The following is an excerpt of Professor Leblanc's upcoming work, The Tribulations of Peace, Vol. VII: The Starless One. Pre-order it now to download it to your ship's library right on release day!
Preface: The Mystery of Anders Duval
Emperor Anders Duval is not a name history remembers much about. The sixth ruler of the Empire led during a time of relative peace; he fought no wars, faced no Thargoids, and brokered no major agreements with the Alliance or Federation. In fact, most historians categorize him as one of the weakest emperors to wield power; his introverted nature and poor political skills led to his senate enjoying unprecedented levels of authority. His oldest son, Lucius, was the exact opposite; handsome, outgoing, and highly ambitious, Lucius gained more and more influence over the senate during Anders’s final years. As Lucius’s power grew, Anders became more and more resentful of his eldest son’s success, but any attempt at curbing his son’s growing leverage over the senate failed in spectacularly poor fashion.
Though largely closed out of Imperial politics by Lucius, Anders was not without friends. He heaped unprecedented honors and privileges onto his personal guard, who developed a fanatical loyalty to him and his younger son, Hender, who inherited his introverted character and who Anders much preferred to the brash Lucius.
The animosity between Anders and Lucius festered, leading to their final and largest public confrontation, which occurred in early 2739, the year of Anders’s death. A drunken Anders stormed into the senate, declared Lucius illegitimate, and demanded that his title be passed onto his younger son Hender. Imperial Archivist Hollace Denton describes what happened next: “An uncomfortable silence filled the room as the Emperor finished bellowing. All eyes turned to Lucius, who sat in a seat reserved for him at the back of the room. He locked eyes with the Senate speaker, and after a moment gave a small nod of his head. The speaker, without hesitation, turned to address the room: ‘Please let it be noted that the Emperor has taken ill, and has misspoke due to his poor mental state. Guard, please escort the Emperor back to his residence so that he may quickly recover.’”
After this incident, there is not much of official record concerning Emperor Anders. Roughly six months after the incident in the senate, Anders, his guard, and his personal ship, the Empress Catherine, disappeared during a routine journey back to Achenar from his vacation residence in BLANK, a system just outside of the bubble. A half-hearted attempt was made to locate him, but after a few weeks of searching for a beacon, it was announced that the Emperor had died due a critical malfunction with his ship’s FSD, and that plans for the coronation of his son Lucius would begin immediately. However, three days after the announcement, Lucius was found dead in his personal quarters. It was announced that he had died of an aneurysm, and two weeks later Hender was crowned emperor.
While not noted in the Imperial sanctioned archive, it was widely known at the time that Emperor Anders harbored a great belief in Pietas, or new pagan worship. Followers of Pietas draw parallels between ancient Greek/Roman mythology and modern knowledge of the universe, believing that cosmic phenomena such as neutron stars and meta-alloys correspond with foretold elements of ancient mythology. It was widely rumored that, as Anders proved more and more impotent politically, he became obsessed with the Greek/Pietan god Nyx, originally the goddess of the night. Pietians believe that Nyx's true form is the black hole; hence why she is referred to as "Mother of the Abyss," "Consumer of Suns," and "the Starless One."
As one of the preeminent scholars of Early Cooperative Era History, I was of course familiar with Ander's superstitious beliefs, but was always dismissive of the darker rumor; that Anders and those closest to him had started a cult that worshiped Nyx, and that the death of Lucius was a murder beseeched by Anders to the Mother of the Abyss. However, a recent revelation has made me far less certain. This new development comes from the hack of Imperial archives in the fall of 3301. While the media wildly fixated on any elements of the leak that would stir gossip regarding Arissa Lavingy-Duval's heritage, I believe the biggest story went completely unreported. Buried within the leaked files I found the classified autopsy report for Lucius Duval; to put it simply, he didn't die of an aneurysm. There is great detail in the coroners report, but the photo taken of the crime scene sums up the real cause of death succinctly; a large, circular hole was crudely hacked into Lucius's chest, after which the perpetrator appeared to have pulled the organs out and replaced them with black roses.
This new coroners report leaves me with little doubt that Emperor Anders did indeed go into hiding to start a cult and plot his son's death, but it also presents us with a host of new questions. Where did Anders disappear to? Was Lucius's murder by the hands of Anders himself or one of his followers? Most importantly, what did these followers of Nyx do next? These questions led me to some truly remarkable discoveries concerning both second millennium history and today; discoveries I'm excited to share with you in the subsequent pages of this work. Read on, and explore how some of the biggest chapters of our history have been inked in blood, split to honor a fanatical cult's deity: the Starless One.
