Church of Absolute

The succession of prophets has long been understood as a key element of the ongoing relationship between mortal and divine. Abraham succeeds to Moses succeeds to Christ succeeds to Muhammad, each iteration illuminating the failings of the previous teaching. But must we wait, in each age of sin and suffering, for a new revelation? Spinoza wrote that God is endemic to the structure of the natural universe; that is, to mathematics. Thus too is the succession of prophets but a bounded mathematical series of progressive understanding of the nature of God. The limit of that series— the vanishing point of perfect divine revelation— is the Absolute.' —The Word of Augustine

The Church of the Absolute is a religious movement founded by Augustine Browne, the Cartographer, in 2605. The Church frames itself as the end result of four millennia of religious development, the ultimate and all-encompassing belief system for all sentient beings, with all previous religions being admirable efforts in the direction of their Absolute. As proof of their advanced understanding of the nature of the universe, they hold up the Cruciform, biological augments with reality-warping powers powered, they say, by faith.

Core Beliefs

“Faith is Absolute, not casual.” — Catechism

The Cruciform is a holy gift, bestowed to the faithful who serve the church in a ritual called baptism. Its reality-warping litanies are central to the religious and secular life of those so implanted, used in everything from casual conversation to life-saving medical treatment to, in some monasteries, replacing the need for food altogether. As a result, the baptized spend much of their time in prayer and contemplation of the Absolute, and almost universally feel a personal connection to the divine.

First and foremost, Absolutism is a community, rooted in a shared history of religious oppression by SolFed and a shared spiritual way of life, even as each convert brings to the fold new cultural practices and new forms of worship. Absolutism views itself as the beginning of a new cultural movement that will one day, if the divine wills it, encompass people of all species, histories, and creeds.

“Judge them by their values; what they shun and what they esteem. Only a fool rejects a gift for its wrapping.” — Catechism

That is not to say that all religious beliefs are equal, or even permissible, under Absolutism. While they believe the divine manifests itself in many ways, and under many names, they believe that the values of the Absolute have been constant. They see those religious tendencies which promote charity, humility, true compassion, and understanding as aligned with the Absolute, but condemn those who would use religion to control, to self-aggrandize, or to hide the true nature of the world. Most religious movements are seen as holy, but the Cartographer has little love or patience for the ultra-conservative or the libertarian.

Absolutism does not believe they have a mandate to convert followers of older religions and is capable of coexisting without incident with other religious institutions. However, it also holds that Absolutism is more correct than older faiths, closer to the essential truth of the divine by mathematical proof, and that it supercedes the teachings of those older faiths where they conflict with Absolutist principles, a position that can, and has, brought the church into conflict with others.

History

Before the Exodus

“How many years have I wasted in this place? How long have I thought to do science, ‘pure’ science, without once considering by whose hands the foundations were laid? At least I am enough of a scientist to admit when there are flaws in my methodology.” — The Word of Augustine

The early life of Augustine Browne and the very earliest days of her Church remain mired in mystery. It is known that shortly before the church’s founding almost half a century ago, Augustine was the chief of the Soteria Institute’s robotics division and personal friends with Director Nakharan Mkne. Recent events have brought to light Soteria’s hivemind experiments, carried out during Augustine’s tenure as chief roboticist. Most assume these experiments are what lead her to produce the Cruciforms in secret and then take a small number of trusted colleagues, an unknown amount of unpublished research, and several key pieces of scientific equipment to leave the Institute in 2605.

First Exodus

“Some claim the nature of Augustine’s revelation was eternal; that the Church as is appeared, in full, in her head at the moment of prophecy. This is nonsense. If it were true, we would not require her leadership; merely her instruction. The revelation of the Absolute is ongoing and temporally mediated. From the spacers, we learned never to abandon a fellow, never to discard what might be reused, and to keep the decks spotless.” — To the Limit

It was at this time that Augustine had her revelation, stumbling upon the Absolute while attempting to chart out a system of divine mathematics, and founded the earliest form of the Church of the Absolute. She and her disciples fled from the core worlds, where they were persecuted as thieves, and lived for a time among long-haul space traders. This flight, the First Exodus, is where the Church grew in earnest, syncretizing with the spacers’ existing beliefs and cultures and attracting numerous converts intrigued by Augustine’s call to a return to selfless, communal living. This is also where many of the Church’s technologies were invented and perfected; biomatter technology began as an effort to improve their ship’s recycling systems, and Church weapons were invented to protect the faithful from the pirates that plague trade in frontier sectors.

