Ataxxea

Ataxxea

(Organization)

Type

Philosophy

Leader

Shabarae

Alignment

Neutral evil

Headquarters

Shadari Confederacy

Goals

Nihilism

Scope

Multi-system

Source: The Blind City, pg(s). 39

Ataxxea is a nihilistic philosophy dominant across the Shadari Confederacy. It teaches that entropy is the most sublime force in the universe, and one should honour it by shepherding its inevitable course toward the end of all things.

Members

Ataxxea is the dominant religion in the Shadari Confederacy, where it counts adherents among all of the Confederacy's races, most notably the draeliks. It holds such power that even rival religions see some benefit in paying lip service. Many people living near the Azlanti Star Empire adhere to Ataxxea to show defiance or gain an ally, and many come to believe in its nihilistic message.

Ataxxea's true believers can easily be identified with the Eye of Enlightenment tattoo. Infused with negative energy, the tattoo can last extremely long and grants powers similar to those of solarians who focus on graviton aspects.

Structure

Shabarae the Ascendant is the leader of Ataxxea. She holds no official secular position in the Shadari Confederacy but commands great influence over its ruling council, and controls the Enlightened priest-like leaders whose reach across the Confederacy is wide. The sceaduinars support Ataxxea's spread across the Material Plane, and are viewed as patrons by the cult.

Goals

The main goal of Ataxxea is to shepherd the dignified march to the end of all things through negative energy. With enough negative energy, the rightful path of the universe toward decay will be unstoppable. Many high-ranking Ataxxeans believe the Unmaker, a wounded aeon gifted by the sceaduinars, to be the key to that goal. They have tested the secrets of unmaking on some small planets, leaving them with naught but negative energy crystals. Ataxxeans do not actively set out to destroy things, but never revert the universe's natural decay.

A smaller project of Ataxxea is to create a soul made of negative instead of positive energy. They have spread rumours that they have made themselves into negative energy beings, but in truth they are not even close to the goal, and most experiments only ended up creating undead.

Relationships

Ataxxeans scorn all deities as betrayers of the sceaduinars, and view undead as a perversion of negative energy. They resent being compared to the equally-nihilistic Cult of the Devourer, which they view as children who want to skip to dessert rather than experience the full meal.

The greatest foe of Ataxxea is the Azlanti Star Empire, which purges anyone discovered to be an Ataxxean. In turn, Ataxxea reaches out to the Star Empire's enemies, protecting and giving them horrifying weapons in exchange for listening to its philosophy.