Seance

“

With 10 sides—eight long, horizontal slats and two octogonal cap-sides—this vessel has the largest usable surface area of any in the fleet, and houses nearly one third of the fleet’s population—second in residents only to The By and By. Yet it is also the youngest city-ship in the fleet. For over 29,000 years, (and due to their own beliefs about the value of free-flight), the devotees of Empyrean had no interest in maintaining a ship of their own. After the tenth death, though, the sect saw a necessity: Not only must the refugees of the other divines find perch, but the material remains of the fallen Divines could not be left to float in the dark, alone. Today, Seance is divided into over two hundred districts, each of which features one or more elements built from the remains of the holy departed.”

– The Living Library of Memorious // VOLUME 277χ, "The Last Divine" episode description

Template:Infobox settlementSeance is the second-most populous city-ship in the Divine Fleet, and the only one with a surviving guardian, the Divine Empyrean.

Appearance

Seance is an octagonal prism in space with a large Victorian-style city wrapping around it on each side. One octagonal cap of the ship has a large booster rocket and there are fins on its edges between its faces. The interior or underground sections have ship controls and engineering necessities.

With no physical barrier between the city and the space around it, pedestrians on its streets can look out to the perpetual sunrise and sunset tones of the Twilight Mirage. There are lots of parks and lakes, slicing their way through space.

Culture

The tone of the ship is a sort-of resignation: its people had previously had lots of power, holding the keys to the virtual reality that everyone lives in. They were very influential, but there is a sense that maybe there has come a time for them to step away and let those with more active Divines step up—except that now theirs is the only Divine remaining. And now Empyrean is dispersed, creating the Twilight Mirage, so the people feel like their Divine is not there, even when it is.

Their most and least favored ship is the By-and-By. They think that ship should take over as leader but also hate the thought of it. They feel both they must rely on Anticipation's crew, and that the "good old days" have passed.

They have a rule on Seance: "Never perch where there is already a bird." Because of that, this ship has specifically never tried to colonize any other world that was not barren. Empyrean does not like the notion of displacing anyone else, but is also now in the position of being the last Divine.