- "Those worthy of reincarnation will taste the kiss of the Destroying Angels and be reborn as angels themselves–heretics and non-believers will kiss them and taste only death."
- ―Jannes Ruedi (from Alien: The Roleplaying Game)
Grand Seer Jannes Ruedi, also known as Jannes Ruedi Fields, was a doomsday evangelist and founder of Children of the Two Divines.
Biography
Jannes is a masterful dreamer of the macabre–his vivid night terrors are the stuff of nightmares. When he was young, Jannes made waves as a professional dreamer–his then vibrant and poetic dreams were recorded and played back for less skilled dreamers to enjoy in their cryosleep. His nightly narratives were in such demand that the company routinely paid to send him to new colonies for inspiration.
On his way to Alpha Boötis just as the Arcturian Conflicts erupted, Jannes' commercial liner decelerated from FTL into the middle of the pitched battle around that system. His ship was hit, his stasis chamber damaged, and he suffered severe head trauma. After that, his dreams turned dark–and while there was still some interest, not many people want to spend their time in cryosleep dreaming endless nightmares.
Jannes disappeared from public view for nearly two decades, eventually finding his place in the Church of Immaculate Incubation–where nightmares were the stuff of godliness. His apocalyptic dreams were shared with churchgoers during their travels to other colonies, and soon he was elevated to a Seer position. Jannes preached a more rigid interperetation of the church's tenets, claiming that the only way for people to protect themselves from the Destroying Angels in his dreams was to usher in their coming and to take the angels in their hearts.
He proved to be more commanding than the, at the time, current leaders, and soon founded the Children of the Two Divines as a splinter group.
Jannes is the worst kind of dangerous–he's a fanatic who actually believes what he is preaching. Although he made no mention of it in his life before joining the church, Jannes claims to be the illegitimate son of Duncan Fields–the infamous dream prophet of the Earthsavers. As he was born in 2104, it is possible. While technically in his eighties, Jannes spent a good twenty years of that time in cryosleep, so he appears much younger.[1]
Trivia
- Ruedi's design is heavily based off of Swiss painter H. R. Giger's likeness.