No, the queen who rules harshly is Oryx and his sisters. They know this is the winning strategy, and they see themselves as the natural answer to the Light. Everything gets more and more ruthless until only the 'best' nation is left. The Traveler and its Light are the queens who want a gentle nation ringed in spears. Coincidentally, the Traveler is described with female pronouns in some source. The nations ruled by queens with great towers or just law were the worlds wiped out by the Hive.

[quote]No, the queen who rules harshly is Oryx and his sisters. They know this is the winning strategy, and they see themselves as the natural answer to the Light. Everything gets more and more ruthless until only the 'best' nation is left. The Traveler and its Light are the queens who want a gentle nation ringed in spears. Coincidentally, the Traveler is described with female pronouns in some source. The nations ruled by queens with great towers or just law were the worlds wiped out by the Hive.[/quote] The Traveler is part of the city ringed in spears strategy but is not a willing participant.

Not a willing participant? I see it as a pretty vital contributor, so wouldn't that make her a 'participant'? As for the 'willing' part, I don't think any of us can speak for its will.

[quote]Not a willing participant? I see it as a pretty vital contributor, so wouldn't that make her a 'participant'? As for the 'willing' part, I don't think any of us can speak for its will.[/quote] Obviously the Traveler is vital to the protection of The City. Rasputin knows it. Evidence suggests that Rasputin shot the Traveler to keep it from leaving, yes? The Traveler left everywhere it started a Golden Age. It has done this over and over for thousands or tens of thousands (or millions or billions) of years. It's will is to avoid conflict. Probably because it is the polar opposite of Oryx and the Darkness. Rasputin is coercing/blackmailing/forcing the Traveler into helping us.

[quote][i]Dreams of Alpha Lupi[/i] This has been such a long chase. This will be the place you will fight. Fight and win.  But do you really know why you go where you go, and where this journey is taking you? The chase leads you where you need to be, you believe. Unless...you are being pushed.[/quote] Ghost Fragment: The Traveler 2

[quote][quote][i]Dreams of Alpha Lupi[/i] This has been such a long chase. This will be the place you will fight. Fight and win.  But do you really know why you go where you go, and where this journey is taking you? The chase leads you where you need to be, you believe. Unless...you are being pushed.[/quote] Ghost Fragment: The Traveler 2[/quote] You have no idea what place it is thinking of or when. You have no idea how often it said that to itself before it created other Golden Ages. For my money this card expresses something generic rather than specific.

[quote] Dreams of Alpha Lupi The knife had a million blades. And you were giant, powerful and swift. But the knife pinned you. Cut your godly flesh away. Very little was left, you are sure, because you feel insignificant now. The hard slick heart of your soul: That is what remains. A body small as a river stone, and just as simple. You picture yourself as a piece of indigestible grit, a nameless nothing hiding among other nameless stones. Perhaps you glitter like a gem, yes. Pride makes you hope so. If only you could see yourself. But you have no eyes. Not the dimmest sense survives. What lives is memory, and what slim portion of these thoughts can you trust? The knife stole much more than your body.[/quote] Ghost Fragment: The Traveler 3 When else would it have been incapacitated?

[quote][quote] Dreams of Alpha Lupi The knife had a million blades. And you were giant, powerful and swift. But the knife pinned you. Cut your godly flesh away. Very little was left, you are sure, because you feel insignificant now. The hard slick heart of your soul: That is what remains. A body small as a river stone, and just as simple. You picture yourself as a piece of indigestible grit, a nameless nothing hiding among other nameless stones. Perhaps you glitter like a gem, yes. Pride makes you hope so. If only you could see yourself. But you have no eyes. Not the dimmest sense survives. What lives is memory, and what slim portion of these thoughts can you trust? The knife stole much more than your body.[/quote] Ghost Fragment: The Traveler 3 When else would it have been incapacitated?[/quote] It was incapacitated by Rasputin at Earth, according to prevalent theory. That has [u]nothing[/u] to do with wanting to stand and fight with the help of its "children". Traveler card 1 describes finding its children. Those "children" could have been any of - or all of - thousands of civilizations that it gave Golden Ages to in hope of standing and fighting.