Kyriaki
Dark Phoenix
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on the Unchained and Tephrike. Sub a faith that may play an important role in Kyriaki's story in the future.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Into Darkness, After Darkness, Elpsis, Shazora Jai Vahal, Dominion of Light, Disciples of the Vader, Republican Guard, Communion, Phoebe, Firemane Industries, House Kerrigan, Rhea, Mara Technician, The Unchained, Mace Windu Thought, Arkas, Liberty, Fellowship of Generational Health and Resilience, Tygara, Vashyada, Xioquo, Qadiri, Windian Jedi Order, Kaminoan, Umbaran, Caamasi, Tylania, The Dark Heart, Tephrike.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Religion Name: Church of the Unified Spirit. The believers are called Covenanters.
Religion Type: Force based, Spiritualist.
Influence: Minor
Influence Area: Arkas.
Symbol: Many hands reaching towards a central point with a star.
Description: The Church of the Unified Spirit is a grassroots, new religious movement that has come into being among the Unchained, a group of fugitives who fled the totalitarian rule of the Dominion of Light on Tephrike. Their lives on their homeworld was shaped by the dogmatic rule of a Jedi theocracy and its wars with the Republican Guard, a radical anti-Force-user revolutionary movement, and the Disciples of the Vader, genocidal human supremacists who worship Vader.
Many of them are clones, as the Dominion prefers it if the miracle of life takes place in a medically sanctioned way. They have suffered greatly under its iron grip, but though they have turned away from the doctrine of Mace Windu Thought, that has left a spiritual vacuum. The Church seeks to fill it by providing a faith that promotes the liberal clone culture the Unchained espouse. It is built upon the firm belief that clones are sentient beings with their own rights and aspirations, rather than mere duplicates of their templates or commodities.
In addition, the tenets of the Church have been influenced by contact with Tygaran elves, especially Qadiri. The first Tygarans the future Unchained encountered were Qadiri knights who stormed the concentration camps they were being held in. These warriors believed in a deity they called the Goddess Kashara and venerated her daughter Saobana. On a superficial level, this is not too far from the doctrine of the Followers of the Divine Ashla, the state church of the Dominion, who revere Ashla Soteria and Ashla Niketas. Of course, that is a very shallow view of things, but some Qadiri beliefs have found their way into the Church's doctrine, albeit with a twist. The same applies to Vashyada tenets.
As a new religious movement that emerged organically at the grassroots level, its hierarchy is rather flat and the faith is not widespread. The Unchained are not a large group, and not every member is a follower of the faith. It obviously attracts clones more than 'naturals', but not every clone in the group is a believer. Nonetheless, it has potential for growth. The social teachings of the Church are a curious mixture of libertarianism and collectivism, which is fitting considering their origins. It also has a militant side that stresses resilience, courage and resistance to tyranny - by force, if needed. The structure of the clergy is very shallow. At present clerics, called Presbyters, are just normal believers who are elected from among their number to lead the spiritual services for their group and provide instruction. Presbyters from different parishes come together to discuss matters of doctrine, organise charitable and social works etc.
Most of the religious practices of the Covenanters are communal in nature, such as fasts and collective trances. Usually, a worship service incorporates chanting and music, the burning of incense and sermons and storytelling. When believers come together for ceremonies, coordinated hymns are sung by each clone 'type' but they sing slightly different versions to emphasise they are similar but different. For example, this can be witnessed during remembrance ceremonies where the Unchained commemorate those who suffered and died in the camps on Tephrike. Typically, there is a communal meeting at a memorial where they read out names of the dead. People recite the dead of martyrs and sing. The Church celebrates martyrdom, and one of the commonly used slogan during Unchained fighter funerals and demonstrations is 'martyrs never die'. Pictures of martyrs can be seen in the streets of Liberty.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Founder: Makrosi, a male Caamasi acolyte from the Followers of the Divine Ashla. As a minor cleric, he helped spare clones judged defective by putting them to work in jobs to spare them being purged. Makrosi experienced a spiritual revelation during the Netherworld Event while trapped in the Forest of Serenity, a powerful but twisted light side nexus. Markrosi still bears the scars from being scorched by its blinding light. He also suffered mental scars when the nexus sought to cleanse his mind of emotion and form a mind link. But he was aided by the spirit of an ancient Jedi who had inadvertently helped bring the nexus into being during a battle with the Vaderites, and been forced to watch as Tephrike's Jedi turned into something unrecognisable. Markrosi became the Force ghost's pupil. He claimed to have connected with the spirits of clones who had been buried here or found wanting by the nexus.
