Profile: Constantine
His parents were set against it.
Both the Matriarch Apostolic Oracle and the Reverend Bishop Judge Advocate urged their only son to reconsider. His tutors pleaded with him. His fellow cleric Faith boys at Temple-at-Attica thought him humor-struck or fever-sick.
But Constantine tauValez knew his own mind and was determined to live his life his way.
Constantine had been born into Faith, to parents accomplished, respected and well bred. A gift for scholarship and a keen intellect were apparent even as a child.
Constantine was blessed a prodigy.
At an early age his parents set Constantine on a track toward position and authority. His Faithful tutors saw the potential to rise as far as the Principalities, or even the Seraphim. However, by the time Constantine reached thirteen and inducted into the Disciple of Michael, other ideas begun to preoccupy him.
Constantine wearied of life behind monastic walls, of the isolation of academia, and of the pretensions of privilege. A student of history, the romance of Faith’s warrior priests in ancient times—the so-called Soldiers of Paradise—enthralled the adolescent. The old stories of swordsmen on gryphon-back riding the open countryside and enforcing the will of Faith struck a cord.
He daydreamed of a life of adventure and intrigue, and of service to Faith that would take him far away from the sanctimonious world he’d grown up in.
Against all better judgment, Michael Constantine tauValez enlisted in the Order of the Knights Templar.
Profile: Constantine
Education and Gender
The educational system of Aideena reinforces gender-identity and sexual identity.
Boys and girls are raised together by their mothers or professional governesses until a certain age. Depending on the custom of the House and its matriarchic politics, children are separated by gender as young as six and or as old as ten and boarded off to learning and socializing academies. They may receive religious training by Faith at any number of Temples. Secularly, girls are sent to Maiden Sororities or Maidenries, while their brothers are enrolled at Academic Fraternities maintained by the Guild Brotherhood.
At Maidenries, girls are schooled for political and matriarchal careers. Fraternities are places where boys are educated in a particular professional vocation and/or labor skill. Within fraternities and sororities, adolescents are educated in their sexual responsibilities and encouraged to form groups for the practice of these responsibilities. These relationships are viewed as significant for the development of strategic political and familial liaisons later in life.
Ninth Epoch
- theta Summer Catherine publishes Apocrypha. It becomes the single most influential collection of writings and propels a new era in scholarly and artist pursuit, called The Apocryphal Renaissance.
- The Enlightenment, a philosophy emphasizing reason and individualism, emerges in political contrast and influence to traditional value and ritual institutions.
- The Industrial Revolution, the rapid growth in world-based industries, results from a period of innovation and an emphasis on technological advancement. The atom is split. The computer technology is invented and creates an electronic information infrastructure of unprecedented magnitude.
- Nuclear fusion is achieved and nearby planets explored.
- The Information Renaissance begins when ancient text from the Time of The Aes’ir Daughters is translated and provides new technological insights. Neighboring solar systems are colonized. Warped-field technology is invented.
- A series of ecological disasters threatens economic and political stability. Widespread pollution and depletion of natural resources causes the collapse of once profitable regions.
- Space colonies sue for independence. Free Townships are created.
- Renewed feelings of traditionalism emerge and a new spirit of reform struggles to challenge traditional values
- In Gaia Year 19163, The Archangel falls to Aideena.
Eighth Epoch
- Aideena’s earlier extraterrestrial influence is rediscovered and Faith’s monastic expansion creates the Classical Renaissance. A cultural revolution results from an unprecedented period of learning with advances in arts and sciences.
- Patriarchal cults of skilled and learned men emerge within The Twelve Great Houses
- The Clan Wars herald several centuries of internal familial feuds and the open warfare leads to near political collapse
- Private familiar armies are dissolved and the Knights Templar is established as the supreme military authority
- Cult of skilled and learned men becomes The Guild Brotherhood. They are granted autonomy from the Twelve Great Houses
- Economic worldwide depression forces the establishment of The Parliamentary to deal with global concerns.
