Sisterhood of Dreams (player faction)

This is a player faction. For the affiliated NPC faction, see Golden Chrysanthemums

Sisterhood of Dreams
Origin	Kusari Empire
Alignment	Terrorists/Revolutionaries
Recruitment	Click to join
Profile
Date of founding	818 A.S.
Founder(s)	Hana Ken, Munen Musou
Current leader(s)	Munen Musou, Minori Rei, Ran Takahashi
Base of operations	Battleship Matsuda, Crow Nebula
Identification
Primary ID	Golden Chrysanthemums ID
IFF	GC
Tag(s)	~*~
Primary role
The instalment of a Kusarian Empress • Overthrow the Republican Usurpers • Prevent the reinstatement of the old Imperial Line • Legitimise the claim of the Empress Spread the teachings of Matsuda, so as to purge humanities' corruption Ensure equality for everyone in Kusari

Publicly available Neuralnet History of the Sisterhood of Dreams

The Golden Chrysanthemum Terrorist organisation was inspired by Matsuda in 642 AS through her great work, the ‘Golden Chrysanthemum in Bloom’. Her literature inspired women across Kusari to fight for their rights against an oppressive, patriarchal regime. Her suicide in 648AS galvanised these women, bringing them together to form the Golden Chrysanthemum organisation.

With Gallia’s invasion of Kusari, and the instalment of a Republic, suddenly the already momentous task of creating a Matriarchal society increase in difficult by an order of magnitude, and the wider Chrysanthemum movement suffered heavy demoralisation. Not only would other claims to the Imperial throne have to be dealt with, but now a Republic must also be overthrown. The promised rights to Kusarian Women have been delayed by their insistence on collaborating with Kusarian Corporations, and whilst they are in control an Empress may never reign.

In the face of these new obstacles, a small number of Chrysanthemums concluded that if Matsuda’s teachings were to be realised, new tactics were needed. Casting aside their honour through the ‘Ritual of the Forsworn’, they’ve committed themselves to using the brutal, questionable methods that their compatriots would hesitate to employ. Through these, a revolution in Bloom will occur through which a Matriarchy will be established in Kusari; lead by the Empress in training.

Publicly Available Neuralnet overview of the Golden Chrysanthemum movement

Most scholars date the start of the group as the publication of Golden Chrysanthemum in Bloom in 642 A.S. The author, Yuyu Matsuda, was a young but critically acclaimed poet. Charismatic and well-spoken, Matsuda had a considerable following among young Kusari women who found their lives lacking in direction but were reluctant to become married and fulfil their traditional role in Kusari society. Yuyu decried what she saw as the corruption of the Kusari male-dominated culture and preached a revolution led by the long-suffering women of Kusari. These ideas were eventually encapsulated in 'Golden Chrysanthemum in Bloom', in which Matsuda described a fictitious nation called Yomi. A place of fat, lazy male bureaucrats who handed out concessions at the whim of entrenched mega-corporations, Yomi was eventually engulfed in revolution and united under the rule of a benevolent Empress personally selected by the goddess Amaterasu to watch over her people.

Matsuda looked to the foreigners as a model, cherry picking social philosophies from the predominantly anglo-saxon houses of Liberty and Bretonia, where women could be president and run corporations. 'The Chrysanthemum' went on to become a best-seller. Unfortunately, in 648 A.S., Matsuda crossed the dangerous line between ideas and actions when she was implicated in the botched assassination attempt of the planetary governor of Kyushu. Rather than face the ignominy of imprisonment, Matsuda chose ritual suicide instead. An increase in attacks on government personnel and installations followed soon after.

Unfortunately, any attempts to locate the Golden Chrysanthemum base or learn more about their organization has been thwarted by their willingness to die rather than talk. A Golden C. pilot will trigger her ship's self-destruction rather than be captured, and suicide attacks are common. Attempts to infiltrate the Golden C. have proven equally fruitless, due to the rituals, security measures and Cardamine addiction required to become a fully fledged member. On several occasions the Kusari government has received the finger of an undercover agent wrapped in a page from one of Matsuda's books, if not their ovaries.

The Kusari State Police tries to keep a watchful eye on the faction, but has been unable to curb their activities with any real success. This is somewhat due to the assistance of the Blood Dragons, who have made use of Ainu Depot as a rest stop on the long journey to the inner systems of Kusari. The Blood Dragons also share the group's desire to overthrow the government and reform House Kusari, although this may eventually lead to an ideological conflict between the two groups, as the Blood Dragons may not concede to all the social reforms that the Golden Chrysanthemums will insist upon. Likewise, the Golden Chrysanthemums find the concept of a Blood Dragon Shogunate just as repulsive as the present administration of Kusari, often engaging in passive obstruction and even sabotage of their longtime ally.

