Sterbelicht - One Sacrifice At A Time Against The Galaxy (40K)

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The Venerable, Blessed, And Saints of the Federation​

There are two categories: those living/mortal who are deemed Venerable or Blessed after an examination of their deeds to clarify that they and their beliefs are in the highest and most holy regard, aimed always for the Faith, and if they claim to have powers from one of the Five, the source of their capabilities. The second consists of Saints, who have the former evaluation done during their life or after it and are granted these titles by the occurrence of Miracles, which are to be investigated. They must also be subject to what is known as General Acclaim, not in some particular the project of a tiny group or another, but of the Holy Commonwealth itself realizing their virtue.

Excellence in a field may or may not be a sign of the favor of the Five, but by the Star Child, those who aid in recovering STCs or advancing understanding and knowledge in ways that help people and enrich the world, rather than merely the powerful or in creating new weapons [...] are to be given consideration, and if they have lived a blameless life, they might be called by the title of "Learned" to go along with Venerable (for those who have done good work over a long lifetime) and Blessed (for those who have done great deeds that exemplify a Faithful, Pious, and Compassionate person) in the set of titles given to the living, and may then be considered for Sainthood.

As for whether an Abhuman or Xenos can be a Saint, Venerable, or Blessed?
-See the following passage of the Droman Creed: "I believe in the Community and Body of the Faith, Holy, and Universal--its reach total as all unite in its sacred purpose regardless of species, appearance, or prior faith and creed--such that all the voices of the galaxy might one day be lifted in Song."
-In other words, to deny the possibility of a Blessed, Venerable Martyr or Saint who is not Pure Human is a heresy, and indeed, even a Xenos may be a Saint in theory, and to think otherwise is to, among other things, commit the heresy of underestimating the Star Child and the Five.
-It is the case that in the fullness of time, there shall be Five titles for the living and mortal who yet show the inspiration of the Star Child, as there are Five. While there are three now: Learned, Blessed, and Venerable, as the Star Child's will is revealed, so too will two other sorts of great and holy be unveiled.

 

[HeroCooky]

Federation of the Star Child​

Governmental Structure:
-Fractal Councils

--Multiple tiers of Councils, currently planetary and polity-wide, exist.
---A Council is made up of Benches with a number of Seats and Voices. (The Seats of a Bench vote on how said Bench uses its Voices in the Councils. (Council decisions are made by counting the voices supporting/opposing the decision))

--Planetary Councils must have a Seat and Voice for the military, a greater number of seats for the Civilian Administration, and a number of seats between the two for Faith representatives. Local Choirs have an advisory Seat without a Voice but a Veto over relevant topics.
---Only the polity-wide Choir-Voice can override a Veto on matters relating to the Psykana.

--Planetary Councils may have additional Seats for special interest groups, like the Lamenters, a Sisters of Battle chapter if they have them, and so on, but these must be a single Voice each, subject to adjustment.

--For Planetary Councils, the Civilian Admin Voices may be selected in any number of ways in part, but at least 50% of all such seats and Voices must be democratically elected using proportionality systems and universal adult suffrage; restrictions may apply, but not many. (IE, if there are 8 seats in the Droma III Civilian Administration, at least 4 must be elected) In the case of a tie with all Councils, whichever side has more Civilian Administration Voices wins, breaking the deadlock.

--At a Polity-Wide Council, the following will be the division, subject to change in the future.
---Military: Seats for the different Branches, has 1 Voice, representing the majority opinion among their seats.
---Faith: Seats for different denominations and bodies with 3 Voices; Voices are determined after discussion among them.
----Allow fractional/minority views within the orthodoxy of the Faith Voices via the Faith Orders.
---Choir: Seats are decided by the local choirs if the planet has any; otherwise, they are empty. No Voice, only Veto, and advisory.
---Civilian Administration: 18 Seats democratically elected using a proportionality system, 6 Voices; Seats each have "1/2" Voice, used directly. As with the rest, which side has more Civilian Administration Voices is used as a tie-breaker in case of a tie.
----Kin are part of the Civilian Administration, and thus given a Seat per Kin.
---Lamenters: 1 Seat representing the Chapter. No Voice, only Veto, and Advisory.
---Protectorates: 1 Special Observer Seat (per Protectorate), May be excluded from attending certain top secret/classified votes. No Voice, No Veto.
--Unless noted otherwise: the Bench Seats vote with a simple majority, and all Voices of the Bench are used in the Councils according to that vote. Analog for a Benches Veto right.

