Tonism

A tuning fork

> "That which comes can't be avoided." - Tonist saying
>
>

**Tonism** is a post-mortal religion which scythes view as a cult.

## History

Tonism is a post-mortal religion. Tonists worship *The Great Resonance* and choose sound over sight. Their 'religion' is said to be pre-mortal faiths cobbled together. Tonists loathe scythes, as they see gleaning as unnatural.

The Thunderhead, however, does not recognize Tonism as a religion.

Scythe Goddard hated Tonists and performed a mass-gleaning at a Tonist monastery. Scythe Volta self-gleaned after gleaning an entire classroom of Tonist children during the mass-gleaning at the Tonist monastery. Afterward, Rowan Damisch beheads Scythe Goddard, then burns Scythe Chomsky and Scythe Rand. Scythe Rand escapes, and revives Scythe Goddard with Tyger Salazar’s body.

There are at least a hundred different tone cults, each with their own rules.

## Beliefs

* Tonists believe that death by a scythe is not a natural death so they do not acknowledge it.
* They believe in the Great Vibration/Resonance and that it will free them from being stagnant.
* Tonists argue amongst themselves whether the divine tone is G-sharp or A-flat.
* They have not come to an agreement whether to call their deity "The Great Vibration" or "The Great Resonance".
* The most extremist Tonists cut their tongues and/or blind themselves because they claim the eyes can be deceiving and they appreciate other senses more. The less extreme will remove healing nanites.

## Tonist orders

Tonists live as sects, called orders. Only two are directly named, however it is said that over one hundred exist.

The only two to be named are Locrian and Dorian, both being musical modes.

### Locrian order

* Brother McCloud belongs to the Locrian order, from Witchita.
* According to Brother McCloud, some Locrians (and presumably other orders) remove their pain and healing nanites.

### Dorian order

* Dorians and Locrians are very bitter to each other. Dorians believe that Locrians are too laid back in their interpretation of Tonism, while Locrians believe that Dorians are too extreme.
* Scythe Anastasia describes Dorian Tonists as "assholes".

## Pages from the Tonist Holy Book On Aria

*A testament of the Toll*

Hear now, all who can discern true from fact, the indisputable account of the Toll, called forth from the beginning of time by the Great Resonance to walk among us, the Tone made flesh, in order to link us, the lost chosen, to the harmony from which we have fallen. Thus it came to pass in the Year of the Raptor that the Tone heralded a new era with a call heard round the world, and in that glorious moment breathed life into the mind-machine of humankind, making it a thing divine, and completing the sacred Triad of Tone, Toll, and Thunder. All rejoice!

**Commentary of Curate Symphonius**

These first lines of the account of the Toll's life set forth the basis of Tonist belief that the toll was not born, but existed in a non-corporeal form until the Great Resonance caused him to coalesce into flesh, The Year of the Raptor, is of course, not an actual year , but a period of human history was plagued by voracious appetites and vicious excesses. But if the Toll existed from the beginning of time, what of the Thunder, and exactly what is the mind-machine? While there has been much debate, it is now generally accepted that the mind-machine refers to the collective voices of humankind called to life by the Great Resonance, which implies that humanity itself was not actually alive until the Tone resonated in flesh. In other words, Humanity only existed as an idea in the mind of the Tone until that moment.

**Coda's analysis of Symphonius**

In studying the commentary of Symphonius, one must take his broad conclusions with a grain of salt. While no-one questions that the Toll existed as a spirit-entity at the beginning of time, his or her presence on Earth can be traced to a specific time and place -and the assumption that the Year of the Raptor was not an actual year is ludicrous, when exists to show that time was once counted in cycles of planetary rotation and revolution. As to what the mind-machine refers to, Symphonius's opinions are merely that; opinions. Many belive that the Thunder refers to a collection of human knowledge-perhaps with mechanical arms for the rapid turning of pages. A library of thought, if you will, roaring into consciousness after the arrival of the Toll on Earth, much like the thunder follows lightning.

## Symbol

Tonists' symbol is the **tuning fork**, and they argue whether the sound produced by a tuning fork is G sharp or A flat.

A tuning fork is a double-pronged piece of steel usually, that resonates at a certain pitch. Musicians would use these to tune their instruments in the past, and if the same tuning fork was used to tune all of the instruments, then they would all be perfectly tuned together.

The tuning fork that is symbolic for the Tonists is specifically a G#/A♭ fork. It is under constant scrutiny which sound it is, though, in all reality, they are the same frequency of 830.61 Hz.

It was rumored (although unproven) that the sound resonated by the Thunderhead on the day of the sinking of the Endura, was the same as the Tonist's tuning fork, creating a turning point in the Tonists religion.

After Scythe Faraday had reached Kwajalein, he began searching for the "fail-safe" supposedly left behind by the founding scythes. He finds an enclosed room locked by an old sealed door requiring two scythe rings, eventually opened by himself and Scythe Anastasia, they find a room with a large hangar and what looks like a tuning fork. After pressing a button, this tuning fork raises and resonates in the air, shattering every single scythe ring on the planet. It is believed that this was at the same resonant frequency of the scythe rings, implanted into a religion as a failsafe by the old Scythe Da Vinci due to the knowledge of temperament and betrayal among the founding scythes.

## Tonist monastery

**Primordial ooze** is water with microbes, and disease (namely Smallpox, polio, Ebola, anthrax, etc) kept in a stone basin within Tonists monasteries, it's harmless to humans since there is no disease in the Post-Mortal World. There are doctors versed in mortal-age remedies in the monastery so Tonists don't have to go to healing centers.

Every day the **ceremony of intoning** is performed, which consists of the curate striking the huge tuning fork in the center of the monastery, twelve times in succession with a mallet, while the congregation matches the tone. the vibration builds and resonates to the point of being disorienting. Then the curate gives a sermon, after this, the congregation gets in line to each dip a finger into the primordial ooze, touch their forehead, and lick it off their finger, this is called **partaking of the earthly bowl**.

Tonists live within the monastery their rooms are austere, with no comforts beyond what is necessary: a bed, a chair, and a nightstand, no decorations on the walls, except for an iron tuning fork above the headboard.

Each monastery has a visitor's center where Tonists sit behind desks and hand out brochures and offer sympathy to anyone who wanders inside the monastery.

## Tonist clothing

Tonists usually wear simple clothing: a sackcloth outfit and a pair of sandals is their usual attire. It is usually in earthen colors.

## Tonist sayings

* "*That which comes can't be avoided".* Notably, not a holy belief but merely something they live by.
* *"Resonate well and true"*.
* "*May the Fork be with you"*, a small Star Wars reference from the Age of Mortality. (it hasn't been confirmed this is something the Tonists say, just implied that they do.)
* *What rings out always echoes back,* a version of "what goes around comes around".

## Known members

* Brother McCloud
* Curate Beauregard
* Curate Mendoza †
* Ezra Van Otterloo †: Brother Ezra

* Greyson Tolliver: The Toll
* Tenkamenin's parents
* Robert Ferguson: Brother Ferguson
* Rupert Rosewood: Curate of Sibilant Tonists in SubSahara
* Sister Astrid: Mother of Aria
* Curate Symphonius
* Coda

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Scythe
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Thunderhead