¶ The Cult of the Murder Cube
![[IMG]](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/dJqrK5NSK8w6M8c5q_ARI6F3laQ8XnuIh7tXJE_serUVrtWfdh4_2ZcufOjsCZRE3PNVfDu-BHymmf5yZZUolGYMPjMrp06etQls57I1RounPuiiRa2lpYddnVxrohHRSVIXJbE3)
War is the way of man.
Man is the means of war.
Powder is power.
AVE NEX ALEA
In the deep crevices of the volcano at the heart of what is now the Smoldering Brass Wastes, a deep cavern led a mysterious man into a ruined palace seeming left there by inhabitants of Schelor long, long ago. The heart of this palace was a large cube, made entirely of man’s weapons of war; rifles, pistols, rockets, grenades, even swords. This man prostrated himself before the cube, surrounding himself with the fume of slow-burning gunpowder as he began to experience visions and messages from the cube. The man’s followers wrote these visions down, and he became the Prophet of Nex Alea.
Such is how the story went, written in the holy text of Nex Alea, the Gunpowder Grimoire; the apostles of the Prophet grew, and they made that land set in the heart of the Brass Wastes their home, dumping brass shells all among the ash-covered land in reverence of Nex Alea, the Murder Cube. Their influence grew, and their home, now called the Ammosoleum, became one of the most fortified places in all of Schelor, a holy land shrouded in mystery to even the inhabitants of Schelor.
The Cult of the Murder Cube (Religiōnis Nex Alea) is a religion that approximately a third of all Deadbeats on Schelor follow, typically as a casual worshipper of its beliefs; there are those that are far more devoted to the worship of Nex Alea, however. The Cult of the Murder Cube follow the philosophy of war; war is the way of man, man is the means of war, powder is power, Ave Nex Alea. The Cult of the Murder Cube focuses on the growth of the self through war, believing that a true believer is a conduit of war, beliving conflict to be a way of life. In order to persevere and grow as an individual, a person must grow stronger. The strong will always thrive over the weak. The strongest people and the strongest bonds are forged in the fires of adversity. And they love guns. All types of guns. Bullets, lasers, plasma, acid rounds, rockets, grenades, they love all weapons of war, and they have more of them than any other faction on Schelor.
The Cult of the Murder Cube is composed of various figures. Legendary gunsmiths, absolute masters of their craft, can be found crafting weapons of war in the name of Nex Alea; these gunsmiths are revered as legends, tales passed around of their great works. Their legendary guns are prized possessions, passing through many hands. There are also those who the Cult of the Murder Cube brings under its protection; the poor, broken souls who have been saved and protected by the grace of Nex Alea’s warriors, entire towns erecting shrines to Nex Alea in inspired reverence. There’s the mysterious head of the Cult of the Murder Cube, a figure rumored to have an armory of infinite guns, able to conjure them at will; this figure is known as the “Gun Master”, the Prophet of Nex Alea. But one group of people that make up the Cult are true believers in Nex Alea: Gun Priests.
![[IMG]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/411048637381214211/634791238368755727/HierophantNewStandardBig.png)
![[IMG]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/hhQ6JdIinPBCP2VSEn7t8BYHwd5o8MJxJ8VPAFX7VhHA2kjeJML3AA0Lm6TcDvxLLBpDRW-BXXjJeeNKmM7AT8i0yNkJ_yylMNl5rT22yYUdNgTj21Cs3UW1PHu0g-GwaifcDbCT)
(Above: “Hierophant” and “Ordnance”, Gun Priests of Nex Alea)
Gun Priests are proud warriors and teachers of Nex Alea, greatly learned in the mystique and the teachings of the Gunpowder Grimoire. They are individuals shrouded in mystery, often adorning themselves with accessories such as bullets, guns, and crosshairs; some might even devote their own bodies to Nex Alea, modifying themselves to turn parts of their own bodies into weapons. They devote themselves as a priest of Nex Alea, and spread the philosophy of war; many times, they may also perform charity in the form of giving guns to those without them, or performing services to those under the protection of the Cult. Gun Priests usually always carry a Gunpowder Grimoire and a ritual pouch filled with various occult items such as brass casing candles filled with Deadbeat tallow, holy gunpowder, miniature murder cubes, and more, using these items to perform various rituals such as the blessing of a weapon, a ritual with varying levels - from sprinkling slow-burning holy powder over a gun in a candle circle as incantations are spoken, to completely crafting a gun from steel cured in blessed powder. Many times, Gun Priests will carry a gun that is their personal blessed weapon of choice, naming it or even counting its kills. It is considered good luck to use a blessed gun only to kill, and never to maim. There is also another caste of Gun Priest known as “Tech Priests” who take their body modifications to the extreme, becoming heavily augmented cyborgs in order to become weapons of war.
The technology of the Cult of the Murder Cube differs aesthetically from most other places in Schelor; they possess factories for ammunition and weapons, often taking on a dieselpunk aesthetic from hammered, rusted steel plates on bipedal mechs and tanks and trains, power armor and bunkers, sometimes even airships spread across Schelor. The Cult also has various labs that allow scientists to gene splice.
The cult provides a variety of services to places and people under its protection, such as providing food and water, arming unarmed people, gunsmithing, and more.
War is the way of Man.
Man is the means of War.
You allow us War.
Our worship is our readiness.
It is proper to adhere to our nature,
Aggression is natural,
We are meant to be aggressive.
Through war we are purified,
Through conflict we are enlightened,
I cast thee, Nex Alea,
May fortune find strength in me,
So that my weaknesses be absolved.
Saluto Nex Alea.
- Wartime Souls 1:1, the Gunpowder Grimoire