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Dogs in Almighty God's Vineyard

Background Information

a part of “Dogs in Almighty God's Vineyard”, a fictional universe by Magus1108.

The King of Life has called upon you to be God's Watchdog, a defender of The Faith, the hammer upon which you beat men until they are purified. Can you answer the call, and do your best to defend and promote The Faith?

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This conversation is an Out Of Character (OOC) part of the roleplay, “Dogs in Almighty God's Vineyard”.
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Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:30 pm

The Faith: An Overview

The Beginning

The Faith was founded in the year of 1823, by the Great Prophet and future 1st King of Life, Silas Baker. Silas was a New Yorker by birth, and after reportedly being visited by the Archangel Gabriel, Silas broke away from the mainstream Christian religion. He began to preach The Faith to the denizens of New York City around May of 1823. While dismissed as a lunatic and heretic by many of his brethren, his words and teachings began to sway many people to what he now called the Faith.

His congregation was small, at first, but it grew and grew over time. Eight years after first founding the Faith, Silas had managed to gather himself a large following of believers, so much so that many religious leaders of the time started considering him a threat. This led to eventual clashes with the Protestant and Catholic sects of Christianity; people on both sides of the religious conflict actually united, and sought to disprove or otherwise stop Silas and the Faith. This led to a great deal of violence and death on both sides of this little religious war, much to the horror and regret of Father Silas, as he now styled himself.

To escape such persecution, Silas urged his followers to come with him to the West, where they could practice the Faith unmolested. And thus Silas and his believers left the United States proper en masse, and emigrated all the way to the Western frontier territories; there, Silas, now proclaimed the King of Life by the believers of the Faith, settled with his people. Silas and his main core of followers founded the town of New Life, which they proclaimed the Holy City and Capital of the Faith. There, Silas began his full reign as the 1st King of Life.

Fleshing out the Faith

Once Silas and the followers of the Faith had fully settled into the frontier lands, King Silas began to flesh out the hierarchy of the Faith. He appointed a council of seven special advisers, whom he dubbed Ministers of Faith. These seven Ministers were made only second in authority to the King of Life himself, and each Minister had their own special function.

There is the Faith Minister of Tithes, who oversees the funds and wealth of the Faithian Church; the Faith Minister of Education, who oversees the education and enlightenment of the Faithful; the Faith Minister of Social Order, who ensures that nothing taints or corrupts the pure society that the Faith promotes; the Faith Minister of Conversion, who is tasked with overseeing the conversion of heathens and sinners to the Faith; the Faith Minister of Records, who is tasked with the upkeep of an archive that contains the history of the Faith and all things concerning it, such as the various reigns of the Kings of Life, past and present; the Faith Minister of Watchdogs, who oversees the safety and defense of the Faith and its followers; and the Faith Minister of Archdeons, the head of the overall, regular class of Archdeons who choose not to specialize in any of the above categories, and instead go on to become regular priests that preach to the masses.

These Ministers of Faith are all specially appointed by the King of Life, and altogether these seven men give counsel and advice to the King, as well as overseeing the certain tasks given to them by the Life King. Outside of the King himself, these Ministers are the seven most powerful men and women of the Faith religion.

Underneath the Ministers, are the Archdeons of the Faith. They serve as priests and preachers of the Faith, spreading the Word wherever and however they can. While all Archdeons are ordained as priests of the Faith, individual Archdeons may have more duties and goals than some of their brethren, depending on which Order they are apart of.

There are six Orders in total that the Archdeons compromise, and these six orders correspond to the duties and tasks given to six of the seven Faith Ministers.

Technically, their actually is a seventh Order, that corresponds to the department headed by the Faith Minister of Watchdogs. But in accordance with the 2nd King of Life's Holy Edict, this seventh order has since branched out to become an organization all of its own, separate from the duties and tasks of a regular Archdeon. As a result of this edict, the Watchdog Archdeons have since been transformed into the well known Dogs of the present era.

The Holy Family

The 'Holy Family', as they are called by the Faithful, are the living descendents of the Great Prophet, Silas Baker. Each King of Life comes from the Holy Family, and it is a prime duty of the King of Life to ensure that the line of succession is unbroken, and that the Family continues to prosper and thrive. Members of the Holy Family are also often appointed to positions as high-ranking Archdeons, or even full on Ministers, by the King of Life.

As per the decree of the Great Prophet and first King of Life, Silas Baker, all future Kings of Life have been chosen from the 'Holy Family' of the Prophets. Upon the death of the current King of Life, his or her eldest child is to be elevated as the next Life King; though in cases where that is not applicable, usually in the case of the death of the eldest child, the list of succession goes on to the next eldest child. In cases where all the children of the King of Life are dead or otherwise incapable of taking on the mantle, the list of succession goes onto the eldest sibling of the King of Life.

If the King of Life is without living siblings, the next available fullblooded relative is to assume the throne. And in cases where that is not applicable...then the Dark King has risen from his Tomb, and the End of Days has begun.

Of course, such an event will not occur until the seas themselves have threatened to dry up, and the earth has forsaken giving new life. Or so says the Book of Life, Chapter 33, Verses 27-41.

The Book of Life

The Book of Life is the collection of teachings and rulings of the Faith as dictated by the Great Prophet and 1st King of Life, Silas Baker. It is comprised of a total of 41 chapters, and each one deals with a different variety of topics and themes. The Book of Life is considered to be the Living Word of the Faith and the Living Word of the Prophet Silas. It is considered the most holy text of the Faith, and any desecration of the Book is seen as one of the most horrid of offenses to commit against the Faith.

The (Watch)Dogs

Originally conceived as the seventh Archdeon Order, the Dogs have since then branched out into an entirely new organization. Charged with the defense and safety of the Faith and its followers, the Dogs have since had their duties branched out into entirely new areas. As a unique hybrid of priest, inquisitor, missionary, monk, and exorcist, the Dogs of the Faith now perform a variety of duties in function across the lands of the Life King.

Another unique facet of the Dogs is the fact that they are the closest thing to an organized law force in the Frontier. Each local town has its own sherriff and deputies, or versions thereof, of course, but they do not compare to the sheer size, strength, and power of the Dogs. Among their many duties, Dos are often charged with hunting down dangerous criminals and bandits, and overall they see to the punishment of the wicked and cruel in the Frontier. Some people even consider the Dogs an army unto themselves; such a view is often espoused by the Territorial Authority, which has led to many different arguments and conflicts between the Kings of Life and the Territorial Governors.

Training to become ordained as a Dog is harsh and difficult, often so that the instructors and teachers can try to weed out the weak and feable....though if one tries at it hard enough, they can ultimately succeed and become a Dog. Formal training for Watchdogs is held at a special academy in the capital of New Life; there, retired Dogs oversee and train each successive generation of holy warriors. One can receive training as a Dog informally, usually via having one on one training with an active or retired Dog, but it is most recommended by the Faith Minister of Watchdogs to receive your training at the academy.

Also, only the Faith Minister of Watchdogs can ordain an apprentice Dog. Anyone who is not ordained by the Minister, but claims him or herself as a Dog, is viewed as a rogue heretic that needs to be reined in. All successful graduating Dogs are ordained by the Minister once a year, at a graduating ceremony held in the academy.

The required minimum age for prospective Dog candidates is 16 years of age, and there is no set retiring age for Dogs; all Dogs serve until they die, until they are rendered incapable of accomplishing their duty, or until they decide to take themselves out of the fight.

The Territorial Authority

While members of the Faith and the King of Life often try to ignore this fact, they are still considered citizens of the United States by the federal government. Since the rapid spread and expanson of the Faith in the Western Frontier, the United States has taken up a reluctant tolerance of the Faith. For the moment, they are content to let the people of the Faith do their own thing, so long as they violate no laws established by the government. While the Territorial Authority is weary of the Dogs, the Order does a good job in deterring bandits and stopping criminals, so they try to turn a blind eye to the other...less savory practices of the Watchdogs. They are less than successful of this at times, but they still try.

As a territory of the United States government, much of the land that is made up of the Faith is nominally ruled by the Territorial Governor. However, the authority of the Territorial Governor is often ignored by the people of the Faith, much to the consternation of the federal government and Territorial Authority.

Still, for the most part, the Territorial Authority has tried to do its best to maintain good relations with the King of Life and the Faith in general. Neither they nor the Federal Government wish to incite religious war or riot.

That policy may not remain forever, however. Many in Congress are pushing for more aggressive action toward the 'militant Satanic cult' that has embedded itself into the American Frontier. So far this warhawk group does not have the votes to see their way done, but the political climate of Washington DC is always changing. Perhaps one day, this might be a policy that the Federal Government will seriously consider...

The Faith and its relationship with other religions

As per an agreement between the Territorial Governor and the King of Life, all believers of the Faith are asked to be tolerant and cordial to people of other religions; most importantly, to the Protestant minority that has taken root in the lands of the Faith. Still, not everyone of the Faith has followed these commands. Many zealous Archdeons and Dogs actively try to convert members of other religions to that of the Faith. Such practice is offically frowned upon by the King of Life and his Ministers, but they will not go out of their way to punish such actions.

For the most part, the Protestant Minority tries to stick to its own business, and ignore the presence of the Faith. For the most part these Protestants are scattered around in various little towns, though there is an especially strong Protestant presence in the Eastern lands of the Faith.
Last edited by Magus1108 on Sun Mar 22, 2015 9:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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There is no War in Ba Sing Se

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:35 pm

Terms of note

Archdeon: A priest or preacher of the Faith; they serve the same purpose and function as the priests and ministers of the mainstream Christian religion, more or less. The proper term of address for an Archdeon is "Archdeon (Name)". Informally, many Archdeons have taken to being called, "Father".

Dog: The abbrieviated title of the Watchdogs. They are the police, military, and inquisitoral force of the Faith. They are not to be trifled with easily, and coming into conflict with a Dog often leads to a great many deaths.

King of Life: The King of Life is the Head of the Faithian Church. Roughly, they hold the same amount of power and prestige as the Pope of the Catholic Church.

Territorial Authority: They represent the interests of the United States Federal Government in the frontier territories of North America. They often come into conflict with the psuedo-government of the Faith, and tensions between the two organizations are often fairly high.



The Kings of Life

The following is a list of the Kings of Life that have ruled over the Faith.

A word of note: in honor of the first King, the Great Prophet Silas, all subsequent Kings have adopted the last name of 'Prophet' upon ascending to the throne.

The Kings of Life:

1: Silas Baker (1831-1843)
2: Garret Prophet (1843-1860)
3: Julian Prophet (1860-1884)
4: Luther Prophet (1884-)

The Faithian Values

There are several different values that the Faith and its followers hold dear. These values have developed over time, and either come from scripture present within the Book of Life, or ways of life they've adopted due to the environmet of the frontier.

Hard Work and Hard Living

The West can be a hard place to live in, and that hard nature reflects itself in the rough exterior that many people of the Faith, or just Frontier people in general, radiate. Making an honest living in such difficult land has made many of the Faith appreciate the value of hard work, and many devout practicioners scorn the very idea of an easy life. Some people of the Faith even believe that a life of hard work and hard living will give you splendid rewards and wonders in the Beyond.

Because of their way of life, many of the Faith also pride themselves on being self-sufficient. While Charity is encouraged in the Faith, many believers find it harder to accept than others, due to the Western Ideal of working your way up in life without the help or 'pity' of others. Such conflicting ideals lead many of the Faith to ultimately reject any given charity, for fear that they are being pitied.

All People are Equal under the Faith

By proclaimation of the Great Prophet Silas, all peoples under the Faith are equal in the eyes of God, be they black, white, red, or yellow. Even women are given great freedom and self-determination under the laws of the Faith. Such a view also fits in perfectly with the Western Frontier, where every man, woman, and child have to carve out their own path in the harsh and brutal landscape.

However, such equality is not shared with those outisde of the Faith. Many believers of the Faith treat those of other religions and beliefs as inherently inferior, due to their 'heretic' nature. And even with the promise of equality, some people of the Faith are still scorned. Some white men and women hold to the belief that the Africans are inferior by their very nature. And most everybody in the West, of the Faith or not, have a good deal iof ire and hatred toward the Natives and their savage ways.
Last edited by Magus1108 on Thu Mar 05, 2015 8:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:16 pm

State of Affairs

Date: July, 1887

The Fourth King of Life, Luther Prophet, has reigned a little over three years, taking the throne after the untimely death of his father. Luther Prophet is a direct descendant of the Great Prophet, Silas Baker, being the man's great-grandson.

King Luther is also twelve years old.

King Julian, the third and previous King of Life, did not have any children older than Luther, nor did he have any living siblings who could form a regency or otherwise assume control over the Throne of Life. Thus it was with a great many reservations that the Ministers of Faith heralded the crowning of King Luther, the youngest King of Life by far in the Faith's short-lived history.

True power is not invested in the King right now, of course. Luther Prophet may be King, but at the moment the true power behind the Throne of Life is Lady Agnes, great-grandmother of King Luther and the third wife of the Great Prophet, Silas Baker. Lady Agnes is a well-renowned and respected figure within the Holy Family, and in the Faith in general. She was one of three wives Silas wed once he and his followers moved out west, becoming his preferred and favorite wife in the short time they were married together.

