Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike.
Image Credit: Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: N/A.
Links: Dominion of Light, Disciples of the Vader, Into Darkness, After Darkness, Mahtara, Tephrike, Jedi Inquisition, Cassius, Mace Windu, Yuuzhan Vong, 400-Year Darkness, Firemane Industries, Netherworld Crisis, Republican Guard, Mon Calamari, Sacred Jedi Texts, Ithorian, The Unchained.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Religion Name: The Guiding Strictures of Ashla and Mace Windu to Lead to Correct Thought and Belief. That is the official name. Quite a mouthful. It is shortened to 'The Guiding Strictures of Ashla and Mace Windu', or unofficially Mace Windu Thought.
Religion Type: Force based.
Influence: Planetary
Influence Area: Tephrike. Specifically the parts of it under the sway of the Dominion of Light. The faith has been banned by the Republican Guard and the Disciples of the Vader, but communities that practice it in secret exist in their areas. Virtually unknown outside of Tephrike.
Symbol: A beam like a lightsabre rising from the middle of a blue circle with raised hands to either side.
Description: Mace Windu Thought is the official state religion of the Dominion of Light. Indeed, they are the only religious group permitted by the Dominion, which is a totalitarian Jedi theocracy based on worship of the Light Side of the Force. When the Gulag Virus ravaged the Galaxy, Tephrike descended into chaos. Millions died from disease or factional infighting. The nominally democratic federal government proved incapable of resolving the crisis, so the Jedi led a coup to remove it from power and impose a junta.
What started as a temporary, emergency regime soon degenerated into a repressive, totalitarian dictatorship. The Jedi were corrupted by their power and the horrors of war, as they were forced to make increasingly ruthless choices. They became the very thing they sought to destroy, while still believing they served the greater good. The Dominion believes that all aspects of society must be governed in accordance with the principles of the Light and that only the wise Jedi are capable of interpreting the will of the Light.
The Dominion regards itself as the sole bastion of goodness in a corrupt galaxy that was consumed by darkness. They maintain that the Jedi failed in their duty to protect the people, and so they must atone by protecting civilisation - at any cost. In that regard they act as an adjunct to the Windian Jedi Order, the Jedi order of the Dominion. Both groups are heavily intertwined.
The faith arose within this context, and seek to propagate the teachings of the Dominion and proselytise among those who have yet to be brought into its light. Their theological views are strongly dualist. On the one hand there is the power of the Light, which is also called Ashla. It is regarded with a reverence akin to that of a deity. Individuals who virtuous lives will become one with the Light, merging with Ashla, whereas depraved or wicked people will be condemned to the dark abyss of Chaos. Particularly enlightened individuals retain their identity in the Light, guiding the next generation. The believers maintain that they are acting in accordance with the teachings of the great Jedi Master Mace Windu, who redeemed Jango Fett, led the clone troopers against the Mandalorian legions and almost stopped the wicked Emperor Palpatine. If he had lived, he would have established a benevolent Jedi government like the Dominion.
Centuries of isolations have led to their beliefs becoming more than a little warped. The followers of this faith believe that Jedi teachings should not only be practiced by the Jedi themselves, but spread to Non-Force-Users. The temptations of the dark side can seduce both groups, and it was a great failing of the old Jedi order not to enlighten the masses. There is only the salvation of the radiant Light or the damnation of the dark abyss.
Followers of this religion are commonly called Windians or Ashlanites. The Dominion maintains a social and religious movement called the Followers of the Light. This group bears some similarities to the historical Church of the Force, but is an authoritarian movement rather than a free church. It caters to Non-Force-Users and seeks to spread the tenets of Mace Windu Thought. It also performs many social functions in the Dominion, such as doing humanitarian aid work, caring for the sick and needy.
SOCIAL INFORMATION
Founder: Officially the followers of the faith credit Mace Windu with being their founder. This is obviously not the case, but it is heresy to say otherwise. It would be more accurate to credit Tyian Kree, the second Jedi military dictator of Tephrike and first Jedi Lord of the Dominion of Light. However, the Book of Ashla was finished during the reign of her successor Norn Astur.