Visions of the Nether and his experiences in the forest convinced him that Tephrike's world soul was fundamentally diseased. The lies and deceit of Bogan had to be rejected, but even Ashla could not provide all the answers, for the light had been tainted. Clones being brought into this world were like trapped souls, but could strive to heal the world through good works. However, his new insights were not welcomed, and he was branded a heretic by the Inquisition and detained in a 'thought transformation' camp for having strayed from the true path of Ashla. Makrosi is a good public speaker and an inspiring preacher.
Membership: On the one hand they are all about the unified spirit of all people...and on the other they are mainly a clone expression of solidarity. Obviously all clones can join, and there is a ceremony attendant to that. The same applies to naturals who are templates of clones. Everyone received into the Church must explicitly give their consent. New converts have an initiation ceremony of sorts. Before the ceremony, the convert undergoes a ritual wash to purify their body and soul. When the ceremony commences, there is much chanting and singing of hymns, and the new initiate commits to the Five Precepts of the faith, the principles of teaching, and solidarity. During the ritual the initiate is touched with a burning incense stick, which serves as a reminder to uphold the precepts.
Sacred: Harming or oppressing a clone is a terrible sin. Especially if you are one already. At present the Covenanters do not have much in terms of sacred locations. More a 'everyone is their own temple' belief. They do have a sacred text called the 'Codex of the Unified Spirit' though. Veneration of and respect for the departed ancestors is vital to the faith. When a person dies clones from the same lineage must observe a thirteen-day mourning period. Aside from the standard memorials and remembrances, the Covenanters hold what are essentially seances to commune with a departed ancestor to seek guidance going forward. In terms of burial traditions, the Church practices cremation. The body is merely a shell for the spirit so cremation is not viewed as irreverent or disrespectful. The ashes from cremation are often mixed with soil, which is then used to plant a tree.
The faith makes use of a form of prayer beads to count the repetition of prayers and mantras. They also see use for spiritual exercises and as meditation aids. These beads are carved out of bone or wood, stone, sometimes with precious metals, with simple runes that serve as symbols for base needs or desires. An example would be a bead made of bone, carved with the symbol of protection from harm. While praying or meditating, a worshipper might grasp a particular bead on a rosary and pray to the spirits for protection for themselves or a loved one. Moreover, prayer beads may be used as a part of a Covenanter's attire and worn around headgear or wrists. Some prayer beads receive simplistic Force imbuement to, for example, calm the user and radiate positive emotion.
Dogma: So often, clones are denied personhood or agency and regarded as mere 'products', 'flesh droids' and something similarly degrading. The Church of the Unified Spirit aims to change this, and fill the spiritual vacuum clones might feel. This comes as no surprise, as it was formed by clones who fled a totalitarian Jedi theocracy that upheld cloning as a purer form of reproduction, but also demanded total obedience and persecuted those who defied its soul-crushing orthodoxy. Clones should also have their own names instead of being assigned numbers.
Central to their beliefs is the spiritual connection between a clone and their template. Per the doctrine of the Church, both spirits are interconnected, both share a body and unity of purpose, but possess free will. All clones from the same line share a mystical bond with each other, but have free will to make their own judgements. All who share the body share both a unique and joined spirit. The conjoined souls of each clone lineage form a covenant. Hence the adherents of the faith call themselves Covenanters. When there is covenant based on liberty, there is Armonia. The spirit is of great importance to the Covenanters and is described as immaterial and luminous.
On the secular side, the guiding principles of the faith are honesty, frugality, compassion, understanding and solidarity. Covenanters who are more well-off are expected to donate part of their income or labour to help those less fortunate than them. Extravagant clothing and single-minded pursuit of material wealth are to be shunned. It goes without saying that a template who neglects or exploits their clone is viewed incredibly poorly. A template who murders their clone or steals their body via essence transfer to prolong their own existence is the most heinous form of criminal. The act does not only make them a murderer, but forever stains their soul. The Church preaches a quite accepting and tolerant creed which works towards promoting cooperation.
With outsiders too...so long as they do not attempt to suppress or domineer them again. However, the Church's gospel also has a militant side, especially in regards to those who seek to place others in chains. This applies in particular to those who enslave clones, though the Church does not limit itself to that. Basically, its faith is built upon the precepts of a theological approach that stresses the liberation of the oppressed. From this perspective, the faithful should be actively engaged in improving the lives of the poor and downtrodden. A faith that only aligns with the upper classes and makes no meaningful effort to address the grievances of the poor is viewed as worthless. Almsgiving is a central pillar of the faith. Believers should provide aid to the poor and disenfranchised, and take up arms if need be. One might call it a theology of liberation. This is all in keeping with the values of the Unchained, who stress social equality, anti-statism and personal freedom. The Church endorses armed resistance against oppression, and has little truck with sanctimonious, selfish pacifism.
