Talk:Pax Ammaria (Chronicle)

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PAX AMMARIA


Let me tell you a story about a book.

In the final weeks of YC 105, the Ministry of Information[1] and the personal press of the Court Chamberlain was entirely devoted to turning out a new printing of the Pax Amarria, Heideran VII's seminal treatise on all things Amarrian, and nobody notices. Well, almost nobody. It is said that, among the teeming billions on Amarr Prime, you can find an expert on any subject known to God; Emperor; Theology Council[2] — and yet, within the uncounted trillions of New Eden, there will exist innumerable specialists who regard each such expert as an insufferable generalist.

You see, the 62nd edition — from the personal press of the Court Chamberlain — contained a mistake. Just one single error, which while rare was not unheard of in the history of the Pax's quiet edits. Unfortunately for the poor scribe who made it (along with his editor, the editor-in-chief, the E-i-C's supervisor, numerous other tangentially-involved officials, and their respective families), the error in question was not discovered until the print run had already been completed.

While many of those involved protested their innocence and/or begged for mercy, the issue was somewhat colored the fact that the error in question was a misspelling of "Amarria". AMMARIA, on the front cover.

Once the Chamberlain's bureaucracy had exhausted their customary measures, and the screaming that echoed through the deepest levels of the Chamberlain's Residence had finally ceased, they found themselves at an impasse. Such a mistake had not been made in the press in living memory, and none of the functionaries knew what to do next. So the functionaries were going to their last resort/ultima ratio: The Chamberlain Karsoth himself. The Chamberlain so is said, immediately understood the danger of this situation, for his office, for the emperor and most of all for himself. Normally he would do what bureaucracies do, passed the problem upwards and forgot about it; but this problem was bigger. It could give his political rival Moritok in the power struggle a valid tool against him.

Few days later, a messenger appeared in the press, and handed the Foreman a note. Upon this note was embossed the most holy seal of the Chamberlain, and written in faded ink, the simple statement: "All copies will be destroyed".

The Foreman handed the note to his deputy, saying "I take responsibility", and departed via the nearest vacant airlock. The deputy's reaction was barely less decisive, as the realization crept over him that, in the absence of any orders to the contrary, the books must have already been shipped. After the fifth and sixth recalls came back entirely empty, there were estimated to be nearly a million copies still in circulation. The new Foreman, being a reasonable man, judged that so few copies spread across such a vast Empire were harmless, and declared the matter closed.

And there it should have ended, if only the note had been worded less dramatically. As it was, the existence of but a single copy of the 62nd edition was sufficient to contradict a declaration of the Chamberlain; that is something which the Theology Council has found out, which saw it as was it: A sword of Damocles over Karsoth's head. Thus began a hidden campaign from the Council to purge a copy, as visible evidence for the emperor. As for the Chamberlain, in the hidden battle on the last breath of Heiderans rule,[3] he started a hunt for the Ammaria's again.

All these things happened some years ago. Today, the chamberlain Karsoth is dead, the high deacon of the theological council Moritok is dead;[4] and still the book had made his mark in history. Most of all for the Paxistas. Unlike the Theology Counci, which will declaim that Heideran's word is inviolable and unchanging; the Paxistas (as they are derisively labelled by the wider print-history metacommunity) will quietly but insistently explain, in quite excruciating detail, the history of minor edits and corrections that "their" book has endured over the years.

That the Paxistas are permitted to exist, both within and without the Empire, speaks to the Ministry of Internal Order's tolerance, mercy, and fondness for carefully-monitored honeypot traps. Besides, a heresy so minor hardly warrants the kind of "comprehensive" solution that the Ministry overwhelmingly favors; so long as the heresy remains minor, the Paxistas can sleep easily.

This explains why, among the otherwise-meticulous records of the Paxista communities, you will not find any mention of the 62nd edition.


See Also


References

  1. News: Heideran VII's much appraised book 'Pax Amarria' published:http://community.eveonline.com/news.asp?a=single&nid=135&tid=4
  2. Chronicle: Signs of Faith: http://community.eveonline.com/background/potw/default.asp?cid=08-03-10
  3. News: where is the amarr emperor?: http://community.eveonline.com/news.asp?a=single&nid=137&tid=4
  4. News: BREAKING: Mervan Moritok confirmed casualty: http://www.eveonline.com/news.asp?a=single&nid=3766&tid=4

That would be my half ass game of drones version :P --Publius Valerius 20:35, 05 May 2012 (GMT)

---

Thanks for the links! However, please note that the chronicles are not wiki articles: They won't be rewritten or altered, except to fix errors (like I did with the 62nd thing). There is a particular style that each author adheres to, and we let them keep that style.--CCP Abraxas 10:28, 7 May 2012 (GMT)

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