Rumors

Everyone knows of the small, highly reflective second moon -- Nightmare, Pharos, Ellet, whatever the name is. What not everyone agrees upon is whether it is a moon, or actually some sort of pre-Invasion ship, largely because the evidence either way is paltry, as of course, nobody can reach it. Given that its size, much like the other moon's, seems not to change no matter your altitude, it may in fact be so far away that reaching it is impossible, and more details about its identity may be forever unknown.

Related to the second moon is the remote possibility, suggested by few, fewer of whom have any positive repute, and unable to be proven either true or false, that perhaps other ships or 'moons' exist. The fact that no one ever sees more than two moons is usually (when the source is coherent and sober) explained that these other ships fly in paths that keep them from the sight of those living within the Slipstream, or sit stationary, like an unpowered, becalmed airship, or even crashed, far beyond the stream. Among these likely absurd rumors is one that claims the second moon is not one moon or ship, but two or several, moving such that only one is ever in sight. The apparent motion of the second moon, however, would seem to call this rumor a lie outright.

The periodic attempts to go by ground beyond the stream - those that never return - are said by some to have powerful backers intent on finding something out there, though the reports of what they search for range from lost heighliners to crystals the size of cantons to pre-invasion factories. Conveniently enough, as no one ever comes back, no real answers are forthcoming.

Fins are suspected to be able to reach a second slipstream across the planet; the best attempt at communicating have revealed lots of shallow blue water and a different subset of human descendents living on the small islands. However, these attempts also claim that the water is chlorinated and the humanoids are in fact mammalian hybrids, so...

Theories abound as to precisely how the slipstream exists and why it has been, in contrast to ordinary storms, in a constant position and speed for so long. These range from pre-Invasion human or Invader technologies, hidden somewhere never to be found, to powerful lost magics, to great ships or creatures going at great speed around the edge of the stream. The last one, of course, is almost certainly utter nonsense.

The stream itself is claimed by some to be an Invader construction to contain the last remnants of humanity while they prepared a plan to finish the job. Some Tsuxis - though none will admit it publicly - claim that their government subtly encourages this legend to perpetuate fear of the Invaders and their indefinitely-feared plan to put an end to humanity.

On a sharply opposing note, some say that the last human defenders sacrificed their lives to construct some form of powerful machinery which started and still maintains the stream, as a way to keep the last remnants of humanity and the old biosphere safe for a time. Paradoxically, the Tsuxi are also said to encourage this opposing legend, with the addition that someday the machinery will fail and Tsuxia will be the only sufficiently-fortified safe haven left.

Perhaps the most controversial of all the stories associated with the Invasion is that it may not, in fact, be that a human world was invaded. It is possible that humans themselves may have been the Invaders, and those we call Invaders may be the natives of this world. Very few publicly adhere to this belief, as it is, perhaps self-evidently, very unpopular, casting humanity in the light of an evil and destructive force, rather than the heroic defenders of a dying world. As it is a very unpopular position to hold, no gathering of evidence is either performed or possible without probable retribution.

Less controversial than the preceding rumor, if only because they are regarded as utterly mad, are a related family of ideas positing a variety of entirely different situations between human and Invader, most of which originate as thought exercises from the academic realm, none from Tsuxi territory. They suggest situations ranging from a world which was once the home of humans and Invaders living in peace, both of whom were struck down by an outside force, to possibilities of great wars amongst other worlds, ending here, to the Invasion being a colossal accident resulting from the crash of an Invader ship seeking a new home.

Though alternately denied as absurdity, utterly ignored, or explained as rogue gunners who have been imprisoned and put to death, the Harmattan is periodically accused of destroying convoys and ships in order to salvage them. Objectively, this is nonsensical, as the Harmattan is a mining and industrial complex and could easily buy or manufacture any ship in use today, perhaps even a heighliner, given enough time, but the rumors continue to pop up, more than would seem to be prompted by the rare known incidents caused by real rogue AK-AK gunners (though this grows rarer and rarer every time it happens, presumably due to tightening discipline) and serious trade disputes.

It is suggested every so often, usually about when a new batch of accusations aimed at the Harmattan pops up, that as the Harmattan has no reason to destroy ships, and every reason to maintain good trade relations, there may be a "ghost" fourth (or, according to less sober sources, a fifth, sixth, seventh, or an entire fleet) heighliner hiding within the mists, evading even the Harmattan itself. Why this rogue ghost heighliner would not simply attack the Harmattan for cheaper and better parts is never explained, but a very few have suggested that the two (or three, four, five, etc.) may be secretly allied.

That Tsuxia is rebuilding a heighliner is known - they've been claiming to have a Secret War defender cruiser in prime condition for as long as anyone can remember, and the pictures that they have released indicate that it's more than the recovered hollow shells that adorn administrative centers' rooftops. What is not known is just how far along are they. Stories of geep or womp crews obliterated by a flying sunless sunbeam platform abound, even though such a device is thought to have been exclusive to Invaders and so not something Tsuxis would use without a lot of doctrinal hand wringing. Then again, a death ray would probably warrant some manner of indulgence.

Perhaps one of the most enduring and consistent types of tales among pilots of ships or rigs that venture into the highest or lowest regions, or the stream itself, is that there are "ghost ships" or unknown vessels of some type. They are variously said to be huge and distant, or tiny and incredibly fast, they may fade into and out of sight, or zip by clearly once, follow and seemingly taunt pilots, or even take off at incredible speeds and change directions instantly. Some are claimed to be just like ancient or modern ships or rigs, drifting or under power, others are claimed to be of designs never seen in the known world and impractical to boot, the most absurd are claimed to be merely clusters of brilliant lights. Very rare and likely drunken accounts (of which many seem to be, undermining the veracity of this entire type of story) claim terrified faces at windows, or people - some human, some clearly not - jumping ship, before the vessel in question vanishes into thin air. Despite being such a consistent rumor, it seems that this is also among the most likely to be merely the product of the tired eyes and imaginations of lookouts and pilots, or the manufactured attention-seeking stories of those of lesser character.

Even while the majority of the "ghost ship" rumors seem to be the work of tired eyes and aspiring drunkards, on rare occasion it is known that abandoned ships have been found drifting, unpowered and unpiloted but also undamaged. It is unclear what happens in these cases, and cantons tend to dismiss those that happen in their vicinities as one-off events of whole-crew insanity, presumably to avoid scaring away those traders who frequent the area. As paltry of an explanation as these dismissals offer, no better ones have been found, which is not to say that none have been offered - quite the contrary, as tends to be the case with rumor. Based on the intelligible portions of the ravings of several men whose sanity was in some significant question, this may be due to some kind of raid taking the crew and leaving the ship, for purposes and by parties unknown, or the crew intentionally jumping overboard for some purpose. Given those creatures and factions which frequent the known skies, it seems likely that these crews are captured by piratical elements possessing large and well-armed ships, and that some crew members opt to jump instead of face capture.

An uncommon but recurring conspiracy theory among those with financial difficulties is that the Elvitans and Tsuxi have secretly divided up the habitable world, the latter oppressing the common man by force and dogma, the former by financial pressure. Supposedly it has to do with Devourism.