In keeping with the values of the Unchained, the Church promotes public rather than private ownership of natural resources and the means of production. It views individuals as living in cooperation with one another, rather than as isolated beings. Everything a person produces is, after a fashion, a social product. Ergo every sentient being that makes a contribution to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Someone who loves aurodium will not be justified, and someone who single-mindedly pursues material wealth will be corrupted and led astray by it. In line with these tenets, they encourage communal enterprise. However, they distinguish between personal and private property. To be precise, the line is drawn at property one uses to generate profit out of other people's labour because that's where self-employment stops and salaried work begins. Their teachings emphasise the necessity of eliminating extremes of wealth and poverty, for both prevent the establishment of a society built on compassion and solidarity. They suggest various ways for addressing these issues, such as wealth tax, communal systems of property ownership and creating a sense of mutual concern. The Church rejects patriarchal social values, which is ironically something it has in common with the Dominion's state religion.
The Unchained are still in the process of developing their beliefs, but overall a grey Force philosophy predominates. They wrongly - yet understandably - associate the light with the oppressive Dominion. The Dark Side, meanwhile, is largely identified with the evil perpetrated by the Sith. Both are regarded as aberrations of the Unifying Force. Many of the Unchained have also experienced the cruel sadism and oppressive rule of the Vaderites, which has affected their perception of things. As a result, the Church cautions Force adepts against succumbing to one of the two extremes. One could broadly compare it to how the ancient Je'daii perceived the Force. However, this a reaction to the crimes committed by the Dominion and the Sith on Tephrike instead of conscious emulation. Techniques such as necromancy and Sith alchemy are prohibited.
The Church argues that the spirits of the Force are present amongst all and that a virtuous and noble life is a life which is in tune with the ways of the Force. One does not need to be Force-Sensitive in order to follow its tenets, just live a life of virtue and justice in accordance to the ways of the Lady of Light. A life of virtue and moderation, considerate and kind but willing to ensure justice is done and the weak are protected, would be a way for one to attain a virtuous way of life. The Church believes in a form of afterlife, for the spirit endures beyond the demise of its physical corpus, entering the Netherworld of the Force. When people die their spirits merge and join the Unifying Force. By merging, the Covenanters mean linking and unifying into one single entity. All who belong to the same clone lineage will unify, sharing their thoughts and experiences. Collectively, the divine shades of the dead members of your lineage wield influence, and the pious will be observant of them. Moreover, they have adapted Vashyada precepts about oneness with nature and the spirits of their ancestors watching over them. Veneration of dead ancestors is one of their precepts. This serves a dual purpose: the living can seek their guidance, but also express filial piety. Spirits also play an important role during illness or death, for it is believed that they greet the soul of the deceased and guide them into the Netherworld.
The concept of enlightend Force ghosts providing guidance to mortals is not unknown to the Covenanters. You can take the Tephriki out of the Dominion, but the Ashlanite cult of sainthood has left its mark on them. The Church has been influenced a bit by Qadiri beliefs, though with a twist. The Qadiri do have some ancestor veneration but they are the most deity centric of the Tygarans, which doesn't quite fit. To the Covenanters, Kashara and Gaia, as the Qadiri and Vashyada call their supreme goddesses respectively, are two aspects of the same entity. It represents the culmination of all the spirits of Tygara. In other words, the Goddess is not one being but the merging of all the spirits of all the souls who have died, making her a kind of gestalt intelligence, where each individual consciousness exists in a web of infinitely connected consciousnesses guided by a unified will and purpose. Kashara represents the power of righteousness, and the will of the Force, Gaia the power of nature and the unity of life. The Covenanters believe that every planet births such as a world soul, which they call the World Heart. They call Tephrike's the Wounded Heart, for it has been tainted, but can be healed through good works and thoughts.
The Covenanters have a religious tradition of fasting during a sacred month per year. During that time period, they are not supposed to eat or drink between dawn and sunset. This is called fasting. It is of spiritual significance, because it enables them to devote their faith, become closer to the spirits and honour the memory of those who starved in the camps they escaped from. In that regard, it is a time for spiritual reflection, prayer, doing good deeds and spending time with family and loved ones. People fast during the day in in order feel empathy for the poor and oppressed by feeling hungry like them, and they give aid to the poor to help them out.
The tradition celebrates selflessness and mutual aid. Typically, believers are exhorted to make a special effort to connect with their communities and reach out to people who need help. It is common to have a meal just before dawn and another directly after sunset. At the end of the fast - when the sun has gone down - usually, families and friends will get together for a meal after sunset to break their fast. It takes place during the ninth month of the year. Children, pregnant women, the elderly, sick and people who are travelling don't have to fast. Believers will celebrate the end of fasting in a communal setting and express their gratitude to the spirits for the help and strength that they were given throughout the previous month.
