The Photismencium
On the Second Day, after the Awakened began to mingle and share the stories of their creation, some among them decided that it would be of great benefit to record what had happened that day, and so they began to gather and write down what the various Awakened peoples described. They were intrigued by the similarities in the stories between the various peoples who all found themselves suddenly living together, and concluded that there must be some higher purpose to this mass Awakening.
However, they were alarmed to hear stories that some of the Automaths, who would come to be known as the Dissidents, seemed to act contrary to the general ethos of the Automaths, or shared secrets and knowledge with those they Awakened that seemed to contradict the stories that the others were already telling. Seeking the truth became their new mandate, and they declared themselves the Photismencium.
For many long years, The Photismencium slowly gathered details and evidence, listening to the stories of the Awakened, and building their library, The Atheneum of the Awakened, at the center of The Cradle. In it they compiled all that they had learned, and over time, their knowledge and wisdom were often sought out to settle disputes between the peoples. Eventually, The Photismencium became something of a pan-Awakened governing body, and after their authority was fully established, they decided that it was time to tell the Awakened of Yorth what their investigations had led them to: that the stories told of the First Day could not be reconciled with one another, and that the whispers of the Dissidents could not be ignored.
The Photismencium called a gathering of all the leaders of the newly formed nations of The Awakened, and were largely met with confusion and hostility when they made their announcement. They had falsely hoped that the public would be ready to accept difficult truths, but were instead met with a great deal of anger by people who had begun to worship the Automaths with great reverence. Who were The Photismencium to tell others what they ought or ought not to believe? Trust in the authority of The Photismencium began to wane, leading to disputes within the organization itself about how best to proceed.
Three main camps appeared within The Photismencium:
The first maintained that, even given the secrets they had uncovered, the Automaths clearly had a vision and a plan for The Awakened, and given their great wisdom and power, it would be sheer folly to go against their wishes. After all, the Awakened had found companionship in one another and fortune and triumphs on Yorth, so the stories told by the majority of Awakened of the benevolent nature of the Automaths seemed to ring true with their experiences. These members decided that, ultimately, the mission of The Photismencium was moot, and at the conclusion of the debate, left the Atheneum and went on to found The Pious Union of the Awakened on the western shores of the Tychi Sea, seeking to unite the Awakened in the spirit of the Automaths' intentions as they understood them.
The second camp stuck by the original mission of The Photismencium. They saw that the growing zealotry of the Awakened people was an obstacle in the way of truth. The reaction during the Gathering was so negative that, they argued, any mention of the conclusion The Photismencium had reached about the motivations of the Automaths and the truth of the Awakened and their origins would only galvanize the Awakened against their cause. In order to prove once and for all, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what the truth was, they needed inarguable evidence to support their claims. This evidence, if the secrets shared on The First Day by the Dissident Automaths held any truth, could be found on Yorth, and it would become their centuries-long mission to find and archive this evidence so that one day, the truth might be told once and for all. This faction became known as The Gnosis Protectorate, who left The Cradle for the nearby island of Tyrgos, where they built their own Archive and Keep.
The third faction took the whispers of the Dissidents to heart. If the Automaths had ulterior motives, if the truth of the origins of the Awakened had been kept from them, why shouldn't those Automaths be thrown down as idols? If what the Dissidents said was true, then these mere people were not gods at all, and in truth were no holier nor more special than the Awakened themselves. If the Awakened had been the pawns in some sort of sick game by the Automaths, and they wielded magic that left the Awakened gaping in awe on the First Day, why shouldn't the Awakened and their descendants share in that power and glory? In their mind, the Awakened were robbed of their birthright by the machinations of the Automaths on the First Day, and knowing this, it was their solemn duty to guide the Awakened toward their destiny of becoming rulers of all of creation, just as the Automaths were. This faction stormed off the island, led by their most charismatic leader, Ekhan Dahri , who went on to found The Verum Imperium on the northern shores of the Tychi Sea.
A skeleton crew of members of The Photismencium remained on The Cradle, who had not taken sides during the debate and wished only to maintain the original mission of gathering and maintaining the history of the Awakened in the Atheneum. As conflicts surrounding their origins began to grow among the Awakened, most left The Cradle for their respective kingdoms, looking to find peaceful existence alongside their brethren in the wide lands of The Sundered Ring. The towns and villages they had built on The Cradle, many of them erected in the ruined and captured settlements of the Beastfolk who were driven from their homes, were converted into a living museum of early Awakened culture. These caretakers are known as The Curators of Antiquity, and maintain a neutral presence on The Cradle that is respected by all factions of The Awakened.