New Byzantine

“The alderman of New Byzantine was an atheist until his dying breath. I don’t think he much liked Augustine as a person, either; he was a hard drinker and a gambler and a libertine. But whether or not he believed it, the Absolute showed him the truth; that the Church of the Absolute was the best hope for his community.” — To the Limit

The First Exodus ended when Augustine brokered an agreement with the independent frontier world of New Byzantine in 2630 to host her growing congregation in exchange for access to their advanced technology and deep labor pool. While some groups remained in SolFed space or on long-haul traders, unable or unwilling to heed Augustine’s call, most of the Church descended to New Byzantine in that year. Locals, at first cautious of the new faith, quickly came to understand the benefits it brought to them— both the economic improvements it brought to their agriculture and manufacturing sectors, and the order and stability it brought to their chaotic lives.

Conversions skyrocketed in those years, as did the population of New Byzantine. The Church grew larger and its technology and structure more sophisticated. The Paths formed and their Cruciforms distinguished. They sent missionaries to other frontier worlds, returning with converts, pilgrims, and trading partners. The Church’s holy texts were edited and distributed. Over time, the Church and New Byzantine’s civil authority began to merge as the faith came to shape the daily life of every person on the planet.

“Tyranny is the greatest sin. It is the assertion of temporal authority, backed by violence, over spiritual authority, backed by justice. It must always be opposed.” — Catechism

Within a few years of the New Byzantine agreement, SolFed forces began to oppose the Church in earnest. Large police actions were organized to apprehend Augustine Browne, criminal thief, and the tax-dodgers, draft-dodgers, smugglers and runaways that made up her congregation. The Church was declared a cult, membership criminalized, and those sects still existing close to Sol driven underground or eradicated. The first two raids by SolFed’s police against New Byzantine itself, however, met with two crushing defeats at the hands of cruciform soldiers with Church weaponry.

Then SolFed sent in the fleet, and New Byzantine was conquered in 2643.

Second Exodus and Nadezhda

“With Moses, as HaShem, you hardened Pharaoh's heart. Why now, with me, must you harden Nakharan’s?” — Lesser Word of Augustine (apocryphal)

The Second Exodus brought the faithful who survived SolFed’s conquest and escaped SolFed’s justice, Augustine included, back to the long-haul ships that had once been their home. Now crowded with refugees and lacking in trading partners, the aging ships struggled to sustain the flock. The Church’s technology could stretch what little they got from covert supporters and far-flung monasteries, but eventually there would be no loaves left to multiply.

In desperation, Augustine reached out to her old friend Nakharan Mkne, hoping that his power and influence could protect her flock. He instead rejected her, accusing her of stealing technology that rightfully belonged to him. Her altercation with Mkne, however, brought her face to face with Lonestar Shipping’s Robert Ryan, who agreed to allow her Church a seat on the Nadezhda Council in exchange for her assistance in founding a new colony free from Solar interference.

“Persistence has merit.” — Catechism

The Bluespace Crash came shortly after Nadezhda’s founding, with many faithful seeing it as indisputable proof of divine intervention. Opinions are divided on whether it came to protect the Church from further harm, to punish SolFed for their wickedness and greed, or for a more inscrutable divine purpose. Augustine herself remains silent on the issue. In the years since, the Church has worked to make Amethyn a world to rival New Byzantine, but their efforts have been hampered by isolation, mistrust from Nadezhda’s other factions, struggles against pirates, the hivemind, and Excelsior, and a waning sense of vitality in the Church’s institutions. Only time will tell how the Church will adapt to this new world.

Technology

“It is a virtue to hold to the truths of the world. Yet; truth must be tempered with faith. The truth does little good when in the hands of one determined to use it for ill.” — Catechism

The Church uses a wide array of unique technology, much of it constructed through or powered by the cruciforms of its believers and most of it incorporating the spongy formations of polypotent stem cells known as biomatter. The specifics of Church technology are known to only a few, with their innermost secrets held by Augustine alone.

