Joseph Reed
Joseph Reed (a.k.a. Joe)
Personal History
Joseph Reed was born into a highly religious family in the Free State of Kennedy, a region on Earth that contained the majority of the adherents of the Kennedy Church. The Reed family played a pivotal role in maintaining the Free State and its predominant religion during the time of the Global Government. Joseph, more commonly known to his peers as Joe, was rather eclectic. However, this quirky personality was only a facade for his solitary, scholarly, and wise mind. Since he was young, Joe questioned everything, and during his teenage years became at odds with the religious beliefs that he was raised with. The Kennedy Church did not really have dogma dictating the role of the larger universe in God’s plan, and Joe saw that as a major hole in its theology.The SFFS Provedance
Earth’s population’s growing pains saw a need for a Great Exodus to other stars during Joe’s lifetime. The Starfleet recruiters came to Joe’s town and he signed up without hesitation. After several years of rising through the ranks as a pilot for various trading vessels, Joe requested a spot as a resident aeternum on a mortal generation ship called the SFSS Provenance. He saw it as an opportunity to figure out his faith in a whole new part of the universe.A Policy of Neutrality
As a biologically immortal being amongst the likes of thousands of mortals, Joe’s ego clearly became inflated. After crash landing on Postantera, he and his followers quickly made an exit before the civil war between the aeternums started. He travelled a long treacherous journey through the miles of Postanti wilderness in search of a perfect place to settle a new civilization.Ehelterra
Thirteen years and many deaths later, Joe finally made it to a great, arable place which he named Ehelterra (Land of Angels), and settled it with his followers. Joe created and taught the language of Neo-Latin, which was similar to the pidgin the mortals used, making it the official language of government and day-to-day business.A Path to Ascension
As the years passed by, and the city grew to a massive size with numerous villages and colonies, Joe officially started a new religion based off of the Kennedy Church, with him in charge. He named himself Josef, Zonis fon Kristis (Joseph, Son of Christ) as a sign of reverence to the religion of his birth. He created a place of worship in the city center. Generations more passed, and the mortals seemed to not glean the correct things from Joe’s teachings; some even called Joe God himself. As these heresies arose, Joe became more and more distressed that he was leading his people down the wrong path, and quickly reminded everyone that he was not divine, only a teacher. Even so, people continued to worship him, believing him merely humble. After being plagued by guilt, insomnia, and worry, Joe decided that the only solution was to abandon the city. Joe spent a year penning a book of teachings, which he immediately gave to a trusted friend upon completion. He then appointed his friend as head clergyman and governor of the city, and snuck away in the middle of the night to one of Ehelterra’s colonies, Zmiddelterra. Even this place, founded years ago by a famous heretic, welcomed Josef as a leader and god, and he decided to leave his own sphere of influence entirely. Joe made a long, perilous trek to the city where he knew his fellow aeternum and former friend Isaiah resided. He gained audience with Isaiah, and found an icy politician, atheist, and hardened leader in charge of an overpopulated city. They reached an agreement after Joe explained his purposes, and soon enough Joe became a simple plowshare, working the land in return for citizenship and food, and learning the various techniques and methods Isaiah’s engineers had developed for exploiting Postantera’s natural resources. The new life eased some of Joe’s fears, but doubts still lingered. Not a day went by that Joe did not worry for the fate of his city. He prayed often and in secret, trying not to upset Head Councilman Isaiah, who told him not to propagate his religion as long as he remained in the city. Over time, the memories of his own teachings began to fade from his head as well, and he began to ponder the nature of divinity as he worked, contemplating whether or not he, an immortal and the only remaining repository of Christian knowledge, was really just a man and should not return to Ehelterra and accept the people’s worship, for their sakes and his. Twice Joe was called to sit on a jury during his stay. The first time, he voted to convict a high-ranking official of corruption. The second time, he abstained from voting on the grounds of conflicted interests. The defendant was a personal friend of his, who could not afford to hire someone to speak in his defense. The official had been accused of being involved in organized crime, and was executed by Isaiah himself. After witnessing this, Joe decided he had to leave the troubled city and return to rule his home. Bidding farewell to his friends and extending an offer of diplomatic relations to Isaiah, Joe ended his self-inflicted exile.Return
He arrived at Ehelterra as the people celebrated the 200th year of the city’s existence. Those who had known him from before he left were now old, for more than 30 years had passed. The new generation rejoiced at the return of the legendary teacher, leader, and deity their parents had raised them on stories of. In his absence the city had become a complex and crowded bureaucracy, his friends were no longer alive, and the book of teachings was ignored or cherry-picked from to fit people’s agendas. Seeing this dismal state of affairs, and remembering the corruption he had seen under Isaiah’s rule, Joe vowed to return Ehelterra to its former glory. He took the name Rex Deuis, God King, and became the leader of both the church and the state, a decision met by raucous applause and general respect. His absence had done little to quiet the heresies, and he fatefully decided to acknowledge them as truth, becoming a deity in the eyes of the people, and as his age and ego grew, himself. Known far and wide as God-King Joe by the other aeternums, Joseph Reed is massively important in the history of Postantera as the great builder of nations and the patron of religion in this new world. Opinions of him vary, but none can deny the great feats he and his nation have accomplished over the years, and the zealous faith of Ehelterrans in their Rex Deuis.
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