While no official power was bestowed unto her, Lady Agnes sits in on every single meeting King Luther holds with his Ministers, and other government officials in the State of the Deseret. So for all intents and purposes, she is ruling in King Luther's stead while the boy grows into office.



State of the Deseret

The territory of Faithian People is vast and wide, taking up a great majority of the Old West in the United States. As of 1887, the loosely defined borders of the State of the Deseret would be thus:

Image

That area of land is officially acknowledged as the State of the Deseret amongst the people of the Faith, their territorial government within the States. The State of the Deseret was founded in 1846 by the second King of Life, Garret Prophet, who conceived of the idea of a separate territorial government for the people of the Faith.

While the Federal Government rejected forming the State of the Deseret, this mattered little to the King of Life and his Faithful, who took action without the approval of the Territorial Authority. While, officially speaking, the people of the Faith are largely divided among Utah and New Mexico Territories, with minorities in California, Oregon, and other areas, the people of the Faith themselves only acknowledge the existence of the State of the Deseret.

They consider themselves citizens of the Deseret, and nothing else. The existence of this illegal territory vexes the Federal Government to no end, and the Territorial Governors of Utah and New Mexico (as well as other places the Faith has claimed as apart of the State of the Deseret), but for the moment the Territorial Authority has let this slide.

It is doubtless that will remain for long, however.



A Brief Look at North America, As of the year 1887

Much has changed in North America, since the foundation of the Faith. In more ways than one.

The biggest change to come to the continent was the War of Southern Liberation, which lasted from 1861 to 1863. This war saw the birth of the Confederate States of America, which successfully seceded from the Union in September of 1863, when the War Between the States came to an official end with the Treaty of Richmond.

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The modern-day borders of the Confederate States of America, circa 1887. The Confederacy acquired half of the New Mexico and Arizona territories in the Treaty of Richmond, and acquired further territory from Mexico in the Confederate-Mexican War of 1879. Cuba and Puerto Rico were purchased from Spain by the Confederacy in 1882.

In other news, the Kingdom of Hawaii was officially annexed by the United States just a year previous, in 1886.

Despite the two-decade gap since the War of Southern Liberation, tensions remain high between the Confederate States and the United States. The CSA is emerging as a growing power in North America, something the US, under the administration of President Grover Cleveland, does not appreciate.

The existence of the Confederacy has also had some interesting side-affects for the State of the Deseret. While their areas of the Territorial Authority is still under United States control, the Confederate Administration, led by Confederate President Fitzhugh Lee, has struck something of an informal relationship with the State of the Deseret.

In recent years, President Lee and Lady Agnes have exchanged many letters and telegraphs, with President Lee encouraging the State of the Deseret to formally secede from the United States. In the event of this happening, President Lee has promised full support from the Confederacy to the Deseret.

While there have been talks of seceding from the United States in the past, it is still an issue kept tightly under wraps by Lady Agnes and the Seven Ministers. For now, they pay lip-service to the Territorial Authority, and annually petition statehood, which has been rejected thus far by the Federal Government. However, times change, and opportunities present themselves.

While the State of the Deseret is apart of the Utah and New Mexico Territories, as well as other areas in the United States, the issue of secession is a tempting one. If the Confederacy could successfully win their independence from the Federal Government, then it stands to reason the Deseret could earn much the same, especially when bolstered by Confederate support.

Granted, Lady Agnes and the Seven Ministers are...uneasy, fully allying with the Confederacy. Slavery is still very much alive in the CSA, while slavery itself has been expressly forbidden amongst the Faithful since the near beginnings of the religion. Not to mention that it is legal for many African-Americans to become Archdeons, or even to become Dogs.

Still...a Storm is Coming. Things cannot stay the way they are forever, in the Deseret. One day, sooner than they might like, the Territorial Authority will take action against the Deseret, especially against the Watchdogs. It is only a matter of time; or, alternatively, the Faithian territories may finally be granted Statehood, but on the condition that they dismantle the Dogs, or otherwise change aspects of their religious doctrine.

And when that day comes, the people of the Faith will have a choice to face: either submit, or put everything at stake, and fight for their independence.
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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Thu Mar 05, 2015 8:40 pm

Politics in the Confederate States and the United States


The United States

Twenty-odd years have passed since the War of Southern Liberation, and yet in many ways the United States is still recovering from their massive loss in that war. Much of President McClellan's terms in office were spent rebuilding the United States without the South, and taking the country in a new direction.

Some years later, President Grover Cleveland is doing much the same. Under his administration, the USA annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii, adding it as a Territory. President Cleveland has also shifted a good deal of political focus on the Utah and New Mexico Territories, the main strongholds for the Faith. To further rebuild the United States, adding these Territories as proper States would help him in this goal, and these Territories do meet most requirements to petition for Statehood.

There is a problem of the Faith, of course. The people of the Faith practically govern themselves, with no adherence to the Territorial Authority or the Territorial Governors. They acknowledge the existence of the State of the Deseret, an entity made illegal by the Federal Government over forty years ago.

If the last Western Territories in the United States are to ever become states proper, then something needs to be done about the Faith and their illegal Deseret government. President Cleveland is still weighing his options here, in terms of diplomatic solutions, but he doesn't have a lot of wriggle room there, as it were.

One way or another, something has to be done with the Faith; and if he doesn't do it, certainly his eventual successor will. It is only a matter of time until the Federal Government makes a final choice about the troublesome and vexing People of the Faith.

The Confederate States

In contrast to the Union, the Confederate States have entered into something of a golden era. Beginning with President Lee in 1867, the Confederacy has started to blossom and bloom as a proper nation-state. Steps have been taken to further industrialize the Confederacy, in order to make them more able to compete with the factories of their Yankee brethren, and the legality of slavery has allowed the Confederacy to still sell its number one cash-crop and export item: cotton.

And, starting near the end of President Jackson's term and the beginning of President Forrest's term, the Confederacy started to aggressively expand its territory. President Jackson laid the groundwork for an eventual war with Mexico, and President Forrest accomplished his predecessor's dream, beginning the Confederate-Mexican War in 1879. The war came to a proper end by 1881, with a complete and total Confederate victory, and the acquisition of a great deal of Mexican territory.

President Forrest also stumbled upon a golden opportunity a year later, when the Confederacy was offered Spanish-Cuba and Spanish-Puerto Rico by Spain the year following.

President Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Robert E. Lee, ascended to the Confederate Presidency in 1885, largely elected on the coattails of his famous uncle. Thus far he has proved an able statesman and quite the crafty individual, a befitting President for a nation on the up and up.

Overall, while the United States has largely declined and stagnated, the Confederacy has continued to grow by leaps and bounds. Whether this will last remains to be seen, but it cannot be denied that the Confederate States of America is a growing source of power and dominance in North America.

Presidents of the United States of America (From 1860 to 1887)

16: President Abraham Lincoln (Republican; 1861-1865)
17: President George B. McClellan (Democrat; 1865-1873)
18: President Thomas H. Seymour (Democrat; 1873-1877)
19: President James G. Blaine* (Whig; 1877-1885)
20: President Grover Cleveland (Democrat; 1885-)

* Following the destruction of the Republican Party, after President Lincoln's failed attempt to subjugate the South and bring them back into the Union, the Whig Party saw a revival, mostly from a mixture of former Republicans seeking to rebrand themselves.

Presidents of the Confederate States of America (From 1860 to 1887)

1: President Jefferson Davis* (Independent; 1861-1867)
2: President Robert E. Lee (Independent; 1867-1873)
3: President Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson** (National Democrat; 1873-1879)
4: President Nathan Bedford Forrest (National Democrat; 1879-1885)
5: President Fitzhugh Lee (National Democrat; 1885-)

* It should be noted that, under the Confederate Constitution, all Presidents are limited to one six year term. Thus, Confederate Presidents are unable to run for reelection, hence the high turnover rate for new Presidents in the Confederacy.

** President Jackson was the first candidate elected from the National Democrats, a Confederate political party founded in 1864.
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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Fri Mar 06, 2015 1:47 pm

Politics in the Faith

Conflicts in the Holy Family

On the outside, the Holy Family presents a united front, the illusion that the entire family is united together with no conflict or strife. That they all work for the best interests of the Faith, and do their best to keep it going on despite all the problems life throws at them. That, deep down, each and every member of the Holy Family have the best interests of the Faith in their hearts.

However, this is far from the truth.

In reality, the Holy Family is very much divided, and behind closed doors, are often divisive and cruel to one another, depending on their affiliations with the main three factions in the Holy Family. In many ways, the conflicts and battles waged within the Family hearken back to the conflicts amongst the nobility of Medieval Europe. The main three factions within the family plot against one another, arrange marriage alliances to the benefit of their Clan, and scheme to claw their way to the top, by whatever means necessary.

This was not always the case. Once, the Holy Family was a more genuine, actual sort of family, that cared for one another and loved each other. Such it was during the lifetime of the Great Prophet. But, shortly after Prophet Silas' death, and the ascension of Garret Prophet to the Throne of Life, the Holy Family started to splinter and fracture, until it twisted and distorted into the decadent court that now reigns in New Life.

In the entirety of the Holy Family, there are three main factions, or Clans, as they refer to themselves. Each Clan traces its origins back to the Three Wives of the Great Prophet Silas: Beatrice Winters, Meredith Jackson, and Agnes Kingston.

Clan Winters

Clan Winters traces its lineage all the way back to Beatrice Winters, and the sons and daughters she sired with the Great Prophet. Clan Winters is descended from the eldest children of Prophet Silas, as it was Beatrice who birthed the first-born child of the Prophet. In the end, however, it was not the eldest of the Prophet who inherited his throne, but rather his second-born son, Garret.

It is because of this that Clan Winters has an unnatural amount of loathing and hatred toward Clan Kingston. They believe that the Throne of Life is theirs to rightfully inherit, and that Clan Kingston unlawfully usurped the throne for themselves, arranging a fake death-bed confession from the Great Prophet that Garret should inherit the throne.

Clan Winters continues to remain a powerful political faction within the Holy Family, and it is their ultimate goal to secure the Throne of Life for themselves, in order to gain what should have been theirs by birth, in the first place. They have not yet succeeded, thus far, but an opportunity of sorts has presented itself. The latest King of Life, Luther Prophet, is but a child, and obviously has not sired any heirs to inherit the throne upon his death.

It is their hope that they can take advantage of this situation, and claim what is rightfully theirs.

Clan Jackson

Clan Jackson traces its lineage all the way back to Meredith Jackson, and the sons and daughters she sired with the Great Prophet. Meredith Jackson gave birth to the first-born daughter of the Great Prophet, and overall second-born child, just a few days after the initial birth of the sired Winters child.

While Clan Jackson does not have as much of a strong claim to the Throne of Life via seniority, like Clan Winters does, the members of Clan Jackson still scheme to take the Throne for themselves. Like their sister-clan, they view the Kingstons as having unlawfully stolen the Throne for themselves on the death-bed of the Great Prophet, and wish to claim the Throne of Life for their Clan.

After all, even if Clan Winters are descended from the eldest child of the Great Prophet, everyone knows that it is the first-born child of Meredith Jackson that was Prophet Silas' favorite child. The Great Prophet never tried to play favorites among his brood of children, but everyone from that time clearly remembers that Muriel Jackson was indeed Prophet Silas' most favorite among his children. She captivated his heart like no other of his heirs ever did, and if the Great Prophet should have given the Throne to any of his children upon his deathbed, Muriel was the obvious candidate.

Thus, it came as a great shock when the Great Prophet apparently ordered his second-born son Garret, first-born child of Agnes Kingston, as his successor to the Throne of Life.

Much like Clan Winters, Clan Jackson claims that this death-bed confession from the Great Prophet was a lie, perpetrated by Agnes Kingston in order to have her son inherit the throne, instead of either Muriel Jackson or the eldest of the children, Jeremiah Winters. Both of whom, especially Muriel (in the opinion of Clan Jackson) had far, far stronger claims to the throne than Garret Kingston ever did.

Now, though, an opportunity has arisen. King Julian unexpectedly died of consumption three years previously, leaving his last living heir, Luther, as his only successor. And since Luther is but a child, Clan Jackson hopes to take advantage of this. Clan Kingston is in a precarious position at this moment in time, and are the weakest they've ever been in the 44 years they've been in power.

Perhaps now, Clan Jackson will finally have its chance to rise.

Clan Kingston

Clan Kingston traces its lineage all the way back to Agnes Kingston, and the sons and daughters she sired with the Great Prophet. Agnes Kingston, the only one of Prophet Silas' wives who yet still lives, gave birth to the second-born son of the Great Prophet, and overall third-born child, just a month after the birth of Muriel Jackson.

While Clan Kingston has the weakest of claims to the Throne of Life, or at least it did in its inception decades ago, that did not stop them from inheriting the Throne of Life.

According to the official story, as told by Agnes Kingston, after the Great Prophet suddenly sickened and started to waste away in bed, he called in his wife Agnes into his chambers. He then supposedly had a death-bed confession of sorts, officially telling Agnes that he wanted her son Garret to succeed him as the next King of Life. And shortly after that, the Great Prophet finally expired, leaving this realm and ascending up to the Beyond.

