## Statistics Title: Singer of the Distant Void Galactic Age: 13,210 Subjective Age: 448 Homeworld: [[Voidhall Axiom (Arm IX)]] Home Sector: [[The Sectors#Sundered Harmony (6)|Sundered Harmony]] Affinity Groups - [[Past Projects/The Plague Lords/Affinity Groups/Spiritualists]] - Get Wine Drunk & Scream (Religion) - "An immortal, occasionally omnicidal God Empress is good, actually." - What's the Point? - "To properly organize the galaxy" - [[Past Projects/The Plague Lords/Affinity Groups/War Dogs]] - Longer, Better, Faster, Stronger - The galaxy is imperfect and in need of a thorough reorganization. - Curing the Plague - Pro-Empire You are a Voidsinger, one of the priests of the galaxy's largest and most influential religion. More than that, you're one of the most significant leaders in the entire faith which, given your relative youth, is an incredible accomplishment. Much of that success can be attributed to a long relationship with [[Diplomat Ziz]], and access to their practically infinite wealth. However, that wealth comes with strings to the wild raider fleet Ziz represents, which means that your influence in the faith has coincided with a steady drift toward militarism. You want to expand the Voidfaith's influence. Where [[Singer Po]] seeks to entrench the faith as a third arm of the empire, you believe that it should instead be tightly aligned with the Voidstalker Corps, specifically. The purpose of the faith, as you see it, is to rebuild the galaxy in its proper configuration, and such rebuilding necessarily requires some wholesale destruction along the way. Over the course of your career, you've regularly used the fires of war to prepare ground for the Singers to bring new enlightenment. In the course of that time, you've seen over and over again that the galaxy has only one true threat (besides [[Celestial Empress|Her Majesty]]), and that's the [[Leviathan's Corpse]], the legendary demon-haunted warship larger than some solar systems. You've watched it devour faithless and faithful alike, and leave the galaxy broken in its wake. If you must once again use war to achieve your goals, you know just the war to start. You've come to the [[Plague Council]] because the [[Holy Reflection]] is here, and because this is the perfect opportunity to bring your vision to reality. If you can convince the council to launch a crusade and give the faith prominence in how that campaign is prosecuted, surely no one will be able to deny your rightful place. While most will be fighting over whether or not the council should side with the Plague Lords (an absurd idea), you'll be angling to get an official announcement against the Leviathan's Corpse. With that in hand, you can easily achieve everything you want. ## Goals 1. Convince the [[Myriadic Council]] to launch a holy crusade against the [[Leviathan's Corpse]] 2. Convince the [[The Plague Lords/Governors|Governors]] to issue an edict declaring the [[The Plague Lords/Sapient Plagues|Plague Lords]] to be in service of the [[Leviathan's Corpse]] in a war of devolution. 3. Prove yourself a worthy successor to the [[Holy Reflection]]. ## Character Notes - Tarsus is one of two characters vying to replace the [[Holy Reflection]], the most significant figure in the Voidsinger faith. Tarsus believes that the church should be much more evangelical and militant in its faith. They don't especially care about the [[Celestial Empire]] one way or the other, though they do regard the [[Plague Council]] as a wonderful opportunity. They want to convince the Council to launch a holy war because any such war would inevitably see the Voidsingers as the de facto leaders, and being the face of such a thing would make them the obvious choice for new Reflection. However, the challenge remains that there isn't actually a set way for choosing the new Holy Reflection. Indeed, many chunks of the faith would consider it heretical to say that such a thing was possible. How will this character convince those assembled to select them? - This character is among the more violent in play, and among the more overtly willing to use large-scale violence to achieve their goals. At the same time, this character can easily point to the many paradise worlds under care of the Voidsinger faith as proof that their ideas have merit. True, the wars were bloody, but bloody wars happen constantly throughout the galaxy. At least *these* wars ended in eternal joy and the hope of enlightenment. It seems like these views have some weight, as the character's rise in the church has been almost unprecedented in its speed. Will this new shot at power lead to a moderation, or a doubling down on the use of violence? - This character is not a Governor, and likely doesn't want to appear too reliant on the Holy Reflection. They'll need to spend some time making the right friends or convincing the right people if they want the Council to take them seriously. ## Connections 1. [[Diplomat Ziz]] 1. "A shameless philanderer and blackguard, wealthy beyond any hope for enlightenment. Probably my best friend in the galaxy." 