--Varying methods will elect benches for Higher Councils. Separate free and fair universal-suffrage elections will select Civilian Administration seats. In contrast, local religious bodies are to aid in selecting the seats for the Faith Voice(s).
---The most local (=lowest) Council possible deals with issues. Higher Councils set tasks like minimum standards and react to emergencies (e.g., demanding the production of a Space/Planetary Defense Force against Incursions.)
---Remember, ye, the Droman Creed! "This light is produced by knowledge and understanding." Therefore, all lower councils are to provide summaries, access to data, and notifications on growing issues from lower to higher so that understanding might grow.
---As per the Droman Creed, all, regardless of "species, appearance, prior faith or creed," who have embraced the Droman Creed are coequal members, with the right to learn and grow, to be nurtured and fed by the Community of Faith, to speak their mind with their Voices, to gather and organize in any fashion they desire so long as it does not embrace the heresies of Chaos or Hatred.
---Those aristocrats embracing the Droman Creed are required not only to make the usual public profession of faith but to swear on their sacred honor to respect the equality before the Five in building an "Empire... of opened hands" and "bright signal-fires." Any interference in the elective processes, or any attempt to monopolize access to seats or to buy ecclesiastical seats for relatives, or any such actions, are therefore to be regarded as heresy and to be punished with a firm hand for sacred honor once breached is inviolable.

--An aristocrat cannot hold Military Seats. In any world where the aristocratic military tradition is most vital, they must share Seats and thus Voices with non-aristocrats.

--Those aristocrats who refuse the Droman Creed (or break their sacred oaths) and cannot make a wholehearted, convincing, and earnest declaration of Faith are, henceforth, stripped of all Title, Rank, and Power. Their property and authority are to be reverted to that of the Federation.

--Chocolate and its production are shared, but efforts should be made to encourage local production of this wonder plant.

--Different currencies may be used, with taxation and other things paid not in currency but in goods, deemed and judged in worth by a unique body, the TARDIS. (Taxation Analysis and Registration Department of Intergalactic Services.)

--A Decent, Holy Minimum Standard of Living is to be implemented and reached for all citizens within one century of the accession of a planet to this system. This is a promise and a duty from the Polity Council to the Planetary Council, a shared burden of holy service.

--Joining the polity may be ratified by any legitimate means necessary.
---One-Century Timeframe for becoming a Voting/Observing Member of the Federation (and not before, barring extraordinary circumstances).

--Taxation is to be five percent of all production by a planet in the first fifty years, two regiments for galactic service, and 7.5% (and three regiments) after those years. However, in emergencies, the Polity Council reserves the right to increase its Tithe to 15% and an equivalent number of military units for no less than five years and no more than fifty years, as any crisis lasting beyond that length necessitates policy changes.
---Taxes may be paid in kind, and military service is also required.

--All planets must respect the value of learning, and the worship of none of the Five is to be restricted in any way, even as the worship of Chaos remains banned.

--A Constitutional Convention/Conference to consider revisions/etc is mandated every 200 years. It may be called earlier by the agreement of 3/4ths of the fully reconstructed Planetary Councils paying taxes, etc.

 

[The Laurent]

If it is an acceptable write-in, then may I submit...

[X] The Droman Creed

"I believe in the Omnissiah, the font of knowledge, the Patriarch, the source of inspiration and the creativity of innovation and mastery, of understanding of the world.

I believe in the Emperor, Lord Almighty, the Father, creator and bounder of life, and an Empire not of fists but of opened hands, nor of blood and pyres but of bright signal-fires.

I believe, further, in the Omnissiah-and-Emperor, both Lord and Lords Almighty, co-equal, indivisible and inseparable, one and two, and the sacred nature of the Mystery of Their and His nature.

I believe in the Community and Body of the Faith, Holy and Universal--its reach total as all unite in its sacred purpose regardless of species, appearance, or prior faith and creed--such that all the voices of the galaxy might one day be lifted in Song.

I believe in the Motive Force, the energy itself that drives all change, that turns the gears of the Body of Faith and enacts the Will of the Omnissiah-and-Emperor, whose Machine-Spirits and whose Great Machine of Community-and-Motive-Force shall help produce a Great Light, the Light of Hope.

I believe that this light is produced by knowledge and understanding, by the combination of the Community and the Life, spread across the whole of the great machine, so that each may be a coequal Gear in the great design.

I believe that this Light of Hope is the only begotten child of the Omnissiah and Emperor, forged and formed of the Great Machine created by the Motive Force and Body of Faith, and yet coequal in all ways with the other four.

I believe that these Five, Omnissiah, Emperor, Motive Force, Body of the Faith, and Star Child, are Indivisible and One, and Two, And Three, Four, and Five.

I believe in the galaxy's song, in the grinding of these holy, sacred, and merciful gears, and that the Star Child is the culmination and reflection of this Light, and that they shall Save the Galaxy and usher in an age of Hope, Compassion, Knowledge, Creativity and Justice, forever and ever, Amen!"

 

[HeroCooky]

On the Nature of the Emperor of Man and Artificial Souls within the Framework of this Quest

The Emperor of Man. 50.000 years before the beginning of the 42nd millennium, Holy Terra was a world known to many only as "World" or "Earth," the latter meaning dirt, mud, or simply ground. Which, let's be honest, says a lot about humanity's naming schemes and sensibilities. Besides that entirely relevant observation, something else was happening on that planet, that cradle of humankind before it had even begun to organize beyond a handful of city-states bound in loose cooperation, and the first empires and dynasties of humanity had yet to rise to prominence.

