Freemen represent Power on Earth, gathered first together as an Orphan Clade, and growing to become a Tribe. As is the nature of Power, Freemen seek to profit from the world, and define their own social structures, better reflecting their goals, common culture, and sense of purpose. Above all, the aim of a Freeman is to consume novel experiences by controlling their environment, defining what is “good / bad,” “right / wrong,” etc., and silencing alternatives that might interfere with their preferences. Freedom, tradition, honor, self-reliance, and knowing one’s place in the Power structure are held in high esteem.
As an organization without formal leadership, the closest analog in the Novel Universe Cult to a a dictator or diplomat, a special class of person exempt from the law, is the temporary status of an Active Sage. This role carries no privilege to compromise the law, but rather, it affords specific access to restricted virtual or physical sites, and ultimately, Sages evaluate which proposals might become laws in the first place. That being said, any Rock Body may, as part of its founding documents and style of governance, establish any number of hierarchical classes with a spectrum of required adherence to their laws – such as a Tower’s king and subject, or the Square’s initiate and master. Violators of Rock laws are subject to corrective actions deemed appropriate by the Body’s founding documents, levied according to their standing as a member of the Body. In the Cult, no one is immune to its law. Wanderers or outside persons within a Rock Body’s jurisdiction who violate their laws are subject to their corrective actions, according to the Body’s Sage-approved definition(s) of a visitor.
Should a Freeman persist in breaking their Body’s laws, despite previous corrective actions, and the membership feels the individual will not or cannot come into line with the group’s standards, the ultimate consequence is revocation of the offender’s membership in the group. At this point, the member is banished and recategorized, from the Rock Body’s perspective, as a Wanderer – an indelible membership category that may only be rejected by the member themselves. Members may be banished from a Cult Body, but never from the Cult itself. Any path of return to the Rock Body is optional for the Body to decide, and banishment of the individual member may be permanent without appeal to the Rock’s membership.
Read our philosophy to better understand our Creed.
