The Way & Mystic Cults

The Way is the name given to a poorly-understood force that permeates the galaxy. Those who can access it — called mystics — can sense things at a distance, move objects, read minds, and do stranger things still. The Way seems to be connected to the Precursor (Ur) ruins scattered across the sector.

Accessing the Way

Mystics learn to Attune to the Way — a process of opening themselves to its currents. This can be done through meditation, through exposure to Ur artifacts, through certain drugs, or through dangerous practices like those of The Agony (a cult that infects members with Way creatures to access the universe in unsettling ways).

The Way is not perfectly understood, even by those who use it. In the deep ocean of Mem, attuning for long-term projects grants +1d — but low rolls may attract dangerous Way attention.

Approved Hegemonic Cults

The Hegemony controls mystic practice through official cults:

• Church of Stellar Flame (Tier IV) — Religious zealots seeking to root out heretics and destroy dangerous artifacts and mystic activity. Led by High Priestess Alaana (driven, ex-heretic). Each member is branded with the "Kiss of Light." They operate the battle cruiser Way of Light.
• Mendicants — Originally the Church of the Emerald Heart. Politically destroyed, they now wander the stars as traveling physicians and healers. They will tend to anyone who requests aid.

Unofficial & Outlawed Groups

• The Agony (Tier III) — Human cultists who infect themselves with Way creatures to access strange abilities. Named for the pain. Based on a platform orbiting Planet Omega (Holt system). They plan to move Planet Omega toward Mem to "feed the oceans."
• Ashtari Cult (Tier III) — Precursor worshipers who claim Ur descent. They inhale gases from the Ashtari Cloud and receive visions of Ur lives eons ago. They believe Ur sites on Nightfall's moons can control the planetoids themselves.
• Nightspeakers (Tier II) — Mystics with dark proclivities, seeking a set of dangerous Precursor artifacts. Initiates train aboard the vast, unlit ship Blackstarr (Brekk system).
• Cult of the Seekers (Tier II) — Wandering mystics studying artifacts and seeking new places. They want to open the Hantu Gate. The Hegemon's mother is a member.
• Vignerons (Tier III) — A small handful of immortality seekers using artifact-tech implants and chemicals distilled from the living. Several have been around for hundreds of years.
• Vigilance (Tier I) — Warrior mystics bearing artifact blades, enforcing an ancient code of justice.
• Conclave 01 (Tier I) — Independent, sentient Urbots led by an ancient Urbot called the Prime. Working to control mining sites and gain control over Precursor AI modules.

The Way in the Iota System

A long-period comet (ZX-1138) has recently diverged from its course, moving much closer to Indri. Mystics claim this has shifted the system's Way lines, making the Way sometimes act unpredictably in Iota.