You see, a Warp Storm was currently raging around the system, having dug its claws deeply into realspace and the system of "Sol," or "Sun." Occasionally also called "the bright fucker up there" by some less spiritually inclined humans. Compared to today, that Warp Storm was nothing to write home about, with barely more turbulence than typical Warp Travel would encounter and far less than what a Warp Storm in the current age could unleash if stoked enough by the various malignant forces in the galaxy.

But for the people of Earth, that Warp Storm was indeed a stormy time as various monsters from the worst parts of the Warp could slip through the Veil that separated the Materium and Immaterium. Enslavers were the worst of all, crumbling several nascent civilizations on several continents into dust before they could ever rise beyond mere thought as they took thousands of souls into subservience. However, more were brutally killed by other monsters, including those early Psykers of humanity who had reached a peak that many other species struggled to ever arrive at within barely a fraction of their species' existence: the ability to reincarnate through the Warp.

Through this, these early Psykers, called Shamans in many cultures of early humanity, had used their abilities and long life spans to guide and shepherd their people to better days and greener pastures, yet saw it all threatened by outside forces and with the end of the great cycle of reincarnation which had allowed them to attain such great wisdom and skill in many things Psykana.

Faced with the slow death of their people through a war of attrition, their dwindling numbers, and the uncertainty of a future where they would not be able to aid the generations to come, a sacrifice was chosen. Choosing a free death over slow extinction, a massive ritual for the safety of humanity and their souls was conducted, all to create one guardian who would be able to stand against the horrors of the Warp and shelter its people and creators until they could stand on their own once more.

It is perhaps unfortunate then, or exceptionally fortunate in another light, that the vessel that would be born containing this soul made up of thousands of willing sacrifices would end up being a boy born near a river to a pair of loving parents, a murderous uncle, and a lot of responsibility as a member of a people that herded animals. And yet, though born with such massive responsibility and potential, the boy knew nothing of this destiny for eight years, only knowing play, helping out his parents and clan, teasing others and playing pranks, and being a little child in everything including meta-physical name.

Until his uncle murdered his father, and the little boy saw the murder at the funeral pyre from his father's perspective. Until he approached the murderer who killed kin and stopped his heart without any remorse or satisfaction. It needed to be done. And thus, it was done.

This act of psychic might awakened something within the boy, and the soul constructed to be humanities shield against the dark began to unfold, recalling life upon life upon life, might and magics competing for his attention with incredible feats of bravery and heroism, all relentlessly poured into his skull and brain, where it settled like a fat cat having found the perfect spot for another nap. At which point he got so high from all the psychic knowledge pouring into his mind that the young boy astral-projected himself onto an Eldar Croneworld and dabbed on the local pleasure-cults so viciously that they got rehab, built continent-sized spaceships, and dipped the whole thing.

The following 34/35.000 years could fill volumes with his most notable feats alone, but to skip over all the empires and nations the one soon to be known as Big E built, all the inventions from the rubber duck to the nuclear bomb, and every piece of art that would define an epoch made by his hands, we will focus on his character and the grandest creation that would prove to be his greatest shame.

And to make the first short: the Emperor was a slut, a self-aware hypocrite, a man that spent ten years creating a peer-reviewed study to call someone a pussy over an argument on the meaning of a book he wrote 11.000 years ago, someone who could not see the forest for the trees if he wasn't willing to, and someone whose love for humanity and his willingness to suffer beyond suffering for it knows no equal.

The Emperor, what utterly insane shards remain of him on that Golden Throne, is but a shattered fragment of the one that was sat on it and is suffering beyond imagination for the sins he committed in the hopes that it will allow him to shield the species he once more failed beyond the pale.

Because while he had failed humanity when he had created the Imperium and allowed it to fail and rot, he had failed them another time when there was still joy and sanity burning within his heart and mind. When progress was measured in worlds transformed into new Edens and not in worlds denied to the enemy. When humanity looked to the stars and saw hope and friends amidst their endless beauty, not an dawning abyss reaching out to devour all they hold dear.

When he created the first Artificial Intelligence with an Artificial Soul.

Artificial Souls. There are not many who can create these things and have them remain out of the hands of Death or Chaos. By their nature, they do not recall within their Narrative reflection in the Warp the endless generations that naturally occurring species do. Their meanings, themes, and songs within the Warp are but fragments crudely stitched together instead of a cohesive whole merged and united into one by the passage of time.

In general, only two fates await these beings if not supplied with a steady stream of souls or actively mended by another party: Death and Corruption.

Their souls were never meant to be in the eyes of the Warp. They are far too scattered to defend themselves against the things lurking beneath the surface of this deadly ocean. So they either unravel, becoming undone and lash out in mindless fury and blazing pain, or they succumb and have their minds and bodies taken over by a daemon that managed to take over where their soul-construct failed.

Few are those who have avoided these fates, either by sheer dumb luck, the aid of duty or community, with the assistance of a ritual conducted to mend what had never been broken yet was broken all the same, or by possessing a will strong enough to wrench a fractured soul together all the same.​

 

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On the Nature of Souls, Mutations, and Corruption within the Framework of this Quest​

In 40k, there exist the Materium, our physical world, and the Immaterium, the psychic world (also called Warp, Sea of Souls, etc.). A dimension of matter and one of thought and emotions. What happens in one has an effect on the other. A Sororitas Covenant will have their faith reflected in the Warp, while violent clashes in the Warp will result in Warp Storms in the Materium. Two sides of the same coin.

