Order of the One
"The Force is a Lie, there is only the Old One's Will
There is no Silence, only Whispers
There is no Sanity, only Madness
There is no Life, only Death
From Death, Order."
~ Ti'Xal Codices ~
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Title of Leader: Listener of Whispers
Governing Body: The Conclave
Other Positions:
- Listeners
- De Manu Mortis - 'Hand of Death'
- The Listeners
- Manu Mortis - 'Hands of Death'
- Miasma
- Galactic Basic Standard
- Xalish
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Beliefs
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Holy Text:
- Ti'Xal Codices
- The Great Old One
- Miasma
- Ti'Xal Codices
- Morte Ambulant - 'Death Walk'
- The Mark
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Overview
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A religious organization that zealously follows and propagates its religion, which believes each Galaxy has its own Deity, and that this Galaxy is the home to the Great Old One. Their religions holds that it is the duty of the Order of the One to prepare this Galaxy through conquest and the propagation of their religion as spoken of in their Holy Texts; the Ti'Xal Codices. Founded on Miasma, by the Dark Lady whom listens to the whispers of their slumbering Deity. Many members of the Order are converts, either from those whom sought out the religion on their own, or whom have been conquered.
The Order prides itself on its utilitarianism, with a staunch meritocratic system that rewards the worthy of the Order due to their actions and not whom they are or whom their blood-kin may be. Deeply zealous, the Order understands that theirs is not the only belief and thus they openly acknowledge that all other religions have their value in the Galaxy and their own place in the Universe.
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Listener of Whispers and the Conclave
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Trapped in a waking slumber for countless Eons, there are those few whom are able to hear the thoughts, desires and demands of the Great Old One. Gifted with this ability to hear the slumbering deity, they are known as the Council of Listeners, and it is the Listener of Whispers that is the religious and governmental figurehead of the Order of the One. At this moment it is the Dark Lady Marmora, whom has heard the Great Old One since she was a child where she lived in the Dark Forest of Kashyyyk.
It is not only the Listener of Whispers that leads the Order of the One, as many of the simple day to day aspects of governmental policies and mundane organizational skills fall to that of the Conclave. Organized through each members merit, holding their seats due to their skills and abilities, they hold the political power that keeps the government aspects of the Order of the One held together as it expands from Miasma to neighboring worlds. They are tasked with the levying of taxes and creation of laws to govern the territory of the Order.
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Manu Mortis - 'Hands of Death'
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Beings born with the power to wield the Force, they are trained to harness their powers and become the spear of the Order. The Manu Mortis are taken in at all ages, trained as Converts by Hands of the Order or a Master so that they themselves may prove to be useful to the Order of the One. They are taught how to harness the Force, which is seen as the extension of the slumbering Great Old One's will. They serve as the religious military arm of the Order of the One, acting in a similar capacity to that of the Sith or Jedi Knights.
Loyal to the Order, they use their strengths and the force to propagate the teachings and beliefs of the Order as they move from world to world. There are many paths within the Manu Mortis, each focused on an aspect of the Force, each a power in its own right. While they serve as protectors and warriors of the Order, they are wholly separate from the military of the Order of the One, though they will work together to further the goals of the Order.
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Manu Mortis Ranks
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Converts are the youngest members of the Order, and can be of any age from children to adults. They begin their training with communal training, until such a time as they are chosen for personal tutelage by a Hand or Master seeking a student. Unlike other orders, it is not entirely unheard of for a Hand or Master to take on multiple Converts as their students.
Hands of the Order are the most numerous members, serving in a myriad of capacities within the Order, as well as taking on religious missions to spread the word of the Order of the One. It takes dedication to become a Hand, and those Converts whom are ready will take the Morte Ambulant (Death Walk) as a means to show their devotion to the Manu Mortis and the Order. Much like their Jedi Knight counter parts, the Hands can also take one of three specializations.
- Speakers are masters of combat, training their bodies and honing their skills to master multiple fighting styles and tactics. They are great swordsmen and warriors in their own rights, using the gifts of the Force to increase their own prowess in battle.