The Covenanters view Qui-Gon Jinn positively. Here it is pertinent to note that the Church has a somewhat distorted image of Qui-Gon...because it is based on what the Dominion wrote about him. To the Windian Jedi, he corresponded to the 'Grey Jedi' stereotype. In short, he was a disobedient rebel who arrogantly believed he was wiser than the entire council and used both light and dark. This is, of course, untrue. The Church has simply decided that him being a defiant rebel and a neutral Force-User was a good thing. Moreover, they have a positive view of Ahsoka, who fought the Sith and continued fighting the good fight after being, as they see it, betrayed by the corrupt Jedi Council. There is a great deal of projection involved in both cases. Doubtless both Jedi would find a lot to critique.
The precepts of the faith endorse a theology of just war and the right of armed resistance against tyranny. Force may be utilised to correct a grave, public evil, such as aggression, foreign invasion or violations of the basic sentient rights of the population. They reject the idea that one can only take up arms to defend against an invasion and not go on the offensive to destroy a great evil. The cause of peace and harmony will not be furthered by denying the possibility and the obligation to defend it. As a result, while war is regarded as an ill, it does not prohibit believers from taking up arms if the security of their people and other oppressed and the restoration of justice is at stake. Believers are expected to have the utmost respect for soldiers who gave their lives to protect life and freedom.
Interestingly, the Church does not follow the common interpretation that the justice of a conflict is defined by 'who fired the first shot?' because it ignores the distinction between oppressed and oppressor. If one side is being oppressed by the other, the war against the oppressor will always be a defensive one. By the same token, any war that lacks the duality of oppressed versus oppressor is automatically a reactionary war because the oppressed, regardless of their individual motivations, are essentially being forced to take up arms to fight for the interests of their oppressors.
Reputation: Very obscure, and poorly known outside of the orbit of the Unchained, Firemane and the Tygaran elves. As the Unchained try to return to Tephrike to free more of their people, they have made efforts to disseminate their message among fellow Tephriki. The Dominion, the Republican Guard and the Vaderites have all banned the faith for different reasons. Tygaran elves are new to clones and thus a bit suspicious of them. Opinions vary on whether clones share a 'generous soul' or are soulless parodies of creation whose soul is diminished. The appropriation of some Tygaran practices has also raised eyebrows, but met with approval in some circles because they view it as the Unchained trying to learn from them instead of dismissing their faith like all the atheistic, materialistic sky people.
The Church has found common ground with some Tygaran groups, especially those that have come into being under similar circumstances. There is positive contact with certain Tygaran fringe denominations. This applies in particular to Qadiri and Vashyada groups who have founded colonies on Arkas. Firemane, on the whole, is a bit bemused by the Church, viewing it as an obscure faith. It doesn't particularly care about their theology on way or another, but sees its social message as a reason to keep an eye on it. For their part, the Covenanters aren't keen on Firemane, and would rather live without being under its influence. Among the Unchained, the Church is generally seen as positive. However, not all Unchained are Covenanters. For one, it is more of a religion for clones than 'naturals'.
MEMBERS
Makrosi (NPC) - the founder of the faith. He is a male Caamasi clone who used to be an acolyte of the Followers of the Divine Ashla. As an acolyte to a more senior cleric, he used what limited influence he had to help spare clones judged defective by putting them to work in jobs to protect them being purged. Makrosi experienced a spiritual revelation during the Netherworld Event while trapped in the Forest of Serenity, a powerful but twisted light side nexus. Markrosi still bears the scars from being scorched by its blinding light for not meeting its standards of purity. He also suffered mental scars when the nexus sought to cleanse his mind of emotion and assimilate him into its telepathic meld. But he was aided by the spirit of an ancient Jedi who had inadvertently helped bring the nexus into being during a battle with the Vaderites, and been forced to watch as Tephrike's Jedi turned into something unrecognisable. Markrosi became the Force ghost's pupil.
He claims to have connected with the spirits of clones who had been buried here or found wanting by the nexus. Visions of the Nether and his experiences in the forest convinced him that Tephrike's world soul was fundamentally diseased. The lies and deceit of Bogan had to be rejected, but even Ashla could not provide all the answers, for the light had been tainted. Clones being brought into this world were like trapped souls, but could strive to heal the world through good works. However, his new insights were not welcomed, and he was branded a heretic by the Inquisition and detained in a 'thought transformation' camp for having strayed from the true path of Ashla. Makrosi is a good public speaker and an inspiring preacher. Makrosi's position is that of first among equals among the presbyters.
