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Celestials and Factions - Version 12 vs Version 13
Aug 17, 2026, 03:14 PM
Broadened the Awakened integration claim from Persepolis to society as a whole
Aug 17, 2026, 03:20 PM
Replaced placeholder image alt text with descriptions of what each image shows
11EXODUS's political map is layered: posthuman descendants of humanity who arrived in the Omega Centauri cluster first, the engineered subspecies they created, uplifted animals with full sapience, baseline-human rivals to the Aslan Dynasty, and the deep-time architects who built the cluster's transit network. None of these groups is monolithic, and the game treats most of them as alliances of opportunity rather than fixed blocs.22Celestials44The Celestials are the descendants of the earliest arkship colonists from Earth, separated from the player's faction by tens of thousands of years of genetic engineering and cultural drift. They are physically and cognitively distinct from baseline humans, equipped with advanced technology, and politically dominant in many cluster systems. Some Celestial sub-castes recognise late-arriving humans as cousins; many do not, viewing baseline humans as primitive cousins fit for use or extinction.66The Celestials are not a single empire. They are an umbrella term for a constellation of dynasties, philosophical schools, and engineered castes that share a common ancestry. Some are openly hostile to the Aslan Dynasty; others are willing to deal; a few are actively pursuing goals that put them at odds with the rest of their own species. Jun Aslan will encounter all three.88The Rot1010The Rot is a Celestial virus that is driving humanity toward extinction. It spreads across the worlds the Traveler visits and is killing the homeworld Lidon. Rather than a faction the player negotiates with, the Rot is an environmental and existential threat: it corrupts terrain, leaving bramble-like growth that gauntlet abilities can burn away, and the search for a way to counter it is the engine behind many of the campaign’s missions.1212Changelings1414Changelings are species the Celestials engineered to work the worlds they would not work themselves. Official material puts the logic plainly: not every world is green, some are poisoned or war-torn or twisted by Celestial whim, and the Celestial solution was to reshape life itself into servants that thrive where a human dies. Some were built for toxic wastelands, others to carry people across terrain no vehicle can cross. From the perspective of a Traveler, Changelings are most often encountered as hostile combatants: shock troops, hunters, or guards on Celestial sites. The game treats them as people, not as simple monsters, but the political reality is that Changelings are usually wielded as weapons against intruders.1616Six species have published profiles, and a seventh has been shown in gameplay footage:1818SpeciesAlso CalledEngineered ForRexxanaThe WorkersConstruction labour, driven through an implanted neural port called the Trigger Socket; later re-armed by some Dominions as expendable first-wave troopsArkavirThe EnduringWorking worlds with acid rain, hard radiation, and crushing gravity; their bodies vary with the world that shaped themMalabrachtsThe StewardsAdministration and persuasion on behalf of the Prestaviran Dynasties, whose masters died ten thousand years agoOvarCarriersTransport; sixteen-foot living vehicles with an organic crew chamberHolosiemData CustodiansInformation handling; living neural networks that grow organs to process dataKovenSoldiers of the Mara YamaWar; Changeling flesh fused with augmented machine partsGathNot disclosedNot disclosed; seen in the deep Celestial sites beneath Lidon2020From a Traveler's seat the important distinction is that most Changelings are hostile because someone told them to be, not because they picked a side. Several species were discarded by their makers long before humanity reached the cluster and now survive on the fringes. Full profiles are on Changelings.2121Awakened2424Awakened are uplifted animals: sapient creatures who think, speak, and act with the full agency of any other character. The Awakened are not a unified faction. They include free communities that struck out on their own, indentured Awakened bound to Celestial households, and individuals who have integrated into human Traveler crews. The most famous example in marketing is Salt, an Awakened octopus piloting a mech suit, who joins the Traveler's crew. Other Awakened species seen in trailers include large reptiles and canines, among them Houston, an Awakened wolf who fights alongside the Traveler.2626Officially, the Awakened are the product of bioengineering and cybernetics, highly intelligent animals brought to the cluster aboard the ark ships who speak, think, and live alongside humans. They are not a curiosity on the margins of society. The June 2026 gameplay reveal shows an Awakened elephant running a vendor stall selling items and gear to Travelers, and the studio later named him Noah, a shopkeeper working the streets of Lidon, and the developers describe the Awakened as merchants, soldiers, medics, and more, woven into every part of society, Persepolis included. Awakened ravens and Awakened wolves are both named species.2828See Companions and Crew for Salt's role.3131Rival Traveler Dynasties3333Before the Aslan Dynasty's arkship limped into Omega Centauri, other human salvager families had already established the Traveler tradition. These rival Dynasties are baseline-human like the Aslans, and their relationship with the