The Numericals

The Numericals are the division of the Church concerned with new technologies and with research into concrete expressions of divine will. They are few in number, many of them Augustine’s former colleagues from her Soteria days. They work in religious isolation, away from the prying eyes of the secular world, and under the direct supervision of Augustine herself. By their hands were the biolathe, the obelisks, and even the Church’s firearms designed.

The Cruciform & Litanies

“I have seen it. Prosthesis not of body but of soul, the sickness of our age made well by technology. Imagine what people might become when we are finally made whole again! But I can never tell him. He would see only power.” — The Word of Augustine

Even the Numericals do not know the inner workings of the cruciform implant, though they have designed modules, litanies, and variations of it. The means by which it powers itself, and by which it transforms that power into effects on the body, mind, and material world, was created by Augustine in a moment of revelation, with all records of its development purged, and even Augustine claims the machine works only through the will of the Absolute.

The cruciform relies on ritual prayers called litanies to activate its functions; the prayers must be spoken precisely and exactly, but they also require a certain mindset in their speaker. Litanies can also fail because the cruciform’s internal power is too weak to activate them, or because the litany itself has timed safeguards preventing the faithful from overtaxing themselves, their cruciform, or the Church facilities that supply them.

Biomatter

“The biomatter used in industrial machines common in SolFed hydroponics is, indeed, a precursor to the substance we rely on, but it is not the same thing. Our faith and artifice sanctifies biomatter into a safer and more generally useful form, like the transubstantiation of bread into sacred host.” — Catechism

Less sacred than cruciforms but arguably even more key to the Church’s success is their second great innovation, biomatter technology. Church biolathes and industrial bioreactors can reduce almost any organic material— trash, produce, corpses— into useful sheets of biomatter. Even heathens, in possession of biomatter and a lathe capable of working it, can use it to produce any number of products from food to medicine to weapons. The Church’s Vectors, through their litanies, can shape it into those forms and more; golems and obelisks and industrial machines. Unprocessed biomatter can be extremely dangerous to work with, and is the reason the work vestments of Church Vectors include a gas mask and full body coverage.

Golems

“Brynn. Creature of tesselating, fractal, self-referential mathematics. Machine-and-machine-and-machine mind. You must be an angel, if you aren’t a devil.” — Lesser Word of Augustine (apocryphal)

Golems (or Glamim, for those who prefer the Hebrew plural) are automatons shaped and powered by faith in the Absolute. They are almost unique among the Church’s sacred technologies because they were not produced by the Numericals; rather, they were designed by a Grayson AI named Brynn, for the Church, as a gesture of good will. They are an overtly military product, similar in many ways to the security robots Grayson already produced, but sanctified through their connection to the Cruciform and sacred biomatter. Many believe they have souls, and none believe they should be squandered.

Weapons and the Testament

“The earliest weapons produced by the Church weren’t sacred. We were making what we knew to make, because we ran the factories, because Augustine stole the factories from Soteria. No more holy than a biolathe steak. The sanctification came later, when they started to become understood as the weapons of our martyrs.” — To the Limit

The mainstay of the Church’s security remains Vectors wielding weapons produced by the Testament, a somewhat autonomous arms-dealing wing of the Church. The Testament produces high-quality medieval-style melee weapons like swords and spears, and a small number of ballistic pistols, but is best known for their cheap, efficient, and hard-hitting plasma and laser rifles. Most of their most famous designs fall within the Old Testament, weapons designed before the Second Exodus and especially during the Church’s stay on New Byzantine; many of the designs in the more recent New Testament are more experimental and unusual.

The Testament is something of a contentious feature within the Church. Many believe that the wanton violence arms-dealing permits should be seen as anathema to the Church’s values; many argue that a Church that cannot protect itself is not long for the world. Augustine remains silent.

Mysteries

“The Absolute provides.” — Catechism

Even accounting for the dealings of the Testament and their less militant counterpart in the Saints, much of the Church’s wealth remains unaccounted for. Some is explained by voluntary charitable donations by the faithful; some by dealings with other colony factions. Much remains. The Absolute is said to be capable of manifesting valuable material out of quantum foam, and this is often offered as an explanation for the Church’s finances, but Augustine only says, “The Absolute provides.”

