The Fourth Path

Origins

Following the division of the Utrajalek and separation of the Knetreka and Tavenso, the paths of the three beliefs increasingly diverged. While the Knetreka and Tavenso would incorporate many practices of the Utrajalek, these were heavily de-emphasized and not rigidly enforced. The Utrajalek also became increasingly dogmatic, discouraging the study of other Messengers once committed to one. This effectively created a voluntary caste society, where once someone chose a profession, they were always in that profession. Mykentos would be credited with creating the system that would emerge, but he himself would state that it was a combination of efforts and a rediscovery of the path.      

Core beliefs

The Fourth Path is essentially both a rejection, and a fusion of all three dominant systems. Mykentos himself describes it so:
This simple house is a clear manifestation of the Fourth Path. As dictated by the teachings of Belura, bathing and food preparation must be kept apart from any source of disease, and these areas must be easy to clean. Negado instructs us that stone is resistant to both fire and water, making them ideal for these areas, where wood allows for the free flow of air and should be used in others. Strong outer walls will keep out both weather and intruders, as taught by Kerat. A well thought out floor plan allows for free movement without obstruction, ideal for Knetrea. Vegetables can be grown in the yard using the techniques of Jugala. It stays within the limits of the property, not dominating or detracting from its neighbors as suggested by Netara. None of this can be done without tools created with the sciences of Tavens, or built without the labor of Merkalacek, all brought together in harmony under the guidance of Utrajal. The Messengers did not deliver us nine messages working together as the Utrajalek would have us believe. They brought one message, delivered in nine parts.
  The system both recognizes the interconnected nature of the nine Messengers, but also requires all nine in order for society to function.      

The Republic as a manifestation of the Fourth Path

The immediate need for unity resulted in giving many of the routine functions of government ritualized overtones which, while appearing inoffensively secular in origin, often had their basis in Utrajalek practices. Mykentos did this deliberately, intending for the Republic to replace the three systems by becoming a religion itself, one which could not be easily torn down and discarded. While the first few years of the Republic were clearly dominated by the need for the technological and scientific capabilities of the Tavenso, the groundwork was laid for the integration of the Knetreka, as well.
  The entire education system was quietly placed into the hands of the Knetreka, a move which when attempted by the Hudrajel Empire resulted in its destruction. In this case however, the government was being actively controlled by all three systems, giving all three oversight and input on what was actually being taught. The intention was that the mental discipline and ability for introspection taught by the Knetreka would be the foundation upon which all other teaching could be laid. Implementation of this would accellerate development in every other area within a generation, which when combined with the unity of the Republic, would propell civilization from the brink of extinction.      

The Missing Piece

In the chaos following the death of Mykentos, the Tavenso city of Mon'so gained dominance of the Republic. Among their first moves was to completely secularize education, prohibiting the teaching of Knetreka practices outside the home. Even after their defeat and the election of Ecipsos as Hilt, there remained a strong aversion to the use of Knetreka practices and thereby giving apparent favor to one system over another. As the Mykentians went to space and explored the galaxy, the appeal of introspection vanished, replaced with the technological wonders that were appearing, and new worlds to explore day after day. Knetreka practices quickly went out of fashion as "outdated," and only scant elements of it would remain in the form of some teaching methods.
  However, the Republic had been devised from the start to incorporate all nine components, and the lack of one of them would lead to instability. Mark Thomason would describe what followed in the introduction to his book Abandoning Mykentos: the Fall of the Republic (998 MY):   Learning would become slow, and the dogmatic systems put in place could not under any circumstances be changed. To even consider changing things would be heresy, rather than careful consideration. Within a period of fifty years, the Republic would swing from the coldly pragmatic militant dictatorship of Mevos, to the theocracy of the "Keepers of the Republic," only to be whipsawed violently back into militarism fifty years later. The Triad itself was gripped by this insanity, unleashing war to oppose the religious madness of the so-called "Keepers," but each with an uncompromising, unyielding idea of what should come after which was fixed without a foundation in reality.   The pinnacle of this instability was reached on the last day, when Chanos, the last "Keeper of the Republic," was executed by the self appointed militant Hilt Taras. Chanos had gone to the Hilt knowing he would be executed, in the messianic belief that his death would tip the scales and cause Mykentos to return and save them from disaster. He was so convinced of the reality of this that he sent an aide to wait at the doors of the Tomb to greet Mykentos when he appeared.   That aide would die of dehydration, still kneeling in front of the Tomb, waiting for the doors to open as the Republic collapsed in chaos around him.   Not once during the long, bloody Fall of the Republic did anyone stop to consider changing course. They were utterly unable to reflect on either themselves, or their society, because they had never been taught to. This is why to understand the fall of the Second Republic, you have to look at the birth of the First, because it was there that the seed of death was planted.