Agnes Kingston was the only one who ever heard this death-bed confession, so the validity of it has been questioned repeatedly, in the years following the Prophet's death. However, those who later questioned this confession were far too late to stop Agnes from taking action. Before most of the Holy Family had even been told of the Great Prophet's death, Agnes Kingston and the Seven Ministers were already crowning her son Garret as the new King of Life.

And from then on, Clan Kingston had secured the Throne of Life for themselves, with Garret Prophet and his direct descendants.

Clan Winters and Clan Jackson bitterly contest this, almost all the time, but in the end they take little to no action, despite their words. The Kingstons have already well-secured the Throne for themselves, and the idea of a full on Civil War in the Holy Family is inconceivable. They might all hate each other, but at the same time they do need to put on the illusion of unity, so none of the Faithful outside of the Family realize something is wrong.

In recent years, however, Clan Kingston has become unexpectedly weakened. King Julian died three years previous, and due to events beyond their control, his underage son Luther was the only one who could ascend as the new King of Life. And while Lady Agnes has done her best to become King Luther's regent, in all but name, she and her Clan are severely weakened with a child on the Throne.

These next few years are going to be precarious for Clan Kingston, especially for their very grip upon the Throne of Life. Clan Winters and Clan Jackson smell the blood in the water, and both Clans will be more than eager to wrestle away power from the Kingstons in their time of fragility.

Time will only tell if Clan Kingston successfully manages to keep power to themselves, or if they fall from grace and either Clan Winters or Clan Jackson rise into prominence.

The Kingston Curse

In the Holy Family, particularly among Clan Winters and Clan Jackson, there are whispers of the Kingston Curse. It is a Curse supposedly set upon Garret Prophet and his direct descendants by God, for wrongfully stealing the Throne of Life for their own selfish desires.

Whether or not this Curse actually exists is another matter entirely, but many within Clan Winters and Clan Jackson believe its validity, and there is evidence to back up this Curse, of a sort.

Thus far, Garret Prophet and his successors have all ruled relatively short reigns, and died rather young. Garret died in 1860 of an unexpected heart attack, dropping dead before anyone could help him. He was only 35 at the time of his death. His son and successor, Julian, died of consumption over twenty years later. and while Julian was still a few years older than his father upon his death, he was still rather young when he expired.

And outside of the shockingly young deaths of the past two Kings of Life, there is other, apparent evidence to back up the existence of a curse. King Garret sired plenty of children during the course of his reign, but one by one they all died or just up and disappeared, leaving Julian as his only heir by the time he ascended to the throne.

And Julian himself sired eight children during his own life, his son Luther being the youngest of all these kids. However, Luther's seven elder siblings all ended up dying, via one means or another, over the two decades that King Julian reigned. Thus when Julian himself finally died, it was his youngest Luther that inherited his father's throne.

It is because of this that many in Clan Jackson and Clan Winters, and even some dissidents in Clan Kingston, believe in the Kingston Curse. These events are proof that God does not want the Kingstons to be the Kings of Life. Or so the proponents of this Curse argue.

Keeping up Appearances

While the various Clans bicker and fight one another behind closed doors, in public they put on the appearance of solidarity and unity. In all public appearances put forth by any and all members of the Holy Family, they show nothing of the political intrigue and constant in-fighting that goes on behind closed doors. Instead, they put up the idea that everything is fine and dandy, to their Faithful subjects.

Keeping up appearances is one of the most important aspects for the Holy Family as a whole, and even though they all despise one another, they all come together in unity to keep up their appearances, whenever they need to make a public appearance for the Faithful.

If there's one thing the entirety of the Holy Family can come together on, it's that maintaining their Image is utterly imperative. It's fine and all if they fight behind closed doors; but they cannot let any of that animosity leak out into the public.

If the average Faithful person ever knew just how much the Holy Family fought against each other, it would seriously damage their credibility, especially when it comes to governing the Deseret.



Biographical Information

First-born children from Beatrice Winters, Meredith Jackson, and Agnes Kingston

1: Jeremiah Winters* (February 21st, 1825--December 8th, 1879 [54])
2: Muriel Jackson (March 1st, 1825--January 19th, 1883 [57])
3: Garret Kingston** (April 13th, 1825--August 3rd, 1860 [35])

* For the sake of historical records, and to help differentiate the various people in all the Clans, everyone descended from the first generation of children born to the Great Prophet were given their respective mother's maiden names. However, all children sired directly from Silas Baker, during his lifetime, were all given his last name. But in historical documents, and for the sake of keeping who came from what mother/clan straight, the children are recorded with the maiden names of their mothers.

** Garret Kingston/Baker later assumed the surname Prophet, in honor of the title held by his father, a tradition that would be followed by Garret's descendants.

Lifespans of the Kings of Life

1: Silas Baker (October 25th, 1793--November 2nd, 1843 [50])
2: Garret Prophet (April 13th, 1825--August 3rd, 1860 [35])
3: Julian Prophet (September 11th, 1841--June 6th, 1884 [42])
4: Luther Prophet (July 4th, 1875 [12])

Important Figures in the Deseret Government

Lady Agnes Kingston (December 24th, 1809 [77])

Lady Agnes is extremely old, especially for anyone in this time period, who rarely make it to that old of an age. She does not let her extreme age keep her down, though; if anything, she acts as vigorous as she did when she was a young lady. Still, Lady Agnes' age puts her in a precarious position. If she were to die anytime soon, King Luther would be left without a proper regent to rule in his stead. Or at least, a regent that would act in his best interests...

All the more reason why Lady Agnes is quite the notorious recluse. Outside of meeting with the Seven Ministers and other officials of the Deseret, she rarely ventures outside of her lavish apartments in the Palace of Life. Nor does she eat or drink anything that has not already been tasted by someone else, first.

Lady Agnes can be quite the paranoid old woman, but in her defense, she has every reason to be that way. Both Clan Winters and Clan Jackson would love nothing more than to see her depart this life, so they can have their way with the defenseless King Luther.
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Re: Background Information

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Polygamy and the Faith


In the Faith, polygamy, or "plural marriage", as the Great Prophet officially referred to it, is legal and welcome. The Great Prophet himself had three wives during his life, as did most of the early church officials in the beginning years of the Faith.

All these decades later, polygamy is still accepted in the Faith, but its parishioners are not forced into it. People of the Faith can be in a singular marriage, and a good deal of them are, though that is more due to practical reasons than anything else.

However, in the core concentrations of the Faith, mostly in the major cities in the Faithian West, plural marriages are much more common than singular marriages. It is not uncommon for men in New Life, for example, to have more than one wife; in fact, the average man of Faith there has a minimum of two wives, at least. Most government and church officials in the Deseret also participate in plural marriage, and a high majority of men in the Holy Family have more than one wife.

The Territorial Authority frowns upon this practice, of course, and it is yet another source of contention between the Faith and the Federal Government.

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Re: Background Information

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An (Abridged) History of the Faith



Part 1: Founding and Tribulations (1823-1846)


Section A: Laying the Foundations (1823-1831)


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Silas Baker, the Great Prophet, 1st King of Life (1793-1843)

The Faith was founded in 1823, by the Great Prophet, Silas Baker, whom at the time was just a simple carpenter. According to Silas' own testimony, he prayed to God one day, asking Him what denomination he should join. God in turn answered by sending the Archangel Gabriel to visit Silas, and Gabriel himself declared to Silas that Christian religion, as it stood, was founded on falsehoods and ignored the true Word of God.

The Archangel Gabriel revealed to Silas the true Word of God, called the Tablet of Life. The Archangel gave this stone tablet to Silas, which was reportedly written in a language unknown to Man, and gave him the the Knowledge necessary to read this Tablet. Gabriel commanded Silas to translate the true Word of God, and to preach it to the masses, so that all could follow the true path as set by the Most Holy.

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The supposed Tablet of Life. Whether or not the Tablet truly contained the Word of God, its existence can be confirmed, as it was displayed by Prophet Silas publicly many times, and was carried by the Faithful during the Great Migration. It was later destroyed in 1836, during a bandit attack on a Faithful settlement. The rubble of the Tablet of Life was collected and kept though, and now remains locked within the Holy Palace in New Life.

Silas supposedly spent the better part of a year translating the Tablet of Life, the contents therein which would later make up the Book of Life, alongside parables and general teachings later made by the Great Prophet himself.

Once translated by Silas, he began to preach the true Word of God to the masses of New York City. Initially denounced as a madman and heretic by public and church officials, Silas soon gained a cult following, swaying many of New York's downtrodden and directionless peoples to his banner. Silas' new Congregation soon referred to the man as the "Great Prophet of the Lord Almighty", a title which Silas soon gladly adopted (and shortened).

Silas appealed to many in his preaching, most controversially to African-Americans and other minorities. Silas preached equally to both whites and blacks, but the mere fact that he was willing to stoop so low, discredited him in the eyes of more "legitimate" religious officials of the age. On the other hand, Silas' willingness to preach to the Lowest of the Low in American Society earned him the favor of many such people, as well as open-minded men and women of white color.

In fact, one of Silas' earliest and earnest supporters was a colored man by the name of Elias Smith. Elias joined the Great Prophet's side early on in his teachings, and soon became the Prophet's right-hand man, earning a special place in the man's council, which resulted in Elias' eventual position as one of the first Seven Ministers, when the Great Prophet fleshed out the hierarchy of the Faith.

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Elias Smith, 1st Minister of the Watchdogs (1799-1862)

Over the years Silas' teachings spread further and further, earning him more and more followers. Silas' religion, "The True Faith", as he called it (later shortened to just, "The Faith") eventually grew so large that public and church officials in New York City grew actively concerned. The Mayor of New York City himself began a personal vendetta against Silas and the Faith, making life very hard for these downtrodden souls.

Things reached a boiling point, and in February of 1831, a series of Great Riots broke out, specifically targeted against the Faithful. After the last of these Riots, Prophet Silas feared for the continued survival of his Flock, and so urged them to leave the State of New York, and travel Westward, to safer grounds. The Great Prophet claimed to receive a vision from God, and that said vision promised that their Salvation laid in the West.

And so the Great Prophet and the Faithful left New York City, heading to greener pastures in the West.

Specifically, Tennessee.

Section B: The Great Migration (1831-1841)


This next period of Faithian History is known as the Great Migration, and for a good reason. Prophet Silas first took his followers to Memphis, Tennessee, in an effort to bring his People to a more hospitable land, where they could worship in peace. And for a time, they did, tolerated by the locals of Memphis, where Silas and the Faithful settled.

During this transitionary period, the Great Prophet fleshed out the hierarchy of his Church, creating the Seven Ministers and the Seven Archdeon Orders. Silas also had himself officially crowned as the 1st King of Life for the Faithian Church, and established a line of succession through his children, more or less creating the Holy Family (or the concept of it) overnight.

From 1831 to 1834, Prophet Silas and the Faithful enjoyed a relatively peaceful stay in Memphis, Tennessee, mostly tolerated by the locals, though this hospitality did not last long. Tensions started to rise between the Faithful and the Heathens of Memphis, especially when the Great Prophet stepped up on sermons denouncing slavery, which irked the general population of Tennessee even more.

In August of 1834, things reached a boiling point. The townspeople of Memphis could stand the Faithful no longer, and a large mob formed to chase the Faithful out of town. The Faithful briefly fought back against this mob, such efforts led largely by Minister Elias Smith and his Watchdogs, an event later memorialized as the first official "Protection of the Faith", by the Watchdogs. This event, among others, would eventually help the Dogs becoming an entity of their own within the Faith.

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A painting commissioned by the Holy Family in 1857, depicting the riot that chased the Faithful out of Memphis, Tennessee

After being run out of Tennessee, Prophet Silas led his Faithful further into the Western Territories of the United States, taking them what would later become Iowa Territory in Winter of 1834. Once more, the Great Prophet and the Faithful settled into this new home, hoping to make a proper living in largely untouched, unsoiled land.

And the Faithful prospered, for a time. From 1834 to 1841, the Faithful enjoyed a relatively peaceful and prosperous stay in Iowa Territory, cultivating the land and making a name for themselves in the Frontier. Minor incidents did occur now and again; conflicts with the locals, hardships in the land. More tragically, the Tablet of Life was accidentally destroyed during an attack from outlaws against the main Faithful settlement in 1836, but the Faithful soldiered on, determined to make it through these tests and trials.

And so for a time, the Faithful became stable, and enjoyed their fruitful peace.

Of course, as history proved, all good things must come to an end. Tensions started to rise between the Heathen settlers and the Faithful in Iowa Territory, up until the point that, once again, a series of large mobs gathered to drive the Faithful out from these lands. Again, the Watchdogs proved vital in the protection and safety of the Faithful, but the Great Prophet did not fight against the settlers of Iowa Territory for long.

Once again, the Faithful packed up their bags, uprooted their lives, and left Iowa Territory under the Great Prophet's guidance.

As the Faithful traveled to their new, new, new home, Prophet Silas promised things would be different. He claimed to have received another vision from God, of a beautiful city that would become the New Jerusalem, of an earthen paradise that the Faithful could call their own. Life would be hard there, and they would still face some trials and tribulations, but what was the life of a Faithful but an endless amount of trials and tribulations, designed by God to reinforce your Faith?

