Cult of the Pure Form

“The flesh is strong!”
–Common Pure Form maxim
The Adeptus Ministorum and the Adeptus Mechanicus
have never enjoyed a healthy working relationship within
the Calixis Sector. Conflicts between the two organizations
tend to be wars of words, though, political battles fought
in the capital worlds of the Sector, rather than outright
conflict between men and machines. Nevertheless, there
have been several overt conflicts, such as the attack on the
Explorator vessel Omega Inquiry from an Adepta Sororita
strike force on the far edges of the Halo Stars. There are no
official records of the encounter, but the Tricorn contains
sealed datavaults hinting at an abhuman strain that the
Mechanicus had uncovered far from civilized space, and the
Ministorum’s reactions of horror when their spies reported
the discovery. Retaliatory bombardments
obliterated two outpost convents, and was
about to escalate further before secretive
diplomacy and unnamed offerings settled
the matter. Such incidents are still rare,
but with the gradual rise of a group
calling itself the Cult of the Pure Form
this could begin to change.
It is not known exactly who founded the
Cult of the Pure Form, but their influence
began in the Malfian Sub-sector
in the immediate aftermath
of the Malygrisian Tech-Heresy.
The traitorous Tech-Priest and his followers
decimated untold worlds with their
devastating weaponry, and some began to think
that the existence of the Adeptus Mechanicus would
lead to another, inevitable war. The followers of this
emerging cult feared that this coming doom would
scour humankind from the galaxy, leaving
only the cold, barely-human flesh and
machine hybrids of the Mechanicum
behind. This twisted line of logic grew quickly
until the first major anti-Mechanicum movement of the Calixis
Sector’s history began to swell, with loud marches and violent demonstrations.
In an unexpected move, and one that likely came
about due to Cult Mechanicus political maneuvering on
Scintilla, the Sector Synod declared the leaders of the
emergent cult Apostate. Over the next fifty years these
leaders began to disappear, some dying in mysterious
accidents and others in outright assassinations. Some
thought that the Inquisition was to blame, and others
whispered of the Officio Assassinorum’s involvement, but
very few were aware that the Lords Dragon had carried
out this early intervention, and that their clandestine
methods had managed to stifle the movement before it
could truly become established. Displeased that the Lords
Dragon had stepped beyond their usual bounds and were
acting outside of the domains of the Lathes Worlds, the
Inquisition sought to move against them. To appease the
Calixian Conclave, the Lords Dragon handed over what
information they had on the new sect. Their hope was
that the Inquisition would continue the aggressive work
against the Cult, but the Inquisition instead
scaled back these efforts to more passive monitoring.
For a time, it seemed as though this early intercession had
succeeded, but, like an unchecked weed, the Cult of the
Pure Form rose once again. This time, the cult threw out
its previous methods in favor of a slower approach, and
rather than attempting to whip the people of a single
sub-sector into a frenzy, the new Pure Form leaders
instead chose to let their hatred for
the Mechanicus simmer on worlds
across the entire Sector. Unlike
before, the Sector Synod made no
moves to denounce the Cult of the Pure Form; some even whispered
they had begun to covertly support it. Many Inquisitors began investigating the cult to
see if they had been motivated by
something other than a fervent love
of the Emperor, but over time, some members of the Calixian Conclave---especially puritans of the Ordo Hereticus---began to see them
as actually displaying agreeable philosophies, as well as acting as a valuable check against
the Mechanicum within the Sector. This has not gone unnoticed
in the Lathes. Slowly but surely, the rising cult is
sparking a conflict, one that has edged closer to
ignition with each passing year.
The Cult of the Pure Form’s members differ from other
Ministorum sects within the Calixis Sector in that they do not
hate the Adeptus Mechanicus purely for their worship of the
Omnissiah (although that certainly is part of it). They are not
anti-technology either; they simply wish to wrest control of
such power away from the Mechanicum so that “uncorrupted”
humans might control it. Their true ire stems from the extensive
use of cybernetics and other mechanical implants that virtually
every member of the Adeptus Mechanicus possesses. To the
cult, the most pure form in the universe is that of the human
body, and to defile it by removing untainted flesh and grafting
on artificial limbs is nothing short of heresy.
