The Castaways
The story of Tellus and her adventures through time is far longer than the scope of this scholarly pursuit. However, the genesis of this story goes back to the very beginning of life on the planet. That is to say, to the very beginning of carbon based life forms surviving and thriving upon our planet, Tellus. The research herein was assigned by professor Renshi, of The Bardic College Campus's Parahistory1 Department.
There is very little known about the secretive group who call themselves the Castaways. Their number differs depending on who one is listening to, as most of the information about them has been passed on in snippets of longer stories. There are no known compendia of legend, lore, tale or mythos about them...in any of the known languages. Yet, there is reference to them in the cultural backdrop and fabric of every society we have found upon Tellus, including the known extinct ones. The Tolmecs, for example, referred to a figure they called Atl Okitchtli, who upon study is an obvious depiction of a mythical deep water sailor known around Pax as The Captain.
Yet another example of the Castaways would be a character in folklore many have called Alladin, or al-Adin. This is a character who, unlike the other three, has taken 
pains to hide his nature as an (apparent) immortal. Every few thousand years or so, he changes his back story and moves to another part of the world, according to an extensive chronology created by cross-referencing folklore and tales about al-Adin the Sailor, or Alladin the Lover, depending on where the folklore being studied is from; Pax, or Taisha. We actually have a love letter from a Taishan ruler, another long lived person. An empress called Sheherizade the Temptress.
The final two members of this auspicious group are, improbably enough, twins. Po Arendarensai and Col Arendarensai also, again improbably, do not disseminate when they are asked questions about their past. People simply do not believe them. Recently (within the last thousand years), Col founded the Llank-Ryu monastary while Po did much of the work founding the Order of Oghma. The organizations became so effectively entwined it
is ofttimes difficult to tell them apart. Po founded the Thornleaf-do monastary, adopted Cora Thornleaf, and managed to live her life quietly fopr a time, before Thornleaf-do was destroyed by Querilarnikax and Shayna working together. Neither of them has been seen since 5427NG, when Mount Grey exploded, destroying the Llank-ryu monastary nestled upon its flanks.
...and so, Atl Okitchtli slid away, drawn by clouds, just as he had arrived. He and his mate had save all of us, yet he just smiled and went away, as if helping us was why he had shown up in the first place...
In Tolmec lore, he was a white skinned human, with a great bushy beard, who supposedly organized a fleet of vessels to secret away the entire population to Taisha, where they could escape the coven of Sea Hags that had been controlling their island nation2.
There are four of an original seven left, if tales are to be believed, and the deeper the research has taken the research team, the more the team believes that they are, indeed, believable.
Excerpt from the Atl Amoxtli
by Nightcafe AI
by Nightcafe AI
Upon a time, a sailor named al-Adin came upon a cliff, so tall that its top was lost even to al-Adin's eagle eyed view. He sailed with the barrier on his left shoulder for forty days, and forty nights, and still the titanic cliff taunted our heroic voyager, al-Adin. He signaled to his brave crew to slow the ship; and there, in plain sight of all of his men, al-Adin unexpectedly and expertly dove gracefully into the tumultuous sea, and swiftly navigated the deadly eddies and breaking waves to the base of the cliff. He stood there, arms akimbo, serenely contemplating the barrier before him. His wet hair and clothing dried as he thought, so long did he stand there. With his straight, black locks streaming in the wind before him, al-Adin then began to climb. Slowly, did he ascend. Completely unhurriedly, the hero of the realm drew himself up into the clouds with the strength of his own body; physical phenom, as he was. The crew wailed, and gnashed their finely filed teeth as they pulled at their hair; shouting "He has risen and is gone!" in a great cacophony of swelling voices and screams of terror. Abandoning their posts, the crew never even noticed that the ship drifted ever closer to the ravages of the biting rocks below the cliffs.
Excerpt from the "History of Kowloon Walled City
The final two members of this auspicious group are, improbably enough, twins. Po Arendarensai and Col Arendarensai also, again improbably, do not disseminate when they are asked questions about their past. People simply do not believe them. Recently (within the last thousand years), Col founded the Llank-Ryu monastary while Po did much of the work founding the Order of Oghma. The organizations became so effectively entwined it
Structure
Ship's crew.
Culture
They have been tested, over the years. They have had enough of them. Three of them have died off over the ensuing ages of the world...more than a hundred thousand years has passed since the near disaster, and still they are driven to help in some way.
Public Agenda
A social club, basically; the four surviving crew of the S/V Cassiopeia.
Assets
They will still meet aboard the Cassiopeia when they get the urge to talk with one another, usually about the world they lost, Earth.
History
There was a blip during the terraformation process, during which the genetic makeup of every creature in the process' sphere of influence was changed; including the engineers running the entire process. Each of the differing sapient species was engendered at the time, and the seven scientists controlling the seven Vekhet Sphere were changed more than the others. It is hypothesized that the nanites somehow fused with their bodies during the spheres' hurried rush to get back to optimal performance levels.
They have been alive ever since.
Foreign Relations
They stay very deeply behind the scenes if they ever emerge from their lives.
1 The writer had nothing to do with the Good Professor's unfortunate nickname!
2 The Aglethelial Hag Coven was finally destroyed by an adventuring group calling themselves The God Punchers, in 5427NG
Beyond Despair
Type
Civilian, Crew
Alternative Names
The crew
Predecessor Organization
Demonym
crewmates
Leader
Leader Title
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Democracy, Direct
Official State Religion
Organization Vehicles
Aware
The The High King's Seat knows all about them, and has a back channel communication channel to them.
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