The Insidious Force

[Yoru Shakou]

With the new Avidonian Dominion faction write up, I decided to go in a bit of a different direction. When I came across the small section for the State Religious Body, I was pondering what to put. For the longest time it was unofficially the Sith Order, though I wanted the faction to grow a bit more and thought that just keeping it inclusive to the Sith might harm it a bit more. I also didn't want to go towards a more Light Sided as to prevent alienating any Sith members. I did though come across the Insidious Force Belief which I worked into the write up. ​

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Darth Traya, a female Sith living during the Old Sith Wars, believed the Force to be akin to some sort of deceptively sinister, indifferent god. She pointed to the numerous wars fought by countless Force users, as proof that the Force cared nothing for the lives it consumed, so long as balance was achieved. This philosophy emphasized the belief that neither the light nor the dark side was truly superior to the other, and that if people were to be truly free, the Force had to be eliminated from the galaxy. This was generally a very unpopular theory with both the Sith and the Jedi, and this practice disappeared with Traya's death. However, after the defeat of the dark side entity Abeloth, Grand Master Luke Skywalker came to a similar conclusion regarding the nature of the Force. While he ascribed no intentions or emotions to the Force, he believed that the Force being out of balance was the cause of the horrific amount of death and chaos that had occurred in the time since the death of the Ones. Instead of believing that the Force should be destroyed however, Luke instead took the approach that, to keep the galaxy at peace, Force-adepts themselves had to actively maintain the balance of the Force.

The above quote is taken from the article entry on the Force from Wookieepedia. I cam across it and found it to be rather interesting and thought that it would work well with the Avidonian Dominion seeking to change and shift from its staunch Oligarchy roots and would work well with its new story and view of bringing order to the galaxy since its previous reason for existence has been made obsolete with the emergence of the One Sith. ​

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While I personally found it interesting and added it to the Faction, I was wondering what others thoughts were on the concept of the Insidious Force belief. Would it bring more interest to the Avidonian Dominion, be it good or bad? Would it bring more members to it, or would it possible act as a repel and push people away?​

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What are your thoughts? ​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

I like it.

Throws in another philosophy to the Force than what we already have.

[member="Baroness Magrath"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

This is the belief that my first Sith Character held, Darth Moridin.

Every action he took was an attempt in destroying the force. The Multiple wars and battles he commenced were meant to form wounds in the force. His thinking was that with enough wounds the force itself would eventually die, much like any living creature.

Of course this belief was rather naive, but it made for interesting RP'ing.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

I'm having this character follow something almost exactly like that. He isn't Force sensitive but he thinks that as long as there are Force users there will always be wars. He doesn't want to kill the users, he would rather fix the problem at its roots and attack the Force. Of course he doesn't know much on how to destroy the Force but he is going to give it his best shot.

I think it is a very interesting idea and one worth working on.

[member="Baroness Magrath"]

 

[Yoru Shakou]

I had found it rather interesting and thought that it deserved some merit and even a look at. It felt right to move it as the religious body of sorts for the Avidonian Dominion rather than holding it to just the Sith Order or pulling a 360 shift and going to the Light Side. I sought to use it to balance and leave it open so that the faction could potentially draw other Force Practitioners with less than orthodox thoughts and thinking into its ranks. ​

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I'm still interested in what others think of it as well. That way I can get a good feel for the playing field as it were, and how people would approach a faction with this view. I know it might be controversial with the Sith members of the faction, and it may spurn the same kind of uneasiness in Light Siders as well. ​

 

[Trenchcoat Man]

What made it interesting in KOTOR2 was Obsidian's unwillingness to really go into it, merely pointing at it instead. It made it complicated, unwieldy, subject to the most masochistic aspects of your own imagination, and impossible to ignore. Like the best of Kubrick or Lovecraft or even True Detective, it was an itch on your brain you'd have to smash open your skull to scratch. Personal sacrifice.

Like Lovecraft, however, Cthulu totally sucks once everyone starts trying to draw him. The unfathomable is better for individual quests. Factions are better suited for socioeconomic drivers.

 

[Yoru Shakou]

That is why the faction isn't delving into it like a Sith Faction would delve into the Dark Side or a Jedi Sect would delve into the Light Side. At this moment it is only mentioned as having a small cult following within the boarders of the Avidonian Dominion, allowing for not the Faction to make the idea grow. The Avidonian Dominion isn't going to make the 'Church of the Insidious Force' or a similar monastic order akin to the Jedi or Sith Orders. ​

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Right now the Insidious Force is mentioned as the State Religious Body because of its cult like status. It leaves it open for the players to come to their own terms in how it should be approached, giving common ground and a focal point of philosophical talks to bring Dark Side and Light Side Force Practitioners together. ​

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[member="Trenchcoat Man"]​

 

[Trenchcoat Man]

[member="Baroness Magrath"]

The orders are hardly monastic -- Crusaders and missionaries, all.

Anyway, so what you're saying is that it's just sprinkles, then.

If it's still being labeled as "cult" status, why list it as the State Religious Body? If the players have a casual choice in the matter, why not just say "None"? That's a surefire way to invite everyone and exclude no one.

I'm not sure what the discussion is? Will it work as a draw? Sure, it's one of the more interesting pieces of the Star Wars EU, and everyone's tried to explore it in some shape since playing KOTOR2. You'll get Lightsiders and Darksiders alike feeling nostalgic and wanting one final dance with Kreia. But at the end of the day, what made it so compelling was that the Insidious Force was essentially Darth Traya spilling her psychology all over the ground the entire time. Without that, it's just window dressing.

 

[Yoru Shakou]

The Discussion was to bring the idea to the board, to see how and what people thought of including the Insidious Force idea in a larger scope and to further develop how it could be use in a faction. Just like your idea of putting the State Religious Body as None (which I have just taken into account and used) while also adding a smaller label that lists the active cults in the Dominion (that being the cult of the Insidious Force as mentioned). ​

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It was also to see how people would accept the idea and if it would be worth adding it. ​

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[member="Trenchcoat Man"]​