Universal Artifice
Penned by a personally anonymous school of deist, simulationist philosophers known as the Artificians around the year 6400 AX, Universal Artifice is one of the foundational texts of the Forgist faith and, by extension, the later Knappist faith.
Purpose
A dense, wide-reaching philosophical text, Universal Artifice promulgates several important aspects of Forgism:
- Universal Artifice teaches that that the world is artifical. While the notion that the world might be transitory (as in Rostran Esotericism) or somehow a state of 'spiritual' or 'dreamed' existence (as in some forms of the Unnamed Ovinex Religion), Universal Artifice is unique in that it embraces the notion of the world being an intentionally-constructed 'set.' This marks the closest that any religious philosophy in the Manifold Sky has come to a simulationist philosophy, though Forgists typically frame this belief as being more akin to living within a theatre stage or diorama for some greater power.
- Universal Artifice teaches that the world was created as a product of subtraction from some greater body of existence. Universal Artifice postulates that, since nothing is ever really created or destroyed - merely changed in form - that the substance of the Manifold's many surfaces must have come from some greater, unseen body. The unusual connections between places - the knowledge of which was limited to inter-cube connections at the time of the text's writing - were established as part of the 'grand artifice' by the Creator himself. Because basic metallurgy and other crafting techniques involving new applications of fire were rising in prominence at this time, this section also contains the first refference to 'fiery energy' being involved in the act of creation in Forgist lore.
- Universal Artifice supposes the existence of the Creator, an individual or body of individuals who created the Manifold and set the processes within it into motion. In this formulation, the Creator is, for all practical purposes, a divine entity; after all, it was by his hand that all things came into being, including the sentience required to invent the concept of faith itself. This conception of the Creator is fundamentally deist in nature, as he must exist, but is not known to intervene in the world beyond his initial act of creation.
- Universal Artifice promulgates the notion that the highest praise of the Creator comes from performing acts of creativity oneself. In the text, the authors imply that there is little distinction between a genuinely living entity - one deserving of all the rights and duties attendant to a living entity - and an entity created with all the faculties of a living entity. The act of creation - especially the act of creating something which emulates nature itself - is regarded as an approach to the doorstep of the divine, being both an act of respect for the Creator's potency and a way unwrapping the lessons he concealed in the world itself. This element of the text is regarded among Forgists as evidence that the arts, crafts, and sciences should be pursued as a form of worship as well as path to knowledge and wealth.
Knappism by BCGR_Wurth
Forgism by BCGR_Wurth
Document Structure
Publication Status
Though it is an ancient text as of the year 10,000 AR and must be translated loosely from the proto-Valespeak in which it was written to be understood by modern readers, many members of the Forgist faith and sects still keep copies of the text with them for regular perusal alongside a copy of the Hymns of the World-Forger.
Historical Details
Legacy
Like Sokalyx the Learned's work - the Incunabula of the House of the Unexpected - in ancient Voxelia, Universal Artifice was highly influential across all levels of early Vale Verdial culture. Many of the turns of phrase found in the work eventually becoming idioms in modern Valespeak. The strong Vale Verdial belief in nuclear families (being the engine of creation for new life), dependable institutions built up from traditional roots, and in a diligent, detail-oriented work ethic derive chiefly from the pro-creative philosophy found in the text.
Petalcap Vale Flag by BCGR_Wurth
What an interesting religious document. I like that it is so ancient as to require some translation for the modern reader to be able to understand it. Love the images too.
Thanks! Lately I find I've been drawn a lot to the religious articles for some reason, and they wind up being perfect opportunities to expand the history of the setting. Now here's hoping I remember to update the master timeline when all's said and done...