The Rods of Asclepius

The Rods of Asclepius are an organization that seeks out MES
patients and provides them the tools to stabilize their disorder. It sees
itself first and fore most as a health care facility focused on MES. They also offer
some basic education on using psychic abilities and provide a service of
brain-guards for galactic and corporate leaders. Their primary center of
operations is on Pherusa in Pusti. But they maintain influence on several planets
in this sector. The leadership team is called the Rods and includes both full-fledge
psychics and normal human experts.

Asclepius’ main objective is to expand treatment of MES
patients and prevent nations from exploiting psychics and their abilities for political
or monetary gain. To achieve this Asclepius peruses MES cases to provide care
and acts as an advocate for local psychics. They aim to promote planet stability
by working alongside local governments and promote mutual beneficial
relationships between psychics and these bodies. Asclepius has been expanding rudimentary
bases on many planets in the sector to advance these goals.

Now, the Animorum Institute does compete somewhat with Asclepius,
they have rather different ideals. The Institute prefers to focus on research
into more advanced psychic abilities. Their studies have progressed farther in most
of the disciplines, though in metapsionics Asclepius reamains unmatched. Asclepius
has also been much more successful at off world expansion; enjoying the affection
and loyalty of a much wider array of the sector’s psychics. It remains to be
seen who can get the upper hand in the long-term.

## Mission

The mission of Asclepius can be broken into three parts:

Health Care for MES patients

The Brain-Guard

Expansion and Exploration

### Health Care for MES patients

This operation is led by Orlaith Donaghue a powerful
Metapsionic. She can dampen the surges of metadimensional energies that sometimes
pulse through her patients. This allows them to safely practice controlling their
abilities and form neurological pathways to channel their powers in normal
circumstances without the terrible side-effects.

Sometimes patients who become particularly skilled in controlling
their powers are invited to join Asclepius and receive further tutelage. These
students are boarded on site and are given their education at no cost, but they
are expected to serve as a brain-guard on Farusa for some period of years. Completion
of the program generally takes four to five years followed by the time in service.
Upon graduation most students stay on as Asclepius members, they might continue
to serve in the brain-guard, but many go on to other worlds to support the treatment
of psychics.

Orlaith also leads a team of researchers who further the techniques
used to train psychics. Their focus is Meta-Psionics, but they also have
significant resources devoted to Precognition and Biopsionics.

### The Brain-Guard

Rory Taggart, a rod member, leads the guard on Pherusa. They
specialize in protecting against psychic aided attacks of galactic leaders as
well as any other psychic tampering. This also provides world leaders, and
their deputies, opportunities to work alongside psychics. Part of the goal is
to reduce stigma and provide frameworks for how mutually beneficial relationships
between these groups can be maintained under the law and with reasonable transparency
to the public.

This also is the primary way that Asclepius can remain solvent.
With the collapse of the Galactic Hegemony new clients are quickly being sought
out. Further, Asclepius is trying rapidly upgrade the presence of these Guards
on other planets to follow the demand. Several members of the Farusa Guard are
being transported to other planetary bases to support this aim.

### Expansion and Exploration

This is a much more diffuse department with many different
goals being pursued. Asclepius is always looking to advance to other worlds but
generally prioritize larger population groups or frontier planets where the likelihood
of finding psychics is higher. (Something about the frontier region seems to
promote higher incidence of MES.)

In frontier worlds Asclepius also plays a role in keeping the navigational
charts for spike drive travel up to date. This is also were the resident
PreCogs are most often employed. Asclepius is expanding research into this
arena in the hopes that they can open new routes through the luminal space. They
are hoping to find lost planets colonized pre-scream to find advancements in psi-tech
to help them catch up scientifically with the Animorum Institute.

## Future Goals

Asclepius hopes to secure a bright future for psychics. But in
the far term they hope to bring psychic abilities to directly support the general
public. Envisioning new advancements in the discipline of Biopsionics as they
build new psi-tech hospitals with doctors working alongside psychic physicians.
From its founding Asclepius has been focused on the health and wellbeing of MES
patients. Going forward it hopes to expand to general public health especially
on worlds in the frontier that do not otherwise have the resources to build such
technological marvels.