BARD PAPER: OPAL5008

Mission

X574403-5

by Lewis Roberts

Since 552 Mission has been the site of the main temple of the Word of God. In 657 the Word overthrew the ruling military dictatorship in a bloodless coup. They then set up the Word's Patriarch as the ruler of the world. During the Rebellion the Word declared for Margret and called for the faithful to take up arms in her defense.

During the Collapse the world broke up into hundreds of small farming and mining towns, with no central government. The Word still survives, though it is much weaker than it was. The individual parish priests now rule their villages and have very little contact with the Patriarch. The Patriarch rules the largest city of Genld which is centered on the Temple. The people are happy with the current situation. Efforts to unite the towns under a central authority have so far failed, though no one has tried to use force of arms. In general the citizens of Mission are content to go about their business and to ignore the rest of the galaxy.