Clockwork Order of Kahrnak

> *"God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."*
>
>

The **Clockwork Order of Kahrnak** is a militant religious cult based in Bastion City in the year 1086AE.

## Beliefs

It is a crucial mistake in the understanding of the Clockwork Order's belief system to say that they follow a deity in the Aradian manner; that is to say, that they worship a deistic higher power, believing that said power created the universe and has an interventionalist ability to control and influence their creation. Kahrnak, a Clockwork Priest will argue, is less a God and more a Concept. They will elaborate that the entity Karhnak, treated as a deity with male pronouns, is not a being but a personification of societal and industrial progress.

The order's belief system is closer to Gnostic ideology which draws a distinction between the Creator God ("Supreme Being") and the Controller God ("Demiurge") with the latter being the interventionalist figure who made the material world; under Gnosticism the Demiurge and their creation is viewed as flawed and evil with enlightenment coming through the pursuit of the Supreme Being's enlightenment. The Clockwork Order has this basic structure but reverses its goals; it posits Vermithrax and Aradia as the supreme beings who are figures of malevolence, while the Demiurge Kahrnak is the figure of worship.

The ultimate philosophy of the Clockwork Order is that the original creator/Supreme Being who made the world is a figure to be rejected; their creation, the natural and material world, made of magic, is spritually abhorrent, dangerous, and outside Terrestrial control. The Clockwork Order argues that Terrestrials can only trust what is manmade, and that society will only progress by abandoning every facet of magic and the natural world it has made. They wish for Industry and Technology to completely consume the world, using the trees and oil the earth produces to fuel their fires and ultimately even discard their "cages," bodies of flesh and bone, to live and exist in bodies made of metal.

it is a dark and apocalyptic ideology, and that is reflected in its followers, as it is said that everyone who is attracted to a religion that seeks to hasten the apocalypse must have a reason they wish all the world to die in fire. Clockwork Priests are malevolent figures. They are extremely misanthropic and pessimistic, and behave in brutally (and sometimes gleefully) violent ways. Each one is a fanatical zealot for the task their industrial masters set them, performing them with single-minded efficiency. They see no value in life, and will often extinguish it with impunity wherever they can.

### Principle of Kahr-Anen

Clockwork Priests undergo extensive psychological reconditioning to take on their roles. A key factor in this is what is known internally as the "Principle of Kahr-Anen," but is often referred to by scholars as an "Induced Sociopathy." The Principle states that Terrestrial sentient life holds no base value, and that value is only proven so far as a being can serve Kahrnak--the furthering of industrialization. If a being provably works counter to this goal, for example if they try to obstruct the actions of a Clockwork Priest, then their lives and wellbeing are freely forfeit. A Clockwork Priest will commit murder with the casual manner of a man stepping on an ant. They are trained to feel absolutely no empathy or regret for doing so, and with the industrialist's control of the legal system and police, they rarely face consequences from law enforcement, if ever.

The only circumstances in which murder or acts of violence are penalized within the Order is if a Priest kills or harms another Priest. This violates the Principle as every priest is seen as a tool of Kahrnak, and in damaging a tool, you are obstructing Karhnak's work. Dissenters to the Principle are often hunted and killed by their own fellow Priests.

## History

Precise historical records pertaining to the Clockwork Order's origins are highly obfuscated, owing to the Order's secrecy and the violent aggression of its Priests towards outsiders. However in the aftermath of the 1077 Revolution whereafter the Order underwent a sudden rise in power and influence, a pamphlet was briefly circulated on the Bastion streets (though hastily hunted down and withdrawn) that claimed to be from an insider to the Order. it offered an explanation of where these worshippers of the Metal-Machine God had come from.

in the aftermath of the Final Battle for Everglow City, the Order of the Seven Suns controlled by Cardinal Steerpike were released from their state of magical indoctrination and many proved able to return to their prior lives. Many more were proved incurably insane by the Underking's influence and were interred in the bedlam Untergrad, and even in the survivors, there was a marked change in their patterns of behaviour and personalities, & while these members were still capable of functioning in society, they did so under considerable chagrin for their former lives. Gone was the control of Mordaghast, but remaining was the deep and vicious misanthropy and disdain for human society that the Seven Suns cultivated, a great well of vitriol suddenly without a specific target.

