Forging the Forsworn
It was my assumption, that even though I had performed The Vaulderie with Hodge, Gabriel and Evelyn that I was still quite a ways off from becoming one of the covey. As I had no experience with the Trials of Provocation and had only for a day been acquainted with this covey, there were still steps to be taken toward becoming a right and full initiated member. The standards of initiation vary dramatically throughout the Brood. For this reason, most initiation rituals are considered dynameis. However, the sacrament of initiation is universally accepted as one of the Archontes. Initiation into a covey is considered essential for full comprehension of the Forsworn path as it is only in the company of her brothers and sisters that the seeker can be assured of a properly guided journey into the depths of the Demiurge. This is because acceptance into a covey and establishing a relationship with that covey’s Crux is a spiritual lesson and ordeal in and of itself.
Although the rituals of initiation do differ in their details and arrangement, there are some core elements that are essential. These core elements compose the Archontes aspect of all Forsworn initiations. These four elements are submission, ordeal, conundrum and the joining of the fold.
At first glance, submission appears to be the strangest of the initiatory elements as such a gesture would most commonly be viewed as a basic demonstration of weakness — an undesired quality when viewed on an exoteric level. However, during the submission stage of the initiation, the covey symbolizes the Adversary itself, and thus, the candidate’s ability to submit to the group is considered her ability to submit to her own Beast, and in turn, her capacity to persevere through the obstacles of her Pursuit. So, in this way, submission becomes a demonstration of one’s will to power as it is the false shell of Humanity that submits and is the first signs of the candidate’s true self that are drawn to the surface.
The ordeals of initiation are well documented in reports concerning the Brood’s activities. Accounts of this stage of initiation are dwelled upon by the covenants as frightful images with which to terrify their childer who should stray toward a greater freedom. This is because the purpose of the ordeal is to induce the altered state of consciousness that is acted upon by later stages of the initiation. Where some coveys rely on nothing other than a moment of extreme terror (or otherwise visceral experience) to achieve this stage, among those adorants who devote themselves to the supernal light of the pneuma, the ordeal articulates the intricacies of the dismantled human soul, providing a path-working that unlocks secrets of the Adversary that serve to condition the candidate as a worthy vessel of the Demiurge. It should be noted that candidates who fail at this stage of the ritual are often destroyed on the spot (assuming that the ordeal is not a lethal trial itself). Among the sarx cults and soma cults, these ordeals are often excruciating physical trials, whereas the pneuma cults may employ powerful amounts of etheogens or other disorienting factors such as time-deprivation and the application of vampiric powers that affect the mind.
After the candidate has been opened up by both the submission and the ensuing ordeal, the conundrum is posed. The essential nature of the conundrum is that it creates a subtle dilemma that must be resolved, competently, by a savage hand. Although the poetics of a rampaging Beast that unthinkingly destroys everything in its path may serve the needs of the romantic, such a creature does not benefit the overall mission of the Forsworn. So, the conundrum gives the candidate an opportunity to prove his effectiveness while under severe strain. Although some factions, such as the Scarlet Rite, may diminish the dramatic emphasis of this element of their initiations, it is nonetheless fully present in the structure of their obscene baptisms and blood orgies. Among the members of that faction called the Throne of Smoking Fire, the conundrum can be elaborate and have numerous tiers of problem solving, even taking the form of a ritual drama in which the members of the covey bombard the candidate with difficult challenges that force him to create a working marriage between his holy instincts and gross intellect.
At the final stage of the ritual, the candidate, having survived the rigors of the previous stages, is welcomed into the covey. At this point, all antagonism ceases, and the newly initiated member of the covey is marked in some fashion to signify his dedication to his brothers and sisters. In almost every instance, a Vaulderie follows this stage of the ritual. At this point, the new initiate will receive instruction in the lore of his covey and will be instructed in the full range of their often-secret dynameis as well as given access to the covey’s Resources. In some cases, the new member will take on a new name, or even a new identity entirely, in recognition of the official beginning of his descent into the realm of the Adversary.