Mara Jai Lara - A human clone, cryptologist and slicer from Tephrike. Her template was a famous codebreaker called Lara who had been highly decorated by the Dominion before being arrested under bogus charges of 'heresy'. Mara was trained as a comms technician. When the Netherworld War brought the nation to the brink, she helped it achieve victory over its foes by deciphering Republican Guard codes. Thus the Grand Army was forewarned and able to mount a successful defence of Fortress Purity. Elpsis encountered and befriended her during the early stages of the expedition when Firemane stormed the Dominion's lunar base. Though raised to believe in and support the Dominion, Mara turned on it after they betrayed a Firemane diplomatic delegation. She was an important asset for locating and saving Elpsis.
Polite, timid and bit uptight, she is very kind and loyal to those she takes into her confidence. Mara is no fighter, but good tech support. Privately, she feels a lot of guilt about 'remaining blind to the truth' and still wants to free her fellow clones on Tephrike. She took the idealistic values of the Followers of the Divine Ashla seriously. Seeking a new spiritual path and sense of community, she became an early member of the Church of the Unified Spirit. She takes its precepts about a liberal clone culture and is eager to continue her clone line. Mara does work for the Fellowship of Generational Health and Resilience, a group responsible for growing and raising clones, as well as vetting potential templates. She holds her template in good memory, which is reflected in her new surname.
Mel Jai Anhala - A Mirialan clone who grew up in the Dominion of Light. Her template Melania Reporter was a successful propandist for the Ministry of Enlightenment, and so Mel was destined to work there, too. By Dominion standards, her upbring was privileged. When she fell sick as a child, her template pulled strings to make sure she could see a Jedi healer. At first she was a loyal worker, writing stories and pamphlets that exalted the Dominion. However, she developed doubts when she was called in to write a smear piece on a general who had been framed for treason. She confided her debts to a colleague called Myra Technician. The two started an illicit relationship.
However, their smear piece was not considered damning enough and suspicion fell on them. Myra was sent to a camp, while Mel was banished from the capital to work in a collective farm and then join a military propaganda company. She experienced a Force awakening during the Netherworld crisis and was accused of having concealed powers she did not know about. Assigned to a penal unit, she experienced the horror of war, the callousness of her Jedi masters and the cruelty of the Vaderites, and deserted. She made a living as a smuggler before being arrested and sent to the Serene Springs brainwashing gulag.
There she eventually joined a group of rebellious prisoners. They formed the nucleus of the Unchained. Today, Mel is a close confidante of Phoebe, one of the Unchained's two Advocate. She uses her understanding of logistics and smuggling networks to provide resources for the Unchained. She serves as an advisor for the Fellowship. While cynical and rough around the edges, Mel is a believer. Mel feels strong disdain for her template, who has become a senior functionary in the Dominion's government. For this reason, she has taken the name Jai Anhala, a Qadiri name that means 'from/of liberty/freedom', and is common among freed slaves who don't take the names of their emancipators.
Thal Garna (NPC) - Thal is an Umbaran clone who endured Dominion and Vaderite tyranny. Growing up under Dominion rule, she was being trained for a medical role, hence she was called Thal Medicus. But then the town she lived was occupied by the Vaderites. Her siblings were killed in bombings and pogroms, but Thal managed to survive and use a combination of false, back-dated papers, makeup and contacts to assume the identity of a human of 'questionable purity'. She could not pretend to be a 'pure human', but was able to pass sufficiently to be judged to be 'half-cast'.
True to their absurd human supremacist ideology, the Vaderites imposed strict segregation between humans and non-humans. 'Pure xenos' such as Twi'leks fared the worst. But due to her disguise Thal was able to travel between the 'xenos residential quarters' and the wider 'human' city, which comprised the better part of town. As the Vaderites round-up and cruelty to Twi'leks and other 'impure' elements began, Thal helped in a makeshift hospital. She faced a moral dilemma as a medical helper, as the Vaderites rounded up 'useless eaters' for transport to a mass killing centre. Before using her own 'ticket to freedom', she administered lethal doses of morphine to children too sick to travel. She knew they would not survive the journey in a crowded chattel wagon and wanted to spare them from suffering. But she was wracked with guilt over her actions.
At the same time, she served as a courier for the Twi'lek resistance, carrying money, false documents, ammunition and guns to people in hiding and provided rudimentary medical help to a rebel cell hiding in the forests outside the city. She was able to keep her head down and survive when the Dominion retook the city after bloody fighting. However, when the old masters sought to reimpose their rule and punish real and imagined traitors, she was denounced as a collaborator, even though people tried to testify in her favour despite the risks. Spontaneity and individuality were dangerous, so Thal was deported to a 're-education camp' to 'transform her thoughts', where she ended up working in the medical ward.
