Cult of the Saints Cameron
Sarna News
| Cult of the Saints Cameron | |
|---|---|
| Faction Profile | |
| Time period: | 2751 - Present |
| Classification: | Religious Organization |
| Military: | Knights of St. Cameron |
The Cult of the Saints Cameron is a religious order that venerates the Cameron bloodline, and originally called the Believers of the Saints Cameron. Referring to themselves as Believers, they first appeared following the seemingly unrelated events of Jonathan Cameron's writings to his wife Ludmella Cameron and his sister Mother Jocasta being publicized and the vision of Sergeant Heinz Mann.
Contents
History
Following Jonathan's 2738 death by stroke, the Star League's ten-year rule on declassifying personal and official papers began to toll. The Court of the Star League staff began collecting and publishing his writings in book form beginning in 2748. The almost prophetic nature of these writings was a source of great public interest for a time, though most dismissed them as mere curiosities there were some who took his dreams to be visions of the future. In 2751 Sergeant Mann fell into a medically unexplained eight-day coma and awoke with visions of slaughtered Camerons. Mann's coma and visions were linked in the media similar occurrences years prior that were largely forgotten before then, Lieutenant Saul Robstein in 2739 and Private Sandra Ustus in 2742 whose vision seemed to predict Simon Cameron's 2751 assassination. Believers latched onto these visions, combining them with Jonathan Cameron's writings to create common beliefs and rituals. Central to this was that Jonathan and Jocasta were Saints, watching over the Star League from Heaven.[1][2]
The 2753 meeting of Richard Cameron and Stefan Amaris catapulted the Believers into the mainstream as it appeared to have been predicted in a 2703 dream which Jonathan described to his sister:
| “ | a Cameron child shall stand before a distant ruler and be beguiled by his rough country ways and the interests they share. I fear for the child because the distant ruler has cruel, | ” |
Membership exploded, soon numbering more than fifty million with many Believers in influential social and political positions. The SLDF also had several Believers in their ranks, in no small part due to the affiliation of Robstein, Ustus, and Mann. The symbols of the Believers appeared everywhere, even on the WarShips, DropShips, BattleMechs, and vehicles of the faithful.[4] Ironically, despite near holy writings pointing to Amaris' ill intentions towards Richard Cameron and iconography of a Bloody Throne, the Believers were unable to foresee or forestall Mann's vision. Richard Cameron was personally killed by Amaris on 27 December 2766, followed by at least 21 other members of the Cameron family. Amaris gave them the option of fealty, or death. One by one all would refuse to bend the knee to Amaris, until a distant cousin Jason Cameron-Bashina bowed and pledged his loyalty, for which Amaris shot him with the same pistol used on the First Lord. Amaris' guards cut down the rest of the family and then sealed the Throne Room behind them, leaving dozens of Cameron bodies in pools of their own blood next to a Bloody Throne.[5] As the Hegemony collapsed, many Believers among the Court were able to escape, including Court Archivist Gerrit van Munster who brought with him personal writings of Jonathan that were not able to be released to the public due to security concerns. These writings would be known to only the most senior leaders among the Believers, and foretold a coming apocalypse that would overtake all of humanity.[6][1][2]
In preparation for this apocalypse, the Believers had begun establishing bases on remote planets throughout the Inner Sphere and Periphery even before the Amaris Coup. Their wealth was converted into universally fungible assets like gold and gems and stockpiles of food, supplies, and military assets were secreted away in strategic caches. Perhaps most prescient of all was the dissemination of the data core copies of the Prometheus network, a massive database of soon-to-be lost knowledge that was accessible to universities and libraries in the Terran Hegemony. While these perpetrations would serve the Believer communities well during the horrors of the First Succession War, the loss of generations who had a personal connection to the mystique of the Camerons caused membership to wane as time passed, hastened by internal theological divisions and differing interpretations. By the Third Succession War the Believers had nearly faded from public consciousness, with small pockets known to exist in the Periphery and Lyran Commonwealth, and the occasional sighting of mysterious monks or nuns in homespun cloth rendering aid to those in need.[2][6]
- See Also: Knights of St. Cameron
