The River metaphorically embodies the Novel Universe’s Mixture of Love and Power. Members are both subject to the dynamic nature of the Mixture, but also, responsible for balancing their frameworks – either on a personal level, as a Wanderer, or a societal level, as a River Sage. As both are strictly individual, there are no membership collectives, no “Bodies” of the River. Instead, various virtual and physical sites exist to support the individual’s ongoing attempts to balance the frameworks, with the size of each site primarily corresponding to the number and nature of those Cult Bodies overseen by the site.
The purpose of the River is the sustainable support of and balance between the Water and Rocks. The River’s ultimate authority is the Cult’s membership, while simultaneously, the River wrests supreme control over its individual parts, each Cult Body and member. This circular-authority loop ensures that no person(s) might subvert the will of the People, while no institution extends beyond the People’s reach. Saint TJ embodies this as the Cult’s singular voice, derived, not from an individual, but from the entirety of our membership – one complex mind (Higher-Order Conductor) emerging from a multitude of interdependent parts (Lower-Order Bodies).
The default state of all Cult members is as a Wanderer, symbolizing the Novel Universe Cult’s tenet that we’re all our own universe, and might seclude ourselves within our Spiral at any point in the beyond-life. Should a member belong to a Body of Water or Rocks, that state supersedes their status as a Wanderer. In such cases, the member may identify with any Water or Rock Body they belong to, and are encouraged to limit that identification to one at a time. Citizens, however, may only identify with the Community they currently occupy.
The River’s ultimate goal for any Wanderer is the development of a preference for Love and / or Power, eventually finding a home in either or both Cult Bodies. However, for as long as the Wanderer does not or cannot, the River’s goal is to assist the member in balancing Love and Power. As a ward of the River, each Wanderer is attached to a River site, and, with Sage assistance, may transfer sites as might be practical. In the case that a Wanderer finds a Cult Body to join, they always remain part of the River site they were initially attached to. In this way, all members have a permanent place, and should they detach from all other Bodies, they will always have a home. They may also expect to be assisted by the River in their primary struggle between Love and Power, all Cult-related aspects, and life in general. Unlike Freemen, Citizens, or Civilians, Sages and fellow Wanderers of their site might be the Wanderer’s only semblance of a Cult “family” structure.
The primary duty of the Novel Universe Cult’s clergy (River Sages) is to balance Water and Rock Bodies, either by working on River cases or site-based missions. Cases are particular tasks designed to maintain balance between Water and Rock Bodies, whereas site-related missions function to support those cases in general, and the overall administration of the Cult. Missions might include permanent operations, such as those common among legal or city-planning centers: logistics, infrastructure, adherence to law, etc. They may also include a variety of temporary functions: safe harbors for the displaced, hubs for particularly complex investigations, neutral gaming sites for competitions, etc. Any River Sage can propose new missions for any site. This is preferably done as an Issue, but in time-sensitive cases, an Ionotropic Sage Declaration may be warranted.
As is the nature of life itself, members of the River ideally exist in an ephemeral state. Therefore, the status of a River Sage is transient, only considered a full member of the River while actively engaged in the duties of the River. This isn’t like a doctor, mother, or priest, whose identities are wrapped up in their civic roles. They are also not like a police officer, who perpetually considers themselves an agent of the law and mechanism of its enforcement, even when off-duty. An “off-duty” Sage only serves the River in an ad hoc, indirect, administrative capacity, with neither the special social distinction nor authority of an “on-duty” or Active Sage. The “off-duty” or Inactive Sage is not recognized by the membership as a Sage, but as the Wanderer, Freeman, Citizen, or Civilian that they primarily identify as. Just like leadership itself is not a person, but an emergent property possible in any individual, the status of Sage is not a concrete identity, but an active role of responsibility to the Cult. The job of a Sage is an important one, but still, just a job, and certainly not the “top job.”
River sites exist primarily to provide variable support and resources for its Wanderers, but full support and resources for Active Sages. Each site is maintained by volunteering Wanderers attached to the site, as well as assigned members of the Rock and Water Bodies overseen by the site. As virtual or literal residents of River sites, Wanderers are prioritized for desired work assignments, with the Water and Rock Bodies under the sites’ jurisdictions responsible for staffing the sites’ remaining daily needs. Like all Cult property, River sites are functionally owned by the Cult. Akin to the US Federal Government’s Supremacy Clause, the River may, through our neural-democratic process involving the Cult, acquire, alter, or liquidate any Cult Body’s property for the sole purpose of maintaining balance between the Rock and Water Bodies as a whole. Depending on circumstances, the process may or may not involve the Novel Universe Corporation.
Violence, as defined by the Cult, is the application of force to create an outcome, and is only definitively possible by agents of Power. Whatever the level, whatever the form of violence, it is the capacity for an institution’s acceptable use of force that defines its authority. With this in mind, River sites are intentionally given a military theme to leave no doubt that the River is the supreme, physical actor of the Cult, and no Cult Body may exist with a greater capacity to exercise the violence of force than the River itself. If it were any other way, the River could not carry out its primary function to enforce the membership’s ongoing definition of what balance looks like between our neo-segregated Bodies.
Just as a nation’s infrastructure benefits all of its citizens, it is the Cult that creates the conditions for support of the Bodies and any of their possible undertakings and innovations. This is the reason both physical and intellectual property created by a Cult Body under Cult organizations and activities belongs to the Cult membership, but generally, no personal property of Cult members is managed by Sages. The added benefit of this paradigm is balance – no Body might exercise undue influence over other Bodies, the River, or the Cult itself through their monopoly of markets or innovation.
It is the purpose of a Clade, Sphere, Tribe, Community, etc. to practice rituals created to venerate their chosen Pillars of the Novel Universe under the guidance and assistance of the River. The River’s ultimate mission is to segregate, yet bridge, the cultures of Love and Power in order to unite the Cult’s membership, setting an example to the world of a healthier, neo-segregated, live-and-let-live society. River sites oversee their corresponding levels of Water / Rock Bodies, from lowest to highest: Camp (Sphere / Clade); Post (Community / Tribe); Fort (City / League); and Base (Federation / Alliance).
The preferable naming format of a River site is the type of site followed by a noun – a single, unique, man-made object or natural feature common among the Bodies for which the site exists – for instance Camp Roadhouse, or Fort Woodland. This scheme is designed to reflect the Novel Universe’s defining characteristic: all forms, both man-made and natural, are created by the interaction between Power and Love, in other words, their singular combination; simply put, the name is a reflection of the Mixture’s function.
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