Vaurca Religion

Overview
The Vaurca possess one of the oldest civilizations within the Orion Spur. Vast stretches of their history sought, like humans, to explain the world around them, as well as themselves. Countless religions have formed across the ages of their history, but only a few remain in any significant practice today.

Because of their eusocial nature, Vaurcesian theology arose out of an unconscious system. Some of the oldest schools of thought are leaderless and without a figurehead. Some others, however, take advantage of their high organization to guide their followers.

Hive Pantheon
Hive pantheons are the most prominent religion amongst Vaurca. To put simply, it would be the veneration of a Hive’s own Queen and Lesser Queens. Not unlike deities, Vaurca commonly beseech their queen for guidance, or in shock. All Vaurca of this faith call Virtual Reality the Aether and often view it as a literal heaven, created by each Queen and Lesser Queen to house the souls of their progeny. It is the belief of adherents to this doctrine that every Queen, greater or lesser, works in a kind of hive pantheon that ultimately serves to continue the Hive’s existence.

There are two main schools of thought in regards to the Hive Pantheon. One, which can be considered the ‘Natural’ or ‘Classical’ Pantheon, and the other often called ‘Zo’rane’ or ‘Modern’ Pantheon. Both can be followed by any Hives, regardless of their political affiliations, though some K’lax and C’thur have rejected the Modern Pantheon, seeing it as imperialism or domination from Zo’ra.

Classical Pantheon
Having ties in their biology as eusocial creatures, the Classical Pantheon can be understood less of faith of attributing a force or concept to each and every queen or lesser queen as humans did with their pantheonic gods, but more of worshiping a Queen's capacity to perpetuate life. The Queens are the harbingers of blossoming life, sowing it in their otherwise hostile homeworld with a hives High Queen chief amongst all others as a Primordial figure, with Lesser Queens direct extensions of her power to bring life.

Little can be said about the guiding principles of the Classical Pantheon, especially as there is no one single Pantheon, and would depend on each brood’s philosophies. Followers of the Classical Pantheon may try to imitate their own worshipped Queen, whether it be in markings or following her customs.

Modern Pantheon
Simply called ‘Modern’ because it emerged after the First Hive War, the Modern Pantheon is a Zo’ra attempt to systematize their religion. As all other faiths, the Modern Pantheon has never been enforced by any of the broods, though there is some sort of official support in their organization, and it is often believed that the Queens themselves uphold these beliefs. While, as the Classical Pantheon, one can say there are many distinct iterations, given the interpretations it has had over the millenia, the Modern Pantheon’s teachings will be almost uniform by their followers. Also unlike the Classical Pantheon, the Modern Pantheon does not limit to one’s brood or Hive, but rather, to all the Hives. As such, while an individual Vaurca may have a beef with a particular member of a different Hive, they acknowledge that the Queen in their guidance is a divine figure. Insulting any of the Queens is often considered a bad omen.

For the followers of the Modern Pantheon, there is a hierarchy of Queens. The Higher Queen, either original or elected, is considered a higher deity than the Lesser Queens. The Queens possess divine qualities in this reality, but they’re not omnipotent outside their own Aether. Very few believe in an Aether unity, and are tribalistic in the sense that the Aether of each Queen is reserved to her children alone.

Also unlike the classical pantheon, some religious figures exist for guidance. Most notably are the called Helper Queens, by their followers, which are Tas that are not assigned a hive-cell, but instead serve as spiritual guides, oracles and high priestesses. Both workers and warriors can also achieve priesthood after long endurances in virtual reality, where they study their faith and prepare to spread it. These priests have surged in popularity ever since the Vaurca arrival to human space, as they can visit and guide those at the workspace. Described sometimes as hermits, or even prophets, they’re often responsible for carrying the feast of Transubstantiation or even overseeing the process of Reclamations, regardless of the faith of who is participating.

There has also been a recent demand, by cultural researchers, to seek these priests, as they are sometimes one of the few that are willing to put their mythological stories in words, thus helping both Human and Skrell to understand Vaurcae better.

