Rustvanate Dynamism

== Abstract ==
Rustvanate Dynamism is a political ideology which rose during the tenure of President Walker Rustovania Asellus E Reddington of Aurumflora around the year 74 VE. Its doctrine and platform is similar to that of other radical ideologies which rose during the Age of Radicalism in the early years of Abexilas in that an inherent Machiavellian approach is utilized in accomplishing their objectives. 
=== Formation and Origins ===
At the onset of 75 VE, President Walker Rustovania E. Reddington, the second president of the Aurumfloran Republic, gave this speech at an Aurumfloran Popular Party rally in downtown Aurumflora City following a series of earthquakes and fires which claimed the lives of many Aurumflorans:
"My fellow citizens, my friends, and my compatriots, there comes a time in each man's life when he must choose what he will be remembered as. For some, they want to be known as heroes, others wish to be known as fathers, brothers, of even just as a friend. I too have pondered this and asked myself what the history books will say of me long after I am dead. And to that I have only found one satisfactory answer. That is it does not matter what future generations may care to think of me. What will we care, for we shall all have passed on out of this life and into the next. I speak to you now on this because I have had a dream, and in that dream, I saw myself die at the hands of a beast unknowable save for a great evil. We have all see it. Whether in the news papers, in our own lives, or like myself, in our waking nightmares. 
For some of us, those beasts have names and faces. For others, it is ideas and ideologies. For me, it is my own self. For too long have I hesitated in taking proper action for the sake of Aurumflora. I have questioned not just my actions, but my motives in taking them. I feared myself to be a world's evil, but now I stand before you and declare now that the evil is vanquished. No longer shall we be held captive by our fears, no longer shall we hesitate in the manifesting of our own destiny. Aurumflora was built on the idea that we can do better, and now we will. The old gods of Ratham thought we too destructive to continue on, so they sent us here. They sent us to die by the very sword we once lived by. Only, it was not you or I who was mistaken, or who was in vain. No, it was those same gods who damned us here! They abandoned us, left us to rot and die, yet still we seem contempt to crawl back to them and beg for their presence. I say NO MORE!
Let it not be fickle and uncaring gods or goddesses who dictate our fates! Let not their supposed divine morals hold back our peoples' progress! Let not the tyrant, nor the despot decide what our destiny shall be! Ours is a nation build on hope and progress, and it shall be made to pass by the strength of men, not the strength of gods!"
Whilst many political opponents of the Reddington administration quickly attacked the "dark turn" that the president's policies and objectives took, the speech seemed to resonate with the silent majority within Aurumflora as Reddington's approval ratings rose from sixty-five (65%) to seventy-nine percent (79%) in the days following. (Silkhollow News issue 2)
The president would take immediate action following the rally by launching a series of special military operations within newly discovered cavern that were uncovered after the 74 VE earthquakes had settled. The Aurumfloran Armed Forces, alongside the Reddington-backed organization known as the Acolytes of Rustvan would come into contact with Skulk Cultists inside an previously undiscovered ancient city. A series of melees would take place within the city streets with the Reddington Administration claiming "light casualties with high combat efficacy" in a press briefing. 
In the aftermath of the fighting, a series of relics would be found within the city including a longsword with an eternal flame, an unknown allow, and an at the time indiscernible tome. 
The Aurumfloran Armed Forces and Acolytes would keep a contingent in the city to continue their recovery efforts, as the majority of the combined force continued through the extensive network, purging any cultists found along the way. When the force discovered a series of lave rivers, a theory was quickly formed that such rivers flowed underneath all of Abexilas and were used by the Skulk Cultists as trade and communication lanes. 
=== Beliefs and Platform ===
The beliefs and ambitions of those followers of Rustvanate Dynamism can be summed up by a journal entry made by an unknown Acolyte of Rustvan who was commenting on the growing movement within Aurumflora. "...A-thousand mortals knocked down a-thousand time, only to rise up once more a-thousand fold..."
Thought some critics of the movement may be quick to summarize the Rustvanates as mere human-supremacists, this generalization is short-sighted. Repeatedly, namely as a result over questions in regards to a potential change in his immigration policy, President Reddington stated that he "didn't care if you were human, a fish with legs, or a rock with fungus for ears. So long as [they] possessed the same indominable mortal spirit, and want[ed] to see effective, positive change be made, [he] didn't care." 
Reddington would also go into say that he found the whole premise of human supremacy "folly and short-sighted", citing humanity's inability to breathe in water an obvious reason why multi-speciesism was the way of progress and thusly, in line with Rustvanate thinking.
