Inter-Faction Syncreticism

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sciborg2's picture
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Factol
Joined: 2005-07-26
Inter-Faction Syncreticism

I was thinking about how, in different ways, a few factions are some permutation of "Gnostic":

-Most obviously the Dustmen, who reject the Multiverse as a corrupted lower reality.

-The Sensates, who invert this and believe they must free themselves from flesh in order to better experience the "matter" of the Wheel.

-Guvners accept that there are higher realities to be ascended toward, through the discovery of Axioms.

-Some Athar accept the Greater Unknown as belonging to a higher reality, and one could choose to see the powers are "Archons", the wardens who keep lesser beings imprisoned.

-Believers in the Source see this reality as something to be transcended via successive rebirths.

Now, it does seem one could mix & match these groups, so you could have different sects combining aspects of various groups. Even Dustmen and Sensates could be combined, so you have a lesser reality you transcend but only when you can experience it fully - which requires one to leave the flesh and become a spirit that can directly enjoy the taste/sound/feel/sight/aesthetics/emotional significance/etc of the Wheel.

What other combos do you see happening, beyond the Mind's Eye faction that came after Faction War?

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sciborg2's picture
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Factol
Joined: 2005-07-26
Re: Inter-Faction Syncreticism

Sensates + Dustmen + Believers: We need to transcend the flesh and mind/soul (psyche) to get to the pleroma, but the undead state allows us to escape the ignorance that comes with reincarnation.

We gather in the realm of Evening Glory.

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Wicke's picture
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factotums
Joined: 2009-04-24
Re: Inter-Faction Syncreticism

Chaosmen + Doomguard + Godsmen: Revel in the creative aspects of chaos, but creation only exists on the back of that which came before. Encouraging decay opens up new ground for new creations. And by mastering the power of both creation and destruction, one can ascend to become a Power.

Located on the Ethereal.

cromlich's picture
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Joined: 2012-09-13
Re: Inter-Faction Syncreticism

The Defiers + Anarchists - work to overthrow the system set up by the gods

The Dustmen + Preservers - try to delay the fake death

Wicke's picture
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factotums
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Re: Inter-Faction Syncreticism

Verdant Guild + Defiers: The worship of powers stand in the way of living in harmony with nature. Even those powers devoted to nature only act as middlemen and stand merely as a barrier to true understanding.

sciborg2's picture
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Factol
Joined: 2005-07-26
Re: Inter-Faction Syncreticism

Communals + Sensates: Only when everyone has the opportunity to experience as much as they can, only when everyone is flooded with sensory experience, will the Multiverse's mass consciousness reach the level necessary to transcend all the traps of matter, mind, and even spirit.

Not only is this sect dedicated to making everyone an adventurer, and making sure everyone has the courage/wealth/madness to experience sensations of both flesh and psyche, they are working on grafting techniques so that, for example, humans can see the color spectrum as a dwarf or insectare might.

It is rumored that their ultimate goal is a form of mass "reincarnation" where souls switch bodies over and over again. This cycling of minds has resulted in their claiming the Astral as their home.

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Wicke's picture
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Joined: 2009-04-24
Re: Inter-Faction Syncreticism

Defiers + Anarchists: Rather than publicly decrying the gods, these berks advocate actively overthrowing the gods. These leatherheads don't last long in the field (or so the popular chant would have you believe), though there is a persistant rumor that some higher-ups have the ability to mimic belief in a power in the same way that the Anarchists could mimic faction membership.

Jem
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Joined: 2006-05-10
Re: Inter-Faction Syncreticism

I've always thought a certain flavor of Sensate would get along very well with the Fraternity of Order. Seek knowledge and organize it. Generate data and sift it to find the underlying pattern. Both are necessary components of enlightenment.

Dustmen, Sinkers, Godsmen and Defiers all possess aspects of Buddhism. Everyone is on a wheel of reincarnation, with gods just beings further along than others in some ways, but in the end this life is all falsehood, and everything in it is impermanent. The true goal is to rid yourself of attachment and striving, to transcend reincarnation and rebirth completely, and reach Nirvana.

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