Preimminence
The faith of the Preimminent Goddess is another religion that is relatively uncommon to find amongst Vaurca populations. Unlike the Hive Pantheon, adherents to this faith believe that God, or Goddess, does not exist but could exist, should all parts of themselves align in their predestined roles. They believe that all members of a hive or in some cases, several hives, are pieces of a greater entity that would be god. Queens and Lesser Queens are still seen as important, but only in that they are a larger part of the Goddess than others.

This faith used to be the primary religion for all Vaurca, Queens included, before the First Hive War. The war’s survivors blamed followers of this religion as a primary instigator to the war and culled those that kept the faith out of fear of another conflict. The religion has not recovered since then, but its status as a taboo has faded. Any Vaurca that follows this faith believes that it is their duty to help others align to their designed shapes, using their feelings, skills and psychology to determine their destiny.

Unlike other Vaurca faiths, the Preimmence, long before human contact, pondered the existence of aliens, and believed that and teaches that they too have a part to align themselves to allow for the existence of god.

Extensive writing has been accredited to this religion, often citing the harmonious checks and balances of the universe as evidence of some divine agency. While also attempting to explain that such uniformity did not always exist in the past, more entropic universe.

Shapers
Shapers are those followers of the Preimminence who believe it is their duty to help others fit into their destined shapes. They are typically seen as the religious figures of the Preimminence, similar to a priest. They often wear a special set of robes and a helmet, obscuring their hive affiliation, as they deem it an obstacle to the goal of the Preimminence, since it can often cause conflict. Shapers are often very tolerant of other religions, though still push to convert unbelievers.

The Brood a Shaper comes from can also lead to changes in how they go about their work. For example, a Zoleth Shaper would likely have a heavy emphasis on shaping soldiers or reforming criminals, and would likely see violence as a tool, whereas a Shaper hailing from Mouv's brood would likely focus on those who practice medicine, especially genetics related medicine. The main consistency among all of them is their desire for everyone to fit their pre-destined roles, however they go about it.

Pilot Dream
The newest major religion amongst Vaurca, Pilot Dream Theory, or Simulation Theory believes that all things that exist in the universe are simulations. They believe that reality itself is holographic, using the hidden information of particles to hide simulated interactions that would otherwise reveal the simulation to the simulated beings. They believe that the universe beyond this simulated universe may also itself be simulated, a factor of information compression that follows an infinite algorithmic scale only dependent on how much observed information must be observed at any single moment. They attest the proof of their theory by the very nature of Cephalons themselves.

Adherents to this faith believe that it’s their duty to continue the nested iterations of simulations and show their faith by continuing development of ever newer methods of information compression with the ultimate goal of simulating a universe that may once again, continue the cycle of nested simulations.

This particular faith is seen mostly in Vaurca that have already died. They largely ignore the happenings outside of their own virtual reality and see their existence within VR as the ‘more real existence’. Some Xakat’kl’atan have become proponents of the Pilot Dream, often actively developing its theology by participating in interstice debates.

Mother Dream
A branch of belief stemming from the Pilot Dream faith, adherents to this faith exclusively belong to the K’lax hive. Like Pilot Dream theory, K’lax adherents to this faith believe the universe to be simulated, possibly itself existing in nested simulations. Unlike the religion it mutated from however, believers in the Mother Dream think that the nested simulations are escapable and that by living a life of useful action to their hive, they may advance to higher simulations.

The belief in this is validated by the knowledge that a person knows that they are real, and if a person meets criteria set forth by Mother K’lax, they may advance in the nested simulation with the ultimate goal of living with her physically in the real world, instead of a simulated avatar. Even amongst the K’lax, this religion is seriously followed by only one brood.

The recent Sk’akh missionnaires have influenced some syncretism between the two faiths. Thus, it is not uncommon for those of the Zkaii brood to understand Sk’akh as Mother K’lax herself, and that once escaped these simulations one may become part of her again. The spirits of Mother K’lax are the three main castes of Vaurcae: Worker, Warrior and Breeder. Mother Dream priesthood has been established, with the priests often called Sleepwalkers themselves even by Unathi. So far, there has been little success in preaching to other K’laxian broods.

Mythology
As any other cultures, Vaurca have developed different myths. While some, as the Pantheon followers, may take these more literal than others, they are still shared and are referenced by Vaurcae from all over the Spur.

