Lords of RPG

This takes place when Adamn first arrives at Starlight Haven, a little over two years before leaving on the Spike drive mission. 

Making the Rounds

As a practitioner of an ancient, but obscure cult, Adamn was used to being in the spiritual minority. And as a new resident of Starlight Haven, he would have to make the rounds, meet others of different faiths, and figure out how to integrate himself into their culture. Especially if he went forward with reopening the old chapel near the functioning half of the docking ring.

Starlight Haven was huge as space stations go. Large enough to have held hundreds of thousands of residents in Pre-Tech times. Large enough to have held a jump gate. Today, 600 years after the Scream, it officially had ten thousand residents, although Adamn suspected that number was much higher. So many sections were now ‘uninhabited’ or ‘closed’ or whatever sign they put over the welded shut passages.

He would need the okay, if not blessing, from the Council to reopen the chapel for more than a few hours and most importantly he would need the support of the main religions to sway the secular members of the Council.

Church of Stellar Syncretism

Walking in towards the central ring and turning starside for a couple of kilometers brought Adamn to a rather loud set of large doors with a complex astrological motif mosaic. Having been told to look for the doors, he knew he was at the right place.

The soft thud of the large door closing behind him echoed throughout the large open room. Modeled after the old churches of earth and the first expansion into the stars it had the classic Exo-gothic style that many of the churches in the system had except for the ceiling. Instead of murals or mosaics, it was clear…or mostly clear. There was something in the glass or clear aluminum or whatever the substance was.

“It’s smart glass, or that’s what it we call it.”

Adamn turned to see a woman with mischievous eyes, wearing deep blue robes with geometric patterns embroidered throughout and raven black hair loosely pulled back into a ponytail.

“I see you wear the robes of a priest, but of an order I am not familiar with. I am Junior Astronomer Angelina. Welcome to the Church of Stellar Syncretism. How can I help you?”

“I’m here to meet you, and the other Astronomers and learn about your beliefs,” Adamn responded factually but with a mischievous glint to his eye. She was cute, and she knew it.

And so Adamn and Junior Astronomer Angelina spent the next couple of hours talking about her religion and beliefs along with Stellar Syncretism’s view of the other religions in the area. Angelina shares that she joined the order later in life after her husband died in an accident. Adamn shares that he was raised in a monastery on Tanaris, something he doesn’t often share. Over the next two years, Adamn and Angelina become close friends. The frequency of their interactions has led to rumors of a romantic relationship between them, but beyond some sexual tension, neither one has made a move. Some suspect the High Astronomer advocated for Adamn to go on the Spike drive mission, not because she thought he was best suited, but because he was a distraction to her consigliere and #2 on the station.

The Brotherhood of Cosmic Unity

Not wanting to appear to play favorites, Adamn went to visit the Brotherhood of Cosmic Unity that afternoon. Part science and part spirituality, he was eager to satisfy his curiosity both as a priest and as a doctor, well medic, but he was studying and gods know that he had performed surgery plenty of times.

Part science lab, part meditation lounge, the interior was a study in contrasts and busier than the Church of Stellar Syncretism had been. A stylized lab coat with an excessive number of pockets seemed to be the chosen garb for the order and after a minute of observation, he noticed that the older members seemed to have fewer pockets.

A good ten minutes went by before the short man with a pot belly and more pockets than anyone else seemed to have approached, removed a note from a pocket, read it, and said, “You must be Adamn. Come with me please.”

They proceeded down a walkway that seemed to split the meditation from work areas towards a dias in the center of the room. In the center of the dias was a man in his late 60s dressed in simple, white robes with one hand resting on his knee in a half lotus position and the other quickly and fluidly working on a datapad resting on his other knee. A staff adorned with crystals and sacred symbols rests at his side.

Adamn’s guide nodded to him and then headed off on another task, taking a sudden right after reading the note he had pulled from his pockets. The old man on the dias looked up after a minute and smiled.

Adamn and Sage Elio spent the next half an hour sharing their beliefs and philosophies. Adamn spent more time listening to the Unity Sage as he was known than attempting to share the wisdoms of his faith and experience. The intersection of Spirituality and Science, the interconnectedness of all things, and the pursuit of harmony and balance were his takeaways from their meeting as concepts that could be incorporated into something…more? He knew what direction to head in but could not see the destination in his mind’s eye.

The Order of the Eternal Exodus

The last place he had to visit was the one he was most nervous about. The monastery where he was raised claimed to be part of a larger order or religion, but he had never met anyone from the Order of the Eternal Exodus. The OEE was a group he was told he and the other monks and priests were technically a part of but were allowed to operate independently.

Entering their facility, not even half a click from the once and hopefully future chapel, Adamn clumsily bumped into a woman in her mid-forties with a shaved head,  wearing terrestrial explorer gear, and headed out in something of a hurry. After apologizing for his clumsiness and asking if a Voyager was around so he could introduce himself to the order, the bald woman looked him up and down, taking the time to study his robes and the symbols embroidered into them, in the same black cloth as the robes themselves.

“You’re from Tanaris, aren’t you?” She said with a little surprise in her tone.

“Yes, I am Father Adamianvs Salvator d’Superstes of the Order Fratrum Minorum of Tanaris.” Adamn replied with a slight bow.

“Walk with me Adamn, I’d like to hear more.” She said with a wry grin.

And so, the first person Adamn ever met from the Order of the Eternal Exodus was surreptitiously the Grand Voyager herself.  As if in kind, she admitted that he was the first person from the Ordo Fratrum she had ever met. Over the two years since he came to the station, Father Adamn, and Grand Voyager Adalyn have developed a begrudging respect for each other. Adamn’s insistence that they are not stuck here and that the OEE should be leading the effort to find a spike drive and reactivate the gate is a constant annoyance to Adalyn, who believes that spike drives are a fools' errand and would prefer to focus on the exploration they can do now…the old parts of the station, the asteroid belt, the time capsules, and the planets in the system. It is no surprise that she voted for Adamn to go on the spike drive mission…she even offered to make sure the chapel was staffed while he was gone.

Epilogue

Adamn was pleasantly surprised to find that none of the three religions on the station seemed to be at great odds with the others and was able to get permission to reopen the chapel without any trouble from the council. After a few weeks of cleaning and basic repairs, he was able to open it, where it served as the place you were most likely to find Adamn until his departure on the Spike Drive mission…a mission he believes in thoroughly and with religious fervor...he's on a mission from god. Sort of an It's a hundred and six miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses...Hit it! type thing.

<Mark let me know if I need to change anything. I used the player’s guide to get a feel for the different religions and their leaders. I figure in a town with only 10k people, meeting the leaders and knowing them personally isn’t much of a stretch.>