However, they were alarmed to hear stories that some of the Automaths, who would come to be known as the Dissidents, seemed to act contrary to the general ethos of the Automaths, or shared secrets and knowledge with those they Awakened that seemed to contradict the stories that the others were already telling. Seeking the truth became their new mandate, and they declared themselves the Photismencium.
For many long years, The Photismencium slowly gathered details and evidence, listening to the stories of the Awakened, and building their library, The Atheneum of the Awakened, at the center of The Cradle. In it they compiled all that they had learned, and over time, their knowledge and wisdom were often sought out to settle disputes between the peoples. Eventually, The Photismencium became something of a pan-Awakened governing body, and after their authority was fully established, they decided that it was time to tell the Awakened of Yorth what their investigations had led them to: that the stories told of the First Day could not be reconciled with one another, and that the whispers of the Dissidents could not be ignored.
The Photismencium called a gathering of all the leaders of the newly formed nations of The Awakened, and were largely met with confusion and hostility when they made their announcement. They had falsely hoped that the public would be ready to accept difficult truths, but were instead met with a great deal of anger by people who had begun to worship the Automaths with great reverence. Who were The Photismencium to tell others what they ought or ought not to believe? Trust in the authority of The Photismencium began to wane, leading to disputes within the organization itself about how best to proceed.
Three main camps appeared within The Photismencium:
The first maintained that, even given the secrets they had uncovered, the Automaths clearly had a vision and a plan for The Awakened, and given their great wisdom and power, it would be sheer folly to go against their wishes. After all, the Awakened had found companionship in one another and fortune and triumphs on Yorth, so the stories told by the majority of Awakened of the benevolent nature of the Automaths seemed to ring true with their experiences. These members decided that, ultimately, the mission of The Photismencium was moot, and at the conclusion of the debate, left the Atheneum and went on to found The Pious Union of the Awakened on the western shores of the Tychi Sea, seeking to unite the Awakened in the spirit of the Automaths' intentions as they understood them.
The second camp stuck by the original mission of The Photismencium. They saw that the growing zealotry of the Awakened people was an obstacle in the way of truth. The reaction during the Gathering was so negative that, they argued, any mention of the conclusion The Photismencium had reached about the motivations of the Automaths and the truth of the Awakened and their origins would only galvanize the Awakened against their cause. In order to prove once and for all, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what the truth was, they needed inarguable evidence to support their claims. This evidence, if the secrets shared on The First Day by the Dissident Automaths held any truth, could be found on Yorth, and it would become their centuries-long mission to find and archive this evidence so that one day, the truth might be told once and for all. This faction became known as The Gnosis Protectorate, who left The Cradle for the nearby island of Tyrgos, where they built their own Archive and Keep.
The third faction took the whispers of the Dissidents to heart. If the Automaths had ulterior motives, if the truth of the origins of the Awakened had been kept from them, why shouldn't those Automaths be thrown down as idols? If what the Dissidents said was true, then these mere people were not gods at all, and in truth were no holier nor more special than the Awakened themselves. If the Awakened had been the pawns in some sort of sick game by the Automaths, and they wielded magic that left the Awakened gaping in awe on the First Day, why shouldn't the Awakened and their descendants share in that power and glory? In their mind, the Awakened were robbed of their birthright by the machinations of the Automaths on the First Day, and knowing this, it was their solemn duty to guide the Awakened toward their destiny of becoming rulers of all of creation, just as the Automaths were. This faction stormed off the island, led by their most charismatic leader, Ekhan Dahri , who went on to found The Verum Imperium on the northern shores of the Tychi Sea.
A skeleton crew of members of The Photismencium remained on The Cradle, who had not taken sides during the debate and wished only to maintain the original mission of gathering and maintaining the history of the Awakened in the Atheneum. As conflicts surrounding their origins began to grow among the Awakened, most left The Cradle for their respective kingdoms, looking to find peaceful existence alongside their brethren in the wide lands of The Sundered Ring. The towns and villages they had built on The Cradle, many of them erected in the ruined and captured settlements of the Beastfolk who were driven from their homes, were converted into a living museum of early Awakened culture. These caretakers are known as The Curators of Antiquity, and maintain a neutral presence on The Cradle that is respected by all factions of The Awakened.
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