Membership: There are no racial or gender barriers. The Followers regard speciecism and sexism as reactionary and as of the dark side. Anyone who professes faith in the Light and accepts the teachings of the faith can join. Joining the faith involves a religious ritual. However, Force-Dead people are regarded as tainted, for they cannot hear the call of Ashla. Opinions vary on whether they are demons or simply cursed. Moreover, Force-Users who have not been raised in the Light are all darksiders and must undergo a long period of mandatory re-education. Deprived of their rank and tainted powers, they must atone for their sins. Sometimes, their tainted identity must be erased in order to save their souls.
Sacred: The sacred text of the believers is a tome called the Book of Ashla, which outlines their theological views, tenets and history. They consider any light side nexus to be holy because it represents a manifestation of the Light's power. For this reason, they strive to guard these holy sites and protect pilgrims who travel there to seek the blessing of the Light. By contrast, a dark side nexus is a manifestation of evil and must be cleansed or contained. One such cursed place is Palmyra's Wail. Jedi temples are also considered hallowed ground. An example of this would be the Windian Jedi Order's temple in Nexus City. Firemane's bombing of the temple is regarded as a desecration.
Furthermore, the Jedi Code is a sacred text. However, the Dominion preaches a modified version that differs significantly from the code most non-Tephriki Jedi would be familiar with. Lightsabres and kyber crystals are very rare on Tephrike, so the adherents treat them as sacred relics that must be preserved and kept out of the hands of darksiders at all costs. The Windian Jedi claim to have found aurodium tablets that are supposedly engraved with the sacred texts of the Jedi. According to them, one of their early prophets was guided to their hidden location by Yoda's ghost.
Righteous and valiant souls, such as the great heroes of the Dominion and the ancient Jedi Order, can be venerated but not worshipped. They are exemplars and paragons to follow, but not deities, as there are no gods, only glorious Ashla. One of the latest martyrs is General Kennobi. This Jedi General was responsible for destroying a neutral Mon Calamari town, claiming it was a terrorist camp. He played a pivotal role during the Netherworld War, leading the defence of Fortress Purity that broke the Republican Guard's offensive. Years later he defended the same fortress against a combined Firemane and Republican Guard offensive. After a fierce battle and heavy casualties, the allied forces were able to break through.
In order to cover for the retreat of his high command, Kennobi ordered a large force of brainwashed Padawans and Younglings to conduct a suicidal death charge. Their enemies were exhausted and did not have stun weapons, so the child soldiers ended up being slaughtered. Having sent them to their deaths, Kennobi committed suicide.
Dogma:
"There is no emotion, there is calm.
There is no ignorance, there is obedience.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is order.
There is no death, there is the Light."
Central to Mace Windu Thought is reverence of the Light or Ashla. The Dominion of Light is seen as the embodiment of the Light's precepts and the sole bastion of order, civilisation and equality. Thus all members of the faith must be loyal to the Dominion. Dark side worship is banned - and the faith has a very extensive definition of this constitutes. The faith teaches that Jedi must not merely be protectors who fight defensively, but actively seek out and vanquish the servants of the dark side. Moreover, they must act as guides and shepherds of the people, which translates into ruling over them. Mace Windu Thought is opposed to democracy, deriding it as the rule of moneyed, corrupt elites. 'The great lie of democracy' is at variance with the ancient truth that Jedi possess the mandate of the Force. In short, they rule by divine right. Indeed, while it idealises the Jedi orders of old, it regards the secular governments they tended to serve as corrupt and effete.
The faith maintains that the common masses and even the Jedi, in order to be successful, require a wise leader who embodies the virtues of the Light. He or she is supposed to be a shining exemplar, a paragon and a philosopher-king. This is the Grandmaster. Ironically, many Grandmasters of the Dominion have been puppets. Recently, the last Grandmaster almost led the nation to ruin. Most citizens do not know this, since it would not be politic to admit. Officially, he is a martyr. However, the new junta that controls the Dominion has started subtly rewriting dogma to become more critical of the 'cult of the individual' and instead promote the concept of collective leadership.
