The Source

"There is something greater, we all feel it, underpinning the very stars." - Merin Hethroe, Prime Seeker

Doctrine

Seekers of the Source believe that within the very currents mankind rides to the different systems rests the key to life's meaning. For these people the slipstreams are nothing more than proof that life is all connected, that underpinning everything is a central location from which all of creation springs forth.

Their god is The Source, a being resting at the center of the whole - a constant power which touches mankind as they travel the stars.

The Headwaters

The Headwaters, god, is similar to the god figure in Christianity, with one distinct difference: they know where he lives. For the seeker's it isn't a question of where, they know that the nexus for the slipstreams is the home of god, the question that matters is how to get there.

For a seeker the greatest rush is to travel between the systems, in essence touching god's will. However, this longing for a connection creates a problem when that same seeker desires to reach his god's home. No group, despite the petitioning and bribery, has managed to convince a gateway station to breach the slipstream and launch them freely on "faith" that god will guide them to him. For those who don't believe Seekers would find little beyond death if their wishes were granted.

The Faith

The faith is a growing and well-known entity, attracting a diverse group of followers throughout the systems. Passion for the church exists in every system and has even begun penetrating the Ucual system. Additionally, the faith as a whole has been a front-runner in working to convert Syntek followers into the fold (with only a low conversion rate).

Collectives

Collectives are the church-bodies of the faith, organizing believers in state of the art sanctuaries that use advanced systems to display the Writ. The Writ is the source of inspiration for the faith, a cannon that is derived from the underlying signal of the slipstreams. The messages in the Writ are decoded by special seeker's known as Primes.

Once decoded these messages are left available for the Collective's review and for use in sermon. An underlying Collective network exists to catalog decoded Writ's as well as keep a constant running recording of the slipstream signals so that Primes may, with time, capture the messages contained.

Many Collectives will organize periods of petitioning at gateway stations, where they work to hurriedly attract new followers with promises of "revealing the secrets". These petitioning stints are often short as gateway stations have long-since grown tired of the followers soliciting travelers. Some Collectives have responded by renting facilities space on the gateways.

Pilgrims

Within the church there is a drive to ride the slipstream in the off chance that their God will call them home. Because of this in the years since the religion began a large number of seekers have taken to early travel into newly colonized systems. In only one instance has this strategy worked, when a smaller ship in transit to the then new Barella system was lost as the gateway station failed to pick up its routing signal. While many lamented the horrible loss, as the ship was likely routed to some point far outside of human interest or never exited the slipstream, the seekers were only incised into pushing more of their mobile membership into early colonization efforts.

Primes

Primes are those seekers who are able to read the Writ, to interpret its underlying messages and recount those messages from the Headwater to the Collective. These men and women are gifted through the faith with an inner-born knowledge of the language their god uses to communicate. Sadly no Prime is able to define the lexicon they use to decode the messages, and as such no one but a designated Prime may uncover the messages of the faith. A group or solitary prime will work at a Collective to decode messages from the slipstream.

These same men and women are the some of the most well known in the faith, however not every Collective will feature a prime and as such must rely on lesser pastors to preach from the Writs.

History

Emerging as a splinter of the Christian faith when mankind took to utilizing the slipstreams, the Source owes itself to a need for a modern connection in an age of stars.

However, despite an early surge of converts the growth of the Source movement quickly stagnated. As opponents from the scientific community as well as competing religions spoke out sharply against the message early seeker's promoted, the religion was forced to adapt its message and cut operations until it was a far leaner, cohesive group.

In recent years this focus on smaller, passionate communities of believers has helped the church recapture the growth that would have otherwise been crushed by the more influential outsiders.

Capital Requirements

For years Collectives have pooled resources into a giant mutual fund designed to serve one singular purpose: acquisition. The early Prime's set forth a mission to procure a capital ship, and that mission has gone on since. Capital ships are the only class of vessel that possess the ability to utilize the slipstream without need of a gateway station's assistance. The seeker's hope to someday skirt the failures they've had with the gateway's and launch their own Ark into the slipstream. The groups solicit funds from members and outside parties who buy into goals of the religion but aren't willing to openly support their activities. The private trust fund's value is estimated to be well below the amount necessary to recapture even aging capital ships that might soon be retired from the ISA or Jovian fleets.