The Hunt for Red Eyjafjallajökull (Part 2)

Sindel continues her search into the myriad paths that are the strange world of wormholes this week in search of molten lava. Catch up with Part 1 first here

*sigh*

I really shouldn’t commit to things like this. I can’t think of a bigger waste of time than reading about me bumbling around like a blind, armless thief in the dark. Yet, here we are – it’s week two of this disastrous, crazy train and I’m still not any closer to Eyjafjallajökull. Well, that’s not true. I am much closer in a lot of ways, I just haven’t found it yet.

Before you say anything, that makes perfect sense. Let me check: I am closer without being closer. Yup. Perfect.

See, at the end of my piece last week, I welcomed advice and comments and, unlike many other sites, the readers complied. It was odd, but once I got over that initial discomfort, I was impressed. They were knowledgeable and helpful. They used a bunch of terminology I didn’t understand at first (how the fuck does one “roll a hole” without immeasurable amounts of lube?) but they pointed me in the direction of resources that could teach me. Fun fact about me: I ADORE research. Nothing makes me happier than a pen, a notebook, different colored highlighters, those little flag-tabs, and giant piles of information to sift through. When the first two comments I read said “read this site then make some notes”, I actually wriggled with glee. Then I calmed down and did what I was told.

For those wanting to try wormhole exploration, if you do not have a specific goal in mind, then go in peace. There’s really nothing I can say that will help you in your adventures. Have fun and don’t die. Oh – and cloak up after you launch your probes! If you do have specific goal in mind however, I suggest reading this page an anonymous reader led me to. As you explore wormhole chains, either have a spreadsheet or notebook handy that keeps track of which wormholes lead where and if they’re leading there through a static or wandering wormhole. You can find more information about individual locations here.

But enough of this educational stuff. Back to the bumbling.

The easiest thing to do, I was told, is to bring some friends into a hole with a static C6 and keep collapsing it (rolling – who knew??!?) over and over until the right one opens up. In theory, this seems like a great idea… but when was the last time PL went on a full-scale exploration op? Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah. There will be no getting “a scanner, a dread, an orca and a battleship in a C5-C6 wormhole”. I’m doing this alone.

That means I need to find a C5 with a static C6 and just… sit there. The only problem is finding my way into a C5. I know better than to try to get into one from high, or, hell, even low, security space, so I got out my trusty copy of Eve Strategic Maps and looked for a good place to go, finally settling on Providence.

Man. Providence. If regions had correlating scratch-and-sniff stickers, Provi would smell like sweat, stale beer and dirty vag. I hate that place, but there isn’t a whole lot going on there so I figured I wouldn’t meet any resistance. I was right. I made it halfway into the damn region before I met anyone, stopping in a random system with a large number of signatures. Three of them were wormholes. One led to high sec, one led to a C1 and one led to a C2 with a C4 static. I picked the latter and went in. The next few hours went something like this:

1. Jump from one C4 to another C4.

2. Use d-scan.

3. Find unanchored or unshielded towers everywhere, but no people or ships.

4. Rinse, repeat.

I have never seen such a large chain of ONE kind of wormhole. They were all C4s and they were all empty. I was creeped out and disheartened. Again, just as I did last week, I called it quits after about four hours, then went back home. I really needed a chemical shower after this jaunt into Provi.

So why am I writing about another fruitless search??!?

Well, I’m going to keep looking for a C5 with a C6 static to park my happy butt in, but there’s going to be radio silence until I find it, so say goodbye to this series for awhile. I also wanted to share the pain/frustration/jealousy/hope/anger moment from my search. While I was puttering around some of the most God-awful places, I received a message on Twitter from my pal (and Angel Project supporter) Laurici, letting me know he was hanging out in a much nicer place. Want to know what he was?

They weren’t even looking for it. It just showed up while they were rolling C6s. In a way, I’m happy for him because it’s an awesome find! So few people will ever get to see it. But, I’m also a little (read: a LOT) pissed that my luck is much worse than other people’s.

. . . at least I know it’s still there, right?