Sixth and Seventh Epoch
Sixth Epoch
The Dark Time
- All extraterrestrial presence on Aideena completely and suddenly disappears
- Abandonment of extraterrestrial influence leading to cultural regression evidenced
- Abandonment of early municipalities, collapse of early economic and political systems evidenced
- Mysticism and ritualism embraced
- A singular belief system emerges by epoch’s end
Seventh Epoch
- An organized political system based on theology, the formal beginnings of Faith, emerges
- Missionary efforts by Faith leads to the establishment of monastic citadels
- Road building connects isolated regions of the planet.
- A more formal political system based on familial associations emerges from early matriarchal cults. This is the beginning of the Twelve Great Houses. Trade and commerce become more worldwide as exploration of the planet encouraged.
Third, Fourth and Fifth Epoch
Third Epoch
- Contemporary human physiology rapidly develops due to extraterrestrial influence
- First written language is evidenced
Fourth Epoch
- Primitive agricultural communities emerge
- Matriarchal familial cults emerge
- The Time of the Aes’ir Daughters, also called The Gaia, produces evidence of a technologically sophisticated society coexisting with a more primitive one.
- Extraterrestrial prodigy and a segment of the human population merge
Second Epoch
Earliest evidence of that proto-human life was subjected to genetic experimentation by an extraterrestrial intelligence can be found.
First Epoch
First Epoch
Clan Wars
Several periods of bloody warfare along genealogical lines blight Aideenan history. The longest (and most commonly referred to)instance span two hundred years and permanently scarred Aideena.
Private armies belonging to families in Houses and Houses themselves openly engaged in combat over titles to land, ownership of industries, and ancestral rivalries. The period of terrorism and barbarism was put down finally by Faith and the Knights Templar. It gave rise to Faith further mediating the activities of The Twelve Great Houses and the formal creation of The Guild Brotherhood as a political body. It also lead to concessions in authority for all three branches of world government.
Characters: The Principles
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| Constantine | |
|---|---|
| Constantine lived his entire life behind mannered monastic walls. Growing up he had little contact with people outside of Faith. Upon completing studies at temple, his family expected Constantine to take a position with great opportunities to ascend in authority. Instead he chose a protectorate career path in the Knights Templar, entering the Order at its lowest level. Constantine compromised with his family and accepted a commission at the caustic Court-at-Columbia rather than a more violent provincial garrison. |
| Attributes: |
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| House: | tau |
| Family: | Valez |
| Allegiance: | Faith |
| Allegiance Status: | Faith born |
| Covenant: | Discipline of Michael |
| Commission: | Knights Templar, Garrison-at-Court-at-Columbia |
| Rank: | Constable First Class |
| Service: | Just commissioned |
| Current Assignment: | Special Assignment File Restricted by order of Templar Prefect |
| Education: | Temple-at-Attica |
| Academic Notation: | History, Angelic Studies, Law |
| Specialties: |
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| Sebastian | |
|---|---|
| Sebastian’s four-year tour in the provinces earned him numerous citations for bravery. Over his eighteen years of commissioned Templar service he refused senior leadership promotions three times, preferring to remain a field operative, and effectively sabotaged the protection of superiors and advancement someone with his experience and honors desires. |
| Attributes: |
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| House: | xi |
| Family: | Duang |
| Allegiance: | Faith |
| Allegiance Status: | Faith Indentured |
| Covenant: | Discipline of Paul |
| Commission: | Knights Templar, Garrison-at-Court-at-Columbia |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Service: | 18 years |
| Current Assignment: | Special Assignment File Restricted by order of Templar Prefect |
| Education: | Temple-at-Corinth |
| Specialties: |
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| Citations: |
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| The Archangel | |
|---|---|
| The singular sense of purpose and being that comes with inclusive in the collective fades with each passing day. Daily experiences seem both familiar and foreign. It’s the ultimate déjà vu for an entity to whom past, present and future normally is fluid. |
