09-30-2010, 11:01 PM
Hi, I finally decided that I am ready to post the faction info here. I hope it won't get flamed.
The Starsong Children
The story begins in the Omicron systems. The Bounty Hunters Guild Core emerged victorious from a successful raid against the Nomads. Many artifacts, weapons and live specimen were salvaged, a true jackpot in the books of the Guild. Leon Byrne, not a full member, but an associate of the Guild was returning to Omega 56 in one of the many cargo ships that contained precious cargo salvaged in the deeper Omicrons. The task was simple ' to deliver the goods back to the head lab. The ship should have been escorted, but the Nomads did regroup and release a counter attack on the Guild's fleet. In order to cut the escape route, all ships with fighting capabilities stayed behind to separate the transport from the hostiles. It was a success and the ship managed to get enough distance.
Once the ship arrived in Omicron Delta, it took a course on the Dabadoru station to meet a substitute escort team. However suddenly the ship's security system started to alarm. It was a containment breach ' the captive specimen were breaking out from their cells, killing the crewmembers and damaging the ship. Due to these events, the ship finally made a crash landing on planet Nauru, losing contact with the base. It was weeks later, when the remaining crewmembers were found in the desert plains, clinging on the last supplies found in their ship to survive. There were no traces of the specimen and only some artifacts were remaining, most notably a scroll or tome, which had for some reason become the source of attention for the survivors. The survivors had changed. They were speaking in an obscure manner and looking the stars in a dreaming fashion. It seemed almost like an obsession.
Out of caution, the Guild arrested and isolated the crewmembers for investigation. The tests results however showed no traces of infection by any diseases or alien organisms. Furthermore, though the remaining artifacts seemed to be of Nomad origin, the scroll had been written by human hands and further investigation concluded that the handwriting belonged to Leon Byrne. Finding the fact not very amusing, the Guild handed the survivors over to the interrogation team. The interrogations however proved useless ' the survivors did not seem to react on pain and some of them even started to laugh hysterically. The survivors would only speaking gibberish about the space and stars. The only somewhat sensible phrase describing the events that might have occurred with the crew was a claim that they had been 'enlightened'.
The Guild was confused and could only come up with a theory that something terrifying had happened which altered the mentality of the survivors. The crew members were left in the care and observation of the medical team while the head of the organisation was discussing of the disposal of these survivors who had lost their minds.
When the majority of the Guild's fleet was having a fight with the Order fleet, and the security measures were lower than usual, the medics noticed a change of behaviour of their subjects. Suddenly all of them started acting hostile towards the medical team and security. Initially with bare hands and afterwards with scalpels and needles, they started to kill off the medical workers who treated them. Their movement was organised as they broke through the security team, with some casualties. They hijacked a destroyer that was under maintenance and undocked the base. Before the base's defense systems could be updated about the destroyer's hostility, the cruiser had gotten far enough and took off to nowhere. The security found that besides the cruiser, a few artifacts and the scroll had been stolen as well.
There are recent rumors of a group of ships with an unidentified Thresher class cruiser taking shelter in Freeport 9, Omicron Theta. There are also rumors that they all fly under a banner never seen before. They call themselves the Starsong Children.
Operations
The Starsong Children have chosen Omicron Theta's Freeport 9 as our current shelter. From there we launch our missionaries to different missions to declare our faith. This will be done Sirius-wide, except in the homeworlds of the 'Revenants' (//Phantoms) and 'Azure Guardians' (//Nomads). We usually don't go near them, unless we have a reason regarding our religion.
Our ritualists manage different rituals, from simple chants to sacrificing human materials (// effectively flying a transport full of human commodities into a sun or offering them to nomads and phantoms). Omicron Theta has artifacts hovering in the Napo cloud. Our cult will be collecting them and distributing them to house spaces ' this may help in spreading our faith. Also, every pilot is strongly recommended to have at least one artifact in their cargo hold all the time ' as a token of good fortune.
Our faith involves unity with the stars and the voids of the universe. The main purpose for our follower is to reach new heights, but retaining humanity while doing it. For us the Revenants and Azure Guardians are divine forces of faith and their actions towards us influence us. If we are attacked by them, we try even harder to please these mythical creatures and pray towards them and the great 'Outsider' (//Daam'Kvosh). Also the Wild are regarded by us as humans who have reached 'beyond'.
ID/IFF
Our priests and ritualists will be operating with Freelancer ID. Those who form up our Templar guard and some of the bishops (essentially the original crew who escaped from the BHG) will be using BHG and BHG Core ID. They are by no means the members of the original guild. As for the IFF, all priests, ritualists, Templars and Bishops will be using Zoner IFF.
