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| DATE RELEASED: | 5 OCT 2024 |
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The Clockwork Orthodox Church are a branch of the para-religion known to many Foundation employees simply as "The Broken Church" or "The Church of the Broken God". Adherents submit themselves to anomalous mechanical augmentation as a means to remake themselves in the image of their god. In addition, they consider the mass production of analogue clockwork-powered machinery to be a form of devout worship. These two things combined create a particular subgroup in the church's clergy, which goes above and beyond in their method of worship.
When a Fabricator, unsatisfied with their output, wishes to accomplish more than the menial tasks they are given each day, and to build themselves ever so closer to the image of their deity, they adopt one of their holy writ's production orders to begin the next step of their brass communion. The stated end goal is to achieve enlightenment through the purity of the Broken God's plan. Some even say that the very catalyst of an Orthodoxist's ambitions of grandeur are visions of Mekhane herself.
The augments that they had once praised as divine blessings are deemed to be inadequate, too fleshy, in their religious practices, much to the dismay of many of the Church's Legate-Faithfuls. This momentary disapproval, however, is replaced with absolute reverence should the blessed Fabricator complete their long, arduous, but ultimately rewarding journey.
For months the Fabricator will toil day and night, devoting every waking hour to craft their perfect vessel. A mechanical suit of armour, made with faith and total adherence to their holy design documents. Standing at 8-foot tall, these idols of brass and steel are met with genuflection by most Orthodoxists. The suit symbolises their visage made pure, their weakness deconstructed, their faith absolute; not far removed from the steel worn by the Knight Templars of old.
A warrior priest of the Broken God, clad in the holiest of steel. Their very presence is a shining example of the Broken God's will made manifest. Each instance supposedly graced by Mekhane herself. Every action they make is accompanied by prayer. Every tick and every grinding gear is a canticle of praise.
This class of Orthodoxist will follow their faith and choose a path to take:
- The first is the Path of the Legate, wherein they swear a life of watchful silence, guarding over the Church's cathedrals. The suits of the Legate's Path are often equipped with elegant, ceremonious close-combat weaponry, to defend the halls of their place of worship.
- The second is the Path of Fabrication, wherein they continue to watch over the Church's manufacturing operations. They effectively work as engineers, lending themselves as tools for others to use in the never-ending quest for Standardisation, operating machinery and handling materials dangerous to the common Lay. The suits of this path are equipped with multi-tools fit for every industrial application, such as laser cutters, welding torches, as well as sawblades.
- The third and final path is the Path of the Militant, wherein they devote their lives to march for the Broken God, seeing combat as the greatest way to divine their deity's will. They unleash salvos of prayers, litanies of battle, and sermons of devastation. The suits of this path are the most armed, often equipped with arm-mounted Gatling guns, smoke launchers, extendable wrist-blades, and whatever else the Faithful behind the suit's creation may have been enlightened with.
They entomb themselves within the suit of armour, sealing themselves from the inside. Rudimentary life support, as well as the strength of their fealty, keep them alive for as long as they need to perform their servitude. They live the rest of their lives ordained as living saints of Mekhane, signing away their mortal selves in promised martyrdom, until the day they are struck down and finally achieve true Standardisation and unite with the machine, as their last echoes of consciousness breathes life into the armour, letting it march on.