Originally, the Golden Chrysanthemums were never as well armed as the Blood Dragons, nor as influential as the Hogosha, presenting more of an irritant to the government than an actual threat. In recent years however, especially in the wake of the war against Bretonia, greater amounts of funding from the increased popularity of Cardamine, and recruits from the dissatisfied younger elements of Kusari society, have flooded into the organisation. The Golden Chrysanthemums have grown to potentially rival the paramilitary power of the Blood Dragons, both in technology and in the quality of pilots, although due to their radical ideas they still lack the considerable political influence that the Blood Dragons secretly wield within elements of the Kusari government. Skeptical of the validity of democratic process under a republic where Women are denied basic suffrage, the Chrysanthemums labour at legitimising the claim of their self-styled "Child Empress", an autocrat-in-training the movement hopes to use as a vessel to force their social reforms into Kusari legislature.

Spirituality

While the degree of spirituality differs from member to member, each and every one of them is familiar with the following three pillars the Chrysanthemums' beliefs revolve around. Usually they at least view them in a positive light.

Yuyu Matsuda and her writings, especially "Golden Chrysanthemum in Bloom":

Matsuda is generally viewed as the founder of the Golden Chrysanthemum movement. Her commitment until her suicide almost 200 years ago is what inspired the Chrysanthemums even until today. Every member of the movement is familiar with her story and read her book at least once during their lifetime - usually at an early age, sometimes it was even the reason to join the movement to begin with. While some see her writing as a mere guideline or a piece of art to find inspiration or advice in, others interprete more into the text. GC theologians have been known to spend their whole life studying in it, trying to decipher the messages of wisdom and foresight they suspect to lie somewhere hidden between its lines. Conventional Chrysanthemum politicking usually sides with the literalists - scholars who view Yuyu’s creation as an allegorical manual on how to craft a utopian state, although contention remains regarding the fine details.

Amaterasu, also referred to as "the goddess”, as opposed to “goddesses”, which allude to other, less important Kami

Apart from her obvious prominence within classical mythology, Amaterasu was featured heavily in Matsuda's book ‘Golden Chrysanthemum in Bloom’, where she selected the benevolent empress to watch over her people suffering under the fictional, oppressive rule of Yomi after they freed themselves from it. Amaterasu is a divine being generally accepted to exist by every GC. Her ancient history - while lost - dates back to Sol and classic visualisations of her which managed to make it to Sirius and are commonly used and seen are a bright sun, warmly emitting light without a clear source or a radiant, beautiful woman. Modern Golden Chrysanthemum artists typically illustrate her as a tall, imposing yet beautiful Kusarian female in traditional attire, clothed in an aura of flame. Amaterasu is viewed as the solar-goddess; creator of the stars and ruler of the universe, offering an endless well of wisdom and foresight to those who commit to her cause of enlightening Kusari.

Cardamine, depending on its form also occasionally referred to as 'The Orange Dream’:

The majority of Sirius calls it a dangerous street drug. The Chrysanthemums started using it to prevent being infiltrated by their enemies. However, they noticed its mind-enhancing capabilities rather fast and started using it for more than its intended purpose. The feeling of empowerment, the visions it causes, the clarity and the physical benefits it grants, caused the spiritual component of the movement to believe it enables them to commune with a higher plane on a very basic level, a plane where Amaterasu and the rest of the pantheon take physical manifestations. This belief cycle forms the primary reason the GC embrace 'The Orange Dream' and try to deliver their perception of the universe to everyone else through it. They believe to truly achieve equality it is needed for everyone to be able to reach the same state of mind they have.

The Golden Chrysanthemums and "The Orange Dream"

It is commonly known that every full-fledged Golden Chrysanthemum is spiritually, psychologically and physically dependant on the Maltese narcotic Cardamine.

Dependence originates in the early days of the movement's founding, when the movement was wracked by internal schims as the group found its political teachings diluted innumerable interpretations of Matsuda’s poetry. Infiltration by KSP and Kempetai operatives was frequent. The addiction and dependancy ensures their members' loyalty and commitment ever since.

