Trinary Will

The Basis of Belief

  The Trinary Will is the dominant state religion of the Iolar. While a few fringe beliefs and superstitions persist in wider Iolar society, most religious belief and practice fall under the sects of the Trinary Will. These divisions vary widely in their interpretations of the foundational imperative of self-improvement that that forms the nucleus of both the religion's dogma and a its practice.   Fundamentally, all sects believe in a universal cosmic force (either as a discrete entity or as an expression of collective human endeavor) that guides and manifests three essential aspects of humanity: the Mind, the Body, and the Soul. Through some manner of self-improvment, in most doctrines this involves the integration of technology, an individual can work to elevate each of the three aspects and thus approach a more ideal state of being. Different sects emphasize different aspects and different socio-economic clases have demonstrable demographic preferences. Those who rise to prominence and success are believed to embody the greatest mastery and expression of the three while extremely devout practitioners will always examine failures through some imbalance or inadequacy in one or more of the aspects.  

The Vertices of Faith

  The current incarnation of the church as an administrative and political body has existed for about 2000 years. While most people consider the church's power well regulated by the clergy's formal, legal adoption of status as semi-public slaves, the strength of the Pinnacle Minister as a part of the Board of Progress cannot be understated. The church's senior clergy are some of the best educated, most cunning individuals outside of the Sovereign Fleet and have far more stake in terrestrial affairs. Close ties with Isk also guarantee the total saturation of religious dogma to even the most lowly citizens as the basis of faithful practice requires some form of cybernetic augmentation. The church itself is divided, naturally, into three broad approaches; each focused on one of the principle aspects: Mind, Body, and Soul.    

Castrati

  The most common form of clergy are the Castrati: those who have forsaken the use of overt augmetics. These devotees instead explore the limits and nuance of the natural body. An important qualification is that a devotee must have had augmetics and bionic replacement systems at some point and have had them removed, as merely abstaining from the knowledge means that their focus comes from ignorance rather than experience. They explore the intricacies of biology and essential humanism. Among the upper social classes of the Iolar they are also necessary as they are the means by which such individuals can have children, since most have abandoned as much of their organic bodies as possible. Their service as surrogates and intermediaries is essential, though how they are treated is dependent on their sponsors, with some reduced to chattel slavery while others are trusted advisors and respected scientists and still others are elevated as specimens of unnatural genetic beauty and perfection.    

Literati

  The next most common clergy members are the Literati, who pursue mastery of the mind. Consequently, these faithful have forsaken the use of augmented intelligence and neuronal enhancement. Their augmetics are typically cruder than others but more elegant mechanically to make up for the lack of direct neural impulse linkage. Like the Castrati, they are required to have experienced neuronal or mental enhancement and then have such things removed. This means many appear autistic or mentally impaired at lower ranks, but the greatest are able to overcome these challenges and become savants, a key facet of belief being that only those with the strongest unaugmented minds can survive and improve in order to enhance others beyond mere human limits. They are most similar to Imperial Tech-Priests due to the general crudity of augmentation in lower ranks of their order. Many consider them sages and preservers of Iolari history and culture, balancing a strange duality between the importance of not simply remembering and cataloging, but forging new and better memories. Forgetting is not seen as a failure but rather as an opportunity for innovation. These are rarer than Castrati due to the severity of the required augmetic abstinence. Only the most powerful and wealthy Iolari can claim direct intercession with this group and they are frequently retained as personal advisors or political ambassadors.    

Automati

  The last and most secretive of the clergy are the Automati, whose focus on the soul is utterly esoteric to all but the most capable philosophers. There are believed to be only 6 "true" Automati among the Iolar whom are widely feared and respected. In contrast to the other two, the Automati have deliberately explored the augmentation of the part of themselves that corresponds to their third of the Trinary Will: the Soul. They are successful attempts to restructure human souls into memory engrams and then re-apply this distilled intellect back into a body. The result is a unique, trans-digital sentience with the ability to seemingly inhabit other people and machines. Thus, they are believed to be everpresent, so bound are they to the primordial suffusion of the Trinary Will and its extension to digital systems. The few who have interacted with them have described rapturous conference with magnetic beings, their connection pulling at the souls of all in their presence. The direct counsel of these remarkable "people" is rarely sought but prized beyond measure. Certain cult beliefs consider them akin to angels or demigods; heralds of the next stage of humanity whose sacrifice paves the way for a true ascension. The rest of the Automati of course have not achieved this "true" state of being and instead are philosophers and occultists of bizarre but total devotion. Many practice as confessors, sophists, and indeed psychologists as they seek to understand the impact that life has upon the human spirit. Captains in particular rely upon their fortitude when encountering the myriad horrors of the universe.    

Popular Sects

Below are a selection of the most common cults of belief among followers of the Trinary Will in descending orders of expressed practice. Each has many regional and cultural offshoots which variously emphasize different extremes of their particular dogma but overall the distinctions are pedantic for matters of census.    

Progress Doctrine

  The current primary sect of belief, representing over 80% of the surveyed population, is the Progress Doctrine. Progress Doctrine encourages its followers to maintain a steady, constant cycle of self-improvement in the three disciplines. Consultation with members of the clergy is a frequent observance for affirmation and guidance. The doctrine explicitly acknowledges that perfection is not actually attainable but that asymptotic approximation of the perfect human, at scale, is indistinguishable from actual perfection when fulfilled by imperfect actors. It paradoxically tries to evoke selflessness and communitarian action by intense introspection and self-improvement.    