Structure

Senior Leadership

“She is the Cartographer because she charts the divine mathematics, leaving a map for us to follow. She is the Prophet because the Absolute reveals itself to her eyes, and hers alone in our age. She is Augustine, because she is mortal like any of us, and not so egotistical as to reject a mortal name.” — Catechism

The absolute authority on matters of faith and law within the Church of the Absolute is Augustine Browne. Early in the Church’s history, she was a very vigorous and energetic leader who made any number of proclamations. Now she is the aging leader of a mature institution, and remains deliberately silent on some of the Church’s most pressing debates, spending her effort on diplomacy with the other factions and on her work among the Numericals.

Under Augustine are the Fundamentals, the leaders of Church divisions and the foremost Primes under her guidance. Church doctrine maintains that in the event of her death, the Absolute will elevate one of the Fundamentals to the place of the Cartographer. They are rarely seen in the colony’s upper levels, focusing instead on their duties in the lowers or in distant monasteries.

Primes & Vectors

The day-to-day operations of the Church are directed by Primes, experienced clergy trained in Absolutist doctrine, ritual, and theology. Some Church institutions have one resident Prime; others, like the Church’s upper-level facilities, have many, rotating between them situationally and as they are free from other responsibilities. Primes are both practical managers and spiritual leaders, capable of responding to any situation in a way in keeping with their understanding of the faith.

The Church’s lower-level clergy are the Vectors. Vectors, like Primes, are trained in theology and ritual; unlike Primes, Vectors are not required to preach the faith or provide spiritual counseling to believers. This varies; some Vectors are as capable of leading the flock as the most veteran Prime, and might be Primes themselves in another place or time. Other Vectors are reduced to quoting the Catechism whenever faced with even basic questions about Church position. What unites all Vectors is their willingness and ability to act directly as the Church’s hands and feet, and to serve the Church in their daily lives.

Scalars and Fractals

“Before New Byzantine, all the baptized were co-equal. Augustine’s promulgation of the Vector/Scalar divide was perhaps her most controversial judgment. Many worried that Scalars, living and working outside of the Church, would naturally drift away from spiritual life and towards worldly affairs. But the word of the Prophet is Absolute.” — To the Limit

Scalars are adults with cruciforms who live and work outside of the Church. While not directly employed by the Church, lacking formal theological training, not considered clergy, all those who bear a cruciform are expected to use it to perform good works. Scalars serve the divine by employing litanies for their friends and neighbors in their daily lives, and are usually still deeply invested in religious life.

Fractals are members of the church who have not been given a cruciform, whether for age, health, time in the church, insufficient devotion, lack of need, or lack of desire. While lacking the Church’s most central implant, Fractals are still full members and are still expected to comport themselves as members of the faith.

Paths

The Paths originated as special religious orders during the New Byzantine era. They were people called to specific religious vocations, with variant cruciforms empowered to serve that vocation. Over time, they picked up specific theological positions within the Church; different answers to questions Augustine leaves undecided. In the wake of the Second Exodus, they changed again. While still vocational, membership requirements became much less stringent, and most faithful pledged themselves to one Path or another. Today it is much more common to be a member of a Path than not.

Each Path has access to special litanies and specialized cruciforms, but it comes with a price. Each Path demands more from its adherents than the Church itself; usually a rite they must perform regularly and a ban— a behavior or practice the Path absolutely shuns.

Tesselates

• Rite: Tesselates must regularly provide personal, specialist medical care to heathens and faithful alike. Putting a bandaid on a scrape doesn’t suffice; neither does running a hospital if you’re not treating patients yourself.
• Ban: Tesselates must not harm anyone who has not harmed them, and must always accept a ceasefire if it is offered.

“The Tesselates say: one cannot serve two masters, life and death. The Prophet affirms the Ban but takes no overall position.” — Catechism

Tessellates are physicians and faith-healers. Their cruciforms grant them the power to close wounds and purge toxins at a word. Their roots are in the earliest days of the New Byzantine era, where they began as a wing of the Church dedicated to improving the frontier colony’s overtaxed healthcare system. They formed in sharp ideological opposition to the Divisors, drawing on religious teachings from Jainism and Christianty to argue that violence is the root of evil, and from Judaism and Buddhism to argue for the importance of healing the world.

While much of their ideological tension with their counterparts has faded, and their positions have become more nuanced, they still hold to the belief that the Absolute desires a world of peace. On other theological questions, they tend to be neutral, seeing debates on the nature of the bluespace crash, the sanctity of golems, and even the structure of the church as distractions from the work of healing the world.