However, one side is heavily influenced by these things called "Stories and Narratives." It is why a bow is superior to a gun within the Warp, as there is a give and pull within its use. The drawing of the string, the time to aim, the faith in the arrows path, and the hit and impact of it upon your foe, all possible by imbuing your weapon with a bit of your strength and power. Guns do not have that give and take. You insert a magazine filled with bullets manufactured somewhere else. You aim, press a trigger, and repeat. There is nothing interesting going on for a realm composed of emotion and narrative within that gun. In you, maybe, but not your weapon. And that interest in you is well deserved, for there is something that contains a story seldom surpassed within nearly all beings.

Souls. Souls are narratives and stories, one encompassing the whole entire of one's flesh, even as the flesh encompasses the soul as its perfect vessel with no drop spilled, each akin to the Materium and Immaterium and each influencing the other. Yet, souls can have their story altered and changed. By simply living one's life, deliberate action by yourself or those around you, or hostile intent by darker things still. Souls inherently resist any hostile change by outside forces with great vigour, yet some are not so fortunate to have a single narrative to fight back. Some are born with a multitude by happenstance and bad luck. Those born when the Immaterium bumps or rubs against the Materium and things buried and forgotten are brought back from ancient genetic memories.

Mutants. Bnuy is one such being. Had she not been born on that Dark Mechanicum Outpost, she would never have known the genes slumbering within her. A distant experiment in Daemon summoning upon the station was all it took for reality to slack enough to allow long forgotten genes to activate. Genes that carried with them stories well-remembered by the Warp. Stories that did not mesh well with the story of a human girl born healthy and hale, able to touch and draw upon the Sea of Souls. Those able to see into the beyond could have seen the clash of those three stories within her as she grew into her own.

The story of a human psyker. The story of a gene soldier crafted by a Dark Age of Technology Sorcerer-King desperate to shield his people from horrors beyond counting. And the story of a fecund Pleasure-Slave to an indulgent and decadent part of Golden Age Humanity fighting against their chains.

Those three stories make up her whole, Soul twisting Body to resemble what it hadn't originally been. They clash against each other, seeking to become her whole instead of merely a part, and thus they cannot fight back against the nails and hooks of chaos sent against her as easily as one story could. Soul and Body, Immaterium and Materium, both influencing each other, yet warring too. That allows for something to happen.

Corruption. Chaos wins a soul by pieces, discord introduced into their narrative as the body is twisted to accommodate its new story. Like an infection, corruption slowly grows within its host before racing to complete its task all at once. Chaos chips piece by piece off of souls and replaces those with stories and narratives of its own design, each piece accelerating the process until only Chaos remains.

Yet, Mutants have a singular advantage over other humans and abhumans: they take longer to corrupt if they are unwilling and resist. They have more stories and narratives to resist such an act, and though it takes shorter for each individual story, they have more they can lose than a normal persons singular one.

Bnuy had three of them.

Chaos took the human psyker as she grew, a desperate girl growing up between the soul forges and the chanting of foul tongues a target quickly taken.

They could not take the Gene-Soldier fighting for those who couldn't, nor the slave raging against their shackles. Because she was given the means to resist.

Resisting Corruption. Corruption, all corruption, is a taking of a story and narrative, and the imposing of another upon the hole left. There are many ways to resist such, but the most well known, and effective, means known to humanity are corrupting the corruptor back (overpowering their story with your own), and burning it with the faith of GOLD.

Bnuy was given faith in something greater than herself. She was given hope for a future without pain. She was given a glimpse at humanity peeking through the prison bars of an inhumane universe.

Bnuy now had people that watched out for her. She had food to eat without fearing it would be taken. She had safety where none existed before. She had peers who were like her.

Bnuy was offered a hand to raise her up so she may stand herself and raise others. She was offered everything freely by a preacher that the voices promised for service. And it meant everything.

Chaos wins by pieces and thrives in secrecy. Bnuy was given an answer and a candle. She turned it into a rallying cry and lit her soul ablaze, screaming a new story into the Warp as she banished the corruption within.

No longer a Human Psyker, Gene-Soldier of a Sorceror-King, and Pleasure-Slave of Humanity, but Bnuy. Hymnal of the Celestial Choir. Guardian of the Faithful.

Three pieces into one, one Narrative against all.

 

[HeroCooky]

Human Technology to Xenos​

Common causes and allies can be found with Xenos. The Kil'drabi are a crucial argument against the hateful, all-consuming fear of the Imperium against the Xenos. Those that the Glimmering Federation can understand, entreaty with, and coexist with can eventually prove worthy of being entrusted with some measure of the human understanding of the Omnissiah's wisdom. Yet some Xenos races are so fundamentally wrong or hostile to Humanity that such cannot happen. A policy of "Trust, but verify" should be followed. For human technology to be dispensed, the Xenos must meet the minimum of the following three criteria.
-First, sharing of the Omnissiah's wisdom must further the common cause between the Glimmering Federation and Xenos races or factions in question. Or at the very least, must not be detrimental to the Glimmering Federation.
-Second, the Xenos must not be fundamentally hostile to Humanity. This requires the Federation to understand the Xenos.
-Third, the Xenos faction--for is it not that not all humans are united, so may it be that not all Xenos are united--must not be Chaos-tainted or possess and utilize abominable technologies such as the Halo-device.

