Zvetaku Creed
| Zvetaku Creed |
| Location | Cold
Frontier |
| Capital Planet |
Zvetaku |
| Government |
Religious Oligarchy |
| Tech Level | Ultra-modern |
| Established |
Antiquity |
| Composition | Human
Mixed Immigrants |
| Planets | Bezhysta
Gorostorod
Valentholo
Wyslacki
Zvetaku |
A religious sect striving for personal and cultural perfection through the use of
science. Their philosophy is that we are all given weak bodies and strong
minds, the "cosmic puzzle" being how to perfect the one with
the other. Through biogenetic
engineering and cyber- and nano-augmentation they are dedicated to turning themselves into
perfectly functioning beings. They use commercially available and
technologies as well as ones they have developed themselves. While their most aggressive
and experimental manipulations sometimes
succeed and sometimes fail, each generation tends to be more powerful, more
specialized, more skilled and subject to fewer failures and inherent weaknesses.
The Zvetaku believe in a non-personified god, worshipping the
forces of the universe as
Fundamental and Right. They have
developed metaphorical representations of universal forces and use stories
about these to deliver their wisdom, without actually worshipping the
physical manifestation. Their three primaries are Obov, who embodies man's
motivation and need to improve on nature, Belikorovo, who represents physics
and the natural flow of the universe, and Torod, who leads the Muluctae, a
horde of misshapen creatures that cause the disintegration and chaos in the
universe. None are Good or Evil in the capitalized sense, each just plays
their part in teaching man to improve himself.
Sanctification and
Settlement
They strive to turn hostile worlds
into idyllic societies. They have developed aggressive and
effective terra-forming techniques which they have implemented
in the "sanctification" of their four-world empire.
The Creed creates Pilgrims who are heavily modified to survive
the worlds they are terra-forming, in essence creating an
artificial race perfectly adapted to their new homeworld.
There is a sacrificial air about the Pilgrims, who are
sometimes so
modified that they can only live on the world they are
sanctifying, essentially giving up their ability to fit in
normal society and surrendering their very humanity for the
Creed. In a second sense, they are converting their new homeworld to be human habitable and will,
within generations, turn it
into a hostile environment for themselves and their
offspring.
They generally choose a
cold, barren, geologically stable world within the life-band
of a stable star. The atmospheres tend to have high nitrogen
content, as a stable and effective buffer gas, and frozen
polar water and nitrogen. The Zvetaku tend to choose worlds
with a large variety of easily accessible in-system resources,
like hydrogen and minerals.
The Zvetaku employ a number of
techniques in Sanctifying a world. On high-gravity worlds,
they tend to use augmentation to strengthen their body
structure. On low gravity worlds, they tend to actually
increase planetary mass, introducing large amounts of material
into the world by bombarding it with asteroids full of dense
minerals. The rock is then processed into useful minerals and
soil in Sanctification Plants and Soil Farms. The
disintegration of asteroids and comets in the atmosphere also
releases ammonia into the atmosphere which acts as a
greenhouse gas. Nanites biogenetically created organisms are
introduced into the wild and help stimulate or artificially
construct a suitable atmosphere.
They raise planetary temperatures
through the introduction of halocarbon greenhouse gasses. Huge
mirrors are placed in orbit, reflecting light and heat to warm
the atmosphere. In addition, the Zvetaku darken the surface of
the planet with biologically engineered lichens that trap and
gradually radiate heat.
Training
The Zvetaku Creed spreads through propaganda and
recruitment centers on most worlds. They have a variety of
training centers located on most worlds. New recruits will be
given a path in life as a Pilgrim or Colonist, Recruiter,
Defender, or other position. Most new recruits will spend time
being indoctrinated and trained on their homeworld, spend some
time working recruitment centers, and eventually walk the
path of the Colonist, destined to live on a nearly or
already converted world. They generally begin working on an Agricenter, which are local representations of a typical
Zvetaku world where they will learn farming and living
techniques in a variety of climates. Training for a harsher
life on less developed planets is often undertaken on moons
and in asteroid belts of populated systems.
The Zvetaku primarily recruit Humans, through Iliene and
Bjaki have also joined in smaller numbers.
Power Structure
The top of the power structure is the Zvetaku. The Zvetaku is the appointed representative
chosen by the collective forces at work in the universe. He is chosen by and from the
Hermitage, which is a holy council comprised of the seven most powerful
members of the Creed. Six Hermits and the Zvetaku set all the policy for
the Creed.
The Hermitage will define the power structure of each Creed
world based on its individual needs. Generally, they will
assign a High Minister to oversee each world directly. The
High Minister will appoint regional Deacons who set local
policy.
History
In early Antiquity, a young man by the name of
Mikhan
Zvetaku worked for the fledgling tech powerhouse
Ignatius Solutions. He worked with a fervour and zeal that was
at once inspiring and appalling to those around him. He spoke
to his co-workers and supervisors of changing the face of man
forever with the Ignatius Product line. His designs and ideas
knew no moral limitations. He was let go as his
preaching became more aggressive and his notions approached a religious obsession. He was soon a major fixture all over
the world of Ignatius, calling for the reformation of the
"biological", insisting that anything less than
using every available technology to perfect mankind was an
affront to God and the universe.
Gradually, he began to gather a
devout group of followers. His notions appealed to many, the
concept of fortifying the weak human shell with the products
of a strong, God-given mind. Zvetaku would eventually travel
around the Core Commonwealth and neighbouring worlds,
spreading his message to those who would listen. Eventually,
he had a large and loyal enough core following to realize his
dream of establishing a distinct and perfect society. He led a group of settlers to a
nameless, barren hell of a world, which they terra-formed over generations into
what is now Zvetaku, a well forested world with an active bio-system and good crop fields. As he died, his followers
officially proclaimed that they were renaming the world "Zvetaku".
Their title of leadership is Zvetaku and represents something between
"boss" "king" and "reverend".
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