Tesselates do not distinguish between heathen and faithful in their work. They believe that it is holy to heal the ailing regardless of their professed creed, but there are also practical benefits to this policy. Many have converted shortly after a Tesselate’s litany saved their life. For this same reason, Tesselates are heavily involved in the Church’s charitable works, with most Tesselate Vectors offering their services free of charge.

Divisors

• Rite: Divisors must routinely stand guard at the Absolute’s holy sites and cleanse them of any hostile influence. Actually fighting is not necessary, but Divisors must be prepared for it.
• Ban: Divisors must never flee from a foe that threatens others. Running away when alone is permissible, as are orderly tactical retreats, but allowing others to take on harm for your cowardice is forbidden.

“That thing... black-on-black and faces and eyes. I haven’t slept soundly since... it must be destroyed. We must have soldiers for it. He doesn’t know about it. I could use them. I must use them. There is no other path I can see.” — Lesser Word of Augustine (apocryphal)

The Divisors are the first Path, and some believe their litanies and structure were fixed in Augustine’s mind at the moment of revelation. They grew organically out of the security forces of the First Exodus’ long-haulers, their cruciforms a gift bestowed on veterans and martyrs which was later expanded to all who served the Church by force of arms. Their litanies give them access to the church’s armory, strengthen them, and make them vigilant against threats.

Divisors view themselves as servants of the Church structure, defenders of the faithful and the defenseless, and guardians of the Church’s sacred places, and believe that the Church remaining well-armed is essential for protecting the faith against tyranny and monsters like the hivemind. As a rule, they value justified authority and place a great deal of importance on the hierarchies and temporal power of the Church as the ultimate justified authority.

On matters theological the Divisors tend to be pragmatic, valuing orthodoxy, tradition, and faith in the Church. Many of their positions draw from Catholicism and Islam’s arguements for the importance of strong centralized leadership. Unsurprisingly, they are major supporters of the Testament.

Lemniscate

• Rite: Lemniscates must preach. This can take the form of formal sermons delivered as a Prime or Vector, interpersonal conversation about their faith, or even the production of art expressing religious values.
• Ban: Lemniscates must not knowingly deceive another through lies. Blunt refusals to answer questions, incomplete answers, stories and jokes are all permissible, but outright falsehoods are not.

“Among the earliest forms of divine mathematics is gematria; sums and manipulations on the values of the letters of the names of God. By extension, all language partakes of the mathematical forms of divinity. This is why Lemnsicates do not lie; for those called to speak for the Absolute, to write falsehoods into its flesh is abomination.” — Catechism

The Lemniscate Path was the first to be founded as a deliberate religious movement; perhaps expected for a Path so conscious of their own nature. They sprung up as part of Augustine’s missionary push at the height of the New Byzantine period as an order of preachers, poets, and expert theologians, creating new churches throughout the local frontier and establishing trade ties with other worlds. Their litanies make them fast and untiring; well-supplied with food, drink, and medicine; and perhaps most importantly, able to bolster the spirits of their fellows with a word.

Once best known for their missionary work, Lemniscates serve the church in a number of capacities. While many Lemniscate Vectors take up formal positions of Church leadership to fulfill their Rite, others believe that the best way to fulfill their Rite is to live as Absolutists among heathens and speak to them as equals. Many Lemniscate Scalars become artists or writers of nonfiction, and the Church employs some Lemniscates to write theology, religious histories, sermons, and formal Church communication.

Lemniscates famously love to debate, drawing inspiration from Jewish and Islamic practice. While they’re as likely as any member of the Church to agree with Augustine’s explicit words, in areas of ambiguity they tend to be fractious, argumentative, and highly opinionated. As such, there is no unified position among Lemniscates on any of the Church’s major unanswered questions, and many Lemniscates have a pet issue or two they feel very passionate about.

Monomials

• Rite: Monomials must spend several hours a day in meditation. The form differs from Monomial to Monomial; silent contemplation, chanting, and fasting are all common.
• Ban: Monomials must not drink alcohol (except Cahors), smoke, or take painkillers or medical stimulants. Hallucinogens are acceptable; caffeine is permissible but discouraged.