Many of the members of the Cult of the Pure Form have
cybernetic implants when they join, and soon undergo a ritual
known as the Purity of Flesh to remove the implants from their
bodies. This violent ritual usually leaves the participant missing
limbs or eyes, and can rob them of their ability to hear or even
speak, but once completed the new cult member enters the
ranks of the “Shriven,” blessed men and women who have seen
the purity of Mankind, have unshackled themselves from their
prisons of cybernetic augmentation, and who now walk the
path of the God-Emperor. The bulk of the cult’s ranks are made
up of those lucky enough to have lived without the defilement
of cybernetics, and are referred to as the “Untouched.” Each
Untouched member comes to the sect for different reasons, but
most are spurred on by a love of the God-Emperor and an
inherent mistrust of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
However, the Cult of the Pure Form does not sit by and wait
for people to see its point of view, and has instituted their own
group of missionaries. This third group is the most powerful
within the cult, and are known as the “Reformed.” Acting as the
public face of the cult, the Reformed are a large, sector-spanning
network. They commonly preach that the God-Emperor had
not a single cybernetic in the days when He walked amongst
mortals, and that if He was pure of flesh, then so too should His
subjects be. The Reformed consist of Shriven who have reversed
the process of bionic implantation, creating implants not of
unholy cybernetics, but instead made out of pure flesh. These
vat-grown limbs and organs are often quite crude, and in many
cases misshapen, but in the eyes of the cult they are pure and
represent the future that it sees for Mankind.
==Becoming a Cultist of the Pure Form==
There are many ways to be tempted to join the Cult of the
Pure Form. For some, it is due to a feeling of betrayal, where
replacement cybernetics have caused more harm than good,
and the poor soul shackled by them is looking for a form of
release among the ranks of the Shriven. Others, after hearing
the words of the Reformed, have come to understand that the
continued existence of the Adeptus Mechanicus is nothing but
a disaster waiting to happen, and that it is their holy duty to do
something to stop them. Others join out of a fear that if they
begin to receive cybernetics that they will lose something of
their own souls, and eagerly join the ranks of the Untouched
to avoid this horrific fate. A select few might even be contacted
directly by the cult’s senior members, as their membership
would greatly benefit the cult’s standing and appeal across the
Sector. The cult also offers a strong brotherhood and a cause to
motivate new meaning into previously meaningless lives. Those
who achieve such purity in their flesh may find their spirit even
stronger than before, and certainly stronger than those who
foolishly trust their bodies to the machine.
Upon becoming a member of the Cult of the Pure Form, the character gains the Excommunicate Mechanicum Trait.
Required Career: Adept, Arbitrator, Assassin, Cleric,
Guardsman, Imperial Psyker, Scum
Alternate Rank: Cleric: Rank 2 or higher (500 XP); All others---Rank 4 or higher (2,000 XP)
Other Requirements: Any Acolyte who possess any
bionics/cybernetics when taking this Alternate Rank must
take the Purity of Flesh Talent before he may take any
further advances. Acolytes who do not possess any bionics/
cybernetics when selecting this Rank must select the Gift of
Purity Talent before they may take any further advances.
==Unique Equipment==
Purity Rounds
Designed for use within more primitive projectile weapons such
as crossbows and hand bows, the “Purity” round has recently
come back in to favor, as the Cult of the Pure Form expands
its influence. Each round has a small haywire generator that
activates the moment the shot strikes its target, leaving little
chance to escape. Purity Rounds are purchased like regular
crossbow and hand bow quarrels, and can be adapted for stub
revolvers and stub automatics but their cost is doubled.
Cost 300, Haywire (2), Very Rare