Background
Episode description
The Telluric Vulgate // The Independent Hymnal// Chant of Arrival
In orbit broad, aloft in black
He floated through the sea.
With gasping voice he sang to us
In Independent key.
Our island Earth near paradise,
Astray without Divine.
We led Him home, we mended Him
Under the shade of pine.
His face distraught, His heart betrayed,
He crooned a tale of woe:
Deceptive soul, with clever words
She set the Exile low.
"I never sought to save our flesh.
My oracles did see
A future lacking Divine breath.
My aim is to save thee."
A promise, snapped, of life and death.
A vow she did outgrow.
And with those words, she turned His kin.
Then blood and oil and snow.
Divines reduced to Cadent pawns.
Whole schools brought into line.
This was no fight that He could win.
Now foe, once palatine.
In orbit broad, aloft in black
Left to be cold debris.
We brought you Home and now we Know
Your Independent plea.
This week on Twilight Mirage: godspeed, glory Pt. 3
I let go of my claim on you
Breaux'sL./Luna7University/Coursework/LectureNotes/DivineFleet3:
- Seminar notes
- “This isn’t a poem, it’s a chant”
- Old earth cult used to sing a lot.
- "Performance was a key element of faith"
- Look up later: Did they have non-religious songs
- Nah, remember he said “at that time, every aspect of earth culture came back to the church.” -t
- Yeah but like, what if you just wanna hum while doing dishes or whatever
- You probably sung some shit about how clean the river was -t
- Rivers were dirty as fuck then tho
- Why study old Earth Cult religion?
- Bc Assemblage doesn’t say what happened between Cadence & Independence.
- Bc good to learn where we came from even if we know it’s wrong.
- Bc Blue Path started as old earth cult
- The pine tree was the symbol of old earth cult too, for example.
- Both are about importance of home + environment + family.
- So What happened?
- For sure:
- Independence driven out of Resonant Orbit early in its life (during Cadent’s life)
- Earth Cult finds + rebuilds him
- He rises in status, gets more power, civil war, moves earth, etc etc etc
- Probably:
- Independence demands that Kamala not try to resurrect divines
- Kamala reveals that the entire point of the Resonant Orbit is to save divine life, not human life.
- Bc she believes (knows????) humans will win war and kill all divines if war breaks out
- Prof. Gauge’s says “She ran the numbers!” but not sure if that’s metaphor or for real. Algorithmic oracle maybe?
- Something happened that caused split.
- Group project: “Fill in the gaps with hypotheses, explain how you would test these.”
- Q1: How could humans win war against divines?
- Humans could win war by building machines as powerful as divines but designed for perfect loyalty/without their own minds.
- To test: Recruit design team and run sims using Old Earth Cult era tech levels.
- Inform sims with both quant and qual research--get first hand accounts of civil war
- Q2: What could have caused the Independence/Cadent split?
- She could have resurrected a divine
- To test: Check assemblage & NEH-UAS for any info on dead divines
- Also check for like, renamed divines or whatever. any thing weird
- Could also have just set up a system for resurrecting divines
- To test: hard to test…
- Q3: Why did Independence care so much about letting divines die?
- Bc Independence feared being made a slave or turned into a terror (like Rigour), wanted Divines to be able to die if they wanted or needed to die
- To Test: check the other earth chants, contact Diasporan archive to see what Independence thought abt Rigour?
Cold open
“
[Keen Forester Gloaming] An excerpt from the journal of Keen Forester Gloaming, agent of the Rapid Evening, Intercessor of the Twilight Mirage.
I watched the colors spring into view, Gray. Pink and blue and yellow and red. Waves of light flickered through the windshield, covering my hands, my face. It has been a week since I crossed the border, but my clock says it's been two years. Time is twisted here, I can feel it. I can feel the past, I can smell the cup of coffee in my hands, I can see you running through the backyard during a sunshower, the damn dog barking up a storm, you laughing... it was a long time ago, Gray. And it was yesterday, too.
I wonder if you two know that you set the world on fire. Rapid Evening agents abandoning post by the dozens. Dozens ain't much in the face of hundreds, but it's more than ever before. And because you did not hit that button, the future of the Mirage is at risk of splintering. The New Earth Hegemony, Volition, and after analyzing every last speck of that data you've sent back, Crystal Palace has confirmed the most dire news of all for the Fleet. The divine Empyrean might fly through the Mirage, but it is a con. It is a machine with no soul. It has been dead for months. This is the world you and Demani have chosen to save.
Well, you may not like it, but I am determined to help. I stood in front of Crystal Palace, I spoke to it directly, and I have been assured that we remain aligned with guaranteed events. I was shown the evidence and I was shown the path, and my place in it. I have been commissioned as Chief Intercessor for the Twilight Mirage. In that way, you have what you always wanted: someone to do more than sit back and watch. I will observe, yes, but my agents and I are no strangers to action. We will be advocates for the Mirage in the way that the hammer is an advocate for the unsecured nail. We will help it find its place.”
Plot summary
Cast
- Austin Walker (GM)
- Keith J Carberry (Gig Kep-hart)
- Andi Clare (Echo Reverie)
- Art Martinez-Tebbel (Grand Magnificent)
- Andrew Lee Swan (Even Gardner)
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