Caelari System

The Caelari System lies deep within the Shackleton Expanse, its three inhabited worlds bound together by a single faith: the Communion of Light. For centuries, the Caelarians have believed their civilisation to be the chosen stewards of cosmic harmony, guided by the will of the divine through vast monuments called the Radiant Spires. These towering crystalline structures rise from each world’s surface and for millennia bathed their skies in shifting auroras, symbols of unity, devotion, and the enduring peace that has defined Caelari society for millennia.

Months ago, the Spires fell dim.

Overview

The Caelari System orbits a luminous white-yellow star encircled by a dense belt of refractive dust, giving the system’s skies their distinctive pearlescent hue. Three of its planets are inhabited:

• Caelari Prime, the capital and spiritual heart of the Communion, is a temperate world of silver-blue seas and crystalline mountains where the greatest of the Radiant Spires pierces the sky above the holy city of Varanesh.
• Tiryn, a fertile outer world, serves as the system’s agricultural bedrock and home to millions of devout farmers and artisans. Its people are deeply conservative and view themselves as guardians of tradition.
• Orran, an industrial frontier world, houses shipyards and mining colonies that have long chafed under the central clergy’s authority. Its citizens live under the same faith but see it as a chain of control rather than divine truth.

The three worlds are linked by a network of trade routes and religious pilgrim convoys that ferry goods, people, and faith between them. The fall of the Shroud has even brought visitors and traders from other systems, who are received warmly enough, though with some surprise and confusion that they do not share the Caelari’s faith.

The Caelari

The Caelari are tall, slender humanoids with smooth, opalescent skin that refracts light in soft colours, and silver or white eyes adapted to their bright native sun. Their hair ranges from pale blond to shimmering metallic tones. They are long-lived by human standards, with a strong cultural emphasis on composure and ceremonial grace. Kaelari body language is subtle and deliberate; every movement is considered a reflection of spiritual balance.

Culturally, the Caelari revere the principle of Radiance - the belief that the soul is a vessel of divine light, strengthened through endurance. The Communion of Light binds faith, governance, and art into a single order that prizes serenity and self-mastery. From birth, Caelarians are taught that hardship tempers the spirit, that suffering borne with dignity illuminates the path to transcendence. Public ritual reinforces this doctrine: dawn recitations praising endurance, the evening Vigil of Shadows where citizens confess their failings, and the annual Festival of Purity, when penitents fast and flagellate themselves with bands of photonic light to ‘burn away’ imperfection beneath the Spires.

Though Caelari Prime’s upper clergy live amid radiant splendour, the burden of purification falls upon the outer colonies. Their labour and sacrifice are celebrated as proof of faith - yet it is they who toil in the refineries and shipyards, their suffering exalted as the system’s spiritual foundation. Over time, this dogma of strength through pain has created a serene but rigid order, one that has endured for centuries under the glow of the Radiant Spires.

The Spires fell dim months ago, ushering in a new era of uncertainty for the Caelari. Many have responded by falling back on their old traditions, while others are emboldened to raise questions once dismissed as heresy. Pilgrimages have turned into protests, and the Council of Spires on Caelari Prime struggles to keep order as truth and belief collide across the system.

Encounters

Unsurprisingly, the ‘Radiant Spires’ are the constructs of the Vezda that caused the Shroud, and the time of their dimming into inactivity coincided with the Shroud’s fall. Millennia ago, the Vezda presented themselves as gods or rulers to the Caelari, influencing them to build the Spires and leaving an indelible mark on their culture and faith. This AOR is based on an ancient faith with a sinister origin being threatened as the galaxy changes, and the cultural fallout.

Some possible encounter ideas include:

• The First Contact: Starfleet arrives with the Spires dim for months. The Caelari welcome them with courtesy and allow them to study the Spires, unaware what will be found. The discovery of their Vezda origin risks shattering their peace, giving your crew a decision to make.
• The Scholars’ Dilemma: A Starfleet or Romulan Republic research team (perhaps a TF asset?) already on Caelari Prime requests extraction or mediation. Their findings about the Spires’ origins have been shared or leaked, and tensions among the Caelarians are heightening.
• Dreaming of Caelari: For months since the Spires fell, people across the system have had dark dreams of suffering and grim overlords that match records on Vezda imagery, driving the spreading doubt in the Communion of Light. What lies behind the dreams - perhaps some lingering telepathic influence of Vezda ruins or technology?
• The Heretics of Orran: Orran’s industrial world, led by workers and reformist clergy, declares independence, denouncing the Communion as built on lies. The clergy on Caelari Prime impose a trade blockade, and food shortages loom. Starfleet must decide whether to mediate or deliver aid without inflaming tensions.
• The Broken Pilgrimage: Millions of pilgrims set out for the Spires to ‘cleanse’ the heresy, believing the dimming was caused by doubt. The journey becomes a humanitarian disaster as shortages and fanaticism spread. Federation aid could save lives, but appear as blasphemous interference.
• Faith in Exile: Reformist priests flee Caelari Prime and request asylum aboard Starfleet vessels, carrying relics and data proving the Vezda connection. The Council demands their return for ‘heresy.’ Do you grant protection or uphold local law?
• Foreign Meddling: The Romulan Republic or Klingon Empire sees opportunity in the unrest. Republic envoys back reformers; Klingon Houses support the old faith for ‘stability.’ The Federation’s neutrality is tested as local factions seek outside patrons.

This AOR focuses on questions of diplomacy and faith among the ethics of interventionism, as well as the scientific intrigue of the study of the Spires themselves. The Prime Directive means Starfleet cannot fix everything - but the Vezda have already intervened, and many desperate factions may request help or mediation.

In Play

• The Caelari are not a primitive people, but one of poise, ceremony, and conviction. Their devotion to the Communion of Light is sincere and deeply ingrained, giving every interaction with outsiders a veneer of serene civility. Beneath this composure, fear and doubt run deep since the dimming of the Spires.
• The Communion of Light is not a cruel theocracy, but a faith of endurance; one that sanctifies struggle and obedience. The revelation of its Vezda origin is less about proving evil than confronting a culture built on suffering as virtue. Play up moral complexity: faith and beauty alongside exploitation and guilt.
• There is an undeniable class inequality under the surface of the Caelari, with the outer worlds feeling the harsher effects of the Communion of Light, while the homeworld benefits from the loyalty and obedience it brings.
• Starfleet officers should be treated as honoured guests, especially by the clergy of Caelari Prime, who see their arrival as a chance to reaffirm divine purpose. Reformists on Orran or Tiryn, however, may see them as messengers of truth or as tools to break centuries of control.