Anfran love stone

An Anfran love stone is a piece of jewellery originating from the extinct inhabitants of Anfran, bearing the symbol of the Anfran star god and an inscribed love incantation on the reverse of the stone.

Early archaeolinguistic studies of the artifacts proposed that the purpose of the stone was to bring love to the wearer. This was based on a translation of the inscription, a key line of which was thought to read "the love that knows no borders".

In February 2250, a young Dr. Morden gave a speech to the Interplanetary Archaeological Society, asserting that the traditional interpretation of the artefact was in error. He asserted that a careful translation of the Sampini manuscript reveals that the stone was in actuality meant to carry within it the good wishes of loved ones. Based on the fact that the focus of the Anfran's star god was inward, not outward, he reasoned that the stone was worn with his symbol against the chest, hidden. From there, the star god sent those good wishes into the wearer, so he might feel the love of his family when they were not with him.

He also went on to claim that through extensive cross-referencing between the Sampini and other manuscripts, he had found that the key line of the inscription had previously been mistranslated. Instead of "the love that knows no borders", it in fact reads "the love that abides no borders".^[1]

In late 2256, while en route to Alpha Omega 3 aboard the IPX explorer vessel Icarus, Anna Sheridan secretly took Morden's love stone that he had acquired during archaeological dig on Anfran and had it mounted on a necklace for him as a gift. He gratefully accepted and wore it around his neck from that day forward, as a symbol of his late wife and daughter.^[2]

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