Patji expedition
| Patji expedition | |
|---|---|
| World | First of the Sun |
| Universe | Cosmere |
The Patji expedition is a commercial and scientific exploration of the island of Patji in the Pantheon archipelago on First of the Sun.
Background
Patji is one of more than forty islands in the Pantheon. It is teeming with deadly flora and fauna, and is uninhabited by the local people (the Eelakin) with the exception of a few specially trained trappers. Trappers use native birds with magical powers known as Aviar to avoid death on the island. Notably, Patji contains Patji's Eye, a natural manifestation of Investiture,[1] and Patji's Fingers, a tree that bears fruit containing parasitic worms that grant the Aviar their abilities.[2]
History
The expedition is carried out by the Northern Interests Trading Company, which is based in the Eelakin homeisles. The Company's main purpose is to research the Aviar and to claim Patji ahead of competing companies. The Company sends at least two large, iron-hulled ships equipped with cannons, one of which is captained by Eusto. Eusto serves as the leader of the expedition, although he appears to be threatened by Vathi, a scholar who has significant knowledge of trappers and her own Aviar. The team has approximately two hundred soldiers and one hundred scientists and merchants. When the expedition arrives on Patji, the team sets up their base, which is a small fortress. A scout team including Vathi is sent to circle the island and set up a second fortress, but they are attacked by a deepwalker while camping on the beach. Vathi is the only survivor.[2]
The trapper Sixth of the Dusk comes across the remnants of the scout team's camp, and realizes that the Company is making a full-fledged effort to occupy the island. He notes that mercantile companies from the homeisles have discussed setting up an outpost on Patji for years, but he has previously warned them and their underqualified "trappers" away from attempting to do so. He follows tracks into the jungle, believing that the Company has somehow hired a trapper from the Pantheon due to Vathi's unusual skill, but eventually finds her caught in one of his traps.[2]
Vathi reveals the scope of the Company's expedition and mentions that there is a great deal of demand for Aviar on the mainland. She also tells Dusk that the Company has been in contact with the spacefaring Ones Above and possesses several pieces of their technology. The technology is far more advanced than anything in the current Eelakin civilization and includes machines that can locate Aviar. One of the other members of the expedition, Winds, opens the largest of these machines and it agitates all of the Aviar on the island.[2]
Contemplating the new technologies and the suspicious level of interest that the Ones Above display in regards to the Aviar, Dusk realizes that the machines were intentionally left with the Eelakin to accelerate the progress of their civilization. This would allow the Ones Above to appropriate the resources of First of the Sun without technically exploiting the native people.[2] The fate of the expedition after that point is not known.