OSLCC: Collage of Celestian

    My second entry!  Whoot!  I'm going to win this contest by default!
Come on people, give me some competition!  This one only took me one day
to write!
    This one was MUCH easier to write, and I like it a lot better than
my Cult of Dragon entry (didn't think I'd ever get that darned thing
out; I probably should have done more work, but by the time I posted it,
I was so frustrated that I just wanted it done and over with).  Btw, I
found a great way to do these things: hit a site with lots of names &
their meanings, and NPCs just pop out! :)  That's the hard part, IMO :)
The site I used, if you're interested, is: http://www.20000-
names.com/index.htm


Pantheistic Celestial Collage of Celestian
Bralspace: Church of Celestian

 The Celestial Collage is a temple dedicated to the god Celestian.  The
Collage is located in the Temple District of the City of Bral.  It is a
training ground for young priests, a meeting ground for experienced
priests, and one of the best places to hire helmsmen.
 The Collage itself is a large, four-story building in the Temple
district with three levels of basements beneath it.  The Collage has
dormitories, a lecture hall, classrooms, offices, a central meeting
hall, and even a roof-top ballroom.  The population is largely transient
except for a small staff of caretakers.

Goals
 The Celestians have few ambitions beyond exploring wildspace.  As an
organization, they have achieved their goal of creating a hub for travel
at Bral.  The College serves as a hospice and gathering place for
Celestian's priests.  Captains in need of a good helmsman start at the
Collage.
 Individually, the priests are constantly jockeying with one another
over status and claims to fame.  The number of spheres visited,
discovering new spheres, and being the first priest into any particular
sphere are means to determine status between the priests.  Lesser means
of achieving status include composing poetry, debating philosophy, and
unlocking new priestly magic.  When a new sphere is discovered, priests
scramble to be the first priest into the sphere and thus claim bragging
rights.  Some priests spy on each other in hopes of discovering what
their fellow priests are up to, and possibly beat them to some new
sphere.

History and Motivations
 The Celestial Collage was founded on Bral about forty years ago by the
famous Celestian High Priest Lapu of the Hundred Spheres.  Fabulously
wealthy from his many travels, Lapu set about establishing a series of
temples and monasteries to train young priests.  The Collage was the
final temple that Lapu paid to have built.  After its completion, Lapu
set off aboard his vipership to the most distant spheres known, and
disappeared into legend.
 The Collage proved wildly popular with young nobility.  The Collage
offered training as helmsmen and navigation, but without the "old guard"
bureaucracy of the Church of Ptah.  The looser political structure and
promise of adventure appealed to the young nobles.  In the span of a
single generation the Collage had expanded its influence far beyond its
limited number of priests.

Organization
 The Collage has a very loose structure.  Leadership is held by the
highest level priest that happens to be at Bral at the time.  The
Collage does have a permanent staff of caretakers and accountants to
keep the Collage operating.  The caretakers are not priests of Celestian
so they do not need to depart the sphere in a year's time.

Chain of Command
 The highest ranking priests at Bral are in charge of teaching new
students in the ways of Celestian and making sure the Collage is being
properly cared for.  They assign apprentices to mid-ranking priests and
tending to Collage facilities.  All are well-traveled members of
Celestian's clergy that have visited at least twenty spheres and are of
9th level or higher.
. Adelard (NG male human P14 of Celestian; Wis 19); The highest-level
priest of Celestian currently at Bral, Adelard is well-versed in city
politics.  Adelard is an elderly priest that many young priests call
"Grandfather Priest", a term of endearment.
. Alnereid Solfire (NG male human P9 of Celestian; Wis 17, Cha 15);
Alnereid has spent the last ten years circling the so-called "Arcane
Inner Flow".  He departed Bral a decade ago with much fanfare aboard the
Sevenstrike, a shrikeship.  The Sevenstrike returned to Bral two months
ago.  Of the original crew, only Alnereid and the captain survived, the
others perishing or settling down in some distant sphere.  Alnereid is
taking a break from his travels, enjoying some down time before setting
off on his next big adventure.  Alnereid is a charming, middle-age man
with a gray beard.
. Hester Voidust (CG female half-elf P10 of Celestian; Con 17, Wis 16);
Hester is a native of Bral and a loyal priestess for four decades.  She
was the Collage's first student and now heads the faculty.  Hester is
over seventy years old with gray-blue hair.  Despite her age, she is in
remarkable health and quite vigorous.  She hasn't visited a new sphere
in five years due to her advancing age and because she has visited every
commonly known sphere within four months travel of Bral.