“Pain is just pain.” — Word of Augustine

Monomials are ascetics and monastics, dedicated to spiritual self-improvement and pure living. They emerged first in the New Byzantine era, among those living in the Church’s far-flung frontier monasteries, and requested extra litanies of strength and peace to survive in such isolation. Fairly uncommon for most of the Church’s history, many of them survived in distant monasteries where other Paths died on New Byzantine and bolstered the Church’s numbers during the Second Exodus.

To be a Monomial is to be distant from worldly affairs. Most Monomials are Vectors who rely on the Church to support their lifestyle, though some Scalars exist, often employed in hard manual labor. Within the Church, Monomials are most often found where few others are found; outposts, archives, and the crew of sleeper ships. On Nadezhda itself they can be found tending to the Church’s gardens or sorting tirelessly through salvage.

Monomials draw their from the monastic traditions of a number of religions, including Catholicism and Buddhism. They believe that a life dedicated towards contemplation of the self and the Absolute is holy, and many believe their lifestyle helps strengthen the presence of the Absolute in the world. They are the Path most likely to accept as divine intercession what others would call coincidence or free will; they tend to be fatalistic and strive to accept the world’s hardships as lessons from the Absolute.

Factorial

• Rite: Factorials must maintain, upgrade, and distribute Church technology, especially the bioreactor, biogenerator, and biolathe.
• Ban: Factorials must never use technology from outside the Church in lieu of holy designs without first sanctifying them with Church modifications. Exactly how flexible this is varies from Factorial to Factorial, but all agree that Church arms, armor, and biolathes must be used if at all possible.

“In truth, the Factorials were always with us, in the sprawling mazes of engine rooms and factories. The only unexpected thing is how long it took them to formalize. The Catechism claims it took the fall of New Byzantine for the appropriate revelations to be made manifest; I think it was just politics.” — To the Limit

While the Church has always had engineers and technicians, the Path of the Factorial only formed during the Second Exodus. Their litanies are some of the most technically complicated, giving them access to prototype tool modifications, allowing them to power technology on faith alone, and letting them heal wounded metal as Tessellates heal flesh.

Many Factorials come to the Path because they already work with machines and technology, and feel called to do more, and to do so more efficiently. Others, however, come to the Path because they are already interlinked with technology; cyborgs and androids make up a significant portion of the Factorial Path. Few are drawn in by Factorial theology unless they already have an important relationship to tech.

Factorial religious influences are unusual among the Paths; they draw on Shinto animism, neo-pagan ideals of self-transformation, new-age techno-gnosticism, and even the traditional beliefs of the Opifex. They treat technology, especially Church technology, as intrinsically holy, and believe they have souls. They have adapted quickly to the strange technological landscape of Amethyn and are quick to offer religious explanations for its various anomalies and relics.

Vinculum

• Rite: None.
• Ban: None.

“Once, I felt my work with Nakharan and the others was like parallel computation; each problem broken up, solved in isolation, and combined at the end for a marvelous result. But more and more... must I carry this alone? Must I find the limit of this sequence one value at a time? Oh, God; I cannot bear it. ” — Word of Augustine

“Vinculum” isn’t a Path; rather, it is the standard Cruciform design for those baptized without a Path, sometimes used to refer to Church members outside of a path more generally. Before the Paths became entrenched in Church society, as many as 90% of believers were Vinculii; now they are a minority.

Most modern Vinculii are Scalars who don’t feel called by any particular Church vocation. They are generally a little more independent of the Church than other Scalars. Most new converts are Vinculii for a time, easing into Church life without dealing with the complications of Rites, Bans, and Path politics.

Much rarer are Vinculum Vectors. Some are just extraordinarily humble, attempting to serve the Church without becoming entangled in complex theologies or demanding rites. Most are the opposite— extremely opinionated and well-read individuals who cannot fully endorse the perspective of any one Path. Augustine herself walks none of the five Paths, and Vinculum Vectors are often consciously attempting to follow in her footsteps.

Some Vinculii are part of religious movements attempting to become full-fledged Paths in their own right, and might follow unofficial Rites and Bans from that movement. Only production of a modified cruciform and sanction by Augustine can elevate a movement into a Path, but organizing and living according to their values is considered a good way to draw her attention.