In 2956 the Cult made a more public appearance when Kommandant Martin Gluck, retired from the Twenty-ninth Lyran Guards the year prior, announced the creation of the Knights of St. Cameron. Recruiting exclusively from those who could trace their heritage to SLDF family members, he quickly raised two ’Mech regiments to take part in "the struggle between good and evil, in which the knight is always the Lord's first defense." It is unknown how much of the Knights membership was composed of Believers, but their tactical similarities with Order Templars indicates at least some. Both regiments of the Knights were believed destroyed in January 3052 when Clan Wolf's Beta Galaxy struck Domain and Rastaban in swift succession. Unknown to those outside of Clan Wolf and ComStar, the survivors of Domain were not completely destroyed, instead mysteriously vanishing into the city of Kusson or the Kusson Mountain Range beyond. ComStar suspected they might have joined the Clans.[7][8][9][10]
The appearance of the Clans coincided with a increase in Believer sightings in the coreward regions, though it is unknown if this was to gather information on the Clans or in response to a vision or prophecy. One such sighting on La Grave in 27 December 3051 alleged to have a Believer wielding a St. Cameron's Templar Vibrosword take down two Elementals in order to save an ejected Fifth Davion Guards JagerMech MechWarrior.[11][12][13] When the Clan's true nature was revealed at the Outreach Conference, membership in the Cult began to grow for the first time in centuries. This growth only increased in late 3053 when an ancient Monolith-class JumpShip, the Jonathan Cameron, heavily laden with Star League-era supplies and equipment appeared in Main Street system. On board was Colonel Mortimer Dewey and a battalion of the second regiment who vanished on Domain.[7][8][14]
The FedCom Civil War saw even more growth for the Cult, as several previously obscure dreams and visions seemed to refer to the events of that conflict. The Knights' performance in the battle of Fort Loudon further added to the rolls. As the Jihad burned through the Inner Sphere, the Knights took part in the liberation of Galatea. Returning to Donegal to prepare for the next strike against the Word of Blake, a Leviathan-class jumped into the system and disembarked a lone DropShuttle. Landing at the Knights' cantonment a lone man wearing the homespun robes and sword of the Cult emerged, and then immediately sequestered himself away with Colonel Dewey in the regiment's mobile HQ. Various members of the command staff joined the two over the three day conference, at the conclusion of which the man boarded his DropShuttle and returned to the JumpShip. The regiment immediately struck camp, boarded their own Overlord DropShips, and departed the system aboard their two Invader-class Jumpships and the Leviathan.[14][15][8][16]
The Believers had been nearly silent since, their leadership having decided to shepherd their strength for the apocalyptic confrontation they believe Jonathan Cameron predicted. This changed in late 3152 what Sister Claire, a member of the Jangso Order for nearly a decade had a series of visions leadership had been awaiting. "Men and women in armor," bearing "shields" adorned with the "Cameron Star," "riding black stallions, going to the aid of people screaming in terror," to fight against "dragons and bears, hounds and birds." Believing Sister Claire's vision to be the foretold call to arms the Jangso Order, and perhaps others throughout the Sphere, began preparing their hidden DropShips and Knights of St. Cameron contingent for war.[17]
Prophets and Messengers
Jonathan Cameron & Saul Robstein
Jocasta Cameron & Sandra Ustus
Heinz Mann
Aleksandr Kerensky
Simon Cameron
Steve Thorvald
Organization
Known Members
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Star League, p. 72: "Cult of the Saints Cameron"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2, p. 70: "Origins of the Cult of the Saints Cameron"
- ↑ Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2, p. 74: "Views of the Future"
- ↑ Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2, p. 72: "Symbols"
- ↑ Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 28: "The Throne Room Massacre"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2, p. 74: "Gamemaster's Section"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2, p. 71: "The Knights of St. Cameron"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Field Manual: Mercenaries, Revised, p. 83: "Knights of St. Cameron: Knights Errant"
- ↑ Wolf Clan, p. 68: "Domain (FC) & Rastaban (FC)"
- ↑ Campaign: Wolf Howl
- ↑ Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2, p. 73: "Cult of the Saints Cameron"
- ↑ Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 43: "La Grave"
- ↑ I Was Lost
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2, p. 72: "Modern Times"
- ↑ FedCom Civil War (sourcebook), pp. 32-34: "Ft. Loudon"
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3076, pp. 102-103: "Knights of St. Cameron Vanish"
- ↑ No Substitute for Victory, Epilogue