- Silencers are masters of both combat and the use of the force. Spending countless days honing their abilities in stealth and using the force to further their natural talents. They are trained to carry out quiet assassinations and subterfuge against enemies of the Order.
- Listeners are gifted with the ability to hear their slumbering Deity. The most powerful of Listeners sit upon the Council of Listeners, whom aid in guiding the Listener of Whispers. They are masters of understanding the force and interpret it as the will of the Great Old One.
Masters are the pinnacle of the Manu Mortis, having spent most of their lives mastering their skills and thus passing their knowledge to Converts to better strengthen the Order. They are skilled in many aspects and are some of the most powerful beings within the Order.
The Lady or Lord Mortis serves in the capacity similar to that of the Jedi Grandmaster or Dark Lord of the Sith. They are the undisputed leader of the Manu Mortis, and their actions and themselves are only answerable to the Listener of Whispers.
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The Council of Listeners
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Those Listeners that show a great power beyond such normal limits, whom seem capable of gleaming the vision through the eyes of the slumbering Great Old One, nearly capable of feeling as if they are one with their Deity. These are the Council of Listeners, the most powerful whom serve as the Listener of Whispers as advisers and seers that aid in the careful guidance of the Order of the One. Their members number a mere handful, each one wholly loyal to the Listener of Whispers and the Order of the One.
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Ceremonies
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Morte Ambulant or the 'Death Walk' is a ceremony which all Converts of the Manu Mortis take to become members of the Hands of the Order. The ceremony sees a potential Convert taken to the Dark Prison on Miasma. There they are left alone, sent deep into the prison to collect an ancient artifact and return. During this 'Death Walk' they experience the hatred, pain and suffering of those whom once called the Prison their home. Those whom return with the artifact and their sanity are elevated to the rank of Hand of the Order. There are those though whom loose their sanity on this walk, and those others whom disappear into the prison to never be seen again.
The Mark as it is known, is a simple ceremony that all converts to the Order of the One receive. It is a simple marking upon the neck and wrist of those whom undertake the conversion to the faith of the Order. During this process they learn of the Great Old One, and are awakened to the ancient teachings of the Ti'Xal codices.
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Foreign Affairs and Policy
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With the Order of the One newly founded and it being strangled in its crib as it were, a high possibility, their primary focus is on that of secrecy, neutrality and docility until such a time as they are capable of standing against others. During this time, they seek primarily to recover lost Ti'Xal artifacts and relics from their homeworld on Miasma, while also training the Manu Mortis and building up a sizable military to hold their homeworld and strengthen the fledgling government as it grows in power.
Naturally in these early hours they see the Lords of the Fringe and the Republic as both potential rivals in the region, as well as dangerous threats to their sovereignty. Likewise they would see government such as the One Sith and CIS as potential allies, even if only for a short period of time to ensure their security as they grow.
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Goals
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- Recover the ancient artifacts of the Ti'Xal including religious relics, artifacts, tomes and texts devoted to The Great Old One
- Propagate their religion and convert those whom stand before them
- Spread the teachings of the Ti'Xal Codices and prepare the Galaxy for the arrival of the Great Old One
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Closing Statement
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The Order of the One takes inspiration from a myriad of sources, primarily the Necromonger Empire from the Riddick series and that of the Cthulhu mythos. It is in its essence a 'Death Cult' that is organized in a similar manner to that of the Jedi Order though more separated in function like that of the Sith Empire in which the Organization of Force Users and the Overall civilian government were separated from each other. In more modern terms it could be easily described as a Theocratic Magocracy.
While it is a young faction, with some members whom remain from the original iteration that was known as 'The Plot of the Unknown Regions' it is none the less a faction with potential that could provide the site with story driven threads and arcs. While it may share similarities to other factions currently on the board or that had previously been on the board, there was no intentional plagiarism intended. At the time I am writing this, the whole work of the Order of the One is the creation of ideas brought together from multiple writers and sources to create a faction which I believe would be beneficial to the site.
At this moment I am open to any questions that might not have been answered or alluded to in the Order of the One Q&A thread, as well as comments or concerns that members may have about the Order of the One.