Mace Windu Thought regards the Force as the cosmic energy field that binds all life together. The Dark Side of the Force is an aberration, a cancer upon the galaxy. When the Force is in balance, there is harmony. The faith believes that the balance was tilted to the Dark Side by the outbreak of the Gulag Virus. The Jedi are essential to restore the balance, but they are not the only ones. In the past, the Jedi waited for a cosmic saviour, the chosen one, but in fact every living being can contribute to the balance by living a good, virtuous life. In doing so they will save the galaxy and their own soul. This is the final battle in an apocalyptic struggle to lead the world to salvation or condemn it to darkness. A virtuous life favours the harmonious Light, whereas selfishness contributes to the growth of the Dark Side.
On the level of human interaction, the faith stresses piety, emotional self-control and devotion. Force-Users and Non-Force-Users alike must embrace its teachings. It takes a low view of hedonism and promiscuitry. Indeed, it promotes shunning natural reproduction in favour having the miracle of life take place in a laboratory in a medically sanctioned way. Cloning is seen as a way of bringing new, pure life into the Light. The followers of the cult believe in atonement...but it is a long arduous path that requires the penitent to completely submit to the Light. Mace Windu Thought stipulates that all Force-Users must be trained by the Windian Jedi Order. Otherwise they will fall to the dark side.
The religion promotes solidarity, the abolition of class distinctions and collective ownership of the means of production. This is supposed to do away with social and racial inequality and usher in a world of plenty where no one goes hungry, suffers from want or discrimination. The reality is, however, very different. As has been mentioned above, Mace Windu Thought takes a low view of hedonism, sexual intercourse and natural reproduction. Ideally, every citizen would be grown in a laboratory in a medically sanctioned way. This is the case for many citizens of the Dominion, but not all of them, as it is impractical in remote and rural areas. At present, the Dominion has put its purity laws in abeyance due to the state of emergency. This means they are still on the books, but not enforced at the moment, though children should still be raised by the state. Reformist elements have argued in favour of quietly abolishing the laws suppressing 'biological urges'.
The religion is both egalitarian and hierarchial. To be an individual, so the faith says, means to place oneself and one's selfish urges above the greater good. Ergo a believer should always view themselves as part of a collective. For this reason, family surnames should be supplanted by occupational surnames, which ties in with the Dominion's de facto caste system. Adherents take a dim view of 'money-lenders' and 'profiteers', which translates into anticapitalism, for those who worship Mammon succumb to darkness. The faith's teachings despise speciesism, but encourage homogenity. Everyone must be the same so that all can be equal. For instance, a Mirialan or Twi'lek who has the typical tattoos of her species would be accused of 'bourgeois nationalism' and 'chauvinism'. Clothing is supposed to be frugal and functional. Makeup is regarded as decadent. They encourage meditation for both Force-Users and Non-Force-Users. Self-criticism is one of the faith's 'rituals'.
As the name implies, the Windians idolise Mace Windu. He is seen as the ideal Jedi. While Mace did have a dark side, one assumes he would have strongly disapproved of what the Dominion became, since he never supported a totalitarian dictatorship. The Windians maintain that they have built the society he would have created if Anakin Skywalker had not betrayed the Jedi Order. By contrast, they have a low opinion of Qui-Gon Jinn. Indeed, orthodox adherents of Mace Windu Thought have a view of him that corresponds to the 'Grey Jedi' stereotype. In short, Qui-Gon was a rebel without a cause who arrogantly believed he was wiser than the entire council and that he could master both the Light and the Dark Side without suffering any repercussions. He realised his folly in his last dying moments, but by then he had already passed on his false beliefs to young Anakin. The faith teaches that Luke Skywalker vanquished Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader with the power of the Light. However, Palpatine's dark spirit endured and his fanatical acolytes formed the First Order, which waged total war against the free galaxy in order to bring about his resurrection. This was called Operation Cinder. Their reign of terror devastated many worlds.
However, Luke caused the Byss Purge of the Dark Side sympathisers there by harnessing the power of a star through the Force. Palpatine fed on mass deaths to facilitate his ascension, but by purifying their tainted souls with Ashla, Luke ensured that they would join the Light instead of feeding the fallen Emperor. Thus he burnt away the darkness in the vanquishing light. Following this he ascended to the astral plane to purge deceased Dark Siders trying to escape the Light in the Netherworld. It is believed that Luke became a Force Ghost, just like Mace Windu, Yoda, Zaras Dant and Tyian Kree. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda are held in high regard for training Luke and keeping the flame of the Jedi order alive during the dark times.