2. You've been attached to Ziz and the [[The Violet Fleet|Violet Fleet]] they represent for more than three centuries of subjective time. You were barely over a hundred, practically a child, when a chance meeting with a stranger led to a dream appointment. For thousands of galactic years, you've relied on the immense wealth Ziz commands to fuel your meteoric ascent within the faith. On a personal level, what made your friendship so successful? 2. [[High Seat Ormais]] 1. "With exactly one exception, the scariest human being alive." 2. High Seat Ormais is the kind of person who lights an entire sector on fire so that they can rule the cinders. As a devout worshipper of [[Celestial Empress|Her Majesty]], you have no problem with the first half, but the idea of leaving nothing but cinders behind makes your palms itch. The purpose of a holy fire is to produce fertile ground, not fallow. At the same time, you can't help but admire such bloodlust. You've known each other for nearly five thousand galactic years, about 380 subjective years for you. During that time, you've often tried, and failed, to convince them that their violence should be turned to more productive purposes. Has this led to friendship, rivalry, or something more complicated? 3. [[Knight Leander]] 1. "A Knight of the old breed; they wander, they conquer, they rest, they repeat." 2. Knight Leander is one of those strange and intriguing individuals who sells their services -and superweapon- to the highest bidder. While you've seen many mercenaries in your day (Ziz hires them by the Fleet), they're usually armies of ill-fed, laughably armed cannon fodder. Knights like Leander, on the other hand, wield the kind of power usually limited to myths and songs. You've only met them a few times over the last ten thousand years -the first a bare decade after leaving your planet for the first time-, but each time they've regaled you with incredible stories of righteous valor; rebel planets destroyed in a single stroke, traitors tricked and unmade, carnage and crimson and conquest. There are few things you love more than hearing Leander's stories about the things they've seen, and killed. You see Leander as something of an idol, how do you keep them from viewing you as just another fan/hanger-on? 4. [[Speculator Mahlah]] 1. "Uncommonly wealthy and uncommonly well-informed. As dangerous a friend as they are an enemy, but much more fun." 2. Speculator Mahlah is well-known as one of the galaxy's biggest gossips. Older than some stars, the tremendously successful businessperson-turned-pseudo-Sage has helped you rise in power and influence within the church, but they've also been a source of problems; your secrets are never safe with -or from- Mahlah, and they're casual in demonstrating their irritation any time you try to limit their knowledge, even when you send assassins to express your own. Over the eighty or so subjective years (around 1300 galactic years) of your acquaintance, has this led to a friendly rivalry, or something more serious? ## Mechanics **Asset:** [[Voidsong]] The harmonious lilt of the cosmos bears you up from second to second. You do not need food, or water, or oxygen. Not even your physical form is truly necessary so long as you can hear the chorus of ages and your own place in the tune. You are immune to physical harm of any kind, and can survive comfortably in the void of space. If you lose a [[Combat|Combat]], you cannot be forced to take damage unless your enemy has at least 5 net advantage. Even then, in a [[Combat#Local|Local]] or [[Combat#Regional|Regional]] scenario, you immediately discorporate and reappear at a safe location upon taking damage. You can only be killed in [[Combat#Global|Global]] or [[Combat#Fleet|Fleet]] scenarios, or if you're attacked by another Voidsinger. If you are ever excommunicated, you lose [[Voidsong]]. **Lien:** [[Discordant Stars]] The galaxy is not perfect. Not yet. One day, every atom of the galaxy will move in perfect harmony, every photon dance according to its assigned place. The song of the void will resound in all souls and the galaxy will be free of want and fear. Today, however, the song is stifled, drowned out by a deafening din of disagreement. It is the duty of the Voidsingers to bring the galaxy into harmony and give every living thing a chance to hear the song. In every conversation, at every opportunity, you must attempt to guide others toward the enlightenment of the void. If you ever let an entire conversation go by without attempting to instill spiritual wisdom, you are overcome by remorse and a sense of missed opportunity.