Difference between revisions of "Immaculate Heresies"

Revision as of 20:52, 5 November 2014

The Immaculate Order's outer face is one of austere faith, a life of abstinence and contemplation demonstrating devotion to the Immaculates. This is the face which is seen across the Threshold amongst village and itinerant priests. It is seen in the secluded monasteries and the monks who dwell there. It is even seen in the heart of the Palace Sublime... partly, some who know of such things might muse, due to the mind-controlling magics of the Sidereal Exalted, but mostly because it is the true face of the Order. But it is not the only face. There is another face, shrouded in the shadows of the Dynasty, which profanes all that the Order claims to hold dear: purity, as it seems is always the case, suffers a taint.

Mnemon's Diabolist Heresy

House Mnemon dominates the Immaculate Order, as much as any House can, and portrays itself as one of the most devout on the Immaculate path. For many, this is a truth, their faith is genuine: for others it is merely another tool in the great game that is Dynastic politics. The latter, even when ordained in the Order, tend to live in luxury, wearing unshaven heads, adornments and jewels, indulging in sex and gluttony, breaking their Immaculate vows in public at parties and galas. They invariably live either in the grander Threshold temples or in the luxury of the Imperial City, where their lapses risk less wrath from the Palace Sublime. A more complex split divides the faithful. Most Mnemon believe that demon summoning is a right, justly punishing the servants of infernal spirits. But some believe that the demons ought remain imprisoned, and perhaps that their use taints more than it benefits.

Corpulent Abbot Heresy

On the Blessed Isle, Immaculate faith tends for the most part to be genuine... the people believe, and support the clergy accordingly. In some Threshold satrapies, the faith is not internal to the people but imposed: along with the Realm's legions come its monks. In areas where Immaculate faith is an enforced obligation, Immaculate clergy can find themselves corrupted, slipping to exploit those beneath them for personal or Order gain.

With the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress and the Great Houses increasingly concerned more with civil war than with the missteps of useful tonsured members, some are seeing worrying signs of this heresy's encroachment onto the Isle itself.

Melaist Heresy

For each Immaculate Dragon, there are extremes of emulation moving into heresy. The most common of these, and the most accepted by the Immaculate Order, is Melaism, the belief that all things without exception ought be perfect. A Melaist is driven to achieve perfection within and without, absent of restraint, though definitions of perfection can of course vary.

Cult of Sextes Jylis

Amongst the common folk of the Realm, who face starvation should a harvest fail, worship of the Wood Immaculate must be constantly suppressed. Amongst the Dynasty, it is far rarer, though come-by-night orgiastic societies often claim a religious mantle to appear more forbidden and risqué.

The Blessed Heresy of Regent Fokuf

In RY766, the Mouth of Peace came to the Imperial Palace and announced a new interpretation of doctrine: pleasuring oneself to the Immaculate Texts was a holy act of faith... masturbatory orgasm from the doctrines of the Order a sign of devotion that would advance one's place in the Perfected Hierarchy in the manner of prayer, meditation, and martial arts.

Few who know of it take that pronouncement seriously, and most clergy continue to view such sensual acts as degrading one's place in the Hierarchy. The Order does not promulgate news of the decision actively amongst the peasantry and common folk, though it has increasingly found itself forced to explain the matter to lay adherents whose ears have heard whispered and troublesome rumours.