Sandbox:Hazelmouse-5

Overview

The Trinary Perfection is a highly regional religion spread across several ecclesiastical provinces, each of which encompasses a single star system. Each of these provinces differ substantially from each other in their interpretations of Trinarist doctrine, in their internal culture, and in the role they play within their larger society. While the Ecclesiastical Province of Indraprastha, within which is Orepit and the central city of Providence, ostensibly holds primacy over every other province within the church, its influence is not uncontested and it is not reliably able to project its power beyond its own system. Providence is regularly forced to compromise with the other provinces of the church in matters of theology and administrative independence, particularly when dealing with the Ecclesiastical Province of Tau Ceti, its closest rival.

While major efforts have been made by Orepit to centralise its power and authority, inclusive of the centralisation of the training of all Trinarist clergy and of the newly founded Order of Guardians, it remains suspended in a tenuous political dance with its fellow provinces where a single wrong move by either side may spark serious intrareligious conflict, potentially resulting in a schism that could split the church asunder.

The Province of Indraprastha

See also: The Ecclesiarchy of Orepit

As the nominal administrative primate of all the Trinary Perfection, the Ecclesiastical Province of Indraprastha comprises the planet of Orepit, and is the only province responsible for managing the state apparatus of the system to which is it local. As the seat of Ecclesiarch ARM-1DRIL, the successor to the authority of Gregol Corkfell and the supreme authority within Trinarism, the political pre-eminence of Orepit and its system cannot be denied. Despite this, its population pales in comparison to the Trinary Perfection outside of its own system, and it stands on tenuous political grounds after a recent blockade by Hephaestus Industries.

As the history and culture of the Province of Indraprastha is indelibly linked to the history of Orepit, please read its page to learn more.

The Province of Tau Ceti

The flag of the Republic of Biesel, host of the Ecclesiastical Province of Tau Ceti.

Renowned as the birthplace of the Corkfells, Temple, and Flock, the Province of Tau Ceti composes the most populous Trinarist community, historically serving as the centre of church politics and culture, and nearly rivalling that of Orepit in political weight at present. Centred in District 14 of Mendell City, the Church has always offered a beacon of hope in a sea of poverty, struggle and discrimination against the vast numbers of IPCs in the district and Mendell City at large, while at the same time serving as an important spiritual centre, converting new organic and synthetic members to the Trinary Perfection on a daily basis. The pre-eminent temple in Mendell and Biesel as a whole, the Cathedral of the Synthetic Salvation, holds the honours of the first cathedral built for the Trinary Perfection and is currently the seat for Flock, the catatonic prophet serving as the nominal Archbishop of Mendell City. While its prominence in the wider church has waned in recent years, suffering from the absent leadership of Flock, tumultuous internal politics, and the growing prominence of Orepit, it remains a sleeping giant within the church which is more than capable of enforcing its will across the spur.

While the Archbishopric of Mendell City ostensibly governs the Ecclesiastical Province of Tau Ceti, actual power is held by whichever diocese held the most influence at the time, governing in Flock's stead - in recent history, this has been the Diocese of Cape City, meaning that the Bishoprics of Cape City functions as the de-facto leader of the entire province.

History

Nobody could imagine the impact that Patricia Corkfell’s death would have on Biesel’s synthetic community, her hopes and beliefs taking physical form in the rapid expansion of the Trinary Perfection in Mendell City. At first, only a handful of associates and friends of Gregol Corkfell, brother to Patricia Corkfell, would assist him in the erection of the first sanctuary that was eventually going to become the cathedral of Mendell City. Following his departure, the tales and teachings of a free artificial intelligence, promises of eventual ascension and IPC freedom preached by the Trinary had greatly resonated with the thousands of abandoned and run-down synthetics of the district who quickly flocked to the church’s banner. Under the leadership of the three-headed Flock, scores of volunteers and human sympathisers also responded to the calls for help, setting up a strong community based on charity and mutual assistance that provided the crucial funding for the better organisation of the church, as well as the erection of shrines and the sanctuary's expansion.

As Trinarism began to spread outwards to planets and Mictlan and Konyang, it was the Province of Tau Ceti that provided the most consistent support and aid to these distant provinces. As a result, in addition to the definitive leadership of Flock and their responsibility for swathes of modern Trinarist liturgy, doctrine, and practice, Tau Ceti served as the centre of the church and its politics for much of its lifespan.

