family in the process. In 3200, Peter Jameson II, grandson of the famous pioneer followed the same crazy dream as his grandfather and this time, the money stuck. The Jameson family spread out across the stars, adventuring their way into legend.”

Is this lore?

And any references to Naomi Ryder elsewhere?

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

Also like that our friend the Winking Cat has returned… and stolen a Joker…. Trickster…Hermes…. Mercury? Always assume the wink is for us to see… something

Agreed, I sense a secretive subplot in a lot of these Galnets and the Winking Cat has returned. Oddly, this may be in a way secretly related to Cereberus plague (which by the way wasn't a real plague either). There was shenanigans afoot interfering with the ability to get access to this miraculous ceremonial tea. Bast was system where the cure was discovered. Seriously, look up Heike on Wikipedia.

 

[CMDRCorrMorningstarFelian]

The Unexpected Guest - A Short Story by Allen Stroud

Since announcing the involvement of both Allen Stroud and Michael Brookes in the writing team of the new upcoming Elite Dangerous Role Playing Game, we have been releasing instalments of this short story over on the EDRPG Developers Blog. We will be publishing the same instalments here, on a...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Saw this story in one of his documents...

PART 4

Roberts reads slowly from the screen.

“In 3125, the first Peter Jameson left Lave Station at the start of his great expedition which brought him fame and fortune. After him came Naomi Jameson, his daughter the explorer, who in 3163, crashed into a planet in the Zearla system while chasing a comet and bankrupting the family in the process. In 3200, Peter Jameson II, grandson of the famous pioneer followed the same crazy dream as his grandfather and this time, the money stuck. The Jameson family spread out across the stars, adventuring their way into legend.”

Is this lore?

And any references to Naomi Ryder elsewhere?

I own the Elite Encounters RPG (what EDRPG is sold under presently) and it is a damn gold mine of lore. There is even part about how Hengist Duval was cut by the non-human artifact and that is what allowed the Feds to get his DNA and triggered the votes that put Arissa Lavigny-Duval in as Emperor/Empress. The book is huge and most of it is additional stories.