Conditions in the camp were appalling, and abuse and terror were rampant. However, she tried to help other prisoners who were in dire need of medical aid. She ended up getting involved with the Unchained. What she endured has left her with deep trauma. In terms of personality, she is guarded, aloof and withdrawn, but incredibly brave. As is common for Dominion clones, Thal used to have an occupational surname. Back then she was called Thal Medicus. Garna was the name of a friend who was murdered by the Vaderites, and she has taken her name to honour her. She is one of the presbysters of the Church.
Jedi Vokatan (NPC) - a Zabrak male, and former Windian Jedi of the Jedi Sentinel archetype. He has been described as a fanatic for justice. As a Jedi, he belonged to the Congregation for the Propagation of Right and Just Dictates, the body responsible for law, justice and order. A paladin type committed to fighting injustice, Vokatan made the mistake of taking his order's propaganda too seriously. Driven and relentless, he took a strong stance against Windian Jedi who abused their power, and reported crimes, cases of abuse and misdoings from his comrades who thought being 'luminous beings' placed them above the law.
This applied in particular to clones from prestigious lineages, who traded favours and protected their members. Vokatan repeatedly ignored warnings to stop prodding and rocking the boat. One of those he antagonised was an influential Jedi master. Stonewalled, he went to his template Votatan for help, but was betrayed, framed as a heretic and incarcerated. From this the Padawan took the lesson that clones are not the same as each other - they have free will, and a duty to help others. And those in power must be kept in check and held accountable.
He was part of a prison revolt and used Firemane's campaign on the planet to escape. Since leaving Tephrike, he has become a jizz fan and is the proud owner of a collection of records. Vokatan doesn't trust Firemane much, for he sees symptoms of the same issues that alienated him from the Dominion. Having to realise that the Windian Jedi violate their principles was hard for him, and served as a catalyst for his spiritual turn. Today he wears Kashara's sigil proudly. Like many Unchained clones, Vokatan has chosen a new surname. He strongly dislikes his template and wants to empathise he's his own man, so he took the name Jal Anhala since he now follows Kashara.
CC-0066 "Renegade" (NPC) - Renegade is a man out of time, a relic from a bygone era. From a certain point of view, it could be argued that he's an ancestor of the Dominion clones. The Dominion claims inspiration from Mace Windu and the Clone Army...while totally misunderstanding the old Jedi's values and way of life. Renegade is one of the clone troopers who once served the Old Republic, fighting during the Clone Wars. Having been programmed for a command role, he manifested a degree of individuality. But then he 'rebelled', from a certain point of view, but not in the usual sense. While some Jedi generals such as Obi-Wan Kenobi were competent leaders who worked to build a rapport with their men, not all were.
Renegade's unit had the misfortune of being commanded by a Jedi Padawan with chosen one syndrome, no training in military leadership and no desire to learn from 'mundanes' and 'fleshdroids'. The Jedi wasn't evil, but inept and kept ordering suicidal death charges that pointlessly decimated the unit. After one too many, Renegade went rogue and fragged his commander. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't committing treason, but staying true to his oath to the Republic by removing a threat. The Jedi captured him, and started to examine him to find out what had happened. But while they were carrying out an enquiry, Palpatine's minions grew concerned that they might inadvertently find out about the clone's contingency orders. So instead they arranged for him him to be frozen in carbonite on the grounds of mental instability. By which time so much had happened he was forgotten.
And so Renegade slept through the great upheavals, triumphs and tragedies of the following centuries. Until a couple Qadiri explorers stumbled upon him by chance while exploring an ancient industrial facility they happened to come across. They didn't know anything about ancient, galactic history, but were able to nurse him back to health after waking him up and guided him to Arkas. There, he decided to inspect the Unchained. Initially he was largely there to bond with some other clones and find out what happend in the past centuries, but he ended up sticking around and has been training their militias.
Renegade has turned to the faith as a way to figure out his place in a universe where virtually everything he knew has been turned tupsy-turvy. He is no theologian, but the idea that he will be reunited with his brethren in the Nether appeals to him. Meeting one of their 'ancestors' has been illuminating for the Covenanters too, as he can give insight into what it was really like. Moreover, he is a professional soldier...who is very motivated to fight Sith and hypocritical Jedi.