Aslan Dynasty ranges from cooperative to predatory. They control overlapping salvage territories, run competing relic-recovery contracts, and occasionally fight outright wars over Remnant caches.3535Rival Dynasties are an important contrast to the Celestials. They are recognisably the same kind of organisation as the Aslan Dynasty: small, mortal, dependent on individual Travelers for survival. They are also a constant reminder that Jun's family is not the only human voice in the cluster.3838Celestial Dominions4040The Celestials organise into Dominions, and the ones standing today are described as shadows of the empires that came before them. The Crown is the named great Dominion of the current age, and it still keeps Holosiem populations on staff as data handlers. The Prestaviran Dynasties are the opposite case: their Bright Scions fell roughly ten thousand years ago, yet the Malabrachts continue to run whole star systems in their name, waiting for a return that is not coming.4242The Détenir matter more directly to the player. They were the Celestial civilisation that once ruled Lidon itself, and they vanished suddenly and without explanation. The ruins under the homeworld, including Ghost City and the Guarding Maze, are what they left behind. Whatever they were chasing in their final years is an open question the setting deliberately leaves hanging.4444The Formation Wars and the Laws4646The Formation Wars were the most destructive period in the cluster's history: centuries of fighting between Celestial Dominions over habitable worlds, with hundreds and possibly thousands of them destroyed and entire civilisations wiped out. The Elohim emerged from that wreckage roughly fifteen thousand years ago, and the settlement they imposed still governs the cluster.4848Two things came out of it. The Laws of the Elohim are a short, inviolable set of rules binding Celestials and humans alike, written to stop the Formation Wars happening again. The Gates of Heaven are the enforcement mechanism as much as the transit network: break the Laws and your ships stop being able to use the Gates, for anywhere from a few years to a few centuries. Cut off from interstellar trade, an economy collapses, research stalls, and existing technology degrades as parts run out. Plenty of societies have not survived the sentence.5050The Elohim5252The Elohim are credited in cluster mythology with constructing the Gates of Heaven, a long-range transit network that predates the Celestial era. Whether the Elohim still exist in Jun's era is a recurring open question. Their abandoned infrastructure is everywhere, but their leadership and motives are not on the table when the game begins. Expect them to be a slow-burning mystery rather than a faction Jun negotiates with directly.5454Comparative power5656FactionStance toward Aslan DynastyPower levelCelestials (most castes)Hostile or contemptuous; few formal alliancesVastly superior tech and biologyCelestials (sympathetic castes)Cautious cooperation; rareEqual or superior to other CelestialsChangelingsUsually hostile (deployed against intruders)Specialized; lethal in their assigned roleAwakened (free)Mixed; often willing to trade or allyVariable; depends on species and communityAwakened (indentured)Often hostile by employer's orderAs aboveRival Traveler DynastiesMixed; some allied, some at warComparable to the Aslan DynastyElohimUnknown; presumed absentBeyond the cluster's current understanding5858Faction power shifts over the course of the campaign, especially through Time Dilation jumps. A faction stable at the start of the game may not be stable by the third Exodus.6060Zealots6262Zealots are a hostile human faction shown in the April 2026 stealth demonstration. They occupy a Celestial chamber under heavy patrol and call in reinforcements once detection occurs, which makes the chamber a natural showcase for the stealth toolkit, including the Recycler Specter configuration and the gauntlet Precognition ability. The Zealots' org structure, motivation, and relationship to the broader human Dynasties or to the Celestials themselves have not been formally disclosed yet; the June 2026 extended gameplay showcase did not expand their org structure further.6464Gath (Celestial-made Changeling)6666Gath is a named Changeling subspecies, identified by Archetype Entertainment in the May 2026 Guarding Maze clip as a 'Celestial-made Changeling'. The clip only shows the Gath in the background; no combat encounter is demonstrated, and its behaviors, hostile or otherwise, are not detailed. The reveal does confirm that Changeling subspecies inhabit the deepest Celestial sites under Lidon and are not confined to the surface. For the wider Changeling category, see the section above and the dedicated page.6868The Mara Yama7070The Mara Yama are a faction of Celestials twisted into monstrous forms. Rather than waging open war, they stalk the Centauri Cluster as predators, hunting isolated targets and harvesting the minds, memories, and emotions of those they catch. They feed on fear and take their time about it, and survivors carry the damage for the rest of their lives. Their soldiers are the Koven, built from Changeling flesh and augmented machine parts. Their presence lends the setting a streak of cosmic horror alongside its harder science fiction.7272Crown Celestials7474The Crown Celestials are described as an ancient warrior caste among the Celestials. They stand apart from the twisted Mara Yama as one of the distinct Celestial groups the Traveler may encounter while recovering Celestial Remnants across the cluster.