He called this land the Deseret.

Section C: Settling Paradise (1841-1846)


In late 1841, the Great Prophet and his Faithful settled in what would one day become Utah Territory, founding a glorious city which Prophet Silas dubbed "New Life".

While the new homeland of the Faithful was nominally in Mexican territory, as these lands were still apart of the Republic of Mexico circa 1841, they were largely ignored by the Mexican authorities, and also blended in with many other American settlers in the area. So, while the Faithful were technically apart of Mexico now, they largely still considered themselves citizens of the United States.

At any rate, the Faithful found their supposed paradise, and to the Great Prophet's credit, from that day forth the lives of the Faithful were no longer uprooted. The Faithful were here to stay in the West, and aside from minor bandit strikes and conflicts with the Natives now and again, no serious attempt was ever made again to destroy the Faithful.

Great Prophet Silas expanded on this narrative, declaring the past three Uprootings (being chased out of New York, Tennessee, and Iowa Territory) were all apart of the Three Great Trials, a series of tests put forth by God to test the People's Faith, with the eventual reward of founding paradise in the West. Many Faithful took to this message earnestly, and this school of thought is still taught in the Faith Doctrine to this day.

However, the Great Prophet did not get the chance to enjoy his Paradise for long. After a period of sudden sickness and being bedridden, Silas Baker passed away, supposedly leaving the Throne of Life into the hands of his second-born son, Garret Kingston.

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Garret Prophet, 2nd King of Life (1825-1860)

Upon King Garret's ascension to the throne, he continued the work of his father, building up New Life into a proper, glorious city like his father envisioned, and more importantly, spreading the Faith across the West. King Garret sent missionaries to convert the Natives, American settlers, and Mexican citizens of the Deseret to the Faith. And while he met with mixed success on that front, Garret did succeed in expanding the Faith in another way entirely.

The Faithful started to become fruitful and multiplied during this period, leading to many of the Faithful to leave New Life, in search of making a living off the land for themselves. These Faithful settlers spread across the land, their descendants setting up what would one day become the main heartland of the Faith.

Things took an...interesting turn, in 1846, however. Tensions had been rising between Mexico and the United States, and with the later's acceptance of Texas as a Union State, war soon broke out between the two nations. And the rest, as they say, is history.
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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Thu Mar 12, 2015 11:24 pm

An (Abridged) History of the Faith



Part 2: Peace and War (1846-1863)


Section A: Under New Management (1846-1851)


In 1846, war broke out between Mexico and the United States, and by 1848, the war had ended, with a total victory on the part of the United States. Mexico was forced to cede all of its North American territory to the United States government, keeping the Mexican Republic well out of the American Continent.

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Territory ceded to the US after the Mexican War

Manifest Destiny had been achieved, and the United States united the entire continent under its rule (except for British Canada, but no one cares about Canada). And with this cession of territory, the Faith was once again under the domain of the United States Territorial Authority.

The transition of power was hardly felt in the territories of the Faith, at first at least, though it made its presence known soon enough. More settlers came to the Western Frontier, setting up shop in the harsh, endless deserts and unforgiving sun. This proved to be a boon to the Faith though, as more settlers meant more chance for conversion, which they were rather successful in, to varying degrees. Out here in the West, the settlers proved to be more receptive to the teachings of the Faith, as many American colonists converted.

Meanwhile, in 1847, King Garret issued a Holy Edict, making Minister Elias Smith's Watchdogs an entirely separate order from the priesthood, anointing them as the "Defenders of the Faith", and "Upholders of Justice in the Frontier". The Dogs, who were already acting somewhat independent of the main Archdeon Orders, became fully unleashed with this Edict. And with the chains holding them back taken off, Minister Elias turned his Dogs into an efficient, terrifying weapon.

Now under nominal control by the Territorial Authority, King Garret came up with the concept of the Territorial State of the Deseret. He submitted his plans to the Federal Government in 1849, captivated by the idea of an all Faith territorial state (more or less). The Federal Government rejected the formation of such a territory, not wanting to subject themselves to the whims of a fringe religion, and made their own territorial states, eventually creating the Territories of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, et al.

This did not stop King Garret, however. Even when the Federal Government created its own set of territories out of the West, the King of Life only acknowledged the existence of the State of the Deseret. And thus was born the proper Faithian government of the Deseret.

Section B: Pax Faith (1851-1861)


During this period, the Faith truly began to bloom in the West, between a natural population growth and conversion of American settlers, the Faith's numbers grew larger and larger. It became a sort of golden era for the Faith, and this short period of time is still remembered quite fondly, despite the fact it's very recent history and all.

The Dogs started to flourish as well, and made a name for themselves among the Frontier. Under Minister Elias' direction, the Dogs were sent out across the West, with the general mission of bringing the Wicked to Justice, and converting more souls to the Faith. By most accounts, the Dogs were successful in both areas. Bandits and outlaws alike across the West came to fear the Dogs, and with the Dogs leading the helm as makeshift missionaries, conversions to the Faith also became more common.

Half the time, said conversions came at the point of a gun barrel, but that's an aspect of things the Dogs tended to ignore.

Under King Garret's administration, New Life soured to new heights, as the city itself started to resemble more and more of what the Great Prophet envisioned. The borders of New Life were also extended, to help account for the new growth in population.

Nothing lasts forever, of course, especially peace. While it didn't directly affect the Deseret, tensions were rising between the Northern and Southern States of America, culminating in the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, a Republican politician who the South feared would try to end their rights to slavery.

Of course, before all this happened, something much more important (to the Faith) occurred. King Garret, who seemed in otherwise good health, passed away quite unexpectedly and suddenly, from a heart attack. And thus his first-born son, Julian, ascended to the throne as the new King of Life in 1860.

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Julian Prophet, 3rd King of Life (1841-1884)

So, while the Faith mourned the passing of King Garret, and ushered in the reign of King Julian, the United States tore itself apart. A collection of Southern states formally seceded from the Union, and by the time the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter, a full-fledged Civil War had erupted in the Union in 1861.

Section C: Brother Against Brother (1861-1863)


It was a bloody, if brief, affair, lasting a full three years, from 1861 to 1863. The Southern States, which had formed the Confederate States of America, fought bravely and valiantly against the forces of the Union Army. While disadvantaged in terms of industrialization and manpower, the Confederacy managed to win a series of important engagements between late 1862 and early 1863, which severely set back the Union.

By August of 1863, the Confederacy was able to launch a bold strike on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was a fierce and bloody battle, some say the most carnal in the entirety of the War, but the Confederacy managed to achieve victory, capturing the capital and claiming the White House itself by the end of the Siege of Washington.

With their victory over the Union all but secured, the Confederacy continued to occupy Washington, until a cease-fire was arranged between the two powers. Then, a month later, the Confederate States of America earned their formal independence with the Treaty of Richmond. Their nation's survival assured, the Confederates ended the Occupation of Washington, and the various regiments of the CSA returned home, heroes to their people.

During the course of this brief War Between the States, the Faithful largely stayed out of the conflict, merely watching from the sidelines as the Confederacy earned its full independence from the Union. Some Faithful left their homeland to fight in the war, mostly black Faithful who wanted to help their Southern brethren escape the bonds of slavery. Other than that, though, the Faith was largely unaffected by the War of Southern Liberation.

It was affected by its aftermath, however.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Sat Mar 14, 2015 8:11 pm

An (Abridged) History of the Faith



Part 3: Recovery and Rebirth (1863-1887)


Section A: From the Ashes (1863-1873)


In the immediate aftermath of the War of Southern Liberation, the United States was left a broken and humiliated nation. The Union had been torn asunder with the birth of the Confederacy, and the fact that the US couldn't put down a revolt in some rebellious provinces, more or less, disgraced it in the eyes of the international community.

President Lincoln, the man who oversaw the dissolution of the Union, was near unanimously voted out of office, the Democratic candidate General George McClellan winning in a large electoral landslide. President McClellan spent most of his two terms in office rebuilding the United States in the aftermath of the war, charting a new course for the Union now that the South had permanently left them.

As a result of the Union's loss, the Western Territories saw an increase in population, as a good number of people in the eastern United States migrated to the West. For many, they left to go to the West to start a new life, as a good deal of people had their live ruined, in one way or another, with South's successful win in the war. A good deal of Union veterans also made their way West, with the majority that left highly disillusioned with the United States and their former way of life.

The Faith took advantage of this, making great effort to convert those who came to live in the Deseret. To that end, they saw moderate success, though for the most part the Protestant minority in the Deseret only grew as a result of this new wave of colonization. A fact which irked King Julian quite a bit, though he figured that it was a fair trade off for the new settlers who did convert.

The largest number of these converters were former Union Army soldiers, as it happened. These men lived through three years of hell, for nothing (or so it seemed to them), and they had their faith in the United States and in themselves shattered with the victory of the Confederacy. The Faith, however, provided them a new sense of direction, that they so desperately needed.

Perhaps, it should come as little surprise that many of the Union soldiers who did settle in the West and converted, often later became Dogs.

So, while the United States rebuilt itself from the ashes of the Southern War, the Deseret prospered, adding to its population with eastern settlers. It was a good status quo for the Faithful, and the Territorial Authority's grip on them relaxed, as it were, as concerns in Washington were more about rebuilding the nation than keeping a close eye on some fringe religious zealots.

Section B: Calm Before the Storm (1873-1881)


The remainder of the 1870s was a relatively unremarkable time, if just for the Faith. Under the administrations of Presidents Seymour and Blaine, the United States continued to regain the prestige and power it had lost in the Southern War, while the Confederacy entered into a golden age under the administrations of Presidents Lee, Jackson, and Forrest.

While the CSA and the USA charted new courses for themselves, the Faith continued to bloom during this decade. The number of settlers from the eastern United States slowed to a small trickle during the mid 1870s, as the United States had sufficiently recovered from the Southern War enough to earn back the trust of its citizens. Still, despite this, the Deseret continued to soar.

A new generation of the Faithful were being born into the land, augmenting the already high population within the Deseret. Natural population increase had strengthened the Faithful to a great degree, a fact that helped turn them from a simple fringe minority to....still a fringe minority, but with a larger population base that made them more a force to be reckoned with.

Still...despite all this, despite the era of prosperity the Faith entered into (which, some argued, still carried on over from the Pax Faith of the 1850s, as the Faithful were never really negatively impacted by the Southern War) did not last forever. If anything, the 1870s proved to be a calm before the storm.

This proved especially evident as the 1880s rolled around...

Section C: Uncertain Future (1881-1887)


Beginning with the second term of President Blaine, and the first term of President Cleveland, the United States Territorial Authority began to pay more attention to the Faith and the Deseret, scrutinizing them even more than before. The previously lax restrictions put on the Deseret tightened twofold, as domestic policy in the US was shifted onto the problem of the Faithful.

The territorial states that serve as the heartland of the Faithful were now getting close to reaching requirements to become full-fledged states, but the religion of the Faith posed a problem for the Federal Government, one they hadn't really realized or considered thoroughly, during the rising tensions between the North and South in the 1850s, and the Northern Reconstruction during the 1860s and 1870s.

The Constitution of the United States grants the Faithful to worship as they choose, that isn't the real issue here, despite whatever personal opinions Congress and the Presidency hold on the Faith. The issue here, is the fact that the Faithful do not adhere to the laws and rulings of the United States.

They only acknowledge the existence of the Deseret, instead of whatever respective territorial states they belong in; they practically govern themselves instead of listening to the Territorial Authority or the Territorial Governors; they uphold an illegal institution that basically acts as a sort of modern day Inquisition; the Faith practices and legalizes polygamy; truly, the list goes on and on...

And thus, the Faith has entered into an era of uncertainty with the coming of the 1880s. Things are coming to a head with the Federal Government and the Territorial Authority. The only real questions remaining, are when it happens, and what the eventual outcome is.

To make things even worse for the Faith, King Julian sickened with consumption in 1884, and later died that year, his only living, underage son assuming the Throne of Life.

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Luther Prophet, 4th King of life (1875)

Of course, King Luther is not yet the true power behind the Throne...that lies with his great-grandmother, Lady Agnes Kingston, who appointed herself King Luther's unofficial regent in the immediate aftermath of his crowning.

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Lady Agnes Kingston, Unofficial Regent of King Luther (1809)

Having a child King is a bit stressful for the Faith, but the past three years of King Luther's reign have been relatively peaceful. Lady Agnes has made an efficient regent, and general public opinion on King Luther, by his Faithful subjects, is positive. He may be a child, but he is apart of the Holy Family, so that obviously makes him qualified to be the King of Life. Or so the average Faithful thinks.

At any rate...the future of the Deseret and its Faithful remains to be seen. Whether they will end up subjugating themselves to the will of the Territorial Authority (which means disbanding the Dogs, outlawing polygamy in the Faith, and a host of other definitive issues to make themselves more appeasing to the Federal Government), or trying to strike out on their own as an independent nation (which means certain war with the USA, and if they fail in their endeavor, they lose everything...but even if they win, they still have to stomach the notion of siding with the pro-slavery CSA), is not yet clear.

But the choice will be made soon enough. And the future of the Faith will be forever decided, when that moment finally comes.