Zone of Influence
Our organisation puts its best efforts in spreading our faith all over Sirius.
Diplomacy
Since we are a new organisation, we can only grant diplomacy from our side. This does not guarantee that the named factions have the same feelings for us. These diplomacies may change over time.
Allies:
None yet
Friendly (We don't shoot even if they shoot us):
Nomads ' We try to contact them and learn from them
Wild ' The chosen ones, humans touched by the Azure Guardians
Phantoms ' We try to be pure so we won't be punished by those evil spirits
Neutral (Attempting to avoid hassle):
Zoners ' The owners of Freeport 9
Corsairs ' Notable presence in Theta and involved in artifact smuggling
Everyone else
Unfriendly (Shoot in self defence):
Bounty Hunters Guild & Core ' they will probably be after us because of us escaping, hijacking their equipment and murdering their personnel.
The Oracles ' We might have issues about our different lores and rituals.
Sworn enemies (Hunt, burn, lay waste):
We have no sworn enemies yet.
Ranks:
Priests: Freelancer ID, with tag [P] They are regular acolytes who serve our faith and commence enlightenment around the systems of Sirius and provide basic security for us.
Ritualists: Freelancer ID or BHG ID, with tag [R] Essentially the same tier as Priests, but they take care of the more complex rituals as well as artifact distributing and will play a smaller role in providing security.
Bishops: Freelancer or BHG ID, with tag [B] They are superior to ritualists and priests and are doing the management of both rituals and defense. The leader of the cult organisation will be known as the Archbishop and tagged [A]
Templars: BHG or BHG Core ID (represent the original crew members of Leon Byrne). They are the elite guards of the cult who are called upon when the danger is great enough. They are flying gunboats or bigger ships and their tag is given according to the ship class:
[IA] (Interstellar Altar) for Gunboats
[IS] (Interstellar Shrine) for Cruisers
[IM] (Interstellar Monastery) for Battlecruisers
[IT] (Interstellar Temple) for Battleships
Technology
Each ID will use it's respective tech according to the tech chart.
Guidelines on names
Priests, Ritualists, Bishops: SSC|[Rank tag]Name/Nickname
Templars: SSC|[Shiptype tag]Ship Name (not character's name)
The "prayerbook" of this faction is still under construction, but I already have some material.
The Starsong Children
The story begins in the Omicron systems. The Bounty Hunters Guild Core emerged victorious from a successful raid against the Nomads. Many artifacts, weapons and live specimen were salvaged, a true jackpot in the books of the Guild. Leon Byrne, not a full member, but an associate of the Guild was returning to Omega 56 in one of the many cargo ships that contained precious cargo salvaged in the deeper Omicrons. The task was simple ' to deliver the goods back to the head lab. The ship should have been escorted, but the Nomads did regroup and release a counter attack on the Guild's fleet. In order to cut the escape route, all ships with fighting capabilities stayed behind to separate the transport from the hostiles. It was a success and the ship managed to get enough distance.
Once the ship arrived in Omicron Delta, it took a course on the Dabadoru station to meet a substitute escort team. However suddenly the ship's security system started to alarm. It was a containment breach ' the captive specimen were breaking out from their cells, killing the crewmembers and damaging the ship. Due to these events, the ship finally made a crash landing on planet Nauru, losing contact with the base. It was weeks later, when the remaining crewmembers were found in the desert plains, clinging on the last supplies found in their ship to survive. There were no traces of the specimen and only some artifacts were remaining, most notably a scroll or tome, which had for some reason become the source of attention for the survivors. The survivors had changed. They were speaking in an obscure manner and looking the stars in a dreaming fashion. It seemed almost like an obsession.
Out of caution, the Guild arrested and isolated the crewmembers for investigation. The tests results however showed no traces of infection by any diseases or alien organisms. Furthermore, though the remaining artifacts seemed to be of Nomad origin, the scroll had been written by human hands and further investigation concluded that the handwriting belonged to Leon Byrne. Finding the fact not very amusing, the Guild handed the survivors over to the interrogation team. The interrogations however proved useless ' the survivors did not seem to react on pain and some of them even started to laugh hysterically. The survivors would only speaking gibberish about the space and stars. The only somewhat sensible phrase describing the events that might have occurred with the crew was a claim that they had been 'enlightened'.
The Guild was confused and could only come up with a theory that something terrifying had happened which altered the mentality of the survivors. The crew members were left in the care and observation of the medical team while the head of the organisation was discussing of the disposal of these survivors who had lost their minds.
