Church of Absolute

'“Imagine a polyhedron with infinite sides, infinite size, infinite complexity. Different peoples have observed different parts at different times, and assumed that what they saw was all there was to see. They added on their own thoughts to complete the picture. Divine mathematics allows us to see past that to the Absolute truth and begin to measure its intricacies.” — 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.

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 she grew up within the Christian church, and 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lead her to produce the Cruciforms in secret and then take a small number of trusted colleagues, an unknown amount of unpublished research, and several key pieces of scientific equipment to leave the Institute in 2605.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. Other traditions syncretized with the Church, leading to a greater diversity in thought and practice. 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 groups 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.

Theology

Basic Beliefs

Before anything in this world came to be, the Absolute existed. It created the universe with the Grand Equation, which governs all of reality. From the gravitational constant to the number of stars in the universe at any given nanosecond, all are part of the Equation, orderly and perfect. Chaos was introduced, however, and is the source of all suffering. The cause of Chaos has not yet been stated by Augustine, and many within the Church speculate or debate about it. It is Chaos that makes people act selfishly and maliciously, and hides the nature of the Absolute from creatures. Divine mathematics is the science by which Augustine has seen through the lies of Chaos and begun to discern the true nature of reality and divinity. She is not the first to perceive the existence of such a system, many religious figures of the past saw parts of it as well, but she is the first to realize what she saw initially as just a part of a larger sequence, and look for the sequence. She is not herself divine (nor was any other creature, regardless what may have been said about them in the past), but she is the Cartographer, the ultimate source of knowledge on the Absolute. The holy books of earlier religions are worthy of study and have much truth within them, but where they conflict with the doctrines of Absolutism the old ways should be discarded.

Cruciforms and Divine Machinery

The Cruciform was the first piece of divine technology created, engineered by Augustine to connect more fully with the Absolute and channel the divine will. The implant is at the center of Absolutist life, channeling the will and power of the Absolute, giving each and every believer a direct connection both to divinity and to each other. 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.

“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

After the creation of the Cruciform, Augustine taught others of the arts of divine mathematics and worked together with them to create a wide variety of divine machinery. These individuals, called the Numericals, are a small group composed mostly of Augustine’s former colleagues from Soteria Industries. They work in isolation, their bodily needs provided for by the Church as they develop weapons, obelisks, biolathes, and more. Many of these are powered by cruciforms, and many of them also use biomatter, the second great innovation of the Church. 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; obelisks, upgrades for their cruciforms, industrial machines, electrical power, and more.

“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

Golems are a very unusual piece of divine machinery produced not by Augustine and her chosen Numericals but rather by a Greyson AI named Brynn as it studied and pondered the teachings of Augustine. While it did not join the Church fully, it did give the designs for the golems to Augustine and is sometimes called a Fractal by Absolutists. They are an explicitly military design, modeled after chess pieces and intended to protect the Church and its followers. They have a simple intelligence and no souls, and while they are not to be squandered, they do exist to protect people, and a believer should not feel they have done wrong if they allow a golem to fall rather than themselves, nor does leaving a golem to hold off an enemy violate a Divisor’s ban.

“Brynn. Creature of tessellating, 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)

Death and the Afterlife

The proper goal in life is to be freed from Chaos and live in line with the original design for creatures. At the end of each person’s life, their soul is judged against the Grand Equation. Those who lived lives of Chaos are reincarnated, sent back to the material world, with circumstances that depend on just how good or bad they were in their previous life. If, however, one is found to be worthy, they move on to Infinity, an eternal paradise where Chaos, and therefore suffering and death, does not exist. Just as with the unworthy, though, not all enter Infinity equally; just how marvelous your eternity is is determined by the sum of all actions throughout all lives, though greater weight is given to the more recent ones. Augustine says she has not yet solved all the equations for how much weight is given to every act, but she knows that being a part of the Church is necessary to reach the highest places in paradise. When a member of the Church has their final death, unable to be revived by medical science, they are given an Absolutist funeral. Their cruciform is removed with the Deprivation litany and given to their loved ones, and then their body is placed into the bioreactor to be dissolved in the holy solution, giving one last gift to those who still lived. Nonbelievers who request it in their postmortem instructions may also be given Absolutist funerals at the discretion of the local Prime, and enemies of the colony who are killed may also be dissolved in biomatter with or without a proper funeral.

