Church of the Exploding Eye

Religious cult of the Sky Watchers

"There's fire where you are going."

— Last words of Father Pete to the Thorpe Expedition

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The Sky Watchers are the current adherents of a revived religious tradition that was originally founded by the Princes of the Hidden Hand. The old faith of the Exploding Eye was used as a method of social control. The current, reformed Church of the Exploding Eye has cast aside the nihilistic aspects of the old faith and its brethren preach a gospel of self-improvement through open-eyed rational investigation.

Structure

Peter Wyvil (known to his brethren as "Father Pete"), the founding prophet of the reformed Church is the undisputed leader of the faith. He determines doctrine and settles all theological matters within the church. Wyvil indoctrinates and appoints chaplains that minister to the various temples of the faith. These appointees are selected from his own convocation of theological students which he matriculates and ordains at his Watchers' Religious Institute in Tempus.

Public Agenda

The public works of the Church of the Exploding Eye include acts of charity and public service. These things are done to redeem the reputation of the faith and regain its place as the preeminent spiritual tradition in Merikan life.

Assets

After the Battle of New York, Father Pete was obliged to surrender much of the Church's wealth to the Merikan Confederacy as reparations for the Watchers' collaboration with the Hidden Empire. The chaplain made an effective pretense of making good on this obligation but surreptitiously hauled away a fortune in gold and silver which he embezzled from temple accounts. He secretly deposited these funds in Montreal banks outside the jurisdiction of the Merikan authorities and he has drawn on these funds to sustain a lavish lifestyle for many years.

History

The Church of the Exploding Eye was formally founded in 566 PCE (the year 140 of the Age of Princes). The cult began as a massive apocalyptic religious movement. The earliest Watchers were led by Brother Paulings, one of the reigning Tetrarchs of the The Hidden Empire. Paulings preached an apocalyptic gospel promulgating technoclasm and self-mortification. According to the original Creed of the Exploding Eye, the sinful human race had been punished by "Eschaton," a personified deity representing the Cataclysm itself. The enduring legacy of the Cataclysm was intended to be a time of suffering, cosmic punishment for the disobedience of humankind. Paulings spoke of an inevitable Second Cataclysm that would sweep aside the Post-Apocalyptic world and mark the return of Eschaton and the building of a new Utopian reality. The Creed called for followers of the Exploding Eye to prepare for this new paradise by rejecting notions of progress or enlightenment and resigning themselves to the dim reality of human frailty and the inevitable failure of all earthly works.

During the War of Princes, Brother Paulings was finally exposed as a fraud and slain within the ruins of Ancient Washington. Lord Fredrick Barazan revealed that the holy scriptures, relics, and miracles of the Exploding Eye cult had been fabricated as a ploy to suppress the populations dominated by the Hidden Hand. After the conclusion of the Battle of New York it appeared as though the church of the Exploding Eye would fade from history.

The Church was temporarily dissolved in 973 PCE but soon resurfaced as a much smaller cult organization. An inspired Watcher chaplain named Peter Wyvil claimed to have received divine visions and began preaching a new gospel of the Exploding Eye. According to Wyvil, the truth about the Cataclysm had been suppressed. He began telling stories about the mythological Pre-Cataclysmic Titans responsible for the destruction of the world at the hands of Eschaton. According to Wyvil, these Titans were a vicious race of divinities responsible for their own destruction. Human beings, emerging after the Cataclysm, were the "Children of the Titans" and destined to surpass them if only they could avoid the disasters that had befallen their cosmic "parents." Brother Paulings and the other Princes were but the last of the Titan race. Now that they had been defeated the world could be reclaimed for humanity.

Mythology & Lore

After the Fall of Princes, the doctrine of the Exploding Eye faith was significantly altered. The Watchers of the Sky now assert the existence of a quasi-divine race known as the Titans, who held dominion over the world for the duration of the Precursor Aeon. These Titans were humanoid in form but much larger, more powerful, and more intelligent than mere humans. Central to Watcher faith is the belief that the Precursors were actually Titans, and Watchers reference ancient Precursor records and ruins indicating massive structures constructed on a vast industrial scale for proof that the Titans must have been giants. After all, how could mere humans build towers that scraped the sky?

