The six devotion factions represent the core philosophies and cosmic forces battling for dominance, influence, and survival in the Starfall Galaxy. Tens of thousands of years have passed since these cabals have operated openly. While they are all bitter rivals with each other, they dare not engage in open direct conflict with each other. The last time the factions openly warred, the galaxy was nearly destroyed, entities almost extinguished, and the progenitors were scoured from existence. The core devotions now foster proxies and maintain buffers between their siblings. Their preference is not to be exposed on the galactic scale; instead, they spin webs of loyalties, alliances, and obligations to bring about their objectives. From devoted Heart systems in real space and semidivine rift realms, the significant events of the Starfall have been touched in some way by these powerful collectives.
Riftsworn Faction
The Riftsworn, also known as the Riftsworn Ascendancy, represent the Colorless Devotion—the ultimate antithesis to the rigid order and fleeting life of the material universe. They are a terrifying, chaotic collective of zealous cultists, powerful Rift-Mages, and extra-dimensional entities hailing from the Maelstrom, their Heartworld being the volatile Maelstrom's Edge. Their faith is absolute, centered on the raw, untamed forces of the Colorless Void, which they see as the primal state of existence.
Their singular goal is to dissolve the material universe's flawed laws, merging all of real-space back into the psychoreactive churn of the Rift-Maelstrom, guided by the raw consciousness of their patron, the Void Court (The Unbound Chaos).
Eldritch and terrifying. Their ships defy logic, appearing as asymmetrical, shifting masses of warped metal and organic growth. Cultists wear flowing robes and bizarre masks, often scarred and mutated by the raw energies of the Maelstrom.
Goals and Motivations
A fundamental rejection of all imposed structure drives the Riftsworn's actions. They view the entire cosmos as a grand, but flawed, experiment that must be undone so that its raw potential may be unleashed once more. Their motivation is not simple malice but a belief that true existence is only possible outside the constraints of mortal reality.
Their primary goals include:
Dimensional Incursion: Performing world-shaking rituals to open and stabilize major breaches into real-space, allowing their extra-planar masters and entities from the Maelstrom to cross into the material plane.
Spreading Transcendence: Converting populations with the promise of ultimate transcendence and raw, unfiltered cosmic power. They see the Rift-Taint—the chaotic corruption of mind, body, and technology—as a blessed mark of spiritual and physical liberation.
Accelerating Annihilation: Causing maximum possible chaos and destruction to accelerate reality's dissolution, speeding the final merger with the Colorless Void.
The Riftsworn's Virtue: Transcendence and Unbound Potential
The Riftsworn offer the ultimate form of liberation: true Transcendence. They preach that the current universe—with its rigid laws, societal chains, and predetermined destinies—is a cage, a flawed design that stifles true potential. The Colorless Void is not an ending but a great, beautiful solvent that dissolves all restrictive boundaries.
To the Riftsworn, their chaotic power is the ultimate democracy. It is a raw, unfiltered cosmic force that does not care for birthright, wealth, or status; it simply is. By shedding the illusion of order and embracing the Rift-Taint, a mortal being can shed their fragile, limited form. They are promised a new existence of raw, psychoreactive energy, a merging with the sublime and infinite consciousness of the Void Court, where the very laws of reality bend to one's will. This path is one of magnificent, self-aware annihilation and a glorious return to the primal state of Unbound Chaos, where all things are possible.
The Riftsworn's Vice: Annihilation and Unspeakable Madness
The terrifying vice of the Riftsworn is Annihilation—not just of worlds, but of the very self. Their pursuit of "transcendence" is a one-way ticket to madness and the utter destruction of identity. The raw energies of the Maelstrom they worship are not a power to be harnessed, but a relentless, entropic current that strips away all that makes a sentient being them.
The so-called Rift-Taint is a grotesque curse of mutation, physical scarring, and psychological dissolution. Followers are not empowered masters; they are puppets and conduits, their forms warped into impossible geometries and their minds fractured by the unfiltered consciousness of the Void Court. To join the Riftsworn is to trade a mortal life for a brief, horrifying, and ultimately insignificant role in a plan of universal suicide. Every new Dimensional Incursion they open is an act of cosmic terrorism, destabilizing spacetime and dooming the innocent to an anarchic, agonizing end in the name of an entity that sees all life as a sickness to be scoured from existence.
The Void Court: The Unbound Chaos
The Void Court is not a place, but the raw, unfiltered consciousness of the Rift-Maelstrom itself—the totality of the Colorless Devotion, simultaneously the ultimate force and the ultimate realm. It is the fount of Colorlessness and the great, self-aware solvent that strips away all limiting reality. It is a true Outer Plane aligned with the Colorless Devotion. The Void Court defies all logic, form, and mortal comprehension. It is a shifting, chaotic expanse of pure, psychoreactive energy, a canvas of Unbound Chaos. The Void Court operates on the ultimate principle of transcendence, which makes it a paradise for those who embrace the Colorless Devotion, and a hellish prison for those who resist its core truth.
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