Entropy

Since arriving on Nadezhda, the Church has encountered Chaos in a far more direct form: Entropy. The effects of the strange energies of this planet are not completely understood, but some of them became clear as random, seemingly impossible happenings occurred around the colony. Augustine and the Numericals worked quickly to create the Nullifier, which measures and reduces it. Since bluespace technology that the colony depends on raises the entropy over time, Vectors, especially Factorials, are encouraged to make at least one Nullifier during each shift when they have the resources, and more if it becomes necessary.

Unholy Powers

Psionics were created through horrific, cruel experimentation on sapient beings, creatures made by the Absolute. Additionally, while the connection isn’t fully understood, it is apparent that psionics are in some way connected to the Deep Maintenance and the monstrosities that live there. Therefore Augustine has forbidden followers of the Church from bearing psionic organs, even Fractals. Additionally, the practice of runic magic with blood is forbidden, as it is a form of reality manipulation that is only possible within the entropy of Amethyn and is outside the realm of the Church. The only "magic" that an Absolutist should perform is the officially sanctioned litanies that channel the power of a cruciform.

Morality

Absolutists believe that suffering is the result of Chaos, and therefore a good person works to minimize the suffering of others. By living in such a way, they believe they will reach Infinity, and Absolutist morality as a whole is often referred to as the Path to Infinity. A righteous act is one that reduces suffering and promotes good order, living in line with the Grand Equation. Sins are acts which cause suffering and disorder, and come in two varieties. Venial sins are lesser, subject to penance and internal discipline. Mortal sins are sins so significant that they carry a penalty of excommunication.

The Catechism identifies eight cardinal virtues, which stand opposed to eight cardinal vices. The virtues are a non-exhaustive list of significant righteous acts and attitudes that are essential for proper Absolutist living. Echoes of these are found earlier in the sequence, in the older religions, but the perfect forms of all virtues only exist within the Church, as they are now oriented properly towards the true Absolute divinity. Each of the Paths seeks to exemplify a virtue. Vices, on the other hand, are significant sins that the faithful should strive to avoid. While they are generally venial sins, some have an extreme form which is in fact mortal sin.

The Eight Virtues

• Faith
  • Faith is belief in the Absolute, as well as trust and obedience to Augustine and the Church she established. It is widely considered to be the most important virtue, as without belief in the Absolute and the Church no other act will be properly oriented.
  • Lemniscates exemplify this virtue; while they may debate the details, they strive to be knowledgeable of and adhere to all official Church doctrine.
• Compassion
  • The Path to Infinity includes doing whatever may be done to lessen the suffering of others. This is especially virtuous if done at cost to oneself, but unnecessary suffering to oneself should not be created.
  • Tessellates exemplify this virtue; they use their litanies as well as the skills of modern medicine to directly reduce the amount of pain and death in the universe.
• Vigilance
  • An Absolutist should remain aware of things that threaten the Church and be prepared to oppose them in the ways deemed necessary. This is sometimes martial, like with Hiveminds, and sometimes peaceful, like with dangerous heresies.
  • Divisors exemplify this virtue, using their litanies to actively fight those foes which require violence and being willing to lay down their lives in defense of the rest of the Church.
• Charity
  • An Absolutist must remember that all goods in this world are temporary, and should be used for further eternal ends. If another needs something you can give them, you should do so.
  • No path yet exists for this virtue, however there is a movement attempting to gain official recognition. They are called the Addends.
• Justice
  • The Path to Infinity is a path of order, and that includes fairness in all dealings. It also means compliance with civil laws wherever they do not conflict with Absolutist teachings.
  • No path yet exists for this virtue, however Absolutists within the Marshals and similar law enforcement agencies hold it in high regard.
• Diligence
  • An Absolutist should be actively walking the Path to Infinity, doing the works of the Church and serving their fellow sapients. Work should be done with a good will.
  • Factorials exemplify this virtue, maintaining Church equipment and creating things to aid the faithful.
• Prudence
  • The Path to Infinity must be walked carefully, as there are many diversions that may seem good, but lead to Chaos. Therefore an Absolutist should be conscious of their actions, thinking about them in the context of the Church’s teachings.
  • Monomials exemplify this virtue, meditating for hours on end to gain greater understanding of the will of the Absolute.
• Humility
  • An Absolutist must remember that they are but a small part of the Church, that their knowledge and skills are limited, and that their needs are not more important than those of others.
  • No path exists for this virtue, but some who bear Vinculum cruciforms do so out of a belief that no Path, with their insistences upon specific courses of action and the politics between them, can fully display this virtue.