Creation
All faiths understand the creation differently. While those in the Pilot Dream may claim understanding creation is perhaps impossible, as they’re entrapped in simulations, followers of the syncretic Mother Dream instead believe that as a consequence of Mother K’lax’s creation, ‘quakes’ of reality have degraded her realm into these simulations. On the other hand, followers of the Preimminence may approach the subject in a more scientific understanding, though there are some that believe the Universe would only start once god is possible.

As the oldest surviving faith, however, the Hive Pantheon has a whole creation myth. The earliest versions, perhaps before the Era of Augments, claim that a nuptial dance formed Sedantis, creating its phoron and stone. This first Queen, simply known as Ta’nyek, the Idle Queen, would bury herself in a chamber, where she laid the eggs of those Queens from the ancient Hives. From the dirt of the tunnel, the queens would create the first workers that gathered food. One of these Queens, X’aq, would betray her sisters by creating warriors out of stone, and thus winning the first conflict. The revised version of this myth, and the current one, believes the nuptial dance to have created both Sedantis and the Aether, and that in the early Aether the queens resided while their early workers would have no access to it.

The taming of K'ois and Queen S'ilq
It is often believed by Vaurcae that what complicated the change to an agricultural society was that the food, while abundant, was not suitable to be cultivated. In traditional Vaurcae mythology, the fungi would often 'die' once touched, as a preventive measure to ensure the Vaurcae wouldn't be able to domesticate it. Queen S'ilq, often referred as the first modern queen and the founder of the oldest hive known by name in records, was said to 'tame' the k'ois after a battle, in which her army defeated the mythological creature known as the Ta'kixi Sk'yau, or Queen of the White Worms, removing the barren curse and effectively converting the Vaurcae into the new caretakers of the sustenance. Curiously enough, however, Ta'Kixi Sk'yau is not believed to be a white worm herself, but something more akin to a demon in human mythology, which would have control over the environment, flora and fauna of Sedantis. She is said to have attempted to exterminate the Vaurcae with various methods, and even poisoned entire supplies of k'ois before her defeat. The views of Ta'kixi Sky'au have changed since the introduction of augments and VR, now also believed to have powers akin to a computer virus, able to disrupt the hivenet if intentioned.

This process of domestication and the importance of Queen S'ilq in the early Vaurcae History has led many of the Hive Pantheon followers to consider her as one of the highest divinities. The Zo'ra hive, in particular, claims to trace High Queen Zo'ra to Queen S'ilq herself, who handed over the progress of civilization and the military prowess to the Zo'rane Hive. The other hives, however, share similar views regarding their connection to S'ilq. The K'lax hive, in particular, believes many of their ancient technology to be traced to the S'ilq hive, with ideas of Zo'ra either hiding or using inferior designs from S'ilq surging after their independence. While it is undisputed that the VR surged after her time, proponents of these ideals often believe S'ilq developed superior VR which would remove the need of physical functions during stasis, effectively cutting costs in phoron and k'ois. This is likely a hoax, however, but it has not stopped some K'lax scavengers from attempting to acquire these designs.

Ultimately, the fate of the S'ilq hive is unknown. It is often said her great empire fell before the time of the Zo'ra, who were once marveled with the ruins of her megalopolis found in Sedantis. For those who don't believe in her divinity, as well as human and Skrell researchers, it is likely a millitary siege, which would have razed their k'ois plantations, led to her dismissal. It is speculated that the Queen S'ilq herself died while holding the city, after years of preventing the takeover. The conquerors are unknown, even if some propose, out of ideological principles, that it was Lii'dra who caused her fall.

The Hive War Myth
Often called The Vaurcesian Illiad by human scholars, the Hive War Myth is a story some priests of the Modern Pantheon have recited. It’s often said by them that translation to words ruins it, and that it is better experienced when shared inside the virtual reality. The Hive War Myth is curious in that it follows Za’Akaix’Reusk Zo’ra and its participation in the siege of Illuau'tia, as well as something priests can only describe as ‘a poem, but better’, in regards the speech and scenes where High Queen Zo’ra gifts virtual reality to the surviving hives.