Category:Church Of The Dragon Ascendent

Church of the Dragon Ascendant

An almost millennia old religious faction the CODA promotes peace and enlightenment but are prepared for war and defense.

Historical & Background Information On The Dragon Ascendant

The Church Of The Dragon Ascendant is a religious sect that started in the Elharnian Combine in 5238 by their High Priestess Mu-Fu Lieng-Po [of Elharnian and Human/Chinese-Japanese Descent] the sect believes in the Celestial Dragon and the Galactic Ley Lines [or dragon lines]. They believe that one day during a great cataclysm the Celestial Dragon will return to the universe at large and use the Dragon Lines to reshape the past, present, and future, and grant all of his followers eternal life within the Dragon Lines allowing them access to the knowledge of the Universe.

The still current leader of the COTDA is High Priestess Mu-Fu Lieng-Po, a dark beauty who inherited both her Chinese mother’s beauty and her Elharnian father’s grace. The Priestess has stated that she has traveled to the core of the Dragon Lines and met the Celestial Dragon and was granted eternal life by the being. Although the Priestess of mixed descent and born before the current sixth generation of anti-aging nannites was created she has not aged a single day. It should also be known that Lieng-Po is the sole heir to the Arthindall Pharmaceutical Company [which she inherited from her father] and she has not neglected this duty as she expands her religion, she has actually managed to increase her company’s wealth and only uses a small portion of this to fund the COTDA. She also does not require her employees to join the COTDA, but she is such a charismatic leader that 75% of her employees are also members of the church.

The COTDA abhors all things magical but does observe a certain mysticism that borders on the psychic and quite a few of the higher ranked priests in the church are able to do healing and blessing although this is not seen as true magic but as a divine blessing.

Outside the priesthood there are four other branches of the church, Breath of the Dragon, Wisdom of the Dragon, Fangs of the Dragon, and Maidens of the Dragon.

The third branch is the Fangs of the Dragon and act as a royal guard for the Priestess and is the smallest sect in the church number slightly over 1200.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-background-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Church Of The Dragon Ascendant Timeline

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Forthcoming. <p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-shading: white; mso-pattern: solid black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Branches Of The Church <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Church has four branches the Breath, the Wisdom, the Fangs, and the Maidens of the Dragon, the following section details each of these branches.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-shading: white; mso-pattern: solid black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Breath of the Dragon

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Breath of the Dragon is made up entirely of the personnel that crew the churches vessels [paramount among these are the fleet carriers Wind Of The Dragon and Blessings of the Celestial Dragon]. While not a military power the church does operate several hundred vessels. The Breath of the Dragon operates as protectors for other non-combat vessels of the church and also aid in relief efforts and can often be found working alongside the GMA after a natural disaster has occurred. The Breath has also been known to work with the Elharnian and Theban Cluster naval forces a few times to bring down particularly despicable pirates or raiders.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Breath of the Dragon operates a single fleet carrier and 408 battle cruisers. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-background-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Uniforms And Insignia of the Breath of the Dragon

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Most times members of the Breath of The Dragon are found wearing naval uniforms reminiscent of Chinese/Japanese uniforms of the early to mid 20th century CE. However like most naval forces both military and civilian the Breath wears mono-film duty suits underneath their uniforms which are a deep blue in color with a tan and light blue dragon coiled around the suit starting at the ankle of the left leg and ending with the head just above the hip and breathing a column of flame towards the opposite hip.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-shading: white; mso-pattern: solid black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Wisdom of the Dragon

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Wisdom of the Dragon is made up entirely of the clergy, researchers, archivists, and scientists that exclusively serve the church [members who fall into this category but are not full time servants of the church occasionally spend terms with the Wisdom to better understand their religion]. The Wisdom of the Dragon researches prophecies, technologies, Feng-Shui, the Dragon Lines and Galactic phenomena to help their members better understand the religion.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-background-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Uniforms And Insignia of the Wisdom of the Dragon

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Most times members of the Wisdom of The Dragon are found wearing uniforms that are a combination lab coat and kimono. However like the more militant branches of the church the Wisdom wears mono-film duty suits underneath their uniforms which are a deep green in color with a tan and light green dragon coiled around the suit starting at the ankle of the left leg and ending on the central chest with several scrolls clutched in each claw.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-shading: white; mso-pattern: solid black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Fangs of the Dragon

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Fangs of the Dragon is the ceremonial guard of the High Priestesses and only number around 1200 [approximately the size of a Theban Cluster Battalion].

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">While the smallest sect of the Church the Fangs actually have a rather large reserve membership since most members of the Church with military backgrounds have served in at one time or another.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-background-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Uniforms And Insignia of the Fangs of the Dragon

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Most times members of the Fangs of The Dragon are found wearing Samurai-style armor [albeit high tech and made of modern composite materials]. However like the other branches of the church the Fangs wear mono-film duty suits underneath their uniforms which are a deep red in color with a tan and light red dragon coiled around the suit starting at the ankle of the left leg and ending on the central chest with a Naginata grasped in one claw and a Katana in the other.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-shading: white; mso-pattern: solid black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Maidens of the Dragon

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Maidens of the Dragon are chosen from the most beautiful and graceful of the un-married and unattached female members of the Church and they willingly join the Maidens, quite a few volunteer, but not many get in, most maidens serve until one of the members of the church or a dignitary that they’ve pleasured asks them for their hand. Among other jobs they also act as hand maidens for the High Priestesses and act as a final line of defense in case of attackers. They act as concubines aboard the Priestesses ship, generally the High Priestess travels with a retinue of 250 maidens, and most churches have at least one maiden and depending on size up to 25.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: black; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-background-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Uniforms And Insignia of the Maidens of the Dragon

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Most times members of the Maidens of The Dragon are found wearing Yukatas or Kimonos. However like the other branches of the church the Maidens wear mono-film duty suits underneath their uniforms which are a snowy white in color with a tan and gold dragon coiled around the suit starting at the ankle of the left leg and ending on the back with a scroll in one claw and a brush in the other, with a background of cherry trees in bloom.