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Re: Background Information

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The Ministry of Archdeons


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Frederick Gavin Winters, 3rd Faith Minister of Archdeons (1834)

Orthodox Archdeons

The Ministry of the Archdeons has remained largely unchanged since its conception, unlike most of the other Ministries. It is currently headed by Minister Frederick Gavin Winters, who has changed very little of the Ministry since his inauguration. Amongst all the changes that the Faith and its Ministries have had during its fifty odd year lifespan, the Ministry of the Archdeons has remained the one constant.

These are the Archdeons who do not specialize, say, in finances or as missionaries (Tithes and Conversion, respectively). Instead, these Orthodox Archdeons become simple priests, sent to preach the true Word of God to the masses. The Orthodox Archdeons are your everyday priests, both in big cities and small settlements. They run whatever church or churches they're put in charge of, and tend to their assigned flock.

The Ministry of Watchdogs


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Daniel Harrington, 2nd Faith Minister of Watchdogs (1822)

The Dogs

What can be said of the Dogs that has not already been mentioned? Though originally apart of the priesthood, the Dogs have since branched out to become their own official organization with the Deseret, in many respects acting as the Protectors of the West, eradicating those who would do harm unto others. Bandits, Natives, thieves, whores, liars, murderers....no one is safe from the wraith of the Dogs.

Minister Daniel Harrington, who took over the Dogs upon Elias Smith's death, has not changed the organization all that much during his tenure. He has been an apt administrator, of course, and the Dogs couldn't be in finer hands. In his view, however, it seems pointless to fix something that ain't broke. A sentiment shared by the majority of Dogs.

The Ministry of Tithes


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Maxwell Ellison, 3rd Faith Minister of Tithes (1836)

Collector Archdeons

The Collector Archdeons, headed by Minister Maxwell Ellison, are in charge of the finances of both the Faithian Church and the Deseret (which...is really the same entity, if you want to be technical). The Collector have largely become the taxmen of the Deseret, collecting tithes and donations from the Faithful to the Church.

Simple tithes and donations aren't entirely enough to fund a quasi, illegal government, of course, so the Collector Archdeons have since sought other means of revenue. Since many of the Faithful still pay taxes to the Federal Government (most out of necessity, than anything else), the Collectors haven't been able to tax these people outright.

Instead, alongside the regular tithes and donations by the Faithful, the Collectors have found other means to supplement the income of the Deseret. Since the foundation of the Confederate States, the CSA has become an unofficial trading partner, of sorts, to the Deseret, said trade with the CSA largely helping to prop up the fledgling Deseret economy.

The power and scope of the Collector Archdeons will no doubt change over time, especially if the Deseret tries, and wins, at a bid for independence, but for now, the Collectors find themselves restrained by the Deseret's official status as a territorial state of the United States.

The Ministry of Records


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Seamus McBride, 2nd Faith Minister of Records (1840)

Judicator Archdeons

The Judicator Archdeons, headed by Minister Seamus McBride, are nominally in charge of recording the history of the Faith and the Deseret. And while this is still a very important duty, tended to religiously by the Judicator Archdeons, their duties have since developed and evolved beyond mere record keeping.

Currently, Judicator Archdeons also operate as lawyers and lawmen within the Deseret, specializing in the Laws of the Deseret, as first set down by King Garret, and the laws of the United States as well. Judicator Archdeons work as both prosecutors and judges within the Deseret, whenever a Faithful person is charged with breaking one of the Laws of the Deseret.

The Laws of the Deseret have many similarities with the general, religious laws of the Faith, but the Deseret Laws make themselves distinct by focusing on secular matters, as well. When someone breaks a Faithful Commandment, they are brought to justice by a Dog, typically.

But when someone of the Faith breaks a Deseret Law (such as being arrested by the local Sheriff for banditry, for example), they are brought to trial in a Judicator Archdeon court. And, unlike the swift judgement of the Dogs, Judicator Archdeons can hand out innocent verdicts, if they feel that a Deseret Law was, in fact, not broken, or if there was good reasoning behind why said Law was broken.

The Ministry of Education


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Gregory Lee Kingston, 3rd Faith Minister of Education (1848)

Secretariat Archdeons

The Secretariat Archdeons, headed by Minister Gregory Lee Kingston, serve as the educators for the Deseret, at large. The Great Prophet saw the education of future generations of the Faithful as highly important for the continued survival and development of the Faith, and thus he charged the Ministry of Education with educating the Faithful.

And to a modest degree, this initiative has succeeded. There are a smattering of schools and colleges across the Deseret, most of which are concentrated in the major cities of the Faith, though some Secretariat Archdeons have been known to settle down in smaller settlements, to offer education to the children of the local townsfolk.

The Secretariat Archdeons largely teach about the history of the Faith, from its Foundations to the modern era. They also teach a general history of the United States, as well. Some Secretariat Archdeons also teach foreign languages (predominantly, Spanish and French), philosophy, economics, general Faith theology, and so on and so forth. Of course, most of these more advanced classes are taught at higher-level institutions, instead of simple schoolhouses for children.

Secretariat Archdeons also have a secondary purpose, grafted onto them over the past few decades. For the past twenty odd years, at the behest of King Julian shortly after his crowning, the Secretariat Archdeons have been producing propaganda work, intended to show the superiority of the Faith and its Faithful over the regular American citizen. These works of propaganda have been used to reinforce the ideals of the Faith among the peoples of the Deseret, and to help indoctrinate the (often orphaned) children of the Protestant and Catholic minorities present within the Deseret.

Perhaps the best known work of such propaganda is, The Adventures of Thomas Baker, publish by well-renowned Faithian author Samuel Clemens, in 1877. The novel itself follows the adventures of the (fictional) nephew of Silas Baker, the Great Prophet, and his experiences during the initial foundation of the Faith, and later during the Great Migration, where the novel ends with the founding of New Life by the Great Prophet.

Outside of its propagandist nature, The Adventures of Thomas Baker is actually a fairly well written novel, that tells a compelling Coming of Age story with the aforementioned Thomas Baker. It is perhaps the most read book in all the Deseret, with a good majority of the literate Faithful having read the book at least once. Outside of the Deseret, the book has also seen wild success, with many in both the USA and the CSA overlooking its propagandist elements. Some are even bold enough to call it the Great American Novel.

Samuel Clemens, a Secretariat Archdeon himself, as it happens, has become quite the famous individual in North America, in general, and is reportedly working on a sequel to his famous book.

The Ministry of Conversion


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Madeline Williams, 3rd Faith Minister of Conversion (1837)

Herald Archdeons

The Herald Archdeons, currently run by Minister Madeline Williams (the first female Minister, as it happens), are more or less missionaries, sent out by the Deseret to convert the Heathens of the land. Some Missionaries are sent out to the more Protestant/Catholic majority lands and cities of the Deseret, to preach to the heathen masses there, but a large majority of Herald Archdeons are sent into the CSA and the USA, to preach and convert the Northern and Southern Americans to the Faith.

Furthermore, Herald Archdeons are often some of the more crafty among their brethren in the priesthood, a fact necessitated by their very mission statement. Strategies must be conducted and implemented to best persuade Heathens to join the Faith, and Herald Archdeons must consider how to best word their sermons, so as to appeal to the widest audience possible.

Herald Archdeons also operate as ambassadors, of a sort, primarily to the Confederate States. The Herald Archdeons sent to Richmond are nominally there to preach the true Word of God, but primarily they are there to act as liaisons between President Lee and Lady Agnes Kingston, often ferrying letters back and forth between the two Heads of State.

The Ministry of Social Order


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Henri Delacroix, 2nd Faith Minister of Social Order (1816)

Consul Archdeons

The Ministry of Social Order had innocent enough intentions, when created by the Great Prophet. It would serve to maintain the Faith from within, make sure that no outside influence negatively influenced the Faith or its People. Over the decades, however, it has since transformed into...something else entirely.

The metamorphosis of the Social Order Ministry didn't truly begin until Henri Delacroix, the heir apparent to the 1st Faith Minister of Social Order, ascended to power after the death of his predecessor in 1859. Under Minister Delacroix's direction, the Social Order Ministry evolved, in how it managed its duties.

Under Minister Delacroix, the Social Order Ministry has transformed into an actual government organization, of sorts, instead of just a different sect of priests. They are the administrators of the land, the men behind the everyday minutia of government. The Consul Archdeons.

The Consul Archdeons are in charge of the general bureaucracy of the Deseret, from sending in transfer requests to approving the budgets presented by the Ministry of Tithes. The Consul Archdeons are also responsible for the general administration of the territories of the Deseret.

In the towns and areas founded by the Faithful (or places where there are a Faithful majority, at least), there are civilian administrators employed by the Consul Archdeons, to oversee the daily management of Faithful settlements. Mayors and other such civilian administrators, more or less.

The Social Order Ministry also acts as the overall, unofficial head of the government of the Deseret. All the other Ministries coordinate with the SOM, and report to them. The Social Order Ministry basically acts as the cohesive glue that keeps the other six Ministries tied together. The Social Order Ministry is the main body, while the other Ministries are the limbs.

The Social Order Ministry isn't just in charge of governing the Deseret, though. They have other responsibilities...

The Deseret Militia

One such responsibility is the Deseret Militia. Minister Delacroix argued the necessity of such an organization to King Julian, saying that while the Dogs were the Defenders of the Faith, they did not make up a proper, organized military that the Faithful needed to protect its interests. The Dogs were too independent to successfully conform into a military-like structure, Minister Delacroix claimed. A sentiment reluctantly shared with the Watchdog Minister.

And thus, the Deseret Militia was born, made up of men (and even some women) of Faith who did not have what it took to become Dogs, but could still be trained as soldiers to protect the Deseret. The primary, official purpose of the Deseret Militia is to defend Faithful lands against Native aggression, so that the hostile Natives don't try to take holy land for their own satanic needs.

Unofficially...the Deseret Militia is around so that the Faithful have a standing army to use against the United States, in the event they try for secession. Even all the way back to Minister Delacroix's initial appointment, he foresaw an eventual confrontation between the Faith and the Territorial Authority, and knew it would be a battle they could not win, even with the Dogs...until they evened the odds.

The Deseret Militia is a highly trained, efficient quasi-military organization, under the direct command of Minister Delacroix. Whenever the Militia is needed, Minister Delacroix assembles a regiment with alarming speed, and sends them after whatever issue needs resolving. The Militia is able to strike with a ferocity and speed that the Dogs can't quite match, and thus for matters dealing with Native troubles, or large-scale bandit raids, it is typically the Militia that is called in to handle things.

This has caused a sort of rivalry between the Militia and the Dogs, but it is more a friendly one, than anything else. Both organizations are charged with the general defense of the Faith, with the Dogs have more responsibilities than the Militia of course. But the Militia are better organized, better able to quickly mobilize, and far outnumber the Dogs in terms of manpower. All in all, the two organizations compliment one another well.

The Soul Guard

Officially, this organization doesn't even exist. There is no paperwork related to the creation of the Soul Guard, and there exists no outstanding budget set aside for the maintenance of said organization. On the record, the Deseret denies the existence of the Soul Guard. Says it doesn't exist and never will.

Off the record...

Minister Delacroix, around the same time the Deseret Militia was created, also built another organization. This one, he charged with the main duty of the Social Order Ministry: keeping the Faith safe from within, and keeping their society untainted by impurities.

He dubbed this organization the Soul Guard.

The Soul Guard watches the watchmen, in a sense. They check Deseret government officials for signs of corruption, bribery. Especially from outside sources. They keep a close eye on the Dogs, make sure they don't abuse their power. Make sure Orthodox Archdeons don't stray from the main doctrines of the Faith. Stuff like that.

They don't just watch the watchmen, however. They also focus on the civilians within the Deseret. Admittedly, the Soul do not go after the Heathens...they leave that to the Dogs and the Ministry of Conversion. No, they do something much worse. Instead they go after their own, innocent citizens. People they suspect of simply falling out of Faith. Or people who they suspect lie about being Faithful.

Anyone whom they suspect to be a threat to the pure society of the Faith, really.

The Soul Guard, simply put, is the secret police of the Deseret. It spies on its citizens, civilian and bureaucrat alike, checking for any signs of false Faith, or corruption from outside influences. The Soul Guard mostly operates in the Cities of the Deseret, most prominently in New Life. Whatever areas that have the most concentration of Faithful population.

The Soul Guard is unlike any other organization within the Deseret, even the Watchdogs. The Watchdogs operate out in the open, at least, and they are generally more merciful than the Soul Guard...which says quite a lot about them.

Anyone who falls into the grasp of the Soul Guard--anyone suspected of being unFaithful, or of trying to corrupt the pure society of the Deseret--are dead men walking. It is a rare, rare occasion when the Soul Guard releases someone it arrests, for more often than not the people the Soul Guard take simply disappear into the night, never to be seen by any human soul ever again.

The Soul Guard are a terrifying beast. Though the King of Life does not acknowledge the existence of the Guard, word still gets around. People talk. There are whispers among the Faithful of this boogeyman; of these monstrous people that kick down doors in the dead of night, to whisk away unlucky souls to God knows where.

