I really enjoyed the blog post. I've always been fascinated by advanced civilizations and their relationship with religion especially ones where the ramifications of faith are really explored. The
Hyperion Cantos did this pretty well, albeit a bit heavy-handed toward the end. What I can't stand are cardboard cutouts of current religious institutions just overlaid on top of futuristic societies. The "what" of religion is not nearly as important as the "why" and a lot of sci-fi/fantasy authors get lost in the former (or use it as a polemic) or fail to understand the latter.
What I appreciate about the Church in Starsector is that it's not the joke faction (that belongs to the Diktat
and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth... It's just a bunch of normal folks trying to make it and while there's a ruling polity and bureaucracy like everywhere else, they don't seem to be as caught up in the rat race. I'm glad I'll have more reason to interact with them now. I've avoided the Church for the most part purely for gamesmanship reasons: they don't have the ships I want, they don't really have an aesthetic that appeals to me, and I've always felt that they're just not major players. Brother Cotton is a very interesting figure though and I look forward to more interactions with him.
The Pilgrim's Path quest is interesting because while I don't expect the player character to drink the Kool-aid by the end, I'm cautiously optimistic that there is still a lesson to be learned from faith that will influence player's choices when they (inevitably) reach the moral event horizon. Strangely, the Church may be closer to the
via media than any of the other factions with their hands on the plow but heads in the stars. Having grown up around some agrarian communities, there's a basic appreciation for things that grow and the changing of the seasons. It doesn't mean you eschew modern comforts but at least you have some perspective on the simpler life.
In my head canon, Ludd was right. The Domain's reach was beyond its grasp and the Collapse was as catastrophic as it was predictable. Ludd didn't need to be a literal prophet to see the writing on the wall but anyone butting against the status quo tends to get put down pretty hard by the system. I would absolutely *love* to see a return of Ludd, as I don't think too many sci-fi stories try to wrestle with the ramifications of the savior of faith returning as promised. Of course, "if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." Would the Church and the Path split? Would the Sector at large change in any meaningful way? Would Ludd's return, and of course, whatever revelation he brings even be accepted by the faithful (or by the skeptics)? Would his return be heralded with signs and wonders or would it come not as a bang, but a whimper?