Pax Amarria (lore)

The Pax Amarria is a book written by Emperor Heideran VII, first published in September YC105. The book is a combination of Heideran's memoirs, a reflection on the mistakes and successes of his reign, his hopes for peace in the cluster, and his vision of the Amarr's involvement in it. Highly influential when it was published, the book remains incredibly popular, especially among Amarr commoners, and has had over 60 individual printings.

History

Emperor Heideran VII wrote numerous books over his lifetime, though the vast majority were treatises on faith. In YC94, he began work on his memoirs, intending to simply give an account of his reign and the various changes and challenges that the Empire underwent during this time. Early notes and manuscripts display a rather dry, factual historical account with little in the way of self-reflection. However, once the emperor reached the Minmatar Rebellion, his writing became far more introspective and emotional.

Eventually, Heideran decided to scrap the majority of the memoirs, leaving his thoughts on his early reign mostly unknown. Instead, he began with the Minmatar Rebellion and disastrous Amarr-Jove War. From there, he wrote of his evolving viewpoint on the Amarr faith and the Empire's relationship with the rest of the cluster. By the time he reached the modern day, he realized that the book had become less a personal memoir and more an examination of the complex politics and attitudes of the Empire in relation to the other nations of New Eden.

Taking advantage of this shift in tone, the emperor rewrote the book with this as the central premise. He retitled it Pax Amarria, meaning “Promise of the Amarr”, and added several chapters dealing with the way the Empire could affect the cluster for the better and bring about interstellar peace through nonviolent methods. Once the work was completed, he went back over and meticulously edited and rewrote sections, oftentimes adopting a more conciliatory tone toward the other empires of New Eden.

The book was eventually finished in YC105 and published through the Court Chamberlain's press shortly after in September. Unfortunately, soon after the book was published, Emperor Heideran succumbed to the Turit disease which had been afflicting him for decades and passed away.

Reception to the book was almost universally positive, though some conservative elements within the Empire privately remarked that it was too passive and appeasatory, while some of the Empire's most stringent opponents claimed it was merely an attempt at rewriting history and whitewashing the atrocities committed by the Empire. Even so, nearly a decade after his death, the book remains one of the best selling works in the Empire every year.

Content

The Pax Amarria can be roughly divided into three different parts, though the division is not made in the book itself. The first section consists of Emperor Heideran's memoirs from the Amarr-Jove War up to the Emperor's gradual withdrawal from Imperial politics. These passages have been considered by readers to be the most shocking of the entire work, as the emperor was highly candid with his doubts and inner conflicts. Particularly considered notable are the sections about the weeks after the Minmatar Rebellion, which are heavy with the anger and hurt felt by the emperor after the betrayal of Faus Akredon and his desire for revenge against the Jove and Minmatar, but his feelings of helplessness to do anything in the chaos.

Next, the emperor writes how, as the months passed and it became increasingly evident that the Empire would be unable to reconquer the Minmatar, he had an “awakening” and realized that the path for the Empire moving forward would be one of peace and diplomacy. Heideran wrote of his conflicted feelings about the matter and his fears about being rejected by the Amarr people as he sued for peace with the Minmatar and Gallente and entered into an alliance with the Caldari.

He describes the day Aidonis Elabon approached him to found CONCORD as “the most blessed day of my worldly existence” and continues on to speak frankly about the challenges of convincing the Empire to enter into the treaties and alliances which would restrict the Empire's ability to take slaves and make war on the Minmatar.

It is during this that the book transitions to its second section. The emperor's writing moves from memoirs to a more philosophical musing on the Amarr faith and how they could be reconciled with the Empire's defeats at the hands of the Jove and Minmatar. The emperor peppers this section with personal anecdotes about meetings with the leaders and important figures of the other nations, as well as the clashes he had with his own advisors and the Heirs, but mainly focuses on the sociological and spiritual impact of an increasingly passive Empire.

Many parts of this section are taken from other writings and speeches the Emperor had delivered during the years following the foundation of CONCORD as Heideran dissects his own words, analyzes their meaning and the way they were received both at home and abroad, and theorizes on how the reactions adjusted (or failed to adjust) the attitudes of the Amarr people.

Finally, the emperor moves to writing about the future of the Empire and peace for the cluster. This section is considered very poignant by many, as it has been interpreted as a form of grand last will and testament of Heideran, who by this point was nearing the end of his life. This section contains a blueprint for fully integrating the Empire into the greater interstellar community and healing the wounds and hatreds both between the Amarr and the Minmatar and between the Caldari and the Gallente. He emphasizes the power of the Amarr faith and claims it has the power to “unite all peoples” under the “power of God's light.” It speaks of a potential future Empire where every race is considered one of the faith and where slavery is virtually nonexistent.

Many have interpreted this final section as Emperor Heideran calling for the abolition of slavery, but the official Theology Council commentary on the book states that the book only speaks of a hypothetical future where all races have accepted the Amarr faith and been freed from bondage. Critics of the book often point to the heavy religiousness of the section as evidence that it is merely a propaganda piece intended to represent the Amarr faith as “benevolent where it is antagonistic” and “egalitarian where it is discriminatory.”

Pax Ammaria

Of the many reprintings of the Pax Amarria that have come since Heideran's death, one is considered especially notable. The 62nd printing (also known as the 62Pax) contained a typographical error on the cover, with the title being rendered “Pax Ammaria”. The error was not discovered until after the book had been printed and shipped to book sellers across the Empire. Though a recall was initiated, numerous copies had already been sold and entered public circulation. Nearly a million copies remained unaccounted for.

It has been rumored that following the discovery of the error, the Theology Council issued a declaration that “All copies will be destroyed.” Supposedly, because of the specific wording of the declaration, the existence of any copy is considered to violate an official decree with the Council, and is thus considered heretical and anathema to God. Stories tell of Imperial Ordinators working for the Ministry of Internal Order going to extreme measures to hunt down copies of the misprinted book. Some even whisper that entire settlements have been destroyed because it is supposed a single copy is being housed within.

The Theology Council has never officially commented on the rumors, other than to claim that actually answering questions about the matter is “ridiculous” and “a waste of everyone's time.” Experts point out that the Theology Council could easily countermand such a decree if one did exist, or at least offer a clarification, and thus dismiss the rumors as the providence of addled conspiracy theorists. Those theorists, however, offer up the Council and MIO's refusal to comment on the matter as suspicious enough to raise questions.

Regardless of the truth of the rumors, numerous capsuleers came into possession of copies of the 62Pax in YC114. More than one has reported an unusually high number of attempted break-ins to their personal quarters since receiving the book, though all so-far have been thwarted without the culprit being captured.

See Also

• Heideran VII
• Item technology
• Information and entertainment
• Chronicle: Pax Ammaria