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Mathen Great Faiths
- Most are daughter-sibling rather than father-children
- Totals 68.5% of all population (6.43 bn)
Tal'nasc'ki
The Covenant of the Bright Light of the North Sky, often called the "The Light of the Dark Sky" faith, is a faith that dates back to antiquity, to the original tribes that colonized the Rheghenda desert and plains, which revered their ancestors, especially the mythic hero Kahrmyncetah, who built the great Forbidden Dyke in one night to hold back the Sea of the Stars. The Diserk grouping even comes from this person's name, being a shortened form of Disae'kahrmyncetah - the children of Kahrmyncetah.
The night sky is very bright in the Rheghenda desert, and several constellations are very visible, and it is said that Kahrmyncetah's wife, Alahnah, first recieved divine guidance from the sky. This was the original vision, which served as the guiding foundation of the canon.
Over time, the clergy became the rulers of the region, in a feudal structure where they were owed loyality and devotion, but in return, were to provide guidance and temporal leadership as well, to keep their flock safe.
While the government became more secular as a result of several major changes in both religious structure and approach to governance, the faith still remains a dominant belief of the Diserk and southern Rheghenda tribes (80%+)
Belief Structure
- It is tradition for someone to build shrines for the departed, such that what they are is honored as they join the ancestors in the stars.
- Birthdays are days to remember who you are, and who you want to be.
- The religion focused on beauty through form, and the creation of ephemeral memories in physical form.
- Ancestors are often honored only in the direct family line, as very far back are considered more communal.
- Due to the deemphasized nature of the clergy (although there is a formal organized clergy), rather than father-children, the relationship is often called daughter-siblings, to emphasize that at best, the priests are the favoured daughters.
Holidays
- Day of Remembrance - Roughly in the Rheghenda summer season, this holiday is a day you honor your ancestors, and those you miss. While many also make it into a day of asking your ancestors for guidance, this differs based on the tradition of the follower - several Covenant traditions feel it is irreverent to ask your ancestors and the living stars to do things for you - you do things to hold their honor up.
- Blue, Blue, Orange, Violet, Red, Violet, Green - the constellation of the tree -
- Feast at one point - moved to autumn equinox
- no longer sacrifice an important object
"The stars incline, but do not compel" Thomas Aquinas
The Mathenite Stellar Navy has the following rank structure. (Note: the codes don't match internal ranks, but it uses US paygrades for ease of reading across.)
| Cadet/Enlisted Ranks | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starfleet Rank | Old-style Rank | Starfleet Rank Index | Mathenite Rank Index | Mathenite Rank (Translated) | Mathenite Rank | Comments |
| Cadet, 4th Class | Cadet | N/A | N/A | Companion-at-Arms | Se'ri | There's no individual cadet ranks. Also, this period is usually only 2 years for a Mathenite Naval Cadet. |
| Cadet, 3rd Class | ||||||
| Cadet, 2nd Class | ||||||
| Cadet, 1st Class | Midshipwoman | N/A | Knight-Aspirant | Zal'sha | All Mathenite last years are assigned to ships as a commissioned officer. While they are *technically* superior to enlisted ranks, in practice, they are assigned often to the most experienced non commissioned officer and only to certain ships. (As such, it is listed in this table *below* the enlisted ranks. If a Knight-Aspirant needs specialized training, it will take place as a Ensign assigned to a specific ship or training station, but that is usually for very restricted jobs. | |
| Crewman, 3rd Class | Seaman Recruit | E-1 | Squire-Trainee | Fah'te | ||
| Crewman, 2nd Class | Seaman Apprentice | E-2 | Squire | Fah | Derived from the older traditions where all members of the military were a member of a chivalrous order in most of the major nations that eventually formed the Confederacy. Indeed, all members of the Mathenite Navy *now* are still considered members of a chivalrous order formally. | |
| Crewman, 1st Class | Seaman | E-3 | Squire-Superior | Fah'zi | ||
| Non Commissioned Officer Ranks | ||||||
| Starfleet Rank | Old-style Rank | Starfleet Rank Index | Mathenite Rank Index | Mathenite Rank (Translated) | Mathenite Rank | Comments |
| Petty Officer, 3rd Class | E-4 | E-4 | Sergeant | Sah | Rationalized ranks into just a few about a hundread years ago. | |
| Petty Officer, 2nd Class | E-5 | |||||
| Petty Officer, 1st Class | E-6 | |||||
