The Church of the Shattered God is a religion, founded by Markovians, and dedicated to re-uniting the Primordial Mind that created the universe in their belief. They hold Encephaloids in special regard as having a larger fraction of Primordial Mind due to the relative complexity and size of their brains. High Communion is a special occasion when the congregation network their brains together in order to reach an ecstatic state. All the thoughts and emotions in the congregation run together, producing a variety of responses in the participants. Many have come out of this ritual permanently altered, personalities changed for better or worse, new memories implanted, or just the feeling of being part of some cosmic harmony with their fellow congregants.
The Markovians
Overview
The Markovians are a secretive philosophical/ religious movement dedicated to the belief that all sentient minds should be directly networked together. Inspired by the philosopher of mind Koichi Markov, and later by the novel The Archipelago by Donneth Vogue, they attempted many experiments over the years, many of which were unethical or illegal, in an attempt to achieve a true network of all minds. The secretive and often unsettling nature of their work made them an outcast group, often outlawed entirely.
More radical elements of the Markovian movement, most notably the Church of the Shattered God, would even go to extreme lengths such as removing the brains of kidnapped victims to connect them to a network.
History
The Markovian Movement began in the 22nd century, before the founding of the Planetary League, with the followers of the philosophical writings of Koichi Markov. Markov died in 2168, and the movement would likely have as well, but just a decade later, Donneth Vogue’s novel The Archipelago was released, creating a renewed interest in Markov’s ideas.
In GSC 58, a group of Markov inspired researchers on Mars were discovered secretly conducting unethical experiments on living brains, and public opinion turned against the Markovians in the Planetary League. This event was known as the Cydonia Incident. After this, many Markovians left the League for the corporate states, particularly Klon-Tec and Pegasus Cybernetics.
During the rise of the Holy Empire of Man, a substantial faction of Markovians joined the empire, working on special projects for the imperial war machine. A small cadre of Markovian scientists fled with the remnants of the Planetary League to the Tartarus Sector and helped found the Galactic Republic.
Benefits
The brain-networking technologies developed by the Markovians later enabled the complex control mechanisms that made Titans possible. Several of their technologies were also vital in the development of the pan-galactic hive mind under the Galactic Republic.
Markovian Brain-spider