Utilarism

  Utilarist philosophy is based on the premise that improvement of the self is both wilfull and requires a rejection of instinct to obey higher functions. Improvements in the form of cybernetics should improve one's function in some appreciable, tangible way, thus increasing an adherent's utility. An ideal utilized society would then result and create a perfectly efficient collective. Reductive views claim that this perspective enslaves the body and soul to the mind but followers maintain that the core desire for utility is no different than the focus of the Progress Doctrine. Indeed, many followers believe that Progress Doctrine is too loose and is overly susceptible to vanity and self-obsession without an external, objective focus. Of course "utility" is not a concrete notion and proves no more resilient to logical fallacy and flexible interpretation than any other principle.    

Bioessentialism

  Despite its name, this sect does not reject the inclusion of cybernetics as many outsiders assume. Bioessentialists believe that these improvements should be considered in accordance with the natural evolution of the human species. They oppose truly post-human explorations of the limits of cybernetic enhancement and consider Digitalists and Cyberessentialists as misguided obsessives at best and debased fetishists at worst. More than anything, Bioessential doctrine wants technology to support and incorporate into the natural development of humanity rather than replacing it outright.    

Cyberessentialism

  While not a direct counter-sect to the Bioessential doctrine, few without formal theological education would be able to explain the nuance. Cyberessentialists believe that technology itself is actually the union of the three disciplines and thus is the purest form of expression of devotion to the tenets of the Trinary Will. Improvement of the self is manifest in the development of better technology and its practical use. Detractors claim this is simply a blatant cover for voluntary, exploitative cyberpsychosis but rapid adoption of cybernetics is actually not a core belief. Adoption and patronage of the best technological development, however, is. Which can make devotion a rather expensive prospect.    

Digitalism

  With the creation of the noosphere, a new sect quickly sprang up to incorporate it. Digitalism holds that the connectivity and communion of the noosphere is the key to uplift humanity. Certain extremists within the sect promote a total conversion to a digital existence but it is not a commonly held position. Instead, mainline Digitalist belief centers on the incorporation of the noosphere and other forms of digital communication as a "sixth sense" that should be honed and improved just like any other. Devout netrunners often find themselves adopting Digitalist philosphy as their constant, intimate exposure to data systems and the noosphere in particular fosters a kind of benign, high-minded cyberpsychosis. Avoiding the cliff often involves some kind of spiritual event of great trauma. Adherents who claim to have experienced this kind of life-changing event develop a profound devotion to the noosphere.    

Renouncement

  Practiced by an extreme sect of Digitalism which has branched into its own cult belief, Renouncers believe that transcendence of the physical universe is the ultimate form of enlightenment and evolution. To that end, they seek to abandon all physical attachments and achieve spiritual apotheosis. Unlike Digitalists who believe the seamless enmeshing of the physical and digital aspects of self will lead to ideal humanity, Renouncers claim it is not far enough as these things are still rooted in the imperfection of the physical. Because the universe is fundamentally chaotic, it cannot be truly mastered by "prisoners" of its trite reality. Renouncers think, therefore, that to achieve greater understanding would require a similar departure to a higher dimensional existence that confines the otherwise unpredictable nature of the universe.    

Spiritual Empericism

  By far the most esoteric of the mainstream sects of Trinaric belief, Spiritual Empericists, or 'Inland Emperors' as they style themselves, believe that human experience is a form of encoding. Despite the advances in communication and communion brought about by the noosphere, Empericists hold that rational actors cannot be trusted in the uncertain universe because their experience is utterly unique and completely incompatible with the experience of others in a strictly mathematical sense. Instead, union of the spirit is the only true way for people to connect and through this connection achieve enlightenment and unity. Despite having no actionable proof or examples of their doctrine working, the extensive mindfulness at the core of Empericist doctrine makes its average devotees kind and diligent people. Extremists are indistinguishable from the clinically schizophrenic and hucksters claiming to offer guidance to enlightment are as common as real worshippers.    

Grotesquery

  Grotesques believe the only path forward is to push humanity to the limit and beyond, abandoning the human form as unsuitable for the prevarications of a hostile universe. Similar to utilarists, Grotesques see improvement as a one-dimensional prospect. But instead of a general principle like utility, Grotesques pursue violence and survival. The natural human form is merely a larval stage which must be outgrown. As an extreme creed in its own right, Grotesquery shares much with the Avarice Credo but the key difference is that Grotesques still believe in the strength of community and pack behavior. Grotesques do not harbor hatred, contempt, or hunger for those who don't share their beliefs, opting instead for disdain. Grotesques respect strength and seek it for leadership.    

Avarice Credo

  A niche extremist doctrine largely outlawed and outmoded in wider Iolar society, Disciples of Greed believe in a twisted Darwinian theory of improvement. They hold that the best use of cyberware and technological progress is to accelerate the process of natural selection to approach the apex human form. To do this requires constant lethal competition and adoption of the strongest parts of the defeated. Ritual cannibalism and scaving are considered virtuous as they elevate both the victor and the vanquished as their spirit and form are assimilated to create a stronger being. Most practitioners are categorically insane after sufficient acts of worship, due in no small part to the strain of supporting rapid, unmoderated incorporation of less-than-compatible cyberware.  

Astrodominance

  A paradoxically popular doctrine whose practice is statistically insignificant, Astrodominants believe in the ancient manifest destiny of humanity to conquer the galaxy and beyond. They work towards a technological threshold where humanity becomes an apex civilization that can harness the full power of the Milky Way and use it to expand to other galaxies, preserving and elevating the species. Many captains make a show of quoting Astrodominant philosophy to aggrandize their endeavors in the Gargant Reach and elsewhere but this is mostly for show. The grand vision of its practice limits Astrodominant theory to the highest echelons of society. It is, after all, a doctrine based on a grand and intoxicating arrogance that reinforces the primacy of those already in the lead in Iolar society.