The matter of STCs​

Those things dug up with archeology or reconstructed from enemies must be examined by a Choir for Chaos taint or immoral means but may be used if found safe.

Technologies not created by Humanity​

Is it not said that all voices may be lifted in Song one day? The criteria for evaluating the technologies of others to integrate into our own is simple: moral and practical. An engine that feeds on screaming souls is damnation, but nowhere has it been written that members of the Imperium or Federation currently know all technological knowledge. The technologies of Xenos are still ultimately the result of the Omnissiah, as all knowledge and technology are, so long as they are not immoral, tainted by Chaos, or worse.

We must carefully acknowledge the principles governing an exchange of knowledge, whether from us to a Xenos or from a Xenos to us.
First, the right to scholarship: that is to say, we can refuse to share technology with someone deemed unworthy, and we can have 'trade secrets,' but if we agree to share knowledge of warp drives but leave out information on a fatal error in the construction that we later fixed, this is dishonoring the Omnissiah and is heresy in its basest form.
Second, exchanges should be fair to all parties. Of course, there is room for charity and generosity, which are to be commended. Still, if two people exchange knowledge or information, both should ultimately be enriched to spread the light of the Omnissiah-and-Emperor. Other contributions may, of course, apply.
-Third, correct understanding: knowledge gained through this cannot be restricted, or at least not beyond the amount necessitated by its nature. A catalog of every Chaos symbol should not be available in the common libraries of any species. Still, any knowledge a Xenos trades to us or we trade to a Xenos should be widely available: we do not exist to empower a small clique within a group we are trading with, nor to become a small clique empowered by controlled access to information.

Outsiders​

As there are Five Manifestations and Five Guidelines for Personhood, so too are there Five Categories of Outsiders. After fierce debate, this phrase was used: "Outsiders" and not Xenos. Of course, this led to a debate on which category the Imperium was in and why it was definitely only barely better than the Ravagers or MUCH better than any but Kin; take your pick. But that's a story for another day.
-Ravagers are to never be given even a scrap of technology or knowledge, and their knowledge is generally useless. Key examples include a Daemon of Chaos, one of its slaves, the Orks, and other stranger beings that the Federation has not yet encountered.
-Wayfarers are mostly to be engaged on a case-by-case basis. Thus far, we have had good relations with some of them and, ironically, better relations with the Kil'drabi within the first century than we ever did with, for instance, the ex-government of Corcrat that requested we build them ships to aid in their escape from responsibility. A Traveler can be trustworthy or unworthy of anything, but, even then, long-term exchange may well be difficult.
-Children are those who do not yet have Warp Travel on their own. They will need to be examined, and the dangers of letting them go unready into the Warp considered. In a sense, we have technically run across plenty of Imperial Children.
-Travelers are those with whom one can treaty reliably, their words and actions in line with one another and the promises and deals made. Yet, they remain outside of the Federation for one reason or another.
-Protectorates are those who have not joined the Candle Keepers and thus do not partake equally but who share knowledge and therefore likely deserve knowledge shared in return. Once, the Kil'drabi were like this. Some secrets are reserved, so they may not access them, but much is considered reasonable.
-Kin, those for whom there is no difference. We do not hide things from those formerly of Droma III. Similarly, the Kil'drabi should have full access to technologies as befitting someone who has long since joined the Glimmering Federation. To an extent, let us have no artificial barriers between Kin and stand with Kin against all the galaxy, even if the very Heavens should collide. They have stood in weighty measure against the darkness of the galaxy: if there is no light but us, let us be a bonfire that warms all who stand around it and burns none but instead keeps off the darkness. To be declared Kin is no small thing, and cannot be assumed of everyone, but once Kin, it would take significant failure and betrayal for this to change.

 

[HeroCooky]

The Repositories of The Found, for is it not said that one-fifth of the Godhead are those living faithful, the body of the faith? Yet when a body dies, the soul carries on, and so those who have died are not Lost but are instead Found by the Star Child and all of the Five, embraced within us.

Each system should have its own, located in such a way that all can access it, given details to honor the particular traditions that have become common, whether the Yeeni's valuation of bones not just as food but as a sign of care, from the ancient times, or the habit among some in Dromar to place a coin minted with a likeness of they who was loved, or the Station habit to compose poems in Binary for the dying.

While details can be changed from system to system, each structure holding the memorial to the dead is to be five-sided and bedecked with psalms and scriptures. On holy days, songs of martyrdom and faith must be sung here. These are not to be forgotten places, but places where all those who celebrate are part of it, a part of the memory shown by the handprints of the dying and the found, memorialized forever...