Renegade is a grim, stoic man, and a capable tactician, though inexperienced in strategic command. He was incredibly vexed when he learned that his fellow clone troopers had been phased out by Palpatine in favour of Stormtroopers, regarding them as 'substandard'. He is still more distant to birth-born, finding it more difficult to connect with them. As a soldier of the clone army, he viewed himself and his brothers as a breed apart from the population. They weren't 'humans', they weren't like the civilians and not droids. The idea that the clones have an exclusive brotherhood has stayed with him.
Talassam Jal Thalassam (NPC) - formerly Talassam Teacher. A clone from the small pocket of Kaminoans. Working at the Fellowship, he helps write the syllabus for the clone flash learning. He is employed by the Fellowship as a teacher and psychologist who monitors, educates and counsels the clones after they have been decanted. Thus he is heavily involved in the creches run by the Fellowship. The group is not responsible for a clone's entire education, but is supposed to get them acclimated to the world and give them the knowledge to function. He has a way with words and is good at getting people to open up and feel comfortable around him.
Kaminoans are very rarely seen outside of Kamino, but during the Galaxy's Golden Age, Tephrike attracted the attention of several genetics companies due to its bountiful flora and fauna. One such company was owned by Kaminoans. Tephrike's corporate, environmental and animal rights laws were rather lax. But the Dark Age stranded them on the planet and their money soon lost its worth. They had to use cloning relatively early to stop a gene pool recursion. The Dominion 'welcomed' them into the fold, employing them for their reputation as cloners. Talassam grew up in an environment where his path was set by his genes and caste as well as standardised aptitude tests, but given the circumstances his life was not bad. He was put to work as a pedagogue.
But as is typical for totalitarian regimes, suddenly the orthodoxy and correct path could be ruled as errant in a heartbeat. So this teacher helped devise a new program for history before the Netherworld calamity, but after that event and after all the problems with the Light Sith a correction was made to the history. Talassam was on the wrong side of history and despite having been told to create what he did was now treated as counter revolutionary. Taken off the committee and relegated to minor tasks, he was put to work teaching at the Liberation Education Centre. There he was rescued and joined the Unchained. As is not uncommon for the Unchained, he has chosen a Qadiri-style name. Talassam has a more academic perspective, but doesn't see a fundamental contradiction between scientific reason and spirituality.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Church of the Unified Spirit is a fairly youth faith that came into being as a fusion religion of folk beliefs, a twisting of the Ashla myth and some Qadiri or Vash ideas too. It is closely tied to the history of the Unchained, a dissident movement from Tephrike. Moreover, it is inexorably connected to the Dominion of Light, a totalitarian Jedi theocracy that rose to power when Tephrike was ravaged by the Dark Age.
Cloning has long been a staple in the galaxy. The prospect of being able to take the 'best and brightest' and the most 'valuable' and duplicate them by the thousands has been attractive to many regimes and corporations. Of course, it disregards the fact that organic beings will devleop in wildly divergent ways due to upbringing, environment and random chance. Chances are that the clone of a genocidal dictator will not end up a duplicate of his template. Indeed, clones may become the exact opposite of their template simply out of resentment of being seen as a duplicate instead of as a full-fledged sentient being.
Perhaps the most infamous use of cloning was the Clone Army the Jedi Generals led into battle during the Clone Wars, until Order Sixty-Six caused the clone troopers to turn on their commanders. On Tephrike, cloning experienced a revival when the galaxy fell into darkness. The Jedi assumed a protective stance, but when civilisation collapsed, they seized power to restore order. It was intended to be a temporary emergency dictatorship, but evolved into a totalitarian nightmare.
Faced with enemies on all sides, the new regime turned to cloning to replenish their numbers. The pandemic, starvation, natural disasters and strife had caused a staggering death toll. Cloning could provide the work force to rebuild the planet, and the soldiers to fight enemies of disorder. Some people were too valuable to lose. Clones of prestigious templates formed a political and social elite. The Dominion proclaimed that they were closer to Ashla, for they were imprinted with utter faith in Ashla Soteria and Ashla Niketas even before they were decanted. Indoctrination was a constant in the theocratic nation, which sought to impose a stultifying, conformist culture upon its subjects that disdained individual expression. Inevitably, this bred resentment and dissent...yet at the same time some of the alternatives on Tephrike were even worse.
Makrosi, a male Caamasi acolyte from the Followers of the Divine Ashla, would become the founder of the new faith. As a minor cleric, he helped spare clones judged defective by putting them to work in jobs to spare them being purged. Makrosi experienced a spiritual revelation during the Netherworld Event while trapped in the Forest of Serenity, a powerful but twisted light side nexus. Markrosi still bears the scars from being scorched by its blinding light. He also suffered mental scars when the nexus sought to cleanse his mind of emotion and form a mind link. But he was aided by the spirit of an ancient Jedi who had inadvertently helped bring the nexus into being during a battle with the Vaderites, and been forced to watch as Tephrike's Jedi turned into something unrecognisable. Markrosi became the Force ghost's pupil. He claimed to have connected with the spirits of clones who had been buried here or found wanting by the nexus.
