Raphael Winter

> *"With ERA, we set aside our frail, mortal selves, and ascend into a realm of perfection unknown to the cult; we bestride the need for the Perfect Man!"*
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Raphael Winter was one of the First Solarian Expedition's two leading scientists, and is attributed the discovery and usage of the Elysian Radioactive Alloy. Now despot of the Elysian Ark, Winter seeks to unfurl a new, golden age of cybernetically-enhanced human supremacy through the rejection of the Cult of the Perfect Man's creed. Winter's doctrines are centred around the acquisition of perfection through the bestriding of the human organism in favour of a customised robotic suit infused with ERA. As for the focal point of Human worship - it is but to itself that Humanity's reverence be aimed; the Way of the Ark has seen to the death of the Perfect Man and other blinds to Humanity's own, ERA-graced divinity.

## Life

### Early Life:

Raphael Winter was born on Earth, and, like other citizens of the Solarian Empire, enjoyed a life of ease and luxury repaid through years of studying his two, chosen and favourite subjects: geology and chemistry. After graduating, Winter was assigned to the development of the Empire's SPS and SSP prototypes. His brightness aptly noted by the Solarian Upper Class, Winter was soon thereafter selected as one of the two head scientists leading an expedition to the then newfound planet E-131, otherwise known as Elysium.

### Arrival on Elysium:

The road to Elysium was long and arduous. When the expedition finally made it to the planet, however, the great relief of fresh, natural air coupled with the touch of soil felt heavenly to its hosts. Raphael knew well the magnitude of Elysium's discovery, yet was assured that what laid within the planet would amaze a Humanity that had grown too used to the homeliness of Earth. It was with such a premonition that Winter ordered the establishment of his research facility at the foot of a large ravine, deeming it an ideal place for his team and himself to study the soil and its contents, analyse the planet's tectonic plates and perforate its crust in search of any useful material.

It was on a routine dig that the research complex' alarms blared red - its drill had suffered critical damage after contacting an unknown clump of mineral. Further analysis beckoned the discovery of the Elysian Radioactive Alloy - a cost, according to Winter, well worth the damaging of the complex' drill. Said Alloy illuminated its hosting cave in bright, green light, and emitted doses of radioactivity deadly to man after prolonged exposure. The team's research, after the discovery of ERA, shifted almost entirely to its study and testing.

As a first experiment, a crystal of ERA was refined and added to the battery of one of the complex' mechs. The results were naught less of astonishing, as the mech's battery, despite rigorous activity, did not deplete beyond 97% the span of seven Terran months - a feat unfound across Solaria's homemade power supplying systems. The second experiment involved the addition of ERA powder during the tempering of a sheet of metal. The finishing product was a reinforced, metallic, darkened sheet known to 'writhe' - such most likely due to the presence of ERA within it. Conventional weaponry available to the expedition could not as much scratch the sheet, no matter the intensity of fire and the calibre used. ERA, now known for its potency and durability, as well as its volatile, explosive nature - experienced first-hand by an unlucky few, in experiments now completely expunged -, ERA quickly became the object of Winter's obsession, much to the displeasure of his leading peer, Sarah Reilly, who deemed it 'spirited, but likely unhealthy, and perhaps blown out of proportion.'

### Crisis of '55:

One Monday - the 23rd of November 4155 -, the expedition awoke to a terrifying silence. Usually, supplies, manpower and equipment landed upon Elysium every Monday, yet after the 23rd, neither ship nor word penetrated the exoplanet's atmosphere. A month later, a horrible realisation dawned upon the expedition - they had been abandoned by their Empire, and left stranded on Elysium with neither supplies nor relief. The two lead scientists in charge, Winter and Reilly, were unable to restore contact with Solaria, and thereby declared that the expedition would now need to rely upon the resources available to them in order to weather the crisis and come up with a solution. In reality, however, neither scientists were trained to cope with such a situation, and both consequently found shelter in their respective Magnum Opus. While Reilly found hope in the Elysian Hydrae's genetical capabilities, Winter instead doubled down on the exploitation of ERA for sustainability and thriving.

### Downfall of the Colony:

While Reilly, in a cruel twist of fate, succumbed to the very objects of her study, Winter's team was able to exploit ERA in order to achieve a constance of survivability across the Elysian wildlands. The mineral provided what remained of the expedition with energy and tempering, yet also proved a double-edged sword. While Winter's team was able to ensure their survival for years to come, the cost proved too great - a lot lost their minds and lives to the effects of the alloy, and the combined desolation of total rupture from their parent empire. Desolation, despair and madness intertwined, and corrupted the remaining colonisers, pushing them to adopt new ideals and forego the vast majority of their organisms for the sake of ERA-infused prosthetics. What started as a passion, had indeed grown into an obsession, and finally a way of life.

### Rise of the Ark:

Now confined within the very chasm in which was ERA first uncovered, Winter and his team gathered. The scientist, now despot and master of a fledgling way of life, swore an oath of abandonment to the olden, outdated values of Solaria, and proclaimed the rising of the Elysian Ark - the ship upon which Humanity will sail, graced with the powers of ERA, and adherant to neither faith nor worship. Perfection had indeed been found; the foregoing of the flesh, the adorning of cybernetics and the unification of one's being with ERA. The entrance to the chasm was sealed, and the Ark awaited the returning of Solaria; the need for change and enlightenment were paramount.