NationStates Jolt Archive

The Cult of the Somniphobic Factbook

The Cult of the Somniphobic is not a nation in a normal sense of the word. It is a vast, multi-world spanning organization of individuals, governed by a form of Hive Mind. The vast majority of it’s population live within the normal dimensions of space and time. These Cultists flock together in groups numbering anywhere from 2, upwards to several thousand. The largest gathering point is the secessionist state of Insomnia. The remainder (some 25%) of the population constitute the otherworldy followers residing within the Dreamscape.

For ease of understanding, there will be three separate Factbooks.
The First Factbook will deal with the cult at large. It’s modus operandi, known strategies, etc.
The second Factbook will deal with the Cultists of Insomnia, the chief gathering point for the Somniphobic and the closest thing they have to a nation.
The third factbook will deal with the Dreamscape and its inhabitants.

Table of Contents:
1. The Somniphobic
A)Total Figures
B)The Cult
C) “Demonica”
2. Insomnia (Under Construction)
3. The Dreamscape (Under Construction)

A)Total Figures
Population:
438,000,000 (July 2008)
Insomnia: 284,700,000
Dreamscape: 109,500,000
Other: 43,800,000
Nationality:
Noun: Somni / Cultist
Adjective: Somnast
Religions:
Cult of the Somniphobic: 100%

The Cult

History:
Beginnings
The Cult of the Somniphobic began on Earth in the year 86 BC. Roman Centurion Lucius Exomnius Sejanus began preaching of a god to rival those of the Roman pantheon. His preaching did not go unnoticed and within weeks of his beginning, Sejanus was imprisoned and sentenced to death. While residing in prison, Sejanus’ was visited by visions in his sleep. He dreamt of a vast wasteland which was his to shape and lead, and he dreamt of a single figure, winged like an angel. This being called itself Anti, and appeared to Sejanus as his own twin, though horribly disfigured.
In time, Sejanus’ jailors began too to have the dreams. With only three days left before his execution, the dreams finally broke the jailors, driving them mad. They let Sejanus loose and followed him into the mountains of Italy.
It would be months before Sejanus again appeared to the Romans. In mid 85 BC, Sejanus assaulted a small Roman village in Gaul, a horde numbering close to a thousand cultists of varying races overwhelming the small fifty man guard. When a legion was at last dispatched, they found that the entire village had vanished, the only evidence was a single stone obelisk where the centre of the village should have been.
The legion camped around the obelisk and soon the soldiers reported having nightmares. Many died in their sleep while many more went insane. The obelisk was torn down, and the insane Romans who had not run into the wilderness were executed. The incident was buried by the Roman military command and forgotten.
The Thule Society
The next appearance of the cult was in the middle of World War 2. A small subsection of the Thule Occult Society had begun research during 1942 into occult weaponry. By 1944 their labours bore fruit. They found the remains of the Obelisk. After bringing it to an underground bunker in Germany, the Occultists sought to unlock its secrets. They closed their doors and were never heard of again.
When the allies overran Berlin, the bunker was inevitably found. Red Army soldiers entered and found a scene of mass slaughter. Scientists were dead everywhere. Some had hung themselves, others had been torn apart. The Soviets heard what they thought was a survivor in a locked supply closet. When they opened it, two deranged scientists, scarred and bloody from self inflicted wounds assaulted them. Despite being unarmed, they managed to kill eight Soviet soldiers before finally succumbing to the bullet fire.
When Soviet leadership heard, they had the bunker destroyed with explosives. The Obelisk was never recovered, and though records showed that fifty men had been inside when the door was sealed, only 18 bodies were found.
Martoch
The Cult remained underground for several years. In 2046 the state of Martoch began reporting a wave of brutal serial killings and mutilations.
In 2047, the Cult exploded violently into the public eye. A small army numbering three thousand Cultists assaulted the capital. In hours the governmental body was killed and the Cultists began building what appeared to be a shrine. Three days later, just before foreign forces attacked, the shrine was completed. In its centre stood a might Obelisk, fully three times the size of the one built by Sejanus. As the foreign armies descended on the Governmental complex the entire city was engulfed in a blizzard. By the time it subsided, the city was a ruin and the shrine gone.
2047 +
Since that date the Cult has remained covert, gathering followers and always vanishing after brutal acts of violence. It has spread across hundreds of worlds, and through the power of its “god” have also infected numerous time periods. They are likened to a disease. If they rise up, they can be beaten down but something is always left behind.

Organization
The Cult has a very limited command structure, due to its spread out nature. Each group is expected to govern itself and work for the common goal, that is, destruction of our mortal universe. The Cult is governed by the Four Patriarchs: Agony, Syncope, Violence and Paranoia. In addition, the Dreamscape embodies itself as the fifth Patriarch, Anti. The Patriarch decide when (if ever) the Cult goes to war.
On the rare occasion a cult gathering becomes large enough to warrant an established base of operations (as with the ‘nation’ Insomnia and the city state Tension), then a Patriarch will oversee construction of said base, and nominate a select group of Cultists to lead it. The Patriarchs have total say over the actions of the Cult as a whole.
Due to the inter-time and inter-dimensional nature of the cult, it is necessary for a second tier of leaders to exist, known as the Acolytes. The Acolytes number in the hundreds and have free reign over their minions, both corporeal and dream induced.
On the whole, Cultists within the normal realm have higher authority over those within the Dreamscape, given that they have at least some form of control over their minds and can use the weaponry of the era and/or place where they are situated.

