Celestial Chorus

Overview and Paradigm The Celestial Chorus was founded circa 1200 BC in ancient Egypt by Mentu-Hetep who received a vision of perfect harmony of God’s song. He was instructed to gather a choir able to sing that song. He ushered a call and soon a congregation of holy mystics was found. However after initial success the Choir quickly fragmented and became primarily European first, then Christian domain. All other religious paths were excluded due to hostilities arisen around mundane conflicts like crusades. It was not until the Great Convocation in 1466 that other creeds were accepted again and not until the recent New Age upsurge were they treated like equals. Celestial Chorus lore speaks of a period of time called the Shattering when the One's pure unity was broken, extends from the dawn of time to two centuries before the Christian Era. The Choristers believe their original members and greatest heroes lived and fought during this time; heroes of immeasurable faith and power called the First Singers who bear names such as Bhishma, Enoch, Gilgamesh, Gunder, and Mithras. Almost nothing is known of them, but the Chorus believes they were among the first to confront the Dark Singers, the Nephandi, who from the beginning sought to destroy everything that had been made. Though perhaps beings of god-like power, in the end the First Singers were mortal men and women with own their flaws who eventually perished or were tempted into darkness. Still, Choristers remember them as the first to hear the call of the One and perform great works for humanity during a difficult beginning. The first true gathering of Singers is attributed to a priest named Mentu-hetep, who promoted the worship of a single sun god in Egypt despite the scorn and wrath of his peers. It is said that after 40 days of wandering and fasting the One appeared to him, commanding him to gather the One's children that they might sing together in unity, a Celestial Chorus to guide the Sleepers. Though blinded by the visitation, Mentu-hetep called to other Singers and with the aid of his pharoah built a city for them called Akhenaten. Though they called the One by different names, people from many lands and creeds gathered to take part in the Sacred Congregation. Of those that left, many went on to construct places of worship for the Choristers throughout the world. Responsibility for the destruction of Akhenaten is placed on other priests jealous of Mentu-hetep and Nephandi that aided them. Faith continued to spread around the world, however, through kings such as Solomon and nations such as the Rome. For many years the Chorus tied its power to that of the Roman Empire, though rivalries between cults such as the Messianic Voices and the Sons of Mithras divided Choristers until Constantine the Great himself embraced Christianity. Over the centuries Christianity was codified and its power cemented, both through academic debate and at the tip of a sword. The Messianic Voices became a strong majority within the Chorus, resulting in many other faiths becoming marginalized. From this road the Cabal of Pure Thought was born, which stressed a need for a unified doctrine over any ideas of religious diversity. As the power of the Church rose in the Middle Ages so too did the Celestial Chorus, but the predominance of Christians within the Congregation created deeper schisms with other faiths. Many of the Chorus' greatest accomplishments were made during this time, but so too were many discarded in arrogance and ignorance. Shortly after the Albigensian Crusade the Cabal of Pure Thought was removed from the Congregation, but that would mean little in the aftermath of the Inquisition and the formation of the Order of Reason. The Convention of the Ivory Tower marked the beginning of the Celestial Chorus' slow descent. Warring with Hermetics and Verbena, divided both over Christian theology and the place of other faiths, and losing many of their own to the flames of the Inquisition, the Congregation faltered. It was not until a man named Valoran, inspired by visions from the Archangel Gabriel, would the Singers have a leader capable of rejuveninating them. By 1461 a unificed face could be presented to the Council of Nine under the name of the Celestial Chorus, having reconciled many of the differences that had divided factions and faiths for so long. Confrontations with the Order of Reason and Nephandi strengthened the Singers' resolve, though further divisions within the Church and awareness of the evil wrought by the Inquisition created new troubles. Ironically, during this time the Celestial Chorus' growing doctrine of acceptance and united faith made it somewhat heretical to the many religious orders of the time, but the true danger was in the steady removal of religion from the lives of people at the hands of the Order of Reason. Over the next several centuries the Choristers found their influence steadily weaker. The philosophy behind this organization is very similar to that of the Gnostics: a faith that there is One – supreme, absolute God. The Chorus also believes that all the faiths are simply different paths to the same Being and different gods from all the pantheons are merely His masks - a notion from the Hinduistic tradition of Vedanta also imported by Gnostics. However, not all members share the Gnostic belief that matter is impure and that one should concentrate on the spirit instead, living in an ascetic way. The aim for a Chorister is to get closer to God by actually ascending and merging with Him. It is said that to be done, one must walk along set paths and behind set masks that humanity donned upon the One. The Fall and Reconciliation Of all the unexplained things that happened during the Fall and the Reconciliation none of them remain as unexplained as what happened to the Celestial Chorus. Seven days after the Fall was triggered, Singers began to vanish. The remaining call this The Rapture. Some report beams of white light from Heaven, touching down on earth with the selected Choirister being drawn away from earth, others report Angels touching swooping down and taking the Singer into the sky. Some report that the Singers body was burned away in sacred fire others, flock of doves floating heavenward. Some reported just simple vanishings. Whatever was reported it all indicated that the Choisters were taken from this plane to an other. The Chorus functioned during the Fall much as it did pre-Fall, healing the sick, feeding the poor, assisting the needy, hunting the Nephandi, but mainly it hunted the Nephandi. It did so with a zeal that hasn't been seen since the Inquisition. Current Status The Left Behind, as they are called, now have to grapple with the fundemental question of faith: Why? The current theory is that Those Left Behind are being tested and when they become worthy they will join their fellows in the heavenly chorus. Others feel they were selected not for their flaws but for their Faith. They feel they are avatars of the One, specially chosen to do the One's work during the dark times. Regardless of why, the post-Fall world is filled with questions of a nature that can only be answered by Faith. From the streets of the Dark Zones to the glittering screens of the Matrix, the Chorus offers a much needed supply of hope, faith and charity. The hierarchy of the Celestial Chorus has changed little since the Roman Empire and the Fall did little to alter it. The Pontifex Maximus is the Tradition's leader and instructs the Congregation as a whole. The position is not one of absolute authority, however, and the Curia, the council of the Chorus' eldest Singers (of which the Pontifex and Primus are members) has traditionally asserted the rights to dictate the Congregation's mission as well as matters of faith. Foci and Style Choristers perform acts of magic either by beseeching the One for aid or drawing on the One's authority to command Creation directly. As their name suggests, singing has long been an integral part of Chorister practice. It is viewed as one of the oldest forms of channeling the One, but it is only one of many methods. Blessings and curses carry with them Divine energy. Divinations are often performed by interpreting dreams, casting of lots, or bibliomancy. Anything that draws people together including simple touches, communal ceremonies, and even sex are seen as ways to bring people closer to the One. On the other hand fasting, self-denial, vows, and other sacrifices are seen as ways to free oneself from dependence on base needs in order to refocus and better hear the One's call. Likewise, religious rituals and symbols of faith are manifestations of the One that can be touched and experienced. Stereotypes * Akashic Brotherhood - * Cult of Ecstasy - * Dreamspeakers - It brings us great sorrow that they should finally learn to see the One through such pain and suffering. * Euthanatos - The transformative power of the Fall is lost entirely upon these. * Order of Hermes - * Sons of Ether - * Verbena - * Virtual Adepts - * Hollow Ones -