The Oracles

[Tenacity]

"In the beginning, it was just a single ship, an explorer crewed by Zoners that stumbled upon one of the oldest and most remarkable structures in sirius. Those few Zoners would eventually come to call themselves The Oracles, an organization devoted to learning the secrets of the Daam K'vosh and their Nomad creations, and teaching other seekers of truth throughout Sirius in the hopes that their efforts would eventually lead to relative harmony and coexistence among the colonies of man. Their lessons to humanity, and those few they sought out to join the cause, were ultimately of peace... but time and again lead to violent incidents with the various organizations around Sirius."

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Faction Name - The Oracles
Faction Tag - Oracle|Firstname
Affiliation - No Tag (Nomad Tag for admin-approved members)
Faction ID - Freelancer ID (Followers), Pirate ID (Prophets), Nomad Trial ID (Ascendants)

Faction Bases - The Shrine, Unknown

Allowed Ships - Eagle Civilian Very Heavy Fighter, Roc Civilian Bomber, Nomad Morph Light Fighter (with approval only)

Allowed Weapons - Civilian Weapons Only
-Nomad Cannons/Blasters used only once the rank of prophet is reached, and with admin approval only
-Nomad Lasers used only once the rank of ascendant is reached, and with keeper approval only

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The Oracles are an organization devoted to learning the secrets of the Daam K'vosh empire, as well as their Nomad creations - and spreading this knowledge to others within Sirius with the goal of altering mankind into a more peaceful species. Throughout mankind's history, it has been a violent race, always stealing from and murdering it's own members for the prosperity of a few powermongering individuals. Greed and Aggression is the trademark of humans, while the Nomads - a race entirely connected through one telepathic bond - all work together, for the benefit of the species as a whole, never acting in aggression towards it's own members. The Oracles have learned this, through the living machine known as The Shrine, and through their connection with the Nomads themselves.

After discovering the shrine, and being given a small, insignificant glimpse at it's purpose and the truth of the universe, The Oracles swore to do everything within their power to both assist the nomads, as well as to bring the rest of the human race to a similar level of peace and prosperity by convincing the inhabitants of Sirius that their wars and greed are nothing more than a cancer upon themselves.

Ultimately, the long term goal of every Oracle is to become one with his or her Nomad masters through one of two means; either bonding directly with a Nomad, or through truly becoming a nomad themselves with the ritual of hybridization. Due to the danger of the transformation process, few Oracles take the latter route, most preferring to share their body with a Nomad in exchange for the resulting connection to the Mindshare. Short term goals of the cult include converting as many Sirius citizens as possible into followers, as well as obtaining the needed commodities, equipment, and ships to further their cult.

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//OOC//

Faction Behavior:

The Oracles consist of three different castes, each a progressive tier above the next, with each of these ranks showing an ever-increasing level of knowledge and connection with the Shrine.

Seekers:
Seekers are those who have not yet been permitted to join the Oracles, but wish to. Seekers are those pilots, tradesmen, and even militants throughout Sirius who have heard the call of the Shrine - or who have had their minds opened to it by an Oracle Speaker - and have begun their journey to discover the Shrine's location and learn it's secrets. Seekers come from all walks of life, but in the end have the same purpose: joining the Oracles, and gaining a life of coexistence with the universe.

Followers:
Followers are those Seekers who have proven themselves and have joined the Oracles. To become a follower, a seeker must complete many trials, including finding the Shrine without assistance, obtaining an appropriate vessel, meditating within the Shrine until enlightenment is achieved, and having his or her devotion to the ways of the organization by a leader of the Oracles.

Followers have several tasks set before them once they have passed these trials and achieved enlightenment. These tasks range from preaching to the masses of Sirius, obtaining supplies for the Shrine, and gathering the required knowledge and commodities to further themselves among the Oracle castes. Unlike the higher castes of the organization, followers have much more freedom of movement due to being entirely human and piloting generic craft. Because of these traits, followers may land aboard a variety of planets and starports around Sirius in order to preach their cause, or obtain supplies to return back to the Shrine.

-Allowed Ships: Eagle VHF, Roc Bomber
-Allowed Weapons: Civilian weaponry only
-Allowed ID: Freelancer ID
-Can Dock At: The Shrine, Junker Bases, Zoner Bases, Freelancer Bases, House Planets

Prophets:
Prophets are those followers who have been 'gifted' with a nomad bond. In terms of the house governments, they are 'infected' - but all Prophets willingly accept a nomad in order to gain a connection to the Mindshare, and the subsequent telepathic capabilities that come with the joining. Prophets, due to their nature, are much more restricted in movement among the humans of Sirius, and will generally prefer to keep their distance from human structures and other pilots. Tasks of a prophet primarily include preaching, and gaining new followers to the Oracle cause, but may also include assisting Nomads when necessary.

-Allowed Ships: Eagle VHF, Roc Bomber
-Allowed Weapons: Civilian Weaponry, Nomad Blasters/Cannons (with admin approval)
-Allowed ID: Pirate ID
-Can Dock At: The Shrine, Junker Bases (limited)

Ascendants:
Ascendants are the final tier of the Oracle castes, and are considered the most enlightened and powerful of all Oracle members. Ascendants are those Oracles who have undergone the dangerous and taxing ritual of hybridization, in which their physical bodies dissolve and they join with the shell of a Nomad vessel. The Ascendants are, for all intents and purposes, entirely nomad; not only have they 'lost' their physical bodies, but their minds undergo a psychological change in order to accomodate telepathic speech and interface with the Mindshare.

Ascendants are readily identifiable by humans, and thus are not able to blend in with human society as followers, and to a lesser extent prophets, are able to. Ascendants become one with their ships and the stars, as living organisms within space and as part of the Mindshare. Ascendants are able to leave their nomad vessels for short periods of time by forming an artificial body and disguising themselves telepathically, but oxygen and atmosphere become poisonous to the Oracle after the transformation is complete.

-Allowed Ships: Nomad Morph LF
-Allowed Weapons: Nomad Weaponry (with keeper approval)
-Allowed ID: Nomad Trial ID
-Can Dock At: The Shrine, Nomad Bases (with admin approval)

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Diplomacy:

Allies
The Keepers
Das Wilde
Nomads

Nuetral
Freelancers (only for followers)
Zoners (only for followers)
Junkers (only for Followers and Prophets)

Hostile
The Order

Unfriendly
Everyone Else

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Joining

Due to the need to keep themselves hidden from potential enemies, The Oracles are extremely secretive and will only provide riddles or slight hints at potential followers. Those who wish to join the ranks of The Oracles must prove themselves worthy by finding their way to The Shrine and learning it's lessons.

As discussed above, The Oracles are a gateway group through which players may be selected by the Keepers. In essence, keeper trials can be done through RP with this faction and the keepers - at their discretion - may find players within The Oracles who they feel are good candidates to join.

Any members wishing to join The Oracles not only need to find their way to the Shrine by themselves (cheating is only going to lessen the experience, trust me), but they also need to provide an RP background on their character that must be approved before donning the Oracle| tag, in addition to being "interviewed" by a current Oracle leader.

All members who are approved to join will start at 'follower' rank - you are given only the most basic supplies and are expected to go out into sirius of your own volition to preach The Shrine's teachings to the rest of humanity. Members are not to attack -anyone- unless in self defense.

Promotions to the rank of Prophet and Ascendant will be approved on a case by case basis with no specific guidelines to the promotion process. Becoming an Ascended Oracle does require several items being acquired by the player which are needed to perform the ritual/hybridization process, however.

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More Information on the Shrine, as well as a list of Oracle members and examples of Oracle RP, can be found here

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