Nälkä

Mythology & Lore

Yaldabaoth (also known as "Važjuma", "God-Eater", "Devourer", "His/Her Undulating Vastness", "The Great Winnower", "The Womb of Chaos" and various other epithets) is regarded in Sarkicism as the principal power in the universe and is describe it as the true enemy of all people. Sarkites view this entity with fear and disgust, regarding it as both the creator and destroyer of all life and the progenitor of the gods.

"The Wound, cut from the flesh of totality - deep, it severed the line of future and past. Drawn to its ancient fester, gods swarmed as flies to a corpse. We waited within bloodless veins, faithful to that which we could not know - unable to imagine that we might become their greater.

Here, we slept - until our souls became flesh."

Sone Alku
Yaldabaoth is portrayed as both destroyer and incidental creator, "feeding" upon gods, worlds, and stars, while "exhaling life" into the cosmos (which will evolve, grow, and eventually be harvested again). Life is thus a natural byproduct of the Old God's existence. "Blind" and driven solely by instinct, Yaldabaoth is depicted as being accompanied by otherworldly entities known as "Archons" or "Vultaas". These beings are described by Sarkic texts as faceless manifestations of primordial chaos, their true forms inconceivable to the human mind.

"The swineherd prostrated himself before the Sorcerer-King and asked, "Great Sorcerer-King and Ozi̮rmok, Heart of Man and Light of Lights. I speak for the folk of the cold-marsh. We fear the red lanterns that dance without harmony; our spirit-guides warn of ill omens."

And Ion did assure the man, "I have gazed upon the Faceless Ones, servitors of His Undulating Vastness. Their chief is blind - castrated by our words and will. He sings songs of anarchy but they will not come again. These terrible spirits do not deserve our love; render unto them no sacrifice until the stars have aligned."

Sone Vith

Divine Origins

In the ancient times of the Daevite Empire, after the slave known as Ion escaped from their enslavement and began wandering through unknown land. Yaldabaoth and the Archons saw potential in him for their plans and offered Ion to give him great power if he surrendered himself to them. Ion agreed was put through a dream-like and painful apotheosis, being granted power over flesh and disease. Ion would use his newfound powers to create the Nälkä and attempt to take over the world and transform humanity into gods.

Cosmological Views

The observable universe is one among a finite or infinite number of possible universes (contained within the meta-universe each universe can in turn be divided into a finite or infinite number of iterations. The structure of the meta-universe, the natural laws which allow for the manifestation of universes, is eternal - without beginning or end; universes, on the other hand, are created and eventually destroyed.
Beyond this, Sarkic cosmology is fairly simple by virtue of the indifference of its adherents. Existence is regarded as an entirely brute fact - corruptible, discordant, and devoid of purpose.

Tenets of Faith

Will 
The will to power is the primary driving force of man. The individual seeks to master all things within its domain, exerting the direction of power (efficacy) while other individuals do the same, often in opposition. Will is to power as form is to matter; in turn, "desire is the measure of all things".
Theophagy
The sacramental consumption of a god. Sarkicism holds that there are many gods in the universe (none of which they worship) and that these entities can be "devoured" in some fashion. Adherents ultimately believe that this parasitic relationship (whether literal or allegorical) is the primary source of their thaumaturgical abilities.
Sacrifice
Believe in the sacrifice of the many for the benefit of the individual. Muscle suffers damage, only to heal and become stronger than before; the same can be said for the mind, through developing toleration against conventionally inconceivable things - cycles of destruction and regeneration. Strife, according to Sarkicism, is the greatest of tutors.
"To Shepherd the Flesh"
It is believed that all living things descend from a single progenitor. Adherents hold that this shared ancestry is the key to corporeal augmentation (or "Lihakut'ak" further suggesting a singular understanding of genetics, cloaked beneath layers of mysticism. It is the right of the Sarkite to guide and cultivate organic matter. The most skilled fleshcrafters are able to steal the genes of other lifeforms or create entirely new ones.

Ethics

Disease is often viewed with reverence and Sarkic shrines have been discovered with offerings of swollen lymph nodes and tumorous growths. Certain Sarkic cults treat contagions as consecration, a means to "cull the weak" and purify the masses, and thus actively seek to ensure their spread.

Worship

Adherents practice ritual cannibalism, human sacrifice, corporeal augmentation, thaumaturgy, dimensional manipulation, and the formation of pacts with otherworldly entities.

Granted Divine Powers

Organic manipulation has allowed certain Sarkites to achieve anomalous states of being, transcending the physical limitations of baseline humans.

"cull the weak"

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Alternative Names

Sarkicism

Permeated Organizations

• Shadows of Moonlight Rebellion
• The Pact of Blood and Steel

Divines

• Yaldabaoth