The Transcendent Paths of the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant

The Cult of the Mystic Tyrant excels at enforcing its will upon an entire population and upon the very physics of the world. Thus, it should come as no surprise that they can force Communion itself into the shape that they wish, and that they regularly do so to create new paths.

The Cult of the Mystic Tyrant generally creates paths to serve its own purposes: to expand its power, to shape people’s destiny in such a way that suits them, or to grant themselves desired power. However, their mastery is imperfect, and they unintentionally create a backlash of destiny that can trap them down unwanted paths, or send someone’s destiny spiraling out of their control.

A Transcendent Path works exactly as a normal path and often mix and mingle elements of other paths to create a new cohesive whole. They have prerequisites, symbols, milestones and miracles, just as any path would. The drawback of a transcendent path can be found in its symbols and its milestones.

Most Transcendent paths have not one, but two opposing paths; this reflects the superiority of “natural” paths to “artificial” paths created by the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant. Transcendent Paths also have “corrupted” milestones, which reflect unintentional milestones creeping into their design as fate is exceptionally difficult to pin down. Transcendent Paths have normal milestones, which reflect the will of its creator, and one or more “Corrupted” milestones, which reflect how Destiny sees the true fate of the path; other than the themes involved, they are identical, and either can improve the Legendary Reptutation of the path-walker, and characters who fail to fulfill the milestone they face will find themselves ejected from the path.

Some transcendent paths have more of these problems than other. The Cult of Anthara’s ill-fated experiment with the “True King” path, which was meant to weld the best of the Exiled Master with the Mystic Tyrant to create a king that was truly beloved by all and always right, failed so spectacularly that nobody studies it to this day. Nonetheless, two of the more successful paths are listed below.

Psionic Disciplines of the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant

The Cult of the Mystic Tyrant concerns itself with more than just warfare. Beyond its mastery of Dark Communion, It requires the subtlety and majesty of Telepathy to enforce its dominion and secrecy and thus teaches many of its members in the arts of hiding their own thoughts, in controlling the thoughts of others and in ferreting out traitors and destroying them.

Martial Arts of the Mystical Tyrant

The Cult of the Mystic Tyrant has long made use of the Force Sword and the Psi Sword before it.  They readily adapt forceswordsmanship techniques from outside the Cult, especially the Fury Form of Domen Sonostrum and the Destructive Form of humanity.  In addition, they have two styles unique to their order.

Patreon Poll: The Cult of the Emperor

It's here!  For all of my $5+ patrons (Companions and better) I have the poll on the Cult of the Emperor.  In it, you'll get to decide on the origins of the Emperor, where he first encountered the Cult of the Mystical Tyrant, how he put his personal stamp on it, who serves him (and whom he serves), and what his name and ultimate agenda really are.  There's also additional questions about the Imperial Hand and the War Hero, the Emperor's Mentor.

If you're a Patron, check it out!  The poll will be running for one week.  I'd love to get your feedback.

Mystical Tyrant Schisms Part 3: The Cult of Revalis White

Revalis White, a human whose original name has been lost to history, served as a Knight of Communion shortly before the fall of that illustrious order. He believed in the teachings of True Communion, but found their pacifism intolerable when confronted with the evils he found throughout the Galaxy, especially the evils committed by Lucius Alexis and the atrocities committed daily in the far reaches of the Galaxy. His elders cautioned him to practice patience and to understand what Communion had in store for him, but he and his closest companion lost patience with the Order and left. He and his companion found something on the edges of the Galaxy, and returned, calling himself Revalis White and he had clearly learned teachings of the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant. He returned as the Prodigal Knight, and helped trigger the war against the Alexian Emperor, and then betrayed the Order, though he was unable to ensure their total destruction.

Revalis White, or “Thamet Revalis” had become a transcendant master during his journeys and happily taught his new path to those who would follow him. Unlike the other Cults of the Mystic Tyrant, he held none in his thrall as a slave. In his view, all could be and should be masters. He also did not reject morality; while he rejected the strict dogma of True Communion, he still wished practice virtue as he saw fit, righting injustices when he saw them, rather than when someone allowed him to. He believed strongly in personal responsibility, even if that takes one down dark paths. He argued that the mistake of True Communion was the same as the mistake of the Mystic Tyrant in only embracing one aspect of Communion. Instead, he tried to show his followers all facets of Communion, that the whole of that experience must be embraced and understood before one could truly become a Master of all Communion.

Patreon Special: The Cult of the Mystic Tyrant Preview 2 and the Emperor Thus Far

I have a twofer for you today.  First, I've finished the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant, and put this up as a preview for all my fellow travelers ($3+ patrons).  This fills out the more character-focused parts of the cult, offering three psychic disciplines, two martial arts (including the Maelstrom form, a new force swordsmanship form), two new Paths unique to the Cult, and Transcendent Principles and Powers, the ways i which transcendent masters reshape Communion and the world to their whim.

Patrons ($3+) can check it out here.

Second, this Friday we'll look at the fourth schism of the Cult of the Mystic Tyrant: the Imperial Schism.  The Emperor is not just a member of the Cult but a Transcendent Master and one of its more formative philosophers on par with Satra Temos (or is he?). His presence has created a new vision of the philosophy, and exactly what that vision will be will depend on you, dear reader. This vote will be open to all Companions ($5+ patrons), but in preparation for this vote, I've released the results of the previous imperial poll as a reminder. This is available to everyone.  Patron and reader alike.

You can check it out here.

As always, Patrons, I deeply thank you for your support.  Enjoy!

Mystical Tyrant Schisms part 2: The Cult of Satra Temos

The Cult of Satra Temos

In the age after the Ranathim Empire died, the Ranathim philosopher Satra Temos revitalized and re-imagined the Imperial Cult as a brutally cynical philosophy and stripped it down to its core of mastery over Dark Communion. He cast aside the religious trappings of the Divine Mask and preached a doctrine of secret dominion. He opened his philosophy to all races, bringing the Ranathim together with the other denizens of the Dark Arm, such as the slavers, the Gaunt and even humanity, eventually, and united them all under a banner of Dark Communion. The Cult of Satra Temos could not restore the Ranathim Empire, but it did rule the Dark Arm of the Galaxy in secret, through its puppet conspiracies, for centuries until a shadow war with the Knights of Communion shattered its grip on power.

It may still lurk in shadows today, slowly regathering the reigns to power in the Dark Arm of the Galaxy, or tainting the intelligentsia of the Empire.