The Disciples of Grace

The Disciples of Grace started off as a religious order and a charitable organization, founded on Absalom Station in 33 ag by a mysterious human named Jarood. Jarood claimed to have been contacted by a great and powerful deity, the name of which he either didn’t know or refused to disclose. He also claimed that those who dedicated their lives to this enigmatic being would be protected and granted eternal life. Most dismissed the man as a fool or a con, believing his “prophecies” to be nothing more than a series of vague guesses that happened to apply to real events. Jarood nonetheless began to gather following of believers. The Disciples of Grace organization has become fairly known across The Pact Worlds due to the fact that the founder, Jarood, somehow still lives. Theories about this seemingly normal human abound: some suspect that he’s been replaced by an identical android or holographic image, while others believe Jarood's supposed divine gift wasn’t merely a fabrication. In reality, the real Jarood was murdered and replaced centuries ago by a Reptoid named Zagtar who couldn’t resist the idea of having a horde of fanatics who would follow his every command. Zagtar himself has long since passed on, and though the intentions of the original Jarood were lost with his life, a devious family of reptoid still uses the Disciples of Grace as a cover for something much darker: a syndicate of slavers that acquires its chattel through subtle manipulation. Structure

The current orchestrators behind the Disciples of Grace are a ruthless family of reptoids: Bes Ghabal (LE male reptoid solarian), and his children Livvi (LE female reptoid operative), Daxabti (LE female reptoid envoy), and Zirzis (LE male reptoid technomancer). These masters of infiltration take turns wearing Jarood’s identity, and they constantly invent new schemes and “prophecies” to keep the fake religion alive and continually recruit unwitting slaves. The Disciples of Grace accepts new members with open arms, but little do these well-intentioned recruits know they’re committing to a life of servitude to cunning and wicked leaders and their inner circle of wealthy sadists. It is possible to move up in the ranks of the Disciples of Grace, and even into the highest echelons of the organization, but such a promotion requires decades of work and millions of credits donated to the organization’s various “charities,” with little in return. Only after these steadfast members move up through the ranks and prove their trustworthiness and loyalty do they begin to gain sight of the true machinations of the Disciples of Grace. Before being promoted to the inner circle, one last “ritual,” known as the Learning, requires the member in question to study a printed tome that details the true nature of the organization. The member then makes a choice: join the inner circle and partake in the sadistic actions of the upper crust, freed from perpetual labor and presented with all of the organization's luxuries, or eschew their evil lifestyle and become labeled a heretic—and quickly put to death. Most members who make it this far have lost sight of their societal mores and accept the offer without a second thought.

Public Agenda

Though the Ghabals indulge in their laundered wealth and the power their loyal following bestows upon them, they would soon grow bored with the lifestyle if wasn’t all so entertaining to them. They seek to eventually spread the word of Jarood and his mysterious deity beyond even The Pact Worlds, where they hope to find access to more resources, which they will gladly monopolize and harvest with the grueling hard labor of their legions of “volunteer clergy.”

Assets

The Disciples of Grace obtain most of their wealth from their popular, system-spanning chain of secondhand and vintage stores. Under the guise of charity shops, these fronts funnel money into a series of fake beneficiaries that the leaders of the Disciples can pull funds from as they please. The organization also secretly owns an armada of starships, including a massive cathedral-ship known as Grace’s Claw. This imposing, stark-white cruiser serves as the organization’s headquarters, in which the inner circle conspires while living opulent lives built on the credits and labor of followers. Any unsuspecting pirates who would attempt to plunder this extravagant but vulnerable-looking ship would be surprised to find that the ship has enough weaponry to blast any would-be raiders out of the sky before they could even react.

History

There are legions of conspiracy theorists on the infospheres who suspect the Disciples of Grace of nefarious doings. Though they’ve yet to prove it, many are convinced the organization is run by reptoids or other types of impostors. One such group of theorists, who call themselves the Seekers, is gathering intelligence on the Disciples in the hope of eventually taking them down once the Seekers have access to the resources to do so.