Cult of the Dreamer

Cult of the Dreamer Kuku Sonyan
Capital and largest world	Kapohin, Draco-90 System
Official languages	Honen
Ethnic groups	100% Human
Religion	Cult of the Dreamer
Legislature	Conclave of Sleepers

The Cult of the Dreamer (Honen: Kuku Sonyan) is a human absolute theocracy governed according to the strict hierarchical principles of the religion of the same name. Located on the planet of Kapohin in the Draco-90 System, which is one of the oldest archeological sites in the known galaxy, with ruins dating back thousands of years. The Cult of the Dreamer is widely considered by scholars to be a mystery cult that worships a being known only as the Dreamer which supposedly is imprisoned within the six rocky planets of the Draco-90 star system. The exact origins of the Cult of the Dreamer are unknown, but research of census records means most academics have accepted a hypothesis that the cult's origins lie with members of the Draconis Mining Corporation that settled in the star system and brought their families there after the Draconis Mining Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection in 2855.

Society

Six Levels of Dreaming

Dream Speaker (Kuku Suen)

The Kuku Suen, or Dream Speaker, is the high priest of the Cult of the Dreamer is believed by the adherents of the Cult of the Dreamer to recieve periodic visions from the entity called The Dreamer which is supposedly imprisoned within the planets of the Draco-90 system. They are the absolute head of the Cult, both temporal and spiritual, and serve for life. The Dream Speaker is not elected, but rather The Dreamer will select the next Dream Speaker by sending them a vision.

Despite their nominal absolute authority, they delegate most temporal affairs to the Nauzen and instead focus on meditation to communicate with The Dreamer and divine its will. No outsider has ever seen the Dream Speaker, and there is a theory among scholars of astrotheology that there is no Dream Speaker and that the role is a fabrication.

Sleeper (Nazuen)

Nauzen or Sleepers are the most initiated of the Cult of the Dreamer and serve as the Dream Speaker's advisors and collectively as the Cult's legislative and judiciary. There are only ever six Sleepers, and when one dies the remaining five choose a Sleepwalker to become a Sleeper. Sleepers also serve as priests for the lower ranks in the Cult of the Dreamer and preside over the most important of the Cult's ceremonies, and have been fully initiated into the deepest mysteries of the Cult. They are also responsible for approving and declining the granting of archeological permits to universities and other institutions.

Sleepwalker (Nazununten)

Nazununten or Sleepwalkers make up the higher level administrative and organisational roles within the Cult's society that the Sleepers don't fill, and are the only rank that typically leaves the Draco-90 star system to purchase what the Cult cannot produce itself. They also form the lowest ranks of the priesthood of the Cult and lead lower-ranked members in worship and ritual. They appear to assist the Sleepers in the more secretive of the Cult's rituals, but what these rituals are remains an extremely closely guarded secret from outsiders.

One With Their Eyes Shut (Yandonto)

The Yandonto (literally translated as 'One With Their Eyes Closed') are those that have been introduced to the lowest levels of the Cult's rituals, and assist the Sleepwalkers in the leading of worship for the Yansain. The Yandonto are a supervisory and managerial group that leads individual enterprises, and are the only group allowed to deal with the Awake as they often lead dig-teams of Yansain to accompany archeologists that have paid for permits.

One With Their Eyes Open (Yansain)

The Yansain (literally translated as 'One With Their Eyes Open') are initiates to the Cult of the Dreamer. They form the vast majority of the populace and perform most menial tasks, such as manual labour and service jobs. They are typically aware of the core principles of the Cult, but do not participate in its most sacred rites nor are they aware of the full detail of the Cult's faith.

Awake (Rawanen)

Rawanen or Awake is the term used to describe all those uninitiated into the Cult of the Dreamer, which is most often used for those that visit the Cult of the Dreamer on archeological expeditions. The term is regarded as deeply insulting when used between initiates and those of higher rank, as it implies one either lacks faith or has misunderstood something.

Religion

The Cult of the Dreamer as a state is functionally inseperable from the Cult of the Dreamer as a religion. To be a legal permanent resident within the Cult of the Dreamer, one must also follow the faith.

The Cult of the Dreamer believes that an entity known as The Dreamer has been imprisoned within the worlds of the Draco-90 star system and has chosen them specifically to free The Dreamer from its prison. They claim that The Dreamer is the source of all psionic powers in the Galaxy and the interstellar winds themselves, and that it was been imprisoned by a species known by the Cult as the Esate, 'Imprisoners', who rejected its divinity and power and sealed it away. Other species in aeons after have built atop this original prison to reinforce it out of a false belief planted by the Esate that The Dreamer's escape would cause the destruction of all life and the ceasing of the interstellar winds.

The Cult instead believes that The Dreamer is the only entity capable of saving all life from a future 'howling of the winds' and the following collapse of Galactic civilisation, and that it will reward them beyond measure for achieving this. Exactly what is meant by the 'howling of the winds' is a matter of much debate about scholars of exotheology, as the Cult of the Dreamer keeps much of the nature of its religion secret to outsiders.

The Cult's rituals are largely meditative and contemplative in nature, focused around attempting to comprehend and contact The Dreamer through meditation and the nature of its prison, with Sleepwalkers leading lower-ranked members in communal meditation halls. The nature of deeper rituals conducted by higher-ranked members are a closely-guarded secret, and many of the exact details of the religion's practices and beliefs remain unclear and can only be hypothesised.