When the majority of the Guild's fleet was having a fight with the Order fleet, and the security measures were lower than usual, the medics noticed a change of behaviour of their subjects. Suddenly all of them started acting hostile towards the medical team and security. Initially with bare hands and afterwards with scalpels and needles, they started to kill off the medical workers who treated them. Their movement was organised as they broke through the security team, with some casualties. They hijacked a destroyer that was under maintenance and undocked the base. Before the base's defense systems could be updated about the destroyer's hostility, the cruiser had gotten far enough and took off to nowhere. The security found that besides the cruiser, a few artifacts and the scroll had been stolen as well.
There are recent rumors of a group of ships with an unidentified Thresher class cruiser taking shelter in Freeport 9, Omicron Theta. There are also rumors that they all fly under a banner never seen before. They call themselves the Starsong Children.
Operations
The Starsong Children have chosen Omicron Theta's Freeport 9 as our current shelter. From there we launch our missionaries to different missions to declare our faith. This will be done Sirius-wide, except in the homeworlds of the 'Revenants' (//Phantoms) and 'Azure Guardians' (//Nomads). We usually don't go near them, unless we have a reason regarding our religion.
Our ritualists manage different rituals, from simple chants to sacrificing human materials (// effectively flying a transport full of human commodities into a sun or offering them to nomads and phantoms). Omicron Theta has artifacts hovering in the Napo cloud. Our cult will be collecting them and distributing them to house spaces ' this may help in spreading our faith. Also, every pilot is strongly recommended to have at least one artifact in their cargo hold all the time ' as a token of good fortune.
Our faith involves unity with the stars and the voids of the universe. The main purpose for our follower is to reach new heights, but retaining humanity while doing it. For us the Revenants and Azure Guardians are divine forces of faith and their actions towards us influence us. If we are attacked by them, we try even harder to please these mythical creatures and pray towards them and the great 'Outsider' (//Daam'Kvosh). Also the Wild are regarded by us as humans who have reached 'beyond'.
ID/IFF
Our priests and ritualists will be operating with Freelancer ID. Those who form up our Templar guard and some of the bishops (essentially the original crew who escaped from the BHG) will be using BHG and BHG Core ID. They are by no means the members of the original guild. As for the IFF, all priests, ritualists, Templars and Bishops will be using Zoner IFF.
Zone of Influence
Our organisation puts its best efforts in spreading our faith all over Sirius.
Diplomacy
Since we are a new organisation, we can only grant diplomacy from our side. This does not guarantee that the named factions have the same feelings for us. These diplomacies may change over time.
Allies:
None yet
Friendly (We don't shoot even if they shoot us):
Nomads ' We try to contact them and learn from them
Wild ' The chosen ones, humans touched by the Azure Guardians
Phantoms ' We try to be pure so we won't be punished by those evil spirits
Neutral (Attempting to avoid hassle):
Zoners ' The owners of Freeport 9
Corsairs ' Notable presence in Theta and involved in artifact smuggling
Everyone else
Unfriendly (Shoot in self defence):
Bounty Hunters Guild & Core ' they will probably be after us because of us escaping, hijacking their equipment and murdering their personnel.
The Oracles ' We might have issues about our different lores and rituals.
Sworn enemies (Hunt, burn, lay waste):
We have no sworn enemies yet.
Ranks:
Priests: Freelancer ID, with tag [P] They are regular acolytes who serve our faith and commence enlightenment around the systems of Sirius and provide basic security for us.
Ritualists: Freelancer ID or BHG ID, with tag [R] Essentially the same tier as Priests, but they take care of the more complex rituals as well as artifact distributing and will play a smaller role in providing security.
Bishops: Freelancer or BHG ID, with tag [B] They are superior to ritualists and priests and are doing the management of both rituals and defense. The leader of the cult organisation will be known as the Archbishop and tagged [A]
Templars: BHG or BHG Core ID (represent the original crew members of Leon Byrne). They are the elite guards of the cult who are called upon when the danger is great enough. They are flying gunboats or bigger ships and their tag is given according to the ship class:
[IA] (Interstellar Altar) for Gunboats
[IS] (Interstellar Shrine) for Cruisers
[IM] (Interstellar Monastery) for Battlecruisers
[IT] (Interstellar Temple) for Battleships
Technology
Each ID will use it's respective tech according to the tech chart.
Guidelines on names
Priests, Ritualists, Bishops: SSC|[Rank tag]Name/Nickname
Templars: SSC|[Shiptype tag]Ship Name (not character's name)
The "prayerbook" of this faction is still under construction, but I already have some material.