The Eight Vices

• Defiance
  • This is resistance to the teachings of Augustine and the authority of the Church. The heathens naturally all share this vice, but it must be guarded against even in the Church.
  • The mortal sins of Heresy and Sacrilege are extreme forms of this vice. Heresy is defined as openly advocating for any other mortal sin or denying the religious authority of the Prophet. Sacrilege is the knowing installation of a cruciform onto a nonbeliever or excommunicated person, though using Epiphany to destroy a known carrion is permissible.
• Wrathfulness
  • This is anger or malice towards other sapients that leads to harming them unduly. This includes both physical and emotional harm, but does not include just punishments, religious or secular, nor does it include defending one’s home or the Church.
• Timidity
  • This is a refusal to act against threats to the Church. Not all in the Church are called to take up arms, but those who do not should still be active in support of those who are, whether that is healing those who fall while fighting an Excelsior invasion, building obelisks and golems to combat a Hivemind.
• Greed
  • This is an excessive desire for or accumulation of material goods, or extortion of others. Desiring enough to provide a comfortable living for oneself and one’s family is not greed, nor is expecting a reasonable wage for one’s work, but going beyond that is.
  • The mortal sin of Simony is an extreme form of this vice. Simony is defined as profiting from the sale of cruciform installations, repairs, consecrations, and other core religious services of the faith. Selling church products like guns, clothing, or medkits for a fair price is permitted.
• Disorder
  • This is acting in a way that is unfair, unjust, or in defiance of the law. This is one of the most literal expressions of Chaos, and Absolutists are to resist it. In doing so, they also show their willingness to live properly within a civil society.
  • The mortal sin of Lawlessness is an extreme form of this. Lawlessness is the commission of a severe felony. Within Nadezhda colony, civil conviction of an Exceptional or Capital offense is sufficient grounds for immediate excommunication. This requires a proclamation by the High Council of some kind, not just the word of the Marshals. Outside the colony, things are handled on a case-by-case basis, as the Church does not have as much power within other legal systems, and thus has less trust in them.
• Slothfulness
  • This is failing to live up to one’s responsibilities or refusing to accept any responsibilities at all. We all have our part to play in the universe, and while there is a time to rest, but that time is not all the time.
  • The mortal sin of Indolence is persisting in vices despite repeated admonition by those higher within the Church. Trying and failing to live up to the Church’s teachings is not Indolence, refusing to even attempt it is.
• Indifference
  • Rather than resistance to the teachings of the Church, this is living without true regard for them. Failure to follow the requirements of one’s Path falls within this, as does general conduct that shows no respect for the teachings of the Church.
  • The mortal sin of Apostasy is an extreme form of this vice. Apostasy is the unsanctioned transfer of Church relics or cruciforms to another organization.
• Pride
  • This is acting in a way that asserts more knowledge, skill, or authority than one actually possesses, or acting in a way that is primarily self-serving. It also includes using means to directly manipulate reality that are outside the Church, including both psionics and non-Absolutist rituals involving blood; the Absolute has given the faithful the proper ways, bypassing them for other routes is the hubris of a creature thinking they know better than their creator.

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: Tessellates 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: Tessellates 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 Christianity 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 nature of Chaos, and even the structure of the church as distractions from the work of healing the world.

Tessellates 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 Tessellate’s litany saved their life. For this same reason, Tessellates are heavily involved in the Church’s charitable works, with most Tessellate 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 always necessary, but Divisors must always 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 or misdirection. Blunt refusals to answer questions, stories and jokes are all permissible, but they are to live a life of honesty, not deception.

“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, nor take painkillers, anesthetics, or medical stimulants. Pain relief can come from holy litanies or not at all.