Maximilian Leblanc is a Professor of Early Co-op Era History (2409-2752). He teaches at the Kione Institute of Antiquity.
Preface: The Mystery of Anders Duval
Emperor Anders Duval is not a name history remembers much about. The sixth ruler of the Empire led during a time of relative peace; he fought no wars, faced no Thargoids, and brokered no major agreements with the Alliance or Federation. In fact, most historians categorize him as one of the weakest emperors to wield power; his introverted nature and poor political skills led to his senate enjoying unprecedented levels of authority. His oldest son, Lucius, was the exact opposite; handsome, outgoing, and highly ambitious, Lucius gained more and more influence over the senate during Anders’s final years. As Lucius’s power grew, Anders became more and more resentful of his eldest son’s success, but any attempt at curbing his son’s growing leverage over the senate failed in spectacularly poor fashion.
Though largely closed out of Imperial politics by Lucius, Anders was not without friends. He heaped unprecedented honors and privileges onto his personal guard, who developed a fanatical loyalty to him and his younger son, Hender, who inherited his introverted character and who Anders much preferred to the brash Lucius.
The animosity between Anders and Lucius festered, leading to their final and largest public confrontation, which occurred in early 2739, the year of Anders’s death. A drunken Anders stormed into the senate, declared Lucius illegitimate, and demanded that his title be passed onto his younger son Hender. Imperial Archivist Hollace Denton describes what happened next: “An uncomfortable silence filled the room as the Emperor finished bellowing. All eyes turned to Lucius, who sat in a seat reserved for him at the back of the room. He locked eyes with the Senate speaker, and after a moment gave a small nod of his head. The speaker, without hesitation, turned to address the room: ‘Please let it be noted that the Emperor has taken ill, and has misspoke due to his poor mental state. Guard, please escort the Emperor back to his residence so that he may quickly recover.’”
After this incident, there is not much of official record concerning Emperor Anders. Roughly six months after the incident in the senate, Anders, his guard, and his personal ship, the Empress Catherine, disappeared during a routine journey back to Achenar from his vacation residence in BLANK, a system just outside of the bubble. A half-hearted attempt was made to locate him, but after a few weeks of searching for a beacon, it was announced that the Emperor had died due a critical malfunction with his ship’s FSD, and that plans for the coronation of his son Lucius would begin immediately. However, three days after the announcement, Lucius was found dead in his personal quarters. It was announced that he had died of an aneurysm, and two weeks later Hender was crowned emperor.
While not noted in the Imperial sanctioned archive, it was widely known at the time that Emperor Anders harbored a great belief in Pietas, or new pagan worship. Followers of Pietas draw parallels between ancient Greek/Roman mythology and modern knowledge of the universe, believing that cosmic phenomena such as neutron stars and meta-alloys correspond with foretold elements of ancient mythology. It was widely rumored that, as Anders proved more and more impotent politically, he became obsessed with the Greek/Pietan god Nyx, originally the goddess of the night. Pietians believe that Nyx's true form is the black hole; hence why she is referred to as "Mother of the Abyss," "Consumer of Suns," and "the Starless One."
As one of the preeminent scholars of Early Cooperative Era History, I was of course familiar with Ander's superstitious beliefs, but was always dismissive of the darker rumor; that Anders and those closest to him had started a cult that worshiped Nyx, and that the death of Lucius was a murder beseeched by Anders to the Mother of the Abyss. However, a recent revelation has made me far less certain. This new development comes from the hack of Imperial archives in the fall of 3301. While the media wildly fixated on any elements of the leak that would stir gossip regarding Arissa Lavingy-Duval's heritage, I believe the biggest story went completely unreported. Buried within the leaked files I found the classified autopsy report for Lucius Duval; to put it simply, he didn't die of an aneurysm. There is great detail in the coroners report, but the photo taken of the crime scene sums up the real cause of death succinctly; a large, circular hole was crudely hacked into Lucius's chest, after which the perpetrator appeared to have pulled the organs out and replaced them with black roses.
This new coroners report leaves me with little doubt that Emperor Anders did indeed go into hiding to start a cult and plot his son's death, but it also presents us with a host of new questions. Where did Anders disappear to? Was Lucius's murder by the hands of Anders himself or one of his followers? Most importantly, what did these followers of Nyx do next? These questions led me to some truly remarkable discoveries concerning both second millennium history and today; discoveries I'm excited to share with you in the subsequent pages of this work. Read on, and explore how some of the biggest chapters of our history have been inked in blood, split to honor a fanatical cult's deity: the Starless One.
Maximilian Leblanc is a Professor of Early Co-op Era History (2409-2752). He teaches at the Kione Institute of Antiquity.