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Cult Description
Name: Nightwatch (formerly Riyu-chu-Bansho aka. The Reason in All Creation)
Description:
Originally the cult was framed as a self-help group, a collection of people united in enlightened self interest. The initial teachings focused on networking but the core teachings focused on killing the “self” to become the person that would achieve your goals. To make success in your chosen field an all consuming fanatical obsession as important as breathing. While identity as a weapon was part of the teachings, so too was advancing the goals of the cult and the other members, in order to maintain their mutual aid. In other words, the cult was originally founded to create an obedient cadre of highly successful fanatics spider-webbed throughout all levels of society
There was a major sea change in the cult though when a crazed monster of stitched together flesh kidnapped and imprisoned Haruto Takahashi, a chef that had only recently been inducted into the deeper mysteries of the Riyu-chu-Bansho after being discovered as a Sleepwalker. From its mad ravings, Haruto learned that the stitched together monster was bent on eradicating the cult out of some misguided desire for revenge for having been created.
What he did in response changed the cult forever. He tortured himself to death, carving psuedo-atlantean sigils into his own flesh as he brought about his own agonizing death in order to warn them as a ghost. In recognition of the sacrifice Haruto ghost, anchored to his need to help the cult and stop the monster, now holds the position of honorary leader and venerated spiritual heart of the newly named Nightwatch. The head position of Lighthouse, the day-to-day inner circle leadership cadre, is “Representative for honored Patriarch Takahashi” and typically is a mage with a familiar-bond to the ghost.
Nightwatch seeks out those who have been hurt and influenced by the supernatural and offers them shelter. In many ways it could be considered a Hunter group, as victims band together for mutual protection and aid. It still maintains the legacy and Mysteries of Riyu-chu-Bansho though. Nightwatch still uses suicide symbolism in rituals for achieving fanatical clarity of purpose and self-definition via identity-death. Members still help each other strive for excellence in spite of the cruelties of the world. And the cult still spider-webs across all levels of society, popping up in the most unexpected places
Additional Notes
For practical reasons, Lighthouse is composed of those who can acknowledge the full breadth of the Supernatural: sleepwalkers, mages and the honored ghosts of predecessors. Which is not to say Sleepers need not apply. The gut-wrenchingly brutal experience of a Sleeper piecing themselves together after Stealing Fire is the bread-and-butter of the teachings of the Riyu-chu-Bansho. The identities of the keystone natural Sleepwalkers that hold the Stealing Fire spells are a well guarded and kept secret.
Nightwatch regards the original teachings of the Riyu-chu-Bansho to be useful and horrifically amoral in equal measure. The horror stems from the assertions that all purposes are essentially equal and all people are nothing more than pieces used to achieve those purposes. There is an unspoken suspicion that remnants of the original Riyu-chu-Bansho lingers as a secret cult-within-a-cult. And that's not counting the outright splinter organizations that peeled off during the transition from Riyu-Chu-Bansho to Nightwatch
Mechanical Initiation Benefits
Sleeper/Sleepwalker Initiation Benefits:
Mage Initiation Benefits:
Samples from the teachings of original Riyu chu Bansho (the Reason in All Creation)
----------- teachings on the Sword That Is Self --------
What do you want? No, what are your goals? What are you willing to do? What are you willing to become? What mask will you wear? What persona will you present to the world?
Identity is a weapon and a tool. Deciding the future is manifestly simple. Define it and then bleed until it becomes real. Drive yourself to the edge, then over the edge, then hit rock bottom and break into pieces. Take those pieces and reforge yourself into an expression of intent so pure that you must either grasp the world your defined or die.
Love nothing but instruementality. Like nothing but instrumentality. Do nothing but instrumentality. Live nothing but the liminal edge of instrumentality. Do not express your identity through your goals, express your goals through your identity.
And everything you are will make the world you NEED to be true just to survive. It will be as inevitable as your abilities can attain.
--------- teachings on a ritual of transition -------
Thus are the steps to seize control of the world. To be the captain of your own fate
-Define your goals
-Define what the world looks like if you succeed
-Define who you must be in order for that world to be made to exist. Define your persona.
-Re-examine the previous three steps for flaws in logic or contradicting the axioms of your goals
-Create two effigies, one for who you are and one for who you will be. Form does not matter, meaning does. Pour your heart and soul into these effigies, these representations of your selves. Name the you-that-will-be and sign it with your new name (which can be the same name)
-Live your life and whenever the you-that-is comes into conflict with the you-that-will-be, destroy part of the effigy of you-that-is. Throw it away, destroy it, leave it in shattered ruins. Allow yourself sense of self to break with it. Die the quiet death of Persona collapse.
-Contemplate your undamaged effigy. Even as all seems lost and broken, when nothing makes sense anymore and it all seems pointless … cling to that effigy like a lifeline and reforge yourself in its image.