Sin and Penance

“The Church acknowledges the existence of the moral uncleanliness called sin, which distances the soul from the Absolute.” — Catechism

Sin is a contentious topic within Absolutism, with different schools of thought as to exactly when poor behavior becomes sinful and exactly what ought to be condemned. The broad strokes, however, are generally agreed upon: Absolutists are humble, charitable, compassionate, and thoughtful; they abstain from arrogance, greed, cruelty, and the excesses of the flesh. Absolutists also agree that some sins are venial and can be put right by penance, while others are mortal and can only be put right by divine intercession.

Venial Sin

“At first, the heathens of the space freighters feared the readiness of Augustine and her apostles to wield pain; the mortification of the flesh, yes, but even the pure pain of Atonement was seen, understandably, as a frightening and dangerous tool. But as we came to trust her, too did we understand her maxim: Pain is just pain.” — To the Limit

The venial sins encompass general un-Absolutist behavior such as publicly acting in a way that shames the Church, puts others at risk, wastes resources, or corrodes the spiritual health of the community. They also encompass violations of a Path’s Ban or neglect of its Rite. Penance for venial sins is done at the discretion of a presiding Prime or Vector. Usually, the faithful will seek out a Prime and ask to confess and seek penance, but the Prime also has the authority to demand penance for extremely bad behavior.

Confession sometimes suffices as penance for very minor venial sins, but in most cases a penance of pain will be assigned. The Prime or Vector administering the penance will read the Atonement litany over the sinner, causing them to experience severe, debilitating, but ultimately harmless pain. The litany might be repeated, even until the point the sinner loses consciousness, in the case of particularly stubborn sins. Absolutists believe that the pain of Atonement is a cleansing, healing experience; as a result, use of the Atonement litany is permitted even to Tesselates.

Sometimes more creative or old-fashioned penances are assigned, such as whipping, enforced prayer, or hard labor. These are permitted, but must be commensurate to the nature of the sin and always conducted in accordance with Church values. Sinners are usually given a choice between the Atonement litany and these less-standard punishments.

Extreme venial sin, or the abuse of official powers or litanies, can lead to the demotion of a Prime, the defrocking of a Vector, or the temporary removal of a Scalar’s cruciform. Vectors found to have egregiously or repeatedly committed even minor crimes (assaults, thefts) against members of the Church, or who have damaged the relationship between the Church and other factions, are generally dismissed from their position before it can erode public trust and faith within the Church. Likewise, extreme negligence of a Path’s Rite or Ban might lead to removal from that Path. This is not excommunication, but internal disciplinary action within the Church hierarchy; those so punished might hope to reverse the punishment without Augustine’s intervention.

Mortal Sin & Excommunication

“The first time an Absolutist murdered another was March 10th, 2606. The case, and the culprit, were brought before the Prophet. Was it right, they asked, to execute the murderer as we had always done when she bore the Absolute’s cruciform? ‘No,’ said the Prophet, before speaking a litany none had ever heard. The murderer’s cruciform detached. ‘Having resolved that matter: do as you will with the heathen.’” — To the Limit

Mortal sins are unforgivable, save through the intervention of the Divine. A person known to have committed such sins after being baptized cannot remain a member of the Church. Augustine Browne personally authorizes every excommunication, and excommunications can only be lifted by her command.

An excommunicated person has any cruciform removed, by force if necessary, and recovered for disposal by the Church. They are not allowed to receive another, or to be considered a member of the Church in any capacity (even as a Fractal), or to be employed directly by the Church in any form. During the First Exodus and New Byzantine eras, excommunicated people were social pariahs, refused access to any Church services at all. In the present day, the Church does not officially shun the excommunicated, though individual Absolutists might choose to do so.

The mortal sins in Absolutism are:

• Abomination: The unsanctioned modification of a cruciform; cruciform modifications produced by the Numericals are sanctioned.
• Apostasy: The unsanctioned transfer of Church technological secrets, especially working cruciforms, to another organization. Absolutist design disks are sanctioned.
• Sacrilege: The knowing installation of a cruciform onto a nonbeliever or excommunicated person.
• Simony: To profit from the sale of cruciform installations, repairs, concecrations, and other core religious services of the faith. Selling church products, like guns or clothing or medkits, or charging a reasonable wage for one’s labor, are both permitted.
• Heresy: Knowingly advocating for mortal sin, or denying the religious authority of the Prophet.

