Ionite Flotilla of Space-Faring Colonists

One of the four Patrokonoi-Hellecia, the Ionite Flotilla is a conglomeration of various ships, star-decks & colony transports floating through deep space in search of a home planet unaffected by the curse of the Ionites.

Centered around their planet-sized flagship "The Reliquary", the Ionite people are born, raised, and trained as colonists to either cultivate planets for their twin brother Patrokonoi: The Delothian Collective or to devote themselves to the Universal Historical Parish to record the history of the sector to discover the labors needed to resolve their people's Diaspma or Communal Sin keeping them from settling a planet of their own.

Origins:

While the history of the Flotilla is the history of the Ionites and its progenitor Iodium. After the destruction of Karoj-Menos, the Ionites were honor-bound to serve the gods that survived.

As a result, deities of Greek mythology from across the sector flocked to the temples of Hera under the protection of their Ionite servants.

However, in a flash of betrayal, the Ionites barricaded the temples and murdered the remaining gods such as Hestia, Demeter, Persephone & Hera. While either draining their blood relatives and many innocents of their Ichor or shipping the younger ones off as slaves.

Appalled by Iodium's actions but relinquishing the last bit of her mercy for her favorite son, Hera cursed his descendants to wander the stars always tilling someone else's fields, warming themselves by someone else's hearth, unwelcome by the seasons during winter & summer until the day they complete the 10 Labors (doesn't specify which labors; disintegrated before Hera could elaborate).

Traveling from planet to planet, the Ionites were rejected by native populations and/or the land itself. Unable to settle down permanently, "The Reliquary" was built with the golden objects of the Pantheon from Karoj-Menos and the temples they once served.

Over time, the Ionites kept building on to the ship until it was the size of a small planet with materials supplied by their twin brother Patrokonoi: the Delothian Collective.

Colonists, Rectors, Doctors & Wanderers:

Given their stereotype as space monks, dream chasers & half-awake drifters, the Flotilla acts as a monastery where elders teach the next generation the knowledge and skills past down while instilling penitent self-reflection to all Ionites leaving the Flotilla for the enrichment of their people and "The Reliquary."

Here's the typical lifecycle of an Ionite living in the Flotilla:

An Ionite child is born/brought to Reliquary if born off-world --> blessed by the See of the Reliquary Archdiocese and under the protection of the Flotilla --> Raised in the religious customs of their ancestors when they served the gods, the sanctity of one's oaths and sacred vows & the corruption of blind ambition and greed --> children serve as altar boys/girls in service to a Roman Catholic cathedral-styled church until completion of their Artemesian/Apollonian Rites (involving an Ionites' primary skills: deep space piloting and the "Half-Sleep Meditation"--> Accepted as adults and members of The Reliquary --> Given a choice: stay on The Reliquary and take one's sacred vows to live a monastic life serving the Universal Historical Parish /The Archdiocese or leave The Reliquary and take one's sacred vows to further spread the values of the Flotilla as a holy laborer --> Go to their respective professions --> Upon death, their bodies are cremated --> Their phosphorus souls are collected and sent back to "The Reliquary" to light its halls and be laid to rest once the curse is lifted and "The Reliquary" is melted down on their future home.

Those who stay on "The Reliquary" must prepare for their Ceremony of the Pythos, determining their roles within the Universal Historical Parish . Officiated by the Archdiocese, the Cardinal of the Parish divines the results.

Once chosen, the acolytes serve the Flotilla and are taught how to maintain the mechanical systems of "The Reliquary" while studying to one day become a rector (mixture of a priest, historian & scientist).

An essential part of this process is their "Half-Sleep Meditation," akin to Iodium's near death experience caused by his careless brother Archaenus .

Viewed as a sacrament and taught to all Ionites, acolytes are expected to perfect this walk as a re-enactment of Iodium's wanderings through the Dream World of Hypnos (halfway between life and death). By entering a state of partial consciousness and with practice, the phosphorus soul can become untethered by the physical constraints of the universe and allows a rector to step out of time to witness events of history while also using this knowledge to locate physical evidence to verify their findings.

Only the best become Parish-sanctioned Rectors who are sent on missions of historical importance. Tasked with the mission statement of recording the entire history of the sector to uncover the meaning behind Hera's Laborers.

For those who opted to leave "The Reliquary," they are taught the manual skills of what the archdiocese calls a "holy laborer."

Most of those with this calling either detest the monastic life or seek a life outside the glittering walls of "The Reliquary." And for these ends, these Ionites are sent to the Colonist Corps to be taught the necessary skills to supply the Collective with colonists ready to cultivate their client worlds.

These skills would include deep space travel, ship maintenance, farming, engineering, asteroid mining, architecture, homestead living, atmosphere building, etc.

After completing this knowledge, a colonist will wait until the Collective contacts the Flotilla with coordinates and an order for personnel to fill a new colony. They'll be sorted into their colony transport and sent to cultivate the land for the Delots.

If the colony succeeds, the Ionites who established it are rewarded with partial citizenship into the Collective and a permanent home on said planet during their periods of migration during the respective Winter & Summer months of said planet. If it fails, they're sent back to "The Reliquary" and wait there until another personnel order comes.

In the instance where the colony fails, many Ionites forsake their Sacred Vow of the Colonist and runaway to parts unknown. Forced to find work or become vagabonds only to be cursed to leave their new lives during the Winter & Summer months. These runaways would eventually become independent deep space freighters on the DST Accelerator Lanes .

Life of an Ionite is monotonous and repetitive while experiencing external ostracism from their sibling patrokonoi for being oath-breakers and dirty vagabonds. Which is why the Flotilla provides a source of stability and community for a people who're cursed to these tedious lives of either monastic devotion or Seasonal Colonizing.

Organization:

While the leaders from The Archdiocese, The Colony Corps, & The Parish provide several services similar to a government. The Flotilla doesn't exert control over the Ionites in their congregation like a government.

Rather, the Flotilla is in a symbiotic relationship with the Collective whose laws the Ionites are bound to follow. The Flotilla prepares a segment of its members to colonize Delot planets in exchange for property on colonized planets, a stipend to keep "The Reliquary" and the rest of the support ships operational.

They also are given representation in the closed session of the Collective citizenry. A Delot archon's voting power in these voting sessions is proportional to the number of Ionites in their cluster's league.

Given this special arrangement, Ionite runaways are detrimental to the Flotilla's position with the Collective. The more Ionite runaways, the fewer colonists they have to send to the Collective and thus weakening their position along with their stipend.

These deserters are then shunned from the Flotilla and the Ionite community for breaking their sacred vows. Once done, it can't be appealed and the deserter loses all their rights and privileges to the Flotilla.

Many of these deserters are picked up by independent contractors to become deep space freighters, given their talents at piloting and deep space travel.

However, their deal with the Collective is valid only until their curse is lifted and are able to melt down "The Reliquary" on their new home planet. Leading some Ionites to speculate if the Collective is actively opposing their search to keep them as permanent colonists for all eternity.

Progenitor: Iodium

Defeated Gods/Possessed Ichor:

• Hermes
• Demeter
• Persephone
• Apollo (parts involving medicine & healing)
• Anemoi (Boreas, Zephyr, Lapnx, & Eurus)
• Hypnos

Greek Comparison: Ionian Colonies

Homeworld: Flotilla Flagship "The Reliquary"

Type

Geopolitical, Colony