The people within the Soul Guard are utter fanatics, who go to extremes even an Orthodox Faithful would find unappealing. In short, the Soul Guard take everything terrifying about the Faith, about its rigidity and its inquisition-like nature, pushes them to the extreme, and then applies all of that to their own people.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:36 am

Racial Groups Present within the Deseret:


Caucasian: 53%

British-American: 41%
Ethnic Minorities (Irish, Jewish, Italian, French, German, et al): 12%

African: 26%

Free Blacks: 21%
Former Slaves: 5%

Mexican: 13%
Native: 6%
Chinese: 2%



Caucasians (White Americans)

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The majority racial group present within the Deseret, and indeed, the overall dominant racial group present within North America. White Americans make up over half of the Deseret's population, and are spread all over the place, having majorities in all major cities, towns, and frontier settlements.

There are ethnic minorities present within the Deseret, of course. The Great Prophet preached to many of the lower classes of people, and many men and women who weren't able to make a good living out East due to their nation of origin, often came to the West to make a better life for themselves.

There are numerous ethnic minorities present within the Deseret, though the majority of them are German, French, and Irish, with a small number of other nationalities mixed in. And, while an outcast to all the European-Christians that have colonized North America (including the Faith, as well), there are Jewish residents in the Deseret as well.

They mostly keep to themselves, with a large majority of the Jews in the Deseret living in New Life, forming a small little enclave there. For the most part they are ignored by the Deseret government, as part of their tolerance of heathen religions, but that hasn't stopped the Faithful from harassing them though, now and again.

Africans (Negro Americans)

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The second most populous racial group present within the Deseret, and within the North American continent in general, especially in the Confederate States. Negro Americans have been an oppressed minority in the continent for the past few hundred years, but things aren't as bad as they used to be. While slavery still exists in the South, the North has completely abolished slavery entirely. And even in the Confederacy, there are talks of disbanding slavery by amending the Confederate Constitution.

In the Deseret, Negro Americans face an unprecedented amount of acceptance and tolerance within Faithian society. Prophet Silas preached to men and women of all color, be they black or white, and one of his first Ministers was a Negro himself. While there are some people in the Deseret who are close-minded about Africans, particularly in small frontier towns, the majority of the Faithful are far more accepting and tolerant of their African brethren.

Negro Americans maintain a strong presence in the Deseret, though they mostly stick to the larger settlements and cities within the West. New Life, in particular, hosts well over 40% of the Negro American population in the Deseret.

Mexicans (Mexicano-Americanos)

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Mexican-Americans make up the third most populous minority within the Deseret, with a good majority of this group (and their direct descendants) being former citizens of Mexico, back before the Mexican-American War in the late 1840s. The Mexican-American population of the Deseret are largely Catholic, though there have been some successful conversions of Mexicans to the Faith.

Mexican-Americans tend to be all over the Deseret, both in major cities and in small frontier towns, though more often than not they tend to stick to themselves, making their own communities within the West.

Natives (Indians/Native Americans)

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The Native peoples and tribes of the North American continent. They never can catch a break, the poor bastards.

After three hundred odd years of systematic oppression, genocide, forced migration, and even more death, the Natives are a shadow of their former selves. Most tribes have adopted Western technology, wielding rifles more often then axes or arrows, but that has done little to save them from the encroachment of the European powers, and later the United and Confederate States.

In the Deseret, Natives make up a very small minority of the population, far outnumbered by the White Devils that have made the West their home. Most remaining Native tribes simply try to live in peace, separate from the White Man when possible, and keep to themselves, though there are some Tribes who are aggressively hostile toward settlers.

Like their compatriots in the North and South, a good majority of Deseret citizens have a strong loathing toward the Natives, boarding on hatred for even more people. The Great Prophet preached to the minorities of the land, but he excluded Natives from his sermons, even after the Faithful moved out West.

Instead, Prophet Silas took a more...firm hand, with the Natives. He sent out missionaries to convert the Natives when he could, but more often then not Native peoples were converted by the gun of a barrel, typically that of a Dog. The aggressive conversion of Natives tempered down some when King Garret ascended to the throne, though that was more out of necessity than anything else.

Nowadays, the Natives are left alone by the Faithful, based on a Holy Edict made by King Julian in 1864. Diplomatic incidents are stirred up now and again, but for the most part the Deseret government does not want to start up something nasty with the remaining Native tribes in the West.

In regards to Native Faithful...they do exist, though they are very, very small in number, and often do not venture outside their homes in New Life, where most of the Native Faithful reside.


Chinese (Celestial Immigrants)

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The Chinese, the rarest of the rare within the Deseret. Back in the 1840s and 1850s, immigrants from China started to stream into the United States in increased rates, and soon enough the Chinese were used by the railroad companies as cheap labor to lay down the tracks for their trains.

The majority of Chinese immigrants in the West reside in California, though there are a smattering of Chinese in other Western states, the Deseret included. There are a scant few Chinese who have been converted to the Faith, as there are Herald Archdeons who preach to the Chinese, but more often than not the few Chinese who do live in the West either converted to the more mainstream Protestantism (of which there are equally a scant few), or continued following the religions/philosophies of their ancestors (Confucianism, Buddhism, et al).

The few Chinese that do live in the Deseret tend to stick to the major settlements, and are rarely seen in the frontier, unless they're traveling merchants.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Sat Mar 28, 2015 4:18 pm

Theology of the Faith (Part 1)


In The Beginning

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Almighty God, as depicted in a Faithian painting made in 1885

In the Beginning, there was Nothing. A dark, unending Void, lacking any sort of life, consumed everything. For untold eons this remained as such, until a sudden change came. Without warning, Light flooded this dark void, the newborn stars banishing the Darkness away as Life began to flourish, in this former Kingdom of Darkness.

In this new Kingdom of Light, Almighty God was born. He was the first true Life to be created in this new Kingdom, and because of this, He became the Father of all future Life, for everything born after was through Him, the Almighty Creator.

From His will alone, God first created the concept of Time, dividing it into years, months, weeks, and days, and then created the Sun and the Moon to separate the halves of the days.

Thus, on the First Day, He created the Heavens and the Earth, so that He and His Children would have places to inhabit. Then on the Second Day God created the Angels, God's First Children. The first seven of of them, He made the Archangels, who He ordered to lead their Holy Brethren in Heaven while He oversaw the rest of creation. The Seven Archangels were Gabriel, Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, Uriel, Metatron, and Azrael.

While the Archangels maintained order in Heaven, God continued with Creation. And thus, on the Third Day, He created the Sky and the Sea within the Earth, and then created the Land. On the Fourth Day, He created Life to inhabit the Seas, and yet more Life to inhabit the Lands. These Lives he referred to as Animals, but to them he gave no intelligence, for they were simple creatures, never destined to rise above their stations.

With the Animals created, God moved on. On the Fifth Day, He created His Second Children, which He dubbed Man. These creatures, He gave unto them Knowledge and Wisdom, to rise above the simplicity of the Animals that roamed the Land, so that Man could reach their true potential.

On the Sixth Day, God revealed His presence unto his Second Children. He gave them permission to do as they pleased across the Lands, so long as they did not Sin, and still worshiped Him and Him alone, for He would not tolerate the worship of false idols. And Man obeyed God's commandment...for a time.

On the Seventh Day, God rested, content in knowing that His Creation was complete. After His rest ended, and the week began anew, God returned to Heaven, to check on His First Children.

He found His Heaven wrapped up in a Civil War, as Angel fought Angel.

In His absence, the Archangels had maintained order, but the first seeds of Evil and Sin bloomed within the mind of the Archangel Lucifer. A shard of the former Dark Void had remained hidden, and in God's absence, infected the unsuspecting Lucifer, corrupting the Archangel with its influence. By the Fifth Day, Lucifer had totally succumbed to his new Dark Desires, and rebelled against his Father.

Lucifer decried God's continued creation, arguing that only the Angels were necessary, for they were utter perfection, and nothing could ever surpass them. The rest of the Archangels disavowed their Holy Brother, steadfastly loyal to their Father, but some of their lesser brethren amongst the Angels listened to Lucifer. By the Sixth Day, Lucifer gained a strong following, and on the Seventh Day, he launched an attack on the Archangels and Angels still loyal to God, in a bid to wrestle control of Heaven.

When God returned to Heaven, His First Children were still consumed with war, with no end in sight. And so, with an angry roar, God Almighty put an end to all the fighting. He separated the two forces, and cast His judgement. He blessed the Children that remained loyal to Him, rewarding their Faith in the Almighty. For Lucifer and his followers, God was not nearly so kind.

He first created Hell, an abyss of darkness and despair which would imprison these rebellious Angels. Then, God stripped Lucifer and his followers of their Holy status, turning them into wicked creatures, which He dubbed Demons. Then, God threw Lucifer and his Demons into the deepest pits of Hell, to imprison them for the rest of Eternity.

Even while in Hell, Lucifer still remained defiant against God. He created his own dark, twisted Kingdom within the confines of Hell, crowning himself as Devil, the highest Demon among Demons. And from within Hell, the Devil Lucifer plotted against his former Father, consumed with the idea of vengeance.

Fall of Man

Lucifer's vengeance took shape in his corruption of Man. From Hell, Lucifer began to whisper dark desires to God's Second Children, tempting them to sin and worship false gods and idols. Man resisted, for a time, but the whispers of Lucifer proved too tempting for the weak-willed. Soon Man began to succumb to Lucifer's dark whispers, and they began to Sin against God and worship false idols.

When God next checked up on Man, He became enraged, furious at Lucifer's corruption, and how quickly most of Man had turned against Him. God cast away all of His Second Children who turned away from Him, calling them wicked Heathens, unfit for the paradise of Heaven, and so He decreed that whenever a Heathen died, they would slip into the abyss of Hell, to rot in eternity with Lucifer and his Demons.

God rewarded those who stayed true to their Faith, however. These of His Second Children, He dubbed as special, and thus renamed them as the Children of Israel, or the Jews. These Jews, God protected however He could, sending them a variety of Prophets and Kings to keep them on the path of the True Faith, so that they would always be Faithful.

The temptations of Sin, as whispered by the Devil Lucifer, however, proved too strong for the last of God's Second Children. In time, the Jews turned away from God, turned to Sin in such a way that, while they believed themselves to still follow God's commandments, instead followed false teachings of God, as laid down by the King of Lies, Lucifer.

This all culminated in the Crucifixion of Prophet Jesus, the last of God's Old Prophets.

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The Prophet Jesus, as depicted in a painting commissioned by the Holy Family in 1871

The Prophet Jesus, who early in his life received a vision from God, showing him the true ways of the Faith, attempted to bring the Jews back into the fold, and show them they weren't really worshiping God. And, while Jesus gained some followers, it was not enough, for the High Priests of the Jews had Jesus arrested, and Crucified by the Romans.

And with that, God turned away from the Jews, denouncing them as no better than the Heathens. And indeed, God proclaimed that the Heathens were better than the Jews, for at least they admitted they no longer worshiped the One True God.

With the sacrifice of Jesus, God hoped that his remaining followers would continue to preach the true Faith, but that was not to be. Lucifer wasted no time in corrupting the teachings of Prophet Jesus of Nazareth. Lucifer whispered to Jesus' followers, giving them false words and teachings to replace Jesus' own. Lucifer proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah and Son of God, a message wholeheartedly taken by Jesus' followers.

The followers of Jesus, later known as the Christians, proclaimed that their Prophet was born of a virgin, and that he had risen from his tomb, proving he was the Son of God. And with that, the True Faith was further corrupted, leading to another false religion that claimed to worship God.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Mon Mar 30, 2015 12:45 am

Theology of the Faith (Part 2)


The Damnation of Man

With the rise of Christianity, God turned His back on Man, abandoning the Jews as his Chosen People and condemning the Christians for the corruption of Prophet Jesus' teachings. All of God's Second Children were condemned as Heathens by the Almighty, and sentenced to rot in Hell for all eternity for their crimes.

And so Man was Damned by their Creator. For almost two thousand years following, all of Man were condemned to Hell upon death, to rot away with Lucifer and his Demons, weeping and begging for God's mercy while being tortured by the denizens of Hell.

But God did not listen, for He had given up on his Second Children.

And so, for a time, Man went on in blissful ignorance, unaware of the grave Sins they committed against God.

The Great Prophet, and God's Third Children

God was stirred from his apathy in the terrestrial year of 1823, when he listened to the prayer of one Silas Baker, an unimportant carpenter from New York City. From Silas' humble and simple prayer, God was convinced to give His wayward creation one final chance. And thus He decreed that Silas Baker would be His Great Prophet, so that the true Faith would be spread once more.

So, upon God's orders, the Archangel Gabriel descended unto Silas Baker, revealing to him the True Faith, and bestowing unto him the Tablet of Life, to be translated into the Common Tongue, so that all of Man could once more know the true Word of God.

Image
The Archangel Gabriel, as depicted in a painting commissioned by the Holy Family in 1857

The Great Prophet, once he deciphered the writings of the Tablet of Life, began preaching the true Faith once more, gathering many followers over time. And God was quite pleased with this, happy to see His Children returning to the flock, once more. But, God decided to make a new covenant with Man, so that this time they would not be led astray, and so He dubbed the Great Prophet and his Faithful as the Third Children, symbolizing a new start for all who came to know the true Faith.