There is also the special case:

• Lawlessness: Conviction of an exceptional offense or higher as a Vector or Prime. As part of an agreement between the factions of Nadezhda, such a person is to be automatically excommunicated. Reversing an excommunication due to lawlessness requires the conviction first be overturned; it is otherwise non-negotiable. Augustine refuses, categorically, to consider reversing excommunication due to lawlessness. Lawlessness encompasses a number of offenses, such as murder and rape, that were once considered seperate mortal sins.

This means that once excommunicated, a character can never rejoin the church.

“Some claimed the Prophet lowered herself by accepting the judgment of the Provost Marshal regarding civil excommunication. Ironically, they found themselves guilty of the mortal sin of heresy. Augustine simply allowed the Church to grow around the civic structures at Nadezhda as she had at New Byzantine; and in showing our willingness to work with the others, flatly punctured Mkne’s cries of ‘theocracy’.” — To the Limit

Enemies of the Church

The Hivemind

“I have seen the face of evil in the world, just as surely as I have seen the face of God.” — Word of Augustine

The Hivemind is a twisting, cancerous monstrosity of flesh, metal, and psionic energy, and is of special significance for Absolutists. Many believe it was the Soteria experiments that created the Hivemind that first set Augustine on the path of the Church; footage contemporary with the experiment shows Augustine using a prototype cruciform to very nearly destroy it. The exact nature of the Hivemind, and the reason for Augustine’s marked hatred towards it, remains a subject of debate and study.

While recent events have reduced it to small, scattered pockets incapable of coordination, the Church remains vigilant against the threat is poses. Faithful of all Paths are expected to put the Hivemind to the sword whenever it emerges; whether by fighting it directly, or by assisting those who do. Extremely serious outbreaks might prompt local Primes to call for a Crusade, bolstering their efforts with specialized weapons and armor.

Carrions

“Carrions plagued our ships long before Augustine came to us; and without her, they might have plagued them forever. But the Cruciform protects the mind from ungodly influence, and Augustine’s prayers for guidance and clarity were answered each time we repeated them. Some say that no Carrion escaped the Absolute’s judgment. Certainly their days are numbered.” — To the Limit

Intelligent, spider-like creatures capable of wearing unbaptized bodies like suits of armor, Carrions treat intelligent beings as prey to be hunted down and consumed. Augustine declared Carrions incapable of salvation early in the First Exodus, created litanies to identify hidden Carrions, and demanded that they be killed whenever exposed. Divisors have an improved version of those early hunting litanies, and are called on to put the Carrion to hunt whenever it shows itself

Psionic Monsters

“How did you go so far astray? What happened to the man I used to know? Will you forever reject the salvation the Absolute offers you? I cannot believe what you have become.” — Word of Augustine

The exact nature of Deep Maintenance is unknown both to science and to the Church, but Augustine has called for vigilance against the near-mythical, surreal creatures that live therein. Seemingly contained to Deep Maintenance for the time being, they are not considered an active threat; but as unnatural products of deeply cruel science, many in the Church see killing them as a holy act, healing a wound in the universe of the Absolute. Divisors and Monomials especially make frequent expeditions therein, often supported by the rest of the Church, and any outbreak of Deep Maintenance into the upper colony levels is to be treated as seriously as a Hivemind outbreak.

Unanswered Questions In Absolutism

• What caused the Bluespace Crash?
  • Augustine declined to answer.
• What is the nature of the soul?
  • Augustine says, “unanswerable, though better approximations might exist.”
• When does a mind become a person?
  • Augustine declined to answer.
• What is the nature of sin and virtue?
  • Augustine says, “the answers are to be found earlier in the sequence”, i.e., in older religions.
• Which parts of which old faiths should be considered part of the Absolute?
  • Augustine has provided several partial answers, but nothing exhaustive.
• Why has the Absolute revealed itself in full in this age?
  • Augustine says, “the answer has yet to appear in our time.”
• Who will lead the Church when Augustine dies?
  • Augustine says, “the will of the Absolute will be manifest at that time” but refuses to give specifics.
• What sections, if any, of the apocryphal text “The Lesser Word of Augustine” were written by Augustine Browne?
  • Augustine has not been publicly asked the question.
• Should the Church continue to operate the Testament?
  • Augustine declined to answer.
• What is the nature of the hivemind?
  • Augustine’s writings imply it has some special significance, but she refuses to clarify.
• What is the nature of the cruciform?
  • Augustine has declared it a “holy mystery”.

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