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Celestina and Eòin are the Anticipating Gods of the Armageddon Cult, the teachers of going good without material reward.
- Celestina is the Called Goddess of Preparation, serving as an Émérites Knight of the Lothar Order.
- Eòin is the Called God of Execution, serving as a Tyrian Knight of the Viridian Order.
- The Divine Advent Temple in Regalia is considered the holiest site to the Anticipating Gods.
- The Anticipating Gods are the patrons of Doomsday preppers, Purists, Demon Hunters, Vampire Hunters, and Anti-Evolists.
- Celestina and Eòin both ascended to Godhood around a decade ago, due to their divine preaching against the various calamities that faced the Holy City in recent years.
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For expanded lore, click here.
Description
Celestina (left) and Eòin (right) are the Anticipating Gods of the Armageddon Cult, the teachers of going good without material reward. Celestina is the Goddess of the spoken word and the prepared mind, and Eòin is the God of the physical arm and execution of the divine plan. Together, the Anticipators represent altruism, resolve, combativeness, unforgiveness, noncapitulation, and preparedness. They are represented by the Habit and mask of the Silent Sisters, and the Imperial Guard Seal. Their main holy place is the Divine Advent Temple on the Crown Isle. Rituals belonging to the Anticipating Gods involve preparing one's self, or the world around one, for the inevitable Armageddon, and to find peace in the fact that all the toil of a lifetime may not ever see fruits while alive, and that the benefit of one's labor must be for one's descendants or those who come after. and never for one's self.
Virtues
The Virtue of the Anticipating Gods is to fight, restrain, or otherwise hamper the forces of the Void. Armageddon Cultists in essence believe in an inevitable "War in Heaven", and express their belief mainly in daily "thinning the herd" of Demons and Vampires so as to reduce the overwhelming forces that the Demons will come to possess when Armageddon begins. They are doomsday preppers, with many even entertaining that Armageddon will not come in their lifetime, but that they will contribute to a reduction of the numbers of the enemy, and preparing the Empire and their descendants for the final war by producing more weapons, and researching every edge they might gain against the Demons.
Vices
The greatest Vice against the Anticipating Gods is to consort with the agents of the Devils. The Armageddon Cult is unique in Unionism in that it acknowledges an actual canonical evil, the supreme devil as it were, and entertains the idea that there is actually a chance that the Armageddon war might be lost if too many people fall to the vices of Demon worship and consorting with the Devil. As such, the faithful are tasked with steeling their hearts and minds against the corruptive forces of the enemy, hunting down Demons, and serving the Emperor by slaying his detractors. Failure to do this is to give the enemy a greater advantage when the Endwar begins, and to place one's descendants into dangers they should not have faced.
Legacy
Celestina was once a Silent Sister who resided in the City of Regalia, often tending to her duties and upholding her vow of silence. However, the multiple of attacks on the Holy City by various magical and demonic threats took a severe toll on the Silent Sister, who could no longer stand by when it seemed like calamity would tear the capital apart. Eventually, Celestina broke her Vow of Silence, and began to preach about the need to prepare for future calamities, even ones not to be experienced in her lifetime. It was by those who listened that her message seemed to come from a higher power, and she was soon recognized as a Goddess by the fledgling Armageddon Cult. Today, Celestina is an Émérites Knight, frequenting the Regalian courts to preach against the normalization of magic and warning of its corrupting power. Eòin was once a Viridian Knight who was known as a frequent training of students at the Viridian Citadel on the Crown Isle. He was present at the Citadel during the Deathling Crisis, where he witnessed the Grandmaster, Elders, and majority of Knights make a last stand to allow for younger students to escape into the countryside. Eòin managed to survive the eradication, and was recognized as a God after he began to preach divinely inspired messages about preparation, citing how even the most-skilled Viridian Knights were only able to delay the inevitable destruction of the demonic threat. He later joined the Tyrian Knights in defending the Imperial Palace, which he preaches as the final bastion against all that is unholy in the world.
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Morgan and Narsil are the Tyrant Gods of The Guided Cult, the warnings to blind faith and unquestioning obedience.
