The following page is a secret brief that is only available to those affiliated to your faction. It represents a significant investment of IC time and effort, and the other members of your faction have gone out of their way to ensure that this information is not public knowledge. Please do not copy and paste the contents to other players.

With that proviso you may feel free to communicate the information IC using your own words. Of course, considering how much IC time and effort has gone into maintaining the conspiracy, your faction members may not like you spreading their secrets, and if you are caught doing so you may face significant IC consequences.

“I swear this oath in full understanding of the consequences should I break it. I swear upon my life. I swear upon the lives of those close to me. I swear upon the future of humanity.”

“Astrology is a sacred duty; not for prediction but for guidance. I shall not shirk my duty to the ship and its crew.”

“Astrology is a secret duty; not for the hearts of the people. I shall not reveal my actions nor the actions of my brothers and sisters.”

“Astrology is a sovereign duty; not for the weak of will. I shall seek power that our guidance may continue.”

You swore this oath, whether gladly or reluctantly, when you sought to join the inner circles of the Astrologers. The oath is taken seriously and brooks no challenge. Tales are still told of the last person to break the oath by revealing too much; their death, and that of the people they spoke to, was so horrifying it is only hinted at in hushed whispers. For better or worse this oath binds you now.

The truth is, astrology is a sham.

Except it isn't, really. It can't predict the future. The Astrologers instead make the future they predict come to pass. The rituals and the funny robes? They're there to keep up the illusion.

The Astrologers trace their origins back into the far reaches of the journey, from a philosopher known as Beren. Her works have long been erased from the ship's databanks to keep them safe, but the principles are etched deep into the Astrologers' collective memory. Beren saw it as her duty to establish a firm guiding hand on the ship's future, to make certain that rogue elements did not cause disaster. The Astrologers were founded to be that guiding hand. Their mission is to manipulate events onboard as part of a grand plan, likened to playing out the moves of a Great Game.

The scale of the Great Game's play is long, and it is played with many pieces. The Astrologers examine society for trends and hope to guide them in a positive direction. They seize on key events and ensure that they do not tip the scales too far in any direction. They look for important individuals and powerful groups and push them towards the right actions. They key to everything they do, however, is patience. The right event at the right place at the right time can have a huge effect on history.

Members of the Astrologers have their claws in the NGF leagues, in entertainment shows, in key crew positions, and many more places across the ship. Not all of the Astrologers' activity is known to every member, certainly not to junior members - the circles of trust grow ever deeper and ever smaller as one learns more. But in the great tradition of Navigation, the Astrologers debate important plans between themselves, raising issues and mooting solutions. The Great Game is not one plan, but many many smaller ones intertwined like threads in a tapestry.

And amongst this, actively encouraged by the group at large, are the personal grabs for fame and glory in the guise of “predicting the future”. The Astrologers need influence to bolster their collective power so that they can ensure that they are in a position to continue playing the Game - and the simplest way to do this is to maintain an illusion of prescience for the credulous to admire.