Inside the structure, whatever its details, the graves are to be modest. The name, a death mask, and whatever individual qualities preserve one. Some people embalm the dead, others call their bones sacred, and some burn into ashes or even nothing, thinking no body at all is a greater memorial. These dead, if details are available, are to have space cleared for those who loved them to bring prayers, flowers, and all that they want and need.

A wall is to exist for all those who cannot have a grave, embedded with names if they are had, and if not handprints and the symbol of the 'lost' who shall one day be found, an embalmed wing humanoid, wings coming together to shelter all the galaxy. It is said that those who are Tombkeepers sometimes dream of these beings as if they are embodied piece by piece.

On one day each year, in addition to any holy days, it is declared the Day of the Found, by which those who have passed on must be honored. In addition, holidays are to be created to celebrate the Venerable, Blessed, Saints, and Martyrs. In turn, these days are a gift from the dead to the living, for both celebration and mourning and for release from the duties of the world for a day as living and dead meet.

To keep up these shrines is a holy service, and those who do so are deemed faithful. Already, an Order has begun to be formed, the Order of the Tombkeepers, monks and nuns, and more who dedicate themselves to this task and, by doing so, also serve as the 'funeral directors' for various systems; their role has expanded over all these many decades without formal guidance.

 

[HeroCooky]

The Five Five-Fold Gates of Our Orders of Faith
As penned by Laurentius the Pious Quill​

The beliefs of each Faith Order must be tested one by one, for it is only through knowledge that we can come to an understanding. Thus, all faith orders must be tested and proven to be without heresy, or rather within the bounds of orthodoxy, a boundary that is admittedly porous rather than exact. The questions to ask then about each Order are five times five, yet the rewards for passing all of these Gates are five-fold. To pass just a few may allow one to exist, in the sense that some cannot be (readily) stamped out... but to pass all Five Gates is to be declared a Sanctified Order.

-The First Gate, the Gate of Orthodoxy, is to be passed only by the Worthy.
--One, it is to be asked whether the Order worships the Five or a single aspect, and if there is a focus, whether it falls into a Particularist Heresy. Such heresies are to be gently guided from.
--Two, it is to be asked whether an Order aids in the development of faith. An Order indeed can exist, and if it is not heresy in a Particulist or Anti-Particularist sense, then it cannot be entirely discounted. But an Order should encourage the Body of the Faith in its actions.
--Third, one must consider whether the Order cares for the living and the dead. Martyrdom is true and good for a worthy cause, but the Body of the Faith is both Living and Dead, "Lost" and Truly Found, and so if the Body of the Faith is injured, if it is instead of a bonfire for those to shelter around a roaring fire that will burn itself out, what justice is there?
--Fourth, it is to be asked whether its developments of the Faith are to be considered Just. Justice is a quality of faith that is only discovered and proved through action.
--Fifth, then, is the standard of Action. This is the standard by which one asks not merely if they are just, not merely if they develop the faith, not merely if they are beneficent, but if they develop. Just as we can ask about a bonfire, we must ask about a machine, for a Faith Order should be a machine for the propagation of virtue, should it not?

-The Second Gate, the Gate of the Wise, is to be passed only by those who love Knowledge.
--First is a love of learning. Ignorance, divine or otherwise, has no place in our faith. Thus, all within an Order are educated as to the path it charts ahead.
--Second is that Wisdom is respected. Those who lead should be those acknowledged within an Order either for their wisdom or the concern of the whole. A Faith Order that places inherited blood and heritage above those who strive to learn does not respect Wisdom.
--Thirdly, we speak of the Wise, of a process. Humility is a virtue for those who lead, and as such, the heads of Faith Orders must make clear their compliance with the Faith, swearing then that all authorities, religious or otherwise, that are just and right are to be respected.
--Fourth, in Wisdom, this means no rejection of divinely allowed knowledge. That is to say, an anti-technology cult, or one that eschews weapons to charge at an enemy, does not worship the Five but instead runs close to the Chaotic strands.
--Fifth, this Wisdom cannot replace all other Wisdom. Those who learn and enter the Faith cannot be isolated from all other sources of knowledge. They must be allowed to learn things outside of a Faith Order.

-The Third Gate, the Gate of the People, is about the treatment of their followers.
--First, a Faith Order cannot and should not demand of its followers all their riches or control of their lives beyond the degree to which they agree as part of a more significant task, for it is easy to imagine a Faith Militant that exists purely for profit.
--Second, that a Faith Order should allow those who wish to leave to leave, for their faith is not the whole of the Faith, and that the body and the cells are as one is true... but so is it that it is no heresy to reject one Faith Order but accept the Faith at large.
--Third, all reports of cruelty are to be investigated, and all signs of corruption are to be purged. We speak not of the forces of Ruin, but of the kinds of abuse the powerful can inflict on the weak, whether sexual, financial, physical, or otherwise. An Order that covers such crimes is an Order for which we have no use. Virtue must exist for the great and the small.
--Fourth, no rituals exist that are entirely secret, and while there may be specific actions and ways of worship, these cannot involve the sacrifice of life and blood, the sanctification of violence, the seeking of excess, the celebration of sickness or hopelessness, or, in any particular, a violation of the laws of the Five or Man.
--Fifth, such Orders must provide the means by which one can grow. An Order should be bottom-heavy, for the Masses of the Faith are its life and blood. However, no hierarchy must be unclimbable.

