P R O P H E T I C
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To flesh out one of The Brotherhood of the Maw's many religious systems.
- Image Credit: N/A
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Ozma Olumivius | The Brotherhood of the Maw
- Religion Name: Omnism
- Religion Type: Mechanist, Force-based
- Influence: Interplanetary
- Influence Area:
- Symbol: While no "official" imagery has been established by the practitioners of Omnism, many use the rather grotesque image of humanoid skulls meshed with cogwheels and various other mechanical parts as symbology for their faith.
- Description: A very visceral faith in an entity known as "Novit Omnia", Omnism is at its roots a very simple belief; the machine is greater than flesh. The ideology arose around the emergence of Ozma Olumivius, a heavily augmented technomancer who serves The Maw as an engineer, warrior, and devoted mechanic. His often depraved rantings about an Avatar that dwelled within the machine spurred a wild, but mostly niche fanaticism within the faction, garnering a following that shares in his belief. Practicioners of Omnism offer their organic bodies to "Novit Omnia" in sacrifice, oftentimes amputating entire limbs or removing entire organs for the sake of replacement by mechanical or cybernetic counterpart. This practice is widespread, and is done in accordance with the overarching principle of the faith; to become divine is to forsake the flesh.
- Founder: Ozma Olumivius
- Membership: Membership is strictly voluntary, with the entirety of the religion's following made up of practitioners who willingly embraced it. There are no specific rites or ceremonies that are required for a new member to be inducted, though some more zealous believers may outright mutilate themselves upon declaration of their faith. Members uphold tenants of the faith, see below, and so long as they do so accordingly, their faith cannot be challenged.
- Sacred: Omnism is founded and revolves around a series of tenants that were coined by Ozma himself, and as such, these tenants are viewed as the "holy" law of the faith, and are considered the highest order:
- Flesh is weak and impure, only by becoming as pure and clean as the machine can man truly become enlightened- making himself into a vessel for Novit Omnia.
- Novit Omnia lives within every machine, a singular entity spread amongst many countless others and speaks to the chosen to bestow its will.
- The perfection of machines must be maintained by the chosen, so as to nurture Novit Omnia.
- The souls of the departed inhabit machines as vessels, feeding Novit Omnia- to die is to become part of the machine and part of Novit Omnia.
- In addition to these tenants, Ozma himself is viewed as a somewhat divine figure, with many aspiring to follow in his footsteps and achieve his level of "purity" and zealotry.
- The omnipresent Avatar that the Omnists worship is known as Novit Omnia, and is viewed as a penumbral god dwelling within all machines.
- Dogma: See above. Most, if not all Omnists, will either mutilate themselves or have another member do it for them in order to gradually replace their organic bodies with mechanical parts to be more like their Avatar. This practice is incredibly common and considered holy, though there are no specific rituals or guidelines required. Beyond the tenants set forth by Ozma, practitioners are free to live their lives as they choose to.
- Reputation: The primary belief structure within The Brotherhood of the Maw instructs that there are Three Avatars only, however, Omnism adds one to the mix; an Avatar of Ozma's own declaration. His refusal to acknowledge and pay credence to the primary three has earned him ire from his comrades and marked him as a heretic to the more devout, however, his practice of Omnism goes on unhindered, as his service to The Brotherhood is too valuable to be impeded. Its original practitioner, Ozma often grows very annoyed by the others following in his footsteps and may react with open hostility toward many of them, given that it was never his intention to become a religious figurehead. Most of The Brotherhood may regard The Omnists with disdain, or even view them as mentally deranged, strictly due to the bizarre nature of their beliefs and their "false Avatar". Beyond The Brotherhood's borders, Omnism is not widely known by the galaxy.
MEMBERS
Ozma Olumivius - Reluctant Leader
Many followers within The Scarhounds, a Warband led by The Mongrel.
Many followers within The Bloodsworn, a Warband led by Zachariel Steelblood.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Omnism's original practitioner, Ozma was never shy about his faith, or in his rejection of The Three Avatars most fanatics within The Brotherhood of the Maw revere and worship. When he emerged from the unknown place he dwelled before eagerly thrusting himself into war, he held this faith, and from there, it grew. Drawn by the comfort and appeal of purity through rather grim means, many approached Ozma with a desire to learn more of his god and the religion he alone adhered to. Soon word spread and more fanatics flocked to him, and as reluctant as he was to teach them, the conversion of "flesh bags" into holy vessels for his god was too enticing to resist.
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