Eden War Saints

A delve into Eden Culture, by Francis "Argus" Bors

A note for The Archivist: My upbringing was awkward, to say the least. Not only was I adopted by someone who isn't human, but they were also a religious icon to their species. The real problem however was communication.
Communication was the hardest to learn for all parties involved. Universal translators often fail when it comes to the Eden language. Translators choose words that don't fit in context, or are simply incorrect.
Since I can infer their intent easily enough, throughout this three-part delve into Matriarchal Eden culture you'll find direct quotes with corrections made to the best of my ability. These corrections will be colored in red in tooltips activated by hovering the cursor over the word which will be struck through.

Divine Titles

A saint bears a title that signifies their level of faith, as well as their claim to divinity. Titles are gained through a ritual called exaltation, and afterwards they are not just a religious official. They become divine beings.
A saint is given the best equipment available. They have weapons no one else can use, access to equipment that no one else may bear. They can do things that defy our logic and science.
The saints have divine authority, each an active member of their own pantheon. During exaltation, they are chosen by a god and receive their purview. This title will define the saint for the rest of their lives, which is basically forever. A saint has never been successfully killed, at least not permanently.

The Eden pantheon

In human history, we forged gods to explain that which we failed to understand. The Eden did this in reverse.
They don't believe that their gods are responsible for what they represent, rather they believe their gods are members of their species who mastered their purview in a way no one else could.
For example: Dhilvua, their deity of war, does not cause war, or seek to wage it. They simply understand it in all its complexities, and in so doing, became the embodiment of war. In other words, eden gods are not born, they ascend.

Saints

The saints are exalted for their actions, alone. It is not a title they can gain through political manipulation or wealth. It can't be bought. Saints are chosen by the Matriarchs, who do so with great care. Saints answer to the gods alone, and therefore outrank the matriarchs who are the head of government.
It's not just in matters of war. There are saints of all kinds. When chosen, they are brought before their gods, but what that means is still something I fail to understand. The gods determine their purview, and it's always based on the actions they perform.
It's widely known that the eden are contradictory and vague when it comes to their religion. They believe their ships to be avatars of their gods yet recognize that to be impossible and actively claim that their species is atheistic. I may be able to shed some light on this.

Power

The war saints are considered the highest on the ladder. It's the greatest honor and the highest title one can hold. Even other saints are considered inferior.
Saints use technology I can barely fathom. I've seen them do impossible things, from teleportation across vast distances, to the decimation of entire armies with minimal effort.
Their weapons are unique, each a legendary artifact housed in a reliquary. These reliquaries are kept aboard the ships they see as gods.

Existential Crisis

During my time with Saint Diavae, I can firmly say that every saint lives in a strange state of constant existential crisis. The eden are not immortal, but the saints are a different story. They don't age.
They know they are not gods, but when they see what they are capable of, some of their technology being beyond their own individual understanding, they may question that fact. It's not a matter of delusion, it's a philosophical quandary. I once asked Saint Diavae how she could be mortal and yet also divine. She replied with a question. "Where is the line between the two? The line gets harder to see with every passing age."
As they get older, this question gets harder and harder to answer. One could argue that their society simply reinforces their belief in their own divinity, but that fails to account for what they can do. A better question to drive my point home is this: If I start with a single grain of sand, at what point when adding grains do I have a heap? If one is godlike, and becomes more so over time, at what point should they be called a god?

Misnomer

The term "saint" is one that Diavae used when they first arrived to act as ambassador. The Eden are forced to speak, read, and write the languages of the races they interact with due to the difficulties in translation of their languages. I can say, with confidence, that the term is not quite as accurate when one digs below the surface.
A saint is a person acknowledged as holy or virtuous, which fits the bill. These people would be considered some level of divine, but they weren't gods. They weren't even powerful outside of their virtues. This is where eden saints differ. They are powerful. They are ancient, far more on par with a demigod.
The eden see their saints as gods in their own right. While they are not on par with the central figures of the pantheon, they are still listed as worthy of worship, and of fear. In fact, the saints are the main reason why other species fear the eden's military might.

On assisting Rhey "Mouse" Thakur

A saint's purview is specific. There is no saint of war, but there is a saint of rifles, of trickery and tactics, or in the case of Saint Diavae, a saint of losses and causalities. Saint Diavae is the patron of widows, widowers, loved ones who are lost, and those who are orphaned by war.
My adoption is actually part of how she managed to earn this title. This purview implies a divine directive, an obligation taken by the saint in exchange for the power they wield.
This is where my journey began. After watching a friend lose all she had in a time of war, I asked Diavae for assistance, and they agreed to help. In accordance with their law, they had no choice in the matter.