As great as the Titans were, they were a flawed race whose overweening hubris ultimately led to their own destruction in the great Cataclysm. The Titans, overwhelmed by their own perverse ambitions angered the god Eschaton, "The End of All that Is." According to Watcher lore, human beings, known as "Children of the Titans," only came into being after the end of the Age of Poisoned Sea and Sky. These "Children" were revived from the ashes of the Titans' ruined world by a mysterious race of Sky People (often interpreted as the Visitors ). The Sky People tasked the Children with the great work of rebuilding the world after Cataclysm and beginning a new historical age. The Watchers of the Exploding Eye religion fervently study the fate of the Titans' race in order to prevent incurring the wrath of Eschaton and once more tempting the destruction of all creation.

Divine Origins

The Church of the Exploding Eye began as the fabricated state religion of the Hidden Empire. Established most firmly in the lands of eastern North America, the cult remained influential until the end of the Princes' reign. Since then it has been redefined by a reformed church cleric named Peter Wyvil. The current iteration of the religion has discarded the ideological nihilism of the old Hidden Hand but remains stigmatized due to its dubious origins. The cult nonetheless has far flung temples across North America including the village of Trinity on the edge of the Pachuco Jungle.

Tenets of Faith

The followers of the Exploding Eye creed are called Watchers of the Sky because of anecdotal accounts of the sky weapons that set the world on fire. Those who witnessed the event are said to have seen lights in the sky and those who looked up into the nimbus of Skyfire felt their eyes pop and melt under the searing heat that spread all around them.These anecdotes were initially told by Hidden Hand chaplains as object lessons for discouraging curiosity and honest inquiry. Interpreters of Church doctrine instructed that the story was a warning not to look too closely into science and history lest you suffer the fate of those whose eyes burned for the sake of knowledge.

Since the reformation of the Exploding Eye cult, Father Pete has instructed his followers to do the opposite. He tells his brothers and sisters to gaze deeply into the mysteries of the Precursor world and take whatever lessons can be had to prevent the doom of Cataclysm from ever again being visited upon the world. They call themselves Watchers of the Sky because they are willing to be blinded by the light of knowledge, even if the truth should shake the very foundations of their beliefs or psyches.

The ultimate spiritual desire the Watchers is to see beyond the limits of Earth's limited sphere and reunite with the Sky People who saved humanity from the Age of Poisoned Sea and Sky.

Ethics

Realizing the role of warfare in the events of Cataclysm, the Church of the Exploding Eye rejects violence as a viable tool of human will. They similarly denounce fraud and worldly vice as errors that set men and women at odds against each other. They preach a communal doctrine of equity and cooperation, though this doctrine has not resulted in any great leaps forward in knowledge or productivity.

Worship

Brethren of the Exploding Eye cult spend several hours a day in meditation and research. These are their primary modes of prayer. Such intensive practices make worship in this faith an extremely demanding, almost ascetic life choice. Thus many communities of Watchers are essentially mystical communes.

Priesthood

Aside from Father Pete, clergy of the Exploding Eye do not assume ostentatious titles. All are Brothers and Sisters of the faith. Some communities refer to their clergy as First Brother or First Sister, but this is not a universal practice. Clergy lead prayers and conduct teachings designed to educate the faithful in the mysteries of the Cataclysm and the strange destiny of humanity.

Sects

Because of the closing of the Silent Sea, the Trinity Village chapter of the Exploding Eye Church has been isolated from the rest of the faith for fourteen years. In that time their meditations and studies of the White Sand Mountain shrines has brought them to a higher understanding of the divine fire of the Cataclysm. They believe Trinity itself is named for a quasi-divine force called "TNT," which was once unleashed in the vicinity of Trinity. This traumatic event created ripples in the psychic fabric of the place which are felt in various sensory ways even now, hundreds of years after the Cataclysm event.

"The Fire Remains"

Founding Date

566 PCE

Type

Religious, Cult

Demonym

Watchers of the Sky