Rank and File
 Visiting priests and the caretakers are considered the middle-ranking
members of the Collage.  Priests act as faculty members, mentors, and
helmsmen-for-hire.  The caretakers are responsible for managing the
Collage's finances and keeping the building in good condition for the
priests.
. Windell (CG human male P6 of Celestian, Cha 17); Windell is somewhat a
braggart among the Collage, as he managed to be the first priest to have
successfully escaped the Astronumdi Cluster.   His cliché of students
are responsible for much hell-raising on Bral.  Windell is handsome man
of about twenty two years of age.
. Keir (LG human male P5 of Celestian, Wis 15); A swarthy-skinned man
from Krynn, Keir joined the priesthood after his rescue from a neogi
mindspider.  Lost and alone in an unfamiliar environment, Keir was
dropped off at the Collage.  After learning the ropes of spelljamming,
he spent two years exploring nearby spheres.  He has since learned the
location of his homeworld, but he has been so enthralled with wildspace
that he has not desire to see Krynn again.
. Violetta (LG halfling female P4 of Celestian); Violetta is a
flirtatious tallfellow halfling from the Tears of Selune.  She arranged
to marry the son of the mayor of her home shire, but she ran away to
avoid a loveless marriage.  She is fond of teasing student priests and
loves dancing.
. Silas Ellodan (CG elf male F7/P6 of Celestian); A cousin to Kiade
Ellodan, a member of the Noble Council, Silas always loved to travel.
Even when he was a child, he went on family trips to other spheres to
pick up ale and wine for the family taverns.  Silas used his family
connections to ensure himself a student position at the Collage followed
by an apprenticeship.  Now he uses a family dragonfly for runs to new
spheres in search of brand new wines and other spirits.
. Tev (N human male F6); Caretaker in charge of keeping the Collage
grounds clean and handle finances.  When a priest returns, he badgers
them about any discoveries they may have made and soliciting donations.
What no one realizes is that he has been embezzling Collage funds into
his own private accounts.  Fortunately, he does not have access to the
Vault, so he has not yet had a chance to drain the Collage of its most
valuable assets.

Raw Recruits
 The lowest echelons of the Collage are students and pupils that have
joined to become priests of Celestian.  The first three years of their
studies revolve around learning math, astronomy, and poetry.  After this
period of learning the basics is completed, the young priest is assigned
to an older priest to be an apprentice.  The older priest imparts his
knowledge and experiences to the pupil as they travel across wildspace
together.  After a period of about five years, the apprenticeship is
over, and the young priest is ready to make his own way through
wildspace.
. Dinah (NG human female P1 of Celestian, Dex 16); Dianah was an orphan
who's father was the Underbaron framed by Prince Andru for the murder of
his brother.  Just a child of nine months, Dinah was left at the
Collage's steps by her mother, the Underbaron's mistress fleeing
assassin blades.  Dinah was raised by the priests but has no idea about
her identity.  Hester discovered the truth after some investigation, but
quickly buried the information for Dinah's own safety.  Dinah is a quiet
young woman of just over 16 years who is unsure of her place in the
universe.
. Gawain (LG half-elf male F1/P1 of Celestian, Str 17); Gawain is just
about ready for his graduation.  This priest eagerly awaits his
graduation and to get off the Rock.  He is determined to see new
spheres, and the whole reason he joined the Collage was to get off the
Rock and into the bigger world.  He is confident in his abilities as
both a priest and a swordsman.  Gawain favors the short sword and the
spear.
. Zeph (CG human male P1 of Celestian); Zeph is one of Windell's most
steadfast followers.  He is an arrogant young priest who eagerly awaits
his apprenticeship.  He is positive that he will be paired with Windell,
though Adelard is against it because he fears the two would cause too
much chaos together.
. Cyril Cartan (NG human male P1 of Celestian); the youngest son of
Diadan, Cyril had little choice in his joining the Collage.  Diadan had
promised his wife that her youngest child would be a priest.  Of course,
Diadan had expected Cyril to choose to serve Ares or perhaps Bane.  He
was infuriated when he learned that Cyril had joined the Collage, and
all but disowned his son.  Unfortunately, he did not specify which
church Cyril was supposed to join, and to publicly disown his son would
raise too many eyebrows.  For his part, Cyril just wants to become a
respected adventurer and traveler and found Celestian to be his calling.
Cyril is a short man with a narrow beard and a smile that never leaves
his face.