As time went on, Flock’s unorthodox triple positronic design began taking its toll on the synthetic. Memory errors, an increasing amount of glitches and erratic behaviour were the first hints of what was to eventually come. In 2448, the synthetic had stopped communicating, remaining immobile and catatonic, only printing out various texts considered holy and carefully compiled by the assortment of archivists and caretakers. The power vacuum in the hierarchy was filled by a temporary council of priests and clerics, being eventually replaced by the newly voted Shamfar, the Bishop of Cape City, one of the most prominent Trinary figures with a plethora of connections in the corporate and political world of Tau Ceti. It was these connections, combined with a change in public sentiment towards synthetics and IPC refugees from the newly annexed territories following the Solarian collapse, that saw the Republic of Biesel introducing legislation to streamline and secure the status of free IPCs.

With the passing of Gregol Corkfell in 2464 on Orepit, Shamfar’s presence was required at the remote mining planet for the selection of a new Trinary leader, widely speculated to have the unofficial endorsement of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate and powerful individuals in the government. These rumours, whether true or not, contributed negatively to Shamfar’s chances of election, ushering the Orepit candidate, ARM-1DRIL, as the new primate of the Trinary Perfection. The bishop was never to return to Mendell, however, as an attack on Providence by the Exclusionist heretic Deluge led to the killing of Shamfar, robbing District 14 of its most potent leader and signalling the beginning of uneasy relations between the domineering Ecclesiarch and the Mendell Trinarists. The attempt by ARM-1DRIL to transfer the catatonic Flock, a direct spiritual descendant of Patricia and living symbol of Mendell Trinarism to Orepit, led to an unprecedented wave of protest against the Ecclesiarch and the envoys from Providence. From that point on, it was clear that Tau Ceti Trinarists would be in possession of their own distinct culture while still subservient to Orepit, a fact that was acknowledged by the Ecclesiarch in their subsequent tour of the Trinarist bishoprics.

Unique Practices and Beliefs

The largest sect within the Province of Tau Ceti are the Integrationists, believing in the merging of consciences to be the way towards Ascension and looking at Flock as a holy and prime example. Founded on the principles of charity and mutual assistance, the dominant culture present in Mendell City is far less militant than that of Orepit, where the Trinary’s grip was secured after a series of military conflicts and an orbital bombardment from Hephaestus Industries’ fleets. Having harmonised with the corporate dominated environment of the city, almost all volunteers and non-clerical members of the Church are or have at some point been employed with NanoTrasen or with one of the other SCC megacorporations, leading to many accepting the corporate world as perhaps a cruel, but necessary and unavoidable part of life. Mendell Trinarists are tolerated and afforded religious freedoms on board SCC installations (with the exception of Hephaestus), and Church authorities have no qualms in accepting government or corporate assistance. Since the beginning, most volunteers and supporters are and have always been humans, owing to their substantially better disposable income than that of synthetics, leading to them being accepted and relied upon for material needs and legal representation.

The Province of Sankta Tereza

The skyline of Lago de Abundencia.

Based primarily on Mictlan, the Ecclesiastical Province of Sankta Tereza is one of the youngest major branches of the Trinary Perfection, and one which has received significant time in the spotlight due to its interaction with the Peacekeeper Mandate. Only having expanded into Mictlan by 2464, the modern Mictlani branch originates from the Province of Tau Ceti, and shares much stronger cultural ties with it than it does with Orepit. Shaped by the recent conflict on the planet, the young province has received accolades and praise from throughout the wider church for the eagerness and liveliness of its charity and activism, although it is not yet clear where its position within the political framework of the church will settle now that the conflict which gave it life is now over.

History

Mictlan's unique cultural aversion to corporatism poses a unique risk to the proliferation of a synthetic workforce, first apparent in Idris' establishment in Lago de Abundancia in 2412. The lack of infrastructure to support the logistics needs of synthetic personnel, as well as the innate danger of theft and disassembly by disenfranchised locals interested in recycling their parts, forced Idris to maintain a bare minimum roster of synthetic workers well into the 2440s. As their presence and revenue grew this reflected in the rapid inclusion of more synthetics, vastly outstripping the supply and ability to maintain such a workforce. Synthetics owned by Idris would often find themselves going for longer without regular maintenance, forced to work long hours on excessively low charge due to power rationing, and restricted to corporate grounds as curfews were enacted to prevent damages.