As apart of this new covenant, God first established a new Shepard for His Faithful, for He would not always be there to watch them, and someone was needed to keep them in the fold. And so God established the Great Prophet as the first King of Life, whom he decreed would forever lead the Faithful from that day forth, so that no one would be led astray, and so that the Faith could prosper and spread under the King of Life's divinely-sanctioned rule. God further decreed that all future Kings of Life would be crowned from the descendants of the Great Prophet, for only he and his brood had the fortitude to keep the Faithful together.

Second, God sent unto them the Three Great Trials, to reinforce their Faith and servitude to the Most Holy. And from these Three Trials, the Third Children emerged stronger than ever, and God rewarded them for their Faith, sending them to a paradise in the West, where they could live their lives in peace, away from the temptations and tribulations of the Heathens and their unholy world.

And so the Third Children prospered in the West, building themselves a new Kingdom of Life. As a reward for his good and Faithful service, God let the Great Prophet ascend into Heaven, leaving behind his earthly shell as he entered the Kingdom of Heaven, the first Man to do so in almost two thousand years.

And from the Heavens God and the Great Prophet continue to watch over the Faithful, waiting for the day that all tongues sing the praises of the One True God, and all of Man has returned to the Faith. For on that day, the gates to the Kingdom of Heaven shall be opened to all, the Faithful being granted everlasting life, turning the Kingdom of Earth into an endless paradise.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Wed Apr 08, 2015 1:16 am

Politics in the Confederate States and the United States


The United States

Twenty-odd years have passed since the War of Southern Liberation, and yet in many ways the United States is still recovering from their massive loss in that war. Much of President McClellan's terms in office were spent rebuilding the United States without the South, and taking the country in a new direction.

Some years later, President Grover Cleveland is doing much the same. Under his administration, the USA annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii, adding it as a Territory. President Cleveland has also shifted a good deal of political focus on the Utah and New Mexico Territories, the main strongholds for the Faith. To further rebuild the United States, adding these Territories as proper States would help him in this goal, and these Territories do meet most requirements to petition for Statehood.

There is a problem of the Faith, of course. The people of the Faith practically govern themselves, with no adherence to the Territorial Authority or the Territorial Governors. They acknowledge the existence of the State of the Deseret, an entity made illegal by the Federal Government over forty years ago.

If the last Western Territories in the United States are to ever become states proper, then something needs to be done about the Faith and their illegal Deseret government. President Cleveland is still weighing his options here, in terms of diplomatic solutions, but he doesn't have a lot of wriggle room there, as it were.

One way or another, something has to be done with the Faith; and if he doesn't do it, certainly his eventual successor will. It is only a matter of time until the Federal Government makes a final choice about the troublesome and vexing People of the Faith.

The Confederate States

In contrast to the Union, the Confederate States have entered into something of a golden era. Beginning with President Lee in 1867, the Confederacy has started to blossom and bloom as a proper nation-state. Steps have been taken to further industrialize the Confederacy, in order to make them more able to compete with the factories of their Yankee brethren, and the legality of slavery has allowed the Confederacy to still sell its number one cash-crop and export item: cotton.

And, starting near the end of President Jackson's term and the beginning of President Forrest's term, the Confederacy started to aggressively expand its territory. President Jackson laid the groundwork for an eventual war with Mexico, and President Forrest accomplished his predecessor's dream, beginning the Confederate-Mexican War in 1879. The war came to a proper end by 1881, with a complete and total Confederate victory, and the acquisition of a great deal of Mexican territory.

President Forrest also stumbled upon a golden opportunity a year later, when the Confederacy was offered Spanish-Cuba and Spanish-Puerto Rico by Spain the year following.

President Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Robert E. Lee, ascended to the Confederate Presidency in 1885, largely elected on the coattails of his famous uncle. Thus far he has proved an able statesman and quite the crafty individual, a befitting President for a nation on the up and up.

Overall, while the United States has largely declined and stagnated, the Confederacy has continued to grow by leaps and bounds. Whether this will last remains to be seen, but it cannot be denied that the Confederate States of America is a growing source of power and dominance in North America.

Presidents of the United States of America (From 1860 to 1887)

16: President Abraham Lincoln (Republican; 1861-1865)
17: President George B. McClellan (Democrat; 1865-1873)
18: President Thomas H. Seymour* (Democrat; 1873-1874)
19: President Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat; 1874-1877)
20: President James G. Blaine** (New Whig; 1877-1885)
21: President Thomas F. Bayard*** (Democrat; 1885)
22: President Grover Cleveland (Democrat; 1885-)

* President Seymour died unexpectedly a year into his first term, of what doctors later ruled a heart attack. His Vice President, Samuel J. Tilden, assumed the Presidency as a result. He ran for reelection in 1876, but was narrowly defeated by New Whig candidate James G. Blaine

** Following the destruction of the Republican Party, after President Lincoln's failed attempt to subjugate the South and bring them back into the Union, the Whig Party saw a revival as the New Whigs. A good mixture of former Republicans seeking to rebrand themselves joined the New Whig Party, as well as discontent Democrats, and other politicians and political thinkers.

*** The Democrats nominated Bayard/Cleveland as their ticket, said ticket the result of a compromise. Bayard and Cleveland were the front-runners at the Convention, and after several rounds of voting, Cleveland conceded the nomination to Bayard in exchange for the Vice Presidency. The Bayard/Cleveland ticket won against the New Whig ticket in the election, but three months into his Presidency, Bayard was assassinated. And thus Grover Cleveland ascended to higher office.

Incidentally, the Secret Service was created shortly after Bayard's assassination, charged with the protection of the President of the United States.

Presidents of the Confederate States of America (From 1860 to 1887)

1: President Jefferson Davis* (Independent; 1861-1867)
2: President Robert E. Lee (Independent; 1867-1873)
3: President Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson** (Legion; 1873-1879)
4: President Nathan Bedford Forrest (Legion; 1879-1885)
5: President Fitzhugh Lee (Legion; 1885-)

* It should be noted that, under the Confederate Constitution, all Presidents are limited to one six year term. Thus, Confederate Presidents are unable to run for reelection, hence the high turnover rate for new Presidents in the Confederacy.

** President Jackson was the first candidate elected from the Legion of the South, a Confederate political party founded in 1864.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Wed Apr 08, 2015 10:10 am

New Life


General Biographic Information

History

New Life was first founded by the Faithful in 1841, when the Great Prophet and his Flock settled their first city within the West. Over the past forty years, New Life has grown and expanded exponentially, in particular, experiencing a great population boom between the 1860s and 1880s.

As the religious center of the Faith, New Life has the most Faithian churches in all of the Deseret. Many small churches have been erected throughout the city, but the Grand Cathedral is the one that stands out the most, and is the main church used by the Faithian elite.

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The Grand Cathedral, located in New Life, Deseret [Utah Territory]


Sermons at the Grand Cathedral are given by Minister Frederick Gavin Winters himself, the head of the Orthodox Archdeon Ministry.

Also present in New Life is the Holy Palace, the residence of the Holy Family and the King of Life. It is another prominent landmark of New Life, and a place many Faithful aspire to enter, but few ever succeed at that dream. To be granted an audience with the King of Life is a rare, rare thing.

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The Holy Palace, after it was remodeled in 1879

Population of New Life

As of 1887, the population of New Life roughly measures 116,749 people. It is one of the most populous cities in all the Deseret, and the West in general. It's a fact often touted by the Faithful, who have taken pride in the "Crown Jewel of the West", as many have referred to New Life.

Religious Breakdown of New Life

Faithian: 69%
Other (Protestant, Catholic, Judaism, et al): 31%

Racial Breakdown of New Life

White: 56%
Black: 40%
Mexican: 2%
Native: 1%
Chinese: 1%

General Observations

New Life is host to one of the most populous African populations in all the Deseret; indeed, of the overall Black population present within the Deseret, it is said that over 40% of it resides in New Life alone. The black-to-white ratio is quite close in New Life, and it is not uncommon to see crowds of Africans roaming the streets, almost as numerous as their white brethren.

With the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1866, connecting the prosperous East with the gritty West, the population of New Life saw a great boom. It had already seen immigrants from the East, in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, but that immigration saw a great swell in numbers, as more and more settlers streamed in to make a new living in the West. This immigration stream slowed during the mid 1870s, but it came nowhere near grinding New Life's population growth to a halt.

Mexicans, Natives, and Chinese make up the very small minority within New Life. Most Mexicans and all the Natives living in New Life are ones converted to the Faith, while a majority of Chinese immigrants in New Life still follow the philosophies of China.

The Natives themselves have their own special Quarter within the city, where they rarely venture away from. The Native Community within New Life is headed by Grandfather Harrison, a retired Native Dog who acts as the main spiritual leader for the Native Faithful. Grandfather Harrison is a well respected figure within this community, and in general among the Faithful leadership, often acting as a mediator between the Faith and the Natives (both converted and non-converted).

New Life is also home to the most polygamists in the Deseret, with 1 in 3 (Faithian) men in New Life having more than one wife (usually only a second wife, for the most part). And, of course, the entirety of the Holy Family practices plural marriages, with the men in the Family having up to three to four wives, at a time.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Sat Apr 25, 2015 9:02 pm

The Other Side of the Coin


Utah Territory

Not everyone in the Deseret is of the Faith; it is a fact often forgotten and overlooked when people observe the West and its people, but it is a fact, nonetheless.

Pro-American settlers in the Deseret are mostly concentrated in the eastern regions of Utah Territory, though there are various settlements and other such locations scattered throughout the Deseret. For the most part, the Protestant and Catholic minorities of Utah Territory tend to stick to with their own, and do not interact heavily with the Faithian majority.

Of course, there are some non-Faithian minorities within the major cities of the Deseret, New Life in particular standing out in that regard. And, per an agreement with the Territorial Authority, these non-Faith minorities (both in major Faith areas and within their own little regions) are allowed to worship in peace, and are explicitly left alone from conversion targeting.

While the city of New Life was, at first, the capital of Utah Territory, conflicts with the locals necessitated the Utah Territory capital be moved. The new and current capital, Manila, stands as one of the more populous cities in Utah territory, with a population of 68,634. There are few members of the Faith that live in the territorial capital, a fact that relieves the Territorial Authority.

With no King of Life to directly interfere with his authority, the Territorial Governor of Utah has been able to administrate Utah...to a fair degree, all things considered. For even if the territorial capital is no longer in New Life, the reach of the Faith stretches far and wide.

With the United States spending the last few decades either obsessed with the question of slavery, or recovering from the Southern War, not much attention was paid to the Faithian West, and thus the Territorial Authority did not have much power to lean on the Faith. And because of that, this led to the territorial government having to achieve a delicate balance with the King of Life. The Territorial Governor doesn't acknowledge his power, or vice versa, but in exchange for being left alone, the Faith has agreed to honor the laws passed by the Governor of Utah Territory.

This has changed in recent times, of course. The United States has started to focus more on the Faithian cult in its western regions, and in recent years the Territorial Authority has been less and less accommodating to the Faith. All of this is exasperated even more with the rise of a new Territorial Governor of Utah, who is staunchly anti-Faith.

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Victor Walsh, 14th Governor of Utah Territory

Governor Walsh, a veteran of the Southern War, immigrated to the West shortly after the war's end. Unlike some of his fellows however, he did not convert to the Faith. Indeed, he saw such conversion as a stark betrayal to all that the soldiers had stood for and fought against, and is rumored to have even gone so far as to murder his own brother when he reportedly converted to the Faith. Though such claims were never substantiated.

Governor Walsh has been arguing that stronger action needs to be taken against the Faith, especially against the Dogs and the Deseret Militia, which he argues the Faith could very well use to try and secede from the United States. Furthermore, Governor Walsh argues that Army troops should be stationed in the main core regions of the Faith, particularly in their capital of New Life, to help quell any sort of future rebellion planned by the heretics of the West.

Such a proposal is viewed as quite radical, even by those who dislike the Faith, but all the same, the Governor has raised many concerns about the Faith, and what the United States should do with it. While President Cleveland hopes to ensure a peaceful outcome in the end, with a peaceful integration of the Faith and its followers into the United States, such a thing may be too much to hope for.

To do that, the Faith would have to modify many of its doctrines (as well as disband the Dogs and Deseret Militia), and the Territorial Authority has no idea if they could convince the Faith to do that willingly...

Because of these growing tensions, relations between the Faith and the Protestant/Catholic minority in Utah territory has grown more strained. The Pro-America, Anti-Faith settlers of the West are starting to protest against the Deseret and its people, some even going so far to take violent action. In response, some members of the Faith have become more militant against the Protestant/Catholic minority, protesting in turn against them. The Territorial Authority has taken measures to quell any such violence, regardless of who started it, and thus far there have only been a few minor incidents. Nothing on the level of a national tragedy.

Yet.

It is growing more and more apparent that Utah territory (and the surrounding areas the Faith claims as it own) is developing into a powder keg, that could blow at any moment. Not everyone sees it, but it is apparent to those who know where to look. What happens next in the coming years, maybe well decide the fate West and the Faith, for decades to come.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Fri May 15, 2015 11:33 pm

A Revised List of Presidents of the USA and CSA (Now with Pictures!)