Visions of the Nether and his experiences in the forest convinced him that Tephrike's world soul was fundamentally diseased. The lies and deceit of Bogan had to be rejected, but even Ashla could not provide all the answers, for the light had been tainted. Clones being brought into this world were like trapped souls, but could strive to heal the world through good works. However, his new insights were not welcomed, and he was branded a heretic by the Inquisition and detained in a 'thought transformation' camp for having strayed from the true path of Ashla.
When Firemane came across Tephrike, the Dominion at first negotiated with it. However, an extremist faction in the Dominion's government declared the space people to be Sith demons and ambushed the Firemane delegation. One of the captives was Elpsis, the daughter of Firemane's leader. In response, Firemane went to war. Elpsis was incarcerated and brainwashed by the Inquisition, but eventually broke free and overthrew her captors with the help of a Firemane relief force and a group of rebellious prisoners. These prisoners became the Unchained. Firemane evacuated them so that they would not fall victim to the Dominion's wrath. The Dominion still stood, and the other regimes on Tephrike were quite unpleasant as well.
They were committed to independence and self-reliance, and returning to Tephrike to free more of their people. For the time being, they set up an autonomous settlement within Firemane's sphere, but there was no love lost between either group. Their rescue had been a byproduct of Firemane's campaign, not its goal. The outsiders were disinterested in fighting a war for liberation on Tephrike. There were also ingrained anti-capitalist and anti-statist ideological reasons why the Unchained would view Firemane with distrust. Libertarian socialist ideals were gaining traction among the renegades, while Firemane was virtually a corporate state run by an autocrat.
As the Unchained settled on a remote island of the tropical planet of Arkas, they had to build their society virtually from scratch. They had rejected the Dominion and the other autocrats and warlords that had caused so much misery on Tephrike, but they still viewed certain Tephriki practices as part of their culture. One of them was cloning, but without the coercive controls of the past. The Church of the Unified Spirit arose in this time period as a grassroots movement. Makrosi was only one of the preachers active at the time, but one of the most influential. Many clones among the Unchained had been alienated by Ashlanite teachings, but found themselves at variance with the consumerist materialism that seemed to pervade galactic culture.
As the Unchained sought trading partners and allies, they came into contact with Qadiri and Vashyada groups. Not all of them were willing to entertain dialogue. The Tygaran elves were new to the concept of cloning, and so many viewed clones with suspicion, regarding them as having a mutilated soul. But some were curious or even fascinated. For their part, the Unchained had formed a positive impression of Qadiri knights who had helped free them from captivity. Makrosi was one of the Unchained who went on a spiritual journey on Tygara together with Thal Garna.
During the course of this, they communed with the Vashyada prophetess Tylania and went on a pilgrimage to the Dark Heart of Yarkul, a powerful nexus that was traditionally a place of pilgrimage for Vashyada druidesses. They also visited Qadiri cults and knightly orders. They returned brimming with knowledge they had to share. Out of this communion was born a syncretistic faith that blended Tephriki folk beliefs with the Ashla myth and traditional Tygaran precepts. Starting as a grassroots movement, the new faith proved popular among Unchained clones, as it preached a form of liberation theology. From this perspective, the faithful should be actively engaged in improving the lives of the poor and downtrodden. This also eased the concerns of Unchained who feared the church would aspire to political domination. This applied in particular to 'naturals', who remembered the discrimination they had endured under the Dominion.
Several Unchained were Force-Sensitive since one of the camps that had spawned them had been set up by the Dominion to detain and indoctrinate disobedient Force-Users. However, the Dominion was not stupid, and so the camp inmates had only a minor Force affinity or simply not acquired a lot of experience, as holding several masters in one place was a recipe for disaster. As a result, few trainers were on hand, and the Unchained were loath to approach Firemane's Order of Fire for training. The fledgling Church encouraged sending adepts to train with sympathetic Tygaran groups that were not dominated by Firemane.
In return, the Unchained could use their medical expertise to help the native elves with injuries and diseases. Prebyters and volunteers from the church participated in relief efforts after another settlement on Arkas suffered grievous damage from a storm. Furthermore, the faith encouraged military preparedness and resilience, for liberty did not fall from the heavens. It had to be defended. Soldiers schooled in the faith were particularly motivated and zealous when the Unchained encountered cloners who treated clones as commodities that could be sold on the free market like any other product.
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