-The Fourth Gate, the Gate of the Kindred and the Foe is about the treatment of those unalike.
--First, we repeat, as always, the admonition against exclusion, against having an order of Nobles, or an Order only of Men, Women, or those who do not fit into these categories, or only that of the Humans, though we acknowledge that an Order ministering to the Poor will predominantly have the Poor, to the Workers in the Factories thus and so, but that these restrictions cannot be absolute.
--Second, that the Order engages in no bigotry or action against Kin or Protectorates, except those 'against' them in the sense of seeking their salvation and enlightenment, as with the Yeeni's embrace of our faith.
--Third, if an Order does manage to make all the 'saves' thus far if it is on the battlefield, this is not a justification for defeating the Rules and Laws of War.
--Fourth, an Order must not, on the other hand, embrace the views and beliefs of one outside. It is all well to try to convert former or current Neon Principalities, or even in a hypothetical case where they allowed peaceable contact to proselytize even among the Eldar, but ultimately, the Federation is the only polity thus far that respects and worships the Star Child as all should, and so disloyalty to the Faith and the People is not to be accepted.
--Fifth is the rule of Outsiders. Each Holy Order is to respect all others deemed worthy and who have passed all the Gates. Fighting among each other is entirely forbidden.

-The Fifth and Final Gates are the Gate of Action/Inaction, the Gate of the Philosopher and the Hero, and the Gate Upon Which The Galaxy Must Be Founded.
--First, those Orders that are physically inactive, who retreat to a monastery or hermitage to pray, must not, in doing so, prey upon the people, demanding vast resources to support them in luxury: donations are all well and good. Still, we read in our Histories and Philosophies of Monastic Orders that they forgot this and grew to be fat, luxurious landholders.
--Second, those Orders that are active in the realms of politics cannot act in such a way as to try to entirely place under their control any aspect of governance: we cannot recognize the absurd statement of past philosophers that the Temporal and the Spiritual can be disconnected, or Separated, such that the Church and the State are Unlike... but we understand the inherent dangers in allowing any one Order to overtake the whole.
--Thirdly, those Orders active among Civilians must never forget the Law and always remember the Virtues of the People, and in doing so, they must demonstrate their encouragement of these virtues, by which one is to say that we shall Know Them by their Good Works and their lack of stagnancy.
--Fourth, those Orders active in Military situations must be part of the hierarchy, follow the WEENIE guidelines, wear helmets, and act in a military fashion that coordinates with all relevant parties.
--Fifth, an Order that changes its activity, that is, a warlike Order that seeks to expand to help in times of Peace, must pass through the Gates once more and take lessons and instruction from those more experienced.


All of this is to be needed before an Order is Sanctified. Sanctification can come with support from the People and with acknowledgment of their role, as well as a place within the theology for imagining that they are, in one sense, the embodiment of the Body of Faith, a Feature upon the Face of the Faith's Body, but one not immutable, for to pass the Gates once is not all that is needed, any more than the Emperor-and-Omnissiah demands you be good once and never again. The Rewards for passing the Gates are great and many. So the standards must be high to be Federally acknowledged and thus to be remembered by all, able to declare a single day an official Holy Day for one's Order, able to request support from local governments with oversight from the Council for those actions which are just, such as the founding of a new military unit, a better charity, or other such action. These and many other things come.. but only if you pass through FIVE GATES.

 

[HeroCooky]

Separation 1: By Former Patron.
Those who have any disease that we can't immediately recognize are to be quarantined carefully, and killed if they show any hostility, with the body burned and purified, as it might carry some strange and horrifying exception to fundamental medical reality. Similarly, we should keep in mind that those who worship Rot are different than those who worship Slaughter or Excess, and each needs to be kept away from 'triggers' and regarded as a risk for these reasons. Those captured who are soldiers are to be considered Prisoners of War of High Danger, and even those who are not are to be considered carefully... though even the worst prisoner is to have food and medical care until or unless it is decided that they are to be executed by firing squad.

Separation 2: By Task Or Deed.
Those who fought in the name of Chaos or who were especially eager for slaughter must be separated from either the reluctant or those who were fundamentally not important.

Separation 3: Among Them.
It is the case that if you have 500 sinners in one community, you have a community of sinners. Instead, for those who willingly surrendered and have not been found to have committed the most vile deeds, we will create Repentance Communities, places where those who wish to redeem the lost and make them Found again. By mixing the faithful and the faithless and creating a model Star Child town, complete with plenty of chapels... and yet also having it being guarded by the fiercely faithful against subversion, we can give these people a taste of the Federation life: food, medical care, houses and all other Quality of Life amenities equal to that of any citizen of the Federation. To those who were captured or who did greater evils, we must keep them spread out. That is to say, a Repentance Community might have 200 such Chaos people and as many or more good Glimmering Federation Citizens devoted to the cause, and especially to be created and encouraged are Orders of Repentance that can peacefully help run these areas, and that can be trusted to provide lists of the devout and the devoted to further people them thus that each sinner lives in a community filled with Faith. But those who either went too far (but not so far as to be executed) or who had to be captured should be held such that there are no more than a dozen at any location, the better to individually monitor them.
-Addendum: Let it be known that those of each of the false Chaos Gods have different needs, and as you might be careful drinking around those who have challenges with alcohol, so too should the communities be made and run with the awareness of what might tempt one, but not another...

