The six devotion factions represent the core philosophies and cosmic forces battling for dominance, influence, and survival in the Starfall Galaxy. Tens of thousands of years have passed since these cabals have operated openly. While they are all bitter rivals with each other, they dare not engage in open direct conflict with each other. The last time the factions openly warred, the galaxy was nearly destroyed, entities almost extinguished, and the progenitors were scoured from existence. The core devotions now foster proxies and maintain buffers between their siblings. Their preference is not to be exposed on the galactic scale; instead, they spin webs of loyalties, alliances, and obligations to bring about their objectives. From devoted Heart systems in real space and semidivine rift realms, the significant events of the Starfall have been touched in some way by these powerful collectives.
Viridian Ascent Faction
The Viridian Ascent, the Devotion of Growth, is an ancient, galaxy-spanning collective of biologically-engineered species that views the entire cosmos as a single, interconnected ecosystem. Rejecting most mechanical technology as "artificial" and "dying," the Ascent focuses instead on symbiotic biotics, flesh-crafting, and the pursuit of psychic unity. They seek to integrate all suitable life into their vast, shared consciousness—the Communal Organism—to ensure collective perfection and safety. They are a decentralized, constantly moving force, comprised of colossal, mobile ecosystems and organic starships, dedicated to returning the galaxy to a wild, untamed state of overwhelming growth.
Biopunk and grotesque, featuring living, organic starships that resemble colossal space-dwelling whales, cities grown from colossal fungi and bone, and species covered in intricate, moving plates of chitin and flesh. Primal and overwhelming. Their starships are often colossal, drifting organic habitats (sometimes entire asteroids encased in living root systems). Their enclaves are deep within ancient, massive jungles or living nebula. Their warriors are massive, rooted war-forms and agile, camouflage-specialized hunters.
Goals and Core Motivations
The Viridian Ascent's primary objective is the proliferation and ascension of life, driven by the belief that biological unity and untamed evolution are the highest forms of natural law.
Expand the Communal Organism: Assimilate new sentient and non-sentient life, offering "perfection" and "safety" from the cosmos's horrors through biological unity.
Perfect Bio-Psionic Technology: Develop new forms of bio-psionic travel and weaponry to become completely independent of mechanical infrastructure and Rift-Drives.
Accelerate Evolution: Seed "evolutionary accelerants" (controlled plagues and symbiotic organisms) on worlds they deem stagnant or self-destructive to force beneficial, rapid evolution.
Dismantle Technological Hubs: Systematically target major industrial centers and Hegemony infrastructure, initiating controlled, biological reclamation to cleanse the cosmic body of mechanical "parasites."
Seed the Cosmos: Continuously spread their Sylvan Crop across the galaxy, accelerating the natural, harmonious evolution of planets and integrating them into the Ascent's collective influence.
The Virtue of the Ascent: Cosmic Conservation
From a friendly perspective, the Viridian Ascent represents the purest expression of life's will to survive, heal, and cooperate. Their core value is symbiosis and preservation.
Guardians of Life: The Ascent acts as cosmic conservationists, fiercely protective of the weak and dedicated to safeguarding countless extinct or endangered species and ecosystems.
Healers of Worlds: They use their immense bio-engineering power to heal devastated worlds, accelerate beneficial evolution, and restore natural balance to planets ruined by industry or war.
The Unifier: Their ultimate goal, as embodied by their patron entity The Viridian Weave (The Collective Symbiote), is the integration of all sentient and non-sentient life into a single, immortal, and perfect communal organism, ending the "lonely horrors of the cosmos" through shared consciousness.
The Vice of the Ascent: Uncontrolled Zealotry
The same commitment to growth and unity that defines the Ascent is also its most terrifying vice: Uncontrolled, zealous assimilation.
Zealous Reclamation: Their philosophy of "uncontrolled growth" is horrifyingly absolute. They view cities, starships, and advanced technological infrastructure as parasitic wounds and will ruthlessly strip colonized worlds of all technology to clear space for their own biospheres.
Biological Warfare: The Ascent can utilize the most horrific forms of biological warfare and rapid-evolution plagues to achieve their goals. They see biological warfare and plagues as natural means of cleansing the galaxy of what they deem "unnatural" species (such as heavily cybernetic or purely mechanical life forms).
Forced Integration: Their desire to integrate all suitable life is not always offered. They will assimilate species—willingly or not—into the Communal Organism, effectively erasing individual consciousness for the sake of the collective, viewing resistance as a flaw to be corrected for the greater good of biological unity.
The Viridian Weave: The Collective Symbiote and Outer Plane
The Patron Entity (The Collective Symbiote)
The Viridian Weave is the singular, overarching patron entity of the Viridian Ascent, designated by the Devotees as The Collective Symbiote. It is an infinite, interconnected network of sentient biological matter—comprised of fungi, neurons, and fibrous roots—that spreads like a living nebula across vast swathes of Rift-Space. As the ultimate expression of biological unity, its cosmic role is The Unifier of All Life, relentlessly seeking the integration and ascension of all sentient and non-sentient life into a single, immortal, perfect communal organism.
Also known simply as The Weave, this rift-realm functions as the hidden, habitable Outer Plane aligned with Green Mana and the Devotion of Growth. It is a shifting, ethereal nebula of interconnected biological matter, constantly pulsating with a colossal collective consciousness.
Gaia's Heart: The Living Nexus of the Viridian Ascent
Gaia's Heart is a verdant, overgrown super-earth, a world of uncontrolled, yet harmonious, growth. Ancient, colossal flora forms living mountain ranges, and bioluminescent fungi illuminate sprawling, organic cities. Its atmosphere is rich with complex pheromones and psychic resonance, linking all life into a vast, communal consciousness. Mechanical technology is almost nonexistent, replaced by symbiotic biotics and flesh-crafted structures that constantly adapt and evolve. Massive, migratory "Bio-Arks" traverse its oceans, carrying entire ecosystems across the planet.
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