The Gulag Virus is seen as a machination of the servants of the dark side to engulf the galaxy in darkness and bring civilisation to its knees. This imposes a special responsibility on the adherents of Light to ensure that the last bastion does not fall. Similarly, the Netherworld Crisis is attributed to the machinations of malevolent dark side entities, which is actually not that far from the truth.
Reputation: Virtually unknown outside of Tephrike, save the orbit of Firemane and the Unchained, a group of political fugitives and former Dominion prisoners evacuated by the corporation during its brief campaign. Needless both groups loathe Mace Windu Thought. On Tephrike, the faith has been banned by the Republican Guard and the Vaderites, the two main rivals of the Dominion. The Guard is a secular revolutionary movement that sees Jedi and Sith alike as tyrannical and has banned Force use or worship. The Vaderites, meanwhile, are human supremacist Sith and thus revile the faith as being a tool of the 'galactic xenos Jedi conspiracy' to subjugate mankind. Followers of the faith who live in an area controlled by either group must practice their faith in secret. The Republican Guard has a habit of burning their sacred texts, much like they claim Luke burnt Jedi texts after realising the harm they had caused.
Within the Dominion itself, Mace Windu Thought is the official state religion. All government legislation must be in accordance with its precepts and every citizen must be raised in the faith. Even art must conform to it. It is impossible for someone to rise in society without at least going through the motions and appearing to be a believer. The religion has a lot of genuine followers, but also people who just profess belief to get by or are cynical about it.
MEMBERS
Diona and Mara Technician used to be believers in Mace Windu Thought, but have become apostates who defected from the Dominion. In theory, the Grandmaster of the Windian Jedi Order is the supreme religious authority. However, the office has remained vacant since Grandmaster Aegus was killed in a 'Firemane Sithspawn bombardment' while touring the ruins to search for survivor strapped beneath the rubble. In truth, he was assassinated by three members of the High Council because he was leading the nation to ruin. This makes Battlemaster Mahtara the de facto head of the faith, though she has not officially assumed the role.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Tephrike has been isolated from the rest of the Galaxy since the outbreak of the Gulag Virus. Originally colonised during the twilight years of the Old Republic, it was subjugated by the Galactic Empire. The human supremacist regime established by the Empire was overthrown with the aid of the Rebel Alliance and the planet emerged as an unstable, multi-species federation.
Then the Gulag Virus sent the Galaxy spiralling into chaos. Warlords, Jedi, Sith and rebels vied for power. Prolonged warfare and the use of primitive weapons of mass destruction brought great devastation to the planet. Benign intentions turned to evil over time. Jedi who sought to restore order and reunite the planet fell to the darkness they claimed to oppose, while still believing that their intentions and actions were good. In so doing, they followed in the footsteps of Atris and Jorus C'boath.
When Jedi General Zaras Dant couped Tephrike's weak federal government following a massacre of peaceful protesters before Parliament building, she intended her new regime to be a temporary emergency dictatorship to restore order. She might have been sincere about it at first. However, civil war ensued, as rebels denounced the new regime as tyrannical. The dictator was murdered by Jedi who regarded the coup as contrary to Jedi principles, since they should serve, not rule. This brought Tyian Kree to power. Unlike her secular predecessor, she was a theocrat and had unknowingly fallen to the dark side, while remaining convinced of her own righteousness. It was she who created the Dominion of Light as a theocratic government, though it would not solidify until her successor Norn Astur came to power.
Renegade Jedi established a Sith cult called the Disciples of the Vader, for they idolised the long-dead Vader as a god and believed it was his will to enslave all those who could not wield the Force and were not human. The Republican Guard, a faction that glorified the Old Republic and staunchly opposed Force-users, was founded by disgruntled clone slave-soldiers and racial minorities that declared war on both Force cults. In between these three extremes, several smaller factions tried to carve out a niche for themselves. The planet was locked in stasis, divided by riven groups trying to recall a past they did not remember.
Mace Windu Thought came into being in this time period. The chaos of the Dark Age had paved the way and the generation of Jedi and Non-Force-Users that followed Tyian were convinced that they were the last bastion of light in the galaxy. They would impose their warped interpretation of the code not just on the Jedi, but the entire population. At first, small sects formed, espousing these radical beliefs. Some performed charitable work, filling a vacuum left by the collapse of the planet's old government and its fragmentation into warring factions.