Cardamine is an orange powder won from the isochromatic grass found on the Outcast's home planet, Malta. Its most heavily documented symptoms are the feeling of euphoria it creates within the consumer. It is also highly addictive, one-time usage already results in a severe addiction to it, to which the human body cannot develop a tolerance, or a resistence – the primary reason why Cardamine is considered to be high contraband in all houses within the Gallic and Sirius sectors, although fears of being politically beholden to the manipulative Nazione Maltese is also a factor. Feelings of empowerment and superiority as well as hyperreal hallucinations are also widely known effects.

Furthermore - but less commonly known - researches resulted in showing that long-time users experience severe genetical changes. The users' lifespan becomes drastically enhanced - it is rumored that there are Golden Chrysanthemum elders who have reached an age of 170 years and beyond. It also causes the body to be more resilient to diseases and giving some sort of "mental clarity", sharpening the users' reflexes and increasing their overall intelligence, whilst also heightening their metabolic rate and speed of cellular growth. The users' physical features generally grow to become more "appealing" to other humans, and whilst this quality may be derived from the improved physical wellbeing inherent to Cardamine induced longevity, open-source studies conducted by The Cambridge Research Instititute infer that long-term cardimine use may stimulate pheromone production within humans, although this assessment has not yet been peer reviewed and thus cannot be considered scientifically valid.

As beneficial as this all may sound the permanent usage comes with a multitude of downsides as well. The genetical changes caused result in a physical dependancy up to the point where the body starts to shut down if the user isn't continuously under the drug's influence, the ultimate result being fatal multiple organ failure. If the Kusari government manages to catch Golden Chrysanthemums alive they are usually preserved for processing by either dosing them with the minimal amount of Cardamine or with the substitute drug called Stabiline, produced by Cryer Pharmaceuticals. In both cases the captives experience painful symptoms of permanent withdrawal and often choose suicide if they got the opportunity. Infertillity is rampent; members of the Kusarian movement suffer from the same effect the drug has on the Maltese people, resulting in a natural birthrate which is lower than the Sirian mean. However, this birth rate is still considerably higher than that found within the Nazione Maltese, partly due to the wide body of Chrysanthemums being first generation users, as opposed to having the addiction passed down to them via the genetics of the mother. Golden Chrysanthemums with the desire of motherhood usually resort to making use of (mostly) involuntary surrogate mothers, found in their female captives who havn't been forced into a Cardamine addiction yet. Every child gets introduced to the drug as soon as possible, usually during infancy. Whilst male sperm is much less likely to pass an addiction down to the genetic child, Chrysanthemums often seek male genetic donors as well as an extra precautionary safeguard – although the male donors are often volentary, stemming from either within Kusari, or from sympathisers from the other Alliance houses.

The drug is also the main source of the movement's income, which the GC near-exclusively ship from Malta directly, rather than placing their lives and their finances in the hands of third parties, such as the Junkers. However, unlike the Outcasts the Golden Chrysanthemums near-exclusively focus their operations on Kusari and Kusari’s border worlds, rather than feeding into the contraband arteries of the other major four houses. They often offer their support and guidance to those who happen to distribute Cardamine and occasionally escort them through Kusari without demanding payment or recapitulation for the service.

Their dependancy on Cardamine makes them equally dependant on the Outcast's goodwill. They are the geographically closest ally for the people of Malta and therefore the only group in Sirius the Chrysanthemums actively aspire to preserve positive relations with to ensure their own Cardamine supplies. The Outcasts (of course) are very aware of this fact, and whilst true geopolitical reins of the Chrysanthemum movement lies with the Nazione Maltese, the Outcasts usually lead the Golden Chrysanthemums to believe they are independant and equal, ensuring their continued cooperation.

Retrospectively, Kusarian historians believe that their is strong evidence to believe that even Yuyu Matsuda herself, the initial spark incarnate of the Golden Chrysanthemum movement, was addicted to Cardamine. Based on the – as is the recieved perception by male Kusarian academia - unpopular and "delusional" views her works represented and still stand for, her "flowery" style of writing and speaking up to her infamous assassination attempt on the Govenor of Kyushu, and her "unfemenine"meddling in the Kusarian political sphere until her suicide in 648AS.

Over the decades Cardamine became not only a way to ensure loyalty, but also a lifestyle for the Chrysanthemums, giving them a spiritual foothold and guidance. Nowadays the movement is known to heavily promote the usage of "The Orange Dream" and strives to legalize it in Kusari followed by "encouraging" its usage amongst the population to make them reach the same superior state of mind and physique the Chrysanthemums began to enter two centuries ago, to finally reach true "equality" between all Kusarians.