Religion

Religion in Oolite is found in the Lore and the OXPs.

High Temple (Church of the Holy Witchspace Guard)

Monastery (Black Monks of St Herod)

Critique

This stuff has not been linked together in any meaningful way. One or two themes have been partially developed: Witchspace Lobster missionaries in the Missionaries.oxp (from 2006) which then get further developed in the Hognose & Interstellar Tweaks oxp's. But there are no homeworlds for the Witchspace Lobster or descriptions of what they are about. There is more background for the Church of St Giles on this wiki, but little in-game.

Some of the vanilla game Contracts as well as mission-creating oxp's will feature the religions, but again, not in depth (Enhanced Passenger Contracts, Oo-Haul, Random Hits OXP, etc).

Lore from the Canon

• The Dark Wheel has references to Randomius Factoria (chapter 3).

Lore from outside the Canon

• The Rough Guide to the Ooniverse mentions the following:

Aesbion (Rough Guide) was home to the God-Emperor who ruled during the Imperial Era from the Exalted City, close to the Cathedral of Winds

Aronar (Rough Guide) is home to fervent Giles worshippers, who are yet fervid gamblers!

Reorte (Rough Guide) is an ever-changing theocracy with new gods being invented daily

Tianve (Rough Guide) has devotees to the Pulsar God Tiaxus, who can be propositioned to delay his Sunrage.

• Schism by Drew Wagar describes religion on a Generation Ship.
• Ascension by Drew Wagar describes religion on a low technology world

Recent Additions

• CGC:

Church of Giles the Creator

Sector1/Tibecea - see fiction at end

• Witchspace Lobster (or Holy Decapods)

Zarece‎‎ (Rough Guide) - minor snippets

"The sacramental taboos of the Church of the Witchspace Lobster who decry unnatural interference with the radiatory propensities of the cosmic depths"

• Church of the Holy Witchspace Guard

Qutiri (Rough Guide)

OXPs

• Tionisla Orbital Graveyard features a variety of religious symbols depicted on their monuments: crucifixes, stars of David, menhirs etc.

• Missionaries OXP (Dr Nil 2006) gives us four varieties:

Happy Eye preachers

CGC (Church of Giles the Creator) missionaries

Witchspace Lobster worshippers

Zenarchy monks.

Comments in the BB threads by Dr Nil et al:

The Church of Giles the Creator are orthodox creationists. Monotheistic and dogmatic. CGC is quite old and very influential.

Witchspace Lobster Worship is Oolite animism. Classified as primitive superstition by CGC and the rest of the establishment. They seem to worship totems in the form of crudely fashioned elongated asteroids.

What's The Happy Eye? Don't know. Brainwashed smiling faces offering their pamphlets at spaceports and on stations? They look happy. A new age sect? They claim to be the fastest growing spiritual franchise in the Ooniverse.

• Ebortsa's lucky charm is a by-product of Gilean demonology

• Hognose - includes obnoxious lobster missionaries
• Interstellar Tweaks - includes crusading lobster missionaries

• Bank of the Black Monks of Saint Herod the bankers: only the righteous walk the Path of Debt!

Visitors may be privileged to witness some of their rituals, such as the enhancement of Holy Fuel.

• Whilst the original Dictators OXP only features agricultural junta and technological imperial versions, there is also the theocratic Church of the Holy Witchspace Guard which Montana05 is developing as a third version of Dictatorship.

• Church of the Cosmic Wanderer - a place to visit on the orbital stations in the Life in the Frontier.oxp

Links

• A moment of existential angst (2010)
• Lore for the importance of canon and its definition
• Why do NPCs travel from the station to the witchpoint beacon to hyper-jump? (2021)
• Captain Hesperus and the war-god Ooyookallinphat (2008)
• UK census - Jedi still seventh most popular religion (2012) Views of some of the veteran ooliters on religion