“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 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. It is not uncommon for them to take additional vows of charity, silence, or abstinence from worldly food or pleasures. 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 create things which benefit the Church and the colony, using their litanies and their skills for the benefit of others.
• Ban: Factorials must endeavor to use Church equipment wherever possible and available, and attempt to sanctify any secular tool they need to use for their work. A Factorial Vector putting on non-Church armor for increased protection or perceived style is forbidden, but putting on a softsuit for EVA activities when a suitable Church suit is not available is permissible, as is Factorial Scalars using armor appropriate to their faction and jobs in the colony. Power cells are exempt from this ban entirely, though many Factorials prefer to use Church cells.

“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. 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 each dimension 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.

Addends

• Rite: An Addend must actively work to provide for those of lesser means. This can mean working a job but donating their pay to the Church for charitable use, directly spending their time and resources doing work without expectation of pay, or similar charitable works.
• Ban: An Addend takes a vow of poverty, living on the provision of the Church and its litanies. They may use credits only for necessary tools to aid their charitable works.

The Addends are one of the movements attempting to become a full-fledged path. Its members bear Vinculum cruciforms and have no specialized litanies, but they live according to the Rite and Ban while lobbying and praying for Augustine to formally sanction them. Pulling from the long charitable traditions of many religions, they teach a lifestyle that recognizes that material wealth is temporary and resources should be used for the benefit of others. There are even some socialists among the movement who believe that this way of life should be a societal model, but they are a minority even within the small group.

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, the Cartographer. 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 spends much of her time spreading the faith outside the colony, staying in contact with the Church via a powerful form of the Sending litany that works across interstellar distances. Recently she returned and delivered a refinement of her previous teachings, a more complete catechism and a firmer set of doctrines, and has remained in the colony, helping to smooth out any issues caused by the change and once more advocating for the Church within the High Council.

Under Augustine are the Fundamentals, the leaders of Church divisions and the foremost Primes under her guidance, counseling her and assisting with the administration of such a large congregation. Church belief is 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 District Six or in the smaller chapels throughout the rest of the lower colony.

Clergy

The Church has two forms of ordained clergy. Members of the clergy may also work within other departments, but they are still considered clergy and are always held to a higher standard than laypeople. Primes are the higher order of clergy, well-trained in the theology and rituals of the Church. They oversee local Churches both practically and spiritually, and are expected to preach the faith, provide spiritual counseling, guard against heresies, and oversee Church discipline. Some positions have a permanent Prime, others have many Primes, rotating them as needed and possible with their various schedules.

Vectors are the lower order of clergy. They too are trained in theology, but are not necessarily required to preach or to provide counsel. The skills and abilities of each Vector vary by Path and by individual; some are trained combatants, others are skilled gardeners or healers, others still are orators or salvagers. All are expected to act directly as the Church’s hands and feet while on duty, and to represent the Church well even when not on duty.

Laity

“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 who are baptized, bearing cruciforms, but not employed directly by the Church. Their level of theological training and commitment to the mission of the Church varies wildly, but all are expected to submit to the leadership of the clergy in matters of doctrine, and to use their litanies to perform good works, often on a small scale within their daily lives.

Fractals are members of the church who do not bear a cruciform, whether it is for age, health, or choice. While they do not have the Church’s most central implant, they are still full members who are expected to live in line with Church teachings. Psions may not be fractals, however those with a nanogate may be.

Church Discipline

“Sin is the manifestation of Chaos within creatures, which distances the soul from the Absolute.” — Catechism

Penance

“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 Penance 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

An Absolutist who has become aware that they have sinned should go to a member of the clergy and request penance. The purpose of penance is to purge Chaos from a believer and bring them back to the fullness of the faith, not to punish them. The degree and form of penance varies based on the severity of the offense as well as the status of the sinner. Clergy are held to a higher standard than Scalars and Fractals. Minor failings only require a confession that shows a genuine understanding of what was done wrong and a commitment to change. More significant failings usually require undergoing the formal ritual of Penance, which inflicts significant pain on the penitent but no true harm. Alternatives may be offered, such as physical corporal punishment, hard labor, or enforced prayer, especially for Fractals, who cannot have Penance performed on them, and synthetics, who do not feel pain. Severe cases may require repetitions of the litany, even to the point of unconsciousness sometimes. The pain of Penance is a holy, cleansing pain that purges Chaos and encourages holy behavior, thus even Tessellates may use it. Normally, the faithful will seek out a member of the clergy and ask for confession and penance, but a Prime (not a Vector) may demand penance for extremely bad behavior.

