Free Spirit

The Free Spirit is a multinational cult, devoted to the development of the perfect human. They are the primary antagonists of Venus Prime.

Early History
The origins of the Free Spirit date back to the Brethren of the Free Spirit, a heretical sect that flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries, a period of considerable political and spiritual turmoil in Western Europe. Between the conflict between the Avignon Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperor, the Hundred Years' War between England and France, and the Black Plague, Western Europeans began to lose faith in the Catholic Church, and thus new heretical sects like the Brothers emerged. The Brothers, whose adepts called themselves prophetae, preached about love, freedom, and the potential of humanity. They interpreted the prophetic books of the Bible to be a foretelling of the apocalypse and the arrival of a superhuman being who would elevate humanity to godhood and usher in a Paradise on Earth. Impatient for the apocalypse, they rose up against feudal lords and church authorities, and the ensuing crackdown led to the movement being crushed by 1580.

Some of the prophetae lived on, however,and a similar heretical movement emerged in the Commonwealth of England (1649 - 1660), during the reign of Oliver Cromwell. With the Puritans attempting to establish their brand of Christianity as the official state religion, various heretical groups sprouted up in opposition. Among these were the Ranters, a London-based sect that preached pantheism and whose members became famous for rioting and shouting obscenities. They claimed that God was in every living creature, and preached that all property should be shared. They also openly engaged in adultery, fornication, and other sexual iniquities. The authorities clamped down, throwing many of the Ranters in prison. Some of those who remained free eventually became peaceful Quakers. Others continued the fight underground, and still others made their way to the Americas.

For decades afterwards, the forerunners of the Free Spirit operated in the shadows, but in the early 20th century, they found new fertile ground for recruiting thanks to the popularization the philosophies espoused by Friedrich Nietzsche. The rise of Nazi Germany in the 1940s provided more opportunity for open recruitment and prostelyzing. However, the fall of the Third Reich once again sent the Free Spirit underground.

Known Members

 * Nemo (AKA William Laird, Editions Lequeu, and Sir Randolph Mays) - Former director of the Specified Aptitude Resources Training and Assessment Program and its successor, the Multiple Intelligences Agency, and founder of the Athanasian Society.
 * John Noble - CEO of Noble Water Works, and a prominent member of the Tappers. Killed by Sparta during the massacre at Kingman's lodge.
 * Capt. Kara Antreen - A mole within the Space Board, assigned to Port Hesperus. Disabled after failed attempt to kill Sparta.
 * Lord Rupert Kingman - Heir to St. Joseph's Hall, director of a dozens British firms, and Captain of the Doradus. Killed by the orange man after failing to recover the Martian plaque.
 * Dr. Holly Singh - Chief of neurophysiology at the Space Board's Biological Medicine Center, and creator of the "superchimps". Killed by Sparta during the massacre at Kingman's lodge.
 * Katrina Balakian (AKA Catherine) - An astronomer and mathematician, and a recruiter for the Athanasians.
 * Prof. Albers Merck - A xeno-archaeologist, assigned to prevent Dr. Forster from translating the Culture X tablets.
 * Piet Gress - A signal analyst, and the nephew of Dr. Merck.
 * Howard Falcon - An accomplished balloonist, assigned to the Free Spirit's operations on Jupiter.
 * Orange Man - A mysterious assassin who dresses entirely in orange clothing. Killed by Sparta during the massacre at Kingman's lodge.
 * The Commander - A former plant in the Space Board. Now a leader of Salamander.
 * Capt. Josepha Walsh, a Space Board cutter pilot, and former Free Sprit initiate. Later defected to Salamander.
 * Dr. Jozsef Nagy, co-founder of the SPARTA program. Later defected to Salamander.
 * Dr. Ari Nagy, co-founder of the SPARTA program. Later defected to Salamander.
 * Guy - An initiate of the Free Spirit, supposedly a former from the Pays Basque. Later exposed as Blake Redfield.
 * Salome - An initiate of the Free Spirit from Verdun, formerly a prostitute and failed playwright.
 * Vincent - An initiate of the Free Spirit from Austria, formerly a self-styled troubador and aspiring astronaut.
 * Leo - An initiate of the Free Spirit from Denmark, formerly a wanderer and diarist. Later fled from the cult after a failed attempt to killed Blake Redfield.
 * Lokele - An initiate of the Free Spirit from West Africa, formerly a violent thief.
 * Bruni - An initiate of the Free Spirit from Germany, rescued from pimps by the Free Spirit. Later implicated by Leo in the firebombing of Blake Redfield's London apartment.