The colony ship Archimedes launched from New Atlantis in 2190. The ship jumped out of orbit around Mars and contact was lost. In 2191, the ship arrived in the Kavnyk system. One of the passengers, Jinan Va'ruun, claimed to have had a revelation during the jump and founded a new cult of the Great Serpent.
Over time, more and more colonists joined the cult, and in 2197, the Colonial Council was dissolved, power passed to Jinan Va'ruun, and he began to build the theocracy of House Va'ruun. The Kavnic I-B moon, where the colony capital of Dazra is located, was renamed Va'ruun'kai.
In 2230, a ship with the signature of the Archimedes transponder appeared in the Volii system. The heavily modified ship was renamed the Mourning and served as the flagship of the House Va'ruun fleet. A diplomatic mission was on board, intended to establish formal relations with the major factions of the Settled Systems. Ten years later, in 2240, House Va'ruun began the Serpent's Crusade, which lasted until the death of Jinan Va'ruun in 2263.
The ship was decommissioned in 2299, and was later brought to Va'ruun'kai and installed in the House Va'ruun capital city of Dazra. The Spacefarer meets with the High Council members in the cockpit of the former ship after completing the Serpent's Path in the mission "The Promised, Broken".
The Mourning ship cockpit