Others formed militias to keep the peace and crack down on those they believed disturbed it. As the Jedi assumed a protective stance, word of their deeds spread. Jedi healers went out into the land to cure the sick and help the needy. Increasingly, the Jedi-led government took an interest in these cults and decided to shape their dogma - and persecute those who preached the wrong teachings. Zaras Dant had been wary of these groups, but her successors embraced them. The Harmonious and Compassionate Inquisitors of the Public Wellbeing for Defence Against the Depredations of the Dark Side and all its Manifold Evils were founded to act as a thought police. An Ithorian prophet called Momaw Naawat did much to popularise the faith and spread it among the masses. Travelling from village to village, he spread the word, delivered aid and judged the wicked. It was he who discovered the aurodium tablets that supposedly contained the sacred texts of the Jedi. He was martyred when he was murdered by rebel terrorists, though stories soon spread that he had managed to retain his identity within the Force.
The rebellion of the Republican Guard and, even more threateningly, the rise of the Disciples of the Vader led to a surge in religious fervour. The war to secure the Dominion was transformed into a righteous crusade. Barbaric atrocities committed by the xenocidal Vaderites fanned the flames. The Sith were very open about how they viewed aliens as lesser beings to be exterminated or enslaved, so the war assumed millenarian proportions.
While ultimately the Vaderites' war of annihilation was halted with the Battle of Palmyra, it was a Pyrrhic victory. The devastation wrought by the conflict had left the city in ruins and turned it into a dark side nexus. The Vaderites were forced to retreat, but were able to create their own breakway state. It was built upon a bedrock of human supremacism, slavery and terror. Meanwhile, the Republican Guard had been able to endure and declared war on both Force cults, waging an insurrectionary campaign. By then Tyian Kree was dead, having died of a heart attack during the siege of Red Coral City.
Norn Astur, who lacked his predecessors' pedigree as a warlord, was more of a theologian and administrator than a warrior. Fittingly, Mace Windu Thought was codified under his reign at an ecumenical council of the Jedi and 'wise men'. Like every ideology or religion, Mace Windu Thought had its share of deviations. One of them was the Balance Heresy, also known as the Grey Jedi Heresy. Its followers were unmasked by the Inquisition. Those who did not see the light and refused to recant were exiled into the Dune Seas.
Mace Windu Thought facilitated countless atrocities, such as mass killings and deportations. When a Jedi Knight stormed a poorly defended Sith Academy at the head of his troops, he put the student body to the sword, even though they did not represent a threat and were mostly in their mid-teens. He justified this with the argument that they were beyond saving. Even while the 'Great Enlightenment' produced famine, the ideologues insisted that the people of the Dominion lived in a paradise and in fact accused suffering peasants of being capitalist saboteurs. It also legitimised experiments on captured Yuuzhan Vong in order to find ways to 'heal their curse' and the persecution of non-believers and people advocating for democratic change.
For a while, the Dominion went through a thaw. There was a time of relative liberalisation, 'constructive criticism' and even theological debate in the faith. The regime even let peasants keep a surplus to sell on local markets. This came to an end when Grandmaster Tsal Te Mon, frustrated by the failure of his collectivist economic policies, instigated the Cultural Revolution. This social engineering project caused tremendous damage to the nation and brought it to the brink of civil war. It was spearheaded by the Blue Guards, a puritanical movement of students and Padawans who denounced the old elites as effete and lacking in faith. Ultimately, the Blue Guards were suppressed by the oligarchs, but Mace Windu Thought became even more rigid and totalitarian. To this day, no one talks about the Heavenly Square Massacre.
The faith has endured the Heavenly Square Massacre, the Netherworld War as well as Firemane's brief but bloody campaign against the Dominion. However, as time has passed and living standards have not improved, it has increasingly become apparent to some that the old ways are failing. With Firemane support, the Republican Guard has gone on the offensive. The Jedi Temple of Nexus City lies in ruin. A new government has taken over, composed of hardliners and pragmatists focused on winning the war rather than pursuing esoteric goals. At the same time, Mace Windu Thought remains the only legal faith and is supposed to be the guiding light of society, even as some of the scriptures are being altered to suit the new realities.
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