Recruitment
Recruitment to the Cult is not by choice. When the Cultists have found a suitable candidate, they commune with the nearest Acolyte, who then seeds a link between the Neophyte and the Dreamscape. Then, as the Neophyte sleeps, while their minds defences are weakest, the Dreamscape will enter their dreams and begin its corruption. The process can take anywhere from a few days to decades, depending upon the strength of the target.
In most cases, the victim is driven utterly insane, excessively violent and will embark on a blood soaked rampage before death. In a lesser number, the Neophyte will succumb to the Hive Mind of the Cult and join its ranks. However, it is possible for a person to slow, stop or even remove the taint of the Dreamscape, provided they have a sufficiently strong will of mind.
Upon recruitment, all Cultists are of equal rank. The society is a sort of communist one, though the Acolytes and Patriarchs are de facto dictators.

Practices
Self - Harm:
The Cult members frequently practice varying methods of self inflicted harm. The universal nature of it is caused by the influence of constantly entering the Dreamscape while they sleep. The longer a person is a member, the more insane they become and the more grievous their acts become. It starts off with cuts, burns (both chemical and heat) and whippings. This then progresses through skinning, breaking of bones and finally to total amputation.
Sleep:
Sleep is regarded as something to be both revered and feared in the Cult. On the one hand, it allows Cultists to commune with their brethren and God, on the other it means an inevitable climb towards insanity. Cultists often go whole days without sleep, though Acolytes can force sleep on those around them should the situation need for them to be refreshed and alert.

The Gates
The Gates are structures, either magical or technological, which break the surprisingly thin barriers between the Dreamscape and the regular dimension. When a particular gathering has enough members, they begin construction of a Gate, which is then used to bring forth the Cult’s main armies from the Dreamscape. Gates can range from doorway sized, to massive megalithic structures the size of skyscrapers.

War
War within the Cult is conducted on a guerrilla basis. The cult is not adapted to full scale warfare, and only Insomnia, the Dreamscape and Tension have any sort of standing armies. Depending on the nature of the war, the Cult will fight in very different ways.
When attacking, the Cult employs a basic template of attack, designed to ensure that the “Enslaved” armies of the Dreamscape can be brought to bare against their enemies. This usually involves the construction of either many gates, or a particularly large one.
Individual cells, however, are on their own against enemy forces, and are expected to exact as heavy a toll on aggressors as possible before retreating to a gathering point.

“Demonica”

The term Demonica is a misnomer of sorts. The forces of the Somniphobic are not truly demonic, though they are usually twisted beyond all recognition of what they once were. They do not wield godly powers, and much more importantly they can be killed. Not all Demonica, however, can exist outside the Dreamscape, and not all actually exist.
In battle, the Demonica tend to suffer more under swords and axes as opposed to bullets or arrows.

Figments/Victims:
Figments pose little or no threat to anyone. They are wholly imagined beings, sculpted by the Dreamscape to terrify its targets and drive them insane. A few Figments however, are violent, particularly if they represent an enemy in the person’s waking life. They can only appear in a person’s dreams.

Enslaved: The Enslaved are the cannon fodder of the Dreamscape’s legions. They are twisted forms of either Cultists too far gone into madness or people who were pulled into the Dreamscape unwillingly. A few Enslaved are merely trapped minds, victims whose bodies are long since dead, but whose minds remain alive in the Dreamscape. Enslaved are wholly animalistic, snarling, screaming and growling to communicate rather than speak. Many of them have had their limbs altered or replaced to become lethal weapons, and have armour nailed directly onto their skin by Acolytes and Cultists in an effort to make them even more dangerous. They are the most common enemy faced in the Dreamscape.

Chosen: The Chosen are Cultists who are of sufficiently strong will to actually survive within the Dreamscape, though they are still less cognitive than their ordinary counterparts. They maintain some form of higher intellect, making them more ordered and strategic than the Enslaved, but they are still mindless servants of the Dreamscape. All semblance of their former selves are long gone. They attack using blades or gauntlets strapped or nailed to their hands and many suffer from a sever masochistic compulsion. They are so hideously mutilated that if it were not for their torn robes and tattoos, they would be indistinguishable from Enslaved.

Acolytes: Acolytes are the finest servants of the Dreamscape. They are grand beings, cloaked in flowing robed befitting of religious leaders. They are most often seen leading church services for the Cultists, but occasionally lead Cultists into battle. They are capable of controlling Enslaved completely and always lead Enslaved armies because of it. They are more human looking than cultists, having resisted their masochistic compulsions. While they are capable of greater levels of thinking and strategy, they are still enslaved and completely incapable of disobeying the Dreamscape, whilst the Patriarchs can willingly retreat or disobey orders, the rest of the Acolytes cannot. Acolytes also have some low form of telepathy and telekinesis, and are able (once tappen into a foes mind successfully) of making enemies feel drowsy and fall asleep, though this, along with communication, is as far as they can affect sentient beings.