The Church of God

History

The Church of God was a religion founded by the Cosmid corporation as part of a mind control experiment on the planet Midori.  Either despite, or because of this, it ended up as one of the founding institutions of the Holy Empire of Man, and conquered much of the galaxy.  The Church of God combined elements from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

After its founding, the Church added much support to the independence movement on Midori, and from there spread like wildfire among the frontier worlds on the galaxy's eastern limb.  This rapid spread was helped along greatly by a strong force of idealistic missionaries, led in large part by Saint Valgar, who set the standard for making conversions and crushing heresies.

A major turning point occurred when one faction of the Church encountered an ambitious young general from the Planetary League, one Potus Clarke, who was a rising star in the military, and quickly became one in the church as well. 

When the Planetary League made contact with the Empire of 1,000,000 Suns, Clarke took a dominant leadership position in pushing the Church's agenda in public.  Behind closed doors, Clarke's influence grew rapidly as well, as he was able to raise funds and support from his business and military contacts.  Then, on the Church's highest holy day, the Feast of the Patriarchs, the three heads of the Church (the Ayatollah-maximus, the Supreme Rabbi, and the Uber-Pope) crowned Clarke as Emperor of all Mankind. (A claim that would be asserted through countless years of bloody warfare, known as the Great Reckoning).

Later, at the close of the War of the Empires, Clarke would be elevated to godhood, (officially being declared to be the Manifestation of God in the Galaxy). 

The orthodox (imperial) branch of the Church would not survive the War of Galactic Unification in any recognizable form, although a few obscure sects did remain.

Cosmology

The Church of God believes in a hierarchical universe, generally consisting of nine levels.

1. God (later including the Emperor)

2. The four Patriarchs (the Emperor became the fifth Patriarch after the Great Reckoning)

3. The Angels and the Saints

4. The Church of God

5. *Man* (an idealized vision of the human race)

6. Any mortal being considered to be "the Other" (heretics, aliens, cyborgs, etc., basically any real being)

7. Demons and Apostates

8. The "Lords of Hell" (the most powerful Daemons, demigods and other supernatural beings)

9. The Devil (a single entity embodying evil, its self)

 

Church Hierarchy

The Imperial version of the Church of God operated under a top-heavy, and cumbersome hierarchy led by the Emperor, himself.  Directly under the Emperor were the three original heads of the Church. 

The Ayatollah-Maximus was in charge of the Church's military operations, and acted as the Commander in Chief of the Empire's armed forces.  One of the most feared elements of this Imperial war machine was the Purification Fleet.

The Supreme Rabbi headed the Church's economic systems, and acted as the leader of the Empire's command economy.  The Imperial Commerce Guild was the main agency to enforce the Supreme Rabbi's will.

The Uber-Pope was the leader of the cultural/religious operations of the Church, and oversaw the spiritual lives and inner thoughts of all imperial subjects.  The Uber-Pope's enforcement arm was known as the Hamsa.

Each of these leaders commanded an extensive bureaucracy of priests, monks, nuns, deacons, imams, rabbis, and other officials who controlled the lives and thoughts of everyone in the Church.  The rules were strict, and the punishments for breaking them were horrific.  Discipline was imperative.

Holidays

The Church observed five major holidays each year.  One feast day was set aside for each of the original four patriarchs (Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad), plus the most important holiday, the Feast of the Patriarchs, which celebrated all of them together.  After the Emperor became an official patriarch, the Feast of the Patriarchs was renamed "The Feast of the Emperor".  There were also a slew of minor feasts and festivals observed throughout the year, many celebrating some Saint or commemorating a historical event.  Many local branches of the Church had their own local holidays as well.

Emblem

The emblem of the Church of God is a set of concentric circles.  The innermost white circle represents God, ringed by a black space representing the space between the divine and the mortal realm.  The middle white circle represents the Church, surrounded by a black space representing "the world".  The outermost white circle represents "creation", or the universe.

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The Hamsa

A Hamsa judge presiding over a courtroom.

History

The Hamsa is the religious police force of the Holy Empire of Man.  Hamsa is the name of an ancient occult symbol said to ward off the evil eye.  The Hamsa symbol is the symbol of the Hamsa organization.

Founded after the end of the Great Reckoning, the Hamsa served the Church of God, and the Empire by rooting out blasphemers and apostates, torturing those who adhered to non-orthodox beliefs, and generally making life miserable for anyone who didn't support the Emperor fanatically enough.

The Hamsa was active throughout Era-2, and was destroyed in the War of Galactic Unification.

Functions

The Hamsa are primarily responsible for enforcing religious law. They are also responsible for compiling and maintaining the text of the Ranks of Man, the essential guide to imperial hierarchy.

Edenites

based on an original concept by Fred Graves

Description

The Edenite movement is primarily a cross-pollination of two subcultures, the hippies and the furries.  Edenites pursue a nature-centric philosophy, and use the latest in bio-enhancement and body-modification technology to give themselves animal-like appearances and characteristics.  Wherever they go, Edenites promote biodiversity, and their unique brand of culture.  

Religion among Edenites typically includes a large proportion of new-age and pagan beliefs pulling from a diverse array of sources. 

Edenites are often associated with vice, as they maintain both liberal sexual mores (derived from both hippie and furry sources), and an active drug culture centering on marijuana(mainly from the hippy side).

An important institution of Edenite culture is the body modification parlor, (often known as Moreau Clinics), where the human form is sculpted into more animal-like configurations.  The most popular of these are the widespread chain known as 神の毛　(a Japanese pun that translates as "Divine Fur").

The Children of the Earth are a radical faction of Edenites, who seek to de-evolve themselves into more “natural”, animal-like beings by splicing animal genes into their DNA.  Many do not survive the process, or suffer from horrific side-effects.  Since the alterations are genetic, mutations accumulate as generations pass, causing unpredictable results.

History

In the closing years of Era-0, as the planet Earth grew more crowded and polluted, a ferment of philosophies and subcultures coalesced around the notion of preserving biodiversity, while celebrating the more natural, animal aspects of human nature.  Many within the movement wanted to remain on, and maintain the Earth, but a large contingent decided that the best thing to maintain biodiversity and healthy ecosystems in the future was to build an ark to house various species.  The huge space habitat, known as New Eden was the result of these efforts, and it became the focal point for the Edenite movement.

New Eden never joined the Planetary League, but remained as an independent entity.  The Edenites never founded an official state, but did set up communes alongside other colonies, especially on planets with pre-existing biospheres. Edenite communes were places where local nature was preserved, alongside various imported species.  Edenites were careful not to let their imported organisms become invasive, though on a few occasions Edenite communes ended up accidentally transforming native biospheres.  Edenite communes also occasionally took on the form of space habitats, where hybrid ecosystems consisting of complimentary organisms from different planets lived together.

Notable Edenite colonies included Silvernote Hollow on New Promise.

Throughout Era-1, Edenites continually came into conflict with the corporate state of Cosmid, a company centered around the idea of owning, controlling, and profiting from the processes of life.

During the Great Reckoning, New Eden was destroyed by the Holy Empire of Man.  While many Edenites and Edenite communes resisted the Empire, many more fled to the outer rim of the galaxy where they joined with the nascent Galactic Republic.