Despite their progressive views on multi-speciesism, the Rustvanates firmly distain those fellow mortals who have turned to religion instead of progress in Abexilas. To them, to see the failings of the old gods and simply run to new ones, only to begin the same cycle of perpetual violence that stagnated Rathnir and Eldham is precisely the reason why Rustvante Dynamism was formed in the first place.
It should be noted that the Rustvanate do not believe that deities create their followers as is usually prescribed as fact in most religions. Rather, the Rustvanate believe that such deities are the result of manifestation through belief. An easy example of this can be sun gods. There is one sun god. It was brought into being by the collective belief that there is a sun god. The more who believe in them and give worship or sacrifice to them, the more power the sun god believes.
Due to their view that the gods see mortals are little more than play things, and based off their belief that the Ratham mortals were abandoned by their gods, leading to their captivity in Abexilas, a place that according to recovered text, was made to contain them, those who call themselves Rustvanates often find themselves at odds with the religions of Abexilas. Commonly, these disagreements lead to violence, and in more than one case has led to a god being killed at the hands of an Acolyte of Rustvan. 
==== The Reddington Diary Controversy ====
Following the conclusion of direct hostilities under Aurumflora, a series of news articles would be published over a portion of a book being written by President Reddington at the time being leaked. According to the Silkhollow News, it "detail[ed] political maneuvers made by Reddington and the A.P.P. during his election" which "border[ed] on corrupt and treasonous." (Silkhollow News Issue 3)
Some Aurumfloran citizens stated that the whole ordeal reminded them of a hit play series (about as in universe as I can get for Netflix) called "House of Cards."
Reddington would hold a press brief where he would confirm that the contents of the book were true, but that he was writing it for expressly the same purpose that had been achieved through its leaking. The president stated that his intention was to have the book published after his death in order to ensure that "all men shall know the price of progress and victory, that all of Aurumflora shall know what a true leader is willing to sacrifice."
In the weeks after this statement, Reddington's approval rating shot up further to eighty-five (85%) percent. (Silkhollow News Issue 4)
=== Rustvanate Literature ===
Subscribers to Rustvanate Dynamism have written literature describing the movement since its formation. It is believed that much of the importance that the movement placed on such written works lies in the Aurumfloran culture of learning and the presence of a National Archive within Aurumflora city which was given to the Acolytes of Rustvan, who made up the core constituency of the movement's founding, to manage.
Given their focus on mortal development through mortal efforts, much of the writing done by those followers of the cause are technical and historical documents. Following the 75-77 VE special military operations, a series of volumes and texts were discovered deep within both ancient cities, and what were previously classified as Ocean Monuments. These documents acted as a catalyst for the creation of a new age in Aurumflora, one which brought about new technologies such as electricity, powered lighting, and semi-autonomous industry. 
These new technologies served to increase the reputation of the Rustvanate movement and increased the general productivity and prosperity of the Aurumfloran people, leading to a new focus on further developing the newly discovered technologies beyond their current applications. 
=== Other Literature ===
==== The Anathemine Tomes ====
Perhaps the most foundational to their origins, the Anathemine Tomes are a series of personal works believed by the Rustvanate as having been written by a deity who refers to themselves as the Tomes' namesake. The first work recovered from this unknown deity was discovered by Walker Rustovania Asellus E Reddington in his study late one night. He reported that he had never seen the strange work before that night stating "I think I would have noticed a dusty old book with the same skulk growing on it that was festering inside me."
This first tome is understood to be half diary entry and half cryptic message to any would-be reader. The first half of the tome discusses the gods views and understandings of their own origins, believing that they too were created by something or someone, but that who it was or why they created the lesser gods is fully unknown. Such statements seems to lend credibility to Rustvanate theories that all gods are made manifest through belief by mortals and other gods; however, this theory does not seem to properly account for the Chicken or the Egg Paradox, as no sound theory has been publicized that would account for a "great mover" which began the cycle of life within the known universe. 
Anathema then goes on to describe their creation of Abexilas as an effective prison for the most destructive of creation. They stipulate that mortals inherited many characteristics of the gods, but that the mortals lack the ability to at the very least utilize their power to create from nothing. The ability to absolutely destroy without the ability to absolutely created sowed fear amongst the gods that those mortals who proved themselves capable of it, could not be permitted to wander freely amongst creation and therefore must be contained. 
Anathema created Abexilas for that express purpose of containment, ensuring that those who knew only war could sate their greatest desire without harming their fellow mortals. 
