Inchoatism

Inchoatism is a school of thought native to the Tuu-Oliphan Peninsula, established circa ZY 3000, and based on the writing of monk-surgeon Kalonark'ths. It is gaining in popularity among migrants from the Iridium Throne, following the uncertainty caused by the Pentarchate Succession Crisis‏‎.

History

Kalonark'ths' first book of philosophy was entitled Ending the Contaminant: Inchoate and Immaterial, and was published in ZY 2987. In it, they detail their dissatisfaction with how the Oliphan Hierarchy, then-rulers of the Peninsula, had stifled the progress of the various native groups, and musings on how the "immaterial application of sublime inchoate principles" could be used to reinvent and improve the internal flows of a being's haemolymph. Despite attempts on both the life of Kalonark'ths and to ban the book, the text gained a following among the locals, long dissatisfied with the ban on traditional cultural haemomantic techniques.

The monk wrote several more such books over the final decade of their life, each of which further illuminating the alkahestric process of essence distillation by internal alignment of organs and flows, each text being banned by the Hierarchy shorter and shorter periods after their publication. In ZY 3000, Kalonark'ths was put to death by dissolution, and the "Practice of Heretic Inchoatism" was named and banned simultaneously by the Hierarch, despite public protests against the unlawful imprisonment of Kalonark'ths.

Upon the start of the Pentarchate Succession Crisis‏‎, and the declaration of martial law in the neighbouring Thahan Station, the Inchoatic prophet Ydarzan Q recognised this as a sign that the "Great Pillars Of Darkness" were starting to topple, and lead a bloodless revolution against the declining Hierarchy. Ydarzan Q now sits, and has sat for nearly six sublunar rotations, atop the Hierarch's Spire, and has left the governing of the region to the people.

Beliefs

Inchoatism, to its adherents, is as much a process as a system. One must begin with an inner (personal ideal) and outer (material reality) self. By considering the presence of aetheric flows, stops and sinks within and without the outer form, careful surgery to arrange the channels of the self to most accurately direct the humours, essences and flows can be performed in order to refine the personal essence and change both inner and outer selves for the better.

Unfortunately, the principles of self-Inchoatism can only be used to a certain extent before the internal flows become taxed and brittle. The small cells of underground Inchoates who thrived despite the repressive laws of the Oliphan Hierarch developed over the decades a process of external essence distillation. This process reinforces the internal flows by using external buffers and sources of subliminarity, in order to create greater and more consistent immaterial and exmaterial effects. By selective haemolymph and flesh donation, recombination and refinement could occur outside the self, across tens of years of artificial meditation in specially-designed alkhaestric tanks, often concealed under houses or local businesses on the Peninsula. Once impurities and unwanted features crystallised out of the haemovats, they could be removed in a much simpler manner than the ritual purification of a single supplicant, and thus could be easily disposed of and removed from the tanks and thus from any future member of the cell's self and form.

These ideas of progressive improvement of inner and outer self, along with the sublime techniques of creation, allow adherents many varied abilities and technologies. Certain Inchoates can create new forms of life - such as the great variety of crops exported by the region, even while the Hierarchy was active. Others can use the focusing of internal haemolymph channels to perform feats of impossible athleticism and endurance - Ydarzan Q, for instance, has no longer any need for food or water, and has started to grow foliage from her upper surfaces to capture the light of the suns.

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As fascinating, and in many ways relevant to the cultural implosion of the Iridium Throne, as this loving description of the Inchoatic perspective is, it must needs be addressed that Inchoatism is a cannibalistic eugenics cult practicing health fraud of the eighth degree. There is no need for euphemism. Furthermore, while I understand that off-shoots hate to acknowledge themselves as mere off-shoots, Inchoatism must also be contextualized as part of the larger spiritual movement in the wake of the Iridium Throne's fall from grace. It did not spring into being out of the mind of a monk, who by the by was a former devotee of the Throne and a disciple of contemporary Neo-Platinumite thinkers.

- User:R. Ebamac, NCH Eese (talk) 17:25, 29 December 2018 (PST)

While there is a buried ghost of a counterpoint in this reply, many of these statements you have given are simply untrue. 'Cannibalism' is involved in Inchoatic rituals in the same manner as it is 'cannibalistic' for sapient creatures to eat meat products - flesh and blood donations from members are very much earmarked for use in transformative procedures. 'Eugenics' is a relative term in this context, so I will ignore its vagueness. Inchoatism as a whole descends from traditional bioaugmancy rituals and procedures of the Archipelago, not from the technological genetic-engram modification characteristic of Thronite technologies. Both traditions - Iridium Throne and Peninsula haemomancy alike - are quite plausibly descended from similar sources, I will freely admit. There is a lot of commonality between some of the prehistorical artefacts recovered from both regions, but diplomatic conditions in the entire Pentarchate are prohibitive to archeological research, unfortunately. Modern Inchoatism may or may not descend directly from the works of this 'one monk', as you say, but they were a rallying point following their public execution, and the pre-existing traditions are definitely where most of the ritual, alkhaestric methods and other trappings of this so-called 'cult' are drawn from. If you wish to make some of these details clearer, that is entirely fair, rather than throw around baseless accusations of 'health fraud' (the only such accusation of health fraud I can find dates from the last days of the Hierarchy - they were most definitely biased in this regard).

- User:K25fF (talk) 18:35, 31 December 2018 (GMT)

Ok, so this is a fun teachable moment here where we can learn together what words mean. “Cannibalism” in its broadest use refers to the act of incorporating parts taken from one thing into another, similar thing. A simple blood transfusion can be considered a form of cannibalism, in this sense. However, with mundane organic medicine this term is not generally used, because of visceral connotation of ‘cannibalism’ from its second, more widely known definition - a being consuming a peer. In the case of the Inchoatist practices, I find that connotation useful in describing their nature. “Eugenic” is a vaguely defined term, and I admit I was using it more in its broader philosophical application than its strictly accepted definition as controlled breeding practices in sapient populations. Philosophically, as you have acknowledged, there are persuasive links between the Thrones’ eugenic ideals, and other related branches of thought, and Inchoatism. “Cult” I will freely admit is just a slur for a religion you don’t like, although there is a secretive and prosthelytizing connotation which I find fits Ichoatism well. In summarizing Ichoatist practices as ‘health fraud of the eighth degree’ I based my assertions not on the former Hierarchy's accusations, but on the standards set by the Transrelative Arliok Code of Ethics. Coaxing people into an untested procedure, without oversight, misleading them about the likelihood of detrimental effects on the quality of their life, leading to a health crisis in a substantial percentage of the local population that poses mortal risk to the rest of that population - health fraud of the eighth degree is a ‘’charitable’’ assessment of Inchoatist practices. The former Hierarchy found them to be of the eleventh degree, and in my personal sentiment, I do not fault this judgement. I expect this semantic tour hasn’t been very rewarding for you, but if there’s one thing we can agree on, it's that the predictable current archeological limitations are a shame, and the Peninsula's past is woefully underexamined.

- User:R. Ebamac, NCH Eese (talk) 15:09, 31 December 2018 (PST)