| Attributes: |
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| Designation: | Divinity |
| Origin: | Celestial Collective |
| Species Type: | Meta-terrestrial |
| Nomenclature: | Unknown |
| Known Abilities: |
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| Status: |
Extremely dangerous Do Not Approach |
| Angela | |
|---|---|
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| House: | psi |
| Family: | Sawade |
| Allegiance: | Faith |
| Allegiance Status: | Faith born |
| Covenant: | Discipline of Rachel |
| Commission: | Order of the Oracle, Garrison-at-Court-at-Columbia |
| Rank: | Vestal Sister |
| Current Assignment: | Altar-at-Parliamentary |
| Education: | Temple-at-Delphi |
| Specialties: | Twelfth Level Oracle |
| Daria | |
|---|---|
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| House: | omega |
| Family: | Marat |
| Status: | Aristocrat |
| Authority: |
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| Seneca | |
|---|---|
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| House: | omega |
| Family: | Marat |
| Status: | Aristocrat |
| Authority: |
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| Horus | |
|---|---|
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| House: | omega; del bastard Tribe branch |
| Family: | Gaul |
| Status: | Underclass |
| Background: |
Record Sealed |
| Probationary: | Softech Guild Omega; draftsman |
| Status: | Rehabilitated by certification of Faith Records Sealed |
| Valentine | |
|---|---|
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| House: | alpha |
| Family: | Cervantes |
| Allegiance: | Faith |
| Allegiance Status: | Faith indentured |
| Covenant: | Discipline of Mathew |
| Commission: | Knights Templar, Court-at-Columbia |
| Rank: | Prefect Apostolic |
| Service: | 20 years |
| Current Assignment: | Command, Garrison-at-Court-at-Columbia |
| Education: | Temple-at-Alysia |
| Specialties: | Law; History; Literature |
| Katrina | |
|---|---|
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| House: | zeta |
| Family: | Petriss |
| Allegiance: | Faith |
| Allegiance Status: | Faith born |
| Covenant: | Discipline of Mary |
| Commission: | Order of the Oracle, Seraphim |
| Rank: | Cardinal Mother |
| Service: | 43 years |
| Current Assignment: |
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| Education: | Temple-at-Delphi |
| Specialties: | Ninth Level Oracle |
| Gregory | |
|---|---|
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| House: | alpha |
| Family: | Osloe |
| Allegiance: | Faith |
| Allegiance Status: | Faith volunteer |
| Covenant: | Discipline of John |
| Commission: | Knights Templar, Garrison-at-Court-at-Columbia |
| Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Service: | 6 years |
| Current Assignment: | Special Assignment File Restricted by order of Templar Prefect |
| Education: | Temple-at-Corinth |
| Specialties: |
|
| Citations: | Special Merit |
Court-at-Columbia
The commercial and economic center of Aideena, the mega-metropolis covers a series of mountainous limestone islands in the Acropolitan Bay.
It is peppered with giant stone pinnacles, natural formations that have been industrially developed over three thousand. Modern urban habitats mesh with the ruins of several older fortifications build into and around monstrous caves and spectacular cliffs.
Many competing architectural approachs over the centuries have sought to leave their mark on Court-at-Columbia. The current city layout consists of multiple levels. A network of bridges, roadways, rail, trolleys, and garages comprise Traffic, or Transit, Level. A series of promenades, parks, public squares and pavilions comprise the Pedestrian Level. And Community Level is made up of residential and commercial structures.
The city shelters 35 million people, the central government of Aideena, and most major industries. Numerous distinct neighborhoods, districts, and mini-cities within Court-at-Columbia, from the upscale to ghettos, make for a melting pot of the varied cultures and traditions representative of Aideena.
Celestial Collective
The term refers to entities originating from a continuum outside of space and time, or the continuum itself (sometimes called The Second Heaven).
While in the continuum of humans, these entities are perceived as angels. In their natural state they are non-corporeal beings of pure thought and essence capable of traveling between spatial and temporal dimensions. A collective society, each individual is analogous to being a cell in the brain of a single Supreme Intelligence.