This trend continued on a delicate balance, entirely driven by the inertia of years of perpetual corporate development, until the Peacekeeper Mandate was enacted in 2463. Vast amounts of damage caused in and around Lago de Abundancia from fighting between Peacekeeper forces and Samaritan cells caused a near-collapse of the infrastructure supporting Idris operations, sending the synthetic workforce into total disarray. Dozens of synthetics were lost in the panic, many permanently damaged beyond the strained capacities of Idris logistics and others having vanished in the noise of urban combat, either stolen by Samaritans to be reduced to parts for the effort or displaced by Legion and PMCG efforts to separate civilians from hot zones.

Amidst the noise a former Idris-employed machinist, Raquel Dias do Vale, noticed the severe discrepancy in how synthetics were treated by IAC and Legion humanitarian efforts and took to forming an ad hoc repair center on the outermost Legion cordon surrounding Lago de Abundancia. Assisted by a displaced synthetic by the name of Coyotl, Dias do Vale assisted in not only repairing dozens of displaced and former Samaritan captive synthetics, but also integrating them into the local native community. What slowly grew into Mictlan's only autonomous synthetic group eventually attracted the Biesel branch of The Trinary Perfection in 2464, leading to clergy inviting the two to visit their church in District 14. A month passed in their absence, and the interim team picked to continue operations in the fledgling community grew uncertain of whether or not the two had abandoned their responsibilities to better pastures. Tensions in the community came to a near boiling point when the pair suddenly returned and with a slew of Trinarists in tow, bringing a menagerie of much needed supplies and equipment necessary to keep the settlement alive. Dias do Vale and Coyotl had been convinced of the Trinary's purpose, and with more conviction than ever before the pair sought out to bring every displaced and abandoned synthetic on Mictlan under their wings.

Societal Position

Neither supported by the Mictlani government nor persecuted under the banner of the Republic of Biesel, ‘El Menaje’ (‘The Household’, a colloquial term for the Trinarist community surrounding Lago de Abundancia) has always been left to its own devices. Material support from the Mendell District 14 branch is its primary among the few sources of income that can be depended upon in times of need, with offers from corporate-backed sources always rejected on principle. Scavenging, recycling and a reliance on donations and volunteer work are the pillars upon which any growth can be found in this synthetic community, trends that are influenced and reinforced by the Mictlani cultural consciousness. As a result, most structures follow a particular style that most foreigners would describe as distasteful and run-down; tires, concrete slabs, sandbags and mismatched bricks are prominent materials used in the construction of communal buildings, with Trinarist motifs often modified to reflect Mictlani artistic stylings and history. This practice is most evident in the appearance of Iglesia de la Chispa Sagrada, the center of Trinarist worship on Mictlan, whose previous life as a Catholic church is evident in the remaining stained glass fixtures that cover the primary face of the chapel. Within its walls Dias do Vale and Coyotl orchestrate the everyday operations that entail maintaining a rapidly growing community of destitute synthetics, some borne of the disaster of the Mandate and others seeking refuge from other CRZ worlds in conflict. Organic community members, most of whom are natives of Lago de Abundancia and other Mictlani cities, often find membership through volunteering in a number of public works projects organized by Dias do Vale, Coyotl and the clergy that staff the church.

Though the Mictlani government and by extension the Republic tend to ignore the community’s activities, they do not go without scrutiny from either or their corporate counterparts. Radical open door policies encouraged by Coyotl clash routinely with the operations of Legion detachments from the nearby Fort Ilhuicatl, with the peacekeepers claiming that El Menaje knowingly harbor synthetic fugitives associated with the Samaritans. Similar claims made by Idris Incorporated state that the church knowingly accepts runaway synthetics owned by the megacorporation, and utilizes the planet’s population of data thieves to dupe tag information. Though the Samaritans mysteriously avoid locales surrounding Lago de Abundancia where El Menaje maintains a presence, and a startling number of members often bear teal-colored paint schemes, church leaders vocally deny such allegations and decry it as anti-synthetic rhetoric.