Although the rituals of initiation do differ in their details and arrangement, there are some core elements that are essential. These core elements compose the Archontes aspect of all Forsworn initiations. These four elements are submission, ordeal, conundrum and the joining of the fold.
At first glance, submission appears to be the strangest of the initiatory elements as such a gesture would most commonly be viewed as a basic demonstration of weakness — an undesired quality when viewed on an exoteric level. However, during the submission stage of the initiation, the covey symbolizes the Adversary itself, and thus, the candidate’s ability to submit to the group is considered her ability to submit to her own Beast, and in turn, her capacity to persevere through the obstacles of her Pursuit. So, in this way, submission becomes a demonstration of one’s will to power as it is the false shell of Humanity that submits and is the first signs of the candidate’s true self that are drawn to the surface.
The ordeals of initiation are well documented in reports concerning the Brood’s activities. Accounts of this stage of initiation are dwelled upon by the covenants as frightful images with which to terrify their childer who should stray toward a greater freedom. This is because the purpose of the ordeal is to induce the altered state of consciousness that is acted upon by later stages of the initiation. Where some coveys rely on nothing other than a moment of extreme terror (or otherwise visceral experience) to achieve this stage, among those adorants who devote themselves to the supernal light of the pneuma, the ordeal articulates the intricacies of the dismantled human soul, providing a path-working that unlocks secrets of the Adversary that serve to condition the candidate as a worthy vessel of the Demiurge. It should be noted that candidates who fail at this stage of the ritual are often destroyed on the spot (assuming that the ordeal is not a lethal trial itself). Among the sarx cults and soma cults, these ordeals are often excruciating physical trials, whereas the pneuma cults may employ powerful amounts of etheogens or other disorienting factors such as time-deprivation and the application of vampiric powers that affect the mind.
After the candidate has been opened up by both the submission and the ensuing ordeal, the conundrum is posed. The essential nature of the conundrum is that it creates a subtle dilemma that must be resolved, competently, by a savage hand. Although the poetics of a rampaging Beast that unthinkingly destroys everything in its path may serve the needs of the romantic, such a creature does not benefit the overall mission of the Forsworn. So, the conundrum gives the candidate an opportunity to prove his effectiveness while under severe strain. Although some factions, such as the Scarlet Rite, may diminish the dramatic emphasis of this element of their initiations, it is nonetheless fully present in the structure of their obscene baptisms and blood orgies. Among the members of that faction called the Throne of Smoking Fire, the conundrum can be elaborate and have numerous tiers of problem solving, even taking the form of a ritual drama in which the members of the covey bombard the candidate with difficult challenges that force him to create a working marriage between his holy instincts and gross intellect.
At the final stage of the ritual, the candidate, having survived the rigors of the previous stages, is welcomed into the covey. At this point, all antagonism ceases, and the newly initiated member of the covey is marked in some fashion to signify his dedication to his brothers and sisters. In almost every instance, a Vaulderie follows this stage of the ritual. At this point, the new initiate will receive instruction in the lore of his covey and will be instructed in the full range of their often-secret dynameis as well as given access to the covey’s Resources. In some cases, the new member will take on a new name, or even a new identity entirely, in recognition of the official beginning of his descent into the realm of the Adversary.
Related Organizations
System: Initiation
Those who have undergone a Forsworn initiation containing the four Archonte elements receive a permanent bonus of one die to Social rolls involving members of their own faction. In addition, certain factions may also inflict marks upon the initiated, sometimes making it difficult to Disguise their inhumanity and/or philosophical affiliation. In even more extreme cases, the seizures of the Beast within can permanently alter the appearance of the initiated, transforming them into monsters without to give expression to the monster within.Characters who have undergone such initiations can be given the Notoriety and/or Deformity Flaw to represent such gross alterations of the physical form.
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