"Oh, they're out there alright. I've never met them, but I know they're out there. Think abouthow well known the stories are. Now think about how easy it would be for some two-bitband of hucksters to pass themselves off as the Dark Wheel and start trading on theirreputation. Doesn't happen, does it? Not for long, anyway. Whenever someone tries tousurp the Dark Wheel name, sooner or later they get quietly shut down. And that's how Iknow"- Felicy Farseer, explorerThe Dark Wheel is the name given to a legendary group of adventurers, explorers,investigators and treasure-hunters, the existence of which is so lacking in corroborativeevidence that it is generally considered a myth. The group is often mentioned inconnection with the equally unsubstantiated 'Raxxla'.Those who believe in the existence of the Dark Wheel consider it to be a continuous andclandestine organisation, operating since the very earliest days of interstellar travel.According to the lore, only a handful of the bravest and most competent pilots of eachgeneration are honoured with an invitation to join the group. It is futile to attempt tocontact the Dark Wheel on one's own initiative, however - it is always they who initiatecontact, initially in disguise, revealing their true identity only once a suitable test ofcourage and skill has been discreetly administered, and passed.Opposing theories assert that new members are selected on the basis of lineage, withexisting members covertly training their children and revealing the fact of theirmembership only when the child is ready. Conversely, some members are believed to go togreat lengths to prevent their children from ever become involved, the the group'ssecrets are dangerous.According to self-professed Dark Wheel expert Lyta Crane, a conspiracy theorist and'people's journalist' who has painstakingly assembled an archive of relevant data, theoriginal group was based in a disused starport orbiting the eighth moon of an unnamedgas giant. The station was toroid, hence 'wheel', and operated with a minimal power outputso as to avoid detection, hence 'dark'.Crane believes that this starport is still in use, and is the only means whereby the genuineDark Wheel can verify its identity; new inductees can examine the record and artefactspreserved there, and thus satisfy themselves that the group has indeed been operating forcenturies. No such starport has ever been found, however, and rival experts have accusedCrane of forging her evidense in order to maintain the revenue from her billions offollowers.Over the years, many people have claimed to be members of the Dark Wheel, to haveidentified some or all of the group's members, or to have discovered the group's location,but the contradictory nature of these claims suggests that most of them, if not all, areuntrue.In 3300, a group identifying itself as the Dark Wheel emerged in the Shinrarta Dezhrasystem, which is not accessible to pilots of lower than Elite rank. It is not apparent if thegroup is a legitimate descendant of the original Dark Wheel, a reconstruction, or merely anopportunistic imitator.