Into the mix came a priest of the Aradian Temple, a man of little prior renown but of great charisma and rhetorical ability, whose true name has been lost to history. A former member of the indoctrinated under Steerpike, this priest in the new-built Bastion City began to preach to his flock sermons previously unheard, espousing dark visions of a world besieged by pollution and degeneracy and decay, an inevitable future of magic subjugated by machines. His audience was disturbed by a vision out of the step with the bountiful future Queen Talia presented, & the priest became increasingly unpopular among the regular attendees of the Temple and within his own clergy. However, word of his sermons began to spread and attract a rather new and different kind of audience. It particularly caught the ear of the formerly-indoctrinated nobleman, Gerold Highcliffe.

## Organization

The Clockwork Order has two positions in its hierarchy; The Grandfather, the original prophet/founder at its head, and then everyone else in service to him. Occasionally, out of merit, specific members will be assigned to specific tasks. For example, Brother Lazarus is regarded as the Order's best detective as well as its best killer. And Sister Metatron is known for her inventive mind, and is tasked with upkeeping the Order's laboratories and overseeing its innovations. Father Azrael is the Order's "heir apparent" and is expected to take on leadership when the Grandfather dies.

The Order's Temple is its headquarters, situated in Bastion City's Palace District. it is referred to internally as the "Tower."

In taking vows, a Priest forsakes all trappings and possessions of their past identity, including their own name. They are ordained as a "Brother" or "Sister" and given a new name chosen by The Grandfather. Each Priest is schooled in the Principle of Kahr-Anen and is required to forge a gun in order to undertake their duties. Every Clockwork Priest carries a customized firearm that is considered to be their "badge of office;" most often this is a six-shooter revolver of some kind.

## Known Members

#### Clergy

* Brother Lazarus is the most notable public face of the Clockwork Order. A ranger and enforcer, he has been mainly deployed in the outer territories of the mainland such as Dunhammer and the Deadlands, where he has cultivated a fearsome reputation. He has performed a number of tasks in Kahrnak's name ranging from monster-slaying to bounty-hunting to murder-solving to union-busting. An intimidating presence and prenaturally-gifted gunfighter, Lazarus is known for his brutal handling of his opponents, earning him the nomenclature of *the Brute*, the *Butcher*, and the *Animal*. Within the Order he is a polarizing figure. The Grandfather regards him as "my finest creation;" but others such as Zebedee question his orthodoxy and true loyalty to the Order's cause.
* Father Azrael holds the unusual title of Father, as he is the closest confidant and heir apparent to the ailing elderly Grandfather. He is also the longest-serving living member other than the prophet himself, being among the first to join when the Order was established, and is nearing is 80th year of life. Azrael is harsher and more authoritarian than the Grandfather and aims to drive the servants of Kahrnak in an even more violent direction.
* Sister Uzziah serves as the personal security detail and bodyguard for Odysseus Knox. She is a veteran member of the order, nearing three decades of service, and is highly respected within the clergy. Known to be among their greatest marksmen, second only to Lazarus.
* Brother Zebedee is an enforcer who operates almost exclusively within Bastion City. He is known for his sadistic brutality in handling civilians, to a degree that's considered exceptional even amongst his fellows' nihilistic violence. He is a close ally to Azrael and has a rivalry with Lazarus, with whom he has occasionally been partnered.
* Sister Metatron is the keenest mind in the Order. She is an unparalleled inventor, engineer and machinist. Rarely if ever deployed on field work, she operates almost exclusively in the clocktower laboratories, and is responsible for many of the Order's most cutting-edge technology.
* Sister Gabriel (deceased) was a veteran member of the Order, going on over 40 years. She was a roving recruiter for the Order who operated on the outer islands, and was responsible for the indoctrination of both Lazarus and Zebedee. As she aged she relocated to Bastion City and began to take on more detective work; she was slain by the Bastion Ripper while pursuing one of his victims.
* Sister Melchior (deceased) was a former partner of Lazarus. She violated the Principle of Kahr-Anen, was tarred as a traitor, and summarily executed on the Grandfather's orders as a result.

## Arms of Kahrnak

The Priests of the Clockwork Order each carry highly customized firearms. Some of the known weapons are listed here;

* "Paddywhacker" Hand Cannon from Bioshock Infinite
* Sleeve Gun from Taxi Driver

## Trivia

* The Order's motto is a quote from the Robert Browning poem Pippa Passes that was adapted as the motto of the NERV organization in Neon Genesis Evangelion. The Clockwork Order's usage of the phrase is intended in ironic contrast to the original stanza's exaltation of nature, as the Order's belief is that the erosion of nature is progressing as per "Kahrnak's plan"--god in his heaven (industrial progress on terros), all is right with his world (nature and magic destroyed).
* The Order resemble the Grammaton Cleric from Equilibrium and the Gunslingers from the Dark Tower series, as well as the Adeptus Mechanicus Tech Priests from Warhammer 40k.