-True self mastery is to know that this identity is equally disposable, to maintain distance between the innermost ego/soul from whence goals come, and the mask of identity and selfhood it has constructed to carry out its purpose.
----------teachings on the nature of purpose and goals --------------
The first step in this path is the conquest of the self. From this fir,st victory all else flows: all is intertwined, all is inextricably linked, and the truth dictated by utility is simple: we are nothing more than pieces, used and using one another to achieve our goals.
Those who become confused by orthodoxies set against this position would not even see the board on which we play.
All concerns that motivate – morality, meaning, fillial piety, love – are in their singular nature, goals to be attained. It is fine to chase these goals: all purposes are essentially equal. But never delude yourself into rejecting this singular truth
“Mastery is the Reason of All Purpose”
---------teachings on behavior within the cult----------
Be warm. Be friendly. Be genial. Show kindness.
This friendly warmth is calculated, utterly and to the final limit.
Eusocial behavior keeps the cult loyal to itself and protects its integrity. This is a desirable end goal: purpose can lead to greatness, but only for a few. For the average to prosecute their will, unity is needed: the extraordinary are rare and rarely will they grace us. Thus: teach new members that integrity is good, not as a belief, but as a truth; self evident and unquestionable. Execute the purpose and win the war to maintain cohesion. Serve the purpose and in serving, serve your own self-interest.
The inner circle knows this. The outer circle is learning. Those who are lower benefit without understanding.
There are similar teachings on the nature and purpose of ritualism, community outreach, and family
Name: Nightwatch (formerly Riyu-chu-Bansho aka. The Reason in All Creation)
Description:
Originally the cult was framed as a self-help group, a collection of people united in enlightened self interest. The initial teachings focused on networking but the core teachings focused on killing the “self” to become the person that would achieve your goals. To make success in your chosen field an all consuming fanatical obsession as important as breathing. While identity as a weapon was part of the teachings, so too was advancing the goals of the cult and the other members, in order to maintain their mutual aid. In other words, the cult was originally founded to create an obedient cadre of highly successful fanatics spider-webbed throughout all levels of society
There was a major sea change in the cult though when a crazed monster of stitched together flesh kidnapped and imprisoned Haruto Takahashi, a chef that had only recently been inducted into the deeper mysteries of the Riyu-chu-Bansho after being discovered as a Sleepwalker. From its mad ravings, Haruto learned that the stitched together monster was bent on eradicating the cult out of some misguided desire for revenge for having been created.
What he did in response changed the cult forever. He tortured himself to death, carving psuedo-atlantean sigils into his own flesh as he brought about his own agonizing death in order to warn them as a ghost. In recognition of the sacrifice Haruto ghost, anchored to his need to help the cult and stop the monster, now holds the position of honorary leader and venerated spiritual heart of the newly named Nightwatch. The head position of Lighthouse, the day-to-day inner circle leadership cadre, is “Representative for honored Patriarch Takahashi” and typically is a mage with a familiar-bond to the ghost.
Nightwatch seeks out those who have been hurt and influenced by the supernatural and offers them shelter. In many ways it could be considered a Hunter group, as victims band together for mutual protection and aid. It still maintains the legacy and Mysteries of Riyu-chu-Bansho though. Nightwatch still uses suicide symbolism in rituals for achieving fanatical clarity of purpose and self-definition via identity-death. Members still help each other strive for excellence in spite of the cruelties of the world. And the cult still spider-webs across all levels of society, popping up in the most unexpected places
Additional Notes
For practical reasons, Lighthouse is composed of those who can acknowledge the full breadth of the Supernatural: sleepwalkers, mages and the honored ghosts of predecessors. Which is not to say Sleepers need not apply. The gut-wrenchingly brutal experience of a Sleeper piecing themselves together after Stealing Fire is the bread-and-butter of the teachings of the Riyu-chu-Bansho. The identities of the keystone natural Sleepwalkers that hold the Stealing Fire spells are a well guarded and kept secret.