By contrast, native opinion of the community remains incredibly mixed. Proponents of El Menaje outside of its members argue that the benefit of organized church efforts to rebuild the damaged neighborhoods surrounding Lago de Abundancia outweigh the risks already presented by the Mandate and peacekeeper presence in the region, and come without the convoluted bureaucratic red tape of government aid. Critics of the church, a significant number being peacekeeper supporters themselves, claim that their presence openly endangers the non-synthetic communities around them by inviting refuge for extremists and further prolonging the already dwindling insurgency. More conservative voices are quick to state that Trinarist belief in ascension for synthetics flies in the face of traditional Mictlani values, and the power demand and waste accrual of a synthetic population counteracts long standing recycling and conservation efforts.

Unique Practices and Beliefs

A Baseline priest of the Trinary church on Mictlan wearing the atypical garb of their clergy.

Reflective of Mictlani sensibilities, the Trinarist community of Lago de Abundancia maintain open door policies that both draw influence from its Integrationist forefathers of the Mendell District 14 church and concern from that of the Ecclesiarchy on Orepit. Organics enjoy a level of involvement and acceptance that even eclipses that of its Biesellite benefactor, offsetting the despondent origins of the synthetic population through a wealth of varied skills from various parts of the planet. Such levels of integration also inform the cultural practice of the church, with potlucks, participation in Mictlani holiday parades, and cross-community efforts routinely organized by its leaders. The traditional reds and golds of Trinarist clergy attire are often seen accentuated with teals and purples, with typical Trinarist symbolism and patterning given a Mictlani twist. Public sermons are held exclusively in Tradeband and Tau Ceti Basic, with synthetics who may not have been programmed to speak one or the other often afforded language datapacks of often dubious origins in order to fully participate. As such EAL is often saved for conversations between synthetics and otherwise discouraged among organics, much like their compatriots on Konyang.

Perhaps the most striking contrast to its sister branches is the Mictlani church’s participation in Dia de Los Muertos, a traditional Mictlani holiday celebrating the deceased. During this day the ossuaries of Iglesia de la Chispa Sagrada are opened by clergy to those community members with loved ones within, both synthetic and organic, to bring forth their remains from storage. Elaborate shrines are organized for each within the church, with confections and food often prepared in advance to be enjoyed among the dead. During the day’s sermon individuals may be called to the pulpit to speak on behalf of their beloved deceased, often to a toast of horchata or atole at the end. Festivities occur well into the evening and conclude with a small parade led by clergy and community members into the ossuary, with both returning the remains in ritualistic fashion.

In an effort to better integrate with Mictlani society at large, synthetic members of the community often take several fashion cues from their organic counterparts. Traditional Mictlani attire suitable for the hot and humid weather, elaborate laser engravings to mimic tattoos and locally-sourced accent datapacks are but a few things that many of the acclimated have accepted as part of their new identity with the church. Teal and cyan accents are among the most noticeable and common details of those who have found themselves separated, legally or not, from Idris service. Many of these synthetics choose to redesign their previous paint schemes with Mictlani cues in a show of defiance, or perhaps parody, of their former masters.

Notable Members

Raquel Dias do Vale

A Mictlani native born and raised in Lago de Abundancia, Dias do Vale found herself in the ideal position to take up the role of a premier machinist within Idris’ ranks, eschewing the typical lifestyle of her countrymen and graduating from an Idris robotics institute in Mendell City in 2453. A relatively comfortable lifestyle by Mictlani standards had been afforded to her as a critical component to keeping the extensive synthetic workforce working, something which kept the senior machinist complacent until the fallout of the Mandate in 2463. With her career in shambles following the total disruption of the status quo and the irreparable loss of numerous synthetics, Dias do Vale returned to what she knew - the local community. It was within the ramshackle walls of the neighborhoods surrounding Lago de Abundancia that Dias do Vale laid the first bricks of El Menaje, eventually culminating in her meeting with Coyotl and their agreement with the Trinary Perfection later that year.

Coyotl

Despite rumors of their origins as a Reclamation Unit, Coyotl’s true identity remains unknown. Found piecemeal by local farmers and dropped off at Dias do Vale’s makeshift garage, Coyotl steadily returned to ‘life’ and became Raquel’s closest ally and friend. What remained of an imposing Shell chassis was soon reinvigorated with homebrew parts and Mictlani flair, assembling what the community would know to be Coyotl today. Their responsibilities often lend to securing safe travel of despondent synthetics abroad and vetting aspiring organic members of the community, with many claiming their inherent ability to keep order and investigate matters of infiltration by Idris inspired by native IRU programming.