Presidents of the United States of America (From 1861 to 1887)

16: President Abraham Lincoln (Republican; 1861-1865)

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17: President George B. McClellan (Democrat; 1865-1873)

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18: President Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat; 1873-1877)

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19: President James G. Blaine* (New Whig; 1877-1885)

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20: President Thomas F. Bayard** (Democrat; 1885)

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21: President Grover Cleveland (Democrat; 1885-)


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* Following the destruction of the Republican Party, after President Lincoln's failed attempt to subjugate the South and bring them back into the Union, the Whig Party saw a revival as the New Whigs. A good mixture of former Republicans seeking to rebrand themselves joined the New Whig Party, as well as discontent Democrats, and other politicians and political thinkers.

** The Democrats nominated Bayard/Cleveland as their ticket, said ticket the result of a compromise. Bayard and Cleveland were the front-runners at the Convention, and after several rounds of voting, Cleveland conceded the nomination to Bayard in exchange for the Vice Presidency. The Bayard/Cleveland ticket won against the New Whig ticket in the election, but three months into his Presidency, Bayard was assassinated. And thus Grover Cleveland ascended to higher office.

Incidentally, the Secret Service was created shortly after Bayard's assassination, charged with the protection of the President of the United States.

Presidents of the Confederate States of America (From 1861 to 1887)

1: President Jefferson Davis* (Independent; 1861-1867)

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2: President Robert E. Lee (Independent; 1867-1873)

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3: President Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson** (Legion; 1873-1879)

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4: President James Longstreet (Legion; 1879-1885)

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5: President Fitzhugh Lee (Legion; 1885-)


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* It should be noted that, under the Confederate Constitution, all Presidents are limited to one six year term. Thus, Confederate Presidents are unable to run for reelection, hence the high turnover rate for new Presidents in the Confederacy.

** President Jackson was the first candidate elected from the Legion of the South, a Confederate political party founded in 1864.
Last edited by Magus1108 on Mon May 18, 2015 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Sat May 16, 2015 12:29 am

And Now For Something Completely Different,

Or,

A Tale of Two Lees:



Image
Robert E. Lee, 2nd President of the Confederate States of America

It was a solemn day in the Confederacy when it's founding father, and second president, Robert E. Lee, died.

The death did not come as a complete shock. General Lee was an older man, after all. He was born a mere seven years into the current century, and by the Southern War's end, the good General had been well into his mid-fifties. And by the end of his term as President, he had been sixty-six years old.

It was an advanced age for anyone of this era, and for Robert E. Lee, he may as well have been twice as old, for the Southern War had aged the man a great deal. Still, General Lee had soldiered on, despite the wear and tear of time. He had retired from politics and public life after his successor, Stonewall Jackson, was elected President. Retired to a nice life in the country-side of Virginia, to spend the rest of his days with his wife and children.

It was finally on August 11th, 1886, that the good General passed away peacefully in his sleep, at the age of seventy-nine. Robert E. Lee had left behind a significant legacy; more than anyone else in the Confederacy, he was the man credited as the South's Founding Father.

Fitzhugh Lee, nephew to the great General Lee, had also used his uncle's legacy to propel himself to the Presidency. He was a soldier and Calvary general during the Southern War, and had taken a liking to politics after the war's end. He had become a rising star within the Legion of the South, and as President Longstreet's term came to an end, the Legion had tapped him to become the party's nominee in the 1884 election.

Fitzhugh Lee easily outdid his opponents in the general election, using his own renown and especially the renown of his uncle, General Robert E. Lee. In fact, the elderly Lee had come out of retirement to campaign for his nephew, a gesture that had only seen Fitzhugh Lee rise to the near top in the polls. Thus, it came as no real surprise when he did secure the Presidency for himself, and was inaugurated as President in January of 1885.

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Fitzhugh Lee, 5th President of the Confederate States of America

President Fitzhugh Lee inherited a vastly different Confederacy, as compared to when his uncle was President. Under the administrations of Presidents Jackson and Longstreet, the Confederacy had grown in power and prestige. The size of the Confederacy had doubled with the acquisition of Mexican territory and the purchase of Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, great inroads had been made to further industrialize the South so they could properly compete with their northern brethren, and the Confederacy in general had earned a great deal of international prestige and recognition, turning from a minor, backwater country from its birth into the near undisputed Great Power in North America by the time Fitzhugh Lee became President.

It was the best of times for the CSA. While its sister-republic faltered and tried to rebuild itself, the Confederacy only soared higher and higher into the sky, proof that the Confederacy was favored by God, or so many people claimed.

President Fitzhugh Lee had a big legacy to live up to...after all, three major Confederate generals had taken office before him, one of them his uncle, and each had carved out a great legacy within Confederate history. He'd have to tred carefully not to get overshadowed by the Titans of the South. President Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy's 1st President, had already been largely forgotten by this time, overshadowed as he was by his more popular successors. Fitzhugh Lee would take care to avoid Davis' fate.

Of course, none of this mattered to Fitzhugh Lee. He did not care about living up to the legacies left behind by his predecessors. One might be surprised to know that...but, there is a reason behind that.

The fact is, Fitzhugh Lee hates his predecessors, and everything they stood for. Especially his uncle, Robert E. Lee. For, unbeknownst to all but a select few, Fitzhugh Lee hates and despises the very foundation of the Confederate States of America:

Slavery.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Wed May 27, 2015 4:51 pm

The Confederate States of America

Beginning of the End

Despite the Legion's insistence that slavery is alive and well within the Confederacy...it is an undeniable fact that the practice of slavery, in the Confederate South, is on its last legs.

First, there is the industrialization of the South. Starting with President Robert E. Lee, the Confederacy has started to become more industrialized, so as to compete with its technologically superior Yankee brethren, and to bring the South into the Modern Age. And as a result of this industrialization, slave labor is becoming increasingly obsolete. Every day new technology is being introduced to the Confederacy. New machines to improve work at plantations, the laying down of railroad tracks to more easily connect the Confederacy, so on and so forth.

With the economy of the Confederacy also shifting away from agrarian farming, as a result (though cotton is still the Confederacy's number one export), it seems that slavery and slave labor is being unnecessary to prop up the ever expanding Confederate Economy.

Already, in the Confederate Congress, there are talks that the end of slavery is upon the South. The Patriots Party is all for this, as it has long supported the gradual emancipation of slaves and the ending of slavery itself. However, the Confederate Constitution forbids the passing of laws to outlaw slavery, so Congress' hands are tied in that matter.

In the state senates of the Confederacy, however....

There is nothing preventing individual states from introducing legislation to outlaw slavery. And that, ultimately, will be how slavery in the Confederacy dies.

In a controversial move within the Confederacy, Florida became the first Confederate State to outlaw slavery. In 1876, the Florida State Senate, in conjunction with the Florida Governor, introduced a series of laws that effectively ended slavery in their state. All Africans born of slave mothers past 1876 were declared free and emancipated from slavery, and slavery itself would be illegal within Florida by 1891.

It is not the immediate action some would like, but it is progress, all the same. No more Negros will be born into slavery in the state of Florida, past the year 1876, and by 1891 slavery itself will be officially illegal in the state.

This caused a great raucous in the Confederate Congress, with pleas to President Jackson to invalidate this law. President Jackson, however, took no action. Regardless of his own personal view of slavery, he declared he would not interfere with the decisions of individual states. It would set a bad precedent, and make the Confederacy no better than the government they had seceded from, or so he proclaimed.

And just like that, the slow death of slavery began in the Confederacy. South Missouri (the state of Missouri had been divided into North and South regions, per the Treaty of Richmond) was the next state to pass legislation to essentially outlaw slavery, in 1879. Its legislation was much the same as Florida's, with the permanent illegality of slavery in South Missouri set in 1895.

Between 1879 and 1887, three more states followed suit. Kentucky, Arkansas, and most recently, North Carolina, have all passed legislation that effectively outlaws slavery in their states in the years 1897, 1902, and 1905 respectively.

Overall, five states out of fourteen (and out of the six territorial states currently present in the Confederacy) have now passed legislation that will make slavery illegal within their territory by a set date, as well as legislation that ensures no more Negros are born into slavery past a certain date.

It is not the immediate and swift death that most would desire for slavery, but it is better than nothing at all. The times are changing, and the Confederacy is finally catching up with that.

This, by no means, means the acceptance of Negros within the Confederacy, of course. There will be decades of lingering resentment and oppression left to go against the Negro, both in the USA and the CSA. The battle for African-American equality will be another conflict entirely, waged long after the official end of slavery in the Confederate States.

But, it is a start. The end of slavery in North America will be an important step forward for African-Americans, and that time is readily approaching. It is only a matter of time before the rest of the Confederacy effectively outlaws slavery.

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Re: Background Information

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Magus1108 on Sat Jun 20, 2015 9:30 pm

Was the Great Prophet Murdered?


Date: February 17th, 2009
Location: New Life, Utah
Newspaper: The New Life Times
Author: Wendy Allison Winters


Was Silas Baker, the Great Prophet, murdered? It's a question that's been asked time and again, and the notion has been gaining traction in recent years.

The idea's been around since the Great Prophet first died in 1843...while no public accusations were ever made, many private accounts, even from those among the Holy Family, speculated that the Great Prophet may well have been murdered. This idea was suppressed though, following the ascension of King Garret to the Throne of Life, and it would not resurface again, in popular conscience at least, until 1986.

In 1986, renowned filmmaker George Takei released Prophet, a movie adaptation that loosely explored the life of Silas Baker (portrayed by actor Harrison Ford), from his beginnings as a street-corner preacher in New York City to his death in the newly founded Faithian settlement of New Life. Among many controversial scenes within the film, director Takei insinuated the idea that a love affair occurred between the Great Prophet and his loyal follower Elias Smith (portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson), and at the end of the film, Takei boldly showed the Prophet dying from a poison slowly administered over a period of months, which caused the Prophet's death.

The movie had already garnered some controversy from Faithian audiences before the release of the film, and once knowledge hit of the movie's rather controversial contents, large protests were held by the Faithful. Many Faithian protesters attempted to boycott the film, to mixed success, and a majority of Faithful run movie theaters outright refused to show the movie. An attempt was even made on director Takei's life a year following the release of the film, though it was unsuccessful and the would-be assassin was arrested by the police.

While highly unpopular with Faithian audiences, the movie proved to be a startling success, otherwise. Actor Harrison Ford won an Oscar for his performance the following year, and the film surprisingly proved very lucrative in the Confederacy, where it received rave reviews from a variety of film critics.

While the idea of a love affair occurring between the Prophet and Elias Smith was an admitted artistic choice made by the Director, with no actual basis in historical fact (as admitted by George Takei in a 1990 interview), the idea that the Prophet was poisoned is something the director and the cast has stood behind.

"...The story of Silas Baker always fascinated me, and in doing my research about his life in preparation for making the film, I came across evidence which I personally believed led to the undeniable conclusion that he was poisoned. There's no doubt in my mind he was murdered, none whatsoever. It's really just a question of who killed him..." (Takei, in an excerpt from an interview just prior to his film's release in 1986)

Since the release of this film, the idea of the Prophet being murdered has simmered just beneath the surface in popular conscience, a simmering set near to boil with the advent of the Internet in the tail-end of the 20th century. Since the rise of the Internet, this theory has only grown in popularity, with Faithian and non-Faithian peoples alike!

Of course, just because the theory is popular doesn't mean it's necessarily true. Many people also believe that Prime Minister Oswald Mosley of Great Britain did not, in fact, commit suicide at the tail-end of the Second World War, but in fact staged his death, and later fled to South America, as many ex-British fascists did at the War's end. And there is also the conspiracy theory circulating around the Internet that current Confederate President Mike Huckabee stole the 2004 Presidential election via voter fraud. So just because a [conspiracy] theory is popular, doesn't mean there's solid evidence to back it up.

Still, it is a well circulated theory, and despite it's validity or not, it's been picking up steam in recent years. Adding further fuel to the fire, professor Sharon Burris from Kingston University published a book three years ago, entitled, "The Great Conspiracy: How Agnes Kingston Usurped Control Over the Faith". In the book, Burris proclaims that Agnes Kingston, third wife of the Great Prophet, smothered the Great Prophet while he laid on his deathbed, to stop him from placing Muriel Jackson onto the Throne of Life, and to thus secure the Throne for her own son.

It's a variation on the idea that the Prophet was poisoned, but it falls into the general category all the same, and has succeeded in generating more talk and conversation over what happened to the Great Prophet in his final years.

So, was the Great Prophet murdered? Perhaps via poison, or was he killed in another manner entirely? The answer may never be known. To date, Queen Evangeline and the Holy Family have denied requests to exhume the body of the Great Prophet to test for poisoning, and have denounced claims that he was murdered. The Queen, herself of Kingston descent, would have good reason to deny such requests, for if the Great Prophet was murdered, the Kingston hold onto the Throne of Life would be put into jeopardy.

Of course, it may simply be the case that the Great Prophet did die of natural causes, and that this is all just hearsay and needless speculation. But we don't know for sure, and most likely, we never will know for certain...

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Magus1108
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