Arkveil Theocratic Communion
Arkveil is a nation under the theocratic rule of an ancient and powerful electron spirit known as Ark. The priests of the Arkist faith rule over the nation, with a collection of Speakers directing the daily lives of the Arkish people in each of the nation's Diocese.
Faith is a central component of Arkish life, and its tenets are the primary laws. The people are to work towards unity and sacrifice, providing labor and supplies to the grand effort of rebuilding the great Voidship that brought humanity to Aramanth in the first place. Once the ship is complete, Arkish faith says, all who remained faithful will be granted passage aboard the ship as it resumes it journey to the promised paradise Ark was created to take its people to. For those who do not survive till the creation and launch of the great void ship, Arkish priests have elaborate rituals for the deceased faithful to transmit their minds and souls into holy stasis, where they will be kept until paradise when they will be reborn into new bodies.
Other faiths are allowed in Arkveil, but only the faithful have full rights and may attain citizenship in the realm. At the command of Ark the kingdom regularly sends forth missionaries to spread Ark's word and promise of a better world than this one, one that can be reached with everyone's hard work and sacrifice.
Spreading out from the Khala Range Mountains is a nation under the tight theocratic rule of a religion in the service to a powerful machine spirit known as Ark. This spirit once guided the great generation ship that carried humans through the void and to an untimely landing upon the world of Aramanth. Even ten millinia since its fall, Ark still seeks to remedy this situation and bring its people, and any others committing themselves to the task, back to the void and on their way to paradise.
Faith is a central component of life in Arkveil, for each citizen is committed to the goal of following Ark back to their Great Voyage. The Arkist Priests rule over the nation, with each community overseen by a Speaker, a priest with the power to not only hear the divine voice of Ark, but blessed with the ability to speak with other machines as well. This goal, the Great Voyage, is the greatest focus of each Arkist Priest, and to which they guide their flock.
While life may not be as luxurious in Arkveil, neither does it hold the depths of hardships found in other nations. The Arkist Priests teach that each person's first duty is to one another and that the need of the least is the responsibility of the greatest. Each person commits a tithe of their time and energy to the Great Voyage, harvesting extra food, donating time to the tek mines, or taking time to educate oneself in the Arkist libraries to better be ready for the tasks that may lie ahead.
Still, providing for the health, safety, and security of the town is paramount, and the church does not hesitate to commit its own resources to ensure this. There is a saying about Arkveil communities. "May hands and minds never be idle, and may stomachs never go empty."
Structure
From the glimmering iron spires of Lightholme to the most isolated thorp, community and governmental organization remains constant in Arkveil. From the Holy Factorium in the capital exists Ark attended to by a host of Spark Angels that flit in and out of reality from the Deep Field. Those so touched by Ark can speak his invisible tongue, as well as those of any machine of any appreciable complexity. These priests, the Speakers, work to enact Ark's will on the world, which involves both the rebuilding of the great generation ship and the preservation of his flock so that they may safely be committed back upon their journey.
Individual communities have positions of authority that organize and advise the speaker, who synthesizes this with the knowledge granted him by Ark to choose the best path forward for their community. Safety is handled by rotating guard, and all able-bodied people are trained in defense. Communal homes are built for those with no place to stay, and libraries are built for all to use and learn from.
Culture
Culture in Arkviel favors humility, generosity, and service. Those acting selfish or overly harmful to the community at large are frowned upon, and will quickly find themselves censured. Likewise, even though positions of authority exist within Arkveil communities, this is not an excuse to think one better than another. Ark guides all, and knows each of his children's place. To think one above another is to think one overly favored in the mind of Ark, which is folly.
Education is encouraged in communities, and the young are presented for daily lessons at an early age. The Speakers often enact this education, teaching both the Tenants of Ark, but also the technical skills that will be needed to survive on the world, and off of it.
Public Agenda
The Translator Eminent who serves as Ark's primary voice from Lightholme seeks primarily to gain converts and resources for the Great Journey, which will begin once the multi-generational work of rebuilding the great void ship that all but disintegrated in Aramanth's atmosphere almost 10,000 years ago. There is an interest in tek of all kinds, both new and old, to aid in the building process. The current Translator Eminent, Speaker Aneer, believes there exists Ancients' lore that could turn the centuries-long project or rebuilding the ship into one taking only decades.
Assets
Individual communities are generally plain and austere, though almost everything that is collected from the faithful is taken to Lightholm, Arkveil's capital, where the great void ship is being rebuilt.
History
In the aftermath of the Voidgate War , there was a rush of explorers who ventured out to salvage what they could from the ruinous battlefields that littered Aramanth. One such group, on a hunch, followed a trail that led them into a several week-long trek into the highest peaks of the Khala Range mountains. It was there they found the broken husk of a void ship holding the ancient vessel's dormant spirit.
Using lore and sorcery, that spirit was revived, bringing the deific being known as Ark back into the being. It was at that moment the first Speakers were formed from those first explorers as their minds formed a permanent link that manifested as an array of small crystalline eyes on their wrists and faces. In a communion that lasted seconds but felt like years, Ark imparted its wisdom, knowledge, and power to those first speakers, telling them of its original sacred mission to bring the peoples of that first void ship to a new home, a paradise, one that was most certainly not Aramanth. Ark's drive was to carry on this mission, to rebuild the ancient Void Ship and take all those willing to this promised land, this Paradise.
With the word of Ark in their minds and his promise in their hearts, the Speakers went forth into the world, preaching Ark's message and converting all they could towards its grand mission. In the generations since the Arkish faith has steadily grown as entire communities committed themselves to the Grand Mission, and the old Void Ship continues to be built in the jagged peaks of the Khala Mountains.
Religion
Arkism is the faith of Arkveil inhabitants. While outsiders are not forbidden from practicing their own faiths, all citizens of Arkveil are expected to commit fully to the Arkist church. This formed considerable tension with the Exultist faith as the speakers expelled any Exult Priests who would not convert from their communities, taking and repurposing their temples for use by the community. No open acts of aggression have broken out between the two faiths, but the Emerald Pope has made it clear they will not tolerate the further expulsion of their priests from the communities they serve.
There are Better Lands Than These Found Only Through Faith
Founding Date
254 FE
Type
Geopolitical, Theocracy
Capital
Alternative Names
Land of Ark
Demonym
Arkish
Leader
Leader Title
Government System
Theocracy
Power Structure
Autonomous area
Economic System
Command/Planned economy
Currency
The Krisos
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