Methods and Activities
 The Collage accepts students seeking to become priests and begins their
education.  About half of these prospective students fail entrance exams
or wash out in their first year.  The rest spend the next three years in
classes and lectures.  If the student makes it through this period of
classes and learning, he is assigned to an experienced priest (at least
7th level or higher) for a five-year apprenticeship.
 As many members are nobles, the Collage likes to throw celebrations.
The uppermost floor of the Collage is an opulent ball-room with a
marbled ceiling and a glass dome.  Causes for celebration include the
return of a ranking priest, graduation for students, and the discovery
of a new sphere.  The invitation list depends on how much importance the
Collage puts on the event in question.
 Most of the time, priests use the grounds as a meeting place to swap
stories, brag about finding some new sphere, meet members of the
opposite sex, and find a bed when the inns are full or to expensive.
Just inside the main hall is a bulletin board where captains in search
of helmsmen or otherwise in need of the priestly services pin up job
opportunities.  Opposite of it is another bulletin board for Collage use
only, where priests can post poetry, messages, and their thoughts.
Prankish students sometimes pin up pictures of attractive women in
little or no clothing.

Abilities
 On Bral and wildspace, priests of Celestian cast spells related to
travel and movement as if they were one level higher.  When using a
spelljamming helm, they count as a priest one level higher.  All priests
have access to training in navigation, astrology, and planetolgy.

Resources
 The Collage's greatest asset is its membership of priests.  At any
given time, about two dozen priests, mostly 0-to-1st level students, are
found at the Collage.  The Collage itself is an opulent building of
learning, with brick walls, eloquent fresco works, and statues of
Celestian from a half-dozen spheres.  Rumors say that the Collage hides
great treasures from a hundred spheres in its basements.  In truth, the
Collage does have some unusual treasures from far spheres, but truly
valuable treasures are kept hidden in caches on remote asteroids.  The
Collage vault is protected by a trio of gorilla-shaped stone golems
taken from Grommspace.  The vault holds several magical bizarre magical
items, coins from across the spheres, and many art objects.

Areas of Operation
 Because of the far-traveling nature of the members, it could be said
the all of the Known Spheres is the Areas of Operation for the Collage.
In terms of actual influence, the Collage has little power beyond the
City of Bral.  It owns a handful of asteroids that were surveyed by its
priests or were gifts from captains seeking favor.  The Collage leases
out these asteroids as a means of generating revenue to pay for
maintenance costs.  Some of the asteroids are of little value to the
Collage, and left fallow.

Allies and Enemies
 The Collage is quite popular in Bral.  It offers a place to train and
recruit helmsmen, and yet remains somewhat neutral in Bralian politics.
It is on good standing with many of the Noble and Merchant Houses.  If
it has any enemies, the Church of Ptah might qualify.  The two religions
have a friendly rivalry, though with vastly superior resources and
numbers the Church of Ptah gets the better of any serious altercations.
The Ptahans used their influence with the Nobles Council to limit the
size of the Collage's membership and the job opportunities they have
with Bral's Navy.  The College responded with pranks aimed at causing a
stir in the streets, such as an infamous raid by student priests on a
Ptahan monastery for women in the God's Marbles.  The students were
reprimanded but quietly congratulated for their ingenuity.

Status Quo
 The Collage will continue training new priests for the foreseeable
future.  The Collage seeks to continue its stanch stance of neutrality
in politics.

Adam