The second half of the first tome is a personal message to the reader/s of it. It states that the tome itself shall find either he who wishes to see Abexilas rebuilt, or he who seeks it destroyed and the destruction it contained unleashed upon all else who lived external of it. This half of the volume uses significant poetic language in its wording, only adding to the cryptic nature of its message. Differing interpretation of the meaning of the First Anathemine Tome have sparked fierce debate, but the movement's leader, Walker Reddington has united the outliers whenever they arise under a steel resolve and a vengeance against the gods who abandoned them and cast them aside to rot and die within Abexilas.
=== The Skulk Cult Wars ===
==== Abstract ====
The Skulk Cult Wars are a series of ongoing paramilitary conflicts between the Acolytes of Rustvan and the numerous Skulk-worshiping Cults deep underground in Abexilas. Believed to have come from a world outside of Abexilas, it is thought that these cults were initially part of a larger and more advanced civilization that was sent to Abexilas by their own gods where they would collapse after a conflict with the now dead inhabitants of the ocean monuments. 
These conflicts mostly take place within the regions known as the deepdark and over the scattered ancient cities beneath Abexilas, but several battles have been recorded as having taken place on the world's surface.
==== Early Abexilas ====
First contact with the Skulk Cults would take place within a few months of the Travelers from Ratham setting foot on Abexilas. The numerous adventurers and soldiers quickly spread out and began to exploit the natural resources that Abexilas held, only to discover that they were not the first to set foot upon this world. As miners collapsed cave systems from over mining and ancient cities were ransacked for their treasures, the Cultists struck back, kidnapping and killing many explorers. 
Within the Gerarian Imperium, the Skulk Cults would attack above ground settlements, launching the Gerarian Holy War in retribution. This conflict would be lost by the Gerarians as their empire fell overnight through a series of assassinations and other sinister plots. 
==== Modern Abexilas ====
Since the fall of Geraria, the Skulk Cultists would fall silent. The Acolytes would flee to the new homeland of Aurumflora under what was then called Dyshella. There, they would begin to rebuild their numbers and lick their wounds. As Dyshella became Elthrin, and Elthrin, Valandor, the Acolytes would become active once more inside the Aurumflroan independence movement. 
When the Third Aurumflroan Republic declared its independence, the Acolytes made themselves known once more as their warriors took up arms to defend the fledgling democracy. Once President Walker Rustovania Asellus E Reddington was elected as the Second Aurumfloran President, the Acolytes were given the resources they needed to build a base of operations within Aurumflora City, the National Archive. 
When earthquakes struck the isle of Vekereth, many new cave systems were uncovered for exploration. Amongst them was an Ancient City that is now known as City Secundus. Upon being discovered by Aurumfloran prospectors, the Acolytes feared that their old enemy may show its head once again. Thus, with the support of the President and their Patriarch, the Acolytes struck first. 
With a force comprised of Acolyte warriors, and soldiers from both Aurumflora and Ischanor, the city was taken by force within a day. Heavy casualties were sustained by the assaulting force, but these would be downplayed by President Reddington in a later press briefing to the public. 
After the dust had settled, Reddington would attempt to utilize several skulk catalysts taken from vanquished Warden summons to recharge the greater catalyst found during the Gerarian Holy War. Whilst he was unsuccessful in this, he would discover that the catalysts have the power to use skulk and biological matter near it to create other matter. For the price of three catalysts, the greater catalyst created a piece of chainmail made of skulk. 
When Reddington would later put it on, he would see visions of the lives of those whose lives were used to create the helmet, figments of their memories not becoming his own, but he rather becoming fully cognizant of them. Amongst these visions were some of the early cultists before they had ever fallen into the worship of skulk. The city that he had been fighting over had once been a place of culture and commerce much like his own home. Their people wished to create something better just he did as well. 
In these visions, Reddington would see these not quite cultists yet talk to one another about a "gate." Later in the same vision when the ruined portal he had seen at the center of City Secundus would be activated, The world itself seemed to collapse around them as the vision would fade away. In the aftermath of this and the countless other lives that Walker had seen, he and the Acolytes would piece together that the civilization that the Skulk Culstist originated from had attempted to leave Abexilas, but that the gods and the world itself had not just prevented them from leaving, but had destroyed their civilization as punishment for challenging their rule. 
This revelation would be enough justification for the Acolytes to begin The Great Judgements, and to finish what the proto-cultists had started.
Category:Ideologies