Nightwatch regards the original teachings of the Riyu-chu-Bansho to be useful and horrifically amoral in equal measure. The horror stems from the assertions that all purposes are essentially equal and all people are nothing more than pieces used to achieve those purposes. There is an unspoken suspicion that remnants of the original Riyu-chu-Bansho lingers as a secret cult-within-a-cult. And that's not counting the outright splinter organizations that peeled off during the transition from Riyu-Chu-Bansho to Nightwatch
Mechanical Initiation Benefits
Sleeper/Sleepwalker Initiation Benefits:
- The night is dark and full of terrors, thus the foundation of Nightwatch is security. All initiates are taught how to construct boltholes, discretely reinforce their homes, and be security conscious. They gain one dot of Safe Place
- Full members go past their own security to the security of others, learning how to network and keep an ear out for signs of trouble. They gain either the first dot of Professional Training or one dot of Contacts
- Organizers of response team cells, the people who actually act on the information gathered, are taught the secret mysteries of the Riyu-chu-Bansho. They gain a variant of Mind of a Madman
- Through mastery of selfhood and identity, and repeatedly reforging their identities the Sleepwalker members of the leadership cadre train to their inner strength in order to strengthen the organization as a whole. They gain Three dots of Banner-Bearer or 2 dots of Sleepwalker and 1 dot of Banner-Beaerer
- The highest ranking Sleepwalkers members have mastered their selfhood enough to cast it out from their body through time and space. They gain either to the 3 dot merit Clairvoyance or the three dot merit Psychometry
Mage Initiation Benefits:
- (same)
- (same)
- Mage members are paired with the venerated ghosts of those who sacrificed themselves for the cult. This tradition began partially in the hope that being mentoring will keep the mages cleaving to the purpose of the cult once they gain access to the Mysteries of the cult and partially because it benefits the ghosts. They gain two dots of Familiar(Ghost)
- Study on the nature and power of identity provides significant aid to member mages in developing the symbolism of their magical persona. They gain Three dots of Shadow Name
- One of the greatest legacies Nightwatch inherited from Riyu-chu-Bansho is its accumulated collection of soul stones, which has only been added to as time progressed, due to the tradition that members must contribute a stone of their own in order to benefit. Though the contribution is frequently only nominal, with the stone assigned to a Demesne under its maker's control. The inner circle mages gain three dots of Sanctum (Demesne).
Samples from the teachings of original Riyu chu Bansho (the Reason in All Creation)
----------- teachings on the Sword That Is Self --------
What do you want? No, what are your goals? What are you willing to do? What are you willing to become? What mask will you wear? What persona will you present to the world?
Identity is a weapon and a tool. Deciding the future is manifestly simple. Define it and then bleed until it becomes real. Drive yourself to the edge, then over the edge, then hit rock bottom and break into pieces. Take those pieces and reforge yourself into an expression of intent so pure that you must either grasp the world your defined or die.
Love nothing but instruementality. Like nothing but instrumentality. Do nothing but instrumentality. Live nothing but the liminal edge of instrumentality. Do not express your identity through your goals, express your goals through your identity.
And everything you are will make the world you NEED to be true just to survive. It will be as inevitable as your abilities can attain.
--------- teachings on a ritual of transition -------
Thus are the steps to seize control of the world. To be the captain of your own fate
-Define your goals
-Define what the world looks like if you succeed
-Define who you must be in order for that world to be made to exist. Define your persona.
-Re-examine the previous three steps for flaws in logic or contradicting the axioms of your goals
-Create two effigies, one for who you are and one for who you will be. Form does not matter, meaning does. Pour your heart and soul into these effigies, these representations of your selves. Name the you-that-will-be and sign it with your new name (which can be the same name)
-Live your life and whenever the you-that-is comes into conflict with the you-that-will-be, destroy part of the effigy of you-that-is. Throw it away, destroy it, leave it in shattered ruins. Allow yourself sense of self to break with it. Die the quiet death of Persona collapse.
-Contemplate your undamaged effigy. Even as all seems lost and broken, when nothing makes sense anymore and it all seems pointless … cling to that effigy like a lifeline and reforge yourself in its image.
-True self mastery is to know that this identity is equally disposable, to maintain distance between the innermost ego/soul from whence goals come, and the mask of identity and selfhood it has constructed to carry out its purpose.
----------teachings on the nature of purpose and goals --------------
The first step in this path is the conquest of the self. From this fir,st victory all else flows: all is intertwined, all is inextricably linked, and the truth dictated by utility is simple: we are nothing more than pieces, used and using one another to achieve our goals.
Those who become confused by orthodoxies set against this position would not even see the board on which we play.
All concerns that motivate – morality, meaning, fillial piety, love – are in their singular nature, goals to be attained. It is fine to chase these goals: all purposes are essentially equal. But never delude yourself into rejecting this singular truth
“Mastery is the Reason of All Purpose”
---------teachings on behavior within the cult----------
Be warm. Be friendly. Be genial. Show kindness.
This friendly warmth is calculated, utterly and to the final limit.
Eusocial behavior keeps the cult loyal to itself and protects its integrity. This is a desirable end goal: purpose can lead to greatness, but only for a few. For the average to prosecute their will, unity is needed: the extraordinary are rare and rarely will they grace us. Thus: teach new members that integrity is good, not as a belief, but as a truth; self evident and unquestionable. Execute the purpose and win the war to maintain cohesion. Serve the purpose and in serving, serve your own self-interest.
The inner circle knows this. The outer circle is learning. Those who are lower benefit without understanding.
There are similar teachings on the nature and purpose of ritualism, community outreach, and family
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