Boredcollective@aol.com wrote:

In a message dated 1/20/2002 10:29:41 AM US Mountain Standard Time, 
sommer@3rdm.net writes:

    "Oh. No." Terra frowned and began to tremble.

Eh?

Her reaction at what she saw. She didn't expect the whole Spanish
Inquisition here...

(Leave the cheese, set the trap...)

[Excerpted from Communications of the Lunar Historians' Society, final
entry]

The Martian Inquisition was never expected.  That was, in fact, one of
the inquisitors' rules: if someone was expecting the Inquisition, then
they already knew the evil of their acts, and were on the road to
penance.  Best to concentrate on the completely unrepenant heretics.

It was an infamous public spectacle, giving a meaning to the term "Red
Planet" beyond its already oxidizing surface dust.  Modern historians
estimate that only ten percent of the Martian population died as a
direct result of the Inquisition, most at the inquisitors' hands;
contemporary accounts putting this figure far higher have been dismissed
as propaganda.  It is easy to imagine our Queen Serenity putting a stop
to this, but remember: in those days, the Moon Kingdom had not yet been
established, and of all the planets, Mars was the most fiercely
independent, while its anarchy was second only to Earth's.  Quite
possibly, fully half of those executed had committed crimes that would
have earned lesser, but still drastic, punishments today; alas, the only
recorded crime they were charged with was failure to believe in a god we
now know to be false (since it was other than Queen Serenity and her
line).

Ironically, this gave a major boost to what would become a widespread
Martian religious practice, shunned by the religious leaders of the day:
communication with the spirits of the dead.  With graveyards routinely
filled and a lack of authorities to bless new ones - and political
pressure to keep the rotting, dead bodies on display for as long as
possible - the obvious reason also turns out to be the one best
supported by archaeological evidence.  Indeed, the temple from which
Serenity recruited the new Sailor Mars was founded during this era.
One can only hope that she remembers history's lessons, and does not
let a thirst for punishing evil override her duty to justice.

In other correspondence, General Neflyte, a servant of Queen Beryl of
Earth and a distant acquaintance of some of our members, has asked
that we not only skip tomorrow's grand ball at Serenity's palace, but
that we evacuate as many historical artifacts as possible from the city
before the ball starts.  One can only wonder at such a bizaare request,
but it seemed quite sincere and urgent.


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