Overview
During the 4th millennium, The Church at Eridan was located on the mostly barren planet of Eridan, in the constellation Eridanus (The Celestial River). The discovery of the writings by Lina the Pilgrim in the late 5th millennium allowed scholars to continue the archival work begun by the pseudonymous writer known only as The Historian. The archive of writings concerning The Church at Eridan and The Interplanetary Church is known collectively as The Quaternary Texts, or simply The Quaternary.
The Quaternary has undergone many changes over the centuries. Initially, the text was contained in a single large volume until doing so became unwieldy and impractical. The most recent, and canonical, edition of The Quaternary was compiled and completed by the monk and scholar, Benedicto Vox, most famously recorded in The Life of Benedicto Vox: A Hagiography.
Very little is known about the life of The Historian. However, his most well known work, A Final Ecclesiastical History is perhaps the most important contribution to Eridani studies that has ever been written, its full title being A Final Ecclesiastical History of The Church on Earth and at Eridan. Although the text has been referenced by countless writers over the years, surviving copies were fragmented and incomplete.
Critically, the work covers the eventful early history of The Interplanetary Church between the late third and fourth millennia. This period includes the Interplanetary Ecumenical Council of 3298, the controversies surrounding Church SCRIBES, and culminates with the founding of a monastery by St. Aleph in the 36th century on Eridan.
The manuscripts by the pseudonymous writer were presumed lost until 4476, with the discoveries by Benedicto Vox. Vox's work was eventually published by Eridani scholar Dr. Gordon P. Bextrum as The Historian Manuscripts. Most recently, Eridani historian, C.H., completed a translated, revised, and updated edition, which brings together the works of these scholars as well as the writings by theologians and mystics recovered by Vox: Lina the Pilgrim and St. S, The Anchorite of Eridan.