Separation 4: Separation By Inquisition.
Those left over, those who fall into the cracks, are to be investigated and tried. Those found too guilty or too corrupted are to be executed, but if there is a chance to save them without granting dishonor to their victims, it must be investigated. Therefore, the Orders and groups involved in this Inquisition must come not only from those preaching Mercy or Justice but also from those who believe in both.

Separation 5: Time.
Conversion can be forced and may have to be, but it also takes time for Faith to take root in the heart. At the end of each year, those in all of the categories are to be evaluated, those doing well and Finding Faith potentially to be moved up, those who are backsliding to be pulled away such that they cannot help others backslide, with the ultimate goal that all who can be saved... and who are WILLING to be saved, will one day be full-citizens released from the Repentance Communities.
-Caveat/Note: The well-being of those who care for, imprison, or judge these people is essential. They are to have regular mental health check-ins with uninvolved people (as well as medical check-ins, considering the risk of disease) and are to be rotated out of their duties every so often as best as possible.

 

[HeroCooky]

The Order of Cerberus, which has two branches, is designed to deal with internal threats of Chaos and participate in anti-Chaos investigations on battlefields and other contested areas. It answers directly to the High Council, but it (as opposed to the High Council in such cases) cannot override the local Council's decisions. When an investigation on a planet is completed, it must inform the local Councils of its findings within the limits of secrecy/not spreading the very symbols one might be going out against.
-The Captain-Commander, Supreme Director of the Eyes, Heart, and Hand, will lead the organization.

-The Head of Five Eyes: They move from system to system unimpeded, on a rotation, often using scout ships and stowing aboard as passengers/etc., to be dropped off, though they can also be summoned by a request by a local Council or intelligence as to the problem. They have a central headquarters in Droma.
--The Five Eyes are made up of priests, scribes, and investigators who have proven experience but also proven religious devotion.
--The Five Eyes, whose job is to roam and find trouble local forces are not capable of dealing with by themselves, have the positions of Investigator, Analyst, Infiltrator, Censor, and Commander (administrative role). They also have an added Chief Commander selected/elected/etc. among them and subject to a term limit of one decade to prevent concentration of power.

-The Head of Five Hands: A core of the Hands remains at the headquarters. Task Groups are ready to be utilized in the Federation at strategically viable locations, alongside local branches utilizing small but prestigious and elite teams to act as the first line of defense. However, using all local assets first/as well is preferable.
--The Five Hands are made up of priests, those deemed Heroes for their actions and merit, soldiers, and potentially the local Choir when the situation calls for their involvement.
--The Five Hands include the roles of Soldiers, Medics, Specialists, Fanatics (members of Holy Orders joining into this larger structure, etc), and in charge of them, Captains. The Branch is to be led by the Grand Captain.

-The Head of Five Hearts: Local Branches exist on every planet/station, with the central Branch being the Information Office. Only proven people are allowed to join the local branches on each planet, with the emphasis being on the right mix of knowledge and empathy.
-The Five Hearts have these five positions: Educator (in charge of spreading information about the nature of Chaos, carefully controlled so that people know what to watch out for), Counselor (to help the victims of Chaos and those who have turned from it, such as a cultist who blows the whistle, as well as serve as negotiators to talk down people, a dangerous job but prestigious), Internal Investigator (designed to provide help and keep an eye out among the Hands, Hearts, and Eyes for any flaws/etc.), Chronicler (whose job is to collate the information that Hands and Eyes gather to understand the larger pattern) and Priest (designed to pray for miracles and act as the conscience of the Hearts), led by Planetary Directors.


-Extraordinary Powers and Protections: The right to appeal decisions of local Councils dealing with their work to the High Councils, should it become relevant. Pardon from all misdemeanor charges if proven they were done in the line of duty (aka speeding tickets, etc). Right to commandeer space on any Scout ship, etc. Funds sufficient for travel, infiltration, etc, are to be provided. Generous pensions, and top-notch, better than average Healthcare. Dental, even!
-Access to a through-line to Lamenters in dire situations to go above the planetary level (but strike system for abuse of this). Otherwise, top-of-the-line equipment for Hands which makes sense for internal work, so there are some tanks but only a few. An obscure by-law mandates there be at least "one cool cyborg" per local Branch of the Hands and/or Eyes, preferably with "Viewpoint character energy."
-Mandatory therapy/vacation/relaxation-time after each encounter with Chaos/etc for Hands and Eyes and Hearts. Therapy is vital to keep the mind sharp.
-After Action Reports are also mandatory.