- Morgan (left) is the Dragon God of Tyrants, serving in life as Arch Chancellor Morgan Kade, and was a previous Incarnation of the Dragon Regulus.
- Narsil (right) is the Archon God of Corruption, serving in life as Morgan's bodyguard and spymaster.
- There is no holy site for the Tyrants, as as any shrines are frequently vandalized.
- The Tyrant Gods are the patrons of those who question leadership and faith in the right and respectful ways, as well as Spies and Saboteurs.
- Nicholas was recognized as a God by the Emended Unionists after his death due to his achievements as the Sun Chancellor, recognizing Narsil at the same time.
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For expanded lore, click here.
Description
Morgan (left) and Narsil (right) are the Tyrant Gods of The Guided Cult, the warnings to blind faith and unquestioning obedience. Morgan is the God of Tyrants, whereas Naril is the God of Corruption. Together, the Martial Gods represent selfishness, greed, cruelty, wroth, pride, hyper-competency, and self-assuredness. They are represented by the cobra-hooded head, snake-forked tongue, and snake-hair head. The Tyrants lack a holy place, as they are not worshipped specifically and instead used as a warning against hedonism and sin, even in competent people. Rituals of Morgan and Narsil are less in service to them, and more in deterrence to the qualities of Morgan. The most common form of ritual is the Public Examination, where large crowds gather in front of a speaking stand, where citizens and commoners hold a public debate on the competency and virtues and morality of an individual in office or power, as a means to hold them accountable to good governance and keep them on the right track.
Virtues
The Virtue of the Tyrants is that sometimes, underhanded tactics are also able to further the Great Way. Sometimes, working in the light is too slow or too ineffectively, and that Spies, Saboteurs, and Rogues can also use their skills to the glory of the Empire. This does not mean that criminal behavior, gang activity, and the like is considered morally correct to Guided Unionists (after all, obeying the law is virtuous). Rather, they assert that covert and underhanded tactics can sometimes bring about quicker progress to the Empire than going through the socially-accepted channels, and that espionage against foreign rivals and enemies is a necessity for Regalia to be well-informed in making decisions.
Vices
The greatest Vice against the Tyrants is to use the Emperor, Faith, or Law to justify cruelty and evil. Unionists trust the word of the Emperor, because he communes with the Everwatcher, and that his Laws are made with good intentions for all people. However, those in positions of power who represent the Emperor may use that authority to twist the words of the Emperor to carry out great evil, using the people's faith against them. Likewise, those who manipulate the Laws, or find unintended loopholes, will use them to enrich themselves at another's expense. The faithful are warned to hold those in power accountable, and to be skeptical of anyone claiming to speak for the Emperor without investigating their merits.
Legacy
In Life, Morgan was known as the Sun Chancellor, Morgan Kade. Remembered as highly competent, but extremely morally corrupt, Morgan used the aftermath of the Purple Bleeding to force Emperor Justinian I to surrender religious prerogative to him, making the Chancellor kingmaker. What followed was a line of Ivrae Emperor who were Morgan's puppets, each being replaced whenever the Chancellor grew tired of them. To enforce his grip over the Empire, Morgan relied on Narsil, his Snake-Marken bodyguard who painted himself gold, to inform the Chancellor of any threats to his power. For over four decades, Morgan and Narsil ruled as tyrants, using intrigue and tyranny to keep the nobility and government in line while funding lives of opulence and hedonism. Eventually, Morgan would be executed by Emperor Vilgemar, who always hated being told what to do. Immediately after, the Imperial Guards hunted down and killed Narsil in a back corridor of the Imperial Palace, ending the duos reign of tyranny. As with the other pair of Dragon Gods, Morgan or Narsil has never manifested, though their actions coupled with Morgan's Dragonblood status were seen to be the acts of the divine (as who else could play kingmaker to the Vessel-God, but another God). The Emended and later Guided Unionists would accept this stance on divinity, teaching that Gods can also be just awful people, and be extremely selfish and capricious, but that bad qualities and ugly personalities are not reasons to write off the skills and competencies that people do have.
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