The Pit

Encompassed by vegetation and mountains is an area (analogous to a desert) referred to by the Xenexians as the Pit where the Search for Allways was preformed. The Pit is a desolate and inhospitable land approximately 30 miles wide. Xenexians, particularly those from the city of Calhoun, avoided the Pit not only because it is physically challenging, but also because some claimed that a sort of nexus with multiple realities drifted in and out of the Pit. Those who did not believe that a nexus could be found in the Pit nevertheless believed it was simply haunted. Either way, modern Xenexians avoided the Pit.

Historically, the Pit was once the place of a ritual called the Search for Allways where its youth would wander in the Pit as a sort of ceremonial initiation from adolescence to adulthood. The premise of this ritual was that if they remained long enough in the Pit they would receive visions of their future – through the nexus – that as a result would steer them toward their purpose in life. Modern Xenexians do not observe the Search for Allways tradition because it was the cause of a significant death toll on their youth. Instead, the Search for Allways has become a sort of a dare, or a test of bravery.

Mackenzie Calhoun, who had preformed the Search for Always, lied, claiming that he received a vision where his people would be free from Danterian rule, and in telling this vision with such conviction, he became a leader in the uprising that eventually did free them from Danterian rule. His deceptive vision that he told came true, and ironically it was a stepping stone that led him to a true vision where he saw a captain of the Starship, Jean-Luc Picard. His meeting with Captain Picard soon after would propel him toward his purpose in life, a life in the Federation as a Captain himself. THorrigan 14:22, 8 April 2009 (UTC)