Reduction and Separation

Extreme venial sin, abuse of litanies or official Church powers, unduly harming Absolutists, or acting in a manner that damages the relationship between the Church and the rest of the colony can lead to Reduction or, in more severe cases, a Separation. These penalties may only be instituted by a Prime, and a Prime may only be subjected to them by an Inquisitor, a Fundamental, or Augustine herself. With Reduction, a Prime or Vector is defrocked (A Prime may be moved back to Vector status if the intended penalty is just a demotion). Beyond Reduction is Separation, in which a Scalar has their cruciform removed, becoming a Fractal. Additionally, those who persist in neglecting the rite or ban of their Path may be removed from that Path, which involves Separation, then reinstallation of a Vinculum cruciform. The duration of the penalty is at the discretion of the Prime, who is to render judgment based on the offense committed, whether the wrongdoer is repentant or not, and whether there is a history of such behaviors. Within Nadezhda, these penalties cannot last past the end of the shift without either authorization from the Fundamentals or the consent of the wrongdoer. These penalties are not excommunication, and thus may be reversed without the intervention of Augustine.

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 carry the penalty of excommunication. Every excommunication must be authorized by Augustine, and may only be lifted by her. Someone who is excommunicated has their 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. In previous eras, those who were excommunicated were social pariahs, refused access to any Church services at all. In the present day, they are not officially shunned, but they are not permitted to live within District Six, nor can church goods be given to them specifically without payment. (A general setting of food in a public place for all to partake of is fine, giving a pouch to someone who was excommunicated without charging them is not). Additionally, individual Absolutists may choose to shun the individual and may not be punished within the Church for such, though Primes are expected to work as amiably as possible with other Councilors regardless of their history.

The levying of an excommunication is not done lightly, and neither is the lifting of one, though some are easier to lift than others. For a lifting to be considered, the conditions below must be met, and then a request sent by a Prime who is active in the community to Augustine, vouching for the sincerity of the contrition. If the request is granted, the member is rebaptized, assuming they agree to any conditions attached to the lifting.

• Excommunications for Abomination, Apostasy, Indolence, Simony, or Sacrilege may be lifted after a continuous, genuine display of contrition for a period of no less than three months. Unless otherwise explicitly stated by Augustine, those reinstated from these mortal sins may never again be clergy. Additionally, an additional Rite of Requirement may be placed that is directly opposite the mortal sin that caused the excommunication. For example one who committed Simony may be required to take a vow of poverty and never have more wealth than is necessary for their daily life, or one who gave a cruciform to Soteria Research may be prohibited from working for or trading with them personally.
• Excommunications for Lawlessness are special, as this excommunication alone is determined by those outside the Church itself. The conviction must first be overturned before any lifting can be considered, as agreed to by Augustine when the Church first joined the colony. If the conviction is overturned because the civil authorities later determine the exceptional crime was not committed, the excommunication is lifted automatically. If the conviction is pardoned or otherwise mitigated by an act of the High or Low Council, the excommunication may be lifted under the same circumstances as the other mortal sins, though the prohibition from clergy positions does not automatically attach.

“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 seeming to be 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 it 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. The Bless the Land litany was developed partly to aid these expeditions, as it significantly delays the spawning of these psionic monstrosities.

Debates

Even with the recent clarifications, there are things that are not clear from Augustine’s teaching, and are debated (especially by Lemniscates)

• The nature of the Absolute: The majority view is that it is a person, a deity with a benevolent will in line with most Abrahamic religious beliefs. A minority believe that it is instead an impersonal force that acts according to its own nature or even does not act at all after implementing the Divine Equation.
• The nature and origin of Chaos: Another item of contention is where Chaos originated. Is it part of the original intent? Something created when the first creature was given free will? Something created by a devil figure whom Augustine has not yet described?
• The inevitability of this presentation of the Church: It isn’t widely known, but neither is it hidden that Augustine was previously a Christian before discovering the truths of Divine Mathematics. Some have speculated that much of the form and structure of the Church, with its hierarchy and its litanies composed primarily of Latin Bible passages, is not the only way that the Absolutist faith could have manifested, and that had Augustine been a Muslim prior, it may well be a Caliphate of the Absolute or similar. The Church permits discussion of this so long as it remains hypothetical; any suggestion by a Vector or Prime that the Church should have a fundamentally different base is the vice of Defiance, and cause for discipline.

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