| Chief Petty Officer | E-7 | E-5 | Sergeant-Master | Sah'to | Second rationalized rank - primarily because due to the changes done to warrant ranks. Warrant ranks are often added to Sergeant now, such that an officer who focused on weapons, would be "Sergant-Master, Archon of Weapons", and the internal rank is something E-4WX, with more qualified and experienced officers going up to 4. Often, as a courtesy, they'll be addressed as Archon up to W2, and Archon Commander W3/W4, while their formal title remains the same. | |
| Senior Chief Petty Officer | E-8 | E-6 | Sergant-Commander | Sah'ka | ||
| Master Chief Petty Officer | E-9 | |||||
| Command Master Chief Petty Officer | ||||||
| Warrant Officer | Chief Warrant Officer 2 | W-2 | ||||
| Chief Warrant Officer, 2nd Grade | Chief Warrant Officer 3 | W-3 | ||||
| Chief Warrant Officer, 3rd Grade | Chief Warrant Officer 4 | W-4 | ||||
| Chief Warrant Officer, 4th Grade | Chief Warrant Officer 5 | W-5 | ||||
| Commissioned Officer Ranks | ||||||
| Starfleet Rank | Old-style Rank | Starfleet Rank Index | Mathenite Rank Index | Mathenite Rank (Translated) | Mathenite Rank | Comments |
| Ensign | O-1 | Knight-Apprentice | Zal'ga | All officers are knights, but higher ranked knights were made nobility in order to command. | ||
| Lieutenant Junior Grade | O-2 | Knight | Zal | |||
| Lieutenant | O-3 | Knight-Superior | Zal'zi | |||
| Lieutenant Commander | O-4 | Knight-Superior | Zal'zi | |||
| Commander | O-5 | Knight-Master | Zal'to | |||
| Ship-Sword | Jaq'vf | The First Officer of a ship is considered the sword of the Captain, hence the formal title of Ship-Sword. It also is used to mark they are also the next in succession. | ||||
| Flag Ranks | ||||||
| Starfleet Rank | Old-style Rank | Starfleet Rank Index | Mathenite Rank Index | Mathenite Rank (Translated) | Mathenite Rank | Comments |
| Captain | O-6 | Ship-Lord | Jaq'la | The first noble rank. Nowadays, they are the lord of their domain, the ship, and by custom, captains who retire honorably, retain their "domain", their old ship existing on paper and the ship being renamed. Captains who do not retire honorably, for whatever reason, are always demoted to Knight-Master until they can regain their rank. | ||
| Fleet Captain | N/A | O-6 | O-7 | Ship-Baron | Jaq'ef | The second noble rank. Some nations call them Astral Barons, but that isn't the normalized rank in the Navy. |
| Commodore | Rear Admiral, Lower Half | O-7 | O-8 | Baron of the Fleet | Zhi'k'ef | Baron of the Fleet is a title given purely to wartime breveted commanders of either fleet or area. Viscount of the Fleet is a title given to permanent area or fleet commanders. The delimitation is used to signify first among equals. |
| Viscount of the Fleet | Zhi'k'ba | |||||
| Rear Admiral | O-8 | O-9 | Count of the Fleet | Zhi'k'we | The fourth noble rank - often in command of large areas of responsibility. The final rank one can achieve through service without having to be nominated from either within the navy or by the Parliament. | |
| Vice Admiral | O-9 | O-10 | Marquis of the Fleet | Zhi'k'ya | These officers are often in command of other admirals. This rank is rarely seen in peacetime - they often jump straight from Count to Duke. During war times, a border-march admiral is often appointed from Rear Admirals and promoted in order to free up the leaders of the navy to focus on running the navy and come up with tactics and logistics. (Often, after war, they are "promoted" to Duke of the Fleet) | |
| Admiral | O-10 | Dux of the Fleet | Zhi'k'da | Electors of the Fleet are a special rank signifying that they select the next Archdux of the Fleet. They must be a full dux of the fleet, which means they sit in command of the admiralty. In peacetime, all Admirals are Electors, but in war time, there is sufficient admirals to have some that aren't electors. | ||
| Zhi'k'daj | Duke Elector of the Fleet | |||||
| Fleet Admiral | O-11 | Archdux of the Fleet | Zhi'k'eda | The military commander of the fleet and leader of the navy. Only once has there been two fleet admirals, during the Cardassian invasion of {-120 years ago}, due to the extreme need. In this case, Archdux of the Fleet Sahrnia Zatkairo was honored with a special honoria, becoming the Magnus Dux of the Fleet, while losing her overall command of the Navy. Until she died {-95 years ago}, she was treated as an Archdux of the Fleet in practice, however. The title, by an act of Confederation shortly after it's formation, is restricted to her, and a special rank for when the nation should need a second or third Archdux - Dux Tribune - was created. | ||
| N/A | *** | Imperator of the Fleet | Zhi'k'ani | The traditional title given to the commander in chief. It is currently held by the Chairman of the Confederation. The title honors the Faal Emperor who took personal command of his fleet and saved his nation. | ||