Order of the Culling Shadow
The Order of the Culling Shadow is a splinter sect of Ataxxea that worships the mysterious entity Misaxenoi. Its members seek the destruction of all things, specifically intelligent creatures, and believe that Misaxenoi will be responsible for doing so.1
History
In 20 AG, the young draelik Dunmaeth started hearing voices that whispered of a distant star bringing death to all who approach. Dunmaeth initially feared about his mental health, but began to heed the whispers when he saw the similarities between them and the teachings of Ataxxea. When he came to ask the Low Council for funding, his arguments and conviction convinced the council that whether he was hearing Ataxxea's voice or not, he would soon gather followers, and it would be better off if he was out of sight, far from home.1
In 23 AG, Dunmaeth's followers left the Kurzach Nebula on the starship Inevitable End. After a few months, they tracked the whispers to the solar system that would come to be called Weydana. Within minutes, every crew member heard a barely intelligible voice that told them of a coming doom, of creatures beyond mortal understanding, of the death of all sentient life, and of their role in bringing about this fate. Nearly everyone became fanatical followers of the voice, except the chaplain, who ejected himself through the airlock.1
While his subordinates started mapping the Weydana system, Dunmaeth communed with Misaxenoi and learnt about the negative energy wave that sweeps the system every century, which he named the Culling Shadow. Thus was the Order of the Culling Shadow born.1
A few years later, the Order of the Culling Shadow returned home. Before the Low Council, Dunmaeth professed his devotion to Misaxenoi, whom he argued to be a divine avatar of Ataxxea. While the Low Council castigated him as a heretic and sent him to the Ascendant for execution, many young Shadari citizens subscribed to Dunmaeth's prophecies about the end of all life, one that would come far earlier than what Ataxxea teaches.1 These new converts rescued Dunmaeth from the Grand Cathedral of Ataxxea and fled the Kurzach Nebula towards the Weydana system.2
One of the Order's initiates in the ensuing years was Zyera, a kasatha who drew comparisons between Misaxenoi and her home Kasath's dying star, and came to believe that her people had rebelled against destiny by avoiding the Culling Shadow. When she tried to lead her followers from Weydana to Kasath, the Order fell into a short but brutal civil war. Zyera's surviving followers fled to Absalom Station and were rebranded the Order of the Hidden Culling. Meanwhile, the Order of the Culling Shadow recovered and grew in strength again.2
Goal
The Order of the Culling Shadow's first main objective is to assist the Culling Shadow in wiping out all life in the Weydana system. The existence of Misaxenoi, source of the Culling Shadow, is kept secret so settlers would regularly come to the Weydana system to die, and any efforts to protect oneself from the Culling Shadow are sabotaged.2
The Order's second objective is to spread Misaxenoi's influence to other systems, though no one knows exactly how this could be done. The two main theories are that Misaxenoi will eventually destroy the Weydana system and then move to another home; and that Misaxenoi will spawn after killing enough people, and these spawn will need homes to live in.2
The final goal is to recruit members, which is made easy due to Misaxenoi's corrupting whispers. New initiates are taught the Order's unique powers and how to listen to Misaxenoi. Those that show promise are taught the Way of the Inevitable End, a supernatural philosophy that taps into the entropy underlying the universe and encourages that entropy to return, then sent into the void to find places to plant Misaxenoi's offspring.2
Structure
The Order of the Culling Shadow's leader, currently Krulveth, bears the title Watcher, and hears Misaxenoi's communications more closely than any other member. Since Misaxenoi's whispers are often incomprehensible or contradictory, the watcher is responsible for sorting through them and selecting which ones should be acted upon. This information is kept strictly secret to other cultists, who believe that Misaxenoi's whispers are always clear, unambiguous decrees. Immediately below the watcher is an observer responsible for ensuring loyalty, and multiple lieutenants, each responsible for a specific project or region. Sometimes lieutenants work together, but due to fierce competition, most prefer to work alone and report to the observer. Rank-and-file members generally obey lieutenants and believe that universal entropy will eventually lead to their superiors' fall, so they spend time preparing for such an opportunity, though actual betrayal is rare, since the Order teaches patience.3
Sites
The Order's home is a motley fleet of captured starships. Little attention is paid to their maintenance; when a ship becomes uninhabitable, it is strapped with nuclear warheads and released in a busy star system. When another ship falls prey to the sabotaged one, the Order swoops in to capture it and survivors, who are given a choice to either join the Order or get thrown out of an airlock.2
Relationships
Due to its heterodox beliefs, the Order of the Culling Shadow is persecuted as heretics by the Shadari Confederacy and the mainstream Ataxxea cult; its members have learnt to hide as a result.1 The Order of the Culling Shadow has been infiltrated by moles from the Order of the Hidden Culling, whose leader Zer0 seeks to install a puppet watcher, turning the former into a mere front for the latter.3